"Our Great High Priest"

Morning, church.

Our passage this morning is from the book of Hebrews,

Hebrews 4:14–16

chapter 4, verses 14 through 16.

You can find this on page 943 of one of the Bibles

in the pew in front of you.

If you're new to the Bible, the big numbers you see

on the pages of the chapters and the small numbers

are the verses, so you can also use that

to help you navigate to the passage this morning.

As you're finding your way there,

let me open us up with a word of prayer.

Father God, we confess to you this morning

that we are a people in need,

in need of your salvation, your wisdom, your strength,

your righteousness, and your comfort.

We ask that you would open our hearts and minds

as we study your word together, teach us your ways,

reveal to us our need for you,

and make known to us the path that you forged

so that we can be reconciled to you.

We pray these things in the name of Jesus,

our great high priest.

Amen.

Well, I probably don't have to work very hard

to convince you that suffering is something

of a fundamental human experience.

Everybody experiences suffering in different ways,

but I don't think anybody could stand up with honesty

and declare that they've lived a life

or expect to live a life free from suffering.

Many books have been written trying to understand,

address, and minimize our suffering,

and it turns out one of those books

is a popular bedtime book at our house right now.

It's called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,

No Good, Very Bad Day.

It's a wonderfully lighthearted exposition

on how we experience, how we process,

and how we respond to our suffering.

It starts out with Alexander, a young schoolboy

who wakes up one day to all kinds of irritating events.

And these events reveal to him the writing on the wall

that today is indeed going to be a terrible, horrible,

no good, very bad day.

And as you might imagine, his prophecy is progressively fulfilled

over the course of his otherwise ordinary activities.

In a single day, Alexander's subjected

to every kind of misfortune that a young child could dream of.

There's the disappointment of the cereal box with no prize,

embarrassment in the school hallways

as he's demoted from best friend to third best friend,

a health scare when the dentist finds a cavity,

the injustice of being forced to buy

the plain old white sneakers

instead of the ones that he actually wants.

And what's so entertaining about this story

is the light that it sheds

on how we're naturally disposed

to respond in these situations.

In the face of injustice, he rebels,

declaring they can buy him the shoes,

but they can't make him wear them.

When confronted with disappointment,

he longs to retreat far, far away to Australia.

When his best friend demotes him,

he curses him, wishing that his ice cream

would fall off the cone and land far away in Australia.

And the dentist?

Well, he won't have the opportunity to fix that cavity

because it turns out that Alexander is scheduled

to be in, of all places, Australia during his appointment.

We can probably all see a little bit of Alexander in ourselves, right?

So what's the lesson of the story here?

After a day of tragedy after tragedy befalling Alexander,

feeling tired, dejected, and alone,

he lays his head on his pillow

and declares that it has indeed been a terrible, horrible,

no good, very bad day,

to which his mother lovingly replies,

some days are just like that,

even in Australia.

On the one hand, this is a great lesson to learn

for children and adults.

There are two things asserted here.

The first is pretty explicit.

Bad days are going to happen,

and there's not much you can do about it.

The second is more implied.

Not every day is going to be a bad day,

and tomorrow is a new day.

The real lesson is that we can persevere

through our bad days

in hope of the better days that are to come.

And this is a wonderfully practical lesson

that everybody certainly needs to learn,

but it stops short a bit, doesn't it?

Aren't there some underlying questions

that still need to get answered?

Is it really just chance that today was a bad day?

Do I have any control over my bad days?

What if my bad day turns into a bad week,

or a bad month, or a bad year?

And if persevering is the way to handle my bad day,

where do I get the strength,

and what am I persevering toward?

These are deep questions that require rich answers,

and our text today has a lot to say about this.

So again, turn in your Bibles with me

or follow along on the screen

as I read our passage,

Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 through 16.

Hebrews 4:14–16

Since then, we have a great high priest

who has passed through the heavens,

Jesus, the Son of God,

that has hold fast our confession.

For we do not have a high priest

who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,

but one who in every respect

has been tempted as we are,

yet without sin.

