Seek Forgiveness - Hebrews 4:14 to 5:10

We are living as a part of a generation that is more prone to be involved in some undesirable activities with little thought about what the consequences will entail. Out of a family with three siblings, at least one of them will probably be somewhat rebellious and prone to run with the wrong crowd. The rebellious seldom take the time to look into their future and see what their ‘good times’ are going to cost when pay day comes. They are self sufficient and have no need of parental directions or anyone else interfering with what they want to do. The day of reckoning always arrives, and sooner or later the time will come when an intercessor is needed. The probability is high that the call for help will be made to the loving parents or siblings that still love and care.

People have always been represented by this example of child rebellion such as the example given above. We were conceived in sin and born with a nature that is prone to sin even after we realize that there must be a better way. Fortunately, many of us realized that we were on the wrong road, running with the wrong crowd, and decide that we need God in our life. The chances are strong that we will go to our ‘brothers in Christ’ or our father Jesus Christ for immediate help. We may not even realize it at the time of our concern, but what we really need is an intercessor that can sit down with the Judge [God] and talk to him on our behalf.

The Hebrews had always been able to go to their high priest, confess their sins and have him take them behind the veil into the Holy of Holies and intercede for them asking God to forgive their sins by making a sin offering that contained animal blood. Jesus Christ is greater than the Old Testament priesthood—and he is our high priest. The Jewish priest was just a man…he had his own sins to deal with…and in many cases he lived a life of fluency and was not acquainted with the ordinary every day problems of the average man on the street or on the farm. It was not possible for him to always relate to the person in need of forgiveness. In the last part of the fourth chapter, the writer is telling the Hebrews and US that Jesus was in heaven and therefore is acquainted with things there—and he came to earth and lived among his people and therefore understands their everyday problems and concerns.

It is important that you read these three verses. Since Christ was tempted and did not sin, he understands how temptations work on our minds and attempt to lure us in the wrong direction. He has been in both worlds…in Heaven the land of purity…and on this earth that is contaminated with sin therefore He is able to sympathize with us in our problem areas. The bottom line or the question to be answered here is this: why would anyone—the Hebrews or we want to trade our high priest for one with less experience, knowledge, understanding and power? So then what should we do? We must make the move toward God…We must “Approach the throne of grace” and this has reference to the presence of God more than a certain place. This is the place where God gives us our free favor [by grace, unmerited] and is more likely to be in your closet with the door closed and on your knees.

This passage begins by stressing the sheer greatness and absolute deity of Jesus Christ. He is great by nature and not by honors conferred by men but by being God. He has been there—in heaven and the presence of God the Father. Then the passage turns to the other side—He was also here on earth and he has a complete identity with men. He was hungry, thirsty and tired. Since Jesus was without sin—he must have had depths of despair and tensions and assaults of temptations that we will never know and therefore we can not fully understand. The fact that he was sinless made his battle against temptation much harder. The tempter used ever ounce of his power in trying to break Christ down—not so with us, because we fall into temptation on our own without it requiring much urging from the devil. I think of his temptation as our pain; we can bear up under a large measure of pain…but if it is too severe we lose consciousness, so there are depths of pain that we will never know—he must have had temptations that we will never understand.

Jesus was already sympathetic toward us but his temptations strengthened his gift of sympathy—that is it increased his grace toward us. Because he understands our infirmities we will never know the depth and quality of his mercy. He knows our problems and understands the pressure we are under because he has been there and has endured even more than we. Since he knows our needs, he is able to help and does so many times when we do not even ask or realize it is happening. And then in the hard times, when our going gets tough, God has promised his mercy and grace to anyone who through their faith in him will boldly and sincerely seek his face. The Hebrews were being taught what we already know from the study of the Word…If we need to SEEK FORGIVENESS and expect positive results—then we must seek it through the most able and capable of all the high priest…JESUS CHRIST.

