Our Faithful High Priest — Anton Bosch

You and to share with you from the word. I'm not going to take a long time making an introduction tonight. I'll talk a little bit more about that tomorrow. How long do we have on the tape? 45 minutes?

60 minutes. 60 minutes. Well, it's a privilege to share the word with you and those who were with us last year will remember the accent a little bit and I try to speak a little bit more like an American but I'm not too good at it yet.

Jesus the Faithful High Priest in Hebrews

So I trust that you'll be able to follow as we go through the word. Amen. Please turn with me to the book of Hebrews and chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. And I wasn't aware that you were busy studying the book of Hebrews right now and we've in fact just concluded a series of 34 weeks on the book of Hebrews and I just had on my heart to share with you some aspects of Jesus as our high priest from the book of Hebrews and I'm going to begin in chapter 4 and we'll see how we go during the weekend.

I have a few thoughts mapped out but we'll allow the Lord to direct us. So I'm going to read from Hebrews 4 and from verse 14 through chapter 5 verse 11. Hebrews 4 .14 through 5 .11. Seeing then that 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 was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray since he himself is also subjected to weakness.

Because of this he is required as of for the people so also for himself to offer sacrifices for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself but he who is called by God just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest but it was he who said to him, you are my son, today I have begotten you.

As he also says in another place, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear.

Though he was a son yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. And having been perfected he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. Called by God as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek of whom we have much to say and hard to explain since you've become dull of hearing.

Hebrews 4:15–16 and the Sympathy of Christ

And I want to speak this evening from verses 15 and 16 of chapter 4. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need.

And the writer to the Hebrews, whoever that may have been, I happen to like the idea that it was Paul, but it doesn't it doesn't really matter, but he is writing to Jewish believers who were struggling with a temptation to return to Judaism.

And so the theme of the book as you know is the better things. That we have something better in Christ Jesus than they had in Judaism. And the book is obviously applicable to us today for two reasons.

Firstly because there are those Christians who want to go back to Judaism, to Jewish practices, to Jewish feasts and traditions. And really what they're saying is that Jesus is not enough. And yet Paul is saying, or sorry the writer to the Hebrews is saying, Jesus is better.

He is a better high priest. He is a better sacrifice. He is the author of a better salvation. In every respect he is better. He has ushered in for us a better hope. And so it's strange then that we would want to go back to those things which Paul calls in Galatians the weak and beggarly elements.

Those things which were simply the things that pointed to Christ. And so we want a relationship with those things that simply point to the reality, the types and the shadows, instead of having a relationship with the reality.

Who is Jesus? The fulfillment of all of those things. But the book is also relevant to us today because I think that it writes to Christians who generally want to give up. And in fact we will be making available a few of the articles which I write and I just wrote this last week on let's go on from Hebrews chapter 11, chapter 10.

Persevering Instead of Returning or Giving Up

And the temptation to just want to give up. And we get so tired sometimes of all of the problems and all of the issues and all of the temptation and all of the struggle of just living life let alone being a Christian on top of that.

And sometimes we're tempted to maybe not go back but just to take time out. Just to stand still for a while. And yet what the writer is saying is we need to go on. And he is over and over reminding them I think at least on two occasions he uses those words.

Let's go on. Let's go on. Let's not look back. And there's that one verse which I always, that just sticks in the back of my mind all the time. Little short verse that says remember Lot's wife. Remember Lot's wife.

Why? Because she looked back and she was turned to a pillar of salt. And so he's writing and he's giving us all of the reasons why we should be going on. He's giving us all of the reasons why Jesus is better.

And he is now speaking about Jesus as the high priest. The first few chapters deal with some other issues. And here he's speaking about this high priest. And he's saying in verse 14, verse 15, we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.

The old King James says who cannot, who is not touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He is touched. He sympathizes with our weaknesses. Notice not just with our temptations but with our weaknesses.

