Book of Hebrews - Ch. 5, Vs. 1-14 (03/14/2021)

Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews, dwelt extensively with angels, supernatural creatures.

And he offered that the Messiah was greater than any of the angels.

What he didn't say so clearly was, in some sense, so are we.

But in any case, every high priest is taken from among men, not from among angels, and ordained.

Now, what ordained means is that he is assigned the task. In this case, being the high priest, he is assigned the task of overseeing all sacrifices.

And in fact, every priest that offers sacrifices is taken from among men.

Now, John MacArthur, in his commentary, said this. No angel with supernatural powers could serve as high priest.

Only men with the weaknesses of humanity could serve as high priest.

If we look ahead into chapter seven, verse 28, it will say this.

For the law make of men high priest, which have infirmity. But the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the son who is consecrated forevermore.

Now, the word consecrated is from the

Greek, teleio, which means to carry through completely to the end, or to accomplish the thing, or to finish and bring it to an end.

Bring what to an end? The position of high priest. Jesus Christ will be and is the last high priest.

Now, the position of high priest in the Levitical system was by appointment only.

This is MacArthur again. No man could legitimately appoint himself high priest.

And further, the use of the present tense in these verses would seem to indicate that the

Levitical system was still being practiced at the time of this epistle.

And it was apparent that some of the Hebrews to whom this letter was addressed were reluctant to let go of the

Levitical system and cling to the gospel message. And cling to Christ.

So now we're at the verse two. Who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way?

For that he himself is also compassed with infirmity.

Now, John MacArthur had this to say about the word compassion. This verb occurs only here in the

New Testament. It carries the idea of a controlled but gentle attitude in the treatment of those who are spiritually ignorant and wayward.

Such moderation and gentleness comes from realizing one's own human frailty.

The priest would be reminded of his own sinful humanity every time he offered sacrifices for his own sins.

Verse five, verse three. And by reason hereof, he ought as for the people so also for himself offer sins.

Before the high priest, or in fact before any priest, could offer sacrifices for the people, he had to first offer sacrifices for himself.

Verse four. And Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but he that said unto him, thou art my son, today have

I begotten thee. So who selected Jesus to be the final high priest?

The same man that said about Jesus earlier, thou art my son.

Today, I have begotten thee. The high priest was selected and called by God for service.

And that applies to all high priests. From Melchizedek, through Aaron, through all the

Levitical priests, and even through and to Jesus Christ himself.

We're gonna look at the selection and the call to service of one of the high priest,

Samuel. In 1 Samuel chapter 16, verse one.

The Lord calls unto Samuel. And the

Lord said unto Samuel, how long wilt thou mourn for Saul? Saying, I have rejected him from reigning over Israel.

Fill thine horn with oil and go. And I will send thee to Jesse, the

Bethlehemite. For I have provided me a king among his sons.

So God told Samuel to go to Jesse's house.

And there he will show him one of his sons to be anointed as the king to replace

Saul. And Samuel said, how can I go?

If Saul hear it, he will kill me. You always wonder about these people.

Samuel had all the dillies he had with the Lord and he's afraid of Saul. But isn't that like a

Saul? We have all of the dillies that we have with the Lord and we're afraid of the other things, the things that really can't touch us.

And the Lord said, take a heifer with thee and say, I am come to sacrifice to the

Lord. That's an answer to Samuel's question, how can I go? If Saul hear it, he will kill me.

And the Lord said, take a heifer with thee and say, I'm come to sacrifice to the Lord and call

Jesse to the sacrifice. And I will show thee what thou shall do. And thou shall anoint unto him, unto me, him whose name

I name unto you. So he is not telling Samuel right now who's going to be anointed king.

He knows, Jesse doesn't know, Samuel doesn't know, only

God knows, not even David knows. Call Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show thee what thou shall do.

And thou shall anoint unto me, him whom I name unto thee.

And Samuel did that which the Lord spake and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, comest thou peaceably?

And he said, peaceably. And he said, peaceably. I am come to sacrifice unto the

Lord. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.

And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and he called them to the sacrifice.

And you know the rest of the story. They brought in all the likely sons and presented them all before Samuel.

And for each one that they presented to Samuel, Samuel was excited from the first one on down.

And the Lord said, that's not the one. Got all the way through all the ones that were there and were sanctified.

And Samuel said, do you have any more sons? And Jesse said, just the younger one, just the one that's out in the field tending the sheep.

And so Samuel said, go fetch him. They brought him back and sure enough, it was

Samuel. I'm sorry, it was David the younger. So we have a situation where a king is anointed by the high priest.

