Series on the Epistles of Paul (136) - Hebrews 4:1-16

Well, good evening, brethren. Today we're going to continue with our study on the Epistle to the Hebrews. And as we saw, Paul, the writer, establishes in first place the supremacy of Jesus Christ. He shows that Christ existed before creation. He created all things. He sustains all things. He became a human. He made purification for our sins. And these are things no angel could accomplish or do. Christ is the one through whom the Father will ultimately bring many sons to glory. And we are so privileged to have been called by God at this time to be His ones that will be the first ones that will be in His family. So we're very grateful for that. But that's why, for this very purpose, why Christ tasted death for us and He defeated Satan through this process. Now, Christ also shared, as He became flesh, Christ shared our human experience by going through sufferings and temptations and difficulties. And He overcame, and therefore He became our merciful, very merciful, very kind. And we're very grateful for His mercy and faithful High Priest. He is able to understand us, to represent us, to help us, and ultimately to save us. And therefore, this is the calling that we have to be in that family. And Paul in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 1 says, Therefore, holy brethren partake us of the heavenly calling. The Israelites, Paul in his explanation here shows that the Israelites had an earthly calling. They were called out of Egypt to go into the promised land. And we, as Christians today, we have a heavenly calling to leave the bondage, not of Egypt, but of sin. And to go to our promised land, which is ultimately to be in the kingdom of God. And therefore, that's why he says, therefore holy brethren partake us of this heavenly calling, consider, consider Jesus Christ. In other words, think carefully about who Christ is and what he's doing. And basically, he says, yeah, two important words about what he's doing and who he is. He says, he's the apostle and high priest of our confession.

The apostle basically points to the one that was sent by God to reveal his truth to us. And so it's a role emphasized in a direction from God through Christ to us. On the other side, he's a high priest. He is the one who represents us before God. And so that's a role that's from us through him to the Father. And so we see two important roles in two different directions. And therefore, he says he was faithful in God's house. And then he goes on to say that we are to become God's house. You know, that's very interesting. We have to become where God lives. In other words, God's tabernacle. Look at verse 6. He says, for but Christ as a son of Rizal Niles, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Whose house we are. And so we are that house that God is going to live in. We are the tabernacle of God. It's just an interesting connotation here. We've just completed observing the Feast of Tabernacles. But, you know, the house that God is going to dwell in now is us. It's not a physical tabernacle or building as it was at the time of the Israelites. And so we individually, we are the different tabernacles that God is living in us. So, you know, as we think of the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles, quite often we think, well, we live in temporary dwellings. Quite correct. But, you know, it's interesting that God is going to tabernacle with us. He knows He's going to live with us. He's going to live in us. So it's just an interesting, maybe additional depth to that possible meaning. But it's just an interesting point. But it says, the important qualification here is if we hold fast. That He says, yeah, if we hold fast. And He says, and all remaining firm to the end. So it's not enough to just begin this Christian life and this Christian walk. It really requires continuing to be faithful all the way to the end. And think about it, the analogy of Israel. Israel had been called. Israel had been delivered from Egypt. Israel had begun the journey. They had witnessed God's miracles. God's miracles. The sea opening up.

And various miracles throughout the plagues. God giving them food and water. But they did not finish the journey. And what was the fundamental problem? The fundamental problem was unbelief. You know, in Hebrews 3 verse 19, it says, so we see they could not enter in because of unbelief. You see, so we have a whole generation here of Israelites that was prevented from entering the promised land because of the unbelief. They began the journey, but they did not faithfully complete it.

Israel's experience under Moses, therefore, provides to you and I a very serious warning. A very serious warning. Because God's promises to Israel, they were not delivered to that generation because they failed to respond with faith and obedience. And the entire generation, therefore, was prevented from entering the promised land. Now, if Israel failed to enter God's rest, what does that mean for Christians today?

You know, in Hebrews 4, it says, now in chapter 4, we can see that God now turns this promise, this warning into a promise. Think about it. It was a warning. A warning for them that they didn't enter. Why? Because they did not believe. But to us, it's a promise that we need to keep in mind that we can achieve that rest. I want to emphasize the word rest because the word rest in Greek, is the word 2663 katapalsis.

