(2006 Heart-Cry) Prayer and Revivel Through History — Bob Jennings

As we were gathering last night, I couldn't help but think that there's no doubt a lot of meetings going on in this town, in this nation. Today there's been business meetings, political meetings, big decisions are being made.

But none of those meetings compare with this meeting of God, is what we're doing here. Dealing with the matters of eternity, the matters of our soul, reality, supreme importance. It says wisdom is better than silver and gold.

That's God's economy. That's how God's looking at things. If we can find some wisdom, you've found gold. Shall we pray? Lord, you've been our dwelling place in all generations. Down through the years, poor sinners have found you and made you their dwelling place.

And we're here, Lord, in a waste, howling wilderness. Darkness has settled in on another day, and we feel like those on the road to Emmaus abide with us. Tabernacle with us, visit us. We're very poor, naked, needy, impoverished, apart from you.

We're very grateful that you called us out of darkness, redeemed us with precious blood, set us on the highway to heaven, given us a hope of glory, given us an inheritance. And we're praying, Lord, tonight and in these days, it help us to serve you better.

The Living and Searching Word of God

Amen. Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4, let's read verses 12 through 16. For the word of God is living and active, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. And 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.

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. Therefore, let us draw near, let us come with confidence, boldness, let us come boldly to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I would like to speak tonight, especially on the 16th verse, especially 14, 15, and 16, on coming to the throne. I realize that this is bigger than prayer, but it surely does include prayer. And the high priesthood of Christ and the coming to the throne, the high priesthood of Christ and prayer, it's like we're going back beyond prayer and reasons are given here why it is even possible to come to this throne of grace in prayer.

Holding Fast and Drawing Near

There are two exhortations that are given in this passage, in this paragraph, verses 14, 15, and 16. One is in verse 14, it says, let us hold fast. The other one is in verse 16, where it says, let us draw near.

Five times each of these phrases occur in the book of Hebrews. The first, that is, let us hold fast, is given to us lest we draw back. And the second, let us draw near, that is spoken, lest we not go ahead.

I remember one time in high school, there was a classmate of mine who was injured in a football game. He tore his knee up real badly, and the next week when the coach was showing the rerun of the movie, he, I am told, stopped the movie where this fellow was injured, and he said, now look at that, that is why Bill was injured.

He was going backward when he should have been going forward. And so the exhortation is, let us draw near. God wants progress, and he says, let us draw near to God, nearer, yet nearer. We have been made near by the blood of Christ, and now he is writing that we draw near, yet nearer, to the very presence of God.

Humanity’s Fall and the Need for Conversion

A man in his fallen condition, you remember, you know, is not near to God, he is far off from God. He is shut out from paradise, separated from the presence of God. I remember one time when I was a little boy, I was with my father in a big crowded building in Chicago, and I was separated for a while from my father.

It was a very terrifying experience. But that is the very essence of hell, isn't it? They shall pay the penalty away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. And so, J .C. Ryle, he says, few things are as little realized as the extent of the fall.

Proud man has a love affair with himself and not with God. We would rather murder than we admit were wrong. They tried to kill Lazarus rather than admit they were wrong. Man would rather be flung into hell than bow to need of Jesus.

Isn't that something, the depravity of man? We used to take a sign out whenever we did open air work. We took it out until it was stolen from us. It read, God puts people in hell for neglect of him. And most of the objection that we got on that sign was from professing Christians.

They would say, frequently they've said, God does not put anybody in hell, we put ourselves in hell. Well, there's some truth in that, but you know, it's not what the Bible says. And so, you see, man, proud man, he doesn't mind so much going down to hell as long as he goes down in charge.

That's how fallen man is, how proud he is. We Christians, we have an explanation for the schoolhouse shootings, an explanation for the wars and why there's a jail and a hospital and a cemetery in about every town is because man is cut off from God and is in a state of death.

But this is the backdrop for the gospel, isn't it? That man is fallen, he is not near to God but far. One time I was waiting in a doctor's office and I read an interview that Oprah Winfrey did on Jane Fonda after she'd professed Christ.

And she said, I'm a woman with tremendous inner resources and resilience. I am lucky. I deserve my luck. I was born with an innate goodness. A poor woman does not know the gospel, does she? Mere Christianity is reconciling God to man and man to God.

That's the issue of the gospel, is getting man back into the presence of God. And that's the very end of it all. The very essence of heaven is they shall be with me, that they may be with me where I am.

Is this your testimony here tonight? Can you say tonight, I was once blind but now I see. I was once far off but now I've been made near by the blood of Christ. Have you had a conversion experience? I grew up in a dead Methodist church.

