Jesus, Our Great High Priest

Well, good morning. And let me be the first to wish you a happy Christ Center 2019. Please pray for our pastor as he is away, as some of the other staff members are. So welcome again to 2019, I guess in a, in a couple of days.

John MacArthur said this, he said, they, the Jews knew that God was holy, righteous, sinless, perfect, and omnipotent. They knew his divine attributes and nature could not and could not comprehend his experiencing pain, much less temptation. Not only this, but under the oak covenant, God's dealings with his people were more indirect, more distant. MacArthur says the Jews believed that God was incapable of sharing the feelings of men.

He was too distant, too far removed in nature for man to be able to identify with his feelings and temptations and problems. And comprehending God's sympathy was hard for the Jews. It was even harder for most Gentiles of that day. So the idea that God could and would identify with men in their trials and and temptations was revolutionary to Jews and Gentiles alike.

But the writer of Hebrews is saying we have a God who not only has been there, but one who is there. Amen. We thank God for the fact that he is a personal God. I invite you, if you have your Bibles to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4, Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 to 16, and while you're turning there, just a thought on Hebrews.

Hebrews presents a very heavy emphasis on the Levitical priesthood versus Christ priesthood, and I'll try to give you a condensed background. And then we will be parachuting down into our passage this morning, Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 to 16. As a background, the book of Hebrews was written in AD 65. The author is unknown.

Some say Paul, some say Apollos, some say Silas, some say Barnabas or even another person. The book of Hebrews was written to a Jewish congregation who was possibly evangelized near the country of Greece. Hebrews relates closely to the Levi Leviticus as it points back to Old Testament teachings like the high priesthood, ceremonies, rules, and regulations. Well, whoever the author is, if you've ever read through the epistle of Hebrews, you'll notice that the main theme of Hebrews is the superiority of Jesus Christ, the superiority of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And why is that important? Well, because if you can believe that some of the Jewish people actually believe that Jesus Christ was on the same level, same level as the angels, as Moses, as Joshua, and Aaron, Israel's first high priest. Where the writer of Hebrews showed that Jesus was higher than the angels in Hebrews chapter 1 and 2. And yes, we know that Moses and Joshua and Aaron were great men of God, but they were fallible.

For instance, Moses did not lead the children of Israel to the promised land in Canaan, because he sinned against God at the waters of Mirabah. Joshua brought the children of Israel physically into the promised land. But he as a fallen man cannot bring them into God's spiritual rest, as Hebrews chapter 4 verses 1 to 13 says, and God's spiritual rest means that you are no longer working for your salvation. But instead you are trusting in the work of Christ on the cross.

And yes, Jesus is higher than Aaron, as Hebrews chapter 4 and chapter 5 says. Aaron and his high priestly line with, with all the ceremonies, rules, sacrifices could not bring peace or rest to a person's soul. So in addition to all that, the writer of Hebrews was addressing the Jewish believers who were persecuted because they left Judaism and they placed their faith in Jesus Christ. And as you all know, the Levitical system of laws, rules and regulations has nothing to offer.

To free souls from sin. So the writer of Hebrews was making an urgent appeal to these believers who desire to go back to Judaism because they didn't want to face the heavy persecution. So he sought to exhort the Jewish believers who have entered God's rest to stand firm in their faith in Jesus Christ and to remind them that they can come to God anytime they desire, especially in the midst of persecution and great suffering. Now last Sunday before Pastor Milton's Christmas mission, we heard from the Vraj Us, remember I gave, his nickname was Roger, right?

Gentleman from India who's going to the Philippines with the Expositor Academy. Remember he, he said that he was being exalted by the Indian government for his faith in Jesus Christ, that he didn't turn back to Hindu Hinduism as they wanted him to. Well, praise the Lord for that, amen, that he stood firm in his faith in Christ. Now if you put yourself in a situation of the Jewish believers, what would you do if you were in their sandals?