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.

Well, before we dive in,

it's helpful to back up just a little bit

and get some context about the book of Hebrews.

This book was likely written

to a group of Jewish Christians

who were suffering under political pressure

and persecution on account

of their newly found faith.

The letter is meant to be an exhortation

and an encouragement,

an exhortation to persevere,

to not forsake their God and Savior

in response to their persecution,

and also an encouragement

that God himself is faithful to sustain us,

to equip us,

and to shape us through our suffering.

So we're picking up in a passage

that's about a third of the way

through the letter,

and the author's already been building up

to this point in his argument.

He's expounded on the person

and the work of Jesus

as superior in every way.

The person of Jesus is called

the radiance of the glory of God

and the exact imprint of his nature,

higher than angels,

and the one true Son of God.

And the work of Jesus

is that he has made purification for our sins

because he led a perfectly faithful

and obedient life

and then suffered and died

as the perfect and superior sacrifice

for our sake.

Jesus' nature and his work,

we're told,

make him the greatest high priest,

greater even than Moses,

with the job of rescuing humanity

and the creation that was his from the start.

And it's because of the person and work of Jesus

that we have an opportunity

to enter into a rest for the people of God.

And up to now in our passage,

this opportunity seems to be at risk

because of the temptation to forsake

their newly found faith.

So now we arrive at our passage,

which starts,

since then we have a great high priest.

The author is saying,

since Jesus is so great

and since he died for you and for me

and since your suffering

is tempting you to reject the rest

that God has offered,

listen to what I'm about to say.

In a nutshell,

the author is going to tell us

that Jesus,

as our all-sufficient high priest,

supplies us with everything we need

to rightly interpret,

process,

and respond to our suffering

and temptation in times of trial.

So in asking,

what do we do in the face

of suffering and temptation,

our passage lays out three helpful steps.

First, confess our weaknesses.

Second, cling to our great high priest.

And third, come to the throne for help.

Confess our weaknesses,

cling to our great high priest,

and come to the throne for help.

So in verse 14,

the first verse in our passage,

the author calls us

to hold fast our confession.

And what is this confession

that we're supposed to be

holding on to so tightly?

At a high level,

it's referring to holistic confession

of gospel teaching,

confessing the person

and the work of Jesus Christ

as we just talked about.

The more specific context

of our passage, though,

suggests that this confession

has something to do

with temptation and suffering.

So in this explicit

and ultimate confession

of who Jesus is

and what he's done for us,

there's also an implicit

and contextual confession

about who we are

in relation to Jesus.

We're confessing here

that Jesus is strong

and faithful

while we are weak

and wayward.

As we consider these terms,

suffering, weakness,

and temptation,

let's try to outline

their definitions

and their relationships

to one another

to sort of help ground

the discussion.

First, suffering.

If we want to know

how to rightly understand

and respond to our suffering,

then the best starting point

is to define

what we mean by suffering.

For our purposes,

it'll be helpful

to cast suffering

as directly experiencing

that the world

is not as it should be

and recognizing

that it's not within our power

to change it.

We might experience loneliness,

sickness,

separation, or death,

and it's natural to feel

that there's something

not right about our experiences

in the world.

And what's more,

because we're part

of this natural

and created world,

this brokenness,

this sin,

is not just around us,

it's also within us.

And whether it's sin

in the world

or sin in ourselves,

it often seems as though

we're powerless to fix it.

And this realization

can produce

a great deal of distress.

So if suffering

is recognizing

and experiencing

that the world

is not as it should be,

then it seems

that our suffering

stems in part

from our second term,

weakness.

Now,

weakness in and of itself

is not actually

a bad thing.

All of us have weaknesses,

and the Genesis account

clearly outlines

that by virtue

of being created,

that we are not God

and therefore

not self-sufficient.

There are some things,

many things,

in fact,

that we just can't

do ourselves.

We were created

to be fully dependent

on God,

and that was meant

for our good

and for God's glory.

Where our weakness

becomes a potential problem

is when temptation

enters the picture.

