[0:00] Turning back to the chapter that we had in Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews 4. And for a short time this evening, focusing down from verses 14 to the end of the chapter.
[0:15] Hebrews 4, verses 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
[0:27] For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was on all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
[0:39] Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, for we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Thank you.
[0:54] In focusing mostly on the final few verses we have there. Of course, the context we have here, we're all acquainted, I'm sure, of the book of Hebrews, written to a relatively new, perhaps, or a young group of Christians we don't know precisely.
[1:11] By a group of Christians who had come in from Judaism, who were, of course, all Jews, who are now saved, but who are being tempted back slowly but surely into the old way of doing things.
[1:24] Being tempted back into the world of the temple and the sacrifices and the offering and the vestments and the smells and bells, quite literally, of the temple. Being tempted back to the visual things they could touch, things they could see.
[1:38] And again and again, the writer to the Hebrews is reminding them that in Jesus they have someone more, something more, someone better, something better.
[1:49] And here we have ourselves this evening in chapter 4. For context, the first 12, 11, 12 verses, the argument is being brought before us that those who went before them, those who wandered the deserts, that even they failed to find and to reach the final rest, as it were.
[2:10] We all know the account, of course, that of all those who left Egypt after the 40-odd years of walking in the wilderness, of journeying in the wilderness, of that first generation, how many saw the promised land?
[2:24] How many saw the working of God's promises? How many got to that final rest? And why? Because they did not believe, because they did not trust, because of their hard hearts, because of their unbelief.
[2:39] That's a whole other sermon for us to look at, perhaps, in every time. The context here is, you're saying, as Christians, you want to go back to the old ways, back to your father's and your grandfather's ways, as it were, your forefather's ways, the ancestor's ways.
[2:53] The ancestors, they weren't saved by their ways. Only they were saved by the grace of God, by the salvation offered to them by God. And now, in your day, and in our day, that salvation is no longer found in temples, no longer found in sacrifice and in procedures.
[3:11] It's found only in Christ, only in the high priest. As a context, we find ourselves, he's building up the reality that nothing can save you, nothing will save you, not your history, not your people's history, not your culture, not your forefathers.
[3:29] Who will save you? What can save you? What has put you where you are now, dear Christians? We find ourselves then, in our final text, our final verses here in our text, verses 12 and verse 13 and verses 14 onwards.
[3:42] Bringing us back to the high priest. We can jump in quickly, first of all, looking at this pause. So verses 1 to verse 11, he's talking about the culture, the context of the day, and the reality that only in Christ we have rest.
[3:58] And in verse 11, he stops. And in verse 12, there's a bit of a break. And we're reminded in verse 12, the reality. Verses 12 and verse 13, the reality as to the God who we serve.
[4:12] The God who they serve, and the God who we serve this evening. The God who is very much present here this evening. The God who we worship.
[4:24] The God who created you and I. The God who we must one day answer to. We find the reality of that God, his holiness, described for us in verses 12 and verse 13.
[4:36] Verse 12, we see the reality of this verse we know so well. The word of God is quick. It's powerful. Sharp than a two-edged sword. The word of God, it pierces to the dividing of the soul and spirit, joints and marrow.
[4:49] It can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. We worship a God this evening from whom we can hide nothing. A holy, perfect God from whom there is no hiding.
[5:03] There is no doing. A Jonah as it were. We can't escape. We can't escape. We cannot escape. Jonah goes down, down, down. Away, away, away. And yet God is with him every step of the way.
[5:16] We can't escape. We cannot run. God sees all things. We're told in verse 13. He sees all things.
[5:27] Verse 13. Never a 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. That all things.
[5:38] Again, that phrase, that Greek phrase. It was before, a few months ago, when we worked together at Psalm 110. That all things phrase. It means quite literally everything.
[5:49] Everything. Everything is known to him. Not one thing. Not one person. Not one experience. Not one situation. Not one part of creation is unknown to him.
[6:01] He sees all. He knows all. All things are naked and exposed. Are opened up to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. There is no escaping the power of our sovereign God.
[6:18] God. That's in that reality. In that truth we're told here. We then see verses 14 and 15 and 16.
[6:28] So look together at these verses. I want to do so under three very simple headings. First of all, verses 14. We see the access. Then verse 15.
