A Priest Interceding For Us

Hebrews chapter 7, chapter 7, verse 11, we'll read through chapter 8, verse 2.!

One in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron. For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.

He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah.

And in regard to that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear.

If another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest, not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry, but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

For it is declared, you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless.

For the law made nothing perfect. And a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath.

Others became priests without any oath. But he became a priest with an oath when God said to him, The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.

You are a priest forever. Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

Now there were many of those priests since death prevented them from continuing in office. But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.

Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him. Because he always lives to intercede for them.

Such a high priest meets our need. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day. First for his own sins and then for the sins of the people.

He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priest men who are weak.

But the oath which came after the law appointed the son who has been made perfect forever. The point of what we are saying is this.

We do have such a high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

No doubt some of you have held down two jobs at the same time. Maybe going to work at one place in the morning and then going to work another place at night.

But I wonder if any of you have held down three jobs at the same time. That's stretching the limits. We need to sleep, don't we? But our Lord Jesus Christ has three jobs.

Three full-time jobs. Three 24-7 jobs. And it is in fulfilling those three jobs that he saves sinners. There is no salvation apart from Jesus doing these jobs and doing them perfectly.

And that's what we're studying in this series. So what jobs or what offices, class, does Jesus Christ have? Christ has the offices of prophet, priest, and king.

And how is Christ a prophet? He teaches us what we're building. He teaches us the will of God. And so he comes as a mediator between God and man.

And having received God's word, he makes it known to us. He's facing us as this mediatorial prophet, bringing us the truth, the word of God.

And why do you need a prophet? Because I am a prophet. And so I trust we've come today to hear from our prophet and to be taught by him as only he can teach us, putting truth in our inward parts.

But he has a second job. And so I ask you, how is Christ a priest? He died for our sins and pleased with God for us.

Now that's on your handout. Let's do it again. How is Christ a priest? He died for our sins and pleased with God for us.

And why do you need a priest? Because I am guilty. Because I am guilty. So again, the mediating priest comes and he stands between a holy God and sinful people.

And this time he's facing God. He's representing us. He's bringing sacrifices to God on our behalf. And he's praying to God for us.

So these are the two aspects of Jesus' job as a priest. Sacrifice and intercession toward God made on our behalf.

It's the same two aspects that Isaiah speaks about when he talks about Messiah in Isaiah 53, 12. For he bore the sin of many, that's his sacrifice, and made intercession for the transgressors.

That is his intercession, pleading with God for us. Now two weeks ago, we saw the first part of his job as a priest. That of making sacrifice for us.

And we saw our high priest actually accomplished what all the other high priests could only illustrate. Because he made a sacrifice that actually took away sin.

When he sacrificed himself on the altar of Golgotha's middle cross. That was the sacrifice that took away our sins.

And by this one sacrifice, he said what no other priest ever had said. It is finished. It's finished.

There are no more atoning sacrifices to be made. By his one sacrifice, he has obtained eternal redemption for us. And so the book of Hebrews begins by telling us that after he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven.

And though his high priestly work of sacrifice is finished, there's still much priestly work to be done. He's not sitting idle at the Father's right hand.

Rather, he's carrying on his high priestly work of intercession. The sacrifice is over, but the intercession continues.

And this was seen in the work of the high priest in the Old Testament. Having made an animal sacrifice for sin outside the temple, the holy place, he then took its blood and went inside the most holy place and prayed on the basis of that sacrifice that the people's sins be forgiven.

Even so, Christ, our great high priest, having offered the atoning sacrifice of himself for us, then entered the most holy place, not a copy here on earth or over in Jerusalem, but into the most holy place in heaven itself.

And there he pleads with God on our behalf. Hebrews 9.12 says, He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

So this is the second part of our high priest's work. He pleads with God for us. Now, there's a problem that meets us.

If this priest offered himself and died, he was not only the offerer but the offering, if the priest himself died by offering himself, how can he continue in office?

