 Okay, so we've been discussing about Jesus being the High Priest. So wanted to ask us so far, what have you learned about Jesus as the High Priest? Because I felt, you know, another one is constantly talking here. So let me see how much you picked up from what we have discussed so far. So, would anyone like to share? Even if it's just one thought, it's good. Jesus is High Priest. Our High Priest Jesus is not in the order of Aaron, he's in the order of Melchizedek. Great, that's one point. He's from the order of Melchizedek. Anything else that we have picked up? He's from Melchizedek. Okay, he's from the order of Melchizedek, sure. Not from the High Priest or a tribe of Priest, he's from the order of Melchizedek. Yeah, sure Thomas. So similar to what they were saying, that's what Thomas has picked up. How about the others? Kanan, Prince, Kiran. So okay, whenever you have some ideas, any questions, please do stop me. I'm going continuously so that I can cover the portions, but if we can have some interaction discussion, I think it will be better because I don't want it to become very monotonous for us. You know, like you're constantly listening to me and that's all that's happening here. So yeah, maybe let me see. I'll try to stop here and there and ask some questions. Alright, so we've understood a couple of things about Jesus as the High Priest. As they said, Melchizedek, he's now the High Priest forever. He's a compassionate High Priest. He sympathizes with our weaknesses. Okay, so all these things we have learned now moving forward. We talked about the normal High Priests that they would offer up sacrifices. So what kind of sacrifices did Jesus offer up? Obviously, he wasn't in the temple. But from verse 7, we notice that in his humanity, during his time here on earth, he offered up prayers and supplications. So there is the ministry to God that he engaged in similar to other High Priests. But it was not a physical animal that he sacrificed for sins. Instead, he's engaging in prayers and supplications. Those are his sacrifices. And we're also told that with vehement cries and tears to him. So prayers, prayers unto God, earnest and sincere prayers. Jesus came before the Father. The time when he cried and struggled in prayer was at the Garden of Gethsemane. Now we are aware from Matthew 26 and Luke chapter 22 that Jesus persevered in prayer and battled it out to the extent that that struggle was visible in his body. He was sweating blood, we are told. Why? He could not easily accept what the Father had planned for his life which was to die on the cross. Now many people have the question why didn't Jesus want to die on the cross? Is it the struggles, the beating and the physical pain that he would need to go through? But we understand that it was more than that. He did not want to be separated from the Father. He was a son who was in the bosom of the Father. So so close to the Father that he did not do anything other than what the Father did. He did not say anything other than what the Father said. Now somebody who is that connected to the Father, even for a moment he could not imagine being separated from the Father. And that was his struggle. Was there a question there? No, I am guessing no. So Jesus if at all it was possible to forego the cross then he wanted that to happen because he did not want to be separated from the Father. So he cried out with tears and all of that in the presence of God because he could not accept that plan of being separated from God on the cross. But you know we read here that he was heard because of his godly fear. Though he was a son yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. So finally what did Jesus say in that prayer of Gethsemane? It's called as the prayer of consecration where he says okay God this is what I want but not my will but yours be done. So did God answer Jesus' prayer? Not my will but yours be done? What do you think? Okay, so that says yes. Of course because it was God's will for Jesus to die on the cross. So it happened. Jesus did go on to the cross but you notice another beautiful thing here. We are told that he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. So suffering in the life of Jesus you know it was like training. He was learning obedience even the Son of God. Okay, how the Bible is so honest isn't it? It doesn't try to paint a picture that oh Jesus never struggled to be obedient to God. It was so easy for him. No, he struggled but we are told that whatever he went through he learned obedience. So he was growing in his obedience to God, not from disobedience because again we know that his life was sinless. But to be obedient you know you need the will and that will was being strengthened each time and every situation that Jesus went through his will for obedience to the Father was becoming stronger and stronger and stronger. So in our lives when we go through challenges like Jesus we can also learn obedience. You know automatically we don't become those perfect children of God, perfect believers. It doesn't happen like that. We have to make that journey and learn. See Jesus through the sufferings what happened he learned obedience. Through what we go through even we can become more and more obedient to God. So that is the blessing of following the life of Jesus and the example of Jesus. So you see here his way of offering sacrifices was very different from the earthly priests. He offered up prayers with cries, intense prayers and he was also so obedient to the Father. What a wonderful high priest we have and we are told that he became having been perfected. How did he become perfect? See we should not misunderstand that Jesus was sinful and then he had to become perfect. No, yet through the sufferings his will for obedience was strengthened and in that sense he was perfected and he became now look at this one more feature that is being added to this Jesus it's almost like a canvas we are painting the picture of Jesus. One more stroke, author of eternal