Hebrews 4:14-16

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This passage contains two exhortations based on three declarations.  The exhortations are to hold fast our confession and draw near to the throne of grace with confidence.  These instructions are particularly helpful in light of the revelation the author has made about Jesus being our Judge who knows all our deeds, words, thoughts, and motives.  We would naturally tend to flee or hide from such a judge.  Instead, we should hold fast and draw near to him.  The reason we should do that is because of these three declarations about who He is.

JESUS IS OUR EXHAULTED HIGH PRIEST: It is good to have friends in high places.  Jesus is far more than a friend; He is our High Priest.  He is our redeemer.  He is our advocate.  He intercedes for us.  He is enthroned at the right hand of the Father doing all those things on our behalf.  We could not be better represented in the highest of all places possible in the universe.  This is the primary reason that we should hold fast to our confession of faith.  Why would we ever turn away from such amazing advantages of being in Christ?  Life on earth can be difficult, seem unjust, and our circumstances can be terribly confusing.  However, we face all those realities with a Friend is the highest of places.

JESUS IS OUR SYPATHETIC HOLY EXAMPLE: It may seem of little comfort to have a divine advocate because, in our minds, God cannot relate with man.  However, in the person of Jesus, God became a man.  He can sympathize and understand the unfair and broken world in which we live because He lived here.  He was tempted and tested in every way that we are but did so completely without sin.  He knows what it is to be tempted and how to gain victory over every sort of temptation.  In fact, His temptations were far greater than ours because of His sinlessness.  For us, temptation diminishes as soon as we give in to them.  Since Jesus never gave in to temptation, it kept getting stronger and stronger.  He know how hard it is for us to face trials on earth victoriously so His us the perfect source of help to lead us into victory.  This truth means we should hold fast to Him as our source of hope and draw near to Him as our source of help.

JESUS IS OUR MERCIFUL HELP IN NEED: Jesus is not only highly exalted and perfectly holy, He is also gracious and merciful.  The thought of drawing near to a holy and exalted God should make us tremble, but we can do so with great confidence because we can rest assured that as we draw close to Him, we find mercy and grace.  Because He has experienced the trials we face; He hurts when we hurt and rejoices in our victories.  When we have placed our faith solely upon Him; we will not be condemned by Him but experience His forgiveness.  We are set free from the wrath of God towards sin and freely given access to the heavenly places where He dwells.  That is our reality today if we are in Christ!  The promises we have about the future are even brighter.

APPLICATION: Don’t doubt or waiver in our faith.  Hold tightly to our confidence in Him knowing that He is on our side and by our side.  Go to Him in prayer asking for strength to face the trials of this world and to confess our failings.  Rejoice in the help we have from Him today and the hope we have from Him for eternity.

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