The Faithful

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated  (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. Hebrews 11:37-40

 “They” are the faithful believers of the Old Testament who lived their lives as best they could, in obedience to the truth they knew of God and His perfect plan of grace. Many of them are named in Hebrews chapter 11, with short summaries of their demonstrations of personal faith in God. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and many other men and women of faith are found in chapter 11. Those studies are recorded in this blog, with posts beginning February 15, 2012 and running daily through February 27, 2012. Their stories are given to us for encouragement in our own walks of faith, though we live in a different dispensation. People of faith are still living by the same principles of God’s Word, regardless of our circumstances. The Law of Moses has now been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ, but their trust in the revelation of the scriptures and their complete willingness to learn and claim God’s promises to His people stand forever as guidance to us as we follow the leadership of our Lord. They were not perfect humans. Neither are we. They had their weaknesses and failures. We do, too. It is not our own righteousness, but the Righteousness of Christ that characterizes our souls and supports our daily lives in the devil’s world.

People who believe God are peculiar; different from the world. Knowledge of God is more important to us than worldly knowledge. We do not fear the political and social climates, because we know our future is secure as Royal Family of God. We know that as nations turn away from God’s truth, nations suffer discipline and decline. That’s not comfortable to live in, but it is inevitable and we know it, though the world scoffs at our warnings. People who consistently speak God’s truth are hated by the worldlings, whose standards of morality are based on human viewpoint and human good, which cannot compare to divine viewpoint (mind of Christ) and divine good (God’s perfect righteousness).

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. I Corinthians 2:14

Therefore, as in the days of the patriarchs and prophets, those who stand firmly on the Word of God in the face of worldly attitudes and behaviors will suffer persecution. Shameful stonings, torture, deprivation, abuse are being heaped upon Christians and their leaders in various parts of the world at any given time. Our forefathers in the faith withstood these things and we and our offspring may very well face such hardships as time goes on. Already, in 21^st century America, expressing faith in God’s Word and God’s perfect plan of grace brings snickering ridicule from some and outright verbal abuse from many others in the social media and from print and electronic media pundits.

The writer of Hebrews declares the world unworthy of God’s faithful ones, who sometimes have to find safe haven in caves and holes as they complete their earthly missions. Their mission is their life, and whatever they have to endure on earth, the mission and the eternal reward is worth it all.

Those Old Testament believers lived and died without having actually received the promised real estate and without having actually seen the eternal Savior. They knew the promise, though, and they knew the atonement of the Savior; and by believing God in these matters, they received the same salvation as we receive. They couldn’t receive the promise in the dispensation of Israel, because the Church was yet to be born, and the fulfillment of the promise is in Jesus’ complete work of atonement. That act was future to Israel and is now a past and permanent reality to the Church. Their fulfillment had to wait for our fulfillment. It is all part of the perfect grace plan of God. While we still don’t fully realize the eternal blessings to come, we know as they knew it is all worth every ounce of strength and faith we can muster to follow the Word of our God to the high ground of spiritual maturity.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

That cloud of witnesses is made up of those heroes of the faith in chapter 11. They are our examples and inspiration. The thing that hinders us in the Christian journey is our own sin, not the world. We must unentangle ourselves from the sin and continue on with motivation, preparation and endurance; keep moving, don’t dwell on the sins and personal issues; don’t be distracted by the world; don’t look back; move on with Bible doctrine and prayer and confidence in the perfect provision of God.

Jesus is our beacon. He is the author of our faith, the provider of our salvation. He endured the utmost shame of the cross for you and me, and it gave Him great joy to be able to accomplish that for us. The joy was greater than the shame. He is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. The place of highest honor.

Our salvation is His great pleasure.

Leaving the Elementary Doctrine

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,  and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Hebrews 6:1-2

These Hebrew believers had been born Jews and raised in the ritual religion of the Mosaic Law. They were now Church. Jesus had ascended to heaven over 30 years prior to this writing. The temple had not yet been destroyed. These Jews had heard and believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. They had had ample time to become well versed in basic Bible doctrine, and in fact should now be evangelizing others, and discipling them in the Christian Way of Life. Apparently, though, they were stagnating at the point of salvation. The more advanced doctrines had been presented to them, but they really weren’t motivated to learn those truths and techniques of Christianity. They just wanted to keep hearing the gospel and basking in its sweetness and comfort.

