The Problem and the Solution
Hebrews 4:14-16 (continued)
Here's the problem/need: How do God's people live in faith-rest in a world controlled by sense?
1. Faith-rest is not an option. Heb 3:7-10 makes that clear. Unbelief=no rest. Heb 4:3 says "For we who have believed do enter that rest."
2. The Word of God by The Spirit of God is God's appointed means of entering His Rest!
3. The Word reveals the need for a Mediator/High Priest because we are ignorant, going astray, and beset by weakness! Heb 5:1-3 We cannot enter into rest without One!
Hebrews 4:14-16 The Glorious Revelation: See, we have a great High Priest!
4:14 1. He is in the heavenlies! This earth is not a fit dwelling place for God's New Creations!
"Let it be noted that God's purpose/goal is not to make the lot of the beggar more comfortable on the dunghill, but to lift him off from it altogether." (Philip Mauro) Our Jesus, our High Priest says He is preparing a place for us! John 14:1-3 He is already where we shall be! Please understand—that means that the here and now is not His primary intent and purpose in what He does for His people. His Eternal Goal always governs His response to our earthly pleas!
2. He is Jesus the Son of God! He has got Connections! He's made of the Right Stuff! Note that the verse says just Jesus—his human name. This Jesus is the Son of God. Our High Priest is a Man, and He is the very Son of God—all in One! He's the Right Man! (Remember "A Mighty Fortress". That's what Luther is talking about!
3. "Let us hold fast our confession." If the writer of Hebrews gave us no further revelation, we would have enough to enable us to hold fast our confession! God's Word is TRUE! Believe it!
But wait!!! There's more!!!!!!
4:15 1. KJV "For we do not have an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities." That is so much stronger than the contemporary versions. Since He is one of us, He has feelings, and those feelings are human feelings!
2. "but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." Remember Heb 2:18? "For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted." He was made flesh for this very reason! His identification with us did not end at the cross, NO—His birth and death were only the beginning.
a. Heb 2:17-18 He was made like us so that in His High Priestly ministry, He might make propitiation for our sins, and aid/succour us in our testings and temptations. "Aid"=Strongs #997. Thayer's Lexicon: "to run to the cry of those in danger". He is not a first aid station, He is a completely outfitted ER! He's been in your shoes and knows exactly what you need—but don't forget His Eternal Context!!
4:16 1. "Let us therefore come boldy." If Vs 14&15 are true, and they are, manifest this continual faith action—come boldy! Contrast God's instructions to Moses in Leviticus 16:1-2 Only Aaron could go into the Holy of Holies—Where the Mercy Seat was, and only once a year, and only when God's Cloud appeared above the Mercy Seat--LEST HE DIE!!!!!!!!
2. Where? To the Throne of Grace. Notice: It's a Throne, lest we think it is a vending machine, and it is of Grace, lest we think we have our own coin to put in the slot to get what we want! Our access to it and all of its benefits are ALL OF GRACE!
3. Why? #1 To obtain Mercy. Because we are sinful, unworthy and rebellious creatures, we always approach our God by His Mercy alone. Note: Mercy isn't to be presumed upon. We ever come to obtain it, it is made new each morning. Mercy is the "key" in the "ignition" of grace. It is for our eternal good that we live in relationship with our Father daily as needy, grateful children, not as "entitlement dependents" in a socialist state!
4. Biblical Mercy: First mention—Genesis 19:14-19/27-29 God's "dragging" mercy;
24:27 God's mercy in the unknown; 39:21 God's mercy in our intolerable circumstances; 43:14 God's family mercy; Ex 15:13 God's delivering mercy; Ex 20:6, 34:6-7 Father Mercy.
5. The Mercy Seat Ex 25:17-22 "and there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the Mercy Seat, from between the cherubim." Our God is seated & at rest on the Mercy Seat, between the Cherubim, ready to impart Mercy each day. That Mercy Seat is a Divine Portrait of our Jesus, Who He Is and what He has done to bring us into continual communion with His Father! We only and ever come to God through Him. The Father ever sees the blood of His Son, opens the door of the Family Room and says, "welcome to My Place of Rest"!
Why #2 "and to find grace to help in time of need".
