Latest / Scripture Central / #46 Scripture Central Come Follow Me Insights (Nov 6 - Nov 12) Hebrews 7–13

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#46 Scripture Central Come Follow Me Insights (Nov 6 - Nov 12) Hebrews 7–13 · Scripture Central

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Hello everyone. Thanks for listening to Come
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Follow Me Insights with Taylor and Tyler presented by Scripture
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Central. We use a lot of visuals in our
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videos, so if you want to see the visuals, we invite you to
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find us on YouTube. Thanks for listening and enjoy.
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I'm Taylor and I'm Tyler. This is Scripture.
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Central's come, follow me insights today Hebrews Chapter 7
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through 13. This is a very powerful set of
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chapters that we're going to cover today and and these are
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important concepts. We're going to begin talking
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about the priesthood and we're going to talk about Tabernacle,
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temple symbolism. And again remember from last
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episode when we talked in the first half of Hebrews about the
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greater than concept, how how the Savior is greater than all
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of these things that the the Hebrews the the more
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specifically probably the Judaizers are holding near and
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dear. So it's it's beautiful to watch
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as we jump into the second-half. This one to me is a lot more
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applicable to us today to see the the relevance of what God
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has given to us and to keep things in their proper
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perspective and and order so that we don't focus too much
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energy and attention on the wrong things.
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So let's begin with the priesthood, where he begins in
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verse one and two of Chapter 7, and keep in mind his audience.
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What they understand is the Levitical priesthood, what those
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priests do in the temple. It is the pinnacle writes the
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pinnacle ordinances of their religion.
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They they see that as kind of the end all, be all.
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And so Paul and others, whoever's involved in writing
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this epistle, they're they're making it very clear that there
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is an inequality, something is greater than this priesthood and
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those ordinances that are being performed by your, even your
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high priest. And we pick that up in verse
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one. I can imagine how exciting this
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would be for a Jewish Christian to hear this for the first time.
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Or you've grown up in that Jewish religion.
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You've seen the power and the meaning.
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In the temple rituals. And you understand them and
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suddenly you realize, wait, there's more.
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It's like a great book you've read and it just keeps on
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giving. I guess that sounds like the
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scriptures sounds just like the scriptures.
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Verse one for this Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the
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Most High God who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of
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the kings and blessed him to whom also Abraham gave a tenth
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part of all. So this king of Salem or king of
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peace, that's what Salem or Shalom means.
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He received tithing from Abraham.
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So watch what happens. This is this is an important
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pedigree. You have Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
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whose name is changed to Israel, who has the 12 tribes.
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And this, these first sons? Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah.
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So we're going to focus on Levi for a moment.
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Down the line from Levi, 400 years, you get Aaron and Moses,
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and then Aaron's posterity. They become priests.
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Levi's posterity coming down the line.
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Those are the Levites. This is where the priesthood
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resides, as in that third son of Jacob.
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Now with this pedigree on the the board, you'll notice Abraham
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paid tithes to Melchizedek, who is not a part of this same
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family. He's not a part of the House of
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Israel. He's above it.
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He's separate. He's distinct.
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And so this epistle is making this very clear in Chapter 7
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that you're looking at this priesthood as the end all be all
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the the priesthood of Levi or Levitical priesthood.
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And so you're seeing how we're setting them up to say, oh wait,
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there is something greater than what we currently have it.
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Reminds me of the book of Abraham and the Pearl great
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price when Abraham himself is in Egypt.
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He's teaching principles of the gospel using the principle of
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greater than, trying to convince the people there that there is
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greater than what they even recognize.
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And he's using the principles of astronomy.
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He's like, well, you might think the moon is amazing, but there's
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something greater than that. It's called the sun, but then
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there's something greater than that.
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And he talks about Kolob and eventually the throne of God.
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And you get these concepts that there are great things.
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But eventually there's greater than and we could even expand
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the board and say from Melchizedek there is greater
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than all the way until we come to Jesus Christ and the throne
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of God, which some of you are thinking so.
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So why should I care about this? I I think the one of the take
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away principles, at least for me.
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One way to look at this is sometimes we get so excited
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about a certain practice or policy or procedure that
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sometimes we we artificially elevate it or make it bigger
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than it was intended to be in the bigger scheme of the gospel
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of Jesus Christ and through the history of time.
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And that's that's what's going on here.
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Look at verse four and five. Now consider how great this man
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was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the 10th
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of the spoils. And verily, they that are of the
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sons of Levi, who received the office of the priesthood, have a
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commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law,
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that is of their brethren, though they came out of the
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loins of Abraham. So he's saying, look, the sons
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of Levi, they're taking tithes from the Jews, from the people.
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But the great grandfather paid tithes to Melchizedek.
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So there's the the line of of reasoning here.
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Now you jump down to verse 11. If therefore perfection were by
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this Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the
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law. That's where the Law of Moses
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was given under this Levitical priesthood.
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Why? Because Aaron's brother is named
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Moses, the Law of Moses it's given, and Moses is of the tribe
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of Levi. What further need was there that
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another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek
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cannot be called after the order of Aaron.
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So he's saying, look, there's another priest that's arrived,
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and by the way, he's not from the tribe of Levi.
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And it tells us this look at verse 14.
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For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which
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tribe Moses spake. Nothing concerning the
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priesthood. So here's Judah the younger
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brother to Levi in these twelve sons of Jacob.
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Judah's sitting right there. And and he tells you there's
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nothing Moses spake, nothing concerning the priesthood when
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it came to Judah. In fact, Moses spake nothing
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concerning priesthood on any of the 11 tribes except for Levi.
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That's it. So now let's contrast in in this
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inequality or greater than you could say, the Melchizedek
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priesthood is greater than the Levitical or Aaronic priesthood.
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Aaron Levi, Levitical Aaronic. Why he gives you the reason why
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here in verse 20 and 21 in as much as not without an oath, he
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was made priest, for those priests were made without an
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oath. There is no oath associated with
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the Aaronic priesthood, but with the Melchizedek priesthood there
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is an oath and a covenant. It's a higher priesthood, it's a
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higher power. It's more access to heaven's
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capacity to heaven's authority to do God's work on the earth
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that has been given to people to to accomplish those missions.
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So that oath and the covenant of the priesthood, if you if you
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cross reference that verse right there 21 with doctrine and
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covenant, section 84, verse 33 through 40 and look at what the
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wording in those verses shows about this oath and the covenant
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that are attached to this higher or greater than priesthood that
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we're talking about here in this chapter.
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Which now brings us to verse 22. He says by so much was Jesus
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made a surety of a better testament.
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Now the the word here Testament is the exact same word dia thake
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in in the Greek as the word covenant.
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In fact, dfak is translated as Testament here in verse 22.
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But in chapter 8, verse 8910, you're going to see the word
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covenant show up multiple times. It's the exact same word in the
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Greek. The the King James translators
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chose to use Testament in Chapter 7 and Covenant in
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chapter 8, but it's the same word.
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It's the same word for the New Testament.
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It's the New covenant, the Old covenant, the new covenant, Old
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New Testament. It's interchangeable which now
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if you translate that back into the priesthood context, the oath
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and covenant of the priesthood, it's the oath and the testament
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of the priesthood. It's all the same same word as
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far as the Greek is concerned. So Abraham is this key character
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throughout scriptures if you go back to Genesis 15.