salvation. He became the author of eternal salvation because his obedience was perfected. Okay, so this Jesus is now the author of eternal salvation to all the believers not to all obey him called by God as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek of whom we have much to say. So at this point the writer he wants to tell the people in greater depth about this order of Melchizedek because he has just thrown in that concept from nowhere and even for some of us we are wondering who is this Melchizedek what is the order of Melchizedek so the writer wants to explain it to the people but suddenly he stops and he says I want to tell you but you know it's hard to explain why because you are dull of hearing. You know when we want to learn a deeper truth one requirement is that we understand the basics. If somebody needs to be taught you know algebra, permutation, combination, you know the more complicated geometry they need to know the basics one plus one addition, subtraction, multiplication, you know a simple circle, square, rectangle then you go on to complicated subjects in mathematics but how can you teach somebody you know integration or some such complicated concept if they are very weak in understanding addition, subtraction, multiplication, division you can't so that's what he's telling these believers I want to tell you lot of deep things but you have become dull of hearing isn't that they their ears needed a check up like go to the ENP doctor and okay check check can you hear can you sound check you know a mic testing one two three no so he's not referring to their hearing as in the physical hearing dull of hearing is a condition of the heart or the spirit man you know another interchangeable term for the heart in the Bible is the spirit man so basically the spirit has become weak in perceiving what God is saying so he is rebuking the people now just think about us it's a dangerous place to be dull of hearing and we should never really come to that place so why do you think people become insensitive to what God is speaking any thoughts from all of you you are all you know believers for a while that I'm aware of that and also in the ministry so what are your thoughts on the things that make us insensitive towards God or things that make us hard hearts hard aren't are you able to share your thoughts yes pastor I think it's our faith okay so when we are you saying that the level of our faith describes how sensitive we are yeah that's good that's true correct thank you thank you for adding that thought Prince are you able to add any thoughts to this okay not sure you know the connection is okay but yeah class I think I'm going to be asking you some questions because I want to make sure you know you are engaging effectively in what is being discussed here so please be prepared to share your thoughts either by unmuting or by typing it in the chat okay so as Aaron pointed out our level of faith is one of the determinants of our spiritual sensitivity there can be other reasons such as you know not following a righteous life so when we give place to sinful habits it reduces or it kind of weakens our relationship with God and thereby our hearing of God there can be you know other things like getting completely bogged down by discouragement which was the issue of these believers so there are many things that can make us hard towards God but whatever those things are the we are being warned that come on you know don't let that happen it's not like you know our sensitivity will remain with us throughout our spiritual journey it's something that we need to guard something that we need to nurture we need to keep alive our sensitivity towards God and then he gives him a nice rebuke he says look I want to learn all these deep spiritual realities but verse 12 he says by this time you should have become teachers okay but you still need somebody to teach you the first principles of the oracles of God so he's saying that people have not put the word that was taught to them into good use earlier we saw how in chapter 4 he says mix whatever you hear with faith you mix the word with faith then your spirit man is built up so is it possible to force somebody to just you know remain with God's word and never really apply it in their lives unfortunately it can happen and that's a warning the passage of time does not determine what kind of spiritual growth or development a believer has experienced now one can be a believer for 10 years and attain a certain spiritual maturity but another child of God could be a believer for let's say 2 years and can have a similar spiritual maturity it is dependent on our effort okay now again don't misunderstand this is not salvation by works but this is about our sensitivity and our obedience to God's word and the way we nurture our faith so he in fact repukes them and he says you know by now you should have been teachers you should have graduated from college but yes it's like you're still in primary school and I have to teach you A B C D and then you know all these basic things about God and then he says you are still consuming milk or the simple truth of God's word and not solid food solid food referring to deeper mature teaching of God's word then he says for everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled obviously babies drink milk they don't have the capacity to digest complex food similarly believers who are immature or you would see that he is using the word babe or baby in Christ now being a baby is not a bad thing because we all start off as babies isn't it whether it is our physical lives or as a believer our initial stages baby but a baby has to grow up and go through all the stages until adulthood but what if somebody is 40 years old and is still behaving like a baby you know feed me, clothe me, clean me it will be so funny because by the age of 40 you expect somebody to have that wisdom and maturity to care for themselves and come to a place where they are caring for others