00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
For our scripture reading this
morning, please turn to the book of Hebrews. I'd like to begin this morning
by reading the first four verses of that book, Hebrews one verses
one through four, and then after that, we'll look at our text
for this morning in chapter four. It's important as we look at
Hebrews to remember these first four verses because they open
with a glorious declaration of the supremacy of the Son of God,
Jesus Christ. So let's look at these verses,
Hebrews one beginning in verse one. Long ago, at many times and in
many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these
last days, he has spoken to us by his son. whom he appointed
the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory
of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds
the universe by the word of his power. After making purification
for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on
high. having become as much superior to angels as the name he has
inherited is more excellent than theirs. And then please turn
over to chapter four. This morning, we'll be looking
at chapter four, verses 11 through 16. Let us therefore strive to enter
that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,
of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions
of the heart. And no creature is hidden from
his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high
priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the son of
God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in
every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw
near to the throne of grace. that we may receive mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. Thus ends the reading of
God's word. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for your word. We thank you that we know that
it is true and certain and that in it we find everything necessary
for life and salvation. And so we ask this morning as
we look at your word. That we would hear it in that
way that we would hear. The authority of it. And that we would heed your word
and that it would be a blessing to us, we pray this in the name
of Jesus Christ and then. In the book of Hebrews, we see
a letter that was written to Christians who faced difficult
and dangerous persecution and temptation. They were threatened
even to their life, threatened with death because of their belief
in God and their hope and trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ. And so in this book, the writer
of Hebrews tells us, first of all, about the person and the
work of Jesus Christ, the great Savior and the great Mediator.
And with those words about Jesus Christ, this glorious message
of the supremacy of the Son of God, he combines that with warnings
to persevere in obedience, to avoid apostasy and to hold fast
your confession. And so this book that was written
to the believers at the time of its writing is also very important
for us today, isn't it? As we face persecution, as we
see a church that struggles, that struggles to uphold the
Word of God, that struggles to live every day as God has called
us to live, we need these warnings and these comforts as well. For how can we withstand temptation
and persecution? How can we remain faithful to
our God? How can we obey Him as we live
in this world? Depending on your own strength,
you would have no hope for faithfulness, no hope for perseverance. For
such a committed faith is only possible when your eyes are fixed
on Jesus Christ, that great High Priest. When your eyes are fixed
on the author and finisher of your faith. Who died on the cross
so that you might have life, who was raised so that you might
have forgiveness and justification and who is ever living to make
intercession for his people so that they might live a life to
the glory of their God. And so this warning to the Hebrews
and this comfort to the Hebrews is a warning and comfort for
us today. When we face persecution and
when we face temptation, when we face difficulties, our only
strength. Our only hope to stand strong
in our faith is to fix our eyes on that great high priest. The
person of Jesus Christ is your foundation for a sure confession
and faithful obedience. Cling to him. In this passage
in chapter four, it begins with a warning. It says in verse eleven,
let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that no one may
fall by the same sort of disobedience. The warning is to persevere to
our rest, to our eternal rest. As opposed to falling, according
to the example of the Israelites. And what was the example of the
Israelites? Why did they not enter the rest promised to Abraham,
to Isaac and to Jacob? Well, the writer of this book
told us about the Israelites earlier at the end of chapter
three in verse 16, it has some questions about the Israelites.
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not
all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he
provoked for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned,
whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that
they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So ultimately, they didn't enter
the rest, because they disobeyed a list of rules and regulations.
