And welcome to our study in God's Word. I'm Pastor Joe Jackowicz, and it's a delight once again to have you join us in our study of the book of Hebrews. So if you have a Bible, please turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 7. We have been going verse by verse through this book, and we certainly have unpacked a lot of precious, rich truth. And so let us open in a word of prayer. Father, we ask your blessing upon our time in your word. Oh, Lord, your word is like a light shining in darkness. Your word teaches us about you and about the way to heaven and about the abundant life in Christ Jesus. We ask that you would open our eyes, that we might behold wondrous things from your law. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. And so again, we're blessed to have you join us wherever you may be watching us on Facebook or listening on First Love Radio. We do have an email address you can write to us if you have any questions or comments. That's FirstLoveRadio at FirstLoveRadio.org. One word, FirstLoveRadio at FirstLoveRadio.org. Let me open by reading Hebrews chapter seven. We are in the last section of chapter seven, verses 20 through 28. Our text today is verse 25, but follow along as I read the entire passage. Hebrews chapter seven, beginning at verse 20. And in as much as he was not made priest without an oath, For they have become priests without an oath, but he with an oath by him who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. By so much more, Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also, there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing. but he, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For such a high priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. who does not need daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the people's. For this he did once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath which came after the law appoints the son who has been perfected forever. You will remember in our last study, we looked at the Lord Jesus Christ as one who is the guarantee of our salvation. Christ's priesthood guarantees our salvation. And just to review briefly, we saw first a change in the guarantee and covenant of the priesthood that In verses 20 through 22 of Hebrews 7, the Old Testament priests were not sworn by God's oath. Secondly, the new priest, Jesus Christ, was sworn by God's oath, and God will never repent or change his mind hereafter. And thirdly, God's oath guarantees a much better covenant than the old covenant. And then The second point was that Jesus' permanence and perpetual petition on our behalf, verses 23 through 25. There we saw that Jesus was permanently our high priest, and he permanently offers up prayers, petitions, and supplications on our behalf because he does not die. priest who died, verse 23. But in verse 24, Jesus alone is unchangeable because he abides forever. He lives forever. And then in verse 25, we saw that Jesus saves completely and forever. Today, we're going to continue studying verse 25. The title of today's message is The All-Powerful High Priest. That's right. Jesus is all-powerful in comparison to the Old Testament priests of the Levitical priesthood. Let's look at the context of chapter 7 once again briefly. Let's review. We remember that when Abraham met with Melchizedek in the Old Testament, he honored him with tithes, and so the lesser pays tithes to the greater. This shows that Abraham recognized Melchizedek's superiority. And since the Old Covenant was flawed and temporary, based on limited priests and limited sacrifices, which were all temporary, the Old Covenant is inferior to the priesthood of Melchizedek, which is unending. Hebrews chapter 7 verses 11 through 28 expands on previous arguments related to the priesthood of Christ that were brought up in the chapter, that is chapter 7. Continuing in chapter 7, the author shows how the priesthood of Jesus is superior to that of the Old Testament law. If there was to be a change in the Levitical priesthood, the Aaronic priesthood, you needed to change the law, the Old Testament law, which we saw in Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 through 33, that the old covenant would eventually become the new covenant. God was going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel that was unlike the old covenant. This uses the figure of Melchizedek as a model. Christ's priesthood is sinless, perfect, and unending. and decreed as such by God in the Old Testament. The Levitical priesthood was temporary, flawed, imperfect, and could not last forever because the priests could not last forever and for many other reasons. So let's once again read Hebrews chapter 7, verse 25, which is our text for today. Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Now, admittedly, this is a favorite verse of many Christians. And we understand why, because there is so much glory. There are so many promises. There are so much rich truth in this text. to comfort and to nourish the hearts of believers. I don't know about you, but when I read this verse, I am comforted. It assures me that my Lord Jesus occupies a place next to the very throne of God at the right hand of God, the father, as my representative, as my high priest. And he never fails. He never ceases in his ministry, in his supplications, on my behalf and on your behalf. That's so comforting because no matter what we go through in this world, we are assured that Jesus is always there praying for us, weeping for us, pleading for us, and keeping us through his mighty power and through his intercessory prayers. Isn't that good news for the Christian? The believer is to take heart. Because as we look around in the world today, right over here is my window. And as we look around in the world, we see so much confusion and fear and anxiety. But if we have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, oh, we have a rock, we have a mountain, we have God himself upholding our faith through his mighty power and his prayers. And so Jesus is a powerful high priest because nothing can stop him praying and interceding and mediating on our behalf forever and ever and ever. And nothing can take him away from his vital ministry and role as our high priest. Always living, always for eternity, for eternity, forever and ever. living to make intercession for us. Well, in the first place then, regarding our Lord Jesus as a powerful high priest, Jesus saves. Verse 25a says, therefore, he is also able to save. Oh, that word save, it is so precious. It is so glorious because it provides hope for the sinner. Now this verse begins with the Greek word Hothen, which literally means therefore. Some of your versions may say wherefore, especially the King James Version. The statement which comes next then is based on what has just been said. Therefore, what has been said before, I am going to say this. In previous verses, the author has been explaining how the Old Testament system of priests is limited and therefore ultimately useless for our salvation. Human priests can only serve us until they die, and so they cannot intercede for us and mediate for us forever. They grow weak and tired. They fall asleep. But the Bible says in Hebrews 7.23 concerning these priests, also there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing. No human priest could offer sacrifices for all sins since he could never live long enough to do so. One day, all pastors are going to die and they cannot help you. They cannot pray for you. But pastors in the New Testament and priests in the Old Testament are not the sacrifice. And they are not the high priest of our profession, of our Christian faith. Jesus, on the other hand, lives forever, as we read in Hebrews 7.16, with a priesthood guaranteed forever by God. And we'll look at a few verses that guarantee us that his priesthood lasts forever. The Levitical priesthood, temporary. The Melchizedek priesthood, permanent, forever. And that's the one that Jesus occupies. He's the only priest in that order. There's a hymn titled, Jesus Saves. We have heard the joyful sound. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. You remember that hymn? My gift is not music, so I'll stop there. But it's true. Jesus saves. This phrase, Jesus saves, expresses the gospel in two words. Jesus saves. That's all we need to know. If we didn't have the Bible, if they took our Bibles from us like they did centuries ago and burned them, all we need to do is remember two words to share the gospel. Jesus saves. A noun and a verb, those two combine the gospel. There's A very close friend of mine, whom God saved, when he looked at a sign on top of a rescue mission, the sign was a neon sign flashing, Jesus saves, Jesus saves. He was in a hotel room. He was distraught and considering suicide. He opened the curtain and here is the rescue mission right next to the hotel and right next to him. He was like on the 9th or 10th floor. The sign on top of the rescue mission flashing, Jesus saves. He didn't know much about the gospel, but he did not know. He did not have to know too much. He believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. He fell on his face, and he didn't have to see Jesus. He believed in his heart that God had raised him from the dead, ascended on high, and was at the right hand of Father, saving all those who call out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. He believed, and he got saved. So these two words answers the two most important questions that a person can ask regarding his future destiny in heaven or in hell. Who can save me and what does he do? And the answer is, Jesus can save me. Jesus saves from sin, from judgment, and eternal punishment. And if you are not a Christian, If you're just a churchgoer, if you've had a little bit of Christianity sprinkled on you, but you're living for the world, you love the world, and you're consumed with sin, you're a slave of iniquity and sin, and you want to be delivered, you're tired of being a religious person without knowing Christ, yourself. You know about Christ. Maybe you were brought up in a Christian home. You were taught the Bible until it's coming out of your ears, but you don't know him. You know about him, but you don't know him. All you need to know is Jesus saves. