Category: Devotions

Saturday 20th

Hebrews 6:1-12

NIV (7-8) – ‘Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.’

ESV (7-8) – ‘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.’

The Hebrew writer in these verses has continued the theme for the importance of moving on from milk (the elementary doctrine of Christ v1) to the meat (maturity v1). He has then considered the state of those who once believed but

have fallen away, saying that they have crucified  once again the Son of God and holding him to contempt. (see also Hebrews 10:39) This leads to the verses we have for today which suggests that as those who have tasted or received Christ, we should be fruitful or productive in our Christian life. Receiving the rain is linked to our knowing the blessing of God, our hearts, our lives need to be cultivated once the seed of the Word of God has been planted, which in turn yields a harvest. The writer continues that we need to ‘show the same hope and earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end’ (v11). That is to persevere, the alternative is to be sluggish, this means, to be lazy or to procrastinate, put off or delay and this runs the risk of our lives becoming barren and unfruitful, bearing instead thorns and thistles which are worthless. In the context it could signify our desire to be content to stay on the milk and not progress spiritually with the meat, which would be spiritual laziness, therefore our lives / hearts  will not become cultivated sufficient to reap the full benefits of all the blessings that God has stored up ready to pour out as spiritual rain upon our lives. We have chosen to have a small vegetable patch in the garden, and already we are discovering we have to work at it to enable it to produce a harvest, and once we have started to sow and to plant it will require even more hard work, unless we are willing to do it, it will be just a worthless patch that will become taken over by the weeds. May our hearts never become a ‘worthless patch’ because we have been unwilling to cultivate the seed of the Word of God.

These verses are also  linked to the heroes of faith who through faith and patience inherit the promises, (v12b see also Hebrews 11:39-40) and we like them, that is the  heroes of faith, are called to persevere in the faith, as well as to progress or grow in the faith and it requires work, it requires discipline, it requires a determined effort to ensure that come what may we will take the meat, moving on from the basics to that which is needed to bring maturity.

One of the parables that Jesus gave was about the Sower and the seed, in it he described that the different soils represented the different conditions in which the human heart can be found, of the heart that is like the good soil, Jesus said, that after receiving the seed of the Word of God, some produced fruit thirty fold, some sixty fold, some a hundred fold, can I suggest that the deeper we allow the seed of the word of God to be planted into our lives the more fruitful we will be, and this means that the more we grow in the Word, the more fruitful we will be. To do this we need to move from the milk to the meat! Maybe the milk only produces the thirty-fold, the milk with a little meat the sixty-fold, the meat a hundred-fold, just maybe! Finally, it was Jesus again who said that a fruitless branch is worthless and only fit to be cut off and cast into a fire! May we be connected to the Word, that is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us who is now the Vine and also be fed by the living and powerful sap of the written Word so that our lives will be fruitful.

Friday 19^th

Hebrews 5:11-14

NIV (12) – ‘In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!’

ESV (12) – ‘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.’

As we move on in this chapter, we discover that the writer is wanting to say so much more about what has been written before, but he is concerned about the spiritual maturity of those he is writing to. He expresses his concern by saying that by this time, they have been believers for so long that they should now be able to teach the very things he is sharing with them, but sadly it was not the case, it had become necessary to go over again the basics of the Christian faith. He uses the phrase ‘You need milk, not solid food’, it doesn’t take a lot for us to work out what he means. Milk is for young children, solid food is for those who have advanced a bit further on in maturity, the weaning days are over, time to get something more solid. Paul used similar language when he wrote to the Church at Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 we read, ‘But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh’.

These verses are a reminder not only to those who the authors were writing to but us as well in that having come to a believing and trusting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we should grow and develop as believers. When we had each of our children, we did all we could for them to grow, develop and mature. We would have been extremely concerned if after a year or so one of them was still no different to what they looked like as they came into the world, and was still just wanting milk and showing no signs of beginning to form words, grasp hold of things and to show a sense of awareness. We expected them to move through the various stages into adulthood. Likewise this is the concern that the Hebrew writer is expressing here, the believers who perhaps should have been mature believers were still acting like babies, and it was a little like the children of Israel, going around in a circle and not getting anywhere.

