Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On Nov 02, 2008: Hebrews 7:11-28
Transcript
- You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. This morning as we continue our study in the book of Hebrews, we're finishing up chapter 7. And here in the book of Hebrews, the author has been explaining to these Jewish believers who were wavering in their faith and desiring to go back to the things that they knew their whole life, they were raised and and brought up under the culture of the Jewish religion, under Judaism. They had been, you know, their whole lives involved in worshipping at the temple and offering sacrifices. And so now... As Christians, they've separated from that, they've followed Jesus Christ, they've put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and yet they're wavering and desiring to go back to those old things. They're trending, they're leaning back towards those old covenant, that old thing. And so the author of Hebrews has been explaining in many different ways that How what we have in Jesus Christ is far superior to those things that they've always known under their culture and under the Old Covenant culture. under the Levitical system, the law, the temple, and the worship that was going on there. And he's explaining how Jesus is superior. We saw he was superior to Moses, how he was superior to Joshua, how he's superior to angels. We've seen that he's superior as our high priest, and he's been establishing that. And he goes on here in verses 11 through 28 to share that he is a part of a far superior priesthood than the priesthood that was established under the Levitical system. Jesus Christ is not just a better high priest, but the whole priesthood that he is a part of is far greater. There's a new priesthood that he is a part of. He's according to the order of Melchizedek he has been sharing before. And not according to the order of Aaron. Now under the old covenant, in the Old Testament, you can go back and look how the law was given to Moses and through Moses to the people. And at the time the law was given, God also established as a part of the law, the priesthood. And God called Aaron, Moses' brother, to be the high priest. And so the priests would all descend from Aaron and Aaron's descendants would be the priests and the high priest would be the one who is the heir, the one who is the firstborn of the descendant of the priest. previous high priest, so the next of kin, so to speak, and he would succeed and become now the new high priest. But the rest of the family of Aaron, the rest of the descendants of Aaron, would also serve as priests there for the people. And so to be a priest under the old system, under the old covenant, you had to be a descendant of Aaron. That was the order of Aaron. That was the order that was established in the Levitical system. But this new order, this new priesthood is not based on lineage or genealogy. It's based on some other things that he will get to in just a moment. And it's based on or it brings about something that's far better than what was obtained or what you were able to have under that old system. And so he's showing this new priesthood is far superior. We start out in verse 11. It says, therefore... If perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek and not be called according to the order of Aaron? So he starts out asking the question, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, why would there need to be another priest not according to the order of Aaron? We've already established... Previously in chapter 7, that Jesus Christ is our high priest, that he's a high priest, not according to the order of Aaron, because Jesus was not a descendant of Aaron, but according to the order of Melchizedek. This Melchizedek was someone we found in Genesis chapter 14. Brief introduction to him there. He's made reference to again in Psalm 110, which is quoted here in our portion this morning, where David prophesies by the Holy Spirit that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would be a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So he is a high priest, that is certain. He is our high priest, a great high priest, but it's not according to the old priesthood. Now the question that is asked here in verse 11 is, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, then why would there need to be another priesthood? Why would there need to be the order of Melchizedek? See, the point is that perfection could not be attained based upon the old priesthood. But perfection can be attained and is reached, is attained through the new priesthood. This is how the new priesthood under Jesus Christ is far superior. Because in it, we are able to become perfect. Now, not in this life. We're looking forward to eternity with God for that. But there's the hope of completion. The hope of God finishing the work that He begun in us. If the work was completed under the old system, under the old covenant, then there would not need to be another priest who comes in the order of Melchizedek. And so those scriptures would not have need to be prophesying about this one who is to come. So there's a change in the priesthood because the first one, it wasn't perfect. And why wasn't it perfect? Well, we'll get into that in a few more verses. But look at verse 12. For the priesthood being changed of necessity, there's also a change of the law. So we're dealing with a new priesthood as well as a new law. We're dealing with a whole new system here of coming to God and access to God. If the priesthood changes, that means that