Latest / HBCWestminster / 11.10.21 Hebrews 4:14-5:10 Lance Thompson

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11.10.21 Hebrews 4:14-5:10 Lance Thompson · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Last month, my nephew held a retreat for his son, who had just recently turned 15. And they live in California. He rented a house up in the hills of Northern California. And he invited the men from both sides of his family, grandpas, uncles, brothers, brother-in-laws, to come for this retreat at this house.
• 0:30
  And there were 14 of them gathered together in this house. And each one had an assignment to get alone with young Austin one-on-one for 30, 45 minutes and speak to him into his life what it means to be a man. And share with him some stories that they had learned in growing up to kind of encourage young Austin in his growth for the Lord.
• 0:59
  and i wasn't able to attend but they arranged for me to do some video conferencing on our phones and i got to spend a good half hour with young austin and i'd only met him four times maybe growing up because they're in california and so i asked him some questions one of the questions i asked him is what would you like to be when you grow up i said and he said well maybe i'd like to go into law enforcement
• 1:26
  His dad is a California highway patrolman, and he's on the governor's security team. It's a pretty prestigious job, I think, as he thought that. Or maybe I'll be a mechanic, because he liked to fix things and work on mechanical things. So I mentioned to him, you know, Austin Warner Thompson, you knew, of course, that you were named after...
• 1:55
  my father and your great-grandfather, Charles Warner Thompson. And he knew that. And he said, let me tell you something about your great-grandfather that you probably don't know. When he returned from World War II, and he was attending a church service, he was moved by the Spirit of God to respond to a message that God needs people in the ministry. And he gave his life to be a full-time minister.
• 2:25
  he packed the family up. He had three boys at the time, and they moved from Illinois to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he attended our denominational Bethel College in St. Paul. And he graduated from there, and then he went down to Fort Worth and graduated from Southwestern Theological Seminary, and he pastored two churches in his life. And I said, you know,
• 2:54
  I so respected my father for what he did in raising five boys while he was going to school that I named my son Keith Warner after him. And you were named after your great-grandfather. And incidentally, my son, Keith Warner, also has pastored in two churches. What if God called you to be a minister? And he goes, well, I hadn't really thought about that, but I guess if he did, I could do that.
• 3:23
  Let me ask you, you know, we are all on our path to spiritual maturity and we're all in different stages of that. What do you want to be when you grow up? There's a biblical answer to that that I'm going to share with you tonight, but you got to stick around to the end. I'm going to share it to you after this message. So far in our study of Hebrews, we've seen portraits of Christ and have been convinced.
• 3:50
  that he is greater than the angels, that he's greater than all the prophets, even the greatest prophet in the Jewish mind, Moses. And the author has briefly pictured Jesus as our high priest in chapter 3. We looked at that a few weeks back. In the passage under consideration tonight, he fills in that portrait with greater details.
• 4:17
  And when we come back for chapter 7, 8, and 9, he's going to add a lot of color to that portrait of Jesus Christ being our high priest. But now, let's turn to our passage. We're in Hebrews chapter 4, and I'm going to read verses 14 through chapter 5, verse 10. And if you're able, let's stand in the honor of God as he speaks to us through his word.
• 4:48
  Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, 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.
• 5:18
  For 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. Because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins, just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself.
• 5:47
  but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, You are my son, today I have begotten you. And he says also in another place, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him.
• 6:18
  who was able to save him from death. And he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Lord, I ask that your Holy Spirit give us understanding tonight of what we have in Christ.
• 6:48
  because he is our high priest. Open our eyes, Father, to see what he went through in order to minister to us and give us so great a salvation. Amen. You can be seated. Actually, to begin with, let's consider what it takes to be a priest for God. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 19. Israel had left Egypt about three months earlier.
• 7:24
  And now they've crossed the Red Sea and they've come to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, where God commissioned Moses at the burning bush. And there Israel encamped before the burning bush. And no, excuse me. There Israel encamped before the mountain. And I'm starting to read Exodus 19, verse 3. And while Moses went up to God, the Lord called.
• 8:08
  Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests.
