The Present Work of Jesus Christ

Transcript

GRM 1161
06/05/2016
The Present Work of Jesus Christ
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

In our previous study we talked about the Gospel and simple content of the Gospel. We focused more on the work of Christ than the person of Christ, two aspects of His work—His death and His resurrection. And that was the completion of what was necessary for the accomplishing of redemption, paying the price necessary to satisfy the demands of a holy God, pay the penalty for our sin. We talked about the response to what God has done. The basic response as we talk about it is faith, and faith, the verb “believing” used over 300 times, I believe, in the New Testament. But there are other words that were also used in the New Testament that are included in saving faith, that are part of it, that always occur when saving faith occurs. So we sometimes use the part for the whole. They are not synonyms for faith, but they can refer to the salvation accomplished by faith. Words like “repent.” We are picturing the change in our thinking and in our action toward Christ. It's not the same thing as faith but it is always included in faith, because if you don't change your thinking and actions regarding who Christ is and what He has done, the seriousness of your sinful condition, you won't place your faith in Him. So repentance is always present when there is saving faith.

The same with “receive Christ.” That's not a work. He comes into the life when we believe in Him. We will refer to something of that a little bit later. Come to Christ, “Jesus said, come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” If you come to Him, you are recognizing your situation as a sinner, and He is the Savior and you are coming to Him, you are placing your faith in Him. Be reconciled to God, we urge you be reconciled to God, be brought into right relationship with Him by placing your faith in Him.

“Prayer.” Sometimes we hear people say, you are not saved by saying a prayer. That is certainly true, but “whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved,” and we usually refer to anytime we are speaking to the awesome God as a form of prayer. So calling on Him is turning to Him, acknowledging your sin, your guilt, indicating to Him you are placing your faith in Christ. You call on Him because you recognize what He has said about you, what He has said about His salvation is true, and you are trusting Him.

So those kinds of how. We have to be clear on what the Gospel is, that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, born at Bethlehem, the God/Man provided the only sacrifice that could be made to satisfy the demands of a holy God, to provide forgiveness for us. Salvation. Sometimes I think that we break off there and jump to the future. We talk about what Christ accomplished on the cross, and that is foundational to everything, then we think the next thing we look forward to is the Second Coming and events associated with that. But I want to talk with you today from the Word about the present work of Jesus Christ. Very important that we understand that the ministry of Jesus Christ goes on, His work in the world goes on, His work in our lives goes on. And we must understand that. Sometimes I think people think, with the ascension to heaven in Acts 1 Christ went to heaven and now He is just waiting until it is time to return to earth. Nothing could be further from the truth. He is very much at work today, exercising His authority in the world, in the church, and in our lives personally. So we want to talk about some of these matters.

Maybe we should start in Acts 1, and we will move around a little bit in Scripture and we won't exhaust these areas, but give some sample Scriptures to indicate something of the present work of Christ going on. But His earthly ministry concluded in Acts 1, as far as the historical account is concerned, where He will ascend to heaven. Acts 1:3 says “To these,” referring to His apostles that He had chosen for that ministry in verse 2, “to these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Luke is picking up the account that he left off at the end of his Gospel. Luke is the writer of the Gospel of Luke and also of the book of Acts. So there we had at the closing of the Gospel of Luke Jesus meeting with His disciples, giving them instruction and explaining from Old Testament Scriptures how the Messiah had to suffer and die and then be raised from the dead. And over this 40-day period He has met off and on with His disciples. He didn't reside with them continually like He did before His crucifixion, but He did meet with them on a number of occasions. And what He was doing was explaining to them concerning the kingdom. And part of what they had to come to understand was how the Old Testament prophets prophesied the suffering and death of the Messiah before the kingdom would be set up. Because there is a certain discouragement that had occurred. They thought Christ came to establish the kingdom, and He didn't. He died, He is raised from the dead.

