 We conclude the the fourth chapter so allow me to read to you at verse 14 reading to verse 16 And then what I'm gonna do is I'll go back to verse 11 through 13 and touch on a few things to lead us into verse 14 And then we'll conclude at verse 16 today But reading from verse 14 Hebrews chapter 4 the right of right scene 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 Now as I mentioned a moment ago last time we were together We concluded chapter 4 by looking at verses 11 through 13 I want to use those verses to lead us into verse 14 and to once again develop a context and an introduction So in verses 11 through 13 the writer had urged his readers to enter into the rest that God had prepared for them And he was making it very clear that there should be a singleness of heart and a Singleness of mind in order to enter that rest in other words He was saying we must enter in notice verse 11 how he says let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest And so when he says let us be diligent that word diligent speaks of exert exertion that that is something that we ought to have an Urgent desire for it is something that we should pursue single-mindedly Now Jesus exhorted his followers to that mentality all through his ministry I think that those who think that being a Christian is an easy life only think so because they're not Christians Because when you get saved you begin to understand that there really is a discipline of spirituality That is involved in pursuit of the Lord and entering into the kingdom of heaven isn't an automatic thing It's not something that just happens to everybody who tries to be good Entering into the kingdom of heaven is something that you do with a single-minded mentality. It's something that you pursue with exertion It's something that you greatly desire Not that you are going to be saved based on your works and efforts But because you have that diligence and that desire it demonstrates a true salvation has occurred It's something that you pursue with everything that you haven't and Jesus made it very clear that it wasn't an easy road Actually, it was a difficult one. Jesus spoke about being a gate in John chapter 10 verse 9 He said I am the gate and whoever enters through me will be saved So there's that single-minded pursuit of Jesus Christ who is the gate the entrance into the kingdom of God In Acts in chapter 4 verse 12 the Bible tells us salvation is found in no one else There's no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved And so when we read the Bible and all and we see the claims of Christ I said I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the Father but by me Jesus was making some very strong strong declarations concerning himself and intended us to understand that and to pursue him Because there is a demand involved in the pursuit of God many choose an easier path And they attempt to save themselves through their own efforts I want you to remember that there are basically two religions on the face of the earth You need to remember that there are two basic religions on the face of the earth somebody immediately thinks no wait a minute There are so many different ones. How can you say there are two well? There are basically two there are gods and then there's the devils the devils comes in a variety of packages But God well his salvation comes to one person and that's Jesus Christ the Bible says in Proverbs 16 25 there's a way that seems right into a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death that path seems to be Appropriate it seems to be the right way But in the end you end up you end up lost You end up going in the wrong direction even when that path seemed to be the right one Jesus made it very clear that his path was a narrow one Remember with me in Matthew chapter 7 if you'd like you could turn there for a moment Just keep your place here in Hebrews Matthew chapter 7 And remember with me what Jesus taught us in verses 13 and 14 there in Matthew chapter 7 In Matthew 7 13 and 14 Jesus spoke concerning a narrow path He had said in Matthew 7 13 14 enter by the narrow gate For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction And there are many who go in by it Because he says narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life And there are few who find it That word narrow is a Greek word that means restricted When Jesus spoke of this narrow path he was speaking about a path that was demanding He was speaking about a path that was calling for self-denial that was the picture that he was using there The way of the cross Is demanding it's torturous. It's it's afflicted. It's it's cramped. It's narrow And entering into the kingdom of God is something that exacts a toll in other words sacrifice is necessary That's why Jesus said if any man will come after me let him deny himself take up his cross daily and follow me And so the picture of the pursuit of God is something that you you release all the burdens all the extra things the baggage That would keep you from entering and you release those things in order that you might pursue with full energy And so Jesus made it very clear that there are few who find it Now when he says that there are few who find this this way that leads to life And notice that he did say that there are few who find it That would imply that this this path needs to be sought for and sought for Diligently to find something speaks about looking for it. And there are a few who actually seek for it Diligently they don't pursue it. They don't look with all that they have within them And so there are a few who find it because few see the value of seeking for it in the first place That is again because people are normally seeking out an easier path When that is less demanding and requires less sacrifice But the bottom line is those who fail to seek the narrow way are going to the way of destruction when Jesus spoke of destruction That speaks of ruin or loss an exclusion from salvation and therefore if you're going to enter into his rest You enter in through Jesus Christ now back in Hebrews chapter 4 That's basically what we're looking at here We're looking at the fact that there are