The Wednesday Word - 15 February, 2023 A.D.

Since We Have a Great High Priest 

by D.G. Miles McKee

 

Hebrews 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.” 

Everything that Christ does as our Priest flows freely from His finished work—(the ultra-sufficient work that has already been perfectly accomplished by Christ). Having redeemed us, He entered into the heavenly Holy of Holies to apply the benefits of His work (Romans 8:33-34). There is, therefore, no improvement that we can offer to that which He has already done!
 
Because of the Finished Work, we may now come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. In other words, since we have a Great High Priest, we should use Him. 
 
But how ought we to approach Him? According to Hebrews 4:16, we are to approach Him ‘boldly.’ The word ‘boldly’ means that we are to come with confidence, pouring out our hearts to Him, holding nothing back. It means, saying it all with assurance and frankness. It is there, at His throne that we confess our sins, our fears, our hopes and our griefs to the One who is filled with tender compassion for us.
 
Horatius Bonar says, “Tell the High Priest, not what you desire to be, nor what you ought to be, but what you are. Tell Him the honest truth as to your condition at this moment. Confess the impurity of your motives; all the evil that you feel or that you don't feel; your hard-heartedness, your blindness, your unteachableness.  Confess everything without reserve. He wants you to come to Him exactly as you are, and not to cherish the vain thought that, by a little waiting, or working, or praying, you can make yourself fit, or that you can persuade Him to make you fit.” -excerpt from 'God’s Way of Peace'
 
Notice how Hebrews 4:16 tells us of our freedom in the gospel.  Under the law, every mouth was shut because of guilt, (Romans 3:19), but now, under grace, our mouths are wide open because we have a faithful high priest. We may tell Him everything. Since we have this great High Priest, we should use Him!
 
Notice also that our High Priest sits on the Throne of Grace. It’s not the Throne of Law or Religion. It’s not a throne of severe demands and terror. It’s not even called the Throne of Majesty although it could have been. If verse 16 had said, “Let us come to the place of enthroned sovereign majesty,” we would be afraid to go because we know our flaws, our failings and our fallings. “Conscience doth make cowards of us all.”
 
The thought of God the majestic ruler strikes fear into us. He’s too big and too powerful.  How wonderful then to read that, the throne of our great High Priest is called the Throne of Grace.  Our God, the One who is grace Himself, the One who is our High Priest is enthroned there.
 
The One who died for us is seated there. It is the One who became our Substitute whom we encounter there. It is the One who can be and is touched by the feeling of our infirmities who is headquartered there.  Remember this, to go to His Throne, the only 4 things we need to be convinced of are that,
 
(1) We have a great high priest.
(2) We are sinners.
(3) Our high priest is sympathetic to our case and
(4) He freely invites us to come to Him.
 
Since we have a Great High Priest, we should use Him!
 
This ‘Throne of Grace’ is also the home of mercy for Christ Jesus, our mercy seat, is enthroned there!  It is there, in Christ alone, that we receive mercy and grace to help in the time of need. This is why we can come freely and without pretending to be what we are not.  We have already been accepted apart from our works. What we do or haven’t done can neither improve on nor diminish that.
 
Our High Priest knows our failures and He, in spite of what the legalists tell us, is not recording them (Romans 4:7-8).  Our High Priest is entirely ours, His perfect obedience, prayer life, worship, sacrifice and resurrection are all ours!  We are constantly in His thoughts for we are precious to Him. The more we are convinced of these things, the more we will come boldly to Him.
 
Since we have a Great High Priest, we should use Him!
 
And that’s the Gospel Truth!