They’d been taught repeatedly that human works are dead in God’s plan of grace, and that faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation. They knew by now that the ritual washings and laying on of hands in their former religion was not the same as Holy Spirit leadership. They knew that Holy Spirit baptism at the point of faith in Christ identified them forever with the plan of God, and that water baptism demonstrated that identification. They fully understood that those who have eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ will be resurrected unto life and those who die in their sins will be recipients of the second death, subject to eternal judgment because of their unbelief.

These all are foundational truths; basic doctrines of Christianity. A builder doesn’t keep building a foundation. Once the foundation is laid, he begins to build the edifice, or raised structure. It’s called going on to maturity. Doctrine is built upon doctrine. Precept upon precept. We learn the alphabet before we learn words; but once the abc’s are learned, and words are learned, we begin to read and write sentences and paragraphs.

I cannot move on from this foundational statement without pointing out that the thing the new believer repents is DEAD WORKS! I have never seen in the Bible the phrase “repent of your sins.” Repentance is a change of mental attitude. It is an about-face. One changes one’s mind about one’s works, realizing they cannot save. One begins to see human works from God’s perspective: something actually worthless to Him. Only HIS work is acceptable for eternal life. What we do about our sins is we realize we are sinners who do commit sins and that Jesus paid for each and every one of them on the cross, so we are no longer under the burden of the debt of our sins. What we repent (change our attitude about) is our self-righteous arrogance that thought we could do something to gain favor from God. We repent (change our attitude) toward Jesus Christ by finally acknowledging His Finished Work, and its complete atonement for our lifetime of sins. 

  

And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.  Hebrews 6:3-6

The writer prays that he’ll be allowed enough time to straighten out these stunted believers and get them on the path to spiritual maturity. He knows they are saved and eternally secure IN CHRIST.  They don’t need to go back to the salvation experience of repentance. Actually, they cannot go back again to a lost condition. They are sealed with the Holy Spirit, and if it were possible to return to the former unsaved state, there would be no way to restore them. Jesus’ atonement is a once-for-all-time provision. In some Christian denominations, this is something the congregations falsely practice. If they know they’ve sinned, or if they no longer “feel” saved, they try to be saved over and over again. They have no concept of eternal security IN CHRIST (positional truth), and one cannot grow up beyond that infantile stage of uncertainty. The beginning of Christian growth is complete assurance that one belongs forever to the family of God, because one is forever indwelt by the Holy Spirit as a member of the Body of Christ. Repeat: if you reject the doctrine of eternal security of the believer, you will not grow up. God disciplines His own, He does not disown His own. What we believers do about our sins is we confess (admit) them, privately, to God the Father through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ (I John 1: 7-9). God forgives, God cleanses. We are now clean, alert and prepared to learn.

For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Hebrews 6:7-8

Only a believer in Jesus Christ is capable of producing a crop from the watered land (cultivated soul). Such a productive believer is greatly blessed by God. Bible Doctrine in itself is an unspeakable blessing! Nonproductive souls bear thorns and thistles (unhappy, confused, whiney, immature, argumentative, pain-in-the-neck believers who constantly seek assurance, but refuse to relax and believe the Word of God). Their works are worthless, because they are produced by human good, to gain points with God. Those works will be burned at the Judgment Seat of Christ, though the believer is forever in union with Christ. Human works are anything an unbeliever can do. If an unbeliever can do it, it is not the Christian way of life, and it is not rewardable. Look around you. Think about it. 

I Corinthians 3:11-13

Human works produced by spiritually stunted believers = wood, hay and stubble. 

God Controls the Weather

Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Genesis 19:24 “Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.”

Exodus 9:23-26 “Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.”

Exodus 14:21 “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.”

Deuteronomy 11:17 “then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.”

Deuteronomy 28:23 “The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.”

Deuteronomy 28:23 “And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron.”

Joshua 10:11 “And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.”

I Kings 17:1 “Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

James 5:17-18 “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”

Judges 6:36-40 ‘Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.  Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.’

I Kings 8:35-36 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them,  then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.”

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Amos 4:7 “I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither…”

Luke 8:24-25 ‘And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.  He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?’

Matthew 8:24-26 ‘And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.’

Isaiah 55:10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater…”

Psalm 107:25-29 “For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits' end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed”

Psalm 135:6-7 “Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.”

Psalm 147:15-18 “He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;

who can stand before his cold He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

Psalm 148:8 “fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!”

