Hebrews 4:14-16 Overcoming Temptation with Jesus

Alright grab a seat. You can turn in your Bibles to and as you turn there, I want to share with you a little bit about my Christian walk that I think, most, if not all of you will be able to relate to.

When I was a younger Christian basically from when I was around 15 to about 23, there were some sins in my life that I thought I would never be free of.

Sins that had such a hold on my heart that no matter what I did, I always felt like I ended up giving into temptation. That even in moments where I was able to say no to sin, I really felt like I was just delaying the inevitable.

That it didn’t matter how many times I obeyed because I knew eventually I was going to give into that temptation again.

And I would read passages like that says we have been set free from sin in Christ and I would think to myself, where is that freedom for me? Why can’t I give up this sin?

What was I doing wrong to make it so that the freedom that Christ promised always seemed out of reach?

I figured the problem had to be with me. That if I would just try harder or practice more spiritual disciplines that I could free myself from my sin.

always felt like the temptation was too strong

But instead of freeing me, this kind of thinking actually kept me enslaved to sin because I was trying to obey God out of my own strength and power.

Instead of relying on God’s grace, I settled for white knuckling my own holiness, which if you’ve ever tried it, never turns out too well.

Sure I’d obey for a while, but eventually, always eventually, I’d give in again and find myself right where I was before.

Consumed with guilt. Hating my sin and hating myself, believing that because of my failure, God was disappointed with me. And yes, I knew I was one of God’s children, but he really only loved me because he had to.

And so I would cry out to God and beg for his forgiveness and vow to never do it again promising God and myself that next time, I would try harder, do better, only to repeat the cycle all over again.

All I wanted to know was how do I fight temptation and obey God to glorify Christ?

And if you’ve ever felt that way, if you’ve ever wanted to know how you can overcome temptation in your everyday life, then this sermon is meant to encourage you.

Temptation is a fact of life. Until we die or Christ returns all of us will be tempted to sin .

But many Christians, myself included, will always stay enslaved to our sins as long as we keep trying to fight against temptation in our own strength.

We can’t fight temptation in our own strength. All of our attempts to white-knuckle our own holiness

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

If we want to be free from our besetting sins, the sins that stay with us. The sins that we just can’t seem to get rid of, then we need a better answer than just try harder.

Thankfully, God has provided that better answer in Christ.

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.

What I want you to see today is that God does not expect you to white-knuckle your own holiness. In fact, he knows you can’t.

So many Christians treat temptation like God is standing back waiting to see if we are strong enough to love him more than our sin. And so instead of running to him for help, we try to face temptation on our own by relying on our own strength.

But this passage tells us that we can’t fight sin by ourselves. Instead, if we want to resist temptation and obey God, then we must stop relying on ourselves and draw near to Christ who overcame every temptation Satan and the world threw at him, and now promises to help us overcome our temptation as well.

But in his incarnation, Jesus overcame temptation as a man. He knows first hand what it means to fight against sin and he sympathizes with our weaknesses.

And because Jesus was steadfast in his own faithfulness to overcome every temptation that Satan and the World threw at him, he invites us to come to him for help when we are tempted.

But Hebrews tells us that we are weak.

And God knows we are weak so he invites us to draw near to Christ who sympathizes with our weaknesses and promises to help us resist temptation and obey him.

Here’s the BIG IDEA of this passage. The one big thing God wants us to know: Jesus is able to help us overcome temptation because he stayed faithful when tempted.

and if I were really honest even still sometimes today, I constantly struggled with feeling like God didn’t actually loved me.

I mean, I knew objectively God loved me because I was a Christian. But when I looked at all the sins I still had in my life and all the ways I was continuing to fall short after God had forgiven me, I had a hard time believing He actually liked me. Most days, I felt like God was fed up with me because, let’s face it, I was fed up with me.

I was fed up with going back to my sin over and over again, knowing it was wrong, knowing it was not good for me, but at the same time always feeling like I was too weak to not give in. That I was too weak to stand up to temptation. That no matter how hard I tried, I would never be free from my sin.

You know, when Do you ever feel like God looks at you like a total failure? Like when God thinks about you he is only disappointed in you because you know

And when I looked at my life and all the ways I felt like I had fallen short of who Christ wanted me to be, I didn’t understand how God could look at me with anything other than frustration and disappointment.

and that he might love you, but that’s only because he has to, and even if he does love you but that doesn’t really mean he actually likes you?

And this bad theology led me to a vicious cycle in my Christian walk.

Because I believed that God was disappointed with me, I thought that my relationship with Him was not built on Christ and his gospel, but on the expectation to do better. To try harder. To obey.

And so I would try to do just that. I would try to white-knuckle my own holiness, to force my own obedience.

But the problem was I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried I always found myself right where I was before.

Consumed with guilt. Hating my sin and hating myself, believing that because of my failure, God was disappointed with me. That I was one of God’s children that he loved only because he had to.

Now the reason I tell you this part of my testimony is because I believe its common for Christians to look at their lives, knowing all they ways they fail to stand up to temptation and believe that God just doesn’t like them.

And because we know we are the ones that screwed up, we try to iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiso they

I think all of us feel this way one point or another in our Christian life. Where we stop believing that Christ’s righteousness really is enough, and instead buy into the lie that God expects us to prove our worth.

And the reason why this is so dangerous is because this bad theology can actually lock you into a prison that will stunt your Christian growth. I experienced it first hand for years and years.

By believing that God is only pleased with us in as much as we obey him, we make our obedience all about our own strength.

But here’s the kicker. We can’t obey in our own strength. By believing that God expects us to prove we are worthy of his love after he saves us,

That means, it is on you to obeyIf we really believe that God is only pleased with us based on how much we actually obey him, then we will try to obey him

And so I would try to do just that. I lived all my Christian life trying to just white-knuckle my own holiness. I would try to obey God fight temptation in my own strength, so that God would love me instead of being disappointed in me.

And for a while I would stand strong. For a while I would obey, but eventually, always eventually, I would give in to the same old sins.

And believing that if I was able to obey enough, whatever that meant, then God would be pleased with me God would always keep me at arm’s length.

Basically, what it boiled down to was that I thought God was only pleased with me in as much as I was faithful to him, and so I put it on myself to obey in an effort to earn God’s love.

Like many Christians, I believed that God had forgiven me by his grace, but that it was up to me to obey enough or else God

I would fail and fall short, and I would feel like God was even more disappointed in me than he was before.

But eventually, always eventually, I would give in to the same old sins. I would fail and fall short, and I would feel like God was even more disappointed in me than he was before because every one of my failures said to me, “Why would God love a screw up like you? How can you possibly think God actually likes you?”

And the cycle would repeat itself.

Now I tell you that, because that bad theology stunted my discipleship and growth. Like many of you, I was locked for years in this cycle where I would try to earn God’s love. Try to prove my worth. Only to fail because I was trying to obey God out of my own strength.

I don’t think my experience is that uncommon. In fact, I think it is natural for most Christians to picture God as a disappointed Father who can’t quite understand why his kids won’t obey.

But this isn’t the picture the Bible gives us of who God is or how he views his children.

In our passage today

know they are saved by grace through faith, but believe that God expects them to prove their worth through obedience.

Now we might not say it that way, but every time we are tempted to believe that God loves us a little less because of our sin, or that God is far off and distant because we haven’t been as faithful as we should, that is what we are essentially saying.

We trade our confessional theology that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and trade it for a functional theology of works based righteousness.

Our works become our mediator between us and God, and to whatever extent we obey, is the extent that God loves us.

This kind of functional theology is dangerous for two reasons. One, it gives us an inaccurate view of God.

It turns God from our lo

But the good news of the gospel, is that Jesus came to save us from this vicious cycle. He came to save us from trying to prove our own righteousness and earn God’s love.

In Christ, we do not worship a God who is always disappointed in us tapping his foot expecting us to do better.

We worship a God who, in every way, knows our weaknesses to temptation because he himself took on our weakness in the incarnation.

