Jesus, Not the Church

 

My adoptive father, Tommy Maffeo, was raised in the Catholic Church of the 1930s and 40s. And as was true of Roman Catholicism in those days – and even today in the 21st century – Catholics were taught to believe that the Catholic Church is virtually synonymous with Jesus Christ.

Not only is that notion patently erroneous, but it is dangerously so. It certainly proved to be that way for Tommy.

When Tommy was a small child, his godly mother died suddenly and could not receive “Last Rites.’ Consequently, the Catholic Church in her area did not permit her to be buried in a Catholic cemetery. Even on appeal by the family, the priest remained adamant.

For Catholics, being buried in a Catholic cemetery holds great importance because those grounds are considered sacred. To be buried elsewhere means that the deceased does not receive prayers and Masses offered for them by the living.

The terribly distraught Maffeo family was incensed that this godly and faithful Catholic mother could not be buried in a Catholic cemetery because of some unbending rule. It was because of that callous and cold-hearted rule that Tommy left the Catholic Church. AND, because he’d been taught that the Catholic Church and Jesus are synonymous, he turned away from Jesus, also. And why should he not? After all, he believed it was Jesus who refused burial to his mother in sacred soil.

Mom and Tommy were divorced after only six or seven years of marriage. Their separation didn’t affect me very much because he and I never had a close relationship.

Several years later, when I was 22, I joined the navy. Very soon after I arrived at my duty station in Japan, I discovered Jesus. And, literally overnight, my life changed. I was in love with God for what He has done for me in His Son. He’d opened my eyes to my sins and to His grace, love, and forgiveness.

And I wanted to share that with Tommy. A year later, I traveled back to New York on leave and made time to meet with him face-to-face. It was a friendly meeting – but as soon as I told him what I discovered about Jesus, his face got red and in what I could tell was a controlled rage, he told me he never wanted to hear about Jesus Christ again. I tried a time or two during the next couple of years, but each time he quickly and angrily rebuffed me.

What’s my point? Regardless of what ANY church teaches, regardless of what any pastor or priest has to say about the matter, Jesus Christ is NOT the same as the Catholic Church – any church. When the Lord Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) – He was not telling them they could only come to Him through a church – whatever the label. He was inviting them – individual men and women, one by one, to come to him personally in prayer by faith.

He tells us through the Prophet: “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22)

Simply said, Jesus tells us to turn to HIM, not a Church. Turn to HIM, not a priest or pastor. Turn to HIM in repentance and learn of Him through personal study of His word which is called the Bible.

Tommy died a few years later in a tragic car accident. From what I was told, he died almost instantaneously. I don’t know if in those last moments of his life he repented of his rejection of Christ. I don’t know if he finally realized that Jesus is NOT synonymous with the Catholic Church – or any church. It was NOT Jesus who refused his mother’s burial in that Catholic cemetery.

Jesus stands above all churches, and He stands at the heart of every individual man and women, gently but persistently knocking. Listen to what He tells us in Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

Please. If you’ve never done it – and even if you have done it before, do it again – open the door of your heart to Jesus.

Christ's High Priestly Prayer - Part One

Sermon

November 9, 2025

Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer

Part One

 

Last week I centered my remarks around Hebrews 3:1: “Therefore holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” We looked at Jesus the matchless Apostle sent into the world by the Father with the eternal message of salvation through repentance through Christ. We also looked at Him as our matchless High Priest, infinitely higher than those under the Mosaic covenant. Infinitely higher because He is Almighty God in flesh, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, inextricably One with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

Last week we saw HOW our Supreme High Priest intercedes for us to the Father – lovingly, individually, knowledgeably, effectively, and specifically. You may remember the acronym I formed from these adverbs – L I K E S.

