Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / The Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:14-16)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Transcript

The Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:14-16)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

0:01
Amen, and if you would take your Bibles now and
0:07
Open them to Hebrews chapter 4 Hebrews 4 Just
0:26
looking at three verses today verses 14 through
0:30
16 as we press on in our study of this wonderful
0:36
book and So would you hear these words? Hebrews
0:41
4 14 through 16 Since then we have a great high
0:46
priest who has passed through Jesus, the Son
0:51
of God, let us hold fast our confession. For
0:57
we do not have a high priest who is unable to
1:00
sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in
1:04
every respect has been tempted as we are, yet
1:09
without sin. Let us then with confidence draw
1:13
near to the throne of grace. that we may receive
1:18
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
1:24
This is God's word. Let's pray again. Father
1:29
in heaven, we give you thanks for your word.
1:33
We give you thanks for what it tells us about
1:35
how we can approach you. But we understand this,
1:39
we can only approach you if we have been cleansed
1:43
of sin. We can only approach you with faith in
1:48
Christ. And so Father, I pray that you would
1:51
cleanse our hearts now, and if there be any in
1:54
this sanctuary who are not in Christ, that you
1:58
would work faith into their hearts now as you
2:01
grant us all understanding these things we ask
2:04
in Christ's name. Amen. When you are in need,
2:17
when you're going through something difficult,
2:21
perhaps traumatic, maybe even heartbreaking,
2:26
Is there something about your Savior that you
2:32
love to meditate upon that gets you through the
2:36
really difficult times? Maybe it's the incarnation
2:41
that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises
2:45
of Scripture to take on flesh and dwell among
2:48
us. And you love dwelling upon that fact that
2:51
Jesus understands what you're going through because
2:54
He did take on flesh. Or maybe you meditate upon
2:59
some particular teaching of Jesus. Maybe a parable.
3:02
Maybe the Sermon on the Mount. Maybe that gets
3:04
you through. Maybe you meditate upon the sufferings
3:09
of Jesus. How Jesus went all the way to the cross
3:12
to save you from your sins. Certainly all of
3:16
these things are comforting and they are encouraging.
3:20
But if I can give you a few of them this morning.
3:25
You can see these from our text and so what I
3:30
want to talk about this morning is how Jesus
3:32
ascends for us. Jesus sympathizes with us and
3:39
Jesus intercedes for us. These truths are given
3:44
that we would draw near to the throne of grace
3:48
and know that we have the help we need in Christ.
3:52
who is our great high priest. And so let's look
3:57
firstly at the ascension, but let's do so remembering
4:01
the problem, the problem that these Christians,
4:07
That the writer is addressing the problems they
4:09
were facing for we've talked about this several
4:12
times now that there was some sort of threat
4:14
of persecution upon these Christians and within
4:19
that persecution or their threat thereof they
4:22
were being tempted to Flee from Jesus and return
4:26
to the Old Covenant But the writer of Hebrews
4:30
acts as a good biblical counselor because he
4:33
directs his audience back to Jesus, and specifically
4:37
that Jesus is their great high priest. But notice
4:42
how he does this in verse 14. Since then, we
4:46
have a great high priest. And he's done this
4:49
many times before. He lumps himself in with this
4:52
crowd, needing to be reminded of the great high
4:57
priest. But at this point, you may be asking
4:59
yourself, what's so great about this great high
5:04
priest? Well, for one thing, you can see it in
5:08
verse 14. He has passed through the heavens.
5:14
He has passed through the heavens. And so naturally,
5:19
we are to think of the ascension of Jesus. Let
5:22
me read to you Acts chapter one, six through
5:25
11. So when they had come together, they asked
5:30
him Lord Will you at this time restore the kingdom
5:34
to Israel? He said to them it is not for you
5:38
to know times or seasons that the father has
5:41
fixed by his own authority But you will receive
5:45
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you
5:48
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and
5:52
all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth
5:55
and when he had said these things As they were
5:59
looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took
6:02
him out of their sight. And while they were gazing
6:05
into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood
6:09
by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee,
6:14
why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus
6:18
who has taken up from you into heaven will come
6:21
in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.