And he gives the reason, and from last year I trust you remember that you have to listen, you have to follow because I'm going to get a little bit complicated. The reason why he can be sympathized, he can't be touched with the feelings of our infirmities is because he was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Christ Tempted Yet Without Sin

I'm going to spend a little bit of time on that idea, on that thought. He was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let me deal with yet without sin. At no stage did Jesus ever sin. So anything that I'm going to say to you now, don't get the impression that I'm saying that that resulted in sin.

He never sinned. Otherwise he could not have made a sacrifice for us. How would we know, and the writer to the Hebrews deals with this, how would we know that his sacrifice was accepted? Because God raised him from the dead.

We could not know that his sacrifice was accepted. Let's say he sinned in that last minute on the cross. Then he would have to die for his own sins. How would we know that? By him not being raised from the dead.

How do we know that God accepted the atonement that the high priest made once a year as he would go into the holiest of all? By the reappearance of the high priest. That was a sign that God had accepted the blood that had been sprinkled on the mercy seat.

And so he never sinned, but he was in every point tempted like we are. What does that mean? The problem is that we have so many scriptures that we can quote, and I'm sure many of us can quote that verse.

And yet we've never really thought about it. We've never really understood what it means and what it means to me. One of the problems here is that there are theologians who say, well, Jesus could not have sinned.

It's a very popular way of thinking. And in fact most Christians really deep down feel, well, Jesus couldn't really sin. And I think that's a question we need to resolve in our hearts. And that's something I want to spend a few minutes on this evening.

And maybe rattle your chain a little bit. Could Jesus have sinned? Could Jesus have sinned? That's the question that we have to resolve because everything hangs on that. You see, if Jesus could not have sinned, then he was not tempted like we are.

Temptation that cannot lead to sin is not a temptation. If you come to me and you say, I want you to go and kill Brother Gary. Now maybe for you that would be a temptation. But for me it's not a temptation.

It's not a temptation. Why? Because there is no potential for me of doing that. There is no chance I would do that. As long as I'm in my right mind. You see, a temptation is only a valid temptation if it can result in sin.

There are many things that are a temptation to me because I'm human. They may not be a temptation to you. Why? Because it's nothing to you. You just look past it and it doesn't tempt you. But it tempts me.

Now one of the reasons why people say that Jesus could not have sinned is because they say, well he was not born with a sinful nature as we are. For those theologians here, he was not born with original sin.

He was not born of Adam. And so we are sinners. We are born as sinners. I trust you understand that may be a little bit difficult concept. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.

We have a sinful nature. We are born with that nature and before anybody is able to teach us how to sin, we sin automatically. That's something we do because that's our nature. Now people say, well Jesus was not born with that kind of nature and therefore Jesus could not sin.

Now let me ask you two questions. Was Adam made with a sinful nature? No. But did Adam sin? Yeah. So did the fact that he was born without the nature of a sinner prevent him, protect him from sinning?

No. Now the angels who sinned, were they created by God with a sinful nature? No. They were made without a sinful nature and yet we know they sinned. And so you can see that not being born with a sinful nature is no guarantee that you will not sin.

It doesn't stop you from becoming a sinner. And so the fact that Jesus was born without a sinful nature did not prevent him, is no guarantee that he would not sin. And so he is born. And one of the essences of our faith is that when he was born he became a man just like us.

And yet that is one of the concepts that we struggle to comprehend and to make real in our lives. He became just like us. The theologians or the creed says that he was very man, yet he was God. Let's just struggle with that concept for a minute.

You see we get the impression that Jesus was not really like us because he was God in the flesh. So he had power that you and I do not have. He had abilities that we don't have. He had a nature that we don't have.

And so he was not really like us. And this is important to the passage that we're dealing with because he says we have a high priest who understands our weaknesses because he was just like us. And yet in reality we don't believe he was just like us.

But the fact is he was just like us. And let me just deal with this, let me just explain this for one moment. Jesus never, don't let them fool you, don't let the Roman Catholics fool you into believing that Jesus was born with supernatural powers.

Jesus did not perform a single miracle until when the Holy Spirit came upon him. He did not as they say when he was a little baby make, a little kid make pigeons or doves out of clay and blow on them and they flew away.

