Good morning once again. So glad to be with you guys today. Today we're continuing our series through the book of Hebrews called Anchored and we're gonna be in chapter four today. So before we go any further, let's go before our Lord and pray for our time in the word. Oh God, we come before you in the mighty name of Jesus.
Rev. Terence Gray:God, thanking you for your word, for what it means to us, how it speaks to us, how it confronts us, how it comforts us, how it gives us gives us life. Oh, father, I pray that you would move me out of the way and that I would decrease and that you would increase and be made much of in the lives of your people. God, draw near to us at this time. Minister to our hearts in ways that only you can. God, we need you.
Rev. Terence Gray:You know what every individual brought into this room, what baggage, what pain, what confusion. God, meet them right there. It's in the mighty name of Jesus that we pray together. Amen. Christian hip hop recording artist, Lecrae, share he got a fan in there, shared, about his experiences on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards.
Rev. Terence Gray:Several several years ago, he was nominated for a Grammy and he talks about his experience on the red carpet in his book called Unashamed. I'm gonna share a little bit of excerpt from that book. He said, when I reached the end of the carpet, you know the place where artists stand in front of the Grammy's backdrop and a crowd of photographers take their picture, a security guard lowered his hand and asked me to wait. He waved another more famous celebrity around me. That celebrity pop singer smiled and the cameras went crazy.
Rev. Terence Gray:When she finished, I started to proceed but the security guard stopped me again. He waved a more famous artist through once more and this happened so many times he says that I lost count. Beyonce and then Taylor Swift and then Keith Urban and Ziggy Marley. And somewhere in the process my wife threw up her hands and left me to go sit down. For forty five minutes, I waited until the security guard finally raised his arm and waved me through, giving me access to the red carpet photo drop.
Rev. Terence Gray:I walked in front of the backdrop in my crisp tuxedo and my shiny shoes standing tall and proud as a nominee and I gave the best smile I ever had And almost every journalist lowered their camera. They didn't want any pictures of me. Maybe five of the 40 photographers took my picture out of pity. Some people say the red carpet is the best litmus test for how famous you are or how famous you're not. For how accepted you are or how accepted you aren't.
Rev. Terence Gray:If this is true, the message was clear. I am not one of them. Every actor, artist, influencer, celebrity dreams of gaining access to the red carpet. Now the red carpet in and of itself isn't special. There isn't anything special about the red carpet.
Rev. Terence Gray:But what makes the red carpet significant is the access. The access to people in your industry, the most successful, the beautiful, and the powerful. And you get to rub shoulders with these people. You're there because of some kind of achievement. So there's a high level of significance with standing on the red carpet.
Rev. Terence Gray:You get proximity to people that you want to know. But here's the thing about that red carpet. Though you get access and proximity, a lot of those relationships are superficial. They're based upon transaction. They're based upon how someone can help another person get a little further in their career or something like that.
Rev. Terence Gray:And it can be very fickle as Lecrae discerned at his moment at the Grammys on the red carpet. In the Garden of Eden, humanity had access in a different kind of way. The access that humanity had in the Garden of Eden wasn't superficial. It was very real. It was very vulnerable.
Rev. Terence Gray:They were literally naked and unashamed before one another and before God. And they had the type of relationship that we long for today with their creator. But in the Garden of Eden, in the middle of having such great access, humanity lost its place there as we sinned against God. And when we sinned against God, we lost access. Essentially, sin closed the door on that relationship with God.
Rev. Terence Gray:And ever since, humanity has been trying to figure out how to get back, how to gain access, how to experience what we experienced in the Garden of Eden. Today, we're gonna talk about everybody's favorite subject, sin. In its simplest form, sin is rebellion against God, And sin always creates distance in relationships. Whether it's in our interpersonal human relationships or in our relationship with God, sin always creates distance and distortion. And ever since humanity got its eviction notice in the Garden of Eden, we've been trying to figure out how to get back.
