The Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:14-16)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Amen, and if you would take your Bibles now and

Open them to Hebrews chapter 4 Hebrews 4 Just

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

looking at three verses today verses 14 through

16 as we press on in our study of this wonderful

book and So would you hear these words? Hebrews

4 14 through 16 Since then we have a great high

priest who has passed through Jesus, the Son

of God, let us 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.

This is God's word. Let's pray again. Father

in heaven, we give you thanks for your word.

We give you thanks for what it tells us about

how we can approach you. But we understand this,

we can only approach you if we have been cleansed

of sin. We can only approach you with faith in

Christ. And so Father, I pray that you would

cleanse our hearts now, and if there be any in

this sanctuary who are not in Christ, that you

would work faith into their hearts now as you

grant us all understanding these things we ask

in Christ's name. Amen. When you are in need,

when you're going through something difficult,

perhaps traumatic, maybe even heartbreaking,

Is there something about your Savior that you

love to meditate upon that gets you through the

really difficult times? Maybe it's the incarnation

that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises

of Scripture to take on flesh and dwell among

us. And you love dwelling upon that fact that

Jesus understands what you're going through because

He did take on flesh. Or maybe you meditate upon

some particular teaching of Jesus. Maybe a parable.

Maybe the Sermon on the Mount. Maybe that gets

you through. Maybe you meditate upon the sufferings

of Jesus. How Jesus went all the way to the cross

to save you from your sins. Certainly all of

these things are comforting and they are encouraging.

But if I can give you a few of them this morning.

You can see these from our text and so what I

want to talk about this morning is how Jesus

ascends for us. Jesus sympathizes with us and

Jesus intercedes for us. These truths are given

that we would draw near to the throne of grace

and know that we have the help we need in Christ.

who is our great high priest. And so let's look

firstly at the ascension, but let's do so remembering

the problem, the problem that these Christians,

That the writer is addressing the problems they

were facing for we've talked about this several

times now that there was some sort of threat

of persecution upon these Christians and within

that persecution or their threat thereof they

were being tempted to Flee from Jesus and return

to the Old Covenant But the writer of Hebrews

acts as a good biblical counselor because he

directs his audience back to Jesus, and specifically

that Jesus is their great high priest. But notice

how he does this in verse 14. Since then, we

have a great high priest. And he's done this

many times before. He lumps himself in with this

crowd, needing to be reminded of the great high

priest. But at this point, you may be asking

yourself, what's so great about this great high

priest? Well, for one thing, you can see it in

verse 14. He has passed through the heavens.

He has passed through the heavens. And so naturally,

we are to think of the ascension of Jesus. Let

me read to you Acts chapter one, six through

11. So when they had come together, they asked

him Lord Will you at this time restore the kingdom

to Israel? He said to them it is not for you

to know times or seasons that the father has

fixed by his own authority But you will receive

power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and

all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth

and when he had said these things As they were

looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took

him out of their sight. And while they were gazing

into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood

by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee,

why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus

who has taken up from you into heaven will come

in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Friends, let me ask you this. Is the ministry

