PASTOR OLUWASEYI OSANYINBI
The core of the life of a Jew is the worship of Jehovah in the temple, and this is overseen by a High Priest. There was no way anyone in the Old order could worship God without the ministry of the Priesthood. Likewise in the new order, without the ministry of Jesus our faithful High Priest, no worship or service can be made to God.
The progression of Paul’s thoughts in the book of Hebrews is about the supremacy of the person of Jesus Christ whose blood was used to cut an eternal covenant for man. In Jesus’ death, God nullified every problem there was and there could ever be in the history of the world. The death of Jesus also took away the basis and legal grounds on which sin can accuse us for.
The blood cleanses our heart of sin and death. It is blood abuse to use the blood as a means to call God’s protect our possessions with the blood of Jesus. The blood is primarily to purge and redeem the heart of its deep wickedness. This purging is expected to bring us to a state of utter sinlessness.
[biblegateway passage=”HEBREWS 10:1-12″ display=”HEBREWS 10:1-12″]; [biblegateway passage=”II TIMOTHY 2:19 ” display=”II TIMOTHY 2:19 “]
The conscience is far beyond the voice of the Spirit. It is what the Bible calls the heart of man which can be desperately wicked. The conscience is a generator of thoughts and standards. If you come under the wrong kind of influence, your conscience begins to judge by wrong standards. A darkened conscience is cut off from eternity; God is eternity personified.
Jesus aligned Himself according to the will of God all through His life. Israel lost it when they wanted a king like other nations. They did not bother to find out and get the kind of king God would led them have, instead they wanted a King like other nations. Ignorance of God’s will is never an excuse. We owe ourselves the responsibility of knowing God’s will and doing it.
We must never imagine that something is the will of God because it produces results. We must be wary of the supernatural; the fact that it is working does not mean it is right. Only God has the right to determine what is good and what is bad. All what God is looking for to see is His trademark. If God doesn’t sees his seal on your foundations, it is invalid.
[biblegateway passage=”EPHESIANS 1:14″ display=”EPHESIANS 1:14″]; [biblegateway passage=”HEBREWS 4:1; 10:13, 23-39; 11:1-40″ display=”HEBREWS 4:1; 10:13, 23-39; 11:1-40″]; [biblegateway passage=”ROMANS 8:19 ” display=”ROMANS 8:19 “]
God is coming for a Church without spots, wrinkles or any kind of blemish. He is waiting for a time that His enemies will be made His footstool. The enemies are the demons that have vowed that none one comes into perfection. We need to always appropriate the ministry of the High Priest which is capable of giving us superiority over the enemies of God.
We need faith and patience to enter into the promise of God for us. That promise is REST. It is through faith that anyone can obtain a good report. If we will have to please God, it is has to be by faith.
God was even the first among the elders to obtain good report. Hebrews 4 mentioned that God did not actually rest from His work. God has received a good report. Samson was a type of Jesus, whose death killed a lot of his enemies. It is good to identify with Elijah who was a popular prophet, but there were some categories of elders of Faith.
Abraham was also a type of God in giving up his son Isaac for dead and believing that he could be raised from the dead. People wandered in the deserts, they were destitute and they were not to be identified with but they are heroes of faith. Heroism before God is not by the measurement of man.
There are two sets of the elders of Faith in Hebrews 11, a set had all things going well for them, and the other did not, they suffered, but the summary of their whole life all together was to receive a good report through Faith, yet they received not the promise.
Faith is said to be the substance of things hoped for. The question is “what are we hoping for?” Even the disciples had the wrong hope at the initial time. There still remains a rest for us, this is perfection, restoring balance back to creation. God is simply waiting for a generation that can believe Him for perfection.
[biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 10:23:28″ display=”Hebrews 10:23:28″]
The only way to fall into the hands of God is to despite the provisions of this testament. Jesus current priesthood is for the complete redemption of us (purchased possessions). The Devil and his angels are working tirelessly that mortal men would not attain the original intention of God for them. And our High Priest also is working tirelessly to bring us to attain this intention
[biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 12:1-2″ display=”Hebrews 12:1-2″]
Faith becomes powerful when it is focused. It is God working in us both to will and to do of His will, he needs us to co-operate with Him. God is preparing us as a tabernacle that He will dwell in these days. Peter did not step on a calm water and walk on it, the water was troubled until he placed his feet on the waters. Likewise, until our Faith hits the waters, the waters cannot calm down.
One thing Enoch was consciously hoping for was translation. To receive this promise, we must consciously be believing God for that certain thing. All our free time thoughts should be channeled in that aspect. If we don’t believe God for perfection, we will keep delaying His agenda.
We can only come into perfection if we lay aside every weight and every besetting sin. We need focused faith to arrive at perfection. We need to make ourselves available for God to work in our lives. We need the template of Enoch to enter into perfection. He constantly hoped and had faith for immortality without antecedents and he got it. In our every waking moment, we must fix our gaze on our desired finished line of perfection.
[biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 12:18-25″ display=”Hebrews 12:18-25″]
In coming to Jesus our High Priest, we may not have the spectacular manifestations Moses had on the mount but we are definitely coming to a Mount like no other. When we come across a seemingly grievous command, all we need do is approach our High Priest for help.
The primary commandment of God is to come up to Jesus, our High Priest. God blessed us with our imaginations primarily to worship Him. Coming to God as a Church, we are coming to deliberate over issues on earth. He is sitting here as the Judge.
God’s programme for man is to prepare man to be ready to house Him. This is when God can now finally come into His rest. Perfection is not just sinlessness. It is about men being ready to house God.
The High Priest administers His Priesthood to men through men. He has instituted gifts in the Church for the administration of the New Covenant. As such, we need to be gracious enough to receive the grace that God has made available to us.
Being with God would be great fun in eternity.
Other Bible readings
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[biblegateway passage=”Isaiah 66:1-2″ display=”Isaiah 66:1-2″]
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[biblegateway passage=”2 Corinthians 6:14-18″ display=”2 Corinthians 6:14-18″]