The challenge to us from these verses is to examine our own spiritual lives and our own spiritual well-being and to see if we are growing, maturing and developing, are we grasping more than just the basics of the Christian faith, are we desiring to learn more, to understand more, or are we satisfied to remain as immature, babes in Christ? Knowing the basis elementary truths and not becoming skilled in the word of righteousness. (5:13)

It is apparent from Scripture that we need to know and we need to grow and we need to protect the faith. For example, let us just refer to a couple of Scriptures.

• Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ – 2 Peter 3:18
• Study to show yourself as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth – 2 Timothy 2:15
• Know enough to be able to give an answer – Galatians 4:6.
• Contend for the faith – Jude 3.
• Build yourself up in your most holy faith – Jude 20.
• It keeps us anchored – Ephesians 4:11-14.

One of the books I am reading at this moment is called ‘The faith once entrusted to the saints’ by Geoffrey W. Grogan (the title is based on Jude 3) and it is a book that challenges some of the important doctrinal subjects that are being disputed or denied today. I firmly believe that in this ever changing world and society that we are living in today that we need to move from the milk to the meat so that we will be able to stand against all the attacks that are coming against God and his Word.

Are you still enjoying the milk, that is good but what about moving onto the meat as well!

Thursday 18^th

Hebrews 5:1-10

NIV (v6) – ‘And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”’

ESV (v6) – ‘. . . as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”’

Where is ‘in another place’ referring to? It is a quotation from Psalm 110:4, ‘The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”’ It is quoted again later in this letter in chapters 6:20, 7:17 and 21. So who is this one called Melchizedek? It makes life easier for me if I reference the work that others have already done to enable us to understand who he was.

I quote first from R. Albert Mohler Jr:^*

‘The first mention of Melchizedek occurs in Genesis 14, when Moses describes Abram’s encounter with the man. Hebrews does not merely reference this encounter; it draws deep theological comparisons between Melchizedek and Jesus and informs how we understand Christ’s identity as our great high priest. In other words, to understand who Jesus is more fully, we must understand who Melchizedek is . . . he is identified as a king over the region of Salem and as a priest of “God Most High.” Surprisingly, he has a coalesced ministry as a king and priests which sets him apart from any other priest or king in Israel. While Melchizedek’s kingship is important, the author (in Hebrews) primarily develops the significance of Melchizedek’s priesthood and how it relates to Jesus.

Outside of Jesus and Melchizedek, Scripture identifies no one as both a king and priest. In fact, Israel markedly differentiated the roles of king and priest. No priest in the Old Testament could lawfully act as a king, and no king in the Old Testament could lawfully act as a priest . . .’

Earlier in the same commentary Mohler says:

‘Melchizedek appears and disappears quickly . . . What does it mean for Jesus priesthood to be “according to the order of Melchizedek”? While it is tempting to think that “according to the order” refers to a Melchizedekian line of priestly succession or that Jesus came from the outside of the tribe of Israel as Melchizedek did, this is not the case. There was no Melchizedekian line of priestly succession, and only someone from within Israel could fulfil the Davidic monarchy. Therefore, “according to the order” must mean that Jesus’s priesthood, like Melchizedek’s is born out of the sovereign purposes of God. The order-that is, the nature-of Jesus’s priesthood is of a sovereign order, a sovereign nature. Like Melchizedek, Jesus did not take the honour of priest upon himself; he was sovereignly appointed. And in his appointment and service as high priest, he was exalted above all others.’

^{* Christ – Centred Exposition. Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. CSB Commentary, BHPublishingGroup pp 99-100, 73-74}

The second I quote from is R. Kent Hughes^{^} who follows the same line of thought as the previous quote, but also says (and I don’t have room to copy all he says);

‘The big picture the writer (Hebrew’s author) wants us to see is that Jesus perfectly fulfils what was foreshadowed in the Genesis account of Melchizedek. Melchizedek’s character type regarding king, priest, righteousness, and peace was fulfilled to perfection in Christ. Melchizedek’s qualifications, being without genealogy and without beginning or end, prefigured Jesus who had no priestly genealogy or priestly term of service but was appointed by God and ministers eternally.’