The brokenness

within us

and around us

presses in

on our weaknesses

and drives a temptation

to turn from God

and look for our own solution

to our problems.

If then our faith

in God

is marked

by a joyful

and confident

dependence

on our Creator,

then when sin

enters the equation,

our faith is challenged

by temptation

and suffering,

threatening to rob

our joy

and our confidence

in God's care

and provision for us.

So now we've arrived

at our third term,

temptation.

What does temptation

actually look like?

The majority

of temptations,

I think,

can be boiled down

to doubting God

and more specifically

doubting His goodness,

His sovereignty,

or both.

Maybe God is so good

that He wants the best

for me,

but He must not be

powerful enough

to make it happen.

Or alternatively,

maybe God is so powerful

that He could make

everything perfect for me,

but He must not love me enough

to care to do it.

In either case,

when we're suffering,

it can quickly feel

as though God

is uninterested in

or unable to resolve

what's wrong

in our lives.

But Jesus is very clear,

though.

In John chapter 16,

John 16 · chapter mention

He says,

in the world,

you will have tribulation,

but take heart.

I have overcome

the world.

If we have Jesus

as our great high priest,

then we have

an infinitely capable

and caring master

who's gone before us

in our suffering.

And in doing so,

He's overcome

the darkness in the world

so that sorrow

might be turned to joy.

But doubt can begin

to creep in,

even for the most faithful

among us.

Sometimes the doubt

leads us to question

God's provision for us

and we're tempted

to take control

for ourselves.

The temptation

always sounds something like,

if I don't do this thing

for myself,

then I'll never experience

the full joy

that I desire.

So better get to work

finding the right spouse,

getting a good job,

making a good living,

raising a good family,

taking care of your body,

taking care of your community.

Otherwise,

we'll never find

our true fulfillment.

Right?

Now, these things

are all certainly

good things to pursue,

but remember our confession.

The world is broken

and so are we.

So what happens

when despite our best efforts,

we're unable to accomplish

these goals for our lives?

If these are the things

that bring true joy,

where are we left

without them?

Well, friends,

we suffer greatly

because at the end of the day,

we've recognized

the brokenness in our world

and we put our faith

in something

that can't ultimately

fix the problem.

But suffering doesn't come

only when we give in

to temptation,

but even and sometimes

especially as we resist

temptation,

we might find ourselves

dealing with a chronic

health condition,

a struggling marriage,

chronic unemployment,

and the like.

And it's here

that we might feel

as though we've reached

the end of our

spiritual endurance.

It's natural

to find ourselves

asking with the psalmists,

how long,

oh Lord?

And it's important

to recognize

that even in this,

there is a rightness

to confessing our weakness

and our temptation

to despair.

Consider again

the passage

that was read

this morning

from Lamentations,

starting in verse 17.

My soul is bereft

of peace.

I have forgotten

what happiness is.

So I say,

my endurance

has perished.

So has my hope

from the Lord.

Even in the midst

of great perseverance

through trials

and suffering,

you might find

in your weakness

that you feel

as though

you can't persevere

any longer.

And you begin

to doubt

if even the Almighty God

is big enough

to pull you out

of your deep well

of suffering.

But the beauty

of the gospel

is that when God

reaches into our lives

and pulls us

out of the darkness

and into the light,

we're raised

to a new spiritual life.

And like any new life,

the starting point

involves a lot

of weakness.

And so,

from the start,

God begins in us

a very good work

of sanctification

or molding us

into the people

that he's created us

to be.

This looks a lot

like a lifelong

spiritual workout

kind of challenging

a muscle

to make it stronger.

There are many ways

in which our faith

is weak

and we're not

at all aware

of it

until God

graciously intervenes

in our lives

to issue a challenge

to those muscles.

But you can be sure

that whatever

difficulty

or injury

you sustain

in the process

of this workout,

he'll be there

to carry you

through the entire thing.

So when we suffer,

we said we should

confess our weaknesses,

but is that it?

