Jesus Our High Priest

 

He. 3:1.  1.  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,  consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

 

Romanized  katanoeo

Pronounced kat-an-o-eh'-o     KJV--behold, -- discover,   perceive,  to observe fully:

 

He.1:1.  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2. 2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

upholding all things by the word of his power,     (or by the power of His word) 

when he had by himself purged our sins, 

4. 4. Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5. 5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
6. 6. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
7. 7. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
8. 8. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9. 9. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10. 10. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
11. 11. They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
12. 12. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
13. 13. But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
14. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

 

Vs. 3  says he is upholding all things by the word of His power.

Revised version. --  upholding the universe by His word of power.

So if we want to get upheld we need to get on His word.  The power that is

Upholding all things that you and I have any thing to do with.

 

Dan:10:13: But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

 

Now, when Jesus ascended to the  Father, He didn’t have any trouble did He ?

 

Phil:2:9.  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

10. 10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,                  above  ALL 

 

Ephesians 1:20.  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

21. 21. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22. 22. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23. 23. Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

 

All principalities and all powers were put under his feet.

Jesus has exercised His lordship in that realm of the heavenly places and those spirits

had been pulled down.   Defeated.

 

 We just read in  He. 1:14          read the same thing from  New American Standard 

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?     

 

• Minister in King James is render service in NAS, same word as waiting on table.

Those who wait upon the Lord,   those who minister to Him.  To serve.

A servant,  not a slave,  angels are servants of God and they have been sent by God to render assistance to us.

 

Now   Paul said in   Eph:6:12:  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

My question to you is,   how do they have any power at all? 

If they have been defeated, where is their power coming from ????   ………..

When bad things happen to Gods people. Gods people blame God and say: God how could you let this happen?

Many times, people get mad at God and blame Him for the things He had absolutely nothing to do with!

No evil comes from above, only good and perfect gifts.   Amen

We can’t blame God for our troubles when He’s given us the authority to do some thing about  the problems.

• I was leading up to Matthew 28:18.

 

Jesus said in   Mt.28:18.  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,  All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.           (NKJ ----- authority)

19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

We have to exercise the authority God has given us. He’s given it to us. If we don’t walk in it and exercise that authority then we certainly can’t blame God. Jesus is telling us to go.   He said   You go therefore. He gave us His armor to use.   He doesn’t need it in heaven does He? We have to use it. Satan comes in when we are not wearing our armor properly.   This armor has no weak spots, we have to know how to use it properly. . to wear it properly.      Then, all the fiery darts will be quenched.    amen

Every thing Jesus did and accomplished in his earthly ministry would be useless to us here on earth if He was not backing it up in heaven right now.  Isn’t that right?

 

If we were to speak in the name of Jesus and we didn’t have his backing we would be in trouble.     Remember the 7 sons of Sceva. -----------

 

Jesus has a present day ministry and we need to learn what we must do in order to partake of it!  We must acknowledge the authority he has been given and has passed on to us. It really starts with the new birth, that is really the first time we acknowledge Jesus lordship over Satan and we receive the life of God, and  that just goes to prove the reality of the Word of God. Don’t you think that if satan could stop the new birth from taking place he would. The only way he can stop it is by talking you out of it, or deceiving you, if you will listen to him, isn’t that right?   That’s the only real weapon he has.

 

Another question  --  What is Jesus  present day ministry and how do we partake of it?   

Read again  opening verse    the 3^rd chapter of Hebrews

Hebrews 3:1.  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 

 

Jesus went and entered into the heavenly holy of holies and ministered His blood once and for all.    He doesn’t need to do that again,  does He.   That happened only once.

So,  what is His ministry now?

1. He is our High Priest, 2.  He is our mediator     3.  He is our intercessor
2. He is our Advocate General 5.  He is Lord head of the church

 

He functions in all 5 offices today. They are just as important as the gifts He gave unto men when He ascended into heaven.        Apostles,  prophets,  evangelists,  pastors,

and teachers.

 

The Father doesn’t need a high priest, does He?  We do. In the Old Covenant a priest was put in because man broke Covenant with God.  God didn’t need a priest but man did, because  man could not keep the covenant.  The penalty for breaking the covenant was death.

