Introduction:
“My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Oh my soul.”
- Horatio Spafford
Since Jesus is My High Priest... (Hebrews 4:14-16):
- I must hold fast to What I Believe . (Heb 4:14)
Luke 16:16 - The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.
- I must remember that I Do Not Struggle Alone . (Heb 4:15)
- I must boldly approach The Lord for Help . (Heb 4:16)
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. - Romans 8:37
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! - Romans 7:24-25a
For because He himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. - Hebrews 2:18
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:47-01:16
All right, so you can open your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14 through 16 and while you're turning there I want you to raise your hand if you've ever had a job that you didn't like Unsurprisingly almost every single hand is in the air right now Turn to someone next to you and share about this job that you didn't like and why you didn't like it All right, you have a few seconds to share about that All right, all right, you're having too much fun.
01:16-01:20
All right, you can talk about it later after the service is over.
01:20-01:25
But over the course of my working career, I've had two jobs that I couldn't stand.
01:26-01:30
I'm gonna tell you about my least favorite job later on in the message, so please pay attention.
01:31-01:34
But right now I'm gonna tell you about my second least favorite job.
01:35-01:42
For a summer in college, I worked as an unloader at Walmart and my shift was from 4 p.m. until 1 a.m.
01:42-01:46
So I basically didn't have a social life that entire summer.
01:46-01:55
During my shift for the first five or so hours, we would unload two to three semi trucks that were jam packed with all this random stuff.
01:55-02:04
We'd organize them onto these pallets, and then we'd take the pallets out to the front floor where the stockers would put them on the shelves overnight.
02:05-02:07
But the worst part of this job was the last two hours.
02:08-02:13
They told us for the last two hours, just walk around the store and try to find something to do.
02:15-02:16
That's horrible, right?
02:16-02:20
So I just look around, I'd find some ways to help stock the shelves or talk to customers.
02:21-02:24
Sometimes, to be honest, I would just do laps around the store until 1 a.m.
02:24-02:27
and then just clock out and leave, to be honest with you.
02:27-02:38
But my supervisor always told me, "Be on the lookout for customers that you can help." And one night, I'm walking by the furniture section and there is a guy whose upper half is literally jammed into one of the shelves.
02:39-02:41
He looks like he's frantically searching for something.
02:42-02:49
And so I remember my supervisor said, I approached the guy and I say, "Sir, could I help you with anything?" He doesn't even look back at me.
02:49-02:52
He just frantically waves me away like this.
02:53-02:54
I don't take the hint.
02:54-03:05
I say, "Sir, are you okay?" He looks back at me and whispery yells, "Get out of here!" I took the hint that time and I walked away.
03:06-03:11
And I go to the back of the store And then this weirdo guy again, runs up to me and says, "What's wrong with you?
03:11-03:16
"You just blew my cover." I feel like I'm thrust into a Law and Order episode.
03:16-03:18
I have no idea what's going on.
03:20-03:26
As it turns out, he works at loss prevention at Walmart, and he was on a stakeout for someone he thought was stealing.
03:28-03:31
And I said to him, "Dude, no one told me who you were.
03:31-03:33
"No one showed me a picture of you.
03:33-03:40
"How could I know that you worked here?" And he may have some lame excuses, he scolded me some more and then he walked away.
03:41-03:47
And later on that night, I'm doing my lap around the store once again, and I see him on a stakeout.
03:48-03:58
Now that I know who he is, I ignore him, I walk past him, but then he has the audacity to shoot me the double finger guns and say, "Now you're getting it, buddy."
03:58-03:59
(audience laughing)
04:01-04:03
I ignored him, I didn't look him in the eyes.
04:04-04:08
Now that I knew his job description, I knew to ignore him.
04:09-04:14
Now that I knew who he was, I knew how to best approach him, or in this case, not approach him.
04:15-04:23
You know, in a work environment, it's really hard to know how to approach someone and work with them if you don't fully understand their title and their job description.
04:24-04:28
This lack of knowledge can lead to a lot of frustration and confusion.
04:29-04:42
Well, in a much greater way, if we as believers don't understand the titles that Jesus has in scripture and the roles that he carries out on a daily basis, we will not know how to best approach him and do life alongside him.
04:43-04:52
You're gonna miss out on so much blessing if you choose to remain ignorant of who Jesus is and what he wants to do in and through you.