6:27
Friends, let me ask you this. Is the ministry
6:32
of Jesus complete without the ascension? Good,
6:39
I see heads doing this, right? But at the same
6:42
time, and it is right that we do this, we emphasize
6:46
the incarnation as we should. We emphasize the
6:51
teaching as we should and the miracles and all
6:54
of the things that Jesus does. We rightly emphasize
6:57
the cross. We rightly emphasize the resurrection,
7:03
but we must also understand the critical importance
7:07
of the ascension. The ascension is not simply
7:11
an add -on, as if to say Jesus needed somewhere
7:15
to go. The ascension is absolutely critical in
7:19
our understanding of the work that Christ does
7:22
for us. For one, Christ ascends to heaven. is
7:29
Jesus' home. And in ascending to heaven to sit
7:33
at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
7:37
he shows that he is fully victorious. The mission
7:41
is complete. He is now beside the Father. But
7:45
secondly though, Jesus promised before he ascended
7:49
that he would go and make a place for us. Now
7:54
how can Jesus go make a place for us if he himself
7:57
is not there? No doubt. I think when he says
8:00
this he's talking about the new heavens and the
8:02
new earth But by ascending he shows us where
8:05
he is The preacher Derek Thomas says here Jesus
8:12
has a zip code Jesus is there He's making a place
8:19
for us thirdly though Jesus said as we have seen
8:24
from Acts, that he would send the helper, that
8:26
he would send the comforter. Jesus even said
8:29
to his disciples for this reason, it is good
8:32
that I go away. Can you imagine being one of
8:38
the disciples and Jesus telling you, it's good
8:41
that I leave you? And I'm sure the disciples
8:44
were thinking, in what world is it good for you
8:49
to leave us? It's good. And as Charles Hodge
8:54
says, it is necessary, he says, it was necessary
8:58
that redemption should not only be acquired but
9:03
applied. To secure that blessing for the church,
9:07
his ascension was necessary. He was exalted to
9:11
give repentance and the remission of sins, to
9:14
gather his people from all nations and during
9:17
all ages until the work was accomplished. His
9:21
throne in the heavens was the proper place whence
9:24
the work of saving men through the merits of
9:27
his death was to be carried on. Friends, we know
9:33
this about the resurrection that Jesus was resurrected
9:35
so that we will be. He also ascended that we
9:39
also will be. He does this for us. And if he
9:43
never ascends, he does not fulfill his role as
9:46
our great high priest. And he doesn't then send
9:49
the spirit to indwell. empower his disciples
9:52
for ministry and so yes it's critical that Jesus
9:57
ascends and it's critical for the sending of
10:02
the Holy Spirit and we can actually see I don't
10:05
believe that the disciples stay in that place
10:08
of confusion or sorrow regarding Jesus leaving
10:12
them because Luke chapter 24 Luke 24 50 through
10:18
53 says this to show us where they were when
10:25
he ascended and he led them out as far as Bethany
10:31
and lifting up his hands he blessed them while
10:35
he blessed them he parted from them and was carried
10:38
up into heaven and they worshiped him and returned
10:42
to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually
10:46
in the temple blessing God. And so what was met
10:51
initially with confusion and perhaps sorrow is
10:55
now met with great joy and we should have the
10:59
same joy regarding the ascension of Jesus as
11:04
he passed through the heavens. And yet still
11:08
in verse 14, there could be something else going
11:11
on here. I believe that it's true that actually
11:15
the writer of Hebrews is making an allusion to
11:19
the Old Testament high priestly activity on the
11:23
day of atonement. Do you remember how in the
11:26
tabernacle and then the temple there was kind
11:30
of different divisions of it? There was an outer
11:32
court for the Gentiles and then there was the
11:35
inner court and then there was the holy place
11:37
and that which is called the most holy place
11:40
according to Leviticus 16 or the holy of holies.
