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. Amen. I've entitled this sermon, Cling and Come to Christ. Cling and Come to Christ. Christians who fear the future often complain about the present, idealise or idolise the past, and they can be tempted to cool off, turn away or drift off from Christ. Maybe to somebody like Caiaphas, the high priest of the Jews in the time of Christ, to move from our advocate to an angel like Gabriel, or from Messiah. to Moses or even the Virgin Mary, I'm struck with amazement during the years I visited France that everywhere in that deeply secular land there's loads of Mary shrines and here you can't go far through the neighbourhoods without seeing these little shrines like almost a guardian. Great superstition plagues many in this area. Hebrews had boldly confessed Jesus, they'd stood up with their fellow saints and been prepared to side with them and suffer for their faith. They even got their property confiscated and they were ready to visit those who were put in prison for their bold profession of Christ. And in these verses, though they're tempted to lose heart, Though they're tempted to go cold and to slacken off their profession of the gospel, though they're tempted to embrace Old Testament rites, the smells and bells of Judaism, like Ruth clinging to Naomi, where to cling and come to and be inseparable from Christ. And this is aided with three reasons we're given in these verses. Firstly, we're to see Jesus and his greatness. We're to see Jesus in his greatness. That's what we're told. Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the son of God. Let us hold fast to our confession. What does his greatness consist of? Well, it certainly, at least in these verses, consists of his official position that he occupies as the great high priest. No one's styled like that in the rest of scripture. There were high priests, but no great high priest. Only he is the great high priest and the chief shepherd of the flock. So at first, not to his official position, but also to his divinely human person, his position and his person, for he is Jesus, the Son of God. far exalted above any man or angel or mediator in the Old Testament. We don't have time to look at that again this morning, but he is the exact imprint and replica of God made flesh. This is the Jesus we're called to follow and lay down our lives and take up his cross or reject him for ourselves. And if that's the case, there's utterly no hope the greatness of his position, the greatness of his person, and added to that is the sovereign particularism here because it's for the saints as mediator of the elect that we possess him as our own high priest. Isn't that amazing? There's heaven in that statement. Isn't that an amazing statement? Listen to what he says, since then we have, we possess a great high priest. What grace and what glory and what infinite love comes to the people of God that we are granted a high priest whom God has appointed for us. We have the position of Christ, the person of the high priest, the particularism for the saints. But the chief thing to note here this morning is his holy, heavenly place, which is also a permanent place. There's his position, his person, particularism, and the place, because we're told, look at what it says there, since we have a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens. He's not like Old Testament Aaron, who went through the various compartments of that replica of the heavenly temple. And finally, once a year, through the offering of blood of bulls and goats, through the curtain or the veil, with the little jangling bells, with the pomegranates on the edge of the high priest's robe, into the very presence of God and the Ark of the Covenant. That was just like a scale model. But the real thing to which that pointed, the substance, the reality of that ministry, which was signified in the robes in the office of Aaron, is in heaven. That's where Christ has entered. He has passed through the climatic heaven where the clouds bubble up and the shores fall down. He has passed through the stellar space, heaven, where the planets and the stars shine and blink, to the third heaven, or maybe even the seventh heaven, the heaven of heavens, the highest heaven, which is not part of this creation. And he's gone there, how? In what form? as the crucified, risen, exalted, brightly shining Lord. And there he blazes in glory as he serves as our great high priest before the face of the Father. The sense here is that he has gone there and he has stayed there. It's the perfect tense. It's a past action leading to a permanent ongoing state. He will always be there to represent his people before the face of his father. to secure salvation for them, to pour out grace upon them, and to bring finally many sons to glory, those who believe and trust in him and walk with him in new obedience of faith. He has gone there as an advocate to take our part and defend our miserable cause. for we're guilty as charged. But through his blood, we become guiltless and blameless, and clothed in his righteousness. So he has gone into glory, and if you were to ask me, where is Jesus right now? He's there! At the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. This is what David heard, wasn't it, in the vision of Psalm 110. The Lord, Yahweh said to my Lord, sit at my right hand. He's at God's right hand. This is what Stephen saw when he