 

Today I want to turn our attention to WHAT the Lord Jesus prays for us. To do that we will look at what is commonly called the Lord’s High Priestly prayer in John 17 because it best illustrates what it is that He prays for us. We cannot take the time now to read the entire prayer. You can do that yourself at your leisure. But here are some of the salient points in selected verses from John 17:1-24:

 

“Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, ² even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent . . . .9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me . . . 11 Holy Father, keep them . . . that they may be one even as We are. 12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled . . . 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one . . 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth . . . 20 I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. . . . 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given  Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

 

Of first importance, we see in this prayer that the Lord is interceding ONLY for those who know the Father, AND Jesus whom the Father has sent. So,  at the outset of this message, we must ask a critically important question: “Is it possible to know God and yet reject Jesus as His only begotten Son? 

 

The short answer – and what should be the obvious answer to those who believe the Bible is God’s infallible word – is “No.” It is not possible to know the Father apart from the Son. To disagree with that answer is to believe our opinion overrides God’s truth.

 

New Testament scholar John Piper put it this way: “Jesus looked right into the eyes of the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, and said, “If God were your Father, you would love me.” He’s saying to the most religious, the most God-oriented, Old Testament–saturated people on the planet, “You don’t know him. He’s not your Father.” In fact, He goes so far as to say, “You are of your father the devil” (see John 8:44).

 

And I will take this moment to remind us that the text in John 17:3 - “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” – that text is only one of a multitude of texts wherein Jesus made it clear that to know the Father means a person must also know and worship the Son.

 

For example, Jesus said in Matthew 11:27b - “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 

I’ll say it this way: The litmus test for knowing the Father is to worship Jesus as God-in-the-flesh, born of the Virgin, lived a sinless life, died as an atonement for our sins, resurrected the third day, ascended back to the Father, and is coming again for His own. Anyone who says they worship God but not Jesus is self-deceived. The Scriptures give us no wiggle room for another opinion.

 

All this then begs the crucial question that, as your pastor, I am obligated to God to ask – even though I believe I know your answer: “Do you know Jesus?”

 

The question is not, “Do you know ABOUT Jesus.” The question is, “Do you know Jesus – Jesus as God Almighty in the flesh of a man, as the supreme Lord of your life? Do you strive to live in obedience to His commandments? Do you genuinely repent when you break any of His commandments? Do you seek to routinely communicate with Him in prayer and by reading and studying His Word?”

 

These questions are not incidental to our lives. They are monumentally consequential. Our answers determine how we live our lives; And how we live our lives determines our eternal destiny. Our answers are unmistakable signposts that demonstrate whether our ‘knowing’ God is merely intellectual, or if it is rooted in our hearts in such a way as to result in changes of lifestyle and life-trajectory.

 

Please hear this. This is really, really important: If your lifestyle today is not much different than it was before you committed yourself to Christ, then, as the apostle cautioned those in the Corinthian church: (2 Corinthians 13:5) “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!”

 

I’ll reiterate that point: If your lifestyle is not much different today than it was before you committed yourself to Christ – you might not truly be saved.

 

But, if your answer to those questions about Jesus is fully aligned with Scripture, then you can be fully assured about this rest of Jesus’ prayer.

Listen to what our High Priest said in verses 9 and 20 - “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me . . . “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.

 

Everyone on this planet needs to understand this point. Jesus’ High Priestly prayer applies only to those who are truly His sheep. “I am the good shepherd,” He said in the tenth chapter of John’s gospel, “I know My own and My own know Me.” (John 10:14)  And He prayed not only for His Apostles of the first century, He also prays for those today who believe in Him because they trust the words of those same Apostles as recorded in Scripture.

 

Next – In His prayer, the Lord asks the Father to keep them – and by context, to keep us as well. But keep us from what? Certainly NOT from persecution. The Lord repeatedly warned His Apostles of the impending and deadly persecution. You’re familiar with the New Testament. You know how often He told that to the Twelve – and, by context, to ALL faithful followers of Christ through the centuries.