The Son of God became a man in Jesus Christ and suffered temptation as a man

BIG IDEA Jesus is able to help us stay faithful to God because he stayed faithful when he was tempted.

If you have ever wondered how to stand firm against temptation in your own life and remain faithful to Christ, is for you.

Let’s start with point number 1...

I. Jesus is Our Great High Priest

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.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

So after spending the last two chapters encouraging the Hebrews to keep following Christ, the Author reminds them of the glory of Christ as our high priest.

You’ll remember that he spent the last 2 chapters encouraging the Hebrews to persevere in their faith so that they would enter God’s rest, which the author explained is salvation.

Conversely, he warned the Hebrews that if they did not persevere, they would be shut out of God’s rest to suffer God’s judgment and wrath.

And with that warning of judgment, he now turns to encourage the Hebrews to hold on to their faith by reminding them that Jesus is the only mediator who can reconcile sinful man with a holy God.

Mediator

Basically, he says the reason we must hold fast to our confession is because we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.

Now this statement would have had a huge impact on 1st century Jewish believers, but since we are Gentile believers who never lived under the Old Covenant, I need to explain to you what the author was saying so that you can see just how profound this statement truly is.

Priesthood of Israel

The priesthood of ancient Israel was appointed by God to serve as mediators between God and his people.

A mediator is someone who stands between two opposing parties and works to unite them in common agreement.

Basically, they are someone who stands in the middle and reconciles each side to each other.

And because we are sinful and God is holy, there needed to be a mediator between us and God so that we could live in relationship with him and worship his name.

And in the Old Testament, these mediators were the priests.

But in the priesthood there was one priest who rose above all the others, and this was the high priest.

What made the high priest special was that he offered the most important sacrifice every year on the Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement was the highest holy day of Israel’s worship and the biggest day on their calendar because it laid the foundation for the rest of their worship.

First and foremost, it atoned for Israel’s sin, making it possible for God to live in relationship to his people.

And second, it purified the tabernacle (and later the temple), where Israel worshiped the Lord so that the worship they offered to God the rest of the year would be holy and acceptable to him.

It also purified the tabernacle (and later the temple), as well as all the instruments Israel used to worship the Lord so that the worship they offered to God would be holy and acceptable to him.

And one of the big things that the High Priest would do on the Day of Atonement, is take the blood of a goat and offer it as a sin offering on behalf of the people.

A sin offering was a sacrifice that atoned for the sins of the one offering it because when you would slaughter the animal that you were offering, it acted as your substitute.

It was an acknowledgement that the wages of sin is death, and so the animal would die in the place of the sinner which of course points to Jesus as our spotless lamb.

The High Priest would take the blood of this sacrifice and enter into the holy of holies.

The holy of holies was in the tabernacle, and was where God’s very presence dwelt in the midst of his people.

And the H

And so to enter the holy of holies, the high priest would have to pass through a veil, think of a big curtain, that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the tabernacle.

And in the holy of holies, he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat in order to atone for Israel’s sin.

The mercy seat looked like this. It was a golden base that sat on top of the Ark (which is just another way of saying chest) of the Covenant.

This was significant, because the mercy seat sat on top of the Ark of the Covenant. So when the High Priest sprinkled blood on the mercy seat, it was a way of saying that Israel had broken the covenant and sinned against the Lord and needed God’s mercy to atone for their sins.

And this is what the Author of Hebrews had in mind when he wrote that Jesus is our great high priest.

It was called the ark of the covenant because it held the two tablets that God wrote the Ten Commandments on.

The word great means most excellent or superior in every way.

So when the Bible says that Christ is the Great High Priest, it means that he is superior in every way to the high priests of the OT.

And the main reason that Jesus is our great high priest is because he serves as our mediator in God’s presence continually.

The high priests of the Old Testament, were only able to enter the holy of holies, God’s presence, one day a year and even then it was only long enough to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat before they had to leave.

In contrast, Jesus didn’t pass through the veil of the tabernacle to enter the holy of holies where God’s glory dwelt. Instead he passed through the heavens in his ascension to enter God’s true, heavenly presence.

And where the Old Testament High Priests would offer the sacrifice and leave, not to return for another year, Christ offered himself as a once-for-all sacrifice that forever atones for our sin and he remains in God’s presence forever to intercede for us.

So Jesus is our great high priest and serves as our perfect mediator who reconciles us to God forever. And because Jesus is our perfect high priest we are encouraged to hold fast to our confession.

In other words, to persevere in the gospel. To believe in Christ, and to keep believing in Christ.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .To hold on to the gospel knowing There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

And what is this confession? We might summarize it in For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The author’s main point is that the Hebrews can’t go back to Judaism despite all the persecution they are facing because Jesus is now their great high priest.

That out of his love for us, the Father sent his sonHe really is the sinless Messiah who came to die on behalf of sinners as their substitutionary sacrifice and because he offered himself in our place, he now serves as our great high priest who reconciles us to God.

There is no one else who can reconcile them to God and serve as their mediator. The high priest of the Old Testament served their purpose. Their whole ministry was just pointing to how Jesus would ultimately serve his people as the perfect mediator.

And then in verse 15, the author continues to show why Jesus is superior to the priests of the Old Testament by encouraging the Hebrews with point number 2...

But that’s not all the Author wants to say to the Hebrews. He knows that they are really struggling with the temptation to abandon their faith and to give up on following Christ, and so like any good pastor, he doesn’t want to just give them theological truths.

Instead he wants to show them how those truths practically impact their lives.

So after saying that Jesus has passed through the heavens to serve as our mediator forever, the author wants to make sure that the Hebrews know that that doesn’t mean that Jesus has completely forgotten about them and their struggle.

Instead, Jesus is intimately with them in the midst of their temptation.

And so the Author continues in verse 15 to encourage the Hebrews with point number 2...

II. Jesus is Our Sympathetic Yet Sinless High Priest

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.

Now this is a huge verse. This verse tells us something very important about Jesus and why he was able to die as our substitute and why he is able to serve as our great high priest.

In other words this verse tells us why Jesus was able to pay for the sins of every person who believes in him.

And that is because Jesus became a man, and lived his entire life without sin. He took upon himself our human weakness to temptation, but instead of succumbing to temptation like we do, Jesus overcame every temptation he faced.

He lived a completely sinless life and remained absolutely faithful to God so that he could 1. be a pure sacrifice, and 2. help us in our temptations as our high priest.

And this is not the first time the author has talked about why the incarnation was necessary for our salvation. Back in he said...

; Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things...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.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things

What these passages teach us is that Jesus, the divine Son of God, had to take on human flesh in his incarnation so that we could be saved.

He needed to live, suffer, and die as a man so he could pay for our sins as our substitute and be our faithful high priest, our true mediator who reconciles us to God.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

And going back to , this is fleshed out a little bit more.

It says that as a manJesus was tempted as we are in every respect, and yet without sin.

Again, this is an incredibly important verse, and how someone interprets this verse has a direct impact on whether or not they hold to an orthodox Christian faith.

And so to help you understand exactly what this verse is saying, I want to start by explicitly defining what temptation actually is.

Temptation is the enticement to wrongdoing and evil. In other words, its the opportunity to disobey God.

What that means is, temptation in itself is not actually sin. It is when we give into our temptation, when we follow after it, that we actually commit the act of sinning.

Here’s how James explains temptation and how it works in our lives.

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

So James says that we are tempted, we are enticed to sin and disobey God, when we are lured by our own desires to sin. In other words, sin happens because we want it. Because we desire it.

And this desire, when it has conceived, meaning, when it takes root in our heart, gives birth to sin and we give into temptation and commit the actual act of sinning to satisfy our sinful desires, which then lead to death.

So think of temptation like bait on a fish hook. To be tempted is not sin. It is a natural part of this fallen world that we face every day.

However, temptation leads to sin when we are presented with the opportunity, and instead of turning away from that opportunity, we give in to our sinful desires and take the bait.