04:53-05:03
As a church, we're kicking off a two-month study in the book of Hebrews, where we're gonna drill down deep into what it means that Jesus is our high priest.
05:04-05:06
We're gonna unpack the importance of this title.
05:06-05:14
We're gonna go through the job description, and we're gonna discuss how this particular role of Jesus impacts us from one day to the next.
05:16-05:17
So I'm gonna do what Pastor Jeff does.
05:17-05:21
I'm gonna be praying for you, and I want you to be praying for me.
05:21-05:23
Let's go before the Lord and ask for his help.
05:30-05:30
Amen.
05:32-05:48
So before we dive into our passage for this morning, we need to spend a few minutes discussing the role of the high priest in the Old Testament and how Jesus became the perfect and final high priest through his life, through his death, through his resurrection, and his ascension.
05:49-06:00
Pastor Jeff will cover this topic in greater detail over the next several weeks, but let me do a quick cliff notes version of this Old Testament role and how Jesus perfectly fulfills it.
06:00-06:03
Otherwise, the verse we're about to study It won't really make much sense.
06:06-06:12
So the high priest was appointed to represent the people of Israel before God.
06:12-06:14
He was the mediator or the go-between.
06:14-06:20
He stood on behalf of an imperfect people before a perfect God.
06:21-06:26
God is too holy, he is too righteous, he is too pure just to overlook sin.
06:27-06:29
And someone has to be punished for it.
06:29-06:32
There has to be a sacrifice for the sin.
06:34-06:44
So over the years, there were thousands upon thousands upon thousands of animals that were sacrificed and their blood was to cover the sins of Israel.
06:45-06:57
But these sacrifices had to be continual because Israel's sin was continual and the debt that Israel owed the Lord couldn't possibly be covered by the blood of a mere animal.
06:58-07:08
And once a year on the day of atonement, the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies in the temple where he would spread, sprinkle the blood of a lamb upon the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.
07:09-07:14
He would symbolically bring all the sins of the people and himself as he did this.
07:15-07:24
After he made the sacrifice, he wouldn't hang out, he wouldn't dilly-dally, he would leave the Holy of Holies and return the next year on the next day of atonement.
07:25-07:30
But something we have to understand here, The high priests were sinful just like everyone else.
07:31-07:34
And they had to make sacrifices for themselves as well.
07:35-07:41
This system wasn't meant to last forever because it doesn't truly solve the issue of sin.
07:42-07:52
These sacrifices pointed forward to the great and final sacrifice that Jesus would make upon the cross to pay the penalty for sin in full.
07:53-08:00
The high priests of the Old Testament were shadows of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
08:01-08:03
They were imperfect while he is perfect.
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They were sinful while he is sinless.
08:06-08:13
They offer continual sacrifices while he made a once and for all sacrifice that cannot be repeated.
08:15-08:30
If you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, your debt has been wiped away by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and your bill is $0.00 for all of eternity.
08:32-08:46
I love how this is described in one of my favorite hymns of all time, "It is well with my soul." My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.
08:47-08:49
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh, my soul.
08:50-08:53
Now, if that doesn't deserve an amen, I don't know what does.
08:54-09:04
And as we'll learn more about in a few weeks, the high priest didn't just make sacrifices for the people, but he also offered up prayers of intercession as well.
09:04-09:09
This is a part of their duty of standing in the gap between God and Israel.
09:10-09:19
And the book of Hebrews and the rest of the New Testament give us awesome news that our high priest, Jesus Christ, continually prays for us.
09:21-09:23
And he intercedes for us on behalf of God the Father.
09:24-09:28
You know, it's such an encouraging thing for me to know that other people are praying for me.
09:28-09:35
When you tell me that you're praying for me, you have no idea how much joy and encouragement that gives me.
09:35-09:42
But how much more encouragement, how much more joy should it give me to know that Jesus Christ is praying for me?
09:44-09:48
We often don't know what to pray for, but he always does.
09:50-09:58
At times, our prayer requests aren't answered with a yes because we don't know God's perfect plan for our lives, but Jesus already does.
10:00-10:03
And we're told in the book of Revelation that Satan stands for the throne of God.
10:04-10:05
And you know what he's doing?
10:06-10:08
He's continually accusing you and me.
10:09-10:13
He's continually throwing up our list of mistakes and mess ups in our faces.
10:14-10:16
But guess what Jesus is doing?
10:17-10:20
He's at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.
