Grace Fellowship Church
Proper Biblical Actions in Light of the Judgment of God
Proper Biblical Actions in Light of the Judgment of God
Hebrews 4:14-16
September 23, 2007
Series 3 Sermon 15
14 Since then we have a great high
priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold
fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect
has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let
us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Introduction
I wish that I were perfect. I wish that I was sinless. I wish the same thing for you as well. We know that sanctification is not a once and for all transaction. Sanctification is carried out throughout our Christian life. The fact of the matter is that Christians sin. I sin and you sin no matter how much we might hate sin we seem to find ourselves involved with it whether it be in thought, word, or deed. The Christian struggles with sin. We war with sin. We desire for it to be gone but it seems the more sin we root out of our lives the more we find. Exposure to the holiness of God will expose the unholiness that resides in us. And we are left, as we should be, often disgusted by our own behavior.
Maybe at times you have thought to yourself, “Can I really be a Christian and think what I just thought? Or do what I just did? Or say what I just said? Or behave the way I just behaved?” We have already learned from Hebrews 3:13 that sin is deceitful. It will harden our hearts away from the Lord. It will deceive us and make us think that there is no way that we can go to the Lord for forgiveness of sin again. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever thought that the Lord just may not be able to forgive the sin that you have committed?
A great biblical illustration of this is King David, the man after God’s own heart. When the kings were supposed to go out to battle David stayed at the palace instead. This first mistake led to him committing adultery and murder. You would think after committing such heinous acts of treason against the Lord and His Law that David would have gotten on his face before God and repented. But he did not. As a matter of fact instead of going to the Lord his sin drove him further and further away from the Lord. He was acting as if he did not know the God of Israel, the God who put him on the throne of Saul. If God were not gracious then He would have allowed David to dig his own spiritual grave in this matter. The sin that he committed and continued to commit would have driven him further and further into perdition. But 2 Samuel 12:1 is one of the most amazing and one of the most grace filled passages in all of Scripture. It simply and yet profoundly says this, “And God sent Nathan to David.” This is a testimony of the forgiveness and grace of God in the face of what many of us would consider unforgivable. Probably David was thinking that these sins were unforgivable as well. But God is in the business of forgiving sins.
Even in the New Testament we find this. Jesus told the woman caught in sin that He did not condemn her and she was to go and sin no more. The man who was a paralytic on the Sabbath was told his sins were forgiven and to prove that this was true, the Lord Jesus healed him and made him walk. The thief on the cross was promised that that very day he would be with the Lord in paradise. The Lord Jesus Christ is in the business of forgiving sin. As a matter of fact the Bible speaks of only one unforgivable sin and that is blaspheming the Holy Spirit which takes the form of a tacit denial of the person and work of the Son of God. And then the death knell against the idea of sinless perfection is 1 John 1:6-10.
6 If
we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but
if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If
we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
John is not giving us permission to sin he is telling us that the reality of this life is that we are perishable and because of sin we still sin. But the Christian is at war with his or her flesh. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. The flesh is dying daily and the spirit is being renewed but the day will come when we will put off this corruptible and put on the incorruptible.
But until that time, what do we do? How are we to handle the constant battle against sin and temptation that is a daily struggle? What do we do to combat the ever present reality of sins of thought, word, deed, and even inaction? When is the last time you have sat and thought through the sin of inaction? How many times have you put off doing what you should have done and just simply decided not to do it?
We often think of sin in the context of what we do wrong. But what about what we should do and do not do? Those who think they have arrived spiritually and no longer sin usually only think in terms of sinful actions. They discount thoughts, words, intentions, motivations, and even failing to do what you are supposed to do.
Context
Last week we saw that the Word of God cuts through all of the self perceived righteousness that any of us think we might have. It cuts through to the heart of the matter and even down to the intentions of the heart. God is not pleased or deceived by supposed outward righteousness. This is what the Pharisees had. But the Lord Jesus called them whitewashed tombs where the outside looked good but the inside was full of putrefying flesh and bones. And then we saw verse 13 that showed us that all must give an account to God and that He is intimately aware of all things and absolutely nothing can be hidden from God.