was being stoned to death in Acts. I see the son of man. Jesus at the right hand of God, in that case, standing either to receive him or to intercede for him. But where did they see Jesus? There. That's where Jesus was when Saul saw him on the road to Damascus, and the sun from the heavens blinded him. Saul saw, why do you persecute me? And this is where the lamb was seen by John the Apostle on the island of Patmos in Revelation four and five. The lamb seated on the throne, slain because he's a crucified lamb, crucified for our sins of those who believe in him. So if you're tempted to discount Christ, slacking off Jesus, cool off your faith, drift off. This urges us strongly, don't trust in Jesus. Surely it's our great High Priest who connects us truly and opens access to God himself. And so if we want any meaningful saving relationship to the Father, we have to come through his Son. And so surely it's blind superstition that would swap Mary for a Messiah or a Jesuit for Jesus. No Pope or priest can bring you to God. Only Jesus. I don't say that with any triumphalism, but it's simply true. There's multitudes in Bergen County, who've turned away from Jesus, the only high priest, or have added on further priests or mediators to him, which is really to apostatize from the gospel. Why would we turn aside to those who can't help us in exchange for one who represents us before God? And so may God forgive our flesh which naturally forgets or fails to focus on the glorious side of our great high priest and his amazing love for us at God's right hand. and ask the Holy Spirit to open up the eyes of your heart to behold the glory and the position of our great High Priest. Because on his priesthood and post, there is no expiry date. He has procured eternal salvation for us. Because if we have no such priest, and we lose our grip on Christ, we would certainly be lost. Bow down again, bless the Lord above, for Jesus, your great high priest, and seek to strengthen your grip on your profession of Christ. Listen to the exhortation, 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. That's the first thing then, see Jesus and his greatness. The second thing is know Jesus and his sympathy. Know Jesus and his sympathy. 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. His high office in heaven above does not mean that Jesus is distant or remote or unfeeling. He's not like the lofty angels who can't identify with us, or like cruel and callous, quick to condemn Caiaphas, who put Jesus on the cross with Pilate. He was the high priest, but our high priest is not like that. Christ reads our thoughts and is touched by the infirmities outward and of our heart. He's not even like the misunderstanding, undiscerning Eli, remember? Hannah was burdened and she was pouring her heart out to the Lord at the God's house in Shiloh and Eli accused her of being drunk when she was pouring out her heart. That's an earthly, undiscerning priest and Christ is not like that because his unstained and immaculate, spotless heart, was unable to sin, and yet faced real, drawn-out, prolonged tests and temptations and trials with far greater intensity and force than you or I will ever face, and so he's able to help us. Look what it says again in verse 15, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, a double negative, stressing the positive, but one who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Paul says, who does not feel weak? And I feel weak. We all have weaknesses. We all have infirmities. We all have blind spots. We all have things that spin our heads. We all have situations which cause us to lose our grip and zeal for faith. And so our great high priest was tempted in every way like us He tasted in full measure all the outward stresses and stressors that you and I as human beings face, for he was fully man. Tiredness, thirst, hunger. When your alarm goes off at half five or quarter to six or half six or quarter to seven and you think, I need to press the snooze button for a further 15 minutes because I'm wrecked. Know that Jesus was tired, physically tired. He resisted and repulsed wave after wave of inward mental attack upon his heart. He knows what it is to experience danger, dread, disappointment, distress, dereliction, and a sense of forsakenness and to cope with death. He's tasted all of those things for us and sinlessly so. He knows what it is to hate sin with all his heart and be troubled and distressed by it. He knows what it is to stand at the grave of a friend and weep and lament with a broken heart, or as he sees the ravages of disease and sickness, people blind and deaf and paralysed and lame and leprous, and think, look what sin has done. He's felt like that. He knows the evil havoc that sin wreaks by way of consequence. He knows what it is to be deeply troubled. The Bible describes them in Gethsemane, I think it is, in consternation. Turmoil of his heart, not a sinful turmoil, but the prospect of Calvary. He battled with his thoughts. He prayed drops of blood-stained sweat. First-hand, he experienced Satan's craft, malice, slander, lies, and his ability to know the Bible and to twist the truth. He faced all of that, and he continued, didn't he, to trust, in spite of his trials, during the three dark hours of the cross. He felt the weight of our guilt and the punishment it deserved and the isolation and loneliness of God's curse at Calvary. He endured divine