In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of understanding the role of Jesus Christ in the creation and sustenance of all things. He explains that Jesus is the exact image of God's substance and the outshining of His glory. The preacher also highlights that Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power, ensuring the continuity and stability of the universe. Furthermore, he emphasizes that Jesus is not only the Creator but also the Redeemer, who came to bear the sins of the world and reconcile all things to Himself through His precious blood. Finally, the preacher encourages believers to hold fast to their faith and allow God to complete His work in them, reminding them that Jesus is already seated at the right hand of God, waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool.

Will you please turn to the letter to the Hebrews? Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. We'll read from the first verse. Therefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus, who is faithful to him that has constituted him, as Moses also in all his house. For he has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses. By how much he that has built it has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but he who has built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a ministering servant, for a testimony of the things to be spoken after. But Christ has sung over his house. Whose house are we, if indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end? Maybe we'll just read this portion for the time being. On the Lord's Day morning, we mention how at one time God shook the earth. God allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed. God allowed the temple in Jerusalem to be completely demolished. It was because God wanted to deliver his people, those Jewish believers, from the bondage of Judaism that they might enter into the liberty of Christianity. Judaism as a shadow must pass away. And Christianity as the reality must come in. But to the Jewish believers at that time, unless there was such a great shaking, such a separation was impossible. They were like to have Christianity, but they were clinging on to Judaism. And in a sense, today as we find in Hebrews chapter 12, the word of God said, yet once. Once again, God will not only shake the earth, but he will shake the heaven and the earth. Everything that can be shaken must be shaken off, so that what remains is that which cannot be shaken. Because we are to inherit a kingdom that cannot be shaken. To us today, it is not a matter of Judaism versus Christianity, as the shadow versus the reality. To us today, it is, shall we say, Christianity versus Christ, or Judaized Christianity versus pure Christianity, which is Christ. And God is doing this work of shaking throughout the world. God is taking away that shadow of Christianity, that which has made Christianity a system like Judaism. In many places, God has taken away the place of worship from his people. They couldn't go to a place, to a building to worship, so that they might worship God in spirit and in truth. God took away organization, system, rules, regulations, creed, discipline, so that God's people may enter into an experiential knowledge of the law, of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. God takes away that exclusive priesthood, professional ministry, so that his people may really enter into the universal priesthood of believers. God takes away many earthly, material things, so that his people may seek for the spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. I believe we are living in such a time. God is delivering us from anything that is but shadow, that we may possess the reality. As we mentioned on the lost day morning, before the sun arrives its meridian, there is bound to be shadow somewhere. But when you have the full light, full revelation, and we find in Hebrews the full revelation has come. In the past God spoke in many ways, in many parts, through the prophets to our fathers. But at the end of these days, God has spoken in his son. The full light has been given in the sun. And because of that there shouldn't be any shadow in our experience, both individually and collectively. It is only when the sun goes down that you begin to have shadow again. And that is something we have to be guarded against. In other words, God is bringing his people to the reality of Christ. Because he is the only reality. Now, in order that this may be possible, there is this exhortation. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus. We are called with a heavenly calling. We are partakers, we are to take part in the heavenly calling. Our calling is not an earthly calling. It is a heavenly calling. We are called to set our hearts upon the things that is above. Where our life is hit with Christ in God. We are called to be conformed to the image of God's Son, who he is now, in heaven. We are called to be that holy city that one day will descend from heaven. Our calling is a heavenly calling. Now how can we fulfill that heavenly calling? And the word is consider. We need to consider. You know, the word consider is more than just you try to think it over. The word consider means set your heart upon something. We are exhorted to set our heart upon, not upon something, but upon someone, Jesus. We are called to set our heart upon Jesus, as the author, as the apostle and high priest of our confession. Now before we consider our Lord Jesus as the apostle and high priest of our confession, In the first two chapters of the book of Hebrews, the writer presents to us the Son, who he is. Before we can really appreciate what he is to us. He is to us the apostle. He is to us the high priest. That's what he is to us. But before we can appreciate what he is to us, we have to know who he is. And that's the reason why the first two chapters of the book of Hebrews are devoted to this matter of who he is. He is the Son. He is the Son. And you'll find in the first chapter the sevenfold glory of the Son. First, he is established heir of all things. Before God created all things, God had established his Son heir of all things. In other words, all things were created for him. God did not create all things, and then after he finished creating, then he began to think, now what are all these things for? Whom should I give these things to? Not at all. Before God created all things, he had a purpose. He already had a purpose, a will. And that will was, he was to make his Son heir of all things. To inherit all things. By whom also he made the worlds. After he had decided that he will make his Son the heir of all things, then by his Son he made the worlds. He created. And number three, who being the effulgence of his glory and expression of his substance. Now this Son is the outshining of his glory. The exact image of his substance. God being spirit, no one has ever seen God. But the Son is the outshining of God's glory. He is the exact image of God's substance. And he declares the Father. And number four, upholding all things by the word of his power. The Son was not only the one who created all things, and without him nothing existed. But after all things were created, how were all these things continue on? They are upheld by the word of his power. Otherwise the whole universe will disintegrate. And then, number five, having made by himself the purification of sin. Sin entered into this world and spoiled all things. So the Father made his Son the purifier of all things. He came to bear in his body the sins of this world. And he reconciled all things to his fullness by his precious blood. He is not only the creator, the upholder, the heir. He is also the redeemer. The savior. And then, number six, set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high. After he has accomplished the work of redemption, then he is made to sit at the right hand of the most high. Waiting for his enemies to be his foes. And finally, he is given a name. Better than the angels. A name that is above every name. And to that name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. This is the sevenfold glory of the Son. He is the Son of God. As the Son of God, of course, he is better than the angels. He is far superior than the angels. And again you find seven quotations from the Old Testament to prove this point. How he is far better than the angels. The angels rank at the top of creation. But the Son is the creator. But he is not only the Son of God. He is also the Son of Man. And that is why you find in chapter two, we see him being made a little lower than the angels. So far as the work of creation is concerned, the angels are higher than man. Why? Because the angels are spirits. Now we have spirit, but we also have a body. And that body limits us. As spirit they can be everywhere. But as man, we are limited by this body. In time and space. So far as the act of creation is concerned, the angels are higher than man. Though so far as the purpose of creation is concerned, man is higher than the angels. Because God does not redeem the angels, but redeem man. And God does not give the world to come to the angels, but to man to rule. But anyway we find our Lord Jesus as the Son of Man, he was made a little lower than the angels. Because we are people with flesh and blood, therefore he took part in flesh and blood. He was made as one of us. Think of that. He being God, emptied himself, took upon himself the form of a man. And being in the like of a man, he further humbled himself and being obedient to the Father unto death and the death of the cross. As man he tasted death for everything. And now he is crowned with glory and honor. So here you find in the first two chapters, the writer tries to present to us who the Son is. He is the Son of God, far above all. He is the Son of Man, who has become lower than the angels. And has tasted death for everything. Now having known him as the Son, then we are to consider what the Son is to us. We are told that he is the apostle of our confession. You know when we think of apostles, immediately we think, well, the twelve apostles. As if the twelve apostles are the first apostles, but not so. Before there are the twelve apostles, there is the apostle of our confession. Our Lord Jesus is the apostle of our confession. In other words, he is the one who was sent by God with a mandate. That