Now that it has been explained to them over this 40-day period that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and die to provide salvation, it is natural their next question is, the end of verse 6, “Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Now note, He hasn't changed their thinking on the kingdom. For forty days when He met with them He would explain to them truth concerning the kingdom, how the Old Testament Scriptures, that is Luke made clear in his Gospel, required the suffering and death of the Messiah. The natural thing is, now we understand. For salvation to be provided our Messiah had to suffer and die and be raised from the dead. But now we can have the kingdom. They are still anticipating the kingdom that was prophesied in the Old Testament and that's what they should be anticipating.

What Jesus answers is simple. He doesn't tell them there has been a change in the kingdom, or the kingdom is about to begin. He tell them, verse 7, “It's not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by his own authority.” It's not necessary and it's not God's plan for you to know when we will establish the kingdom on earth. There is work for you to do before that will take place. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, even to the remotest parts of the earth.” This picks up with what we call the Great Commission that ends each of the Gospels—Matthew, Mark and Luke. Go and make disciples of all the nations. Well, that's going to take some time. I thought if we established the kingdom now, but now the Holy Spirit is going to come to empower and enable you to go and tell people about Me. Okay!

So the kingdom has not been canceled, it has not been changed, it will be established but that's in God's plan and timing. You just be occupied with what your responsibility is. And so this ministry that they will carry out that will begin in Acts 2 with the establishing of the church, a new thing will happen. And Christ will ascend to heaven in Acts 1 before that happens. Verse 9, “He was lifted up, while they were looking on a cloud received Him out of their sight.” And then angelic beings appear and they are told Jesus will return to this earth someday just as you have seen Him go.

So with this His earthly life ministry is over, but His ministry is not over. He will not be ministering bodily on earth again until He returns to establish His kingdom. But He is ministering. That's what we want to talk about. He is not inactive, He is not simply waiting. The first thing we would note, and I haven't put these in any necessary order and it's not a complete list. It's a list that we can cover within the time that you can endure. So the first thing we would say is He has been exalted to the right hand of the Father. That's crucial because that's the place of honor, a place of authority. It shows He shares the glory, authority and power of His Father. It's a glory He had before He came to this earth. In His high priestly prayer in John 17 He prayed, “Restore to Me the glory I had with You before the world was.” But now it is a glory that is His, having accomplished the work of redemption. He is exalted now to the right hand of the Father.

Turn over to Acts 7, and here is the Gospel of Jesus Christ carried by those who are His followers. Stephen is preaching and he is preaching in the Jewish center. he has been arrested. And they are going to stone him to death. And as he is being stoned, down in verses 55 ff, “being full of the Holy Spirit he gazed intently into heaven.” So he is given a vision of heaven and saw the glory of God, now note this, “and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” He has been exalted to the highest glory, to the highest honor, to the highest authority, to the greatest power. He is at the right hand of God. These Jews who are so opposed to Christ and the message of Him understand that. And they are infuriated and increase their attacks of him. There is a young man there named Saul who is joined in this terrible act, yet is going to, in the next chapter of Acts, experience the life-changing power of the Gospel and become himself a missionary, carrying the truth to the Gentile world.

But you note Jesus Christ has been exalted, He is in heaven. He is not on earth carrying out His ministry. He is present on earth but not walking the earth in His physical body as He once did.

Turn over to Hebrews, we'll look at several verses in Hebrews to make it easier with our time, Hebrews 1. You'll note this follows His work of redemption. Hebrews 1, Christ is the One through whom the Father created the world so He has had supreme power in the work of creation before He ever came to Bethlehem. Then we are told in verse 3, “He is the radiance of His glory,” Christ, God's Son is the radiance of His Father's glory, the exact representation of His nature. “He upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” That exaltation to the right hand of the Father, here emphasizing He sat down because He has offered, as you remember from our study in Hebrews, the one sacrifice that could satisfy the requirements of a holy and just God in paying the penalty for sin. There is no other sacrifice, there is no continuing sacrifice. We move through Hebrews and get to chapter 10, He has offered one sacrifice for all time. There is a finality to it, that's what is pictured. The high priest in the Old Testament, there were no chairs provided for him in that sanctuary, his work was never done.