[6:39] We see the awareness. And then in verse 16 we see the approach. Access, awareness and approach. First of all, verse 14.
[6:51] Access. So we just said in verses 12 and verse 13. The reality of the holiness of God. But nothing can escape him.
[7:02] Nothing is beyond him. And if our reading stopped at verse 13. Then we leave this place this evening. Having been reminded as to the power and the might of God.
[7:12] Yes. But if we're honest. If we stopped at verse 13. We would leave this place today saying. Where's the hope? God sees me. God knows me. There's no escape from him.
[7:24] I understand that. We believe that. We confess that. But where is the hope in that? That's a terrifying thought, isn't it? On its own. That's a terrifying thought.
[7:34] There's no escaping him. There's no hiding from him. As it were. We're exposed. And exposed to him. To whom we have to do. Quite literally. To him who will judge.
[7:47] Okay. Not one of these statements is untrue. Of course it's not. But the believer is asking. Where is the hope? How do we cope with these statements? What do we do in the light of such unapproachable holiness?
[7:59] How do we cope in the light of such unapproachable perfection? And righteousness? The writer, thankfully, in God's province carries on past verse 13.
[8:12] And after reminding us and reminding these Christians that before God they are seen and known and exposed as it were. We see verse 14 then.
[8:23] Seeing then. Seeing then. We have a great high priest. That is passed into the heavens. Jesus, Son of God. Let us hold fast our profession.
[8:35] He brings us now to the only one who can help us in the context of verses 12 and verse 13. In the light of these verses. Who alone can stand before us and a holy God is Jesus.
[8:49] Our great high priest. Verse 14. The one who is our great high priest. This evening we confess and we believe all is true of God in verses 12 and 13.
[9:01] We also believe and confess all is true of verse 14. But we represented his people this evening. This during moment. Before the throne of grace we're represented by our great high priest.
[9:12] We see at the start. Seeing then. Or quite literally. Since then we have a great high priest. That tells us that all that's about to be said in verse 14. It's connected to the previous verses.
[9:23] All this being true. Therefore we have a great high priest. Our only hope before a holy God. The only one who allows us to approach our God this evening to worship.
[9:39] The only one to whom we can cling on to and cry out to be our protection and our shield. It is Jesus we see here. Jesus is the son of God. Our eternal high priest.
[9:51] Brothers and sisters please this evening as we come around these verses. As we come around these verses. As we come around these verses. As we're reminded. As we hear again. Of the wonder it is to know Jesus. And to have Jesus as our high priest.
[10:04] This is not just dry theology. This is the very core of who we are as Christians isn't it? This is what gives us our assurance. We have one who is our advocate.
[10:14] We have one who stands. As a wear between us and the Father. Who represents us. And one who because of his finished work now we can approach the Father in love. Knowing he looks on his people in love.
[10:25] And we'll see that as we go on through these verses. See all the previous human high priests. All those who came before this final great high priest.
[10:38] They faithfully. I'm sure the majority of them faithfully served. They did their best. They did all the duties required of them. But of course their service was always going to be tainted by their own sin.
[10:51] And ultimately their service was always going to be cut short. By death. We see that in Hebrews 7. Verse 23. Speaking of the high priest.
[11:02] The former priests were many in number. Because they were prevented by death. From continuing in office. Speaking about Jesus. But he holds his priesthood permanently.
[11:13] Because he continues forever. We have three facts. Three distinct features. About our eternal high priest in verse 14.
[11:26] Three distinctives that set him aside. Compared to all the other high priests which came before him. First of all we can note the first distinctive. Is the name that he is given.
[11:39] In the first part of verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest. Not just our high priest. But a great high priest.
[11:49] Perhaps we might just read that verse quickly. And lose sight of that. But that one wee word. It tells us so much. No other high priest in all scripture. Is ascribed to that title.
[12:00] In Jesus alone do we have. The great high priest. Our great high priest. Who separates him from all the other.
[12:13] Various many faithful. Previous priests and high priests. He is superior. He is above all who came before him.
[12:23] He alone can be called great. He alone is called great. Because he is greater. Than all the other high priest that came before him. He alone is the one who lives for everyone.
[12:36] We looked before together in Psalm 110. A few months ago now. He alone is the only one we sang. A wee while ago in Psalm 110. He alone is the only one. Who is eternally given the order of Melchizedek.