those who don't pursue they don't enter in And he was exhorting his his readers here to be diligent That's what he's meaning in chapter 4 verse 11 when he says let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest spiritual growth and spiritual Seeing the benefits of the pursuit of god is something that requires a lifetime of simple obedience and a pursuit of godliness it requires that And it's not really that difficult because i've discovered that you pursue the things that you want the most You pursue them with all of your heart when you want them that much That's the way it is and if you want to enter into the kingdom of god and be a mature believer Well, you just pursue that with everything that you have within you You do so because there's something to gain you have an entrance into eternal life and the joy that god gives to you with that That's something worthy of having and it's not something again that you're working for It's just something that you desire to have so you pursue that But the loss is eternal and so what we look for is we look for for the gain We look for the entrance into the kingdom We pursue that kingdom and jesus himself with all that is within us And we are diligent to enter that rest And that's what he said here in chapter 4 verse 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience And so he had been using the children of israel as an example of those who failed to enter the rest Remember with me chapter 3 verse 19 Remember here in Hebrews 3 19 how he said they could not enter in because of unbelief And so that's the example that he uses to believers And he says you need to remember that the Israelites under moses failed to enter into the promised land Because they didn't believe so even Even so we do not trust in jesus may be tempted to return to and this is right into the Hebrews could be Tempted to return to the jewish religion and if you are tempted to return to the jewish religion because he has jewish readers here Then you need to understand you're in danger in danger of judgment There's an interesting scripture in 2nd peter chapter 2 verses 21 and 22. It's a very picturesque scripture Peter said For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness Then after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them But it happened to them according to the true proverb The dog turned to his own vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire He's saying you need to leave those things that you left behind and you need to pursue by faith Jesus christ that you might enter into his rest And so as he was saying that he began to speak concerning god's word Remember verse 12 in chapter 4 how he said the word of god is living and powerful Sharper than any two-edged sword Piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Now on the day of judgment when all stand before the lord God's word is going to open up or lay bare every heart and will reveal its contents It's we're going to be judged in other words based on on god's word and and how we responded to What jesus said in john 12 48 Jesus said the one who rejects me and and does not receive my words as one that judges him The word that i have spoken the same shall judge him in that day And so how did i respond to god's word and and the demands of christ? Did i receive what he had or did i reject and so it's god's word that is used in order to make that determination In verse 13 there is no creature hidden from his sight But all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account All of this obviously is strong warning and he's wanting to remind the people that there is a cost to rejecting christ It's interesting how he says in verse 13. There's no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open The word naked when he speaks of that Speaks of being exposed completely exposed completely uncovered The word open is an interesting picture and there it's actually used in three different ways in the greek language But it's a picture of somebody whose neck is being bent back It could be used in a picture of a sacrifice It can be used in a picture of A battle where a soldier has gotten the better of somebody and has bent their back completely Their neck completely back from the hair like that and they have a knife to their throat And that's the picture that you have right here. It could be a picture of of wrestling Where somebody has gotten hold of his opponent and has used a move to be able to expose the throat But it's all a picture of exposure and it's a picture of helplessness It's a picture of the fact that That that god is in control of all things and and we human beings rather than having some kind of mentality of being able to succeed in our efforts to To overwhelm him. We are the ones who actually are overwhelmed and conquered by god And so that's the picture that he wants us to see there's no creature hidden from his sight He sees everything all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account So god sees everything Psalm 33 verses 13 and 14 says the lord looks from heaven He beholds all the sons of men from the place of his habitation He looks upon the inhabitants of the earth Proverbs 15 3 the eyes of the lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good Psalm 90 verse 8 you have said our iniquities before you are secret sins in the light of your countenance Everything is open and exposed not a single thing is hidden. He sees it all And that's just another picture of our of our being exposed before the lord and god knowing everything no matter what it is That we do god knowing it all and and i've said this to you in a variety of ways over the years how How sometimes we think that we can hide from the lord sometimes we could can Keep him from seeing some things but but that obviously never happens And i'd like to share with you the things that my grandson does and and i shared with you recently How he'll hide under a blanket but his feet will be exposed and and he thinks that you can't see him because he'll say Let's hide and but his feet are exposed and you see these big old feet hiding under the blanket He did that just the other day. It's something