is an apostle. Apostle is someone who is being sent on a mission with a mandate. That is an apostle. Now our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, was sent into this world by his Father with a special mission to fulfill. He has a mandate with him. He came to this world with a specific purpose and work. What does he come into this world to do? What is his mission? And we know he has fulfilled his mission. He is faithful to the one who has sent him. The Bible uses two men to compare with him. To serve as comparison as well as contrast. Moses and Joshua. You know to the children of Israel, Moses was an apostle. Moses was an apostle to the Jewish people. He was sent by God to them with a mandate, with a mission, with a work to do. That is Moses. And Moses was highly honored by the children of Israel. And of course, together with him was Joshua. Joshua was another apostle to the Jewish people. He was sent by God to accomplish a certain work. So the Rite of Hebrews used these two men. These two men were among the greatest apostles to the Jews. And they were used to compare. Now what did Moses do as an apostle to the children of Israel? Of course he was sent by God to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. They were slaves in Egypt. They were not even allowed to live. They were put to labor, hard labor. They cried to God. And God sent Moses to deliver them. Moses led them out of Egypt. Through the wilderness to Mount Sinai. And when you read Exodus chapter 19, you will find God said, I have brought you as on eagles wings to myself. He was actually God who led them out. He was God who had brought them to himself. And God said, if you will hearken to my word and will keep my covenant, you will be my people and I will be your God. And I will make you a nation of priests. And after that, God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. But while Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments on the mountain, you remember how the children of Israel were breaking the commandment on the plain? Because the law was given for the sake of transgressions. They were not able to keep the law. But through the law they came into the knowledge of sin. But on Mount Sinai, God gave to the children of Israel more than the Ten Commandments and the precepts and the statutes and the ordinances. On the mountain, God gave Moses the pattern of the tabernacle. God said, I want to dwell among my people. And in order that he might dwell among his people, he commanded Moses to build him a tabernacle. And with that tabernacle, God was able to dwell among his people. So in other words, Moses was sent by God to the children of Israel, not just to deliver them out of a situation. Because they were in such an impossible situation. He was dead. And God delivered them out of that situation. No. That was just a process. God delivered them out in order that he might bring them to himself and he might dwell among them. Now that was Moses' work. Moses' work was not just to deliver people out. Moses' work was to bring these people to God, that God might dwell among them. In other words, they might be the house of God. The people might be the house of God. That was Moses' greatest work. The tabernacle. Actually, more chapters are devoted to the tabernacle than to the giving of the law. It was through the tabernacle that God was able to dwell among his people. They broke the law. But by the tabernacle, they were able to be restored to God and God was able to dwell among them. That was the work of Moses. Moses was faithful in God's house. Why? Because he did everything according to what God said. Moses was a great man. He learned everything while he was in Egypt. Mighty in words and mighty in deeds. He was a great architect. A great builder. Egypt was famous for that. But when God commanded him to build a tabernacle, what was a tabernacle to compare with a pyramid? Moses could build a pyramid. And God commanded him to build a tabernacle. And yet Moses was faithful to God. Why? Because he obeyed God in everything. He made everything according to what God had commanded. He did not change any color. He did not change any shape, any design. He did not even change any material, even a nail or a string. He did everything according to what God had commanded. Because this was to be God's house. This was to represent the people. God was to dwell among his people. Therefore he was faithful, following everything according to the pattern that was shown him on the mount. He was faithful in God's house. But of course we know Moses failed. He failed to lead God's people into Canaan. He himself could not enter into the promised land. He was faithful in God's house as a ministering servant. But Christ Jesus is faithful in God's house to his father as a son over his house. That's the difference. Moses is but a servant in God's house and how faithful he is. But Christ is the son over God's house. How much more glory he has than Moses. The tabernacle that Moses built is but a shadow. But the house of God that our Lord Jesus built is the reality. Moses built with linen, with gold, with silver, with boards. It is temporary. It is gone. It is a