 

St Peter – later crucified upside down for his faith in Christ – Peter instructed his readers: (1 Peter 4:12-14) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

 

So, the Lord’s prayer to the Father could not have been to keep us from persecution. More likely, His prayer was that we’d be kept from succumbing to temptation and even from falling into apostasy.

 

But here is the rub. We know we all stumble into sin and many of us personally know of people who’ve turned completely away from Christ. So, how do we explain on the one hand the superabundantly effective prayers of God the Son, and on the other hand, how we all nonetheless fall into sin – and some even into apostasy? 

 

Yes, God is sovereign over all creation. He opens and no one can shut, He shuts and no one can open. But He has placed on Himself one critically important limitation: He will never override our freedom of choice. He will protect us from sin and even from apostasy – if we want to be protected.

 

The truth of 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 ought to put to rest the question of His mighty protection from succumbing to temptation: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

 

And as Paul warned the Corinthians in verse 12 of this text – “Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” – we ought NEVER be so sure of ourselves to think we could never fall. We only need to recall the story of Peter, so sure that he would never deny His Lord. And we know how that turned out.

 

So, yes, God DOES protect and keep those who want to be protected and kept from sin. And how does He do that?

 

Surely, the most common method is through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised (John 14:26) “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

 

It is in remembering the Scriptures we’ve read or heard preached, the Holy Spirit encourages or chastens or directs our steps along the journey. Every mature Christian will readily attest to that truth.

 

That is why the significance of knowing God’s word can never be overstated. Listen to what He said to Joshua: (Joshua 1:8) “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”

 

Listen now to the apostle Paul’s instruction to Timothy: (2 Timothy 3:14-17) “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

 

Let’s return now to the Lord’s High Priestly prayer. (Verse 20) “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

 

Two thousand years ago, Jesus asked of the Father that everyone who faithfully follows Him would be one as He and the Father (and the Holy Spirit) are one. Why? So that the world may believe that He was sent to us by the Father.

 

Some of you may have heard the phrase as it relates to unity among Christians: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” But that phrase begs the question – what is essential and what is non-essential in true Christian faith?

 

I could teach a six-month Bible study on the subject, but we don’t have that kind of time this afternoon. So, to keep it simple: The essentials of Christian faith, meaning the doctrines one MUST accept and hold to, are encapsulated in the fourth century formulation of faith known as the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed is similar to the shorter Apostle’s Creed, which dates to the second century.

 

In brief, and for the sake of time, here is the shorter Apostle’s Creed: (By the way, and for clarification, the word, ‘catholic’ in both the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed mean ‘Universal” and not Roman Catholic).

 

"I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen." 

 

Since the second century, the essential doctrines of true Christian faith have been expressed in both the Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds. Therefore, a person who denies the full deity and simultaneous full humanity of Christ, is NOT a true Christian. To deny the virgin birth of Jesus, His atoning death on the cross, His resurrection, ascension and impending return as judge of all the earth is to place oneself outside of the saving faith of Christianity.

 

That means, for example, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, and unbelieving Jews who deny the essentials of Christian faith are not saved – as the New Testament defines the word. They may be wonderful people, kind, philanthropic, and so forth – but if we are to believe the Bible, they are lost in eternal sin unless they repent and bring themselves into true saving faith.

 

As for the non-essentials of faith – those are beliefs which do NOT affect one’s salvation. Non-essentials would include, for example, beliefs about end-time prophecy, or the exercise of spiritual gifts such as ‘speaking in tongues’, or the various Do’s and Don’ts such as drinking alcohol, playing cards, dancing, smoking, and so forth.

 

Holding such beliefs are NOT essential to salvation. That’s one reason Christians of all churches should be ‘charitable’ with each other when there is a difference of opinion about non-essentials – kind of like, ‘agree to disagree’ without breaking fellowship with each other.

 

You here demonstrate that kind of charity. We have in this sanctuary today, Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and a host of other denominations and non-denominations. Yet, you come together each week for worship, for Bible studies, and for prayers. And that’s not unnoticed by those in the dining room. Nor is it unnoticed by our Lord.