Would you go back to your former religion if your country was threatening to assault you or beat you because of your faith in Jesus Christ? Or practically today, would you compromise your faith because your family or maybe fellow students or coworkers or even your teammates don't like the fact that you are a strong believer Of Jesus Christ. We know Job chapter 5 verse 7 says, for man is born for trouble as sparks fly upward, right? Are we going to face trouble in 2019?

Yes, we're going to face trouble in 2019. In fact, First Peter chapter 4 verse 11 says that we should not be surprised at the fiery troubles that will come our way this coming new year. Are you ready to embrace persecution and trials that God will bring your way in 2019? Well, there is one New Year's and I gotta, I gotta change this word, resolution because John Jonathan Langley said he doesn't use the word resolution.

maybe plan. Maybe there's one plan that we should have as believers and not break as we enter into 2019 and that is to stand firm in our faith and remember that we can go to God anytime we desire. So as we come to our outline this morning, The writer of Hebrews gives us 6 truths that should motivate us to take hold of our profession and come near to God during trials. 6 truths that should motivate us to take hold of our faith and come to God during trials.

And the first truth that should motivate us to take hold of our profession and come near to God is to remember that we have a great high priest. We have a great high priest. Look at verse 14 of Hebrews chapter 4. The writer says, therefore, since we have a great high priest, the word greater means above or higher, that Jesus Christ is great, he's above Aaron, he's above Eleisure, he's above Phineas, and all the high priests that came before him.

And all the high priests that came after Jesus Christ. In fact, in verse 14, that conjunction, therefore, wherefore in your translation forces us to go back to chapter 1 and forward to see how Jesus Christ's high priestly office is put on display and exalted throughout the book of Hebrews. But we don't have time to go back to all those verses, but one commentator summed it up beautifully. Here's what he said.

He's said in chapter 1 verse 3, he, Christ is seen as the one who has made purification of sins. In chapter 2 verse 17, he is a merciful and faithful high priest, and in chapter 31, he is the apostle and high priest of our confession. And chapters 7 to 9 focuses daily or exclusively on Jesus' perfect high priesthood. Also notice in verse 14 that the writer of Hebrew uses the word since.

sense to stress absolute certainty of what born again believers have in their lives forever, and that is a great high priest. And what an assuring word since is, isn't it? The fact that we have a great high priest forever. In fact, this word since was used in Colossians chapter 3 verse 1 where it says, since you have been raised with Christ, Telling us today that we were saved, we were united spiritually with Christ in his death, his burial, and his resurrection.

Well, there's one word that makes Jesus Christ's priestly office greater and different from all the other earthly high priests, and that word is perfection. Perfection. When you think about all the Old Testament high priests because they were sinners, they themselves had to offer a sacrifice as a covering for their sins before they could enter the holy of holies on the day of atonement, which is in Leviticus chapter 16. In fact, turns me a couple of verses down to Hebrews chapter 1 or chapter 5.

Look at verse 1. It is for every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men. And things pertaining to God in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Verse 2 says he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also beset with weakness.

And because of it, he is obligated to offer sacrifice for sins as for the people, so also for who? For himself. Well, John MacArthur says this, he says the priests of ancient Israel were appointed by God to be mediators between himself and his people. Only the high priest could offer the highest sacrifice under the oak covenant, and he did that only once a year again on the day of atonement, Yom Kippur as we know today.

All the sins of the people, he says, were brought symbolically to the Holy of Holies where God where blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat as a sacrifice to atone for them. To enter the Holy of Holies, the high priest had to pass through 3 areas in a tabernacle. He took the blood and went through the door in the outer court. Through another door into the holy place, and then through the veil of the holy of holies.

He did not sit down or delay as soon as the sacrifice was made, he left and did not return for another year. And by the way, Exodus chapter 28 verse 33 says that the high priest had tinkling bells of gold sewn on his hem, on the hem of his robe, right? Why was that, why was that important? Because on the day of atonement, if the people heard the bells, it would signify that the high priest was still alive in the holy of holies as he was fulfilling his duties in the holy of holies.

Now I know you're asking this question, what happened if God were to strike that high priest dead in the holy of holies, right? who would go in and get him? Nobody could enter and except the high priest. Well, Jewish tradition says this, in case that happened.

