To the Uttermost

Hebrews chapter seven let me read verse eleven I'm gonna skip a few verses and read a few verses in chapter 7 Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 11 if therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood for under it the people receive the law what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec and not be called after the order of Aaron now don't get nervous these verses sound a little technical but but we'll get through it verse says skip down to verse 15 and it is yet far more evident for that after the similar to dove Melchisedec there arises another priest every one say another priest this really gets interesting sixteen who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment but after the power of an endless life and obviously this is talking about our high priest Jesus Christ for he testify how art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec verse 23 and they truly this is talking about the Levitical priesthood they truly were many priests would you say that many priests because they were not suffered are not allowed or they were not able to continue by reason of death in other words there were a lot of Levitical priests through the years through the centuries from the book of Exodus all the way through to in fact all the way into the New Testament there were a lot of Levitical priests because they were not allowed to continue because of death okay verse 24 but this man and this is talking about Jesus Christ because he continued with ever hath an unchangeable priesthood verse twenty-five wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them for such an high priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens who need if not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins and then for the peoples for this he did once when he offered up him self I'm not gonna read more verses but I want to go back up to verse 25 and this is the verse I want to focus on was 25 wherefore he is able what you say that he is able now this is not talking about Cain's brother okay not talking about Cain's brother Abel he is able he is able also to save them to the utter most that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them and I want to preach to us teach a little bit on verse 25 to the utter most to the utter most let's pray and ask the Lord to speak to us in these next few minutes from his word can we pray together in Jesus name Lord we love you tonight and thank you and praise you God and we give you glory and honor Lord we thank you for your word we thank you for this great salvation thank you Lord for your faithfulness and your love and your mercy to us and I pray in Jesus name Lord that you help us tonight and I pray that you speak to us and help us to hear what the Spirit was saying to the church and I pray that you speak to us tonight through your word and that you help us tonight God to hear your voice and to know what we should do and the church said in Jesus name this verse 25 in the amplified bible let me I want to maybe do a little wordplay here on the word uttermost in the amplified bible and i usually don't use the amplified bible but it is good sometimes it it helps us looking at different versions of the bible it helps us to get a better understanding of what perhaps a word or what a phrase or what a verse is really talking about in the amplified bible it the verse 25 reads this way therefore he is able also to save to the uttermost completely perfectly finally and for all time and eternity that word uttermost that's what it means it means completely perfectly finally and for all time and eternity now contrary to what some people might say or some people might teach this is not teaching the the doctrine of eternal salvation or unconditional eternal salvation that's not what this is all about it's talking about the power of God it's talking about the ability of Jesus Christ to save us completely and perfectly finally and he is able to keep that which we've committed unto him against that day can you say man I said he's able to keep us he's able to bring us out of sin and he's able to keep us out of sin if we will walk after his spirit and not after the flesh a little bit of context in the book of Hebrews that this is a letter written to the early Hebrew Christians those who many of perhaps received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost was shortly thereafter the early the early Jewish Christians faced a strong temptation during those early years of this transition that takes place in the Bible transition from Judaism are the transition from the practice of the law of Moses to what we call Christianity today they didn't call it Christianity but the people of God were in a big transition after the day of Pentecost this was new to them I know today we think that everybody from you know of all times have you know they've always done her church this way it's not true they were in a transition and one of the strongest temptations that they faced talking about the early Hebrew Christians one of the strongest temptations they faced was the fact that when this was written the temple was still standing on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the Levitical priesthood the the sons of Levi there was still there was still a high priest there was still a descendant of Aaron that was wearing the the beautiful garments that are described meticulously in the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament the sons of Levi they were still offering sacrifices that the brazen altar was still in the outer Court of the temple the brazen Laver was still there in the holy place there was still the golden candlestick that was still the table of shewbread there was still also the altar of incense and even though the veil of the temple had been rent had been torn on the day of the crucifixion the temple still existed and these