10:20-10:23
He is rejecting all of these accusations.
10:24-10:31
Satan is like a shrimpy first grader and Jesus is like Shaquille O'Neal, blocking each and every accusation.
10:32-10:35
Block, denied every single time.
10:36-10:45
Satan cannot stand a chance against the power of the cross, against the power of our great and final high priest.
10:46-10:50
So even though the sacrifice has been made, Our debt has already been paid.
10:51-10:54
Jesus still carries out this role to this day.
10:56-11:00
Now that was all just an introduction to the actual message, all right?
11:01-11:02
We understand that, are we good?
11:04-11:10
All right, so let's focus on how Jesus being our high priest actually affects us from one day to the next.
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Let's read Hebrews chapter four, verse 14.
11:15-11:18
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.
11:19-11:23
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
11:26-11:29
So our outline for this morning is ripped right out of the text.
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Since Jesus is my high priest, number one, I must hold fast to what I believe.
11:36-11:39
I must hold fast to what I believe.
11:43-11:48
The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus passed through the heavens.
11:49-11:50
What does that mean?
11:51-11:59
Well, after Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, we are told in the gospels that he showed himself to his disciples and over 500 other people.
12:00-12:04
And after 40 days, he ascended back to his heavenly home.
12:06-12:09
But Jesus didn't just go up to heaven to take a nap.
12:10-12:17
We are told in the rest of scripture that he is ruling and reigning over all things.
12:18-12:26
According to this verse and the rest of the New Testament, we serve a living and active king who is at work in our lives and in this world.
12:27-12:31
He is both transcendent, far beyond us, but he's also imminent.
12:31-12:34
He's closer than we could possibly hope or imagine.
12:35-12:42
And because of this awesome reality, the author of Hebrews commands us to hold fast to our confession.
12:42-12:49
In other words, cling to what you believe, cling to the teachings of Jesus and his word.
12:50-12:54
He's calling us not to give our culture or our enemy any ground.
12:55-13:00
He's calling us not to give up on our faith and turn away from Jesus.
13:02-13:05
You know, as many of you know, I was a youth pastor for almost eight years.
13:06-13:14
And one of the greatest frustrations and disappointments of that job It wasn't the complaining parents or annoying middle school boys.
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Dan, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about there.
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As frustrating as those groups were, the most difficult thing as a youth pastor was seeing students that you poured your heart and soul into choose to not follow after Jesus when they left.
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It really pains me to see former students posting things on social media that they shouldn't be doing.
13:39-13:42
to hear negative reports that they're not doing well.
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They're not following after Jesus.
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It really pains me to hear that.
13:49-14:00
But on the flip side, there is so much joy that comes from seeing those former students who held fast to their confession, who clung to Jesus Christ no matter what.
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I've had the privilege of going to several former students' weddings, and they married godly spouses.
14:07-14:14
And some of these kids are having kids themselves and they're raising their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
14:15-14:24
If it brings me such joy to witness that, imagine how much more joy it brings the Father to see them clinging fast to Him.
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Imagine how much joy it brings the Father to see you hold fast to Him, even though life keeps hitting you in the face day after day after day, and you keep getting hit with trials.
14:35-14:44
Imagine how much joy it brings the Father when you choose to hold fast to Him, when the world around you is shouting at you to let go.
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The author of Hebrews wouldn't bother to call us to hold fast if holding fast was easy.
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It's hard to hold fast to Christ.
14:58-15:01
It's hard to live for Him and not for yourself.
15:02-15:05
It's hard to live by faith and not by sight.
15:06-15:12
But let us never forget, church, that we serve a living and active God who is on the throne, amen?
15:14-15:22
His unchanging truths always trump the ever-changing truths of our culture that we're trying to be brainwashed with.
15:23-15:31
His authority must far outweigh our own feelings, our own opinions, which constantly lead us astray.
15:32-15:37
The Lord always holds fast to you, and there is no chance of him letting you go.
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Let's follow in his example and hold fast to him, no matter what.
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Since Jesus is my high priest, number two, I must remember that I do not struggle alone.
15:53-15:56
I must remember that I do not struggle alone.
15:59-16:00
Let's read verse 15 together.
16:02-16:19
"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." Before we dissect this verse together, I wanna ask you a quick question.
16:20-16:34
Have you ever shared a struggle or a hardship with someone who tried to relate to you and what you're going through, but they fell way short by giving you an example from their own lives that didn't compare at all.
