To the Jewish Christian readers, the high priest had been their highest religious authority. The priesthood began with Aaron, Moses’ brother (Exodus 28:41). Only the high priest could intercede with God for the sins of the nation (Leviticus 16). But Jesus is a great High Priest, better than all the high priests of Israel. Here is why:
The high priests were humans who could offer sacrifices but could do nothing to take away sin. Jesus gave his life and died as the final sacrifice for sin. The high priest could enter the Most Holy Place only once a year to atone for the sins of the nation. Jesus has gone to heaven and has unrestricted access to God the Father.
The high priests were human and sinful themselves. Jesus intercedes between God and people as the sinless Son of God, human yet divine.
The high priests were the highest religious authorities for the Jews. Jesus has more authority than the Jewish high priests because he is both God and man. People could not approach God except through a high priest. When Jesus died, the veil that separated the Most Holy Place in the Temple was torn in two, indicating that Jesus’ death had opened the way for sinful people to reach a holy God.
Because of all that Christ has done and is doing for us, let us cling to him and never stop trusting him. Allow Jesus to be your High Priest; only he can protect you from inevitable judgment. Christ is a faithful High Priest who represents all who trust in him.
Because Jesus, our High Priest, was made like us, he experienced life completely. He grew tired, became hungry, and faced normal human limitations. Thus Jesus understands our weaknesses. Not only that, but he also faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. Jesus, in his humanity, felt the struggle and reality of temptation. Matthew 4:1-11 describes a specific series of temptations from the Devil, but Jesus probably faced temptation throughout his entire earthly life, just as we do (1 John 2:16).
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
It’s widely held that America is in the worst condition it’s been in, in our generation. Last year economically was the greatest year of job loss in America in sixty nine years. Sixty nine years! Politically our government has been polarized and paralyzed by political partisanship. Culturally, our nation is becoming more and more secular.
Last year in Time magazine, it said, “These are serious times. America has been wounded over the last two decades by a dozen or so isms. Materialism. Hedonism. Secularism. Racism. Factionalism. Terrorism. Extremism. Consumerism. Narcissism. Cynicism. Our nation has been wounded by crime, by corruption, by scandal. By many, many different things.
We need healing. We need healing in our economy. We need a healing in our businesses. We need healing in our schools. Our nation needs a healing in our cities. In our marriages. In our families. We need healing in our hearts. What is it going to take to turn things around? What is it going to take to heal our hearts and our families and our country?
Almost three thousand years ago exactly – about 980 BC – God made a promise to a king named Solomon. That promise is not only to Solomon it is to all of God’s people. 2 Chronicles 7:14, what will heal not only America but your life, your relationships, your marriage, your career, the things that need healing in your life. God says “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their lands.” That’s what would heal America.
Folks, God is not talking to everybody in this verse. He’s talking to people who call themselves Christians. Folks who take the name of Christ. There are four things we are called to do if we want healing in our land.
#1. We must confess with humility.
God says if my people will humble themselves. We must confess with humility. Why is that important? Why does God start with humble yourself? Because the source of all your problems is pride. The source, the root, the bottom line in every single one of your problems is this; I think I know better than God what will make me happy.
It is that pride that causes me to be disconnected from God on a personal level, on a corporate level and on a national level. The Bible says this in James 4:6, “God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble.” That means every time I’m prideful, when I get the slightest bit of pride in my life, God says “Mike, at that moment you’re on the opposite side of me.” Whenever I get full of pride God says, “Mike, I am opposed to you.” God hates pride.
It is pride that caused Satan to get kicked out of heaven. Pride is the worst sin of all. And, God says that’s the root of all your problems. The Bible says God resists, he opposes pride.
On the other hand the Bible says “God gives grace to the humble.” What is grace? Grace is the power you need to change. The things you don’t like about yourself that you’d like to change and you still have them year after year after year. It’s because of pride. God gives grace to the humble. When I humble myself I get the power to change.
Proverbs 28:13 says, “If you hide your sins you will not succeed. But if you confess and reject them you will receive mercy.” Everybody wants to be a success. What’s the secret of success? Confess your sins – don’t hide them.
