Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, located at 2709 Rock Springs Road in Kingsport, Tennessee, would like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times, visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. Our text today will be three verses of scripture from Hebrews chapter four. If you would like to read along with me, we will be in Hebrews chapter four and we'll begin reading in verse 14. It says, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let us therefore come boldly, boldly to the throne." That is an amazing statement. If you really think about that, that is an amazing statement. God has said in his word to his people, God has a people. He has a particular people. And he has said in his word to his people, you can come to the throne of my glory. Boldly. Boldly. That is such an amazing statement. And what makes that such an amazing statement is. Naturally, the throne of God, standing before the throne of God, people talk about going and standing before the throne of God. That is the last place that sinful flesh naturally wants to be. That is what man naturally tries to put off as long as he can. That's why men and women try to live as long as they can. Naturally speaking, sinful flesh does not want to stand before the throne of God. Over in Psalm 9, verse 7, it says that the throne of God is a throne of judgment. It's a throne of judgment. Right here in Hebrews 4, verse 12 says, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing sunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." That's what God is, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Verse 13 says, "'Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.'" God's throne is a throne of strict justice. Therefore it's a throne that will by no means clear the guilty. Seize everything. It's a throne of justice. Psalm 47 verse eight says his throne is a throne of holiness. Holiness. God reigneth over the heathen. God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. That's what it says. Isaiah saw the throne of God. He solved God's holiness in that throne. If you look with me, if you're turning and want to follow me to Isaiah 6, it says in Isaiah 6 verse 1, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Holy, holy, holy. It's a throne of holiness. It's a throne of glory. a throne of God's glory. Our Lord said in Matthew 25, you are going to see me sitting on the throne of my glory. I've thought so many times, you think about this, I've thought so many times about Pilate, the man Pilate. The Lord had to stand before the judgment throne of Pilate just before he was crucified. Can you imagine right after that, when Pilate had to stand before the judgment throne of Christ. Can you imagine that? Pilate judged him, judged the Lord for his deeds here on this earth. Can you imagine him having to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, seeing the glory of Christ, seeing his holiness, knowing I now have to be judged of this man who I sinned against. I gave the command to kill him. Isaiah 6 verse 3, it says, one cried unto another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, woe is me, for I'm undone. Because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, the King, the Lord of hosts, the King who sits on the throne, Jesus Christ, the King. That's what happens when sinners see the glory and the holiness and the judgment of the throne of Jesus Christ. They see the throne of God. That's what they see. The throne of God. They see the king and they cry, woe is me. Solomon being a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Solomon is a glorious picture and type of Christ. When the queen of Sheba came to see Solomon, to inquire of him, when she saw him in all of his judgment, all of his glory that God had given to him, it says there was no more spirit in her. That means she was just emptied before him. Seeing his glory, she was emptied. There was no more spirit in her. And that's what happened to Isaiah right here. And that's what happens to every soul who sees the holiness and the judgment of God. It's a fearful thing. It's a fearful thing. Men and women truly are afraid, naturally, to stand before the judgment throne when they see him as he is. When they truly see him as he is. But our God has said to his people, he has said to us, if we are his people, this is the amazing thing about it. This is the glory of the gospel. If we belong to him, then he said we can come boldly right up to that throne. And it's all because of this right here. If you look with me back at our text, which is Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4 verse 16 says, let us therefore come boldly. Therefore, let us therefore, that means because of that, let us come boldly. Therefore, let us come boldly. What is it? What is the reason? Why can we come? Why? Verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Why can God's people boldly approach the throne of God? It's because God's people have a great high priest. This is the only reason. It's because God's people have a great high priest. In the Old Testament, The children of Israel knew something of God's judgment. They really did. They knew something of his judgment. When they would sin against him, their comfort was in knowing that they had a high priest. That was their comfort. They had someone who would go appease God for them. The high priest was a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ. The high priest was a picture and a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. That high priest would go into the Holy of Holies with blood. He had to go with blood. That's why they were slaying animals, killing animals. He had to go with blood. And he would make intercession for the people with that blood. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. And in picture, in type, the blood of bulls and goats cannot put away sins. It wasn't their actual blood, that was a picture, that was a type. But in that type, that blood was an atonement that appeased God and covered the sin of the people. And their comfort was in knowing that someone has gone to God on our behalf before we have to go to God. God has dealt with someone first on our behalf before he deals with us. That high priest was their forerunner. That's what the scripture says. It's what the scripture calls him, their forerunner, the one who went in first on their behalf to appease God for their sin against God. And when a sinner sees the holiness of God and the justice of God, that's what a sinner will want. I want someone to go in on my behalf first and appease him before he deals with me. Well, our God has said to his people in his word, you can come boldly to my throne because you have a forerunner. That's the good news of the gospel. That's my good news to us today. In Christ, we have a forerunner. a forerunner. If you look at Hebrews chapter 3 verse 1, it says, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider The Apostle, capital A, and High Priest, capital H, capital P, High Priest of our profession, who is it? Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our forerunner. He's our forerunner. Look with me at chapter six, right here in Hebrews chapter six, verse 19. It says, which hope we have. This is our hope, which hope we have. And as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." This hope has entered within the veil. Verse 20 says, wither, that means where the forerunner is for us entered. The forerunner has already entered. Even Jesus, made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The forerunner. Jesus Christ, our Lord, this is our hope. We have a forerunner. If you look at chapter nine, Hebrews nine, verse 11, it says, but Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. That is to say, not of this building, Neither by the blood of goats and calves. All of that was a picture pointing us to Christ. The tabernacle was a picture, the sacrifices were all pictures. Verse 12 says, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. God the Father has said to his people, You are welcome to come right on up to me, boldly, right on up to my throne, all because of the fact that you have a forerunner. You have a forerunner. Someone has already been here on your behalf. That's what God says to his people. That's the good news of the gospel. Someone has already been here on your behalf. Isn't that wonderful? Someone has already stood here as your representative and made an atonement for the sin of your soul. Someone has already done that. If you look back at chapter four, Hebrews four, our text here, verse 14, it says, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, Let us hold fast our profession. Let us hold fast our profession. That word profession means confession. What we confess. Let's hold fast to what we confess. Our confession. What is it? What is a believer's confession? What is our confession? Here it is. Verse 15. We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. That's our confession. That is our hope. It can be said in one word, Christ. Christ. It's in the fact that our high priest, Jesus Christ, our Lord, He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities, all of our infirmities, the infirmities of sin in every way, shape and form. He was tempted in everything that we were tempted with. And he prevailed against it. Do we understand that fact? He prevailed against it. That's our confession. That's our glorious confession. It's not in what we did. It's in what he did. It's in the fact that every sin that we could ever be tempted by came to him. All of them came to him and he didn't fall into them. We fell into them. Adam fell into them. In Adam, we all fell into them. In ourselves, we fall into them. We fall into sin. We fall into sin. We're tempted by sin and we fall into it. He was tempted by everything we are tempted with and he did not fall into it. It's good news, isn't it? He prevailed against all of it. He was not taken by any of it. None of it. Now, why is that such a glorious confession? Look at chapter 7. This is one of my favorite verses in all the scripture. Hebrews 7, look at verse 26. It says, For such an high priest became us. That's a transaction that took place. That's a transaction of substitution that took place. If you look at verse 24, it says, This man, speaking of Christ, because he continueth ever because he continues forever. He has an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Why is it so glorious that he was touched with the feeling of all of our infirmities and never fell into the sin of one temptation? Why is that so glorious? It's because he, in all of his glory and all of his perfection and sinlessness, he made himself to be his people. He became us. He traded places with us. He went to God as us, not as himself. He went to God as us. He stood there not only for us, but as us. Why did Christ die on the cross? Why did God judge him, condemn him, and kill him? It's because he was standing there as us, not as himself. God is holy. His throne is a throne of justice. He will not condemn the innocent. God will by no means condemn the innocent. He must condemn the guilty. He must damn the guilty. He must slay the guilty. And Christ stood there, hung there on the cross of Calvary as His people, in the place of His people. In the transaction of the cross, He went to God in our place. Therefore, We get to go to God in his place. Why can we approach the throne boldly? How boldly