[0:00] once. Never got told off once. Never had to hide my face and look at the ground once and think, oh no, I'm in trouble. I don't know how that feels. Never happened to me. Do we think that's true? Is that the case? Well, and this wasn't planned. I'm seeing just now, I won't point them out, at least one school teacher I had, at least one Sunday school teacher I had.
[0:26] So they can tell you that is not true. In fact, boys and girls, it's quite the opposite. Quite often, growing up, quite often even now, I still get rouse from my mum. I still get rouse, I still got rouse from Sunday school teachers and from school teachers. There was times when I was too loud, too talkative, too wriggly in my seat. I was told to shh, to sit down, to be quiet. There's one time in particular I want to talk about. I was five or six and I was running around, as I did, and my parents had a beautiful glass crystal bowl in the middle of a sitting room. It was beautiful. A wedding present from a dear, dear friend of my family. This bowl had survived for ten years before I appeared in the scene.
[1:27] That bowl didn't survive that Saturday afternoon. My elbow hit it, the bowl hit the floor, and there was a thousand bits of glass all over the floor. Of course, I was scared. I don't want to tell mum and dad because they loved that bowl. It was polished daily. It was precious to them. They loved it so much. So I didn't tell them. They were in their room. They didn't hear it somehow. So I just kept quiet. That was dangerous. There's now bits of glass all over the floor. Of course, what happened as I tried to sneak out? I stood on bits of glass.
[2:11] I got hurt. I got cut. All because I said nothing. I was too scared to tell my parents. Too scared to tell them I had done something very bad. In a wee while together, we're going to read in the book of Hebrews, the chapter of Hebrews and chapter four. I'm going to look together at the wonderful good news. This is for mums and dads too, and guys and granddads. But Jesus tells us that if we know him, if we love him, if we call him our saviour, even when we find ourselves doing things that are silly and doing things that have caused problems, the Bible calls that sin. When we do things that are bad against God, sometimes and quite often we're all tempted to hide our face and to not tell what happened. We're too scared to go to Jesus and say, I've done something bad here. I've gone wrong again. I've messed up again. I've done something silly again. Like me and my bowl, we just say nothing. But that sometimes leads to things getting even worse. If I had just called my mum and dad, would have come in, I'd have got around probably, would have cleaned up the mess, it'd be fine.
[3:30] But I didn't do that. I kept quiet. I got hurt. I cut my foot. Even more mess on the floor then, even more chaos for my poor parents to deal with. Boys and girls, as you grow up and perhaps go to school and go to university and leave home, sometimes you will do things and say things and think things that you know are bad, that are wrong. Even now, I know you do that. We all do. The Bible tells us when we do things and say things and think things that are wrong, we don't try and hide them from Jesus because he knows anyway. He sees us anyway. We go to him. So as I'll see in a second as we read the Bible, we go to him.
[4:14] And he promises, if we come to him honestly, he's done all the work that he can forgive us. He promises not to be angry at us, not to have a go at us. In fact, last time we were together, we read in John that Jesus promises never to leave or forsake us. He promises never to forget about us, never to leave us behind. Even when we do things against him all the time, he says, come to me, and he forgives us. Even at a young age, even when you're very young and you think, I've got years to learn this, listen now, listen to what Jesus says. He tells us, even this chapter in the Hebrews, that he is the one who has done all things for his people. So we don't have to hide our faces. We don't have to be ashamed.
[5:06] We can come to him, and he promises to hear us, to forgive us. He promises to love us. Okay, hands together now. Head down, is it for the Lord's Prayer? We can say it together.
[5:21] Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
[5:52] Amen. Let's now turn to God's Word. Book of Hebrews, chapter 4.
[6:12] Book of Hebrews, chapter 4. Let's hear the Word of God. Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they are not united by faith with those who listened.
[6:50] For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Although his works were finished from the foundation of the world, for he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way, and God rested on the seventh day from all his works.
