HEBREWS 4-5 4:14-5:112008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Hebrews 4-5 4:14-5:11

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008.

As we continue our study in the book of Hebrews chapter 4 now, finishing up 4 going into chapter 5, we're looking at the subject of Jesus Christ, our great high priest. Jesus Christ is our great high priest. Now as we look at this subject and we read what the author of Hebrews has to say about this,

Well, for some of us, it might not seem to be such a big deal. What is so significant about Jesus Christ being our great high priest? What is really a high priest? And what do they do? And what is the purpose of a high priest? We could wonder because, well, today we don't have a lot of high priests walking around and we don't run into them very often. And as part of our culture, we don't really experience and know what is a high priest.

The only way we know what a high priest is, is if we study the word of God and see what the Old Testament has to say and the covenant that God had established with his people and the law. And from those things we know what a high priest is. But the author of Hebrews is writing to those Jewish believers who had been brought up in Israel.

The ways and the teachings of the Jewish people. They knew what the high priest was because they'd known about the high priest from very young. They'd known about his ministry. They'd seen him around. They'd seen him in action. They'd seen him at work around the temple. They knew what the high priest did and the significance of the place that he had. The high priest was set apart aside from the other priests because he had some unique functions within...

the people in their relationship with God within the ministry there at the temple or the tabernacle. They had different clothing that he would wear separate from the rest of the priests that would set him apart. There was specific functions and roles that he would play within the ministry. And I'm not going to get into all those details, but one of the specific roles of the high priest was

was the role that he played on the Day of Atonement. And that's somewhat what we'll be looking at today, and so I want to touch on that briefly. The Day of Atonement was a feast for the children of Israel that God had commanded. And it was the one day, that one day during the year, that the high priest could enter into the holiest of all, or the holy of holies.

In the tabernacle there in the wilderness that God had designed and had Moses set up, there was the holy place that was the first part of the tabernacle when you came in. And there was the table of showbread, the lamb stand, there was the altar of incense there. All of the priests could go in and minister there. The people couldn't, but the priests could there go in and take care of the things that needed to be taken care of there within the tabernacle in the holy place.

But at the end of the holy place, there was a veil, there was a covering or a curtain that went across. And beyond that veil was the holy of holies or the holiest of all.

And there in that room was the Ark of the Covenant, where God had told Moses to put the Ten Commandments and a couple other things throughout Israel's history. And then on top of the Ark of the Covenant, they placed what's called the Mercy Seat. And there was the two cherubim on it, the two angels on it. And it was there between the cherubim that God's presence dwelt. And there God dwelt with His people.

And you couldn't just enter into the holiest of all, into the holy of holies. Only the high priest could enter in to that place where the presence of God dwelt. And he could not do it just at any time he pleased, but he could only come on this one day, the day of atonement, this feast that was commanded by

And it was on this day that he would atone for the sin of the people, of the nation of Israel. And it was on this day that their sin would be taken care of. And so in his role as high priest, there was this significant part that he played there on the Day of Atonement. And yet, although the high priest had an important role in his role as high priest,

Throughout the Feast, throughout the Law, specifically on this day, what the author of Hebrews will be pointing out here in chapters 4 and 5 is that Jesus Christ is our great High Priest. And in being our great High Priest, He is far superior to the normal High Priest of the Jewish faith. He's been proving the superiority of Jesus since the beginning. We saw there in chapters 1 and 2 that Jesus is far superior to angels.

Then going on into chapter 3, we saw that Jesus was far superior than Moses. In chapter 4, he was far superior than Joshua. And now even Jesus is more superior, he'll be sharing, than Aaron or any other high priest who has descended from Aaron. And so we have Jesus Christ superior to all others. Our great high priest, a superior high priest.

As we end up chapter 4, verses 14, 15, and 16, we'll look at three principles or three characteristics of Jesus Christ as a superior high priest. Number one is that he passed through the heavens. We find this in verse 14. It says, "...seeing then that we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession."

He says, seeing then that we have a great high priest. Again, Jesus Christ is a high priest for us, but he's not just like the rest of the high priests. He's not just the run-of-the-mill high priest. He is our great high priest. He's far superior as a high priest for one reason, is that he passed through the heavens.