similarly in the spiritual life there is an expectation from God that we should all grow up in Christ don't be babies you know unskilled in the word of righteousness milk still the same old things from scripture nothing you know nothing deeper and nothing new as revelation is coming to us that would be the state of being a baby but instead he says solid food belongs to those who are of full age whenever adults have a gathering they would have different you know on the menu you have different food isn't it so people who are non vegetarian you also include meat in your menu but you are able to eat so much and all that food is giving you the nutrition that you need so he is saying that similarly when it comes to the word of God being able to understand the word being able to digest the word all these are very important things so full age means you should be able to have solid food and he says how can one be recognized of being full age like you know somebody who is able to digest those more complex food items similarly in the spiritual walk you find that people who have exercised their senses to discern both good and evil so once we have learned you know the more mature somebody spiritually don't we all go to them for advice when we need prayer we would think who should I ask for prayer and counsel we will prefer to go to someone who is very strong in the Lord knows God's word very well because they will guide us rightly so they have practiced through their ears to read the word to interpret the word to hear from God and communicate it so that practice is very important for maturity so maturity also means that we have been consistent in God's word and we have you know the capacity to discern good from evil those who are very mature in God can almost quickly they can tell no this is a wrong interpretation or I don't sense that God's spirit is at work in this decision so quickly this is good this is bad they are able to tell but it has come through the practice or in other words regular engagement with God so don't we all want that regular practice regular engagement regular exposure to God's word the work of God's spirit personally corporately in a group setting you know even all of you three years you're part of this Bible college regularly looking at God's word right consistently trying to understand the meaning of God's word what is it making what is it causing within us maturity so that is very important and that's how we can mature and he's telling the believers and even us we can take from this all scripture is inspired by God and it is for us to learn it's challenging us that the spiritual journey is never you know a plain line like this no not at all it should be a like a rising line always if it's not it's dangerous and that's what you know we should be aiming towards now he tells these believers I'm encouraging you you you're still in the basics leave that and go on to perfection so he wants the believers to be mature and the word perfection there is you should understand it not as you know you you have to be perfect but the root word there is still yours which refers to maturity so maturity is the goal in other words and he says you should be strong enough in God's word that you don't require the laying of the foundation once again foundation is based on the truth of God's word so here he endless a couple of things which are foundational this is not a complete list but he just kind of you know throws it some topics here he says not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works faith toward God doctrine of baptism laying on of hands resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment so just some topics but of course we know there are very many other basics that we must be strong in things like salvation things like the work of Jesus on the cross the word of God worship prayer these are all some of the basics that we require for a strong spiritual work so he goes on to encourage the people to maturity and he says okay if God and this we will do if God permits he says look it's okay it's okay for us to repeat these things to you and we can do it if there is a God permits is to depend on God you know for completion of something not whether God is willing for such kind of teaching to be imparted because obviously we know God is interested but he's just saying you know the strength to do it the ability to do it we depend on God now I just told us that how should our spiritual journey be not like this if our spiritual journey is flat the curve is flat then we are not making much progress but when we talk about progress it has to be moving upward okay so that is something we are personally responsible for and he says all believers must have that upward curve if it is not so let's say for example somebody is walking with the Lord and they start to drop or fall then what so this passage Hebrew 6 okay it's a passage that is talked about quite often and people wonder about what is being said here there is a very strong warning in this passage so now we are told that it is impossible for those who are once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come if they fall away to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame so basically this is answering the question can a believer lose their salvation so what are we told here we told here that God doesn't take it away from us God has already given us salvation it's a free gift of God but we receive it through faith in Jesus Christ and it is ours but if someone what is the phrase here fall away or you could you could look at it as intentionally be separated from God you know one chooses to depart from God it departs by choice let's put it that way that makes it easier for our understanding so fall away if anyone falls away then is it difficult for them to come back to God is it hard for them to come back to God the term used here is impossible so that's scary isn't it that we are told that if somebody intentionally departs from God not a little bit