WEBVTT 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:13.919 Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:19.359 You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.199 Thank you for listening. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:23.760 Jesus is faithful. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:25.280 He cares for us. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:26.640 He loves us. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:33.119 The promises of God are there for us to stand on them, even in the most difficult of times. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:35.280 And so I'd like to talk to you about that today. 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:38.079 Just an encouraging message from God's Word. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:47.840 So if you'll turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 4, I want to talk to you about how Jesus comforts us in difficult times. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:54.079 It just seems like that describes the world in which we live in today. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:01:02.560 I mean, every time you read about the culture, people are struggling, the rates of depression. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:14.879 They're having to do all kinds of audits on medical professionals and on counselors because they're prescribing so many antidepressants and all of that. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:24.799 Every time you turn on the television and try to watch the news, if you weren't on antidepressants, you're calling your doctor for them ten minutes into the news broadcast. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:26.640 I mean, everything is brutal. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:30.560 And then we go through the life things that we go through. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:35.760 Lost loved ones who are who we lose and they go to heaven. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.760 Of course, they're not lost, they're in heaven. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:50.400 But people that we know who have illnesses and struggles, we have financial struggles in our economy today as inflation is taking over, and all of those things are difficult. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:52.319 So I'm not trying to make you more depressed. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:59.120 I'm trying to relate and connect that we have these times and they are a part of the life that we go through. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:05.120 But just as we've just sung, the promises of God are there for us to stand on. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:15.919 And just because the time may be difficult, the promises of God are every bit as strong, and they are never weakened just because we're going through a difficult time. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:23.599 Now, the book of Hebrews is an incredible book, and it's one that you could spend a ton of time in. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:33.199 Incredible richness, both in its theology and in its application to normal life and the things that we go through. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.560 And really, that's what theology should do. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:43.520 The definition of theology is the study of God or spiritual things related to the Lord. 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:48.800 And so what happens is as we learn who God is, it ought to comfort us greater. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:55.199 It's not an intellectual exercise that we're a part of when we are studying Scripture. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:57.840 Now it will challenge your intellect. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:03.840 No matter how intelligent you think you are, it will challenge your intellect going through Scripture. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:12.639 But primarily, it is not a textbook, it is a love letter written by our Heavenly Father to his children that he loves. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:30.719 And so as we define and understand things like who Jesus is and why difficult things happen and what he means for us and what Scripture is for us, as we define those things, they should immediately come back and fit right into life on a Tuesday. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:35.680 And that's exactly what's happening in these couple of verses that we'll look at here. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:43.680 He has set up the book and he's writing to Christians, believers, in this New Testament time. 00:03:44.240 --> 00:04:01.680 Now, as we know, Jesus came from the Jewish people that God established and created the Jewish people to be the people that he uses as the funnel to accomplish the promises that he's given to bring the Redeemer into the world. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:16.800 And that's why you begin in the book of Matthew, for example, which was written to help Jewish believers Jewish people understand who Jesus is and that he's the Messiah, and it goes through his lineage, and it's that incredible picture that explains who Jesus was and why he came. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:23.600 It's why we as believers have a special place in our heart for Israel and the people of Israel. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:36.160 Now that doesn't mean any particular government at a period of time, but it is the land of Israel, the people of Israel, and because we look there and we see prophecy come forward. 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:39.600 We see the bringing of Jesus into the world. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:43.920 We will see the end times unfold again in Israel. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:50.480 And so we have a heart for Israel and the people of Israel historically there. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:59.680 And so what happens in this book is called Hebrews because he is writing to at that time believers who had come out of the Jewish faith. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:16.560 They had recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, and they had placed their faith in him as a Savior, and then they had faced incredible persecution, not only from Rome, but from Jews who had clung to the Old Testament form of Judaism. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:19.680 Sadducees and some of the Pharisees. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:23.120 And there's this battle that unfolds in the book of Acts. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:31.199 And so he is writing to them to help them understand and to affirm that Jesus is our great high priest. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:34.240 He is the culmination of what God had promised. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:38.959 He is the Savior and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:55.279 And just how, in their lives leading up to that point, they had had to sacrifice every year in the temple and all of that, he comes into the book of Hebrews and he explains listen, Jesus accomplished once and for all at the cross the payment for our sins. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:06:03.519 And when he rose again, conquering death and sin, he accomplished for us the salvation that God had promised and what we longed for. