10 October 5, 2014, Hebrews 4;14-5;6 Secured With Confidence

Secured with Confidence
HEBREWS 4:14-5:6
October 5, 2014
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
USA

2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

October is
Pastor Appreciation Month

FALL OUTREACH MONDAYS
6:00 P.M.
Teams of three will visit those who have visited FBCJ recently.
Light dinner will be available for $5.00 per person.RSVP at 601-949-1939.

October Concert Series
6:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary
October 12—Denver and The Mile
High Orchestra
October 19—Charles Billingsley

SAVE THE DATE
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19TH
MULTIGENERATIONAL LUNCH
Immediately after the 10:30 worship.
Fellowship Hall West
Cost of tickets: $6.00 for Adults
$5.00 for Preschool-Students

What’s the number one thing?

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The Glory of God!

1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Podcasts6/v4/32/5f/79/325f79f3-a0f1-02e5-5382-d8d519585dbe/mza_8884854500008393311.255x255-75.jpg
J. Vernon McGee's “Thru The Bible”

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John MacArthur, Jr.
born June 19, 1939

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Hebrews 2:1 NKJV
1 Therefore we must
give the more
earnest heed to the
things we have
heard, lest we drift
away.

1Don’t drift away from God.
2Those who received the most light
will receive the harshest
judgment.
3I will reign with Christ, my Brother!

4Jesus had to become a manin order to die.
5He had to diein order to redeem
us and secure our destiny as
co-heirs with Him.

6He became the Captain(Pioneer) of our salvation.
7We will reign with Himfor 1,000
years as we were originally
designed to do.

8He also came so that He can be our High Priest Who understands what it is like to live daily for God in a broken world.
9 He sympathizeswith us in every
way.

Hebrews 3:18-19 NKJV
18And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

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Matthew 11:28-29
REST

Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV
28Come to Me, all youwho labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take My yokeupon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For My yokeiseasy and My burden is light.

The writer of Hebrews is talking about the rest of fully trusting God, not only for salvation but also for daily living.
All you have to do is:
1) believe Christ and
2) receiveChrist and
3) restin Him.

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It is not only the rest of redemption;
it is the rest of
obedience,
the rest of enjoying
the Christian life.

We are now joined to a living Christ, and that is the only way we will enjoy living in Christ while still on this earth –victorious living!

John 10:10 NKJV
10The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have itmore abundantly.

We are going to find out that there is an eternal rest(Heaven rest), and Jesus gives that rest too, but the question today is, "Have you entered into the rest that believers are to have as they sojourn on earth?"
Are you a rejoicing Christian today?

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The only way to enter that rest is to studyand believethe Word of God.
How many
Christians
today really study
the Word of God?

The only way you and I can stay close to Him is to stay closeto the Word of God (remember, don’t drift).
*And the only way you and I can enjoy the grapes and fruits of the land, and the beauty and enjoyment of it, is by studyingGod's Word.

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Without a personal acquaintancewith the Word of God, just being a church member seems like everything is a dutyinstead of a
drawing to the
Person of Christ.

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The folks who have not entered into His rest say, “I have to goto church” not “I get to goto church”.
They doubt God, and as a result they are having a wilderness experience. (Just as the children of Israel did)

Hebrews 3:10 NKJV
10Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in theirheart, And they have not known My ways.’

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We have the same
danger today –
the danger of erring
in our hearts.

The wilderness is a place of death;
it is a place of unrest;
it is a place of aimlessness; and
it is a place of dissatisfaction.
*To those Israelites out there in the wilderness God said, "You are not going to know what rest is."

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There are many believers today who just don't knowwhat rest really means because
they must enter
by faith.

Hebrews 3:12 NKJV
12Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbeliefin departing from the living God;

Could unbelief be true of a believer?
Yes, it certainly could and is.
•God was extremely angrywith their sin and what was their sin?
•It was not murder; it was not stealing; it was not lying.
•What was it?
•They didn't believe God!

Hebrews 3:13 NKJV
13but exhort(encourage) one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

13but exhortone another daily,
•Exhort (encourage) is from the Greek parakaleo, a form of the word used by Jesus of the Holy Spirit (paraklete) in John 14:16.
•The root meaning has to do with coming alongside to give help.