[7:10] And again in this passage he said, they shall not enter my rest. Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formally received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience. Again he appoints a certain day.
[7:27] Today, saying through David, so long afterward, in the words already quoted, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
[7:55] 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, sharp 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.
[8:20] 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.
[8:36] 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.
[8:54] 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.
[9:05] Give praise to God for his holy and perfect word. For a short time together, considering the verses we have from verses 14 down to verse 16.
[9:22] We'll take just verse 14 for our text, but looking at verses 14 to 16. Verse 14. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.
[9:34] Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. I know in years past you've already gone through together as a congregation the book of Hebrews in various segments and sections, so I won't lay over the point.
[9:52] A brief summary, of course. The book of Hebrews, it's written to a people, a congregation, of those who were, as we see from the title of the book, who were Jewish by heritage, who had come to know Jesus, come to love Jesus, but who, as we see throughout the book, are being tempted slowly and being drawn, drawn back, tempted back to the old ways, to the sight, to the sounds, tempted away from this Jesus and the Saviour who they know, who they love, back to the old patterns, back to the temple worship, with respect back to the sights and the smells and the bells, quite literally, back to the incense, back to the temple, back to the garments, back to all that they once came from.
[10:42] And the writer to the Hebrews again and again reminds them that in Jesus they have someone better, something better, a better Saviour, a greater Saviour than anything, anyone they've ever found or can find anywhere else.
[11:01] In our section here in chapter 4, we've just read about the rest. There's not time to go into the detail of the chapter we've read together anyway, but in general and in summary, of course, we've read that God offered, as it were, his people.
[11:18] He offered Israel rest, but because, we see in verse 7, because of their disobedience, and verse 4 and verse 5, the whole section of their disobedience, their ongoing disobedience, they did not enter the rest God has set aside for them.
[11:35] And that's clear as we come to the final section of this chapter, our verses today, verses 14 to verse 16, we see that the final rest of God's people is found in Jesus and in him alone.
[11:50] For a very short time, as we look at verses 14 down to verse 16, I want us to have in our minds, Christians, be reminded here again, here fresh this day, that we have a Saviour, that you have a high priest, a great high priest, who has done all the work for you, that you find your rest in him, that in him you have confidence to come before the throne of grace.
[12:19] And we'll see what that means for us as we go on in these verses. Again, for those listening who as of yet don't know Jesus as your Saviour, listen to these verses. Hear what it is to know him, to have one who has done all the work.
[12:36] Come on here to know what it is, to rest, to rest in him, to find a rest you won't find anywhere else in the world. Look at verses 14 to verse 16 under three very general headings.
[12:52] First of all, verse 14 where we see the access we have in Jesus. Access. Then verse 15, we see the awareness of our high priest.
[13:04] Access, awareness. Then finally, verse 16, we see our approach, how we approach the throne of grace. Access, awareness, and approach.
[13:16] So first of all, look with me please to verse 14 where we see access. At the end of verses 11 down to verse 13, if we look again to these verses, we see in verse 12, we see in verse 13, the reality that we stand before a holy God.
[13:35] We know that. A God who sees all things, who knows all things. Verse 13, it is a verse which is so strong, which describes the reality of our holy God.
[13:48] Verse 13, no creature is hidden from his sight. All are naked exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. He is holy, he is sovereign, he is God.
[14:05] We're reminded that no creature, that no one, that nothing can escape his sight. Nothing can escape his holy view of us. The reality is, if we stop reading at verse 13, if we leave this building just now, having read down to verse 13 and finishing our time together there, we would leave being reminded that we worship a holy God, a God who is full of holiness, a God who knows all things, who sees all things.
[14:40] We bear no doubt as to our position before him, as creatures who are exposed, as creatures who can hide nothing from him. These things are all true, but we leave this place today with very little hope.