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:19.439 And then as he ascended into heaven, he took his place there as our great high priest, seated at the right hand of the Father, to always be praying for us and mediating for us and taking care of us and preparing eternity for us. 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:29.279 So it's a powerful and rich book that means so much for our everyday life as followers of Jesus. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:50.240 And here's one of those times where he brings it home, and here he has gone through the introduction, he set up this incredible salvation, and then he says, This is who Jesus is, and he is setting up for us over the rest of the book how he is going to describe in detail who Jesus is for us as our Savior. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:58.560 So I want you to read this key spot right here that I think helps us understand how we are comforted in these struggling times. 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:14.079 Therefore, in verse 14 of chapter 4, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to the confession. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:26.399 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in every way as we are. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:28.879 Yet he did it without sin. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:34.240 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness. 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:41.600 Now, if there's anything that you hear me say today, this is the one thing I want you to get right here. 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:44.160 Jesus loves you so much. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:51.759 If you know him as your Savior, he wants you to boldly come into his presence when you need him. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:54.720 Let me say that again. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:08:11.040 It is the promise of Scripture that he is telling us that Jesus is there and loves you and is open, and he wants you to feel the freedom, even the ability to come boldly before him when you are in need. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:21.759 If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, this verse applies to you in this sense, you have a deep need that has not been resolved. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:28.959 If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, then your sin has to be paid for. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:38.320 And you will pay for your sin, not only in your physical death, but in eternal judgment, spending eternity separated from him. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:49.919 But if you will look to Jesus who died for you on the cross and rose again, if you would come to him as your savior, you are seeking that grace, and it is what you need. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.519 And you don't have to limp into the presence of God. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:57.919 You don't have to be afraid to come to Jesus to ask him to be your savior. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:02.480 You can step into his presence and you can plead with him boldly. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:04.159 Jesus, I love you. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:05.279 I am a sinner. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:06.399 You died for me. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:08.480 Will you be my savior? 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:11.759 And he is open for you today. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.759 For you to call out to him to be your savior. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:22.720 Listen, Jesus is there waiting for us to come to him on the throne. 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:26.240 Now, here's what we struggle with. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:28.399 Look at what the scripture says. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:35.759 For we do not, verse 15, have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:41.600 Here, what he's talking about is our humanness and our struggles that we have. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:10:01.200 And it's easy to contextualize when he's talking to these believers who are being pro uh persecuted by their Hebrew uh brothers and sisters and some of their families and people that they've known because they've placed their faith in Jesus and they're calling them heretics and they're putting them in jail and they're trying to prosecute them. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.960 All the things that Saul did before he became Paul. 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:10.000 And all of that, what happens is our human weakness kicks in. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:16.000 When we're under pressure because of difficulty, we struggle with doubt. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:21.200 We struggle with, I can't take this. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.840 This is more than I can bear. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:29.919 And so I'm just going to make decisions to alleviate the struggle. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:39.200 And we give up, or we give in, or we find something to mask or try to hide from our difficulties. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:51.039 We doubt the Lord and we will try to reach into circumstances and we will try to manipulate and control those circumstances in a way that we are trying to fix this. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:11:07.519 And that is a, in a very real sense, a doubt and a failure in our faith because we're not trusting in the person of Jesus to carry us through, to strengthen us, to guide us, to have a purpose in what we're going through. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:10.960 And so in our humanness, we just struggle. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:14.799 There are times that we just don't get it right. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:20.399 Because we're growing, we're learning, we're trying to understand this. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:22.480 We're trying to grow closer to Jesus. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:28.799 And sometimes those circumstances, they just get big enough that we're afraid we're going to be overwhelmed. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:36.720 And so what he's telling us is listen, he has gone through all those weaknesses and he knows how to help us through them. 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:38.960 And here's how it happens. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:40.559 Look at what Scripture says. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:53.440 Since we have a great high priest who has to pass through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:56.879 So here's the big idea that he's trying to tell us. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:02.399 When you know Jesus as your Savior, you are his and he is yours. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:04.240 Look at what he says again. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:05.120 Ownership. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:15.440 Since we, these believers who have placed their faith in Christ, since we have a great high priest, Jesus is yours. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:21.840 If you have trusted him as your savior, you are a blood-bought child or daughter of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:28.639 Romans 8 says, You have been adopted into God's family, and you can never be disinherited as his child. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:30.960 You are his and he is yours. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:33.840 We have this great high priest. 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:38.960 Let us hold fast to the confession. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:40.799 What is the confession? 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.840 It is our belief in the gospel. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:48.159 It is our confession that we have trusted Christ as our Savior. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.440 I trusted Christ when I was a nine and a half-year-old boy. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:54.320 My parents, when I was growing up, they were teaching us. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:59.679 I was blessed to have parents who were involved in church and taught Sunday school and all of that. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:01.759 Everyone has a different testimony. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.480 And if you know Christ as your Savior, praise the Lord. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:06.720 Your testimony is incredible. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:11.840 Whatever it is, and however you met Jesus, it cost his blood on the cross. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:14.399 So it is priceless your salvation. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:16.720 It changed your eternity forever. 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:20.240 So it is eternally powerful your testimony. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:22.559 My testimony of how I met Jesus. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:28.720 I grew up in this home, and my parents were teaching us all the time about salvation and about sin and all of that. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.159 And they really had to spend a lot of time teaching me about sin. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:42.399 So every time I would get in trouble, like eight or nine times a day, they would tell me, Listen, son, you've got to be punished, and we're going to punish you, and this is why we're doing this. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:44.559 We love you, and this is going to hurt us more than you. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:47.360 I'm like, I don't believe that. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:49.519 Isn't lying a sin, Dad? 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:50.480 Isn't that a sin? 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.159 I wouldn't suggest that, kids. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.159 That didn't go over well when I asked that. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:14:03.679 But they would teach us and they would say, Listen, you got to understand sin is punished, but one day you're going to be old enough to understand that Jesus loved you so much he stepped out of heaven. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:09.600 He went to the cross and he took your sin there and he paid the full price for your sin on the cross. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:11.679 He died for you in your place. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:14.320 And then he rose again, conquering death and sin. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:20.080 So you could come and you could ask him to forgive you and you could give him your life because he gave his life for you. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:26.080 And one Sunday morning in church, all of that nine and a half years of teaching, I was sitting there in the balcony. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.480 There's my people right there in the balcony. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:33.519 I was sitting on the front row of the balcony, and I can't tell you what the sermon was about, but my pastor, Dr. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:38.399 Rogers, got to the invitation and he said, Listen, no one will ever love you as much as Jesus. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:41.120 He paid the price for your sin. 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:44.159 No one will ever love you as much as Jesus. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:45.919 Come and give your life to him. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:48.159 And I came down out of the balcony. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:49.120 I came down the aisle. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.519 There was a deacon named Dewey Burton, one of my dad's friends. 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:52.159 I said, Mr. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:55.120 Dewey, nobody ever loved me as much as Jesus. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.320 And I want to give my life to him because he gave his life for me. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.360 And I trusted Christ as my Savior in that moment. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.120 That is the confession of salvation. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:12.639 When I share my testimony with you and others and my kids and family and other people, it is holding fast that confession. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:18.720 It is making public that confession that I have trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:24.320 And if you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have that confession of salvation. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:33.919 If you do not, if you have not accepted Christ as your Savior, in a few moments at the end of the service, we're going to give you an opportunity to make that confession today and trust Christ as your Savior. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:46.480 And I pray what you see in this scripture, Jesus will speak to your heart and draw you to Him the way He did me through my parents' teaching and my pastor and my Sunday school teachers and all of those. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:52.000 So here he says, Because of your confession of salvation, you have trusted Christ as your Savior. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:55.919 You're a blood-bought son, blood-bought daughter, the King of Kings and the Lord of the Lords. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.799 And because of that, you have a great high priest. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:00.720 He is yours and you are his. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:10.720 And what he says is if you will hold fast to that confession of having trusted Jesus Christ, he will take you through anything that you go through. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:18.799 Our problem is in our weakness, we tend to take our eyes off of Jesus. 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:21.039 And it's normal, it's hard. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:27.679 When you get in some of these circumstances and they're overwhelming, and you feel that sense of that, all of a sudden you feel that weakness. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:28.960 And here's what he says. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:32.639 Here's the big idea of the whole passage of scripture right here. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:42.159 That the way Jesus comforts us is we place our faith and focus on him and we cling to him in those moments. 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:52.639 And through our faith, he steps into our lives and he brings his grace and his help and his strength and his presence and his power. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:55.679 Now listen, Jesus is always there. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:05.519 But sometimes we don't, we lose sight of that because we take our faith and our focus off of him. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:08.960 And look at what it says: He is ours. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:20.400 And you place your faith and focus on Jesus and you grab a hold of him, and that's how you experience his presence, his comfort, and what he does in your life. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:22.400 Now here's how you do that. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:26.400 He says, let's hold fast to the confession of Jesus. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:33.200 You understand that this is all about Jesus, and it's all about what he's done in our lives, and it's all about who he is. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:40.240 And when you get in that moment where you're overwhelmed, you place your focus on Jesus and you rivet your attention on him. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:42.640 There are a couple of ways that you do that. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:44.799 First, you do that through Scripture. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:46.160 You do that through Scripture. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:50.319 Just back up two verses and see what the Bible says in verse 12. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:59.839 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and the marrow. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:11.920 He is trying to get the picture here that the word of God is so alive, it is so breathed with his presence and his power and who he is that it can penetrate to the very questions in our soul. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:29.519 Whatever our struggle, our doubt, our weakness is, God's word penetrates and sticks right in that point to call us to him, to bring us to that place of faith, to return our attention to him. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:36.000 No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:41.200 In other words, whatever it is you're struggling with, Jesus sees it directly and clearly. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:43.839 There is nothing in our lives that is hidden from him. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:46.480 He knows exactly what that question and doubt is. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:58.640 And the word of God has a living and powerful ability to stick right into that exact place and return our attention to Jesus. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:05.519 I think the next thing that you can do is you find worship songs that you appreciate and that you love. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.640 And you grab a hold of those and you play those. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:14.720 There are certain songs that I love that are mine, and I just like them. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:18.240 And they're all over the board and what they sound like and everything else. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:24.319 It doesn't really matter, but for some reason there are certain songs that grab my heart and they grab my soul. 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:26.960 They point me to Jesus in a particular way. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:34.640 Most of them really are focused on the person of Jesus in unique ways as I sing them and as I sing them in the car. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:36.640 Don't ask me to sing them now. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:40.000 There's a reason I'm not the worship pastor. 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:44.880 But I sing them in the car, I sing them in the shower, I sing them in my quiet time. 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:51.200 And they help me rivet my attention and my focus on the person of Jesus. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:53.839 We have a great high priest. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:59.759 Hold fast to that confession that Jesus is my high priest. 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:01.839 Now here's another way that you do that. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.319 You memorize Scripture. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:13.279 And so over the course of each week on our website, on our social media, I'm going to put out a scripture verse about Jesus for you to memorize that week. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:16.079 And I'm going to challenge you to memorize that scripture verse. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:17.759 Oh, Pastor, I don't memorize. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:21.839 Well, then you're disobedient to scripture because it says we're supposed to memorize. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:25.200 And so most of us don't have that habit, and we get in these times. 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:29.119 That's one reason our weakness pulls us away from the person of Jesus. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:35.680 But if we own those scripture verses, it helps us and it keeps and rivets our attention on Him. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:39.440 So once a week, this week, I'll put out a scripture verse. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:41.599 You'll get it tomorrow, right? 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:47.759 And so it'll be a chance for you to memorize a scripture that has meant a lot to me that points me to the person of Jesus. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.160 And so you're grabbing a hold of the person of Jesus. 00:20:50.319 --> 00:21:02.960 Now, here's what the Bible, let me give you three character traits of Jesus that I want you to grab a hold of from this passage of Scripture that help you understand how much Jesus loves you and wants to comfort you. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:05.519 First, here's what I want you to see. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:13.759 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:19.279 The first thing I want you, character trait, I want you to see about Jesus in this is his authority. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:20.880 His authority. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:22.720 The authority of Jesus. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:27.359 Now, this picture of the high priest is very common to someone with a Jewish heritage. 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:36.240 They understand who the high priest is, and they know the stories of Moses and Aaron and God establishing that, and the high priest taking the sacrifice and the Holy of Holies and all of that. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:39.920 But here's what he says we have a great high priest. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:41.839 Jesus is above all that. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:50.880 And as he begins to unpack this letter, he is setting up the picture of how incredible Jesus is as the one who has saved us. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:56.000 He says, We have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:59.759 And what we know at that point is in the book of Acts, in the very beginning, the Bible. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:05.599 Tells us that Jesus was ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit came to live inside of us. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:07.200 So where is Jesus now? 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:14.000 The Bible says that he is seated at the right hand of the Father and He is there, ever living to make intercession for us. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:16.880 He is there as the mediator for us. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:35.680 God has given him the authority as the great high priest, the one and only person who could pay the price for our sins, who could conquer death and sin, who could love us in the way he does, who could bridge the gap of sin between God and man and bring us into the family of God and return us to fellowship with him. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:49.839 And the Bible says that Jesus is there as our great high priest and mediator, and because of that, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, which is found in our great high priest, Jesus Christ. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:53.359 Turn with me over just real quickly to Hebrews chapter 7. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:58.000 I want to show you just one of those verses. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:01.359 Just one. 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:04.880 Look at what it says in chapter 7, verse 22. 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:10.720 So Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:20.480 He's talking about the New Testament life that we have where we can trust Jesus as our Savior, and the Holy Spirit lives inside, and we have that knowledge of being saved. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:23.920 And Jesus is the one who has created that in our lives. 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:32.000 Now many have become Levitical priests, like in the Old Testament, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:39.839 In other words, Aaron died, and then there was another one and he died, and there was another one and he died, and another one and he died, and you had to keep doing that because they were just men. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:43.039 But Jesus is the guaranteer of a better covenant. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:46.480 Verse 24, because he remains forever. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:48.880 He holds his priesthood permanently. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:58.160 Therefore, he is always able to save those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede with them. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:07.359 Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, and there he is in God's ear for us. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:10.960 He is speaking to the Lord about us. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:16.160 He is translating what God's heart and desire is for us down to us. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:20.880 He is giving our hopes, fears, doubts, struggles, weaknesses to the Lord. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:25.920 He is reminding God the Father that He paid the price for our sins. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:32.799 And when God looks down at Greg, he doesn't see me with all the stuff I messed up yesterday and all of my weaknesses. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:36.559 He sees me through the blood of Jesus and the righteousness of Jesus. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:39.119 And he sees me in as an adopted child. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:42.319 And only Jesus has the authority to do that. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:47.440 Don't ever forget that your Savior is the one who conquered death and sin. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:50.880 Your Savior is the one who went to the cross to save you. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:53.119 Your Savior is the one who rose again. 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:55.920 Your Savior is the one who ascended to heaven. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.000 Your Savior is the one who right now is praying for you. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:16.960 And so whatever you're going through, whatever struggle it is, the authority of Christ as your great high priest means he has complete and total access to God the Father, the creator God of the universe, and he is there in his ear praying for you. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:28.400 Nothing else can bring that strength into your life. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:30.880 There's no other form of religion. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:32.799 There's no other structure of faith. 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:34.559 There's no other belief system. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:51.599 There's nothing else that has a God who stepped out of heaven, died for you on the cross, rose again, became your great high priest, conquered death and sin, and is now there advocating and mediating for you for all of eternity. 00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:58.960 Nothing can separate you from the hand of God because Jesus is our great high priest. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:16.880 When Paul says in Romans, I'm convinced neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things that are present, nor things that might come, nor height, nor death, nor any other created thing that has ever happened in the world can ever separate us from the love of God which is found in Christ Jesus. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:17.440 Why? 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:21.039 Because his authority as your high priest. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:27.680 The fear of death can never separate us from the love of God. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:31.440 I got a chance to spend a couple of days with my mom this week. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:33.200 My dad is in heaven. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:34.960 You know why I know that? 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:40.160 Because he held fast to his confession that Jesus is a high priest. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:57.599 I know that my dad believed in Jesus and he trusted him and he is in heaven, and I know that because Jesus is my high priest, and I know what he does, and I know what he means, and I know my dad believed in him, and I know my dad is in heaven because of the authority of Jesus as his great high priest. 