11:45
You see when animal sacrifice was offered, God
11:48
came down Above the mercy seat above the place
11:52
of propitiation and the high priest would go
11:57
behind the veil and Sprinkle the blood there
12:01
on the place of propitiation Sacrifice was offered
12:06
for sin But you'll remember only the high priest
12:10
could do that Only the high priest could be there
12:14
and only on that one day of the year that veil
12:18
served to tell everybody you do not have complete
12:23
direct access to God but do you remember what
12:29
happened after Jesus said it is finished the
12:34
veil was torn from top to bottom and the earth
12:39
shook and rocks were broken and tombs were opened
12:43
and indeed all of heaven was open that you might
12:47
follow Jesus in we are no longer prevented from
12:56
having that direct access to God because it comes
13:00
through Jesus Christ alone and you can actually
13:06
see this very well in Hebrews if you will just
13:09
turn ahead to chapter 6 verses 19 through 20
13:19
Hebrews 6 19 through 20 says we have this as
13:23
a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul a hope
13:28
that enters into the inner place behind the curtain
13:32
where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.
13:38
It is true, friends, Jesus passed through the
13:41
heavens not needing the blood of bulls or goats,
13:45
for he has shed his own blood to atone for our
13:50
sins. He is our great high priest and through
13:55
Jesus. we can now come to God. Now at the same
14:03
time as I say this, I want to caution us because
14:07
some have manipulated this, some have misunderstood
14:10
this just this past week. I was talking to someone
14:14
at physical therapy, you don't know them, and
14:19
this man said to me, I have Jesus in my heart
14:25
and therefore I believe that I don't have to
14:28
go to church. I said to him, I have a different
14:34
opinion on that. Friends, yes, we have direct
14:39
access to God through Jesus, but that doesn't
14:43
mean that we disobey God's word. And actually,
14:47
knowing Jesus and having the indwelling of the
14:51
Spirit in our hearts should lead us to worship
14:53
Him more, not less. Additionally, what I did
14:57
indeed do with this man was to share Again from
15:01
Hebrews, it's so applicable. Hebrews chapter
15:04
10, 24 through 25 that says, let us consider
15:09
how to stir one another up to love and good works,
15:12
not neglecting to meet together as is the habit
15:17
of some, but encouraging one another and all
15:20
the more as you see the day drawing near. Yes,
15:27
friends, we have access. But because of Jesus
15:31
now, we have affection for God and so we should
15:34
desire to be together in corporate worship. And
15:39
so that's my encouragement for you today as Christians
15:43
to worship God and to serve alongside of each
15:46
other. But I also want to give you encouragement
15:49
when you go through the difficulties of this
15:53
life. Because friends, what comes next? And verse
15:57
15 is so incredibly comforting to us. Look there.
16:03
For we do not have a high priest who is unable
16:06
to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who
16:10
in every respect has been tempted as we are,
16:13
yet without sin. Friends, Jesus took on flesh
16:18
and with it all of the difficulties of this life.
16:21
And as the God man, he can sympathize with your
16:25
weaknesses. And if you were look up this word
16:29
for weakness within the Greek you would actually
16:32
see this is talking about all kinds of weaknesses.
16:36
He understands it all. He does. He understands
16:43
what you're going through. Have you ever had
16:47
either the positive or negative experience of
16:50
going through something that maybe other people
16:52
haven't gone through? Mission trips are notorious
16:56
for this. If you've ever been on a mission trip
16:58
and you go and it's a wonderful experience and
17:02
you see God moving in all of these wonderful
17:04
ways and you get back and you want to tell everybody
17:07
about it and then what do they say? They say,
17:08
that's cool. They say, I'm really glad that you
17:12
went on that. Sometimes we just don't understand
17:16
what each one of us is going through, but I want
17:19
you to know that Jesus understands. Jesus understands
17:26
when you lose a loved one and it hurts so bad.
17:30
He gets you because he wept over his friend Lazarus.
17:34
Jesus understands when people betray you because
17:40
one of his disciples turned him in. Jesus understands
17:44
the way you feel when you face various ailments
17:47
or when you feel as though you are near death.
17:50
He gets you because Jesus died for you. He sympathizes
17:56
with you more than anyone else because he was
17:59
tempted as we are, and yet he never once gave
18:03
into it. Now, sometimes people will say here,
18:06
how can Jesus sympathize with me in my temptations
18:10
if he himself never sinned? Well, friends, do
18:14
you have to sin in order to sympathize? No, not
18:19
at all. And actually, Jesus' sympathy does more
18:25
than you think. C .S. Lewis in Mere Christianity
18:30
says that Jesus actually knows more about temptation
18:34
than you do because we give in and sometimes
18:39
we give in very quickly to temptation but not
18:43
so with Jesus. He never once did. Jesus in this
18:47
way is like a war veteran who has fought in combat
18:51
and he survived to tell the tale. Jesus has he
18:55
has been there. He has done that. He has died.
