Christ, Our Merciful High Priest

All of us know over the last couple of months we've been able to observe the Passover.

We've had the Days of Unleavened Bread in the Festival of Pentecost.

All of those are Holy Days that occur, of course, early in the year.

And now we have several months, as Mr. Erbom was talking about.

Here during the summer we don't directly have Holy Days. We have Sabbath every week.

But until we get to the fall, until we get into the time of this year, it's mostly in the late part of September, we don't come across Holy Days as we look into these next few months.

And so I was looking, you know, what could we follow up?

We've had a great deal of benefit, I think, from observing the earliest festivals in the year.

I was looking at the Book of Hebrews and reading, again, this book.

And the Book of Hebrews really is in a remarkable letter, as you can see from the name of the book.

It's a remarkable letter that's directed to the segment of the church who were very familiar with the law and with the Old Testament and with the Sabbath and with the Holy Days and even with circumcision.

It was basically directed to individuals who had come into the church and who, in essence, had come out of a Jewish background.

Of course, you know, that was the composition of the church initially.

And then God would later add, or very quickly in many cases, had others who were Gentile or non-Jewish members of the church as well.

And that's, in essence, in a sense, the overview of this Book of Hebrews.

Now, when you read through the book, it's very clear that it's talking about the high priest of Jesus Christ. The fact that he is the head of the church, he is the one who is our high priest, he's now at the right hand of God, he is the Son of God. And, of course, he was proclaiming that, as I believe Paul was writing, I believe Paul would be the author, or at least that's thought by most, that that would be the case. Certainly, it follows in line with what Paul writes throughout the books of the New Testament, the many other books that he wrote. And yet, it focuses on Christ as our merciful high priest, the value that he plays for each of us, and how it is that that is to be, in some ways, our focus. We want to always focus on Jesus Christ, and this is what Paul was actually telling, in a sense, the Jewish Christians. Be sure that you focus on that. And also, you find very clearly written about the better covenant, the New Covenant, and how that there was a spiritual dimension that set apart the Church of God, a New Covenant, not simply what we read in the Old, but a New Covenant that was a better covenant. Now, I want to begin here by looking at chapter 1 and chapter 2, because they, in a sense, lay a groundwork. Amazingly, Paul begins this letter with an explanation of how superior Jesus was to any of the angels, to Moses, who these Jewish Christians had highly regarded and highly respected. And, of course, we respect Moses as well, but not higher than Jesus Christ. But Paul writes this in lifting up Jesus as the Son of God, and that he was far superior to any angel or to Moses, or even to even sections of the law that had been passed on and that they were very familiar with. Here in Hebrews 1, it says, long ago, God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets.

That's what we read about in the Old Testament. We read about God giving instructions. Sometimes, it appears that at times angels were involved in sending messages clearly and dealing with Daniel.

There were different angels who were sent as servants or messengers.

And so it starts here by saying in the past that had been the case, but in these last days, God has spoken to us by a Son whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He also created the worlds. He is the reflection, talking about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the reflection of God's glory, and the express imprint of God's very being. He sustains all things by His powerful Word. When He had made purification for sin, He sat down at the right hand of the Father, right hand of majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs. And so clearly, you know, He starts out proclaiming Jesus Christ as He's going to mention later the ultimate high priest.

And yet He uses pretty much the rest of this chapter one. He uses this quoting numerous Old Testament verses, some out of the Psalms, some out of other parts of the Bible.

And pointing out how that, well, God never gave to the angels any of the same type of credit that He gives to the Son. And so clearly, you know, He was exalting the Son of God.

And He would say in verse 14, are not all angels spirits in the divine service sent to serve for the sake of those who are the heirs of salvation. He was pointing out that, you know, we have as members of the Church of God today an incredible blessing.

Church of God at that time and the Church of God today, as we read this and apply it to us, we have the incredible blessing of knowing that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He's our high priest.

He's clearly the Son of God. He's above any angel. He's above, you know, anything on earth that, you know, He and the Father together are, you know, the eternal beings who are our Creator.

And here in chapter 2, I think, again, it's interesting to see that Paul focuses on the incredible purpose that God has for mankind. He's saying in chapter 2 that Jesus didn't come to save angels. He came to save mankind. He came and He became a human being so that He would be a sacrifice for men. And so here in chapter 2, beginning in verse 5, now God did not subject the coming world about which we're speaking to angels, but someone has testified saying, David, as you see him quoting here in Psalm 8, someone has testified saying, what are human beings? That you are mindful of them.

