Brother Mike Ministries

The many days of Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011!  
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ETERNAL LIFE: No Longer Possible!! ***

Whoso keeps the commandment shall feel no evil: and a wise man's heart discerns [will know] both time and judgment - Ec. 8:5

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Hebrews 4:13-16
By Brother Mike (9-14-16; 35 minutes)
   


13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do .
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin .
16
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need .


INTRODUCTION

In Hebrews 4:13-16, we are first told that all things about us including sins and other weaknesses are clearly seen by Yahweh, for there is not any creature that is not manifest in His sight. Then, we are exhorted to hold fast our profession of Jesus Christ, for He is our Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. In addition, we are exhorted to come boldly to Him, the throne of grace, in prayer that we may obtain mercy for our infirmities and sins, and find grace to help us overcome sins and deal with our weaknesses. For we have a High Priest that can sympathize with our infirmities or weaknesses because He Himself lived as a lowly human being and was tempted in all things in like manner to as we are - without sin, which implies that He can help us in every one of our situations to not sin as well. 


Verse 4:13

13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do .  

In this verse, we first read, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. Here, the word Neither and the word any in any creature does not appear in the Greek, but the verse literally reads,

13 And there is not a creature that is not manifest in his sight . .

This simply means that all creatures of creation are manifest or revealed in his sight, for He sees and knows all things about every creature. He is ALL SEEING; and He is ALL KNOWING about His creation at every given moment. And, relating this all to the context of our verse, it is saying to us that we should be diligent to enter into our final rest because all things about us are manifest or revealed to Him so that if we are not being diligent to enter into that rest, He, the Word of God, will find us out, for the Word of God is living and active, and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Indeed, He, the Word of God, sees everything about us, and, if we are not being diligent to enter into that rest by comparing ourselves to the Word of God that he might sanctify and cleanse [us] with the washing of water by the word (Eph. 5:26), it shall be made known to Him that we are following after the same example of unbelief that the Israelites followed after, and we, like the Israelites, will not be permitted into the Promised Land, which for us today means that we will not be allowed into that final rest in the new heaven and earth to be revealed on the Last Day.

Now, I am not saying that we must be diligent to enter that rest in order to be saved, but I am saying that if we are saved, we will be diligently seeking to enter into our final rest. So, let's all be diligently working to enter into that rest by conforming our minds, bodies, actions and souls to the teachings of the Word of God because, if we do not, we are not only revealing that we are not saved, but we will certainly not enter into that final rest. And, don't think for a moment that you can hide from Yahweh, for, as our verse states, 

13 And there is not a creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do

Let's now take a closer look at the second part of our verse, which states, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. That is, not only is there not a creature that is [hidden] in his sight, but all things [including all things about all creatures], are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. He not only is watching you, but He knows all things about you, even the most hidden things. There is absolutely no way that anyone can hide anything from Yahweh. In fact, He knows you better than you know yourself. 

Now, the word opened in the sentence, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do is in the Perfect Tense. The Perfect Tense means that the action of the verb was completed in the past, and the result of that action continues on, in full force. Therefore, the act of all things having been opened unto His eyes was completed in the past and the result is that all things are still opened unto His eyes. But, just when were all things first opened unto His eyes? Since the context is referring to all things about all creatures, it is reasonable to assume that He knows all things about all creatures from the point of their conception onward. But, because we know that Yahweh knows all things even before He creates them, we could more accurately say that He knows all things about His creatures from all eternity. So, just when were all things first opened to His eyes? Why, we would have to say from all eternity past.  

Next, our verse says, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Actually, the phrase, with whom we have to do is a paraphrase of what we find in the Greek. In the Greek, it literally reads, with whom to us is the Word. So, putting it all together, our verse is,

13 And there is not a creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom to us is the Word .

In other words, for all of us to whom is the Word - and that is to all of humankind - all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him; that is, He knows all things about us from eternity past and forever. Of course, in the context of our verse, this all means that He knows whether we are being diligent to enter into that final rest in the new heaven and earth by seeking to obey everything that we find in the Bible, or whether you are following in the example of unbelief and stubbornness of the Israelites in the wilderness who by disobedience were not allowed into their rest, the Promised Land of Canaan. For, as we read in verse 12 of Hebrews 4, 

12 For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart

Yes, it is the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ who is Yahweh that is judging us. And, if He finds that we never were truly saved as revealed in that we do not diligently strive to enter into that final rest through obedience to His Word in mind, body, action, and soul, we never will enter into that rest. But, if He finds that we are diligently striving to enter into that rest, which striving reveals that we are a child of God, then the day will come, the Last Day, when we will be changed in a moment, in the twinkle of an eye, at the Last Trump, to live in the new heaven and earth for all eternity with our blessed Lord and Savior where there is no longer an crying and sadness, suffering and pain, and, yes, no more death. Amen. 