different though He came my daughter ana was coming into the room and he said here comes ana He said let's hide and so he just he puts his head behind my back His whole body is exposed But his little head is behind my back and he thinks she can't see him because he can't see her And so i take him i put him on my lap and i put my hand over his eyes like this and i'll say she can't see you Can't she no can you see her no and i'll just do that the whole body's there But and i'll say and ana will walk in and say where'd he go and i'll say i've got no idea He's hiding from you you're gonna have to find him and he's sitting on my lap You know like this and and and it's so easy to see him But the funny thing about jaziah is he actually does think that he's hiding And the funny thing is is i do that before the lord too I try to hide from him I try to keep from being exposed and the fact is of course and even as i shared recently We are open to him. He does see there's not a thing that is hidden And so that's what we were looking at last time we were together and now we can move on into verse 14 And he continues by saying in verse 14 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 Seeing that jesus is our true high priest Let us hold fast to him This is the third time in in this book that he refers to jesus as a high priest We'll look at that in just a moment But he mentioned jesus as a high priest in chapter 2 verse 17 When he said he might be a merciful and faithful high priest He also said something of him being the high priest in chapter 3 verse 1 When he said consider the apostle and high priest of our confession christ jesus So this is the third time that he refers to jesus christ as being our great high priest And so all together in the book of hebrews he speaks of the office of the high priest In 16 passages In the old testament god established the office of what is called the high priest There are certain qualifications for the high priest and and we'll be seeing them as we go through The book of hebrews because he does mention many of these These qualifications but but he's a person according to chapter 5 verse 1 who offers gifts and sacrifices to god A second thing about him is he was called by god and not by man you see that in hebrews chapter 5 verse 4 He alone is the one who offers the highest sacrifice under the law of moses which is on the day of atonement You see that in leviticus chapter 16 According to hebrews 7 25 He is the one who mediates between god and man And according to numbers chapter 6 verses 22 and 20 through 27. He's the one who blesses the people of god This was an individual who would stand before the people and stand Representing god and he would stand before god representing the people He was the high priest and so jesus christ is referred to in that way And i want you to see what he says in verse 14. He says let us hold fast our confession Now when he says let us hold fast our confession there That's another way of him saying to us that you need to remain committed to christ Seeing that jesus is the true high priest hold fast to him Now it's interesting because he is emphasizing the responsibility Of a believer and i find this interesting because as i read the bible I see that there are things that god says that that he does and there are things that he says I'm supposed to do and and I have certain responsibilities that god has called me to And then there are things that god himself does on my behalf Now let me show you this in scripture turn with me to philippians chapter 2 I want to develop something with you very briefly here philippians chapter 2 And i'll show you verses 12 and 13 just to emphasize that there is a part that you play and there's a part that that god plays and we work this together God's part obviously is the key in the cardinal part, but we do have a responsibility I want to show you this in philippians chapter 2 verses 12 and 13 Notice this you'll see man's part and god's part in verse 12 philippians 2 Paul said therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed Not as in my presence only But now much more in my absence Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling you've always obeyed when i'm around But now that i'm absent that's the true test of your character It's one thing when you're the boss and you leave orders to the employees and you say I need you to do these things and have them done by such and so time And they say yes, sir and as long as you're there they're doing the work that they've been commanded to do But when you walk out of that room and they say is he gone yet and the answer is yeah He just drove away. Okay, and then you just begin to do whatever it is that you want to do Because you figure you've got a half hour or 40 minutes to goof off It's one thing to obey when somebody is standing there saying do this It's another thing when you have the maturity and responsibility to understand that you've got a role to play and therefore you do That regardless of anybody's watching you or not Well in salvation he says that he says you've always obeyed not as in my presence only But now much more in my absence and therefore work out your own salvation with fear and trembling now notice with me He didn't say work for your own salvation He said work out your salvation Salvation is something you've already entered into and therefore live a life demonstrating that you've been saved But I have a responsibility and that is to work out my own salvation And how do I do it? Well, I do it with fear and trembling But notice verse 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure It's God who works in you both to want to and to ultimately be pleasurable to him It's God who does that work in you In other words my part is to simply obey His part is giving me the will to do that He puts that within me I'm I'm fascinated by The Pharisees in the new testament The Pharisees and you we've all read of the Pharisees. You're found they they're found in the in the gospels and in the book of Acts they're mentioned Often Jesus had These incredible opponents Called the Pharisees the Pharisees history is kind of muddled. It's very