And I got another question. When did David become in God's eyes the king?

I'm sorry, at the anointing or maybe even before it.

Probably even as early as when he called Samuel and said, quit worrying about Saul.

I've got a new king in mind. That's when he knew. I'm sorry.

Well, so you're saying maybe from the beginning of time or even before the beginning of time.

I think I would say that, even before the beginning of time. But when did

David know? At the anointing. At the anointing. And when did

David take over and actually serve as king? Early years.

A good number of years later. All the time, knowing that he was anointed to be the king.

But he served anyhow because it wasn't time for him to take over the operation of the country.

It was time for him to be king. He was king in God's eyes from the time he was born.

He was, in fact, the first king that the Lord had in his mind for Israel.

He didn't have Saul in mind. Saul was a choice of the people. Now, he didn't interfere with it and he knew it was gonna happen, but his first king for Israel was to be

Saul. King David. Now, verses five and six will allude to two of the offices of the

Messiah. Now, the Messiah is the anointed one. Now, what offices do you have to be anointed in order to be priest and king?

The king had to be anointed and he had to be anointed king. The priest had to be anointed and he had to be anointed a priest.

Now, verse four has already quoted Psalms two. I'm gonna read the verse four and I'm going to highlight the quote from verse two.

Verse four, and Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest, but he that said unto him, thou art my son.

Today, I have begotten thee. And we already talked about that. That's God the father naming

Jesus as his only begotten son, naming him as his son.

So now we have the Messiah in all three of the roles to which

God appointed him. That a son, he was appointed son, priest, and king.

And so now we're to verse five. So Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest.

Now, what did that say? Christ did not appoint himself high priest. Who appointed him?

God the father, the same God that told Jesus, this is my son, thou art my son.

Today, I have begotten thee. The father appointed

Christ as high priest. But he said unto him, thou art my son.

Today, have I begotten thee. And then verse six, as he saith also in another place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Now that's a little bit different. Melchizedek was the king of Salem.

That was Bethlehem, I'm sorry, that was Jerusalem before Jerusalem was called

Jerusalem, the king of Salem. And he was the priest of the most high

God. And he ruled and was priest at the time of Abraham.

So what was Melchizedek? Melchizedek was a king and a priest.

And he is also going to be a model or a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, who will also be a priest and a king.

Any other priest and kings that you know about? Any other priest and king wannabes?

He did. And that's why the Lord said, he's out, no longer him, he is no longer king, you can't be king and priest, except Melchizedek was.

Yeah, but he was the one type. He was the one type, the one model of the one real priest king.

And there's one thing that Melchizedek was not. What was Melchizedek not?

That Jesus was. Jesus was the son of God and the king of the universe and the high priest forever.

Remember, Melchizedek was not the son of God. He was the king of Salem and he was high priest and he was forever in this sense.

No one knows what became of Melchizedek. So there's no record of his ending of his kingship or his priesthoodship,

I guess is what you would say. But - Aaron was the first Levitical high priest, right?

I'm sorry? Aaron was the very first Levite high priest, right?

Yes, Aaron was the first high priest under the law.

And so it's just so interesting that that's the case, but Melchizedek is the one that Jesus is modeled after, or by first of all, his being his priest king.

Right, and he was before the law. It's just so interesting to me because the

Jews probably look at Aaron, or look at the high priest under the law as -

As the first high priest being Aaron under the law. And then there was an insurgency and the people cried and rebelled against God's appointed ones,

Moses and Aaron. And that led to disaster. But in any case, this is years later.

This is Moses. Moses is years later than Melchizedek.

You had Abraham, you had all of Abraham's sons, you had Jacob, you had Joseph, you had them into Egypt, and you had time in Egypt, and you had the coming out, the

Exodus. And after the Exodus was the law. So the law was not given until Moses received it on the mountain.

So Jesus was modeled after someone that was - Before - Even more than before, like probably 600 years before the law ever existed, unless he was a

Gentile. Even more years than that, but yes, it's a long time before. I think there were 400 years in Egypt, weren't there?

400 and then see how - And how many it took to get from Abraham to Joseph to Egypt, and then 400 more.

So I would say maybe 600 years, but that's just a guess. I haven't plotted that down.

Well, I went back to Genesis 14, starting at verse 18, and read the story of Melchizedek, the king of Salem.

When he met Abraham, after Abraham and his household servants went out and destroyed the kings of the valley and came back with victory.