John 14:16 NKJV
16And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

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The writer is
saying to the
believers,
"Get along side
each other and
helpeach other."

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We are especially urged to help our unbelievingbrethren
by encouraging them
not to harden their
hearts but to accept
Jesus as the Messiah.

Hebrews 3:13b
13b lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

We as believers need to beware of the deceitfulness of sin.
We can actually come to the place where we feelour lives are satisfactory to God although we are leading a wilderness life.

For example, a believer can be dishonest and yet say that his consciencedoes not condemn him!
Then he should condemn his conscience, because it has become hardened through continuance in sin.

The greatest sin in the world is unbelief.
It is the greatest offense against God and brings the greatest harmto ourselves.

When you have heard the truth of Jesus Christ, when you have acknowledged that it is the truth, and then turn your back and walk away from Him, there is nothing God can do.

Ephesians 6:11 NKJV
11“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles(schemes, planning meetings) of the devil.”
•Deceitfulness means "trickery" or “strategem”. (strategy/schemes)

Sin is tricky; it seldom appears as it really is because it masks itself.
It lies and deceives (Romans 7:11).
•“My life has room for improvement, but it doesn't need 'saving” is what the sin nature deceitfullytells men about their need for salvation.

When a person becomes spiritually hardened, he rarely is awareof it.
He can hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ time and time again and not respond.

"The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay."
If your heart is not melted in faith, it will be hardened in unbelief.

11Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

12For the word of God isliving and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things arenaked and open to the eyes of Him to Whom we must giveaccount.

Our Compassionate High Priest
14Seeing then that we have a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast ourconfession.

15For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all pointstempted as we are, yetwithout sin.

16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4 continues the warning that began in Hebrews 3:7 to those who are intellectually convinced that Jesus is the Way yet unresponsiveto the tug that the Holy Spirit had put on their heart.

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The warning is:
"Do not harden
your heartslike
Israel did in the
wilderness."

The Israelites had left Egypt, but they often longed to go back.
They refused to trust the Lord completely and, oppressive and disappointing as it was, the old life
still had an appeal.

They haltedat the crucial point of decision.
Consequently, they were not allowed to enter the Promised Land and into God's rest.

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So it is with many who are drawn to Jesus Christ -unbelief forfeits rest.
Those who know the Gospel but refuse to commit their lives to Christ are some of
the most miserablefolkson earth.

THE MEANING OF REST
The Greek word, katapausis, (CATahPAWsees) for restis that of ceasing from work or from any kind of action, to pause.
You stopdoing what you are doing. Action, labor, or exertion is over.

Applied to God's rest, it means no more self-effortas far as salvation and righteous living is concerned.
It means the end of trying to please God by our feeble, fleshly works.
oGod's perfect rest is a rest in free grace.

God’s rest also means freedom from whatever worries or disturbs you.
Some people cannot rest mentally and emotionally because they are so easily annoyed.
oEvery little nuisance upsetsthem and they always feel hassled.

Rest does not mean freedom fromall nuisances and hassles; it means freedom while inthe midst of hassles-
freedom from being so easily bothered by them.
It means to be inwardly quiet, composed, peaceful.

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To enter God's rest means to be at peace with God, to possess the perfect peace He gives.
It means to be free from guiltand even unnecessary feelings of guilt.
oIt means freedom from worryabout sin, because sin is forgiven.

God's rest is the end of legalistic worksand the experience of peace in the total forgiveness of God.
Rest means to lie down, be settled, fixed, secure.

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There is no more shifting about in frustrationfrom one thing to another, no more running in circles.

We are freedfrom running from philosophy to philosophy, from religion to religion, from life-style to life-style.
We are freedfrom being tossed about by every doctrinal wind, every idea or fad, that blows our way.

In God's rest we are forever established in Christ.
That is the Christian's rest.
In Christ, we are established, unmovable, grounded, rooted.

