Series: Jesus is Greater

Title: A Better Access

Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-16

Subject: Access to God

Central Theme:  Using our Access to God

Objective Statement:  You should use your access to God every day through Jesus Christ.  You should do this because Jesus Christ gives us incredible access to God for three reasons.

Keywords:  Reasons

Points:

1. His position.
2. His perfection.
3. His provision.

Introduction:

Connection:

• Who are some people that you would want access to if it were possible?
  • Is there a leader in a particular field or interest you have that you’d love to meet?Maybe a sports star, musician, business or thought leader that you respect?  If you had access to them you’d be pretty excited.
  • Maybe it is your past loved ones. Maybe you’d love to have access to someone in your past again.
  • Maybe it’s a person with access to a lot of resources- knowledge, abilities, or money that could help you accomplish something if you were able to access them and have a good connection.
  • Maybe you want access someone you don’t even know yet, but are looking for them. I remember being single and dreaming about what my wife would be like one day.  There’s a pop song from when I was in college that said, “I’m so tired of being alone, so hurry up and get here.”  Maybe there are times that your just lonely and want to have people in your life that you can love and depend on.
• We have so much more access to people today, even if they are far away.
  • This week I had almost instant communication with a missionary friends in Spain, Australia, and Wales.
• There was a time where that kind of communication was not possible with people that left.
  • My wife is from the west- Idaho. I’m from the South East- Florida.  We met in the middle.
  • There was a time in the not too distant past where we probably would not have even met each other.
• There were times in history when someone left where they were from the chances of communicating with them again dropped dramatically.
• The Bible is full of letters that had to be hand delivered. If Paul wanted the letter to get to a church that he started, he had to get a volunteer.
• We have more access to more people on an individual basis than we ever have, and yet we don’t always take advantage of these possibilities.

Tension:

• I was thinking about access to other people and how we take advantage of that this week when I was thinking about the passage before us today.
• The big idea of this passage is that we have an great High Priest named Jesus Christ. He gives us incredible access to God.
• Better than having access to some other man or woman is having access to the God of the Universe.
• We often do not fully comprehend, and rarely do we take advantage of, the access that we have to the God of the universe as we should. So here is my proposal to you this morning:

You should use your access to God every day through Jesus Christ.  You should do this because Jesus Christ gives us incredible access to God for three reasons.

Reason #1- His Position. (Hebrews 4:14)

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens...

Explanation:

• When the author says "seeing then" he is referencing all that has been said up until this point.  He has been building a case, and that case is the title of our series- "Jesus is Greater".
• We have seen that Jesus:
  • Has a better name.
  • is better than the angels
  • is greater than Moses
  • gives us a better rest.
• Jesus is greater!  He is better.
• As we move on from these introductory ideas, the author moves to the superiority of Jesus's priesthood.  We have a greater High Priest.
• To understand how Jesus is better than the Old high priests you must know something of that priesthood.  Now, what was a priest in the Old Testament?
  • The Old Testament priests would mediate to God on behalf of the people of Israel.  They did this through the sacrificial system in worship.
  • Old Testament priests in function were like butchers. They were always making sacrifices for the sins of the people to God.
  • Because they were sinful themselves, they had to sacrifice for themselves before they could sacrifice for anyone else.
  • We will say much more about the priesthood in the coming weeks as we venture through Hebrews, but what must be understood now is that a priest mediated between men and God, especially through the sacrifices that were made to atone for sin.

• Here the author says that Jesus is our great high priest.
• This is not the first time that He has referenced Jesus as a high priest.  He did so already in Hebrews 3:1-2 which says:

Hebrews 3:1-2

1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

• Jesus Christ, like Moses, was sent as apostle, and was better than Moses because He could provided a greater rest than Moses could ever provide.
• Jesus Christ, like Aaron, was a high priest, but He is a better high priest for so many reasons.
• We see him as a better high priest in his position.  Two parts:

First, we see where He is.

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens

• The scriptures say here that He is "passed into the heavens."  The High priests in the Old Testament worked in the tabernacle and then the temple.
• The priest in the day of the tabernacle were the only ones allowed inside the tent to the holy place.  Only one priest could go in every year to the holy or holies where the ark of the covenant was.

• The same was true in the temple.
• Gentiles could not go in to the area shown above.  They had to stay in the court of the gentiles.
• Jewish women could go in, but they had to stay in the court of the women.
• Jewish men could go beyond into the court of the Israelites.
• There were only the priests who could pass into the areas of the altar, and the holy place.