So he comes back and he comes to Salem, and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the most high

God. So there you got it in one verse. King of Salem and priest of the most high

God. And he, that would be Melchizedek, blessed

Abraham, and said, blessed be

Abraham of the most high God, possessor of the heaven and the earth.

I read that the first time and I thought he was talking about Abraham being the possessor of the heaven and the earth.

I said, no, he was never the possessor of heaven and he wasn't really even the possessor of the land that he had.

So that couldn't be Abraham that he's talking about. Who is the possessor of heaven and earth?

The most high God. The most high God. It's the most high God that possesses heaven and the earth.

And then Melchizedek blessed the most high God, which had delivered thine enemies into thy hands.

And he gave him tithes of all. That's also a little awkward.

So Melchizedek has now blessed Abraham and now he's blessed the most high

God. And he said, the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hands.

And then, and he gave him tithes of all. Now, who gave tithes to whom?

It seems like it should be Abraham giving tithes to the king and the most high priest.

It was Abraham that gave tithes to the king and the most high priest. So who was of higher rank?

Abraham or Melchizedek? Melchizedek.

Melchizedek received the tithes from Abraham. So from Abraham, yes.

And so Melchizedek was of a higher rank than Abraham. And he was also a higher rank than Abraham, even after Abraham got the spirit of the

Lord in him, the hand part. So Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but he that said unto him, thou art my son.

Today have I begotten thee. And as he said also in another place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Okay, so what's happening here? The writer of Hebrews recognizes, first of all, from his understanding of Psalms two, that Jesus is the son of God, that Jesus is the king of all creation, and that Jesus is the high priest.

Not only the high priest, but the last high priest and all three of these roles, the son of God, the king of all creation, not just Jerusalem, not just the

Middle East, but all creation, including the stars and the moon and the heavenly beings, everything that was created,

God is king of, and he is the high priest. And all three of these roles will be his.

I said forever, but what I really meant was, as long as there's time,

Jesus will be the son of God, the king of all creation, and the last high priest, and the only high priest we'll ever need.

There'll come a time, I believe, when all is put back together, and everything will be back in one, and we will be there with the

Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, us, and all the angels in one.

But in any case, we'll go on. Verse seven, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared.

Now, who's that talking about? In the days of his flesh.

It could be talking about anybody. If you just said in the days of his flesh, it could have been talking about anybody, because all of us existed prior to our birth and will exist after our birth.

We'll have a time when we're in our flesh. But this particular passage is referring to Jesus.

In the time of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying.

When did that happen? In the garden of Gethsemane. And tears unto him that was able to save him from death.

Who is he offering up the tears and the supplications to? God the Father. God the

Father, who was able to save him from the death. I've got a question. Did he save him from the death?

No. The next part of the verse says though, and was heard in that he feared.

What did that mean? And was heard? Well, a couple of things.

The Lord is going to give, God is going to give Jesus power and strength to go through this ordeal that will lead to his death.

That is to be heard also. The also, also the thing that was heard is his request to be resurrected.

We'll get to that in a minute. It's clear that this refers back to Christ.

In Gethsemane, Jesus agonized, but committed himself to do the

Father's will in accepting the cup of suffering, which would bring his death.

So God was able to save him from death, but he didn't save him from death because it was already laid out that that would not happen.

So Jesus agonized, but committed himself to do the Father's will in accepting the cup of suffering, which would bring his death.

I went back to Matthew 26 and read the passage dealing with Jesus and some of his disciples in the garden.

This is Jesus talking to some of his disciples. Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.

Tarry here and watch. Tarry here and watch with me.

And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. So what did he say?

If it's possible, let me not die. But if that's not possible,

I will do as you wish me to do. And then he come unto the disciples and finding them asleep, he saith unto

Peter. Peter was the spokesman and Jesus is speaking to the spokesman. What, could you not watch with me one hour?

Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

I want to read that one more time and stress something that I don't think I ever stressed before and we've been through this a dozen times.

What is Jesus worried about right now? He came back and he saw them asleep, not praying.

So what did he say? He said, what, could you not watch with me one hour?

Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. Is he worried about his death on the cross?

He is already committed to that. He's worried about them and the temptation that they're going to face and the temptation that in spite of the fact that Peter attempted to take on the whole army by himself and in fact cut off the ear of one of the soldiers and swore that he would go with him even to the cross, didn't, ran and scattered like all the rest.

Why did they not have the strength to do? Because they didn't stay awake and pray, but they went to sleep.

He's worried about them. He's facing death in just a few hours, death on the cross.