• 8:23
  and a holy nation these are the words that you shall speak to the people of israel note that uh god told moses that all the people of israel were to be his holy priest he had chosen them to be priests i take it that that's referring to the whole nation not just aaron's sons as we normally think of it so uh all the people were to be to him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation
• 9:00
  You recall what happened only 40 days after that, that Aaron had created a golden calf and all the people worshipped it. So God changed his mind, for lack of a better word to say, and he decided that only Aaron and his sons would be the priests. Now you recall...
• 9:28
  From a couple of weeks ago, what we said a priest did. What does a priest do? Any ideas? What? They offer sacrifices for sin. Yeah. Anything else? That's it, huh? Okay. A priest teaches people God's laws, first of all. Okay. And then he intercedes for the people because people break God's laws.
• 10:01
  And then when they do, he offers a sacrifice for sin. So I've kind of gathered all the duties of the priest into three areas there. That's what a priest does. Also note that it was God who chose the nation to be priests and not the people themselves. And of course, as I mentioned, they forfeited it that. Now, if God chose the nation to be priests to him.
• 10:30
  for people, who were they to be priests for? Who were they to instruct about God's laws and to intercede for? If all the people, the Jewish people, were priests, who did God expect them to minister to? The nations of the world. We call them Gentiles, anybody that's not Jewish. Sure, the nations of the world. And when the people failed to do their duty, then God chose only Aaron and his sons to be priests.
• 11:03
  Now let's go back to Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14. It says, Our great high priest passed through the heavens. Some hold that there are three heavens, three bodies, three heavens, from Paul's vision in 2 Corinthians 12, 2 and 3. But there are also some ancient writers that named actually seven heavens. And I can't name them, but it doesn't matter how many there are. Jesus passed through all of them.
• 11:34
  And he is now where? Where is Jesus? On the throne. If you ask kids, usually they say, well, he's in my heart. Well, when Jesus became incarnated, he took on flesh. And he still has flesh. So he's in one spot. But through his spirit, of course, he reigns in our hearts and lives. But right now, Jesus is seated on the right hand of God far above.
• 12:01
  all rule in authority and power and dominion. That's Ephesians 1, 20 to 21. And this high priest is Jesus, the Son of God, our writer says. I believe that just the name of Jesus speaks to his humanity. He identifies with humanity. Many people don't realize that the second person of the Trinity was active in the Old Testament. We see him.
• 12:31
  Active all through the Old Testament. Sometimes he's called the angel of the Lord. And you get that from reading people having conversations, seeing the angel of the Lord. And then all of a sudden they're talking to God and then the angel of the Lord. And you see that the angel of the Lord is God. Sometimes Jesus is called the Lord or Yahweh. Y-H-W-H, the name that God revealed himself to Moses with.
• 13:01
  But the name Jesus wasn't given to him until he was conceived in Mary's womb. And Gabriel came to both Mary and I believe Joseph also and said, you shall call his name Jesus. That's when he was named Jesus. So for me, when he says Jesus, that speaks to his humanity. And being the son of God, that speaks to his deity. Jesus is both fully human and fully God.
• 13:32
  and therefore he can serve adequately as our high priest that's one of the reasons let us hold fast to our confession our writer says maybe he had in mind peter's confession in matthew 16 16 when peter talking to jesus the human standing in front of him jesus asked who do you say i am he said you are the christ the son of the living god that
• 14:02
  might be the confession that he had in mind again bringing in both jesus humanity and his deity or maybe our author also had in mind uh the gospel one of the earliest confessions of the church is found in uh paul's letter to the first corinthians chapter 15 verses 3 and 4 where he said i delivered to you as a first importance that which i also received that
• 14:29
  Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He rose again on the third day according to our Scriptures. That's the gospel. Maybe our author had both of those confessions in mind. But anyway, those confessions include that Jesus was human, and He was God, and He died for our sins. Verse 15, it says,
• 14:58
  Our high priest is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Other translations there say he understands our weaknesses. He's feeling of our infirmities. He empathizes with our weaknesses. He has compassion on our infirmities. He sympathizes and understands our weaknesses and temptations. I like all of those. Roll them into one. I think that's what the author is saying here.
• 15:26
  And he can do this because he is fully man. He was in every respect tempted as we are, our writer says. In every respect tempted as we are. Really? I have trouble kind of conceiving of that. Was he really tempted to waste time all day watching TV? Come on, you know.