 

So, in closing, let’s review what we’ve seen thus far in Christ’ High Priestly prayer: (1) That we would know the true God, and Jesus whom the Father has sent. (2) He prayed that the Father would keep us from the Evil One who never ceases to lead us into sin. And (3) The Lord prayed His followers would be united.

 

Surely, as the Psalmist wrote: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!”  (Psalm 133:1)

 

The writer to the Hebrews tells us Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. Today we looked at some of what Jesus prayed in that 17^th chapter of John’s gospel. We’ll return next week to examine what else our High Priest prayed for His apostles – and for us.

 

Infinitely Superior High Priest

 

As we continue our study through the book of Hebrews, I center my remarks today around this text in chapter three and verse one: “Therefore holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priesat of our confession.” 

 

As we read the third chapter of this book, it’s important to remember the chapters and verses in the Bible were added between the 13th and the 16th centuries to help readers quickly find what they were looking for in Scripture.

 

So, when the writer used the word ‘therefore’ in this first verse of chapter three his readers would have immediately understood he was referring to what he’d written in chapter two. As a reminder to ourselves, let’s take a moment to look at that section:

 

“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:14-18)

 

He continues in chapter three: “Therefore holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” 

 

For the remainder of this message and into next week, I’d like us to consider Jesus as our Apostle and High Priest. As many of you know, the word ‘Apostle’ means to be sent by someone as a messenger. And so, the Lord Jesus tells us in John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” He says it again a few chapters later, (John 6:38) “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

 

In other words, the Father sent His Son into the world with His inerrant and infallible message of eternal life – the message proclaimed to all who have ears to hear and hearts humble enough to receive that message.

 

But Jesus is not only the matchless Messenger from the Father. He is also our matchless High Priest – one who is infinitely higher than those under the Mosaic covenant. Infinitely higher because He alone is Almighty God in flesh, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, inextricably One with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

As our High Priest, Jesus always, continually, moment by moment intercedes for us to the Father. Listen to Hebrews 7:23-25 “The former priests [meaning those under the Mosaic covenant]  . . . were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

 

Now let’s take a moment to remind ourselves of the responsibilities placed on the Old Testament priests – including the High Priest. A partial list includes offering atoning sacrifices to God for the people’s sins (for example, see Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31). Another role of the priests was to intercede to God for the people (for example, Leviticus 9:22-24; Numbers 6:22-27). But a responsibility reserved only for the High Priest was to bring the blood of the sacrificial animal into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.

 

And as the infinitely superior High Priest, Jesus brought His own sacrificial blood into the Holy of Holies in heaven. I spoke at length during the last week or so about Jesus’ propitiatory/atoning sacrifice for us. As our High Priest, Jesus also makes intercession for us moment by moment, day after day, throughout our lives.

 

It is to the Lord’s role as our intercessor that I want to now turn our attention because His prayers to the Father are markedly and distinctively unlike the prayers of ANY human priest.

 

When Jesus our High Priest prays for us, He does so lovingly, individually, knowledgably, effectively, and specifically. To help us remember those significant adverbs, I’ve formed the acronym, ‘LIKES” from the first letter of each word.

 

First, the ‘L.” Jesus, at the right hand of the Father (see Romans 8:34; Acts 2:33) Lovingly prays for us. Scripture could not be clearer: God loves us – ALL of us. Believer and non-believer. He loves us despite our reciprocation – or lack of reciprocation – to His love. God loves us without requiring anything of the beloved. He loves us because, well, because He loves us.