So this leaves humanity in a pitiful state. The best of men are men at best and they are sinners. And I am a sinner and you are sinners and the biblical fact is that the Word of God brings us all under the judgment and we all will stand before the righteous judge to give an account and we will all stand guilty if we are without Christ.
This morning we begin a new section of this letter. Hebrews 4:14-10:18 is the unpacking and explanation of the glorious truth of the office of Christ as the Great High Priest. Our text today, Hebrews 4:14-16 is both instructional and introductory to the largest section of the Epistle. It is introductory because it serves to focus our attention on Christ as the Great High Priest. It is instructional because it tells us what to do in light of the truth of the Word of God which convicts us of sin and what to do about the truth that we all will give an account to God.
PNP
This morning from our text I want you to see two proper biblical actions that we are commanded to do in light of the judgment of God and the conviction of the Word of God.
1. We must hold fast our confession.
2. We must draw near to the throne of grace.
Purpose
This morning I want you to understand that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God and that because of our weakness we must run to Christ for both help and forgiveness. I also want you to understand that God desires for us to return to Him even when we are heavy in sin.
RPNP
So look with me at these two proper biblical actions that we are commanded to do in light of the judgment of God and the conviction of the Word of God.
1. We must hold fast our confession.
Look with me at verse 14.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Let me allow you to glimpse briefly into future sermons as we deal with verse 14. Right off the bat the writer portrays Jesus, the Son of God in His High Priestly office, as superior to the Levitical priestly office that was still on earth. He does it with two phrases. Look at verse 14 again.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,
The first phrase deals with this High Priest doing something
the others have not nor could do. He has
“passed through the heavens.” The interesting thing about this is that during
the Lord’s earthly ministry He did not go into the Holy of Holies as the
earthly high priest did once a year. But
it was at His death that the curtain that hid that
For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
The first way our Great High Priest is superior to the
earthly high priest is that His ministry takes place in the
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,
All Levitical priests were descendents of Aaron who was of the tribe of Levi. No other tribe could serve in the priestly role. Only those descended from Levi could hold that office. So a man who came from the tribe of Benjamin like the Apostle Paul could not hold the office of priest. What we will discover over the coming weeks is that even in Christ’s priesthood He is superior to Aaron and the Aaronic line simply because of His Sonship. If we were talking about a high priest of earthly lineage then we would have the phrase like this; Jesus the son of Aaron. Instead we have Jesus the Son of God.
The two qualities that make the Lord Jesus our Great High Priest is that He ministers in the heavens and His Father is God. Now in light of this great truth that Christ is not only our Savior and Lord and is also our Great High Priest what are we to do? Look again at verse 14.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
I want you to keep in mind here that this phrase marks transitions within the Letter to the Hebrews. It does so in chapter 3:14, here in 4:14, and will do so again in 10:23. After this phrase the writer always will give us commands about what we are to do in holding fast our confession. Here the command is for us to hold fast our confession. What confession is that? The confession is of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, our savior and Lord.
But wait a minute. We were just told in verses 12 and 13 that the Word of God dissects us and that all of us will stand before the Judge of all the earth that sees all things and knows all things and we must give an account. In light of that why is it so important to hold fast our confession? Why did the writer not say, “Keep the Law perfectly!” Or “Follow the Ten Commandments.” Or “Do not sin!” It is because the writer understands the nature of man. It is because we are by our very nature sinners and before conversion enemies of God. It is because the writer knows that the Law has never justified anyone and that it is our tutor to point us to where we need to be headed. Our only hope is to hold fast our confession.
In the context of Hebrews the people that the writer was writing to were considering committing the sin of leaving Christianity and persecution for Judaism and comfort. The sin that all of us face on a daily basis is exchanging the glory of God for vanities and those vanities can take many forms. Slothfulness, lust, envy, strife, rebellion, just to name a few.