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That is where God secures what we might call the Old Testament
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or the Old Covenant. He secures it with blood.
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It's a passage that sometimes is confusing, but what happens is
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God has made promises to Abraham.
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OK, this key character here says there's all these great things I
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will do for you, Abraham, and to demonstrate that I will
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obligate. I God will obligate myself.
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To you and your posterity to make these blessings available.
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We're going to cut some animals in half and I'm going to walk
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the path symbolized by a burning torch.
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So the new covenant you now have that was Jehovah in the Old
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Testament. In the New Testament, he shows
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up again in fleshed and he allows his body to be.
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The Lamb who dies comes back and he now secures the updated
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covenant which is. Building upon these promises to
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Abraham that the opportunity for salvation is freely offered to
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everybody who chooses to be in league with Jesus, it's a free
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gift. And so when we talk about Old
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Testament and New Covenant, or Old Testament and New Testament
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Old Covenant, New Covenant, that's what we're talking about.
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And frankly, they're not, really.
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They're not different. It's just one was for one
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generation and one that was the Old Testament.
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Now the New covenant, the New Testament, it is for our
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generation, our time. And Jesus has secured both.
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So both Old Testament and New Testament both matter.
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So that is a beautiful insight. This, this messenger of the
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Covenant, this mediator of the covenant being Christ, as you're
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showing Jehovah in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ in the
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New or New Covenant, And look at verse 24.
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But this man, because he continueth, ever hath an
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unchangeable priesthood. You'll notice the Levitical or
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Aaronic priesthood doesn't have those same promises attached to
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it, the same unchangeableness attached to it as the higher
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priesthood does. Wherefore he Christ is able also
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to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing
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he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
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Isn't that the essence of what the priesthood is, is to the the
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person who is functioning in a priesthood office, in a
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priesthood calling, or with the power of the priesthood in
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different settings? Is that not the essence of what
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is happening there becoming Christ like in that they're
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taking on this role of an intercessor, A mediator they're
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serving, they're appealing to God in behalf of an individual
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or a group of people. They're performing some
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ordinance. They're blessing.
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They're lifting. They're healing.
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They're helping. They're ministering to.
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It's it's powerful when you when you see the priesthood isn't
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about what can I get from God through priesthood.
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It's how can I become more like Christ by turning outward after
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having turned heavenward to say, what would thou have me do, Thy
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will not mind be done. And to then minister to the
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needs of people around me in an intercessory sort of a way.
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And the invitation is is for us to strive to be more like Jesus
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who is currently greater than. But the promise, the invitation
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is all of us can be as he is. But until then we see in verse
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26 for such a high priest became us.
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OK, so Jesus, formerly Jehovah in the Old Testament, now has
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become in flesh like a human. Who is holy, harmless,
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undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the
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heavens. Remember the book of Hebrews
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major theme is greater than Jesus is greater than all of it.
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Verse 27 Who needeth not daily as those high priests to OfferUp
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sacrifice first for his own sins and then for the peoples.
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For this he did once when he offered up himself.
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So the Levitical priesthood had a whole set of rituals about.
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Seeking atonement, killing the animals, and then the High
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priest going into the Holy of Holies once a year.
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What we're learning here is that Jesus did that once for all of
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us. There's no need to reenact the
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High Priest. Bringing blood into the Holy of
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Holies. Jesus is that High Priest.
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He brought his own blood into the Holy of Holies and thereby
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invited all of us in. Which now brings us to Chapter
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8, verse one. And remember, again, we've
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mentioned this many times before.
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The chapter breaks. Those are our modern editions.
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This letter originally was just a letter, so it would go
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straight from verse 28 in Chapter 7 to verse one of
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chapter eight. Look at the opening here of
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verse one. Now, of the things which we have
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spoken, this is the sum that there are many ways that you can
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draw people's attention to a summary statement.
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In the Book of Mormon, for instance, Mormon often will use
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the phrase. Thus we see it's it's this draw
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your attention to a lesson that he's hoping you gain from
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everything he just got through writing.
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In this case, this is the sum, thus we see of everything we've
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been talking about up to this point.
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Don't miss this point. Right here we have such an high
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priest who is set on the right hand of the throne, of the
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Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of
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the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man.
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So we're not talking about the Tabernacle that existed out in
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the wilderness that eventually became the built temple in
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Jerusalem. All good.
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We're not trying to disparage any of that.
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Those are all good things. But there's a greater than and I
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I love that. I love that comparison to say to
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the Hebrews in this 1st century context, you love the high
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priest and he should be respected and revered.
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It's not a bad thing, but we have a high priest that is
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greater than the high priest in Jerusalem.
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Your high priest has to perform sacrifices to go into the Holy
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of Holies on Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement.
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But he's saying Jesus Christ, the Son of God, this new High
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Priest of the New Covenant of a different order of priesthood
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that comes with an authentic covenant.
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He performed A sacrifice that didn't involve animals.
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It involved himself and thus passed into the presence of
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majesty on high. And remember what happened at
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the crucifixion of Christ? The veil of the temple was rent
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ripped from top to bottom, a heavenly ripping.
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As Christ goes in and we'll we'll talk a lot more about that
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when we get to chapter 10. Now when you jump down to verse
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five, you'll see that there are priests officiating the
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ordinances of the Levitical or Aaronic priesthood in the
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temple. And he describes these priests
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in verse five. They serve unto the example and
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shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God,
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when he was about to make the Tabernacle.
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For see said, saith He, that thou make all things according
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to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.
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So everything you see in that temple, the sacrifices, the
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rituals, the ordinances, the the seven candles of the of the
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Candelabra, the altar of incense before the veil, the table of
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showbread, all of those are a pattern, a type, a shadow of
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heavenly things. They're not the heavenly things.
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They're just a placeholder for those heavenly things.
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Symbolic. What's also significant here is
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the writers of the Epistle of Hebrews are not only speaking to
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people with a Jewish background, but these are people who've
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grown up also in a Greco Roman environment.
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And there's a particular scientific worldview at that
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time that's been dominated by the thinking of Plato and
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Aristotle. That assumes that the heavens
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contain totality and perfection, and that this world is simply a
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shadow of things that are greater.
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And so the writers here are both calling upon the memory of the
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Old Testament and also appealing to people's understanding of how
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the world is to convince them that that heavenly world that
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you have heard about is greater than anything you've seen here.
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And Jesus is the way. He is the one who has shown us.
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How to get out of the shadow world and get into full reality,
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which is in heaven, Which, by the way is the covenant path.
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That's how we get on this journey from where we are to the
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real thing. And we pick that up.
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Look, look at verse six and seven.
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But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry?
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By how much? Also, he is a mediator of a
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better covenant, which was established upon better
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promises. So you'll notice in verse six it
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used that word better. This is a better covenant.
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How? How is it better?
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Well, the Old covenant, the Old Testament allowed for one man,
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the high priest, once a year to go into the presence of God and
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everybody else had to be out there with him, mediating and
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taking our prayers and our our desires to God.
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Why is it a better covenant? Because now everybody gets to
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symbolically come into the presence of God, have table
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fellowship with him once a week at the sacrament table, and in a
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more beautiful way, those who are willing to make and keep
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covenants at a higher level with him.