And Hebrews 7.16 says, It's on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. In other words, death could not hold him. Yes, he died. Yes, our priest died when he offered himself for us, but death couldn't hold him.

It couldn't keep him in the grave. He rose from the dead and is alive forevermore. And so Hebrews 7 and verse 23 says, tells us that all the other priests had to be replaced since death prevented them from continuing in office.

Verse 24. But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. He's a priest forever. That's why there are no other priests.

He does not need to hand it on. He remains a priest forever. And a permanent priesthood means permanent priestly work.

Permanent priestly work. He's not just a priest in name like some president emeritus. They're no longer president. They just have the name, but they don't do any work.

He's not just a priest emeritus. No, the reason he is still our high priest is because he's still doing the work of a priest. Not sacrifice, but the intercession for us.

And verse 25 then says, therefore, because he has a permanent priesthood, therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to make intercession for us.

His indestructible life qualifies him for this ongoing work of intercession. So his work of sacrifice, it's done. He died once for sin.

But his unfinished work, his ongoing work, at the right hand of the Father is to intercede for us. He pleads with God for us.

And that we might treasure him as our high priest, I want us to consider several things about his work of intercession for us. The first is that this is a saving work.

You notice it in our text, verse 25. It's because of this work that he is able to save completely. You see, this part of Christ's priestly work is no less necessary than his sacrificial work.

When I say that believers cannot be saved without the one sacrifice of Christ, all would readily agree. But it is no less true that believers cannot be saved without the ongoing intercession of Christ.

Verse 25, Hebrews 7. He is able to save completely those who come to God through him because. Why is he able to save completely?

Because he always lives to intercede for them. This work is no unnecessary extra. It's a vital, indispensable part of how he saves his people from their sins.

There simply is no salvation apart from Christ's present intercession for us. It is a saving work. Secondly, this is a present work.

Chapter 9 and verse 24 of Hebrews. He entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence.

The end of the verse. He entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence. So you remember, that's what happened. After he died as the substitute, sacrifice for our sins on the cross, he was buried.

He rose again. He ascended into heaven. And what's he doing there? That's a good question. I wonder if you ever think about it. Do you ever think, Christian, what is Jesus doing for me right now in heaven?

Oh, we ought to think of it. We're told in Hebrews 3, 1, Therefore, holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

Think about him. And think about him as high priest. What is he doing right now in heaven? Well, right now, he's interceding.

He's pleading with God for us. You know, the Bible speaks of Jesus' salvation in all three tenses. He has saved us, he is saving us, and he will save us.

And it's important for our spiritual health not only to think of what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. Yes, we need to think of that. We never need to, to let that out of our thoughts when he became man for us and then became sin for us and then became accursed for us on the cross and then was buried and rose again and ascended.

We need to think about what he did 2,000 years ago. And we need to think about what he's going to do for us when he comes again. He's going to judge the world in righteousness. He's going to put all of his enemies and ours under his feet forever.

And he's going to live forever with us in a new heaven and a new earth without any remnant of the curse. That's what he did in the past. That's what he's going to do in the future.

But we need as well for our spiritual help to think about what is our Jesus doing for us now? And that's where we find his high priestly work so valuable.

He's not just killing time. He's not just waiting until that day. No, he is saving us by pleading with God for us. And that's something I don't think enough about.

He entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence. You know, we live in the ever-present now, don't we? It's now, right now.

And right now, it's now. And we live in the now, don't we? And so we always need to be remembering what is Jesus doing now? Well, he's appearing for us in God's presence to plead for us.

It's a present work. Thirdly, it's a personal work. It's a personal work. He's appearing for us, the text says in 924. He is appearing for us in God's presence.

Chapter 6 and verse 20 speaks of Jesus who went before us has entered on our behalf. He's entered into heaven, into God's presence.

And he's there in heaven, not to claim benefits for himself, but to claim benefits for us. He's there for us. He's representing us.

He's pleading with God for us. Who is the us? Who are these privileged people for whom he prays? Are you a part of that us?

