Melchizedek

Hebrews 5:5-7 - So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.


Psalm 110:4 - The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Mark 14:36 - And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Application:

· Jesus is the now-reigning heir of David and the ultimate high priest
· Jesus piety formed the basis for His prayers being answered; now He stands to intercede for me and to help me
· During times of trial, Jesus entrusted Himself into the personal hands of His Father. So should I.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Yet Without Sin

Hebrews 4:15-16 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.


2 Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Application:

· I can be comforted with the truth that nothing that entices me is foreign to my Lord
· God the Father made Christ to be regarded and treated as sin even though Christ Himself never sinned
· I may come before God and speak plainly and honestly, without fear that I will incur shame of punishment by doing so

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Hold Firmly To The Faith We Profess

Hebrews 4:13-14 – And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.


Psalm 110:4 - The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 3:5-6,14 - Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope…For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Application:

· Jesus, the now-reigning heir of David, is also the ultimate priest
· Given this hope in Jesus Christ, I need to endure
· I need to examine myself carefully. If there is no evidence of perseverance in faith and obedience, then my salvation is in doubt.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Word of God

Hebrews 4:11-12 - Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.


Mark 4:14 - The sower sows the word.

John 10:35-36 - If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

1 Peter 1:22-25 - Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Jeremiah 23:29 - Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Isaiah 40:8 - The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Application:

· In spite of many obstacles, God’s Word will accomplish His purpose
· Every single word in Scripture is completely true and reliable
· I am born anew through the whole of written Scripture, especially the saving message of the gospel
· God’s Word shatters the sinful heart
· The opposite of perseverance is disobedience
· The one true God consists of more than one person, they relate to each other and they have always existed
· The plans and purposes of the nations will not prevail, but the word of God will

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Make Every Effort

Hebrews 4:6-11 - Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.


Application:

· God’s rest may still be entered by faith in His Son
· I need to cease my efforts to gain salvation by my own works and rest in the finished work of Christ on the cross
· Anything I can do to please God comes from His working in me. If I am not persevering, I am disobeying.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Rest

Hebrews 4:3-7,11 - For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”… Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.


Psalm 95:11 - Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Application:

· Will I enjoy God’s presence forever?
· Salvation-rest is entered only by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ
· The opposite of perseverance is disobedience, the sin of the faithless exodus generation

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Desert

Hebrews 3:15-17 - As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?


Numbers 14:28-29,34 - So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me…For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’

1 Corinthians 10:5 - Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Application:

· Do I bring upon myself my own punishment?
· Do I refuse to carry out the Lord’s commission?
· In spite of the remarkable privileges given to me, do I still fail to obey God? Am I incurring His displeasure?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Hold Firmly Till The End The Confidence We Had At First

Hebrews 3:6,12-14 - But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory…See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.


Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Application:

· The heart is deceitful, tortuous, uneven, and crooked like a road. My will is deceitful. My emotions are deceitful
· I should examine myself carefully. If there is no evidence of perseverance in faith and obedience, then there is real reason to doubt that I have ever been saved
· Am I exhibiting endurance? Am I persevering? Am I a child of God?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Saw What I Did

Hebrews 3:7-11 - So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”


Psalm 95:11 - So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

Deuteronomy 1:3 - In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.

Hebrews 4:3 - Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world.

Application:

· Do I know God’s ways? Will I be enjoying God’s presence forever?
· What is God’s response to me when I am not following His commands?
· Do I have faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ? Am I sharing in God’s rest?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

We Are His House

Hebrews 3:4-6,14 - For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory…We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.


1 Corinthians 3:16 - Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

Romans 11:22 - Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

Hebrews 6:11 - We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.

1 Peter 2:4-5 - As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Application:

· Jesus is equated with God, making it beyond question that Christ is greater than Moses
· The Christian life involves endurance or perseverance. Am I persevering?
· I am integral to God’s church
· Genuine believers do not become hardened. Instead they persevere
· When we ignore His kindness, God seems a ruthless tyrant; when we ignore His sternness, He seems a doting Father. Am I ignoring His kindness and/or sternness?
· Am I making my hope sure?
· God’s church is growing because the stones in it are living.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Rest

Hebrews 3:2-3 - He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.