• The whole edifice was called the holy place.
• The inner part was called the Holy of Holies.  The priests were the one that had access.  They were the ones that could pass into the holiest of places on behalf of the people.
• Now think about the verse.

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens...

• Jesus is not just the high priest.  He is the great high priest!  Why?
• Because of his location.
• He has gone to the most holy place- to the heavens where God the Father is.
• We were already told where Jesus went after he died, was buried, rose again, and ascended into heaven.  Do you remember?

Hebrews 1:1-3

1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

• The priests had access to God, because although God is omnipresent, His manifest presence was most notable in the Holy of Holies.  That is where the priest had access to Him through the mediation of the covenant relationship expressed through the sacrificial system, ceremonial washings, and the like.
• Talk about access to God!  Now the High Priest of our confession and profession is found sitting on the right hand of God- in the heavens!
• His High Priestly position is better because of His location.

Secondly, His High Priestly position is better because of who He is.

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,let us hold fast our profession.

• When you have an "in" when it comes to a relationship access is more easily obtained.
• At the last church that I worked at there were 10 full time staff members on leadership staff.  We had more than that in support staff including secretaries, receptionists, radio and television ministry support staff, building and maintenance support staff, bus ministry workers.  There were a lot of people.
• Pastor Frazier was definitely accessible, but you didn't just walk into his office by necessity.
• We all recognize that this can be the case with anyone that leads large groups of people.
• I noticed though that someone did have that kind of access to Pastor's office.  They would stroll right past the receptionist most of the time.  You know who it was?  Conner- Pastor Frazier's son.  Rachel- Pastor Frazier’s wife.  Lauren- Pastor Frazier's daughter.  They had a special access to him because of their relationship.
• Our High Priest to God is in the heavens at the right hand of God.  Our High Priest to God is Jesus Christ His Son.  What is Jesus' relationship with the Father?  It was stated by God Himself at Jesus's baptism.

Matthew 3:17

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

• Peter gave a witness to God's testimony about Jesus' relationship to Him at His transfiguration.

2 Peter 1:16-17

16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

• The author of Hebrews has already told us that Jesus is superior to the angels in His name because He is the only begotten Son of God.

Hebrews 1:4-6

4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

• If you want to get a job from someone, it is good to have a relationship with people they love.  We have access to God the Father through Jesus Christ, God's Son!  He is a better High Priest, the Great High Priest in His position because of his location, and because of His identity.

You should use your access to God every day through Jesus Christ.  You should do this because Jesus Christ gives us incredible access to God for three reasons.

Reason #1- His Position. (Hebrews 4:14)

Reason #2- His Perfection. (Hebrews 4:15)

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;

Explanation:

• Not only is Jesus Christ our Great High Priest giving us access to God because of His position.  He is also our Great High Priest because of His Perfection.  There are two ways that Jesus displays his perfection that are referenced in this verse.

A.    First, we see that Jesus is touched.

• What do I mean by touched?  The scripture lays it out clearly in verse 15.

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;

• Jesus can be "touched with the feeling of our infirmities".
• That means He can and does care for us.  He does know what it is like to deal with the things that we deal with as human beings living in a cursed world.
• There may be some reading Hebrews that say, "Jesus is in the heavens.  What does he know about life down here?".
• That would be a question with an answer.
  • He knew what it was like to lose close friends to death, and was acquainted with grief.  In John 6 when he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, he saw the grief and the loss experienced by those he loved, and he wept, too.
  • There were moments where Jesus was frustrated.
  • Jesus had parents.
  • Jesus had brothers and sisters.
  • Jesus had people question his motives.
  • He had people angry with him.
  • He was hungry.
  • He was thirsty.
  • He experienced extreme pain.
  • He was in so much pressure that he sweated great drops of blood before the cross.
  • He had people betray Him.
  • He spent a night in jail.
  • He was without a home for a long time.
• The writer of Hebrews is saying that Jesus has a capacity to feel for us because He has experienced in physical fashion the things that we experience.
• Notice that the phrase is expressed in the present tense.

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;

• The Bible is saying that He can be touched right now with the feelings of our infirmities.
• It's not just saying that He went through it in the past.  It is saying that He can sympathize with us right now because of His experience.
• Yet it doesn't end there.
• He has been touched and can be touched by the feelings of our infirmities.  If that is where it ended though,  he would not be that different than any other priest.  Every priest, being a man, has had to live the human experience.  There is something unique about Jesus's ability.