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It's not just one man, once a year anybody who's willing to
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make and keep those covenants live those standards that he has
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outlined for us, they're all invited to come into our modern
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day equivalent of the ancient Tabernacle, 1st century temple,
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holy of holies being the celestial room in the temple of
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our God. Everyone who is willing to enter
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into a covenant with him and keep those those commitments is
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invited to come in, and not just once a year.
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We should mention again this important point of Sacrament.
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Every week it's made available in the ancient world.
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Table fellowship, or having a meal with people is crucially
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important. In the ancient world, you
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wouldn't have meals with your enemies.
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You would have meals with those that you are bound to in a
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covenantal relationship with, that you're at peace with.
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So consider this. Every week God invites you into
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his house to have Table Fellowship.
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Every week, he declares. I'm not at war with you.
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I am at peace with you. I am serving you the emblems of
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my peace, and I invite you to also demonstrate that you're not
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at war with me by receiving these emblems of peace.
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And every week, no matter what we've done, we've all failed
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during the week. God knows it, but he's saying
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it's OK. I want to stay in relationship
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with you and please demonstrate that you also are working and
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making effort. Sustain relationship with me.
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Even though you're not perfect, you need to practice to get
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better, and the only way to practice is to deal with
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failure. And I have given you an
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opportunity to have that failure blotted out every single week.
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It's so simple and so powerful. It is so powerful now as you
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look at the rest of chapter 8. So from verse eight through
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verse 13 it might be beneficial for you in your scriptures to do
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a deeper dive and mark every time you see the word covenant
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and take it personally. Don't read this from arm's
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length and and picture antiquity.
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Picture Saints 2000 years ago learning these principles.
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Picture the relevance, the the sense of timeliness and urgency
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for us today in the assignments that we've been given by God to
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gather all of the people that we possibly can on both sides of
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the veil into this covenant with God and jointly with us.
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So look, look at starting in verse 8 for finding fault with
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them, He saith. Behold the days come, saith the
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Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the House of
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Israel and with the House of Judah back in the second-half of
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the Old Testament. Remember you had the split
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Kingdom, the Kingdom of Israel, the Kingdom of Judah, and he's
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saying that covenant that was given originally to Abraham and
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then renewed with Isaac and Jacob, it's for all of the House
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of Israel. And then he says, not according
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to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I
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took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt,
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the the Mosaic covenant, because they continued not in my
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covenant. And I regarded them not, saith
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the Lord. For this is the covenant that I
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will make with the House of Israel after those days, saith
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the Lord. I will put my laws into their
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mind. Pause here.
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You'll notice what's happening in the spreading of the gospel
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today in our day. I I could be totally wrong on
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this, but it's my observation. It's my assumption that we have
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more people who are learning more of the scriptures and more
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of the words of God and listening more to the prophets
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and apostles, seers and revelators than ever in the
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history of the world. That's my perspective.
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Look what he says here. God is going to put his laws
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into their mind and write them in their hearts.
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And what does that lead to? Look at the wording here and I
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will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
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That that nutshell definition of what the Abrahamic covenant and
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every covenant that's ever existed.
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At the at the bottom layer of all those those details of the
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covenants, you find that statement.
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I will be your God, you will be my people.
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That's what all covenants are, is the there's these connecting
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points between heaven and earth. Which now brings you to verse
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11. Yeah, I love how it goes on and
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says because this knowledge will be spread everywhere and they
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shall not teach every man his neighbor.
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So essentially we won't need missionaries anymore or even
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Sunday school. Now we're not there yet, but
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eventually because they will know the Lord for all shall know
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me from the least to the greatest.
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And this next verse, one of my favourites farewell worth
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marking for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.
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And their sins and their iniquities will I remember.
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Remember no more. God is not saying, oh, and by
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the way, I'm going to be so surprised when you guys make
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mistakes. I'm going to be really fed up
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and angry and upset. He says No, I will be merciful.
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I will be merciful. Remember cussed.
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This ancient Hebrew word is the essence of this covenant, that
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is God's loving kindness and mercy that he extends
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unfailingly and everlastingly. To you, no matter what you've
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done, where you are, no matter your station in life, that is
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the gift that God has promised. His end of the bargain is to
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always offer you mercy. And like we go to the sacrament
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table, we receive those peace offerings, and in return, we
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obligate ourselves to Him in relationship.
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That's all he wants. He wants to be in a relationship
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with us. I love this and and often we as
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human beings we we complicate things.
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We make them more more complex than they need to be or we
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overemphasize certain attributes of the gospel and and minimize
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others. I love the the simplicity of
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this covenant as it's outlined from verse eight through verse
30:13
13, to the degree where every time I go to the sacrament
30:20
meeting and those priests kneel down and bless the the emblems
30:26
of the sacrament and the deacons deliver that to the
30:29
congregation. It's an opportunity for each of
30:33
us, for me and you to make a new covenant again.
30:39
But what is it? How can sometimes we want to be
30:42
better? We want to be more engaged in
30:45
our in keeping our, our gospel covenants, our gospel
30:48
commitments, keeping the commandments better.
30:51
But we sometimes don't know how. I'm a big fan and a firm
30:56
believer in that that simple yet profound statement by President
31:00
Boyd K Packer years ago when he said true doctrine understood
31:07
changes, attitudes and behavior. A study of the doctrines of the
31:12
gospel will change behavior quicker than a study of behavior
31:16
will change behavior. So instead of focusing on the
31:19
surface, I love this because it gets us down into the heart of
31:23
the matter to say when I'm sitting in a sacrament meeting
31:27
or when I go to the temple. Instead of treating going to
31:31
church and going to the temple as just socially acceptable
31:34
things for a member of the church to do to check off a box,
31:38
but rather to say I am going to make a covenant, I'm going to
31:44
connect with God. And what does that mean?
31:46
It means as I'm sitting there in sacred meeting or in the temple,
31:51
my thoughts can be elevated to the degree where I'm saying Dear
31:56
God on high, I want thee to be my God and I want to be thy
32:03
faithful son. But I'm not very good at this.
32:07
Please help me. Please forgive me.
32:10
Please strengthen me, Help me to be an instrument in thy hands to
32:14
to reflect thy love, thy goodness, thy light, into as
32:19
many lives, into as many corners as I can.
32:22
To be a mediator for thy goodness in this, in this
32:26
covenantal connection that I'm not just renewing but
32:31
strengthening every time I go to the temple, every time I go to
32:35
the sacrament table. These are these are powerful,
32:38
powerful verses to to study deeply on your own.
32:44
So Scripture has been lovingly preserved over centuries, and I
32:49
can imagine that this one in particular was chosen because of
32:53
its thrilling nature and it's clarity.
32:55
For helping us to understand, not only is Jesus greater than
32:59
all, He descended below all things that He might uplift us,
33:02
that we also can be greater than.
33:06
And of all the teaching and all the preaching that happened in
33:08
the ancient times, 2000 years ago, the ancient inspired
33:12
Christians realized that this was one of the best
33:16
representations to clearly witness of the work of Jesus
33:20
Christ and his invitation for all of us to be aligned with him
33:24
in covenantal union. So this now shifts gears in this
33:28
next section to the Tabernacle, where he's going to discuss the
33:35
the significance of those elements in the Tabernacle.