Is that the answer to the question? God told them specifically how
to act and they responded with rebellion, with sin and with
disobedience. That's why they didn't answer,
right? Well, the explanation in verse 19 of chapter three
is somewhat different. They were denied the promised
rest due to unbelief, it says in verse 19. So we see that they
were unable to enter because of unbelief. In fact, this is
explained in more detail in chapter four, verse two, for good news
came to us just as to them. But the message they heard did
not benefit them because they were not united by faith with
those who listen. God had clearly given the gospel
to the Israelites. He had clearly given them the
gospel, but it did not profit them. because their hearing was
not accompanied by faith. Isn't that what Moses prayed
for the Israelites? That they might have ears to
hear, eyes to see, and hearts to understand. Their lack of
faith and their unbelief was the reason they never entered
the rest. Certainly, they sinned against God. But their rebellion
and their disobedience were symptoms. They were results of hearts that
did not believe in God. Despite God's words of instruction,
despite his deliverance of them from their enemies, despite providing
for them in the wilderness, they still did not have faith in the
salvation that God had promised to them. When faced with persecution,
with temptation and with opposition, they turned from their God. They
turned from their God in sin and rebellion. That was why they
were denied the rest that God had promised to Abraham and to
Isaac and to Jacob. But doesn't that sound familiar?
How often do we forget our God? How often, when faced with persecution
and temptation, do we forget about our God? Do we forget about
our Savior? Our high priest who intercedes
for us. And do we forget about the Spirit of God dwelling within
us? And so we must understand this
message as well. We must be reminded of the great
salvation that was purchased by Jesus Christ and our eyes
must remain fixed on him. The Israelites were given a list
of rules to follow, but they could never fulfill those rules
perfectly, could they? Those systems and rules were
intended to point them to their need for salvation through the
Savior that God had promised, that Savior who would fulfill
all these priestly systems and all the sacrifices of the temple.
Strict adherence to a program was not their hope, for that
could never be achieved. Their hope came through the promises
of God's salvation through the person and work of the perfect
mediator that was being foreshadowed. This bears repeating because
it is so important for us to understand Jesus Christ is our
only source of hope to enter eternal rest. That is the message
of the gospel from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus Christ, our
hope for salvation. Faith and belief in the salvation
of God through the saving work of Jesus Christ, the mediator
that God provided, is our only hope for salvation. How can we
strive to enter that rest? How can we keep from falling
like the Israelites? Trust in Christ, rest in Christ,
cling to Christ. Once we understand this standard,
the standard of belief, the warning that continues in verses 12 and
13 becomes very intimidating. Look at verse 12. It says, For
the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two
edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,
of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions
of the heart. The word of God is described
as living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. The
sword is so powerful that it can penetrate through joints
and marrow to the very depths of your soul. That's a pretty
terrifying physical image of the spiritual power of the word
of God, a sword that can penetrate all bodily impediments to the
very depths of your soul. My son, William, we put him in
fencing lessons for a while and we were a little bit concerned
when we did this. He was about six years old and here we were
teaching him how to use a weapon. But if you've seen fencing, you've
seen the kind of weapon they use, and so the first time I
went and saw him, he used this foil and every time he hit someone
with it, it bent. About the only way you could
hurt someone with that foil would be to poke them in the eye. That's
not the image that we have before us, is it? This is not a sword
that is easily broken or bent. This is a sword that is so strong
and powerful. That it can penetrate to the
depths of your soul. It's a pretty terrifying image,
isn't it? Of the spiritual power of Scripture,
the sword of the spirit. And think about this image in
relation to unbelief. It's pretty easy for us, isn't
it, to give the impression of obedience to those around us,
to do the things that we are told to do and to seem as if
we are obedient to our God. And yet even sometimes when we
obey outwardly, our hearts are hard, aren't they? And our thoughts
and our motives are not pure. It's often easy to give the impression
that we are faithful and obedient to God because other people can't
see our hearts. But the Word of God digs much
deeper than that to the depths of soul and of spirit. The Word of God exposes those
areas of our life, bringing to light motives and attitudes and
desires and our will. We might be able to fool other
people, but the word of God shines a light on the deepest part of
your soul. And as the word of God penetrates
to the soul, it tells us in verse 13 that no creature is hidden
from the sight of God, but all are naked and exposed to the
eyes of him to whom we must give account. You might remember that
answer in the children's catechism. Nothing can be hid from God. It's a simple phrase, isn't it?