In fact, we can even encounter temptation internally. We can allow our sinful desires to fester and grow to the point that we actually seek out temptation. We actually seek out opportunities to sin against God.

So what you need to see is that temptation in itself is not necessarily sinful. It is desiring that temptation that leads us into sin.

And here’s why that is such an important distinction to make. Jesus, in his earthly life was tempted with sin, but he never gave into sin because he never actually desired sin.

Jesus was the perfect Adam. The perfect man. He didn’t have sinful desires like we do. He was born of a virgin, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and did not have a fallen, sinful nature like we have.

Instead, he had a human nature that was uncorrupted by sin like Adam and Eve had before the Fall.

Where we desire to sin and disobey God because we are dead in our trespasses and sins, Christ never had a human nature like that. All throughout his life, Jesus only desired to do the will of God.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

In this way, we can say that while Christ was tempted with sin in every respect as we are, it was certain that he would not sin because he did not desire it.

In fact, I would go even further and say that Christ could not have sinned.

Now this might be confusing at first, but think of it like this. If Christ had been just a man, if he had only had a human nature, then it would have been a human nature like Adam and Eve.

It would have been sinless, but still able to sin. But Jesus wasn’t just a human person. He was God incarnate. He was fully God and fully man. Two distinct natures in one person, Jesus Christ.

So while Jesus could be tempted with sin in his human nature, the Scripture says in that God cannot be tempted with evil, and so Jesus could not have sinned because to do so would have involved his whole person, both his human nature and his divine nature. And Jesus being God, could not have sinned.

Also, consider . It says This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men

Jesus was God’s definite plan to redeem mankind. And because God is sovereign over all things there was nothing that was going to prevent Jesus from being a sinless sacrifice to atone for the sins of humanity.

Therefore, since God had decreed that the plan of redemption was set in stone and going to be accomplished by Jesus Christ, it follows that Jesus could not have sinned because had he sinned the plan of redemption would have failed.

The big idea here is that Christ was absolutely perfect in every way. He was without blemish had no hint of sin in his person, including even the desire to sin because his will was to do the will of the Father.

Now this leads us to some difficulty with . You might be thinking, if Christ could not have sinned, how can we really say he was tempted in every respect as we are? Because it seems like Jesus wasn’t actually tempted if there wasn’t a possibility for him to sin at all.

But that can’t possibly be true because the Author’s whole point in is that Jesus intimately understands the struggles and temptations of the Hebrews so in what sense can we say that Christ was tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sin.

Here’s the key, when Jesus was tempted, he was tempted as a man. And when Jesus resisted temptation, he did so out of his human nature.

In other words, we can say Christ was truly tempted as we are because he was tempted and obeyed fully as a man. He did not rely on the strength and power of his divine nature to fight sin because if he had, he would not have obeyed God as a man on our behalf and been an acceptable sacrifice to pay for humanity’s sin.

So while Christ could not have sinned, it does not make his temptations any less real because he experienced those temptations fully as a man.

In fact, we would argue that Christ faced temptations that were more real than you or I do because he felt the full force of their strength.

You and I will usually give into temptation long before we feel the full weight of it. But because Christ never gave in, he faced every temptation to its absolute maximum strength, and yet he still obeyed. And he did so fully as a man.

Now why is all of this so important? Why has it been necessary to be so meticulous about Christ and his temptations?

For one thing, Christ had to be sinless in order to pay for our sins.

You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

If Christ had not been perfect and without blemish, his death would not have been an acceptable sacrifice and we would still be dead in our sins.

But we didn’t just need a savior to pay for our sins. We also needed a savior to obey God on our behalf, as our representative, so that we could be declared righteous before God and adopted as his holy sons and daughters.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The one man’s disobedience is Adam’s disobedience. When Adam’s sinned, every person was condemned as a sinner and made an enemy of God because Adam sinned for us as our representative.

This is why Christ had to be made like his brothers in every respect. He had to obey God perfectly in our place, as our new representative, and do so fully as a man so that we could be declared righteous. So we could be saved.

And to see just how remarkable this contrast is between Adam’s disobedience which brought condemnation and Jesus’ obedience that brings salvation turn in your Bible’s to .

After Jesus’ baptism the Bible says that the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And starting with verse two, here’s what God says...

And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

You’ll notice how in this first temptation we see a clear picture of how Christ willingly chose to obey as a man. In his divine nature, he had the power to perform the miracle of turning the loaves into bread. He even had the power to miraculously make himself feel full and take away his own hunger if he had chosen to. But that wasn’t the Father’s will.

And if he had done so, he would not have obeyed by the strength of his human nature alone.

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Instead, Christ refused to rely on his divine nature to make his obedience easier for him continued obeying the Father.

He endured the full strength of Satan’s temptations as man, thereby earning salvation for us.

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

Notice how Jesus fights temptations with God’s Word.

and

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’ ”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

And here is what I want to draw your attention to, to show you the glory of Christ as the perfect, sinless Adam.

When Adam faced his temptation to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and Evil, he was in the Garden of Eden. He was in Paradise. And yet he still chose to give into sin and disobey God.

When Christ faced his temptations he wasn’t in Paradise, but was in the desolate wilderness of Judea.

Adam gave into the first temptation he faced from Satan. But Jesus faced repeated temptations from Satan, not just in , but all throughout his life as a man, and yet he never yielded.

Adam ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree even though he was well fed with all the other fruit from the garden. Jesus, in contrast, had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights but still refused to eat even one bite of bread.

Looking forward from to the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden at the forbidden Tree. But in another Garden, Christ submitted himself to the Father’s will and went to his cross made of a tree to die for the sins of the world.

And finally, Adam’s disobedience brought death to all mankind, but Christ’s obedience brings salvation and life to everyone who believes in him.

As I said earlier, Jesus remaining sinless all of his life in the face of temptation is so important to our faith because it was the only way his death could serve as our substitute and we could be saved from the coming judgement.

But the Author of Hebrews didn’t write these words to just teach sound theology. He wrote them to encourage the Hebrews who were struggling to obey against the temptation of unbelief.

He wants the Hebrews to know that because Jesus was tempted to disobey God just like they are, he is able to sympathize with their weaknesses.

It also promises

That’s why the Author says in chapter 4 that Jesus is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.

In our sin, we were God’s enemies so Christ had to come as a man, to obey God and glorify his name

That word sympathize is important to understand because it goes beyond just sharing feelings or having compassion.

Instead, it means being moved with compassion to the point of actually doing something. Being moved to help someone in need. And this is what Christ does with us.

Christ knows intimately our human struggle with temptation because he took on our weaknesses and suffered temptation as a man.

And yet, he never once gave into sin. Where we cave to temptation and sin against God, Jesus never caved. He never gave in, but he always conquered his temptation.

And because Jesus conquered temptation on our behalf, he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, and we no longer have to face our temptation alone.

Instead we can come to him for help to overcome temptation and obey God because point number 3...

Now we need to stop right here because these are some very tricky theological waters.

Recently, it has been common for people to twist this verse, to say something about Jesus that’s not true.

They will take the line that Jesus has been tempted in every respect as we are, and use it to say that Jesus had an internal desire towards sin just like we do.

And this interpretation poses two giant theological problems. First off, it implies that Jesus had a sin nature..

The problem with that is, if Jesus had a sin nature, then he could not be a sacrifice that was perfect and without blemish.

And if he was not a pure sacrifice, then God could not have accepted his death as our substitutionary sacrifice to atone for our sins.

But the Bible is clear. Jesus was born of a virgin, and conceived by the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. In his humanity, Christ did not have a sin nature like we do.

Instead, he had a human nature like Adam did before the Fall. It was pure and uncorrupted by sin with no internal desire to disobey God.

In fact, he had just the opposite. Christ’s will was perfectly obey the Father.

And theologically, here is why this is so important for us to understand. Sin was never meant to be a part of our human experience.

God did not make us with abnormal, sinful desires. He created us to glorify him.