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And so I bid you to put your trust and your life in the hands of the Lord Jesus today. Call upon him for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and put your trust in him to save you. The angel told Joseph in Matthew 121, you shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. His very name in the Greek, means Savior. His name in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, Yeshua HaMashiach, Savior, Messiah. And so we need a Savior. We need a Savior. I don't know about you, but I need a Savior to deliver me from this world, from my sins, from my guilt, from my wickedness. We are helpless and hopeless sinners having no hope and without God in the world. But when you put your trust in Jesus, when you give him your life, I'm not talking about just giving 10%, 90%, 95%. But the Bible says, if any man come after me, Jesus said, Let him let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For what does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? For what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. And whoever will find his life shall lose it and lose his own life in this world. And if you put your trust in Christ, the Bible says, but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were a far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Oh, a believer. Oh, I'm sorry. A sinner, a rebel, a lawbreaker against God. If you are one of those and you put your trust in Jesus, if you come to him and repent of your sin, you have a changed mind and a changed heart about your wicked lifestyle. and being a slave of sin and your lusts and your greed and your covetousness and your anger consuming you, controlling you, driving you day in and day out, like one having a ball and chain around his ankle. You can't get rid of it. And the heaviness of guilt and despair grows greater. Oh, the Bible says, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. And if we would confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That cleansing is with the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb's blood that was slain for sinners. He died on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And if you put your trust in the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, as your only Savior, as the one whom you give your life to, all of your life, not just some of your life, and you trust your future into His hands. You trust Him to forgive your sin. You trust Him to provide for you after you become a Christian. The Bible says, You will be brought into the very throne room of God. You will have access into the Holy of Holies. You will have access into the very presence of the Godhood, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit by the blood of Christ. But now, but God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us. Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. And so Jesus saves. Therefore, he is able to save. He is the Savior. He is the only one who can save us. And I plead with you, if you're not a Christian, to put your trust in Him. But if you are a Christian, then the Bible says you are saved. And secondly, Jesus saves to the uttermost. Look back at the text, verse 25b of Hebrews 7. He saves to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. Oh, what a wonderful passage of Scripture this is. We learn here that Christ Jesus can save us in ways that the old covenant never provided for. If you're putting your trust in trying to keep the law, the 10 commandments to be saved, or by the prayers of a holy man of God, or the prayers of your mother, or some other religion like Judaism that focuses on commandment keeping rather than turning away from religion and religiosity and seeking to enter heaven by keeping the do's and the don'ts of Christianity or Judaism or any other religion, you are lost, my friend, and you are helpless and hopeless. You need the Lord Jesus Christ because the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. And so we come to God through Jesus Christ, through faith in him, and we are saved by the grace of God. And once we are saved, the Bible says that Jesus saves us to the uttermost. The concept of Jesus saving to the uttermost is often taken to mean that God could save anyone, no matter how sinful they may be. Now, that's true, but that's not the point the Apostle Paul is making here. What he's saying is that Jesus can save us completely. Jesus saves to the uttermost. And this is powerfully illustrated in the Greek phrase used for the phrase to the uttermost, which is ais tu panteles. This exact same phrase, using the exact same words in the Greek, is used in Luke chapter 13, verse 11. This describes the plight of the crippled woman. We read in Luke 13, beginning at verse 11, and behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. The woman was suffering from a condition which prevented her from standing up completely. That is this Greek phrase here, to the uttermost. She could not stand up completely. She could not stand up to the uttermost. She was bent over, and as much as she tried, she could not completely uncurl her back. She could not straighten her back, ice toe pentelus, to the uttermost. The same phrase that is used there is used in Hebrew 725, our text, to show how Christ Jesus, in fact, saves us in every way, completely, to the uttermost. Eisto Penteles. Jesus saves to the uttermost, completely and forever. You cannot lose your salvation because our high priest is God and he is always there at the right hand of God praying for us. watching us carefully, keeping us very meticulously and diligently, holding us in his hand as it were, keeping us so that even when we are weak and we fall and grow faint and weary, yet he is so alert. He is on guard as our high priest 24-7. So the slightest wrinkle, the slightest weakness in our profession of faith, The Lord is quick to keep us and preserve us to the uttermost. Praise God for that. Thirdly, Jesus lives forever. The reason, one reason why Jesus saves to the uttermost to those who come to God through him. We only go to God through Jesus and no one else. Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father, but through me you must go through Jesus Jesus Always lives he lives forever. We read in Hebrews 25 725 see There are other verses that will expand on this By pointing out how Christ's sacrifice is also perfect not limited like that of the Levitical priests His life, Jesus's life is sinless, unlike the flawed human nature of other priests. We read in Hebrews 4.15, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was at all points tempted as we are yet without sin. There are times when human priests and pastors cannot sympathize with your weaknesses, who will not pray for you because they don't know what you're going through all of the time. And they are not as sensitive and as empathetic and sympathetic to your needs as they should be because they have their own needs and they sometimes are distracted by their own illness and pain. But the Bible says we have a high priest who is touched. with the feeling of our infirmities. He can, Jesus, sympathize with our weaknesses. Oh, can you praise him for that? Can you thank him that the slightest infirmity of your mind, your spirit, the slightest emotional trouble and disturbance in your heart, the smallest amount of pain emotionally, physically, spiritually you endure, Jesus is there to know that pain, to experience that pain. In all our affliction, Scripture says, He is afflicted. Oh, may He be worshiped and praised forever. Oh, if you're a believer, you will magnify the Lamb of God. You will glorify Him forever and ever. Specifically, among other things, among a myriad of other things, you will magnify Him and worship and praise Him. because of the innumerable times he was sensitive to your smallest need and pain and trouble. So much so that 99.9% of the time, so many troubles and difficulties are arrested and are extinguished before they even are noticed by you in any significant way. because he is very proactive and his ministry as our high priest does not depend on whether we thank him or whether we know he's praying for us or whether we know he's working on our behalf. His love is so pure and altruistic and he loves us so much that he praise for us and he mediates and advocates for us even when we don't know it and even when we don't thank him and praise him as we should. Oh, what kind of high priest do we have? We have a divine, all-powerful high priest who cannot even be compared to the most sympathetic, compassionate mother or pastor or kind person in this entire world. No wonder why he is going to be praised and adored forever and ever and ever. I hope you who are listening to this word right now are not slow of tongue and weak in heart and narrow of mind to remain silent under such a thought as our great high priest who always lives night and day, day and night to undertake for me in prayer, in supplication, in mediation for my smallest needs. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Think about it. This is a reality. The Lord Jesus Christ, our high priest, right now is in the presence of God Almighty, the Father, for us, representing us. He is my attorney. He is your attorney representing us. Well, what does he represent? You may ask. He represents us in our weaknesses, in our needs, in our sorrows, in our blindness, in our forgetfulness, in our atheism, in our hardness of heart, in our complacency, in our disobedience. He represents me and fills up what is lacking in me. He is my completeness, for we are complete in him. And so the writer to Hebrews echoes the same points he makes earlier. in our text here in 725, that Jesus is eternally available to intercede for us and to offer us forgiveness even right now, even in 2020 on July 12th, as this world is quickly hurtling towards the end of the age as we are in the end times. Oh, we have a high priest who intercedes for us. Hebrews 4 verses 14 through 16 says it beautifully. There's more in the book of Hebrews about the glory and the preciousness of our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, than any other book in the New Testament. We read in Hebrews 4 and verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, Let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. My friend, let me ask you a question. Are you in need? Is this a time of need for you? The Bible says Jesus lives forever to pray for us, to help us, even right now. This is not a pure theoretical concept. This is a reality. As you and I live and breathe this very moment, Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father. He has passed through the heavens. And therefore, let us be encouraged like these first century Hebrew Christians are being encouraged here in the book of Hebrews, who were wandering and who were weary in their faith, in their Christian faith. Many are today as well, weary and uncertain, and they're fearful about the future with everything going on today, the economic collapse of the world and the diseases and pestilences. Let us hold fast our confession because our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, is praying for us as Christians right now. