"14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Good morning my beloved,
Welcome to worship this Lord's Day!
We are so very grateful for our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, joining us today, we are so thankful that you are all are here with us. Since the beginning, when sin first entered the world in the Garden of Eden man, has been dealing
with guilt. Man has hidden from it, drugged himself to avoid it, and
rationalized it away. The popular answer in our world is today, is simply to justify or
dismiss our guilt. Mankind today has a major problem. Guilt should signal to us that we have harmed another person and should therefore drives us to repair that damage.
However, today, guilt is often portrayed as something that is imposed upon us by our parents,
the church or society as a whole. People are advised to overcome the
illusion of guilt by loving ourselves as we are, blaming others for our problems, rather than being held accountable. By alleviating the psychological and emotional reasons for our guilt, we hope to mitigate our so called guilt. There is good news today, we have a means of
dealing not only with our guilt but with the sin that causes it!
We have our perfect Savior and great High priest who once and for all, made the
only sacrifice that will ever be needed for sin. Any other priest who
attempts to reconcile men and God is in reality a barrier rather than a
mediator.
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Father, Thank You for Your Word, for this marvelous truth. We are grateful for the forgiveness of sin that You have provided in the sacrifice of Your Son, that we might first of all examine ourselves to see whether we’re in the faith, that we have come all the way, to fully embrace Christ as Lord and Savior.
Father, we thank You for His mighty work on the cross, we pray for those who may be being tempted to fall back to destruction. We pray that today might be that day, that You would touch the hearts of the lost, that would receive Your Son Jesus. We pray that no one would walk away from the offer of reconciliation with You through Christ. May our souls be refreshed through Your Word and all of the truths that fill our hearts with joy and hope.
We pray this in Christ's name
Amen
Today's Message: Cling To Christ
As Christians, we all struggle with two crucial areas that will
either make or break us in the Christian life. Perseverance in times of trial;
and in prayer. They are connected. Our prayer life is
essential to our enduring the trials of this life.
Failure to endure trials is the mark of the seed
sown on rocky soil. In Mark chapter 4, Jesus explains that this seed represents those who, "when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they
have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when
affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they
fall away."
Beloved, prayer is our life line to God in the midst of the battle. His abundant, sustaining
grace flows to us through prayer. Because prayer is so vital, the enemy
tries to sever that life line. When we suffer, the enemy often
whispers, "God doesn’t care about you, that is why He isn’t answering. So, why waste
your time with these worthless prayers?" Let's be honest, it’s easy to become discouraged
and just stop praying, which cuts us off from the very essential help that we desperately need! Today, Christ still extends His hands toward us, the lost, the hurting and the broken. Pouring out His grace, offering us the healing touch of God for all who are willing come to Him!
Open with me your Bibles to the fourth chapter in the book of Hebrews. Today, we are going to look at the final three verses, here at the end of the chapter four. Regardless of how many times I have preached through the years on the cross and on the sacrifice of Christ, I am always astonished by just how inexhaustible the Scripture is, an unlimited treasure of truth as related to the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Every time we gather together, to worship and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ, that in itself, becomes an invitation to salvation, the forgiveness of sin and an escape from divine judgement and eternal punishment. We need to understand that the reality in looking at the cross, is not the physical aspects of the cross, as vital and important as they are. I want you to focus on the spiritual aspects of the cross and that’s exactly what this great passage helps us to do!
I want you to notice, that the invitation is two fold. At the end of verse 14, "let us hold fast our confession." And, in the beginning of verse 16, "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace," Holding fast to your confession assumes a statement of truth in Christ. That you have made a confession of faith.
Romans chapter 10, teaches us, "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
The second invitation, is to "draw near with confidence." This indicates moving ahead to the future. This is talking about someone who has been convinced of the truth of the gospel, who has confess, at least to some degree, it's accuracy, it's validity and it's integrity. Yet, someone who has not fully come to saving faith in Christ. Beloved, that is the most dangerous place to be, caught in the middle. Having affirmed it's truth, that Jesus is Who He says He is, that He died for the forgiveness of sins, so the author says, don't let go of that, "hold fast" and "draw near in confidence."
I believe that our text is one of the most encouraging passages in the Bible when it comes to perseverance and prayer Since Jesus is our great high priest, the Son of God, who has passed
from death to life, through the heavens, we must hold fast our confession. Since He
is a high priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses, we should draw
near to the throne of grace for help in our times of need. Therefore, since His
transcendence to the right hand of God’s throne and His humanity are
both essential elements of His unique effectiveness as our high priest.
If we want to persevere through trials and receive His help through
prayer, we must understand who Christ is.
