(Hebrews 4:14-16) “Therefore, since 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 cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
One of the greatest privileges every born again, blood washed, Spirit sealed New Covenant believer has is that they have a Great High Priest who sits at the right hand of His Father in heaven to intercede for them perpetually. In the Old Testament Israel had priests but there was a high priest who was set apart to God from every other priest and his primary task was to perpetually intercede on behalf of God’s people Israel.
Every year on the Day of Atonement he would enter into the Holy of Holies in the Temple containing the Ark of the Covenant and sprinkle the blood of a sacrificial lamb on the mercy seat being on the lid of the Ark between the two carved angels facing each other with their wings extended towards each other. He would first sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat for his own sin and then sprinkle it again for the sins of the people of Israel to atone for their sin temporarily until the Passover Lamb Himself our Lord Jesus would come into this world as the sacrificial Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, being one who was without sin (John 1:29) (1 Corinthians 5:7) (1 John 3:5).
He was the one who would shed his own blood to atone for sin once and for all time, a sacrifice never to be repeated (Hebrews 1:3; 7:24; 8:1-2; 9:12, 26-28; 10:11-12). In Hebrews Chapter four we are told that there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God and that rest is the rest of faith without which we cannot please God and that we should make every effort to enter into that rest of faith (Hebrews 4:9-10) (Hebrews 11:6). One of Satan’s strategies is to undermine our faith by whatever means he can and this is why we must put on the whole spiritual armour of God every day and especially hold up the shield of faith which quenches every flaming arrow of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16).
This faith is one of obedience (Romans 1:5; 16:26). It is not perfect faith or obedience, as all of us have to contend everyday with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and with the pride of life. Our greatest enemy most of the time is ourselves and of course Satan always takes advantage of us when we are disobedient to the Word of God and it empowers him to gain a foothold in our life. However, God has made provision for us to be cleansed from sin in that if we confess our sins, agreeing with His diagnosis of it and making no excuses for it, then He will freely and abundantly forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness by the blood of the Messiah our Lord Jesus (Isaiah 55:6-8) (1 John 1:9) (2 Corinthians 7:1). Now in the context of Hebrew Chapter 4 let’s briefly look at our text in Chapter 4:14-16.
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God”
Once the Lord Jesus had made the perfect and finished atonement for sin, and having physically risen from the dead, He then ascended back to His Father in heaven, having accomplished our salvation as New Covenant believers and there to sit at His Father’s right hand to perpetually intercede for us.
As it is written; “But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:24-26).
If He is able to uphold all things by His powerful Word then He most certainly can uphold us in every situation with that same word of power which we have written in the Word of God (Hebrews 1:3). He can spiritually strengthen us through His Word (Psalm 119:28). Right now we have one who knows all about us and loves us dearly with a passion that we cannot imagine, and in Him one who is constantly looking out for our spiritual welfare, and one who has said if we seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness that comes from Him received by faith, then everything we need will be added to us both in the temporal and spiritual realm (Matthew 6:33) (Romans 8:32).
As the apostle Peter writes; “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). And then we read in our text…
“…let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Confession is a part of the process of salvation. We confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead and are saved. For it is with our heart that we believe and are declared by God not guilty for our offences before Him, and because we confess what we have believed with our mouth the process of salvation is sealed by the blessed Holy Spirit deep down on the inside of us.
As the scriptures affirm everyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame! He makes no difference between Jew of Gentile because He is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call upon Him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved! (Romans 10:9-13).
Added to this, in Him we have one who was not only completely divine, being God manifest in the flesh, but also in Him one who was completely human in every way yet was without sin. As our High Priest, He can empathise with us in our hour of temptation, having been tempted in every way as we are tempted yet never yielding to its enticements. You may think that the temptations you face are insurmountable and that no one experiences what you may be experiencing, however, whatever it is you are wrestling with the Lord Jesus has been there and overcome it.
We have God’s promise that “He (the Lord Jesus) who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world.” The Lord Jesus has faced what you are facing so you are not alone in your struggle against temptation. Added to this, what you are facing the same kind of suffering is being experienced by your brothers and sisters all around the world (2 Peter 5:8-10).
This is why fellowship in the Holy Spirit with other New Covenant believers is essential. When coals are burning together they keep each other warm but when one coal is removed from the others it soon goes cold.
Because the Messiah our Lord Jesus has experienced temptation as a man He can understand us and intercede for us because He has been there. This fact in itself encourages us to hold fast the confession of our faith and not to grow weary because our persistent faith will be rewarded by God (Hebrews 11:6). We live by faith and not by sight and not by how we feel. Our feelings are no barometer for our spiritual condition. We can be in an emotional and mental storm with anxiety penetrating our very soul yet experience the Shalom (peace) of God which transcends all human understanding and garrisons our soul in the hour of its affliction (Philippians 4:7).
We use the Word of God to fight the devil! This is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). For example, when we confess what the Bible says the blood of Jesus does for us we are given the power by the blessed Holy Spirit to resist and to overcome those weights and temptations that so easily besets us.
As the author of Hebrews writes; “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2). Those who have run the race in the past are looking over the bulwarks of heaven and cheering us on. Paul in these verses is using the language of the sports arena where the athletes competing were cheered on by the crowd in the grandstands.
This work of Grace (God’s unmerited, unearned favour) is entirely the work of God and not achieved by the power of our human will or by human effort which is spiritually defiled by the sinful nature (Romans 7:14-23) (Ephesians 2:8-10). It is always and only by the Grace of God that any of us will make it out of this present evil age according to the will of God our heavenly Father.
As it is written; “Unmerited favour and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus the anointed Messiah, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:3-5).
And finally we read; “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Whenever we read a therefore we always need to read what has gone before it. If we know that we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, who intercedes for us at God’s right hand, and one who empathises with us in every way with our weaknesses and temptations, then this will give us the boldness, the confidence and the impetus to draw near to God when approaching the throne of Grace in our hour of need. It is not the throne of anger and rejection but the throne of God’s unmerited favour bestowed upon repentant sinners who know that they are in desperate need of His mercy for their offences and make no excuses for them.
Mercy and unmerited favour is there at the foot of the cross. That blood of the Messiah that has fully and forever atoned for sin is still available to cleanse the heart and purge the conscience from all sin, dead works and unrighteousness, drive out the devil and protect one from the wrath of God to come (Zechariah 13:1) (Romans 5:9). The blood of Jesus has settled everything where the believer’s salvation is concerned! (Hebrews 10:14).
Therefore in light of these things, and especially in light of the throne of grace, let us take to heart the words of the apostle John who wrote; “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus the Anointed Messiah the righteous; and He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).
John also writes; “Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when the Messiah appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as the Messiah is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).
With these words in mind let us come boldly to the throne of God, not like a whipped dog with its tail between its leg looking for some old bone, but with confidence and boldness come into the very throne room of God by the blood of Jesus and receive from God pardon and cleansing and everything we will ever need for life and godliness in this life and eternal bliss forever in the life to come! Always remember that God holds out the golden royal sceptre of His mercy to all who repent and believe in the Messiah who shed His blood to atone for their sins, because God’s throne is The Throne of Grace!
