Heb 4:14-16 – “To Day if ye Will Hear His Voice, Harden not Your Hearts” – Part 6

[Study Aired August 13, 2020]

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

In this last section of chapter four we will look at what the scriptures conclude is the way we should all approach our Father through Christ (Eph 2:18-19, Rom 3:22-25) where we can “find grace to help in time of need” so that “To day if you hear his voice” you will through Christ “obtain mercy” given by our loving Abba Father who sheds His love abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5) so that we “harden not your hearts” in this age (Isa 66:2).

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Through Christ we can “hold fast our profession” and not give the devil any advantage to come in and discourage us (Eph 4:27). We are called in this age for that very reason; to learn to fight a good fight of faith by submitting to God and resisting the devil, which is how we resist “unto blood, striving against sin” (Jas 4:7, Heb 12:4).

Eph 4:27  Neither give place to the devil.

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. [“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”]

We are not alone in this struggle against sin and the powers and principalities that Christ is far above (Eph 1:21). We cast all our cares upon Christ (1Pe 5:7) and His body to overcome those powers and principalities against which we wrestle, and this starts when we go boldly before “the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need“. This ongoing process of self-examination and confession of faults is one that each joint of Christ’s body is experiencing so that we can all benefit by the love that He supplies or sheds abroad in our hearts to help us overcome sin or fear within us which must be overcome in order to have love be made perfect within us (1Jn 4:18-19). God is the one who blesses us so we can continue to be a spiritually healthy branch that is being given increase so that we can bear the burden of others and help in that maturing process of fruit in their lives as a healthy branch should be doing on any fruit bearing tree (Jas 5:16, Jas 5:16, Gal 6:2).

1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1Jn 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Everyone in the body of Christ is benefited by the overcomer, and so it is written “let us“: let us collectively move forward with the same mind of Christ seeking and looking for the same heavenly country that we have been called unto (Heb 11:14-16) as we move forward together like an army which is operating by the power of God and not by the wisdom of men (1Co 2:5, Jdg 7:2-7). Also let us do that in the measure of faith that God gives each of us (Rom 12:3).

Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. [Gal 4:26-27, Jas 4:15, 2Co 6:17-18]

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not (1Co 2:5): for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. [God is sovereign over all our actions the good and the evil (Eph 1:11)]
Jas 4:16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings (Rom 11:18-21): all such rejoicing is evil.
Jas 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
2Ti 2:5  And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

Jdg 7:2  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many (1Co 2:5) for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
Jdg 7:3  Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
Jdg 7:4  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many (1Co 2:5); bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. [Jas 4:15]
Jdg 7:5  So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
Jdg 7:6  And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
Jdg 7:7  And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you (1Co 2:5), and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

The “three hundred men” represent the elect who are going through a process of judgment (3x10x10) in this age which requires us to keep our eyes on Christ even while we acknowledge that we are still in vessels of clay that can’t inherit the kingdom of God. The other group lap also, but both their knees are to the ground with their face toward the earth typifying that they are not setting their minds on things above (Col 3:2), and although they may be drinking water that represents God’s word, it is not mixed with faith (1Jn 5:4, Heb 4:2) which comes from our looking to the author and finisher of our faith Jesus Christ to whom we are being dragged (Heb 12:2, Joh 6:44).

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (1Co 2:5).

“Let us” collectively move forward with that same mind of Christ as we look at these verses tonight, starting with:

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

What we are to “hold fast”^G2902 to in “our profession”^G3671 of fighting a good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12) is the “exceeding great and precious promises” (2Pe 1:3-4) which have been “given unto us” so that we can escape the “corruption that is in the world through lust”. Those promises we profess that are given to us in Christ are being held fast and remain in our heavens through coming “boldly unto the throne of grace” of verse 16 so we can overcome in this age.

“hold fast”: G2902 krateō   krat-eh’-o
From G2904; to use strength, that is, seize or retain (literally or figuratively): – hold (by, fast), keep, lay hand (hold) on, obtain, retain, take (by).

“profession”: G3671 homologia  hom-ol-og-ee’-ah

From the same as G3670; acknowledgment: – con- (pro-) fession, professed.