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Has it ever happened to anybody else besides me?
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Maybe you shared about your struggle with a serious addiction.
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And someone told you something like, "Man, I get addiction.
16:45-16:53
"I had a really bad coffee addiction, "but thank the Lord I was able to kick it." Okay, good for you.
16:54-16:56
That's only been kind of close to what I'm going through.
16:57-16:58
Or how about this?
16:58-17:03
to go through a really devastating loss in your personal life.
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And someone said something like, "I get it.
17:07-17:18
"I lost my cat recently and it's been a long road." As sad as hard as it is to lose a pet, it can't compare to losing another human being.
17:19-17:23
As far fetched as examples might be, I think we can all relate to that to some degree.
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We've all shared our struggles, we've all shared a hardship with someone We couldn't relate at all to what we were going through.
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And that hurts, doesn't it?
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That's a struggle.
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And at times you can feel alone in what you go through.
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But guess what?
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That's never gonna happen with Jesus.
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You're never gonna share a struggle with Jesus and he's like, "Oh man, good luck with that one." That's never going to happen.
17:52-18:00
We're told in verse 15 that our great high priest is able to understand and sympathize with all of our weaknesses, with all of our temptations.
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By taking on a human nature, Jesus actually had to deal with all the negatives that come along with being a human in a fallen world.
18:11-18:15
As Jeff shared a month ago, Jesus was lied about.
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Jesus was slandered against.
18:19-18:20
Has that ever happened to you?
18:22-18:25
Jesus was betrayed by his closest friends.
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Has that ever happened to you?
18:29-18:33
Jesus experienced more physical pain than we could possibly imagine.
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Are you in pain physically right now?
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Have you had a serious medical issue?
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Are you having one right now?
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Jesus gets it.
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Jesus understands.
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Jesus also had to experience temptation.
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Unlike us, he never failed.
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He never gave in to that temptation.
18:57-19:04
After his baptism, Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, where he doesn't eat for 40 days and 40 nights.
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Let's take a minute and think about that.
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We kind of brush on past that.
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Some of us can barely make it 40 minutes without eating, let alone 40 days.
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Imagine how painful that must have been.
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Imagine the intense headaches.
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Imagine the stomach pain.
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Imagine the overall exhaustion.
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And it was at that time when Satan decides to show up and that's when he's gonna tempt Jesus, when he is at his weakest physically.
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But unsurprisingly, Jesus shuts him down.
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He rejects every single temptation.
19:37-19:40
But that wasn't the only time Jesus was tempted.
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We're told in the gospel of Luke that Satan departed from Jesus until an opportune time.
19:49-19:55
Another opportune time for Satan was in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is contemplating what's about to happen to him.
19:55-19:57
He's contemplating his trial.
19:57-20:00
He's contemplating his death upon a cross.
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Imagine that.
20:05-20:11
He was in such agony, he's bleeding from his forehead, sweating drops of blood.
20:13-20:16
In those moments, there's that temptation to walk away from the cross.
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to thank the Lord that Jesus doesn't do that.
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Instead, he obeys his Father's perfect will.
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Jesus faced every single temptation that we face.
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But as I said earlier, he never gave in to that temptation.
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He had victory every single time.
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Jesus never had a sinful thought.
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He never spoke a destructive word.
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He never carried out a selfish action.
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He never failed to do what God called him to do.
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Jesus always triumphed over temptation, and his victory is now our victory.
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We share in the victory of Jesus Christ.
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Our sins are no longer held against us because the sinless one was punished for our many failures.
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You used to be a slave to your desires and urges, but now you've been set free from the power of sin, and the Holy Spirit now lives inside of you, and he gives you the power, gives you the ability to say no to sin and yes to righteousness.
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Listen, if you're a follower of Christ, you are not powerless to fight against that temptation that you're struggling with.
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You are not powerless to overcome that sin pattern in your life.
21:36-21:40
You don't have to give in to that urge to lie to cover up your tracks.
21:41-21:46
You don't have to give in to that desire to twist the truth to make other people think better of you.
21:47-21:51
You don't have to look at that website later on tonight when everybody else in your house is asleep.
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You don't have to put others down so you can make yourself feel better.
21:58-22:04
As Justin preached last week, you don't have to let anger control how you speak and how you act.
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You are no longer a victim, you are a victor.