If you have not already done so, you should now read the fifth chapter of Hebrews. In the very first verse we find that every high priest should be a man. Every high priest is male and he is appointed or called for a purpose. He is to represent his people in matters that are related to God. He is able to deal with those who are ignorant and are going astray. However, he is still man and not perfect, so he must deal with God over his own sins as well as being the intercessor for others. He is not and can not be a high priest unless he is called by God just as God called Aaron to be high priest.

If you will examine the definition of the priest as to his place in the church and the work he is responsible for, the position of pastor in First Baptist meets these criteria. For this reason I personally believe the pastor should be a man…called by God to do the work of a priest in a church that has democratically chosen him to be their particular shepherd. I have not found scripture anywhere in the bible that says that women were called to be priest, pastors or deacons.

[Note: space does not permit us to say more about the priesthood, but you can find a full explanation in Exodus 28 and 29. In Leviticus 1-7 the sacrifices to be offered are explained and in Leviticus 8 and 9 you will find how Aaron was ordained as the high priest and this is the office that was still operating at the time that Paul wrote this letter to the Hebrews.

No man can decide on his own to become a priest—therefore Christ did not decide to be a priest, but was called by God. God told Christ, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” This statement is found in Psalms 110:4 where David is talking about the new Messiah that is to come. [Note—in Psalms He is referred to as the Messiah and here in Hebrews is referred to as Christ. It appears to me that Paul is using the name Christ to help them understand that this is one and the same person.] Melchizedek was priest of Salem [now Jerusalem] and you can read more about him in Genesis 16.

As we read verse seven it becomes evident that Paul is not satisfied with the response he is getting from the Hebrews because he continues to give more evidence that Christ is above angels, sacrifices, and other high priest. Notice he goes back to the name Jesus and says that Jesus life on earth was not easy. He is referring here to the prayers that Jesus offered up in the Garden of Gethsemane as he prayed to his Father for the cup to be removed if possible—but that his will be done. As God’s son he learned through his suffering what total obedience could ultimately cost. Say, we should stop here and tremble. With all the hatred of the world being pointed at the Christian movement it is not completely unthinkable that we may soon have to give our lives for Christ or lose everything by converting to another religion. It is beyond my comprehension why both our government and our church leadership try so hard not to insult [some call it being politically correct] other religions when few are left that respects the Christian religion.

Christ prayed and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Have you ever prayed and then felt that God did not hear your prayers? I have. Sometimes we may pray without reverent submission and that is always a must if God is expected to answer in the positive. He has promised to answer our prayers when made submissively. I realize that the answer is sometimes no, or wait, and sometimes I just do not recognize the answer when it comes.
Old Grand-paw Jones released a Christmas record years ago that was relevant and meaningful to me and it dealt with the answer to a prayer. I hope some will remember the legend of the one that Jesus had promised to visit for Christmas and He never did show up in person. Christmas morning the old man who lived alone prayed and asks God why he never did come to his house last night. The Lord told him that he came several times but was never recognized—once as an old man with no shoes; then as a child lost in the snow and an old lady hungry and cold.

Christ reminds me of the chameleon in that he can disguise himself and be in our presence without our immediate knowledge. We can be assured that Christ is with us at all times in the person of the Holy Spirit; however His work is to counsel us, lead us and give direction. Christ visits us as a person in need to test our willingness to serve him; or as a child who is lost to measure our ability to care for others. For most of us it would be a frightening experience if we should find out how many times Christ has been in our presence and we have completely ignored him.

This may be the greatest asset we have in old age. There is no doubt that experience comes with the extra years that pile up. There is no argument that some of the experiences are not worthwhile, useful or acceptable to God. However, Christians that are sincerely seeking to grow in grace and knowledge are able to do so. We are able to recognize opportunities to serve in time to respond effectively before the opportunity has passed us by. One reason, I think, is simply because we care more about living a life that is pleasing to our Savior. Our priorities definitely change and generally speaking the change is for the better.

NOTE; Southern Baptist people believe in the security of the believer. We believe that when a sinner repents of his sin of unbelief and accepts Christ as his savior he becomes a born again Christian that will never be lost again. Now, you should read what Paul says in 6: 4-6, and be ready to discuss a passage with a question mark.