Now Christ has not stopped working but the sacrifice that had to be made is done. There is no ongoing sacrifice. He has been exalted to the right hand as one who has completed the work. He had made purification of sins. We need to understand this, there is a finality to this. That's the difference between “Protestantism” and Catholicism—Catholicism has an ongoing sacrifice because they believe that because sin is ongoing there must be some sacrifice for sin that is ongoing. So we have the sacrifice of the mass. Most Protestants end up with their own version. You have to believe in Christ, but you go to church, you do good works, you do this, you try to keep it going and keep it complete or make it complete, whatever. All that is a corruption. You see signs that crop up everywhere, Jesus I Trust You, the Roman Catholics put out. There is great truth in that, but it is also a lie because they don't believe the work is done. That's why the Council of Trent said anyone who says that you are saved by faith alone is cursed to hell. That is a condemning doctrine. So crucial here.

He has been exalted to the right hand of the Father, the work of providing purification from sin is done. He is in the position of honor, power and authority.

Come over to Hebrews 8:1, “Now the main point of what has been said is this, we have such a high priest.” The end of Hebrews 7:28, “a Son made perfect forever,” this is our “high priest who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” And He continues His ministry in the sanctuary in heaven itself. We'll talk about that in a moment.

Come over to Hebrews 10:12, a verse I referred to. In contrast to Old Testament saints who had to be replaced because of death, verse 11. Verse 12, “He having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time.” How can anybody be confused? This is one sacrifice for sin for all time. We'll talk about that ongoing application shortly. He sat down at the right hand of the Father. That's it. It's the place of intimacy, honor. It indicates what He has done is accepted by God the Father Himself. He is in the position now with the Father in authority, in power, in glory.

Just turn over a few pages to 1 Peter, we just studied 1 Peter together. Look at 1 Peter 3:22 and we have a long sentence here but the end of verse 21 refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Verse 22, “who is at the right hand of God,” now note this, “having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.” You'll note it indicates something of His power and authority. Now He is the One who created these powers and authority, these angels. Colossians 1 talks about that as does John 1. But now He has been exalted as the God who has accomplished redemption by His sacrifice. He has, if you will, provided the remedy for sin and He has been exalted over all powers and all authority. So being at the right hand of God is not just a place to be until He comes again. He is exercising authority in the Spirit world and in the physical world in conjunction with the Father and with the Holy Spirit.

Come to Ephesians 1 and we'll transition to our next point. Out of Ephesians we'll just limit here. Ephesians 1, he talks about in verse 20, and this is another one of Paul's long sentences talking about this working of the strength of His might. Verse 20, “which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, every name that is named not only in this age but in the one to come.” You see the exaltation of the right hand of the Father indicates He is in complete power and authority and control. The beauty of that. As God He always had that. We can praise God that He has that now as the One who has provided the one sacrifice for all time. There is redemption for fallen humanity, He is now working His sovereign power and authority over the angelic realm and the human realm to bring about the ultimate redemption of His creation.

And so we oughtn't to think He is just up there waiting for the Second Coming. He is in sovereign authority, power, at work in the world with the Father and the Spirit to accomplish His purposes. So being exalted to the right hand of God demonstrates as we are looking at this point, His power, His glory, His authority, His ongoing working as the redeeming God over all powers.

In this same context, and it's a second point that we're going to make, as a result of His resurrection and ascension He is presently functioning as Head of the church. The church did not exist during Christ's earthly ministry, it was only referred to on a couple of occasions. He promised He would build His church, the church didn't begin, as we've noted, until Acts 2. The ascension to Christ, marking the end of His bodily ministry on earth, Acts 2 was the beginning of the church. A new entity is brought into existence, the church, and He has been made the Head of the church.

So we are in Ephesians 1, we read verses 20-21, look at verse 22. “And He put all things in subjection under His feet,” see that absolute authority of Christ, “and gave Him as head over all things to the church which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Christ has been exalted and now the church is formed, comprised of those who place their faith in Him. They become His spiritual body and He is the Head of the church. And that picture just like in our physical body, the physical body is controlled by the head, the decisions are made here, directions are given. That's the picture of Christ. This is the group that He purchased with His own blood, Acts 20 talks about. Now He is Head of that, that's what He is doing now. He is functioning in authority over the church, directing, controlling, moving. He is not only in authority over the world, over the spirit world, the physical world, particularly His spiritual ministry carried out in the context of His people, the church. There is a new entity, distinct from the nation Israel. There were believers in the nation Israel, some of those like Peter and Paul are going to come out of the nation Israel and become part of the church. This is a new entity, He is Head over the church.