Do we just finally

fess up

and then everything

is magically better?

Well, turn back again

with me to our passage

from Lamentations,

picking up in verse 21.

But this I call

to mind

and therefore

I have hope.

The steadfast love

of the Lord

never ceases.

His mercies

never come

to an end.

They're new

every morning.

Great is your faithfulness.

The Lord

is my portion,

says my soul.

Therefore,

I will hope

in Him.

You see,

as we confess

our weaknesses

and our waywardness,

we ought not

to get weighed down

by our sin

and by our weaknesses,

kind of dwelling

on the ways

in which we're not

strong enough

or smart enough

or good enough.

Rather,

when we're confessing

our weaknesses

to the Lord,

we're confessing

to the one

who is infinitely strong,

completely sovereign,

and perfectly good

all of the things

that we are not

we find in lamentations

that our endurance

has perished,

but the mercy

and the faithfulness

of the Lord

is unending,

and as long

as we cling

to Him

as our portion,

our weakness

is not the end of us.

And this leads us

to our second point.

We said,

to rightly understand

and respond

to our suffering,

we have to first

confess our weaknesses

and temptations,

and second,

we have to cling

to our great high priest.

This is part of the

since then

in verse 14,

let us hold fast

or cling to Him,

our great high priest,

who is indeed

our confession.

And verse 15

expounds on why

we can and should

do this.

It says,

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.

So what is

a high priest

exactly?

We said we should

be confessing

to the Lord,

but the problem

in the Old Testament

was that because

of our sin,

there was no way

to actually stand

in the presence

of an infinitely

holy God

to proceed

with the confession.

So God,

in His mercy,

appointed one high priest

who each year

would go into the room

in the tabernacle

where God was dwelling,

and He would offer

sacrifices on behalf

of Himself,

and all of the people

of Israel.

If we look ahead

to chapter 5 in Hebrews,

it says,

every high priest

chosen from among men

is appointed to act

on behalf of men

in relation to God

to offer gifts

and sacrifices

for sins.

He can deal gently

with the ignorant

and wayward

since He Himself

is beset

with weakness.

This high priest

was a person

who was well acquainted

with weakness

and could therefore

effectively empathize with

and advocate

for those in His community

who would confess

their own weaknesses.

Only this one person

who was appointed

by God

could go into His presence

to offer the necessary

sacrifices for Himself

and for the people.

These sacrifices

were meant to be

an acknowledgement

and repentance

of our weakness

and sinfulness

in the sight of the Lord

as well as a reminder

that the ultimate consequence

of sin

is death.

But it was also

a reminder

of God's faithfulness,

a reminder

that God had intervened

to cover over

our iniquity

so that we could be

reconciled to Him.

In these sacrifices,

God was graciously

transferring

our record of sin

to another

and wiping our slate clean.

Of course,

this sacrificial procedure

had to continue annually

because the sacrifices

were never really enough

to cover over

everyone's sins

once and for all.

No single high priest

could ever be

the eternal high priest

until Jesus.

God came to dwell

with His creation

in human form

so that He might live

the perfect life,

become the perfect

sacrificial offering,

and secure His status

as the eternal high priest.

And importantly,

this was going to require

suffering.

Hebrews tells us

that Jesus is the founder

and perfecter of our faith

and He was made perfect

by the suffering

which He endured

on our behalf.

You see,

by joining His own creation,

God was eliminating

any claim

that He is a distant God,

that He's somehow aloof

and uninterested in

our suffering.

Rather,

He is so interested

in His creation

that He joined it,

experiencing in full

every form of weakness,

temptation,

and suffering

that we have experienced

and more,

and yet without sin.

And He did this

all for the sake

of our reconciliation

to Him.

Consider Matthew 4

where we find Jesus

in the wilderness

after fasting

for 40 days

and 40 nights.

And the passage says

that He was hungry.

Makes sense.

Satan leverages

that weakness

to challenge

to challenge

Jesus' faith

by seeding doubt

and tempting Him

to use His power

to turn stones

into bread

and meet His own

physical needs.

