Hebrews 4:13-16 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 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. 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. 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.

The past few weeks we have been looking at Israel, God’s Old Testament people. The Word of God led Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, through the deserts, and to the base of Mount Sinai. When God gave His Word to Israel through Moses, His people – saved by Grace – said:

Exodus 24:3 (NKJV) … All the words which the Lord has said we will do ..

The Way To Blessing Is To Hear & Obey God

Yet Israel did not do it. Rather than hear the Word of God and do it, they murmured and complained and balked. In the end the first generation of Israel did NOT go into the Promised Land (other than Joshua and Caleb) because they disobeyed His Word. God had warned Israel:

Deuteronomy 30:15-18 (ESV) See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

Israel was saved by Grace, just as all are saved by Grace. But BLESSING only comes by obedience. But look at what our text tells us today:

Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not MANIFEST in his sight: but ALL THINGS are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Word Study: This is a very powerful statement. All creatures – all created beings – are MANIFEST IN HIS SIGHT. The word “MANIFEST” is the Greek aphanēs (pronounced af-an-ace’) means “not hidden, clearly visible”. This word is found only here in the New Testament, but it’s meaning is found throughout all scripture. There is nothing hidden from God. When God called Israel from Egypt, He knew that the first generation was going to fail. God knows everything. One of the characteristics of God is that He is omniscient, all knowing:

Isaiah 46:9-10 (NKJV) Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’

The Bible tells us that “God’s understanding is without measure” (Psalm 147:5). Before we were ever formed in our mothers, God knew us. God knows everything, and nothing is a secret to Him, nothing a surprise.

Isaiah 40:28 (ESV) Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

God knows everything. “The hairs of your head are NUMBERED” (Matthew 10:30). You cannot hide anything from God. He knows. He knows. You cannot hide anything from God. “Can a man hide himself in secret places SO I CANNOT SEE HIM? NO! I FILL HEAVEN AND EARTH.” (Jeremiah 23:24, AP). God even knows what we are going to say next. King David said:

Psalm 139:1-4 (ESV) O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

God knows. God knows. Did God know that the first generation of Israel would fail Him, and lose the promised land? Yes, God knew. It was not a surprise to God. He saved Israel by faith, and promised to bless Israel if they would hear and do His Word. He warned Israel repeatedly against failing His Word. Yet Israel chose to disobey, and the first generation died in the desert. Was this a surprise to God? Absolutely not!

ALL THINGS are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do

Word Study: The Bible says “ALL THINGS are naked and opened”. The word “naked” (Greek gymnos, pronounced goom-nos’) means “is laid bare, cannot be covered”. The word “opened” (Greek trachēlizō, pronounced trakh-ay-lid’-zo) means “to seize by the throat or neck, to expose the gullet of a victim to kill, to bend back the neck”. This is a fighter or wrestler’s term. Why are these two words used together? Because there is nothing you can hide or cover up that God does not see. Further, you are defenseless against the gaze of our Almighty God. God knows everything.

When God made Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam His Word. He said:

Genesis 2:16-17 … Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God made Adam with free will, and put him in a beautiful place. When Adam sinned against God, was it a surprise to God? No. Look at the words that God uses:

“in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”

Not “IF you eat of it”, but “IN THE DAY YOU EAT OF IT”. God made Adam perfect. Adam was made in God’s image. Adam neither earned nor deserved this, and yet God in His Grace bestowed His blessings. To keep His blessings, Adam had to heed and DO God’s Word. But Adam failed to do so – and brought sin and death on both himself, and all his progeny.

God is OMNIPOTENT, all powerful. The Scripture says,

Psalm 102:25 Of old hast Thou (O God) laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Thy hands.

God created all things. He said in Isaiah 48:13, “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.” God made everything, and God knows everything. He is both OMNIPOTENT and OMNIPRESENT. God in His Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit – made all things. And as Jesus said:

John 17:24 … Father… Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world.

Jesus Christ was with the Father, Eternal God the Son, Eternal Word of God from time past. God made us perfect, but knew we would fail. This Jesus Who “Was with God, and Was God, the Same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-3), this same Jesus “was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20).

There Is A Great High Priest

Hebrews 4:14-15 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. 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.

God knows our brokenness. He knew Adam’s bad choice before Adam was ever made. God did not make Adam make that bad choice – God gave Adam free will. But God knew.

Beloved, we are saved by “A GREAT HIGH PRIEST”. Israel had a High Priest who served in the Tabernacle and in the Temple, but Israel’s High Priest was just like us. Just as with all of humanity, the High Priest of Israel was himself a sinner. The Bible says:

Leviticus 16:11 (ESV) Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.

Under the Law a sinful man called a “High Priest” made “atonement” or a covering for sin for HIMSELF by killing an ANIMAL. Only after the High Priest atoned for his sin did he make atonement for the people:

Leviticus 16:15 (ESV) Then {the High Priest} shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.

The High Priest shed the blood of a BULL – not a human but a flawless BULL – then once his sins were paid for he shed the blood of a GOAT or a SHEEP. But until the High Priest “killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar” (Leviticus 9:7-24), until the sin offering was made for himself, he could not minister to the people.

This is why the Law of Moses could not bring a true salvation. Animals payed for the sins of mankind. Animals without spot or blemish – a representation of Someone Greater – paid for what Adam and the sons and daughters of Adam did and do daily.

The Law of Moses, the Law of CEREMONY and CIRCUMCISION and SACRIFICE were but shadows that pointed to a greater COVENANT, a greater BLESSING. That blessing is CHRIST JESUS!

