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Now the main point of what we are saying is this: we do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

³ Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. ⁴ If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. ⁵ They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’⁶ But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

‘Worldly men suppose that the only real and true things are the things which they can see or feel. They think that heavenly things are only imaginary and don’t really exist. But the man who is spiritual knows that this world is passing away. He knows that only heavenly and spiritual things are ultimately real and lasting. This is why the writer says here that the earthly sanctuary built by the Jews is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary built by Jesus.’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.864.

Now the main point of what we are saying is this: we do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

³ Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. ⁴ If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. ⁵ They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’⁶ But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

“We don’t choose what we will do for God; He invites us to join Him where He wants to involve us.”
― Henry T. Blackaby, 

The highlighted words in the Hebrews text provide the template for effective ministry. This is true for every generation. It is not about asking God to bless our plans, but waiting on Him to know His plans, and seeking to implement them. Prayer is not about getting man’s will done in heaven, but seeing God’s will done on earth.

“Jesus was the Son of God. Yet He never took the initiative to dream a dream or launch a new ministry. He lived His life in absolute dependence upon His Father. If Jesus was that dependent on the Father, then you and I should realize how ludicrous it is for us to set out on our own without any direction or guidance from the Father.”
― Henry T. Blackaby,

May my cry come before you, Lord;
    give me understanding according to your word.
¹⁷⁰ May my supplication come before you;
    deliver me according to your promise.
¹⁷¹ May my lips overflow with praise,
    for you teach me your decrees.
¹⁷² May my tongue sing of your word,
    for all your commands are righteous.
¹⁷³ May your hand be ready to help me,
    for I have chosen your precepts.
¹⁷⁴ I long for your salvation, Lord,
    and your law gives me delight.
¹⁷⁵ Let me live that I may praise you,
    and may your laws sustain me.
¹⁷⁶ I have strayed like a lost sheep.
    Seek your servant,
    for I have not forgotten your commands.

Verse 170 reads like this in ‘The Message’:

Give my request your personal attention,
    rescue me on the terms of your promise.

One major implication of taking God’s Word seriously is that we take His promises seriously. I found George Mueller’s biography inspiring and instructive when I first read it – probably close to 30 years ago. I saw how, in his experience of God, the Bible and prayer went hand in hand. He read the Bible diligently, looked to the Holy Spirit to be His Teacher, and his faith-filled prayers were fuelled by what he knew God had said. He prayed according to God’s promises. The Lord still has much to teach us through him today.

I wanted to stay with these verses for another day, and look at them in two other versions. I believe they capture something of the emotion, passion, ecstasy even, that this individual feels towards God’s Word. May such a heart be given to us!

I’ve been slandered unmercifully by the politicians,
    but my awe at your words keeps me stable.
I’m ecstatic over what you say,
    like one who strikes it rich.
I hate lies—can’t stand them!—
    but I love what you have revealed.
Seven times each day I stop and shout praises
    for the way you keep everything running right.
For those who love what you reveal, everything fits—
    no stumbling around in the dark for them.
I wait expectantly for your salvation;
    God, I do what you tell me.
My soul guards and keeps all your instructions—
    oh, how much I love them!
I follow your directions, abide by your counsel;
    my life’s an open book before you (The Message).

Powerful people harass me without cause,
    but my heart trembles only at your word.
¹⁶² I rejoice in your word
    like one who discovers a great treasure.
¹⁶³ I hate and abhor all falsehood,
    but I love your instructions.
¹⁶⁴ I will praise you seven times a day
    because all your regulations are just.
¹⁶⁵ Those who love your instructions have great peace
    and do not stumble.
¹⁶⁶ I long for your rescue, Lord,
    so I have obeyed your commands.
¹⁶⁷ I have obeyed your laws,
    for I love them very much.
¹⁶⁸ Yes, I obey your commandments and laws
    because you know everything I do (New Living Translation).

¹⁶¹ Rulers persecute me without cause,
    but my heart trembles at your word.
¹⁶² I rejoice in your promise
    like one who finds great spoil.
¹⁶³ I hate and detest falsehood
    but I love your law.
¹⁶⁴ Seven times a day I praise you
    for your righteous laws.
¹⁶⁵ Great peace have those who love your law,
    and nothing can make them stumble.
¹⁶⁶ I wait for your salvation, Lord,
    and I follow your commands.
¹⁶⁷ I obey your statutes,
    for I love them greatly.
¹⁶⁸ I obey your precepts and your statutes,
    for all my ways are known to you.

“The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home.” -Augustine of Hippo

“Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” -Charles Spurgeon

Derek Prince said, ‘Faith is taking God seriously.’

It seems to me that those who have made the greatest difference in the world have been ‘people of the Book.’ They have taken (they take!) the Bible seriously because they take God seriously.

N.T. Wright has said, “The Bible is the book of my life. It’s the book I live with, the book I live by, the book I want to die by.”

Many years ago, when I was a child, my dear old pastor, George Tett, sat next to me and pointed to the letters spelling ‘Holy Bible’ on the spine of this most wonderful Book. He said, ‘Honour, Obey, Love Your Bible It Brings Life Everlasting.’

