This is the Main Point!
Hebrews 4:14-16
Hebrews 8:1-2 "Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, Who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man."
I. So why do we need a High Priest?
A. Reason #1 Our God is so Gloriously Holy that no human flesh can survive in His Presence. Exodus 33:18-20 "you cannot see My face; for no man shall see me and live."
1. Ex 19:10-25 Remember the unapproachable God at Mount Sinai.
2. A hint of good things to come: note the differences in the giving of the law the second time! Contrast Ex 24:12, 31:18, 32:16 with Ex 34:1,4, 27-28. Also first time, clouds and smoke—the second time, a shining face! (Ex 34:29-35; Num 6:22-27, Ps 81, II Cor 6:4) Moses is the one who stands between the Holy God and the people, the beginning of the Mediator concept. Later, Moses and Aaron were "co-mediators". Of course this was pointing to the truth of I Timothy 2:5,"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus."
B. Reason #2 Hebrews 5:1-2
1. We are ignorant!
2. We are going astray!
3. We are beset by weakness!
If you have a problem with reason #2, please refer back to reason #1!
II. The book of Hebrews is going to introduce us to our Great High Priest Who is already in the heavenlies—Jesus, the Son of God.
A. Heb 2:17-18 The reason The Son was made like us is that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest!
1. "Things pertaining to God". That includes all that is in the counsel of God's will. And that is found in Eph 1:3-12, esp 9-11. It is The Father's Will to "gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and in earth, IN HIM!!!"
2. Heb 3:1 If we are part of that IN HIM, then we are partakers of that heavenly calling. We are aliens and strangers on this earth, this is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven, right now. We are now to "hold fast our confession". (Heb 11:13) Mauro on God's purpose—pg 109-110, "God's Apostle and High Priest".
3. Heb 3:1 Our means of holding fast our confession is "Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" Mauro on learning Christ—page 105. The introduction of Christ Jesus as our Great High Priest is the message of Hebrews. Without His High Priestly ministry, we haven't a ghost of a chance of being saved to the uttermost! (Heb 7:24-26) So seek Him out, sit at His feet, never let Him out of your sight!!!! The only place that can happen is in His Word!!!
III. Heb 4:14-16 Our High Priest's ministry is to enable us to hold fast our confession in a hostile world, our wilderness, our day of trial!! (see Heb 2:8-9)
A. Vs 14 "Seeing that we have a High Priest".
1. We don't need any other, we already have one! I'm not your priest, no guy with a reversed collar is your priest. Jesus is your Priest and He is all that you need!
2. Phil 4:19 Our High Priest is in the Place of Heavenly resources. He has all of Heaven's provisions available.
3. Again, His purpose isn't to fix our stuff here, make us comfortable here. His purpose is to enable us to survive, thrive in His Rest, in this hostile world until the day of renewal! (Rom 8:18-39, II Pet 3:10-13, Heb 2:5) (Mauro's "statement of God's purpose.)
B. Vs 15 Here's the kind of priest we have!
1. He is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities", (KJV) This is more than mere sympathy! He has been there! And more than we, for the father of lies attacked Him personally! (Matt 4:1-11) He is intimately familiar with physical, mental, and spiritual attacks. He has been through them all—without sinning!! And remember, He took upon Himself all of our failures in our similar temptations. We fail—He does not. We sin—He exchanged places with us and took our rightful punishment upon Himself. He is an intimately qualified High Priest.
C. Vs16 Since all of this is true of Him, what are we directed to do?
1. So what is this "Throne of Grace"?
` a. First of all, this is not talking about an occasional visit to the emergency room!! Scripture knows nothing of an occasional high priest that we come to cry about our "ouchies". Biblical Christianity knows nothing about bandaids or Tylenol. If you want to live your life as you please and come to Jesus to fix the messes you get in, BEWARE! You are on unbiblical ground!
b. We are to come boldy—because everything that separates from the Love of God has been paid for in full. We come as full blooded children. We aren't talking about a "macho" boldness. This is the boldness of a toddler who comes to his father for a jelly bean!
c. But this isn't about jelly beans! It's about receiving everything we need to walk through our "day of trial", our "wilderness". (3:8-9)
1). To obtain mercy! This is about the mercy seat! We always come through the Blood of Christ—The Mercy of God is bathed in blood and we continually need it desperately! We have no tank to store up Mercy—we need it fresh every day (Lam 3:22-23). That is to remind us of how dependent we are upon the work of our Beautiful Savior! Never think you can go tramping into the Presence of God on your own. It is always through the Blood of Jesus, His Son!!!!!!
2). To find grace to help! Rom 5:2, 15-17, 20-21 We stand by grace, we fall for want of grace! Our struggles are because we forget that! You have nothing to offer the Holy God of Heaven. He has all that He wants in His Beloved Son in Whom He is well pleased. His Grace operates according to His Will. Leave your will at the door of the throne of Grace.
3). In time of need! In this fallen world, everything is a time of need. This is our day of trial, our wilderness. Ask the Lord to teach you to live at the Throne of Grace. It is a matter of continual conscious and unconscious communion with your Sufficient God. But again I say, it is impossible apart from continual saturation with the Word of God! If you want to participate in the feast, you have got to come to the table! Ps 23:5-6!
