​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday, February 26, 2023)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor ​

“Mercy and Grace in Time of Need!”
Psalm 73:21-28; Hebrews 4:14-16
 
My first car was a small used 1980 FIAT called FIAT 131.  It had some issues including coolant leak, no AC, constant puffing out black smoke.  It wasn’t the best car, but it worked.  It got me from point A to point B.  But if you would have offered me a Corvette or a Tesla X Plaid, the highest rated car ever in consumer reports, I would have taken it.  
 
The Old Testament priests, like my FIAT, got the job done, but now we’ve got Jesus, a more superior High Priest.  Why would you go back to your FIAT when you can have a Corvette or a Tesla X Plaid?  There is something far superior.  To the original audience of Hebrews this was very meaningful!  Why do you go back to the Old Testament system of priests and rituals if you’ve a superior High Priest?
 
As we continue our reflections in the letter to the Hebrews, we get this morning to this wonderful passage in Hebrews 4:14-16.  I think it’s a great topic for this First Sunday in Lent.  So far, we have seen Jesus greater than the prophets, superior to Moses, and the giver of a better rest.  Today we get to see Jesus as a greater, more understanding, more helpful, better intercessor, greater advocate, and more compassionate high priest. Hebrews chapters 4-7 highlight the supremacy of Christ’s priesthood over the Old Testament priesthood.
 
We might have difficulty today relating to the concept of a high priest, but to the Jews, it was an important office. Moses’ brother, Aaron, was the first high priest.  He was the mediator between the people and God.  He and his fellow priests offered the sacrifices on behalf of the people.  They had to follow a detailed procedure spelled out by God. Any variance or innovation meant instant death, as Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu discovered when they offered “strange fire” on the altar in Leviticus 10:1-3.
 
Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest alone would go into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for all the sins of the nation. If he entered there improperly or at any other time, he would die according to Leviticus 16.  He would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat in the very presence of God.  When he came out alive, the people heaved a sigh of relief, because it meant that God had accepted the sacrifice for their sins for another year.
 
Jesus is not just another high priest in the line of Aaron.  Rather than entering the Holy of Holies in the temple, He has passed through the heavens – in His ascension – into the very presence of God.  The point here is that Jesus, our great high priest, is unlike any merely human high priest.  He has entered the very presence of God.  Not only that but He also sits at the right hand of God.  No earthly priest would dare to sit in the Holy of Holies!  They always stood.  But Jesus sits at the right hand of God’s throne because once for all He made atonement for our sins.  The job is done.  Mission is completed.  What you and I today need to do is twofold.  The author says these words in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
 
Because our great High Priest watches over us, prays for us, holds us fast, bears us on His loving heart, therefore, we come boldly to the throne of grace. It is only in the person of Jesus Christ that we draw near to God the Father.  As we approach the throne of grace with boldness, the author says, we first, receive mercy, and second, find grace.
 
First: We Receive Mercy
The word “mercy” stresses our weakness.  Because Jesus, our High Priest, was tempted yet never surrendered to sin, He is filled with compassion, and He is always ready to empathize and treat us with mercy.  Because He knows us intimately, we can therefore come to Him expecting full, tender, deep sympathy and compassion.  He is every ready to comfort, forgive and give us His divine strength.  He comes in mercy to restore to us fellowship with God.  Thank God He does not give us what we deserve because we each deserve eternal condemnation.  Yet, as Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:16, “I found mercy.”
 
Second: We Find Grace
Like the apostle Paul, Jesus says to us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you.”  Our journey with the Lord is a journey marked by grace.  Grace brings us to the saving knowledge of our Lord; it carries us through all the ups and downs of life; and that same grace will bring us home safe to be with the Lord forever.
 
In his wonderful hymn, Amazing Grace, Isaac Newton, the English clergyman and poet wrote in 1772, “Through many dangers, toils, and snares … I have already come.  This grace that brought me safe thus far … And grace will lead me home.”  From beginning to end, we are in need of God’s saving and sustaining grace.  There is grace available to us today to help us in times of need.  Someone said, "Saved by grace" will be our theme throughout eternity.
 
Friends, there is hope for us today because we have full access to the throne of grace and full assurance and confidence that we are always accepted before God in the person of our Great High Priest who is His Son.  Therefore, the writer of Hebrews admonishes us to constantly come to the throne of grace.  Let it become a habit to come to Him.  Let it become a habit pouring out our hearts before Him.  His mercy endures forever, and His grace is all-sufficient and is ever available.  To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!  Amen!