There was a rope tied to his ankle just in case God had struck him dead. So if he got struck the high priest dead, they would pull him out of the Holy of Holies and take care of him there. Is anybody in here volunteer, want to volunteer to be a high priest during Israel's day? Not me, definitely not.

Well great high priest Jesus Christ made the perfect sacrifice by offering himself for the propitiation of our sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ by shedding His blood, satisfied God's payment for our sins once and for all. No more sacrifice is required. Your sins are completely expiated or erased, not covered, but erased.

It's like era in a whiteboard, totally clean if you come to Jesus Christ. In fact, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 7 verse 26, look what it says there. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 26, it says, for it's fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens, who does not need daily, like those high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people because he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

For the law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of faith or God.

which came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever, speaking about our Lord Jesus Christ. And as y'all know that after Christ died on the cross, the heavy thick velvet veil in the temple that separated the most holy place from the Holy of Holies was torn down from top to bottom, as Luke chapter 23 verse 45 says. This signified that the door to heaven to see and enter into God's presence was wide open. However, Jesus was the only righteous and perfect one at that moment in the history of the world who was qualified to enter through that door that led to heaven.

So the question is how are we able to enter into God's presence? Yes, we're believers in Christ, but so how are we? Why were we able, are we able to enter before God, which leads us to the second truth that should motivate us to hold our profession and come near to guide us to remember that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. We have a great high priest who passed through the heavens.

Look at verse 14 says, since, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. But just like the Old Testament animal sacrifices was a preview of God's perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ. When the high priests of Israel, as I mentioned earlier, passed through the three areas of the tabernacle to arrive at the Holy of Holies, this also was a foreshadowing of what Christ would do for us. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not have to pass through any earthly structures, such as the tabernacle or the temple.

For instance, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 9. Verse 24. In Hebrews chapter 9 verse 24, look what it says. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

Nor was it that he would offer himself often as a high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. So Jesus Christ, after defeating sin, death, and Satan, ascended and passed through the three levels of heaven. The first level of heaven is, as we all know, the sky, the clouds, and our atmosphere, right? The second level of heaven is the moon, the stars, the planets, and outer space.

Then finally, Christ ascended into the 3rd level and the last level of heaven, which is where God lives, God's abode, which is called the Holy of Holies. Jesus did not have to quickly depart from there like the high priest did and Christ did not have golden bells sewn on his robe as he went to the holy of holies, right? Did you ever think about why as believers, we have the privilege of appearing right in front of God whenever we pray. Why is that possible?

Yes, we are saved, we are believers, but why? What makes that possible? Well, as Christ passed through the heavens, spiritually, he became our forerunner. He blazed the trail for us to come immediately into the presence of God.

Let me show this verse in Hebrews chapter 6, verses 19 and 20. Hebrews chapter 6, verses 19 and 20. Look what it says there. It is this hope, Christ, we have as our anchor of the soul, as we sang earlier, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as, as what?

As a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So Lord Jesus Christ was the forerunner for us to be able to go before God and pray to God. For our desires and when we are, when we are hurting. So this morning, if you've placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are qualified to enter through the open door into God's presence because you had the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to you and credited to your account.

In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says he made him who knew no sin to be what? sin for us so that we may become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. So as a result, God declares you righteous because of what Christ did on the cross for you. If you don't know Jesus Christ this morning as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to trust in Jesus Christ, that he died on the cross for your sins.

He was buried. He was, and he rose again on the 3rd day. Place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. So when you do that, you too can become righteous, and in, in an instant you'll be able to come into God's presence.

one of our, our children asks, Our parents or ask us parents where heaven is, what do we normally say? How do we describe heaven? We say heaven normally is what? It's, it's up, right?

Heaven is up. Now you remember the apostle Paul was caught up into what? The third heavens, right? In 2 Corinthians 12:2 tells us.

Well, I was listening to a sermon from John MacArthur, who was teaching from Revelation and he was speaking about where the third level of heaven starts. Well, MacArthur gathered some information to help us figure out how far up the third level of heaven is and here's what he said. He says, how far up? Well, the moon is 211,463 miles up.

