Hold Fast – Part 3
Hebrews 4:14-16
July 19, 2015
As you know, we have been making our way through
This tremendous book of the Bible known as “Hebrews”
It is called “Hebrews” because the people it was written to
Where Hebrews in every sense of the word.
On one hand they were called “Hebrews” because of their racial heritage.
• These people were Jewish.
• They were descendants of Abraham
• They were from the Hebrew people
But these people were “Hebrews” in another sense.
If you remember from our study of Genesis,
Abraham was the first man called a “Hebrew”.
In his day “Hebrew” was not an endearing term.
It meant “one who crosses over”.
It was a term that spoke of someone
Who was dwelling in a land that was not their own.
If you watch Gunsmoke, Abraham would have been called a “squatter”
Today he would have been looked at as an “illegal alien”
And the recipients of this letter are
Definitely “Hebrews” in that sense of the word as well.
They are those who have left Judaism in order to embrace Jesus Christ
And they are suffering for it.
The only difference is that in this case
They are not suffering at the hands of their new land,
But rather at the hands of their old one.
They have been imprisoned
They have been mocked
They have had their property seized
And all because they were embracing salvation through Jesus
Now all of that they handled very well.
But as I have told you now a couple of times, they are now facing the biggest battle of their lives.
It has been decided that anyone who confesses Jesus
Will be completely cut off from the synagogue and the temple.
• That meant no high priest, which meant no intercession
• That meant no altar, which meant no sacrifices and no atonement
• That meant no holy of holies, which meant no presence of God
• That meant no feasts or festivals, which meant no corporate worship
The line had been drawn in the sand.
These “Hebrews” had crossed over and
No longer would the Jews allow them to be Jewish and Christian.
They must choose.
And the decision is hard.
Not just because of all the history and tradition and social implications.
But if you are going to leave Judaism and trust in Jesus,
Then by all means you had better be right.
If you are going to leave your PRIEST and your SYNAGOGUE
And your ALTAR and your SACRIFICES and your FEASTS behind,
THEN JESUS HAD BETTER BE EVERYTHING HE CLAIMED TO BE.
Now you see the dilemma.
This is more than just the threat of persecution, this is your eternity.
To say the least, such a dilemma is weeding out those who are genuinely committed to Jesus from those who only claim to be.
These Jewish followers of Jesus are facing the dilemma of their lives.
And to that, the Holy Spirit has penned a truly remarkable letter.
(we don’t know the human author, so we are content to attribute it to the Holy Spirit)
And if I had to sum up the whole of the book of Hebrews,
I could do it in two words:
PICK JESUS
Consider Him, Trust Him, Hold Fast to Him, but above all else, pick Jesus.
The reason of course is because Jesus is greater than anything else.
• Greater than the Prophets
• Greater than the Angels
• Greater than Moses
• And last time we saw that Jesus was greater than Joshua
Because Jesus did what Joshua could not do, which was give “rest” to God’s children.
Jesus is greater.
And currently the thrust of the author is to remind these Hebrews
That they need to Hold Fast to Jesus.
Don’t turn away now just because it is hard.
And this request takes up Hebrews 3 and 4
And we’ve been working our way through it.
You’ve already seen the first two reasons to hold fast to Jesus.
#1 THE PUNISHMENT FOR DEFECTION
Hebrews 3:7-4:2
And we can’t go all the way back through it,
But if you will remember, the main point was simple.
Don’t be like faithless Israel.
You know, those people who once before promised to follow God,
But then fell away because it was too hard.
The writer quoted Psalm 95 and reminded that God “loathed” that generation and swore they would never enter His rest.
So hold fast to Jesus
Hebrews 3:12 “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”
Last time we met together we saw the second reason to hold fast to Jesus
#2 THE POSSIBILITY OF REST
Hebrews 4:3-13
And again the main point was this.
Rest is a reality and rest is available.
If you will remember, “Rest” was that one thing
Always promised but never achieved.
• There was rest in the garden (God rested)
• Sin removed that rest (Adam’s curse promised labor)
• People searched and begged for rest (Noah)
• God finally offered it through Moses (The land of rest)
But Israel never achieved it.
• 40 years in the wilderness
• Failure to drive out all the inhabitants
• Worship of Baal on the high places
• Exiled to Babylon
Rest had never been achieved.
And then we saw this carpenter from Nazareth, and He said:
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
And the writer of Hebrews wants you to remember that.
Rest is real
Rest is available
BUT IT IS AVAILABLE ONLY THROUGH JESUS
Hebrews 4:11 “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.”
And so again, the point is simple:
HOLD FAST TO JESUS
Because of the punishment for defection
Because of the possibility of rest
And this morning I want to give you the third reason to Hold Fast to Jesus.
#3 THE PROMISE OF GRACE
Hebrews 4:14-16
There you see again the command we have been addressing.
“hold fast”
Verse 14, “let us hold fast our confession”
And as we have said, that is the exact opposite
Of what the Hebrews were tempted to do.
They were tempted to fall away and abandon Christ.
The Holy Spirit here is commanding exactly the opposite.
“hold fast”
So let’s look a little closer at WHY.