So simple that our little children can understand it. Yet it's an
importance and it's a sobering truth. We might be able to fool
men, but God sees and understands all things. His word penetrates
to the depth of our soul. John Calvin described it in this
way. Whenever God's word is set before us, we must tremble. Because nothing is hidden from
him. How easy it is to remind our
children that nothing can be hid from God. But how often we
forget. How often we fail to remember
that our hearts and our souls are open before God. Husbands,
when you are watching a football or a basketball game and your
wife asks you to come put out the trash. You might do it, but
what are you thinking as you do it? Your wife might not know,
but your heart is exposed before God. And wives, while they're
watching that football game and you have something for them to
do, what might you be thinking? Why can't he get off that couch?
Why isn't he helping me? Your heart is exposed before
God. When you're angry with your boss,
because he asked you to do something that you don't want to do. Their
hearts is exposed before God. Simple examples, maybe, but a
reminder of this sobering truth. And it's frightening, isn't it?
Because the heart and the mind cannot be manipulated. We can't
manipulate it like outward obedience for the heart exposes our true
feelings and our priorities and our desires. That's where we
find belief or unbelief, the standard that God requires. And
if we're honest with ourselves, we know we continually fall far
short of God's standard in our hearts when faced with temptation,
when faced with persecution, How often do we respond with
unbelief in the great promises of God? We are rendered hopeless
when we come face to face with our creator and our Lord. Like
Adam and Eve, we are naked and exposed before God. So what hope
is there? How can we be diligent to enter
that rest? How can we actively seek a right
relationship with God when we are unable to come into his presence
due to our unbelief? It is because just as the word
of God is living and active, so also we have a high priest,
Jesus Christ, who is living and active. God's people have always
needed a mediator to stand between them and their God, a priest
who offer a sacrifice of blood for the covering of sin. Only
by this covering are they able to stand in right relationship
with their God. This was true for the saints
of the Old Testament and is true for the saints of the new. But
there is a stark contrast between the priestly office of the old
and the priestly office of the new. For we now have a great
high priest that exceeds anything that the Old Testament saints
experienced. It would obviously take us hours
to study and to fully grasp this contrast. Indeed, the writer
of Hebrews takes five or six chapters to discuss the superiority
of Christ as our high priest. But the last three verses in
chapter four summarize the greatness of our high priest and the benefits
that he brings for his people. Let's look at verse 14. It says
there, since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through
the heavens. Jesus, the son of God, let us
hold fast our confession. The writer begins by saying we
have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.
Jesus, the son of God. The high priest of Israel was
required once a year to pass into the holy of holies, a place
built by human hands and to offer a sacrifice for the people. But
our pride priest has passed through the heavens into the very presence
of God. And notice, there's no mention
of his return since his sacrifice was complete and perfectly acceptable. He didn't need to return and
to offer a new sacrifice every year for the people of God. We no longer need a priest in
our midst in the same way to offer sacrifices, because Christ's
sacrifice perfectly paid the penalty for our sin. And so,
as we read earlier in Hebrews one, verse three, once he purged
our sins, Christ sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God. And there he sits interceding
for his people. He's still acting as a high priest,
but instead of serving here in our midst, he is dealing with
the living God on your behalf. Later in the book of Hebrews,
the writer tells us that Jesus Christ ever lives to make intercession
for his people. He constantly pleads our case
before the living God. He constantly holds up his acceptable
sacrifice as the payment for our sin. And he constantly gives
grace for his people to remain strong in their faith, to remain
strong as they face temptation and difficulty. Jesus Christ
is the great high priest because he is the very son of God. And
because he is the perfect son of God, his sacrifice is acceptable
and complete. The priestly system in the temple,
those institutions that brought stability and blessing to the
Israelites when they maintain them properly, those systems
are no longer necessary, for we now have a great high priest
who has eclipsed the usefulness of such systems. What a blessing
our great High Priest is. But the writer of Hebrews also
balances the greatness and the glory of our High Priest with
his sympathy for the people of God. For what does it say in
verse 15? For we do not have a High Priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses But one who in
every respect has been tempted, as we are yet without sin. I believe the new King James
puts it this way, for we have not a high priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses. Now, we don't usually speak that
way in English, that double negative that's used in the King James.