I wonder. It's not an unidentifiable group of people, but it's individuals personally known by the Lord Jesus as his own.

They are those whom the Father has given him in the councils of election from eternity past before the creation of the world. They are those for whom he shed his life's blood to purchase them for God.

And they are those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit. That's who he prays for. Notice the end of our text in 725.

It says that he, Jesus, always lives to intercede for them. for them. Who is the them? We don't need to guess. He tells us earlier in the same verse, verse 25, those who come to God through him.

Oh, that's who he prays for. Those who come to God through Christ. Those who quit running from God and stop and turn and repudiate a life running from God and come to God through faith in Christ.

those are the ones that he ever lives to intercede for. Him who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. And all who come to the Father through Christ, he prays for them. They come repenting and trusting in what Christ has done.

And so he prays for them. Are you one of the them? You know, you could be. You could have a place in the prayers of Jesus if you just come to God through him.

We're told in John 10, verse 3, that the good shepherd knows his sheep by name. We're looking at the point that Jesus' high priestly work is a personal work. He knows his sheep by name, John 10 says.

And it's as such that their high priest prays for them. He prays for them by name as individuals. I wonder if we think of this enough. He is praying for me personally, mentioning my name to his heavenly Father.

We'll see it next week, Lord willing. But he's able to say, Simon, Simon, I have prayed for you. Is that personal or what? And he could say that of your name, believer, whoever you are.

John, John, I have prayed for you. Because his work as high priest is not just for some amorphous blob that nobody really knows who he's talking about. No, it's his people and he knows them each by name.

Now that personal aspect of his intercessory work as a priest is symbolized by the garments that were worn by the high priest in the Old Testament. Upon the high priest ephod, that shoulder piece, were two onyx stones engraved with the names of the sons of Israel.

And in this way, we're told in Exodus 28, 12, Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord for remembrance. The high priest bearing the names of the children of Israel before the Lord for remembrance.

That's the ephod. Furthermore, attached in front of the ephod was a breast piece. And that breast piece was inset with 12 precious gemstones.

Four rows, or excuse me, four, yes, four rows of three stones. And those 12 stones were also engraved with the 12 sons of Israel.

So that, in the words of Exodus 28, 29, whenever Aaron enters the holy place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breast piece of decision as a continual remembrance before the Lord.

That was the picture in the Old Testament. Isaiah says that Israel's complaint of him ever forgetting her were unfounded. He says, can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she is born?

Though she may forget, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. So our high priest, Jesus, prays for us, not just anonymously, miscellaneously, but personally, by name.

That's the reality behind the symbol. It's a personal work. Then will he own my worthless name before the Father's face.

Think of it, believer, your name on the lips of the Son of God as he talks to his Father in heaven. Is that good news? Every day you wake up, he's praying for you personally.

He knows you. He knows what you need that day. And he's praying to the Father for you. No wonder Charity Bancroft wrote, before the throne of God above, I, I, that's a personal word, isn't it?

I have a strong and a perfect plea. A great high priest whose name is love, whoever lives and pleads for me. Is that personal or what?

My name is graven on his hands. My name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart.

You see, it was the thought of her great high priest praying for her personally that gave her such confidence and joy and peace.

So Christ interceding for us is a saving work. It's a present work. It's a personal work. And thirdly, it's a comforting work. In other words, we forget this work of our high priest to our own great loss.

We need to remember it. Brothers and sisters, where do you go for encouragement when you feel condemned because of your sins? When God's word searches you and his Holy Spirit convicts you and your own conscience accuses you and Satan condemns you, what then?

what do you do then? Do you think that the apostle Paul's past ever haunted him? Come on, he's just a man like you and I.

Do you think he was ever haunted with Stephen's face as they stoned him? Those faces of mothers and fathers and children that were separated as he ripped them out of their homes and imprisoned them and murdered some of them.

Do you think he was ever haunted by the words that he spoke in blasphemy of the Son of God and forced others to do the same?

