April 18th, Saturday: Hebrews 5 - 6

Heb 5

Just as the Jewish high priest was appointed by God, so our great High Priest was appointed by the Father.

And He alone is worthy to serve.

Never allow anyone to come between you and God.

For Christ is the only mediator.

The order of Melchizedek refers to Genesis.

Being from the tribe of Judah, Jesus could not serve as priest on earth but he can serve as Priest in heaven.

He is there ministering for you today right now.

Being perfected.

Jesus had to prepare for His priestly ministry by experiencing the trials His people experience as they walk by faith.

Because of the life He lived, the death that He died – He is able to identify with your needs and give you grace to see you through.

In other words, He understands and He helps.

Being neglected.

The milk of the Word represents the first principles of the Christian life.

That is what Jesus Christ did for us when He was on earth.

The meat of the Word is the teaching – what Jesus is doing for us now in heaven.

His ministry is high priest.

How sad it is when Christians neglect God's Word and stop growing in grace.

Heb 6

The impossible.

The ABCs of the Christian life is important, but they must be a launching pad and not a parking lot.

For the challenge is 'let us go on to maturity.'

If we get sluggish and dull toward the Word, we may fall by the wayside and stop being fruitful.

As long as disobedient believers are bring shame to Christ, it is impossible to bring them to repentance.

And God must deal with them.

The improbable.

The writer did not believe that his readers were in that condition.

Although they did have a long way to go in their Christian experience.

The fruit was there!

The diligence, faith and patience are required to live the Christian life – no doubt about it!

Maturity though is not automatic.

The immutable.

The chapter ends with one of the greatest statements on security found anywhere in Scripture.

God's promise and God's oath assure us that we are His.

And God's character backs up His words.

Instead of drifting, we're anchored heavenward, where Jesus ministers in the very presence of God.

And that anchor will not fail.

You can bet your life on it!

We're anchored so we can make progress.