33:39
So if we just draw, draw a very simple representation of the
33:45
Tabernacle, here you have the menorah, you have the altar of
33:51
incense, you have the table of showbread.
33:54
Here you have the Laver and the altar in the outer courtyard.
33:58
And here's the Eastgate. And in here we have the Holy of
34:02
Holies with the Ark of the Covenant, the holiest of all.
34:06
So a couple of these items. The Menorah represents the light
34:09
of Jehovah that led the Israelites through the
34:12
wilderness. The showbread represents the
34:14
mana, the mana that sustained the people and took care of
34:18
their hunger and invited them into relationship with God.
34:21
And this incense represented the prayers that went up to God.
34:26
And of course, the ark of the covenant is where the law of
34:29
Moses was written on tablets. And it was God's sign to say,
34:33
I'm in covenant to relationship with you.
34:35
And here's the covenant instructions I expect you to
34:37
live. We're going to put in the holy
34:39
spot, this covenantal agreement and on top of that ark of the
34:43
covenant are the two cherubim which represent the mercy seat
34:46
or the the symbolic throne of God.
34:49
So you're in the presence of God, and inside of that, that
34:52
chest you have the rod of Aaron, you have a pot of manna, and
34:57
those two tablets of the Law that Moses received on Mount
35:01
Sinai. And now we're going to talk
35:02
about all these and we're going to hear how Jesus all these
35:07
awesome things. Jesus is greater than verse one.
35:11
Then, verily, the first covenant had also ordinances of divine
35:15
service and a worldly sanctuary. Or this Tabernacle.
35:19
For there was a Tabernacle made. The first wearing was the
35:23
Candlestick, that's the menorah, or the Candelabra, and the table
35:29
and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary.
35:33
And after the second veil, the Tabernacle, which is called the
35:36
holiest of all. That would be the Holy of
35:38
Holies, which had the Golden sensor and the Ark of the
35:43
Covenant overlaid roundabout with gold.
35:45
Wherein was the golden pot that had manna and Aaron's rod that
35:48
budded, And the tables of the Covenant, and over it the
35:52
Cherubims of glory shadowing the Mercy seat of which we cannot
35:56
now speak. Particularly because they
35:59
haven't had the Ark of the Covenant for over 7 centuries, 7
36:05
or 800 years. Previous to to the time of of
36:09
Christ, we've lost the Ark of the Covenant.
36:12
The Ark of the Covenant was lost when the Babylonians around 587
36:16
BC came to Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, and the
36:20
Ark was lost to memory. Of course, there's a really
36:23
popular movie that claims that it's in some U.S. government
36:26
warehouse. Yes, verse 7.
36:29
But into the second went the High priest alone once every
36:34
year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for
36:38
the heirs of the people. Now just a quick reminder of
36:43
what's going on with the sacrifices in the blood.
36:46
Because when you perform certain sacrifices following the
36:50
directions in the Book of Leviticus, you would sprinkle
36:52
blood or smear blood on the Altar's horns on the four
36:57
corners or on the base of the corners of the altar outside the
37:01
altar of of sacrifice rather. But then on the Day of
37:05
Atonement, Yom Kippur, which happens in late September, early
37:09
October every year, depending on the lunar calendar, the high
37:13
priest would go into the Holy of Holies with a basin filled with
37:17
blood from the sacrifice that was performed.
37:19
And this is where that all of the symbolism of the scapegoat
37:23
comes in and the the the sacrifice of the heifer and he
37:28
would come in because they have a belief about that blood.
37:33
The the blood would then be sprinkled on the ark of the
37:36
covenant back in the Tabernacle when they had the ark of the
37:39
covenant and in the time of Christ when there is no more ark
37:44
inside of the Holy of Holies, the high priest would still
37:47
sprinkle the blood on the stone where the ark would have rested.
37:53
The belief is is that wherever the blood of that sacrifice
37:57
lands, it doesn't stain. It actually purifies and
38:02
cleanses. So when the priest in the Old
38:06
Testament would sprinkle the blood out on the people instead
38:10
of trying to avoid it and not get touched by that blood, you
38:14
would want to be touched by that blood.
38:16
You would want the blood on the land because it was seen as a
38:20
purifying, cleansing element, not a defiling or staining
38:26
element. And you see that symbolism in
38:29
multiple places in the scriptures when it talks about
38:32
washing our garments white or making them clean through what?
38:37
What is the cleansing agent that's always listed?
38:40
It's the blood of the lamb. There's nothing more staining to
38:45
to white clothing than blood. And yet the irony is it's the
38:50
blood of the lamb that becomes this most profound cleansing
38:55
agent. Better than Fuller's soap to to
38:59
clean the clothing. And why blood?
39:02
One reason is that it is the life force.
39:06
People understood this anciently.
39:08
No blood, no life. So we want you to consider this
39:13
a bit more. God offers you life through His
39:18
blood, and these ancient rituals were all meant to symbolize the
39:22
life that is offered because of blood.
39:26
That blood ultimately is the source of life symbolically,
39:31
meaning it symbolizes the real source of life, God himself.
39:36
So now you pick up verse 8, the Holy Ghost.
39:39
This signifying so. So the Spirit is testifying that
39:42
what we're teaching is true. He's saying that the way notice
39:47
those two words. The Way.
39:51
Remember John 14-6 Jesus telling his apostles I am the Way, the
39:57
truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
40:01
but by me. Where's the Father symbolically
40:03
and the Holy of Holies? No one gets there but by me.
40:06
He is our High Priest who opens the way.
40:10
Now watch this. We've talked about this back in
40:14
the Book of Mormon when we did 2nd Ephie 31.
40:18
This symbolism is incredibly connected.
40:23
To the gospel of Jesus Christ, those first principles and
40:26
ordinances of the gospel, if you consider coming in the outer
40:30
courtyard as an expression of your faith in Christ, that
40:35
brings you to the altar. So this is the way, the way back
40:39
into the presence of God. Have faith in Christ.
40:43
Repent of your sins symbolically represented by the altar of
40:48
sacrifice, where the the natural instincts inside of us have to
40:53
be sacrificed. They have to be consumed, they
40:56
have to be burned, purified. The great Lamanite King says, I
41:01
will give all of my sins away to know thee, and so you have to
41:06
drop everything here in order to get in.
41:09
And then you come to the Laver, and it's not a big baptismal
41:12
font, it's a washing. And there's some oil for
41:15
anointing on that labor as well. But it's a beautiful symbol in
41:20
the metaphorical realm here of our baptismal covenant, where we
41:27
enter in now to the church or the Holy Place.
41:32
Into this relationship with the Godhead, relying on the Holy
41:38
Ghost, the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking, seeking, knocking
41:43
at the veil and feasting upon the words of Christ at the table
41:48
of showbread. The the the scriptures, the
41:52
words of the prophets, patriarchal blessings, the
41:54
counsel of wise people, incredibly inspired books, other
41:58
things. And we keep going through this
42:01
process until the day comes when that veil opens up, allowing us
42:05
to enter in to the presence of God.
42:09
The amazing thing to me is Jesus didn't just come to earth and go
42:13
straight here. He showed us what this path
42:16
looked like. He is the way he marked the way
42:20
he demonstrated exactly how we do this.