But in the language of the Bible, double negatives are put there
for emphasis. And in this case, we are driven
to see the seeming contradiction of the character of Jesus Christ.
While he is the great high priest and the very son of God, he can
also sympathize with the weakness of the human soul. Think about that, the great high
priest, the son of God, and yet he sympathizes with his people. In junior high, we had a set
of twins that came into our class at school, and most of you know
that I'm a twin as well. One of these twins was dying
of leukemia. Our teacher thought that I would
be a good person to talk with his brother because he was struggling
with this situation. She assumed that if since I was
a twin, I might be able to sympathize and understand what he was going
through. But I found out quite quickly
that I couldn't sympathize with him. I couldn't understand the
struggles that he had. But our Savior can understand
every struggle, every temptation, every persecution and provide
sympathy and comfort and support for his people. He can sympathize
with our weakness and give us the strength to stand on this
temptation. Now, this is a familiar concept,
the idea of Jesus Christ being a high priest who can identify
with our weakness. But it's sometimes difficult
to understand, isn't it? How can a perfect man, the son
of God who was without sin, how can he understand the struggles
that I have? How can he sympathize with my
weakness? But when you think about it,
Jesus Christ suffered more temptation than we could ever sustain. You
remember his temptation in the wilderness as Satan attacked
him over and over again. temptation that we could not
stand. And yet Jesus Christ was strong
in his heavenly father. And what about the temptations
of the cross, the struggles that he knew he would suffer through?
And yet he went and obeyed the will of his father. And during
the cross in obedience to his to his father, Through all these
difficulties, more temptation than we could ever comprehend. He continued without sin. There is no doubt that he was
tempted in all points as we are and more yet without sin. So even in his humility, our
great high priest exemplified his superiority, his superiority
over the old priestly order. While the priests of the Old
Testament continually sin and had to even offer sacrifices
for themselves. We have a high priest who is
our sinless representative. Our high priest is living and
powerful, he is sinless, and in that it makes his sacrifice
acceptable before God. He has passed through the heavens.
He is seated at the right hand of God and he continues to make
intercession for us, giving us comfort in temptation. What an
advantage we have. So what should be our response
to the work of our great high priest? Well, first, as we've
already read in verse 14, we're told to hold fast our confession
This is exactly what the Israelites failed to do and therefore they
failed to enter the rest. They had been given everything
they needed from God. He blessed them with protection
and physical and spiritual blessings above any other nation. Yet they
rejected the promises of his covenant. Their unbelief and
their lack of faith meant that they never entered the rest promised
to their fathers. Yet, as we have seen, the people
of the new covenant have been given an even greater gift than
that of the old. While the Old Testament people
were given sacrifices, a temple, manna in the wilderness, you
have received the fulfillment of all those blessings in Jesus
Christ. How much more should you respond
in faith to the redemptive work of your great high priest? And
along with such faith comes a firm commitment to the gospel of Jesus
Christ. No matter the difficulty, no
matter the opposition, no matter the persecution, you must hold
fast the confession of the son of God, your great high priest. The audience of the Book of Hebrews
faced physical persecution that we can hardly imagine. They were
arrested, beaten, mocked and killed because they believed
in one God. Because they believed in one
way, the way, the truth and the life, the one way of salvation. For that, they faced persecution
and death. They were asked to renounce,
to compromise their faith in order to protect their lives.