^{^ Preaching the Word. Hebrews. An anchor for the Soul, Crossway.  p189}

So that is just a summary, to answer the question, who is this one called Melchizedek? But above all he points to Jesus, the one who we have the joy and privilege of knowing as our great high priest.

Wednesday 17^th

Hebrews 5:1-10

NIV (v9) – ‘. . . and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.’

ESV (v9) – ‘And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him . . .’

Our word today is ‘eternal’, and there are two ways in which we will consider it, the first is that Christ has become an eternal high priest and secondly the effects of what he has done for us are also eternal. Everything I am sharing this week dove tails into each devotion, there is a lot of overlap, and we come to a clear conclusion that everything that Christ has accomplished is for eternity. And why not, for the whole plan of redemption was designed in eternity past and thus must also be assumed to be designed to last for all eternity, this is evident in the teaching of Jesus, that he came to give life that was not only abundant but also eternal. And it is here in Hebrews that we have affirmation of the eternality of all that Christ has accomplished.

In our text ‘he became the source of eternal salvation’. (clarified as being ‘to all who obey him’) His priesthood is eternal, ‘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.”’ (Hebrews 5:5–6)

There is only one source for eternal life, and it is through our great high priest, Jesus himself. In John’s gospel we are reminded many times that whoever believes in the Son will have eternal life. John 3:16, John 4:13-14, John 5:21, John 6:40,51,68, 10:27-28, 11:25-26, 12:25, 20:30-31, and this eternal life means exactly what it says on the label, life that is eternal, endless in the presence of the triune God. Sadly, for those who refuse to believe they will be the recipients of eternal punishment, cut off forever from the presence of God.

How can this life be eternal? a) because as we are told in this verse it’s source is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the source of this eternal life began to flow at Calvary, he poured out his soul unto death so that those who believe and respond to the glorious message of the gospel may become recipients of eternal life. We already possess it. b) Because the effects of Christs atoning work are eternal, it was a once for all for all time sacrifice. It was effectual and therefore will never need to be repeated. ‘For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.’ Hebrews 10:14 ‘. . . he has perfected for all time’ means he has perfected for ever, for eternity, those who are being sanctified.

Finally, Jesus is our eternal high priest – this is good news, it means that when we come to Calvary we have come to a pair of safe hands. The day is never going to come where we will find that Jesus is sleeping in the boat as it were, while we are going through a storm, his work on earth is finished, he has ascended into the presence of his Father, he is sat at the right hand of the majesty on high and he is interceding 24/7 for you and me, and his high priestly work will never cease, for God has declared that he is a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

This will lead us tomorrows devotion, who on earth was Melchizedek. I better get looking into it . . .

Tuesday 16^th

Hebrews 5:1-10

NIV (v9-10) – ‘. . . and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.’

ESV (v9-10) – ‘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.’

Our word today is ‘effective’, another word is efficacy,  our great high priest is an effective high priest because he has made an effective sacrifice, we read later in Hebrews chapter 10 that Jesus came to do his Fathers will ‘Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”’ Going to the Cross was God’s will for him and afterwards it says in verse 10 ‘And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’ Then later in verse 14 ‘For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.’

The fact that the sacrifice Christ our high priest has made on our behalf was effective or sufficient means that we do not need anyone else to act as our go between, (we considered this last Thursday 11^th) and secondly it means that we can be assured of our eternal salvation, if I have committed my life to Jesus I AM saved. This means that the doctrines that the Roman Catholic Church teaches of confession, penance, indulgences, and purgatory are completely alien from what the Bible has to say. Christ HAS for sin atonement made, what a wonderful Saviour, we are redeemed! The price is paid! What a wonderful Saviour. Hebrews is very clear that no priest on earth has any power to take away sin, (Hebrews 10:11) but continues ‘But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.’ His single sacrifice for sins was sufficient, Jesus accomplished his mission, and it was an effective mission.