[14:56] These statements leave us asking, yes, they're true, but leave us asking, where's the hope? How do we cope? In the light of verses 11 down to verse 13, I was reminded of just who we are before a holy God.
[15:11] The question is, what do we do in the light of such unapproachable holiness? How do we cope? What's our answer? The writer of Hebrews, following on from these statements, he brings us, in verse 14 onwards, back to the only source we have, the only one who stood blameless in the sight of the Father, the only one able to represent his people.
[15:39] We see that at the start of verse 14, that first phrase, since then, that's a connecting phrase that lets us know that all that's about to be said connects to the previous verses.
[15:51] We said all this, and because we said this, because this is true, so then, this is the case. We worship a holy God who sees all, who knows all, we stand before him exposed, and because that's true, verse 14, and since then, we have this truth also.
[16:12] Our only hope, as we see in these verses, our only hope, as we come before a holy and perfect God, is our great high priest. Dear brothers and sisters, as we come together around his words, they listen carefully, they're reminded of how our high priest gives us access to the throne of grace.
[16:33] Of course, all the faithful high priests throughout the years of Israel, all the faithful high priests who did their job as best they could, who served as best they could, all their service, of course, was tainted by their own sin.
[16:51] All their service was eventually cut short, as it were, by the ultimate working out of sin. By death, they all died, they all passed away. Every high priest, one day passed away.
[17:05] We're reminded of that in Hebrews chapter 7, Hebrews 7, verse 23. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office.
[17:18] Speaking of Jesus, but he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. We have an eternal high priest who gives us eternal access to our father.
[17:33] In verse 14, we see three ways in which our high priest gives us access. Three distinctive features about our great high priest that means we have access to the father through him.
[17:46] First of all, we can note in verse 14 the name he is given. Since then, we have a great high priest. Not just our high priest, but our great high priest.
[18:04] This title separates him from even the best, the most faithful, the previous human high priests. Those who served well, who served faithfully, but at the end of the day were still tainted by sin, who still could not serve forever.
[18:21] In Jesus, we have the great high priest. He is superior to all who came before him. He alone is called great.
[18:32] He alone is highly exalted because he is greater than all the previous high priests. He has done what they could never, ever hope to achieve, what they could never hope to do.
[18:45] He performed in his own body the final sacrifice. Because he is our great high priest, because he is the final high priest, because he is at the top, because there is no other high priest like him, because he is the full, perfect example of the high priest, we know that through his finished work, he has granted us access to the father, access to the throne of grace.
[19:20] Jesus. But there is even more than that in this verse. Even more evidence, if you like, of the access we have in Jesus.
[19:33] We see that in the next phrase here. who has passed through the heavens. A great high priest who has passed through the heavens.
[19:46] This phrase just builds in the previous phrase and gives us more evidence as to the access we have. As we said, of course, this letter was written to a congregation with a Jewish background.
[19:58] They were Jews. They grew up in a Jewish culture. And we know from secular writings but also we know from scripture we see Paul discussing the third heaven, him being taken up to the third heaven in his writing.
[20:12] We see and we know that in the thought of the day, in the culture of the day, there was levels as it were to heaven. Now, whether they thought that was actual levels, whether they thought that was just a turn of phrase, there was discussion.
[20:27] That's not what's important for us today. The reality is we are reminded here that we have a high priest who passed through the heavens who made it all the way to the highest of places.
[20:47] As we'll sing in our final psalm, Lord willing, in Psalm 110, we have a high priest who's at the right hand of the Father, who's exalted to the highest place of all, who reigns there for all time.
[21:03] the right hand of the Father, the place of completion, but also a place of ongoing power, of ongoing involvement. He's completed, yes, his salvific work.
[21:18] He has made provision for his people, secured salvation for his people, ascended the right hand of the Father, yes, he's there, but also his work continues, as our high priest will see as we go on.
[21:31] We've looked together before, it was last year now, perhaps a year before, in Psalm 110, we spent time together in that psalm. It reminds us that we worship a risen saviour, a risen high priest who is highly exalted, who's passed through the heavens.