[12:49] He alone is the only one who eternally. Is the priest of his people. He alone is the only great high priest. That he did and he has done. What the others could never hope to do.
[13:03] He finished their work. His finished work has granted us access to the father. So we have access because our high priest is the great high priest.
[13:16] Then we have access because of a peculiar phrase we have here. We have access because our great high priest. Is the one who has passed into the heavens.
[13:28] Quite literally passed through the heavens. That word into. There is a sense of movement there in the Greek. Who has passed through the heavens. A strange phrase perhaps.
[13:39] We ask. How does this give us any confidence. About our access to the throne of grace. We have a high priest. A great high priest. Who has passed into. Passed through the heavens.
[13:51] Again we said this was written to a group of Christians. Who have been tempted back into the old ways of things. The old habits.
[14:02] The old beliefs. So the writer here uses as it were some of the old thinking. To help them understand. The cultural thinking. We heard this in the morning didn't we?
[14:12] With Lazarus. The whole thing about the three days. And the fourth day. Well here we see the same idea again taking place here. The plural of the word heavens. Here in verse 14.
[14:24] Jesus has passed through or into the heavens. The plural there. We can't ignore the plural. The plural it's there. We can't ignore it. What do we do with that? Well we see the same wording.
[14:36] Do we not? When Paul talks about being caught up in the third heaven. And again the writer here is doing what all good writers do. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That he is writing to the people. In a way they can understand.
[14:49] God always speaks to his people. In a way we can understand. And it's no different. He spoke to his people. Off the day. Again culturally. The thinking was. It's not biblical.
[15:00] But the thinking was. There was somehow. As it were layers to heaven. Or levels to heaven. We aren't too sure as to the dynamics. And the thinking of that. It wasn't recorded too much. But we know it was a thinking.
[15:11] It appears in secular writing. As it were from the time too. Outside the scripture. There's levels of heaven. Because the writer isn't saying that's true. But the writer is saying. We have a Jesus.
[15:22] A high priest. That's passed through the heavens. Passed through the heavens. He reaches aware of the top level. Nothing stopped him.
[15:33] Nothing stood in his way. He's basically saying to the people. In a way they can understand properly. Your saviour. Your Jesus. Jesus. He did it all. He ascended to a very pinnacle.
[15:45] But he could ascend to. Nothing stopped him. Nothing got in his way. He ascended through the heavens. Or into the heavens. Again as we sung in Psalm 110.
[15:57] It's almost quoting. As the start of that psalm. Where we see Christ. At the right hand of the father. Where is he? The place of power. The place of glory. Where no other high priest has ever seen.
[16:10] Or will ever be seen. The right hand of the father. They are fully involved. In the ongoing work of salvation. They are representing his people.
[16:21] They are at this very moment. For us dear Christians. With our names as it were on his lip. As he intercedes for us. We have assurance.
[16:32] Of our access. To the father. Because of the work of our high priest. Because he has passed. Through the heavens. Because he has completed. As aware. His mission.
[16:43] His work on earth. Because nothing stopped him. Because the father was fully satisfied. With his finished work. He ascended. On high. To the right hand.
[16:54] Of the father. Father. We have a high priest. Who is great. A high priest. Who is ascended. To the right hand of the father. And thirdly.
[17:06] We see. That we have a high priest. Who gives us access. To the father. In this verse. We have that assurance. That distinctive.
[17:17] Because he is the only one. With the titles. We see here. At the end of verse 14. Jesus. The son of God. Jesus. The son.
[17:29] Of God. We have assurance. Our high priest. Has given us access. To the father. Because no other high priest. Is given. These titles.
[17:41] These names. Jesus. The son. Of God. Jesus. Mary's boy. Jesus. The trained. We could say carpenter. Jesus.
[17:52] Who lived. And who experienced. Life. And we'll see more of that. In a second. Jesus. Who lived. In his full. Humanity. Who lived.
[18:03] The perfect life. We. Can. And we could. Never live. Who now represents. As we said. As a eternal. High priest. Before the father. Jesus.
[18:14] Who is now. Forever. Fully man. Fully God. The right hand. Of the father. Jesus. But Jesus. What? Jesus. The son. Of God.
[18:25] Yes. Fully human. But here we see. The glorious reminder. That he alone. Is the eternal. Son. Of God. Fully human. But also of course. Fully divine.