shadow. The shadow passes away. And even with the tabernacle you will find God eventually had to leave the people. God could not dwell among his people. Because his people were unfaithful to him. But our Lord Jesus, he is the son who builds the house. Not with linen or gold or silver or boards. But with living stones such as we are. He is the son who builds with living stones into God's house. And this is the reality. This house of God is eternal. This house of God one day will appear as the holy city, the new Jerusalem. So far as our Lord Jesus is concerned, it is finished. On the cross he said it is finished. He has been faithful to the Father. He has accomplished everything. So far as God is concerned, the work of Christ is done. It is finished. You cannot add anything to it, nor can you take anything away from it. And do you know, we are complete in him. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily and ye are complete in him. So far as God is concerned, so far as the finished work of Christ is concerned, the house of God is already here. It just needs to be manifested. The holy city, the new Jerusalem is already here. It is done. But so far as we are concerned, and this is where you will find in the book of Hebrews, in chapter 3, you will find these words, verse 6, The Christ as son over his house. Whose house are we? We are his house. He built us into his house. If you look at his finished work, then you will find the house is already built. But then you will find this word if. Whose house are we if indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end. You know, truth has two sides. Or maybe we put it this way. There is the side of truth and there is the side of experience. Truth is something that God has done in Christ. That is truth. Experience is something that the Holy Spirit is doing in us. That is experience. So far as truth is concerned, it is finished. You cannot add anything to it. It is done. It is finished. But so far as experience is concerned, it is going to be finished. So far as truth is concerned, it is here. Because there is no time and space to it. Reality, spiritual reality is always now and here. But so far as experience goes, there is a time factor and there is a space factor. We are going into it. So just remember that Christ as the Apostle, so far as his work is concerned, it is already done. God has already got it. But so far as our experience is concerned. Now, we are God's house if. We are God's house. There is the potential here. But whether this potential will become reality, there is the if there. If indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end. When we first come to the Lord Jesus, there is the hope there. Christ in you, the hope of glory. When we first come to the Lord Jesus, we have the boldness and the boast of hope. When we first come to the Lord Jesus, we know we are his. And he is ours. We know that God's will is that we be conformed to his image. But as we go on, sometimes we get a little discouraged. We wonder why we do not grow as we should. Sometimes we find that going becomes a little bit too hard. We gradually lose our grip on the blessed hope. In other words, we begin to draw back, slip away. But if we hold fast, hold fast the boast and the boldness of hope firm to the end, then we are God's house indeed. The potential is already here. You are God's house. But you may lose it if you lose the grip. Hold fast the boast and the boldness of hope firm to the end. In other words, let God finish his work in you. Do not slip away. He has begun a good work in you. Let him finish it. Actually, that is what it means. So here you will find our Lord Jesus is doing the real work. Moses is dealing with shadow. And even that shadow is so incomplete. But our Lord Jesus is dealing with reality. And so far as he is concerned, it is done. There is no reason why it should not be done. Everything is ready. Everything is prepared. And if it is not done, it is because we fail on our part, in our responsibility. Because he is well able. He who calls us is faithful. He will perform it. He is well able to do it. And he has already prepared everything for the success of it. Therefore, we should not draw back. And we should not give in. We should press on to perfection. Now that is Moses. But then the Bible used Joshua. Joshua is another apostle to the Jewish people. He was sent to lead a new generation into the promised land. Did he succeed in his mission? Yes and no. He brought the people of God into Canaan. He broke the backbone of the enemies. He apportioned the land to the twelve tribes of Israel. But the children of Israel failed to fully possess their possession. And during the time of the judges, you find instead of fully possessing their possession, they did not even have rest. They were supposed to rest in the promised land. Out of the unrest in Egypt, they should enter into rest in the promised land. But they were in the promised land. They had no rest. Time again their enemies oppressed them. They were restless. Joshua failed. But Joshua was only dealing with shadow. What is physical is a shadow. And he failed. Therefore, you find David. Hundreds of years later, David in Psalm had to set a day and say, Now if today you hear my voice, harden not your heart. That shows that Joshua had not given them rest. There is yet a rest, a sabbaticism remain for us who believe. Now our Lord Jesus as the apostle of our confession, he has given us rest. He has led us into the promised land. Now of course our promised land is the unsearchable riches of Christ. That is the promised land. He has led us into the promised land. By God ye are in Christ Jesus. And God has made him wisdom unto us. Righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Thank ye unto God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. In other words, you will find he has led us into the promised land. We are in Christ Jesus. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. We are. And he is the one who gives us rest. In Matthew chapter 11 we are told, All ye who labor and are heavy laden, come unto me, and I will give you rest. We labor and we are heavy laden, laden with sin. But when we come unto the Lord Jesus, he gives us rest. Rest in our spirit. I believe we have all experienced this. But his rest is more than that. Why? Because he said, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest in your soul. He has promised not only to give us rest in our spirit, because the burden of sin is taken away, but he has also promised us rest to our soul. Even in our mind, even in our thoughts, even in our emotions, even in our will, we can enter into rest. Just like he did. What is rest? In Hebrews chapter 4 we are told rest is just like God. God rested after he had finished his work. He worked for 6 days. And then after the work of creation was finished, then he rested on the 7th day and blessed that day. In other words, rest means the work is done. Therefore, you rest. But then when sin entered into the world, you know God did not have rest. In John chapter 5, the Lord Jesus said, My Father has worked until now, and I work. He must have it. There is no more rest. Because the work has to be done. But then God our Lord Jesus on the cross said, It is finished. It is finished. And because it is finished, he rests. And we are called into that rest. In other words, we are called to rest in his finished work. Why do we still struggle and strive? Because we lose sight of his finished work. We strive and strive, you know. We try our best to please God and we find we cannot do it. Why? Because we lose sight of the finished work of Christ. We have died in him. We have been buried in him. And we have been raised from the dead with him and in him. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord said, Just take my yoke upon you and learn of me. As our Lord Jesus took the yoke upon him, the will of the Father, and how he was lowly and meek in heart, no resistance, fully in agreement, yielding to the Father. There is no struggle in him. There is rest. There is a harmony in him with the Father. And the Lord said, Learn of me. Even though he was son, he learned obedience through the things which he suffered. And now he has become the author of our eternal salvation. It is true that when we learn it, we have to suffer. That's true. But it is through suffering we learn obedience. And we can draw upon his life, the life of obedience, as our life. And that's the way we enter into rest. There is no need why we should be striving and struggling all the time. And that's the reason why in Hebrews chapter 4 we are told, The word of God is powerful as a two-edged sword, penetrating, cutting asunder, bone, joint and the marrow, dividing of the spirit and the soul. Lay everything bare before God, even the thoughts and intents of the heart. You know, dear brothers and sisters, we find our soul is in turmoil. We do not have rest. We struggle. We often wonder whether this is the spirit or this is the soul. This is me or this is God. We try to analyze ourselves. But all we need to do is to lay ourselves on the altar like a sacrifice and let him use the living word to make the division. That's all you need to do. That Joshua failed. Our Lord Jesus has succeeded. He is the apostle of our confession. You know, when you think of apostle, you think of a work that he has been sent to do. And you see that Christ as the apostle of our confession, he has finished the work completely. There is no more for us to do. It is all done. All done. All we need to do is, today, if we hear his voice, harden not our hearts. In other words, mix faith with the word that we hear. Just believe. He is the apostle of our confession. He demands us to believe in him. He demands us to accept the work that he has done. And if we do, we enter into rest and we become. Now, of course, an apostle has another sense. And the other sense is apostle is a leader. And you have that in Hebrew too. A leader. He is the one who opens the way for us. He blazes the way. He opens a new and living way for us. Behind the veil. He enters into it as a forerunner. And he beckons us to follow him. Now, that is an apostle. Apostle goes ahead. Open the way so that we may. He is a forerunner. He has entered behind the veil. Now, there is a man in glory. And he is there to assure us that he will lead many