Senior Chapel Sermon

14 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. 15 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. 16 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.

Intro: What does it mean to have confidence?

Andrew Bogut running back with fist raised before Steph Curry 3 (he started celebrating before it happens because of how much confidence he had in his teammate) & “Swaggy P” missed 3 celebration (missplaced confidence)

Where do we put our confidence?

I want to tell you today that…

Title: “You have a High Priest”

What is a High Priest? Why should I care?

If you want to know more about this, start reading at Exodus 25. The function of a High Priest to enter into the presence of God on behalf of the people

Going to the Temple, seeing, smelling, hearing the shedding of blood was a graphic reminder of the result of sin. Judgment. Wrath. Shedding of blood. Death.

You see after Adam & Eve sinned, the people had a sin problem. God is a Holy God and He cannot dwell with sinful people. But God was merciful and He didn’t immediately go to judgment. He desired to restore fellowship with the people and to bless them.

God had them build a Tabernacle (a tent or mobile Temple) so that He could dwell in their midst.

God cannot dwell with wickedness, but He provided a way. He placed a large curtain in the Tabernacle separating the Holy of Holies from the sinful people (this was the mercy of God. He wanted to dwell with us without killing us with His Holiness). [apology to St. Ansgar’s for last week. God cannot become dirty]

The High Priest would go before the LORD on behalf of the people to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. Only once a year - he was a sinner to so he had to be cleansed first. The blood that was sprinkled came from animals, spotless, unblemished animals. They were a substitute that God allowed to take their place. The blood of the spotless lamb was shed instead of the blood of the sinner.

The people could not come to worship God without a sacrifice dying in their place. Without the High Priest, having been cleansed according to God’s Word, the blood of atonement could not be brought into the Holy of Holies to be sprinkled on the mercy seat. This blood of the sacrificial lamb satisfied God’s wrath.

Who is your High Priest? Two points: He is Great and He can Relate

1. He is great (our text tells us two titles)

a. He is Jesus,

the Son of Man, your brother

Was made man in order to suffer and die for you

Made propitiation with His own innocent blood

Hebrews 9:11-12, “11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, ... 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

In His work as your High Priest He offered His Himself as the sacrifice for you. All those sheep and goats were just pointing forward to the true sacrifice for sins, Jesus, your High Priest.

b. He is the Son of God!

What does Hebrews tell us about how great God’s Son is?

Hebrews 1:1-3, “1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

He has passed through the heavens

Rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, or as it says here “passed through the heavens”

Your High Priest is the Son of God who has passed through the heavens

What difference does that make for me?

“Therefore” - Look at the verses prior:

Hebrews 4:11-13, “11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

How confident does that make you feel?

That God knows all the thoughts and intentions of your heart

Law: the Word of God is living and active… powerful in exposing us… our straying hearts condemned

You will not find confidence in yourself when you’ve been exposed in your sinfulness

“holding fast” vs. straying/hardening of heart. (Opposite of holding fast our confession is a straying heart). They weren’t holding fast. They were straying.

Ex. of the Israelites: When they were wandering through the wilderness God had already miraculously delivered them from Egypt, opening up the Red Sea for them to walk through, provided food for them from the sky. When they arrived at the promised land, did they have confidence? No! They panicked. They feared the giants in the land. God had promised to give them this land, but they didn’t have confidence in the LORD even though He had given them every reason to trust Him. They looked themselves. They felt like grasshoppers compared to the Giants in front of them. They lost sight of God. They did not hold fast. They let go of God’s promise. They hardened their hearts.

What are the ways we harden our hearts? Are you facing giants problems in your life that you don’t believe God can overcome? What fears cripple you and make us feel like a grasshopper) and tempt us not to believe that God is good enough to care for us and strong enough to overcome for us as He promises? Addictions? Pornography, drugs, alcohol, anxiety, depression, mental illness, money, your own shame, the corruption of the world, wars.

12 (Heb. 3:12-13) Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

“Since then we have a great High Priest...” or “Therefore, since we have a great High Priest” … “Let us hold fast our confession”

Our hope is not in ourselves. If we look at ourselves we will see grasshoppers. But if we look to our High Priest we can take confidence.

Romans 10:9-10, “ 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.””

Review: What is our confession? Jesus is our confession. Don’t look to yourself or any other man for confidence. Hold fast to Christ Jesus, your High Priest!

“We come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold fast to our confession” (Heb. 3:14) Did you hear that promise???

You have a GREAT High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God who has passed through the heavens! Your High Priest is Great... AND He can RELATE.