[18:37] Now the mechanics of that. Relationship. Is beyond. Our understanding. Certainly beyond. My ability. And is beyond. I think all our abilities. I don't think. In the.
[18:48] Timeless. Corridors of eternity. We will ever understand. As aware. The mechanics of that. Because it's beyond. Our understanding. But we worship. A saviour. Who is fully man. And fully God.
[19:00] We have a high priest. Who is Jesus. The son. Of. God. Again. Confession. Helps us. In the morning. We have the catechism. Here we have the confession. We praise God.
[19:12] For these documents. The confession. Helps us here. Chapter 8. And section 2. Speaking about Jesus. So that. The two. Whole. Perfect.
[19:23] And distinct. Natures. The Godhead. And the manhood. Were inseparably. Joined together. In one person. Without conversion. Composition.
[19:34] Or confusion. Which person. Is very God. And very. Man. Yet. One Christ. The only mediator.
[19:45] Between God. And man. Dear friends. For him to be. Our high priest. He must be like. His people. But he also must be able.
[19:57] To perform. His duties. Perfectly. The title. Of our saviour. The title here. Of our high priest. Is our third. Distinctive. And our third. Assurance.
[20:07] Lets us know. For certain. That we. If we know him. If we love him. That we have access. To the father. Because we. Worship one. This evening. Who was like us. In all ways. But sin.
[20:18] Jesus. But is also. The son. Of God. Fully human. But yet. Fully divine. But only one. Who took. On. Flesh.
[20:31] But also. Remained. Fully God. That is. Your high priest. That is my high priest. Dear friends. Dear brothers and sisters. You. Who. Who know. Jesus. This evening. You have.
[20:43] Full reason. Therefore. As we see. At the end. Of verse 14. To hold. Fast. Your profession. Or your confession. As other translations have. It's the same word. Professional confession.
[20:54] You have. No reason. To lack assurance. In being certain. As to who. And to what. You. Believe. You can know. For certain.
[21:05] From verse 14. Alone. That this. Very moment. This very evening. Brothers and sisters. You have. Assurance. That you have. Full. Access. To the throne.
[21:15] Of grace. You have. Full access. To the father. It's been purchased. For you. And. We say this. And we. If we're being very honest.
[21:26] Dear friends. Dear brothers and sisters. We all at times. Every one of us. I am willing. To be certain of. We have all at times. Lacked. Spiritual assurance. We all know.
[21:37] That feeling. To just not. Be quite there. To have these doubts. Have these worries. These concerns. About where we stand. When we see our own service.
[21:48] When we see our own. Perhaps. Life. In the moment. When we see. Perhaps. Rightfully see. A poor. As it were. Service record. To our king. We think.
[22:00] What hope do I have. Really. That's because we're basing. Our assurance. On us. Our assurance. Is not based on us. Our assurance. Is based. On the reality. Of these verses.
[22:11] Verse 14. That we have. A high priest. A great. High priest. That's fully passed. Through the heavens. As it were. Jesus. Fully man.
[22:22] Fully God. His finished work. His person. That's where we find. Our hope. And find. Our assurance. Again. This is not just. Some useful.
[22:33] Theological knowledge. For us. This is the basis. Of who we are. Of what we are. As his people. Because of verse 14. We have the confidence. This evening. This new week. To declare.
[22:44] That we know for certain. We know for certain. That we have access. To the father. Because of the finished work. Of his son. Because of that.
[22:57] We can with confidence. Draw near. To him. So we have access. Three different distinctives. Three different. Evidences. Of our access. In verse 14. Then in verse 15.
[23:09] We see the awareness. Of our high priest. His awareness. So we've just been reminded. As we said. In verse 14. It's through his finished work. And his finished work.
[23:19] Alone. That we have access. To the father. We can know. For certain. If we're his people. This evening. That the wrath. Of the father.
[23:31] Was in its fullness. Its totality. Placed. Onto our saviour. The only high priest. Who is also. The sacrifice. Dear friends.
[23:44] We could stop here. This evening. And be satisfied. With this. We could go home. Just now. Be satisfied. Knowing that. The wrath of God. No longer is over. His people. That itself.