sons. Now, that is an apostle. And that is what our Lord Jesus is. And because of that, how we need to yield ourselves to his authority. That is where his authority is. We need to yield ourselves to his authority. To hear him. And to follow him. With assurance of faith. Knowing that he is already there. And he will bring us. Now, all these are included in the meaning of consider Jesus the apostle of our confession. But he is not only the apostle of our confession. He is the high priest of our confession too. As a matter of fact, the letter to the Hebrews devotes more to the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus than even to the apostleship of our Lord Jesus. From chapter 4 verse 14 to chapter 10 verse 18, all these are concerned with Jesus the high priest of our confession. The book of Hebrews is a book on high priesthood of our Lord Jesus. When our Lord Jesus was on earth, he was the apostle of our confession. Now he is in heaven. He is the high priest of our confession. His work on earth is apostolic in nature. His work in heaven is priestly in nature. As an apostle, he represents God. He is sent by God to man. So he represents God. And he presents God to man. As the high priest, he is taken from among man. To represent man before God. And to present man. These are the twofold works of our Lord Jesus. The work of our Lord Jesus on earth is apostolic. The work of our Lord Jesus in heaven is priestly. You need him as the apostle of your confession and you need him as the high priest of your confession. What is a priest? What is the work of a high priest? Now you will find in Hebrews chapter 5 verse 1. For every high priest taken from among man is established for man in things relating to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin. A high priest is taken from among man and he is established for man in things relating to God, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for man. And then in chapter 8 verse 3. For every high priest is constituted for the offering both of gifts and sacrifices. Now the work of a high priest is to represent man and to present man to God. Therefore he has to offer sacrifices for sin and gifts. Sacrifices so sins may be remitted, gifts that God may be pleased. That is the work of a high priest. One thing is important with a high priest and that is sympathy. A high priest must be one who can sympathize. Why? Because he is to represent man and he is to present man to God. And all the high priests that were taken from man, from the tribe of Levi, they were all very sympathetic because they themselves were infirm and weak. So they can sympathize with the weak people and to offer sacrifices for them as well as for themselves. Now our Lord Jesus as the Son of God there is one thing that he does not have. In other words he knows. But knowing and sympathizing are different. Now we know that toothache is very painful. But if you have never had toothache you cannot sympathize with a person who has toothache. And you know, maybe you are a dentist because you study and you have the knowledge of it. But if you never have toothache you cannot sympathize. You know but you cannot sympathize. Now as God he knows. Our Lord Jesus knows. But how can he sympathize with us? We being infirm and he being strong, how can he sympathize with us? Now dear brothers and sisters this is why he came to become a man. As God he knows but he can never sympathize. But as man he was tempted in all things as we are except sin. In other words he overcame. But he could sympathize with us. He knew how we are tempted. He knew the struggle. He knew because he had to cry out with loud crying and with tears. And he was heard by God. He learned obedience for the things which he suffered. Therefore we have a high priest who can sympathize with our infirm. You know I remember once an elderly lady was to be baptized. And of course her faith was to be examined by the elders. So he was called in to be examined by the elders as to her faith. And they asked her one question. What is Jesus doing today in heaven? And this old lady, elderly lady said well Jesus was standing there in heaven looking down upon me trying to find fault with me. What a mistake. In heaven he is our great high priest. On the one hand he is holy. Undefiled. Separated from sinners. High even above the heavens. But on the other hand he is sympathetic. Merciful. Full of grace. He is always ready to dispense grace for seasonable health. This is our high priest. Our Lord Jesus is our high priest. And then you find a comparison is made between him and Aaron. Aaron was taken from among the children of Israel to be the high priest. And Aaron's sons. But the order of Aaron cannot be compared with Christ as the high priest. Because he was made high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now we do not have time to go into the order of Melchizedek. But just to mention this. You find the order of Aaron is taken man to be high priest. But the order of Melchizedek is to take the son to be high priest. The order of Aaron is instituted according to the weak law. Freshly law. But the order of Melchizedek is constituted according to the indissoluble