1. Find grace? It doesn't say, "find a fix for my situation so everything will be comfortable and satisfactory to my emotions and self image.
Grace means:
1. I have no bargaining chips with God.
2. It is not my need that motivates God.
3. It is not the number of prayers or the number of pray-ers that motivates God. Matt 6:5-8.
4. It is my being one with the Beloved Son, and the Father's pleasure in the Son that moves the Hand of Grace! Remember, it was God's covenant with Abraham that saved Lot's hide. There are no "one on One's" with us and God. There is only us in ONE Who is ONE with HIM Who is Eternal. John 17:21 That is our access and our hope!
5. Grace operates out of the Eternal context! Our expressions of our needs are almost universally earth bound. Therefore, helping grace is usually in conflict with our earthbound thinking! We must become one with the mind of Christ who asked that if it were possible, take this cup from Him, "but nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done!" We are talking a heart change brought about by Heb 4:12-13—the Word by the Spirit!
6. God's grace alone, not our expectations of it, is sufficient for us! Remember Paul in II Cor 12:7-10? Grace isn't an escape mechanism!
2. But there is "time of need". This is our "day of trial", our forty years in the wilderness.
Heb 3:8-9. Our High Priest is ever before the Father, knowing our weaknesses and infirmities, our needs and burdens. He takes them upon Him as He once did our sins, only closer, and faithfully lays His people before the Father's heart of compassion and mercy. For our High Priest is faithful to every member of his house. (Heb 3:1-6)
a. Our needs are NEVER ignored! Isaiah 40:27 But the When and How of His answer is calculated in His Sovereign Wisdom & Mercy to develop our confidence and strengthen our endurance, and that for Eternity. That's the message of Isaiah 40:31! The waiting on the Lord here isn't a, "I wish He would hurry up" kind of waiting. It is like that of an English servant (as in Remains of the Day) who ever waits before His Master to be about his masters business!
The Father wraps all of His Mercy & Grace in the Body & Blood of His Beloved Son for the glorification of His Son and HIS NAME (the Father's), and to assure our confidence. If one iota of His Mercy and Grace depended upon us, we would surely despair!
Therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need!!! Learn to live there!
Hebrews 4:14-16 (continued)
Here's the problem/need: How do God's people live in faith-rest in a world controlled by sense?
1. Faith-rest is not an option. Heb 3:7-10 makes that clear. Unbelief=no rest. Heb 4:3 says "For we who have believed do enter that rest."
2. The Word of God by The Spirit of God is God's appointed means of entering His Rest!
3. The Word reveals the need for a Mediator/High Priest because we are ignorant, going astray, and beset by weakness! Heb 5:1-3 We cannot enter into rest without One!
Hebrews 4:14-16 The Glorious Revelation: See, we have a great High Priest!
4:14 1. He is in the heavenlies! This earth is not a fit dwelling place for God's New Creations!
"Let it be noted that God's purpose/goal is not to make the lot of the beggar more comfortable on the dunghill, but to lift him off from it altogether." (Philip Mauro) Our Jesus, our High Priest says He is preparing a place for us! John 14:1-3 He is already where we shall be! Please understand—that means that the here and now is not His primary intent and purpose in what He does for His people. His Eternal Goal always governs His response to our earthly pleas!
2. He is Jesus the Son of God! He has got Connections! He's made of the Right Stuff! Note that the verse says just Jesus—his human name. This Jesus is the Son of God. Our High Priest is a Man, and He is the very Son of God—all in One! He's the Right Man! (Remember "A Mighty Fortress". That's what Luther is talking about!
3. "Let us hold fast our confession." If the writer of Hebrews gave us no further revelation, we would have enough to enable us to hold fast our confession! God's Word is TRUE! Believe it!
But wait!!! There's more!!!!!!
4:15 1. KJV "For we do not have an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities." That is so much stronger than the contemporary versions. Since He is one of us, He has feelings, and those feelings are human feelings!
2. "but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." Remember Heb 2:18? "For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted." He was made flesh for this very reason! His identification with us did not end at the cross, NO—His birth and death were only the beginning.
a. Heb 2:17-18 He was made like us so that in His High Priestly ministry, He might make propitiation for our sins, and aid/succour us in our testings and temptations. "Aid"=Strongs #997. Thayer's Lexicon: "to run to the cry of those in danger". He is not a first aid station, He is a completely outfitted ER! He's been in your shoes and knows exactly what you need—but don't forget His Eternal Context!!