If you could just crank up your speed to like 186,000 miles per second, which is what the speed of light, you can get to the moon in 1.5 seconds. You can reach Jupiter in 5 minutes and 11 seconds. It's only 367 miles away. Alpha Centauri, a star is 20 billion light years away.

The North Star, 400 billion light years away and then a star Berges is 880 quadrillion. I don't even know what that, what quadrillion means but it's one with 15 zeros after it, miles away. And when you've gotten through our galaxy, there are billions of galaxies more. So when we say heaven is up, it's what?

It is up there, isn't it? It's way up there as a matter of fact. Well, MacArthur says, well, you must say, it must take a long time to get to heaven, the 3rd level of heaven, truly it does. Well, here's what he says, interesting.

In Luke chapter 23 verse 43, Jesus said to the thief on the cross, Remember what he said to him? He said, in 100,000 years you'll be with me in paradise, right? Is that what he said? No, he said, Today you will be with me in paradise.

Isn't that amazing? How fast is that? But what that means? It means that anytime you begin your prayer by saying, Heavenly Father, right there, just like that, snap your fingers, you are in the presence of God.

Isn't that amazing? All because of what Jesus Christ did for us. So after the sacrifice was made, he was glorified, seated, seated in honor at the right hand of God, praying and pleading to God the Father on our behalf, make an intercession for us, as Romans 8:34 says. But, only a perfect man could die for the sins of those who would believe, which leads us to the third truth that should motivate us to take hold of our profession and come near to God is remember that we have a great high priest who is the Son of God.

We have a great high priest who is the Son of God. Look at verse 14 of Hebrews 4. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. One commentator said this.

He says no question is more important than who is Jesus Christ. Is that true? Would you agree with that? it really, that really determines a person's eternal destiny, doesn't it?

Who is Jesus Christ? He says it is of ultimate significance because how people respond to the Lord Jesus Christ determines their eternal destiny, as John chapter 3 verse 36 says. Those who wrongly answer that question will face divine judgment in hell, as we know, right, as John chapter 3 verse 18 says. But first look at verse 14, and notice the writer of Hebrews in verse 14 unites both the humanity of Christ and the deity of Christ together in one phrase.

Theologians call this the hypostatic union. 100% deity and 100% humanity together in one person. And we heard a lot about Jesus the past few Sundays, and Pastor Milton's excellent sermon series leading up to the birth of Christ. Jesus is God's human name.

Jesus means savior. But here we see God's humility and humanity intersecting by God becoming a man, as Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 to 8 tells us. This humble act of God allows man to experience what God is like and show sinners what he desires of them, what he desires to give them, and that is what salvation. God desperately wants to give sinners eternal life.

Next, in verse 14, we say that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the Son of God. Son of God is divine title, as we all know, which affirms the fact that Jesus Christ is God. And the Jews knew that, didn't they?

They knew that when Jesus declared himself to be Son of God, they knew he was claiming to be God. In fact, they wanted to, what they wanted to kill him, right? And John chapter 10 verses 30 to 33 tells us that because you say you are God, you deserve to be stoned. Whereas you read through the gospel council, Lord Jesus Christ never, if you notice he never ever refused worship whenever people would run up to him and bow down to him.

For instance, turn with me to Luke chapter 17. Look at Luke chapter 17, a very familiar account in the Gospels. Regarding the 10 lepers who were cleansed. Luke chapter 17 verse 11, it says this, while he was on the way to Jerusalem, he was passing between Samaria and Galilee.

As he entered a village, 10 leprous men who sat at a distance met him, and they raised their voices saying Jesus, Master, have mercy on us, and they all raised their voice together because when you have leprosy, it's really hard maybe for one person to call out to Jesus, so they all raised their voices together. It's like being at a football game, when you're cheering for your team, everyone cheers together. And a sound resounds throughout the stadium. Verse 14 says when he, when he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests, and as they were gone, they were cleansed.

Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face and his feet. You said that in verse 16, he fell down. On his face before Jesus Christ. He worshiped at Jesus Christ's feet, giving thanks to him and he was a Samaritan.

All the other men were Jews, right? And they should have known to come back to Christ. But here was a Samaritan, right, a half breed, half Jew, half Gentile, who came back who knew better to come back to worship Jesus Christ. In verse 17, Jesus says, and Jesus answered and said, Were there not 10 cleansed, but the 9, where are they?

Was no one found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And he said to him, stand up and go. Your faith is what has made you well. So leper was only cleansed physically, but he was cleansed what, spiritually also.

He was saved that day by acknowledging the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So whenever Jehovah's Witnesses come to your door, they knock at your door, use this verse, use this parable to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, a powerful text showing that Jesus Christ is God Almighty. Well as we live with pain, suffering, and persecution in our lives, verse 14 exhorts us and it says, let us hold fast our confession. Let us hold fast our confession.

The phrase hold fast means to hold on, to persevere in faithfulness in Christ who is our hope that's shown the evidence of your salvation. Remember some of the Hebrew Christians because of severe persecution did not want to confess Jesus Christ's name because they didn't want to be persecuted or they didn't even want to put their faith and confidence in him. Lest they suffer severe trials. Well, what should motivate us to hold on to our confession and show others the evidence of our salvation, even in the face of trials?

What should we do? Well, first thing we should do is remember that we have a great high priest, right? And second thing we should remember is we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who allowed us to be in the presence of God in a moment's notice, just like that. Charles Spurgeon said this, he said, shall we desert him now that he has gone into heaven to represent us?

Now that he has fought the fight and won the victory on our behalf and gone up to heaven as our representative, he says, God forbid that we should abandon our Lord Jesus Christ. So when trials come your way, hold fast and remember that you have a great high priest. One commentator said this the Stoics whose philosophy dominated much of the Greek and Roman culture in the New Testament times, believed that God's primary, listen to this primary attribute was apathy. Can you imagine?

Apathy. They could hardly expect God to understand feelings, problems and needs of mortals. The gods were completely detached from mankind. who would want to serve or worship a God like that, right?

No way would we want to do that, which leads us to the fourth truth that should motivate us to take hold of our profession. And come near to God is remember that we have a great high priest who sympathizes with us. We have a great high priest who sympathizes with us. Look at verse 15.

We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness. in our times of hurt, pain, Trouble, despondency, we're always looking for someone, right? Who can identify with us, to, to, to listen to us, to pray for us, to cry with us as we share our heavy burdens with them. And sometimes people can't identify with us and sometimes it's hard for them to really put themselves into our shoes of what we're going through, right?

wouldn't it be great if we had someone who, who could help us when we experienced heavy trials in 2019? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had someone to carry us through those most difficult trials in 2019? And wouldn't it be comforting if we had someone who would sit down and listen to us for hours to understand what we're going through, what our suffering is about this coming year? Wouldn't it be great to have someone like that?

Well, there is someone, isn't there? Our Lord Jesus Christ, He understands your pain this morning. He is our great high priest. His name is Jesus Christ.

Look what verse 15 says again, we have a great high priest who can sympathize, who cannot sympathize with us. It's essentially the word sympathize or the word cannot there is from the Greek word dunama, where we get the English word dynamite, which means power, right? But here in this verse cannot also means able or strong enough. The word weaknesses speaks about our feebleness, infirmities, bodily pain, suffering, surgeries, trials, or our liability to sin.

The word sympathize means to share the experience with someone. So sympathizing with someone has to do with understanding their pain. Understanding what they are going through at that particular moment. So no matter where you are this morning, Maybe bewildered in your Christian journey, heartbroken, discouraged, depressed, tempted, impatient, dealing with a serious physical illness, lacking contentment.

Christ perfectly understands and sympathizes with you this morning. He is with you, walking together with you through your pain. In fact, Hebrews, great verse in Hebrews chapter 2, turn with me there. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 16, what a verse this is.

It says, for surely he does not give help to angels. But he gives help to the descendant of Abraham, that's us. Verse 17 says, therefore he had to be made like his brethren in all things, so that he might become a what? A merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of his people.