[21:48] In other words, nothing stopped him. A high priest who completed his work, who is now at the right hand of the Father, reigning and ruling, as our high priest, our saviour, prophet, priest, king.
[22:07] He's there this very moment, brothers and sisters, reigning and ruling, but also this very moment as we'll see in the next verse as our high priest, still serving his people.
[22:21] He sits at the right hand of the Father. We worship an ascended high priest, who completed fully all the work that needed to be done, who lived that perfect life, who died that necessary death so his people would be saved.
[22:43] Reminds us of the wonderful words we have in Philippians 2, verses 9 and 10, speaking of Jesus. God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that's above every name, so that of the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[23:12] He's been highly exalted, dear friends. We worship a saviour at the right hand of our Father who's completed the work and that we have confidence that we have full access to the throne of grace because your saviour is there this very moment.
[23:32] A great high priest passed through the heavens the right hand of the Father and finally we're reminded once more of our access to the throne of grace the name the title given to him Jesus the Son of God we're reminded again who our high priest is of course this is not new to any of us we've heard this I'm sure many of us have heard this countless times before but we all need to be reminded daily of the truth of the gospel we're also prone to forgetting to feeling as if we're losing the reality of it here we're reminded that we worship the one who is Jesus the Son of God Jesus Mary's boy the carpenter who lived who experienced life and we'll see that more in the next verse Jesus who lived in his full humanity the perfect life we could never live the one who represents us now as the high priest our high priest yes fully human fully human with that we see the glorious reminder that he alone is the eternal
[24:51] Son of God Jesus the Son of God fully human and fully divine dear brothers and sisters there's no time and indeed my ability and I'm sure our collective ability the mechanics of that are beyond us but we confess it and we believe it and we love it we worship Jesus fully man fully God our confession helps us here confession of faith chapter 8 and just a section of of of paragraph 2 speaking about Jesus so that two whole perfect and distinct natures the Godhead and the manhood were inseparably joined together in one person without conversion composition or confusion which person is very God and very man yet one Christ the only mediator between God and man for him to be our high priest he must be like his people but also he must be able to perform his duties perfectly dear friends at the end of verse 14 the title of our saviour here gives us that further assurance we have access to the throne of grace access to God the father because we know and we worship the one who is Jesus who lived a life among his people but also one who is son of God who is fully divine who in his divinity is all the power and glory and deserving of all the worship of God but this morning we worship
[26:46] Jesus our incarnate high priest who took on flesh who remained fully God and who is now fully God and fully man for all time we'll see that more as we go on dear brothers and sisters those of us here who know Jesus who love Jesus this morning we have full reason to hold fast in our confession full reason to keep on going full reason to just believe that we have a high priest a saviour who has done all the work for his people we keep on going this morning trusting the fact that we have access to the father through him through his finished work he has shown us that to be the reality for us you have access to the father brother and sister this very moment you can approach the throne of grace and how often we lack spiritual confidence this is not just some useful theological knowledge for us this is not just for us to stretch and to flex our theological muscles no this is real this is important as we start this new week we have to understand we through our saviour through our high priest we have access to the throne of grace it's been purchased for us the precious precious price of his blood we have access then we see in verse 15 as we find out more about our high priest the one who has given us access verse 15 for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin so we have been reminded through his finished work that we have access to the father so because all that he is and all that he has done we can with confidence hold fast to our confession we can know for certain just now the wrath of the father is no longer held against his people it's been placed on the final sacrifice placed on