4:16 1. "Let us therefore come boldy." If Vs 14&15 are true, and they are, manifest this continual faith action—come boldy! Contrast God's instructions to Moses in Leviticus 16:1-2 Only Aaron could go into the Holy of Holies—Where the Mercy Seat was, and only once a year, and only when God's Cloud appeared above the Mercy Seat--LEST HE DIE!!!!!!!!
2. Where? To the Throne of Grace. Notice: It's a Throne, lest we think it is a vending machine, and it is of Grace, lest we think we have our own coin to put in the slot to get what we want! Our access to it and all of its benefits are ALL OF GRACE!
3. Why? #1 To obtain Mercy. Because we are sinful, unworthy and rebellious creatures, we always approach our God by His Mercy alone. Note: Mercy isn't to be presumed upon. We ever come to obtain it, it is made new each morning. Mercy is the "key" in the "ignition" of grace. It is for our eternal good that we live in relationship with our Father daily as needy, grateful children, not as "entitlement dependents" in a socialist state!
4. Biblical Mercy: First mention—Genesis 19:14-19/27-29 God's "dragging" mercy;
24:27 God's mercy in the unknown; 39:21 God's mercy in our intolerable circumstances; 43:14 God's family mercy; Ex 15:13 God's delivering mercy; Ex 20:6, 34:6-7 Father Mercy.
5. The Mercy Seat Ex 25:17-22 "and there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the Mercy Seat, from between the cherubim." Our God is seated & at rest on the Mercy Seat, between the Cherubim, ready to impart Mercy each day. That Mercy Seat is a Divine Portrait of our Jesus, Who He Is and what He has done to bring us into continual communion with His Father! We only and ever come to God through Him. The Father ever sees the blood of His Son, opens the door of the Family Room and says, "welcome to My Place of Rest"!
Why #2 "and to find grace to help in time of need".
1. Find grace? It doesn't say, "find a fix for my situation so everything will be comfortable and satisfactory to my emotions and self image.
Grace means:
1. I have no bargaining chips with God.
2. It is not my need that motivates God.
3. It is not the number of prayers or the number of pray-ers that motivates God. Matt 6:5-8.
4. It is my being one with the Beloved Son, and the Father's pleasure in the Son that moves the Hand of Grace! Remember, it was God's covenant with Abraham that saved Lot's hide. There are no "one on One's" with us and God. There is only us in ONE Who is ONE with HIM Who is Eternal. John 17:21 That is our access and our hope!
5. Grace operates out of the Eternal context! Our expressions of our needs are almost universally earth bound. Therefore, helping grace is usually in conflict with our earthbound thinking! We must become one with the mind of Christ who asked that if it were possible, take this cup from Him, "but nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done!" We are talking a heart change brought about by Heb 4:12-13—the Word by the Spirit!
6. God's grace alone, not our expectations of it, is sufficient for us! Remember Paul in II Cor 12:7-10? Grace isn't an escape mechanism!
2. But there is "time of need". This is our "day of trial", our forty years in the wilderness.
Heb 3:8-9. Our High Priest is ever before the Father, knowing our weaknesses and infirmities, our needs and burdens. He takes them upon Him as He once did our sins, only closer, and faithfully lays His people before the Father's heart of compassion and mercy. For our High Priest is faithful to every member of his house. (Heb 3:1-6)
a. Our needs are NEVER ignored! Isaiah 40:27 But the When and How of His answer is calculated in His Sovereign Wisdom & Mercy to develop our confidence and strengthen our endurance, and that for Eternity. That's the message of Isaiah 40:31! The waiting on the Lord here isn't a, "I wish He would hurry up" kind of waiting. It is like that of an English servant (as in Remains of the Day) who ever waits before His Master to be about his masters business!
The Father wraps all of His Mercy & Grace in the Body & Blood of His Beloved Son for the glorification of His Son and HIS NAME (the Father's), and to assure our confidence. If one iota of His Mercy and Grace depended upon us, we would surely despair!
Therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need!!! Learn to live there!