they have gone and you know whenever we talk about this passage believers also get concerned that if I commit a sin if it happens you know will God disown me see we are talking about a situation where somebody has gone very far from God you know repeated sinful lifestyle unrepentant hard hearted you know completely low on their faith so this is an extreme scenario this is not the common scenario in the lives of believers so we don't have to feel that this is talking about a diligent believer no it's not it's talking about somebody whom let's say the Holy Spirit has convicted many times but that person has just chosen to not listen and become so hard over time that they have intentionally departed away from God or we use the term fall away so when one falls away there is a warning impossible for such people to even come back to God so we should take it up that I should never go far from God okay because the journey back it's not difficult it's impossible wow that's scary isn't it it is scary now people also ask the question is this referring to a believer in fact it is referring to a very active believer because you look at the description once enlightened one again once you get to know the truth that Jesus is the one who has provided salvation for us have tasted the heavenly gift what is the heavenly gift salvation you have experienced salvation partakers of the Holy Spirit that's quite clear the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to us and all the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the form of you know those nine gifts all that somebody who has experienced all that tasted the good word of God what is the meaning of that not just read in a light way but experience taste means you can tell this is sweet this is bitter this is salty so one who has experienced deeply the word of God and the powers of the age to come simply referring to supernatural power of God so this is a believer this is a good believer in fact but what is the problem fall away intentionally go away from God it's very difficult for such a person for what renew them again to repentance what has happened what has become very hard you know when we look at cement it's easy to work with wet cement because it's not yet set but when once the cement is set if you want to form it into another shape is it possible no it's it's not possible because it has already you know gone through that chemical reaction it's over so similarly hardness of heart in the life of a believer it's a big warning for us God is saying never go down this road and one falls away it also is crucifying the son of God once again and putting him to open shame so dishonoring Christ and his sacrifice is what happens when one falls away from God and that's why you know we should never go down this path by their people in the ministry of Paul who went away yes there are names of men who departed from the truth and Paul was never happy with such people there's a deem us that he refers to who was you know such a person who was apparently strong in God but who fell away from God so yeah Aaron you have a question yes pastor yes so when someone fall away fall away from God so do they lost their salvation so Aaron that's what we are saying you know when somebody falls away it is impossible to renew such a person to repentance so it's like yes they have lost their salvation but understand that this is very rare because if we have walked with God we know that there is so much of grace because of the cross isn't it so a normal believer as scripture says the righteous man may fall seven times but he will rise back up so that is the normal experience of believers but the thing here is be quick to repent okay and when you talk about people who have lost their salvation it's a tough thing for us to discern you know who has lost their salvation and who hasn't so again we must not go around judging people only God knows it's between God and a human being what where their relationship stands and such incidents are quite rare even Paul refers to a handful of people in his ministry who went away from God so it's a very rare occurrence okay I hope that helps yes pastor thank you okay that's that's great any other questions in this area because I know this is a very important topic okay if you have a question then you can just stop me and ask okay so in continuation verse seven we are told that for the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated receives blessing from God but if it bears thorns and briars it is rejected and near to be to being cursed whose end is to be burnt so basically it's referring to the fruit of one's life as a believer if one does not bear the fruits of repentance which is like a humble heart towards God but instead if the fruit of one's life is thorns and briars thorns are not a good harvest who is who is out there trying to harvest thorns so God sees our lives and if there is no fruit of repentance and spiritual fruit you know the end is not good and that is the warning for the believers so you know even in a situation of discouragement sometimes believers take it lightly they take their spiritual walk like yeah anything whatever happens but be very careful not to go away from God not even a little bit because what is the danger the little can become more and more and more the drift away can become a fall away we don't want that so believers be warned that there is a possibility of losing salvation and we should never be on that path instead what is a good way to be in the race you should be looking at the goal and running okay don't be scared that you know I might go back to the place where I started does any runner go back to the place where they started no unless they choose to turn around and then they go but in general how do the runners run look at the finish line keep looking at the finish line you will have no opportunity to turn back so keep looking at the finish line and keep running keep producing the fruit of salvation now after bringing