I had absolutely no concept that I needed a conversion experience. I had no idea what it meant to be saved. Saved from what? What's the problem? A while ago we went to a wedding, professing Christians, and at the reception they had a biographical movie.

The name of God was mentioned. Prayer was mentioned. But there was no mention made in that testimony, in that biographical movie, of a conversion experience. Once I was lost but now I am found. You see, it's an avoidance of the offense of the cross.

One time there was a couple. They were obviously not Christians, and the wife died from cancer. And so a professing Christian said to the surviving husband, I hope that this experience will make you nearer, bring you closer to God.

What he did was he played the part of a false prophet to that man. That man did not need to be made closer to God. He needed to be brought to God, period. He was far off. He needed to be made near. These Hebrews, they were Christians.

They'd been made near, right, by the blood of Christ. They had a confession. It says in verse 14, hold fast our confession. They had a confession. They had demonstrated things that accompanied salvation.

They had suffered. They had suffered the spoiling of their goods and took it cheerfully, gladly knowing that in heaven they had a better and enduring substance. But yet, he's writing to them in these terms.

Warnings to the Hebrews

Verse 15, he speaks of a weakness. Sympathize with our weaknesses. And in verse 16, we have these terms. Need. Help in time of need. What was their condition that he was telling, exhorting, inviting, pleading, admonishing them to come to the throne of grace, to draw near.

What was their condition? What was their problem? What was their weakness? What was their need? Scan it in your mind. You know, what was the warning? What were the warnings that were given to the Hebrews?

The first warning is in chapter 2. They were negligent. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? I have never destroyed a car by reckless driving. But I have destroyed a car with neglect.

Neglecting to check the oil. And so he tells them, we ought to pay all the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. Another problem that they had is found in chapter 3. He warned them against what?

Hardness of heart. Lest any of you be, lest your hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Have you ever tried to repair a rust spot on your car? You've got this putty and it's very soft. But you add this other substance and all of a sudden it begins to harden.

That's what sin does to our heart. It hardens the heart. Lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. A third warning, a third problem that they had was immaturity. We see that in chapter 5.

When for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need for someone to teach you again. Which be the first principles of the oracles of God. It's not that everybody is to be a teacher, James says. But nevertheless, after a while, we all ought to be able to say something good and clear and right.

A fourth problem they had is the warning in chapter 10. Lest we go on sinning willfully. Sinning willfully. I mean deliberate loose living. And the last warning that we have is in chapter 12. And that is they were not rightly responding to discipline.

Taking it too hard on the one hand and they were fainting. Taking it too lightly on the other hand and brushing it off. And so they were in danger of falling back, shrinking back, drawing back, falling away.

These words, these terms come up through the book of Hebrews. They had made a profession and now they were in danger of shrinking back. And so in that he exhorts them, let's draw near. And all of that in light of verse 12 and 13.

The searching eye of God. All things open and naked before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Verse 12. The searching word of God. Discerning the thoughts and the intents of the heart. How can we draw near?

I feel like such a failure. I feel so commonly defiled. And God knows it all. All the secrets. And here I am. And yet the invitation is draw near. Come boldly to the throne of grace. How can he say that?

How can he give them this powerful encouragement? How is it that he wants us to think that way? Let's look at the encouragements that are given here. Namely, the one big encouragement. And that is the great high priesthood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Christ the Great High Priest

Look what it says here. It says, first of all, that we do have a priest. Since we have a great high priest. We do have a priest. Even the heathen know that they need a priest. They know that there's something wrong somewhere between them and the God who is there.

And they know that they need to go between a mediator, an intercessor, a representative. They know they need someone to represent them and make some sacrifice, whether it's a chicken or a pig, before the God who is there to try to propitiate him so that they can be a worshipper.

And so he's saying we have a priest. We know that all the other priests, whether they are the ones in the Old Testament or whether they are the heathen priests, we know that there is only one true priest, only ever been one, only one real priest who has ever done the work of interceding and propitiating.

There is one God, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now he appears in the presence of God for us. Just as a ribbon is tied to the cage of a fan and is upheld by the breathings of the fan, so we are upheld by the breathings of his intercession.

I have prayed for you that your faith fail not. He prays for us how? John 17, he prays for our sanctification, our unification, our glorification. He prays for us. He intercedes for us. And so we have a priest and he says, Isn't it wonderful when you feel like you're at the end of the rope?

Isn't it wonderful when someone says, I'll just take care of all of that for you? That's what the Lord is saying has done for us. And it says that we have a great high priest. The Hebrews would know that that's important because it was only the high priest, only the high priest that could enter into the very presence of God beyond the veil.