In Ephesians 2:14, “For He Himself is our peace.” Verse 13 says, “You who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Talking about how Gentiles now have been included in the saving plan of God. There have been Gentiles saved before but they were isolated occasions, if you will. Now there is a mass move in the plan of God for the salvation of Gentiles to comprise the church. “For He Himself is our peace who made both into one,” Jew and Gentile, “broke down the dividing wall, abolished the enmity,” that went along with the Mosaic Law which required you to be a Jew or convert to Judaism, “so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross.” That's the body he talked about in Ephesians 1:23 of which He is the Head and is now all nationalities are brought together, particularly Jews and Gentiles alike to make up one body over which He is the Head.

Come over to Ephesians 4. Again based upon His coming to earth, suffering, dying, being raised and ascended to heaven, verse 7, “each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.” Then you have the quote from Psalm 18, then you come to verse 9. “Now this expression He ascended, what does it mean, that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth.” What he is talking about, God left heaven, came to earth, was born into the human race and then by His death paid the penalty for sin. Was raised from the dead, He ascended. “He who descended,” verse 10, “is Himself who also ascended.” Then He gave these gifts, that picks up verse 7. “To each one grace was given according to the measure,” these are the gifts of God's grace to every believer, every part of His spiritual body so we can function as we should. When a newborn baby is born into the human race, you just don't get a pile of parts that come out and then you just see what happens. They all come out with a designated place. This is what God is doing with us spiritually, He has placed us into the body and gifted us to make a contribution so that Christ is the Head and has all the parts like the hand, the fingers, the arms and so on. All function as the head directs. Do you know what happens when there is a breakdown in my arm? For example if you have a stroke, what happens? All of a sudden my arm no longer taking instructions from my head. It won't move, it won't go.

One time I had a couple of TIAs they called them, transient ischemic attacks, my hand quit, it just turned like a piece of wood. I tried to grab . . ., I couldn't do anything. My head is telling the hand, do this. Not doing anything, listen. There is a breakdown. In Christ's body He is the Head, as long as we are all doing everything He tells us the way He tells us, everything just functions smoothly. That's the picture that happened with His resurrection. He is functioning as the Head of the church today and the church's manifestation in the world is local churches, as we have studied on a number of occasions. So we are all in submission to Him. I'm not the head, you are not the head, He is the Head. So we submit ourselves to Him and the body functions.

And what is happening? Continue on in Ephesians 4, “These gifts,” verse 12, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, the measure of the stature belongs to Christ.” That means we are no longer immature like children, always getting blown about, caught up in this and that. Verse 15, “But speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every part supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” That's the maturing. As each of us individually functions in obedience to Christ the Head, together we mature. That's the way a baby grows and develops. The picture spiritually is clear. You cease functioning as the head. That's ongoing today because we are not done, we are not perfected yet. That work of Christ is still going on, that's why we struggle. It's an ongoing work. We are maturing. Christ is at work.

You come over to Ephesians 5, limiting ourselves to Ephesians with this, and he uses the analogy of marriage and husband and wife picture something of the relationship of Christ and the church. And the husband is to function as the head, functioning in love and his care for his wife, the wife is like the church, functioning in submission to her husband. And so on. And so you have verse 24, “As the church is subject to Christ, so wives to their husbands in everything.” What we are to do as the church is to be subject to Christ in everything. That's how we are to function. That's what He is doing today. As we as His body function here, not just when we gather for worship but as we carry out our ministry together, the body of Christ. It is so crucial that we be obedient to Him, otherwise we will fracture. The body will stop functioning, the hand won't do what it is told. Now when the hand doesn't do what it is told, the rest of the body is impacted. It begins to that extent to suffer. And we see that with different kinds of physical problems that come, there is a breakdown.