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Please stop having the victim mentality that you have no chance in your battle against sin.
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Jesus sacrificed too much for you just to roll over and accept defeat.
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Don't wave the white flag anymore when an unbelievable amount of power and strength lives within you.
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Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes us in Romans 8:37.
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"Know in all of these things, "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Not victims, conquerors.
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To be clear, we'll never be perfect the side of eternity.
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In the chapter before in Romans, Paul says there is a war constantly raging within each and every one of us.
22:58-23:04
It's a war between our sinful flesh and our new natures in Jesus Christ.
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A war between who we used to be and who God's already declared us to be in Jesus Christ.
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And at points in Romans chapter seven, it seems like Paul feels powerless in his battle against sin.
23:20-23:22
But thankfully, he points to the solution.
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He writes this, "Wretched man that I am, "who will deliver me from this body of death?
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"Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Again, the same Savior who delivered you from the penalty of sin will continually deliver you from the power of sin.
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Jesus understands.
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Jesus understands what you're going through.
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He understands your temptations.
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He understands the pressure of it.
23:51-23:57
He sympathizes with you, and he offers you his comfort so that you can know that you're not alone.
23:57-24:04
He offers you his strength so that you can find a way of escape every single time that sin knocks on your door.
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As we're told earlier in Hebrews, for because Jesus himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.
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Jesus offers you help.
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Jesus offers you help in the form of His grace, His word, and His people.
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You have to ask yourself, will I choose to accept this help, or will I choose to reject it?
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Will you take advantage of the escape hatch when you're tempted that God gives you, Will you choose to walk through the wide open door of sin?
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Will you put yourself in situations where you know you're gonna be tempted, or will you avoid these temptation triggers?
24:51-24:58
Will you struggle in silence, or will you reach out to the Christian community that God has put you in?
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Because Jesus is your high priest, you should never say, "No one knows what I'm going through." Instead, what you should say is, no one knows what I'm going through like Jesus does.
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Because Jesus is your high priest, you should never say, I'm never gonna overcome this temptation.
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I'll never get over this sin pattern.
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Instead, you should say, I am more than a conqueror through him who loves me, and I share in the victory of my Savior.
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No temptation, no sin pattern stands a chance against the power of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within you.
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It's not even a contest.
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All right, finally, since Jesus is my high priest, I must boldly approach the Lord for help.
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I must boldly approach the Lord for help.
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At the beginning of this message, I share with you about my second least favorite job.
26:06-26:07
Who remembers what that was?
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Were you paying attention?
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Well, okay, good.
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Okay, now I feel much better.
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Okay, good.
26:11-26:12
Now let's go on.
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My least favorite job happened when I was in seminary full-time in Louisville, Kentucky.
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I was there for about two years and I worked 30 hours a week as, gasp, a deck collector.
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I know, I know, you all think much less of me now.
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I can't even listen to this guy anymore, Please have some sympathy for me.
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And let me give you a small window into what it's like to be the person who makes a call that nobody wants to pick up.
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I worked library collection calls.
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(audience laughing)
26:50-26:51
I know what you're thinking.
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You pestered people about 25 cent fines?
26:54-27:01
No, people had hundreds, if not thousands, upon thousands of dollars in overdue library fees.
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Now you're thinking, how is that possible?
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And that's what I thought when I was hired.
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But people wouldn't return books for years and sometimes even decades.
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Now I wasn't a pushy debt collector.
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I wasn't someone trying to scare people or intimidate them.
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I really wanted to help people.
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I didn't want something as dumb as a library fee to negatively affect someone's credit score.
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And most of the time, if you returned your overdue books, the library fee would be taken down to a much smaller scale just wiped out entirely.
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But as one woman told me, I'll never forget, you know, man, if you return this book, the whole fine will be taken away.
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I can't do that.
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Why is that?
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Well, my book burned up in my boyfriend's meth lab.
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I said, yep, that would do it.
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Have a great day.
27:57-28:00
During my time as a debt collector, I was called every single square word in the book.
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I think people even invented some new ones to throw my way.
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People threatened to kill me.
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They threatened to ruin my life.
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They threatened to sue me for everything I was worth, which at that point as a seminary student wasn't very much.
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But I just remember I had to drive across a bridge to get to work.
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Every single time I drove across that bridge, a cloud would just go over me.
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As I knew, nobody would want to hear from me.