A immortal said, you care for them. See, actually, this is an explanation of what God's purpose for man is. But how, as David would think about it, and as you read Psalm 8, if you read that, you see, he says, I look up at the heavens. I look at the sun. I soon to see the moon, the stars.

And I'm just amazed at the importance that God places on human beings. We're pretty limited.

We're just physical beings, but God has such a future. He has such an intent for us.

So in verse 7, it says, you have made them a little lower than the angels. You have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things unto their feet. This was, again, a quote out of Psalm chapter 8.

Now, he says in the latter part of verse 8, in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control as it is. We do not yet see everything, or as it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to man.

See, that's, you know, even though we have a potential, even though we have the hope of eternal life, even though we desire to be a part of God's divine family, that's, that's, we're still in the growth process. We're still developing to that ultimate end. But he says, we do see Jesus in verse 9, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

It was, in verse 10, fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, in bringing many sons to glory. That is what is being proclaimed here, and of course Paul writes about that in numerous different of his letters. He talks about being glorified as Christ is glorified. He talks about having Christ in you. He talks about having the mind of Christ. He says here, we see Jesus who has been crowned and is a pioneer of our salvation.

In verse 10, it is fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. And so, you know, we often talk about, you know, what is the purpose of human life? You know, what reason does God have for placing people on earth? Well, he wants us to become a part of his family. He wants us to develop and grow.

He wants us to, you know, live our lives in connection with him. He wants us to be changing. He wants us to be growing. He wants us ultimately to take on an entirely different nature, a nature that Peter calls the divine nature, a nature that is different than men, different than the nature that we start up with. The contrast you see in Romans is carnal nature, human nature, and a divine nature, the nature of God that we again see described when you read about the Holy Spirit and what the fruit of the Holy Spirit shows.

See, that's what we want to become like. So here he points out that, you know, man's potential is to become a part of the family of God. To do that, you know, we are going to be growing. And here in chapter 3, in again support of what he was saying about how superior Jesus was in every way, not only to angels, but even to Moses. Where these Christians look to Moses in a lot of ways and maybe look to him more than they should, he says you've got to be able to rearrange that and focus on Jesus Christ.

In verse 3, he says, yeah, Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses just as the builder of the house is more honorable than the house itself. You know, that was again his theme for this entire book. And as I've said, he eventually points to Jesus as our great high priest. Now, I want to just kind of go through the book here and point out some of the guidelines because this is the reason for writing. But what are the guidelines that are given for our benefit as members of the church today?

See, obviously, you know, we are in a time that is completely different than 2,000 years ago. Certainly there was distress. Certainly there were limitations in people's lives at that time. But we live in a world that is, you know, people expanded around the globe, a population that continues to expand. We're all in need of the intervention of Jesus Christ to rescue the world. But what about those of us who are growing? Growing in the divine nature.

Well, what are the things that we are told? If we back up to chapter 2, I've got there are six different things here that I'll list. I'll try to keep them straight as far as number by number.

This is one that we have covered a few weeks ago or a couple of months ago, but I want to cover it again. Here in chapter 2, one of the guidelines that we're given is that we don't want to be neglectful. We won't want to be letting down in our Christian walk. And here in chapter 2, verse 1, he says, therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it. See, that again is just instruction that is given in order to help them, you know, stay not just drifting away, not being neglectful. So if the message declared through angels was valid and every transgression or disobedience received a just reward or penalty, how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? If it was declared at first through the Lord and then it was attested to us by those who heard him and God continued to testify by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. See, now, what is that guideline giving? Well, it's saying be sure to be, not to be neglectful, not allow ourselves to drift away. And see, sometimes, you know, that's whenever trials come, whenever tests come, as we struggle, as we suffer, as we labor, and even as we labor together with one another in different issues. If we don't have particular issues ourselves, then we may labor with others and be concerned about that, but we don't want that to cause us to drift or to neglect the incredible calling and salvation that God has given us. You know, we read in the Old Testament and they told, Moses told the children of Israel, when you come into the land and when everything is good and when, you know, God has given you many, many blessings, he says, don't forget God. Don't forget to keep our eyes on the one who is directing us toward his family. And even here in Galatians, chapter 6, I'll try to go to at least a few of these scriptures. There are others that perhaps we could use, but here in Galatians, chapter 6, kind of in the concluding part of this book that, of course, Paul was writing, he says in verse 7, don't be deceived, God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, then you'll reap corruption from the flesh.