difficult to discover exactly where they came from And how this movement began But it more than likely began somewhere about 200 150 years before christ The greeks had entered into israel and as the greeks were conquering They began what is called the hellenization of israel what that simply means is they began to impose their culture On the nation of israel now the nation of israel recognized itself As being a nation that was set apart by god To shine as lights in a very dark world When the hellenizers came in and began to replace the Hebrew language with with greek and began to bring in their Their athletic games and began to bring in their the Philosophies and and they started to impose on them a variety of their cultural things The people began to absorb that some began to to actually hold fast to some of the greek thought And even the religious individuals began to do so and a sect of Judaism arose called the Sadducees the Sadducees began to Assimilate some of the greek thought and all and therefore began to deny things like the resurrection spirits and angels and things like that What they had what happened is they became the upper elite the the liberals of the society The philosophers and they began to embrace the hellenization process Well, there was another group of people who are very conservative And when they saw this taking place They said we don't want any part of this so they began to strain at the law They began to look at the law more closely and began to really hold fast to the things that they recognized and wanted to be separated from The hellenization process and therefore they were called Pharisees The the word Pharisee means the separated one And so they were separating from the greek process of bringing the worldliness into the nation And at first they were responding to that with a love for god and his word Ultimately though what happened is they began to take the commands of men And they began to make them equal to the commands of god and in doing so they began to undermine god's word and replace them with Man's process when that happened they became what we now call the Pharisee They became legalistic Jesus would speak to them very often and say things to them like you're like whitewashed tombs You're beautiful on the outside, but inside you're filled with decay He'd look at them and say you guys are hypocrites You you strain at gnats and you swallow camels And he would he would lay it on thick with them constantly because They would forbid people from entering into the kingdom of heaven by opposing jesus christ through their rules and their regulations Initially the Pharisees wanted to do something that was right But ultimately what they did is they replaced the word of god with man-made regulations And that's why jesus christ would speak to him in the harsh way that he did And that's why we would see in the new testament how god makes promises to us one of those promises Are that he is is that he will place his his law upon our hearts And so it's not just the outward observation It's not just the doing of the third certain things. It's the being of a certain person God wants to transform us from within and what he does is he takes his word and imparts it to you And he does it from inside There are reasons that you don't steal not just because you might get caught That's one of the lower reasons if I get caught, you know, therefore I don't steal You know, we teach our children don't steal because you get in trouble But if you live with that mentality all of your life, you really don't develop morally because The only thing that gives you permission to do something or not do something is going to be the law Therefore if the law permits something even if it's immoral you'll feel that it's okay to do it because the law permits that And that's what we see by the way in the americans society today if it's legal then it's okay And that's why you see that kind of mentality because they don't rise beyond that Christians have a higher law We have a law of conscience That's why when the lord gets hold of your heart it takes the word of the lord to direct you That's why famous stories like uh Sergeant elvin york come to mind where where he had become a christian and as a christian He reads the bible he reads the bible. It says thou shalt not kill He's drafted to go into the military, but he refuses to go in the reason He doesn't go in is based on the fact that god said i'm not to kill And so he goes in and determines that he can go in because jesus teaches him also in the word of god That you render into Caesar the things that are caesar and into god the things that are gods And what he does is he comes to realize that there are certain obligations that we have To the government because we're living under that authority that gives us permission to do certain things But he went to the law of conscience and the word of god to make a determination to do what was right And so that's how it works for us When god takes his law and places it on my heart I'm not committing adultery Because I love him his word is within me. I love my wife, but it's not something I desire to do It's because god is working in me both the will and to do It's god's word within me because I have received his word and it is written on the tablet of my heart That keeps me from doing the things that my flesh desires Very basic christian teaching But it's a place where a lot of people make the mistakes because what happens is we start to say well If I don't do these things then I'm better because then the average person because I don't do them and they do That's Pharisee is Phariseeism. That's legalism. That's not a righteous way to think I don't do these things because it's god who gives me the will or the desire not to do them And the desire to please him So one I work out my own salvation with fear and trembling But two for it is god who works in me both the will and to do God not only changes my will But he also gives me the ability to perform that which he's changing my will to conform to So whereas at one point I thought it would be all right to do a certain thing When I get the word of god in me and I fall in love