(Hebrews) ch.6:16-8:9 — Zac Poonen

Faith, Patience, and Possessing God’s Promises

We are exhorted to follow after people like Abraham, who through faith and patience inherited the promises. It is not only essential that we have faith. Beyond faith we need endurance or a holding on until the promise becomes ours.

There are many wonderful promises that Hebrews opens up to us, and we need to remember these verses concerning each of those promises. One of the main themes of the book of Hebrews is to show how the new covenant established and sealed with the blood of Jesus is far superior to the old covenant given by Moses.

And the new covenant is established upon better promises, but those promises can be obtained only as we possess them by faith and patience. Something like the children of Israel going into the land of Canaan, where God had promised them the whole land, but they could not possess the whole land in one day.

They had to place their foot down on different parts of that land, and God's promise in the Old Testament was, every place where the sole of your foot shall tread I have given to you. And so we could say under that Old Testament, potentially the whole land of Canaan belonged to the Israelites, but it was only that part which they put their foot down upon and possessed which actually became theirs.

The same principle applies under the new covenant, too. Potentially every blessing of the Holy Spirit is ours in Christ Jesus the moment we are saved, the moment we are born again. But actually it is only that which we possess by faith, where we place our foot down and lay hold of and claim as ours, it is only that which actually becomes ours.

So it is possible for a believer to have potentially every blessing of the Spirit in heavenly places in Christ as his, and yet in actual life to live in the enjoyment of very, very few of them. And the reason is he may either lack faith or lack patience.

But if we have faith and patience and we are wholehearted, like it says in verse twelve of chapter six, if we are not slothful, we can possess or inherit the promises by faith and patience. Thus it was with Abraham, in whose footsteps we follow.

God’s Oath and the Strong Encouragement of Hope

And concerning the promise of God, we are told in verse sixteen that men swear by one greater than themselves, and with men an oath given as a confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way, God, desiring even more to show the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed or guaranteed what He had promised with an oath.

It is amazing how God is willing to stoop down to our level and to come down with every encouragement possible to stimulate faith in us so that we can lay hold of His promises. God does not put things upon us without any exercise of faith on our part.

The reason being, we would never grow spiritually if we just began to receive things without any exercise of faith. God calls for an exercise of faith because that prepares us for receiving God's gift, and it enables us to grow spiritually too.

And so though it is true that God makes the sun to rise in the just and the unjust, and He causes the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous, yet when it comes to spiritual blessings, He has kept faith as a necessary condition, unlike material blessings, which He may give freely even to those who have no faith.

When it comes to spiritual blessings, faith is essential, faith and patience. And in order to stimulate faith in us, God comes down to our level with every encouragement. And since among men, when a word is not enough, men use an oath to swear, God comes down to that level.

Although He is a God who cannot lie, He swears with an oath, and that is what He did to Abraham, and that is what He has done to us. And so it says in verse 18, In order that, by two unchangeable things, and what are those two unchangeable things?

One is the word of God. That is unchangeable. Heaven and earth may pass away, but God's word will not pass away. And the other unchangeable thing is the oath. On top of that word, God has promised. It was enough if God had said, but on top of God having said, He promises.

He swears by Himself. Since there is no one greater than Himself, He swears by Himself. And therefore it says, In order that by these two unchangeable things, God's word and God's oath, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us.

So the reason why God has given us these two unchangeable things, His word and His oath, is so that as a result of both of them we may have a strong encouragement, so that those who are weak in faith may also rise up to possess the promises.

And so God has given us not only one unchangeable thing in His word, but His promise or His oath as well, so that we can have a strong encouragement. We who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us.

The encouragement is that we can possess the hope that is set before us. Now what is this hope? We are told in Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 19, that the law made nothing perfect. But on the other hand, there is a bringing in of a better hope, which did give us the hope of becoming perfect.

And through this hope we draw near to God. The law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did. And so there we see what the better hope is. What is this hope set before us? The hope set before us is that here on this earth we can be perfect according to our conscience.

This is made more clear in Hebrews, chapter 9, verse 9, where it says about the Old Testament tabernacle being a symbol for the time then present under the old covenant, according to which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience.

But under the new covenant we can be made perfect in conscience. In Hebrews 10, verse 1, we are told that the law could not make perfect those who draw near, but we, through the one offering of Jesus Christ, have been perfected, he goes on to say, in the rest of that chapter.

Now this is the better hope, that under the new covenant we can be perfect in our conscience and walk as Jesus walked, with a clean conscience. We cannot be like Jesus until we see Him face to face, for we are told in 1 John, chapter 3, verse 2, that when we see Him we shall be like Him.