Can you imagine our Lord Jesus Christ, Listening to us, suffering with us. But can you imagine what a God who would want to suffer together with his creation? what a God, what a high priest, our Lord Jesus Christ is. Well Mark Jones in his book Knowing Christ, in the section called Jesus' Tears says this, Jesus is no stoic who hid his feelings.

The death of Lazarus in John 11 furnishes us with the most remarkable example of Christ's tears. Jesus clearly loved Lazarus, yet in this context, he had the situation perfectly under control. It seemed like he was not fazed by the death of Lazarus because Jesus knew that he is the resurrection and the life. Jesus was deeply moved with profound sorrow at the death of his friend whom he deeply loved.

Thus he joined in the sadness of others with his own heartfelt grief. Jesus wept. Death is horrible, death is ugly. It is our last enemy, and appropriately Jesus wept.

So if you've ever lost a loved one, and you've gone to that funeral, guess who was there with you weeping? Jesus Christ. When you're going through suffering and pain, guess who's with you? Jesus Christ.

If your husband or your wife maybe has left you, or your children are rebellious, guess who is with you? Jesus Christ is right there with you. So Jesus Christ is, is ready. He's ready to help, and he is waiting to walk with you in your pain, your suffering, your temptations, your sorrows, again, dealing with unsafe children, persecution, financial issues, caring with elderly parents, and the list goes on and on and on.

Jesus Christ is there with you. He understands your pain, and he's right there with you. Amen. We thank God for that.

Well Charles Spurgeon said this, he said, he, Christ does not forget us now that he has passed through the lower heavens into the heavens of heavens, where he reigns supreme in his Father's glory. He is still touched with the feeling of our infirmities, though he has left behind him all pain and suffering and infirmity, he retains in his entire, entirety the fellow feeling that his life of humiliation has developed in him. Jesus Christ truly understands our pain this morning.

What a great high priest that we serve.

And Christ, if, if I can say this is also eagerly waiting to hear from that empty heart that knows all the facts about Jesus Christ, but has not made a decision to follow Jesus Christ, right? Loved ones, right? Maybe a husband, a wife, maybe a child who knows about Christ, but who has not placed their faith and trust in Christ. Christ desperately wants that person to come to him.

So if you don't know Jesus Christ again as your Lord and Savior, believe that done on the cross for your sins. Believe that he rose again. Believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Do that right now in your seats, right now, and once you do that, you can immediately be in the presence of God.

Or maybe this morning you are a believer who that has bitterness in their hearts towards God, because you don't like the trial that God has you in right now. We'll go right now, plead to God, repent of that sins. God is waiting to forgive you. He's waiting to forgive you of your sins.

When Jesus Christ went through the most intense temptation, did he ever think about yielding to sin like we sometimes do, which leads us to the 5th truth that should motivate us to take hold of our profession and come near to God and to remember that we have a great high priest. at least after 5th, we have a great high priest who never sinned. We have a great high priest who never sinned. Look at verse 15.

It says, we do not have a great, we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who's been tempted at all things as we are yet without sin. The word tempted means to try or to test someone. The phrase as we are means Christ was tempted just like we are. And we know that Satan tempted Christ, right?

In Matthew chapter 4 verses 1 to 11 with what the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the right, boastful pride of life, right? And you ever wonder why God would allow Satan to tempt Jesus Christ? But turn with me to Hebrews chapter 2 verse 18. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 18, and some of this verse very well.

Verse 18 says, for since he himself was tempted and that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Christ knows what temptation is, and he can aid us whenever we are tempted. Just ask him to help you. And Jesus Christ, I believe, experienced more temptations, more temptation than we will ever face.

It's not written in the Gospels, but Jesus Christ faced an insurmountable amount of temptations, more than we would ever experience. One commentator said this, Jesus not only had the feelings of love, concern, disappointment, grief, and frustration that we have, but he has had much greater love, infinitely more sensitive concerns, infinitely higher standards of righteousness, and perfect awareness of the evil and dangers of sin. Contrary, therefore to what we are inclined to think, his divinity made his temptations and trials immediately harder for him to endure than ours are for us.