Colossians 2:6-7 NIV
6 Justas you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, 7 rootedand built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Rest involves remaining confident (keeping trust) -to rest in Someone means to maintain our confidence in Him.
We have no more reason to fear. 2:15
oWe have absolute trust and confidencein God's power and care.

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Rest also means to lean on.

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To enter into God's rest means that for the remainder of our lives and for all eternitywe can lean
on God –
we can be sure that He
will never fail to
support us.

In the new relationship with God, we can depend on Him for everythingand in everything —for support, for health, for strength, for all we need.
Philippians 4:19 NKJV
19And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 1:12b NKJV
12bFor I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is ableto keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

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The rest spoken of in Hebrews 3 & 4 includes all of these meanings-it is full, blessed, sweet, satisfying, peaceful and is what
God offers every
person in Christ.

And just as Israel never entered Canaan rest because of unbelief, so soul after soul since that time, and even before, has missed God's salvation rest because of unbelief.

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Two other dimensions of spiritual rest will not be found in a dictionary —
the Kingdom rest of the Millennium and the eternal rest of Heaven.

These are the ultimate expressions of the new relationship to God in Christ, the relationship that takes care of us: 1) in this life,
2) in the Millennium Kingdom,and
3) in Heaven forever.

Hebrews 4:1-13 takes us more deeply into this truth by teaching four things about God's rest:
1) its availability (v 1),
2) its elements (vv 2-7),
3) its nature (vv 8-10), and
4) its urgency(vv 11-13).

THE URGENCY OF REST
Hebrews 4:11-13

Hebrews 4:11 NKJV
11Let us therefore be diligent (with urgency) to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

The need for God's rest is urgent.
A person should diligently, with intense purpose and concern, secure God’s rest in their lives.

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It is not that a man can work his way to salvation, but that he should diligently seekto enter God's rest by faith —lest he, like
the Israelites in the
wilderness, lose the
opportunity.

Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
6But without faith it isimpossible to please Him,for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and thatHe is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

God cannot be trifled with.
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and activeand sharper than any two- edged sword, ... and able to judgethe thoughts and intentions of the heart.

This verse means that the readers who are hesitatingin trusting Christ, who are even considering falling back into the old way of life, had better be urgentand diligentin seeking to enter God's rest, because the Word of God
is alive.

It is not static, but active—constantly active.
The Word of God pierces right down into the innermost part of the heart to see if belief is real or not.

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So the Word of God is not only saving and comforting and nourishing and healing, it is also a
tool of judgment
and execution.

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In the day of the Great Judgment, His Word is going to penetrate and lay bareall hearts who have not trusted
in Him.

The sham and hypocrisy will be revealed and no profession of faith, no matter how orthodox, and no list of good works, no matter how sacrificial, will count for anything before Him.

Only the thoughts and intentions of the heart(your true motives) will count.
God's Word is the perfect discerner, the perfect kritikos(from which we get "critic") –able to judge.

It not only analyzes all the facts perfectly, but all -
1)motives, and
2)intentions, and
3)beliefsas well, which even the wisest of human judges or critics cannot do.

The sword of His Word will make no mistakesin judgment or execution.
All disguises will be ripped off
and only the real personwill be seen.

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Hebrews 4:13 NKJV
13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things arenaked and opento the eyes of Him to Whom we must giveaccount.

The word translated openhad two distinct uses in ancient times.
It was used of a wrestler taking his opponent by the throat and in this position the two men were unavoidably face to face.

The other use was in regard to a criminal trial.
A sharp dagger would be bound to the neck of the accused, with the point just below his chin, so that he could not bow his head, but had to face the court.

Both uses had to do with grave face- to-face situations.
When an unbeliever comes under the scrutiny of God's Word, he will be unavoidably face-to-face with the perfect truth about God and about himself.

In light of such certain and perfect judgment and of such beautiful and wonderful rest, whywill any person harden his heart to God?

Our Compassionate High Priest 14Seeing then that we have a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast ourconfession.

Until now the appeal has largely been negative: if you do not believe, you will be doomed —forever apart from God and His rest.
God's Word has been shown in its
all-seeing and judgmental role, as a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12).