So, throughout this section, this word is basically used katapalsis. And so, now in chapter 4, we see that this warning now is turned into a promise, because a promise remains to enter this rest katapalsis. Now, chapter 4 explains why Israel failed to enter the promise rest katapalsis. Why that promise remains open to us today? Then, in Hebrews 4, it also shows how the weekly Sabbath points toward this ultimate fulfillment. And why we must respond faithfully to God's word through obedience and perseverance. So, let's go into verse 1. Therefore, we read, yeah, since a promise remains of entering the rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. And so, we have a promise and a warning. And this is directly connected with the previous verse in Hebrews 3.19 that says they could not enter because of unbelief. You see, so there are three important principles here that emerge. The promise remains, God intended rest, and God's rest intended for these realites was not ended, was not exhausted by when Israel actually entered into Canaan. The Christians, we as Christians must take this promise very seriously, seriously, because it's a warning to us, not only to ancient Israel. And there's also a third principle, yeah, that there is a danger of falling short, of receiving God's calling, but that does not eliminate the need for us to remain faithful to the end. And that's why it says, let us fear. Let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. So, yeah, the expression, let us fear, calls for reverence, spiritual vigilance, and recognition of the seriousness of God's calling. Now, in verse 2 continues, for indeed the gospel was preached to us as well to them. You see, hearing is not enough. They heard the Israelites received good news concerning God's promises to go to the promised land. You and I also received the good news of entering his kingdom. But then it says, yeah, the gospels preached to us as well to them. But the war which they heard did not profit them.

So, the message did not benefit them.

Why? Because it says, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. That message was not mingled or united with trust, with strong belief and trust in God. And that trust and that faith and that hope is like an engine, a motivator, that helps us to remain faithful to the end. And so, hearing God's word, understanding his promises, or being associated with with these people, like the Israelites were, they heard God's word, they understood that they were going to the promised land, and they were associated with a number of his people, did not automatically produce the end result.

In this case to us, does not automatically produce salvation. You see, faith, trust, must result in a response of obedience. Look at Hebrews chapter 3, 18 and 19. You see, because we're ready in 19, they did not enter because of unbelief. But look at 18. 18 says, and to whom did they swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who did not obey. Can you see that? Obedience and unbelief are closely connected. We also know scriptures like James 2 17, that faith without words is dead. And if we just quickly glance to 1 Corinthians chapter 10.

Let's just quickly look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10. We're not going to read that whole section, but we're just going to glance through it from verse 1 through verse 12. And we see YHWH that is saying, Moreover brethren, I not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud and passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And then he goes on and they had that spiritual rock and that rock was Christ. But God was not well pleased with them.

We'll read that in verse 5. And they were scattered in the wilderness. And he says, these things are examples for us. And they did various sins. It describes his very sins. And he says, these are admonitions for us. Therefore, let him, verse 12, who thinks his stance, take heed, lest he fall. And so Israel's experiences are warnings for us. And so this is what Hebrews is saying the same thing.

We're going to look at their experience, their lack of faith and trust. It's a warning to us. You see, God gave Israel a promise and Israel failed through unbelief. Now, Israel's failure did not invalidate God's promise. Therefore, the promise still remains. You see, the constancy, the permanency of God's warnings implies the constancy or the permanency of God's promises.

Now continue now in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 3. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as he has said. Again, using that same Greek word, we, he says, do enter that rest, as he has said. For I swore in my wrath, thy shall not enter my rest. You see, so faith is essential.

Faith is absolutely essential to enter God's rest. You see, we will believe enter that rest. So we need to have faith and that faith, as we compared Hebrews 3, 18 and 19, is very connected with obedience. And so we see two points here about present and future. Present, you and I as Christians, we need to have faith in God's purpose and therefore obey and therefore have a relationship with God.