early Jewish Christians that were transitioning from Judaism to what we call Christianity today they had to walk by the temple they could see it sitting on the Temple Mount they could smell the smoke from the brazen altar as the sacrifices were offered it was a great temptation for those people and consequently this letter to the Hebrews was written to encourage them not to go back to the traditions of the father's that's what it's all about and the key word in the book of Hebrews in this epistle the key word is better if you read the book you'll see the word better used on numerous occasions the writer of the Epistle or the letter to the Hebrews he tells us that Jesus is better than the Angels he also tells us that Jesus is better than Melchisedec now that's a story for another day we won't go into the details of that but the Jewish people would have understood everything and the implication of the use of this word better the writer tells us that he gives us a better hope than they had under the Old Covenant and under the Old Testament law he has obtained according to the writer of Hebrews he has obtained a more excellent ministry and he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises everyone is probably familiar with the promise that God made to Abraham and then Isaac being the fulfillment of that promise but we have better promises today through Jesus Christ our high priest a man the key word is better he offered up a better and more excellent sacrifice throughout the Old Testament there were literally thousands and hundreds of thousands and maybe millions of lambs and goats and bulls that were offered on the brazen altar none of those sacrifices were sufficient that's why they had to offer him day after day after day and year after year because the Bible says they could never take away sin but when Jesus died on the cross one sacrifice for all of eternity and when he was hanging on the cross and he said it is finished he's talking about the laws is is finished the sacrifices of the Old Covenant are finished because his sacrifice was all-sufficient better is the key word in the book he offers a better possession in heaven and therefore we have a better hope of a better country and a city made without hands the Bible says he promises us better things than the patriarchs of old and he gives us the assurance of a better resurrection can you say praise the Lord so that's a little bit of the context of the book of Hebrews and the writer of Hebrews concludes in his book that there's a comparison made between Jesus and Moses the conclusion is simple Jesus is better than Moses there's a comparison between Jesus and Aaron and though Aaron was a magnificent High Priest Jesus is a better High Priest a comparison is made between Jesus and Joshua but Jesus is better than Joshua and even a comparison between Jesus and Melchizedek for example Moses could lead the children of Israel out of Egypt he could supervise the building of the tabernacle he could have face-to-face conversations with God but he could not lead them into the Promised Land but Jesus but Jesus can lead us out of our spiritual Egypt and he can take us into our spiritual Promised Land because he's better Aaron could stand before the mercy seat addressed in his royal priestly garments and and he could sprinkle blood on the great day of atonement for the sins of the entire nation and roll the sins if you please roll them ahead for another year but he could not remove sin but Jesus when he offered up himself his blood not only not it doesn't just roll sin ahead but actually covers the sin actually makes atonement for the sin and remission of sin is accomplished because he is better a man if you someone said that that there has been through the centuries of time since the creation of Adam and Eve that in the heart of man there is a cry that goes out of the heart of man and that cries in is really in three three different parts the first part of the cry from the heart of humankind is I need revelation so give me a prophet man I need someone to reveal things to me I need someone to tell me what the future is going to be like I need to signage someone who can describe to me or can tell me what's going to happen tomorrow or next year I need revelation therefore I need a prophet the second part of that cry out of the heart of humanity is I need representation I need someone to stand between me god I need someone who can be a mediator between me and the eternal so I need a priest and the third part of that cry out of the heart of humanity is I need someone to rule over me I need someone to bring order into chaos I need someone to bring order into the confusion of life I need someone who can lay down the law and lay down some guidelines so therefore I need a king so from the beginning of creation of man there's been a cry out of the heart of man I need a prophet I need a priest and I need a king to this day if you were to ask the Jewish people I'm talking about the people of Israel if you were to ask them today ask them who is your prophet without hesitation they will say Moses is our prophet because to them there's there's been no greater than Moses to them you ask them today who is your priest and they will say immediately Aaron is our priest fully understanding that that Aaron is dead and gone but when they say Aaron they're talking about the descendents of Aaron asked that the Jewish people today who was your king all you have to do is look at their flag and the Star of David is on their flag to this day and they will tell you David is our King so they will say Moses is our prophet Aaron is our priest and David is our King but if I were to ask you tonight on this Wednesday evening in this beautiful sanctuary if I were to ask you who is your who is your prophet you would say I didn't hear you who is your prophet who is your pre who is your who is your savior who is your Lord praise