[23:54] Is good news. Is great news. That itself. Is news. Which gives us. Hope. And gives us life. And gives us such assurance. That God. No longer. Counts against us. The sin.
[24:05] And the wrath. That we deserve. If we're his. Our high priest. Has taken on himself. The full wrath. Of the father. We know that. We confess that. We love that.
[24:16] We hold to that. But again. Being honest. Brothers and sisters. If we're to be very honest. This evening. With each other. And with ourselves. And to speak plainly.
[24:28] As much as we affirm. What we said in verse 14. As much as we affirm. The theological truth. That we have an advocate. Of the father. That we have one. Who's taken all the wrath. Of God. To himself.
[24:39] We believe that. We trust that. We love that. But how many of us. Again. I'm sure all of us. Can say with honesty. There are times.
[24:49] When our grasp. On that reality. It's less solid. Than we like. We can believe it. We can confess it. We can love it. But when we think about ourselves.
[25:01] And how we see ourselves. And how we understand ourselves. When we think about our lives. And what life is like. Sometimes for us. It's hard. Dear friends.
[25:11] At times. Of course. And you know this. I'm sure many here know this. In a real. Real way. And to a great extent. Sometimes. Our journey. Is difficult.
[25:24] It's so easy for us. We said this this morning. But it's so easy for us. Perhaps especially easy. As the Lord's people. To put a thin thin ear. On. On. How we act.
[25:35] What we say. What we do. So easy for us. To look. And to act. And to speak. As if everything's fine. And we don't share.
[25:46] With each other. As brothers and sisters. In the Lord. As we're told to. We don't share our burdens. We don't share our concerns. We don't share our doubts. And our lack of assurance. We don't share these things.
[25:57] We like to pretend. And to look. As if everything's. Okay. Okay. And for most of us. If not all of us at times. Reality is quite the opposite. Things are not okay.
[26:10] Personally. Life wise. Health wise. Spiritually. We all have our struggles. We're all facing. Or perhaps going to go through. Something. That's difficult.
[26:21] That's hard. And so on. We find it so hard. To be honest. About our frailty. So hard. To be honest. About our weakness. We praise God. We praise God.
[26:33] That our saviour. In his time on earth. Was not fake. He did not pretend. That life was easy. No. What do we see in verse 15. We have a saviour.
[26:44] Who is aware. Verse 15. For we have not. A high priest. Which cannot be touched. With the feeling. Of our infirmities. But was in all points.
[26:56] Tempted like we are. Yet without sin. See for all our bluff. And all our bluster. And all our making ourselves look. And sound apart.
[27:07] The reality is. We see here. In verse 15. Our saviour. He knew the people. He was coming to save. He knew what it was.
[27:18] To be like us. He came. And he lived. Out his life. Very much in full reality. What it was. To live. As human. He knows. The realities of our pain.
[27:29] He knows. The realities. Of our weakness. Brothers and sisters. And dear friends. The Jesus we see here. In his verses. He knows what it is. To live a life.
[27:39] On earth. He knows what it is. To experience. Human emotion. To feel tired. To feel hungry. To worry. To feel pain. And we see that.
[27:49] In the pages of scripture. As we approach verse 15. We begin. To see. And to realize. The wonderful assurance. This verse gives us. As we journey on. In our lives.
[28:02] We have a saviour. Who is able. To fully. And to totally. Come alongside us. In all our pain. All our suffering. Who fully. Sympathizes.
[28:13] With us. Who fully. Sympathizes. With us. To suffer. Alongside us.
[28:27] Again. We said this in the morning. With respect. It's not as if. Jesus stands. At a distance. And looks on us. And shakes his head. And goes. Oh well. What a shame. He's not far off.
[28:37] He's not aloof. He's not uncaring. Our high priest. Our eternal. Great high priest. He knows exactly. The suffering. That you are going through.
[28:48] And you will go through. He's close. To his beloved. He's close. To those he loves. In all their pain. In all their misery. And for any here.
[28:58] Who perhaps are going through. Some darkness. Just now again. Only perhaps you and the Lord. Know. The reality of that. For yourselves. You know this is not just some. Theological point.
[29:09] We're bringing up here. You know what it is. In your darkness. To cling on to him. And to him alone. See our confidence. In verse 14. To hold fast.
[29:20] To lay hold. Of our profession. That confidence. It's not based on our ability. It's based on the reality. Of verse 15. It's based on his faithfulness. And he is a faithful.
