Sermon Tone Analysis

Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds

Part 86: Strengthen by a Sympathetic High Priest

Hebrews 4:14-16

August 26, 2012

PRAYER

SCRIPTURE READING: Heb.

10:32-26 (Eddie Kelley)

What is it about CAMPING that makes us feel so worn out?

We get home take a shower, get to sleep in our own bed.

Having a really good weekend can make me feel so WORN OUT on MONDAY.

~* I have learned to let those EMOTIONS just WASH over me.

Q But what about when it is NOT just a ROUGH DAY or couple of days?

What about when the WEARINESS is your NORMAL?

There is a band I have been getting into recently, DEVOTCHKA, and they have a line in a song, “I am tired, I am weary, I could sleep for a 1,000 years.”

Q Does that feel familiar to anyone?

The book of Hebrews was written an ENTIRE CHURCH feeling that way.

They had endured some PERSECUTION and the author of Hebrews knew that they were weary but worse persecution was on the way.

~* The entire purpose of Hebrews is to STRENGTHEN and ENCOURAGE a weary and tired church.

OUR OWN PAIN

We can feel a little SHEEPISH about our trials compared to risking life and limb just by being a Christian.

On one hand, it is a good reminder not to take ourselves SO SERIOUSLY.

~* Sometimes we COMPLAIN too much about too LITTLE.

But on the other hand, “each heart knows its OWN PAIN” (Prov.

14:10).

I dislike encouragement that just tries to tell us our problems aren’t that bad.

~* We may know that our CHILDREN’S BEE STINGS are not that bad, but we don’t minimize their pain.

Our lives can be hard, we are beset by many PROBLEMS and PAINS.

Life gets discouraging.

~* We may have FINANCIAL troubles.

~* RELATIONSHIP (spouse, children, parents, single).

~* GOD may seem distant and uncaring or unloving.

~* Feeling SPIRITUALLY DEAD.

The first readers of HEBREWS need to be ENCOURAGED to STICK it out in the midst of DISCOURAGEMENT and FRUSTRATION, things not going the way they thought.

We need the same thing.

In the next FOUR WEEKS, we will be strengthened along with them, by four different ways, but the most important is this weeks’ encouragement, which hinges on a well loved passage:

Hebrews 4:14-16 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.

16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

THE SON OF GOD

One of the GREAT MYSTERIES of our faith is that Jesus is both fully God and fully man.

More than any other book, Hebrews shows Christ’s divinity and greatest.

Hebrews 1:1-3 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Yet our passage BEAUTIFULLY BLENDS both sides of Jesus nature.

If Jesus was NOT the Son of GOD, powerful and able to save us, it would do us LITTLE good how much he cared.

~* Because Jesus is God, he does MORE than CARE, he is able to save.

He is the CREATOR of the universe and SAVIOR of our souls.

WHEN JESUS WAS WEAK

But on the other hand, it is HARD for us to RELATE to him that way.

He is way up there, we are way down here.

That is why verse 15 is perhaps the MOST FREQUENTLY QUOTED verses in Hebrews:

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.

But I am not sure we REALLY APPRECIATE just how much this means.

~* Saturday night we were huddled around Micah’s smart phone to watch a trailer for the remake of “RED DAWN.”

We all know how these movies work: They will kick butt, face massive setbacks, then prevail.

I hate that “SETBACKS” part – I just want to see them kick butt without having any good guys die, but I know why they do it.

~* They have to STRUGGLE and ALMOST FAIL for us to RELATE to it.

Every movie and every story (that is worth watching) requires that the HERO STRUGGLE against his or her WEAKNESS:

~* SUPERMAN is defeated by kryptonite.

~* Bruce ALMIGHTY struggle against his selfishness.

~* FRODO fights against his physical weakness.

According to Hebrews, Jesus also struggled against his weakness.

The Bible is careful to show us that he was not some Stoic Superman:

~* He was born a HELPLESS INFANT.

~* He CRIED at the death of a friend.

~* He was WEARY after long days of WALKING or FRUITLESS MINISTRY.

~* He was TERRIFIED and LONELY in the Garden of Gethsemane.

TEMPTATION IS NOT SIN

He wasn’t just PHYSICALLY WEAK; he was TEMPTED by sin, “in every way like us, yet was without sin.”

This teaches us something very important: Being TEMPTED is not SIN.

All of us are tempted, that is not our fault.

The ENEMY will try to make you feel GUILTY for being tempted.

~* You can’t stop the BIRDS from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest there.

Granted, we can put ourselves in PLACES that will make the TEMPTATION WORSE.

I don’t know if that is sin per se, but it is STUPIDITY.

TEMPTED LIKE US

We think, “He was God, he wasn’t REALLY TEMPED.”

But he had a PHYSICAL BODY and felt it all as much as we do.

In fact, I’d argue he FELT MORE temptation than we ever will, because he never gave in:

Q If TWO PEOPLE are on a DIET, who knows power of temptation: the one who gives in at breakfast or who stays the course?

Jesus KNOWS, by EXPERIENCE, what it is like to be tempted to the VERY LIMIT.

He was tempted:

~* to LIE to save his life,

~* to COVET the luxuries of the rich,

~* to take REVENGE when mistreated,

~* to LUST when Mary wiped his feet with her hair,

~* to POUT with self-pity,

~* and to GLOAT over his accusers when they couldn’t answer his questions.

SYMPATHY

Think what this MEANS: Were you a BETTER PARENT until you actually HAD KIDS?

You can look at some parents and DESPISE them, until you get there and FIND OUT how hard it is.

Or have you ever caught yourself DESPISING some other weakness:

~* LAZINESS.

~* Being UNFAITHFUL.

~* Being OVERWEIGHT, etc.

But then you GO THROUGH it yourself, or you are TEMPTED to it and you understand how LITTLE of a GAP there is between them and you, and you become SYMPATHETIC.

Because Jesus SUFFERED with the FULL BRUNT of temptation, we know he SYMPATHIZES with us in our temptation:

~* Jesus does not DESPISE our WEAKNESS, he understands it.

~* He does not despise our FAILURES, he understands it.

~* He does not despise US, he understands and loves us.