of Jesus complete without the ascension? Good,

I see heads doing this, right? But at the same

time, and it is right that we do this, we emphasize

the incarnation as we should. We emphasize the

teaching as we should and the miracles and all

of the things that Jesus does. We rightly emphasize

the cross. We rightly emphasize the resurrection,

but we must also understand the critical importance

of the ascension. The ascension is not simply

an add -on, as if to say Jesus needed somewhere

to go. The ascension is absolutely critical in

our understanding of the work that Christ does

for us. For one, Christ ascends to heaven. is

Jesus' home. And in ascending to heaven to sit

at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,

he shows that he is fully victorious. The mission

is complete. He is now beside the Father. But

secondly though, Jesus promised before he ascended

that he would go and make a place for us. Now

how can Jesus go make a place for us if he himself

is not there? No doubt. I think when he says

this he's talking about the new heavens and the

new earth But by ascending he shows us where

he is The preacher Derek Thomas says here Jesus

has a zip code Jesus is there He's making a place

for us thirdly though Jesus said as we have seen

from Acts, that he would send the helper, that

he would send the comforter. Jesus even said

to his disciples for this reason, it is good

that I go away. Can you imagine being one of

the disciples and Jesus telling you, it's good

that I leave you? And I'm sure the disciples

were thinking, in what world is it good for you

to leave us? It's good. And as Charles Hodge

says, it is necessary, he says, it was necessary

that redemption should not only be acquired but

applied. To secure that blessing for the church,

his ascension was necessary. He was exalted to

give repentance and the remission of sins, to

gather his people from all nations and during

all ages until the work was accomplished. His

throne in the heavens was the proper place whence

the work of saving men through the merits of

his death was to be carried on. Friends, we know

this about the resurrection that Jesus was resurrected

so that we will be. He also ascended that we

also will be. He does this for us. And if he

never ascends, he does not fulfill his role as

our great high priest. And he doesn't then send

the spirit to indwell. empower his disciples

for ministry and so yes it's critical that Jesus

ascends and it's critical for the sending of

the Holy Spirit and we can actually see I don't

believe that the disciples stay in that place

of confusion or sorrow regarding Jesus leaving

them because Luke chapter 24 Luke 24 50 through

Luke 24 · chapter mention

53 says this to show us where they were when

he ascended and he led them out as far as Bethany

and lifting up his hands he blessed them while

he blessed them he parted from them and was carried

up into heaven and they worshiped him and returned

to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually

in the temple blessing God. And so what was met

initially with confusion and perhaps sorrow is

now met with great joy and we should have the

same joy regarding the ascension of Jesus as

he passed through the heavens. And yet still

in verse 14, there could be something else going

on here. I believe that it's true that actually

the writer of Hebrews is making an allusion to

the Old Testament high priestly activity on the

day of atonement. Do you remember how in the

tabernacle and then the temple there was kind

of different divisions of it? There was an outer

court for the Gentiles and then there was the

inner court and then there was the holy place

and that which is called the most holy place

according to Leviticus 16 or the holy of holies.

You see when animal sacrifice was offered, God

came down Above the mercy seat above the place

of propitiation and the high priest would go

behind the veil and Sprinkle the blood there

on the place of propitiation Sacrifice was offered

for sin But you'll remember only the high priest

could do that Only the high priest could be there

and only on that one day of the year that veil

served to tell everybody you do not have complete

direct access to God but do you remember what

happened after Jesus said it is finished the

veil was torn from top to bottom and the earth

shook and rocks were broken and tombs were opened

and indeed all of heaven was open that you might

follow Jesus in we are no longer prevented from

having that direct access to God because it comes

through Jesus Christ alone and you can actually

see this very well in Hebrews if you will just

turn ahead to chapter 6 verses 19 through 20

Hebrews 6 19 through 20 says we have this as

a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul a hope

that enters into the inner place behind the curtain

where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.

It is true, friends, Jesus passed through the

heavens not needing the blood of bulls or goats,

for he has shed his own blood to atone for our

sins. He is our great high priest and through

Jesus. we can now come to God. Now at the same

time as I say this, I want to caution us because

some have manipulated this, some have misunderstood

this just this past week. I was talking to someone

at physical therapy, you don't know them, and

this man said to me, I have Jesus in my heart

and therefore I believe that I don't have to

go to church. I said to him, I have a different

opinion on that. Friends, yes, we have direct

access to God through Jesus, but that doesn't

mean that we disobey God's word. And actually,

knowing Jesus and having the indwelling of the

Spirit in our hearts should lead us to worship

Him more, not less. Additionally, what I did

indeed do with this man was to share Again from

Hebrews, it's so applicable. Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

10, 24 through 25 that says, let us consider

how to stir one another up to love and good works,

not neglecting to meet together as is the habit

of some, but encouraging one another and all

the more as you see the day drawing near. Yes,

friends, we have access. But because of Jesus

now, we have affection for God and so we should

desire to be together in corporate worship. And

so that's my encouragement for you today as Christians

to worship God and to serve alongside of each

other. But I also want to give you encouragement

when you go through the difficulties of this

life. Because friends, what comes next? And verse

15 is so incredibly comforting to us. Look there.

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. Friends, Jesus took on flesh

and with it all of the difficulties of this life.

And as the God man, he can sympathize with your

weaknesses. And if you were look up this word

for weakness within the Greek you would actually

see this is talking about all kinds of weaknesses.