Not before that, but in 1 John 2, verse 6, we are told that we can walk as He walked. We can have a perfect conscience. What is the basis of our hope for this? What is the basis of our faith? Two unchangeable things, God's word and God's oath under the new covenant.

So there is no excuse for unbelief, there is no need for us to sink down in unbelief and to imagine that we have to live a defeated life under the new covenant. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.

That's God's word and God's promises. He will keep us from falling, so we can enter into that life where we can live a life perfect in our conscience. Let's look today at Hebrews, chapter 6, verse 18 -20.

Victory Over Conscious Sin Under the New Covenant

We are looking at these two unchangeable things, God's word and God's oath, making it impossible for God to lie, so that we can have a strong consolation or strong encouragement as heirs of the promise to lay hold of this hope set before us.

And we saw that the hope was a better hope than under the old covenant, and the hope under the new covenant is that we can live perfect according to our conscience. In other words, that we can live a life of victory over all conscious sin.

This is the distinctive blessing of the new covenant. Under the old covenant, there were those who received forgiveness of sins and who were justified by faith. In Romans, chapter 4, we read that Abraham was justified by faith.

Romans 4, verses 3 -5, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness, and he lived in all testament times. And David, verses 6 -8, speaks about the forgiveness of sins in Psalm 32, and of course in Psalm 103 as well, as we know very well.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgives all your iniquities. And so we find that forgiveness of sins and justification by faith were blessings that people like David and Abraham and others under the old covenant knew and experienced.

Then what is the better hope under the new covenant? It is not just that our sins can be forgiven, not just that we can be justified by faith, but as it says in Romans 6, verse 14, that sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the old covenant, under law, but under the new covenant, under grace.

And so this is the distinctive blessing of the new covenant, that we can come into a life where sin, which exercised such power over us for so many years, no longer has any power over our life, for Jesus sets us free.

Jesus said in John 8, verse 32, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. And he further said in verse 36 of the same chapter, If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

This is the better hope under the new covenant, and it is this hope which God sets before us by his word and by his promise. Sin shall not have dominion over you is a word and a promise of God. He is able to keep you from falling,.

Jude, verse 24, is a word and a promise of God. And we can lay hold upon these promises of God and thereby partake of divine nature and enter into a life of victory. And this hope is set before us, but we cannot possess this hope if we do not have faith and patience.

Here is the promise of God set before us. But we are told in verse 12 that if we are slothful, if we are lazy, we are not going to possess this promise. We have to possess it by faith and patience. First of all, to believe that this promise will be fulfilled in our life.

And secondly, to hold on until it is fulfilled, not to give up. Like Abraham held on until he had his son. This is the central thing that is taught in the New Testament epistles, that you can live a life where the old man is put off and you put on the new man by faith, and thereby all things are new.

And you can have the virtues, the character of Christ reproduced in your life. We are told in verse 19 of Hebrews 6 that this hope is like an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. Now the lives of most Christians is like a ship tossed about by the winds and the storms and the waves, sometimes here, sometimes there, sometimes moved by some strong preacher who preaches one doctrine, another times moved to the other extreme by some preacher who preaches another doctrine.

Christ as the Anchor and Forerunner

What is the solution to this constant drifting from this side to that side and up and down? We need an anchor like a ship in the middle of a storm will drop an anchor so that it does not drift. We need an anchor and it says here that this hope is an anchor of the soul because it is a hope that is sure and steadfast.

It's a certain hope. It's a steadfast hope and it's like an anchor of the soul. And just like the anchor goes into the depths of the sea and you can't see where the anchor has held, but you know that it has held because the ship stops drifting, even though you cannot see where the anchor has held under the waters.

In exactly the same way, the Christian life is a life of faith. We cannot see where the anchor is holding, but we can see the proof of it in the fact that the ship stops drifting, that we stop drifting, we become steady and we are held by God.

The ship doesn't hold itself. It is the anchor dropped into the ground beneath the waters that holds the ship. And we do not hold ourselves. It is the Lord who holds us. We cannot keep ourselves from falling, but the Lord promises to keep us from falling.

And here is the anchor, this hope, this better hope that sin need not have any dominion over us, that we can walk as Jesus walked, that we can be perfect in our conscience, free from committing conscious sin.

And we are further told in verse 19 that this hope goes through the veil. Now the veil is, we are told in Hebrews 10 .20, the flesh. The reason why we cannot have victory over sin, why the law could not lead us into victory over sin, was because of the weakness of the flesh.

