First Baptist Church
Fairbanks, Alaska
805 Sixth Avenue
(907) 456-4923
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Fairbanks, Alaska 805 Sixth Avenue (907) 456-4923 |
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“The Great Change” A Study of the Book of Hebrews (Part 5) Hebrews 7-10 Mark Howdeshell (May 25, 2008) Hebrews 8:13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging w3ill soon disappear. Introduction It takes a Monarch butterfly about 27 days to transform from a caterpillar to a butterfly. During that time period, it is solely focused on that task. CHANGE BEGINS WITH CHOICE by Jim Rohn Any day we wish; we can discipline ourselves to change it all. Any day we wish; we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish; we can start a new activity. Any day we wish; we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year. We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves." We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth. They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth. We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives. And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life - If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life - and it all begins with your very own power of choice. To Your Success, Jim Rohn The Meat of the Message Heb 5:7-10 7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek
i. King of Salem and priest of God Most High (v. 7:1) 1. High priest must be called by God (v. 5:4) a. Selected to represent men in matters related to God b. To offer gifts and sacrifices for sins c. Must offer sacrifices for his own sin because he is also subject to weakness 2. Remains a high priest until death ii. Such a great priest that even Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder after the defeat of the kings!! iii. Had no genealogical ties to Levi or the other priests to warrant such gifts other than the appointment by God.
i. Jesus has faced temptation, weakness, sadness, death, unacceptance, persecution, and terror but through His obedience He became the source of eternal salvation ii. Jesus appointed by God to be our High Priest
i. The Law was changed from the Levitical priesthood 1. Law had no hope of eternal salvation 2. Impossible to keep 3. Weak and useless (v.7:18) 4. Made nothing perfect ii. Jesus became the High Priest with an oath from God 1. “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.” (v. 7:21) 2. Guarantees that Jesus is our High Priest forever and He will never die! 3. “Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.” (v7:22)
Heb 7:26-28 26 Such a high priest 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 who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
“They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.” (v. 8:5)
i. High Priest could only enter once a year 1. Must offer blood offered for himself and the sins the people had committed in ignorance 2. Was an earthly replica of heaven ii. Jesus as High Priest 1. Offered his own blood once for all 2. Sitting at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in heaven (v. 8:1)
i. High Priest could only offer the blood of goats and calves and had to repeat the act over and over again ii. Jesus sacrificing His own blood paid the price once and for all and obtained eternal redemption iii. “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (v. 9:14-15)
Heb 9:24-28 24 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
i. Jesus appears for us to redeem us ii. Permanent sacrifice justifying His people
Heb 10:24-3924 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. The Bottom Line Spiritual food….the teachings of Christ in regards to His righteousness. The meat and potatoes of our faith. The reasons we believe what we believe. The confidence in the New Covenant. Jesus is worthy of all of our devotion, all of our confidence, all of our study, all of our praise, all of our everything. How much do you give Him? Is it time that you made a “Great Change” in your life? Invitation This is the portion of the service that I give you an opportunity to come forward to the altar to pray or make public a decision that Christ has spoken to your heart about. That decision could be to a) Ask Him to come into your heart and be saved b) Be obedient to His calling to be baptized c) Join this church d) Rededicate your lives to Him e) Answer a call to missions f) Or many others I ask you to stand this morning as we go into this time of invitation singing hymn # 320, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. Come meet me at the altar. |
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