Christians Choosing To Be Babies! Series

Communion is a celebration because it is actually a reminder of love through Jesus Christ. We read in 1 Corinthians 11:26 “ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” So when we take communion we are saying Jesus Christ who is God died for all my sins so I can be cleansed and Jesus will come and bring me to heaven soon!

Jesus Christ is our High Priest because of who He is, what He did for us, what He is doing for us now, and what He will do for us in the future; all because of love for us!! Our passage today gives us more truth about this. Please open your Bibles to Hebrews 5…. Read along with me what God desires for us to know…..

Let us summarize what God is saying…

v1-6: God appointed Jesus as High Priest forever!

• In the order of “Melchizedek” – Genesis 14:18 – Priests from God forever!!

Hebrews 6-7discusses this in more detail, which we will look at in a few weeks.

• Duties of High Priest:

- Represents people to God

- Offers gifts and sacrifices for sins

- Deals gently to those who go astray

- Offers sacrifices for his own sins

- Not self-elected; a high priest does not appoint himself

v7-10: while Jesus lived on earth:

• Prayers to God was heard because of His obedience

• Suffered

• Made perfect (rose from the dead)

• Source of eternal salvation for those who follow Him

God gave the Hebrews a High Priest who is Jesus Christ; but problems?

v11: Hebrew Christians have became complacent about God’s Word

v12-13: not maturing (choosing to be a baby)

v14: Solution is to mature by training to distinguish good from evil!

New American Standard Bible (NASB) But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

2 simple things to think about before we take communion:

1. Do I really know Jesus Christ and believe in Him? The worst thing a person can do with his/her life is not to know Jesus Christ personally or reject Him! Jesus Christ can only be a High Priest to those who will allow Him to be personally! We can think of it this way: Anyone who rejects Jesus Christ does not have a priest to represent them before God, who will cleanse their sins, find them when they go astray, or save them from eternal judgment! – repeat….

Today is the day to know and believe Jesus Christ as Only God and Savior!

2. Christians can choose to be babies spiritually (whining, crying, and wanting)! What does God desire for us? Go back briefly with me to Hebrews 4:1….. and to Hebrews 6:1…

God’s desire for every Christian is to constantly pursue spiritual maturity and find full rest in Christ everyday! How is it done? Look again at Hebrews 5:14 (NASB)….

- But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. How do we know what is good? Hebrews 4:12…..

And remember what Jesus said in Matthew 11:29…

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

We will mature spiritually when we yoke ourselves with Jesus Christ everyday (walking along with Him, listening to His Words, and doing what He says)! Note how opposite this is to whining, crying, and wanting!

Take a moment to quietly make a commitment to this and prepare your heart to celebrate Jesus Christ with communion….