November 15 Worship Service

The 4th chapter of Hebrews alerts us to two big problems which may cause difficulties in our relationship with God. The first is restlessness. We discussed that problem last week. The second problem is our tendency toward independence - the notion that we are capable of handling everything that comes our way and that no help is required.

I think the two problems are not entirely separate. One of the reasons we don’t enter into the rest God offers is because we are so intent on managing the universe independently.

In the passage we’re looking at this morning, the author of Hebrews wrote about man’s need for help. He invites us to draw near to the throne of grace, “…that we may receive mercy and grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16) We need help. And if we are to obtain the help we need, we must understand where to look for help, how to receive it, and what we need to seek help with.

1.We must look to Jesus for help.

Verse 14 and 15 describe Jesus in a way that makes it clear that he is the helper we must turn to.

Hebrews 4:14–15 ESV

14 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. 15 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.

Notice 3 things these verses say about Jesus:

A. He is our great high priest.

Calling Jesus our great high priest is simply another way of saying he is a helper - a very important, specialized helper; but a helper nonetheless. Under the Old Testament sacrificial system, the high priest was the man who, once a year on the day of atonement went into the holy of holies in the tabernacle/temple. He went there as a representative of all the people of God. He carried the blood from a sacrificed animal and sprinkled it before the mercy seat in order to display that a death had taken place for the sins of the people. The high priests role was to help all the people by establishing the basis for a right relationship between God and sinful people.

By calling him our great high priest who has passed through the heavens, the author of Hebrews is telling us that Jesus is the one who makes it possible for us to live in relationship with God. He is our helper.

B. He is sympathetic with our weakness.

He is not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. He has been tempted like us. The sympathy of Christ Jesus means that he has direct, personal experience with what we struggle with. It is difficult to walk in intimacy with God. There is this pull upon our hearts to seek our own selfish desires rather than obeying God. Jesus, our helper, understands that. In the Garden of Gethsemane he asked for the cup of suffering he faced to be taken from him. He understands what temptation is like.

His sympathy with us means that he is a caring helper. He knows what life is like for us.

C. He is sinless.

In telling us that Jesus was tempted as we are yet without sin, Hebrews 4:15 declares Jesus to be able to help us. A helper who failed in the same way as we fail could offer no more hope than we have in ourselves already. It was because he overcame what we fail at that he is able to help us.

2. We must take action to receive Jesus’ help.

Our passage says that, in light of the fact that Jesus is our sinless, sympathetic, helper for a right relationship with God, we should do two things:

A. Hold fast our confession.

Vs. 14 ends with the exhortation, “…let us hold fast our confession.” The verb is “to hold” with the idea being that we hold it in order to keep it, or to avoid losing it. The thing we are to hold fast is, “our confession.” This word is used here, not of confession as an admission of guilt, but of confession as a formal declaration of agreement with the truth. This verse refers to what Paul described in Romans 10:9-10:

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

The recipients of this letter had previously confessed with their mouth that Jesus is Lord. The author says to them, “In light of the fact that he is our great high priest, cling to what you confessed. Don’t change your opinion. Continue believing that He is Lord.”

B. Draw near.

Verse 16 opens with the exhortation to draw near to the throne of grace. Our action is to draw near. The “throne of grace” represents the immediate presence of God. In the minds of the Jewish people, the cover of the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy place in the tabernacle/temple. It was the mercy seat, the throne from which God dispensed forgiveness for his people’s sins. That throne of grace represented the presence of God with His people.

The author of Hebrews wasn’t saying that his readers should go to Jerusalem, find the Ark of the Covenant and get as close to it as possible. He was saying, “Our high priest has gone through the heavens which is where God’s real throne is. So we can seek his presence there because our Helper has made it possible.

We must cling to Christ (hold fast our confession) by faith and seek the presence of God in intimate fellowship (draw near to the throne of grace). That’s our appropriate response to

3. We must seek Jesus’ help in our struggle with sin.

Clinging to Christ and seeking fellowship with God has a result, described in the last half of verse 16: “…that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We read that and might assume that we have a prescription for whatever crisis we are facing - that whenever we think we need something, this is the solution. But that’s not really what the author of Hebrews had in mind as he wrote this passage. In fact, the word “need” doesn’t even occur in the Greek text, but is inserted by translators to try to smooth out something that doesn’t translate easily to English. A literal translation would be, “…that we may receive mercy and find grace unto timely help.” It is the timeliness of help, not our need, that is described.

I’m going to suggest this morning, that the timely help is for our struggle with temptation and sin. Our ongoing battle with sin is the assumption throughout these verses. Notice the ways the problem of sin is brought to our attention:

A. Christ is identified as our great high priest.

The work of the high priest was to make sacrifices to treat sin.

B.Christ’s sympathy with us is as a result of his being tempted like us.

Temptation presents the opportunity to commit sin.

C.Christ’s victory was specifically over sin.

He was without sin.

D.Mercy and grace are given by God in response to sin.

Mercy and grace are what we’re to seek at the throne of grace: “…that we may receive mercy and find grace...”

The passage is, from beginning to end, about the problem of sin. The most basic, universal problem mankind faces is our battle with temptation and sin. And it is a battle we cannot win ourselves. We need help. That’s why we must draw near to the throne of grace. We are unable to independently overcome the basic, universal problem facing us.

The mercy and grace of God are the help we need. God’s mercy to sinners means he doesn’t carry out the punishment against us which we deserve. His grace to sinners means he gives us blessings which we don’t deserve. We don’t get what we do deserve, and receive what we don’t deserve. That’s mercy and grace. Without those two specific forms of help we are hopelessly lost in our sin, no matter what we might do.

Mercy and grace are only made possible for us by our great high priest. Jesus, and only Jesus, makes it possible for us to draw near to God to receive mercy and grace. Therefore, in all our struggles with sin we must seek Jesus’ help. Our independence can only produce failure. No amount of “thinking we can” will ever result in overcoming temptation and sin. We absolutely must have the Helper’s help.

Applications:

1.Take sin seriously.

This passage is often used to promote prayer. And it isn’t wrong to do so. Certainly, asking God to provide for us as we experience different challenges is an important way of drawing near to his throne of grace. But we should put our constant battle with temptation and sin at the top of our prayer list. It’s okay to pray that God will give you success at a job interview. But if you pray for that and not for the help of Jesus in the struggle with sin, you are treating sin as a less important matter. Only when the problem of sin is our highest priority are our priorities really in order.

2.Trust Christ Jesus unconditionally.

Confess him as Lord. Trust in what he has done through his death and resurrection as the sole basis for you to approach God. Believe that, because he has gone through the heavens, the possibility of a right relationship with the heavenly Father is yours. Trust that you may approach the throne of grace because of Jesus, not because of yourself.

3.Ask God for mercy and grace.

It’s funny: I think we all want God not to punish us as we deserve and to bless us in ways we don’t deserve, but do we actually ask for mercy and grace? We all sin. So we all deserve punishment and don’t deserve blessings. So doesn’t it make sense to ask for mercy and grace?

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The most marvellous thing in this passage is that we have a Helper and mercy and grace are possible. Jesus is the helper. Ask him to help. Rely fully on the help that is available in your struggle with sin.

Amen.