wrath and he's therefore able to teach us and train us how to cope as we seek his grace. He is thoroughly acquainted and familiar with all our plight, and has the strength and wisdom we need to pass the test. And therefore, our great high priest has a tender, compassionate heart to help each tortured and tormented saint. Someone has written, in every pine that rends the heart, the man of sorrows had a part He sympathises with our griefs and to the sufferer sends relief. Or as Matthew Henry says, the more holy and pure he was, the more he must have been unwilling in his nature to sin and must have had a deeper impression of evil. Consequently, he adds, the more he must have been concerned to deliver his people from its guilt and poise. Do you see what he's saying? His encounter with the evil of sin made him resolve more fully to go to Calvary for us. What a wonderful, sympathetic high priest we have. Maybe you know what it's like, burdened beyond belief, crushed in your mind and heart, wondering where help will come from. And you've tried to share it, with friends, you've tried to even share it with your elders and pastor, and you just have a sense they don't understand really. You know, they're trying their best, but they really don't get me. Well, our great high priest gets you, and he gets it, and he knows, and he's sympathetic. He has time, he has eternity to minister grace to his people. Of course he does use his ministers and his elders and your brothers and sisters to minister his grace to you through them. We don't deny that. But as someone has said, are we weak and heavy laden, troubled with a load of care, we should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. So, whenever you're in a pickle or a quandary, or whenever you go down those rabbit holes and can't get out, by all means, pick up the cell phone or go on some media app and talk, but not before you go to Christ. That's first place. Because he is a tender, compassionate, sympathetic high priest who knows and loves and cares. So there's the second thing then. Firstly, see Jesus and his greatness. Secondly, know Jesus and his sympathy. And it's by this, of course, we overcome and stand. That's the whole point of teaching us so that we cling to Christ and come to Christ and hold fast our profession. And thirdly and finally, we're to ask Jesus for his help. We're to ask Jesus for his help. Verse 18, let us then, 16, 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. Solomon did have a great throne, didn't they? There were lions on six steps, I think. Awesome throne and a wise throne. But only with Jesus is it styled and called and termed the throne of grace. God's grace, of course, is what we don't deserve, the good things given to us in His kindness. It's a term attached to the covenant. Therefore, it's blood-bought grace. It's Calvary grace. It's the Lamb of God grace. one for us through his sufferings. And so timely needed help is found there. Before this great king, maybe the thought of a king in an ancient world is a terrifying prospect like Esther, who you'll remember when Haman had the edict put out by the king of Persia that the Jewish people would be slaughtered on a certain day. And so Esther gave herself, she, Mordecai wore sackcloth and Esther herself prayed and fasted and got people to fast. And she said, though I'm his wife, the queen's Didn't have it easy in those days. Though I'm his wife, I'll go before the king, and if he extends a scepter, all is well, but if not, well, if I perish, I perish. And she was told, wasn't she, by Mordecai, who knows but God has raised you and put you there for this time, a time such as this. So she goes, but she's trembling. She's unsure of the reception and response she will get from Ahasuerus. She doesn't know whether she will receive the smile of the king's face and his favour. But here, We can be certain, there's no doubt, we're explicitly told this is a throne on which he reigns by grace to bring many sons to glory. And so we have the grace to prevail and hold fast and stand firm. And so mercy is sparing us what sin deserves. There's pardon at this throne. Maybe you sinned. Maybe you're a thorough sinner by nature and practice. Maybe you've never truly known Christ or submitted to his will. You deserve to be destroyed. You don't merit pardon for your crimes, but there's mercy. You can bow to him and cling to his feet and plead with him. Take away my guilt and wash me from my stains. And he will always, to such a prayer, if it's sincere and you're willing to turn from your sin, he will extend the scepter of pardon and forgiveness in him. In chapter one of Ephesians says, in him we have redemption, buyback, purchase, freeing from sin. What is it? The forgiveness of sins. That's it. That's the heart of the gospel, that God has found a way at Calvary to forgive sinners. No, without the cross there is no forgiveness. But with the blood of Christ, we can be cleansed and welcomed and accepted. There's mercy. And so at the feet of Christ and by virtue of his blood, with pardon for our crimes, there's also abundant grace and kindness. I guess you probably know some kind people, but there's no kindness like the eternal kindness of God in Christ as Paul describes it in Titus. When the kindness of our God appeared, he's speaking of Jesus, the King of grace, to whose throne we come. We also see that this grace is always timely. It never arrives