Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-100 (Expository Sermon)

THE SOURCE OF ETERNAL SALVATION (Hebrews 4:14-5:10)

Prominent New Age author Marianne Williamson one time commenced what she called an “international prayer vigil” aimed at securing a miracle in Kosovo. She asked that, for 30 days, everyone around the world devote two minutes of silent meditation and prayer focused on the war-torn region of Kosovo.

The idea behind her request was that, if we all linked “energies” at the same time, we could effect a miraculous outbreak of peace. As Williamson said, “The more minds share an idea, the stronger it is.”

SPIRITUAL RESONANCES

This philosophy is typical of many people in our world today who are searching for effective responses and meaningful answers to the problems we encounter in the late twentieth century.

In biblical terms they are searching for personal salvation and purpose in life, but their worldview does not encompass the God of the Bible, and their philosophical orientation marginalises the teaching of the Bible.

We live in a culture that has a deep spiritual consciousness. People are searching for salvation. They realise they are imperfect, they perceive they are incomplete, and most acknowledge that salvation requires some action from outside their own personal resources.

The tens of thousands of visitors to the Body Mind Spirit festival in Sydney [this weekend] are testimony to this spiritual hunger and search for wholistic salvation. Wander through the stands, as I did, and you will find many ordinary middle class Australians looking for something that will bring them happiness, wellbeing, purpose, fulfilment or self esteem.

Why are they there? Some are tourists, but others are there because they’re searching for truth. They’re not happy, they don’t possess wellbeing, they are confused about their purpose, they remain unfulfilled, they lack self esteem.

A CONTAGIOUS SPIRITUALITY

That is precisely why we who claim to possess the truth, and experience the freedom and joy of salvation, need to learn how to communicate with such people, and understand the questions they are asking, and “scratch where they are itching,” and immerse ourselves in their culture, so that they will have ready access to the truth and to eternal life.

In one sense Christians have a virus, and it’s a contagious virus, but instead of bringing sickness and death, this virus brings healing and life! We need to become contagious Christians, spreading the message of hope by every means to every place and every person.

We do this because we have met Jesus and he has transformed our lives, empowering us, giving us joy, and wellbeing, and purpose, and fulfilment and self esteem. Jesus offers salvation: salvation that is full, and free, and forever. That is the Bible’s core message.

Become a committed disciple of Jesus and wander no more. The search is over. Hebrews 5:9 says that, once Jesus had fulfilled all the qualifications required to become our Saviour and high priest, “he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Have you discovered Jesus? Have you arrived at the source and experienced his salvation?

IMMEDIATE SALVATION

If ever there was a felt need for immediate salvation it is today. The good news is that the salvation Jesus offers is not all “pie in the sky when I die.” The one who is the source of eternal salvation can also transform your life right here and now! He is our Saviour for eternity, and he is our high priest every day.

The letter to the Hebrews is written primarily to people who have experienced salvation in Jesus Christ but who have encountered a crisis of faith and a failure of nerve. They are unsure of their commitment to Jesus, and they are afraid of the ugly world out there, seemingly arrayed against them.

The author encourages them with these words: Since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Jesus, who came from heaven to earth to save us, has returned to heaven as our victorious Lord and Saviour, as our great high priest. The faith we profess is awesome in scope, powerful beyond description, and rich beyond value.

The Son of God suffered and died in order to save you, to bring you to faith! Don’t abandon him. Don’t reject the faith. Advertise it! Spread the virus!

AN EMPATHISING SAVIOUR

And when times grow tough, and the journey of faith gets rough, reach out to your great high priest in heaven through prayer, as the author counsels:

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Jesus identifies with those who feel weary and discouraged, because he shared our humanity, experiencing sufferings and trials that equipped him with empathy to support us.

While on earth Jesus could not personally experience every possible temptation – especially those associated with women, or married people, or the elderly, or modern technological society. Yet, as Raymond Brown explains, “at the root of the different temptations encountered by men and women throughout the wide range of human experience there are a number of basic trials or tests, and Jesus certainly knew what it was to meet these and emerge victoriously from the struggle.”

Jesus did not have to become identical to fallen humanity in order to save us; nor did he need to sin in order to help us when we are tempted. He lived with unfailing faithfulness and unerring obedience to the One who called him. His “provision of compassionate help is charged with unique virtue and efficacy.”

Go to Jesus and pray with boldness, confidence and honesty, and your life will be touched by his rich heavenly resources of mercy and grace.

Chapter 5:1-4 notes some aspects of the ministry of the levitical high priest, and his solidarity with those whom he represents. Knowing his own human fallenness and limitations, he waits for God to call him to the priestly ministry; he sacrifices first for his own sins, then for the sins of his people; and he shows compassion toward others because he is aware of his own weakness (cf Hebrews 7:28). The author presses home his point: although necessarily there are differences, as Aaron, so Christ (verses 5-6).

Philippians 2:6 teaches us that Jesus did not grasp equality with God; Hebrews 5:5 similarly teaches that he did not grasp the exalted and eternal office of high priest but waited humbly for God to appoint him.

Verses 5 and 6 quote Psalm 2:7 and 110:4, showing that just as he is superior to angels, and to Moses, so he is superior to the Aaronic priesthood. He will be there for you; he will never fail you; he will never let you down.

AN ETERNAL SALVATION

Verses 7-10 conclude this section, referring to the experience of prayer and suffering during Jesus’ life on earth, and reiterating the glorious fact that he is “the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,” and reminding us again of his present role as high priest to those who follow him.

Just as Jesus obeyed God and was richly rewarded, so shall we be rewarded as we remain faithful to him (cf 1 Corinthians 2:9). But faithfulness implies obedience. John Calvin said in relation to this passage, “If we want the obedience of Christ to be of advantage to us, we must copy it.” That’s why it is so important to “hold firmly to the faith we profess” (Hebrews 4:14b). It is a process and a discipline, but one that has both eternal and immediate rewards.

The one who is the source of eternal salvation can also transform your life right here and now. The search is over, the problem solved, the emptiness gone, the treasure found.

Jesus once stated his purpose in coming to our world in these words: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). On another occasion he said to Thomas, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). To Nicodemus, another lost person searching for salvation, he said, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).

The search is over. Jesus is the answer to all the problems of the human condition, and especially to the problem of sin. Accept his salvation as a free gift, experience its fullness, and enjoy it forever.

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E078 Copyright (c) 2002 Rod Benson. Reproduction in any form except for commercial purposes is permitted with full copyright notice intact. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980).

You can contact Rev Rod Benson by e-mail at <> To subscribe direct to his weekly sermons, e-mail him with “subscribe” in the subject.

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