That's rubbish. When he was growing up he grew up exactly like every young person grows up. He went through puberty. You ever thought about that? Are young girls here? All the awkwardness, all the mood swings, all the up and downs, all the hormones rushing around and all of the, he went through all of that.

There was nothing that absolved him from any aspect of the human experience. He was just like us. You see because one of the things that he did when he came is he willingly set aside his divine prerogative, privilege, power, authority, whatever you want to call it.

He never stopped being God, but he set it aside. And the way I like to explain it is this. If you go into some remote part of the world, some third world country where people live in substandard conditions.

Well let's say a rich man does that. Flies in with his helicopter, lands there, looks at the people and says, you know, you should be living better lives than you are living. Why do you drink this water?

Why don't you live in a proper house? You think they'd have anything, they'd listen to what he has to say? Not for one moment. And then maybe he'll say, well you know what I'll do is I'll come and live here with you and I'll show you that you can live a different kind of life.

So he sends off the helicopter and the helicopter comes back with pumps and generators and all the stuff that he needs to build himself a nice big house and he builds this house and he has all of the food brought in by the helicopter every night.

Do you think the people are going to be able to relate to him and say, well yeah, we can relate to that? No. But if this man says, I have all my riches, I have my credit cards, I have my checks, check account and my bank account, but I'm going to leave it all behind.

He can even have the credit card in his back pocket. But he says, I'm not going to touch it. I'm going to come in here with the clothes on my back and I'm going to live just like you live. But I'm going to show you that you can live better.

And if he does that, he is qualified as a role model, as an example to those people. He never stopped being a rich man. The time may come that he says, okay, I've done my job. I'm going back to my mansion and to my helicopter and my jet plane and all my stuff.

But while I'm here, I'm going to not touch the things that I have. I'm not going to touch my power or my money or my authority. I'm just going to leave it alone. Now, I'm going to speak about, I think tomorrow night, Lord willing, about Gethsemane and about the cross.

Christ’s Obedience and the Temptation to Use Divine Power

Because it's a continuation of what we're saying here. And I trust that in that we will see the temptation that comes to Jesus to pull his ATM card out of his back pocket. To use the power that was his.

But he never did that. He did not do a single thing. He did not speak a word. He did not discern the thoughts of men. He did not perform a miracle. That he did not do by the same power that is available to you and to me.

Jesus, during his 33 years, the 30 years before his ministry, three and a half years of his ministry, during none of that time did he for one moment have anything that you and I do not have. Because if he did, he is not a faithful high priest.

He is disqualified to tell me that I need to live a different lifestyle. And who is he? How can he understand my pain? How can he understand my temptation? How can he understand my loneliness? How can he understand my frustrations?

How can he understand the things that I suffer as I live this life of the flesh? He doesn't have a clue. Because he had resources that I don't have. No. He became just like. With the same limitations.

With the same weaknesses. Now remember, without sin. Weaknesses are not sin. Temptations are not sin. But when that temptation is allowed to take root in our hearts and in our minds, it produces the sin.

Being weak is not a sin. But when I allow that weakness to dissuade me, to keep me from doing what I should be doing, it leads to sin. Jesus knew what it was to be tired. He knew what it was to be frustrated.

And I wrote this last week and someone challenged me on that. It's a tremendous exercise to write, Brother Gary. Because people challenge you on everything that you write. And I said, you know, Jesus knew what was a disappointment.

Jesus knew what it was to be disappointed. And I said, how could Jesus be disappointed? But were you there at the grave of Lazarus? And Jesus looks at the unbelief, not of the Pharisees. He knew they didn't believe, but of Mary and Martha and those who had been following him.

And as they sorrowed as those who had no hope. And what does it say? Jesus wept. He didn't weep for Lazarus. He knew he was going to raise Lazarus. He knew that before he got there. But he wept out of sheer disappointment and frustration at the unbelief of the people that he had been ministering to for such a long time and who just didn't get it.