2. He can relate

a. He can relate you in ALL your weaknesses

Hebrews 2:14–15 ESV

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Hebrews 2:17–18 ESV

17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Some of you may struggle with anxiety. Jesus can relate to you. Think of how He sweated blood and agonized over the bitter cup of death that He was about to endure.

Some of you may struggle with great grief over lost loved ones or heartbreak. Jesus can relate to you. Think of how Jesus wept when His good friend Lazarus died and how He wept over Jerusalem.

Some of you may struggle with painful or frustrating physical conditions. Jesus can relate to you. Think of how Jesus suffered in His body under the whip and nailed to Cross.

Some of you may struggle with being rejected by people. Jesus can relate to you. Think of how Jesus endured mocking, slander, and rejection.

All of you struggle under the weight of your sin. Jesus can relate to you. Think of how He bore your sins on His shoulders as He hung on the Cross.

Jesus is able to relate to you in all of your weaknesses. He HAS related to you in all your weaknesses.

b. He can relate to you in all your temptations: “Tempted as we are,”

Have you been successful in resisting temptation? I think I know the answer. I imagine that some of you are just sick and tired of giving in to the same temptations. How many times have you said, “I’m going to do better next time I’m tempted,” only to find yourself in defeat and shame once more. I hate to break it to you, but you are powerless to fight temptation on your own.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be;

Let that grace now like a fetter

Bind my wandering heart to Thee:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;

Prone to leave the God I love.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus willingly underwent temptation for you.

He felt the intensity of hunger, thirst, and exhaustion while He fasted in the wilderness

He felt the alluring temptation of the Devil’s tricks as Satan tried to draw Him in with comfort for his aching body, and offering him great earthly power .

You and I feel the overwhelming pressure of temptation. Jesus faced the Devil’s greatest efforts. We give in easily, but Jesus outlasted him.

yet without sin

Jesus was victorious in your place.

He is able to help you when you are tempted.

What does this mean for me? Let us… confidently approach the throne of grace

“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.

enter into the Holy of Holies THE CURTAIN IS TORN Hebrews 10:20

English Standard Version Chapter 10

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

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Cut a couple minutes

Show that our weaknesses are a result of sin

Simplify/clarify the Law & Gospel movement (especially at the end)

Plan apology

Plan how to read announcements

Prep for Paul - colored bulletins

Find a floor communion person

Make sure it will work to serve the wine instead of the bread

Hollister bulletins and music

Isaiah 61:10–11 ESV

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing By: Robert Robinson, 1735-90

Come, Thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. While the hope of endless glory Fills my heart with joy and love, Teach me ever to adore Thee; May I still Thy goodness prove.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, Hither by Thy help I’ve come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be; Let that grace now like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee: Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.

Oh, that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face; Clothed then in the blood washed linen How I’ll sing Thy wondrous grace! Come, my Lord, no longer tarry, Take my ransomed soul away; Send Thine angels soon to carry Me to realms of endless day.

Brainstorming:

Christ can sympathize with our weakness, temptation, and hunger in the wilderness; pain; facing death/dying

Like the Fathers in the wilderness

life is a wilderness time for us

grumbling

panicked when they were trapped before the Red Sea

Grumbled in the wilderness and wanted to go back to slavery

Didn’t believe that God would overcome their enemies and give them the promised land (unbelief & hardening of heart vs. having confidence in God’s ability/faith). They thought they were better off on their own, finding their own way, providing for themselves. They didn’t believe that God could or would provide for their future home in the land He had promised.

“Therefore” - explain law from previous verses after introducing the first point (show the power of God’s Word and later explain its power in the Promise too)

“Son of God” - our High Priest makes intercession for us a a Son, the Son of God

Applications:

Students feeling confident/weak about the end of the school year

Be bold/take confidence, YOU have a High Priest

The Source of Confidence

We are in a wilderness; do not harden heart like the Israelites did in the wilderness; Jesus went into the wilderness and can sympathize with us and He overcame where we fail; God provided the Promised Land just as he promised and he now promises it again;

Big Idea:

Confidence: where is your confidence? yourself or God’s Promise

You have a High Priest

Assignment:

Process:

read the three lectionary texts many times in English

looked for common themes in the three texts

High Priest

Confidence

Confession of Faith

Selected the Hebrews text as the primary text

Translated the Greek text

Made a Grammatical and syntactical outline of the Greek text

Established the main idea and basic outline from the grammatical and syntactical outline

Read the context of the passage in Hebrews several times, noting portions that provided key support for the text

Meditated on the application of the points in the passage and greater context, especially focusing on Law & Gospel themes

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