And while it may seem impossible to think about a human person who did not have a desire to sin, this really just shows us how far we have fallen in our sin and how gracious God is to forgive us.

The second theological problem with interpreting this verse to mean that Jesus had sinful desires is that it denies God glory because it invites people to stay enslaved to their sin.

Think of it like this. If Jesus had sinful desires but never sinned, then that must mean our sinful desires aren’t actually sinful.

And if they aren’t sinful, then there is no reason to fight against them or repent of them whatsoever.

And without repentance, we can never be free from those sins.

And without repentance, we can never be free from those sins, and will instead continue to use those sins to worship the idols of our hearts.

Look at what James says about temptation and desire.

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

It might be helpful here to define what exactly temptation is. Temptation is the enticement to wrongdoing and evil. In other words, its the opportunity to disobey God.

And James says that we are tempted, enticed to disobey God, when our desires take root in our heart and give birth to sin.

You’ll notice that James even draws a direct line between desiring to sin, and sin itself. Meaning that if we want to put sin to death in our life, then we must also put to death our sinful desires.

Reinforcing this idea is which tells us that outside of Christ, God gives us up in the lusts of our hearts to impurity. In other words, God’s judgment on unbelievers is that he gives them over to their sinful desires.

So think of temptation like the bait on a fish hook. Temptation in itself is not sinful. It is a natural part of this fallen world that we face every day.

However, temptation leads to sin when we give in to our sinful desires and take the bait. In fact, we even encounter temptation internally because we internally desire things that are contrary to God’s Word and actively seek them out.

This is why interpreting to mean sinful desires aren’t actually sinful is so dangerous.

We will never be able to kill any sin in our life just by dealing with the fruit of our sinful desires. The sins themselves. Instead, we need to attack our sin at its root by dealing with the sinful desires of our heart.

By asking ourselves why is this sin so appealing to me? What am I trying to gain, in other words what am I desiring, by giving into it?

Because without repenting of our desire to sin, we will always be enticed by our own desires to take the bait of temptation and sin against God.

So if Jesus did not have a sin nature and therefore, did not have an internal desire for sin, how can we honestly say that Jesus was tempted in every respect as we are?

Well first, we need to remember that sinful desires are not fundamental to what it means to be human. Sinful desires are a result of the Fall.

Jesus’ human nature is actually a truer picture of what it means to be human because he alone never had a sin nature. He lived perfectly for the glory of God as God originally intended for mankind.

So to experience temptation as we do, does not mean Jesus had to have an internal desire to sin. It just means that he had to have opportunities to take the bait on the hook.

Likewise, being tempted in every respect as we are also doesn’t mean that he had to experience temptation to every particular sin we might be tempted with.

However, Jesus was around women

So being tempted in every respect as we are doesn’t mean that he experienced temptation to every particular sin we might be tempted with.

Likewise, being tempted in every respect as we are also doesn’t mean that he had to experience temptation to every particular sin we might be tempted with.

Just practically this would be impossible. For example, Jesus never had the temptation to ignore his job as a carpenter and watch YouTube all day instead.

But that doesn’t mean he didn’t experience the temptation to be lazy.

In the same way, Jesus never had an inordinate desire for homosexuality. Some false teachers wrongly say that Jesus was tempted with homosexuality in an effort to say same sex attraction is not a sin as long as you don’t act on those desires.

However, we saw earlier that the Bible clearly says that our sinful desires conceive and give birth to our sin.

So when Jesus experienced temptation it was one, external to his person, and two, was in every respect in the sense that he was tempted with every category of sin.

The better question is to ask is “Are we as human as Jesus?”

So instead, it might be helpful to think about Jesus being tempted in every respect as we are as Jesus being tempted with every category of sin that we might face.

Remember, Christ did not have an internal desire to sin. In fact, he actually had the opposite because He had an internal desire to obey the Father.

So Jesus had external opportunities to look at Jesus’ temptations as being in every respect as our own

Even Jesus himself said that if you look at a woman lustfully, you commit adultery in your heart which is, by definition, a sin.

But what it does mean is that Jesus had external temptation, external opportunities to lust after a woman, but he never once allowed that temptation to become sin in his heart.

Jesus is not only as human as we are. He is more human than we are. Our humanity in regards to sin and temptation is not the standard by which we are to measure Christ’s human nature.

Jesus was tempted in every respect that we are in the sense that he experienced everything that it means to be human including external temptations, external opportunities, to disobey God.

Jesus’ human nature is a truer picture of who God created us to be. He is the only one who is truly human in the fullest sense of the word.

Throughout the 33 years of his life, Jesus got hungry. He was tired. He was sinned against and hurt by other people. He knew what it meant to provide for his family as the man of the house because his earthly father, Joseph, likely passed away at a very young age. He got sad. Angry. Struggled to trust God in the garden of Gethsemane when he was about to be arrested, even to the point of sweating his own blood.

And yet in all of these trials, Jesus never succumbed to the temptation to sin.

And if we don’t repent of those sinful desires, then we can never be free from the sin we desire at all.

But Christ did not have an internal desire to sin. He actually had the opposite. He had an internal desire to obey the Father. So every temptation Christ faced was external to him. They were external opportunities to disobey God and choose sin.

There is no being transformed by the renewing of our minds. There is no dying to ourselves.

So interpreting this verse to say that Jesus had sinful desires allows people to remain enslaved to their sin.

And if we don’t repent of our own sinful desires, then we cannot be free from the sin that enslaves us

So interpreting this verse to say that Jesus had sinful desires allows people to remain enslaved to their sin.

One of our biggest battlegrounds for orthodox faith is the issue of homosexuality. And I say that because what you think about homosexuality reveals what you think about the Bible.

False teachers will use that line of thought to say that homosexual desires aren’t sinful.

Why does htis matter, Jesus knows our struggle Macarthur, Jesus knows how to conquer temptation

Tempted as a Man but Obeyed (mt 4)

III. Jesus is Able to Help Us When We Are Tempted

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.

What a comforting verse this is. Like I said earlier. I think most Christians, when they face temptation, think that God expects them to prove their love for him by fighting their temptations all on their own.

That God wants to see whether or not they are strong enough to obey him.

But Jesus sympathizes with our weakness. He knows we aren’t strong enough to obey God, and so he invites us, as our faithful high priest, to draw near to his throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in our time of need.

For the Hebrews, their time of need was right in front of them. They were being tempted to give up following Christ and give in to the sin of unbelief.

But this verse tells us that no matter how we are being tempted, the answer is not to try to stand firm on our own strength. Its to come to Christ and ask for his help.

In fact it says Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. The throne of grace is a call back to the mercy seat from the Day of Atonement.

The Hebrews would have seen this immediately but we need a little bit of help. says that God was enthroned on the cherubim, angelic figures, that sat on the mercy seat. And the high priest could only enter into God’s presence at the mercy seat, or approach his throne so to speak, on the Day of Atonement when he offered the blood of the sacrifice.

But now, through Christ’s sinless life, sacrificial death and bodily resurrection Christians are given unprecedented access to God through Christ’s high priestly ministry

We are welcomed into God’s presence continually because he has made us holy in Christ.

And specifically, we invited to draw near to God through Christ so that we may receive mercy and grace to help in our time of need.

So what exactly is this help? Well first it’s mercy. Mercy to cover our sins any time we give into temptation.

This is so huge because some of you need to know that God is not disappointed in you. He is not angry with you. Sometimes we can buy into the lie that God is fed up with our sin and expects us to clean ourselves up before we can come to him.

But Hebrews tells us that even when we are weak and give into sin and temptation, we don’t have to fear God. We can approach his throne with confidence because we know God has fully and completely forgiven us in Christ because he loves us as our Father.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

he remembers that we are dust.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Even at our worst God still gives mercy because his love for us is not conditional on our obedience to him. God loves us solely because of what Christ did on our behalf. Where we disobeyed, Jesus obeyed. Where we deserved to die, Jesus died in our place.

The throne of grace is a play on words to the mercy seat that the high priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement.