The truth of Christianity is not that Christians do not sin, it is that Christians do sin but hate that sin that dwells within us. We hunger and thirst for righteousness not because we are righteous but because we are in the desert of sin with no food or water and we know if we don’t get the righteousness that God requires we will surely perish. If we were righteous already then we would not hunger and thirst for it.
You may be hungry now but in just a little while we are going to eat and you will be full and satisfied. You may be hungry and thirsty for righteousness now and you should be but the day will come when you are in the presence of God and you will be full of His righteousness never to hunger or thirst again. Sin will be done away with.
Those that believe in sinless perfection here on earth will
find nothing in these verses. But those
of us who have been made keenly aware of the blackness and disease of our own
hearts will find great comfort here.
Those of us who have stumbled on the road to the
We have a Great High Priest in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One who ministers on our behalf in the Heavens at the right hand of the Father. He does so because He is the Son of the Father.
But how is it that we are commanded to hold fast our confession of this Great High Priest even though we are often beset by sin and we consistently fall short of God’s glory? How can God be so gracious and forgive us over and over again? Look at verse 15.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Did you notice that the Lord Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses? I want you to understand that this is not mere sentimentality. It isn’t that Christ is patting us on the back and saying, “It’s okay.” Literally he feels and understands our weaknesses as humans under the curse of sin. This is the idea of true compassion.
Let me try to illustrate this. None of us has lost a spouse. Not yet anyway. If the Lord allows us to stay together for the coming decades then what we are going to experience is loss among us. Let’s say one person loses a spouse. Well if you have never experienced that loss then you can not truly sympathize with that person. You may hurt for that person and you may yourself feel pain for them but its not the same. But if you have lost a spouse then you know something about what they are feeling. You hurt all over again because through that person’s pain you are reminded of the pain that you first felt at the loss of your spouse.
Let me give you a biblical illustration of this. When Saul of Tarsus who would become the
Apostle Paul was struck down on the road to
When the writer of Hebrews tells us that Christ sympathizes with our weaknesses it is because in His earthly life Christ understood the temptation that we all feel and experience. You remember it was after forty days of fasting in the wilderness that Satan tempted the Lord. It was in that same time that the Lord was looking forward to the ultimate fulfillment of His ministry, the cross, that Satan said, “Worship me and I will give you the kingdoms of the world.” It was in a time of physical weakness that the Lord was tempted. Theologically Christ did not have a sin nature. That is why He is called the second Adam. Adam had no sin nature either until he sinned plunging the rest of us into sin and depravity. But Christ was tempted but as the text says, without sinning. Look at verse 15 again.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
But what about this word weakness here in the text? What is that all about? Weakness is a very picturesque word in the original language of the New Testament. It can also mean sickness or disease. Remember I told you that the Lord commands us, even in time of besetting sin and falling short of His glory, to hold fast our confession of Christ. The reason we can do this is because the Lord Himself understands and sympathizes with our weakness.
Many people have this false idea that we have to keep all these rules in order to please God. But they have it all wrong. If you are a Christian then God has already declared you not guilty and has put into motion your sanctification which will result in your glorification. Ephesians 1 tells us that we will stand before Him holy and blameless. This is not because we are holy and blameless. It is because the Lord Jesus is holy and blameless.
The headship of Adam over all humanity and the headship of Christ over the elect is very similar. In Adam all have sinned. A baby in the womb of its mother is as much of a sinner as the man on death row even though the baby has not sinned, yet. In Adam all men are fallen and sinners and they prove this by their sinful lives.
Here is where grace comes in. In the headship of Christ over the elect, the vilest sinner is made clean because Christ is our representative head now in salvation and He is holy and blameless and we stand in Him before God. So God can declare us saints. He can declare us His holy ones. We are His people for His own possession because of what Christ did on our behalf. Isaiah 53:4-6 teaches us this.