 

God’s very nature is love: (1 John 4:16) “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love.” And because He is love, He “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45)

 

Paul picks up the same theme in his appeal to the pagans in Lystra: (Acts 14:17) “[God] did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

The unconditional nature of God’s love is clearly seen throughout the gospels and the epistles. Listen to the apostle Paul in his letter to the Christians at Rome: (5:6-8) “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

It's important that we understand God always initiates love. It’s never a response to what we do or don’t do, to what we have done or haven’t done. That’s precisely what makes His love unconditional. St Paul merely touches the outer edges of that stunning truth when he writes: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39, selected verses)

 

Perhaps because God’s love for us is so altogether undeserved, we find it difficult to fully comprehend His ‘agape’ love because we don’t have that kind of love. And even if we did, we cannot sustain it because of our own sin nature.

 

But God fully sustains His love for us through every hour of every circumstance and failure and stumble we experience in life. And how then ought we to respond to that kind of love.

 

I know how I should respond. I should respond by wanting to love Him regardless of my circumstances or how I ‘feel’ at any given moment. We should love God because He first loved us. That’s why mature Christians don’t obey Him out of fear. We obey Him because we don’t want to hurt Him. And the more we love Him, the deeper our obedience will be to Him, and the humbler our honest repentance will be when we fail.

 

So, the first point – Jesus Lovingly prays for us because He loves us unconditionally, faithfully, passionately and compassionately. And now to the second point, “I”. He prays for us Individually.

 

In Christ’s eyes we are not a trivial ‘one’ among the six BILLION people on this planet. We are not an unimportant part of His Body, the Church. To the point: YOU are not a nameless face to your High Priest. He knows your name, your address, and even how many hairs you have on your head.

 

Look at your fingertips. Those spirals and loops are entirely unique to you. No one among those six billion people on this planet has precisely identical fingerprints. Your fingerprints are unique because YOU are unique.

 

But that’s not all we can say to illustrate your individuality before your Creator. I’ve shared this before, and I do it again for emphasis: When your father and mother came together to produce you, your mother had ovulated typically only one ovum with its own unique DNA coding. Meanwhile, your father ejaculated into your mother an average of one quarter BILLION sperm cells – each of billion sperm also had their own unique DNA coding.

 

Think a while about the miracle that is YOU. As the Psalmist tells us: (Psalm 139:13) “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.” It is a biological truth that only ONE of your father’s quarter of a billion sperm cells fertilized your mother’s one ovum. That means, God personally directed your conception and your formation in your mother’s womb. God chose the one unique sperm from your father with its own unique DNA to fertilize your mother’s one ovum with its own unique DNA to create YOU.

 

So, I say it again, when our High Priest prays for you, He prays for the ‘unique’ you. He prays for the one out of six billion ‘you.’

 

Some might wonder how it’s possible for Jesus to know every unique person among the six billion people on this planet. That’s easy: Because our High Priest is God the Son, coequal, coexistent, and coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

Lovingly, individually – and our ‘K’ word – our High Priest Jesus prays for us knowledgeably. What that means is our High Priest – unlike any human priest can ever pray – our High Priest prays with the comprehensive and limitless knowledge of who we are and WHY we are as we are. Such knowledge is only possible to God.

 

When our High Priest prays for us, He prays with infallible knowledge of the full range of experiences in our pasts and our current days. He has perfect knowledge of our motives, our relationships with others. He knows everything that makes us who we are, why we think as we do, and why we do whatever it is we do – or don’t do. He knows every thought that crosses our minds even before we ourselves know them. You might remember what the Psalmist wrote: “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. (Psalm 139:1-4)

 

And because He loves each one of us with such complete and infallible knowledge, and He loves us without conditions attached, and because He is God, we can fully trust that Jesus’ prayers for us are fully Effective – the ‘E’ word in our acronym. His prayers are abundantly effectual, and utterly powerful.

 

I suppose we might have difficulty to one degree or another in understanding the full implication of the promise –that Jesus’ prayers for us are entirely efficacious and powerful. We might have difficulty because we cannot fully understand the breadth and length and height and depth of the value and the power of our own prayers. I believe a big part of that deficient understanding of the efficacy and power of our own prayers is because we  so often don’t see the results of our prayers.

