The Promise & The Power
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Hebrews 4:14-16 & Hebrews 5 1-10
Hebrews 4:14-16 & Hebrews 5 1-10
Prayer Requests
Main Scripture -
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.
1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of people in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is clothed in weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins for himself, as well as for the people. 4 And no one takes the honor for himself, but receives it when he is called by God, just as Aaron also was. 5 So too Christ did not glorify Himself in becoming a high priest, but it was He who said to Him, “You are My Son, Today I have fathered You”; 6 just as He also says in another passage, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” 7 In the days of His humanity, He offered up both prayers and pleas with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His devout behavior. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, 10 being designated by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Prayer Over The Message...
In this calling, I find myself in and around doctors and hospitals quite often. There is a statement that I often hear, “LET ME GET YOU A REFERAL”. This usually involves a doctor who is a specialist in one thing referring you to another doctor who specializes in another part of the body.
I make that comparison to the Old Testament way of approaching God. The problem or disease the people had was SIN. They relied on the Lord, they also prayed to Him, but in this time the prayers themselves were often CONDITIONAL. Prayer was largely IF - THEN scenarios. And we need to remember the Israelites we living under a CONDITIONAL COVENANT with GOD.
Today, and PRASIE GOD FOR THIS, we live under a RELATIONAL COVENANT with GOD! We are still called to live in a Holy manner, being transformed by the Holy Spirit that we all have on the inside of us, but we do this knowing that the SIN DEBT couldn’t be paid by us so God sent His Son who paid it ONCE FOR ALL!
The condition is to BELIEVE IN HIM, TO KNOW HIM, & TO TRUST HIM.
And if you ask me, THAT CONDITION BENEFITS US MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE!
In the Old Testament we see a lot of prayers regarding what was to come...
Abraham wanted to know how he would possess the land of Canaan...
David in praying about going to war asked what the enemies motives were...
Daniel prayed to understand Jerusalem’s future...
Habakkuk prayed to understand and know the outcome of the violence against God’s people, and he did so by waging a complaint with the Lord.
I want to point out a couple things here,
First, today we have the Holy Spirit placed in us, so our future direction comes from listening to the consul and changing what He says needs to be changed so that we might continue on the path God has laid out for us. Do we still pray to understand what is to come, SURE WE DO. We love to know things we don’t necessarily need to know, BUT WE STILL ASK.
And secondly, I want to hone in on Habakkuk.
When you are studying what he asked the Lord you will notice he prayed with a heart of PROBLEMS, or LACK OF UNDERSTANDING.
We all know that when we don’t understand why things are going the way the are currently, WE WANT CLARITY.
Let’s look at a little of this...
1 The pronouncement which Habakkuk the prophet saw: 2 How long, Lord, have I called for help, And You do not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. 3 Why do You make me see disaster, And make me look at destitution? Yes, devastation and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. 4 Therefore the Law is ignored, And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out confused.
THEN WE HAVE THE LORD’S REPLY…
5 “Look among the nations! Watch! Be horrified! Be frightened speechless! For I am accomplishing a work in your days— You would not believe it even if you were told! 6 “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That grim and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth, To take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs. 7 “They are terrifying and feared; Their justice and authority originate with themselves. 8 “Their horses are faster than leopards, And quicker than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen charge along, Their horsemen come from afar; They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour. 9 “All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces moves forward. They gather captives like sand. 10 “They make fun of kings, And dignitaries are an object of laughter to them. They laugh at every fortress, Then heap up dirt and capture it. 11 “Then they fly along like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, They whose strength is their god.”4
I clearly state that God’s plan is much better than anything we could dream up, but since we don’t know the END FROM THE BEGINNING LIKE HE DOES,
WE NEED TO REMEMBER IT’S OKAY TO BRING PROBLEMS AND EVEN OUR LACK OF UNDERSTANDING TO OUR FATHER.
When Habakkuk did this, God didn’t change His plan, HE SHIFTED HABAKKUK’S PERSPECTIVE!
Will we get frustrated with the long season we may be in, or the seemingly endless road we may currently be on, ABSOLUTELY! AND GOD KNOWS THAT TOO!
But when you go to prayer today, the Holy Spirit is already locked in to show you the next step, and when we follow those footprints of the Lord that are ahead of us,
OUR PERSPECTIVE STARTS TO CHANGE!!!
BUT NOW WE GET TO THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE, THE SHIFT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING...
Back then the people didn’t have that open access to REFER THEMSELVES TO THE FATHER! God’s revelation came through those who HAD HIS SPIRIT PLACED UPON THEM FOR A PURPOSE.
TODAY, WE DON’T NEED A REFERAL TO TALK TO GOD DIRECTLY!
When we have Jesus as Lord, we also HAVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN US! The Holy Spirit doesn’t just come and go, HE STAYS, HE GUIDES, HE DIRECTS, HE CONVICTS, HE GIVES CLARITY, HE SHOWS THE NEXT STEP!
WE COME BOLDY BEFORE THE LORD! WE JUST READ IT...
16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.
WE ARE TO BE CONFIDENT BEFORE THE LORD, DO YOU KNOW WHY THAT IS?
Every BIG CHANGE we looked at from OLD TESTAMENT PRAYER TO NEW TESTAMENT centers around TWO BIG CHANGES...
JESUS CHRIST DID THAT WHICH WE COULD NEVER DO!!!
AND WE HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD THAT ISN’T JUST ON US, IT’S IN US!!!
Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, AMEN...
9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread. 12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’ For YOURS IS THE KINGDOM THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER, AMEN!
Notice what this model of prayer does… IT CREATES A BETTER YOU BY REMOVING THE YOU FROM THE EQUATION!
We address THE FATHER, and PRAISE HIS NAME!