the Lord someone because he is better he is our provider he is our judge he is our lawyer he's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother he's our teacher he's our rock he's our comforter he's our substitute he's our Lord and he's our God and his name is Jesus and there's none like him none like him amen so to the uttermost to the uttermost think about it Jesus saves completely body soul and spirit he doesn't just get you halfway out of sin he doesn't just get you halfway out of the world I know there's a lot of people today that seemed to it seemed to want to live with one foot in the church and one foot in the world but Jesus Saves to the uttermost a man read the Bible front to back I don't know pastor Sloane how many times I think the last time capped up with it in one of my old Bibles thirty I don't know 30-something times I've read the Bible from front to back I'm not boasting about that I say that to make a point and by the way if you haven't read your Bible all the way through you need to you need to let that be your your goal for the next year it's an amazing book I said it's an amazing book and if you don't read it all the way through how do you know what's in it hello a man anyway I've read the Bible from front to back multiple many many times I've never found in the Bible where God ever lost a battle not one never found in the Bible where he ever lost a patient not one a man and you know what he's not going to start with you and he's not going to start with me because he is able to save us to the utter most completely perfectly body soul and spirit the second thing I want to mention is he saves once and for all eternity he's able to save you today and he's able to keep you from falling I said he's able to keep you from falling sometimes today we you know we see people in and out in and out and of church in and out in and out of sin in and out in and out of habits she thus to the uttermost he's able to save us a once and for all he doesn't have to keep doing it over and over and over and over again hey man he's able to save us once for all eternity there's a couple of verses of Scripture I'd like to read here and it's in Hebrews also Hebrews chapter 10 and maybe we could put Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 11 on the on the screen Hebrews 10 and 11 this continues the same the same subject in fact of the priesthood and the fact that Jesus is better our priest is better it says in verse 11 and every every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sin I want you to look at that verse for just a minute every priest now this is talking about again this is the old this is the Old Covenant priesthood this is the Levitical priesthood every priest standing that's the King James Version every priest stands daily in the Old Testament go back and look at the tabernacle go back and look at the temple in in the Old Testament and you will see one thing remarkable is there there are no chairs in the tabernacle no chairs in the temple and the and the writer of Hebrews makes it very clear that every priest under the Levitical order under the Old Testament priesthood every priest stood daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices over and over and over and over and over and over and over think about it they did the the Levitical priests they ministered in shifts today you know we've got the day shift the night shift not in the church but I'm talking about you understand shift work some of you probably work shift work well they had they did shift work in the old in the Old Testament the Levitical priesthood priests would come in and work his shift offering sacrifices lambs goats whatever the people brought whatever was prescribed whatever had to offering oftentimes and then and then someone else is going to come when his ship it's over someone else is going to come and take over and they're gonna offer the same sacrifices tomorrow and day after tomorrow and next week and next year and it's just gonna continue and continue and they're just gonna keep offering the same sacrifices there were no chairs there was no place to sit down because if there was a chair that means there's a place to to rest you don't rest until you're finished right so there were no chairs there was no place for the Levitical priesthood to sit down because they never completed the work they never finished the work because the work that they did was not sufficient someone said well then why in the world did they do it well because God told him to do it God prescribed that this is the way it was foreshadowing what was to come and it was also to set up a contrast so that we can look back today and we can see that what we have we're not living in the shadows we're not walking in the shadows we're living in the reality praise the Lord aren't you glad to be on the right side of the cross amen so the priest standing daily ministering they must have got to gotten tired offering the same sacrifices over and over knowing full well that when I finished today someone else is going to come tomorrow and someone else is going to come day after tomorrow and they're gonna offer more bloody sacrifices rivers of blood flowed from that brazen altar I did a calculation once on the on the amount of blood that would have been shared on the day of the dedication of Solomon's Temple unbelievable altar on the day that Solomon dedicated the temple way back in the Old Testament but none of those not one of those sacrifices not one drop of blood not not a gallon not not not not not 10 gallons none of that blood was sufficient to actually atone for sin or to wash or to take away sin so there were no chairs in the tabernacle there were no chairs in the temple because their work was never finished but then look at verse number 12 but this man would you say that this man that's talking about Jesus Christ but this man Jesus Christ after he had offered