Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “The Lord becomes the Way, so we can come before God with confidence.”

Hebrews mentions “come” many times, to encourage us to draw near to God. The Lord becomes the Way for us. He forgives us our sins so that we can come before God. Having sins forgiven is already an immense grace. It’s more precious that the Lord died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him. He truly desires for our love.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “The Lord desires most for us to draw near to Him (2).”

The Lord truly desires to be close to us. Psalm 43 talks about God sending out light and truth to lead and bring us to God our exceeding joy. God is of exceeding joy, because the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are One; They are the infinite fountain of love. We can see God’s joy from the events in heaven. For example, there is celebration in heaven when a sinner repents. There is also a festal gathering of the angels. Nothing will trouble us. Each one is full of love. Therefore, we will be the most joyous when we come before the Lord today!

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “The Lord desires most for us to draw near to Him (1).”

The first letter of Peter tells us that we are like living stones, being built up as a spiritual house. Therefore, coming together in meetings is very important. The Lord also desires us to have a personal relationship with Him, so we need to draw near to Him. The Gospel of Luke reads, “but one thing is necessary.” (Luke 10:42) This one thing is coming before the Lord. This is a good portion, which affects all aspects of our life. The first letter of Paul to Timothy tells us that training in godliness holds promise for the present life and for the life to come. Indeed, we can overcome all by drawing near to God.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “Appear before God in Mount Zion.” 

The Book of Hebrews mentions seven times “come to” or “draw near”. Hebrews chapter 12 talks about coming to Mount Zion, which includes having the attitude of drawing near to God. Psalm 84:7 reads, “…appears before God in Zion.” It includes having fellowship with God, face to face with Him, experiencing Him, worshiping and enjoying Him. Drawing near to God is our greatest joy, and it satisfies the Lord greatly.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “Mind the things that are above (2).” 

We need to see God and His love. We also need to understand our precious identity as the firstborn. John chapter 4 tells us to worship in spirit and truth, which means worshipping according to the truth. When our mind is influenced by the precious truth, we will treasure, embrace the truth, and be drawn to enjoy God. Satan attacks us through our mind. We cannot rely on ourselves to overcome Satan; rather, we need to be strengthened by the truth. When we meditate on the precious truth, we are in a state of prayer towards God, and enjoying His provision. This is the way to victory.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “Mind the things that are above (1).” 

The book of Colossians tells us that to overcome the flesh, we cannot rely on outward means. Rather, we need to mind the things that are above—things that concern our spirit and mind. Hebrews and Revelation describe the heavenly abundance in a very concrete manner. For instance, there is joy of the angels, God’s throne, the river of life, and the fruit of the tree of life. Every one of these is very meaningful. They also illustrate that we cannot rely on ourselves. We need to rely on Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant. Heaven is very abundant. More precious is this new city in heaven—a place the Lord prepares for us, and the designer and builder is God.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “Live in Grace. Enjoy the Father and the Lord.” 

Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that we do not come to Mount Sinai, but to Mount Zion. It means that we don’t rely on our own works, but rather by faith and grace. The Lord established an everlasting covenant with us. This new covenant is long lasting and there are endless blessings for us to enjoy. Enjoying the essence of this covenant helps us to be more glorious. We overcome the world by our faith. When we enjoy the Father and the Lord, our spirit will be satisfied. This gives us strength and we can overcome the world overwhelmingly.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “The Lord is the way, and the truth, and the life.” 

In John 14:6, the Lord said that He is the way, and the truth, and the life. The Lord is the way: because of our sins, the Lord opened for us a new and living way to go back to God. He even established a better covenant with us. The Lord is the truth: because we went astray from the truth, the Lord guided us to the meaning of life. The Lord is life: after we have believed in Him, we need to continue to enjoy and experience Him daily. Only He can satisfy our spirits. It is so precious that our life is closely bound up with the Lord’s. We can enjoy all His riches.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic for Treasures for the Soul is Live Out the Priesthood. Jacob blessed his sons and the blessings of the firstborn were distributed amongst some of them. Hebrews 12 says Esau despised his birthright. We must not become like him, but instead, we should gain all the rewards and blessings of the firstborn. We should also live out the life of a priest: be especially close to God, “eating the sacrifices,” that is, enjoying the Lord as the bread of life, bringing people before God, and “offering sacrifices.” For example, we can offer the fruit of our lips and our bodies as living sacrifices. Furthermore, our lips should guard knowledge; we should pursue the Lord continually and gladly share God’s words with others.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic for Treasures for the Soul is The Blessing of the Firstborn: Priesthood. In Deuteronomy 33, Moses blessed the tribe of Levi, with the blessing of the firstborn regarding priesthood, which included teaching the people and offering sacrifices. Exodus 32 records that when the Israelites worshiped idols and sinned, the Levites stood on God’s side, having no regard for human affection. God had also chosen the Levites to be the firstborn in place of the whole Israel nation. The firstborn represented the whole nation, therefore, all belonged to God. In Genesis, the head of the household was like a priest, offering sacrifices, building altars, and seeking God. Some examples are Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. Today, we’ve also received the priesthood. This is a very honourable position.