Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain Hebrews 4:14:
Hebrews 4:14-16
We would say, in the vernacular: Pour it all out before God. Feel free to do so. We have this right, this privilege, to go boldly through the curtain - to the very throne of grace.
And we are anchored to it. That is the illustration. Using a sailor's figures of speech, it is as though there is an anchor rope that goes from each one of us, symbolically, behind the veil and into the very presence of God. There it is stuck on a Rock; and that Rock, you see, is Christ.
Why does a scout go out ahead of the main party? A scout goes out to make sure that it is safe because he knows, absolutely, that others are to follow him. Where did He scout out (in the symbolism)? He scouted out the Holy of Holies. He is now in there, so that we can go in - because He has already scouted it out.
You will remember that the veil was torn. The apostle, in writing this, is making a comparison of what it is that makes it possible for us, too, to enter. Christ's flesh was torn. You see, through His flesh.
Let us summarize these verses that we just went through - at least, as they pertain to this subject [of government]. Our High Priest has already gone into the real (the heavenly) tabernacle. And He is God. As a result, we are invited (indeed, encouraged) to also draw near with a full and confident assurance that we are accepted directly into God's presence, too. Not only does the rending of the veil signify the way into God's presence is unobstructed to those who are covered by the blood of Christ, it also - Get this! - signifies the end of the separation between the priests and the people.
Now, if you can remember the arrangement of the service of the tabernacle - the high priest was allowed into the Holiest of All one time a year. He only was allowed there. The ordinary priest was permitted to go into the first room in the carrying out of his responsibilities. No other Israelite (though he had made the covenant with God) was even allowed in the tabernacle.
Do you get the picture? We are - by virtue of God's calling, conversion, the entering into the covenant, and the receiving of God's Spirit - now spiritual Israelites. But we are more than that! Again, think of what I just told you about the high priest being allowed into the Most Holy Place once a year, and about the regular priest being permitted into the holy place to carry out his responsibilities. But what is the church? It is a royal priesthood of believers, and it is allowed into both places!
Now think of this in its governmental effects. There is no religious hierarchy between God and us. Not only do we have direct access into the presence of God, but also there is no hierarchy - no priesthood that stands between you and God - because you are the priesthood. There is no man between you and God. (No John Ritenbaugh between you and God.) We can confidently approach God, secure in our liberty to do so - because of Christ's blood.
Let us put this together with the last sermon. The church is viewed as a new creation (a new humanity, if you want to put it that way) in which Jesus Christ is the last Adam - whose image we are all destined to bear.
In the first Adam - the Adam that was in the Garden - we all share his 'creature-ness.' We all sin, and we all die. In Jesus Christ. . . He, too, entered into this humanity - because He was born of a woman. So, He entered into humanity. However, He did not sin. And, as a result of that, He became the means of mankind's salvation from his bondage to sin and death.
Through the resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit. Most of this is contained in one chapter (I Corinthians 15). Through the resurrection, the second Adam became a life-giving Spirit. He was the firstfruits - the firstborn from the dead. He, therefore, is the image of the man of heaven (or, we might call Him the spiritual Man). . . .
So we have access to the Father through Jesus Christ, and now we are told to come there boldly. He is talking about prayer.
Each one of these verses has clarified and expanded upon the purpose of prayer. Access has been made to God, and we are taken into, by prayer, in the spirit, right into God's very presence in heaven. This is no illusion, brethren. This is no mysticism. We are talking about a spiritual reality.
So prayer, through Jesus Christ, brings us into the very presence of the most positive, righteous, unchanging attitudes that exist in the entire universe. I illustrated this in a greatly simplified way in that last sermon by reminding us of how the attitudes of people with whom we must spend more than just a passing moment of time affect us, regardless of whether that person's attitude is positive or negative.
Unless we are resisting where our own attitude is so strong, our attitude has the tendency to follow the strength of the other person's attitudes. If the person is close to us in terms of relationship, the transfer of attitudes is intensified. Now what happens if you are far from either of this person's exhibiting attitudes? (I mean positive or negative.)
Say you are in an adjacent building. Their attitude does not affect you in the least. Why? Because you are not even near enough to know what is going on. Even if we are near, distance-wise, but the relationship with the person having the attitude is not important, we are going to be much less affected by it. We can just say to this person in our minds - Bug off. I don't need you. What you're doing is of no concern to me.