42:24
He didn't just teach us about it, he showed it.
42:26
And we have this phrase enduring to the end.
42:29
And sometimes we think, well, that's negative, like I just got
42:31
to somehow to suffer but endure means to become hard or strong.
42:36
And so we're being strengthened. Over time and becoming like God
42:41
as we seek to be in His presence and and from the bird's eye view
42:46
like we we've shared, like I said back in second by 31, from
42:49
the bird's eye view, this looks like inside the church, the holy
42:54
place symbolically represented here.
42:56
It does look like you're going in circles.
42:59
You're doing the same things again and again and again and
43:01
again. But if you look from a side
43:03
view, you recognize that it's actually more beautifully
43:07
symbolized by a spiral staircase.
43:10
Hopefully you're not just going through the motions.
43:12
Hopefully you're actually doing those things through the power
43:17
of God. And in the process we're
43:19
becoming more and more like God. Which brings us now look at
43:23
verse 11. But Christ being come, and high
43:27
Priest of good things, to come by a greater and more perfect
43:33
Tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this
43:37
building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
43:43
own blood. He entered in once into the holy
43:46
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
43:51
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an
43:55
heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of
44:00
the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
44:04
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,
44:10
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
44:15
That that whole sequence of three or four verses right there
44:18
is so powerful when you look at it in the context of the Old
44:23
Testament with the New Testament, with Christ being
44:26
willing to fulfill the Law of Moses, not destroy it, fulfill
44:30
it. But how did he fulfill it?
44:33
He placed his whole will on the altar of God and allowed his own
44:38
blood to be shed so that when he goes into the holiest place, the
44:42
Holy of Holies, the presence of God, he's not carrying the blood
44:45
of goats or of lambs. He's bringing his own offering
44:52
of the blood that was shed. And it's such a powerful
44:55
reminder. Every time we go to the
44:57
sacrament table, we get a little cup of water.
45:00
Lest we forget, lest we forget the price that was paid by
45:07
Christ for us. And now we pull it together.
45:10
Remember, this is the sum this chapter right here.
45:13
This is the the sum of everything that that this
45:16
epistle has been teaching up to these these points.
45:19
And of course this epistle says in verse chapter 13, verse 22.
45:23
This 13 chapters is simply a brief.
45:26
Word of exhortation and what I love about that is there's so
45:30
much powerful goodness to share about Jesus that even 13
45:34
chapters is considered brief to declare the awesomeness of God
45:40
who love it. It's powerful.
45:42
Now look at verse 15 and for this 'cause he is the mediator
45:46
of the New Testament. Or we could say the New
45:52
Covenant. It's the same word again, that
45:55
by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions
45:58
that were under the First Covenant or First Testament,
46:02
they which are called, might receive the promise of eternal
46:07
inheritance. Brothers and sisters, There was
46:10
no promise of eternal inheritance attached to that
46:14
Levitical, Old Testament, or Old Covenant law.
46:19
It was all a symbolic placeholder until the real thing
46:24
would actually come, embodied in the being of the Lord Jesus
46:30
Christ, the Son of God, the the messenger of the covenant, the
46:35
the mediator of this new covenant from God.
46:39
And these next couple of verses we should set just a little bit
46:42
of context if you imagine today. Somebody, before they die writes
46:46
a last will and testament about what they expect to happen with
46:51
their resources when they pass on.
46:55
Now if the person has not passed on, you can't just go grab all
46:59
of their resources. So for example, when my
47:02
grandparents died, in their last will and testament, they passed
47:05
on their house to my mother and her siblings.
47:09
Now my mom and her siblings did not go and take the house while
47:13
her parents were still alive. So when the parents had passed
47:17
on, when my grandparents had passed on, then the will
47:21
stipulated this resource's house now becomes the property of the
47:26
children. So again the person who has the
47:30
will and testament has to die in order for that agreement to be
47:35
in force. Now Jesus owns everything.
47:39
And in his will he said, I'm going to give everything away to
47:44
everybody, but he has to die in order for the will to take
47:50
effect. And that's what we're going to
47:51
see here in the next two verses. Verse 16 says, For where a
47:54
testament is or a covenant, there must also of necessity be
48:01
the death of the testator or the the person who is.
48:08
And making this covenant Joseph Smith changed the word there in
48:12
verse 16 from testator to the word victim.
48:17
Look of verse 17. For a testament is a force after
48:20
men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all.
48:24
While the testator liveth, which brings us now to verse 18 and
48:29
19, whereupon neither the First Testament was dedicated without
48:33
blood. For when Moses had spoken every
48:35
precept to all the people according to the law, he took
48:39
the blood of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and
48:43
hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people.
48:48
Once again, when he would sprinkle all the people with the
48:51
blood mixed with that water and hyssop and other things, it
48:56
wasn't this. Oh no, now I'm stained.
48:58
It was this glorious I have the blood of these sacrificial
49:03
animals on me. It will purify me and my family
49:07
and my house. It was seen as a sanctifying
49:12
thing, totally opposite of how we would look at at being
49:16
sprinkled by blood today. Now verse 21 and 22.
49:23
Moreover, He sprinkled with blood, both the Tabernacle and
49:26
all the vessels of the Ministry, and almost all things are, by
49:30
the law purged with blood. They're cleansed, they're
49:33
purified with that blood and without.
49:36
Shedding of blood is no remission.
49:39
Isn't that fascinating? Before you and I can be made
49:43
clean now, we take this Old Testament practice of sprinkling
49:46
blood of the sacrifice, and we translate it now into the New
49:50
Testament of Christ shedding His blood, so that we can now wash
49:56
our garments, pure, spotless, and and white, in the blood of
50:02
the Lamb that was slain for us. It was therefore necessary that
50:07
the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with
50:10
these but heavenly things themselves with better
50:14
sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into
50:19
the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the
50:22
true, but into heaven itself. Now to appear in the presence of
50:27
God. For us he he had to shed his
50:32
blood, to then resurrect and ascend into heaven.
50:37
So he, God, Jehovah, condescended, took upon him,
50:42
flesh took upon him blood, shed that blood so that he could then
50:49
resurrect and ascend back to heaven.
50:53
Remember, every time we talk about resurrected bodies, it's
50:56
never bodies of flesh and blood. Blood is an earthly mortal
51:01
element. It brings mortal life, not
51:04
eternal life. You don't have blood, you're
51:07
quickened by the spirit in the resurrected form.
51:09
It's a body of flesh and bone is how it's always referred to in
51:13
scriptures. And the word quicken means to be
51:16
alive, to be alive. So it's it's this incredible
51:21
element, blood, this mortal, a symbol that brings us life.
51:27
We we don't live without it, and we don't live eternally unless
51:33
Christ is willing to give up that which gave him mortal life,
51:37
his blood, and he was willing to shed it and lay down his life
51:41
freely. And verse 26.
51:44
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of
51:48
the world. But now, once in the end of the
51:52
world, Hathi appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
51:55
himself. He doesn't have to keep
51:58
performing atoning sacrifice for us.
52:01
He did it once. It was an infinite and an
52:05
eternal sacrifice that has effect across space and time for
52:11
all who are willing to embrace that covenant with him.