life. The order of Aaron changes. Why? Because they do not live forever. The high priest changes from time to time. But he is the son who lives forever. And is able to save us to the uttermost. What the order of Aaron offered is but a shadow. The blood of bulls and goats can never actually cleanse our sins. Instead once a year it reminds us of our sins. But the son is the high priest. He offers himself once and for all. Aaron's son has to spend to minister. But he sits. Because it is finished. He is the mediator of a better covenant. The covenant of grace. Not a covenant of law. Dear brothers and sisters, do we know our Lord Jesus as the high priest of our confession? I am afraid to most believers. We know something of our Lord Jesus as the apostle of our confession. Yes, he is our apostle. But do we know him as the high priest of our confession? What is the difference? As the apostle of our confession he has accomplished everything for us. It is finished. There is nothing lacking. Everything that will bring us into the full purpose of God. As the house of God. Into rest. It is all done. But as the high priest of our confession he is to make it complete. Done. In each one of us. That is the high priesthood of our confession. There at the right hand of the Father he is representing us. And he is presenting us to the Father. He is to see to it that everything that he has accomplished on earth shall be accomplished. He is making intercession for us. Ever living to make intercession for us. Now do not think that he is just praying for us. That is all he does. He is praying for us. He is supplying us. Supporting us with all that he has done. How we meet our Lord Jesus as our high priest? As a matter of fact if we do not have him as our high priest we cannot live a day. But you know somehow it is vague. When you think of the Lord Jesus as the high priest of our confession. Somehow it is vague. I do not know how you feel but I think for most people it is very vague. Yes he is there in heaven praying for us. Praying for us. That is it. I think probably it will help if we see this. If we see his high priesthood to us in connection with the Holy Spirit. Then I think it will be clear. You know the Holy Spirit is not given until he is glorified. When our Lord Jesus finished all his work as an apostle and now he has ascended upon high to be our high priest after the order of Melchizedek. You know what God did? God anointed him as the high priest of our confession. And the ointment came upon the head that is he and the ointment began to fall down upon the body even it reaches the skirt of the garment. Do you see the picture? This is the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus. How do we enter into the good of his high priesthood? We enter into the good of his high priesthood by the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit is saint because he is saint. The Holy Spirit is able to convict us, to convince us, is able to reveal Christ to us, is able to succor us, is able to help us. All these are the result of the high priesthood of our confession. In other words, you do not separate our high priest in heaven with the Holy Spirit on earth. And that is the reason why you find the Holy Spirit is another comforter and he is our advocate with the Father. The word advocate is the same word as comforter. Paracletos. He is our Paracletos with the Father and the Holy Spirit is the Paracletos in us. It is because of his representing us and presenting us and praying for us with the Father that the Holy Spirit is able to work in us and bring everything that he has done to us to make them good in our lives. This is the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus. Now if you see this then you realize to know Jesus as the apostle of our confession is not enough. Why? Because it can be objective. It can be just objective truth. You have to see him as the high priest of our confession. Then there is something subjective in our experience. How we thank God that our Lord Jesus is living. He ever liveth making intercession for us. And on the basis of that today we experience the many fold work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Both individually and collectively. So this is what the writer to the Hebrews means. Consider. Consider the apostle and the high priest of our confession. And if we know him in these two aspects. Apostle and high priest. Then we are able to fulfill our heavenly calling. We will be led into reality. We will not be playing. So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father we do ask thee to quicken thy word to us that we may truly see Jesus the author, the apostle and the high priest, the finisher of our faith. Lord we need to know thee more as the apostle. We need to know more of what thou hast done, accomplished, that we may learn to obey and to follow. We need to learn more of thee as the high priest that we may not harden our hearts but let thee work in us by thy spirit until thy work is fully manifested to the praise and glory of the Father. So Lord we just commit ourselves to thee and thy word and ask thee to work it out in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.