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As I knew everyone would be annoyed that I disturbed them, I would just be called the worst possible things.
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I approached every single call with fear and hesitation instead of boldness and confidence.
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I always expected that the person that I'd aligned wouldn't want to hear from me.
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And they'd be greatly annoyed that I disturbed them.
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No, honestly, don't we feel the same way with God sometimes?
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At times we hesitantly approach him like we're annoying callers.
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who are bugging him when he's doing something much more important.
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And he'll think, "Taylor, again?
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"Come on, this guy's always bothering me.
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"What's going on again?" But guess what?
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God's not like that.
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Say that with me, God's not like that.
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God doesn't have office hours.
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God doesn't put the do not disturb sign on his door.
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We can never interrupt him.
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We can never bother him because he is the greatest multitasker in the universe and can do an infinite number of things effortlessly at once.
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There is a 0% chance of him being swamped or overwhelmed.
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He always has time for me.
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He always has time for you.
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Listen to what the author of Hebrews has to say about this in chapter four, verse 16.
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"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne "of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help time of need.
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So since Jesus ascended into heaven, since he sits at the right hand of the Father, and since he sympathizes with all that we're going through, we're encouraged to bring all of our burdens, all of our problems, all of our anxieties before the throne of grace.
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And we are promised that we will never, ever be turned away.
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That God will always give us his grace, His mercy and His help for every situation.
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Listen, when you approach the Father in prayer, He doesn't look at you like an annoying or pushy debt collector who's calling at the worst possible time.
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Instead, He looks at you as a beloved son or daughter who is knocking on His door at the exact right moment.
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Do you believe that?
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Do you believe that God actually wants to hear from you, that he wants to spend time in prayer with you, that actually delights him to be in relationship with you?
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Do you approach him like a trusting child running to their father's lap?
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Or do you approach him like an uncertain acquaintance?
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Through Jesus Christ, you have been given unlimited access to the Father.
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You have the ear of the God of the universe.
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Think about that.
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You can talk to God anytime that you want, anytime you need something from him.
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The Lord wants you to cast your burdens upon him.
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He already knows your issues, but he wants to hear you say them anyway to admit your need for him.
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Now let's be honest this morning, who's in need right now?
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I'm not talking just financially, talking personally, relationally, mentally, every hand should be up right now because my hand is up right now.
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We are, everyone get your hand up, come on, come on.
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We all are in need right now, not just today, but every other day, which means we must constantly be seeking after the Lord.
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We must constantly be seeking after him in prayer for his help and for his power and for his strength.
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Yes, we must always approach him with reverence and respect, but let us not fail to also approach him with boldness, with confidence, with honesty and transparency.
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We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of all that it means that Jesus is our high priest, but I hope and pray this introduction has encouraged you to hold fast to your faith, to remember that you do not struggle alone, and to boldly approach the Father whenever you need help.
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What a great high priest that we serve.
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He saves us, he secures us, he sympathizes with us, he prays for us.
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Our great high priest is on the throne.
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He knows what he's doing.
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He's in control of our lives.
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Let's live like we actually believe that.
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Let's pray.
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Father, what an awesome, awesome word from Hebrews, Lord.
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That your son knows what we go through, that he sympathized with every single temptation, every single struggle that we face, that he offers us his comfort, his strength, and his help.
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Lord, in a room this size, know that many of us are struggling right now.
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Many of us are struggling with something.
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I don't know what it is, but you do.
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I pray that you minister to every single person in this room in the way that you minister to, that you would love them, that you would encourage them, that you would comfort them, that you would give them your hope.
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And if there's someone in this room who doesn't know you, I pray they would place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation right now.
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That he would become their final and great high priest.
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Lord, this life is so hard.
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It's difficult to hold fast to you.
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It's difficult to fight against temptation.
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Lord, help us to believe that you're on the throne.
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Help us to believe that you know what you're doing Everything that we go through is for a reason.
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Everything that we go through is for our ultimate good and for your glory, even though we can't see it.
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Lord, I pray this message wouldn't just stay in this room, but it would go with us and affect the rest of our weeks.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 4:14-16
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What does it mean that Jesus is our great high priest?
What does it look like to hold fast to our confession/what we believe? Where do you see many churches and self-proclaimed Christians making compromises right now?
Why is it so empowering to know that Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses and temptations?
How can you become more bold and confident in your prayer life?
Breakout
Pray for one another.