God knows we are weak. He knows we are going to screw up and stumble in sin, but in Christ he is our compassionate Father always willing to forgive because the blood of Jesus covers all sin.

But God doesn’t just give mercy. He also gives grace to help in time of need.

Through Christ we can confidently approach God knowing he will give us grace to face every situation and temptation that might come our way in life.

Without running to God for forgiveness, you will settle for trying to clean yourself up enough to get God to love you again

We don’t have to try to fight temptation on our own. We can come to God knowing he will help us to obey him.

Because Christ obeyed in his temptations, he can help us obey when we are tempted. But only if we actually come to him for help.

I wish I had learned this so much earlier in my Christian life. When I talked earlier about how as a young Christian I felt like I was enslaved to my sin, destined to fail every temptation, this truth allowed me to live in the freedom Christ promises us, and I hope it will give you freedom as well.

If you want to resist sin and obey God, then you must approach his throne of grace with confidence and ask for his help when you face temptation. And that happens through persistent prayer when we are tempted.

That word translated with confidence, was used in Greek culture to talk about free open speech between one citizen with another. Then, Greek speaking Jews, which the Hebrews undoubtedly were, adopted the term to talk about prayer.

So when the Author tells us to approach God’s throne with confidence, he is instructing us to approach God’s throne with prayer, and specifically prayer that is free and open. Prayer that is honest. Now what do I mean by that?

Here’s how must of us try to fight temptation. We are tempted with some sin, whatever that sin might be, and we think to ourselves, “That is sin. That is wrong. It does not honor God. I don’t want to do that.”

And then we try to hold on as long as we can hoping that we will make it through temptation which is what I mean by saying we try to white-knuckle our own holiness.

Obedience against temptation becomes all about our strength. We think, well God doesn’t want me to sin so I need to make sure I do everything I can in my power to not give into this temptation.

But here’s the problem. We are weak. Sure we might resist temptation for a moment. Even once or twice, but eventually, we will always let go and give into sin when we rely on our own strength.

And that creates the vicious cycle I talked about earlier where we go to God and repent saying, “I’m sorry for sinning against you. Lord, help me to not do it again,” but then the next time we are tempted, do it the same old way relying on ourselves only only to end up in the exact same place.

And so how you fight temptation according to Hebrews is not by relying on your own strength trying to prove your love to God or force your own obedience.

Instead, you fight temptation by running to Christ in prayer and being honest with him knowing that he is able to help us when we are tempted because he overcame every temptation.

Let me give you a picture of what that looks like.

Say one day you are tempted with that sin. That sin that has been persistent in your life. That you feel absolutely hopeless to ever be free from.

Our natural tendency is to try to fight sin by just trying to hold on and not give in. But Hebrews tells us in that moment, at the outset of temptation, we should pray to God.

We should go to the Lord right then and there and pray to him saying, “Lord. I’m being tempted to sin right now, and I’m scared that I’m going to give into temptation and sin against you. Will you please help me to resist sin. Will you help me to want to worship you more than I want to give in to my temptation.

And God, if I were being really honest, part of me really just wants you to let me have my sin and forgive me later. And so forgive me for that too, and change my heart to want your will like Christ did. Amen.”

And then you keep praying. You keep praying until the Lord answers you and helps you in your temptation.

Its that kind of persistent prayer that is the idea behind the verb translated draw near.

Its not drawing near one time to give a quick prayer for help only to go off on our own and try to fight that sin in our own power.

Its drawing near again and again and again, relying on the Lord’s strength to overcome our sin until he saves us from that temptation.

Instead, we need to cast ourselves onto God’s grace

That’s what it means to come to the Lord honestly with bold frankness like Hebrews says.

All of us have a temptation to hold back our true heart from God. We know that when we pray to him there’s still a part of us that wants the very sin we are begging him to save us from.

And because we hold th

I think there is a temptation to hold our true heart back from God. As if we are afraid to let him know that we actually want our sin. we are so weak and sinful that we really just want him to let us have our sin.

All we are doing when we fight temptation this way is throwing all our hope to obey God not on ourselves, but on God’s grace and his grace alone knowing we can’t force our own obedience but God must work in us.

I remember praying, “God. I’m being tempted to sin right now and I don’t want to give in, but even as I say that, I know my heart actually wants this sin. If I were really being honest, I just want you to let me have my sin and forgive me later, and so will you even help me by changing my heart to desire you more than my sin.”

Honestly, what some of you need to hear today is that God wants you to stop trying so hard and just rely on his grace to deliver you.

After all, God saves us to glorify his name and what glorifies God more? Saying, I tried really hard, did my spiritual disciplines and now I’m free? Or saying, I was completely enslaved to my sin but God worked a miracle and saved me by his grace.

I can’t tell you how freeing this was for me because it allowed me to go to God with all my weakness and say, unless you work a miracle, I’m going to give into this sin, and I will be enslaved.

When we rely solely on God’s grace to save us from sin, webecause when he delivers you from that sin, he wants you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was only by his grace. That you did nothing to free yourself from your sin.

And then you keep praying in that temptation and every temptation after that. You keep praying until the Lord answers you and helps you in your temptation.

Its that kind of persistent prayer that is the idea behind the verb translated draw near.

Its not drawing near one time to give a quick prayer for help only to go off on our own and try to fight that sin in our own power.

Its drawing near again and again and again, relying on the Lord’s strength to overcome our sin until he saves us from that temptation.

And the beauty of this verse is that Christ promises to answer our prayers.

He promises to give us grace and help us in our time of need because not only does he sympathize with our weaknesses but he also knows how to overcome those weaknesses to temptation.

Part of this is a mystery. I’m not telling you the heavens are going to open up or you’re going to see a great light.

I’m telling you that God is faithful to answer you in your time of need to change the desires of your heart to want him more than your sin if you will only rely on Christ.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

And that way of escape is running to Christ. To go to the one who was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin.

Remember, the high priest could only enter the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement to offer the sacrifice. But now, because Christ is our high priest, we have freedom to approach God again and again.

To run to him and ask him to change our hearts and show us how to obey God. And to keep running to him until the Lord delivers us.

So the next time you are tempted with any sin, even ones that you feel hopeless to ever be free from, don’t try to fight it on your own. Draw near to Christ and pray for his help. And keep drawing near, until he delivers you.

He will show you how to walk by the Spirit like he did. He will show you how to resist sin and obey God. We only need to stop fighting in our own strength and go to him in prayer, saying “God, I’m being tempted, help me to obey.”

That is actually the force of the Greek word translated draw near. Its not a one time approach but a continual drawing near to God for mercy and grace.

Jesus Christ is our faithful high priest who knows our temptations and is faithful lead us out of them.

Mercy to cover our past sins, and grace to help us resist the temptations we face here and now.

Let’s talk about mercy.

Even when we are weak and we give into temptation, we don’t have to fear God. We can approach his throne with confidence because we know God has fully and completely forgiven us in Christ.

Some of you are still enslaved to your sins because you have not confessed them to God. You think that until you clean yourself up, God won’t accept you.

And so instead of coming to God for forgiveness and help, you keep trying to wash yourself clean not realizing

Closing

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jude 24–25 ESV

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Jesus: Our Great High Priest

Patton Shinall / General

Hebrews / Temptation of Jesus; Temptation; Obedience of Christ; Obedience; Faithfulness; Sinlessness of Christ; Sin; Jesus: Divinity; Humanity of Christ / Hebrews 4:14–16; Hebrews 2:14–18; James 1:14–15; John 6:38; Acts 2:23; 1 Peter 1:18–19; Romans 5:18–19; Matthew 4:2–11; Psalm 103:10–14; 1 Corinthians 10:13

Jesus is able to help us stay faithful to God because he stayed faithful when he was tempted.

Intro

1. Alright grab a seat. You can turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 4:14-16 and as you turn there, I want to share with you a little bit about my Christian walk that I think, most, if not all of you will be able to relate to.