The covenant had to be that strong.   God was binding Himself,  not man.  God was establishing a way that He could defeat Satan.  He was making a way for man to walk in it.  It was strong enough for God, but man was too weak to walk in God’s covenant.

God put in the priesthood, and the shedding of blood of animals, as a temporary measure. In God’s time He put forth His sacrifice and destroyed sin, when He raised Jesus from the dead and made Him Lord. 

 

Jesus is Lord over the New Covenant!

Over heaven and earth,  then,  Jesus took that Lordship and gave it to His body.

When we submit ourselves to Him, and walk in his authority,  then we can exercise that Lordship on the earth.        We are the body of Christ.    Amen

 

He gave us His Word, and His armor, and His Holy Spirit to enforce His power

over Satan,  until the appointed time when He will be cast forever in the lake of fire.

 

We have to exercise this authority over Satan under Jesus our Lord.  We draw everything from Him. Our power, our strength, even our words. He even tells us what to say.

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Paul tried to get Jesus to rebuke the devil.     Jesus gave him the grace to do it.

The revelation that Paul had received was elevating him.  Not his pride. God was trying to raise him up, wasn’t He?  Why would He want to slap him back down, that would make God double minded.

 

2Cor:12:7: And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8: For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9: And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10: Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

 

Satan sent a messenger to buffet Paul so he would not be exalted. Isn’t that what it says?

Paul said it was a messenger of Satan sent to buffet Him,  it didn’t say anything about something  being sent from God.   No,  Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.    Jesus wouldn’t take any thing away, He told Paul,  My grace is sufficient for thee. 

If you have ever done a study on grace,  you will know that grace is not the ability to endure under the heavy load.  It’s the ability that God has given us to overcome in every situation.  By grace are you saved through faith. The new birth happened by grace.  When Jesus was raised from  the dead, it was the most awesome powerful display of Gods mighty power ever recorded in His Word.    By grace you have been given the ability to receive the new birth, and all the demons in hell can not prevent it from happening.  Praise God, and we have been raised up together with Him. We are the redeemed,  we are  the healed, we are the righteousness of God in Christ. We are in right standing with God through Jesus Christ.  Now that’s the revelation Paul had gotten,   and Satan didn’t like it! The first thing that Satan does when the Word goes forth is he tries to steal it, he tries to undermine your confidence in God.              

 Remember the parable of the sower.     ----------

 

Paul received revelation and Satan could not take it from him.

OK,   you might say well it goes on to say I glory in my infirmities,  in persecutions,

in distresses for Christ sake  vs. 9 that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Does that must mean we have to suffer for Jesus so we can be powerful?    No

 

Alright, what are those infirmities, those persecutions, and those distresses?   The ones Paul was just talking about in this passage of scripture was a messenger of Satan sent for the purpose of beating him up, that’s what buffet means.  So Satan was persecuting Him.   Paul’s glorying,  was in his resisting Satan.   Paul said when I am weak then I am strong. When I am at my very weakest I am still more than a conqueror through Him that loved me.

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Ja.4:6.  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

7. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

 

He’s talking about submission to God’s authority.-------  His will, His Word..

He’s giving grace for what purpose?    For the purpose of resisting the devil.

that’s what Jesus said to Paul,  My grace is sufficient for you.    Do you see this.

You resist the devil. No where in the New Testament does it say for us to pray for God to resist the devil for us.

Peter said the  same thing in a slightly different way.

 

1Pe. 5:8:   Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

9: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

10: But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

It didn’t say God was putting the suffering on us.  Christians assumed that?

Lets not take anything out of context and read this as one complete thought.   OK     what is the suffering?    Lets look back at vs. 9 we see what the suffering is. 

( resisting the devil using faith.)   It goes on to say your brothers in the world have the same afflictions.    What afflictions, it’s not talking about sickness or disease.   it’s talking about standing on the word of God,   that’s what submitting yourself to God is. Submitting yourself to His Word. His word is His will,   and resisting the devil. Why do you have to resist the devil, because He will try to steal the Word from you.  That’s the only real power Satan has over the believer.