We are told that in Romans 8 .3, that what the law could not do, that is, make us perfect, because it was weak because of our flesh. God did. And how did God do it? He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned sin in the flesh.

And so we see that this flesh in us, which prevents us from entering into a life of victory, is what Jesus took upon Himself. Tempted in all points like as we are, He overcame sin and made a way for us.

We are told in Hebrews 10 .20, through this veil, that is, through His flesh, He opened up for us a new and a living way, beyond the veil, into the most holy place. Like in the Old Testament temple, there was a veil, and beyond the veil lay the most holy place.

We are told that Jesus has made a way through the flesh and entered in beyond the veil, Hebrews 6 .20, where the forerunner has entered for us. Jesus is called here our forerunner. A forerunner is one who runs ahead of others who are running in the same race, along the same way.

And we are told here that Jesus has gone ahead of us, paving the way, coming in our flesh, overcoming sin, tempted in all points like as we are, through the flesh, and overcoming, making a way for us to live a life of victory if we follow in His footsteps.

Therefore He is called our forerunner. We need to see Him as Savior, baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and also as our forerunner who leads us beyond the veil of the flesh into this better hope of a life of victory over sin.

Zach Pullen. We turn now to Hebrews 6 .20. We were looking at this better hope that comes under the new covenant, and this hope is something that is like an anchor to our soul, we are told in verse 19.

This is the only thing that will keep you from drifting. If you have this hope of the new covenant as an anchor to your soul, you will be kept from drifting. Not otherwise. This hope of being freed from the power of sin.

And in this matter, Jesus is our forerunner. He is the one who has gone ahead of us and who looks over His shoulder and says to us, follow me, so that we can walk in His footsteps and run in His footsteps the same way that He went, overcoming sin as Jesus overcame in exactly the same way.

This is our encouragement, that Jesus has come in our flesh and has overcome sin. And so there is no need for any of us to be defeated by sin any longer. If we are still defeated by sin, it is either because we have not heard the truth, or we have not understood it, or having heard and understood it, we don't have faith and patience to possess the promise.

Some have faith but no patience. Some have patience but no faith. But when we have both, we can possess the promise, which is that sin shall not have dominion over us, that we shall be kept from falling.

As Jesus did not sin, we need not sin, because we can follow Him who called us, saying, follow me. And so Jesus is our forerunner, and He has entered through the veil. In Hebrews 10, verse 20, it comes out more clearly, that He has made for us a new and living way through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.

Jesus as High Priest and the Opened Way

He has gone through it, and He says to us who are in the flesh today, that we can walk the same way and go through the veil into a life of victory, and go through the veil into the most holy place of the temple, which lay beyond the veil, and there walk in the light of God and have fellowship with Him, and blessed fellowship with the Father and the Son.

And we are told inside the veil, Jesus is our high priest. Under the old covenant, only the high priest could go beyond the veil into the most holy place, and that too once a year. The way was not open for all the others to go through.

It was a tremendous privilege under the old covenant to go into the most holy place beyond the veil and to commune with God, and even the high priest had that privilege only once a year. One man in the whole nation of Israel had this privilege once a year.

Now, that high priest was a symbol or type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true high priest, and He has gone beyond the veil, but the wonderful thing is He has not gone there to come back out again.

He has gone there into the most holy place forever, and He has rent the veil. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom, symbolizing that a way had been made through the flesh of man into the most holy place, and we can now enter in, so that it's not only the high priest who can go in now, but we who walk the same way as the high priest walked can go through the veil into the most holy place and dwell there.

This is the meaning of Hebrews 10, 19, and 20, having their brethren therefore boldness to enter into the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He has opened up for us through the veil that is His flesh.

He is our forerunner, and He is our high priest, and we are all priests under the one high priest. Everyone who comes into the new covenant is a priest of God. God makes us kings and priests. There is no special class of priests in the new covenant.

Every believer is a priest of God. When people make a special category of people as priests, they are going back to the old covenant. Under the new covenant, every believer is a priest. He may not be in full-time Christian work.

He may be in a secular job. He is a priest of God, and there is no special category of priests. There is only one high priest, and all born-again children of God are priests. We must remember this. It is our privilege.

It is our birthright. It is our inheritance, and we should not allow the devil to take it away from us. Jesus is the high priest, and He is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now, Melchizedek, if you will remember, in Genesis chapter 14 and verse 18, was the man who came to Abraham after Abraham had overcome the enemies who took away his nephew Lot from Sodom, and he blessed Abraham, and Abraham gave him tithes, and he was the priest of the most high God, Melchizedek, and he brought forth bread and wine, we read in Genesis 14, verse 18.