18:58
He rose again. He ascended and he lives to tell
19:01
the tale to the father. And I think this is a
19:07
glorious truth. Thinking about Jesus sympathizing
19:11
with our weaknesses. Somebody brought this up
19:14
this week. I was listening to. and I've never
19:16
thought about it before, Jesus has not forgotten
19:20
what it's like to suffer. That has not been erased
19:25
from his memory. That's what this is getting
19:29
at. He remembers his suffering and he knows your
19:32
suffering and as our great high priest, he tells
19:36
it to God the Father. And so this is getting
19:41
at prayer then. This is getting at intercession.
19:43
My final point this morning. What does a high
19:47
priest do? Short of Catechism 25, Christ executes
19:52
the office of a priest and is once offering up
19:56
of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice
20:00
and reconcile us to God and in making continual
20:06
intercession for us. Friends, Jesus is at the
20:09
right hand of the Father not to put his feet
20:11
up. He is there to make intercession. And we're
20:16
gonna see this more as we go along through Hebrews,
20:19
but how many times do we say to one another,
20:25
I'm praying for you? It's the response we give
20:28
when someone's going through something difficult.
20:30
Now, are there any times, have we at any times
20:33
neglected to pray for people that we said we
20:35
would pray for? If we're honest, I think we all
20:38
probably have done that. Jesus never does that.
20:42
Because later in Hebrews, It says, Jesus lives
20:46
to intercede. Jesus lives to pray for you. And
20:51
not just him, but the Spirit. Because Romans
20:54
chapter eight says the Spirit intercedes for
20:58
you with groanings too deep for words. How about
21:01
that for encouragement? That you are prayed for.
21:06
by Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity,
21:10
and by the third person of the Trinity, the Holy
21:12
Spirit, you are prayed for. And the application
21:20
of this might be for us to press on with prayer,
21:24
shouldn't it? The book of Hebrews uses the word
21:27
thrown four times, and you see one right here
21:31
in our text in verse 16. Each usage of this word
21:36
throughout the book refers to the same thing,
21:39
God's throne in heaven. But consider this, friends,
21:46
the throne of grace is rightly named. It is.
21:52
But if the confession of your hearts is not Jesus,
21:57
you're my savior, you are the son of God, then
22:00
the throne of grace is actually the throne of
22:03
judgment. If you are not in Christ, You are facing
22:07
judgment. Let me share this with you as I begin
22:10
to wrap up from Revelation chapter 20. Revelation
22:17
20 11 through 15 reads in this way. Then I saw
22:21
a great white throne and him who is seated on
22:25
it from his presence. Earth and sky fled away
22:30
and no place was found for them. And I saw the
22:34
dead great and small standing before the throne.
22:38
and books were opened. Then another book was
22:42
opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead
22:45
were judged by what was written in the books,
22:48
according to what they had done. And the sea
22:51
gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades
22:54
gave up the dead who were in them, and they were
22:57
judged, each one of them according to what they
22:59
had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into
23:03
the lake of fire. This is the second death. the
23:06
lake of fire, and if anyone's name was not found
23:09
written in the book of life, he was thrown into
23:12
the lake of fire. Friends, I do not share that
23:16
with you to take away from the comforting nature
23:22
of this passage, but I do so because Jesus must
23:26
be the confession of your heart. Jesus must be
23:30
the confession of your heart. And if he is, then,
23:34
look again verse 16 then and then alone may you
23:39
draw near to him and you may do so not timidly
23:44
not apprehensively but you may do so boldly and
23:49
with incredible confidence right that you may
23:53
receive mercy and find grace to help in time
23:57
of need friends take it to God in prayer and
24:06
be encouraged that Jesus lives to intercede for
24:09
you. And also receive these words, just some
24:14
song lyrics as we close. Come boldly to the throne
24:18
of grace, ye wretched sinners come, and lay your
24:23
load at Jesus' feet and plead what he has done.
24:28
Poor bankrupt souls who feel and know the hell
24:31
of sin within, come boldly to the throne of grace.
24:36
the Lord will take you in. Amen.