On the Day of Atonement, as I told you, and you can read about this in Leviticus chapter 16, the high priest would be allowed to enter into the holiest of all. And in doing so, he would pass through the veil. He would pass through the veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies or the holiest of all. He would be able to do this twice on that day. First, what he would do is he would offer a sacrifice for himself for his own sin.

And as he offered this sacrifice, as he sacrificed this bull, what he would do is he would take some of the blood from that offering and he would take it into the holy place. He would pass through the veil into the most holy place and he would sprinkle some of that blood there upon the mercy seat before the presence of God.

And then he would come back out and he would make another offering. And this time it was for the people, the nation of Israel, to make atonement for their sin. And you remember probably how it goes. There was the two goats and one of them was a scapegoat and they would lay their hands and confess their sin upon that one. And that one they would let go free in the wilderness. But the other one, they would offer this one as a sacrifice and he would take the blood from that sacrifice and go passing through the veil again into the holiest of all.

and sprinkle the blood of that sacrifice there before the Lord on the mercy seat again. And so this day of atonement was very significant. It was very important. It was a big deal because it was the day that their sin would be atoned for. And the high priest would pass through the veil, but only on this one day. In contrast, we have Jesus who is our great high priest, and he didn't just pass through the veil of the temple.

It was a significant thing for the high priest to pass through the veil of the temple. But as we understand the picture that the author of Hebrews is painting for us, Jesus didn't pass through the veil of the temple. He passed through the heavens. He didn't go into the temple, which was a model of the reality that exists in heaven. He went into heaven itself, into the very presence of God, the throne room of God, and is seated at the right hand of God.

And so his ministry as high priest is far superior because it's not a ministry that takes place within the model of what is in heaven, but in actuality what is in heaven is where his ministry takes place. He passed through the heavens into the presence of God. Just as if you were going to give, you know, let's say you have a child that's turning 18 and you want to give them a car. I know that you probably would hesitate to do that, but let's just say that you would.

And so you offer your 18-year-old a model car or an actual car. Which one do you think they would take? Of course, they're going to take the actual car because it's functional. It works. Well, it's real. The other one is just a model.

And as significant as the tabernacle was and the temple was to the Jewish people, we understand God told Moses to build it according to the pattern which God showed him on the mountain. Because it was a model of what really is in heaven. And there in heaven is the reality of what God was seeking to communicate and reveal to us. And Jesus did not minister within that model only.

which is far inferior, but he ministered in the actual temple, in the actual presence of God. And so we have here Jesus as a great high priest, a far superior high priest, because he passed through the heavens. And so he tells them, let us hold fast our confession.

Since Jesus is this great high priest, he says, let's hold fast our confession because, well, the Hebrews, the Jewish people that the author of Hebrews is writing to, they were wavering in their faith, it seems. Yes.

They were contemplating and considering going back to the temple sacrifices, going back to the practices of Judaism, the things that Jesus had brought them out of, they were considering going back to because, well, it was far more socially acceptable for them to participate in the sacrifices, to be a part of the feast because that's what all of the people around them, it's what their nation was doing.

It was socially acceptable for them to be involved in that way. It was part of their culture. Whereas they would be ostracized. They would be held at bay or held away. They would be ignored if they followed Jesus Christ and not practiced the Jewish religion. And so the author of Hebrews is saying, look, our high priest is far greater than any other high priest. He passed through the heavens. He's in the presence of God. They're seated at the right hand of God.

Let's hold fast our confession of Jesus Christ and not waver in it. So Jesus is a superior high priest in that he has passed through the heavens. He's also a superior high priest because he was without sin and yet he is compassionate. Verse 15, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Our high priest is without sin. The best of the best high priests before Jesus would still be sinners. And as sinners, they could not fulfill that role of high priest in the way that God intended.

Although they could offer sacrifices and they could participate and they could do the things that they were called to do as high priests, they would be limited and they would fall short, not only personally in their relationship with God, but also in their ministry and the way that they performed their role as high priests on behalf of those who came to them. They would fall short because they were sinners. We have a great high priest who is without sin. And yet, though he is without sin...