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Jesus is the high priest of our profession or confession. He is the high priest of our words. The angels aren’t,   they are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who are the heirs of salvation. Jesus said if you will confess me before men I will confess you before the angels of heaven.  He is  functioning as our voice in heaven, and we are His voice on the earth, as we speak forth the words of God.  This is how we partake of Jesus High priestly ministry here on the earth. By speaking His words.  He’s the high priest of our words.

 

He.7:22.  By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

23. 23. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
24. 24. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
25. 25. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

 

Jesus is the surety or the guarantee of  the new testament.  He is the absolute guarantee

of God.  And the complete responsibility of the New Covenant is resting on His high priestly ministry.    

Jesus said in,

Mt:24:35: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

His high priestly ministry is the guarantee that the full armor of God will work.

He backs up His Word.

 

Ep.6:10.  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

In the power of who?  The Lord and His might.

This is the power of the high priest over the entire arsonal of God so we can stand against the wiles of the devil.

 

Ep.6:13: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14: Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15: And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

 

Jesus is the High Priest of our words.

 

Jer:1:12: Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

 

Jesus is the mediator between God and man.  God swore an oath that our sins will be blotted out. We would become children of God.  If any man believes that Jesus is Lord he shall be born of God.   We have been given the name of Jesus. Jesus backs up that name in His high priestly role.

 

• The charter Promise of the New Covenant. The name of Jesus.

Satan has to obey what you and your high priest says.

We are the righteousness of God in Christ. We have been made right standing with God.

Because we are right standing with God we have the right to pray and expect results,  

as long as we are praying in accordance with His word.

 

1Jn:5:14: And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

 

Ep.2:1.  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2. 2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3. 3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

 

Satan has no power of His own. It must be given to him through disobedience, whether through ignorance of the Word,  or by deception as we already talked about,  or by outright disobedience.  We strain our fellowship with God,  not relationship,  fellowship,  through different things.  Ignorance of Gods Word, or our own words not lining up with His Words,  our lack of faithfulness to one another. that’s a big one.

  We need someone to get in the way between God and us. Thank God we have Jesus.  He is able to save us to the uttermost.

 

We must judge ourselves so that we won’t be judged.  This is where the intercessor

is needed.  We come to Jesus He squares it away with the Father.  Praise His name.

He is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

KEY

Jn.16:23.  And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

24. 24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. Being full of joy

 

Jesus our Mediator --  We partook of that when we came to God. Jesus was our mediator between us and the Father.

 

Jesus our Intercessor -- we partake of  his ministry,  we do on this earth as we find out what He is doing for us in heaven. He sent the Holy Spirit to interceed for us.

 

Ro.8:27.  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

 

Gods will is to have all our needs supplied, so we can go forth and be a blessing

to others.  Amen,      not to squander on our own lusts.

 

Jesus  our High Priest --  He is the high Priest of our Confession.

When we speak forth the Word of God in faith, we know He is watching over His Word

to Perform it.  He gives us His Word to speak.  He tells us what to say in order for us to succeed.      His Word

You can’t have faith based outside of the Word of God.

 

Deuteronomy 26:-- 

• Example of Jesus high priestly ministry.    Type of tithing and how our High Priest

operates.

Vs. 1-3  takes tithe before  priest.

Vs. 4 Priest will take basket and set it down before the alter and worship God with it.

Vs. 5   we are ordered to speak certain things.  I was a Syrian under bondage.------.

 

We could put this in N.T. language, since this is a type of things to come.

Say I was a sinner under the bondage of Satan.  -----

 

Vs. 13-14.   God ordered us to say God bless us.   He ordered us to speak a blessing.

 

Jesus our High Priest

Study Notes

 

1. Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our Profession:

     Heb. 3:1

     Heb. 1: 1-14

     Phil, 2:9

     Eph. 1:20-33

 

2. The Present day Ministry of Jesus:
3. Our High Priest:

 

1. Our Mediator:

 

1. Our Intercessor:

 

1. Our Advocate General:

 

1. Lord of the Church:

l and just.