there must be a change of the law because under the law, the way that you approached God, the way that you came to God was through the Levitical priesthood. And so if that priesthood is changed because that priesthood is intertwined with the law that God gave to Moses there on Mount Sinai in the wilderness, well, there must be a change of the law as well because you cannot separate the Levitical priesthood from the law that God gave to Moses and called his people to follow. And so there's a new priesthood of which Jesus Christ is high priest and But it also means that there's a change of the law. Verse 13 explains, So here the author is pointing out Jesus was not a descendant of Levi. Instead, he was a descendant of Judah. He was of the tribe of Judah, of the family of Judah, which was the tribe, which was the family from which the kings of Israel came. But the priests were of a whole different family and you could not be part of both families. So it's either you're of the tribe of Levi or you're one of the other tribes or you're of the tribe of Judah. Jesus being from the line of Judah... under the Levitical system, could not be high priest because he was not a descendant of Levi. And so it's obvious, it's clear here, there's a change of the law that has taken place. The old covenant, the old system, has been changed. No longer applies. It has been annulled, as he will explain in a few moments. And so Jesus Christ as our high priest means that there's a change of the law. Meaning that we do not come to God, we do not have relationship with God on the basis of the Old Testament any longer. It's not on the basis of what we do and our good works. It's not a legalistic access to God. It's not a merit system with God that we have access with God depending on how good we are. But it's a whole new system It's a whole new order of priesthood by which we have access to God. Now, can God do that? I asked myself as I was preparing for this morning. Is it okay? Can God just decide, I want to set up a new order, throw out the old one, let's establish a new one. Is that allowed? And of course it is. When you ever ask, you know, can God do that? Well, he can do whatever he wants. It's like that old joke, you know, where does a two-ton gorilla sit? You know, wherever he wants to or something along those lines. He can do whatever he wants. Yes, he can. And in fact, he did. And in fact, he promised that he would from the very beginning, as we saw last week in Genesis chapter 14. He built into the old covenant the promise that a new one is coming that is far better. This one is temporary. That one is going to be permanent. That one is going to be the final one. That one is going to be the fulfillment of my plans and my desires and my intents for the people of God. And so here he's establishing there's a new priesthood, which means that there's a new law and this one is far better, far superior because through it, perfection is attained. And again, not perfection that now all of a sudden we become perfect. Not in this life, but we will. When we see Him, we will see Him as He is. We will become like Him. Conformed into the image of God. There's a great hope that we have in Christ Jesus of perfection, of new bodies, of glories in heaven. There's a better hope, a greater expectation. Because Jesus Christ is our high priest. He goes on to deal with this a little bit further in verse 15. As he starts to address this better hope that we have. Verse 15 it says, And it is yet far more evident, if in the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest, who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. And so it's evident that our Lord arose from Judah. This is clear, he says. It's far more evident that this priesthood then is not based upon the law of a fleshly commandment, he says. It's very clear. The priesthood of Jesus Christ is not based upon his genealogy. It's not based upon the old covenant. It's not based upon the old system. What is it based upon? He says it's according to the power of an endless life there in verse 16. So, he having an endless life, that's the basis for his priesthood. It's also the guarantee that his priesthood will continue. Verse 17, for he testifies, you're a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Quoting from Psalm 110 verse 4. He says, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Verse 18, For on the one hand, there is the annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand, he says, there is the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God. So we're looking at two different things here. On the one hand, we have the annulling of the former covenant, the former command. This is the old system, the old covenant system. And really every system of approaching God that is on the basis of legalism or works. The old commandment, the old covenant, it's annulled. It no longer applies because of its weakness and unprofitableness, he says. Now why was the old command, the former command, weak and unprofitable? He goes on in verse 19 to say, For the law made nothing perfect. See, the problem with the Old Covenant was that it made nothing perfect. Perfection was not attained through the old system, through the Old Covenant. Now we need to be very clear on this. The problem with the Old Covenant was not the covenant. The system, the law, as we refer to the Old Testament and what was given to Moses. The problem was not the law. The law is perfect. But the problem is The weakness of the law is us. Because of our sinful condition, because we have hearts that are prone