Tuesday February 3, 2015

Weekly Challenge: See if you can spend 30 minutes a day with God this week. If you adopt the ACTS prayer system (Adoration, Confession, Thanks, Supplication) that amounts to just 7.5 minutes of each type of prayer.

Read Hebrews 10:19-21

The concept of a High Priest doesn’t sit well with protestants probably because the idea of the priesthood has been debunked and ridiculed since the days of the reformation. While we are right in arguing that we are all priests and we all have the same access to God we must make sure that we do not miss out on the highly important concept of the High Priest, taken from the Old Testament.

We saw yesterday that only the High Priest could approach God on behalf of the people and only once a year on Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement. The High Priest was, as the name suggests, the highest rank in the priesthood of Israel. He would bring the priesthood before God, the people before God and bring cleansing to all the articles and instruments of the temple area by sacrifices and offerings. He would wear a special ephod and breast piece that had 12 special gems on the front, one for each tribe of Israel. It also contained a pouch with the urim and thummin that were used in seeking the will of God for the people of Israel.

When we talk about Jesus as the Great High Priest over the house of God we imply that he has a greater function than the High Priest of Israel. Here are some implications of calling Jesus the High Priest of over the House of God. He made atonement for sin with a once for all time sacrifice that will not be repeated. Heb 2:17 See also Heb 8:3; 9:7,11-12; 13:11-13. He represents human beings before God Heb 5:1 See also Ro 8:34; 1Jn 2:1-2. He entered the Most Holy Place in the heavens on our behalf. Heb 9:24, Heb 4:14; 6:19-20, 9:7,12. He makes believers perfect Heb 10:14 See also Heb 10:10; 13:12. He brings believers close or closer to God Heb 10:19-22. He helps those being tempted Heb 2:18 See also Heb 4:15; 5:2. He intercedes continually for us in the presence of God. Heb 7:24-25 See also Jn 17:20; Ro 8:34. Referenced from Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies (London: Martin Manser, 2009).

Thus if Jesus is our High Priest we should never take for granted the great privilege of being able to approach God individually in prayer and corporately in gathered worship.

Prayer:

Use the day’s reading notes and Bible passage to pray meaningfully:

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

· Continue to pray for the CMTC (ChristLife Ministry Training Centre) that students would grow, learn and develop in Christ-likeness. Pray that the time in the local parishes would be a blessing and generate growth in those congregations.

· Pray that the ministry of Engage would bless this congregation and cause many to be mission minded and outward focussed, Pray that every single person in your congregation would be a missionary in their every day life.

 Discussion & Reflection

1. What does it mean to have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place as per v19?

2. How is that confidence manifest in our lives?

3. Meditate on the phrase ‘a great high priest over the house of God’ (v21) and on a blank piece of paper jot down what adoration/praise points and thanks well up in your heart. Use this to pray in the prayer section above.