The author says in verse 14, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession." Here, he tells us Who Jesus is and how we should respond to what we have heard. The dilemma is weeding out those who are genuinely committed to Jesus from those who only claim to be. Many today, are tempted to fall away and abandon Christ. Here, the Holy Spirit here is commanding us to do exactly the opposite.
Many believe that verse 14, is somewhat out of place with what the author has previously been saying.
However, he is simply returning to his primary point since the beginning of his letter. He wants you to know that in Jesus you "have a great high priest." So the writer is not jumping off topic here, in fact, he is actually jumping back on topic. He is urging his readers, and all of us, to hold fast to Jesus, not only because of the punishment for defection, or because of the possibility of rest, but because Jesus is your great high priest. And you most certainly don’t want to abandon that! Jesus is your "great high priest."
In I Samuel 2:25, it says "If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the Lord desired to put them to death."
Today, we have difficulty relating to the concept of a high priest. However, at the time this letter was written, it was a very important office. In fact, I'm sure you will recall, that Moses’ brother Aaron was actually the first high priest. He was the mediator between the people and God. He and his fellow
priests offered the sacrifices on behalf of the people. They had to
follow a detailed procedure spelled out by God. Any variance or deviation meant instant death, as Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu
quickly discovered when they offered "strange fire" on the altar.
Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest alone would go into the Holy of
Holies to make atonement for all the sins of the nation. If he entered
there improperly or at any other time, he would die.
He would then sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat in the very presence of
God. When he came out alive, the people gave a sigh of relief, because
it meant that God had accepted the sacrifice for their sins for another
year. However, Jesus is not just another high priest in the line of Aaron. Instead of entering the Holy of Holies in the temple, He has passed through the heavens, in His ascension, directly into the very presence of God. It was at this point that Jesus, our great high priest, Who is unlike any human
high priest. Because He has entered the very presence of God. And, the Father has
said to Him, "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool
for your feet." As a footnote, no earthly priest would dare to sit in the Holy of Holies! They always, always stood. But Jesus ... Jesus sits at the right hand of God’s throne!
Hebrew 10:11-12, says "Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God." Jesus in a class by Himself! Jesus is unique, He great in His office as high priest and He is unique, He great in His person as God in human flesh. Therefore…We must persevere. Holding fast to our confession, holds the imagery of someone hanging on for dear life.
"Confession" implies not only our private belief in the essential
doctrines of the faith, especially with regard to His deity and
humanity, but also our public declaration of this truth in the face of
persecution. When we make a public profession of faith in baptism,
that profession is tested when trials and persecution arises. We must not be only
fair-weather believers who deny the Lord when it becomes costly to
believe, we must stand firm, or hold fast, even to unto death because we know whom we
have believed!
In verses 15-16 the author writes "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Notice the double negative that the author uses here. I believe it was because he was anticipating an objection. "How can someone beyond the heavens relate to me and my problems?" So, before an objection arises, the author responds, "Jesus is not unsympathetic. In fact, He understands your deepest feelings."
I believe that we all need someone who can sympathize with us in our problems and understands weaknesses
without condemning us. Sometimes, just knowing that someone is in our corner, loving and supporting us, without judgement, is enough to get us through.
Jesus was "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." At first, we may
wrongly think that His being sinless would make Him unsympathetic, especially since we all have sinned many times. We may think that perhaps a fellow
sinner could relate more to our failures. The one who resists to the very end knows the power of temptation in a greater way than the one who yields to sin sooner. When Scripture says He was tempted in all things, it does not mean every single temptation. His temptation came from without, not from within, as ours does. However, Jesus knew every type of temptation. He knew what it is like to be
hungry, thirsty, and tired. He knew the horrible agony of physical
torture, which He endured in His trial and crucifixion. He knew what it
is like to be mocked, distrusted, maligned, and betrayed by friends. No matter the temptation, Jesus always obeyed the Father.
Scripture clearly affirms that Jesus never committed sin!
In Closing...
Beloved, draw near to God when you feel the burden of guilt, and what I find amazing, is that we are invited to do so with boldness. I must confess that I have
never really been comfortable with our translation which says we are to "come boldly to the throne of grace." The word "boldly" carries the connotation
of being brazen—there is sort of a flippancy suggested by it. But that
is really not the idea.
The word in the Greek, parrhesia, which means "confidence." So, we can
enter into God’s presence before the throne because we understand it is
not a throne of judgment or condemnation but one of grace. Believers
should courageously approach God in prayer because His is a "throne of
grace,' and our High Priest sits at His right hand interceding for us.
Jesus entered into human existence not just so that he could share our tears, or suffer pain, but so that He could identify with our human experiences, so that He could remedy them through His great compassion. God offers us help with all of our needs, and He gives us prayer as a means to communicate those needs to Him. God invites us out of our want and into His abundant supply, out our spiritual coldness and into His warm presence, out of our fear and into his love and acceptance.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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