Certainly,

this temptation

to doubt God's provision

must have yielded

some physical suffering.

Later in Matthew,

we see as Jesus

is knowingly approaching

His own execution,

He tells His disciples

that His soul

is overwhelmed

with sorrow

to the point

of death.

And later,

as He hung

on the cross,

scorned,

hated,

and despised,

Jesus quotes

the Psalms

in His darkest moment

saying,

My God,

my God,

why have you

forsaken me?

Can you hear

the agony

in Jesus' words?

Friends,

if this isn't

a temptation

to doubt God

and to despair

in our circumstances,

I don't know

what is.

And yet,

Jesus remains faithful

to the bitter end,

and in doing so,

He bears the ultimate

experience

that we deserved,

separation

from our Creator.

Importantly,

the mere fact

that Jesus suffered

greatly did not

diminish the effectiveness

of His ministry,

His standing before God,

or His sufficiency

as the ultimate sacrifice.

On the contrary,

He is our great

High Priest

because of His suffering.

He's merciful to us

through His suffering,

and He's the perfect

sacrifice for us

by His suffering.

So if the perfect

Holy Creator

can enter into

our suffering with us

and redeem

that very suffering

for our good

and His glory,

then ought we not

view our own suffering

with hope.

Jesus' life,

death,

and resurrection

mean that He is not

only the perfect sacrifice

for our sins,

but also the conqueror

of sin and death

and the risen,

eternal High Priest.

Our sin was laid

upon Him,

and because of

His great love for us,

He advocates for us

at the throne of God

so that when God

looks at us,

He doesn't see our sin,

but He sees Jesus'

righteousness,

and He welcomes us

into fellowship with Him.

And this leads us

to our final point.

If we confess our weakness

and we cling

to our great High Priest,

then by His merit,

we can come to the throne

for help.

We're encouraged

in verse 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.

You see,

the one who was faithful

until the bitter end

was faithful so that

we could be reconciled

to God.

And part of being

reconciled to God

means being regenerated

into the person

that God created us to be,

a process called

sanctification.

This process isn't easy.

Scripture compares it

to a refiner's fire,

a process of melting down

a metal such as gold

for purification purposes.

The refiner would apply

heat to the metal

and the impurities

or the dross

would rise to the surface

for removal

so that the only thing

remaining

was the precious metal itself.

Sanctification is a similar

process for us.

The heat applied

can be painful indeed,

but we can rest assured

that the heat exists

with the explicit purpose

of filtering sin

and brokenness

from our lives.

And here's the thing.

Jesus was so perfectly faithful

that he willingly died

to reconcile us to God.

And if part of that reconciliation

requires sanctification,

then the one who is

perfectly faithful,

totally sovereign,

and completely loving

must certainly be faithful

to complete the good work

that he's begun in us.

Think about it this way.

Imagine going to a flea market

and stumbling upon something

that's nearly priceless.

Maybe it's a rare jewel,

a historic painting,

or a memento

of some iconic figure

that you greatly admire.

And in your excitement,

you pay a massive price

to possess this treasure.

Now, you're at the flea market,

so this thing's been out

in the elements

for quite some time,

and so it's pretty banged up.

It's got dirt all over it.

It's covered in scratches and dents.

It's just totally worn down.

And now that you've got it,

you have a choice.

You can clean it up

so that you can put it on display

so that everyone can see it

and admire its beauty

and magnificence.

Or you can leave it

broken, dirty, and haggard

only to continue degrading

in its current form

until it's completely unrecognizable.

What are you going to do?

Obviously, you're going to clean it up, right?

I mean, what sense would it make

to pay a great price

for a wonderful treasure

and never care for it,

leaving it to decay?

Friends, the God who is faithful

considered us,

his creation,

to be so valuable

that he was willing

to empty himself completely

to save us,

even as we were covered

in complete sin and brokenness.

And this same God promises us

that he is fully committed

to our sanctification.

Certainly, this God

must also be compassionate enough

to meet us and sustain us

through our moments of suffering.