2. When I was a younger Christian basically from when I was around 15 to about 23, there were some sins in my life that I thought I would never be free of.

3. Sins that had such a hold on my heart that no matter what I did, I always felt like I ended up giving into temptation. That even in moments where I was able to say no to sin, I really just felt like I was delaying the inevitable.

4. That it didn’t matter how many times I obeyed because I knew eventually I was going to give into that temptation again.

5. And I would read passages like Romans 6 that says we have been set free from sin in Christ, and have become slaves of righteousness, and I would think to myself, where is that freedom for me? Why can’t I give up this sin?

a. What was I doing wrong to make it so that the freedom that Christ promised always seemed out of reach?

6. I figured the problem had to be with me. That if I would just try harder or practice more spiritual disciplines that I could free myself from my sin.

7. But this kind of thinking actually kept me enslaved because I was trying to obey God out of my own strength and power. Instead of relying on God’s grace, I settled for white knuckling my own holiness, which if you’ve ever tried it, never turns out too well.

a. Sure I’d obey for a while, but eventually, always eventually, I’d give in again and find myself right where I was before.

b. Consumed with guilt. Hating my sin and hating myself, believing that because of my failure, God was disappointed with me. And that yes, I was one of God’s children, but he only really loved me because he had to.

8. And so I would cry out to God and beg for his forgiveness and vow to never do it again promising God and myself that next time, I would try harder only to repeat the cycle all over again.

9. All I wanted to know was how do I fight temptation and obey God?

10. And if you’ve ever felt that way, then this sermon is meant to encourage you.

11. Temptation is a fact of life. All of us will be tempted to sin until we die or Christ returns.

12. And many Christians, myself included, will stay enslaved to our our sins as long as we keep trying to fight against temptation in our own strength.

Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

1. If we want to be free from our besetting sins, the sins that stay with us. The sins that we just can’t seem to get rid of, then we need a better answer than just try harder.

2. Thankfully, God has provided that better answer in Christ.

Hebrews 4:14-16 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.

1. What I want you to see today is that God does not expect you to white-knuckle your own holiness. In fact, he knows you can’t.

2. During his incarnation, Jesus suffered temptation as a man. He knows first hand what it means to fight against sin and to overcome temptation.

3. And because Jesus was steadfast in his faithfulness and overcame every temptation that satan and the World threw at him, he invites us to come to him when we are tempted.

4. So many Christians treat temptation like God is standing back waiting to see if they really love him. And so instead of running to him for help, they try to face temptation on their own by relying on their own strength.

5. But Hebrews tells us that we are weak.

6. When we are tempted, God doesn’t stand back to see if we are strong enough to not give into sin. Instead, he invites us to draw near to Christ who sympathizes with our weaknesses and promises to help us resist temptation and obey him.

7. Here’s the BIG IDEA of this passage. The one big thing God wants us to know: Jesus is able to help us overcome temptation because he stayed faithful when he was tempted.

8. If you have ever wondered how to stand firm against temptation in your own life and remain faithful to Christ, Hebrews 4:14-16 is for you.

9. Let’s start with point number 1...

I. Jesus is Our Great High Priest

Hebrews 4:14 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.

1. The Since then refers back to what the author had just said in chapters 3 and 4.

a. You’ll remember that he spent the last 2 chapters encouraging the Hebrews to persevere in their faith so that they would enter God’s rest, which the author explained is salvation.

b. Conversely, he warned the Hebrews that if they did not persevere, they would be shut out of God’s rest to suffer God’s judgment and wrath.

2. And with that warning of judgment, he now turns to encourage the Hebrews to hold on to their faith by reminding them that Jesus is the only mediator who can reconcile sinful man with a holy God.

3. Basically, the reason we must hold fast to our confession is because we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.

4. Now this statement would have had a huge impact on 1st century Jewish believers, but since we are Gentile believers who never lived under the Old Covenant, I need to explain to you what the author was saying so that you can see just how profound this statement truly is.

Priesthood of Israel

1. The priesthood of ancient Israel was appointed by God to be mediators between God and his people.

a. A mediator is someone who stands between two opposing parties and works to unite them in common agreement.

b. Basically, they are someone who stands in the middle and reconciles each side.

2. And because we are sinful and God is holy, there needed to be a mediator between us and God so that we could live in relationship with him and worship his name.

3. And in ancient Israel these mediators were the priests of the Old Testament.

4. But in the priesthood there was one priest who rose above all the others, and this was the high priest.

5. What made the high priest special was that he offered the most important sacrifice every year on the Day of Atonement.

a. The Day of Atonement was the highest holy day of Israel’s worship and the biggest day on their calendar each year because it was the day that laid the foundation for the rest of Israel’s worship.

b. First and foremost, it atoned for Israel’s sin, making it possible for God to live in relationship to his people.

c. And second, it purified the tabernacle (and later the temple), where Israel worshiped the Lord so that the worship they offered to God would be holy and acceptable to him.

6. And one of the big things that the High Priest would do on the Day of Atonement, is take the blood of a goat and offer it as a sin offering on behalf of the people.

a. A sin offering was a sacrifice that atoned for the sins of the one offering it because when you would slaughter the animal you were offering, it acted as your substitute.

b. It was an acknowledgement that the wages of sin is death, and so the animal would die in the place of the sinner which of course points to Jesus as our spotless Passover lamb.

7. The High Priest would take the blood of this sacrifice and enter into the holy of holies.

a. The holy of holies was in the tabernacle, and was where God’s very presence dwelt in the midst of his people.

b. And so to enter the holy of holies, the high priest would have to pass through a veil that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the tabernacle. Think of it like a big curtain.

c. And once he was there, he would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat in order to atone for Israel’s sin.

d. This was significant, because the mercy seat sat on top of the Ark of the Covenant. So when the High Priest sprinkled blood on the mercy seat, he was atoning for all the ways Israel broke the covenant and sinned against the Lord.

8. And this is what the Author of Hebrews had in mind when he wrote that Jesus is our great high priest.

a. The word great means most excellent or superior in every way.

b. So when the Bible says that Christ is the Great High Priest, it means that he is superior in every way to the high priests of the OT.

9. And the main reason that Jesus is our great high priest is because he serves as our mediator in God’s presence continually.

10. The high priests of the Old Testament, were only able to enter the holy of holies, God’s presence, one day a year and even then it was only long enough to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat before they had to leave.

11. In contrast, Jesus didn’t pass through the veil of the tabernacle to enter the holy of holies where God’s glory dwelt. Instead he passed through the heavens in his ascension to enter God’s true, heavenly presence.

12. And where the Old Testament High Priests would offer the sacrifice and leave, not to return for another year, Christ offered himself as a once-for-all sacrifice that forever atones for our sin.

13. So Jesus is our great high priest and serves as our perfect mediator between us and the Father to reconcile us to God. And because Jesus is our perfect high priest we are encouraged to hold fast to our confession.

14. In other words, to persevere in the gospel. To believe in Christ, and to keep believing in Christ knowing John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

15. The author’s main point is that the Hebrews can’t go back to Judaism despite all the persecution they are facing because Jesus is now their great high priest.

16. There is no one else who can reconcile them to God and serve as their mediator. The high priest of the Old Testament served their purpose. Their whole ministry was just pointing to how Jesus would ultimately serve his people as the perfect mediator.

17. But that’s not all the Author wants to say to the Hebrews. He knows that they are really struggling with the temptation to abandon their faith and to give up on following Christ, and so like any good pastor, he doesn’t want to just give them theological truths.

18. Instead he wants to show them how those truths practically impact their lives.

19. So after saying that Jesus has passed through the heavens to serve as our mediator forever, that doesn’t mean that he has forgotten the Hebrews and their struggle with temptation. Instead, he is intimately with them in their temptation.

20. And so the Author continues in verse 15 to encourage the Hebrews with point number 2...

II. Jesus is Our Sympathetic Yet Sinless High Priest

Hebrews 4:15 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.