And so again, and so again, it's a reminder of the free access that we have to come to God, the open access that we have. He is a priest, he is a high priest. But then it adds another adjective and it says we have a, what a great high priest.

Christ’s Greater Sanctuary

Why so great? Why so great? Because, number one, a greater sanctuary. It says he has passed through the heavens. Passed through the heavens. Right there in verse 14. Look at it. Enjoy it. Put your finger on it.

Underline it. A great high priest who has passed through the heavens. It's one thing to be working for the government and have an office here at the local level. It's another thing to have your office in the Capitol building in Washington, D .C.

He's in another realm. Another realm. He's passed through the womb, passed through this life, passed through the grave, passed through the heavens into the very highest heaven to appear in the presence of God for us.

At the right hand of God. Five times in the book of Hebrews it says that. And in chapter 8, verse 1, he says, just so we don't miss it, he says, now of the things that we have spoken, this is the sum.

We have such a high priest who has sat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. Don't miss the point. Here it is. He's there at the right hand of God. He is attempting, trying, writing to present the dignity and the glory and the honor and the sufficiency of our great high priest.

I grew up on a farm in northeast Iowa. And every farmer knows you're going to get stuck now and then. And so one time we had the truck go down real bad in the mud. But my father had a provision for such things.

He had a strong cable and a long cable, real long. Why did he have to have a long cable? It was so that the pull tractors could be out on solid ground. Out on solid ground, away from the mire. And so here we have such a high priest who has passed through the heavens.

He is on solid ground, way out in another realm. Charles Spurgeon says every swimmer knows that as long as the head is above water, the body is okay. Sometimes I ask people, what is your hope of heaven?

Now let's just get it real simple. Why would God let you into heaven? Their answer ought to be, if they know the Lord, something of the nature that they have a representative who has satisfied God on their behalf and paid their sin debt.

One time there was a couple that attended our church. He was a commander of the hospital at a nearby Air Force base. A commander, pretty high up. And he invited Terry and me to come over and have supper with him.

He lived on the base. And so we pulled up to the base there at the gate and the guard came out and stopped us, of course. And we told him that Colonel Chan had invited us. Now he gave a call and Colonel Chan came right down and ushered us in.

We'd have never got in if it wouldn't have been for Colonel Chan. We'd have never got in if there had to have been somebody in there who was in a position of authority. And so we're talking about a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.

He's in with God. He's accepted with God. And he bids us come to the throne of grace boldly with no doubt. A second reason why he is a great high priest, and that is because of a superior sacrifice. Not only a superior sanctuary, but a superior sacrifice, a superior work that he did.

Christ’s Superior Sacrifice

His work was acceptable. He passed through the heavens. Back in grade school, you didn't pass if your work wasn't good enough. He passed through the heavens. The work that the Lord did on the cross was obviously sufficient, obviously accepted, because he passed through the heavens into the very presence of God.

All of the work that these other priests did, they never could take away sin, they never could put away sin, they never could satisfy God but the Lord Jesus with one sacrifice, which he offered himself.

As that sacrifice, by that sacrifice he put away sin. He took away the sins of the world. Think of this language. He took away the sins of the world. We have all we can do to get the trash man to take away four bags of trash.

It says, he took away the sins of the world. Took them away. No, not all without exception, but all without distinction. The Samaritans, they said, you're the Savior of the world. The Savior of the world.

The Redeemer of a new humanity, a new heavens, a new earth. What a work the Lord has done. He paid it all. And so he's saying, you come boldly to the throne of grace. I remember one time going into the jail to talk with those fellows and there was one guy, he says, I'm in a terrible mess.

And we talked a little more and he admitted, I'm in a terrible mess. But he says, I'm not afraid. He says, I've got a good lawyer. I thought, boy, there's the gospel right there. A third reason why the Lord is a great high priest, and that is because of his greater tenure.

Christ’s Eternal Intercession

His greater tenure. It says he passed through the heavens. If he passed through the heavens, obviously he came out of the realm of death and the grave. You know, if after the conference was over on Sunday, why, somebody called me on the cell phone.

They say, where you're at? Well, we just passed through Memphis. Obviously, they'd know that we weren't back in Muscle Shoals. And so the Lord passed through the heavens, out of the realm of death. He ever lived to make intercession for us.

Think of all these other priests. I mean, Aaron was an outstanding priest, and yet he was stripped of his garments on Mount Hoar and he died. Eliezer was a faithful priest, but he died. Phineas was an outstanding priest.