And there we see him as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ who comes forth to bless the seed of Abraham and all those who walk in the footsteps of Abraham in faith and patience with bread and wine, which is the symbol of the new covenant.

You remember in the last supper, Jesus took bread and wine, and He said, This cup is the new covenant in My blood. And so Melchizedek in the Old Testament is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in the new covenant who takes forth the bread and wine, symbolizing His own body which was broken and His blood which was poured out for our sins.

Melchizedek and the Superiority of Christ’s Priesthood

And this Melchizedek, we are told in chapter 7, verse 1, is the king of Salem. He was the king of Salem and the priest of the most high God. He was a king and a priest. Now under the old covenant, a man could not be a king and a priest.

If he was a priest, he was not a king. If he was a king, he was not a priest. But there was this one man in the Old Testament, Melchizedek, who was both a king and a priest, and thereby symbolizing the Lord Jesus Christ who was a king and a priest.

And this man who was a king and a priest, we are told in chapter 7, verse 1, met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. And to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation, that is, his name means king of righteousness.

And because he is also the king of Salem, he is called the king of peace. And so we see that Melchizedek, king of Salem, has two meanings, king of righteousness and king of peace. And this is what we read in Psalm 85, verse 10.

Psalm 85, verse 10, we read that righteousness and peace have kissed each other. That took place in the life of Jesus when He died on the cross. And we are told in Romans 14, verse 17, that the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

And we are further told in James 3, verse 18, that the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. In Jesus Christ, there is righteousness and peace. The kingdom of God was manifested in righteousness and peace.

These are twins. They go together. And they are our blessings under the new covenant. As we enter through the veil, following the footsteps of Jesus, who is our forerunner, we can enter into the kingdom of God, into the most holy place.

And we are told in Romans 14, verse 17, that that kingdom is a kingdom of righteousness and peace. And our lives will be characterized by righteousness and peace as we run after Jesus, who is our forerunner, and enter through the veil by the new and living way.

Zach Ponen. We turn to Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 1. Speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the antitype of Malthusidek, in the Old Testament, this Malthusidek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he abides a priest perpetually.

What that means is that there is no record of his genealogy in the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis is a book of beginnings, and it's full of genealogies. Everybody in the book of Genesis is traced back to Adam, except Malthusidek, who suddenly appears in the book of Genesis without any trace as to where he has come from.

And in a book which is full of genealogies and where everyone related to God's purposes in that book is traced back to Adam, we find this one person who is related to God's purposes not traced back to Adam.

It doesn't mean that he was not a human being, but what it means is that there's no record of his genealogy. And therefore, in that sense, he is made a type of the Son of God who is eternal, who has neither beginning nor end.

Jesus, being the Son of God, existed with the Father from eternity past and unto eternity future, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit as the second person of the Trinity, existent from eternal ages to eternal ages.

And therefore, Malthusidek is an appropriate type of him in that he comes into the book of Genesis from nowhere and disappears into nowhere. Like Jesus, who came down into time from eternity and went back out of time after thirty-three and a half years, back into the eternity in which he dwelt with the Father.

Christ’s Priesthood Greater Than Abraham, Levi, and the Law

And so we see in verse four, this man is compared to Abraham. Now, in the following verses upon to verse nineteen, a contrast is drawn between the Lord Jesus and Abraham and Aaron and Levi. And a contrast is drawn and Jesus is shown as the one who is superior to Abraham, superior to Aaron and superior to the law.

Superior to Abraham, first of all, verses four to ten, more than Aaron in the Levitical priesthood and Levi included, in verses eleven to fourteen, and also more than the law, verses eleven to nineteen.

First of all, greater than Abraham. He says about Melchizedek in verse four, see how great this man is, to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choice of spoils. He says that Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth.

And then verse five, those indeed of the sons of Levi who received the priest's office have commandment in the law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham.

They're all descended from Abraham and yet the sons of Levi collect a tithe from the other children of Abraham. But here is one, the apostle says in verse six, whose genealogy has got nothing to do with Abraham, who comes in and collects a tithe from Abraham and not only collects the tithe from Abraham, but blesses the one who had received all the promises.

And so what does this mean? In verse seven he says, surely the lesser is always blessed by the greater. Now, we see therefore that Melchizedek is superior to Abraham. This is the whole point of the argument.

That Melchizedek is greater than Abraham and therefore, typically, the Lord Jesus is greater and therefore, typically, the new covenant which Jesus brings us is far superior to that which the physical children of Abraham received under the old covenant.

