SERMON OUTLINE:
Question one: Who is this Great High Priest?
Question Two: What does this Great High Priest have to offer?
Question Three: Why does he qualify as our Great High Priest?
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• John H. Starkey was a violent British criminal.
• He murdered his own wife, then was convicted for the crime and executed.
• The officials asked General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army,
• To conduct Starkey's funeral.
• As Booth stood before the gathered congregation;
• He faced as ugly and mean a crowd as he had ever seen in his life,
• But his first words stopped them and held them:
• "John H. Starkey never had a praying mother!"
• TRANSITION: The book of Hebrews reassures us that we have one who prays for us.
• Not a mother (sorry Roman Catholics but Mary cannot help us!),
• But verse 14 tells us clearly that it is Jesus, the Son of God who prays for us!
• So let’s look at the passage;
• And we will ask the passage some questions and it will provide us with some answers!
Question one: Who is this Great high priest?
“…since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess”.
• Our high priest is identified for us as: “Jesus the Son of God”,
• While the name ‘Jesus’ and the title ‘Son of God’;
• Are used in the New Testament on many occasions;
• You might be surprised to know;
• That this is the only time they are used together in this way.
Now they are used together in this way to remind us of the unique character of our priest:
• “Jesus” is the earthly, the human name given to the baby born at Bethlehem,
• “Son of God” is the title given to the second member of the Godhead.
• The name “Jesus” reminds us that he is fully human.
• The title “Son of God” reminds us he is fully divine!
• Together those two descriptions remind us;
• Quote: “He is man as though he were not God, and God as though he were not man!”
Ill:
• When the new parents went with their baby to get him examined by the doctor;
• The doctor told them, "You have a cute baby."
• The father replied, "I bet you say that to all new parents."
• The doctor responded “No, just to those whose babies really are good-looking."
• The father then asked: "So what do you say to the others?"
• The doctor said, "He looks just like you."
• TRANSITION: We have a priest who ‘looks just like you’
• He is fully human;
• Yet he also ‘looks just like God’ – because this priest is fully divine.
• Quote: “He is man as though he were not God, and God as though he were not man!”
Question Two: What does this high priest have to offer?
• Answer: Two qualities are mentioned (vs 15):
• ‘Sympathy and grace’.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are— yet was without sin.
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”.
• Question: What does this high priest have to offer?
• Answer: ‘Sympathy and grace’.
(A). SYMPATHY.
• Our high priest sympathizes with our weakness.
• The Greek word for ‘sympathize’ means “to suffer with.”
• There’s identification in that word.
Ill:
• Our high priest has been tested as we are tested.
• We know he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness.
• ill: When I first purchased a computer,
• I remember it used to have a big sticker on it that said; "Hardware tested".
• That is not put on my computer for negative reasons, but positive.
• The product has been examined and proven to be the genuine article in working order!
• TRANSITION: Our high priest has been tested as we are tested.
• We know he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness.
• As a man he has been weak, just as at times we are weak.
• As a man he has suffered, just as at times we suffer.
• And don’t forget he has known what it’s like to stand before the court;
• And to face its merciless judgment.
• And he faced the court as an innocent man with a corrupt judge!
• Our high priest really does sympathize with us;
• There’s real identification in that statement.
(B). GRACE.
• Not only does he offer us “grace to help us in our time of need.”
• Did you notice that his throne is even called; “a throne of grace’.
Ill:
• Normally in the Bible:
• The throne of God is one of holiness & judgement;
• i.e. Ezekiel said: “The brightness of the throne was the glory of the Lord”.
• And he fell down upon his face before this glory.
• i.e. Isaiah saw that throne and responded: “Woe is me, I am ruined!”
• i.e. The apostle John saw that throne and “fell down as dead”.
But here in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 we are invited to come to a ‘throne of grace’!
• Isn’t that comforting?
• It’s not called a throne of truth, or a throne of holiness, or a throne of justice.
• But rather a ‘throne of grace’.
• Our high priest Jesus does not sit in a courtroom, robed in contempt,
• Scowling down from His bench;
• Brining a gavel down on our lives and saying, “Guilty, guilty!
• As we stumble over our humiliating confessions.
• No, his throne is not a smug courtroom;
• But a sympathetic confessional - a throne of grace.
You and I are called to come before the throne of grace & mercy:
ILL:
• The story is told of a politician;
• Who, after receiving the proofs of a portrait, was very angry with the photographer.
• He stormed back to the photographer and arrived with these angry words:
• "This picture does not do me justice!"
• The photographer replied,
• "Sir, with a face like yours, you don’t need justice, you need mercy!"
Note:
• Did you notice in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 the order given.
• Let me read it to you again.
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”.