to wander, because we are often in rebellion against God, we cannot keep the law. And therefore, we cannot be made perfect by it. In Romans chapter 3 verse 20, Paul says, The scriptures are quite clear. The law, the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, it is perfect. But it's weak and unprofitable because, well, we cannot be justified by it. Because we break it. And so he says, by the law is the knowledge of sin. And so we find the purpose of the law was not to bring to perfection, but to bring awareness and understanding, a recognition of the knowledge of sin. It was to bring us to an understanding that we break the law and we are in need of a savior. We couldn't keep the law and it made it weak and unprofitable. And so he says on the one hand there's the annulling of this former commandment. And it needed to be annulled because we couldn't keep it. It needed to be no longer applicable because we couldn't keep it. And if salvation were based upon us keeping rules and regulations... then none of us would ever have a hope of salvation. It's not based on that. And that wasn't the purpose. By the law is the knowledge of sin. Going on in Romans chapter 8, a little bit later on in the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul says, what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. Because of our flesh, the law was weak. He says, what the law could not do, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. On account of sin, he condemns sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And so the weakness of the law was that we could not keep it. And so what God did, he sent his own Son to fulfill the law that we... Well, that we might have a chance. That we might have an opportunity. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Although we're not righteous and we can't fulfill it, He, on our behalf, fulfilled it so that it is no longer applicable to us. We are no longer bound by coming to God and approaching God, by experiencing salvation or having the hope of heaven on the basis of our keeping this law. Instead, That's on the one hand. That's been annulled. On the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God. So this one is made obsolete. This one is annulled, but it's replaced. And it's replaced with a better hope. And it's a better hope through which we draw near to God. And I want to spend a moment here because this is what I think is so important about the book of Hebrews. There's so much depth here in the book of Hebrews. There's a lot of things that we could dwell on, that we could camp on and consider and spend a lot of time talking about and discussing and sharing. But the whole point of the book of Hebrews, from beginning to end, the whole point of it is an invitation to draw near to God, to walk with God. The whole point of it is not, you know, just so that we have lots of information or good understanding or good education or good material for debating and doctrine and for apologetics and those kinds of things. There is a lot of that. There's great meat in here, great doctrine in here. But it's all meaningless and pointless if we don't put into practice the intent of the letter, which is that you and I would understand that we have this opportunity through Jesus Christ, this far superior priest, this far superior high priest, this far superior way to approach God than anything else that exists, even under the old covenant. What we have is the opportunity to draw near to God. And I would ask you this morning, are you near to God? You know, in your life and in my life, we have lots of different kinds of relationships with different people. And if I were to ask you, do you have a close relationship with so-and-so? You would know exactly what I was asking. You know, we have acquaintances, we have friends, we have people we know, we recognize, we maybe say hi to one another, maybe know each other's names, and that's about it. But then on the other side of that, the other side of the spectrum, is we have those people that we really know, that we've spent time with, that we know their heart, and often we know what they're thinking, and we know their facial expressions, and what kind of day they're having by the way that they're positioning themselves, the way that they're standing, the way that they're moving their body. We know because we're close to them. We know their hopes and dreams and desires. There's an intimacy in our relationship. And I would challenge you to take those same types of things and apply that to God when I ask you, are you near to God? Do you have a close relationship with God? Because that's the point. Do you know His heart? Do you know His mind? Do you know Him well? Are you near to God? Do you walk with God? Do you spend time with God? Do you know what He would think about this situation or that situation and how He would react and how He would respond? Do you know Him well? This book is a challenge for us to draw near to God because of who Jesus is and what He's accomplished for us. As we understand Him as our High Priest, this new priesthood, this new law which is far better. It should prompt us. It should cause us to draw near to God. We have this better hope. This hope of perfection that could not be attained any other way. We have the hope of eternal life with God. that cannot be obtained any other way. We have access into the presence of God. The normal Christian, the normal believer in Jesus Christ, the normal person who has been born again has better access to God than the highest that you could attain under the