He goes on to say here in verse eight, and in this case, mortal men receive tithes, but in that case, one receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives forever. And so to speak, through Abraham, even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

You see, Levi was not yet born, but Levi was in the loins of Abraham, his father, and therefore, through Abraham, paid tithes to Melchizedek. And therefore, the priesthood of Melchizedek is far superior to the priesthood of Levi and Aaron.

This is the point of the argument. The old covenant priesthood was the priesthood of Aaron and Levi. But the new covenant priesthood is the priesthood of Melchizedek. And the reason why the apostle goes into this argument is to prove to those who were boasting in the old covenant priesthood that the new covenant priesthood was superior, that the old covenant priest, who descended from Levi, including Aaron, offered tithes to Melchizedek.

And so, the priesthood of Melchizedek is superior. This is the whole point of the book of Hebrews, to show that the new covenant is superior to the old covenant, that to be under grace is better than to be under law.

To be a priest after the order of Melchizedek is far superior to being a priest after the order of Levi. And he explains that in verse 11. If perfection, you see, this is the subject of Hebrews, perfection, and if this perfection was possible through the priesthood of Levi or the Levitical priesthood, on the basis of which the people received the law, what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not to be designated according to the order of Aaron?

Under the old covenant priesthood, people could not be made perfect. But under the new covenant priesthood of Melchizedek, we can be made perfect. This is the burden of the apostle, and he uses various arguments to establish the same point.

And then he says in verse 12, when the priesthood is changed of necessity, that takes place a change of law also. Not an abolition of the law, but a change of the law also. We are under grace, not under that old covenant law.

For that old covenant law could not make anyone perfect. And those who want to live under it and who want to live under that priesthood remain defeated. But those who will enter into this new priesthood of Melchizedek, of the Lord Jesus Christ, the priesthood of righteousness and peace, enter into the new covenant, come under grace, and go through the veil into the most holy place, and enter into a life of victory over sin.

It says further in verse 13 that the Lord Jesus, the one concerning whom these things are spoken, belongs to another tribe from which no one is officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.

And this is clearer still if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek. Now this looks like an involved argument, but the whole burden of the passage is to prove the same point that the priesthood of Melchizedek or the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ is far superior to the Old Testament priesthood.

And therefore, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus is far superior to be trying to justify yourselves by the law or to save yourselves from sin's power by the Old Testament law. And so we are called to enter into this priesthood like the sons of Aaron who were priests under him who was the high priest, Aaron himself.

Even so, we are to be priests under the Lord Jesus Christ in a priesthood of righteousness and peace that should characterize every priest of the new covenant, every believer. And God gives us grace that we might enter into this priesthood.

The Indestructible Life and the Law of the Spirit

We turn again to Hebrews and chapter 7, continuing our study in the Lord Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of Melchizedek who was a type of him in the Old Testament. And the reason why the apostle uses the figure of Melchizedek is to prove that the covenant instituted and sealed by the blood of Jesus, the new covenant, is far superior to the old.

In Hebrews 7 .15 we read this is clearer still. That is, the fact of the priesthood of Melchizedek being superior to the priesthood of Levi is very clear. Another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek and not from the tribe of Levi, but from the tribe of Judah, verse 14.

The tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. This is the tribe from which the Lord Jesus came. And he has become a priest not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

Now there you see the fundamental difference between the old covenant and the new. Beautifully described in verse 16 it was a physical requirement under the old covenant that unless you descended from the tribe of Levi you could not be a priest.

You had to be a descendant of Levi. But the Lord Jesus Christ has instituted a new priesthood which has got nothing to do with physical descent. We are told very clearly in John chapter 1, verse 13 those who are born again are not born of the will of man nor of the will of the flesh, nor of blood, but of God.

It's not a question of physical descendancy. It's not a question of heredity. A man's father may be a glorious Christian and the man himself may be a child of the devil. Your son need not necessarily have the same faith as you have.

It's got nothing to do with physical descendancy like it was in the old testament where if you were born in the tribe of Levi well you could be a priest but not under the new covenant. Here the requirement is different.

He was not made a priest according to the law of a physical requirement but according to the power of an indestructible life. That is a life that could not be touched by sin. A life over which the devil had no power.

That was the life of Jesus. A perfect life. A sinless life. A life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit which was indestructible and so his body also saw no corruption. This is the power by which Jesus has become a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

And that is written not just for us to look at Jesus and to admire him but it's also written for our sakes in the sense that for us too we are not called after that old testament priesthood of requiring a physical requirement but according to the new covenant priesthood which is based on the power of an indestructible life.