1. Now this is a huge verse. This verse tells us something very important about Jesus and why he was able to die as our substitute to pay for our sins and why he is able to serve as our great high priest.

2. And that is because Jesus became a man, and lived his entire life without sin. He took upon himself our human weakness to temptation, but instead of succumbing to temptation like we do, Jesus overcame every temptation he faced.

3. He lived a completely sinless life and remained absolutely faithful to God.

4. And this is not the first time the author has talked about why the incarnation was so important for our salvation. Back in Hebrews 2:14-18 he said...

Hebrews 2:14; 17-18 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things...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.

1. What these passages teach us is that Jesus, the divine Son of God, had to take on human flesh in his incarnation so that we could be saved.

2. He needed to live, suffer, and die as a man so he could pay for our sins as our substitute and be our faithful high priest, our true mediator who reconciles us to God.

3. And going back to Hebrews 4:15, we are told why Jesus was truly able to die in our place and reconcile mankind to God.

4. It says that as a manJesus was tempted as we are in every respect, and yet without sin.

5. Again, this is an incredibly important verse, and how someone interprets this verse has a direct impact on whether or not they hold to an orthodox Christian faith.

6. And so to help you understand exactly what this verse is saying, I want to start by explicitly defining what temptation actually is.

7. Temptation is the enticement to wrongdoing and evil. In other words, its the opportunity to disobey God.

8. What that means is, temptation in itself is not actually sin. It is when we give into our temptation, when we follow it, that we actually commit the act of sinning.

9. Here’s how James explains temptation and how it works in our lives.

James 1:14-15 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

1. So James says that we are tempted, we are enticed to sin and disobey God, when we are lured by our own desires to sin. In other words, sin happens because we want it. Because we desire it.

2. And this desire, when it has conceived, meaning, when it takes root in our heart, gives birth to sin and we give into temptation and commit the actual act of sinning to satisfy the sinful desires of our hearts.

3. So think of temptation, like bait on a fish hook. To be tempted is not sin. It is a natural part of this fallen world that we face every day.

4. However, temptation leads to sin when we are presented with the opportunity, and instead of turning away from that opportunity, we give in to our sinful desires and take the bait.

5. In fact, we can even encounter temptation internally. We can allow our sinful desires to fester and grow to the point that we actually seek out temptation. We actually seek out opportunities to sin against God.

6. So what you need to see is that temptation in itself is not necessarily sinful. It is desiring that temptation that leads us into sin.

7. And here’s why that is such an important distinction to make. Jesus, in his earthly life was tempted with sin, but he never actually desired sin.

8. Jesus was the perfect Adam. The perfect man. He didn’t have sinful desires like we do. He was born of a virgin, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and did not have a fallen, sinful nature like we do.

a. Instead, he had a human nature that was uncorrupted by sin like Adam and Eve had before the Fall.

b. Where we desire to sin and disobey God because we are dead in our trespasses and sins, Christ never had a human nature like that. All throughout his life, Jesus only desired to do the will of God.

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

1. In this way, we can say that while Christ was tempted with sin in every respect as we are, it was certain that he would not sin.

2. In fact, I would go even further and say that Christ could not have sinned.

a. Now this might be confusing at first, but think of it like this. If Christ had been just a man, if he had only had a human nature, then it would have been a human nature like Adam and Eve.

b. It would have been sinless, but still able to sin. But Jesus wasn’t just a human person. He was God incarnate. He was fully God and fully man. Two distinct natures in one person, Jesus Christ.

c. So while Jesus could be tempted with sin in his human nature, the Scripture says in James 1:13 that God cannot be tempted with evil, and so Jesus could not have sinned because to do so would have involved his whole person, both his human nature and his divine nature.

d. Also, consider Acts 2:23. It says This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

i. Jesus was God’s definite plan to redeem mankind. And because God is sovereign over all things there was nothing that was going to prevent Jesus from being a sinless sacrifice to atone for the sins of humanity.

ii. Therefore, since God had decreed that the plan of redemption was set in stone and going to be accomplished by Jesus Christ, it follows that Jesus could not have sinned because had he sinned the plan of redemption would have failed.

3. The big idea here is that Christ was absolutely perfect in every way. He was without blemish had no hint of sin in his person, including even the desire to sin because his will was to do the will of the Father.

4. Now this leads us to some difficulty with Hebrews 4:15. You might be thinking, if Christ could not have sinned, how can we really say he was tempted in every respect as we are? Because it seems like Jesus wasn’t actually tempted if there was no possibility for him to sin at all.

5. But that can’t possibly be true because the Author’s whole point in Hebrews 4:14-16 is that Jesus intimately understands the struggles and temptations of the Hebrews so in what sense can we say that Christ was tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sin.

6. Here’s the key, when Jesus was tempted, he was tempted as a man. And when Jesus resisted temptation, he did so out of his human nature.

7. In other words, we can say Christ was truly tempted as we are because he was tempted and obeyed fully as a man. He did not rely on the strength and power of his divine nature to fight sin because if he had, he would not have obeyed God on our behalf and been an acceptable sacrifice to pay for humanity’s sin.

8. So while Christ could not have sinned, it does not make his temptations any less real because he experienced those temptations fully as a man.

9. In fact, we would argue that Christ faced temptations that were more real than you or I do because he felt the full force of their strength.

10. You and I will usually give into temptation long before we feel the full weight of it. But because Christ never gave in, he faced every temptation to its absolute maximum strength, and yet he still obeyed. And he did so as a man.

11. Now why is all of this so important? Why has it been necessary to be so meticulous about Christ and his temptations?

12. For one thing, Christ had to be sinless in order to pay for our sins.

a. 1 Peter 1:18-19 You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

b. If Christ had not been perfect and without blemish, he would not have been an acceptable sacrifice and we would still be dead in our sins.

13. But we didn’t just need a savior to pay for our sins. We also needed a savior to obey God on our behalf, as our representative, so that we could be declared righteous before God and adopted as his holy sons and daughters.

Romans 5:18-19 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

1. The one man’s disobedience is Adam’s disobedience. When Adam’s sinned, every person was condemned as a sinner and made an enemy of God because Adam sinned for us as our representative.

2. This is why Christ had to be made like his brothers in every respect. He had to obey God perfectly in our place, as our new representative, and do so fully as a man so that we could be declared righteous. So we could be saved.

3. And to see just how remarkable this contrast is between Adam’s disobedience which brought condemnation and Jesus’ obedience that brings salvation turn in your Bible’s to Matthew 4.

4. AfterJesus’ baptism the Bible says that the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And starting with verse two, here’s what God says...

Matthew 4:2-11 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

1. You’ll notice how in this first temptation we see a clear picture of how Christ willingly chose to obey as a man. In his divine nature, he had the power to perform the miracle of turning the loaves into bread. He even had the power to miraculously make himself feel full and take away his own hunger if he had chosen to.

2. But if he had done so, he would not have obeyed by the strength of his human nature alone.

3. Instead, Christ refused to rely on his divine nature to make his obedience easier for him and endured the full strength of Satan’s temptations as man, thereby earning salvation for us.

1. Notice how Jesus fights temptations with God’s Word.

1. And here is what I want to draw your attention to, to show you the glory of Christ as the perfect, sinless Adam.

2. When Adam faced his temptation to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and Evil, he was in the Garden of Eden. He was in Paradise. And yet he still chose to give into sin and disobey God.

a. Christ on the other hand wasn’t in Paradise, but was in the desolate wilderness of Judea.

3. Adam gave into the first temptation he faced from Satan. But Jesus faced repeated temptations from Satan, not just in Matthew 4, but all throughout his life as a man, and yet he never yielded.

4. Adam ate of the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil even though he was well fed with all the other fruit from the garden. Jesus, in contrast, had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights but still refused to eat even one bite of bread.

5. Looking forward from Matthew 4 to the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden at the forbidden Tree. But in another Garden, Christ submitted himself to the Father’s will and went to his cross made of a tree to die for the sins of the world.