The future, you know, we're God's anti-type of the rest. So we have a rest today, but the anti-type, the reality of his promised rest for us is still right lies ahead. And so continuing now in verses 4 through 10, we're going to see that Paul traces this biblical promise of rest through several stages. It's important to understand and again this promise of rest that Paul is describing here is always using the same word. As I mentioned to you before, Greek 2663, kata pousas.

I'm sorry if my Greek is not very good, but in other words, it's that word all the time that he is using. And so in verses 4 through 10, Paul traces this biblical promise of rest through several stages. First, the stage of creation. Paul, God our be a part of, shows that in Hebrews he has shown that God rested on the seventh day, which is the original type of rest. The promise therefore originates not with Moses, but with creation itself.

Then we see Cayman, and we see that Israel subsequently entered the promised land under Joshua. This represents another form of rest, an anti-type. I quite often use the malleage of a layer of an onion. You know, you have the rest, the first rest represented by Satan. Then you have an additional rest represented by the promised land, like a second layer. But that is not the final anti-type, the final reality, the complete fulfillment of rest.

And we see then also, yeah, in verses 4 through 10, that Hebrews describes Yah, that long after Israel entered Cayman, Psalms are quoted of David, Psalm 95, showing that God was still saying through David, today, harden not your hearts. We will see that in verse 7 in a little while ahead. And therefore, Joshua's rest was also not the ultimate rest, because even David was saying, today, harden not your hearts.

If you will enter into it, if you'll hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. And then for us, God's people today, then in this section that I'm going to cover now from verse 4 to verse 10, then in verse 9 says, there remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God, or a rest for the people of God. The interesting, yeah, is that at this time the word rest is a completely different word than what the one that has all been used throughout this chapter and the previous chapter. And so it brings that contrast of Sabbatisms, which is very significant, which I'll go into a little later. So, looking at these verses, we have the logic is the following. God rested at creation. Israel was promised rest. Canaan provided a form of rest. David still spoke of a future opportunity to enter God's rest. And therefore, Canaan did not exhaust that promise of rest, because a greater still, greater rest, Sabbatismus, through the keeping of the Sabbath, still remains and points to God's people for a future rest. And so, yeah, we have a strong link, yeah, in verse 9, as we'll see a little later, that the weekly Sabbath observance still remains and is a type of our ultimate eternal rest. And so, let's cover the section here from verse 4 to verse 10. So, let's read verse 4. For he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way, and God rested the seventh day from all his works. And so, that is quoting, as you and I know, Genesis 2 verse 2. So, God's rest is not simply a reference to a geographical territory, because at creation was not a geographical territory. So, but on the other side, we can see God's rest is also not just freedom from physical labor or warfare or challenges. You see, God's rest is rooted according to Genesis 2 in God's own completed work and on his divine purpose. You see, so in Genesis 2 verse 2 and 3, we can see that he completed the work, he rested, and he blessed and sanctified the seventh day. And we also know in Exodus 20, which is the section of the Ten Commandments, we read in verse 8 through 11, that the weekly Sabbath is directly connected with the creation. So, we have with the weekly Sabbath a weekly reminder of God's rest and his ultimate purpose. Yeah, maybe many times we keep the Sabbath and we don't think about that, but we should be thinking about his ultimate purpose. It's important to understand that. Now, continuing in verse 5, and again in this place, they shall not enter my rest.