And some did. That is why the writer of Hebrews
finds it necessary to urge them to not turn from their faith
and unbelief, because it would be so easy to turn. And yet, how often we turn when
faced with the smallest of temptations or persecutions. And when we
face those temptations and persecutions, we must remember our great high
priest. who is tempted as we are, yet
without sin. He faced the cross, yet he never
forsook his father. Remember what the writer of Hebrews
says later in chapter twelve, verses one and two. Since we
are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay
aside every weight And every sin which clings so closely and
let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. And
how can you run with endurance? It goes on to say, looking to
Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith before the joy that
was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and
is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Fix your eyes
upon Jesus. Only then can you stand strong
in him. But how is that possible? Where
can we find the strength to hold fast to our confession no matter
the obstacle? Where can we find the strength
to remain fixed on Jesus? And once again, that strength
comes through the work of our great high priest. For what does
it say in verse 16? of chapter four, it says, Let
us then with confidence drawn near to the throne of grace that
we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Because of Christ's great sacrifice,
we are now able to approach the throne of grace with confidence. If that phrase that we read there,
to boldly approach the throne of grace, doesn't fill you with
amazement, you need to stop and read it again and think about
it. The Old Testament saints were
never able to approach that throne of grace because of the obstacle
of sin. In fact, even the high priest
could only approach the mercy seat once a year. And think of
the Israelites in their time at the foot of Mount Sinai. They
were not even able to approach or to touch that mountain because
of their sin and the perfect holiness of an almighty God. Yet we are now told to not only
approach that throne of grace, but to approach the throne of
grace with confidence, with boldness, Remember that Jesus has passed
through the heavens, that he now sits at the right hand of
God, his sacrifice being perfect and acceptable to pardon our
sins. Because of the covering of his
blood, because of his sacrifice, you are now able to boldly approach
the throne of grace. And as you approach, you obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. What a great
blessing that the covering of Christ's blood enables you to
again be in God's presence. You no longer need an earthly
priest because Christ is the everlasting priest and we are
now all priests as we are united to the person and to the work
of Jesus Christ and as we are indwelt by his spirit. And what do you receive at the
throne of grace? First, you receive the mercy
of God. Your sins have been pardoned
through the blood of Christ. Those filthy rags of your self-righteousness
have been torn off and replaced with the robe of the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. We have mercy from our heavenly
Father who accepts us because of the righteousness of Christ.
But secondly, you find grace to help in time of need. He never allows you to be tempted
above what you are able. That's what Paul tells us. He
never allows you to be tempted above what you are able, but
provides power to resist the devil and to flee temptation. This boldness that we can have
before our heavenly father is not in human strength or ability.
For we can never stand before God on our own. It is only because
of Jesus Christ that we are able to approach in confidence. When we come in faith, we have
no doubt that God hears us, that he listens and that he answers. And so we approach with reverence
and godly fear. But we do not approach in terror
because we have a great high priest, Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. So we can pray with confidence
because God has told us to boldly approach the throne of grace.
We can pray with confidence because our God has promised to answer
prayers and to protect his people. We can pray with confidence because
our prayers are covered in the blood of Jesus Christ. And we
can pray with confidence because we are united to Christ by his
spirit. And not only do we pray in confidence,
but we can worship this morning and approach God's throne because
of our great high priest, Jesus Christ, who is sitting at the
right hand of the throne of God, ever living to make intercession
for his people. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
grab hold of that promise. Boldly approach the throne of
grace and hold fast to your confession in the confidence of your high
priest, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As you cling to Christ
strong in faith and belief in his saving power, you will enter
the eternal rest promised in Scripture. Let's pray. Almighty God, we come to you
this morning in the name of Jesus Christ. And we thank you, Lord. That you have saved us, that
you have delivered us from sins, that you have clothed us in the
righteousness of Christ so that we might be able even to pray
to you this morning, boldly approaching your throne, knowing that you
hear us and that you answer. And so we ask on this your day
that you would strengthen us to serve you in everything that
we do and everything that we say, that we might glorify your
name in all of our life. We pray this in the power and
in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Word of God and our Compassionate High Priest
Series Occasional Sermons
| Sermon ID | 21206223937 |
| Duration | 36:52 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Hebrews 4:11-16 |
| Language | English |
Documents
Add a Comment
Comments
No Comments
© Copyright
2026 SermonAudio.