52:16
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto
52:20
them that look for him shall he appear the second time without
52:24
sin unto salvation. Powerful promise there.
52:28
Which brings us to in my mind, one of the most incredibly
52:33
profound chapters of Scripture as far as the the practicality
52:40
of our covenant path progression back into the presence of God.
52:44
So let's begin with chapter 10, verse one, here for the Law
52:47
having a shadow of good things to come.
52:49
Everything's symbolic. It's a metaphor, and not the
52:53
very image of the things can never with those sacrifices
52:56
which they offered year by year, continually make the comers
53:01
thereunto perfect. And the comers would be the
53:04
worshippers. Meaning this process of
53:06
worshippers coming here. As good as this is, the ancient
53:10
Tabernacle itself doesn't ultimately save you.
53:15
It's Jesus. Now this process is beneficial.
53:18
But don't. Don't replace the process with
53:23
the product and the individual Jesus who makes the product
53:26
possible. Just like for us, when I go to a
53:29
sacrament meeting, I don't look at that piece of bread in that
53:33
cup of water and think that those two elements are going to
53:35
save me. Those, like verse one, are a
53:39
shadow of the real thing. They're emblems of the body and
53:45
blood of our Savior and our Redeemer.
53:49
Look at verse 3. But in those sacrifices there is
53:51
a remembrance again made of sins every year.
53:55
So we go to remember what happened to redeem us.
54:00
Verse four, it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
54:04
goats should take away sins. They're just placeholders.
54:07
And we could add today, since we don't go to sacrifice meeting,
54:11
we go to sacrament meeting, we could say it is not possible.
54:14
The blood or or that the bread and the water would take away
54:17
sins. They're placeholders, they're
54:19
symbols to connect us in a new covenant with God through the
54:25
blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
54:28
He is the one who saves us by offering us these, these
54:32
reminders and help us to remember always Him and what he
54:37
has done. So now let's jump over to verse
54:39
10. By the which will we are
54:43
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
54:47
for all. Isn't that fascinating?
54:50
He allows us to now make an offering.
54:55
And what is that offering? It's the body of Jesus Christ
55:00
Jesus who did that once for all. He made his offering.
55:03
Now we go and remember that offering, by partaking of that
55:07
bread and that water, and by going to the temple and going on
55:12
a symbolic journey, and we replay it again and again and
55:17
again, lest we forget what he has done.
55:21
Yeah, so we'll jump down to verse 16 and 17.
55:25
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
55:29
saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
55:32
hearts, and in their minds will I write them and their sins and
55:37
iniquities. Will I remember no more now.
55:39
We've heard this phrase just a few chapters ago.
55:42
It's being repeated because it's so important to remember.
55:46
Of all the things that you might walk away with today, I
55:50
individually hope that you walk away with this, that Christ, who
55:53
is above all He will remember your sins and iniquities no
55:58
more. That His everlasting mercy and
56:00
kindness is immediately accessible and available to you
56:04
today. Now this leads us to a beautiful
56:10
one of the most beautiful principles of the gospel of
56:13
Jesus Christ that perhaps gets overshadowed by others.
56:18
And it's it's the principle of forgiveness.
56:23
Now you'll notice there's the principle of repentance.
56:26
That's that's us with the grace of Christ, working through that
56:30
process to to repent, to turn to God, to change our mind, change
56:35
the way we think, change the way we feel.
56:38
That's the repentance process. But then there's forgiveness
56:42
that comes verse 18. Now we're remission of these is
56:47
there is no more offering for sin.
56:52
Once forgiveness is granted, he's saying there's no more
56:57
offering for that sin. We can let it go.
57:01
And yet we as human beings, how often do we keep beating
57:05
ourselves up for things that we did wrong, Even after we have
57:11
felt that sweet, grace filled forgiveness coming from God, and
57:16
in certain situations from priesthood authorities who have
57:20
worked with us through that process and told us that we are
57:23
forgiven. And yet some people still
57:26
struggle, thinking, I've got to repent more.
57:31
And so they emphasize the principle of repentance rather
57:34
than trusting in the grace of God and the principle of
57:39
forgiveness. One of his greatest attributes
57:42
is his mercy, his willingness to forgive us.
57:44
And sometimes we're not willing to forgive ourselves and we're
57:49
not willing to move forward. But stop and think about what
57:52
that does on this covenant path journey forward.
57:56
If I keep going back and I keep returning back to what I did
58:00
wrong in the past and I won't forgive myself even if God has
58:04
forgiven me, it's stifling my forward progress because I keep
58:11
looking back. It's as if I have this, this
58:14
negative anchor holding me back on my covenant path progression.
58:20
I am so grateful for all of God's mercy and His grace and
58:24
and His attributes. But one of them that I am the
58:27
most grateful for is his willingness to not hold me
58:32
hostage to my past mistakes so that I can spend my time turning
58:38
to Him, repenting meaning, changing how I think and feel,
58:43
and focus on Him today. Not focus on when I was 16 and
58:48
what I did wrong, or when I was 25, or so on and so forth.
58:53
But I can move forward. I use this example.
58:57
Imagine you have taken out a very large loan from a bank so
59:01
you can have a home to live in, and you've been dutifully paying
59:04
off that mortgage, that home debt over years, but still a
59:08
large amount. And then somebody who loves you
59:10
comes and pays off the debt, gives the rest of the money to
59:14
the bank, and the bank says. You are free and clear, the
59:18
house is yours and yet you feel like, no, I don't deserve this.
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I'm going to continue to pay money to the bank and I'm going
59:24
to make my life hard. I'm going to take on a second
59:26
job so I can pay even more money to the bank.
59:29
And the bank's like, no, this is taken care of.
59:32
So that's kind of a very mundane example.
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But the debt has been paid. Once you've been forgiven, you
59:39
do not need to pay the price again and again.
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Now the reality is sometimes the memory of past pains.
59:46
Comes to our minds. I think that's in my mind.
59:49
That is to help us to avoid those circumstances again in the
59:53
future. But don't pay a debt any more
59:57
than it has already been paid off and has already and is no
1:00:01
more owed. God has paid everything, and
1:00:04
when He has given you full forgiveness, you don't need to
1:00:07
pay a greater price. Which brings us to two of the
1:00:10
most profound verses in the entire New Testament, possibly
1:00:14
even the the entire scripture Canon verse 19 and 20.
1:00:19
Having therefore, brethren, boldness, you'll you'll notice
1:00:25
we have this, this license or this authority.
1:00:28
If you look at that Greek, Greek footnote there to enter into the
1:00:32
holiest by the blood of Jesus, we can go into the holy of
1:00:37
holies with boldness, not cowering, not fearful, not
1:00:43
trembling not. I don't belong here because of
1:00:46
all these bad things I've done. We we let the Savior pay those
1:00:51
debts. We we drop them at His feet.
1:00:55
He changes us, and now we can come in with boldness.
1:00:59
And how do we get in there? Verse 20 By a new and living
1:01:04
way. It's not an old and dead way.
1:01:09
It's a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us
1:01:13
through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.
1:01:20
You're in the Holy Place, living by the the light of the Holy
1:01:25
Ghost, by the Spirit you're asking, seeking.