with jesus christ I yield myself to him then I realize that one I have a responsibility I do a certain thing but two he gives me the power to be obedient to him to bring pleasure to him So turning on back to hebrus Jesus christ has come in order that he might give to us the ability To have relationship with god And what jesus christ is is he is our priest He's the one who represents me to god and represents god to me in the old testament You had the high priest who was selected by Amongst men by god who had these qualifications to offer the gifts and sacrifices and Mediate between god and men and all that and bring blessings to the people and that's what he's saying jesus is And so he speaks concerning him here in verse 14 And he says again seen 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. Let us remain true to him Let us remain committed to him. Let us hold firmly to him. Now notice. He says in verse 15 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 His divinity didn't prevent him from experiencing our feelings our sorrows our emotions in our pains The son of god came to seek us where we are in order that he might bring us to be with him Where he is You know when i was a new christian new christian meaning within the first few years of my walk with christ I can remember on numerous occasions and by the way I still do this on occasion, but I did it frequently when I was first saved When I was learning how to pray and learning how to trust in the lord I can I can remember I can remember almost verbatim A prayer because I prayed this prayer quite often in a variety of ways But I did pray this prayer quite often and basically it was simply this god you understand God you understand you know Exactly what I am feeling right now jesus. I know you do I have no doubt in my mind you understand I think one of the things that is very most important to me was to have somebody who understood me I don't know about you, but for me that was very important. I wanted somebody who understood me You know and going through girlfriend after girlfriend. I was so crazy. They never did understand me Ultimately, I realized that that's because I didn't understand myself either I can still remember getting arrested on one occasion and being taken to los angeles To the jail there in LA And calling up a friend of mine. I called his father up because I didn't want to call my dad So I called a friend of mine's father and I said can you come and bail me out get me out of here I was 18 years old. I was driving a Volkswagen 1965 Volkswagen. It was my dad's car. They didn't let me drive and I'd been drinking pretty much all night and I was speeding and and I actually pulled the Gear shifter out of the transmission You know, I was just so drunk. I slammed the gear and just pulled it right out of the transmission And so car wouldn't move. I was in fourth gear and it wouldn't go You know once I had to stop and so I couldn't get rolling and I was so drunk I I couldn't even feather it so that I could get the thing rolling and some guys pulled up behind me in a In a big old Pontiac Grand Prix I still remember an enormous car giant car and they were loaded on reds And I was on Pioneer Boulevard in Norwalk. I still remember some of this and they pulled up behind me They said can we help you and I said sure would you please and they said, yeah, what do you need? I said, can you get me rolling and they said okay And so they got their grand prix behind this Volkswagen of mine and and started pushing me and but they were so loaded They never stopped and so we were going down Pioneer Boulevard going towards Imperial Highway and at the last minute they stop And they sling shot me into the intersection going about 45 miles an hour And so I went flying into the intersection hitting the brakes and trying to make the turn which I didn't make So I hit a I hit a signal that was there in the island and smashed the car And then kind of like rolled over to the side of the road and I and I'm just standing there totally like wow What happened just now and and then a car pulls over as a girl friend of mine. She says David What are you doing? I says I'm going home. She said it doesn't appear that you are And a police officer a sheriff from the Norwalk substation pulled up behind me and he said do you stay in the car If you get out, I'm going to have to arrest you for being drunk in public Which didn't make sense to me even to this day. I was so drunk on behind the wheel But if I climb out, you know, I'm going to get arrested. So if I as long as I stay in this shell I'm okay but anyway, he said stay there and and but this girl was there and I wanted to look real cool So I climbed out of the car and before you know it I've got these cuffs on they've taken me to the Norwalk substation And I still remember being booked and and I was a punk You know, I had the long hair and one of the officers was speaking to me and said to me What are you a girl or are you a boy because when at that time if you had long hair, they'd make fun of you So he says what are you a girl or a boy and I looked at him and I said at your age If you have trouble distinguishing between male and female you're in trouble And he didn't appreciate that So he said Take off your glasses and then he sprayed me with mace. I do remember that very well Very painful experience and you learn some lessons through those things and they threw me in the drunk tank there And a few minutes later or maybe an hour or so later here comes these three guys that had given me a ride they got arrested for um for Being loaded in in all and the next morning I wake up and there they are and they still had reds on them So we dropped some reds and off we went to jail. I still remember that very well Well, not very well cloudedly But I do remember it going to jail and then now I'm being processed into the la jail And I call up my friend's dad Ed Ed soli. I said ed can you come and get me? And he said, uh, where are you? I said, I'm in los angeles. So what are you doing there? Well, I I'm um, I'm I'm arrested. I've been arrested And so he calls my dad And my dad comes to pick me up. I'll never forget that