• 15:56
  Was he tempted to go to R-rated movies to feed his lusts? Was he tempted to nag on his spouse he wasn't even married? Was he really tempted to eat that second donut every day or drink too much coffee? You know, the Scriptures refer to Jesus' temptation three times in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. And if you read just Matthew, in Matthew 4, it reads like Jesus fasted for 40 days.
• 16:29
  And then Satan came and hit him with three big temptations. That's the feeling I get from reading Matthew. But if you go to Mark 1, 13 and Luke 4, 2, there those gospel writers said that he was tempted for 40 days. I mean, Satan didn't let up on him. He was tempted, I think, continuously for 40 days. And it wasn't just those three big temptations, but 40 days worth.
• 16:59
  And our Lord never gave in, not once. Now, I have never been tempted to the degree that Jesus was, for honestly, I end up yielding to it too soon before Satan hits me with his hardest. But Jesus withstood Satan's hardest and best shot, and yet he was without sin. Think of this in terms of pain. You know, the human body can withstand just so much pain, and if it exceeds that point, we pass out.
• 17:31
  So there's a level of pain that we can't even experience because it's beyond the point where we pass out. Jesus went to that point, the temptation and beyond, and he never yielded to sin. So that means that our high priest, as our high priest, he can fully sympathize with our weaknesses and temptations. And when we come before his throne, confessing our sins and failures,
• 18:00
  In seeking mercy and help in our time of need, we can do so with confidence that we will receive it. Let's go to chapter 5. In verses 1 through 4, our author pictures the traditional high priest's office so he can show us how Christ is superior. This priest was called by God.
• 18:29
  and chosen from among men to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. And he can deal gently with the ignorant and the wayward sinners, our writer says, because he himself is beset with sin. Therefore, he has to offer sacrifices first for himself, and then he can offer sacrifice for the people. That's a picture of the Aaronic priesthood. But now we compare Jesus to
• 19:01
  in his high priestly role. Like Aaron, he didn't exalt himself to be made a high priest, but God appointed him as such. Then in verse 6, we find a huge distinction. He is a priest forever because he never dies again. In support of this, our author cites Psalm 110. Now, Psalm 110 is one of those Old Testament passages that is most
• 19:31
  quoted in the New Testament. Many writers have referred to Psalm 110. The Jews considered at least 16 psalms of the Psalms directly referring to the Messiah, David's son, the Messiah. And this is one of the main chapters, the main psalms that they quoted. Now, in Psalm 110, verse 1,
• 20:01
  Jesus quoted this verse to the Pharisees when they were casting doubt on his deity. He had just performed miracles and demonstrated who he was. And so he said to them in support of that, whose son is the Messiah? Well, David's son, of course. So he referred to this.
• 20:27
  The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. And then Jesus asked the Pharisees, you'll remember. So if David calls his son, the Messiah, my Lord, how could that be? And of course, they couldn't answer it because it points to the Messiah as being deity. I want you to notice something up there on the printing and the font.
• 20:58
  The two words Lord is not carried over what your text says. I bet if you look at your Bible, the first Lord in that verse is all capital letters. Look at your Bible. It's not on the screen. There's a capital L and then smaller capital letters Lord. The second Lord has a capital L, but it's lowercase letters. You see that?
• 21:22
  Almost all the English translations do that because even though the one English word Lord is used, it's translating two different Hebrew words. The first one, the editors of our English Bibles put it in all caps because it is the word Yahweh, God. And when you read through the Old Testament, you'll find all the way through it the word Lord in all capital letters. That is the divine name.
• 21:51
  Y-H-W-H, Yahweh. The second Lord is the Hebrew word Adonai, which means Lord, Master. It's a term of respect for when you address someone who is in higher status, greater power than you. Oh, my Lord, in that. But it's not necessarily deity.
• 22:13
  And I just point that out. It's not part of this lesson at all. But just so you will be thinking when you read through the Old Testament, if you see the word Lord in all capital letters, that's the divine name, Yahweh. It's referring to God. And in this case, the second Lord is not referring to God. Trivia. Okay. Then Jesus, or not Jesus, but our writer in Hebrews cites verse 4 in his demonstration.