such a warning that the believers are shaken up oh I never knew that if I am careless with my spiritual walk then there is a possibility to decline quickly the author starts to encourage them because you see again I told us he doesn't want to beat up the believers with what he is saying or he is preaching so it's a way of approaching the children of God in a tender way and this is an attitude that we all need everyone in the ministry when we are serving the people of the kingdom that tenderness is required yes we want them but look at the tenderness but he says but beloved you know when a parent disciplines the child too much what happens you know the child might think my parent doesn't love me and be broken you know because of that sense of rejection but instead what do the parents do yeah there is a little bit of disciplining and then they kind of you know come back in a loving way and say okay okay you know you make it better make it right so in the same way like a loving parent the ministry needs to be done so he says there is a warning you it is impossible for those who fall away to come back and now he says but beloved so he is starting to encourage the believers and he says you know don't worry but such things will not happen with all of you so he says we are confident of better things concerning you yes things that are company salvation though we speak in this manner so he is quite happy with the believers and he says I'm warning you this is not going to happen to you so don't give it too much attention and then again some more encouragement he says see God is a good God and he is not unjust so again we are adding to the nature of God here we understood God is a God who is a just God and he's saying that God will reward you for your labor of love which you have shown towards his name so God will repay you for every good that you are doing and then he also says that your minister to the saints and do minister so it it helps us understand that these people were a hospitable people they were they were serving the kingdom of God they were helping other believers in Christ so they are just being encouraged that you know you continue because God will reward you according to your faithfulness and he says we desire for each of you that you will continue to progress in this way so show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end okay so he says please continue to make such progress don't become sluggish but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises so he says that when you don't know how to continue you know in this ministry or serving of God you have good examples of you know people who through faith and patience have inherited the promise of God so those who have a good example among you if you get inspired by such people you can continue your spiritual journey and you know continue to be strong in God so that is what he is talking about now he moves forward talking a little more about this promise okay alright yeah I'm just wondering if I should get into this because then I will have to explain it but we have only about 5 minutes left so okay let me see how much I could explain so he talks about you know God and his integrity over here in this passage where he says that God made a promise to Abraham and how did he confirm that promise in those times in the times of the covenants where they understood covenants it was swearing swearing by somebody greater or something greater was a practice but when God made Abraham a promise we are told that he swore by what God swore by himself because there was nobody greater that he could depend on okay yeah and how did Abraham receive the promise we've recently had that series on faith journey of Abraham and we saw that it was not easy for Abraham to receive the promise of the child but 25 years he endured endure is like when you're running a long race in the beginning it's very easy full energy you run with full energy but in between it takes that willpower to stay in the race some people might quit because they are tired some people might stop because they want to drink water but the strongest mentally and physically those are the ones who will make it to the finish line and similarly you have Abraham in those difficult parts in between he endured he stood the test he bore under that pressure and he obtained the promise so similarly we are encouraged it's not going to be easy for us to receive what God has promised but we have the example of a man called Abraham who stood the test of time and he obtained the promise of God all right so what we'll do is let us stop here and I think we will continue in the next class so I would like to stop any questions any thoughts at this moment okay if not we can close with the word of prayer anyone if you could please wrap up in prayer please go ahead either of you okay we'll pray Father God we come before once again you're thrown Father God Father God we want to just say thank you Father God to you praise and mercy Father God to your inheritance spiritually Father God thank you Father God for the salvation Father God what you're giving us Father God thank you Father God you came by day you just working behalf of us Father God thank you Father God thank you Father God thank you for the subject and thanking you for all his children and Simen Father God thank you for you you are helping us Father God to understanding that subject Father God thank you help us to move forward Father God help us to finish our journey Father God help us and give you strength Father God and give you blessing more and more father God so that we can move further, go to glory and more glorious day, Father God. Help us. We just, Father God, to your kingdom work. Thank you, Father God. Thank you for everything. Almighty Jesus' name be praised. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Kiran. Thank you, everyone. God bless you. Have a wonderful day. We'll meet you next time. Thank you, Ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Bye.