wonderful conversation with my dad He was pretty upset my dad didn't smoke but he had a pack of cigarettes and he went through half of that pack Taking me from uh from la to norwalk. I mean he just was chain smoking one after another He was so upset sent me to a psychiatrist to try and get me figured out which it didn't work um All of that to be saying this, you know It takes the holy spirit and the word of god a transformed life that comes through conversion to actually answer those questions for you Uh, it comes through a relationship with god It comes through the knowledge that there's somebody out there who understands you and and and so I was going through girl friends And I wanted them to understand me, but they did not understand me and I would try and tell them This is how I feel. This is what I want. These are the desires of my heart And you know at the age of 18 19 20 what girl wants to be shackled with those kinds of emotional problems And and so I got dumped right and left I never really understood why is because they didn't want to sign up to be dr. Phil to me You know, they they didn't want to be my therapist They wanted a normal relationship with somebody who'd like to go to the zoo once in a while rather than be a monkey You know, and and that's the way it worked, you know, and so when I finally met the lord That's where I began to understand That there is one person Who understands You know my precious marie whom I've been with for many years now To this day Doesn't understand me And you know what? That's okay Because I've never understood her either And we get along just fine with the things that we do understand But there is one person who does understand me And that's what I see here in verse 15 Jesus christ He is the one who who does sympathize with our weaknesses. He understands Why because he was in all points tempted as we are yet he did not give in to sin Jesus understands he understands weakness when he understands weakness is another way of saying he understands the limitations of humanity Jesus understands that's why that's why the bible will present to him there at the tomb of lazarus And how that They had come messengers had come and said to jesus the one whom you love lazarus He's sick unto the point of death And that's why jesus though he delayed for a while ultimately ends up going Asks where is he they take him to the tomb And as he sees the people around him weeping for the loss of this man that was so beloved by them That's why the bible gives us the shortest new testament verse where it simply says jesus wept And he was there weeping weeping at what sin does to humanity weeping at the loss these people are feeling He understands loss He's the one that when when people would approach him and and would say Lord, could you pray for my for my children? He was the one that when they would bring the babies to him that he would actually take them in his arms and hold him Hold the babies in and and and bless them He understood these kinds of things and and he loved the babies and all and that always has spoken to my heart To see the way he was jesus is the one who suffered hunger. He suffered thirst. He suffered fatigue He was rejected and ridiculed. He understands it all when people start talking to me about how bad they have it I I can't help but begin to wonder do they really have it as bad as jesus You see i'll be honest with you it sounds almost cruel in a way and perhaps some may interpret it as being cruel, but I just have never met anybody who suffered as much as he did I just haven't I mean I read the bible I see a man like joe, but joe is a man who has to be reprimanded by god because he was in error jesus was never in error ever He never did anything wrong. I mean if you take the bible literally in in that context as I do um Jesus is the only one who could ever ask the question which of you can convict me of sin He could say that to his own mother who here could speak to your mom and say mama Convict me of sin your mama. Wait a minute. She got a whole man. How old are you 30? Man, let where do you want to start? I mean we can start from the time you were a baby You know you were a strong-willed little brat and you still I mean she could go on and on and on Let's face it if you've got brothers and sisters You know they can they can they can point out quite a number of things that you've done Of course they can why because none of us is perfect. It makes sense to me There's only one person who was perfect and that's jesus and that's why he could stand before mom and say Can you convict me of sin? And his mother would say well absolutely not you've never done anything wrong You're perfect. He is without sin. So though he had humanity yet. He didn't give in to the temptation He understands He understands isaac 53 verses 3 through 5 reads that he was despised rejected by men A man of sorrows familiar with suffering Like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised. We esteemed him not Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows Yet we considered him stricken by god smitten by him and afflicted But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities The punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his stripes We are healed despised rejected a man of sorrows Jesus walked the dusty roads of israel. He was with the people spoke to them shared with them And ultimately was rejected by most of them. He understands And like I said a moment ago, especially as a young believer When I'd be by myself and I'd be crying out to the lord and I did that on occasion not every day but on occasion And I would cry out to the lord and sometimes a strong tears and I would say to him god Nobody seems to understand where I'm coming from I actually did and I still do find comfort in the lord jesus christ when this scripture tells me he does Understand listen next time you're whining and crying To god remember that he does understand you he absolutely absolutely does He suffered He suffered temptations as a man his human nature was a battleground yet. He never sinned He couldn't sin. He never sinned. He had no capacity to sin because he is perpetually