• This verse says we come asking for mercy not grace;
• In fact when we come asking for mercy we then find grace to help!
• But it important not to get the cart before the horse!
• We come asking for mercy we then find grace to help!
Quote:
• "Mercy is when you don't get what you deserve”.
• We deserve punishment but we find forgiveness.
• “Grace is when you get what you don't deserve."
• Grace is receiving blessing from God and that blessing is undeserved.
I think this verse is a reminder that we may come into the presence of God;
• With ‘confidence’, with ‘boldness,’ with “assurance”;
• But we are not to come the wrong way
• i.e. taking God for granted or expecting cheap forgiveness.
• We have an open door into the presence of God;
• But we must always come the right way i.e. asking for mercy!
• This verse is a reminder that we have no bargaining power with God;
• We simply come in and through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ!
• And the good news is God is rich in mercy, he delights in mercy;
• And when we come asking for mercy we then find grace to help!
Question Three: Why does He qualify as Our great high priest?
• We are told two factors in chapter 5 verse 6;
• That make Christ's priesthood unique,
• And therefore make his ordination greater than another High Priest.
(1). He is a High Priest forever (vs 5-6a).
“In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
‘You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.’[a]
6 And he says in another place,
‘You are a priest for ever,”
• No Old Testament priest ministered forever,
• Because each priest died and relinquished the office to his successor.
• The word "forever" is an important one in this letter.
• At least six times the writer affirms that Christ's high priesthood is forever
• (5:6; 6:20; 7:17, 7:21, 7:24, 7:28).
• And, since He is a Priest forever,
• He gives His people salvation forever:
Quote chapter 7 verses 23-28:
“Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office;
24 but because Jesus lives for ever, he has a permanent priesthood.
25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them”.
(2). He is a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek (vs 6b).
“In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
‘You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.’
And he says in another place,
‘You are a priest for ever,
in the order of Melchizedek.’”
To the Jewish people pedigree was and still is very important:
• If you were from a priestly or kingly background;
• You needed to be able to show to others that you qualified.
• Priests had to descend from the tribe of Levi.
• Kings had to come from the tribe of Judah.
• This meant that the powers of the king and priest were forever separated;
• Within the Old Testament arrangement.
Now we know that Jesus was a member of the tribe of Judah:
• He needed to be if he was to fulfil the role of Messiah, king of the Jews.
• Yet the writer of this letter shows us that Jesus was also qualified to be a priest as well.
• Christ's ordination or calling as a priest;
• Is valid because he comes from a different order from the other Old Testament priests.
• They belonged to the order of Aaron;
• Jesus belongs to the order of Melchizedek.
Question: Who was Melchizedek?
Answer: Melchizedek was a priest mentioned only on three occasions in Bible:
(1). HIS FIRST MENTION:
• We read about him in Genesis chapter 14.
• Melchizedek is a mysterious character, he appears from nowhere in Genesis chapter 14:
• Then three verses later he disappears again.
• We know nothing about his ancestry, his birth, his reign or his death.
• All we know about him are his three titles:
• We just know he was a priest of the "Most High God",
• He was' king of peace'; ‘Salem’ means ‘Peace’.
• And Melchizedek means 'King of righteousness'.
(2). HIS SECOND MENTION:
• The Bible is silent about Melchizedek, for a thousand years nothing!
• Until he is referred to in one cryptic verse of Psalm 110 verse 4.
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
• But to a Jew this was an important psalm;
• It was recognised as being Messianic (speaking about the Messiah)
• So long before the writer of the book of Hebrews;
• The psalmist recognised God’s Messiah would be;
• “a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
(3). HIS THIRD MENTION:
• After another 1000 years of silence,
• He emerges as someone an important in the book of Hebrews.
• Where the author mentions him eight times.
• And uses the phrase ‘order of Melchizedek’ four times.
• The point is this:
• The writer of the book of Hebrews is saying;
• That both history & prediction (prophecy) support the validity of the priesthood of Jesus.
• Jesus is unique and has both the titles and roles of king and priest;
• Because he is a priest in the order of Melchizedek,
• This priesthood comes before the Jewish priesthood under the Law of Moses.
• And supersedes it.
In Conclusion:
We have a great high priest who is:
• Accessible.
• All-sufficient.
• He invites us into his presence!
• Look at verse 16 one last time.
Question: Who is invited?
Answer: “Let us come” – every Christian is welcome (no exceptions!)
Question: How do we come?
Answer:: Boldly.
Question: Where do we come?
Answer: “To the throne of grace”.
Question: Why do we come?
Answer: “That we might receive mercy”
Question: What do we receive?
Answer: “Mercy and grace to help”
Question: When do we come?
Answer: “In our time of need”.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=yPXZij3Kq6zY1pZxzYte2l1gHkM0vydP&forceSave