Rev. Terence Gray:Whether we realize it or not, whether we're religious or not, whether it's top of mind or not, we miss it there. We miss it there. Behind every addict is a heart that misses the Garden of Eden. Behind every relational hurt is a heart that misses the safety of our relationship with our father, where we were unashamed and vulnerable, fully known yet fully loved. Behind every person chasing achievement and success is a heart missing the significance that we had in the garden, the significance that came by being known and loved by our father.
Rev. Terence Gray:And so the question becomes, how do we regain access? In the Westminster Confession chapter seven, it says this, the distance between God and humanity is so great that although human beings owe obedience to God as their creator, they could never experience him as their blessedness and reward unless he willingly chose to relate to them through a covenant. In other words, we can't experience a relationship with God now unless he initiates it towards us. In other words, we can't fight our way, earn our way, work our way, perform our way back into his presence. God has to mediate a way for you and I to have a relationship with him.
Rev. Terence Gray:And here's the good news, he does want a relationship with you and me. He wants a relationship with you and me. So he makes a covenant. A covenant is an agreement. And the agreement was simple, not easy but simple.
Rev. Terence Gray:How does a holy God have a relationship with sinful humanity? Well, if something if someone sins, that means that something has to die. And so this sacrificial system was put in place by God where He essentially said, if you sin against me, you have to bring an animal before me, sacrifice that animal, your sins are then placed on that animal and from there you are cleansed for the for the moment. And this was the system that went on for years and years. A person sinned, sacrifice has to come.
Rev. Terence Gray:A person sins, sacrifice has to come. And so in the old covenant, you had a mediator. You needed a priest. You needed someone to stand in between God and the people. You needed a person to stand in the gap.
Rev. Terence Gray:And here's what the priest did. The priest would stand in the gap and speak to God on behalf of the people. And then the priest would speak to the people on behalf of God and this is how the relationship was mediated. We go to Numbers chapter 18, we see God establishing the role of the priest in the book of Numbers. He's he says to the priest, you are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again.
Rev. Terence Gray:I my I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priest in connection with everything at the altar inside the curtain. I'm giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death. And so this is how God mediated this relationship between a holy God and a sinful humanity.
Rev. Terence Gray:One theologian, Desmond Alexander explains it a little more. He says, by meeting with Yahweh daily morning and evening, the high priest develops a relationship with God that enables him to speak to God regarding the issues involving the Israelites. Through being known by God and by finding favor in God's sight, the high priest is well placed to mediate on behalf of the Israelites when their inappropriate actions threatened to undermine the covenant relationship. In other words, somebody had to stand in the gap. There needed to be a person in the middle.
Rev. Terence Gray:And this is how they operated for years and years and years. Then Jesus comes into the story. And Jesus says that you no longer need a physical high priest to stand in the gap for you. There will no longer be a human being, a man in the middle because I will be your high priest. Now I won't be here physically with you but I will be in heaven.
Rev. Terence Gray:And that's wonderful and all, but when you are a person who's used to seeing a physical high priest, seeing physical sacrifices, that's kind of what you get used to. And when you tell me that my priest is in heaven now and I can't see him and touch him, I get a little anxious. And as we come to the book of Hebrews, you see a people who are dealing with a little bit of a faith crisis because they don't see the priest now. They don't see the sacrifices now. And they're starting to wonder, am I okay with God now?
Rev. Terence Gray:Are me and God alright? How am I supposed to know that we are good with God because we don't have the setup that we used to have? This wasn't just confusion, this was a crisis of faith because they wanted to know were they safe. We all want to know that we are safe. It's the most basic of human desires, the desire for safety.
Rev. Terence Gray:Simon Sittick, he's a leadership expert and in his book called yeah, in his book he talks about the circle of safety. He has this concept called the circle of safety. He says in every environment, workplace, team, friend group or church, we're all asking the same question, am I in or am I out? When layoffs come on the job, we wonder, am I safe? When cuts happen, we wonder, am I staying?