He is a great high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. He says that there, verse 15, with a double negative, we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize, which means we do have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. This word sympathize means to be affected with the same feeling as another or to have compassion. The idea here is that Jesus can feel and has felt compassion.

what you feel and what I feel. He can sympathize. He can have compassion because he's experienced those feelings. He's gone through those emotions. He's experienced those pains. He is able to have compassion on you because in all points he was tempted as you are, yet without sin. He was tempted in all points just as I am, yet he was without sin. This idea of

Jesus being tempted in all points. The word tempt is related to the word to prove. And here's the idea. If you were going to test gold to see if it was pure or not, you would heat it up and you'd put it in the furnace and it would melt. And when it melts, all of the blemishes and all of the things that were not pure gold would rise to the top.

And there you'd be able to scrape it off and skim it off and continue to do so as you purify the gold. If you wanted to prove whether something was pure, whether gold was pure, you would put it in the fire. And you'd be able to see there as it melts that it was pure gold. In the same way, if you wanted to prove that it was not pure, that it was impure, you would put it in the fire. And as it melts, then the blemishes would be apparent. Then it would be clear that it was not pure gold.

This is that idea. Jesus was tempted as we are. He was tested as we are. We are proved to be sinners. The test, the trial, proves our nature, proves who we are. Jesus went through those same tests, those same trials. He was put in the same furnace. And that furnace proved that he was sinless. We're proved to be sinful. He is proved to be sinless.

And so by this, he is able to go through all of the trials and all of the temptations, all of the tests, just as we are, yet he has proved to be true and pure and sinless throughout. He says, yet without sin. He was tempted in all points, just like us. In 1 John 2, verse 16, the Apostle John outlines for us, gives us three general categories of sin.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And we can see these categories of sin throughout the scripture. In particular, we see it in Genesis chapter 3 when the serpent there was tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden. And he's tempting her with this forbidden fruit. And he presents this temptation to her according to these same three characteristics.

The lust of the flesh, she saw that it was good to eat. It looks tasty. It looks like it might satisfy that need that I have in my body right now. That hunger that I have. The lust of the eyes, she saw it was pleasant. It was something beautiful to behold. And then the pride of life, it was able to make one wise. And so these three points of temptation were presented to her. And of course, we know how the story goes.

In the trial, she was proved to be sinful. And she chose to rebel against God along with Adam. Jesus was tempted on these same three points. In Luke chapter 4, it gives us the detailed account of three specific temptations. Although it makes it clear that there was more than just these three temptations in the life of Christ. But these three specific ones, the lust of the flesh,

There Jesus had been fasting 40 days and the devil says to him, why don't you turn these rocks into bread? Satisfy that craving of your flesh. Satisfy that craving of your body and meet that physical need. The lust of the eyes, he takes him to a high mountain and he has him look over all the kingdoms of the world and he says, all this will be yours if you'll just bow down to worship me. Or the pride of life. The devil takes him to the pinnacle of the temple and he says, jump off.

Because it says the Lord won't allow your foot to dash against the stone. The angels will carry you up and everybody will see that you're the Messiah as these angels rescue you and let you down to the earth. Let everyone see that you are the Messiah. These three areas, same three areas, we see as a pattern throughout the scriptures as points of temptation. Jesus was tempted in all points as we are.

Yet he was without sin. But it wasn't just these three times that Jesus was tempted. In verse 13 of Luke 4, it tells us, when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. And so throughout his life, he was being tested. The devil would come to him with temptation. And he was being proved over and over again to be sinless, to be perfect, to be pure, to be the Holy Son of God. Now some people question and say,

I hesitate to get into this because it can be quite a distraction and it can kind of send you on a rabbit trail and help you to miss the point. But I think it is important to address. But the question is, could Jesus have sinned? Would it have been possible for Jesus to sin since he was God?

But they ask this question, and usually it's a leading question, taking the route that they want to take, because then they reason, if Jesus could not have sinned, then they would say, well, he couldn't really be tempted because he couldn't have given in to the temptation since he couldn't have sinned. And then they go on to say, well, if Jesus could not be tempted because he is God, then he doesn't really know the temptations that I experience because, well, he couldn't give in to them and I can't.

And then there's a bunch of different sides and ways that you could discuss that. But not to get sidetracked, understand this. The Bible says he was tempted. Now whether or not we can rationalize it and figure it out and logically understand it, that's beside the point. He was tempted in all points. He was tested in all points. The same as we are.

In chapter 4, verse 2 of the book of Luke, again, it says that he was tempted for 40 days by the devil. Not just those three times, but those 40 days that he was fasting, he ate nothing. And it says afterward, when they had ended, he was hungry. Now, just to laugh to myself, I say this, I've never heard of anybody using the same logic to Jesus' hunger.

