Welcome to this week's edition the Weekend Sermon. I just want to say that I am thankful to all of you who read the blog each week. Since I posted the series of the book of Malachi, the number of people viewing the blog and reading the sermons each week has dropped considerably. I'm not entirely sure why that is. There are still several of you who do read the sermons, and I am glad for that. I hope that everyone is having a very good week.
Writing has been good this week. Thanks be to God. I do have something that I would like you to pray about. I am having some very bad trouble with a skin ailment. Please pray that this will be healed. Thank you. It has been a hard week in many ways.
Please continue to pray for those in Puerto Rico who are recovering as a result of the hurricane. Also, please pray for those who were affected by the flooding in Oklahoma yesterday.
Let us pray for peace in the troubled areas of this world. Pray that peace talks between the US and North Korea are successful. Pray for peace in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and Libya.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let's pray for those in the nations of Indonesia and Azerbaijan. Pray that people in these nations will hear the message of the love of Jesus.
For the past couple of weeks, we have been in a series of messages called "Who is Jesus?" We've studied the fact that Jesus is both God and man. We have also studied that Jesus had a prophetic ministry while He was here on earth.
Today, we will look into the fact that Jesus is our great High Priest. We will see why this is and what this means for us.
First of all, let us examine what a priest does. In the Old Testament, the priests were the one's who carried out the ministry in the Temple. The priests were the ones who were supposed to take the sacrifices from the people and offer them to God in the acceptable form, They interceded to God on behalf of the people.
In the Old Testament, a man had to be a member of the tribe of Levi in order to be a priest. The High Priest was the one who entered the Holy of Holies each year on the Day of Atonement. He provided the sacrifice so that the people's sins could be forgiven for that year.
The Bible says that Jesus is the Great High Priest. Hebrews 4:14 states, "Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to the faith that we profess. Ours is not a high priest unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in every way as we are, only without sinning."
The priests in the Temple had to be Levites. Jesus was a member of the tribe of Judah. However, the Bible states that Jesus was a priest in the order of Melchizidek. This man was a priest who met Abraham. Abraham gave him a tithe. Melchizidek was a priest before the Levitical priesthood was established, and so is Jesus Christ.
The priests in the Old Testament offered the blood from animal sacrifices on a continuing basis for the forgiveness of the people's sins. Jesus made a much different sacrifice. Jesus offered His own blood for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. The Bible says it this way in Hebrews 8:11-13. "But now Christ has come, as the high priest of all the blessings which were to come. He has passed through the greater, the more perfect tent, not made by human hands, that is, not of the created order, and he has entered the sanctuary once for all, taking not with him the blood of goats and bull calves, but his own blood, having won an eternal redemption."
When Jesus died on the cross, He was the sacrifice for the sins of the world. He bore our sins on the cross that our sins might be forgiven and that we might have redemption. He was the once for all final sacrifice for sins.
We know that Jesus' sacrifice for our sins was acceptable to the Father. We know this, because God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus has been exalted as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the book of Revelation, all the hosts of Heaven cry out, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain."
There doesn't have to be any more sacrifice for sins. Jesus paid it all. He has completed the work, and He is seated at the right hand of God the Father. There, He makes intercession for us as our advocate with the Father.
Jesus instituted a new covenant. He spoke about this on the night when He established the sacrament of Holy Communion. Jesus said that this was the new covenant in His blood. We are to remember His death through the elements of the bread and the cup. This is to remind us that Jesus is the one who is the mediator of a new and living covenant between God and man that is sealed by Jesus' redeeming blood.
That covenant is that whosoever will believe in Jesus will be saved. Whoever puts there faith and trust in Jesus and what He did on the cross will be redeemed.
Now that we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can go to Him and ask Him to forgive our sins. The Bible says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Jesus knows what it is like to live on this earth. He has felt the feelings of our infirmities. He is willing to forgive us, and restore us to fellowship with Him when we go astray. When we truly confess and repent of our sins, we can have full assurance that Jesus hears us and He forgives us.
Jesus role as priest lets us rest in the assurance that He has provided all that is necessary for our redemption. He has completed the work. He has instituted the new covenant between God and man. May Jesus Christ be praised.
Next week, we will examine how Jesus is king. I hope to post the verses on Monday and have a review on Wednesday. I will have to see how I am feeling as the week goes on. May God bless you all. Amen.
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