And so, therefore, the promised rest as a meaning beyond, one, the simple observers of a weekday, and two, the possession of a physical land, because the Sabbath points to a much greater anti-type, a much greater reality, which is eternal life in the kingdom of God. And now continuing in verses 6 and 7. Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience. Oh, look at a guy, the connection. Look at a guy in that connection. They did not enter because of disobedience. Remember, Hebrews chapter 3 verse 19, he says they could not enter because of unbelief. He says, so therefore now, again he says, yeah, again he designates a certain day saying in David, today after such a long time it has been said and now he quotes Psalm 95 verse 7 and 8. He says, today if you will enter, I'll be a part of it, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. So David, as you and I know, wrote these words centuries after Israel had entered Canaan and Joshua. And so, yeah, it's emphasized the continuing opportunity and responsibility for us, true Christians, to respond to God today. And Hebrews was referring to that which is applicable to us today as true Christians. And we continue now in verse 8, For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken of another day. Now, I've come across some people say, oh well, another day, therefore it's not the Sabbath but it means Sunday. No, that's really taking it out of context because Yahya implies another greater future rest purpose of this physical promised land. And so, indeed, Joshua did accomplish a great work. We have to admit he accomplished the great work. Just to briefly turn to a few two scriptures Yahya in Joshua. The first one is Joshua 11 verse 23. Joshua 11 verse 23. And now we read, So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had said to Moses, and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel, according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war. So there was a rest. There was a rest. And then also in chapter 21, Joshua chapter 21 verse 43 through 45. So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which he had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around. God was faithful. He gave them rest all around according to all that had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all of all their enemies stood against them. The Lord delivered all the enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of all of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel all came to pass. And so God's faithfulness in giving Israel the promised land, he fulfilled it. And he gave it to them rest as he had sworn. However, we need to look at a few comparisons here of rest under Joshua, and the greater rest that we have been promised through Christ into the kingdom of God. For instance, under Joshua, the rest was entrance into the physical canon. To us, it's entrance into God's ultimate promised inheritance to be in his family, to be in his kingdom. Rest under Joshua implied military victories.

To us, rest for us implies complete victory over sin and death.

Rest under Joshua implied peace but temporary peace, because we know that they disobeyed and had problems afterwards. But to us, the rest means lost in peace, peace of mind, and peace forever in God's kingdom.

Rest under Joshua showed, in a sense, Israel's incomplete faithfulness. Their faithfulness was not complete, but rest for us shows Christ's complete faithfulness. And another point is that the rest under Joshua was vulnerable to future disobedience. For us, eternal rest in God's kingdom is a completed purpose, and we'll obey and we'll have that rest forever. And so, to Joshua was disobedience, vulnerable was temporary. To us, he's permanent in God's kingdom. And so, we can see that Israel did not fully maintain possession of the land. We know that subsequent generations, they had problems, they had wars amongst themselves, they had conflict with other nations, they had oppression, and eventually they had exile. They were taken out of their own lands. And then we see, for instance, the period of Judges. The period of Judges illustrates time and time again how temporary their peace was.

But for us, Jesus Christ is the greater leader. In Hebrews chapter 2, verse 10, he is the captain of our salvation. He leads us, his people, towards an inheritance far greater than Canaan. And look at Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, the chapter of 5, the 5th for once, in verse 8 through 16. In verse 8 through 16, we can see Abram and that he dwelt in the land with a promise. And look at the verse 10, he waited for the city which has foundations which builder and maker is God. You see, Abram himself looked beyond the physical land to the city whose builder and maker is God. And so the key in summarizing this verse, verse 8 of Hebrews chapter 4, is that Joshua brought Israel, yes, into a temporary physical inheritance. But Jesus Christ leads us, God's people, towards a permanent eternal inheritance. Now let's continue with verse 9. It says, there remains therefore a rest for the people of God. Now I made reference to this verse early on, and this is one of the most significant passages in this chapter because it's particularly so regarding the Sabbath and its prophetic meaning. Because Yah, when it says therefore there remains a rest, the word used Yah is the Greek 4520 sabatismus. Whilst in the other sections of Hebrews 3 and 4, as I mentioned before, the word translated rest is kata-pousas Greek 2663, which is referring to rest or a place or a state of rest. But sabatismus is a term directly associated with Sabbath rest or Sabbath observance. And so Paul Yah is connecting God's rest to the seventh day of creation. The expression can appropriately be translated as Sabbath rest. This verse reinforces the continuing significance of the seventh day Sabbath for us today as God's people.

But it's also directed towards something much greater. It's directed to the ultimate rest that God has promised for us in the kingdom of God. And so the Sabbath is a picture of God's future rest. In other words, the Sabbath is both a memorial and a prophetic sign. A memorial of creation and a prophetic sign of the final ultimate completed spiritual creation. God's ultimate purpose in inheritance, that is the prophetic sign for you and I to be in the kingdom in the family of God.