[29:09] Jesus that he borne on his shoulders the full wrath of the father for all the sins of all his people we confess that we believe that we could stop there and be satisfied with the knowledge that salvation is ours we could stop at verse 14 and say yes okay I believe it salvation is mine I trust Jesus son of God I trust him as my high priest dear brothers and dear sisters if we're to be very honest this morning as much as we affirm that as much as we affirm and believe and confess that our salvation is found in him and him alone that our salvation finds its completion in him in him we find our access to the father we can confess that we believe that but it's not a jump I don't think it's a wild guess to say that many if not all of us here today know what it is to feel that solid hold in our confession that solid hold on our assurance sometimes we are a bit less solid than we like sometimes we find ourselves thinking feeling is it true do I really have access we find ourselves drifting we find ourselves if we're very honest at times holding very loosely to all the assurances we have in scripture if we're honest life is hard so okay okay me saying that from up here but you know your own situation the lord knows your situation sometimes life is hard sometimes life is very hard sometimes things can be extremely dark for us at times our journey is very difficult and it's so incredibly easy for us even or perhaps especially as christians to have this thin veneer over all things we pretend everything's fine we just get on to things it's great there's no problems no worries life's okay as the lord's people we're not honest with the situation we're facing many of us sure all of us at times look as if we're okay as if things are okay when in reality things are not okay in life at home spiritually mentally physically whatever situation might be only you know but if we're honest we can all confess and we all
[31:52] I'm sure would agree there are times when we're not okay when life is truly hard when we're going through or facing situations or indeed helping those who are going through or facing situations and we find it perhaps very hard to be honest with each other about the reality of our weakness the reality of our frailty it's very hard to open up even to those we love to tell them the reality of our situation I am struggling with this health issue this mental issue this sin issue this life issue whatever it is you know your situations we all find it so hard to be honest we praise God this day and we find it in verse 15 the God who knows and who sees his creatures he also sees and knows our weakness to the high priest as he described in verse 14 is exalted he is glorious at the right hand of the father and we might think for a second that means he is somehow distant somehow far off but that is not the high priest we see in verse 15 verse 15 paints a picture of it's quite the opposite for us doesn't it see for all our bluff all our bluster our saviour he knows his people he knew the people he was coming to save he knew what it's like to be like us he lived that life he knows the realities of pain and of weakness dear brothers and sisters your high priest he lived a life on earth we know that but consider it he lived a life on earth he knows this very moment he knows what it is to experience human emotion to feel tired to feel hungry to feel pain and so on and so on in all ways like us except through sin as we approach verse 15 we begin to see the wonderful assurance it gives us as we journey on it's not just he saves us and that self of course is glorious but he also knows us we have a saviour a high priest in verse 15 who is able to fully sympathize to fully come alongside us in our pain in our sufferings we can quite literally break down the word here sympathize and quite literally spell it out as one who suffers along with to suffer along with we have a high priest who suffers along with his people with respect our high priest doesn't just stand at a distance and look at us and shake his head and think what a shame no he is with us in our sufferings he's gone before us he's been through it himself in all ways he's close to his beloved people especially especially in our weakness especially in their darkness again
[35:01] I know some faces here but I don't know your situations the Lord does if you know Jesus this day if you know him as your saviour as your high priest be assured from verse 15 that even now he is with you and those who are going through providences and tough situations you know that verse 15 is not just some theological point it is a truth for you the truth that keeps you going I'm sure some days the fact that you know your saviour is with you who does not leave you does not forsake you he's a faithful high priest to his people weak Christian suffering Christian anxious pained struggling tired Christian your high priest is for you you know this but how often we need to be reminded of it he is for you draw near to him in your time of need he knows you he knows situation like no one else does so in verse 15 we see hope for the suffering
[36:06] Christian there's even more than that we also see hope for the tempted Christian I have to pause for a second here and say that in general we're quite happy to confess and to say yes we believe in Jesus who is fully God we're happy to lay hold of the divine nature of our high priest when it comes to fully grasping and to thinking what about that he's also fully human yes we believe it we agree to it we confess it we hold on to it but perhaps a bit more reserved when it comes to actually approaching the reality of it now we must look first to the end of verse 15 we confess and we believe our high priest did not sin he is the perfect the spotless lamb the only truly undefiled sacrifice we proclaim that to be true we also see in verse 15 we declare and we know we have a high priest who was tempted in every respect as we are dear brothers and sisters there is no wasted words in scripture we are told here our glorious high priest was tempted in every respect and the word being used here that every respect that word there it's a broad word in other places in scripture that same word is to use to describe things in their entirety in every respect he was tempted as his people