But if you sow to the spirit, then you will reap eternal life from the spirit. So, Galatians 6, verse 7, and verse 8, talks about, in essence, we receive what we sow. But then he follows that up in verse 9, so let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time if we don't give up. And so that, of course, is excellent instruction for all of us, that regardless of what we may be going through now or what we have gone through in the past, you know, we have a blessedness of the calling of God. We have a privilege, and we don't know what God may require of us yet in the future. None of us know exactly what will happen in our lives. But we do know that God wants us, you know, to value the calling and blessing that we've been given. So, that's the first point that I think we could see as a guideline that is here in the book of Hebrews. If we go on to chapter 3, we see the second point. Chapter 3 of Hebrews, it talks about the Israelites and a failing, and I think we did mention this the other day, a failing that they had, which was hardening their heart. And it tells us not to harden our heart. Here in Hebrews chapter 3, again, just trying to cover what Paul wrote in this book overall, don't neglect, don't ignore what God has given us. But then here in chapter 3, if we drop down to verse 7, again talking about, you know, what had happened to the Israelites of old. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says in verse 7, today, if you hear my voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors put me to the test, though they had seen my works for 40 years. Therefore, I was angry with that generation and said, they shall not enter my rest. See, that was what they had experienced. They were familiar with that story. They knew what had happened. But Paul's encouraging them, don't allow, if we go through trials, if we go through difficulties and tests, don't allow that to harden your heart. Sometimes, I think we can, if you look back on maybe some of the things that you have been through, or as I look back through some of the things that I have gone through over a number of years, we don't want to allow the trials that we go through to harden us. Sometimes, we can almost get to the point to where we might blame God.

We might look at things in a very, you know, dissatisfied or unproductive way.

What he's telling us here, he says, don't allow your heart to be hardened. Realize, often trials allow you to have a more softened heart. They allow us to even realize how much we are in need of God, how much, how limited we are. Again, the number of verses that we could go to, let me continue here in chapter 3. In verse 12, it says, take care, brethren.

Hebrews 3 verse 12, take care, brethren, that none of you may have an evil unbelieving heart and turn away from the living God. So again, that's, you know, we've been drawn to the living God. We've been drawn to Jesus Christ, and, you know, he wants us, you know, to appreciate that calling.

But exhort one another every day as long as it's called today so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. See, again, he brings that in, of course, points out how that we've got to identify that. We've got to continually be growing and developing. And when you read about the Israelites, again, in Deuteronomy, you know, what did God require of them in Deuteronomy 10 verse 12 through 16? I'm not going to read that all, but you may want to read it later. What did God require? Well, he was saying they needed a different heart. They needed not the physical circumcision that they understood. At least they recognized that had been given to Abraham. It had been passed down to the people of Israel. But he says you really need circumcision of the heart. And here in Romans 2, you have that written as well.

In Romans chapter 2, here at the end of this verse or into the chapter, he says in verse 28, and this again is something that I think all of us who make up the Church of God today, we realize that, you know, we don't want to remain stubborn, as the Israelites were. That's what he said, that they didn't have the type of heart they needed. But here he describes what they need for a person.

This is Romans 2 verse 28. A person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something that is external and physical. But rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart. It is spiritual and not literal, and such a person receives praise not from others, but from God. The type of circumcision we seek is of a changed heart, a softened heart. And whenever you read that, you read about a broken spirit, a contrite heart. That's the type of heart that he wants us to have. So we want to exhort one another, you know, not to have a hardened heart, but, you know, to continue till the end of our journey, to the end of our development. And of course, for some of us, that will end in death.

And others, you know, maybe will live into the time when Christ returns. And that certainly also seems like a difficult time as well. So the second point is don't harden your heart. The third one, again, is in Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4, again, is continuing to talk about the Israelites and their, actually, their disobedience and their disbelief and the fact that they just simply didn't exercise faith. His third point is we want to guard against being disobedient.