There are other scriptures that reinforce this understanding. For instance, in Exodus 31 verses 13 through 17, it's a scripture we turn to quite often. You probably remember it off by heart that talks that Sabbath is a sign between God and His people. And then we have Revelation 20 verse 4 through 6 that talks about the millennium, the future reign in the kingdom for a thousand years. That it's a period of restoration and righteous government under Christ. And so that is, in the sense, another layer of this onion of rest. Because yes, the millennium will be a rest, but ultimately, ultimately, the big rest will be in the new heaven and new earth. You see, so Sabbath, therefore, directs your mind, directs my mind into directions, backwards as a memorial to physical creation and forwards as a prophetic sign to the fulfillment, to the final fulfillment of God's plan, the completion of His spiritual creation. When sin is all put away, death is put away, as it says in 1 Corinthians 15, and the whole kingdom is handed over to the Father. And so continuing now in verse 10, it says, For he who has entered his rest, as himself also ceased from his works, has gathered from his. And so, yeah, we have resting from one's works. Now, this verse has been interpreted in different ways. Now, one typical interpretation identifies this as entering rest, as Christ, whose redemptive work has been completed, but understand the salvation process is not fully completed yet. Individually, we still are in the sanctification process before glorification. But in the context here, if we read verses 9 and verse 11, which strongly emphasizes believers entering God's rest, in this context, this verse describes entering God's rest and seizing from our own labors, as God rested after creation. And so, the essential teaching, yeah, is that God's people are invited to share his complete rest. That's why it says, for he who has entered his rest, has himself will cease from works as God did from his. And you can see that's the duality of the Sabbath of a physical rest, but also of a spiritual greater rest to come as well. Now, let's move on to verse 11. And it says, let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest. We must be diligent to enter that rest. Why? Because we must not repeat Israel's mistake. We must labor diligently to enter God's rest. Or you may, some people say, labor diligently to enter rest. Is that a contradiction? No, it's not. Some might say, oh, is it an attempt to earn salvation through human effort? No, because it actually describes the active, persevering faith required of those who genuinely trust God. And Israel failed because of unbelief, which resulted in disobedience. And so, we see faith leads to obedience and leads to perseverance and leads to entrance into God's promised rest. Faith, obedience, perseverance, and entrance into God's promised rest. That's why we read in Revelation, it says, those that move with Christ are the called, chosen, and faithful. In other words, those that have persevered to the end, faithful to the end. There are other scriptures that back that up. For instance, Matthew 24 verse 13 says, those who endure to the end will be saved. So it requires perseverance enduring till the end to ultimately enter God's promised rest. Philippians 2 verse 12 and 13 says, we must work out our own salvation while recognize that God works in us. But we're going to do our part. We're going to do our part. Hebrews 10 verses 35 to 39 says, we must not cast away our confidence or draw back.

Revelation 14 verse 12 says that God's saints demonstrate patience, obedience, and faith. You see, so the key focus that we get from this is that genuine faith does not lead to spiritual complacency. It produces obedience, perseverance, and a determined commitment to God's calling. And so now the right eye of Hebrews in verse 12 explains further. Let's read, for the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper. So we have had the warnings about unbelief and disobedience. These we've seen must be taken seriously because why God's Word is living and powerful? It's not merely historical information or religious instruction. It is living, active, and capable of penetrating the deepest inner motives of the inner heart and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. Let's read the whole verse now. For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any to its sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and joins and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And so we can see I, this repeated warning, do not harden your hearts. We saw that in Psalm 95.8. We saw that in Hebrews 3 verse 8 in 3 verse 15 in 4 verse 7, do not harden your hearts. Why? Because God's Word is living and powerful. You see, Israel's old Israel problem, basic problem, was not a lack of information. Their problem was in the heart, was internal, and that was their problem. An unwillingness to believe and obey. And so God's Word exposes the same danger to us. That's why God's Word is living and powerful. Because it shows us that we have to be very careful about what's inside us in the heart. And so this entire discussion that the writer has gone through, is addressed, as the as depended upon the continuing authority of what God has spoken. You see, God spoke at creation. God spoke to Israel. God spoke through David, and he has now spoken to us through his son, as we read at the beginning of the book of Hebrews. Therefore, his word remains living and powerful.