(14-15) “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through 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.”
At this point we need to do a little homework.
If you are following closely with what the writer has been saying then there is a possibility that verse 14 can seem a little out of place.
• He just warned us about defecting like faithless Israel.
• He just told us to enter God’s rest
• He just told us that God would know if we didn’t.
And then we get these two words, “Therefore, since…”
At this point we would expect him to say something like:
• “Therefore since God punishes those who fall away…”
• “Therefore since no creature is hidden from His sight…”
• “Therefore since there remains a Sabbath rest…”
We sort of expect that because it flows with
What we have been covering for the last two chapters.
But that isn’t what he says.
He sort of jumps out into left field.
“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.”
And that can actually seem a little random because he hasn’t said anything about Jesus being “high priest” for quite some time.
And so the writer can actually feel a little ADD
But he isn’t.
He is simply RETURNING TO HIS PRIMARY POINT.
Since the moment the writer began this letter
There was one main thing he wanted you to know.
He wanted you to know that in Jesus you “have a great high priest”
He introduced that in chapter 1, verse 3
Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
He expounded a little on it in chapter 2
Hebrews 2:17-18 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
In fact, he will tell you later that this is his main objective.
Hebrews 8:1 “Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,”
So the writer is not jumping off theme here,
Instead he is jumping back on theme.
He wants you to hold fast to Jesus,
• Not only because of the punishment for defection,
• Or the possibility of rest,
•
But because Jesus is your great high priest
And you most certainly don’t want to abandon that.
Jesus is your “great high priest”
Now the Jews certainly understood a need for a priest.
When the priest Eli in the Old Testament learned that he had wicked sons who were sinning against the Lord, he asked them:
1 Samuel 2:25 “If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?”
And that is a good question.
Who will intercede between you and God?
You need a priest!
This is what was making leaving Judaism so hard for these Hebrews.
If they left Judaism, they were leaving their priest behind.
They were losing their sense of access to the Father.
They were losing the one who would atone for their sin.
In Judaism they had a priest – they just didn’t have a great one.
BUT JESUS IS A “GREAT HIGH PRIEST”
“great” translates MEGYS
And it is a word that means great.
It can mean “bigger and better”
It can refer to a “higher rank”
It can refer to “more ability”
In Matthew 8:26 it is translated “perfectly”
Matthew 8:26 “He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”
In Matthew 20:31 it is translated “all the more”
Matthew 20:31 “The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
In the simplest sense we are referring to one that is “better”
Jesus is no ordinary high priest,
He is Bigger, Better, Higher Ranking, More Able,
Who Went Further, Accomplished More, And did it all perfectly,
Fully exceeding anything any other priest ever did.
LET ME SHOW YOU WHY
Because Jesus has gone where no other priest has ever gone.
Jesus has “passed through the heavens”
Now think about the work of the Jewish high priest.
• A man made tabernacle
• The Holy of Holies
• Could only enter once a year to make atonement
• And he must get in and get out
It was only a man-made copy of God’s altar,
But the priest still didn’t have full access to it.
But Jesus took His sacrifice directly into the very presence of God.
Jesus “passed through the heavens”
The Bible teaches of 3 heavens
• The Atmospheric heavens – clouds are (see it by day)
• The Stellar heavens – stars are (see it by night)
• The Abode of God – the unseen heaven where God dwells
Jesus passed through the first two and now dwells in the third.
That alone makes Him a greater high priest
Than any who have come before Him.
Hebrews 9:11-12 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
He has taken His ministry to a level that no Jewish priest ever did.
No priest ever entered the third heaven
No priest ever lingered even in the man made holy of holies
And certainly no priest ever sat down there
But Jesus did.
He entered the abode of God and sat down,
“having obtained eternal redemption”
He is “a great high priest”
BUT THAT ISN’T ALL
(15) “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.”
Here is the next area that separates Jesus
From every other high priest available.
HE IS SYMPATHETIC
“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,”
A priest is one who mediates between God and man.
No one wants a priest who goes to God and says:
“I really don’t know what their problem is. They’re just messed up.”
None of us want that.
We want a high priest who is sympathetic to our struggles.
JESUS WAS!
Jesus was FULLY MAN
He became human.
He learned first hand of all the “weaknesses” of the human race.
Hebrews 2:14a “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same,”
John 1:14a “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,”
He came to walk amongst us so He would be able to sympathize with us.
Jesus is “a great high priest”, because He understands our struggles.
He is sympathetic to our weaknesses.
Psalms 103:8-14 “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”
Jesus was sympathetic – WHY?
Well, look at what the writer says next:
HE WAS SEASONED
“but One who has been tempted in all things as we are,”
Here we learn why he can sympathize with us.
He has been seasoned.
• He knew the pains of hunger
• He knew the pains of fatigue
• He knew the pains of betrayal
• He knew grief
• He knew despair
• He knew dread
Beyond that, He faced every single temptation.
Luke 4:13 “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”
And incidentally,
He faced a greater degree of temptation than you will ever know.
Hebrews 12:3-4 “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;”
What does that mean?