too late. And like Swiss trains, if you've ever been in Switzerland, it always arrives in time. You can set your watch by the trains in Switzerland. And so the grace of God, when it comes, it always comes in a timely fashion. Daniel must have been pleased about that, that it didn't come three minutes after he entered the lion's den because he would have got eaten up by the lions. But timely grace came because he sought it from God. Right at the end of his life, that rather notorious character, Samson, was blinded But he prayed for one last surge of strength as he got the stewards to rest his hands on the pillars of the Philistine temple. And for the one last time at that feast, to destroy the enemies of God, pull that temple down. As a picture, of course, of Christ defeating sin, hell, and death for us. achieved more in his death than all of his life because it's a death of Christ that brings forgiveness for us. God heard the weeping cry of King Hezekiah. He was sick and he wept to the Lord and God healed him in time and added years to his life. And so the blood of Christ assures a stream of blessing to us for which we must. Now, this is basic Christian discipleship. We're good at asking, less good at knocking. And we often don't find it because we don't seek and pursue it. But like the persistent widow who annoyingly after dark, not, or pleaded with the judge again and again, were to ask, seek, and knock, and the door will be opened, and you will find. How are we to pray as we ask, seek, and knock? Not with rudeness, but with boldness and confidence. Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace. This word, confidence, can mean a boldness, but it can also mean a boldness in this sense. Publicly, we make known in detail exactly what we need. We spell it out. Look at the psalmist, how he prays. He tells God that he's really down, he's really troubled, he's really perplexed, his heart is sorrowful. Sometimes he describes his sorrow in detail. He says in Psalm 6, I think it is, my couch is flooded with tears. Sleep is gone, Lord. Is that how you pray? And then he goes on. I'm troubled. I'm harassed, I'm attacked by A, B, C, and D. And then he gives reasons. So for this reason and that reason, oh God, for your own glory, for the sake of your servant, will the dust praise you? What good is it if I go down to the pit? And so he prays. And then he begins to ask and pray. And he makes his petition. and he asks God for what God has promised and what he needs. And so we come to God, we lay our requests at the feet of Christ with boldness and confidence, with the confidence of Jairus. Remember Jairus in the gospel? Not Jairo, but Jairus. And he comes, and like a centurion, also with great faith, come. Servants are dying. Children have died. And so he asks God and he comes with great faith. Or like the friends who brought their paralyzed friend upon a mat. And they dug through the roof, they lifted the tiles, lifted the mud, and got through the rafters. Because they wanted to get to Christ. Because he was full of mercy and grace. Or like the woman who was bleeding, and couldn't stop bleeding, and had been to all the doctors, and the doctors weren't much good for her. And she just said, if I can get to Christ. Why? Because there's grace and mercy. There's forgiveness and there's help. And there's courage in Christ. Approach, my soul, the mercy seat, where Jesus answers prayer. There humbly bow beneath his feet, for none can perish there. Thy promise is my only plea. With this I venture near. Thou callest burdened souls to thee, and such, O Lord, am I. Listen what he says. Bowed down beneath a load of sin, by Satan sorely pressed, by wars without and fears within, I come to thee for rest. Be thou my shield and hiding place that sheltered near thy side, I may my fierce accuser, Satan he's speaking of, face him and tell him thou hast died. approach, boldness and confidence, whatever you need, not your greed but your need, God has mercy and grace in Christ. So in conclusion then, will you adore, will you adhere to Christ, will you approach Christ and apply to Jesus the Son of God, for he is the great high priest of the church. He has suffered for us and is sympathetic to us as his people, that we might maintain a courageous, bold trust and profession of faith, whatever it costs, because we have to take up our cross daily with Christ. will you come one and all, young and old, day by day, while on earth, to seek the grace and help you need, and assured that he will help if you come boldly with confidence. And do you see how he suffered? And that he fully grasps and understands. On the cross, he's been to hell and back, that they might bring many sons to glory. There will never be a day when Jesus leaves his post as great high priest. Yesterday, today, and forever, he lives in glory to intercede for us and give us access to God's grace. Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us o'er the world's tempestuous sea. Save your brief forgiveness o'er us, all our weakness thou dost know, thou didst tread this earth before us, thou didst feel its keenest woe, lone and dreary, faint and weary, through this desert thou didst go. Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace, for we have a great high priest. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we bless and thank you for your word, the encouragement and exhortation that it gives through the