6. And finally, Adam’s disobedience brought death to all mankind, but Christ’s obedience brought salvation and life to everyone who believes in him.

7. As I said earlier, Jesus remaining sinless all of his life in the face of temptation is so important to our faith because it was the only way his death could serve as our substitute and we could be saved from the coming judgement.

8. But the Author of Hebrews didn’t write these words to just teach sound theology. He wrote them to encourage the Hebrews who were struggling to obey against the temptation of unbelief.

9. He wants the Hebrews to know that because Jesus was tempted just as they are to disobey God, that he is able to sympathize with their weaknesses.

a. That word sympathize is important to understand because it goes beyond just sharing feelings or having compassion.

b. Instead, it means being moved with compassion to the point of actually doing something. To help someone in need. And this is what Christ does with us.

c. Christ knows intimately our human struggle with temptation because he took on our weaknesses and suffered temptation as a man.

d. And yet, he never once gave into sin. Where we cave to temptation and sin against God, Jesus never caved. He never gave in, but always conquered temptation.

10. And because Jesus conquered temptation on our behalf, he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, and we don’t have to face our temptation alone.

11. Instead we can come to him for help to overcome temptation and obey God because point number 3...

III. Jesus is Able to Help Us When We Are Tempted

Hebrews 4:16 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.

1. What a comforting verse this is. I think most Christians, when the face temptation, think that they need to prove their love for God by fighting their temptations all on their own.

2. That God wants to see whether or not they are strong enough to obey him.

3. But Jesus sympathizes with our weakness. He knows we aren’t strong enough to obey God, and so he invites us, as our faithful high priest, to draw near to his throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in our time of need.

4. For the Hebrews, their time of need was right in front of them. They were being tempted to give up following Christ and give in to the sin of unbelief.

5. But this verse tells us that no matter how we are being tempted, the answer is not to try to stand firm on our own strength. Its to come to Christ and ask for his help.

6. In fact it says Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. The throne of grace is a call back to the mercy seat from the Day of Atonement.

a. The Hebrews would have seen this immediately but we need a little bit of help. Exodus 25:22 says that God was enthroned on the cherubim, angelic figures, that sat on the mercy seat. And the high priest could only enter into God’s presence at the mercy seat, or approach his throne so to speak, on the Day of Atonement when they offered the blood of the sacrifice.

b. But now, through Christ’s sinless life, sacrificial death bodily and resurrection and his high priestly ministry on behalf of believers, Christians are given unprecedented access to God.

c. We are welcomed into God’s presence continually because he has made us holy in Christ.

7. And specifically, we are welcomed to draw near to God through Christ to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

8. So what is the help specifically we are invited to receive? Well first it’s mercy. Mercy to cover our sins any time we give into temptation.

9. This is so huge because some of you need to know that God is not disappointed in you. He is not angry with you. Sometimes we can buy into the lie that God is fed up with our sin and expects us to clean ourselves up before he will help us again.

10. But Hebrews tells us that even when we are weak and give into sin and temptation, we don’t have to fear God. We can approach his throne with confidence because we know God has fully and completely forgiven us in Christ.

Psalm 103:10-14 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

1. Even at our worst God still gives mercy because his love for us is not conditional on our obedience. God loves us solely because of what Christ did on our behalf. Where we disobeyed, Jesus obeyed. Where we deserved to die, Jesus died in our place.

2. God knows we are weak. He knows we are going to screw up and stumble in sin, but in Christ he is our compassionate Father always willing to forgive because the blood of Jesus covers all sin.

3. But God doesn’t just give mercy. He also gives grace to help in time of need.

4. Through Christ we can confidently approach God knowing he will give us grace to face every situation and temptation that might come our way in life.

5. We don’t have to try to fight temptation on our own. We can come to God knowing he will help us to obey him.

6. Because Christ obeyed in his temptations, he can help us obey when we are tempted. But only if we actually come to him for help.

7. I wish I had learned this so much earlier in my Christian life. When I talked earlier about how as a young Christian I felt like I was enslaved to my sin, destined to fail every temptation, this truth allowed me to live in the freedom Christ promised us, and I hope it will give you freedom as well.

8. If you want to resist sin and obey God, then you must approach his throne of grace with confidence and ask for his help when you face temptation. And this happens through persistent prayer.

9. That word translated with confidence, was used in Greek culture to talk about free open speech between one citizen with another. Then, Greek speaking Jews, which the Hebrews of this book were, adopted the term to talk about prayer.

10. So when the Author tells us to approach God’s throne with confidence, he is instructing us to approach God’s throne with prayer, and specifically prayer that is free and open. Prayer that is honest. Now what do I mean by that?

11. Here’s how must of us try to fight temptation. We are tempted with some sin, whatever that might be, and we think to ourselves, “That is sin. That is wrong. It does not honor God. I don’t want to do that.”

12. And then we try to hold on as long as we can hoping that we will make it through. That’s what I mean by saying we try to white-knuckle our own holiness.

13. Obedience against temptation becomes all about our strength. We think, well God doesn’t want me to sin so I need to make sure I do everything I can in my power to not give into this temptation.

14. But here’s the problem. We are weak. Sure we might resist temptation for a moment once or twice, but eventually, we will always let go and give into sin when we rely on our own strength.

15. And that creates the vicious cycle I talked about earlier where we go to God and repent saying, “I’m sorry for sinning against you. Lord, help me to not do it again,” but then the next time we face temptation, we rely on ourselves all over again only to end up in the same exact place.

16. And so how you fight temptation according to Hebrews is not by relying on your own strength trying to prove your love to God or force your own obedience.

17. Instead, you fight temptation by running to Christ in prayer and being honest with him knowing that he is able to help us when we are tempted because he overcame every temptation.

18. Let me give you a picture of what that looks like.

19. Say one day you are tempted with that sin. That sin that has been persistent in your life. That you feel absolutely hopeless to ever be free from.

20. Our natural tendency is to try to fight sin by just trying to hold on and not give in. But Hebrews tells us in that moment, at the outset of temptation, we should pray to God.

21. We should go to the Lord right then and there and pray to him saying, “Lord. I’m being tempted to sin right now, and I’m scared that I’m going to give into temptation and sin against you. Will you please help me to resist sin. Will you help me to want to worship you more than I want to give in to my temptation.

a. And God, if I were being really honest, part of me really just wants you to let me have my sin and forgive me later. And so forgive me for presuming on your kindness but change my heart to want your will like Christ did. Amen.”

22. That’s what it means to come to the Lord honestly with bold frankness like Hebrews says.

23. To throw all our obedience on the hope of his grace knowing we can’t do it on our own.

24. And then you keep praying until the Lord answers you and helps you in your temptation.

a. Its that kind of persistent prayer that is the idea behind the verb translated draw near.

b. Its not drawing near one time to ask the Lord for help only to go off on our own and try to fight that sin in our own power.

c. Its drawing near again and again and again, relying on the Lord’s strength to overcome our sin until he saves us from that temptation.

25. And here is the beauty of this verse, Christ promises to answer.

a. He promises to give us grace and help us in our time of need because not only does he sympathize with our weaknesses but he also knows how to overcome those weaknesses to temptation.

26. Part of this is a mystery. I’m not telling you the heavens are going to open up or you’re going to see a great light.

27. I’m telling you that God is faithful to answer you in your time of need to change the desires of your heart to want him more than your sin if you will only rely on Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1. And that way of escape is running to Christ. To go to the one who was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin.

2. To run to him and ask him to change our hearts and show us how to obey God. And to keep running to him until the Lord delivers us.

3. So the next time you are tempted with any sin, even ones that you feel hopeless to ever be free from, don’t try to fight it on your own. Draw near to Christ and pray for his help.

4. He will show you how to walk by the Spirit like he did. He will show you how to resist sin and obey God. We only need to stop fighting in our own strength and go to him in prayer, saying “God, help me to obey.”

5. Jesus Christ is our faithful high priest who knows our temptations and will lead us out of them.

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

Jude 24-25

Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 3:41 PM February 26, 2020.

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