 

We pray for healing, but healing doesn’t occur. We pray for finances, and little changes. We pray for the salvation of others – even for family – and decades later, we’re still praying. And so, we might start wondering what’s the use of praying?

 

But mature Christians know that just because we don’t see answers to our prayers doesn’t mean God hasn’t heard our prayers, or that He has said, “No.” Scripture assures the Christian: (John 5:14-15) “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

 

And who can ever pray according to the will of the Father better than the Son of God, our High Priest? Who in all history could know perfectly the will of God except for the Son of God? That’s why we can be utterly confident that when our High Priest Jesus prays for us, His prayers will always and without room for doubt be answered in accordance with His prayers for us.

                                                                          

You and I often forget that God plays the proverbial ‘long game.’ He’s in no rush – so to speak – to get things done. CS Lewis understood that troubling point – troubling to us who often have little patience even to wait for the red light to turn green. Listen to what he wrote in ‘Mere Christianity’ – “God is not hurried along in the Time-stream of this universe any more than an author is hurried along in the imaginary time of his own novel. He has infinite attention to spare for each one of us.”

 

Impatience, and being able to pray fully in accordance with the Father’s will are some barriers to being at peace with God’s decisions about our prayers. But when Jesus our High Priest prays, He always prays in accordance with the will of the Father because He has the mind of the Father.

 

Finally, the ‘S’ word in our LIKES acronym. When our High Priest prays, He prays Specifically for us. What I mean by that is, our High Priest prays for our specific needs as He alone can know.

 

Listen, we don’t know with complete understanding even our OWN needs. So the apostle writes to the Christians at Rome: (Romans 8:26-27) “The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

 

And since we cannot completely know our own needs, how can we possibly know the complete needs of others? That’s why it ought to be of great encouragement to know our High Priest – who loves us so much that He came from heaven to earth to die for us – that Jesus prays for our specific needs, even as our needs might change moment by moment.

 

Jesus is the matchless Apostle sent into the world by the Father with the eternal message of salvation through repentance through Christ. Jesus is also our matchless High Priest, infinitely higher than those under the Mosaic covenant. Infinitely higher because He is Almighty God in flesh, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, inextricably One with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

As our High Priest, Jesus continually, moment by moment intercedes for us to the Father. He prays for us lovingly, individually, knowledgeably, effectively, and specifically. Oh, Holy Spirit, please plant this truth deep in our souls, that we may bear increasing fruit for Your kingdom.

 

So then, we focused attention today on HOW He prays. Next time we’ll examine WHAT He prays.

 

 

 

Christians Have No Need to Fear Death

Today’s text comes once again from the book of Hebrews. As I’ve mentioned last week, the entire book speaks specifically of the superiority of Jesus to angels, His superiority over Moses, His superiority over the Levitical priesthood, and the superiority of the new covenant over the Old Covenant because He died as our propitiatory sacrifice – our atoning sacrifice – on the Cross when, through His death, He appeased God’s wrath for our sins.

 

Today we focus on the last few verses of chapter two. For the sake of time, I won’t read the full chapter. I encourage you to do that on your own. So, beginning with verse 14 of the second chapter:

 

“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

 

I will make only two major points from this short text as it appears in context with the whole of Scripture: First, the true Christian has no reason to fear death, and second, I want us to understand WHY the true Christian has no reason to fear death. I’ll address the second point first, because in doing so, the first point becomes clearer.

 

What does it mean that Jesus made ‘propitiation’ for our sins? The word takes us back to the sacrificial system found in the Books of Moses, especially during the Day of Atonement. On that day each year the High Priest sprinkled the sacrificial blood on the Ark of the Covenant, thereby appeasing God’s wrath against Israel’s sins. His wrath was pacified by the bloody death of the sacrificial animal. ‘Propitiation’ – the appeasement of God’s wrath by that sacrifice – explains how a just and holy God can fully judge sin while at the same time offer His mercy to the sinner. In New Testament terms, the bloody propitiatory sacrifice of the sinless Son of God on Calvary’s cross appeased God’s wrath against our sin and allows His justice to offer mercy to the penitent sinner.