[29:30] High priest. To his people. Weak Christian. Suffering Christian.
[29:41] Anxious Christian. Tired Christian. Pained. Mentally. Physically pained Christian. Whatever. Word. Perhaps this evening.
[29:51] Best describes you. Verse 15. Tells you. That your saviour. Your high priest. He is. For you. Draw near to him.
[30:02] In your time of need. For he knows you. He knows your situation. Like no one else does. So verse 15. First of all. Gives us. Hope. For the suffering Christian.
[30:14] There's even more. Hope being offered. In verse 15. Hope for the suffering Christian. Then we see something else. We see hope. For the tempted. Christian. And we have to pause.
[30:25] For a second of course. Here. To say that. In general. We're quite happier. We're quite happy. In our own discussions. In our own private discussions. Perhaps. In a previous world.
[30:37] In our communion. Times of fellowship. Quite happy. Quite happy to discuss. The. The. The. The. The. Godlike nature of Christ. Quite happy to discuss his divinity. Happy to discuss his divine nature.
[30:50] Happy to discuss. All that he is. When it comes. To his divine nature. When it comes to. Confessing. That he is also. Fully human.
[31:01] We believe it. We hold to it. We. We. We trust. Scripture tells us that. We tend to be a wee bit more reserved. Don't we? A wee bit more cautious. A wee bit more. Less keen.
[31:13] To discuss that reality. But dear friends. We have it. So plainly. Given to us in scripture. We have a high priest. Who is fully God. And fully man. And we see that so clearly. In this verse.
[31:24] Again. Not just. For theological sake. But it's important for us as Christians. We see in verse 15. We have a high priest. Who was tempted. In all points.
[31:36] Like as we are. Yes. He did not sin. And we trust that. And we know that. But don't ignore the first part. He was tempted. In all points.
[31:46] Like as we are. There's not a single wasted word. In scripture. Not a single wasted word. We are told. That our glorious high priest. Was tempted.
[31:57] In all points. The great translation here. In all points. Our translations have. In every respect. But in all points. It's quite literally. What the Greek says here.
[32:08] In all ways. He was tempted. Jesus. Our saviour. His time on earth. Was tempted. In all ways.
[32:20] Dear Christian. Your saviour. My saviour. He was. Willing. To leave. The place. Of eternal glory. To step down. In his own creation.
[32:32] To be tempted. To be tempted. To sin. To be tempted. To commit. Acts. Against his own. Eternally glorious nature.
[32:43] Such. Is the love. And the care. Of a high priest. For his precious people. And just as he's able. To come alongside us. In our weakness.
[32:54] He's also able. To come alongside us. In our temptations. In the midst. Of our temptations. In our temptations. Towards sin. Of course. Yes. We fight.
[33:04] And we rail against it. But we still fail. We find ourselves failing. We find ourselves. Sinning. Our saviour. His whole life.
[33:16] On earth. Tempted again. And again. To sin. He resisted. All temptation. A short quote here. From Richard Lawrence.
[33:27] A very helpful quote. Which gives us. This illustration. Richard asks. Who understands. Suffering. Better. The person.
[33:37] Who when tortured. Gives in. And tells his captors. Everything. Of a person. Who resists. Despite the fact. That his torture. Continues. We.
[33:48] Who give in. To temptation. So easily. Cannot even. Guess. How strong. Temptation. Can be. Jesus. Who never gives in.
[33:59] Knows. I don't know. Not one of us. Knows. Each other's lives. In a real sense. But the extent.
[34:11] Of temptation. That you will ever face. In your life. Your saviour. Have faced that. And so much more. He knows. What it is. To be tempted. Dear brothers.
[34:23] Dear sisters. In all. Your temptations. In all your continued. Fight against sin. And we all fight against sin. We will. Until our dying day. In all your shame. In all your misery.
[34:33] For sinning again. You can take that. To your saviour. In fact. Dear brother. Dear sister. The truth is. We must. You must. Take that. To your saviour.
[34:45] He alone. Knows. Our weakness. He alone. Knows. Our sin. He alone. Knows. What it is. To be truly. Tempted. And through. His completed.
[34:56] Work. He has shown you. His precious. Precious one. That he has made. Provision. For you. In him alone. We find one. Who was tempted. And did not sin.