B.    You see, Jesus conquered temptation.

"but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

• Notice that phrase "in all points".  It means in every way.
• It doesn't mean that Jesus went through the exact details that is the detail of every human experience.  It does mean that He was tempted in all the ways and categories that we are tempted.  He endured all the things that we do, and was tempted in every way.
• There is something though unique to Him that cannot be said of any other human being, priest or otherwise.  It's in that last phrase "yet without sin".
• Jesus Christ was and is sinless.  He never did anything wrong.
• He never did anything right for the wrong reason.
• His motives were pure.
• His actions were pure.
• His thoughts were pure.
• His heart motivation was to please our Heavenly Father at every moment.
• Let me summarize what we have said so far.
  • A priest mediates to God.  This means that He must have access to God.  Jesus has passed through the heavenly realms and is sitting on the right hand of God.
  • A priest mediates to God.  This means that He must have a right relationship with God.  Jesus Christ is the Son of God in whom the Father is well pleased.
  • A priest mediates to God on behalf of us.  This means he represents us in our humanity.  Jesus is the God man who experienced what it means to be human.
  • A priest mediates to God on behalf of us in our sin.  He died for our sin.  He could die for our sin and give us his righteousness because He had a righteousness to give.  He was sinless!
• Jesus Christ gives us access to God and is our Great High Priest not only because of His position, but also because of His perfection.

You should use your access to God every day through Jesus Christ.  You should do this because Jesus Christ gives us incredible access to God for three reasons.

Reason #1- His Position. (Hebrews 4:14)

Reason #2- His Perfection. (Hebrews 4:15)

Reason #3- His Provision

Hebrews 4:16

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Explanation:

• Jesus is our great high priest and gives us incredible access to God because of His position, and because of his perfection.
• In verse 16 we see that He is our great high priest because of His provision.  As High priest He gives us access to the provision of both God the Father and God the Son.
• What is that provision?  Two qualities of God are detailed- Grace and Mercy.
• Grace is a wonderful thing.
  • It has been commonly defined as being given things that we do not deserve.
  • Grace is getting good when we do not deserve it.
  • In this verse we are told to approach the "throne of Grace".
  • The throne is presumably where God is, and where Christ sits at His right hand.  He rules and reigns over everything, and his posture towards us is gracious because of His dear Son who intercedes for us.
• Mercy is commonly defined as not getting the justice that we do deserve.
  • We deserve separation from God and therefore everything that is good forever because of our sin.
  • We deserve death.
  • We deserve punishment.
  • Yet, because of Jesus Christ's substitutionary death on the cross for us, God's wrath was poured out on Him, and now He lives again interceding for us.
• We have been given mercy and grace.  We are being given mercy and grace.  We will be given mercy and grace.  This is God's love for us and what He wants to give us as a result of Christ's intercessory and mediating work on the cross.
• Mercy and Grace are not just what you need to get to heaven.
• Mercy and Grace are not just what you need for salvation.
• Mercy and Grace are what you need to get through Walmart. 🙂.
• It's what you need to parent your kids.
• It's what we need to be unified as a church and take on our mission of reaching people, teaching people, and ministering to people.
• Mercy and Grace are what we need in our relationship with God and with each other.

Conclusion:

What should our response be to these truths? He gives it to us in these verses:

1.    Let us hold fast our profession.

Hebrews 4:14

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

• Rest comes whene we “hold fast our profession”.
• We keep believing God. We keep staying with in relationship, in intimacy with God.
• We abide.
• We remain.
• We stay.
• We fellowship.
• Not so that we will stay saved, but because we are saved and that is how we will have joy, fellowship and rest.

2.    Let us come to God boldly- to the throne of Grace.

• Just a few verses before, in verses 12- 13 ,we were told that the Word of God lays open who we are. Read those verses again with me:

Hebrews 4:12-13

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

• The word of God discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. God knows us better than we know ourselves. "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." He knows us inside and out.
• Yet, He is our Great High Priest in heaven, as the Son. He is touched with our problems. He does have compassion, because He has experienced them. He has been tempted where we have been tempted, but never sinned. He lives to intercede for us so that we can get the grace and mercy we need for today.
• So, what should our response be?

• Go to God! Pray! Go to the throne of grace!

• Do you know what we were just told? We have access to the God of the universe! You can get on His Calendar because He is limitless. You'll have a harder time getting on any man's calendar than you will getting on God's calendar. He loves you. He wants to hear from you.

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!

• There is salvation rest for your soul.
• There is sanctification rest for your soul.
• There is transformation power available to you through God's Word.
• There is mercy and grace available to you through going to God in prayer. You can approach the throne of Grace and find mercy and grace to help you in time of need.

Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.