He's facing God's separation from him, something that has never happened in all of time and even before time.

It has never happened ever before and he's facing that separation. And he's not worried about that, he's worried about them.

And he says, the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.

He knows that they're not gonna succeed. Verse 42, and he went away again the second time and prayed saying, oh my father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, that will be done.

And he came and found them asleep again. For their eyes were heavy. Now, you notice he didn't say anything about him waking them this time.

He just came and found them still asleep. And he left them and went away again and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

Then he cometh to his disciples and saith unto them, sleep on now and take your rest.

Behold, the time is at hand. And the son of man is betrayed into the hands of the sinners.

And so then he says this, rise, let us be going. Behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

Anticipating bearing the burden of the judgment of sins, Jesus felt this, in Isaiah 53, who hath believed our report?

And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall go up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground.

He hath no form or comeliness that when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows, acquainted with greed, and we hid as it were our faces from him.

Surely he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgression.

He was bruised for our iniquities. And the chastisement of our peace was upon him.

And with his strikes, we are healed. Now he's talking about Jesus.

Growing up as a root in dry soil before God. A man rejected by the people.

He knows he's gonna be rejected. Jesus had read this verse. Jesus knew what was going to happen.

He knew that he was going to be stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

He knew he was going to be bruised and he knew it was for our iniquities. And for the chastisement of our peace was upon him.

And with his strikes, are we healed. But Jesus bore that penalty in silence and did not seek to deliver himself from it.

Could he have? He could have, but had he done that, there would be no pathway for us.

So he suffered our sins, paid our price so that he could exchange his righteousness for our unrighteousness.

Isaiah 53, seven goes on to say, he was oppressed and he was afflicted.

Yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before shears is done.

So he opened not his mouth. Did he ever cry out? Did Jesus ever cry out?

Well, he did when he was on the cross. He did cry out from the agony of the fury of God's wrath poured on him.

Poured on his perfectly holy and perfectly obedient person. Poured out on him, not because of anything that he had done or anything that he had failed to do, but only for the things that we had done and that we had failed to do.

Matthew 27, verse 46 says, at about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying,

Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthaniah. That is to say, my

God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You know something?

Even when he's on the cross, even when he's crying out to God, why have you forsaken me?

He didn't say, God, why hast thou forsaken me? He didn't say, God, why hast thou forsaken me?

He says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Jesus never forsook the father.

Did the father turn the back on the son? Only when the son was bearing our sins.

He had to turn his back on the son in order to receive the appropriation for our sins.

He doesn't turn his back on the son forever. And one of the things that the

Lord asked was to be saved from remaining in death, not from dying.

He didn't say, save me from dying. I will go to the cross just like you wish for me to do. Well, he already knows this too.

There is a passage in Psalm 16, starting at verse nine, that I'm sure

Jesus had read. And I'm sure that he understood that this

Psalm related to him. Psalm 16, verse nine.

Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope.

This is Christ speaking to God. For thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer that holy one to see corruption.

Thou will show me the path of life in thy presence. In thy presence is the fullest of joy.

At thy right hand, there are pleasures for evermore. So where does

Jesus know he's going to be? Just a few days after the crucifixion.

At the right hand of God. And he will remain there for all time, forevermore.

As long as there's time, he's going to be at the right hand of God. Now, that means he'll be subservient to God, but he'll be the highest.

And that won't be that way after time is over. After time is over, it'll all be brought together.

But that will be after the evermore. Verse eight. See where we're at.

Yeah, we're okay. Though he were a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

This is Hebrews 8, five, verse eight. Though he were a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

Now I've got a couple of questions. First, can Jesus learn anything?

Yes. Do you think he can learn anything? Yes. Yes. You think he can?

He could learn something, but probably not now. Well, that's kind of what I said. What I said was, one answer is, not now.

I like that. Not now. Now he is omniscient.

Yes. Now he knows everything. Now there's nothing left to learn.

But there was a time when he could learn. There was a time when he told his disciples, when they asked when the coming would be, he said, no one knows, not even the

Son of Man. I don't even know. So at that point, there was something he didn't know. Earlier on, at the very first of Luke, we read this.

And Jesus, this is Luke 2, verse 52. This is Jesus with just his child.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature. He grew in wisdom and in size and in favor with God and man.

So there was a time when Jesus could learn, but not now.

Now John MacArthur said this. Christ did not need to suffer in order to conquer or to correct any disobedience.

In his deity, that is, as the Son of God, he understood obedience completely.