Or disbelief, I guess, is the way it is described here in chapter 4 verse 1. Therefore, while the promise of entering the rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For indeed, the good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard didn't benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened. And so he describes this, Paul describes this, to the Christian church, to those who were familiar with what the Israelite world had been, and they understood that while we need to live by faith, if we drop down to verse 6, since therefore it remains open for some to enter the rest, those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of their disobedience.

And so, of course, he's encouraging us to be obedient, to live by faith, to be encouraged, and to be uplifted. If we drop down to verse 11, let us therefore make every effort, let us make every effort to enter the rest so that no one will fail or fall through such disobedience as theirs. See, clearly, you know, we want to be faithful. We don't want to be disbelieving. Disbelieving would actually come from thinking or knowing something, and yet rejecting that, or not having faith in what God reveals in his Word. So the third point is disobedience, or faithfulness, or faithlessness, excuse me, and disbelief. The fourth one we see written about here in chapter 5. Now, again, in a sense, this is almost written as a warning, but it just tells us the fourth point and guidance that we receive from Hebrews is that we don't want to be dull and understanding. We want to seek maturity. In essence, saying lack of maturity should be overcome. We want to yearn to draw close to God through Jesus Christ, who is our high priest. He's the one who can lift us up. He's the one who can stabilize us. He's the one who has everything to offer. You know, there's so many things you can say about Jesus Christ.

He has so many different, you know, descriptors. You know, he's the high priest, the Redeemer.

He's the Son of God. He's the Lamb of God. You know, you could go on and on about different descriptions that Jesus Christ is, but being the Good Shepherd, being a shepherd that is concerned about us, that's clearly one of what we see. And here in chapter 5 verse 11, Paul states about this we have much to say that is hard to explain. Since you have become dull in understanding, again, he was telling them, that's not what we want. That's not what I wish for you, but you have become dull of understanding, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant is unskilled in the word of righteousness, but solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil. So that's talking about as we continue to obey, as we continue to honor God, then we grow in understanding, we grow in being able to live our life in conformity with God's word. If we go on here in chapter 6, it actually follows up. Therefore, let us go on toward perfection. Go on toward a maturity. That's what God expects. You know, many of us have been a part of the Church of God for a number of years, and so we ought to be continuing to grow. We ought to be continuing to expand in our, not just knowledge, but our understanding of God's purpose for our lives and His reason for calling us today, because He does have an incredible reason.

So He says, go on to maturity, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ and not laying again the foundation. And then He lists several different teachings, repentance from dead works, faith toward God, instruction about baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment, and we will do this if God permits. For it's impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and had 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, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding Him up to contempt. See, that is obviously a strong warning that Paul was giving, but he was really emphasizing, I want you to grow. I want you to develop. I want you to be able to gain in understanding. But he says, I want you to build on the foundation that you've been given, the foundation that is Jesus Christ, but also a foundation that comes from the prophets and from the apostles as far as what they write or did write under God's direction in the word of God.

If we drop on down to verse 9, he kind of concludes this thought. He says, even though we speak in this way, beloved, we're confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation. See, actually, Paul was striving to be very encouraging.

He was trying to uplift them. He was trying to show how much they needed to focus on who it is that they could fully trust, which would be Jesus Christ. And he says, I'm confident that you will do this. In verse 10, for God is not unjust. He will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints as you still do. And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may become, so that you may not be sluggish. He kind of described it as dull and understanding earlier, but here he describes it as sluggish, not to be sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. He's actually building on this as he goes along. He talks about don't being neglectful, don't being hard-hearted, don't allow yourself to be unbelieving. And here he mentions how, that you want to be growing and maturing.

Finally, or not finally, number five, here in chapter 10, chapter 8 and 9, he's of course talking about the covenant and the changes that were to take place in that, the changes that were applicable to a spiritual understanding of the new covenant as opposed to the old. But here in chapter 10, he kind of concludes the section starting in verse 32. He tells them, I want you to be prepared to run the race to the very end. You don't know how far that is. You know, we don't want to be a sprinter. We don't want to be a hundred-yard, used to be a hundred-yard dash. I guess it's a hundred-meter dash today, at least back in the days when I was at least aware of track and field. It was a hundred yards and two hundred yards and four hundred yards. And I guess that's what it is today.