Old Covenant. You and I as believers, we have better opportunity to worship God, to walk with God, to know God than the high priest of the Old Covenant. He has opened for us something that is far greater, far superior. We have a better hope through which we draw near to God. So I encourage you, I challenge you, start this morning. Draw near to God. Walk with God. This is about living in a relationship with God and knowing Him through and through. He invites us to. He wants to know us. He wants us to know Him and walk with Him. It's the whole point of this new covenant, this new priesthood. Which is far superior than what was there before. So it's a better hope that we have. It's also a better covenant. He goes on to explain, verse 20. And inasmuch 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. Verse 22. Verse 22. By so much more, Jesus has become surety of a better covenant. So first he's dealing with this subject of an oath. He says, just as Jesus was not made priest without an oath. So we have a double negative there. And so what he is saying is that Jesus was made a priest with an oath. And he quotes Psalm 110 verse 4. The Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So Jesus' priesthood, the priesthood of the Messiah, was accompanied with an oath, with a promise of God. Now he gives a side note there. They, talking about the priesthood, the old priesthood under the old covenant, they became priests without an oath. They became priests because they were faithful. of the right lineage and of the right heritage. They were born into it. They weren't sworn into office. It wasn't with the oath or the promise of God. But the priesthood of Jesus was accompanied by an oath. And so just as his priesthood is superior to theirs because his is accompanied by an oath, he says in verse 22, by so much more... It's not just greater because it was included or accompanied with an oath, but even more than that, Jesus has become surety, a surety of a better covenant. So not only is he a priest and accompanied with an oath, which makes it better than their priesthood, but their priesthood was under the old covenant, which was very limited when it came to relationship with God and what people could do and what the covenant could do for the people. But this priesthood, the priesthood of Jesus Christ, not only is it accompanied by an oath, but it's also part of a better covenant. A better covenant. A covenant where we have full access to God. Where we can know Him. Where we approach Him, not on the basis of our works, but by faith in Jesus Christ. A covenant that has better promises. And we'll continue to see those things as we continue our study in the book of Hebrews in the coming weeks. But notice here it says, he has become surety, a surety for a better covenant. That word surety could also be translated guarantee. He has become a guarantee of a better covenant. And it's a word that's used whenever someone offers themselves as a guarantee on behalf of someone else. We would think of it in today's terms, probably like, much like a cosigner. So you've had your eyes on that $30,000 car or maybe $20,000 car or maybe $5,000 car and you can't quite afford it and your credit doesn't show that you can make that kind of payment and be faithful in making those kind of payments. And so what they require then is someone who would co-sign for you. Someone who would say, okay, I believe this person could make those payments and will make those payments faithfully and on time. A cosigner says, I believe they can do it so much so that I'll stake my own resources on it. And if they're not able to and they do not, then I will make up the difference. And I will pay that payment for them. And I will make sure that things are paid on time and that this contract is fulfilled. That's what the cosigner is doing. Well, Jesus has become surety, the guarantee for us. The guarantee, the surety of a better covenant. Under the old covenant, consider whose responsibility it was for you to have right relationship with God and access to God. Under the old covenant, it was all your responsibility. If you blew it, if you messed up, you sinned, you had to go make it right, you had to offer the sacrifice, you had to do everything, it was all up to you. You had to keep the law. Under this better covenant, this new covenant, the covenant of that is given to us through Jesus Christ. He is our guarantee. He's our cosigner. So where we fall short, He takes care of the difference. Where we miss the mark, He fills the gap. Where our righteousness is not sufficient, His righteousness covers the debt. When our bank account of righteousness is overdrawn, His righteousness is credited to us by faith in Jesus Christ. It's far greater because it's not all up to us. If it was up to us, we would fail. That's why the old covenant was not sufficient, not able to bring to perfection. But this covenant, we have Jesus as our surety, as our guarantee that His righteousness is accredited to us so that the righteous fulfillment of the law is taken care of for me. So that I can stand right before God. So that I can have right relationship with God. So that I can have access to God in His presence. So that I can draw near to God and know Him and walk with Him. And hear His voice and be led and guided by Him. So that I can be filled with His Holy Spirit. Because where I fall short, which is all over the place, Jesus is the guarantee. And He paid the price. So He is our surety for a better covenant. You see how far superior this is? It's a new priesthood based on a whole new law with a better hope and a better covenant. Not only that, this new covenant, this new priesthood, it's unending, it's unchanging, and it's to the uttermost. Look at verse 23. 