When Jesus was in the garden, He was in such agony over what He had to do that He literally sweat drops of blood.
Have you ever been in such temptation and agony
That you sweat drops of blood?
Jesus is sympathetic because He was seasoned.
You will never go to Him as your priest
With a struggle that He can’t identify with.
He was SYMPATHETIC, He was SEASONED
HE WAS SUCCESSFUL
“yet without sin”
He defeated every temptation
He overcame every temptation
He knew your hardships and limitations, but He defeated them.
Earthly priests can sympathize with your weakness
Earthly priests can walk through the same struggles you walk through
BUT NONE OF THEM CAN CLAIM PERFECT VICTORY OVER THEM
You could come to me and ask me to teach you how to play the piano.
I can identify with your weakness,
But I can’t help you overcome your problem.
BUT JESUS WAS SUCCESSFUL
This makes Him a greater high priest than any the world has ever known.
And because of that, the command is simple.
“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.”
You have the greatest high priest the world has ever known,
Don’t pull away from Him now.
Don’t leave Him to return to one of those lesser priests.
There is no one else like Him
Hold fast
But in reading these three verses, you also notice that
Holding fast is not all that the writer wants.
He actually gives a second command:
(16) “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.”
He just told us that we have a great high priest.
We have a priest who passed through the heavens
We have a priest who sits at God’s right hand
We have a priest who is sympathetic, seasoned, & successful
NOT ONLY SHOULD YOU NOT FALL AWAY
YOU OUGHT TO DRAW NEAR!
“Therefore let us draw near”
That is to say – COME ALL THE WAY
You are deliberating where you are.
• You are sitting in a cross roads.
• You’ve professed Christ,
• Until now you’ve kind of been Jewish and Christian.
• Now the Jews are forcing you to choose
• You are contemplating what to do.
Well, by all means hold fast what you have, but beyond that,
COME ALL THE WAY UP TO JESUS.
And this is such a good message because there are so many
Who seemingly sit in limbo right there.
• People who did publicly profess Christ (because in church it’s easy)
• But now they feel the pull back to their old manner of life
• And they are currently at a cross roads
• Do I return to my old life, or do I follow Jesus?
Remember that rocky soil?
Matthew 13:20-21 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.”
Well you could say that these people are about to prove
If they are rocky soil or good soil.
They have professed Christ,
But now their confession is being put to the test
And it’s about to be revealed what they really are.
Well the Holy Spirit’s desire is clear enough:
• First – HOLD FAST
• Second – DRAW NEAR
Not only should you not abandon Christ, you shouldn’t stay still either.
“Draw near”
Draw near to what?
“to the throne of grace”
That is a peculiar name.
The Jews always associated God’s throne with judgment,
The writer now calls it “the throne of grace”
WHY?
• Because Christ has ascended to that throne having obtained redemption.
• Christ has paid the debt
• Christ has satisfied God’s wrath
• The judgment has been poured on Christ
Now the throne isn’t distributing judgment, it is distributing grace
And the writer here says that we can draw near to this throne.
It is another way of saying that we can draw near to the very presence of God.
And if that wasn’t mind blowing enough,
Notice HOW the writer says we can approach that throne.
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace”
TIMEOUT
If I’ve learned anything from reading the Old Testament,
It is that you never approached God’s throne,
And if you did, you certainly wouldn’t do so confidently.
In fact, only one man once a year even entered the holy of holies,
And he had bells sewn on the hem of his garment
So that people would know if he had died in the presence of God.
And yet the writer says we can approach it “with confidence”
WHY?
Because you have a great high priest there.
Listen to what Jesus taught:
John 16:25-27 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.”
Now there are more benefits to Jesus being your priest than this,
Which we will get into throughout the course of this study,
But for now just notice what has transpired.
Through Jesus, you can now do what no Jew could ever do.
You can confidently approach the very throne of God.
For what purpose?
“so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
“receive mercy” – forgiveness of sin
• You can now draw near to God’s own mercy seat through Jesus.
• You don’t need an earthly priest (all earthly priests today are blasphemous)
• Through Jesus I can confidently go to God’s throne and find forgiveness.
Romans 8:33-34 “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
“find grace” – help with life’s struggles
• You don’t need a priest to relay your requests to God.
• You can draw near to God’s throne of grace through Jesus.
AND I SHOULD THINK THE POINT IS ADEQUATELY MADE
Instead of running from Jesus, why don’t you turn and run to Him,
The One who can give you rest
The One who can grant you access to the Father
The One who can give you mercy and grace
SO HERE IT IS
• You are in a cross roads – a crisis of belief
• On one hand is your old manner of life, whatever that may be
• On the other hand is Jesus the One who offers mercy and grace
And you have to choose what to do with Him.
Will you run to Him, or will you run away from Him?
If you run away,
• There is no mercy
• There is no grace
• There is no rest
• There is only the anger of God.
But if you run to Him
• You find atonement and mercy and forgiveness for sin
• You find grace to help in life’s struggles
• You find rest from your efforts to make yourself pleasing
But one thing you can’t do is stay where you are.
YOU ARE A SHIP AND SHIPS WILL DRIFT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