I mean, he executed judgment with the jealousy of God, and yet he died. Ahimelech, he sacrificed his life for David. He died. Eli trembled for the ark. He died. Zechariah, Luke 1, 6, walking in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord, and yet he died.

They all died, but the Bible says the Lord Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. No death. He conquered death, resurrected, raised, appearing in the presence of God by the power of an indestructible life.

Think of it. You might have a good lawyer that knows your case. He knows you, but what good is he if he dies in the middle of the case? You might have a banker that's very sympathetic. He can get you that loan, but he dies, and you're out of favor again.

It's bad enough when your barber dies. But here, the Lord Jesus ever lives to make intercession. I mean, this is the most important thing that we ever will need. And he ever lives for us. Another reason why the Lord Jesus is a great high priest is because of the greatness of His person as deity.

The Son of God and the Son of Man

It says here in verse 14, Jesus, the Son of God. Not sons of men, nor Levi, nor Aaron, but the Son of God. Deity, sovereign in your very creation. Sovereign in your redemption. He chose you. He called you.

He died for you. Sovereign over you in every way, the Son of God. Charles Wesley caught the idea. He says, Arise, my soul, arise. Shake off your guilty fears. The bleeding sacrifice in your behalf appears before the throne.

My surety stands. My name is written on His hands. The Father hears His pray, hears Him pray, His dear anointed one. He cannot turn away the presence of His Son, the Son of God. So come. Come as we are.

Load down no good. Hell-deserving sinners, we come. The Son of God ever lives as a priest representing us. Another reason that the Lord Jesus is a great high priest is because not only is He the Son of God, but He is the Son of Man.

It says here in verse 15, We do not have a high priest who cannot be sympathized and so on. Jesus, the Son of Man. The man from Nazareth. And so as the Son of Man, it says He can sympathize with our weaknesses.

What a combination! Deity and yet humanity. So majestic and yet so sympathetic. I remember one time when we had made a major decision as a family, and the weight of it began to settle in on me. That night, I couldn't sleep.

I went back to the chapel and spent the night in the chapel. By the time morning was there, the distress was upon me in such a way that I was beginning to feel paralysis. And I realized it was a demonic attack, but there was not any way I could get myself out of it.

There was no way I could think my way out of it. I could hardly breathe at that point. I called Terri over when the sun rose and said, could you come over and help? She came to the office and I said, Terri, you may be the only one that can help me because you know me and you know the situation.

And I'm telling you how we do need sympathy, but infinitely more. Think of the Lord Jesus. It says He can sympathize with us. He can identify with us. We find Him weeping, sighing, crying, in tears, enduring.

And so we're invited in Peter to cast all of our cares upon Him. Cast them! Cast our cares upon Him for He cares for you. The Old Testament priest, he wore the names of Israel on the shoulder and he wore the names of Israel on the chest.

He wore them on the shoulder to show that He cares. He bears us. And on the chest to show that He cares for us. Why can the Lord be so sympathizing? The next phrase tells us. It says He can sympathize with our weaknesses because He has been tempted in all things as we are.

Tempted just like us. He felt it. If you were a farmer, who would you like to have representing you in Washington, D .C.? A doctor or another farmer? And so it says here the Lord can sympathize with us.

He went through all the adversity that we go through. He was tempted to presume upon His Sonship. If you're the Son of God, if you're a Christian, just go ahead. He was tempted to eat out of the will of God.

He was tempted to accept a promotion prematurely. He was tempted to take unnecessary risks. Risks out of the will of God. And so, all of these things. Unmarried and so on. You know He was tempted with unrighteous anger.

He looked upon the Pharisees with anger. All of these things. The Lord was tempted like we are, and yet without sin. It says He was tempted in all things like we are. That means there was nothing, there is no area that He does not understand about what you're going through.

And moreover, He was tempted to the Supreme, to the utmost, because He never did give in. He never did sin and knuckle under. He never did give in to that sin. You think of two swimmers going across the English Channel.

Which one has exercised the most? The one that gives in and calls for help halfway across? Or the one who swims all the way across and makes it to the end? And so the Lord never did give in to sin. He felt the full pressure of the devilish devices and yet did not give in.

A real humanity. Real humanity. The Lord Jesus possesses real humanity. As a man, He won a real victory. Do I believe in the doctrine of impeccability, that is, that the Lord could not sin? I do not believe in the doctrine of impeccability.

As deity, the Lord could not have sinned. But as humanity, He could have sinned, but He did not. As a man, He won the victory. For example, He said, Not My will, but Yours be done. I mean, the Lord Jesus wanted out.