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. The priesthood of Jesus Christ, by which we have access to God, is unending, unchanging, and to the uttermost. He looks back, the author looks back at the Old Covenant, and he says there in verse 23, There were many priests. Aaron did not remain high priest forever. He passed it on to his son, Eleazar. And Eleazar did not remain priest for very long. He passed it on to his son and his son. And then it was passed on to his son. And then it was passed on to his son. And it continued down the line. There was very many priests and very many high priests. Why? Because they were prevented by death from continuing their ministry. As soon as they stopped breathing, their ministry ceased. They were no longer able to serve as priests. They were no longer useful or beneficial for people in approaching God and coming to God. But He, that is Jesus, He continues forever. He has everlasting life, eternal life. And so His priesthood is unending. There will never be a time where He ceases to be High Priest because He continues forever. It's unending. It's also unchangeable. Unchangeable. Now, the first covenant, the Old Covenant... had its limitations and what it can do, and it was designed to be temporary. The sacrifices will go on later in Hebrews to see that the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. They were never intended to be permanent. They were temporary. They were intended by God to be a covering for sin, but not a cleansing. They were intended by God to be pointing to the fulfillment of those things which was in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior. And so the old covenant, the old system, everything pointed to Jesus Christ. And so it was designed to change. It was designed to be temporary. But this new covenant that we have in Jesus Christ, it's unchangeable. There's not going to be a third covenant. There's not going to be another new covenant where now something has changed and now you have to go through God through this way. So that's why when someone knocks on the door and say, yeah, we have another testament. Testament is another word for covenant. We have another testament of Jesus Christ. And you must come to God through this way and through this manner. It's further revelation that we've received that you have to follow. No, that's not true because the priesthood that he has is unending and unchangeable because this is the permanent one. Because he will never cease to be high priest. Because he will never cease to exist. He continues forever. And so he has an unchangeable priesthood. And so therefore, the author concludes in verse 25, he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him. He is able to save to the uttermost. Consider for a moment if you and I decided to go to the beach. And out there at the beach, we're having a good time in the water, but there's a strong undertow, there's a strong rip current. And you get sucked out and you're stuck out a good distance from the shore. And I decide, hey, I used to be a really good swimmer and I was in swim class and swim lessons and I was a really strong swimmer and I'm going to go save this person. So I swim out to you and I make it out to you. And you think, great, I was drowning out here, I'm saved. That's probably not what you say. You're probably freaking out and I probably have to knock you out so you calm down for a little bit and then I can take you back into shore. But you're out there and you think, I'm saved. Here's my Savior. So I grab you and I start swimming back to shore. But if I only make it halfway and I can't go on any longer and we both drown, well, it's not very effective. Wouldn't you agree? I wouldn't be that great of a Savior. Wouldn't you agree? If I can only get you halfway back to shore and you still drown... There's not much value in that. But there for that short season, you think, I'm saved. That's great. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. I'm saved. Consider Jesus. He is able to save to the uttermost. To the very, very, very, very end. Meaning He will not fall short. He can't just take us only halfway. That's not Jesus. That's not the salvation that He offers. The salvation he offers is a complete salvation. The law, it was very limited in what it could do. Now, if I was to save like the law saved and you're out there drowning, basically it'd be like me swimming out there and I would get to you and I would tell you, you're drowning. Now swim back to shore. Otherwise you're going to drown. Leaving you all by yourself to do it, to accomplish it, to do it all on your own. That's what the old covenant was about. You had to come to God and you had to do it. It was based upon how you performed and how well you kept His commandments and the covenant. I was not able to save. Now, I don't think you need me to tell me that you're drowning when you're out there fighting for your life. But that's what the law is for. To tell us. Because we don't know. Because we're deceived. We need to know that we are sinners. We need to know that we are in need of a Savior. And the Savior that is provided is Jesus Christ under this new covenant. He is our high priest. And He's not deficient. He's not only able to take us part of the way. He is able to save to the uttermost. Why? He goes on to explain, since He always lives to make intercession for them. He doesn't just take you part of the way. He doesn't just help you a little bit along the way. He's able to save you to the uttermost. It doesn't matter how far you've gone. how deep you go down under, He is able to save to the uttermost because He always lives to make intercession for you. He always lives to intercede for you. He is our perfect High Priest. That's what He goes on to explain in verse 26. He says, "...