[35:08] In him alone. We find forgiveness. For our sin. Our sinless. High priest. The friend of sinners. We have a high priest.
[35:21] Who is. Aware. Aware of our frailty. Aware of our pain. Our miseries. Aware of temptations. Aware of the reality. Of sin in the world.
[35:31] There is nothing. We cannot take to him. Because he knows it. And finally. And briefly. We have. Our. Approach. Verse 16.
[35:43] So we have been reminded. About his divinity. Reminded about his glory. Reminded about his power. In verse 14. And then reminded. In verse 15. That he is close to all those.
[35:54] Who are weak. That he suffered weakness. He suffered pain. In temptation. So that we need. Not hide our face. From him. But we very briefly. See the reality here.
[36:05] In our final. Verse. What does all that mean? We believe. Verse 14. We believe. Verse 15. Why does it matter. As it were. Verse 16.
[36:17] Please read us. Read it together. With me. Let us therefore. Come boldly. Unto the throne of grace. For we may obtain mercy. And find grace to help. In time of need. Again.
[36:27] We're so keen. Perhaps speaking personally. I don't know. Of skipping past. The small. Words of scripture. That first. Two words. Of verse 16. Is so important. Let us therefore.
[36:38] Let us therefore. His first three words. Sorry. Let us. Therefore. All we've just said. Because verse 14. Is true. Because verse 15. Is true.
[36:48] Because we have a. A high priest who is fully man. Fully God. A high priest who is. With us. In our pain. In our misery. In our frailty. With us. In our temptations. Because all that is true.
[37:01] Let us. Therefore. Come. Boldly. Come. Boldly. Unto the throne of grace. That we may obtain mercy.
[37:12] And find grace to help. In time. Of need. To your friends. To your brothers. To your sisters. This evening. Those who know. And who love. Jesus. You can.
[37:24] Indeed you must. Approach a throne of grace. With confidence. Of course. The throne. Which we know. Is the throne. Here is being used. Again. He's talking to these. Christians. Who were once.
[37:35] Jewish followers. And once were. So acquainted of the temple. The throne. Just. The wording. Of the place. Where God's presence is. As it were. Approach. The presence of God. Approach.
[37:45] The throne. Of grace. Draw near. To God. God. And the wording. Specifically. Has been used. The same wording. It's used. Talking about the mercy seat.
[37:56] In the Old Testament. Of course. That place. Where God's. Presence. Was so evident. To the people of old. Using the same imagery. Here. We see the writer.
[38:06] Brings us. Of course. Before God. The question. I have to ask. As Christians. Brothers and sisters. This evening. This very moment. Do you. Feel.
[38:17] Or do you. At least. Perhaps. Believe. Do you. Understand. I ask that. Not in terms of knowledge. But do you. Understand. In your soul. That you can. This very moment.
[38:28] This very evening. Approach. The throne. Of grace. That is for. You. Do you feel. At this moment. You can. Approach. His presence.
[38:39] With confidence. And you might. Well be thinking. Do you not know. The week I've had. Do you not know. The month. The year I've had. I've not served him well.
[38:50] I felt myself. And I've seen myself. So weak. And so despondent. I don't feel worthy. I don't even feel. Close to worthy. Enough. To come before.
[39:01] The presence. Of God. And the thing is. You aren't wrong. In saying that. You're not. That's not the point.
[39:12] If. In response. To verses 14. And verse 15. When you're told. When we are told. Quite clearly. To approach. The throne of grace. If our response.
[39:22] Our first response. Is well. No I can't. Then dear friends. We aren't understanding. Verses 14 and 15. Clearly enough. This day.
[39:36] You and I. We need. To come before. The throne of grace. We must do so. In confidence. In the confidence. Founded. In the finished work.
[39:47] Of our high priest. And perhaps. Perhaps. We might think. It's somehow. More right. Somehow. More respectful.
[39:59] To. To hold back. To not go to the throne. To avoid. Going to the throne. It feels better. Because we aren't worthy. And we know that. We. We feel more right.
[40:09] In. It's more honoring. To not come to the throne. That sounds good. It feels good. But it's not right. Brethren and sisters. It's not right. We might think.
[40:20] It's somehow. More respectful. To somehow. Wait until. We're. Serving him better. To wait until. We're. Loving better. Till we're more. Used to him.