Dear Christians, do you think that ever made him feel guilty, made him feel condemned? Do you think Satan ever whispered in his ear something about his guilt? What did Paul do?

What do you do? Turn to Romans chapter 8. It's that chapter that just oozes with encouragement from the very opening words, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ.

How's that for a start? That's not where he ends. He's got a lot more in between. Notice where Paul leads us for our security and comfort from condemnation.

I believe it's the very same place he went for comfort and security from condemnation. Why? Because it's the only place to go. He goes right into the courtroom of heaven.

He leads us right into that courtroom scene above to the present work of our high priest interceding for us there. Verse 33, he asks, who will bring any charges against those whom God has chosen?

It is God who justifies. So who is he? Who is the one? Or he is the one who for Christ's sake declares us not guilty.

God is the one who brings the gavel down and for Jesus' sake says not guilty. She is not guilty. He is not guilty. Who sees us covered in Christ's righteousness and so declares us righteous standing before the law of the holy God right upright before him.

So who, if it's God who justifies and declares us righteous, who's going to get any charge to stick against God's chosen and justified ones? And now notice verse 34, who is he that condemns?

Who can get a word of accusation and condemnation to stick against one of Christ's elect and justified ones? Christ Jesus who died more than that who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

You see, that's the word of comfort. Here's the security when feeling guilty for past or present sins. It is that the risen Christ Jesus is at the right hand of God and is also interceding right now for us.

And because of that, no one can condemn me. Nothing can separate me from God's love in Jesus Christ, my Lord. Not our past, our present, our future falls into sin because Jesus Christ is still our justifying righteousness and his prayers to the Father trump every voice that would condemn us.

So Charity Bancroft, knew where to find comfort when feeling condemned and guilty. And so she goes on to write in her second verse of her hymn, when Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see him there who made an end of all my sin.

Where's she looking? She's looking into heaven to see him, her high priest, there, the one who made the sacrifice that made an end of sin and is now there pleading for Charity Bancroft before the throne of God.

And his presence there guarantees our acceptance with God. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free. For God the judge is satisfied to look on him and pardon me.

He looks upon Christ, my high priest. He's there for me and he's still bearing those very marks of his once for all sacrifice that he made for me.

Those wounds, those scars of his loving sacrifice, it's there. And because he's there, no tongue can bid me thence depart.

Isaac Watts too finds comfort from a guilty condemning conscience in Christ's priestly work. Jesus, my great high priest offered his blood and died. My guilty conscience seeks no sacrifice beside.

His powerful blood did once atone out on the middle cross at Calvary and now it pleads before the throne. My advocate appears for my defense on high.

The father bows his ears and lays his thunder by. Not all that hell or sin can say shall turn his heart, his love, away. So for your comfort, for past, present, sins, whatever they be, get to your high priest in heaven.

Listen to what he's doing for you there. Why do we have songs like this to sing? I'll tell you because the high priestly work of Christ gives us a reason to sing and these writers knew it and they celebrated it and we get to piggyback upon their songs in praising God.

Here is a high priest who meets our needs as he pleads the merits of his own blood. And then there's 1 John chapter 2.

These are the texts that point us to Jesus' intercessory work for us. And here John starts, 1 John 2 verse 1, My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.

You see, that's to be your daily aim. You're to get out of bed every morning and say, My goal today is not to sin against my Lord. That's why John was writing these words.

I write these things to you that you do not sin. not that you might have a lax attitude and say, Well, you know, if I do sin, I've got somebody to no, no, I write these things to you that you do not sin.

That must be your aim, your effort every day. But try as we might, the sad reality is we do sin. And if we don't, if we say we don't, chapter 1 says we're a liar and we call God a liar, so it is our sin that puts us in big trouble.

in that courtroom in heaven. That's the context of this passage. If ever we needed a defense attorney, it's there. There where our sins are crying out for our punishment.

There where Satan and every witness is accusing and condemning us, where every voice is seeking a guilty verdict and calling for our damnation, where even our own guilty conscience sometimes chimes in, yes, yes, he's guilty.