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:03.279 There's an incredible comfort that I never have to worry where my dad is. 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:04.799 My hero. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:09.759 He's with Jesus because Jesus holds him in his hand. 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:14.079 Jesus is ever-living to make intercession for him. 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:27.680 Jesus is the guarantee of the covenant of God sealed in the blood of Jesus that when you know him as your Savior, you will be in heaven and nothing can ever stop it. 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:32.640 When you face those questions and those fears, how am I going to get through this? 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:33.920 How is this going to work? 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:35.599 You know how it's going to work? 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:47.440 The great high priest sitting at the right hand of God with all of the authority and power of God will carry you through it. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:51.359 There is nothing greater than him. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:53.839 How do I know that's still the case? 00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:58.480 Because that verse says, as the high priest, he remains forever. 00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:01.440 He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:07.920 He is the same Jesus with the same mission and the same authority and power in our lives. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:23.039 When you start to think about Jesus and you start to focus and hold fast to your great high priest by understanding his authority and his power, the circumstances that you are in begin to pale. 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:35.359 It doesn't mean they're not real, and it doesn't mean they're not difficult, but it means you now understand that you are held in the hand of your great high priest. 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:37.759 Second thing I want you to see about Jesus. 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:55.759 When you're holding fast your confession to Him, when you are reminding yourself of, listen, this is when I was saved, and I know I'm saved, and I've been having this quiet time, and God's been speaking into my life, and I know I'm a believer, and I know what that means, and I know because of the authority of Jesus, I can never be separated from him. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:29:01.039 The next thing he wants you to hold fast to is this the experience of Jesus. 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:02.640 Experience of Jesus. 00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:04.319 Look what he says. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:17.279 We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:19.119 He's already told us this once. 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:20.799 This is such an important fact. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:23.680 He is reiterating what he's already told us. 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:26.160 Flip back to Hebrews chapter 2. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:30.799 At the end of that chapter, in verse 17, here's what he says. 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:40.319 He's been explaining to us that people live and people die, and Levitical priests, they had a great ministry, but they died because they're human, just like he was talking about before. 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:46.000 And then he says, Jesus stepped out of heaven, but he became a man like us. 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:54.319 So that, because you see, in order for the price to be paid for a man's sin, a man must die for that. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:30:00.160 But Jesus stepped out of heaven as our great high priest and became a person. 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:08.720 So that his life that had no sin, when he gave his life on the cross, it was free of judgment. 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:13.759 So that his death could actually serve as a substitute for ours. 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:24.079 And when you place your faith in Christ, what you're doing is you're trusting his death and his resurrection, and you're giving him your life of sin, and he's giving you his righteousness. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:27.759 You are surrendering your life to him because he gave his life for you. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:29.359 And so here's what the Bible says. 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:40.240 Therefore, in verse 17, he had to be like his brothers in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:49.519 So not only is it his authority as our high priest, but it is his experience as our high priest to make payment for the sins of the people. 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:56.559 For since he himself was tested and has suffered, he is able to help those who are tested. 00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:13.599 What that means is Jesus just didn't come riding down out of heaven in flaming chariots and all of that and pronounce to the world, I am the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and step out of that chariot and walk in boldness to the cross and go, do your worst and there die for us. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:15.839 That's not what Scripture teaches. 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:18.160 And it's important to understand. 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:29.759 Jesus loves us so much, the Bible says that he stepped out of heaven and he squeezed himself into the same body that we live in and he tracked through the same life that we track through. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:32.960 So that he could go through every struggle. 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:35.680 He could feel every pain. 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:42.000 He could see and feel what fear was. 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:48.079 He could go through temptation and understand the struggle that we go through. 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:50.240 But yet he conquered it all. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:51.920 He did it without sin. 00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:53.519 He did it all correctly. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:32:00.160 He showed us the model that God's power in us through Jesus is greater than all those things that we face. 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:13.680 But listen, if we just had some white robed, flaming haired chariot throne and all that, and he had never been through what we've been through and our selfishness, we would immediately say, You just don't know what I'm feeling. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:16.160 You know how I know that? 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:20.160 Because I've said that plenty of times, and I'm sure you probably have too. 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:22.079 You just don't know what I'm going through. 