Here’s what I recommend you do. If you want to get a clean slate go home and make what I call a sin list. This is your homework assignment. Make a sin list. Sit down in a comfortable chair inside or outside and say, “Ok, God I want a clean slate. Show me all the things that are between you and me. Things that I’m not doing I should have done. Things that I have done that I shouldn’t have done. Attitudes, actions, whatever.” If God says jealousy, you write it down. If he says gossip, you write it down. If he says lust, you write it down. If he says, you haven’t ever made peace with that person you’ve been angry at, you write that down.
Keep short accounts with God. There’s something about writing it down that makes it specific. When you’ve done this, look at the list and say God this is wrong and you’re right and I’m sorry. Once you’ve done that, if you really want to change you take the next step.
#2. We must pray with tenacity.
That’s the second thing you have to do if you want healing in your life, your marriage, your finances, our nation or anything else. We must pray with tenacity. “If my people will pray.”
What is tenacity? Tenacity means persistence. It means perseverance. It means diligence, determination, doggedness. It means you keep praying and praying and praying and praying and you don’t give up. You’re intentional. You refuse to give up and you’re resolute. And you will not stop. And you say, God, I’m not going to stop until you answer this prayer!
Our problem in prayer is we give up too soon. We pray shallow and we pray superficial. And that’s why we don’t see any answers. You say, why didn’t God give it to me the first time I asked for it? Do you know any parent who gives their child everything they ask for as soon as they ask for it? Of course not. You would be an unloving parent if you did that.
You would turn your children into spoiled brats. God is not a genie where he just gives you anything you want. No parent would do that if he loves you. God is not some vending machine that instantly gives you your request.
So why doesn’t God answer my prayer the first time I pray? Because praying with tenacity, persistent praying, praying over and over helps you to discover the difference between a genuine longing and a whim. God doesn’t answer whims. If you don’t care about praying about it more than once then you don’t really care about it. It’s not that important to you.
If you have little kids and you’re walking through a department store or grocery store your kids at that eye level they see all these kind of things in the store and they want it. “Mommy, can I have that?” No. “Can I have that?” No. “Can I have that?” No. They’re just whims. They’ve already forgotten it by the time you get to the next aisle. They see it and want it but as soon as it’s out of their mind they don’t really want it. It’s just a whim.
Let me ask you a really serious question. How serious are you about growing this year this year? About improving your life? Seeing your marriage become all it can become? Seeing your kids get serious about God? I’ve told you before; you’re as close to God as you want to be. It’s your choice. How serious are you about changing? About breaking some bad habits? About becoming more mature spiritually? It’s your choice. But you’ve got to pray with tenacity.
Colossians 4:2. I love it in the Amplified translation, it gives the full meaning. “Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayers [notice, its tenacious. Be earnest and unwearied, steadfast, you just keep on praying. You don’t give up on it. You put it on your prayer list.] You ask for all you need, being alert and intent in your prayers with thanksgiving.”
How do you become tenacious in praying? Here’s the secret: make a prayer list. You, make a sin list to get rid of your sins. You make a prayer list of the things you want to pray about. Unless you’ve got it on a list you’re not going to be tenacious.
You need to write down a list of four or five things you want to see changed in your life this year and you start praying about it every single day. God, I want this changed in my life. God, I want this changed in my circumstances. You pray about it over and over. If you don’t have a prayer list you’re going to forget it.
Listen to what Ephesians 6:18 has to say about prayer - It says “Pray in the Spirit at all times with all kinds of prayer, asking for all you need. To do this you must always be ready and never give up. [That’s tenacious] Always pray for all God’s people.”
#3. I must seek God with intensity.
This is not some kind of casual pastime. Seeking God is not something you do in your spare moments. It’s a low priority – nothing else is on television, so now I think I’ll go seek God. No. Seeking God is a serious pursuit. It’s a primary focus. We must seek God with intensity.
Notice what God says about this. Hebrews 11:6 says, “God rewards those who earnestly seek him.” That means it’s a serious pursuit. Are you going to make God serious pursuit in your life?