So the question always arises, so how can Jesus relate to me if he was sinless, was not able to sin, you ever think that?

You ever wanted to ask that question I have. How can he relate to me? He's never, he's never gone through this temptation like I have. How can he relate?

Well, one commentator answered this question from a human perspective. Here's what he says. He says some people may wonder how Jesus can completely identify with us if he did not actually sin as we do. If Jesus was facing sin with his perfect righteousness and truth, however, that qualifies him.

Merely experiencing something does not give us understanding of it. A person can have many successful operations without understanding the least bit about the surgery. On the other hand, a doctor may perform thousands of complicated and successful operations without ever having had the surgery himself. It is, it is his knowledge of the disease or disorder and his surgical skill in treating it that qualifies him not having had the disease.

He has great experience with the disease, much greater experience with it than any of his patients having confronted it and all of its manifestations, right? So how did Jesus Christ deal with temptation? Verse 15 tells us, he says, he, he was tempted like us yet without what? Without sin.

Jesus Christ did not sin as he was tempted. He was tempted in all things, he didn't yield to sin, he wasn't tainted by sin. He didn't succumb to sin. In fact, he was what victorious against sin, wasn't he?

He was victorious against sin, Satan, and death. Whether Jesus Christ ever sin or even think about sinning when he was tempted. In fact, 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 21 answers that for us. First Peter chapter 2 verse 21 says, for you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you for how you should follow in his steps.

So when we sin, we should follow the example of Christ. Verse 22 says, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. Christ was the perfect man who never sinned because he did not have a sin nature like we did before we were saved. One commentator said though he was mer mer mercilessly tempted to sin, not the slightest taint of it ever entered his mind or was expressed in his words or action.

Jesus Christ did not sin, not allowing sin to come into his thoughts, his words, or his actions. Christ could not sin. He had no capacity to sin. So if you're going through a trial right now, a tough trial, tough temptation right now, maybe you're sinning through that temptation.

When Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 tells us to go before you go to a pastor, before you go to a biblic counselor, a brother or sister in Christ, come to Jesus first. He desires to help you with your temptation to sin. Why? Because he is able.

Jesus Christ is able to help you through his word and prayer, through that temptation. All Christ desires, all Christ wants is for you to make that decision to come near to him, which leads us to the 6th and last truth that should motivate us to take hold of our profession and come near to God is remember that we have a great high priest who wants you near. We have a great high priest who wants you near. our God is not a deist, is he?

He didn't just create us and let us what fend for ourselves, right? Didn't do that. But because of what you just heard about Jesus Christ being our great high priest, having passed through the heavens, being a sympathetic high priest who understands our weaknesses, what should we do every moment of our life? Verse 16 tells us to draw near to God with confidence, to draw near to God with confidence.

One commentator said this, he said most ancient rulers were, were, were unapproachable by the common people. Some would not even allow their highest ranking officials to come before them without permission. Queen Esther, remember Queen Esther, risked her life in approaching King of Hazarus without an invitation, even though she was his wife. Now, just a bit of marital counseling here for husbands.

One thing I don't recommend is that you tell your wife before she can come in your presence or see you that she needs an invitation. Somehow I don't think that's gonna go too well. Don't do that to your wife. Don't ever say I'm not gonna do it to my wife, that's for sure.

It will never happen, so. What Jesus says here in verse 16, drawn there with confidence means to approach, to come to God's throne with boldness and assurance. The writer of Hebrews was exhorting the Jewish believers not to turn away from God because of persecution, but to come boldly with confidence to God's throne during persecution. James chapter 4 verse 8 tells us what, Draw near to God and what He will draw near to you, that's right.

Psalm 68:8 says, trust in Him at all times, so people, pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Sala. Muanne Gruden, who wrote Systematic theology, says this, he said, Jesus continually brings us near to God.