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:23.599 You just don't know how hard this is. 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:24.319 You don't know. 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:25.519 How do you know what it feels like? 00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:26.720 How do you know what it feels like? 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:27.759 Let me tell you what. 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:33.440 Twice in two chapters, the Bible makes it clear to us that Jesus knows exactly what it feels like. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:37.519 Look at what it says in chapter four. 00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:44.240 He has been tested in every way as we are. 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:50.480 Pastor, I lost my loved one. 00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:52.319 This person was my whole life. 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:54.559 They were my heroes, my life. 00:32:55.200 --> 00:33:00.799 Well, it's clear from Scripture that at some point Jesus lost Joseph, his earthly father. 00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:05.599 You see, he just disappears, and Mary is there all the time. 00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:09.359 And Joseph would have been there all the time if he was there, but he had passed away. 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:11.359 He lost his loved one. 00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:13.839 We know that he lost friends along the way. 00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:16.400 We have one story about a guy named Lazarus. 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:18.880 We know that he had friends who let him down. 00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:23.680 In fact, we know that the men who were closest to him let him down. 00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:33.519 He had to sit in the Garden of Gethsemane facing all of that spiritual warfare and all of that temptation and all of that sin and all of that struggle. 00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:41.440 And his three best friends in the world couldn't stay awake long enough to pray for him for just a couple of hours. 00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:44.720 They didn't even understand what was happening. 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:46.880 He had explained it over and over and over. 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:53.519 Peter, one of his closest friends, he's explaining to him, I'm going to go to the cross and I'm going to do this for you because I love you. 00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:57.839 And Peter has the audacity to say, Jesus, you're just wrong. 00:33:59.119 --> 00:33:59.759 Wow. 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:02.799 That's pretty incredible. 00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:06.720 I mean, that's pretty bold, just to tell Jesus he's wrong. 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:08.960 Let me ask you a question. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:16.079 How many times do we in essence tell Jesus he's wrong? 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:22.320 Because in our weakness, we let our doubts cripple us. 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:34.480 Or we manipulate our circumstances to try to be in control of them because it feels more comfortable for us rather than placing our faith in him. 00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:39.519 Jesus knows what our struggles are. 00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:41.360 Scripture is clear about that. 00:34:41.440 --> 00:35:02.239 At the beginning of his ministry, you know the story of his temptation when he's led up into the mountains and he's fasting and he's praying, and then he's tired, he's exhausted, he's hungry, he's been doing spiritual battle to begin his ministry, and Satan shows up and he begins to push and prod and lie and call and all of that. 00:35:02.639 --> 00:35:07.760 And Jesus turns to Scripture and he wins the battle. 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:12.079 Yet without sin. 00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:18.239 Listen, Jesus' experience for you is that he knows exactly what it feels like. 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:25.039 When you come to him, you see this picture of his authority as our great high priest. 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:31.920 But you need to know the scriptures and see those pictures of when Jesus cries over a lost friend. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:34.800 He faces temptation. 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:37.760 He has a friend let him down. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:41.360 He sees the world around him struggling. 00:35:41.679 --> 00:35:45.360 He goes riding into Jerusalem to die for their sins. 00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:52.239 And he sees all of these people in the Jewish faith who don't understand the moment. 00:35:53.039 --> 00:35:55.119 And it breaks his heart. 00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:58.960 He knows what we feel. 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:07.760 And the Bible makes it clear when you look at his experience, it calls you to him, and you can trust him because he knows. 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:10.000 And finally, his provision. 00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:21.840 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. 00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:26.239 Another one says, in our time of need. 00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:32.480 It means this idea that I need this right now, and I need Jesus right now in this moment. 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:34.159 And He is there. 00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:38.239 He provides the mercy and the grace that we need. 00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:40.719 He provides the strength that we need. 00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:44.159 He provides a sense of his presence when we feel alone. 00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:51.039 He provides the promises of God's word, and they're alive, and they speak directly into our hearts, and they grab that moment. 00:36:51.519 --> 00:36:57.599 The Bible says it's like a two-edged, double-edged sword, and it goes right between our soul and the spirit. 00:36:57.840 --> 00:37:05.440 That very question, that doubt that you are tempted to have, that fear that you are beginning to let control you, the word of God speaks in there. 00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:06.800 He speaks to you through that. 00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:08.079 He says, I am here. 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:09.280 I love you. 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:12.400 I am still on the throne in heaven. 00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:17.599 I am right here in God's ear for you because I love you. 00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:20.079 And you are mine. 00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:28.559 How many times in our lives do we take our eyes off of Jesus and we begin to look at the circumstances? 00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:33.039