Hebrews 4:3,9-10 - Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world…There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.

Deuteronomy 34:12 - For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Application:

· Just as entering physical rest in Canaan demanded faith in God’s promise, so salvation-rest is entered only by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ
· God’s rest may still be entered by faith in His Son
· Until Jesus came, no one was superior to Moses.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Him Who Holds The Power Of Death

Hebrews 2:11-15 - Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.


John 10:29 - My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

Ephesians 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Genesis 3:15 - And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

1 Corinthians 15:57 - But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ezekiel 18:4 - For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.

Application:

· I am made holy through His blood
· I am completely secure because the Father’s power is greater than that of any enemy
· Do I lash out against human opponents as if they were the real enemy? Do I think I can fight the battle on my own?
· I will share in Christ’s victory over Satan
· I have been given the victory over condemnation for sin, death and the grave through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
· Do I use the doctrine of inherited guilt to justify my behavior?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Many Sons To Glory

Hebrews 2:10 - In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.


Hebrews 5:8-10 - Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

John 1:12-13 - Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Application:

· I am call a son of God. I am adopted into the glory of the newly redeemed human family.
· Jesus came to know firsthand what it cost to maintain obedience in the midst of suffering
· Membership in God’s family is a gift of God by grace—yet I have to receive it
· Through His atoning work, Christ perfection leads to my perfection (realized fully on the last day)

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Honor

Hebrews 2:7-9 - You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.


Acts 3:13 - The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

Philippians 2:6-7 - Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Application:

· What has happened to God’s plan to put everything in subjection under man (or under Christ)?
· Jesus is fulfilling God’s plan to put everything on earth under man’s feet
· Am I voting against Jesus, spurning Him, denying Him and refusing to acknowledge Him as the true Messiah?
· Christ gave up His privileges as King of the universe to become an ordinary (yet perfect) baby bound for the cross.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Signs, Wonders And Various Miracles

Hebrews 2:4 - God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.


Acts 3:7 - Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.

1 Corinthians 12:7-10 - Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

Application:

· Do I have faith in God to work miracles?
· What spiritual gifts are evidence of the Spirit’s working in my life?
· Do I have the ability to speak wisely or with knowledge into situations?
· Do I have faith to meet specific needs in the body of Christ?
· Do I build up, encourage or comfort others?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

inherit

Hebrews 1:14 - Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?


Mark 10:17 - As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Hebrews 2:2-3 - For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

Hebrews 9:27-28 - Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Application:

· Do I think in terms of earning righteousness to merit eternal life or do I see it as a gift?
· If the Mosaic law came with retribution for failure to follow and obey, then surely the greater salvation announced by the Lord come with more dangerous retribution for those who neglect it
· When Christ appears again, it will be the consummation, in all His glorious fullness, of the salvation purchased for me on the cross

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Sit At My Right Hand

Hebrews 1:10-13 - He also says, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?


Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Psalm 110:1 - The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

Hebrews 10:12-13 - But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.

Hebrews 12:1-2 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Application:

· Jesus Christ is eternally trustworthy in His position as High Priest and as Son of God
· Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God the Father
· Christ’s sacrifice atoned for all sins of all time, making any further sacrifice unnecessary
· Through His atoning work, Christ’s perfection will lead to my perfection, which will be fully realized on the last day

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Ever

Hebrews 1:7-9 - In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.” But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”


Luke 1:32-33 - He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Isaiah 61:1-3 - The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

Psalm 45:6 - Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

Application:

· Jesus Christ is sovereign over the angels.
· The kingdom of the Father and Son, as one, will never end
· Jesus Christ has freed me and released me from darkness
· In Christ, God’s throne will last for ever and ever. He will rule justly

All Scripture verses taken from NIV