Done in the right spirit and way, warning unbelievers of the dangers of hell is one of the greatest kindnesses we can show them.
The message now turns to the positiveside of the Gospel (4:14-16).

Salvation does more than keep us out of hell, immeasurably more.
Many people have a caricature of fundamentalism, or evangelicalism, as having no message but "fire and brimstone, hell and damnation."

Salvation not only saves from spiritual death, it brings spiritual life.
It should be sought not only because of what will happen to us if we do not accept it, but because of what will happen to us if we do.

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What happens to us
when we accept it is
based on
Who Jesus is.

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If there were no other reason in the universe to be saved,
Who Jesus is would
be plenty of reason
enough.

Coming into a living relationship with Him is the greatest experiencea person can have.
To walk in the fellowship of the living Christ would be a glorious thing even if there were no hell to escape.

So we have reason to receive Jesus Christ and enter into God's rest not only because of fear of His judgment but because of His beauty, not only because of His wrath but also because of His grace, not only because He is a judge but because He is also a merciful and faithful High Priest.

Three things make Jesus our great High Priest:
1)His perfect priesthood,
2)His perfect Person, and
3)His perfect provision.

Because He is perfect in these aspects, He is God's only true High Priest.
All others, no matter how faithful, were but symbolsof His priesthood.

Hebrews 4:14 NKJV
Our Compassionate High Priest
14Seeing then that we have a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast ourconfession.

As we learn from Leviticus 16, before the high priest could even enter the Holy of Holies, much less offer a sacrifice there, he had to make an offering for himself, since he, just as all those whom he represented, was a sinner.

Not only that, but his time in the Holy of Holies was limited.
He was allowed to stay in the presence of the Shekinah glory of God only while he was making the sacrifice.

To enter the Holy of Holies, the priest had to pass through three areasin the Tabernacle or the Temple.

He took the blood and went through the door into:
1)the outer court, through another door into
2)the Holy Place, and then through the veil into
3)the Holy of Holies.

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He did not sit downnor delay.
As soon as the sacrifice was made,
he left and did not return for another year.

Every year, year after year, another Yom Kippur, was necessary.
(It just ended at 6 pm yesterday, Oct 4).
Yom Kippur literally means
“Day of Atonement.” at ONE ment

It is a day devoted to “afflicting the soul,” repentanceand reflectionson sins committed in the past year.
It marks the culmination of the 10 Days of Awe that began on the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah-- a period of serious introspection.

Betweenthese yearly sacrifices — every day, day after day —
thousandsof other sacrifices were made, of produce and of animals.

The process was never ended, never completed, because the priesthood was not perfect and the sacrifices were not perfect.

Jesus, our great High Priest, after He had made the one-time, perfect sacrifice on the cross, also passed through three areas.

When He passed through the heavens, he went through:
1) the first heaven (the atmosphere), 2) the second heaven (outer space), &
3) into the third heaven (God's abode)
See 2 Corinthians 12:2

2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.

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Jesus went to where God Himself, not simply His glory, dwells.

This is the holiest of all holies.
But Jesus did not have to leave.
His sacrifice was made once for all time.

The sacrifice was perfect and the High Priest was perfect, and He sat down for all eternity at the Father's right hand (see Hebrews 1:3).

Hebrews 1:3 NKJV
3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat downat the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

He had made the perfect atonement for sin, the purposefor which He had come to earth.
The work was finishedwhen He entered Heaven and presented Himself in the Holy Place.

Our great High Priest did not pass through the Tabernacle or the Temple, He passed through the heavens.
When He got there He sat down, and God said, "I'm satisfied”!

Jesus Christ accomplished the atonement:
1)for all sins
2)for all time
3)for all thosewho come to Him by faith and accept what He did for them.

THE END OF JEWISH PRIESTHOOD AND SACRIFICES
Jesus was crucified less than forty years before Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70.

With it was destroyed the Temple, the only placewhere sacrifices could be made.
From shortly after the time of Christ, therefore, no sacrifices have been made—even until the present time.