Could Jesus have been hungry? I mean, he was God. Could he really be hungry? Did he really need to eat? And you could follow the same type of reasoning and go nowhere. It doesn't mean anything. Jesus was hungry. Why? Because although he is God, he became man. It's a great mystery. How do we understand that? Oh, it's very difficult to understand. But it's true. It's what the Bible teaches. And so, yes, he was hungry. Yes, he was tempted in all points as we are.

But the difference is that he was without sin. And instead of this weakening Jesus' ability to relate to us, it strengthens his ability to relate to us. Because, I like the way David Guzik puts it, only the one who never gives in to temptation knows the full strength of temptation. Think about that for just a second. It's only the one who never gives in to temptation who knows the full strength of temptation.

Jesus did not give in to it. He knew the full strength of it. We don't know the full strength of temptation because we give in to temptation. And so he knows and he was tested even beyond what we are able to be tested. Jesus is perfect and he proved it by being tested in all points as we are. And the good thing is that Jesus does not bully us with his perfection.

But He has compassion on us in our weakness. The Jewish leaders of Jesus' day are not good examples for us to look at as far as what God intended for the high priest and those Jewish leaders. The high priest, the Jewish leaders of those days, the scribes, the Pharisees, they were self-righteous, they were judgmental, they were condemning, and Jesus had great conflict with them because of their attitude and their hearts and the way that they represented God because they did not represent Him well.

The high priest that Jesus intended was a high priest that was compassionate, understanding, sympathetic. And we'll see that in just a moment. So Jesus is a superior high priest because he is without sin. He's able to completely fulfill his ministry. And yet he is compassionate and understanding towards us, his children. Jesus finally is a superior high priest because...

we can now come boldly to the throne of God. Verse 16, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Here we have the application of the truth that he's been discussing, he's been teaching. The truth of Jesus as our great high priest demands that we respond to it by drawing near to God, by coming boldly to the throne of grace.

And this also sets apart Jesus as far superior than the Jewish high priest. Because when the Jewish high priest offered the sacrifice and went behind the veil, only he was allowed to go in. But our great high priest is superior because his entrance into the presence of God is an invitation for us to follow him into the presence of God, to be before the throne of God, to come boldly to the throne of grace.

Now, boldly does not mean brashly or arrogantly, but it does mean confidently. And you could picture it this way. The Jewish high priest was given very specific instruction. He had to offer a sacrifice for himself because if he entered the holiest of all, not having offered a sacrifice for himself, not having his heart prepared, not being ready, he would not have survived. God was very specific about

He had to come in in the prescribed manner on the specific day. He couldn't come in any other day. He couldn't modify or cut corners or make compromises. He had to do it exactly the way that God said. Otherwise, he would not survive his trip into the Holy of Holies. And so you could imagine, if I was the high priest, I'm sure I would be, well, I would be tempted to call in sick on that day. Let someone else go in. Maybe I'm not quite ready. What if...

I didn't offer the sacrifice right. What if my heart's really not right with God? There would be an element of fear because I'm going in before the presence of God. And if I'm not right, if I'm not ready, I will not survive. But with Jesus Christ as our high priest, far superior to the high priest of the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, we don't have to have that kind of fear of judgment in coming before God because it was finished at the cross.

Jesus already received all of the judgment that was due to you and I. There's no judgment left to be poured out for you. Jesus received it at the cross. And so we don't have to come in fear of judgment, but we can come in confidence, trusting in the fullness and the completion of what Jesus Christ did for us. We can come in fullness to God, in fullness of confidence to God.

knowing what He has done for us. And He calls it the throne of grace. Grace is getting what we cannot earn or deserve. We're not coming before the throne of judgment. We're coming before the throne of grace where God says, I want to pour into your life

What you cannot earn and what you don't deserve. I want to give you joy that you cannot earn and peace that you do not deserve. I want to give you blessings in your life and I want to pour myself into you and make you more like me. I want to transform you and give you an abundant life that you can't do on your own and that you can't be worthy of. And he says, when we come before the throne of grace, we obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. When are we to come before God?