[37:44] Jesus in his time on earth dear friends he was tempted dear Christian your saviour was willing to leave his place of eternity to step down to take on human flesh to enter into his own creation to be tempted to sin to be tempted to commit acts against his own eternally glorious nature such as the love of our saviour for his people just as he's able to come alongside those who are weak his beloved people who are suffering he is just as able to come alongside those who are in the middle of temptation and their temptations towards sin we fight and we rail against it yes but sometimes even then we still fail and find ourselves in sin our saviour for his whole life on earth tempted yet not once gave in not once sinned
[38:53] Richard Lawrence helpfully gives us a brief illustration here for this who understands suffering better he says the person who when tortured gives in and tells his captors everything or the person who resists despite the fact as torture continues we who give in to temptation so easily cannot even guess how strong temptation can be Jesus who never gave in knows dear brothers and dear sisters let's stop pretending we all suffer we're all tempted we know that to be a true fact but just as true as that fact is the truth that we have a saviour who's tempted and always in every respect as we were but it's without sin in your temptations in your continued fight against sin in your shame and your misery for sinning again you can take that to your saviour indeed you must take that to your saviour so in the children's talk about me breaking the bowl what happened when I smashed that bowl the mess is cleaned up the bowl was soon replaced what happens to a
[40:10] Christian when you come to your saviour what happens when you come to him and confess your sin you know forgiveness what happens when you do the opposite that we're all often tempted to do we often all hide our faces and go the opposite way things become so much harder he alone knows your weakness he alone knows your sin he who's completed work has shown you his dear precious one he's done all for you in him alone we find one who was tempted yet did not sin in him alone we find forgiveness for our sin our sinless high priest friend of sinners time is gone very briefly takes us to our final verse approach we've been reminded of his divinity reminded of his glory his power reminded that he is close to all who are weak all who are suffering pain and misery all who are suffering temptation all who find themselves falling short again and again he is close to all those very briefly we see why that's so important for us let us then in verse 16 same as verse 14 it's a connecting phrase let us then because all this is true what then well let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace we can approach the throne of grace dear friends with confidence the throne of grace used here to convey in short the place of God's presence come before
[41:53] God in prayer you can come before God dear Christian dear brother dear sister you can come before God this very moment because your high priest is there at the right hand Christian the question I have to ask you and only you can answer this at this moment do you feel just now that you can approach the throne of grace in confidence do you feel able to do that you might be thinking as you hear that question well no it's okay for you up there but you don't know the week I've had you don't know the day I've had the year I've had the mess my life is in just now the complete chaos my life is in just now I feel I feel I feel I feel I feel I feel I feel I feel worthy I feel close to coming before his presence and all these statements might well be true they will be the case and perhaps you're not wrong but dear brothers and sisters neither you nor I do deserve to come before the throne of grace that's the whole point for time together this day this day you and I need to come before the throne of grace and we must do in confidence not based of course on us but based on verses 14 verses and 15 based on the final sacrifice of our great eternal high priest at times we're tempted perhaps to think it's more respectful or more right to wait until we're more holy even as