do you think Christ ought to be able to approach the throne of God? As boldly as he wants to. Well, because he went to God in our place, we get to go to God in his place. And because of our sin hanging on him and being pressed into him, he was rejected. God slew him. And because of all of his innocence and that perfection, God accepted us. In the cross of the Calvary, when Christ was rejected, God's people were accepted right then and there. We are already accepted in the beloved, already accepted in him. A very old preacher from many, many, many years ago, John Jasper was the man's name. Someone asked him one time, John Jasper, If God calls you home and you find yourself standing at the gates of heaven and the question is asked to you, what right do you have to enter into, enter into this place, enter into glory? What will you say? John Jasper said, I will say, I'm not here on my right. I'm here on the right of another, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I'm accepted in the beloved. I'm allowed to walk in because of him. I'm allowed to walk in because of who he is and what he did to save my soul. Now back in Hebrews 4, we are right now already accepted in him, already accepted in him. There's no background checks that need to be done. That's relieving to God's people. There's no probation period. There's no time of waiting before everything becomes official. If we are in Christ, we right now, right now have full access to the throne and glory of God. Right now, we have it. So, verse 16 says, let us therefore come boldly right now, right now in the heart, right now, knowing that in Christ and because of Christ, our forerunner and our substitute, we will not be denied because of what he accomplished for us. We will not be denied knowing that if we come, it means the father has drawn us to come. And if the Father has drawn us, the Son will in no wise cast us out. Let us therefore come boldly. Let us come boldly. And boldness, boldly, the word boldness, it doesn't mean arrogantly. That's not arrogance. People think about boldness as being arrogance. Not at all. This is what the word means. It means with unreservedness. without hesitation. Let us come without hesitation, without wondering, well, now, will he really receive us? With unreservedness, without hesitation. It means free confidence. It means cheerful courage, happy courage, happy assurance. Over in Ephesians 3, The end of verse 11 mentions Christ Jesus our Lord. Speaking of Christ Jesus our Lord, Ephesians 3 verse 12 says, in whom, speaking of Christ, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. Our boldness is in Him. Our boldness is by the faith of Him, the faith He gives to His people, the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our unreservedness, our cheerful courage is in Him, and it is by the faith of Him, and He gets the glory for it. That's what all that means. If we come boldly, that's God which works in us, both to will and do of His pleasure. That's the Father that has drawn us and that's the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ that has been given to us and caused us to, in our hearts, come to him. That's the quickening of the spirit. He gets the glory, he gets the credit, he gets the honor for everything, all of it. Hebrews 10 verse 15 says, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Because Christ put them away, covered them in his blood, they're gone. Verse 18, now where remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin. If they're paid for, they're paid for. We're not going to pay for them again. Verse 19, having therefore brethren boldness to enter in to the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by new and living way, which he hath consecrated. That means made new, newly made for us. through the veil, that is to say His own flesh, that veil when it was rent in twain, that symbolized the rending of the Lord Jesus Christ, that was our way in. That is to say His flesh, verse 21, and having a high priest over the house of God, verse 22 says, 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 come in the payment of his blood. That's how we come. That's how we come boldly in the payment of his blood and in the washing of his purity. That's our boldness. Hebrews 13 verse six says, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. And I will not fear what man shall do unto me. That's our boldness. The Lord is my helper. If God be for me, who can be against me? That's our boldness. Our text says in chapter four. Hebrews 4 verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Let us stay right there. Let's just stay right there. Our confession of Christ and his life and his death and his finished work on the cross for his people. Let us hold fast our profession. Verse 15 says, For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Thank God. Verse 16 says, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. When is our time of need? Always. always, it is always, we are always in need. And the comfort of God's word to us is in Christ we can approach that throne for his mercy and his grace anytime we need it. If you need the covering of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you need the robe of his righteousness, if you need the washing of his blood and the forgiveness of his blood, you come to the Lord Jesus Christ. You cast your soul on him, you cast your all on him. and in Him you will be received. I pray the Lord will make that a blessing to our hearts. You have been listening to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can call or write to the number and address on your screen or visit www.ksgc.church. Tune in at this same time next week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.