Just did not understand that he was indeed the resurrection and the life. And that the resurrection was not necessarily something which was way in the future, but that he could raise Lazarus there and then.

Jesus comes over the brow of Jerusalem and he looks over Jerusalem and he says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who killed the prophets, how often will I have gathered you as a hen gathers against her chickens?

And yet you would not. Was Jesus not disappointed? He was in every place, in every sense, in every way. He was put in the same positions as you and I are. And yes, he could have sinned. He could have sinned.

Christ’s Sympathy for Human Weakness and Temptation

Because else how will he understand when we are pushed to the very limit? When we are pushed to the very edge? How will he understand if there was no edge? If he had a safety net? It's not an issue. You know, if you're going to walk a tight rope and there's a safety net and a safety harness and cables, I suppose it still takes a little bit of nerve to walk on the thing, but really it's not an issue.

But if you're going to walk from one skyscraper to another in New York City like Blondin did, with no safety net, with no harness, if you fall, that's it. That's a different thing. And folks, in our minds we think Jesus had a safety net.

No, he did not have a safety net. He had nothing that you and I don't have. And so we're able to look to him and we're able to be encouraged by him. And we're able to say, Lord, you really know what I feel like.

You know my frustration. You know my weakness. You know my temptation. Because you've been there. Now let me just clear up that I don't believe and I know that there are people who say that, well, you know, Jesus must have been tempted with drugs and with alcohol and with sex and with money and with all the things that tempt people for that temptation to be valid.

No, I think that's rubbish. You see, it doesn't matter what the area of temptation is. One man's problem may be drugs. Another man's temptation or problem may be gambling. But the struggle is exactly the same.

There is no difference in the intensity. There is no difference in how hard the one has to struggle against his drugs and the other one has to struggle against the gambling thing. It's the same thing.

And the one should be able to have absolute sympathy for the other one, even though it's a different area. So you really just need to be tempted in one area, to the extreme, to the limits, to understand what it's all about.

So Jesus didn't have to be tempted in the precise area that you were struggling with in order for him to understand what temptation is like. Because as I trust we'll see tomorrow night, he was pushed to the very edge, to the very, very limit.

So he understands. And not only does he understand, he has sympathy, he has touched. You see, one of the things about Jesus is that he now perfectly remembers, because he is back in his godly position as God.

And one of the things that comes with that package is the fact that he knows everything. And we as humans have the ability to forget easily. And we have the amazing ability to forget pain very quickly.

That's a protection I think that God has built into who we are. That's why gambling is a problem. Because the gambler never remembers all the times he lost money. He only remembers the times he won. So we forget the pain.

Just ask the mothers, how long did they remember the pain of childbirth? Only until the baby was in their arms. But he perfectly remembers. I received an email last night from a brother. He is 69 and his wife is 67.

He's just discovered that his wife is unfaithful to him. Can you imagine? They've been married for 47 years. I can just imagine what he's going through. But you know what, I cannot feel what he's feeling.

I just can't because I'm not there. I have an idea of what it must feel like after 47 years, at the very end of your life. And you know what, Jesus knows exactly how he feels. Exactly. And whatever it is that you are struggling with tonight, Jesus feels with you.

The same intensity. The same whatever it is. And so we have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. Because he was tempted in every point as we are. Now, because of this, let us therefore, that little word therefore in the book of Hebrews is full of these things.

Remember the book of Hebrews is very difficult to preach on because every verse is connected to the verse before it and the verse after it. There is not a single verse on the whole of the book of Hebrews that stands on its own.

They're all interconnected. And so we have this faithful high priest. And so what we need to do is let us. And maybe on Sunday I'm going to speak a little bit more about let us. And here he's saying because we have this high priest, because he knows, because he's been exactly where you are and where I am today.

Coming Boldly to the Throne of Grace

Remember the prophet I think was it Ezekiel who went down to the captives and he says I sat where they sat. I was in their place. What we now need to do is we need to come boldly to the throne of grace.