Now it is the spirit of these people radiating out from them by which we are affected, and perhaps even changed in our spirit. This is why, carnally, we reflect Satan's spirit. It permeates our environment, and in the illustration that I just gave, we are always near to it, because it is being broadcast everywhere.
In that last series of verses it says, Let us draw near. It is the qualities of God's Spirit that He greatly desires that we have, and this is one way in which this is accomplished - by being literally in spirit in His presence. This is why people can leave God's presence in prayer and be so at peace, or full of joy, or filled with confidence; or on the other hand, chastened, because they have been led to remorse, intense guilt, or repentance.
Please remember that the illustration is not intended to show that we need to be close to God in terms of distance, but rather close in terms of relationship. Now that is a major purpose of prayer. It brings us into the presence of the most wonderful, positive, uplifting attitudes we could possibly ever be around - encouraging, inspiring. If we do not take advantage of it, well, we just do not get that benefit.
Do you see the way the Bible presents this absolute standard of righteousness? It is presented to you and me not as something that is perfect afar off, but rather as a life spent as a human being lived to absolute perfection. It is something that we can relate to. That absolute standard of righteousness is God in the flesh.
Otherwise we could always excuse ourselves and say, Well that's the way God is. He was not tempted the way men were. But God squashes that argument and He said, My Son did it for thirty-three and one-half years and He never sinned.
That standard of righteousness is not presented to us as something that is just distant and pure and holy, but also presented to us as a life that was lived in absolute holiness and sinlessness. That brings it right home.
The second thing the Holy Spirit does is it not only convicts us of our sin, but it also convicts us of the absolute standard of righteousness for men being in a life that was lived. The life of Jesus Christ. Let us not forget. Why is God doing this? He is doing this so that there can be fellowship with Him. So that there can be fellowship with others of the same mind so that He, by His creative energies, can create a whole new family of beings that are like Him.
That is part of God supplying all of our need as well. So whether it is material, whether it is energy, whether it is money, whether it is making good use of our time, effectively prioritizing things, do you think God is not going to be there helping us and making up for a very fine attitude of service in a sacrifice we did?
When the time comes we feel that we need mercy, He is going to be Johnny-on-the-spot for that as well. When the time comes that we feel we need an extra measure of whatever it is - of His Spirit, for understanding, for wisdom, for strength to overcome - He is going to be right there. We do not need to feel as though we are taking a huge risk in offering ourselves in service.
Now certainly we have to be a good judge of the use of our time and energy, but do not ever let yourself, your human nature, talk you out of it simply because you are afraid it will cost you something that will never be made up to you. God does not lie, and if He said He will do it, He will do it. Jesus added to this, To take no anxious thought, because God is aware of all of our needs, and He will take care of them.
What Paul does here is associate the throne of grace with mercy. The inference is beginning to become quite obvious. The mercy seat and the throne of grace are one and the same thing. The mercy seat is the place from which God governs. That is, God judges. If we can think of this symbolically and try to put it into a literal context, we might say that God sits on the Ten Commandments. They are directly under Him. That place is symbolic of both judgment and mercy being dispensed from the very seat of God's government. The basis of both judgment and mercy are the Ten Commandments.
I did not say that those were the only factors that are included in judgment and mercy. I am saying that because of the symbolism that is given to us, we can understand God's law, which provides, as it were, a foundation underneath His judgments. Whether it be a merciful judgment in the sense of extending grace to someone, or whether it is a judgment in which extends a great deal of pain upon someone, the basis of that judgment is going to be the Ten Commandments.
Christ's physical life was not spared the kind of calamities we might have to face, in order that He be prepared for His responsibility in God's purpose through sharing experiences with us. In other words, if it is possible that we might have to flee for our lives, then God was not going to just excuse Christ from that kind of a trial. He was going to allow Jesus to get into situations where indeed He might have to flee for His life. Now would He just presume that God would rescue Him because of who He was? I feel sure that the apostle Paul in writing this wants us to understand that Jesus' sinlessness was the result of conscious decision andintense struggle, not merely the consequence of His divine nature.