Consequently, there has been no need for a Jewish priesthoodsince that time.
Yom Kippur is still celebrated as a holy day, the highest holy day, but no priests are involved and no sacrifices are offered—because there are no prieststo make the sacrifices and no templein which to offer them.

THE END OF ALL RITUALISTIC PRIESTHOODS AND SACRIFICES
No formal Christian priesthoodwas established by Christ or the apostles. Peter refers to the church, that is to all believers, as a "holy priesthood" and "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5,9).

Christians, as God's redeemed, are types of priests, in the general sense that we are responsible for bringing God to other men through preaching and teaching His Word and for bringing men to God through our witnessing.

But no special order of priesthoodor system of sacrifices is either taught or recognized in the New Testament.

All claimsof special priestly mediation between God and men —in offering forgiveness for sins, making atonement for sins by repeating Christ's sacrifice through a ritual, or any other such claim or practice —is entirely unbiblicaland sinful.

It is open defiance of the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Any formal religious priesthood on earth now impliesthat the final and perfect atonement for sin has not yet been made.

There is absolutely no placein Christianity for a formal priesthood.
Any that is established is illegitimateand a direct affrontto the full and
final priesthood of Jesus Christ
Himself.

We have our perfect and great High Priest and He has already made, once and for all, the only sacrificethat will ever need to be madefor sin —the only effective sacrifice that could be made for sin.

Any other priest who attempts to reconcile men and God is a barrierrather than a mediator.
By faith in Jesus Christ any person can enter directly into God's presence.
oWhen Jesus died, the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom.

Access to Godwas thrown wide open to anyone who would come on His terms.

At the end of verse 14 our great High Priest is again identified as Jesus, the Son of God.
Here together are His human name, Jesus, and His divine title, Son of God.

JESUS' HUMANITY
Most people seem to think of God as being far removedfrom human life and concerns.

Jesus was the very Son of God, yet His divinity did not prevent Him from experiencing our feelings, our emotions, our temptations, and our pain.

God became a man to share triumphantly the temptation and the testing and the suffering of men, in order that He might be a sympathetic and understandingHigh Priest.

When we are troubled or hurt or despondent or strongly tempted, we want to share our feelingsand needs with someone who understands.
Jesus can sympathizewith our weaknesses.

The phrase "No one understands like Jesus" in the well-known hymn is not only beautiful and encouraging but absolutely true.
Our great High Priest not only is perfectly merciful and faithful but also perfectly understanding.

He has an unequaled capacity for sympathizing with us in every danger, in every trial, in every situation that comes our way, because He has been through it all Himself.
At the tomb of Lazarus Jesus' body shook in grief.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, just before His arrest, He sweat drops of blood.
He experienced every kindof temptation and testing, every kind of vicissitude, every kind of circumstance that any person will ever face.

And He is at the right hand of the Father right now interceding for us.

Jesus not only had all the feelings of love, concern, disappointment, grief, and frustration that we have, but He had much greater love, infinitely more sensitive concerns, infinitely higher standards of righteousness, and perfect awarenessof the evil and dangers of sin.

Contrary, therefore, to what we are inclined to think, His divinity made His temptations and trials immeasurably harderfor Him to endure than ours are for us.

How can this be true?
We experience pain when we are injured, sometimes extreme pain but if it becomes too severe, we will develop a temporary numbness, or we may even faint or go into shock.

Our bodies have ways of turning off pain when it becomes too much to endure.
People vary a great deal in their pain thresholds, but we all have a breaking point.

In other words, the amount of pain we can endure is not limitless.

We can conclude that there is a degree of pain we will never experience, because our bodies will turn off our sensitivityin one way or
another —perhaps even by death —
beforewe reach that point.

A similar principle operates in temptation.
There is a degree of temptation that we may never experience simply because, no matter what our spirituality, we will succumbbefore we reach it.

But Jesus Christ had no such limitation.
Since He was sinless, He took the full extentof all that Satan could throw at Him.

He had no shock system, no weakness limit, to turn offtemptation at a certain point.
Since He never succumbed, He experienced every temptation to the maximum.

He experienced it as a man, as a human being, so in every way He was tempted as we are, and more.
The only difference was that He never sinned.