And you know it's amazing how that when we get into trouble, when we have temptations, when we have struggles, when we have issues, that it seems that the first place we should be running to is the throne of grace.

And yet somehow that's often the last place we run to. We'll first run to the counselor, to the psychologist, to the doctor, to the pharmacy, to the bank manager, to whoever else we think can help us.

And when all of those have failed then maybe I'll go to the throne of grace. When in fact that should be my first reaction. Isn't it amazing that whenever we have a problem the first thing that comes into our mind is who can I call?

Who can help me with this thing? When in fact my first reaction is let me go to the throne of grace. And so let's come to the throne of grace. The fact that he writes for us to do that obviously is because we need to be reminded and because we often don't do that.

Let's come to the throne of grace. And let's come boldly. Now boldly doesn't mean arrogantly. There's a difference. Many Christians today are arrogant in their relationship with God and they stand before God but we come boldly.

Why? Because we have a high priest. I think sometimes we don't come boldly because we feel well you know God's not really interested in my petty little problem. You know he's got this world to run and he's got you know all the angels and he's got the demons to contend with and he's you know God's busy with really important stuff.

God's not interested in my petty little issues. No he is interested because he knows how important those little issues are. And because he knows he has opened his doors wide open and he says come. Come boldly.

And so it doesn't matter whether the issues are big or whether they're small. Whether it's big temptations, small temptations, big problems, small problems. It doesn't matter. Let me come to the throne of grace.

You know one of the frustrations I have as a pastor. And I was sharing with Brother Gary I'm not really a good pastor. And one of the frustrations I have is when I see people struggling with issues. Marriage problems or whatever it is.

And they won't come to me. And month after month I watch them struggling with the issues. I don't have all the answers but I have some answers. And sometimes I know what the problem is and I know what the solution is.

And I said to my wife you know there's one particular situation for months now. And eventually I went to the brother. I said brother please will you and your wife come and see me. I need to talk to you.

That was a few months ago. They still haven't come. We finally now come to a point where I said you know I've got to get the two of them together separate from other people and I've got to say I want to see you in my office.

Because I need to help them. But they don't want to come. I don't understand why. Maybe they're scared of me. They have reason. Maybe they're scared of what they're going to find out about themselves.

I don't know. But it's incredibly frustrating for me to know I can help them. I can't help everybody but in this case I know I can help them. But they don't want to come. Can you imagine the Lord sitting up there in heaven and I'm just speaking in that way.

And we struggle away at our issues and he's saying come. Come to me. All you labor are my heavy laden. And we don't come. We say Lord I just have to do it. I have to sort this out. I have to handle it myself.

Whatever excuse we have. And he's saying come. Come boldly to that throne of grace. It's a throne of grace folks. It's not a throne of condemnation. I want to see this couple in my study not so that I can come down on them and tell them how they failed but that I can extend grace to them and help them with their situation.

And it's a throne of grace that we come to as we come to the Lord because he's not going to condemn us because we are tempted or because we have even sinned or because we're not getting victory or because of whatever struggles we're going through.

It's a throne of grace. He wants to help us. So he says come. Now we get to a little bit more difficult part. Come boldly to the throne of grace that we may do what? Two things. Obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need.

Obtaining Mercy and Finding Enabling Grace

Two different things. Subtle difference but important difference. You see in most people's minds grace and mercy is the same thing. And it's not. One of the problems and the Amplified Bible by the way is very helpful but it also creates many problems.

One of the problems is that when you read the Amplified Bible wherever you find the word grace it says God's unmerited favor or something to that effect. Free unmerited favor. But when grace is used in the scripture it is not always unmerited favor.

And I've not found a good definition for the other use for the word grace. But the other definition is something like this. God's enabling power. So you remember Paul says I had to scorn the flesh. I prayed three times.

God said my grace is sufficient for you. In other words I will enable you to deal with it. And my grace is sufficient. When God said that to Paul he wasn't saying to Paul my mercy is enough for you. No he says my grace is sufficient.