4 Surely our griefs He
Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through
for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well -being fell
upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All
of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the
iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
The reason we want to live holy lives as believers is because we have been given a new heart that desires holiness and righteousness and desires to walk in a way that brings honor to the One who redeemed us. We are not checking things off a spiritual checklist to make sure we are accepted by God. Rules and regulations are no help to us. They only show our shortcomings. We want and desire holiness because Christ is holy.
Any other reason that we have for holiness is legalistic and ultimately that perceived holiness is merely more of our sinfulness rearing its ugly head.
This is why we hold fast our confession in Christ. Now I want you to see that second:
2. We must draw near to the throne of grace.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that
we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
This is a command for us all. Notice when we are to draw near to the throne
of grace. Look at the end of verse
16. in time of need
Notice that the verse did not say come to the throne of grace when everything is going well. It does not say to come to the throne of grace when you are walking pleasingly before the Lord. It says to come in time of need.
What are we coming for?
Look at the verse again. 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.
What do we need mercy and grace for? Go back to verse 15. We need it for our weaknesses.
The Christian that does not understand this truth is a like the man who saved his money to go on a cruise and took along peanut butter and crackers to eat when the buffets were included in the cost of the ticket.
The Lord has grace and mercy on His people not because we deserve it but simply because He in His sovereignty has chosen to do so.
This is why we draw near the Throne of Grace. But I want you to see how astonishing this truly is. I want you to see how we are to draw near the Throne of Grace. Look at verse 16. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,
And on top of this God is not suggesting that we do this, in the language of the New Testament He is commanding us to do this.
This idea of doing too much wrong and God no longer accepting you back is foreign to the New Testament. The arm of the Lord is in no way shortened. His sheep He will bring back to the fold.
The ultimate illustration of this is the story of the Prodigal Son. After wallowing in the pig filth and debauchery of his fleshly lifestyle he comes back to the father proclaiming his unworthiness to even be there. He desires to simply be one of his father’s slaves and proclaimed his unworthiness to be called his son. He was right. He was unworthy to be called this father’s son. What he didn’t know and understand that when he went back to his father he was coming before the throne of grace. His father reaches out and grabs his son in love and embraces him. He puts the ring of the family accounts on his finger and a new robe on his back. He kills the fatted calf and celebrates his son’s return.
Let me ask you this morning, are you far away from the Lord? Have you placed such legalistic expectations on yourself that you no longer appreciate or understand the wonderful grace of our loving Lord? Are you going boldly before the throne of grace in time of need or are you trying to do everything in your own strength? In times of weakness and temptation are you running to the grace of Christ for help in time of need?
Where are you pointing your children when they exhibit their depraved nature? Are you demonstrating to them that they too need to run to the throne of grace to find help in time of need?
The glory of God in the throne of grace is one of the most majestic truths in all of Scripture. And in God’s sovereignty if you are a Christian God has decided to have mercy on you and commands you to come boldly before His throne of grace for help in time of need. Listen to Romans 9:15.
15 For He says to Moses,
"I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE
MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION."
And what we know from Hebrews 4:16 God has decided to have mercy and compassion on us as Christians. What a glorious thought. That no matter how much we fail, how often we think we have really messed up this time that in the time of need we can run back to the throne of grace for help and for forgiveness.
But as believers we should desire to go to the throne of grace daily. We should go before the Lord daily to seek help and grace and mercy in dealing with the tasks we have before us.
Do you have sin in your life that you constantly struggle with? Go to the throne of grace.
Do you have trouble getting along with a spouse a child a coworker a friend? Go to the throne of grace.
Do you face constant temptation? Go to the throne of grace.
Are you tired and weary of all that you have to do? Go to the throne of grace.
Whatever the weakness is in your life you can always go to the throne of grace because God has already decided before hand that He is going to have mercy and compassion on you because He has called you by name and you are His.
Conclusion
We have seen two proper biblical actions that we are commanded to do in light of the judgment of God and the conviction of the Word of God.
We are to hold fast our confession and we are to draw near to the throne of grace in time of need.
What do you need today? What is it that you need grace and mercy for?
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