When are we to approach God by faith in Jesus? In our time of need. Or at the right time or the appropriate time, it could also be translated. At the right time, at the appropriate time. When it's needed most, we can come before God to obtain mercy and find grace. Now let me ask you, when do we need mercy? Always. We always need mercy. Mercy is not receiving grace.

The judgment, the penalty, the punishment that we deserve. Because of our sinful nature, we always need mercy. Because of the work of Jesus Christ, it's always available at the throne of God. When do we need grace? Always. We always need God's grace, His love and His compassion upon us. I would suggest to you even above and beyond the always answer, we especially need mercy and grace when we've blown it. Anybody ever blow it?

Anybody ever mess up and sin? Rebel against God? Yeah, we do. And our natural tendency in that time is to stay away from God. We kind of take a step back and...

I can't ask God for this. I can't present Him with this need because look what I just did. Look where I've just been and look at the activities I've been participating in and the thoughts I've been having. And so what we then try to do, this is our normal tendency, we try to be good. And so we try to be good and we...

you know, oh, okay, well, I blew it last week, but this week I've been pretty good, and so now I can come to God and ask Him, you know, hopefully He can help me with this month's rent and help things come through, or He can help me with this issue that I've been struggling with, or this hurt and this pain that I have, and we feel that now, okay, I've been good, now I can approach Him, but that's basing our relationship with God upon our own works, trying to earn and deserve His mercy and grace, which cannot be earned, and we do not deserve.

See, when we need mercy the most is when we've blown it. And in our time of need, we're not to distance ourselves from God, but we're to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in that time of need. Come boldly to the throne of God, not because you deserve it, not because you earn it. You can't come that way. But come because of the finished work of Jesus Christ and what He did for us upon the cross.

And so we see in so many different ways, these are just three here in these three verses, but Jesus Christ is far superior as our high priest. Now as we go into chapter 5, the author of Hebrews will begin to talk about the normal high priest or the Jewish high priest. And then we'll take some of these things. There'll be three points that we'll pull out of the normal high priest ministry that we can apply to Jesus in the following verses. So verse 1.

For every high priest is taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. So the first thing we see about a high priest is that he is appointed for men or on behalf of men. We're talking about humanity, of course, not just a specific gender. For mankind, the high priest is appointed on behalf of men.

The rest of humanity. Now, the role of the high priest was not for God. It wasn't God who needed a high priest. It was man who needed a high priest. The high priest helps men in things pertaining to God. The high priest's role and his purpose was to help people approach God and relate to God and get to know God and follow God. The high priest was to help people draw near to God.

And as a part of that, he offered sacrifices for sins. We see that there in the Old Testament. Someone wanted to worship God and so they would bring their offerings, they would bring their sacrifices and the high priest and the rest of the priests, they would come and they would help facilitate that. They would help people come to be able to worship God and give to him and honor him.

They would also help in instruction and helping them get to know God and so on and so forth. And so the high priest was appointed for men as a servant to serve the people so that they could draw near to God. The second point about the high priest found in verses 2 and 3 is that the high priest was able to have compassion. Verse 2, he can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray since he himself is also subject to weakness.

He is able to have compassion. This word for compassion here is another good one. It means to bear the faults of others gently. To bear the faults of others gently. And that's such a great picture. Because when you come to the high priest and you're bringing your sin offering, you don't want a high priest that is harsh with you. You bring your sacrifice and he smacks you and he says, you were here for that same thing last week. What's wrong with you? Laughter

The high priest was meant to have compassion. Because why? Well, because he himself was subject to weakness, he says. And that is why, because he himself is subject to weakness, verse 3, because of this, he is required, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. He had to offer sacrifices for his own self, because he also was a sinner. And so, built into God's law, built into the role of the priest, was compassion.

God's reminder to the high priest, you're a sinner too. You fall short as well. You blow it just like everybody else. He had this built-in reminder so that the high priest would not forget, but that he would be able to have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray. Because he could say, I've been there. And so he could bear the faults of others gently.

Again, don't look at the New Testament priests and religious leaders as the example of what God intended. They were harsh. They were condemning and critical. They laid great burdens on people instead of what God intended for them to gently receive and to gently bear with the faults of others. So the high priest was appointed for men, was called to have compassion. And thirdly, the high priest was called by God. Verse 4, And no man takes this honor to himself.