Verse 4:14

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession

Here, we first read, Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens. Actually, the word, Seeing and the three words, that we have in the sentence, Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens are not found in the Greek. Our verse is more literally translated,  

14 Having, then, a Great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens . . . 

The Verb Participle translated as that is passed in the sentence, that is passed into the heavens is in the Perfect Tense , which means that the action of Jesus passing into the heavens was competed in the past, and the result of that action continues on in full force; that is, the result of Jesus, our High Priest, having passed into the heavens (in the past) continues on in full force, namely that He is still presently passed into the heavens; hence, the King James translation states, a Great High Priest, that is [presently] passed into the heavens.  

Now, exactly when in the past was it that Jesus first passed into the heavens? We discover the answer to this in Acts 1,  

1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach ,
2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen
3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God :
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me .  
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence .
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel
7 And he said unto them, It is not for [of] you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power .
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight .
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven

From this account, we know that Jesus was taken into heaven after 40 days from His resurrection, for before He was actually taken up into heaven, we read in Acts 1:3: To whom [His apostles] also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So, when was it that Jesus passed into the heavens? Why, clearly, it was 40 days after His passion or death and resurrection, and we know that He ascended into heaven from Jerusalem where He was gathered together with His apostles according to the account that we previously read of Acts 1:1-11. 

Now, returning to our verse, which reads, Having, then, a Great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, we are told next just who this Great High Priest is, namely Jesus the Son of God. He is not referred to here as the son of man in the way that He is most commonly referred to in the New Testament, but as the Son of God, which places the emphasis upon His deity and greatness. Indeed, Jesus was God in the flesh (see God is a Trinity and The Mystery of the Incarnation ). This makes Him far greater than even the best of High Priests that were merely men. 

Next, Having, then, a Great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ the Son of God, we are exhorted to hold fast our profession. Actually, the Verb Participle translated in the King James as let us hold fast in the sentence, let us hold fast our profession is in the Subjunctive Mood , which is the mood of possibility or probability, and it can be translated as we [may] hold fast our profession in the case of possibility, or it can be translated as we [should] hold fast our profession in the case of probability. The latter appears to be the best choice, which means our verse now reads,  

14 Having, then, a Great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast our profession

To put it another way, because we have the Great Yahweh Himself in the flesh who has passed into the heavens as our Great High Priest to ensure that we have a place in heaven with Him, we have every reason to hold fast our profession of Him. Actually, the word our in our profession is the word the so that our verse literally reads that we should hold fast the profession. And, of course, the profession is the gospel: that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, died for our sins according to the scriptures; that He was buried; and that He rose from the dead on the 3rd day according to the scriptures (1Cor. 15:3-4). 

Now, there is one more thing that I would like to mention about our verse before moving on, and this has to do with the phrase, into the heavens in the sentence, Having, then, a Great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens. What I would like to point out is that the preposition, into, is more literally translated as through. Therefore, it is not that Christ passed into the heavens, but He passed through the heavens to get to heaven. The heavens, plural, refer to the atmosphere around us, then the stratosphere between the atmosphere and outer-space, and then outer-space. The idea is that Christ passed through all these heavens to finally end up in heaven, which means that heaven is somewhere beyond all the heavens (plural) either in distance, or in dimension. Whatever the case, our completed translation of our verse reads like this:  

14 Having, then, a Great High Priest, that is passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the profession .  


Verse 4:15
:  

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin .  

In the previous verse, we were given a reason as to why we should hold fast the profession, which was that we have a Great High Priest that is passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. And, in this verse, we are given further reason as to why we should hold fast the profession, which is that we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.  

Now, let's take a closer look at the first part of our verse, which reads, For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. The part of this sentence which reads, which cannot be touched with the feeling of is actually the translation of just two Greek words. The sentence is much more simply and literally translated,  

15 For we have not an high priest unable to sympathize with our infirmities . . .  

Here, the word translated as infirmities is a very broad term that refers to all weaknesses of the body and soul including frailties of the natural mind and body, health problems and sicknesses, lack of knowledge and understanding, lack of being able to resist sin, lack of being able to bear trials and troubles, and lack of being able to do great and glorious things. The idea is that Christ is able to understand what we are going through as human beings because He was a human being himself. Indeed, He is not only the great Yahweh Himself, but He was also a lowly human being who experienced all the weaknesses that we as human beings experience with the result that he is able to sympathize with our miserable condition. This is especially important when it comes to Him helping to keep us from sin, for, as we read in the latter part of our verse, He was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. That is, He not only has experienced all the temptation that we as human beings experience, but, even so, He was without sin. This implies that He cannot only sympathize with our infirmities or weaknesses, but He knows how to not sin even in the weak state of being a human being, which implies that He can, therefore, help us to not sin in every condition in which we find ourselves.   