1:01:28
You're knocking at that veil. You're feasting on the words of
1:01:31
Christ, pressing forward with a steadfast faith in Christ.
1:01:35
That veil represents the flesh of Christ.
1:01:40
When you go to the temple and you go on that covenant journey,
1:01:44
symbolically, metaphorically, from a fallen state to that
1:01:50
glorified state that Christ offers to all of us has joint
1:01:53
heirs with him. You can't get into the presence
1:01:56
of God on your own. You can only get in through
1:02:00
Christ. You come unto Christ.
1:02:04
He is symbolized in every element of that journey.
1:02:09
He's the outer gate, faith in Christ.
1:02:12
The door. I am the door.
1:02:13
He is the symbolic fulfillment of the altar of sacrifice.
1:02:19
There's no no person who has sacrificed more than he did.
1:02:25
He is symbolized by the cleanliness, the purification of
1:02:31
the Laver, this, this living water that can take away the
1:02:37
stain and the soil of of our mortal struggles.
1:02:41
He's symbolically represented by all of these elements in here
1:02:45
and now. You get to the veil Christ has
1:02:48
been in and through. And now we go through the veil
1:02:53
to get into the presence of God. And remember what happened at
1:02:56
the crucifixion. The veil was ripped.
1:02:59
Christ's body was torn for us in that process, which becomes the
1:03:05
ultimate gateway for us to get into heaven through Him the High
1:03:10
Priest. This phrase boldness to enter,
1:03:13
we have a. The opposite.
1:03:16
Today we have this idea of imposter syndrome.
1:03:19
Many people feel like they don't belong or they've been received
1:03:22
opportunities that they don't qualify for.
1:03:25
So there's phrase imposter syndrome.
1:03:28
And if the writer of Hebrews was here today, he might use that
1:03:31
phrase and say you don't have to have imposter syndrome because
1:03:35
when you were baptized, you took upon yourself the name of Jesus
1:03:40
Christ. That gives you the authority to
1:03:42
be. In the presence of God, if you
1:03:46
try to go in on your own name, you would be an impostor.
1:03:49
But with Jesus Christ, you do not need to experience impostor
1:03:52
syndrome. I love that you can be bold.
1:03:56
Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of
1:03:59
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
1:04:02
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
1:04:06
You're seeing the the Old Testament, the old covenant
1:04:10
elements being repackaged, presented in a new way, which is
1:04:16
beautifully symbolic of our temple endowment.
1:04:18
The endowment presentation has been clarified to help people
1:04:23
more clearly see how the symbols point to Jesus Christ and we
1:04:29
should expect change. We are part of a living church.
1:04:32
Things that are dead don't change.
1:04:37
Things that are alive are continuously.
1:04:40
Growing, evolving, changing. And we declare with boldness
1:04:44
that we are part of a living church because we are part of
1:04:48
the body of Christ. So then if you turn the page
1:04:52
over here, verse 23 down through 30, give us some some further
1:04:58
instructions as to how we should act now on our covenant journey,
1:05:05
and also some some cautions. What like verse 26, if we sin
1:05:10
willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
1:05:12
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a
1:05:15
certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation
1:05:20
which shall devour the adversaries.
1:05:22
It's this idea of where much is given, much is required.
1:05:26
You can't. You can't start on this journey,
1:05:29
get all of these blessings in this endowment of power, and
1:05:31
then say, OK, but I want to enjoy the the desires, appetites
1:05:36
and passions of a fallen world. So if you are in covenant and
1:05:41
choose to leave the covenant, you will lose access to the
1:05:44
blessings, but the power is from God.
1:05:48
If you choose to re enter the covenant you're welcome back in.
1:05:51
The idea is just don't get off the path if you're wrong.
1:05:54
But there is a way to get back on the path, if you find
1:05:57
yourself off for whatever reason.
1:06:00
So he he then brings us into it a beautiful concept here in
1:06:05
verse 34. For ye had compassion of me in
1:06:08
my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing
1:06:13
in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring
1:06:16
substance. There has been persecution going
1:06:20
on in this early 1st century among the the Christian
1:06:23
converts. They've had their goods spoiled
1:06:26
by by other people around them who haven't agreed with them,
1:06:30
both from the Jewish side and from the Gentile side.
1:06:34
And he says in verse 35, cast not away.
1:06:37
Therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward
1:06:43
for you have need of patience that after you have done the
1:06:45
will of God, you might receive the promise.
1:06:47
It's that don't let your cast not away your confidence stay on
1:06:52
that covenant path and his. The implication here is it's not
1:06:57
a walk in the park. It's not a smooth paved flat
1:07:00
sidewalk with a guardrail. It's a steep climb, and some
1:07:04
parts of the climb are steeper than others.
1:07:06
And it's a pain at times very painful, very difficult.
1:07:10
But don't castaway your confidence.
1:07:12
Keep going, keep trusting in Christ.
1:07:16
And he says, verse 37 for yet a little while.
1:07:20
And he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry.
1:07:24
Now the just shall live by faith.
1:07:27
But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
1:07:30
him. Chapter 11 is such an inviting
1:07:33
chapter because we are given many case studies of what faith
1:07:39
is. Now faith could also be used.
1:07:42
You could use the word trust. Or belief or love.
1:07:45
So when you see the word faith in the scripture, you might look
1:07:48
at the word, also replace it with trust, hope, or belief.
1:07:52
And so as you look at Chapter 11, which we're not going to
1:07:55
dive into here, we encourage you to look at these many examples
1:07:58
of these ancient people from the Old Testament who demonstrated
1:08:02
trust in God, belief in God, hope in God, faith in God.
1:08:06
And then the invitation is, how can you do something today to be
1:08:10
more faithful, trusting, hoping. That's a beautiful intro.
1:08:15
And if you look back in chapter 10, verse 38, he started that
1:08:18
verse by saying now the just, the just meaning the righteous.
1:08:22
Those who are right with God, the righteous or the just shall
1:08:27
live by faith. And then, as Taylor introduced,
1:08:32
everything in Chapter 11 is object, lesson after object,
1:08:36
lesson, example after example of what faith actually looks like,
1:08:42
how it is embodied. With all of these examples
1:08:45
starting with chapter one, or starting with Chapter 11, verse
1:08:48
one, with the definition now, faith is the substance.
1:08:55
It's the assurance of things that are hoped for, the evidence
1:09:01
of things not seen. So the substance of things that
1:09:07
you hope for, and it's the evidence of things that you
1:09:09
haven't seen yet. I love the talk.
1:09:12
If if you're not familiar with this talk, I I highly recommend
1:09:16
you read it. One of the best that I've ever
1:09:19
read on this topic as far as the practicalities of So what do I
1:09:24
do to more fully live my life in faith?
1:09:28
It was given by Elder David A Bednar years ago to to religious
1:09:33
educators. It's called Seek learning by
1:09:37
Study and by Faith. And in here he talks about the
1:09:42
three aspects of faith that you have 3 levels or three layers
1:09:49
and and there are a lot of ways to interpret his his talk this
1:09:54
this article. But this is my favorite is he
1:09:59
says there's faith that is at the assurance level or the
1:10:04
belief level. I believe in things similar to
1:10:08
what it says here in Chapter 11 verse one.