• 22:42
  of who what our high priest is like he says the lord has sworn and will not change his mind you are a priest forever after the order of melchizedek at this point i think the emphasis is on the enduring priesthood of jesus like melchizedek's now
• 23:02
  Chapter 7 and 8, we're going to get into a lot deeper about who this Melchizedek was. So I'm going to leave that for a later time. I'm not going to delve into that. We'll leave that for Danny to explain. But those chapters add vibrant color to this portrait of our high priest by describing Melchizedek's priesthood. But I will say this about it. There's no biblical record of...
• 23:30
  Melchizedek's priesthood beginning or ending. There's no biblical record of his birth or his death. So the point here is he's saying Melchizedek's like has an eternal priesthood. And Jesus is after the order of Melchizedek. There's no beginning, no end. It is enduring. Verses 7 and 8. In the days of his flesh.
• 23:54
  Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death. And he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Here again we see Jesus' identification with man by the things that he suffered. His prayers and cries and tears are an obvious reference to Gethsemane.
• 24:22
  the night of his arrest. The next phrase is better translated through death or out of death, as several commentators pointed out, rather than from death, because God didn't really keep him from death. He had to go through it. And again, God resurrected him after his death. I find the phrase heard because of his reverence most curious.
• 24:51
  And all of my commentators agree that this references Jesus' piety and humble submission to the Father's will in the garden. Now, one writer pointed out that our text does not say that Jesus prayed to be saved from death. Rather, he prayed to him who was able to save him from death. I don't particularly...
• 25:16
  care for the way direction he's going at that because i know from luke 22 42 it records father if you are willing remove this cup from me but nevertheless not my will but thine be done there's some discussion about what all jesus meant by this cup was it the excruciating excruciatingly painful death on the cross that he had in mind
• 25:46
  Maybe it was the expected separation from his father when he bore all the sins of the world. Think about it. That's something he had never experienced in all of eternity past, being separated from his father. But as the prospect of the world's sin being laid upon him on the cross, he knew the father would turn his head from him. Maybe our writer had both. But let's leave that question for another time. How is it?
• 26:17
  That he learned obedience through what he suffered. I remember getting spanked by my father one time. Now, don't get me wrong. Dad believed in Proverbs 13, 24. Spare the rod, spoil the child. So I know I got many more spankings. Most of them well deserved. But I remember this one. We lived a few blocks from church, not too far.
• 26:47
  And our family would, this was in Texas when Dad was going to seminary, and often we would walk home from church, to and from church. And one time, this seven- or eight-year-old ran ahead of the family by a half a block, crossed a busy street at the light, with the light, okay? I did things right. And I beat everybody home by...
• 27:19
  four or five minutes. I was sitting proudly on the front porch, waiting for my family to get back. Ha ha, you slowpokes. I don't recall being told, come back here, or stop, wait for the family. I don't remember that at all. So therefore, I felt it very unfair when my dad applied the Board of Education to my seat of learning, you know? But I did.
• 27:46
  Learn obedience. And I didn't do that again. Jesus had always obeyed his father. In John 4, 34, he said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me. And again in 6, 38, Jesus said, I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. So Jesus didn't learn to obey. He always obeyed.
• 28:17
  But the scripture says he learned obedience. This type of obedience is not theoretical, but experiential. We've all heard the phrase, experience is the best teacher, right? Well, Jesus' obedience was made complete when he willingly went to the cross and suffered death for the sin of the world. Now, lest we get the wrong idea, like so many people in scripture did, and people today have also,
• 28:46
  Jesus made it plain that not all suffering is because of sin or disobedience. Or let me say it another way. Not all suffering is because of sin or disobedience. And not all sin or suffering is from sin or disobedience. He made that very plain in John chapter 9, verses 1 through 3, about the blind man who was blind from birth. And his disciples asked him this question.
• 29:21
  But sometimes we do suffer the natural consequences of our sins. And because our Father loves us, He will discipline us sometimes when we're suffering. And our writer in Hebrews brings that up a little bit later in the book. So I want to ask you tonight, are any of you suffering? Maybe you need to take a quick survey of your life and see if the Holy Spirit points out an area in your life that you're lacking in obedience.