Now, in ending our verse, and as just previously stated, the latter part of our verse reads, but [He] was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. It more literally reads, but was in all things tempted in like manner - without sin. So, to conclude with the complete translation of our entire verse, it reads like this:  

15 For we have not an high priest unable to sympathize with our infirmities , but was in all things tempted in like manner - without sin

He was not only tempted in like manner to us, but He was without sin. And, as was said before, this implies that He is able to help keep us from sinning, for He knows exactly what it takes to be tempted as we, but without sin. 


Verse 4:16

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need .  

Because of what was said in the previous verse, namely that Christ is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because He was tempted as we are, yet without sin, we read in this verse, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Let's first look at the first sentence of this verse, which reads, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. The verb translated here as Let us come in the sentence, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace is not a command, but it is in the Subjunctive Mood , which is the mood of possibility or probability, and so it could be translated, we [may] come boldly unto the throne of grace in the case of possibility, or it could be translated, we [should] come boldly unto the throne of grace in the case of probability. Obviously, given the context, we [should] come is the best translation so that our first sentence should read, We should therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. Indeed, we should come boldly unto the throne of grace because our High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, is not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses both in body and soul because He also was a human being with both body and soul, but was in all things tempted in like manner to us, yet without sin. 

Now, our verse gives two more reasons as to why we should come boldly unto the throne of grace. First, that we may obtain mercy, and, second, that we may find grace to help in the time of need. Let's first consider coming boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. What we are being told, then, is that we should not let our weaknesses of sin keep us from boldly coming in prayer to Christ for mercy. Instead, we should recognize that because Christ was in a certain sense a weak human being just like you and me, He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses so that we may come boldly unto Him in our weaknesses to obtain mercy. Second, we may boldly come to Him that we may find grace to help in the time of need. That is, He is able to impart more grace to us in order that we might not sin. Indeed, He can even transform our weaknesses into strengths. Remember what we read in 2Corinthians 12, 

2Cor 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me .
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong

So, we may boldly come to the throne of grace in prayer that we might receive grace for our weaknesses. The more and greater our weaknesses, the more grace the Lord can bestow upon us. Therefore, we should glory in our weaknesses, and praise Him for them, for through them is not only the Lord glorified, but we are made strong as well.  

Now, this should all dramatically change our outlook on things. If we are sick, we should praise Yahweh, for when we are weak, then are we strong. If we are disabled, we should praise Yahweh, for when we are weak, then are we strong. If we are being troubled by sin, we should praise Yahweh, for when we are weak, then are we strong. If we have been weakened by persecution, we should praise Yahweh, for when we are weak, we are strong. And we read in Matthew 5,  

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake .
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you

And, again,   

Mt 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven .   

Furthermore, if we have been weakened by tribulation, we should praise Yahweh, for when we are weak, then are we strong. And, as we read in Romans 5,  

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience ;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us

And, again, 

1Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you :
13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy
14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified

The point is that when we are weak, we are strong. And, as such, we, like the apostle Paul, can take pleasure in and glory in our infirmities or weaknesses.  


CONCLUSION  

All of our sins and weaknesses are clearly seen and understood by Yahweh. Therefore, we should come boldly to the throne of grace, our Lord Jesus Christ, for He can sympathize with our infirmities or weaknesses because He was a human being who was tempted in all things in like manner as we are, yet without sin. So, not only does He understand our weak condition, having Himself lived as a lowly human being, but He can help us not sin by first granting to us mercy, and by then granting us the grace needed at the proper time to overcome sin and live with our weaknesses. And, because He has passed through the heavens into heaven, we have every reason to stand firm on our profession, namely Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died for our sins according to the scriptures; was buried; and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures so that we would be forgiven and cleansed in the inner man, and, then, on the Last Day, be forever transformed in body to live forever in body and soul with our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, Yahweh, the Almighty. Amen.

3:14-19
4:1-6   
4:7-10 
4:11-12 
4:13-16
5:1-5

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