1:10:11
And that level of faith then leads me to the action phase of
1:10:18
faith cause faith is not just a belief.
1:10:21
Faith is also manifested in action.
1:10:25
I do things through faith, and that action then leads to the
1:10:32
evidence level of faith, which then becomes higher assurance
1:10:40
for the next phase of decisions or part of my life that I need
1:10:45
to to navigate, and it becomes the spiral staircase of faith.
1:10:53
So if I'm struggling to act, if I'm struggling to move forward
1:10:57
in faith to do something, Elder Bednar's invitation is trust in
1:11:03
God more fully put more of your faith at the assurance level in
1:11:08
Christ, which will cause you to be able to act more fully in
1:11:12
faith and then the evidence comes.
1:11:14
You receive no witness until after the trial of your faith to
1:11:20
connect with with ether. Chapter 12.
1:11:22
And by the way, if you want to do a deep study on faith in
1:11:25
Christ, Hebrews 11 has to be on your short list to study, along
1:11:31
with Alma 32 and Ether 12 and many, many other sections.
1:11:36
But those are kind of the the chapters of Scripture that focus
1:11:40
extensively on this incredibly important topic of the gospel.
1:11:45
So as you as you read these verses here, you'll notice the
1:11:52
people Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob,
1:11:58
Joseph, Moses, all. These and Rahab and Rahab which?
1:12:04
By the way, non Israelite, non Israelite woman.
1:12:07
So it's it's the the the walls of Jericho in 30, Rahab in 31.
1:12:12
Then you get this long list in 32.
1:12:14
Gideon, Barack, Sam, Samson, Yefta, David's, Samuel and the
1:12:20
Prophets and verse 36 and others.
1:12:24
So as you read in their stories, you're going to find a common
1:12:28
thread. Not a single person listed in
1:12:31
Hebrews 11 had a life filled with ease and comfort and
1:12:35
nothing but success. Every single one of these people
1:12:39
had to move forward in the face of great adversity, great
1:12:44
opposition, great trials, relying on their assurance in
1:12:51
God's goodness and in God's promises to then act in faith.
1:12:57
Brothers and sisters, faith is not just assurance.
1:13:01
I can I can sit here all day and just believe in God.
1:13:05
But until it causes me to do something, to move forward on
1:13:10
that covenant path, to draw closer to God and to turn my
1:13:14
heart more to Him, then it's just stuck at this level.
1:13:20
Chapter 12 is loaded with incredible 1 liners with
1:13:25
powerful principles that you can turn to.
1:13:28
If if you need a spiritual thought for a meeting, try
1:13:32
Hebrews chapter 12. It it's that good notice verse
1:13:37
one. Wherefore seeing we also are
1:13:39
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, we we have
1:13:44
how firm a foundation is laid for our faith.
1:13:47
It is basically the sentiment here.
1:13:49
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily
1:13:54
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set
1:13:58
before us. We need to lay aside these sins.
1:14:03
Verse two looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
1:14:08
faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the
1:14:13
cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of
1:14:18
the throne of God. That verse 2 connects very
1:14:22
beautifully back to chapter one in Hebrews, verse 3, where
1:14:27
Christ did his work. He's the author and the finisher
1:14:30
of our faith, and now he's sitting down on the right hand
1:14:32
of God. Now we jump down to verse 5 And
1:14:35
ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto
1:14:38
you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the
1:14:42
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of
1:14:48
him. We talked about this concept
1:14:50
back in the Gospels, where the Lord is constantly correcting
1:14:56
Peter. And because Peter takes it so
1:14:59
well, what happens? He keeps getting correction, he
1:15:03
keeps getting direction. And if we get offended when
1:15:09
somebody gives us correction, then they're less likely to give
1:15:13
us correction in the future. And we'll keep going along,
1:15:16
doing what we've done, which decreases our capacity to repent
1:15:20
or to change, to improve, to get better.
1:15:24
Because we've allowed pride to get in the way, we're now more
1:15:28
interested in defending our position than in focusing on
1:15:33
Christ and moving forward, and being a better disciple, a
1:15:38
better instrument in His hands. So he concludes that with verse
1:15:41
6 for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and he scourges,
1:15:47
scourges every son whom he receiveth, and the concept
1:15:52
continues, If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you
1:15:56
as with sons. For what, son is he whom the
1:15:59
Father chasteneth not? If we pray for humility to be
1:16:04
able to to be meek, and to take that correction, we're likely to
1:16:09
get more of it. And it's not exactly fun.
1:16:12
It's not painless, but, oh, it's beautiful.
1:16:15
When you're on this covenant journey, look at verse 11.
1:16:20
Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but
1:16:24
grievous. It it, it hurts.
1:16:27
Shaping is painful. Nevertheless, afterward it
1:16:31
yieldeth the peaceful fruit of righteousness unto them which
1:16:35
are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands
1:16:38
which hang down, and the feeble knees.
1:16:42
So as you study this second-half of chapter 12 on your own, look
1:16:47
for the the principles and the promises attached to those who
1:16:52
are willing to give themselves over to the Lord for that
1:16:56
correcting, shaping, chastening, disciple, molding process that
1:17:05
God is willing to give to those who are humble and meek.
1:17:10
And now he gives his the final exhortations in chapter 13.
1:17:15
And it's a long list of things to do.
1:17:19
Let brotherly love continue, be not forgetful to entertain
1:17:22
strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
1:17:27
Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them, and them
1:17:32
which suffer adversity as being yourself also in the body, the
1:17:36
body of Christ. If if one member is suffering,
1:17:39
we're all suffering with them and we should bind up their
1:17:42
their wounds. He talks about marriage or
1:17:46
conversations following leaders. So after looking at this long
1:17:53
list of of things to keep in mind and to do, he He finishes
1:18:00
off with verse. Starting in verse 20.
1:18:03
Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our
1:18:07
Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
1:18:10
of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good
1:18:15
work to do, His will, working in you that which is well pleasing
1:18:21
you. Notice again this reminder to
1:18:23
focus on His perfection, his goodness, His mercy, and His
1:18:28
grace. Not focus on my vadnais, my
1:18:32
weakness, my sin, my past wrongs.
1:18:36
Repent appropriately, seek His forgiveness, and once you get
1:18:39
it, move forward in faith in Christ.
1:18:44
Verse 22. I beseech you, brethren, suffer
1:18:47
the word of exhortation. For I've written a letter unto
1:18:50
you in few words. And the the final conclusion to
1:18:54
this incredible epistle. One line long verse 25.
1:18:58
Grace be with you all. Amen.
1:19:04
So as we conclude this incredible epistle to the
1:19:08
Hebrews, it's our hope, It's our prayer that we will all stay
1:19:12
focused on the future, the glorious future with Christ at
1:19:18
the center and this covenant path progression with faith in
1:19:23
Him. Relying on Him not holding
1:19:26
ourselves hostage to the past and finding him in all of the
1:19:31
symbols, not just of the Ancient Testament and the old covenant
1:19:37
of of the the ancient world, but of our world, of our life and of
1:19:44
our time moving forward, relying completely upon him, putting our
1:19:49
full trust in Him. That's our prayer, and we leave
1:19:52
it with you in the name of Jesus Christ.
1:19:54
Amen. Know that you're loved.
1:19:56
And sread light and goodness.