It not only spans different eras of God's plan, but besides that, it penetrates the individual human heart. It exposes the very thoughts and intents that ultimately, if they are in the right direction, can produce faith, and if they're in the wrong direction, can produce unbelief. If they're in the right direction, they'll produce obedience. If they're in the wrong direction, they'll produce apostasy. And so continuing in verse 13. And there is no creature hidden from his sight.

You and I may not conceal our motives from God. We're not able to conceal or hide our motives from God. Nothing is hidden from God, or we may be able to hide them from other people, but not from God. God knows whether our faith is genuine, or merely an image, something outward. God sees whether we are humbly responding to his word, or we are gradually heartening our hearts.

And so we can see this warning that began in Hebrews chapter 3, verse 7. It says, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today, feel your voice do not harden your hearts as in your ability. So this warning that began in Hebrews 3 verse 7 and 8, the central question, therefore, is not simply whether we have heard God's word, but whether we are allowing it to change us.

And so that's why it says here in verse 13, there is no creature hidden from his side, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him of whom to whom we must give account. God can see it all, and we're going to have to give account to him. And now in the next three verses, we have in a sense, it's an introduction to the next key role of Jesus Christ as our high priest. But understand that it actually follows the introduction of Hebrews chapter 3 verse 1, because in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 1 says, therefore, holy brethren and partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.

And so if it follows that introduction, then the writer reminds us of this important warning that we must trust and obey. But then he comes back to some very encouraging comments, reminding us that you and I are not left to struggle alone. And so in verse 14 says, seeing that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Can you see how it ties into chapter 3 verse 1? It basically says it ties to what has God spoken to us, and we acknowledge and we have to believe that's our confession. And we've seen that from Hebrews chapter 3 through to 3 verse, to 4 verse 14 at this section, perseverance is emphasized as an essential characteristic of genuine faith. All the time we gotta remain faithful, persevere, persevere. It says hold fast the confidence in Hebrews 3 verse 6, and in Hebrews 4 verse 16, a big part, Hebrews 4 verse 14, let us hold fast our confession.

It's again this perseverance is emphasized, and it is an essential characteristic of genuine faith. Now, in verse 15, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. You see, so it's a very encouraging section as an introduction to the next chapters, because it's talking about the role of our high priest Christ, but he's saying he understands us. We're not alone. He understands our struggles, our weaknesses, our temptations, and shows that Christ's superiority over Moses and Joshua does not make him distant from us. Rada is uniquely qualified to help us, and he's close to us as our high priest.

And so in verse 16 says, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And so we can approach God's throne with confidence. In Hebrews 4, it began with the warning, let us fear. You know, it says in Hebrews 4 verse 1, since there's a promise, remains of entry is rest, let us fear. Now he concludes with the encouragement, saying, let us therefore come boldly. In verse 16, you see, these two, let's call it attitudes, complement one another.

We must take seriously the danger of unbelief and disobedience, but on the other side, we must also approach God confidently, knowing that through Christ we can receive mercy and help. You see, the solution to our spiritual weakness is not to abandon our calling, but the solution when we fail, when we feel, hey, I could have done better. What is the solution? Is to draw closer to God through Christ. And He will help us, and He will encourage us, because He wants us in the Kingdom. He wants you and I in the Kingdom, and therefore we must guard against the heart and heart.

Israel's example teaches us that privileges alone, whatever privileges they are, are not sufficient, are not enough. We must not just receive these privileges, but we must respond to God's word. We must persevere in faith, and we need to seek the help of Jesus Christ, our loving and caring high priest. Please, let's keep that in mind, and let's be encouraged, because He's looking after us.