But he who is called by God just as Aaron was. No man takes this honor to himself. No man nominates himself. Says, oh, oh, pick me. I'd like to be high priest. I want to be high priest. It wasn't like what we're experiencing now and preparing for the elections. And you would campaign and prepare. And oh yeah, vote me in as high priest. I'll bring real change. It wasn't like that at all.

You couldn't nominate yourself. It wasn't self-appointed. It wasn't a democracy where you were voted in. A high priest was called by God just as Aaron was. And we see that reference back to Exodus chapter 28 where God tells Moses, okay, take Aaron and his sons and set them aside for me and they're going to serve as my priests. And Aaron's going to be the high priest and the eldest of his descendants as it goes down the line will fill that role of high priest. It wasn't up for discussion.

Aaron's eldest son couldn't say, man, I really think God wants me to go into the carpentry business. Or man, I think God's leading me over to this area. No, there's no discussion here. You're called by God. You're commanded by God. You are the high priest. Or someone else in the tribe of Benjamin couldn't say, man, I think God really wants me to become high priest. Didn't work that way. You couldn't just decide. You couldn't just figure it out.

You had to be called by God, appointed by God, selected specifically by God to serve as high priest. And so these three things here, the author of Hebrews points out about the Jewish high priest, the high priest according to the law. And we see these three things, of course, apply to Jesus Christ. And he'll go on to demonstrate that in the following verses in a different order, in fact, in reverse order. But...

These same principles. Just as the high priest was called by God, Jesus was called by God. Verse 5. So also Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest, but it was he who said to him, You are my son, today I have begotten you. Verse 6. As he also says in another place, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Jesus did not take this honor upon himself, but God is the one who called him. Just as the high priest is called by God.

Just as God called Jesus his son in Psalm chapter 2 verse 7. God called Jesus before he was born. Not before he existed because he's always existed. But before he walked to this earth, God called Jesus to be a priest. He says they're a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. It's a quotation from Psalm 110. And Psalm 110 is completely a messianic psalm.

The first part of it where God says to the Messiah, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. We saw that earlier on in the book of Hebrews. Goes on to say the Messiah would be a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Now the order of Melchizedek, we're going to get into more detail in chapter 7 into that idea, that concept. So we won't get into that really right now.

But he's indicating that it's a separate order than the normal priestly order of the law. The Levitical order, the Levitical priesthood, was the priesthood that was given to Aaron and his sons. But Jesus was not a descendant of Aaron, and so he was not a priest, he is not a priest by the Levitical order. He's a priest of a different order, of the order of Melchizedek,

And like I said, we'll get into that more in Hebrews chapter 7, so look forward to that. But here the promise is, the prophecy is that the Messiah would be a priest. He was called by God to be a priest. And so Jesus was called by God to fulfill this role of high priest. Now, I would encourage you to consider what that means. If it's God who called Jesus to be high priest...

then it's God who desired for Jesus to fulfill that role, to fulfill that function of high priest. Sometimes we get the impression or we begin to think that God is out to get us, but thank God for Jesus because he stands in the gap.

We get the impression sometimes that God's seeking to judge us and bring wrath into our lives. But because Jesus is there, He's kind of the nice part of the Godhead. And so He intercedes for us. And then, okay, God doesn't wipe us off the face of the earth. But the reality is, it's God who called Jesus to be high priest, to fulfill this role. It's God who desired for Jesus to help us draw close to Himself. It's God who called...

Jesus and desired for Jesus to be able to have compassion upon us and deal with us gently. It's God who desired for Jesus to enable us to come boldly to the throne of grace. It's God who is inviting us in. And in doing so, he appointed Jesus Christ as our great high priest that we would be able to walk in relationship with God, to experience his presence, to know him. It's what he has always desired.

Well, like a high priest, Jesus also is able to have compassion. Again, we see that in verses 7 and 8. Again, there's so much here that...

You can meditate on and pray over and learn about these verses. God wants to speak to you so much. But briefly, in the days of His flesh... Now, that's not His flesh like we think of a sinful nature normally, but in the days of His humanity, He offered up prayers and supplications. He prayed to God.