Jesus has opened for us the way of access to God so that we can continually draw near into God's very presence without fear, without, with confidence and full assurance of faith. So draw near to God with full confidence because of what Jesus Christ has done for you. And as the verse says there regarding the throne of God, the throne of God is, is God's grace where you will find God's love, His abundant power, His grace, His mercy flowing ever so freely to you. And I like this quote regarding grace, it says grace can transform any and every trial into triumph and every sorrow into joy.

Isn't that a great quote? Let me read it again. Grace can transform any and every trial into triumph and every sorrow into joy. What the Edmund Hebert defines mercy as the self-mod, spontaneous, loving kindness of God, which causes him to deal in compassion and tender affection with the miserable and the distressed.

So why should we go to God's throne with confidence? In order to receive mercy and to find grace to help us in a time of need, and I love that phrase time of need, isn't it? It means at the right time, at the right moment, God is there for you. He's there with you at any time.

In fact, Philippians chapter 4 verse 19 says, my God should supply all your need according to what his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. But, sometimes I think about, it was we think about drawing near to God, I think truthfully, sometimes we don't want to draw near to God, right? Because God is holy and because we have sinned. And when we have sinned, maybe we feel somewhat ashamed.

Maybe we've had lustful thoughts or, sinful actions or, or, actions that go against God's word. And maybe we think sometimes God doesn't want to have anything to do with us. He doesn't want us near him. Well, that is truly a lie, truly from Satan, isn't it?

No, God truly desires us to be with him. If we fall into that type of thinking, the result is we stopped going to church, we stop fellowshipping, we stopped reading our Bibles, we stop everything regarding the Christian life. But remember, we can draw God near to God at any, any time, and God desires our heart to be before him, especially when we sin. God wants us to be transparent.

He knows the sin that we've committed already, right? He knows it already. So let's draw near to him to confess and repent of that sin and continue to move on in our Christian faith and our profession of faith for Christ. So once you come near to God, confess, repent of that sin.

What is Romans 8:1 says, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, that's right. Go to God, admit your sin, confess it to Him, and immediately your sins are forgiven. When you're going through a tough, soul-wrenching trial, you can go to the to the heavens of heavens, you can go before God's throne. His grace and His mercy will be there.

God is never too late. He's always on time, right? You don't have to text God to let him know what's going on, that you need him in your, need him in your life. No, you don't have to do that.

Remember as we saw earlier, as soon as you say, Heavenly Father, you're right there in the presence of Almighty God. God is sitting at the edge of his throne, waiting for you to draw near to him. So let's continue to hold fast our confession. of who our great God is, our Lord Jesus Christ, Christ, our, our great high priest, and let's continue to draw near to him.

Especially when we're going through trials. Amen. Amen. The writer of Hebrews gave us 6 truths that should motivate us to take hold of our profession and come near to God.

And let's remember we have a great high priest. We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. We have a great high priest who is the Son of God. We have a great high priest who sympathizes with us.

We have a great high priest who never sinned unless we have a great high priest who wants you near, right? Amen. Isn't that great? You think about that.

Now you've heard and sung the hymn. No one ever cared for me like Jesus. I was thinking about this. And some of the words of, of the, the hymn goes like this.

He says every day he comes to me with new assurance. More and more I understand his word of love, but I'll never know just why he came to save me till someday I see his blessed face above and we feel like singing it right, right, the chorus right now, right? No one ever cared for me like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as he.

No one else could take the sin and darkness from me. Oh, how much he cared for me. Amen. Amen, let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your time this morning and thank you, Father, for allowing us to look a little bit into Hebrews, the wonderful book of Hebrews into chapter 4. To reveal to us, Father, we truly have a great high priest who sympathizes with our weakness. We have a great high priest, Lord, who has passed through the heavens, and we have a great high priest who truly cares for us and desires us to draw near to him. So I pray for every believer in here this morning, Father, that if they are going through a trial or temptation, that they would draw quickly near to you to find forgiveness and relief from their sin.

So we love you, Father, we thank you and we praise you, we pray for this offering. We pray it will be used to further the gospel, not only here in Riverside, but also in the surrounding areas. We love you, we thank you and we praise you. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.