The Guarantee of Eternity
Pm Service July 12th 2009
Hebrews 7:23-28
Introduction
Guarantees are great things. If you buy a product with a guarantee and it happens to break during the guarantee period you just bring the product back and the company will replace it, fix it, or give you your money back. You can not beat that!
But not all guarantees- guarantee. I can remember when Lynn, Hunter, and I and Mrs. Fran went to San Antonio for the SBC a couple years ago, we were guaranteed by the Hotel manger that the hotel was in walking distance of the beautiful river walk in down town San Antonio, well it was about a four mile one way walk, and you had to walk through what is the homeless district of San Antonio, you know that street you never see in the tourist magazines.
Life has therefore taught me: guarantees are great but not all guarantees are a sure thing. That means I need to do my homework when I am given a guarantee: if the guarantee is really important to me then I need to be certain that the guarantee is a sure thing.
And there is no place more important to know that the guarantee is a sure thing then it comes to where you are going to spend your eternity. This life is brief and uncertain and eternity is forever. And if I know in my heart that my heavenly destination has been booked and guaranteed and the guarantee is the sure thing then how I live my life today and how I face death tomorrow will be influenced by that guarantee that I have been given.
And so the writer of Hebrews says to us let me remind you of why this guarantee of knowing Jesus as your Savior is the sure guarantee to an eternity in heaven.
Read Scriptures: Hebrews 7:23-28.
I. My salvation is guaranteed because I have the Word of God the Father.
Hebrews 7:21-22 “ but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever.'" Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.”
If I were to go to Best Buy and buy a television and the store clerk tells me there is a 30 day guarantee if you are not completely satisfied to return it and we will give you your money back no questions asked, I would take comfort in that. And if as I am walking to check out and the store manager sees me and tells me that if I am not completely happy return it in thirty days then I even have greater comfort. And then as I am leaving the store the district manager is walking in and he tells me I hope you enjoy your new television but it you are not completely satisfied bring it back in thirty days then I have even a greater level of comfort. The higher up I went, the greater the comfort level I received.
The Holy Spirit lives within me and He constantly reminds me that He is the deposit of my inheritance. I take great comfort in that. And then Jesus tells me that “he who has the Son has the life and he who does not have the Son does not have the life.” I take even greater comfort in that. But now I come to Hebrews and the Father Himself tells me that Jesus will be forever my priest and the Father will not change His mind gives me the greatest possible comfort.
And in that statement the Father says “I will not change my mind.” There will be times when something comes up in our life that we are certain about a certain thing, and at that moment my mind is made up. However, I made get some more information on the issue, and then I may change my mind. So when I say that I am not going to change my mind, it doesn’t mean a whole lot. But now when the Father makes that statement it means everything. If God says that He is not going to change His mind and Jesus will remain my priest forever; I am assured of eternal salvation.
II. My salvation is guaranteed because Jesus, my priest, will hold his priesthood for all eternity.
Hebrews 7:23-25 “Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
I will not pastor this church forever, either God will take me home to be with Him, or He may want me in another town. I can offer you no permanence. But Jesus can.
Look to Jesus for everything because He will hold His priesthood permanently. Will mom and dad be always there to solve your problems? No! Will your spouse always be there to solve your problems? No! Will that good friend always be there to help you through a tough time? No! But Jesus will.
III. My salvation is guaranteed because the One who was offered for my sins is perfect.
Hebrews 7:26-27 “Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”
You and I were between a rock and a hard place. We were in a predicament. There was a great divide between God and us and there was nothing we could do to close that gap on our own. So the Father sent Jesus because He was the most suitable sacrifice- the perfect sacrifice to close the divide. So enter Jesus into this world to die for my sins.
Today your marriage may be between a rock and a hard place. There is probably nothing you can do to fix it yourself or you would have done it. Jesus has to enter the picture.
Today your financial situation may be between a rock and a hard place. There is probably nothing you can do on your own to fix it or you would have fixed it by now. Jesus has to enter the picture.
Today the relationship between you and your family is estranged. There is probably nothing you can do on your own to fix it or you would have fixed it by now. Jesus has to enter the picture.
What I am trying to tell you in this: Jesus is not only in the business of rescuing me as to where I will spend eternity but He rescues me day in and day out from life situations that I can not control if I would just allow Him. He needs to be the priest of my salvation but He also needs to be the priest of my daily life.
IV. My salvation is guaranteed because Jesus is strong enough to keep my salvation secure.
Hebrews 7:28 “For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.”
You see pictures of Jesus and they always tend to portray Him as this weak type of person. But let tell you something about Jesus there is nothing weak about Jesus. He is more incredible than the incredible Hulk. He is more super than Superman. After all, He has kept my salvation safe and secure from the day I made it to this very day and will keep it secure throughout all eternity. I am sure the devil has wanted to steal away my salvation a time or two but he couldn’t get through Jesus to steal it. There is nothing weak about my Jesus.
Know what that means to me: there is nothing weak about me going to the altar and talking to Jesus. It takes a strong man to walk to the altar and talk to someone even stronger.
It means that it is not a sign of weakness on a man’s part to pray with his wife to One who is stronger than He is.
It is not a sign of weakness for parents to tell their children that we need to pray about what God wants us to do.
Why? For Jesus to endure what He endured on my behalf and to keep what He keeps for me, my salvation which is so precious, for all eternity, He has got to be the strongest One I know.
Conclusion
They have been really advertising the Nutrisystem Weight Loss Program on television. And they show you people losing an extraordinary amount of weight in a short period of time. And they you see in small print on the bottom right hand corner the words “actual results may vary”. They sound like they are offering you something incredible great but there promise has no substance.
God offers you and me eternal life, safe and secure, and God backs it up with Rock Solid guarantees. He does not take away from his promises with fine print. Today, you may not know where you are going to spending eternity and he tells us how to receive salvation-“those who come to God through Jesus.”
We would love to show you how you can come to God through Jesus if you have never done that in your life.