one sacrifice for the sins for ever the Bible says that he sat down you see that he sat down what does that mean it is finished sufficient he can save to the uttermost those who come to God by him because his sacrifice is sufficient he's able to save us completely he's able to save us once and for all eternity he doesn't have to keep doing it over and over and over and over again and there are some who would who would take that verse 12 and I'm closing some who would take that verse 12 and they would say well yeah the Bible says go ahead and read the rest of the verse he sat down on the right hand of can we put the verse 12 back on the on the board there we go he sat down on the right hand of God so you know some people would take that and say there you go there you've got the Trinity sorry that's not the subject at all of the book of Hebrews not the subject at all's not the context of Hebrews the context of Hebrews is to show that Jesus Christ is better so finally last point been very briefly not only does he save us completely and perfectly body soul spirit to the uttermost not only does he save us once and for all eternity and he doesn't have to come back and keep doing it again but the final point is there are no hopeless cases with Jesus no hopeless cases the drug addict and no hopeless cases with Jesus prostitute no I'm sorry no hopeless cases with Jesus homosexual no I'm sorry no hopeless cases with Jesus a person who has just completely messed up their life and sorry no hopeless cases with Jesus saved to the uttermost them that come to God line said we're brother Adams what does that have to do with us on this Wednesday night well there are a lot of people in this city whose their lives or folks in a mess and sometimes we even you know we we can look at people and we can make you know prejudgments and we can say well you know I just don't know if God can help that person no no no no hopeless cases with Jesus there are no hopeless cases in this city or in the hopeless cases in this nation no hopeless cases in this world no hopeless cases I remember my very first time to go to West Africa and if you know anything I don't know if you know much about West Africa but some parts of West Africa are famous or guess what they're famous for their famous for voodoo and witchcraft and that and that's something to be you know to to crow about I remember I had helped preach a crusade a small crusade by the way in a in a bush village in the country of Benin and Benin is known for its known as the birthplace of Voodoo and witchcraft for Africa now remember in that small crusade that we had just under some palm branches on one of the in one of the night services there were a few people received the Holy Ghost and among those who received the Holy Ghost in the small crusade there were two old men that received the Holy Ghost and one of those old men was the former witch doctor in the village I remember on Sunday morning I remember he he I remember him standing he was standing around of what we designated as the altar area and I remember seeing the old man when he received the Holy Ghost and he spake with tongues as the spirit gave the utterance I'm still talking about no hopeless cases with Jesus pastor took him that very afternoon hot humid Sunday afternoon took him to a body of water of air nearby there and baptized him in Jesus name that was in 1995 just a few short years ago my wife and I were back in being for their national conference and during the worst of service people were dancing all around the front as they were worshipping God I never forget I saw the old man probably 15 years later he was among those that just dancing around up front worshiping God a little more feeble than he was 15 years ago but the point I'm making is this still got the Holy Ghost still living for God no hopeless cases with Jesus no hopeless cases with Jesus the Bible talks about please stand the Bible talks about in mark chapter 5 about a man doesn't really give his name he's just designated in the scripture as being legion because he was possessed with many devils mark chapter five and verse four says this he had his dwelling among the tombs he lived in the graveyard he lived in the cemetery and the Bible says and it says this and no man could bind him no not with change this man was a hopeless case to humanity but with Jesus there are no hopeless cases verse five says because he had often been bound with fetters and chains and the chains had been plucked asunder by him and the fetters had been broken in pieces and listen to this and neither could any man tame him hopeless hopeless case for mankind but with Jesus nor the hopeless cases and you have to scroll on down and we're not gonna scroll down but you skip down to verse number 15 and the Bible says this and one of the people you know in the countryside they came out and they saw this man they knew him they knew his reputation they he's the one they had heard day and night and night in the middle of the night hearing him on the mountainsides and in the cemeteries and graveyards cutting himself with stones and screaming and wailing wild man and when they came out after this man had been at the feet of Jesus the Bible says in verse 15 and they came and they come to Jesus and they see him that was possessed with the devil and he had the Legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind no hopeless cases the Jesus no hopeless cases with Jesus so whatever the worst case scenario that you can imagine Jesus can take care of it he's able to save them to the uttermost and that's for you and for me that's for your family my family that's for your friends your neighbors save them to the utter most completely perfectly don't care how far how far out and sin they may have gone no hopeless cases with Jesus he's able to save them to the pastor of Sloane would you please come thank you again for letting us be with you