Hebrews 4:14-16
Hebrews 8:1-2 "Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, Who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man."
I. So why do we need a High Priest?
A. Reason #1 Our God is so Gloriously Holy that no human flesh can survive in His Presence. Exodus 33:18-20 "you cannot see My face; for no man shall see me and live."
1. Ex 19:10-25 Remember the unapproachable God at Mount Sinai.
2. A hint of good things to come: note the differences in the giving of the law the second time! Contrast Ex 24:12, 31:18, 32:16 with Ex 34:1,4, 27-28. Also first time, clouds and smoke—the second time, a shining face! (Ex 34:29-35; Num 6:22-27, Ps 81, II Cor 6:4) Moses is the one who stands between the Holy God and the people, the beginning of the Mediator concept. Later, Moses and Aaron were "co-mediators". Of course this was pointing to the truth of I Timothy 2:5,"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus."
B. Reason #2 Hebrews 5:1-2
1. We are ignorant!
2. We are going astray!
3. We are beset by weakness!
If you have a problem with reason #2, please refer back to reason #1!
II. The book of Hebrews is going to introduce us to our Great High Priest Who is already in the heavenlies—Jesus, the Son of God.
A. Heb 2:17-18 The reason The Son was made like us is that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest!
1. "Things pertaining to God". That includes all that is in the counsel of God's will. And that is found in Eph 1:3-12, esp 9-11. It is The Father's Will to "gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and in earth, IN HIM!!!"
2. Heb 3:1 If we are part of that IN HIM, then we are partakers of that heavenly calling. We are aliens and strangers on this earth, this is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven, right now. We are now to "hold fast our confession". (Heb 11:13) Mauro on God's purpose—pg 109-110, "God's Apostle and High Priest".
3. Heb 3:1 Our means of holding fast our confession is "Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" Mauro on learning Christ—page 105. The introduction of Christ Jesus as our Great High Priest is the message of Hebrews. Without His High Priestly ministry, we haven't a ghost of a chance of being saved to the uttermost! (Heb 7:24-26) So seek Him out, sit at His feet, never let Him out of your sight!!!! The only place that can happen is in His Word!!!
III. Heb 4:14-16 Our High Priest's ministry is to enable us to hold fast our confession in a hostile world, our wilderness, our day of trial!! (see Heb 2:8-9)
A. Vs 14 "Seeing that we have a High Priest".
1. We don't need any other, we already have one! I'm not your priest, no guy with a reversed collar is your priest. Jesus is your Priest and He is all that you need!
2. Phil 4:19 Our High Priest is in the Place of Heavenly resources. He has all of Heaven's provisions available.
3. Again, His purpose isn't to fix our stuff here, make us comfortable here. His purpose is to enable us to survive, thrive in His Rest, in this hostile world until the day of renewal! (Rom 8:18-39, II Pet 3:10-13, Heb 2:5) (Mauro's "statement of God's purpose.)
B. Vs 15 Here's the kind of priest we have!
1. He is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities", (KJV) This is more than mere sympathy! He has been there! And more than we, for the father of lies attacked Him personally! (Matt 4:1-11) He is intimately familiar with physical, mental, and spiritual attacks. He has been through them all—without sinning!! And remember, He took upon Himself all of our failures in our similar temptations. We fail—He does not. We sin—He exchanged places with us and took our rightful punishment upon Himself. He is an intimately qualified High Priest.
C. Vs16 Since all of this is true of Him, what are we directed to do?
1. So what is this "Throne of Grace"?
` a. First of all, this is not talking about an occasional visit to the emergency room!! Scripture knows nothing of an occasional high priest that we come to cry about our "ouchies". Biblical Christianity knows nothing about bandaids or Tylenol. If you want to live your life as you please and come to Jesus to fix the messes you get in, BEWARE! You are on unbiblical ground!
b. We are to come boldy—because everything that separates from the Love of God has been paid for in full. We come as full blooded children. We aren't talking about a "macho" boldness. This is the boldness of a toddler who comes to his father for a jelly bean!
c. But this isn't about jelly beans! It's about receiving everything we need to walk through our "day of trial", our "wilderness". (3:8-9)
1). To obtain mercy! This is about the mercy seat! We always come through the Blood of Christ—The Mercy of God is bathed in blood and we continually need it desperately! We have no tank to store up Mercy—we need it fresh every day (Lam 3:22-23). That is to remind us of how dependent we are upon the work of our Beautiful Savior! Never think you can go tramping into the Presence of God on your own. It is always through the Blood of Jesus, His Son!!!!!!
2). To find grace to help! Rom 5:2, 15-17, 20-21 We stand by grace, we fall for want of grace! Our struggles are because we forget that! You have nothing to offer the Holy God of Heaven. He has all that He wants in His Beloved Son in Whom He is well pleased. His Grace operates according to His Will. Leave your will at the door of the throne of Grace.
3). In time of need! In this fallen world, everything is a time of need. This is our day of trial, our wilderness. Ask the Lord to teach you to live at the Throne of Grace. It is a matter of continual conscious and unconscious communion with your Sufficient God. But again I say, it is impossible apart from continual saturation with the Word of God! If you want to participate in the feast, you have got to come to the table! Ps 23:5-6!