G3670 homologeō hom-ol-og-eh’-o 
From a compound of the base of G3674 and G3056; to assent, that is, covenant, acknowledge: – con- (pro-) fess, confession is made, give thanks, promise. [Rom 10:9]

Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Here are just some of the promises God will bring into our remembrance so we can be armed with the mind of Christ (1Pe 4:1) and overcome in this life through Him who strengthens us (Php 4:13) and through the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our trials (2Co 1:3-5).

We are promised that we will have trials and much tribulation in order to enter into the kingdom (Act 14:22), and that can only be a confirming statement if we know that this much tribulation has been accompanied with the promise that God will make a way for us to escape that tribulation by bearing up under it through Christ (1Co 10:13).

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Such tribulation may come in various forms as God has deemed necessary so we learn to trust in Him and not in our own flesh or the flesh of some other person (2Co 1:9). God is in the process of showing the world the resolve of the elect which is made perfect through Christ and how there is nothing that can separate us from His love, from His hand that holds us as we look to Him (Mat 16:18, Mat 10:19, Rom 8:35-39, Rom 12:1-2, Heb 12:1-2, Act 7:55-60).

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves [1Co 15:31], that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell [this “sentence of death” (Act 9:1, Rom 8:28)] shall not prevail against it. [2Co 4:8, Mat 26:38, 1Jn 4:17-18, Php 4:13]

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Mat 26:38  Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities^G769; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 

We cannot become a priest without someone guiding us into that role (Act 8:31-33), and what God is guiding us into is the destruction of our old man, as typified by the young child who guided Samson’s hands toward the pillars that would be used to bring about the destruction of many lives including Samson’s. We need to become more and more like that child spiritually so that we can receive God’s children and graft them into the body of Christ (Jdg 16:26-30, Mat 18:2-3).

Act 8:31  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
Act 8:32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
Act 8:33  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? [Mat 24:34, Php 3:3, Joh 5:30] for his life is taken from the earth.

Jdg 16:26  And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. [Pro 3:5-6]
Jdg 16:27  Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women [Luk 13:4], that beheld while Samson made sport.
Jdg 16:28  And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Jdg 16:29  And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
Jdg 16:30  And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might [1Ti 6:12]; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

[Those whom Samson slew during his life typify those few the Father drags to Christ in this age to be judged, and “the dead which he slew at his death were more” typifies our enduring until the end and saving those who will come up in the great white throne judgment (Gal 4:27, Mat 10:28].

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Mat 18:2  And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The same “infirmities”^G769 which are in us were in Christ, being in weak carnal, sinful flesh that he never sinned in “yet without sin“. Christ is able to comfort us now being our high priest who can “be touched with the feeling of our infirmities”^G769 and can set us free from all spiritual weakness through which He makes His strength perfect (2Co 12:9-10).

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

•diseases, 1
Act_28:9
•infirmities, 10
Mat_8:17; Luk_5:15; Luk_8:2; Rom_8:26; 2Co_11:30; 2Co_12:5; 2Co_12:9; 2Co_12:10; 1Ti_5:23; Heb_4:15
•infirmity, 6
Luk_13:11; Joh_5:5; Rom_6:19; Gal_4:13; Heb_5:2; Heb_7:28
•weakness, 4
1Co_2:3; 1Co_15:43; 2Co_13:4; Heb_11:34

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

We all need God’s mercy every single second of our life as demonstrated with this comment Christ made to Peter in Luke 22:31, and we are instructed to “come boldly“^G3954 meaning “free and fearless confidence” (according to Thayer) “unto the throne of grace” (Jas 1:6). If you lack faith and boldness, pray for that, and the Lord will give it (Mar 9:24, Eph 6:18-20, Jas 4:2).

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Jas 4:2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

These verses (Heb 4:14-16) that we’ve gone over tonight have been written to comfort us in our “time of need“. Our time of need is right now, and Christ has prayed for us that our faith fail not “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luk 22:32).

It is those continual and fervent prayers of the saints which will avail much in this life as we petition God for each other and pray for each other as Christ did for Peter (1Jn 4:17). Those prayers avail much as they make it possible for us to “obtain mercy” and “find grace” find favour in our time of need (Jas 5:16, Pro 3:4).

The grace we find to help in our time of need is typified by the prophets of old who searched diligently to obtain that favour, and were our examples by suffering affliction and learning patience through it (1Pe 1:10, Jas 5:10). God’s favour as we know is his grace that chastens us so that we learn to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age (Tit 2:12-14).

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.