Christ is at work today. It's ongoing work. How many local churches, leading local churches are there in the world? And He is the Head of the church, the corporate, but each individual entity then that functions as a manifestation of that corporate body, He is also the Head of. I mean, you just can't have a head out there and then all of these parts are on their own. So it's an ongoing work He has that we are part of that work.

So He loves us. Verse 29, “No one ever hated his own flesh, nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ also the church because we are members of His body.” He's picking up the point here that we are dealing with. That's what He is doing, He is nourishing us, He is cherishing us through the exercising of the gifts, through each part functioning as it should. We are being nourished, developed, becoming more like Him, growing up to the Head, becoming more like He intends us to be, individually and corporately. So He has absolute authority over all, He also has specific authority over the church, His body.

He is also at work today functioning as high priest. This is absolutely essential, this is the area that is so misunderstood. He is a functioning high priest today. We don't want to just look back and say that's what He did and that was the end and now we wait for future glory. He is a functioning high priest today.

Come back to John 13. This is Jesus' last night with His disciples, His last time with them, He is preparing them for His departure. And they are here at the feast, they are having supper. Verse 4, “He got up from supper, laid aside His garments, taking a towel He girded Himself.” He laid aside that outer robe and puts the slave's thing around His waist so He would be prepared to wash their feet. “He poured water into a basin and began to wipe their feet with a towel. He came to Simon Peter,” verse 6, Peter is appalled. This is the work of the servants, the slaves. You are not going to wash my feet, you know how he puts it. “Lord, do you wash my feet?” The Lord doesn't wash the slave's feet. “Jesus answered him, what I do, you do not realize now, you will understand later.” Peter is not done, this isn't going to happen. “Never shall you wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” I just love the way Peter can change, turn on a dime. He goes from, Lord, you will never wash my feet to “Lord, wash not only my feet but my hands and my head.” If it's a matter of belonging to you and this is essential, let's not just do the feet, let's do all of me.

Jesus explains to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet but is completely clean and you are clean.” Then He said not all of you because He knew Judas was an unbeliever. But you note what He tells Peter and the others there with the exception of Judas, You are clean but you need the ongoing washing of your feet. What is He picturing? He is picturing the fact that even though these have believed in Him and been cleansed, it doesn't mean they never sin. And they will be defiled by their sin. Before this night is over Peter is going to deny the Lord three times, He is going to sin seriously. He's going to need his feet washed, he's going to need that daily cleansing, the picture here. It hasn't so totally defiled him that he is lost again. That's the point. You have received the bath but there is defilement that comes to you in the world from sin.

Come over to 1 John 1, this is pictured here. Verse 5 says, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” The first four verses talked about the fact He wants to have fellowship with them and His fellowship is with God. So if they have a relationship with God, they will have a relationship with each other because we're all members of God's family, we'll be members of Christ's body, that same kind of picture. So God is light, there is no darkness in Him. So if you say you have fellowship with God, you are in a relationship with God and you walk in darkness, you are a liar. You have no relationship with God. “But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” This is talking about the same thing we just read about in John 13 with the foot washing. Some get this all flubbed up. We start talking about judicial fellowship and parental fellowship. Let's stay clear, God is light, there is no darkness in Him. And if you claim to be in relationship with God, have a relationship with Him and you are living in darkness, you don't have a relationship with Him. So if you say you do, you lie. If you walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, so that must mean you don't sin. No, it's not what that means. How do I know? I have insight, I'm the pastor and I read the next part of the verse.

“If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son,” present tense, “keeps on cleansing us from all sin.” Walking in the light doesn't mean you never sin, it means that you have placed your faith in Christ, you have experienced that bathing cleansing. As Christ referred to it in John 13, you have been bathed, you have had the bath, that cleansing from sin, its defilement and guilt. Now going through life as God's child you are in fellowship with God, you are also in fellowship with other believers. His blood keeps on cleansing you from all sin. Doesn't mean you never sin again or if you do sin you are now back in the darkness. You are walking in the light because God is light and you are being cleansed from your sin, that's Jesus' picture with the washing of the feet. If you deny the reality of your sin, you deceive yourself. You deny you are a sinner or you deny that you sin, verse 10, you don't belong to Him. Verse 9, “If we are confessing our sins,” this is not as it is sometimes called the Christian's bar of soap that when you sin this is how you get cleansed. I don't have any problem with believers going and talking to God and acknowledging to Him their sin and guilt, but my forgiveness is not dependent on that. What he is talking about here is Christians are those who are in agreement with God about sin. Do you know what? Even when I sin, I still agree with God that it is sin; the unbeliever sins and denies that it is sin. When the believer sins, he knows it is sin. That's why it is hard for a believer to enjoy sin in the same way that the unbeliever does. Not saying there is not pleasure in sin.