• 29:55
  Confess that to the Lord and determine to learn obedience in doing what you know is right. Verse 9, And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Being made perfect, as the Scripture says, does not imply that he had faults.
• 30:28
  That Greek word emphasizes function rather than abstract metaphysical perfection. Christ's obedience and suffering made him perfectly suitable for the function that God had set before him, that is, to be the high priest and savior of his people. That is why he is the source of salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
• 31:01
  Now the moment you've all been waiting for. The big reveal is what the Bible says you're going to be when you grow up. Actually, it's what you are now. I want you to turn in your Bibles. I want you to see this. Back a couple books. 1 Peter 2. What are you going to be when you grow up? 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10. Peter writes, but you are.
• 31:35
  It's not will be someday, but you are now a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. That's not referring to a nation of geographical boundaries, but rather as a people, a tribe. Doesn't this sound a lot like Exodus 19, that God first wanted all of Israel to be a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation? And he did this.
• 32:07
  He's calling you a people for his own possession. Why? For what purpose did God choose all of you here in Highland Baptist to be priests for him? Is that what that verse says? It's that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
• 33:03
  Does someone that you work with need to know about God's mercies?
• 33:10
  Do you have a neighbor in need of God's mercy? God has strategically placed you in that job, in that neighborhood, to be a priest to him and for that coworker and for that neighbor. There's an interesting verse in Acts 17, 26 to 27. Paul is speaking at the Areopagus on Mars Hill. And in his sermon to the Greeks there,
• 33:44
  He said this in Acts 17, 26-27, God, He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. God determined the times that people lived and where they lived, so that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet, He is actually not far from each.
• 34:13
  One of us. Why did you choose the house or apartment that you lived in? Is it because of the price? The location? Because it was in a good school district? Or was it the only one available? That's the way it looks to us. But this verse says that God placed you in that home. He placed you in that job and in that school so that you can be His priest to those around you.
• 34:44
  And God has placed them within your reach so you can be his priest to them. Remember what a priest does? A priest teaches people God's law. He shows them what God is like. I think of John 14, 9 where Jesus said, Have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
• 35:12
  Jesus has placed you in contact with others and called you to be a priest to them so that we can live our lives in such a way that others see Jesus in us. A priest intercedes for the people. Who are you praying for that they might find God and come to him for salvation? Do you pray for your neighbor or your co-worker by name? Can you name your neighbors? I want you in your mind to draw a tic-tac-toe board, okay? There's nine squares in there.
• 35:47
  Okay? And I want you to picture that as your neighborhood. Okay? Each of your neighbor's houses. And in the very center square, that's where you live. And you have a neighbor on the right and a neighbor on the left. You have a neighbor across the street and a neighbor across the fence. And then there's a neighbor between each one of those corners. You have eight neighbors. Okay? Close neighbors. Who here can name all eight of your neighbors? That is a rare, rare thing to do.
• 36:19
  That's good. Pray for your neighbors. Intercede for them because they need God. Pray for them by name. And a priest offers sacrifices for sins. Now, we don't offer sacrifices anymore because Jesus offered the complete and final sacrifice. But as a chosen priest of his, we are called to point people to Jesus as their sin sacrifice.
• 36:50
  So be that intermediary. Intercede for them before the Father. Pray that He opens their hearts and minds to the message of mercy. Pray for their salvation. Pray for opportunities to tell them of what your great high priest has done for you. God has chosen us to be His priests. Let's be faithful to that role as Jesus was faithful before His Father.
• 37:17
  Pastor Sam has come up with a business card size card here that's easy way. It's an acrostic to tell people the gospel and the acrostic from gospel. There's a stack of them on the table right out here by the hallway by our door. I urge you to pick one up on the way out and share the gospel with those that God has placed in your circle of priestly responsibility.
• 37:47
  Father God, thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus, who loved us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. Lord, we don't know why we don't deserve it, but you have made us to be a kingdom of priests for you to reach our neighbors. Give us strength and courage, Lord, to faithfully represent you to those you bring into our contact with every day, that in eternity they, along with us,
• 38:16
  may give you glory and honor and praise forever. I ask in Jesus' name. Amen.