The Bible says in

Galatians 3:19-26 (ESV) Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

God knew that we were broken – but WE did not know that we were broken. So God gave us the Law of sacrifice and ceremony and circumcision to teach us we are sinners. Even our High Priest was a sinner, and had to cover his sins with the blood of bullocks. But the Law of Moses was given to lead us to Christ, to show us our need for Him.

Hebrews 4:14-15 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. 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.

Aaron was a GOOD High Priest, and many who followed afterwards perhaps were GOOD High Priests. They did their best. But Beloved, WE HAVE A GREAT HIGH PRIEST in Jesus. Jesus Christ can trace His lineage back to Adam, but being born of the Holy Spirit. As the Angel told Mary the mother of Jesus:

Luke 1:35 (NKJV) … The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Those born fully human, Jesus’ blood line did not come from Adam, but from God Himself. All of the children of Adam are sinners, for Adam sinned. But Christ is God incarnate, God in the flesh. “The virgin was with Child. She brought forth a Son, and He is called EMMANUEL, meaning “God With Us” (Matthew 1:23, AP). Christ was not born of sinners, but He is the Eternal Son of God. He is a Great High Priest because, as our text tells us,

Hebrews 4:15 {Jesus} was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin

No Man Who walked the face of this earth was more scrutinized than Jesus was. The Pharisees who loved the Law hated Jesus, because Jesus called them on their hypocrisy. The Herodians hated Jesus, because He loved the Lord and not a political party. The Sadducees hated Jesus, because He spoke of resurrection, and they did not believe in an afterlife. The Romans hated Jesus because He would not bow the knee to Caesar. The Scribes hated Jesus because He would not bow the knee to the Chief Priests. Jesus was more examined than any person in history. What was the conclusion?

1 Peter 2:22-24 (AMP) {JESUS} COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS DECEIT EVER FOUND IN HIS MOUTH. While being reviled and insulted, He did not revile or insult in return; while suffering, He made no threats [of vengeance], but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed.

Jesus is our Great High Priest. He is sinless, and stands before God the Father making intercession for us. “He Who knew NO SIN was counted as sin in order that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, AP). When Jesus walked this earth, He kept the Law of God – the Law He wrote – PERFECTLY. The day that Jesus died, His executioner, Pilate, said “I find NO GUILT nor A BASIS FOR CHARGES against this Man” (Luke 23:4).

Jesus did not die because He is a sinner. He died because WE are sinners. Jesus did not offer an animal sacrifice for our sins, but offered HIMSELF, pure and holy, in our place!

Our Great High Priest died on Calvary. The Bible says that after His death:

Hebrews 9:11-12 (NKJV) Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Jesus walked through our broken world, and suffered the effects of our broken world, but He Himself remained without sin.

Jesus is SINLESS.
Jesus is ETERNAL.
Jesus is the SON OF GOD.
Jesus is at the Father’s RIGHT HAND.

What Does God Demand Of Us?

God knows our brokenness. God knows our failures. He knows our imperfections. We cannot hide our limitations from Him. But God has given us a GREAT HIGH PRIEST in Jesus. What must we do?

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.

God bids us first of all to “come BOLDLY”. This does not mean to approach God with ARROGANCE, or in a DEMANDING way. But we are to come to God’s Throne WITH CONFIDENCE. God knows your brokenness, He knows all our failures. Jesus came for every person, for WHOSOEVER WILL. Will you come to Him, and humble yourself before Him?

Revelation 22:17 … (NKJV) the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

What limits you from coming to Christ, to making Him your High Priest? Nothing. Come to Him Who gave Himself for you. If you are thirsty, COME. If you are a sinner, COME. There is no one too broken to where Jesus will not intercede, Jesus will save. But you are to come “with CONFIDENCE, not ARROGANCE or GRUMBLING”. Notice we are told:

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace

Notice that this place we come is not an ALTAR OF GRACE. We do not come, as the ancient Jews did, with a sheep or goat without blemish. We do not bring anything we deem worthy to God. We make no payment nor penance before God, for there is no way that we can pay for our sins. What does God say?

Isaiah 64:6 (NKJV) … we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

We bring nothing of worth to pay for Grace – Grace is a gift from God. But Grace is for whosoever will. This is not an ALTAR of Grace.

We come boldly to the THRONE of Grace

It is a THRONE because HE IS LORD. We come to Him Who is “King of Kings and lord of Lords” (Revelation 17:14). We come to “The Blessed and Only Potentate”, the Ruler and Creator of all. Beloved, let me be very clear on this:

There is no salvation, no GRACE outside of the THRONE. God calls us to salvation through UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER. HE IS LORD.

Certainly, we all come to Christ broken. Certainly, we come to Him as lepers needing cleansing. And He cleanses us. He gives us IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS through the sacrifice of Himself. He represents us before the Throne of Grace. But we are HIS PEOPLE. We belong to HIS KINGDOM. What does the Scripture say?

Matthew 1:21 (NKJV) Jesus … will SAVE HIS PEOPLE from their sins

Salvation is a free gift to the person that surrenders their allegiance to the King of the Kingdom of God. Jesus was manifest to “take away sins” (1 John 3:5). The Bible says:

Titus 2:14 (ESV) {Jesus} gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

It is a THRONE of grace. Once saved by Grace, you belong to Him. You belong to Jesus. You “are not your own – YOU ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We live to bring glory to Him Who saved us. We belong to Jesus. But that’s the best place to be.

In Him.

Are you in Him? Are you in Jesus? If not, “come BOLDLY to the Throne of Grace. Here you will find MERCY, and GRACE to help in time of need”. Oh that God would draw you to Christ this very day. Hallelujiah. Amen and Amen.