 

We find the word ‘propitiation’ [‘appeasement] in passages such as Romans 3:23-26  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God – [no exceptions, except for Christ Jesus] – being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness . . .  for the demonstration of His righteousness. . .so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

 

We see it again in 1 John 2:1-2 “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins.”

 

But all this talk of appeasing God should raise the question – WHY do we need to appease God? Isn’t God a God of love and mercy and compassion?  Yes, of course, He is. That is why the concept and the act of His propitiation in and through His sinless Son is so marvelous, so wonderful a truth – because God’s mercy makes (present tense) – God makes a way for His enemies to be brought near to Him in intimate, loving relationship.

 

Enemies of God.

 

Let’s pause a moment and examine a Biblical truth which is uncomfortable for many people. Before we come to Christ in repentance, we are all enemies of God. Of course, modern sophisticated men and women don’t like being told God calls them His enemies. But if we believe what He tells us through the Scriptures, we cannot avoid or soften that reality.

 

James writes, (James 4:4) “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

 

St Paul adds, (Romans 5:8-10) “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

 

As I said, people without an obedient faith in Christ don’t like to hear that they’re God’s enemies, yet it proves to be a somber thread throughout the Old and New Testaments. When anyone refuses to bow the knee to God in confession and repentance, they do exactly what Satan did before his fall. As I demonstrated a week or so ago from Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, Satan was the most beautiful of the holy angels until the sin of pride was found in him; Pride. He wanted to dethrone God.

 

And just to be clear, you and I do the same thing when we make ourselves our own little gods, doing whatever is right in our own eyes, placing ourselves on the throne of our lives where only God belongs.

 

This is not complicated. Enthroning ourselves on the place only God belongs makes us God’s enemy. And THAT is why this passage at the end of Hebrews 2 is so heartening and encouraging because it tells us God Himself took on human flesh, lived an utterly sinless life, and became a propitiation, an atonement, an appeasement of His wrath against our sin – a propitiation for all who want to be made right with God.

 

Listen! God does not spend His wrath on his friends. He spends His wrath on His enemies. And as the writer to the Hebrews will say later: (Hebrews 10:31) “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

 

God WANTS to reconcile all humanity to Himself through our obedient faith in Jesus, His Son.  And so, Christ stands at the door of each heart, waiting for us to open that door and invite Him to His rightful place on the Throne of our heart.

 

I hope you have all done that – not only once, but repeatedly, because we each, repeatedly and consciously or unconsciously – want to dethrone Him and take His rightful place on our heart’s throne.

 

And now that we know WHY God sent His Son to Calvary’s cross, to wash away our sins with His blood, we can better understand why the Christian needs not to fear death. As a reminder, here is that particular text from today’s section in Hebrews: “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 

 

There are many reasons people fear death. Some are afraid to die because it is an unknown. From my experience over the years talking with Christians, I’ve spoken to those who sit in church pews each week and who are unsure about what happens to them after death. They think eternity is a huge question mark. But for the Christian, the unknown is not as unknown as non-believers think of it. God gives us enough information about death for the Christian that no child of God should fear the grave. Let’s look only at two texts that speak directly to those who belong to Christ.

Here is Revelation 22: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new . . . . and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

 

Here is what the apostle Paul had to say about death: (2 Corinthians 5:1-8) “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. . . . Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”

 

I hope you heard that last line: Absent from the body and home with the Lord. As the Lord Jesus said to the penitent thief on the cross: “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”(Luke 23:43)

 

For the Christian, death is like walking through the doorway leading out of your apartment. THAT is what the death of the body is like for the faithful follower of Christ – walking through the doorway leading from this life to life eternal. Immediately in the presence of God. No such thing as what some call ‘soul-sleep.’ No further cleansing or purging of our sins necessary in a place some call ‘purgatory.’ Scripture could not be clearer: The Christian closes their eyes in death and immediately opens them in the presence of their Savior. Absent from this life means to be present in eternal life.