Therefore, when we come to Jesus Christ we can remember that He knows everything we know, and a great deal that we do not know, about temptation, and testing, and pain.

The writer of Hebrews is saying that we have a God not only -
“Who is there" but One
“Who has been here."

Weaknesses does not refer directly to sin, but to feeblenessor infirmity.
Jesus knew firsthand the driveof human nature toward sin.

His humanity was His battleground and it is here that Jesus faced and fought sin.
He was victorious, but not without the most intense temptation, grief, and anguish.

In all of this struggle Jesus was without sin (Choris Hamartia) -He was completely apart from, separated from, sin.
These two Greek words express the absolute absence of sin.

Though He was mercilessly tempted to sin, not the slightest taintof it ever entered His mind or was expressed in His words or actions.

Some may wonder howJesus can completely identify with us if He did not actually sin as we do.
It was Jesus' facing sin with His perfect righteousness and truth, however, that qualifies Him.

Jesus never sinned, but He understands sin better than any man.
He has seen it more clearly and fought it more diligentlythan any of us could ever be able to do.

His temptations were all the more terrible because He would not fall and endured them to the extreme.
His sinlessness increased His sensitivity to sin.

Hebrews 12:3-4 NKJV
3For consider Him Who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4You have not yet resisted to bloodshed,striving against sin.

If you want to talk to someone who knows what sin is about, talk to Jesus Christ because Jesus knows sin, and He knows and understands our weakness.
Whatever Satan brings our way, there is victory in Jesus Christ.

http://nguyenni32.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/somethingfishey8wr.jpg

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The One Who understands us perfectly will also provide for us perfectly.

13No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God isfaithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Jesus Christ knows our temptations and will lead us out of them.

Hebrews 4:16b NKJV
“draw near with confidence (come boldly) to the throne of grace.”
Most ancient rulers were unapproachableby the common people.

Some would not even allow their highest-ranking officials to come before them without permission.
Queen Esther risked her lifein approaching the King without invitation, even though she was his wife (Esther 5:1-2).

Yet any penitent person, no matter how sinful and undeserving, may approach God's throne at any timefor forgiveness and salvation —confident that he will be received with mercy and grace.

By Christ's sacrifice of Himself, God's throne of judgment is turned into a throne of gracefor those who trust in Him.

As the Jewish high priests once a year for centuries had sprinkled blood on the mercy seatfor the people's sins, Jesus shed His blood once and for all time for the sins of everyone who believes in Him.
That is His perfect provision!

The Bible speaks much of God's justice.
But how terrible for us if He were only just, and not also gracious.
oSinful man deserves death, the sentence of justice; but he needs salvation, the gift of grace.

It is to the very throne of this grace that any person can now come with confidenceand assurance.
It is the throne of grace because grace is dispensed there.

How can anyone reject such a High Priest, such a Savior —Who not only permits us to come before His throne for grace and help, but pleads with us to come in confidence?

His Spirit says, "Come boldlyall the way to God's throne that has been turned into a throne of grace because of Jesus. Come all the way up, receive grace and mercy when you need it — before it is too late and your heart is hard and God's 'today' is over."

The time of need is now.
What a High Priest we have.
He sympathizes and He saves.
What more could He do?

END
JOHN MACARTHUR
HEBREWS CHAPTER 4

Hebrews 5:1-6 NKJV
Qualifications for High Priesthood
1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertainingto God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

2He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrificesfor sins.

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

A Priest Forever
5So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it wasHe Who said to Him:
“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”

6As Healso saysin another place:
“You area priest foreverAccording to the order of Melchizedek”;
Hebrews 5:1-6 NKJV

Scripture presents a fivefold rest:
(1)creation rest;
(2)entrance into Canaan rest;
(3)the rest of salvation;
(4)the rest of consecration; and
(5)Heaven rest.

Ephesians 1:7 NKJV
7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
(We have rest, salvation rest, from the burden of our sins because of what Jesus did for us).

1 Peter 2:24 NKJV
24He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness…

The people of Israel now knew the
rest of redemption.
They were no longer slavesin Egypt.
oThey came out by blood--blood on the doorposts.
•They came out by power--God brought them across the Red Sea.