It was different at that time. And it is, you know, you have short distance runners and then you have the milers or the two milers or the marathon running. You know, we've got to be ready for the marathon. We've got to be aware that we don't know how long we may be asked to persevere.

So here in chapter 10, he says in verse 32, we recall these earlier days when after you were enlightened and you endured a hard struggle with suffering, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, sometimes being partners with them so treated, for you had compassion on those who were in prison and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions knowing that you yourselves possess something better and more lasting. He says you see the goal in front of you. You see what God holds out. You see what the purpose of God is. You see what God, when he talks about being enlightened, you know, that was through the coming of the Holy Spirit. That was through the gift from God, not something of our own, but through God's gift. And so he says knowing you yourself possess something better and more lasting. In verse 34 and 35, do not therefore abandon that confidence of yours because it brings a great reward for you need endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what has been promised. See, when God draws us to be a part of his church, he draws us to Jesus Christ as we know in John 6 44. He tells us that, you know, we have been granted a blessing, granted a communion with God and that of course is through Jesus Christ. But he tells us we need to be prepared to endure. And of course, I think all of us are aware of Matthew 24 verse 13.

Matthew 24 verse 13, the one who endures unto the end is the one who would be saved.

Again, that's a very well-known verse. It talks about how it is, you know, that we're to be doing our job, we're to be proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, we are to be teaching and preaching, until you can't do that anymore. We don't know how long that might be, but it is a part of all of us.

As far as a mindset, we have to have a mindset that is ready to persevere, ready to persevere throughout our lifetime. And so that was the fifth point, the fifth guideline that Paul gives here is to persevere. We've been called to endure, called to be a marathon runner in that sense. And then finally, you see in chapter 12, kind of an admonition to, you know, draw close to God and to appreciate the involvement of Jesus Christ in our lives.

He tells us to pay attention to our high priest. Of course, he's mentioned this throughout the book, that we've not read all those verses. But he says here in chapter 12, and starting kind of in verse 18, he says, you have been brought, you have been brought to a relationship with God, that is through Jesus Christ. You have been encouraged, you have been blessed, you have even endured affliction. But he goes on to describe, you've not been brought to some physical thing.

You've not been brought to, and then he describes, several different verses, blazing fire, smoking mountains. But he says in verse 22, you have come to Mount Zion. You have come to the city of the living God. You have come to the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to the innumerable angels in festival gathering. And you'll come to the assembly of the firstborn, who are enthroned in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect.

Here he's telling them, you've been brought into a church of God, the assembly of the firstborn.

The firstborn is a description that you have for people who make up the church that God is growing, causing to grow and develop, looking forward to his kingdom. He says, you've been brought to that glorious closeness to God, and in verse 24, to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkling blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

And then he says in verse 25, see that you do not refuse the one who is speaking.

For if they didn't escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven? This was just his way of encouraging them to keep your eyes on Jesus Christ. He's the one who makes up, you know, the, not only the sacrifice for our sins, but is leading us as the pioneer of our salvation, leading us to eternal life. See, that you don't refuse the one who is speaking. For if you do not escape those who refuse the one who warned them on earth, how much more will you escape if you reject the one who warns from heaven? At this time, in verse 26, his voice shook, or at that time, excuse me, at that time his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised once more, I'm going to shake not only the earth, but also the heavens. Yet once more indicates the removal of what is seen and what is created, and that we cannot be shaken, and what cannot be shaken will remain. Therefore, in verse, the latter verse here, in verse 28, therefore, therefore, let us, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

See, that's a type of kingdom that we seek. We don't seek the political coming and going of the whatever happens here in this country or around the world. We're not seeking any physical solution to things, but he says you're seeking and you're receiving a kingdom that will be absolutely solid. It will be unshaken, and that's what I called you to be a part of. Come to be a part of.