Do you know what God wants from you more than anything else this year? He wants you to say, “God, more than anything else I want to know you.” Will you be that person? The truth is very few of you are seeking God intently. With all your life. It’s very rare. Most people want just enough of God to bless them but not to bug them. They want God to be a little piece of the pie, a little slice. I’ve got all these other things in my life… it’s time for a little God. As if he’s a little piece.
How do you do that? How do I seek God intently? Two things - I make him first priority, and I make him my daily passion. Deuteronomy 4 says this -“If you seek the Lord your God you will find him if [here’s the condition] you look for him with all your heart, and all your soul. If you seek him with all your heart and all your soul you will find him.”
Then he says “When you are in distress [anybody in that condition right now? Anybody stressed out? Most of America is stressed out right now.] When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you [What things? The recession, mortgage crisis, wall street greed, job loss, relationship loss] when you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will return to the Lord your God and you’ll obey him. For he is a merciful God and he will not abandon or destroy you.”
#4. The fourth thing I do is I must repent with sincerity.
What does it mean to repent? A lot of people misunderstand this word. Repent is a word from the Greek – the Bible, the New Testament was written in Greek. Metanoia – meta means to churn, to change about. It’s a flip. Noia – mind. It means to change your mind. What repentance means is you change the way you think.
What do I change? I change the way I think about myself. I change the way I think about God. I change the way I think about what matters in life. I change the way I think about my values. I change the way I think about other people. I change the way I think about my past, my present and my future. I change the way I think about money. I change the way I think about life and time. I change the way I think about people who attack me and enemies. I change the way I think about Satan. I change the way I think about the future in heaven and everything else. That’s repentance.
The Bible says if we want healing in our lives we must turn from our wicked ways. You say, “I’m not wicked.” Really? I hate to tell you this but sometimes I do wicked ways. I hate to tell you this but I’m not always thinking about you. A lot of times I’m just thinking about me. I’m thinking about laying on the couch at home and watching TV and I don’t want to get up and answer the door. I want somebody else to answer it. I don’t want to do the dishes. I don’t want to help Sharon. I don’t want to take a counseling call. I just think about me. I want to have a pity party and invite myself to it. I’m sure you never do this.
But the truth is that’s wicked. Just in case you don’t know what wicked ways are, God gives us a list in 2 Timothy 3. Look at the list. He said, “People will love only themselves. They will be greedy for money. They’ll be boastful and arrogant insulting to God, rebellious against parents, and ungrateful. There will be people around you who’ll consider nothing sacred. (Know anybody like that?) They will be unloving and unforgiving. They will enjoy slandering others and have no self control. They will betray their friends and they will impulsively do foolish things. They will be inflated with self conceit and they’ll love pleasure more than they love God and they’ll claim to be spiritual but they will reject the power that could make them godly.” He says, “Timothy, stay away from people like this.”
What is this list here? This list describes American culture in the twenty first century. This list, to our shame, describes the culture of the Church in America. Self absorbed, money focused, self promoting, status conscious, God insulting, rude, unappreciative, crude, unkind, unwilling to forgive, slandering and gossip. Impulsive and uncontrolled, loves violence, cynical, double dealing, reckless, puffed up with pride, choosing pleasure over God and a phony kind of spirituality.
Folks, our churches need healing, our land needs healing. But our hearts need healing too. Here’s the good news. Acts 3:19 says “Repent, and turn to God. So that your sins may be wiped out. So that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
We desperately need that. We desperately need times of refreshing that come from the Lord in our nation. We need that in our cities. We need them in our schools. We need times of refreshing that come from the Lord in our economy, in our businesses. We need them in our marriages. We need them in our churches. We need times of refreshing in our personal lives.
There’s a word for it. It’s called revival. To bring back alive. That’s what it means. Are you in need of revival this morning? IS your marriage? Are your kids? How about your attitude?
Would you pray this prayer? “Dear God, I need healing in my life. I humble myself today. I admit that you’re God and I’m not. I want to change and I ask you to forgive me. Dear God, heal my life. Heal my heart. Heal my relationships. Heal our land.” If you’ve never invited Jesus Christ into your life say, “Jesus Christ, I ask you to come into my life right now and be the CEO, the Lord of my life. In your name I pray. Amen.”
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