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but he in all points was tempted as we are, and therefore he understands your needs, your temptations, your weaknesses. So let us come boldly. Let us come with temerity. Let us come with, in the language of the Yiddish language, chutzpah. Chutzpah, let us come with boldness into the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace in time of need. That means you must exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must believe this promise, this precious promise that he gave to us. He says, come boldly to the throne of grace that you may find grace in your need. Whether you are a lost person searching for salvation, seeking the kingdom of God, and you finally come to that precipice where you can't carry that ball and chain of sin any longer on your feet. You cannot be weighed down with this burden of guilt and pain and despair any longer. You are hopeless. You see no purpose in life, no meaning to life. apart from having your sins forgiven and knowing the living God in your heart or you're a Christian and you've come to a place in your life where you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. You're so weary of being a hypocrite and complacent and double-minded and you want to return to the Lord whom you have left temporarily. You've been backslidden. Well, this is a great encouragement to any Christian of any age who is wandering, who is backslidden, who is weary, who doesn't know how they're going to make it. You don't know how you're going to make it another day, let alone another 10 years or 20 years should the Lord tarry. We are encouraged because we are told to look to Christ here. We are told that we have a high priest who lives forever, a high priest that not only saves from sin and hell and the lake of fire and judgment, but a high priest who keeps those whom he has saved, a high priest who always lives at the right hand of God the Father on his mighty throne to pray for us, to watch over us and to keep us so that though you go through the valley of the shadow of death, though you go through many painful, severe trials of faith, He will keep you. He will bring you back time and time again from 10,000 disasters. That is the truth, my friend. That is the absolute truth. And if you are a Christian, you are a living testimony of that truth. You are a trophy of God's grace. You are a witness and testimony of the fact that your high priest, Jesus Christ, and my Lord, Jesus Christ, has prayed for us countless times, and that is why I have been kept in the faith for 44 years as a Christian, and that is why you are here as a Christian for however long you've been in the faith, whether it be one day or one decade or one half century or more than that. You see, where a human priest would fall short, Christ can save us entirely and completely since his priesthood is unending. We read in chapter 7 of Hebrews just a few verses earlier in the chapter in verses 16 and 17. We who come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, not through the law, but we come to God according to the power of an endless life. His life, His endless life, for He testifies, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Old Testament priests had to continually offer up animal sacrifices because on behalf of the Jews who broke the law, the law of a fleshly commandment, and they will continue to break the laws, But the Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest who lives forever, he not only saves us from sin, he is not only the sacrifice himself for our sins, who paid our sin debt and fulfilled the law perfectly on our behalf, but he continues to pray for us and to live as our High Priest advocating for our needs as Christians, as believers who do sin. We should not sin and we're commanded not to sin. Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid. But when we do sin, as 1 John 1 tells us, he says, my little children, these things I've written to you that you sin not. And if anyone sin, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. When we do sin, though we don't want to, we have one who is our advocate. He's there. He sees every time we sin. He noticed it. He knows it. He notices it. And he prays for us. He grants us repentance. He bestows through the power of the Holy Spirit, the convicting work of all the almighty spirit into our hearts to convict us, bring us to repentance. Give us a fresh loathing for that sin we have committed, opening our eyes, the eyes of our understanding to remember something of the blackness and the vileness and the painfulness of the sin we've committed against God. And then through the prayers of our high priest, we have released upon us sorrow for sin and repentance. and we return to the Lord, confessing Him afresh, that He is our Lord and Savior, and we lay our lives at His feet, so, so sorry for our sin. We are told in verse 21 of Hebrews 7, but He, with an oath by Him who said to Him, the Lord has sworn and will not relent, He will not repent, He will not change His mind, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The father said to the son by an oath who will not change his mind that Jesus Christ is a priest forever according to the permanent order of Melchizedek that only has one priest in it, Jesus Christ. In verse 24 of Hebrews 7, the very verse before the one we're considering, It says, but he, because he what? Continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. We looked at that last Lord's Day. But let those words marinate in your mind and heart. Maybe last week, the Holy Spirit didn't open your eyes as much as he is right now. Think about it. He continues forever. How long are you going to need his prayers, his supplications, his intercessions, his pleadings on your behalf? How long will you need it for the rest of your life in this world? For the rest of your life, you're going to need his prayers for the rest of today. You're going to need his prayers tomorrow, next year. 10 years