God had deliveredthem.
But then the Lord Jesus went on to say, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find restunto your souls" (Matthew 11:29).
oThat is a different kind of rest.

Paul talks about this.
Romans 6:4-11
4Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

http://blog.hillsbiblechurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/jesusresurrection8.jpg
5For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be
in the likenessof
Hisresurrection,

6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him,that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7For he who has died has been freed from sin.

8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

10For the deaththat He died, He died to sin once for all; but the lifethat He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:4-11

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/f5/b7/8f/f5b78f4e589d1dc3c84f51030d06392c.jpg
The Book of Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is quick and powerful.

http://kids-faith.com/wp-content/uploads/a_deceitful_heart.jpg
We have the same danger today –
the danger of erring in our hearts.

What God had said in Psalm 95 He repeated in Hebrews 3:11 –
"They shall notenter into My rest."
God said that, because of unbelief, the generation of Israelites would not enter into the Land of Promise.

Until you not only accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, but walk with Him by faith, committingyour life to Him, you are not going to know anything about the joys of Canaan. Unfortunately, we have a great many wilderness Christiansin our churches.

http://victoryoutreachwhittier.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/faith.jpg
There are many believers today who just don't knowwhat rest really means because they must enter by faith.

2 Corinthians 3:7, 11-18 NKJV
Glory of the New Covenant
7But if the ministry of death, written andengraved on stones (The Ten Commandments), was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glorywas passing away,

(Paul is not saying that the Law
wasn't glorious; it was, but that glory was to disappear.)

11For if what is passing awaywasglorious, what remains ismuch more glorious.
(Paul is making a contrast between the glory of the Law, which actually made Moses' face shine, and the greater glory that we have in Christ.)

12Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— 13unlike Moses, whoput a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.

(Moses didn't put a veil over his face as a dimmer, to dim the glory, which
is the general interpretation, but the glory was disappearingand he put a veil over his face so that folks wouldn't knowabout its disappearance.)

14But their minds were blinded.
For until this day the same veil
remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veilis taken away in Christ.

15But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
(Unbelief is not an intellectual problem; it is a heart problem. You may be one who has not come to Christ because there is sin in your life and you do not want to give it up.)

The minute your heart is ready to give it up, at that moment your "intellectual" problems will dissolve.
He will take the veil away from your mind, and you can come to Christ, be saved and enter into His rest.

16Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
(The veil will be removed from your mind when your heart turns to Christ.)

17Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there isliberty.
(The Holy Spirit will move into your life and make Christ real to you, as He is doing for multitudes of believers in our day.)

18But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:7, 11-18 NKJV

Now let's return to Hebrews 3:13 where we are reminded,
Hebrews 3:13
13but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

There are men in the ministry who have been totally dishonest; they have been found to be liars, yet they can get down on their knees and pray the most pious prayersyou have ever heard.

And their conscience does not condemn them.
Of course it doesn't condemn them, because it has become hardened; they are permitting sinin their lives.

This writer of the Hebrew epistle goes back to the wilderness experience of Israel, applies it to the Hebrew believers of the first century, and steps on our toes also.
It is the Holy Spirit Who applies these truths to our own hearts.

Once you have heard the Gospel and understood its claims, and then say no to Jesus Christ, you have fallen away.
You have become apostate.

Turning away from Jesus Christ is much more than rejecting historical, traditional Christianity.
Turning away from Jesus Christ is turning away from the living God.
It is turning away from life itself.

When someone tells you that he has an intellectual problemthat hinders him from receiving Christ, simply do not believe it because people don't really have intellectual problems which keep them from Christ, but they sure do have sin problems.

Either you believe to the saving of your soul or you fall back to damnation.

Hebrews 3:14 NKJV
14For we have become partakersof Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,

“The faith that fizzles at the finish had a flaw from the first.”
Adrian Rogers

If we really believe the Gospel, if we have committed our life to Jesus Christ, then at the end of the day, the end of the year, the end of life, our commitment will still stand.
The greatest proofof salvation is continuance in the Christian life.