Understand that Jesus walked in our shoes. Just as we walk and we need God and we rely upon God and we pray to God, Jesus did the same. He offered up prayer and supplications. He cried out to God the Father. He relied upon God the Father all throughout his life. Although I think a good example of this, a good snippet of this, we find in Luke chapter 22 where Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And there in the Garden of Gethsemane, we see Jesus crying out with great intensity to God. It tells us there in Luke chapter 22 that he left his disciples, he was by himself, he knelt down and prayed and he said, Father, if it's your will, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. It tells us then that an angel appeared to him to strengthen him.

And then being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground. In another gospel, it says that he was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. There was this great fervency and intensity in this prayer as he's preparing to endure the cross and the suffering that would happen to him beforehand. The scourging, the beating and so on that he would experience. With vehement cries and tears,

He cried out to God, to Him who is able to save him from death. And he was heard, Hebrews tells us. He was heard. God heard him. And he answered. And God's answer was, there is no other way. There is no other way for people to have relationship with me than for you, my son, to endure the cross. It's the only way they might be saved. It's the only way they could draw near. It's the only way you could be their great high priest.

And so though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. And he endured the cross. He suffered. He learned obedience. Because for the first time ever, not that he was disobedient, but for the first time ever, his will and God's will, they, well, they were in conflict. He says, not my will be done, but yours be done, Jesus says to the Father. He learned to be obedient by being obedient, by being submitted to God.

through the things which he suffered. Jesus suffered greatly, cried out to the Lord with great intensity. And as a result, he can have great compassion upon us because he's been through much more, much more than we can experience Jesus has gone through. And so he can have great compassion because he knows what it's like. He knows what it is to suffer and to need God, to rely upon God. Finally, just as Jesus was

I'm sorry, just as the high priest was appointed for men, Jesus also was appointed for men. Verse 9, having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. The whole point here, having been perfected, being brought to completion, now he has become the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. He has become the way, the truth, and the life so that no one comes to the Father except through him.

He is the way of salvation. He is the author of eternal salvation. He wrote the book on salvation. He's the only way. God called Jesus and appointed him to be high priest so that salvation could be given to all those who obey him, to all those who would believe on his name and be saved, to all who would approach God by faith in him.

God didn't need Jesus to be a high priest. God the Father, He didn't need Jesus to be a high priest. There was no need for Jesus to die upon the cross as far as God is concerned. But because we needed a high priest, Jesus was appointed for men. Because we fall short of God's glory and because we have a sinful nature, because we cannot have eternal salvation any other way, God appointed Jesus.

to be high priest on our behalf, that we would be able to approach him and have relationship with him. Verses 10 and 11, he adds on, called by God as high priest, according to the order of Melchizedek. And like I said, we'll get to that in chapter 7. Verse 11, of whom we have much to say and hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.

There is much more that he has to say. Like I said, we'll see that. He takes kind of a break and he deals with some other issues in chapter 6 and that last part of chapter 5. And so we'll be looking at those next week. But he says, it's hard to explain all the things that I want to tell you. It's hard to explain to you the things that God wants you to know because you've become dull of hearing. Notice the word become. They weren't always dull of hearing, but they had become dull of hearing.

Why? Well, going back to the beginning where Paul says, let us hold fast to our confession. He's writing to people who had not been holding fast to their confession. He's writing to people who had not been walking in relationship with God, who had been wavering in their walk with God. And as a result of their wavering, as a result of not holding fast, of not approaching God by faith in Jesus Christ, they'd become dull of hearing.

They were not ready to receive all that God wanted to share with them and speak to them. And it's an important lesson for us that we do not become dull of hearing. That we don't miss out on what God would say, what God would speak because we waver, because we have not been walking in relationship with God. It's not about works. It's not about how good we are. But it's about coming boldly to the throne of God, to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and grace for help in time of need.

Jesus is our superior high priest. And I want to kind of wrap all this up here as we close with the same three points. Jesus was appointed for men, on behalf of men. And he is a superior high priest because he passed through the heavens. The book of Hebrews is a call into the presence of God. It's a call into close relationship with God, into God.

The holy of holies are the holiest of all. We'll see it again, deal with it again in Hebrews chapter 10. Where he calls us to pass through the veil and draw near to God. To walk in relationship with Him. Jesus was appointed by God on our behalf. He passed through the heavens on our behalf. He paved the way so that you and I can approach God and have real relationship with God. This week...