The effectiveness of Christ’s once for all sacrifice means that when we come in repentance to the Cross, our sin is dealt with, it is taken completely away, we are as we sing in the hymn, washed in the blood of the Lamb, we are both justified and sanctified and we enter into a new covenant relationship with God as our Father. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. Let’s remind ourselves of what Peter had to say on this matter, ‘knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.’ 1 Peter 1:18–21

Let us thank God for the effectiveness of Christ’s sacrifice, for as we also read in Hebrews ‘He ever lives to make intercession for us.’ Its effectiveness is for all of eternity which is where we continue tomorrow.

Monday 15^th

Hebrews 5:1-10

NIV (v8) – ‘Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.’

ESV (v8) – ‘Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.’

It is important that when we look to Jesus and see him as our great high priest that we not only see him for he who is and what he is doing, but also to see what he has done. Obviously, we look back and see what he has done in the great work of redemption, but out of this comes our word for today ‘example’. As our great high priest, he has left us an example that we should follow. We see this in the book of Philippians chapter two which I will quote in a moment.

In the verses 1-10 of this chapter we see he left us an example of prayer and of reverence to God as his Father – ‘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.’ (v7) Jesus although being both fully God and fully man still prayed! He often prayed, he prayed when he needed to make a big decision, (see Luke 6:12-16) he prayed before he had a busy day (Mark 1:35) and after he had had a busy day, (Mark 6:46) he prayed what we call the high priestly prayer in John 17 and he prayed that great prayer of total surrender to the will of his Father in the garden of Gethsemane. (Luke 22:42) It is from that prayer we see that he learned obedience, not that he had been disobedient in any way, but his obedience was wrapped up in his committing himself fully to the way of the Cross, to the will of his Father. For ourselves in following his example, we need to surrender our lives fully to the will of God, see Romans 12:1-2.  

Philippians 2:5-8 says ‘Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.’ Jesus was not only an example of obedience he was also an example of humility. He was willing to humble himself, become as we have seen already in Hebrews a little lower than the angels so that as a result he through his death and resurrection might lift fallen man up from out of the pit and lift us to the place where he has gone.

We have that great example of the humility of Jesus when he washed his disciples feet saying afterwards, ‘For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.’ Jn 13:15

Then we have the example in Jesus of what genuine love is all about ‘Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’  Ephesians 5:1–2

What an example to have, Jesus, the Son of God, but what an example to follow, may we learn from him, and may we follow his example. ‘So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.’ Philippians 2:1-3

Sunday 14^th

Hebrews 5:1-10

NIV (v2) – ‘He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.’

ESV (v2) – ‘He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.’

The text for today is expressing the necessary ability of every priest in the Old Testament to be able to represent the people and deal with the people because he himself knew the same weaknesses, we have already learned that because of what Jesus went through as a man, he is able as our great high priest to empathize with us in our weakness, we saw this in Hebrews 4:15 ‘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.’ and in Hebrews 2:17-18 ‘Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’

This should really encourage us and spur us on in our Christian life, we are not trying to make it on our own, we make it knowing that Jesus is interceding for us, he not only approaches God on our behalf but he comes alongside us, to help us, to carry us through.

I guess we have all been in a situation where someone has had a particular need and we feel helpless because we have not been in the same place to which they are found, it is always so much easier to enter into someone else’s experience if we have already been there ourselves. We can empathize with them because sometime in the past we had already been there. A typical example is a bereavement of a close family member such as a parent, it is not until we have lost a parent ourselves that we can truly know what someone else is going through when it happens to them.

I remember a very clear example, my mother died in November 2003 and less than two months later a lady in our Church at the time took ill and was taken into hospital, and I had a phone call from her son very early one Saturday morning to say that the hospital had rung to say she was dying, he asked if I would be willing to go over to the hospital. Now I was still feeling raw having only just lost my own mum, and so personally it was not an easy thing to do, but I wanted to be there for him and so went along and I sat there with him as his own mother passed away, but my own recent experience meant that at that very difficult time that he was going through I could empathize with him, I knew exactly how he was feeling because I had just been through the same.