Can you think how terrifying it would be in that holy court above if there was no one to stand with us and for us?

Only the accusing, condemning voices. Damn him. You said, the soul that sins, it must die. Damn her. You must.

You must. You must. If that was all that was said in the courtroom of heaven, oh, how terrified we would be. But how encouraging to know, dear brethren, that our high priest now appears in heaven for us.

And this is precisely where the apostle John would take us. If anyone sins, he says in verse 2, I write this that you do not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father.

We have one who pleads with the Father on our defense, in our defense. Jesus Christ, the righteous one, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

So if anyone does sin, we have an advocate in the court of heaven, a friend in high places who speaks to the Father in our defense, and his voice counters and trumps all the cries for our damnation in the courtroom of heaven.

How encouraging is that? We have an advocate. We have one who is speaking to the Father on our defense. Now, here's a question we need to ask.

If we have a high priest there who's pleading with God for us, speaking to him on our defense, what is he speaking? What is he saying? What is he praying for us?

Well, let me tell you what he's not saying and not praying. You know, Father, John's not really that bad. He's got a few problems, but who doesn't down there?

There's a lot worse, so pardon him. No, he's not at all pleading how well we behave. That enters into nothing of his prayer.

He pleads his own behavior, not ours. His own righteousness, not ours. He's Jesus, the righteous one. That's who the advocate is. Jesus, the righteous one, the only one righteous in God's sight.

And what he pleads is not how good we are, but how good he is. And so he pleads his own righteousness on our behalf. Father, I took his sins and I gave him my righteousness.

Pardon him. Pardon him. He pleads the merits of his own blood, his own sacrifice, father. I know she sinned, but I was damned in her place at Calvary.

I know she's fallen again, but I paid the punishment for all her sins. He pleads his own sacrifice as the reason for forgiving her.

And notice again in verse 2 that the advocate is the atoning sacrifice. We have an advocate, one who pleads with the father in our defense. He is the propitiation for our sins.

He is the atoning sacrifice. The priest who advocates on our behalf is himself the sacrifice. And that means that he himself is the sacrifice in heaven that turned God's wrath away from us.

I'm sorry, the sacrifice here on earth, on the cross, and that sacrifice that he made, turned God's wrath away from us by bearing it himself. himself. He is the atoning sacrifice.

And therefore, as he stands in heaven, his very presence himself means that the sacrifice is ever before God and ever speaks on our behalf.

That's why in scriptures we read of Jesus' blood talking. You know the text? Hebrews 12, 23, and 24, talking to believers. You've come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect.

You've come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Jesus' blood speaking in the presence of the Father as the mediator of a new covenant.

What is this? Speaking a better word than Abel. You remember who Abel was, children. He was a godly. man. And he offered a sacrifice in faith to God and God smiled upon it.

His brother Cain was ungodly and without faith offered and God rejected his offering. And when Abel saw that, he grew jealous and envious of his brother.

When Cain saw that, he grew envious of his brother Abel. So he took him out into the field and he murdered him in cold blood. And the Bible says, well, it was being murdered by your own brother.

It's fratricide. It's a heinous sin. It's such an injustice that his blood cried out to God from the ground. It cried out to God, this is not right.

Justice. Do justice. And so Cain was cursed by God. He was cursed by God. Now, here we are, the godly son of God.

He had done nothing wrong. He had come from heaven to offer salvation to every poor sinner who hurt him. He healed their sicknesses and diseases.

He taught them. He was only good to them. And mankind's hatred for the son of God is shown in what they did to him.

They so hate God by nature that when God came close enough where they could get their hands on him, they murdered him. That was attempted deicide, to murder God.

They didn't want God to be alive anymore. And if ever there was an injustice done, it was to the son of God. And if ever blood ought to cry out for vengeance and for justice, it's that blood.

And yet, what do we read in Hebrews 12, 24? That the blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Abel's blood for vengeance pleadeth to the skies, but the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries. It cries for our pardon.