In this section of Psalm 119 we see someone taking the Scriptures seriously. Their attitude – one for us to emulate – involves a mixture of trembling, rejoicing, loving, waiting, following and obeying. It also opens with the implicit warning that the world will hate those who love God’s Word. Nevertheless, there is ”Great peace” in being Bible-centred. But clearly, if we take God seriously we will do what He says.

Kierkegaard commented, however: “The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are ob (and hence ‘God-centred’).liged to act accordingly.”

PRAYER: Lord, help me to be a serious reader of the Bible.

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Here a further contrast is drawn between Jesus, our great High Priest, and all the other priests of the Levitical order.

As we have seen:

• Their impermanence is contrasted with His permanence; and in today’s passage we note
• Their imperfection contrasted with His perfection.

Those Old Testament priests had to first offer sacrifices for their own sins before sacrificing on behalf of the people. But Jesus was both Priest and Victim. He offered the one final sacrifice of His perfect life for us all,

‘There was no other good enough, to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gates of heaven, and let us in.’

While we needed a Priest to be like us in our humanity, we also needed Him to be unlike us with respect to sin:

 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15,16)

Jesus is the ”high priest who truly meets our need”, and the fact that He is ”exalted above the heavens” is the supreme attestation that the Father in heaven is pleased with Him and His work. He has raised Him to His own Right Hand. This is the divine seal of approval on God’s Son.

So now we have a high priest who perfectly fits our needs: completely holy, uncompromised by sin, with authority extending as high as God’s presence in heaven itself. Unlike the other high priests, he doesn’t have to offer sacrifices for his own sins every day before he can get around to us and our sins. He’s done it, once and for all: offered up himself as the sacrifice. The law appoints as high priests men who are never able to get the job done right. But this intervening command of God, which came later, appoints the Son, who is absolutely, eternally perfect.‘ ‘The Message’.

Such a high priest truly meets our need…

There is something so beautiful about this statement in its economy and simplicity.

I believe everyone will admit, if they are honest, that something inside of them is ‘missing’. An all-important piece of the puzzle doesn’t appear to be in the box. They have a need that nothing and no-one can satisfy. There is no ‘scratch’ to relieve their unremitting ‘itch’.

Until they come to Christ , that is.

Saint Augustine famously said, ”Thou hast made us for thyself and our hearts find no rest until they rest in thee.”

Recently, Jilly and I saw a testimony, given by a young man: a perhaps a not entirely unfamiliar story of a search for life and meaning in the destructive world of drug addiction. But at the end of his self-damaging journey, he had a life-transforming encounter with Jesus…

…and this ”high priest truly” met his need.

”This “I” was made in the image of God for fellowship with God. Without God it is miserable, empty, confused, and frustrated. Without God life has no meaning; but with God at its centre there is life, an inner strength and peace, a deep satisfaction, an unfading joy known only to those who know Jesus Christ. ‘ Billy Graham

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

‘Every pastor is an interim pastor.’

I read the above words in ‘Next’ – an excellent book on succession/pastoral transition. Sooner or later, every pastor will be replaced by another. Moses walks to the pavilion, Joshua comes in to bat.

The same could be said of the Old Testament priests: each one was interim. ‘Time like an ever rolling stream’ bore all these ‘sons’ away.

But ”Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.”

This has enormous implications for those of us who are trusting Him for salvation. Look at verse 25. The word ”completely” may also be translated ”fully” or ”absolutely.” Jesus does a proper job.

There is also the possibility of translating this:

”Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Because He is alive for ever, He is able to save for ever.

We are saved not only through His death but also by His life. We still need Him to represent us before the Throne of God, and because He is alive He is able to do this for us.

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:10).

Eugene Peterson expresses Hebs.7:23-25 like this in ‘The Message’:

Earlier there were a lot of priests, for they died and had to be replaced. But Jesus’ priesthood is permanent. He’s there from now to eternity to save everyone who comes to God through him, always on the job to speak up for them.

Whichever way we look at this, true believers have every reason to take heart. We have a ‘defence Lawyer’ in heaven who does not lose a single case that is fully placed into His Hands.

”My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. ² He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.” (1 John 2:1,2).

Again, Peterson renders the above that: ”we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus.”

How good to know we have a ‘Friend in Court – the best Friend of all.

And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, ²¹ but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

“The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind:
    ‘You are a priest forever.’”

²² Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

When someone speaks on oath, say in a law court, we should be able to believe them. Should! But that would be in an ideal world. Sadly, you can’t believe what everyone says.

But you can always believe God.

We need to appreciate the Hebrew background to the argument here. When God speaks it is done! His Word is His work. If God says Jesus is ”a priest forever”, then He is.

Note too the strong word ”guarantor”. The Greek word used makes its only New Testament appearance here. In the Greek text the name ”Jesus” stands in the most emphatic place, right at the end of the sentence: ‘the guarantor is Jesus.’ Westcott points out that a surety ‘for the most part pledges himself that something will be: but here the Ascended Christ witnesses that something is: the assurance is not simply of the future but of that which is present though unseen.’

PRAYER: Thank you Lord for the certainty, confidence and security we have in Jesus.