I've shared with you the testimony of one person who was disciplined here along with some others. And when they came back to be restored, they said I think I'm the only one who was truly a believer. Not sitting in judgment. Why would you say that? They were happy and satisfied to go on in their sin, I was miserable every day, I was not happy in my sin. That's the difference. When you sin, if you lie to someone as a believer, you know that was sin, you know it was contrary to God's will for you. You may have done it because it was convenient, there was a certain advantage to doing it at the time, or any other sin, but we agree with God about sin.

So we are confessing our sin, agreeing with God about our sin, He is faithful and righteous to have forgiven us and to have cleansed us. And the change here, maybe some of you will take Duane's class on some basic foundational Greek that helps you appreciate some of this—the present tense and the aorist tense. Those who are agreeing with God about sin are those who have been cleansed. That's why we can't make any progress with the world. They keep redefining what is acceptable behavior. But for us as believers we know it is sin. Doesn't matter if 99.99% of the people vote to approve it, it is still sin because God said it is sin and we have that recognition of it. We are those who agree with God about sin. We forget that the cleansing that comes from Christ, we think the world ought to agree with us about sin. We as believers agree about sin, we can't get the world to agree. That's why we present the Gospel to them so maybe, by God's grace, they will come to believe in Him and then they will see themselves as so defiled by sin and in need of the Savior. In order to do that, what standard do they have of right and wrong? It just keeps changing and now if you don't change with them you have some irrational fear of something. It's just sin.

This is an aside. We were in Colorado while I was off and they had an editorial in the paper. A professor from the University wrote a column, I should have clipped it out. He was declaring himself a certain kind of animal, little animal. He says it is not very well known and so I don't even remember the name. And I identify with that animal and I think of myself as that. And then he had the technical term for people who identify themselves mentally with animals, like the leopard man they had on TV one time and he got tattoos and identified himself as a leopard. Had bumps put under his skin, tattoos, holes in his cheeks so he could put whiskers in. Well he identified himself with that and he is going on in this whole thing and it showed how ridiculous the idea. This is what I am. Of course I don't expect to pay taxes because we, whatever the animal was, don't pay taxes, we're not subject to those kinds of rules. And all the things he could do now because this is how he sees himself. And nobody should tell me I'm not or you are a, and he put whatever, a “zoophobic”, or something like that. It was ridiculous, even an unbeliever can see some of it. But that's where we go.

But we agree with God. You come into 1 John 2, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” Just like you tell your children, you tell them what not to do, what to do so they don't do wrong things and they do right things. But they still do wrong things, they still don't do some of the right things they should. Well John is writing so believers will take seriously this matter. You know when you sin, you never leave the light. We have been transferred from darkness to light, we live in the light. We don't have to think when we sin we flip the switch and now we are in the dark. We are in the full light of the presence of Almighty God, the light couldn't shine any brighter, the angels of heaven and the demons of hell are looking. And worse than that Almighty God. I am walking in fellowship and when I sin, it's terrible.

“If anyone sins,” he is writing so you won't sin, but when you do “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins.” That's why back in 1 John 1:7, “His blood keeps on cleansing us” because He has propitiated so that the wrath of God is turned away from us. He is our advocate, same word we have paraclete for the Holy Spirit in John's Gospel, the other comforter. So He is the One who comes to act on our behalf, our representative. And this happens because His high priestly ministry continues.