from now, if we're still here at this rate, I don't think so. But if we're still here, you're going to need his prayers day and night for the rest of your life. But we're given assurance that he's so powerful. He is Almighty God, and God does not change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He continues forever. He has an unchangeable priesthood. What man's effort cannot achieve, Christ's finished work on the cross has already done. He has saved us and through his ascension, when he was taken up into heaven, 2,000 years ago on the Mount of Olives, taken up into heaven in the sight of the apostles and many witnesses, when he went up into heaven, In his glorified state, he sat down at the right hand of God. And from that time forward, he continued to pray for his people, to be our priest. He's my, I have a priest. There is a priesthood in the new covenant. And the Lord Jesus is the only one in the Melchizedek priesthood. Now we as Christians are also called priests. Unlike those of the Old Testament Levitical priests or the Aaronic priesthood, we're not like those priests. We don't offer up animals. And we're not like Roman Catholic priests. That priesthood is unscriptural. It's not in the Bible. But we as Christians, the priesthood of all believers, we pray for other people. And that is pretty much the extent and boundaries of our priesthood. where we offer up supplications, intercessions, and prayers for others, for all who are in authority, for governors, princes, popes, I mean, presidents, prime ministers, and for everyone. That's our priesthood, that's what we do. And so in the last place then, we read in Hebrews 7.25, Jesus intercedes. He, the Bible says, since he always lives to make intercession for them. I've described it 20 ways in this message, but I can never share too much about our Lord's intercession for us. Picture a mother pleading with a judge to let her son or daughter out of jail. Picture a pastor pleading before God or before people on behalf of the needs of other people. Please help him. Please have mercy. Please forgive him. Please take him back or her back. Now multiply those compassionate prayers that sympathetic intercessions by a million times and then picture our Lord Jesus Christ interceding for you. Please have mercy for him, fill in your name. Please have mercy for her, fill in your name. You see, an intercessor, someone who prays like the Lord Jesus, especially the Lord Jesus, is a guarantor. He sees to it that the covenant is fulfilled, even though the believer, we do sin at times, we stumble, we disobey, yet, In spite of our disobedience from time to time, the Lord Jesus, as the guarantor of the new covenant, sees to it that the covenant stays complete and is fulfilled. We read in verse 22 of chapter 7 of Hebrews, by so much more Jesus has become surety of a better covenant. Now compared to the Old Testament priests, they were very poor. as those who are surety or guarantors that the covenant would be fulfilled because they themselves needed someone to pray for them. They needed someone to offer up sacrifices for them. But we have a better covenant because we have a better high priest. He is perfect. He perfectly, powerfully, purely and compassionately praise for us. Why? Well, he has made himself surety. He has become a guarantee and a guarantor that the new covenant priesthood of Melchizedek will be permanently fulfilled and endlessly mediated and ministered to by him. Oh, what a precious word of assurance and comfort this is. You see, it's because Jesus lives forever. that he can guarantee ultimate results. No Levitical priest could compete in that aspect of priesthood since their death ended their ministrations and their ministry. But Jesus has a permanent priestly office and it follows then that he saves totally and completely and forever all who come to God through him. He will never stop praying for us as Jude 24 declares, now to him who was able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Oh, my friend, what a precious, beautiful word and promise about the high priestly powerful role of our Lord Jesus. He powerfully with his dunamis, with his almighty power keeps us from stumbling and he presents us in the end when we die to go before him and to go to be with him faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Yes, yes, I can imagine that there will be exceeding joy there. on our part and on the part of everyone else. And we will turn to Jesus and we will point to him as the reason why we are joyful, as the reason why we have been kept from stumbling, as the reason why we have been presented faultless to the Father, having been cleansed and purged from every spot and wrinkle and defilement of sin. by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was slain and crucified and placed on a cross and cried, Father, forgive him, for he knows not what he does, who cried, tell Telestai, It is finished. It is accomplished. Yes, Jesus as our sacrifice guarantees as our surety, as our guarantor, that our redemption, our justification, and our forgiveness is permanent, is perpetual. And Jesus as our high priest guarantees that our perseverance and our salvation in this life will be preserved. We will be kept from falling and presented faultless at the last day in spotless white robes of Christ's righteousness. Can you praise God? Can you sing a hallelujah to the Lord? Can you give him glory in some small way? Because of our spotless lamb of God, our spotless unblemished by sin, our high priest who is full of glory, who is pure righteousness, pure holiness, pure truth, purely God from the inside out. And he does this. by continually interceding for us before the Father. The Apostle Paul likewise recognizes this in Romans 834. Underline that verse in your Bible. If you're given to highlighting, as I am, underline that in your Bible. Romans 834. Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Yes, the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and high priestly intercession is the grounds of my eternal, forever, endless, perpetual salvation. Nothing can separate me or you if you are a believer from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so that perfect likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ is gradually growing within us along with the daily ministry and mediation of the Lord Jesus towards us who are imperfect, whose treasure is in earthen vessels, but at the resurrection of all, that old life ends forever, and only the perfection of Christ remains in us, formed in us by the Holy Spirit of God, and we are saved completely by the work and prayers of Jesus, Mortality will put on immortality and we will be safe forever and we will go to be with the Lord. I don't know about you, but I don't deserve Jesus. I don't deserve his death in my place and the benefits that have come from it concerning the forgiveness of sins. I don't deserve the keeping power of Almighty Jesus, God in the flesh, who has uphold me from every trial and every shipwreck that could have befallen me in my life. I don't deserve it. I haven't been obedient as I should have. My life could never merit the deserving of his grace, but he loved me anyway. He saved me by his mercy and by his grace alone. He loved me because he loved me. You cannot find such love in this world apart from the agape love of Jesus Christ, the divine love of Jesus Christ, our powerful high priest. He is powerful to intercede on our behalf forever. He is powerful because he's God and he lives forever and will never stop praying for us. Jesus will save us to the uttermost because he's all powerful as God and can no one can reverse that salvation. No one can stop him from pleading for us before the father and our salvation. Jesus saved us and our salvation will never ever ever be reversed or be taken away. We have an all powerful high priest who saves to the uttermost. who lives forever and who intercedes for us. Can you lay your life at his feet right now afresh as a sweet-smelling savor, as an offering? Will you give him your life afresh, Christian, my brother, my sister in Christ? Give him your life afresh. Confess your sins. Ask for that cleansing blood to wash every fiber of your being. and ask him to pour out his love and his joy into your heart. Ask him for the grace of the spirit to be able to worship him in a way and praise and thank him in a way that he deserves because he is our all powerful high priest. No one can get to us through him. They would have to go through Jesus to get to us, but no one can. And if you're not a Christian, oh, I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that you would come to Christ today. You would come and cry to him in faith and in prayer. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. I come here and I give you my life. Forgive me of my sins. I repent. I repent. I loathe my sins. I deserve hell. But would you not save me because you can save. I believe you're God. I believe you're the only savior of sinners. Save me from hell, from judgment, and from the lake of fire, and from my sin. And he will save you. He promised. He promised. He that has the son has life. And he that does not have the son of God, does not have life. He that believes on him will not perish, but have everlasting life. And so let's pray. Father, thank you for your word, which has given us inviolable, irreversible, invulnerable or invulnerable, indestructible promises that our high priest is all powerful and will keep us until that last day. Thank you for your prayers, Lord Jesus. Thank you for your love, Lord Jesus. Thank you for your kindness to us, Lord Jesus. Thank you for your mercy and grace towards us, Lord Jesus. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your forbearance. Thank you for your greatness. Thank you for loving us with a love that we cannot even understand. We love you because you first loved us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. If you want to send me an email to communicate, let me know if you have a question or a comment. Write to me at first love. Pardon me. First love radio at first love radio.org. That's first love radio first at first love radio.org. Be with us this coming Wednesday at 7pm California time in the United States. when you can once again be heard on firstloveradio.org, on our Live with Pastor Joe program. Live with Pastor Joe this coming Wednesday, God willing, you pray for my strength please, at 7 p.m. California time, Pacific time. And then God willing next Sunday and also on Facebook on Wednesday at facebook.com forward slash ChristBibleChurch. You'll find us on Facebook, Christ Bible Church, this Wednesday, as well as Sunday at 1 p.m. the same time next Sunday, as we will continue our study, God willing, in the book of Hebrews on Facebook and on firstloveradio.org. Oh, may the Lord bless you today as we continue to observe the Lord's day. May the Lord give us beautiful and just glorious thoughts about the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.