But this doesn't relieve us

of our personal responsibility

to persevere in our faith.

So, what do we do?

What does it mean

to approach the throne of grace

as it says in verse 16?

Well, on one level,

it's important to recognize

that we are physical beings

living in a broken world.

And by common grace,

God's revealed many ways

that we can manage

the experiences

of our brokenness.

Maybe it's diet and exercise,

counseling,

modern medicine,

or other avenues

of physical care.

And just as we know

that God designed our bodies

to function with certain inputs,

he also designed us as people

to function as a community

and not as individuals.

We're called to be

a people of community

so that we can one another well.

God never intended

that we should experience

hardship and suffering

and isolation,

but rather he knew

that in our weakness,

we would need support.

We receive our support

principally through him,

but one of the ways

in which he meets needs

is through those

whom he's called

to a community.

So if you're struggling,

find a trusted friend

or mentor.

Share openly

about your temptations

and your suffering.

Open the door

for God to work in your life

through others

that have been shaped

by his grace

through their own trials

and tribulations.

And tribulations.

But at its core,

when we talk about

approaching the throne

for help,

it means approaching God

in the ways

that he's instructed us,

reading his word

and praying regularly.

God's revealed himself

to us through his word,

both his written word

and the living word,

Jesus Christ,

and through his word,

we're instructed

to be anxious about nothing

but by prayer

and supplication

and with thanksgiving

to submit a request

to God.

And the promise,

the peace of God

which transcends

all understanding

will guard your hearts

and your minds

in Christ Jesus.

Jesus gives us

an example

of what it looks like

to do this

in our moments of suffering.

In the garden of Gethsemane,

as he awaits his executioners,

he prays,

My Father,

if it be possible,

let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless,

not as I will,

but as you will.

You see,

Jesus is fully immersed

in the weakness

of humanity

in this moment

and in the weakness

of the flesh,

he's confronted

with significant temptation

to defect

from God's ultimate plan.

He certainly had the power

to escape,

but in faithful submission,

he says,

not as I will,

but as you will.

This is our ultimate prayer

because we know

that the will of the one

who is faithful

is a will

for our sanctification,

for our eternal good

and his glory.

And what could be better

than that?

I wonder if you're struggling

today with suffering,

temptation,

or despair.

Maybe you miss a loved one

or you're longing

for connection

or companionship.

Maybe you lost your job,

received a difficult

health diagnosis,

or maybe you're battling

addiction

or depression.

whatever it is,

don't relent

in your faith.

Persevere.

Hold fast

your confession.

Continue reading

the scripture.

Continue praying.

Continue gathering

together

and continue

worshiping.

Remember

that by confessing

our weaknesses

and clinging

to Jesus,

we have confidence

in the purpose

of our suffering

and the right

to boldly ask

for help

in our time of need.

Jesus has gone before us

and walks with us

through our suffering

and the one

who is perfectly faithful

will not forsake us

as we endure

the fog

and the fire

of sanctification.

One commentator

says it well,

sanctification

is glory begun

and glory

is sanctification

completed.

Friends,

any suffering

we experience

serves only

to promote

the sanctification

which God

has for us

and the very nature

of sanctification

is that it's temporary

and it's purposeful.

Sanctification

is a process

with a clear

and amazing end.

It's moving us

toward glory,

a glory

where there's

no more suffering

and where we finally

end up

where we were created

to be,

resting in the presence

of our Creator

and Lord.

Let's pray.

Father,

we thank you

that because of your

great love,

you joined us

in our suffering

and went before us

to forge a path

of reconciliation

and regeneration.

and we thank you

that by the power

of the blood

of Jesus

we can boldly

approach you

to ask for your help

in our great times

of need.

We ask that your peace

would be a reality

to us

and that we would not

grow weary

by the trials

and temptations

of this life

but that we would look

confidently

and joyously

to the day

of ultimate redemption

when we can rest

in glory

with you.

We pray this

in the name

of our great

high priest

Jesus Christ.

Amen.