Job 37:10-13 “By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning.
They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them
on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction or for his land
or for love, he causes it to happen.” (see also whole chapter)

Job 38:22-27 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?
What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land where no man is,
on the desert in which there is no man, to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground sprout with grass?” (see also whole chapter)

Leviticus 26:3-4 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” 14-15 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 19-20”… I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.” (see also whole chapter. This chapter specifies the five cycles of divine discipline on a nation which dishonors God.)

Our Better High Priest

For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. Hebrews 5:1-4

In the Jewish religious system, under the law of Moses, there had to be mediators between God and His people. Priests were appointed for this duty. The high priest performed the sacrifice of atonement and his rituals and decisions superseded all other priests in the hierarchy. Even he was limited, however, because he was only a man. He could empathize with the ordinary human, born with an old sin nature, since he had one of his own. Being only human, he could understand that they were ignorant of God’s character and that they were often out of fellowship with Him. Also, because of his human weakness, he had to offer sacrifices for his own sins first, and then for the people he represented. These men were appointed by God Himself, as Aaron had been, to represent God’s authority. They did not appoint themselves.

Jesus, also, was not self-appointed. Hebrews 5:5-6:

So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

On the day of Jesus’ entrance into the human race, the Father appointed Him our high priest forever. His high priesthood does not depend on any approval from any man or group of men. He is of the order of Melchizedek. Genealogy is not a factor in the priesthood of Melchizedek, or Jesus. Both of their priesthoods are outside the realm of the Mosaic Law. Melchizedek predated the law, and Jesus both fulfilled the law and transcends the law forever. 

Christ was fully qualified to be a high priest because He was: (1) divinely chosen by God the Father, 5; (2) divinely appointed to be an eternal High Priest of the order of Melchizedek, 6; (3) a true man with a genuinely human nature while He was on earth, therefore able to represent men, 7a; (4) the actual sacrifice or offering for sin, facing death for sinners, 7b; (5) the final victor over sin and death in His resurrection, 7c; (6) the perfect substitute for man and his sin in that Christ’s sufferings taught Him the full obedience necessary for His redemptive work, 8. As a result of His perfect qualifications, He became the source of eternal salvation, not a mere covering for sin (as did the Aaronic high priest’s sacrifice). His salvation is eternal because His status as a priest is eternal – after the order of Melchizedek (see Heb 7), 9-10. [ Unger, Merrill F.; Unger, Merrill F. F. (2005-04-01). The New Unger's Bible Handbook (Kindle Locations 18003-18009). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.] 

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:7-10

God the Son, having the same essence (character) as God the Father and the Holy Spirit, willingly laid aside His eternal glory and became a man. He suffered the humiliation of the flesh and learned obedience thereby. He became perfect, complete, mature in His true humanity. He didn’t need to make atonement for Himself, since he had no Old Sin Nature and had committed no personal sins. He knew the torment and spiritual death that awaited Him on the cross, so in anticipation of that He cried out to the Father in His garden prayer; then He cried out in agony of separation from the Father and Holy Spirit on the cross, while He bore in His body our sins. In His sufferings, He became matured and was qualified to serve as our Savior and High Priest. His priesthood and our salvation are forever. Much better than an earthly high priest, who both sins and dies.

"...there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time." I Timothy 2:5-6


About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:11-14

The writer of Hebrews wanted to explain in more detail about Jesus’ eternal high priesthood, but he realized that the believers to whom he was writing had become lazy and disinterested in such advanced doctrines. By this stage in their Christian walk, they should have been teaching others, but before they could advance they themselves would have to have a refresher course in Basic Bible Doctrine. They were subsisting on milk (Jesus died for me; that’s all I need to know) when they should be feasting on meat and potatoes. The advanced doctrines are for mature believers, who have learned and categorized the Essence of God (Who and What He is), Eternal Security of the Believer (God’s work is complete-there is nothing to add), and Faith Rest (His perfect provision for us in all circumstances), as well as other basic doctrines of the faith upon which we build our spiritual life and grow up in grace. Doctrine is built on doctrine. As long as we live, we must learn.

The mature, he says, are trained through constant practice (daily Bible class) to discern good and evil. There exists good that is not divine good, but actually evil in disguise. Human good is no good. It takes some spiritual maturity to recognize the counterfeit. There is evil which presents itself as good, to entice the foolishly ignorant into waywardness and out of fellowship with God. There are believers who are spiritual babies after 50 years of faith, because they do not wish to be bothered with learning the intricacies of God’s perfect plan. They not only cannot teach others, they aren’t equipped to move on any further into maturity until they relearn the basic principles of the oracles of God.