This is exactly how it is with our great high priest, he has been where we are and he can empathize with us, he knows exactly how we are feeling and he is able to minister to us personally and minister for us in the presence of God.

This should encourage us, that even if we may have someone to turn to, we can still turn to Jesus, and even more importantly if we have no one to turn to, let us never forget we can always turn to Jesus, he is there in the presence of his Father on our behalf and for our behalf.

Over the next couple of days, I will continue to consider some various points concerning Jesus as our great high priest. Then as we continue through the book I will pick up on other points. As today we used a word beginning with the letter e (empathize) so will the other points. Example, Effective, Eternal.

Our verses tell us today that Jesus is where he is because he learned obedience, (v8 ‘Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.’) that is that he was willing to fulfil his Father’s will right down to the minutest of details, and that meant going to the Cross and surrendering his life on our behalf.

This leads to our second word for tomorrow and that our great high priest has left us an example to follow.

Saturday 13^th

Hebrews 4:14-16

NIV (v16) – ‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’

ESV (v16) – ‘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.’

We conclude our look at these verses in Hebrews 4, and today look at the words, ‘so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’

It is important to link these words within the context and I believe it takes us backward to the possible outcome in chapter two of neglecting the great salvation which we have heard about and received, (Hebrews 2:3) of the possibility of hearing the voice of God and yet of hardening our hearts, leading to the risk of falling away, (Hebrews 3:12) and of our need to strive to enter the promised rest, Hebrews 4:11 ‘Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.’ In its context, I think that the help we are seeking to get as we come to the throne of grace in Hebrews 4:16 is help that enables us to persevere in our Christian walk, for we have not been promised that everything will be a bed of roses, in fact if we go back to the commencement of Jesus earthly ministry and follow it through, he makes it very clear that discipleship costs, following Jesus will require us to daily take up our cross, it may mean having to suffer for the sake of the gospel, it may lead to being rejected by family and friends, it may lead to persecution and suffering, and we would never be able to persevere in our own strength, and thus we have this incredible verse that tells us that we can come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace to help in our time of need. The ones who would have received this letter originally were Jews who had received the gospel and yet were undergoing pressure to return back to Judaism, they were being hounded because of their faith and trust in the finished and complete work of Christ at Calvary, they were probably being ostracized because of their confidence in Christ as their eternal priest, under pressure to recant, to return to the old ways and they needed supernatural help, so the writer is telling them that the help they needed was available, because the priest that they had placed their trust in was standing at the throne of grace on their behalf to grant them the mercy and grace they needed in their time of need,  mercy and grace to enable them to stand firm and to keep their eyes firmly fixed upon Jesus the author and finisher of their faith.

One of the older hymns reminds us that at the Cross, ‘mercy there was great and grace was free’, and at the throne room, that same mercy and grace is still available to us, we commence our journey of faith as a result of mercy and grace and we continue and persevere by continually receiving that same mercy and grace. Remember when Paul was struggling with his thorn in the flesh, when he pleaded for it to be removed, the reply that the great high priest himself gave to him was ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Grace is sufficient to save us and to keep us, therefore let us continually and confidently go to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Grace sufficient, grace for me,

Grace for all who will believe—

We will stand on ev’ry promise of Your Word.

Friday 12^th

Hebrews 4:14-16

NIV (v16) – ‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’

ESV (v16) – ‘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.’

I ended yesterday’s devotion with the words of a song which I repeat here,

Now I approach the throne, and I have confidence,

Jesus, my great High Priest offered his blood and died.

Now I approach the throne, and I have confidence,

Jesus, my great High Priest, offered his blood and died.

Offered his blood and died, offered his blood, and died for me.