Wesley writes, five bleeding wounds he bears received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers. They strongly plead for me. Forgive him.

Oh, forgive, they cry, nor let that ransomed sinner die. You see, it is a comforting truth, and you see as well, then, why it's an effective work.

Lastly, here's our comfort, here's our peace with God, and here is why it is so effective, because the effective power of his intercession lies in the sacrifice that he made for us.

His prayers for us are all dipped in his own blood. His blood has won everything he asked for. It speaks a word that God cannot ignore, and it's an argument that silences all other voices, so he's heard, because his father always hears him, John 11, 42, and his prayers are effective, because the father is faithful and just.

The father is not unfaithful, and is not unjust. Those are the same two attributes of God that encourage us to confess our sins, because if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Those reasons for us to confess are the same reasons that Jesus' prayers are effective, because his father is faithful and just.

And so Jesus prays and pleads for the father to be faithful to his covenant promises. You said, father, if I died in their place, that they would go free. You said, father, that though their sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

You said, I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sins no more. Now, father, do as you have said. Be faithful to your word. And father, be just.

You're too just to punish sin twice, once on me and then again on him. You're too just to require double payment, once at my hand and then again at theirs.

you're faithful and you are just. You're right. You will do right. That's how Jesus prays. And it's because of God's faithfulness and justice that his prayers are effective.

Maybe you've shopped in those big stores that have two rows of cash registers. You know, there's the first row and then kind of a half step over.

There's another second row. Have you seen those places? You know what I mean. So you filled your cart up. You go to the first row of cash registers. You put all your things out on the table there.

She rings it up and you pay her in full and she gives you a receipt showing that you paid every cent that you owed.

And so you got it all in your cart and you're headed toward the exit and you come up to that second row. somebody says hold it there sir. You need to come over here and pay for those things.

And you say you don't understand. I've already paid. Here's my receipt. And she says no sir you don't understand. You need to pay again. And you say no you don't understand.

I want to talk to your manager because that's not fair. That's not right. And you plead justice don't you? And if the manager is just you will only have to pay once.

And if when Jesus died he was paying the price for your sins and he paid it all then God will never charge you one cent for your sin.

He will never pour one drop of his wrath upon you because Jesus paid it all. And he's just. Or a criminal is caught and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

He serves every day with his eye on the calendar counting it down and finally the last day of 15 years comes and he's led to the door and set free. And he's not 100 feet before one of the guards runs out and slaps chains on him and cuffs him and brings him back into prison.

You need to serve 15 years for your crimes. You say no. No we have laws against that very thing. And God is not unjust.

And he will not require double punishment for the same crime. If Jesus on the cross was receiving the full punishment for our sins, then you will not need to serve one moment under his punishment.

Why? Because he's just. And that's what Jesus is praying for you. Father, be faithful to your promise. Remember our arrangement. I go and die, they go free.

Father, remember I have paid in full. You will not be unjust and charge them again. Is that not a comforting truth for you, brother and sister?

as we enter a new year, we don't know what we'll face in 2015, but we need not fear as long as Jesus in heaven is praying for us personally.

If you're still without Jesus Christ, whatever happens in 2015 is not good for you. It's only in Christ that anything is really, really serving your good.

And you could start not only the new year, you could start this day. You could begin your new life right now because Jesus is a high priest and he's still saving sinners.

And as our text says, he's able to save completely all, all who come to God through him because he ever lives to make intercession for them.

Let's pray together. we thank you, our father, for this great high priest. We didn't choose him, we didn't want him, but you chose him and sent him.

And how he fits our need, he's perfect. He has no sins of his own to sacrifice for it. So he's able to sacrifice for our sins, a sacrifice that now pleads in heaven for our forgiveness.

forgiveness. And because you are faithful and just, all who have trusted in this Jesus have all of his suffering put to our account.

And all of his death and burial and resurrection is counted as ours and all his righteousness ours. Thank you for dealing with us in such faithfulness to your promise, your gospel promise, that if we confess our sins, you are indeed faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.