A teaching by Rev. Barbara Williams, President of the Ministry of the Watchman International
Week of May 15-19, 2023
MONDAY
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Hebrews 6:1-2
God has entered into a covenant with us. It is a new covenant cut in the blood of Jesus. A blood covenant describes a relationship which spells out benefits and obligations of the participants. The covenant is a will. It tells the terms of the will of two persons who have now joined forces to become one flesh, or one will. In order to keep the covenant, one must bow to the will of the covenant. In a natural blood covenant, if a person obeys his own will after coming into covenant with another person, then that covenant is broken. The penalty for breaking a blood covenant is always death. The life of the person entering into the covenant is the pledge that is made in order to make the covenant enforceable.
God has entered into covenant with us because He knows our weakness and our need for His strength. We accept His invitation to covenant with Him when we acknowledge our own sin and weaknesses, and we take on His righteousness and strength. However, we have a conscience that has been seared by our dead works of sin and powerless religion. We must repent to serve the living God and fully enjoy our covenant.
If you are in need of healing, there is good news! Proverbs 4:20-22 SAYS:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
So there is life and health in God’s word. Since God’s word is medicine, we must take it like we would a prescription. I suggest three times a day, like you would your food. Remember, healing is the children’s bread. Consider this your “dose” for today. Remember, read, and meditate three times a day the following:
Rx: Nahum 1:9 ~ What do you conspire against the Lord? He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
If you’ve never studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we invite you to join us as we read through the Bible in a year. Read and meditate on these chapters this week:
May 15: Numbers 24, Psalms 66-67, Isaiah 14, 1 Peter 2
May 16: Numbers 25, Psalms 68, Isaiah 15, 1 Peter 3
May 17: Numbers 26, Psalms 69, Isaiah 16, 1 Peter 4
May 18: Numbers 27, Psalms 70-71, Isaiah 17-18, 1 Peter 5
May 19: Numbers 28, Psalms 72, Isaiah 19-20, 2 Peter 1
May 20: Numbers 29, Psalms 73, Isaiah 21, 2 Peter 2
May 21: Numbers 30, Psalms 74, Isaiah 22, 2 Peter 3
TUESDAY
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Hebrews 6:1-2
Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:11-14
Every agreement has weaknesses. Whenever we enter into an agreement with someone, we believe that we will be able to fulfill our obligations, but sometimes circumstances arise that make it hard, if not impossible for us to fulfill our part of the agreement. How awful it would be to desire to serve God and not be able to.
Did you know that God has pledged His life for just those occasions?
God has fulfilled our part of the covenant in the Blood of Christ. He has pledged His life in exchange for ours. This means that His life is now the life that we live and He is able in all circumstances. That eternal blood is able to purge our consciences from dead, fruitless works, and we are freed to serve the living God.
To purge really means to purify. When something is made pure, it is more than simply clean. Modern water filtration systems provide clean water. This means that there is a percentage of that water that is free from certain kinds of bacteria, but some are still present. Pure (purged) water, however, has a much higher degree of purity. When something has been purged, then all traces of impurity are removed: there has been a complete evacuation of the impurity.
When we are born again, we become new creatures in Christ. We are no longer interested in producing the dead works of sin, religion or selfishness. We want to serve the living God with our members. We have stepped into the eternal, abundant, resurrection life of God. His life dwelling in us is the key to our victory.
WEDNESDAY
Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:6-14
The Old Testament priesthood was only a shadow of what Jesus, our High Priest, would do for us. In the Old Covenant, the blood of bulls and goats made the priests and the objects of worship ceremonially clean, which meant that they were clean enough before God to perform the duties of the earthly priest, but after the ceremony was over, the priest went back to his daily routine. It was symbolic and could not perfect the priests with regard to the conscience. The conscience is an internal plumb line by which we measure ourselves. Part of the consequence of sin is having an evil conscience that condemns us and makes us feel distanced and estranged from God. The blood of animals could never remove that stain from the conscience of the priests. I am sure some of them longed to feel the closeness to God on a daily basis; that closeness they felt in the tabernacle and temple. Imagine them wishing that there was a place in God that could be attained — if for only a brief span of time, where one could enter into the presence of God and not die.
How amazing that God has provided for us that place of constant abiding with Him in Christ!
THURSDAY
Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:11-14
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
“But Barb, I’m strong. I have good qualities. I’m intelligent. I don’t need anybody’s help. I’m a self-made man.”
Many of you are thinking, “I never say things like that.” Perhaps not, but we demonstrate these attitudes when we choose our own way. These are dead works.
The good works that we do in Christ should be offered up to Him again so that we receive an eternal reward for them. “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” When we take the credit for things that we accomplish after God has come into our lives, we are forgetting what the covenant has done for us. It will not be long before our conscience will begin to bother us. We feel guilt because we are taking credit for something God is doing in us. When this happens, we cannot have a clear conscience until we repent and acknowledge His blood.
FRIDAY
Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:11-14
My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
1 John 3:18-23
When we commit sin, our conscience (our heart) condemns us. God wants our hearts to be assured. We can carry a sense of guilt over our shortcomings until we repent and acknowledge His blood. Recognize that you are now dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ, (Romans 6:10-11). Realizing what His perfect blood has done for us allows the life of Christ to come forth. His life in us is our assurance that our weaknesses will not weaken His covenant with us. We can serve God free from all condemnation (Romans 8:1). We are purged of all traces of sin (Hebrews 1:3).
When our conscience is clear, we have confidence toward God. Confidence is a component of faith. When our conscience is purged by the blood of Jesus, it means that we have a new seat of government in our conscience. We have an anointing abiding in us—in our minds as well as our spirits. This anointing teaches us. One thing it teaches us is to accept the new way of thinking; it teaches us to put off the old ways and pick up the new ways. We can do it confidently because the blood has purged our minds from all traces of insecurity or condemnation. We can live out of that purged conscience without a trace of weakness in us and go forward in the newness of life. This is the power of the blood covenant. This is our strength.
The revelation of what the blood of Jesus has done for us enables us to serve God without doubt and fear. We can now serve the living God with full assurance of faith through a new and living way.
“Since we have a great High Priest who presides over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:21-23)