Because there is a man in heaven, the man Christ Jesus, we can draw near to the throne of grace with confidence. The KJV says ‘let us therefore come boldly’. How is it that we can come with confidence or boldly to the throne of grace? Paul puts it so well for us in his Ephesian letter and chapter two, where he reminds us that although we were dead in our trespasses and sin, and cut off from God and alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and without hope, God was rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, so rich that he sent his Son, and through the outworking of the Cross, the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ we have been saved, by grace through faith and taken from our position of lostness and hopelessness to a position of being found, saved, and reconciled to God. Whereas before our sins and iniquity had separated us from God, the blood of Christ has cleansed us and brought us near to God, whereas before we were enemies with God, the Cross in its redemptive power has brought peace between us and God and we are now friends of God, even more we have become his sons and daughters, he who was so far away from our thoughts has now become our heavenly Father, and we need not be afraid, but we can come boldly to the throne of grace. I mentioned a few weeks ago of the fact that when Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn from the top to the bottom, thus signifying that access was now available into the presence of God, Christ’s death removed the barriers, Christ’s death makes entrance to the throne of grace possible, Christ’s death brings hope in the midst of hopelessness, and life in place of death. Christ’s death led to his resurrection, his resurrection led to his ascension, his ascension led to his exaltation, he is in the throne room, he is there not only as the exalted Son of God who has been given a name which is above every other name, he is also there as our great high priest, repeating a verse from a couple of days ago, ‘Hebrews 5:5 ‘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.”’ We can come boldly to the throne of grace because Jesus our Saviour is there and he is there as our advocate, our great high priest.

Boldly we approach the throne of Grace. I started today with the verse of the older song, and we are familiar with the words of another older song, ‘Before the throne of God above, I have a strong, a perfect plea, a great high priest whose name is Love, who ever lives and pleads for me. My name is graven on his hands, my name is written on his heart, I know that while in heaven he stands no tongue can bid me thence depart.’

Tomorrow we will conclude our look at these verses.

Thursday 11^th

Hebrews 4:14-16

NIV (v15) – ‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as

we are—yet he did not sin.’

ESV (v15) – ‘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.’

As we continue to consider the fact that Jesus is standing in the presence of God as our great high priest, this verse links back to a verse we have already considered, Hebrews 2:18 ‘For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’ Jesus has already been where we are. Jesus does not stand in heaven aloof from us here on earth, he stands in heaven knowing exactly what we are faced with because he was faced with the same temptations, difficulties etc. as we are. The difference is he withstood every temptation, and when we fail, he understands, and he is willing to intercede for us. On the Cross he provided for us eternal redemption, on the throne he provides for us eternal advocacy, he ever lives to make intercession for us, ‘Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.’ (Hebrews 7:25) therefore as we remain ‘in Christ’ we are secure for eternity.

I don’t know about you, but I guess you will also say the same, I am glad that there is a man in heaven interceding for me, it is God’s one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of the world.

‘You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.’ 1 John 3:5

‘For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.’ Hebrews 7:26

Jesus was able to say in John 14:30 ‘I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me . . .’ ‘No claim’, because he was sinless and as a result, ‘. . . 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.’ 1Timothy 2:5

Jesus, my great High Priest, offered his blood and died

My guilty conscience seeks, no sacrifice beside.

His powerful blood did once atone,

And now it pleads before the throne;

To this dear Surety’s hand, will I commit my cause;

He answers and fulfils, His Father’s broken laws.

Behold my soul at freedom set;

My Surety paid, the dreadful debt;

Now I approach the throne, and I have confidence

Jesus, my great High Priest, offered his blood and died

Now I approach the throne, and I have confidence

Jesus, my great High Priest

Offered his blood and died for me.

My Advocate appears, for my defence on high;

The Father bows his ears and lays his thunder by.

Not all that hell or sin can say,

shall turn his heart, his love, away

Should all the hosts of death, and powers of hell unknown

Put their most dreadful forms of rage and mischief on,

I shall be safe, for Christ displays

His conquering power

and guardian grace;

Now I approach the throne, and I have confidence

Jesus, my great High Priest offered his blood and died

Now I approach the throne, and I have confidence

Jesus, my great High Priest, offered his blood and died, offered his blood and died, offered his blood and died for me.