As the incarnate Lord, as the Lord on the earth, as a man, as the man

Jesus, he humbled himself in order that he'd be able to learn.

When he was, before he was born, he was omniscient. After his resurrection, the same.

While he was on the earth, he purposefully humbled himself so that he could learn.

He humbled himself to learn. He learned obedience for the same reason he bore temptation.

To confirm his humanity and to experience its suffering to the fullest.

He had to do that in order that he'd be able to stand in for us and pay the penalty for us.

Paul tells us in Philippians two, verse eight, and being found in the fashion of, as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even to death on the cross.

Christ's obedience was also necessary that he could fulfill all righteousness and thus to prove to be the perfect sacrifice to take the place of the sinners.

In first Peter, chapter three, verse 18, Peter tells us this, for Christ also having once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit.

So Christ suffered once for death, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit.

He was the perfect righteous one whose righteousness would be imputed to sinners.

And in Romans 3, 24, it says, being justified freely by his grace and by his righteousness through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom

God has set forth to be the propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God, to declare,

I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus.

So that's to allow God to be just and to be the justifier.

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all that obey him.

Because of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ and his perfect sacrifice for sin, he became the cause of salvation.

True salvation evidences itself in obedience to Christ. From the initial obedience to the gospel command to repent and to believe.

And Peter also tells us this in chapter four, 1 Peter chapter four, for the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God.

And if it first began at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?

And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Wherefore, let them that suffer accordingly to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him in well -doing as unto a faithful creator.

So obedience from the initial obedience to Christ, from the gospel command to repent and believe, to a life pattern of obedience to the word, that's what you are to do.

Romans six, verse 16. Know ye not that to whom you yield your servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.

So now we're at verse 10. Call of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing.

Now, I'm gonna read verse 11 again.

Of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing.

This is a chastisement to many of the people that are reading the letter to the

Hebrews. The Hebrew spiritual laziness and slow response to gospel teaching prevented additional teaching at this time.

This is a reminder that failure to assimilate the truth of the gospel produces stagnation in spiritual advancement and the inability to understand additional teaching.

Jesus alluded to this in John chapter 16 when he says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

You're not ready. You're still learning. You're not ready to receive all the things that you'll receive.

They'll get a lot more information later. And so will these Hebrews if indeed they belong to the

Lord. If they indeed are not just hanging along. Such a situation also exists among the

Gentiles who have received revelatory truth.

That is nature and general revelation from God from the creation. If you just look around and see the creation, you must know that there is a

God. And if you know there's a God and you search after that God, he will give you more information.

But if you don't, then he won't. So such a situation also exists among the

Gentiles who have received revelatory truth, natural or general revelation from God in the creation.

Romans chapter one, verse 18 starts this way. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which may be not of God is manifest in them for God hath shown it unto them.

So just look around, even the Gentiles, just look around and you'll see there's a God. For the invisible things of him are from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead so that they are without excuse.

That's the Gentiles. Because when they knew God, they glorified him, not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Rejection of that revelation results in the process of hardening of the heart. Now the

Hebrews had even less of an excuse. The Hebrews that the writer of Hebrews is writing this letter to had even less of an excuse.

They had not only received the same general revelation the Gentiles had, but they received extra special revelation as well.

They had the Old Testament scriptures. They had the Messiah himself. They had the teaching of the apostles.

They had all of this. And then in Hebrews, the writer says this, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

Which at the first began to be spoken by God and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.

God also bearing them witness with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts with the

Holy Ghost, according to his own will. Until the Hebrews obeyed the revelation they'd received and obtained eternal salvation, additional teaching about the

Messiah's priesthood would be of no profit to them. He goes on to say in verse 12, for when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which is the first principles of the oracles of God and have become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat.

At the time they should have been teachers, these Hebrews were still in the need of being taught the fundamentals of the gospel.

For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

The Hebrews had been exposed to the gospel long enough to be teaching it to others, but they were babies, too infantile and too unskilled to comprehend, let alone to teach the truth of God.

Verse 14, but strong meat belongeth to them that are at full age, even to those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

And I'm gonna read that one last time. Even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

When you are given some knowledge and you utilize it, the

Lord will give you more. And that's the end of chapter five of Hebrews.

Any comments or questions? And we're running, I think, out of time. So I'll just close with a prayer.

Most gracious heavenly father, thank you for this day and thank you for all of your blessings. Keep us, protect us, we love you, we trust you, we obey you.

Go with us through the other services today. Bless us and keep us through them.