victorious So if you want to talk to somebody who knows what sin's all about and what it costs What it exacts from a person he talked to him And that's because he's victorious over it and because he was victorious over it. He can lead you into victory also And that's what you do. You go to the one who never sinned and so what do I do? Well in verse 16 he says let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need God's throne of judgment has become a throne of grace And I can approach that throne with confidence and that is all Because of jesus christ I come to the throne of grace And as I do so I obtain mercy You see in the old testament the high priest would enter into the holy place yearly And he would come so and you'll see this as we go through Hebrews. He would come with blood representing the blood of sacrifice And he was the only one who had the right to enter into the holiest of places And he did so on a yearly basis on the day of atonement Bringing blood which made it possible for him to enter but he had to enter in through a veil He went in through a curtain a very thick curtain very heavy thick curtain But at jesus's death The curtain was rent. It was torn in the in the temple And it's interesting to note then when matthew speaks concerning that in the accounts of the gospel referring to this You see that that the veil was torn, but it was not torn from the bottom up. It was torn from the top down And as it was ripped and opened up that was symbolizing the way of entrance into the presence of god through the blood of christ Had now been made possible That's why I can with confidence in prayer Approach the throne and say Father on the basis of of the sacrifice of your son jesus christ I approach you asking for mercy Lord I realized you're the king of the universe And I don't have any right to access to you Unless you grant me that On occasion I've had the opportunity to go to the white house Some of you know that I've had opportunity on a few occasions to go and to have meetings with with representatives of the president or the president and so We've gone in and in order to get into access into the certain room that you'll be meeting with him You have to go through all kinds of hoops. We had to send in Information all kinds of information about who I am and and then the The government checks everything in your background to make sure that you know, you're not Somebody who's a dangerous type and all of that and finally when you clear all of that Then you have to go you go to the area that's going to take you into the white house And you stand in line and you go through all of these checkpoints Ultimately you go to a final checkpoint and they're looking to make sure you're on the list and when you're on the List and they grant you access you go through one of those machines that checks you for weapons and everything And finally they usher you into an elevator and from that elevator you go to the room From that room you enter in that room you enter in and then they have seating And then you walk in and you and you take the seat and there are Agents on one side and agents on the other and they're constantly just watching the room to make sure that you're not Some kind of crazy guy and they all have those those You know how they have the microphones in their sleeves like that and you'll see them talking every once in a while And bob grenier and I were there together and we look like we look like Like like we our agents were wearing black suits and and so I was standing And I saw some people looking at me like and saying you know and so I looked at bob I said they think that we're uh We're agents and he said yeah, I said go over there So bob walks over there and I'll go hey bob they think that I'm talking to somebody in the microphone here And then and bob would look at me and he go yeah, I know in this funny. I go yeah, you know, we're playing like that But anyway, they allow people like us in there But we have to jump through all of these hoops to get in there and then finally They'll say ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states And then a door will swing open and you're right there next to him I mean There's only a hundred of us in the room or less and the door swings open and president bush will walk in You know get behind the podium just like this and I'm maybe 20 feet away from him and he begins to address us We had to jump through so many hoops To hear him speak So many hoops all these checks all this security all of the the fei agent standing there, you know secret service everywhere Watching every move that we make and yet he's saying we can come boldly to god's throne Now think about that for a minute think about that for a minute I mean in order to see the president you have to jump all through these hoops He says no all you need to do is have the blood of christ that washes you clean from all of your sin And you can come and have access to god himself through his blood And you can come with confidence And you can ask for mercy and he'll grant it to you why because you've been washed clean by jesus you have access to him He's understanding he knows you he knows what you've gone through and therefore when you petition him say god give me mercy I need help jesus because he was man understands the limitations of humanity Understands me and he says I forgive you and he can present me to his father He is my mediator who has washed me clean and made me acceptable to god That's why I don't want to go through religion to find him That's why the writer is saying be careful that you don't return to the jewish religion You've got so much in christ that you want to give up You can approach god the veil has been rent the way is open Come and speak to him. He's your father And he's washed you clean by by the blood of christ What else do you need? The answer nothing I don't need anything else. I just need him And I can come through come through him with confidence With that sense that I know my dad's listening He's listening to what I have to say And that's the confidence we have we can approach the throne of grace and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need