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October 12, 2003
18th Sunday after Pentecost
Hebrews 5:1-10
Pastor Ben Berger

Approach God with Confidence

You are under arrest - for idolatry, for defaming God's name, for despising God's word, for disrespecting God's representatives, for murder, adultery, theft and gossip, for wanting what belongs to your neighbor and for every single sin you have ever committed. You have the right to remain silent; you have the right to an attorney; everything you have ever said will be used against you in God's court of law. I suggest that you find someone to represent you. When you finally arrive in God's courtroom, how will you answer these charges? The Devil himself will be present to prosecute you. He will have records of every sinful thought, word or deed you have ever committed. What will be your defense? How will you ever approach your God on that day? How can you even dare to approach him now? We find out today in our sermon text. The author to the Hebrews tells us that not only can we approach God, but we can Approach God with Confidence for two reasons. 1) We have a high priest 2) Our High Priest is Christ.

The job of a high priest is to represent men before God. In God's court of law he is the Judge, the Devil is the prosecutor, we are the defendants. We need someone to represent us. Inside and out of that courtroom the high priest represents men before God. The first verse says, "Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God." We need someone to represent us before God because the Judge is holy and we are completely corrupted by sin. Because of our sin we are not allowed to speak to the holy Judge.

The high priest is able to represent us for two reasons. First, he is one of us. "Every high priest is selected from among men." As a result, he can relate to us. Verse two says, "He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness." The high priest knows what we are going through because he has gone through the same struggle himself. The high priest has battled the devil's temptations. He knows how the devil tempts us to doubt that God loves us. He knows the devil's deceitfulness, how one minute he's telling us that it's OK, God won't punish us for such small sins. Then the next minute he's telling us that we are such great sinners God could never forgive us. The high priest knows exactly how frightful it is to stand before God as a sinner because he too is a sinner and he must stand before God every single day as he represents all other sinners like you and me.

As our representative, as the representative of sinners before God the holy Judge, the main job of the high priest is this: to present offerings for sins. We present thank offerings; we give our money, time and talents as thanks to God. However, before there can be thank offerings, there must be offerings to cover sin. Back to verse one, the high priest "is appointed to represent men in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins." Verse three tells us that because the high priest is himself a sinner, he must first offer gifts and sacrifices for his own sins. Then he offers gifts and sacrifices for the sins of the people.

What is the plea our representative offers in the courtroom of God? GUILTY! He has no choice but to confess our guilt and his and throw us all to the mercy of the court. In the Old Testament every single day, once in the morning and once in the evening, the high priest offered the blood of an animal to cover his sins and the sins of the people. Blood is the only offering that can cover sin. Once a year the high priest shed the blood of animal after animal and then he approached the bench of the holy Judge. As the high priest approached the altar of God in the Most Holy Place of the temple, the very place where God lived, he sprinkled the blood on the altar and begged for God's mercy and forgiveness. This was the only defense the high priest could offer for the sins of himself and the people.

One final note about this high priest, our representative in God's courtroom. Verse four, "No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was." The high priest and representative before God is court appointed; God himself chooses who will represent us. No man dare take this honor upon himself. No sinful human being dare think that he has the right to approach God. No sinful human being dare think that he is better than others are and has the right to represent him. Only God can give such honor.

The reality of God's courtroom is very real. One day God will hold each one of us accountable for our sins. We can be sure the Devil will be there with all the proof needed to prosecute and condemn us to hell. We will need a representative. You might remind me that we don't have priests anymore, that we certainly don't have a high priest who offers daily sacrifices for our sins. You would be wrong. The reality is that we not only have a high priest, but Our High Priest is Christ.

In the Old Testament God chose Aaron and his descendants to be the high priests who would represent the people before him; now God has chosen Christ to be our High Priest. Verse five, "So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God [chose] him." We don't have high priests like Aaron any more. We don't have high priests because God chose one superior High Priest.

Christ is the greatest High Priest for two reasons. First, he is the Son of God; he is God himself. Who better to represent us before God than the Son of God! At the same time, Christ is still one of us; he is man. "Every high priest is selected from among men." Because Christ was born as a man and lived as a man, he can relate to us. He too knows the temptations of the Devil; he wrestled with the Devil face to face for forty days in the desert. He has been tempted in every way just as we are. The Devil tempted him to forsake God and to test God and to doubt God's love for him. Jesus even came face to face with death in the Garden of Gethsemane. Verse seven tells us, "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death." Jesus' struggle was so great that along with his loud cries and tears he sweat with drops like blood. Who better to represent us than someone who knows all of our struggles!

Jesus is also the great High Priest because he is a priest forever. Besides a priest named Melchizedek, every other high priest died. Aaron died and all of his descendants died. Eventually the entire order of priests from Aaron's line died and came to an end. Jesus lives! And he shall be our high priest forever. We don't have to worry if we'll have a representative when we die; we don't have to worry if there will still be a high priest. Jesus is our High Priest forever.

The most valuable benefit of having Christ as our High Priest is that his offering is superior. Aaron and the other high priests offered the blood of animals. Day after day after day and year after year they offered more and more blood. The blood of animals never actually covered any sin. The blood of animals never paid the price for any of the sins of the people. On the other hand, Christ our great High Priest made only one offering and it covered all the sins of all people of all time.

Even though Christ prayed that God would save him from death, and even though God heard his prayer, Christ died. Remember that more important than Christ's life was his Father's will. The holy Judge had declared that the sentence for sin was death. He had decreed that only the blood of his own Son would cover the sins of the world. So Christ made the ultimate sacrifice; he presented the only offering that would uncover the mercy of the holy Judge - his own life. Verse eight says that Christ learned obedience from what he suffered. Christ had always obeyed his Father. He had never once committed a sin of his own. He did not need to offer a sacrifice for his own sins. But, by his willingness to offer himself as the sacrifice for the world, Christ obeyed his Father to a new level. He obeyed perfectly.

This is your great High Priest, your representative in God's courtroom. Verse nine, "once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." Christ is the source of your salvation; he is your defense in God's court of law. Christ does not enter a plea of guilty. Rather he declares to the Judge that he must declare you NOT GUILTY. When the Devil stands up to object and to point to all of the evidence against you, he will see that all of your sins have been covered by the blood of the lamb. The sacrifice of your High Priest has served your sentence and paid your penalty. Then the Judge will declare: NOT GUILTY.

Therefore, Approach God with Confidence. When the day of your reckoning comes and you are facing death, do not fear. Your Savior will be by your side. Approach God with Confidence, knowing that he has forgiven all of your sins because of the sacrifice of your great High Priest. When the devil comes day in and day out tempting you to forsake God and indulge yourself or trying to convince you that God could never forget you, Approach God with Confidence. Ask God to give you the strength to resist the Devil and to remind you that your sins are forgiven because of the sacrifice of your great High Priest. Finally, because you can Approach God with Confidence every single day to thank him for Christ your Savior, your High Priest.