[40:31] Same argument. We hear. To those. Who are Christians. Who never go to the Lord's table. Wait until you're better. Wait until you're this. Till you're that. And they're human made. Excuses. That sound good.
[40:41] That feel good. But are not found in scripture. If we think. We must wait till we're. Feeling better. Or doing better. Before we come to the throne.
[40:52] We don't understand. What the throne really is. It's a place for those. Who are not doing good. Who will not feel good. Those of us. Who feel awful. It's for us. A slowness.
[41:02] A slowness. A slowness. To come. To the throne of grace. It does not reflect. A greater sense of holiness. In reality.
[41:13] Reflects. A lack of understanding. As to what the saviour. Has done for you. Dear friends. We must come. With confidence. We must come. Boldly. To the throne of grace.
[41:24] Why? Why must we ask Christians. Come before the presence of God. Because only there. We find what? Mercy. Mercy.
[41:35] Mercy. And grace. No other source. Dear friends. But before God. We find. Mercy. We may obtain. Mercy. And find grace to help. In time of need.
[41:47] Dear brother. Dear sister. Don't try going it alone. Come to the throne. Your saviour. Through the precious. Spilling of his blood. Through his. Precious.
[41:58] Precious work. His perfect work. His finished work. He has bought. For you. Access to the throne. Make full use of that access. It's for.
[42:10] You. Don't go it alone. Don't do it on your own. Mercy and grace. Is there for you. In your time of need. Your access to it.
[42:20] Has been bought for you. Of a precious. Precious price. Again. To any here. This evening. Has of yet. Do not know Jesus. We've spoken much.
[42:31] This evening. About the reality. That Christians. Have this place. That's been purchased. For them. The truth is. This place. Can be yours too.
[42:44] We put. I say this. About Christians. About believers. To our shame. To our shame. We have put many obstacles. In the way. Of those who wish to come to faith. Haven't we? We add rules.
[42:55] And add regulations. Perhaps not even on purpose. We do it. Naturally. We add things. That scripture. Does not give us. Who can come. To Christ.
[43:06] This evening. Who can come. To Christ. Just now. Who can come. And have access. To the throne. Of grace. We say before. It's not those. Who are good. Not those.
[43:16] Who are trying hard. Not those. Who feel holy enough. No. It's those. Who know Jesus. Who have him. As our Lord. As our saviour. As our elder brother. Who trust in his.
[43:28] Finished work. Not our own righteousness. And who can have that. To themselves. Who can have Jesus. As saviour. All who come. And cry out for. That salvation.
[43:39] All who come. And who call out to him. He would save them. All who worship him. And know him. As Lord and saviour. Come and do that. Come and know him.
[43:50] As that. And then you also. Have access. To the throne of grace. You then. Can also come boldly. And obtain mercy. And find grace. In time of need. Dear.
[44:03] As of. As of yet. Important to say that. As of yet. Unbelieving friends. Do not waste your time. Come to the throne. Throne. Come to the one. Who has access. Who has given you access.
[44:14] To the throne. Come and know him. Come and trust in him. Place your faith in him. Place your hope in him. As we heard this morning. He alone gives. Eternal life. Let's bow our heads now.
[44:27] Word of prayer. Lord God. We again. Come round your word. We thank you for it. Thank you for the truth. We find in it. The encouragements. We find for your people.
[44:39] That reminder. This evening. That. Our place. Before you. Our place. To the throne of grace. It is ours. Belongs to your people.
[44:50] Purchased. With the blood. And the finished work. Of our. Great. Eternal. High priest. Jesus. The son of God. Who has passed. Through the heavens. Lord help us. Not to forget. That help us.
[45:00] This week. To rely. And find our hope. Relying on that. Finished work. We ask again. Even as we come to sing. Our. Final item of praise. Would do so. Hearts and minds. Set on you.
[45:11] We also ask. Lord you would forgive. Anything that was said. Not in accordance to your word. To give you praise again. That your word. Is the one that is powerful. Not in. The men. And the jars of clay. Who stand up here Lord. It is your living word.
[45:23] We ask that the living word. Would have an impact. Even this evening. On the hearts of those. Even here. Gathered together. Let's call these things. In Christ's precious name. For his sake. Amen.