The true believer stays with Christ.
John 8:31
"If you abidein My word," Jesus said, "then you are trulydisciples of Mine."

When someone departs from the Gospel, backs away from the faith, we can only conclude that this person never believed.

1 John 2:18-19 NKJV
18Little children, it is the last hour;
and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been
of us, they would have continued
with us; but they went outthat they might be made manifest, that none
of them were of us.
1 John 2:18-19 NKJV

Staying with the Lordmarks the difference between possession and profession.

Hebrews 3:15 NKJV
15while it is said:
“Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

The writer of Hebrews repeats
Psalm 95 again to remind the reader that these truths are not for yesterday only, but for us today.

If you would ask J. Vernon Magee, “Preacher, what is the great sin in your life, what is it that has held you back more than anything else?"

He said that he would have to admit that it is unbelief.
“As I look back upon my years of ministry, I realize that I did not believe God as I should have. And today there is one thing I want above everything else, and that is to believe God. I want to commit my life to Him completely, turn everything over to Him.”
J. Vernon Magee

This is the "rest" the writer of this Hebrew epistle is talking about, the rest of fully trusting God --not only for salvation but for daily living, for the help and the wisdom and the strength we need to live the Christian life.

The people of Israel wandered in the wilderness because they did not have faith to enter the Promised Land.
As we have seen, Canaan does not represent Heaven; it represents the place of spiritual blessing and victory.

The apostle Paul was speaking of his own experience when he cried,
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24).

That is not the cry of an unsaved man, it is the cry of a saved man who is a defeated Christian, who finds no satisfaction in Christ because he is not trusting.
The problem was lack of faith.

The disobedience of unbelief forfeits blessing and brings judgment.

God has great blessings prepared.
He wants to pour out these riches on us, not only in this life but throughout all eternity.
There is one thing required —faith.
They were not able to enter because of unbelief (Proverbs 29:1; Jude 5).

Jude 1:5 NKJV
5But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Everyone lives by faith.
We live by faith when we go into a restaurant and eat the food without questioning its safety.

When driving down the highway, we are not in constant fear that around the next bend the road will lead us into a river where there is no bridge.
We trust the people who made the highways and the people who have traveled over them before us.

We live by faith almost constantly.
If we can put our faith in the highway department and the people who prepare our food, we surely can put our faith in the God of the universe.
Not to trust in Him is fatal!

It is a relationship in which we are confident and secure that we have committed our life to God and that He holds it in perfect, eternal love.
It is a relationship that involves being settled and fixed.
oNo more floating around.

We know whom we have believed and we stand in Him.

It is the rest pictured and illustrated in the Canaan restthat Israel never understood and never entered into because of unbelief.

Throughout the book of Hebrews the high priesthood of Jesus Christ is exalted.
In chapter 1 He is seen as the One Who provided "purification of sins"
(v. 3).

In chapter 2 He is "a merciful and faithful high priest" (v. 17) and in chapter 3 He is "the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" (v. 1).
Chapters 7-9 focus almost exclusively on Jesus' high priesthood.

Here in Hebrews 4:14 He is called
a great high priest.

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608000771937536779&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/736x/d1/e3/32/d1e33211b2f14a736020deb0489e0e5f.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6-JbkNI-JT8/UQfHs_qHzII/AAAAAAAABwU/jIEQBtpFEM8/s1600/rest+in+god.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3itEBz541_Q/TBHNwCBCePI/AAAAAAAAADs/e_eFA9_KQn4/s1600/Rest+From+God%21.jpg

The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23aFor the wages of sin is death,

Death in this life (the first death) is 100%. Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this life to pay the penalty for our sins. The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second death explained in Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Romans 5:8 NKJV
8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23bbut the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”
Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to accept Jesus as our Savior.

Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:13 NKJV
13For “whoever calls on the name of the LORDshall be saved.”
If you have questions or would like to know more.
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-979-1900 or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/

10 October 5, 2014, Hebrews 4;14-5;6 Secured With Confidence

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10 October 5, 2014, Hebrews 4;14-5;6 Secured With Confidence