He understands it all. He does. He understands

what you're going through. Have you ever had

either the positive or negative experience of

going through something that maybe other people

haven't gone through? Mission trips are notorious

for this. If you've ever been on a mission trip

and you go and it's a wonderful experience and

you see God moving in all of these wonderful

ways and you get back and you want to tell everybody

about it and then what do they say? They say,

that's cool. They say, I'm really glad that you

went on that. Sometimes we just don't understand

what each one of us is going through, but I want

you to know that Jesus understands. Jesus understands

when you lose a loved one and it hurts so bad.

He gets you because he wept over his friend Lazarus.

Jesus understands when people betray you because

one of his disciples turned him in. Jesus understands

the way you feel when you face various ailments

or when you feel as though you are near death.

He gets you because Jesus died for you. He sympathizes

with you more than anyone else because he was

tempted as we are, and yet he never once gave

into it. Now, sometimes people will say here,

how can Jesus sympathize with me in my temptations

if he himself never sinned? Well, friends, do

you have to sin in order to sympathize? No, not

at all. And actually, Jesus' sympathy does more

than you think. C .S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

says that Jesus actually knows more about temptation

than you do because we give in and sometimes

we give in very quickly to temptation but not

so with Jesus. He never once did. Jesus in this

way is like a war veteran who has fought in combat

and he survived to tell the tale. Jesus has he

has been there. He has done that. He has died.

He rose again. He ascended and he lives to tell

the tale to the father. And I think this is a

glorious truth. Thinking about Jesus sympathizing

with our weaknesses. Somebody brought this up

this week. I was listening to. and I've never

thought about it before, Jesus has not forgotten

what it's like to suffer. That has not been erased

from his memory. That's what this is getting

at. He remembers his suffering and he knows your

suffering and as our great high priest, he tells

it to God the Father. And so this is getting

at prayer then. This is getting at intercession.

My final point this morning. What does a high

priest do? Short of Catechism 25, Christ executes

the office of a priest and is once offering up

of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice

and reconcile us to God and in making continual

intercession for us. Friends, Jesus is at the

right hand of the Father not to put his feet

up. He is there to make intercession. And we're

gonna see this more as we go along through Hebrews,

but how many times do we say to one another,

I'm praying for you? It's the response we give

when someone's going through something difficult.

Now, are there any times, have we at any times

neglected to pray for people that we said we

would pray for? If we're honest, I think we all

probably have done that. Jesus never does that.

Because later in Hebrews, It says, Jesus lives

to intercede. Jesus lives to pray for you. And

not just him, but the Spirit. Because Romans

chapter eight says the Spirit intercedes for

you with groanings too deep for words. How about

that for encouragement? That you are prayed for.

by Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity,

and by the third person of the Trinity, the Holy

Spirit, you are prayed for. And the application

of this might be for us to press on with prayer,

shouldn't it? The book of Hebrews uses the word

thrown four times, and you see one right here

in our text in verse 16. Each usage of this word

throughout the book refers to the same thing,

God's throne in heaven. But consider this, friends,

the throne of grace is rightly named. It is.

But if the confession of your hearts is not Jesus,

you're my savior, you are the son of God, then

the throne of grace is actually the throne of

judgment. If you are not in Christ, You are facing

judgment. Let me share this with you as I begin

to wrap up from Revelation chapter 20. Revelation

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

20 11 through 15 reads in this way. Then I saw

a great white throne and him who is seated on

it from his presence. Earth and sky fled away

and no place was found for them. And I saw the

dead great and small standing before the throne.

and books were opened. Then another book was

opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead

were judged by what was written in the books,

according to what they had done. And the sea

gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades

gave up the dead who were in them, and they were

judged, each one of them according to what they

had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into

the lake of fire. This is the second death. the

lake of fire, and if anyone's name was not found

written in the book of life, he was thrown into

the lake of fire. Friends, I do not share that

with you to take away from the comforting nature

of this passage, but I do so because Jesus must

be the confession of your heart. Jesus must be

the confession of your heart. And if he is, then,

look again verse 16 then and then alone may you

draw near to him and you may do so not timidly

not apprehensively but you may do so boldly and

with incredible confidence right that you may

receive mercy and find grace to help in time

of need friends take it to God in prayer and

be encouraged that Jesus lives to intercede for

you. And also receive these words, just some

song lyrics as we close. Come boldly to the throne

of grace, ye wretched sinners come, and lay your

load at Jesus' feet and plead what he has done.

Poor bankrupt souls who feel and know the hell

of sin within, come boldly to the throne of grace.

the Lord will take you in. Amen.