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. He says, such a high priest was fitting for us. This high priest that we have, this incredible high priest that we've been talking about, comes with a new law, the law of the Spirit, the law of grace, the law of liberty. a better hope, a better covenant, an unending, unchanging, and uttermost salvation. This high priest was fitting for us. Now we can look at each other and say, he doesn't deserve that kind of high priest. They're not worthy of that kind of high priest. But God looks at us and He says, I love them. It's fitting, it's right. I'm going to send my son to take their place on the cross. I'm going to send my son to to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law on their behalf. It's fitting and it's right. Because I love them and I want them to have everlasting life. God says, it's fitting. It was fitting for me, God says, to provide this high priest who is holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners and has become higher than the heavens. Yes, we're not worthy. Yes, we don't deserve it. But God says, this is what's right. This is what's fitting for you because I love you so much. This high priest does not need to daily offer sacrifices for himself. He explains in verse 27. That's what the old priests had to do. Daily, because they sinned on a daily basis, just like you and I. They had to offer for themselves sacrifices. They had to keep the covenant themselves. They had to, and it was a reminder of their own sin. Later on in Hebrews, I think it's in chapter 10, that the author will tell us that the whole sacrifice is, the whole point of it is that it's a reminder of sin. It's a reminder that, hey, we blow it, that we mess up. And so as the priests are offering their sacrifices every day, they're reminded every day, I'm a sinner, I blow it, I disobey God. But this high priest that has been given to us, he doesn't need to offer those sacrifices because he is holy. He's undefiled. He's separate from sinners. He's perfect. He's our perfect high priest. Verse 28. For the law appoints as high priest men who have weakness, but the word of the oath which came after the law appoints the son who has been perfected forever. Under the old system, under the old covenant, the person who served as priest was a person perfected. who had weakness. His ministry was limited not only by death but also by his own sinful nature. And so the priest could do very little for a person who wanted to know God and walk with God under the old system. But under the new covenant, the promise that is given about the Son appoints him as high priest having been perfected forever. He's perfect. He's not lacking. He is able to meet our needs to reach us, to minister to us, and to save us to the very, very, very, very end. He's able to complete the work that He began in us. We have a high priest, far superior. Sometimes as Christians we do get caught up in legalism and thinking that our works are a basis for God to be pleased with us and for us to have a relationship with God and we equate blessings in our life with how well we've been doing. It's very similar to going back to the old system. Just like these Jewish believers that he was writing to were struggling with. And he's saying to us this morning, look, we have this incredible high priest. It's a new priesthood. Not based on laws and genealogies and those things which bring on all kinds of limitations under the law. But we have a perfect high priest who offers to us a better hope Through which we can draw near to God. We can have relationship with God. And that's the point. The point is not just so that we know that we have an intellectual understanding that we have a high priest. But knowing that, let's come to God. Because He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. He's able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. See, the point is that we would come to God That we would walk in relationship with God. That we would know Him. That we would draw near to Him. And again, I ask you this morning, I challenge you. Are you close to God? Do you have a close relationship with Him? And this morning we get to partake of communion together. And communion is this reminder. The sacrifices were a reminder for sin. Communion is what Jesus gave to us as a reminder of Him. That He has completed the work. that He's accomplished it, that He's taken care of it, that we can have right relationship with God through Him, that we can come to God through Him and that He will save us to the uttermost. And so this is a wonderful opportunity for us to draw near to God, to put these things into practice, to hear His voice, to surrender to Him, to receive what He has done for us. So I'm going to ask the worship team to come on up and the ushers to make ready. They're going to pass out the bread and the cup. I ask you to hold both portions. We'll partake together at the end. And as they lead us in worship, as you worship the Lord, let's take this time to draw near to Him, to get to know Him, to walk with Him, to allow Him to work in our hearts. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.