Come back to Romans 8, we'll have to leave it at this point, we weren't going to get through every point that could be covered anyway. Romans 8, there are two verses in the New Testament that say Jesus intercedes for us. So you might as well fix them in your mind and then you can tell somebody, I know all the verses in the New Testament that talk about Jesus interceding. Here is one of them, Romans 8, and this is in the context of what God has done for us in the finished work of Christ. But verse 34, “Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, who rather was raised, who is at the right hand of God,” there He is again, in the position of highest honor, authority, “who also intercedes for us.” That's why no one can condemn us. Remember 1 John 2:2? “He is the propitiation for our sins.” This is I believed in Him, His finished work has been applied to my account, I am brought under His protection, if you will. God's wrath was poured out on Him and now that has been credited to my account. So who can condemn me? Who can separate me from the love of Christ? Nothing. He intercedes for us, that high priestly ministry of His goes on.

Come over to Hebrews 7:25, and this is in the context He holds His priesthood permanently, and again that stress, He is a priest forever. But look at verse 25, “Since He holds His priesthood permanently, therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Do you know why you are cleansed from your sin today, when you have that evil thought, when you say that wrong word, and we all stumble in many ways, especially with the tongue. Because He ever lives to make intercession for us. We talk about the work of Christ, we say yes, He died on the cross, He was raised from the dead. Praise the Lord for that, but praise the Lord that that's a work that has an effect that continues. There does not need to be a new sacrifice. That one sacrifice was good for all time and so that bath that I received and that cleansing provided for me to receive the daily cleansing I need. And I need it daily, as you do from the defilement of sin. It's ongoing.

Come back to Hebrews 4:14, “Therefore since we have a great high priest who is passed through the heavens.” You'll note we have Him, He is our high priest, He is in heaven. “Let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but one who has been tested or tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore we draw near with confidence to the throne of grace to find the mercy and grace we need in time of need.” He is there for us, He represents us, He acts on our behalf, He is our advocate, He is our intercessor. I don't have to do any work. We'll I sinned, I'll have to do penance. I tell God, I'll never do it again and right away I start out with a lie. Lord, I should have told the truth, I'll never lie again. I mean, you know that's a lie. The cleansing, we have to have it. That doesn't excuse sin, doesn't make light of it. That's what John said, I write so you won't sin. You realize you never have to sin, He set you free. He now indwells you, empowers you.

Down in Hebrews 5:5, verse 6 for time, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Verse 9, “Having been made perfect He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” He is eternal because He is eternal and the perfect high priest who has offered the perfect sacrifice that brings cleansing eternally. That's going on. You know the salvation that cleansed me from all the sins I committed up to that point wouldn't have helped me one bit. Do you know why? I sin every day one way or another, I fail to do what I should have done, or I do what I shouldn't have. If it weren't for the ongoing work of Christ I would be lost and you would be lost because you understand if there are any sins that aren't covered and taken care of by that once for all sacrifice, there is nothing you can do. People fail to understand and appreciate, and even believers fail to appreciate the wonder of Christ's present work.

There is more that could be said with his high priestly ministry. We have been made priests, we've been made a kingdom of priests, He says in Revelation 1, Revelation 5, Revelation 20. He talks about our sacrifices in Hebrews 13. And do you know what? We can't go here, He comes and dwells in us. Christ promised to abide in us. He said the Father would abide in us, he said the Spirit would abide in us. Be careful you don't wash out the distinctions between the persons that comprise the one true and living God. God the Son is not God the Spirit; God the Son is not God the Father. So when God the Son says I will come and dwell within you, that means He will come. “Christ in you the hope of glory,” Colossians 1:27. Well, that means the Holy Spirit. No, Christ is not the Holy Spirit; Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Father comprise the one true God, but they are distinct persons.

So He is presently indwelling you, enabling power is focused on the ministry of the Spirit today but it is because of the present work of Christ, his sovereignty over all things, His being Head over the church, His constant high priestly ministry that provides for our daily cleansing. All of that ongoing ministry that reminds us of the preciousness of our salvation, the privileged position we have.

Let's pray together. Thank You Lord, for a salvation so rich. Lord, no matter how much we study and examine, we just scratch the surface of all that You have done for us in Christ, all You have provided for us in Him. Lord, all that we enjoy day by day every day because He is at work. And Lord, all in preparing us for a glory that will never end. Thank You for so great salvation. We pray in Christ's name, amen.