It's kind of a cool week. On Wednesday, we're going to be doing a renewal of vows for Larry and Vianne. They've been married for 30 years. And then on Saturday, we're going to be doing a wedding for Gabe and Jamie. And it's going to be awesome and beautiful. We get to see the new and the more experienced in marriage relationships. But oftentimes at weddings, I will share this. I'll share about the relationship that exists between husband and wife.

And how God uses that as a picture of how much He loves us and how much He desires to have relationship with us. And so if you can picture the best marriage relationship that you've ever known or that you could ever imagine, as real as that relationship is, so is the reality of the relationship that God desires to have with you even more. It's real. It's real.

We're not talking about just some kind of pretend relationship with God that we have. As real as a couple that's been married for 50 years walking down the beach and they know each other and love each other and communicate and share with one another. As real as that relationship is, there's a reality of a relationship that God desires to have with you in the same way.

He uses that picture of marriage that we would know it. And so Jesus was appointed on behalf of us. He passed through the heavens that we could enter in and walk in that relationship with God. That we could know Him and communicate with Him and that He could share with us and that we could draw close together. He went through the heavens to open the door for us that we could relate to God in this way. Jesus grants us

Such a close relationship with God, I would encourage you to consider it's even closer than what the high priest had under the old covenant. The high priest could enter into the presence of God with great fear and trembling once, one day for the whole year. But every Christian, every believer in Jesus Christ, not the select few, not the specific ones, not the perfect and holy ones, every Christian can come boldly to the throne of grace.

Because of Jesus Christ, our High Priest, He passed through the heavens. And we don't have to come with great fear because, again, the second point was the High Priest was for compassion. Jesus has compassion upon us because He was tested in all things and yet without sin. He's walked through it. He knows what it's like to experience the trials and the suffering and the pains and the agonies of life that we experience.

And so we can approach Him and not have to fear judgment because He has compassion upon us. He knows what it's like. He's walked there. He's been there. In Psalm 103, one of those wonderful psalms that we all know and love, it says that as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. And it goes on to explain, for He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust.

There in the book of Psalms under the old covenant, God the Father, He pities His children or He has compassion upon His children because He knows our frame. He knows that we're just dust and Jesus takes it an even step further. Not only does He know our frame, but He's lived in our frame. He's walked this earth. He's experienced those things. He was tested in all points just as you are tested. He was without sin. You're not. But He has compassion upon you.

He bears with your faults gently. He's able to feel what you feel because he's been there. He's gone through it. He was tested in those same ways and he was proven to be sinless. And Jesus was called by God to fulfill this role. He was called by God to perform this task, to perform this function because God desires to draw close to you and he desires for you to know him and have this wonderful, intimate relationship with him.

And so the application, again, is Hebrews 4.16. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I need mercy and I need grace. And I've got lots of times of need. So I need to come boldly to the throne of grace. To come boldly to the throne of God. Again, not arrogantly, not brashly, but confidently.

with an absolute faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Don't let your weaknesses keep you from God. Their occasion, their reason, to enter into His presence by faith in Jesus Christ. To receive from Him what you need, mercy and grace, by faith in Jesus Christ. Because He is our great High Priest, far superior than what can be provided under the Old Covenant or any other religious institution.

Jesus Christ provides for us an entrance to the throne room of God. So I encourage you to enter in. Come boldly to the throne of grace. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, last week we ended with the verse that tells us that everything is naked and open to your eyes. We must give an account to you. And Lord, that should be cause for great fear. But Lord, we thank you that you didn't leave it at that. But Lord, that you sent your Son to

to be our great high priest. So that even though all things are naked and open before you, Lord, we can come boldly before you. Not based on our merit, not based on our worthiness, but based upon your grace and what you did for us in taking our place there upon the cross. And so God, I pray that you would help us to take this call seriously. Lord, help us to apply these things and not miss out on what you have for us today.

God, I pray that you would open our ears, that we would not be dull of hearing, that we might respond and draw near to you, that you might draw near to us. Lord, give us strength. Help us, Lord, to trust in you. Thank you, Lord, that you can relate to our struggles and our weaknesses, Lord. You understand the agonies and pains that we experience, Lord. Thank you that you bear with our faults gently. And so, Lord, we come to you, not deserving it, not worthy of it,

Lord, we ask that you would pour out your mercy and grace upon us. Lord, fill our lives with the things of you and give us the abundant life that you promise to your followers. Make us more like you, Jesus, we pray. And it's in Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.