November 20, 2022
Evening Service

Hebrews 5:1  For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 

Hebrews 5:2  He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 

Hebrews 5:3  Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. 

Hebrews 5:4  And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. 

Hebrews 5:5  So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU." 

Hebrews 5:6  As He also says in another place: "YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK"; 

Hebrews 5:7  who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 

Hebrews 5:8  though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 

Hebrews 5:9  And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 

Hebrews 5:10  called by God as High Priest "ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK," 

 

The High Priest must be a man, a person that is characterized by a quality of our nature. This is the evidence that man is a sinful creature. God would not tolerate sinful man to come to Him alone. However, all are welcome to come to God that come to Him by the High Priest. We greatly value our acceptance with God, and our pardon of our sins, we must go forward by faith to our great High Priest Christ Jesus. Jesus does intercede for those of us that have wandered from the way of truth, strayed from our duties, and cannot find happiness by our own means. Christ Jesus is the one who has gently lead us back from the poorly chosen paths of wrongdoing, sin, and misery. Only those called of God can expect to get assistance from Him, when He knocks on our hearts door, we are to open to Him and accept Him and His direction. Accepting God wholly through our Savior Jesus Christ, we can feel His presence and He will bless our service to Him as our Lord of All. These very characteristics of the high priest are applied to Christ our Lord. In the days of His becoming a man in the flesh as Jesus of Nazareth, Christ made himself subject to death, he hungered in the flesh, and He was a tempted as all humankind is tempted, he suffered the wounds of our transgression, and he shed His blood as Jesus on the cross at Calvary. Jesus was the ultimate example of how humankind should conduct himself in this world, not only to be in prayer, but also to be passionate and committed in prayer.

James 5:16  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

How many times do we pray to God and do it without any emotion or compassion, how many times are we in prayer to our all-powerful Lord without even shedding a tear about our concerns? When something concerns us as sinners, it is also a concern of our God, our prayers are like a sweet aroma to our God and when they go to Him with great emotion and seriousness in the approach, the prayer becomes even sweeter.  The prayers of the saints are received in the presence of God, because they contain the fragrance of Christ’s sacrifice, as they are always lifted in the name, power, and intercession of Jesus Christ. Jesus was strengthened to carry the immense weight of suffering laid upon Him. There is no real deliverance from death, only to be carried through it. Jesus was raised and exalted to the right hand of God the Father, and to Him was given the power of saving all sinners of extreme nature, who come unto God through Him. Christ gave to us the example of humble obedience to the will of God, and by this, we should all learn of how to deal with our hardships and tribulations. We need to have troubles and afflictions to teach us submission to our Lord Jesus who overcame the world! His obedience in the flesh should encourage us in our attempts to be obedient, and for us to expect support and comfort under all the temptations and sufferings to which we continually endure by our natures. Jesus was made perfect for this great work, He has become the Author of eternal salvation to all that obey and believe in Him. Our primary duty in this life we have is to secure salvation for our loved ones and ourselves through the great sacrifice made by our Lord on the cross. He only asks that we believe and trust in Him and the work is already complete. Atonement must be made on our behalf, or we are eternally lost without receiving the righteousness of Christ.

 

Warning Against Apostasy

 

Hebrews 5:11  of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 

Hebrews 5:12  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 

Hebrews 5:13  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 

Hebrews 5:14  But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

 

People who are dull of hearing make the preaching of the gospel difficult and even those who have some faith may be dull hearers, and slow to believe. The author here is saying the believer should be advancing in their faith and walk with the Lord, not to become stagnate in their journey. If a persons’ faith is not growing and maturing, it is as if they will continue to be feeding on the milk of the Word and not on the solid food, which is contained in the Word. To those the Lord has given much to, they will also look to impute it upon others of the faith to help them grow in the Word. To be unskilled in the word of righteousness, describes a desire to have a greater experience in the things of the gospel but have not yet acquired it. The Christian experience is a spiritual recognition of the greatness of God, to taste of its sweetness and goodness, to grab hold of the excellent greatness of the truth of the gospel. Once the believer experiences the satisfaction and completeness our souls receive from belief in Christ Jesus and His love, we are without words to describe the peace and happiness within us. No other thing can give a person the contentment that comes with serving our Lord and being obedient to Him and asking Him to mold us and make us more like Him. To ask Him to search our hearts for any wicked ways and to remove them from us, to ask Him for the boldness of speech to bring others to Him for the forgiveness of their sins and life eternal.

Anytime the church will compromise the Word and make allowances, which is has done a lot in recent years, our God is not pleased with these actions. The Word of God given to us is infallible, and nothing needs to be added or taken away to make it more fitting for the times. Prominent leaders we had while growing up are stepping down or have passed on, and new leaders are rising up and with the sense that tolerance and not obedience is the new order. The Book of Revelation warns the church of this “lukewarm” age we see happening right before our very eyes. To the church in Laodicea, Jesus said:

 

Revelation 3:15  "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 

Revelation 3:16  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 

Revelation 3:17  Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 

 

Our country has been in a dark place for a while now and during this time, the church is having an identity crisis. Our half-hearted or lukewarm attitude originates from a position of economic abundance, which is now been threatened for the last two years or more. Our conduct and behavior, causes Jesus to gag, spewing us out of His mouth! This should be a wake-up call for us to refine our focus on the Word rather than to modify it for the current times, which are unworthy of God’s Providence. This is part of a dark spiritual agenda by the coming of the end of days. The bible says this about how the cults and heretical beliefs come into view.

 

1^st Timothy 4:1  Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 

 

False cults and false prophets will mislead many to the wide gate leading to destruction. Jesus help us focus on you!