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!”

 

Beware the Drift

Our text today comes from Hebrews 2. For the sake of time, I will read only portions of the chapter. I hope you’ll take time later to read it for yourself:

 

(Hebrews 2:1-4, 14-15, 17-18) “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will . . . 14 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 . . . 17 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.”

 

My message today focuses on the first four verses. When chapter two starts, “For this reason” (some Bible translations begin the verse with the word, ‘Therefore’ ) the writer is referring to what was written in chapter one – primarily, the declaration that God’s final word to Mankind is through Jesus Christ.

 

It is therefore – or ‘for this reason’ – the reader must pay much closer attention to what they’d heard – so that they not drift away from it.

 

Now, for a moment, please take note: The writer uses the first-person plural in this warning – “So that ‘we’ do not drift.” In other words, the writer places himself in the same category as those who can drift from the truths he is writing to his audience. And why might that be a danger for him? Well, in short, “WE” are all susceptible to drifting from truth. You. Me. Pastors and priests and teachers and choir directors – and every man and woman in the pew. All of us. Which is why WE must each pay much closer attention to the things we’ve heard, and been taught, and have read for ourselves. Repeatedly, Scripture warns us, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23

 

Let’s pause a moment and think this point through. There are a dozen reasons a person can drift from what he or she knows is the correct way to live. Disappointment with God over unfilled dreams and expectations; Blaming God for the way life has turned out; Being angry and frustrated with Him because of His insistence that we obey His commandments. Any of those reasons – and more besides – can and often do lead to excuses to stop praying, stop reading the Scriptures, stop going to church. And as I just said, I must be careful myself not to drift because I am just susceptible to drifting like anyone else.

 

Please hear this – and if you’ve been walking with Christ for a long while you know this is true – no one who honestly comes to Christ in the beginning turns from their walk with Christ overnight. It ALWAYS occurs as a slow drift, by degrees, one degree after another. To illustrate this truth, look at the illustration in your handout. I drew a 90-degree angle and next to it an 89-degree angle.

 

The 90-degree angle represents an honest conversion. The man or woman begins in earnest to read their bible, to attend church, to determine to make their lifestyle match what they read in Scripture. But if they stop paying close attention to their walk, they begin to drift. They compromise to fit in. They make excuses that allow them to do what they want to do – even if God’s word calls it sin.

 

At first, they can hardly tell the difference. Eighty-nine degrees at the start seems nearly identical to 90 degrees. But, as the drawing illustrates, extend the 89 degrees a while and the difference between the ‘straight and narrow’ walk with Christ becomes clearer. Extend it six months, a year, five years . . ..

 

And, so, what is the point? “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”  And HOW ought we to pay closer attention? St Paul exhort us: (Colossians 3:1-3) “If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

 

In other words, to avoid drifting, keep seeking Christ daily; Keep setting your mind on Him through daily and frequent prayer, through daily reading and reflecting on His Word. Listen again to the apostle’s words to Timothy which dovetail with the answer to the question about drifting:

 

(2 Timothy 3:14-17) “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing 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.”

 

I hope you see it’s impossible to get away from the Bible’s exhortation – from Genesis through Revelation: Get into the Word of God. Stay in the Word of God. I’ll revisit this point again later in this message because it simply cannot be overstated.

 

To further drive home this point, I’ll use another illustration to highlight the danger AND THE EASE with which we can slowly drift from the 90-degree path that leads to the Celestial kingdom.

 

Many of us know about eye cataracts from personal experience. We know that they develop slowly over time as the lens of the eye becomes progressively cloudy. Without surgical intervention, cataracts will inevitably lead to blindness.

 

Metaphorically, physical blindness is used by the Biblical writers to illustrate spiritual blindness. For example, God says to Israel through Isaiah: (Isaiah 6:9-10) "Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”

 

The Lord Jesus told the religious clergy of His day (John 9:39), "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind." And Paul told the Corinthians, (2 Corinthians 4:4) "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

 
And once more, Jesus said of the religious leaders (Matthew 15:14): “Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

 

I’m sure you’ve noticed in your own study of God’s word, the Holy Spirit never softens for anyone His warning of the eternal danger faced by all who drift from the 90-degree path. Whether religious clergy or irreligious pagans, whether kings, warriors, or farmers, whether prosperous or those living in poverty – the Holy Spirit spoke Truth – and continues to speak truth – to everyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear.