Rev. Terence Gray:When others are included to the dinner or the party and we see the pictures on Facebook, we wonder, do I belong? Do they like me? And we can carry the same kind of questions into our relationship with God. Because we know we're not perfect. Because we know we fall short and we know that we sin.
Rev. Terence Gray:And so quietly, some subconsciously, sometimes we ask, god, am I in the circle of safety or am I out? These are the questions that the audience of this letter are wrestling with. And the author of the letter tells them this in chapter four verse 14. He says, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. He's not here physically.
Rev. Terence Gray:He's not in the temple offering sacrifices, but he's in heaven, which means he's a far greater priest. He's not in the the holy of holies in the tabernacle, but now he's in the great sanctuary in heaven. Now he's not making a sacrifice of a lamb, but he is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So you have something far greater. We just have to hold on to it.
Rev. Terence Gray:In other words, our anchor is in heaven. In Christ, have someone standing in the gap for you, talking to the father for you, advocating for you, fighting off Satan's accusations against you, present presenting you blameless before the courts of heaven, praying for you always. So in other words, friends, me and you are not without representation. We are not without representation. You don't have a public defender who just rolled out of bed to take your case.
Rev. Terence Gray:You have someone who's been thinking about your situation day in and day out, and Jesus, our great high priest, is there to advocate for you. Some of you know what it feels like to not have an advocate, and that might be a part of your story. Some of you may know what it feels like to not have a person in your corner or to not have someone have your back, and it might be a part of what makes it difficult for you to really believe that you have this advocate who's there for you and has your back. Friends in Christ, you have someone thinking about you, praying for you, and fighting for you. We're not without someone standing in the gap.
Rev. Terence Gray:Verse 15, it says, 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. I wanna look at that word sympathize. I wanna look at that word because this describes the kind of priest we have. We don't have a hard hearted priest. We don't have a priest who wants to cast shame and blame onto us.
Rev. Terence Gray:We don't have a priest who can't relate to what we're going through. The text says we have a priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. That word sympathize is a theological word that means solidarity, which just means with ness. He's right there with us in our pain. In our pain, Jesus is pained.
Rev. Terence Gray:In our suffering, he feels the suffering as his own even though it isn't. This doesn't mean he is in that his invincible divinity is threatened. It means that his heart is drawn into our sadness and weakness. His love is a kind of special love that cannot be held back when he sees his people in pain. In other words, Jesus gets it.
Rev. Terence Gray:He feels it. He knows what you're going through. Jesus says, I won't abandon you in your suffering or in your weakness. Jesus says, I know what it means to be sick. I know what it means to be poor.
Rev. Terence Gray:I know what it means to be betrayed. I know what it means to be abused. I know what it means to be mocked. I know what it means to be sad. I know what it means to be angry.
Rev. Terence Gray:He says, I sympathize with you in that. He says, I even know what it means to be tempted. Jesus, the son of God, the God man himself knows what it means to be tempted tempted. Isn't that interesting? Jesus being God in his humanity, he was also tempted.
Rev. Terence Gray:Seminary president and theologian, Albert Muller, speaks to this point on Jesus being tempted. He says Jesus never crossed the line. He was tempted in every respect that we have been tempted, but never once did he permit that temptation to become sin in his heart and his thoughts or his actions. Thus, temptation that resists or rejects sin falls short of sin, while temptation that gives over to sin is sin. In other words, millions upon millions of people who have never committed adultery in the flesh have committed adultery in their hearts.
Rev. Terence Gray:Moreover, every person has in some respect given permission to some temptation to become sin. Thus, the author of Hebrews is exhorting his readers to find rescue from their temptations in Christ, the only high priest who can deliver us from temptation. If you want freedom from lust, don't just white knuckle it and fight the desire. Look to Jesus who refused to let desire become sin, So we walk in his footsteps. You want freedom from pride because it's tearing up your relationships.