I will empower you and I will help you and strengthen you to deal with what it is that you need to deal with. So grace and mercy are different in this respect. Particularly in this verse. So there's mercy.

What is mercy? Well it's exactly that. Clemency. Not giving the guilty one what he deserves. And so he says let's come to the throne of grace. And there are two things. It's a two step process. The first step is to obtain mercy.

Let me illustrate it this way. You remember Queen Esther in the Old Testament. She wants to plead for her people and so she goes before the king. But there was a rule that if you came into the king's chamber without permission you would be dragged out and killed.

And so she comes into the king's chamber and what does the king do? He extends his scepter and what does that mean? He's giving her mercy. But was that all she wanted? No she had a request. She wanted more than that but in order to get her request she first needed the mercy.

And once she received the mercy then she could begin to say this is what I want. And that's exactly what he is speaking about here. Let's come to the throne of grace and let's just receive that mercy that he extends to us.

Why do I need that mercy? Because sometimes I don't have mercy on myself. Sometimes I feel that God is judging me or people are judging me or I judge myself and I just need God's mercy in my life. I just need to be aware that his mercy is so great and because of what he has done at the cross of Calvary he is able to cleanse me of all unrighteousness.

So I need to receive that mercy. Now I want you to see that he is using two other words that are also very very different. That we may obtain mercy and find grace. Obtain and find. These are two different things.

Obtaining means getting. You just get it. It's there. Just take it. So the mercy is there. When I come to the throne of grace he receives me. Why? Because of Jesus. Because of the cross. Because I'm covered by the blood.

And so every time I come into his presence I'm able to say thank you Lord for the mercy that you extend to allow me to come into your presence. Sometimes we forget the awesome privilege that is ours to come into the presence of the King.

To come boldly and not to be struck down and to be killed. But he gives us mercy. And so I obtain mercy. That's the easy part. But the little word find. What does that mean? Find. Seek. And you will find.

There's no other way to find but to seek. There's a difference between obtaining and finding. Obtaining means it's there and you just take it. Finding means you have to look for it. You have to seek it.

Ask and it will be given. Seek. Knock. It's a little bit harder. You remember Queen Esther? She had to go through this process with the King and so she says you know my request is that you come to dinner at my house.

And when he came to dinner there was this whole song and dance and she feeds him and wines and dines him and then eventually gets around to the real issue. Folks sometimes grace needs to be sought. Not because God is not willing to give it to us.

Not because he doesn't want to extend his grace to us. But sometimes he chooses and in fact most of the time he chooses to give us the grace in a form and a shape that is not user friendly. What do I mean by that?

I simply mean that when I have a problem with patience I come to the throne of grace. I find grace. I obtain mercy. I say now Lord I need grace. I need you to give me patience. This is the grace I need for my life now at this time.

I need patience. So what does he do? He gives me a tablet and I take it and I know I have patience. Or he gives me a patience shot. How does he give me patience? By putting me through a process. Putting me through a process.

And as I go through that process I'm finding the answer. I'm finding the patience. I'm finding the grace. But that's the part we don't like. Because we think that when I come to God and I bring him my problems I say Lord here's my problems.

Here are my temptations. Here are my sins. Here are my issues. Just take care of them. Give me, give me, give me, give me. Give me grace. Give me love. Make me this way. Do this. Do that. Do the other thing.

And he says I'm going to give you what you need. I'm going to give you the grace. But I'm not going to package it in the way you want it. And so I need to find that grace. I need to find it. Sometimes he chooses to give it to me through somebody else.

I need encouragement. And he sends that person that really irritates me. And I'm just about to reject the grace that I asked for. But I need to find it. Many of the times he sends it to me through his word.

And if I just go to the word I'll find the encouragement I need. I will find the advice that I need. I will find the direction that I need. I will find the strengthening that I need. But you know that means I have to read a few pages.

It may mean I have to spend a few days in reading the scriptures to find the grace that he has for me. And that's too much like hard work. And so this is the problem. Many people come to the throne of grace and they don't find that grace because they're not prepared to look for it.