[43:29] Christians to wait until we've attained some certain goal before we come back to God in prayer we're wrong in thinking that we might wait till we're serving him better doing things better feeling better before we come to the throne of grace dear Christian the reality for us is quite the opposite at your lowest at your weakest it is then trusting in his finished work that you must come with confidence to the throne the confidence or not yourself the confidence trusting in your triumphant saviour who knows you who sympathises with you a slowness to come to the throne of grace does not reflect a greater sense of holiness quite the opposite a slowness to come to the throne of grace it shows a lack of full understanding as to who your saviour is as to what he has done for you we must come with confidence there alone we receive mercy there alone we receive grace with confidence drawn near the throne of grace that we may receive assured you'll receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need don't go it alone dear brother dear sister don't go it alone stop going it alone come instead again come back to the throne of grace come back to the place where there is mercy and grace for you your access to it has been purchased through the precious blood of your saviour don't delay in coming to the throne of grace even this day you will find mercy and grace from the god of all grace again time has gone but dear friends here today who as of yet do not know jesus we've read together in his verses encouragement for the christians here to come and to place themselves before jesus knowing that before him they have one who knows them and who loves them one who is their high priest and who cares for them and the truth is that right now if as of yet you're outside of jesus i know and you know that you can't see understand or feel jesus like this he's still over you as king and as judge isn't he he's still there as one who you know is there but you're trying to ignore and try not to think about properly and our plea our genuine plea our our desire our prayer is that even this day even through god's word reading and seeing and hearing again of a wonder of knowing him as savior you would come to know him as your high priest as the one who has done all so that you will be saved take nothing to him the advice is the exact same as we had for christians the christians approach the throne of grace the christians approach god in prayer with nothing apart from our savior's finished work the same applies for you if you want to know jesus for yourself come to him with nothing be honest he knows you we said that in verses 11 down to verse 13 he sees and knows nothing's hidden come to the one who knows you who sees you who's done all things so that you may be saved let's bow our heads in a word of prayer lord of god we come again before you this day and we thank you for the gift of your word and that we have your true eternal perfect word we give you praise that it's not the jar of clay who stands here lord but it's you and your living word who transforms who gives new life we do pray that will be the case today so you come around again your word lord as we have spent time in it we ask that those here who are yours help us
[47:30] to with confidence come to your presence knowing that we can have access it's been bought for us of our saviour's blood in his final work in his perfect life his perfect obedience blessings and all that he is all that he continues to be he is our eternal high priest through him we have eternal access to the throne of grace lord help us not to squander that great beautiful incredible mercy you've given us pray for all those who do not know jesus as their saviour even this day through the work of your word we would come to know jesus as their high priest come to know him as their eternal saviour and come to worship him and come to love him lord you alone who changes hearts and we ask that would be the case even this day help us now to come to sing our final item of praise to do so of hearts and minds full of worship for you god we sing in christ's precious name amen let's turn to god's word and turn to scottish psalter scottish psalter in psalm 110 scottish psalter psalm 110 like we said this is a psalm and we've looked together a year or two ago at this psalm a messianic psalm a psalm talking about our saviour psalm 110 the lord said unto my lord sit thou at my right hand till i make thy foes as to whereon thy feet may stand the lord try to zion send the rod of thy great power in the midst of all thine enemies be thou the governor psalm 110 verse 1 to 4 to god's praise the lord did say unto my lord sit thou at my right hand until i make thy foes astool when on thy feet may stand the lord shall the lord of zion send the rock of thy great power in midst of all thine enemies enemies he are the governor a willing people in thy day all power shall come to thee be in holy beauties from all morn's home thy youth like jew shall be the lord himself hath made an oath and will repent him never of the order of
[51:21] Melchizedek thou art a priest forever let's close in prayer lord a priest forever let's close in prayer lord lord god go before us we ask the rest of this day help our minds and our hearts be set on you and on your things take us home in safety we ask we do ask the rest of this day a day you have given us a day made for your people lord you'd help us to find peace to find time together time individually to spend time in your word to meditate on it to give you praise to sing praises to you we do pray if it's your will as we gather again this evening bless your servant over your people here as he again opens up the word your word goes out and we ask that we bless all those who hear it ask all these things in and through and for Christ's precious name's sake amen thank you thank you