Let us give thanks by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence in all, for indeed our God is a consuming fire. That description, you know, goes through a lot of different things, but it's talking about having a close relationship with God within the framework of his church. And so we have an incredible blessing in this way. In chapter 13, he kind of wraps this up. He actually says in chapter 13 is a concluding chapter to the book of Hebrews, and he gives a number of one sentence or one verse declarations or admonishments or encouragement, and of course he says, you know, to uphold marriage, uphold the things that, you know, obviously can be torn down by others. It says to be able to be following, you know, the teachings from Christ. Christ, in verse 8, is the same yesterday and today and forever. He tells us in verse 10, we have, and of course he was making this statement in a contrast to those who had a background in Judaism and who worshipped at the temple or before the temple at the tabernacle. And they had, as we read in Exodus, an altar in many different things that God had given to show a physical representation of this is how, you know, you can approach God at that time. He says in verse 10, we have an altar, talking about as Christians, as people who have been brought to Jesus Christ, we have an altar from which those who officiate in the temple or the tabernacle have no right to eat.

He was encouraging them that you've been blessed with some incredible, not only information, but you've been blessed with the Spirit of God, to be able to have spiritual understanding, to be able to grow and to develop and to be able to take on a divine nature.

He says, what I'm holding out to you and what I'm encouraging you to follow is far different than what, you know, your fellow people in the community were doing. In a sense, if this was directed to the church in Jerusalem, which it might have been, because that's, of course, where many, whenever Paul came back to Jerusalem, you know, the whole city was guided by, you know, the Judaic form of activity, the Pharisees, Sadducees still there, still wanting to persecute Paul. And yet, if Paul's writing to people who have that kind of background, he says, realize you've got a far more impressive altar, an altar that we are able to come to the throne of God. We're able to do that. Maybe we should look here at Hebrews chapter 4, because here in chapter 4 he tells us, chapter 4, in talking about Jesus being the high priest, here in chapter 4 verse 14, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we don't have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has in every respect has been tested as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So that's the kind of altar that we approach.

We approach that altar when we bow our knees, when we pray to God, when we honor Him with our lives, with our responsiveness to Him. He's the one that we want to approach in that way.

So the sixth point there was just don't refuse the one who speaks. And of course, he points to the fact that they have been brought into a setting where they had a relationship with God. And another verse I might add to that over here in 1 Timothy chapter 1, or 1 Timothy chapter 3, excuse me, 1 Timothy chapter 3.

He's giving Timothy instruction on how to serve in the ministry and how he was to work toward helping others. And he gives different qualifications here in 1 Timothy chapter 3 for you know, either those in the ministry, those serving in as deacons. Here in verse 14, I hope to come to you soon. But I'm writing these instructions to you so that if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the bulwark of the truth. See, that's his description of what God has done in drawing us to be a part of the church of God today. And he says, you know, you've been made a part of the church of God. And so, you know, don't take that for granted. Don't take that lightly. Be grateful for the words that God has given us. And then strive to follow, strive to obey.

I want to close as we look at Hebrews 12, because as I've said, the focus of the whole book is on the high priesthood of Jesus Christ, but he gives these guidelines. And here in chapter 12, he says after we read the chapter that involves a number of people of faith, a number of those who have lived their lives faithfully, he says, therefore, in verse 1, since we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so closely clings to us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

Now, that's what all of us are encouraged to do. You know, we have that as a goal. We have that as a profession or a confession, different words that are used here in the Bible. We have that as a responsibility. So let us run that race with patience or with perseverance. Verse 2, let us run with perseverance, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and the perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Does he consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners so that you may not grow weary or lose heart in your struggle against sin? You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood, and yet that's what Jesus was willing to do for us.

He tells us, you know, we want to look to him. He's able to empower us. He's able to help us.

He's able to uplift us. He's able to encourage us if we're down. You know, I think it's amazing when you read Psalm 23, you see, and David, of course, was talking about a relationship that he had with what he called his shepherd, and yet he said that shepherd would lead him and guide him and direct him, and yet it would also lift him up. It would restore my soul. You know, that was the thoughts that David had on a relationship with God, and in this case, our relationship with Jesus Christ is so very, very important. So here in Hebrews 12 verse 2, looking to Jesus, who is able and willing to help us succeed. I don't want us to grow weary. Like we said, you know, we have a number of months here during the summer before we will be getting into the fall and then concluding holy days that are later in the part of September, but I hope that, you know, we can be excited about what God is doing in our lives, that we can be thankful that he is working with us. He's forgiving, he's merciful, he's loving, he's kind, he's powerful to be able to help us not lose heart and not grow weary, but continue to be doing the type of good he wants us to do.