If it's possible, take this cup from Me. He wanted out. He had a will and He wanted out. But He kept His will submitted to the will of the Father and never did sin. He came through it in victory. And that's the point that is made in the next phrase, tempted in all things like we are and yet no sin.

Knew no sin. Did no sin. In Him there was no sin. Which of you convicts me of sin? A spotless lamb. Spotless lamb of God. Would you want a financial counselor that was always bankrupt? It says, The Lord, He did not sin.

He came through perfectly. I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless lamb of God. And so the invitation has come boldly to the throne. Now let's look last at this exhortation. We've looked at their exigency.

More Grace and Mercy at the Throne

We've looked at these encouragements. Now let's look at this exhortation that is given us here. He says, Let us come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.

We're invited to come for more grace. More grace. More grace on top of the grace that we've already been receiving, that we've already received. James knew that, and he says he gives more grace. Peter knew that, and he said, Go in grace.

The psalmist knew that, and he said, God gives grace and glory. Moses knew that, and he said, If I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way that I may know you and find grace in your sight.

There is grace on top of grace. The invitation is to come for yet more grace. When I was growing up, my parents had a milk dispenser sitting right by the kitchen table. And we could just turn around and pull the lever and get another glass of milk.

It was so handy. We drank a lot of milk. And so here is a throne of grace where grace is dispensed where you can come and get more grace to help in your time of need. New portions of grace. More grace.

In 1974, I was in Canada with Brother Keith MacLeod. That would be Bill's brother. For eight months, I was there with him. And in the middle of those months, he received an invitation to preach at a large evangelical Mennonite church in Weimar, Saskatchewan.

I think I've shared this before. Let me tell it again. And so we prayed every day. There were four of us. Every day we meant for prayer. And it was an open-ended time of prayer. And there was just a sense of daily going and getting fresh portions of grace.

More grace. More grace. We prayed repeatedly for these meetings that were coming up. And so the meetings began from Sunday through Sunday. And on the very first meeting and every meeting, God was there.

There were 20 to 40 people that were at the front looking for help, looking for mercy, under conviction of sin, under the grip of God, and some of them in a terrible way. Keith never did give any invitation, but people came sometimes before the preaching was done under such conviction of sin that there were strong cryings and tears, confessions of sin being made across the aisle even before the preaching was done, so loud that he had to stop sometimes.

And I couldn't help but think of those times of prayer where we went back for grace and more grace. Think of the men of God that down through history have obtained more grace, obtained help from above.

Biblical Examples of Obtaining Help

There's Isaac. He was in a barren situation and he cried out to God for his wife and obtained help from above. Jacob had a man that was mad at him, but he obtained help from above. There was Joshua, long in battle.

He cried out to God and obtained help from above. The sun stood still and there was never a day like it before or after when God listened to the voice of a man. David says, my adversaries have increased.

He was all bowed down. He said more in number than the hairs of my head. And he cried out to God with his voice and God heard him and was his glory and the lifter of his head. There was the case of Samuel and the Philistines were attacking them and they said, don't stop praying for us.

Cry to God for us. And Samuel cried out to God mightily and God came and they routed the Philistines and they named that place what? Ebenezer. Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. Joshua had arrows pointed at him in every direction and it says he cried out to God and God heard him and helped him and moved the enemies away.

Elijah cried out to God. He found help from above. A fire came down and the dead came up and the heavens were shut and opened again. This is help. Help in time of need. The other day I went out north of town to the country to pray and got out of the car and locked my keys in the car.

I had to call home for help. Terry came out with another set of keys and as she left, I thought, this is help. It says help in time of need. Here we are in our struggle against sin. That's the language of Hebrews 12.

Our struggle, our striving against sin. What do we do with these Goliaths? What do we do with these long-standing enemies? It says here we can come and find grace to help in our time of need. We ought to come and cry mightily for grace.

Sovereign Grace for Sin and Weakness

Grace upon this throne. It says a throne of grace. We ought to think in terms of sovereign grace, mighty, marvelous, matchless, infinite grace that is greater than all of our sins. What sin is too big for the sovereign grace of God?

What Goliath can stand against this throne of grace? Grace that teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Some of the lessons are hard, but He teaches us to deny these things, to deny self and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

Sovereign grace. The reign of grace. Grace to subdue our iniquities. It says, come and obtain grace. I know of a fellow one time when he was about two or three years old in the Lord and troubled by a longstanding, a besetting sin, and he cried out to God from the bottom of his heart, Lord, if I cannot have victory over this sin, put me in hell right now.