That being the case, WHY would any Christian fear death when what we have waiting for us on the other side of that door is eternal joy in the presence of God? Eternal joy in the company of all our family and friends in Christ who have gone on before us – gone to that Promised Land where there is no longer death, sickness, loss, pain, or loneliness.

But there are those in and outside of the pews who argue within themselves, “I am such a bad person. You don’t know the horrible things I’ve done. How can God really forgive me?”

 

Surely, I don’t know the horrible things some have done in their life, but let’s let the infallible and wholly inspired word of God answer their question. Here is what He tells us through Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth – a church FILLED with those who came out of sinful lifestyles:

 

“Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, HCSB) 

We all need to hear this. It’s important: Despite the litany of damnable sins Paul cites in this text – the Holy Spirit quickly focuses attention on the good news in verse 11: “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” 

Let’s unwrap this verse. “You were washed,” means the person’s sins were completely, thoroughly, utterly cleansed through their baptism and ongoing confession and repentance of their sins.

 

“You were sanctified,” means God had purified them from those sins. He pronounced them ‘pure.’ He set them apart for His work and declared them to be holy because they were covered with the propitiatory blood of Jesus.

 

And finally, Paul tells them, “You were justified,” meaning, God pronounced them righteous, innocent, and without guilt. And if GOD Himself pronounces us to be without guilt – He means what He says and He says what He means. God declares the penitent sinner to be righteous and innocent and without guilt. Period. Full stop. End of sentence.

 

I will pause again and make another important comment: If you are not a Christian, do you want to be one? Do you want to have no fear of death and – for you – the inevitable and eternal judgment? Then trust God’s promises to wash you, sanctify you and justify you as soon as you confess to Him your sins and repent – meaning you purposely and intentionally turn from them.

 

And, speaking of that judgment, let’s look at yet another reason some fear death. They fear it because they fear their final and eternal Judgment. For good reason the non-believer, the non-Christian fears that judgment because it will be devastating, agonizing, and eternal. But for the one who has come to God through obedient faith in Christ, they have no reason whatsoever to fear eternal judgment – because, as I have said repeatedly in this message, God has ALREADY and forever judged their sins on Calvary’s cross.

 

Let me reiterate what I just said because it is so important to our peace of mind when we think of our own death. Christian! One hundred percent of God’s wrath against your sins – 100% pressed down, shaken together, and running over – it was all spent on Jesus.

 

Not one fraction of a fraction of God’s wrath is held in reserve for any of His children covered by the propitiatory blood of Jesus. As the apostle John tells us: (1 John 4:15-18) “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God . . . By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment . . . There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”

 

I hope you caught that. There’s no fear of punishment after death for the Christian. That’s one reason St Paul tells us, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1) and “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8:1-2).

 

Listen, please – and I need to hear this as much as anyone – the more our love for God is perfected, the more we will trust God to be true to His promises. If we love God only a little, then we will trust God only a little. But the more perfectly we love God the greater peace we will have at death because we know Whom we have believed, and are persuaded that He is able to keep what we have committed to Him until that final day. (see 2 Timothy 1:12)

I will close with these final words of reminder: The Christian – and ONLY the Christian has no Biblical reason to fear death because death no longer has any sting for us. Listen again to God’s word: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:56-58)

 

If you belong to Christ, He has set you free from death’s chains. Why? Because Jesus became your propitiatory sacrifice. He death appeased God’s wrath against your sins.

 

And if you do not yet belong to Christ – why would you delay? God WANTS to reconcile you to Himself; And so He stands right now at the door of your heart, urging you to open that door and invite Him to His rightful place on the Throne of our heart.

 

And so, the Christian can ever say, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”