We recognize it’s not what we want when we pray, it’s us PRAYING GOD’S WILL but deeper than that...
WE PRAY ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!
Now there is a key...
When I say the Better Me Is Less Of Me, it’s not beating us down, it’s actually RAISING US UP!
Where we are today we should desire to BE THE KINGDOM HERE IN THIS EARTH!
That is the work that Jesus did,
HE RESTORED
HE RECONCILED
AND HE RAISED UP
He restored God’s will for US that the Father intended all along,
He reconciled the LOST back to the FATHER
AND WHEN HE WAS RAISED UP,
Let’s just go to Bible for this one...
I want to show again the SYMMETRY between OLD AND NEW here, Jesus referenced this while speaking to Nicodemus, we read this a couple weeks ago...
14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
To get this lets look back at the Old Testament that Jesus was speaking of...
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
THIS POINTS TO CHRIST AND THE PLAN GOD HAS ALWAYS HAD FOR US!
It also shows how GOD WILL TAKE WHAT WAS MEANT FOR EVIL AND TURN IT FOR GOOD!
The live poisonous snakes that bit people, SIN...
The pole, THE CROSS...
So what about the BRONZE SERPENT?
THAT IS CHRIST...
Back in Numbers it wasn’t the serpent on the pole that was good that brought life back from being poisoned,
IT WAS SEEING THAT JUDGEMENT THEY DESERVED MADE HARMLESS.
God took the WEAPON OF THE ENEMY and made it AN INSTRUMENT OF SALVATION!
Since we all know the Gospel in here,
God did the same thing with the CROSS, the CROSS WAS INTENED TO BE THE WEAPON OF THE ENEMY,
BUT GOD!
God said WRONG AGAIN DEVIL,
AND WHEN CHRIST WAS RAISED UP ON THAT CROSS, WHAT HE BORE WAS ALL THE POISION WE HAVE FLOWING THROUGH US FROM THAT VENOMOUS SNAKE BITE OF SIN!
Looking upon the BROZE SERPENT ON THE POLE, THE PEOPLE LIVED!
Looking upon the JESUS ON THE CROSS AT CALARY, THE PEOPLE LIVE!
But RAISED UP DIDN’T STOP THERE,
ON THE THIRD DAY...
CHRIST WAS RAISED UP FROM THAT TOMB!
And again we are raised up from our tomb… THE SAME SPIRIT THAT RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD AMEN!
But I’m not done yet, and this is where we tie back into the Lord’s Prayer...
When Christ ascended or RAISED UP into Heaven, and was seated at the right of the Father,
WE WERE RAISED UP AGAIN!
This placed Jesus as THE BETTER HIGH PREIST!
Not only do we now have direct access to God, but we have an intercessor in Jesus, and we have the ever present leading of the HOLY SPIRIT!
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, IS WHAT OCCURS WHEN WE WHO ARE THE INHERITERS, CALL HEAVEN DOWN!!!
HOW DO WE DO THAT???
WE COME WITH CONFIDENCE BEFORE THE LORD, PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT OUR FATHER GAVE US, KNOWING WE HAVE OUR HIGH PREIST INTERCEDING FOR US!
When we come before the Lord, we do so knowing that God sees us as RIGHTEOUS, He sees us as SAINTS, HE SEES US AS HIS CHILDREN!!!
Don’t be confident in YOURSELF, YOUR CONFIDENCE COMES FROM THE LORD!
WITHOUT HIM I’M STILL A SINNER BOUND FOR THE PIT OF HELL
WITHOUT HIM I’M STILL AS FILTHY RAGS
WITHOUT HIM I’M THE LOST SON WHO EATS SCRAPS AND LOST ALL THAT THE FATHER GAVE HIM
BUT WITH JESUS!!!
OHHH WITH JESUS, I’M WALKING WITH POWER
WITH JESUS I’M CONFIDENT IN MY CALLING
WITH JESUS I’M WASHED CLEAN
WITH JESUS I’M RESTORED, RECONCILED AND RAISED UP!!!
And to come to that it takes LESS OF ME TO BE THE BETTER ME!
The better me is the man who knows how to lock in my prayer closet, wherever that may be and go to war.
I assure y’all I love teaching this word, I enjoy visiting and fellowship, I love studying the word of God...
BUT WHEN I’M DOING THE MOST DAMAGE TO THE ENEMY, IS WHEN I’M BOLDY AND CONFIDENLTY CRYING OUT TO GOD DIRECTLY!
WHEN I’M CRUCIFYING THIS FLESH IS WHEN I’M TELLING THOSE POISIONUS SERPENTS YOUR BITE WON’T KILL ME, FOR I LOOK UPON THE CROSS!
WHEN I GO INTO MY PRAYER CLOSET AND PRAY HEAVEN DOWN INTO THIS LOST WORLD PIECE BY PIECE IS WHEN THE ENEMY FLEES!!!
OUR PRAYERS TODAY ARE DIFFERENT IN MANY WAYS...
BUT THE MAIN POINT OF THIS STUDY TONIGHT IS FOR US TO UNDERSTAND THE POWER AND PROMISE THAT IS FOUND IN OUR PRAYING!
We do not come to the THRONE WITHOUT EXPECTATION! WE COME KNOWING THAT WHEN WE PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD THAT LIVES IN US,
HIS WILL WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN,
We do not concern or worry about tomorrow,
Because HE GIVES US THIS DAY, OUR DAILY BREAD. Tomorrow will be NEW BREAD!
We do not hold contempt,
WE FORGIVE AS HE FORGIVES US!
We will not be led into temptation,
BECAUSE HE DELIVERED US FROM EVIL!
AND WE CAN BOLDY DO ALL OF THAT BECAUSE
HIS IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER & THE GLORY FOREVER,
WILL SOMEBODY SAY AMEN!!!