Those who are growing in grace do not need to be evangelized anew every time the Church meets. They need to be learning solid doctrine to teach others and help them on their spiritual journey to maturity in the faith. We are the evangelists of the Church Age. One cannot teach what one does not know.

Christian Way of Life

In Hebrews 4:9-16 we have an overview of the characteristics of the Christian life. There are seven characteristics, beginning with  #1 Faith. Hebrews 4:9-10:

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,  for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Having believed in Jesus Christ, we are born again and are forever IN HIM. We are co-heirs in His eternal glory. We understand that since His work of creation and atonement is complete, there is nothing more for Him to do and nothing for us to do, regarding our salvation. Faith means total trust in His finished work; total rest in His perfect provision. Moment-by-moment Sabbath as members of His Royal Family. So, faith is our entrance into the Christian life (rest), and it also sustains our Christian life, for the duration of our time on earth. We’ve seen, though, that being a born-again believer in Jesus Christ does not guarantee one will enter His rest. Some believers have short attention spans, negative volition to Bible doctrine and almost no trust in the faithfulness of God. Therefore, one can be a Christian by way of the new birth, but not be living the Christian Way of Life. Such a believer lacks Diligence, which is characteristic #2 of the Christian Way of Life, Hebrews 4:11:

Let us therefore strive (be diligent; consistently determined) to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Our diligence to enter into God’s rest is dependent upon characteristic #3 which is Knowledge of the Word of God, Hebrews 4:12:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart
.

It’s very simple. The more we know of God’s Word, the more we know of God. The Word is alive. It has a life and a will that expresses the very mind of God Himself. The Word was with God in the beginning. The Word was and is God. Logos: the expression of the thoughts of God. There is no greater authority in the universe. People who study the Bible with an open mind and a willingness to know God’s will WILL be changed in their thinking, because they will soon see God’s revelation of Himself.

The Word is sharper than the greatest weapon of the Roman Empire, the two-edged sword. They conquered nations with that sword, because it was the most efficient weapon that had ever been devised by man. It was sharp, well-balanced and easy to maneuver in battle. It always got the job done with the least effort on the part of the soldier.

That sharp, efficient, well-balanced Word cuts into the entire being of man, showing the difference between soul and spirit (they are not the same), exposing the workings of the body parts, and discerning our very innermost thoughts and intentions within our minds. We can often fool other people. We can sometimes fool ourselves, regarding our personal beliefs and standards. We can never fool God, and His Word clearly demonstrates that, as we learn it. Learning about ourselves from the Bible is the beginning of our humility.

That is the supernatural power of the Word of God. Those of us who came to Christ as adults are more keenly aware of this, I think, because we thought we were someone we were not, until the Word of God exposed our real selves and showed us the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Christians we are under Divine Inspection, characteristic #4, Hebrews 4:13:

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account

Whatever we think we are hiding, we are not hiding anything from God. His omniscience knows everything we have ever thought or done and ever will think or do. It’s best to simply acknowledge to God what we know about ourselves, because He knows us and loves us anyway, and will discipline us where and when that is needed.

Characteristic #5 of the Christian Way of Life, Hebrews 4:14, Witnessing:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Jesus, our high priest, has already gone to heaven. He is the first human to be received there. We know Him and what He did in atonement and what He does for us by way of intercession. We have a testimony to the world regarding this Savior. The world needs our witness. We must hold it fast, and never fail to share with those who are dying in their sins. It’s our job.

Characteristic # 6, Hebrews 4:15, Testing:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

He knows our frame, and He knows our circumstances. He not only knows by observation, but He has been through the same fires of testing that we undergo every day. He earned highest honor by submitting to humiliation. We will be and are being humiliated in our lives, and our high priest is making intercession for us as One who KNOWS.

Characteristic # 7 of the Christian Way of Life, Hebrews 4:16, Prayer:

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Our honor. Our privilege. Our responsibility. We must never neglect to pray for our loved ones, our neighbors, our nation, our witness, our own needs, our thanksgiving for God’s grace, and our enemies. As long as they are breathing, there is hope for their salvation, or the carnal believers’ readjustment of attitude. We can’t change them, but God is in charge of our and their circumstances. He’s listening. Take it to the throne of grace. Who better to ask for help than the Lord of the universe?