Rev. Terence Gray:What we run from it, we turn from it, and run into the arms of Jesus and follow in his footsteps of humility. You want freedom from pornography, from alcohol addiction, from drug addiction, from food addiction, you name it. Don't just run from it, run to someone. We have a great high priest, one who understands our struggles, one who sympathizes with our weaknesses, and one who can actually help us in our times of need. Hebrews says this, let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Rev. Terence Gray:The author instructs the people to approach God's throne with confidence. Now you gotta remind yourself of who he's talking to. He's talking to people who grew up in a tradition where they knew that if they approached God, if they stepped into that sanctuary, if they stepped into that holy place, then they would die on the spot. Now they're being told to approach his throne with confidence. The kind of confidence that a little girl has when her dad comes home from work, where she just runs into his arms.
Rev. Terence Gray:God is saying, approach me like that. And this would have been a culture shift. Like, are you serious? Are you kidding? Can I really approach God like that?
Rev. Terence Gray:And what we're beginning to see here in the text is yes. That's how we're able to relate to God now because we have access. Friends, you you you have access to talk to God. You don't need a human mediator. You can draw to God on your own.
Rev. Terence Gray:You don't need a pastor or a priest to talk to God for you, though that is great. Pastors and priests like to pray for people and talk to God for people. That's a part of what I do. It is an honor to pray for you. But I want you to know you can pray to God and talk to God for yourself.
Rev. Terence Gray:And he longs to hear from you. And so Jesus did something special on that cross. He died so that we can have access. Amen. He died so that we might have access.
Rev. Terence Gray:And now you can enter into God's presence with confidence, without fear, because Jesus has covered us with the blood of the lamb, declaring us righteous and given us access now into his presence, and he extends that invitation. The only way that this could have happened if is if he would have extended it to us. And now he rolls out the red carpet for sinners. And he says, the way into my presence, the way for you to have a relationship with me is through confession and repentance. He says, you can be vulnerable before me.
Rev. Terence Gray:I'm a high priest that can sympathize with your weakness. You have something that you have to confess. You can confess it before me. If you want to know me, you can know me because I have made a way. Confession and repentance is the way towards the intimacy and the love and the access that we long for.
Rev. Terence Gray:So how do I find my way back if I'm lost? Follow the path of confession and repentance. This is where intimacy is restored. And this is with our relationship with God. But even in our relationship with others, if you wanna have a distant relationship, hide and don't be don't be vulnerable, don't confess, and see where that gets you in your relationships.
Rev. Terence Gray:But if you wanna have close relationships with people, people that you might even sin against and do wrong or they do you wrong, confession and repentance is the way towards restoration. You're you're fully known and fully loved. In a room this size, I know some of us are wrestling with some things that might make us feel distant from God. Some of us may be harboring addictions. We may be harboring sin in our hearts.
Rev. Terence Gray:And it's hard to talk about it. It's hard to bring it up. And and and maybe you don't feel comfortable bringing it before the Lord. And he says, the path towards intimacy with me is confession and repentance. And we find mercy every time.
Rev. Terence Gray:If you fall seven times, get up eight times and keep confessing and repenting because in his presence you will find mercy. I wanna leave you with this. Grace grants access and restores the proximity to God that was lost in the garden. Grace grants access and restores the proximity to God that was lost in the garden. Friends, Satan wants you to think that you don't have it, but you have it.
Rev. Terence Gray:You have access to talk to your father in heaven. Will you pray with me? Oh, father, we come before you in the mighty name of Jesus. God, grateful for what your son Jesus did when he died at Calvary that we might now have access. Access that we lost, but you gained it again for us.
Rev. Terence Gray:And for that, we're grateful. God, I pray for my brothers and sisters, and I pray for myself that we would know that path of confession and repentance that leads us back to you. It's far greater than anything else that we can gain in this world. May we cherish it, know it, and experience it. It's in the name of Jesus that we pray together.
Rev. Terence Gray:Amen.