 

We also know from personal experience, people can slowly blind themselves into rejecting the lifestyle changes God requires of all men and women, designed to conform us to His unchanging Truth. People can nurture their pride, or their spirit of revenge, or unwillingness to forgive others. They can hold onto impure or immoral thoughts or acts – and a dozen other sins everyone in this room knows by experience to one degree or another.  

 

And it is a self-evident truth: The more often we turn to darkness, the darker our vision becomes. It's really as simple as that. As the prophet Hosea warned: “Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know the Lord.” (Hosea 5:4)

 

Surgery is the only definitive treatment to restore sight to those with physical cataracts. Likewise, spiritual cataracts can only be removed by the spiritual Surgeon – the Lord Jesus. And that is why our only hope for definitive treatment of our spiritual cataracts is to come to Him – not once, not a hundred times – but every day, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to us our sometimes nearly imperceptible dimming eyesight. Remember what King David prayed: (Psalm 139:23-24) “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.”

 

How do we obtain healing for our spiritual cataracts? We stop making excuses for keeping our Bibles closed. Listen to the apostle Peter: (1 Peter 2:2) “Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”

 

A newborn’s persistence in poor feeding is good reason to bring the child to the pediatrician. Infants need to eat, or their health will suffer. Likewise, All Christians of every age and maturity need to feed on the word of God or their spiritual health will suffer. If a Christian persists in his poor feeding on God’s word, it is INEVITABLE that their spiritual health will suffer.

 

I don’t know how to make the urgency of this point clearer.  Salvation itself is a well that is deep and wide and high and never runs dry. When we feed on the word of God, ruminating on it, pondering its message, we grow into more of what salvation is to our lives and our futures.

 

I never cease to be saddened to be reminded how infrequently Christians read the Scriptures or attend a church where the pastor is unashamed to proclaim its entire truth to the congregation week after week. And what is the most oft used excuse people use to avoid opening their bible? They don’t have time to read the bible.

 

But as Fr Jacques Philippe noted about prayer – which works equally well with reading the Scriptures: “No one ever died of hunger because of not having time to eat."

 

And the pages between the covers of our Bibles are a veritable feast. Listen to the psalmist: (Psalm 34:8) “O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him!”

Healing spiritual cataracts also requires consistent and thoughtful prayer and gathering with others of like faith. But when we find excuses to avoid time in prayer and attending church services we eventually find ourselves saying things, watching things, listening to things, and participating in things that only a year or two earlier we’d have ardently proclaimed we’d never do such things.

 

To heal the spiritual cataracts we must ask Him to open our eyes that we might clearly see our sins because the more clearly we see our sins, the more clearly we see what those sins have done to ourselves, to others, and to Him, we will better we understand the unfathomable and inexplicable love God has for us.  Romans 5:8 will become even more precious to us: God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 

To be healed of spiritual cataracts requires we practice forgiveness toward others. It doesn’t matter if the other person asks for forgiveness. Practice forgiveness anyway. Living with an unwillingness to forgive someone is like drinking poison and hoping the person you don’t like gets sick.

 

Forgiveness is not the same as trust. Forgiveness does not mean you stay in a dangerous situation. It simply means, in the words of an article from the Mayo Clinic: you make a conscious decision “to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge. The act that hurt or offended you might always remain a part of your life, but forgiveness can lessen its grip on you and help you focus on other, positive parts of your life.”

 

And, oh, by the way: Why else must we forgive? Because God commands it: (Matthew 6:14-15) “If you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

 

You and I MUST pay close attention to what we have learned by reading, and studying, and hearing the Word of God taught and preached. If we do not pay close attention, we run the very likely risk of drifting far afield from the straight and narrow path that leads to the Celestial City, and we run the risk of progressive spiritual blindness – to such a degree as we have seen many times in past sermons of those in the pews and the pulpits endorsing such sins for which untold millions and millions of men and women will hear the Lord Jesus say, (Matthew 25:41) “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”

 

People can choose to remain in the dark to avoid the light of Truth and the requisite lifestyle changes that conform to Truth. They can choose to nurture their pride, or their spirit of revenge, or unwillingness to forgive others. They can choose to continue to nurse impure or immoral thoughts and acts – and a dozen other sins everyone in this room knows by experience to one degree or another.

 

Or they can choose to turn to the Great Physician for healing. The more often we turn to darkness, the darker our vision becomes. But it is also true, the more we turn to His light, the deeper our love and our willing obedience to His commandments grows.