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Sunday, February 12, 2023)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
“Entering into God’s Rest!”
Psalm 116:7-14; Hebrews 4:1-11
 
I believe by now all of us know that the book of Hebrews is all about how great Jesus is.  The entire letter speaks of the awesomeness, the supremacy, the greatness, and the glories of Christ, who has no equal.  So far, the author of Hebrews argued that Jesus Christ is greater than the prophets, greater than the angels, and greater than Moses.  I truly believe the message of Hebrews still speaks to us today and it’s a timely message because unless we realize that Jesus is the treasure hidden in a field, the peal of great price, we won’t fully commit to seeking and pursuing Him.  Unless we get to the point where we realize that Jesus is indeed our all in all, we won’t hold fast to Him.
 
As we get to Hebrews chapter 4 this morning, we encounter one of Christ’s wonderful blessings.  It’s the blessing of entering God’s rest.  In Psalm 116:7-9, the Psalmist says, “Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.  For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”  Life is a tough journey, and we are to always seek an oasis, a safe place, a refuge, in the face of the unknown.
 
The good news is that God has already provided this oasis.  He has already made the provision.  He has already invited us to enter into His rest.  The “rest” being spoken of in Hebrews chapter 4 has to do with the completion of God’s work for our ultimate salvation in Christ—and of our entering, by faith, into a full satisfaction in and appropriation of that complete work on our behalf.  God has done all that is needed, and there is nothing more for us to do but to trust in it and believe on it.
 
So as we reflect on God’s promised rest in Christ this morning, I would like to underscore two short observations.  In order to enter into God’s rest, we have to, first, fight unbelief, and second, to diligently seek it.
 
First: Let’s Fight Unbelief
Unbelief shuts off the gates of heaven.  In Matthew 13:58, we read that Jesus didn’t do many miracles in his hometown of Nazareth because of their lack of faith.  Let’s beware of unbelief.  God has always better plans for us and the only way to attain and to acquire them is through faith.
 
In order to understand Hebrews chapter 4, we need to go back to Hebrews 3 and the writer’s reference to Psalm 95.  The author quoted this psalm in Hebrews 3:7-11, “So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did.  That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’  So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” Hebrews 3:7-11.
 
Back in the days of Moses, the people of Israel refused to enter into the promised land with confident trust in God’s promises.  They didn’t believe that God can lead them to the promised land.  They didn’t believe God was able to make it happen.  How is going to feed us in the wilderness?  How are we going to fight the nations ahead of us?  They wanted to go back to the land of Egypt.  As a result, they did not enter into the “rest” that God had prepared for them.  That whole generation, the Exodus generation, perished in the wilderness.  Disbelief was the problem of the people of Israel.  The people of Israel got crippled by their lack of trust.  They got paralyzed by their fears.  “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it,” says Hebrews 4:1.
 
Second: Let’s Be Diligent to Enter God’s Rest
Entering into God’s rest, grasping the promises of God, should be a priority of God’s children and we should diligently seek it.  Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 4:2-3, “For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.  For we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said.”
 
It's true that we access God’s rest through faith, not through the labors of our hand, not through our performance, yet, we are to be diligent in seeking God’s ways in our lives.  God provided our rest and our refuge, and we are to be diligent in entering it.
 
In Hebrews 4:11 we read, “Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.”  Just as the entry into the promised land in the Old Testament under Joshua required diligence—even though the land was promised to the people—we also need to apply diligence.  It’s not a diligence of warfare and conquest. Rather, it’s a diligence of faith and persistence, trust and obedience.
 
Friends, there is a rest open to you and me today.  God offers this rest.  The door is not shut.  The time is not past.  You have not missed your last opportunity.  Brothers and sisters in Christ, today if you hear God’s voice, do not harden your hearts.  There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.  The door is open.  The time is now.  Let’s beware of unbelief.  Let’s be diligent to enter and to enjoy God’s rest.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.  In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Sunday, February 5, 2023)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
“Christ is Superior to Moses!”
Jeremiah 10:6-7; Hebrews 3:1-6
 
As we continue our reflections looking at the supremacy of Christ in the letter to the Hebrews, we come this morning to Hebrews chapter 3 where we get to know that Christ is superior to Moses.  This was not an easy discussion to have with Christians from a Jewish background.  After all, Moses was regarded as the most important figure in the Old Testament.  He was the one who delivered Israel from the hands of their oppressors.  He is the one who performed some great and mighty miracles including the parting of the Red Sea.  In Exodus 33:11, the Bible says that “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.”  As far as I know, Moses was the only human who had this privilege.  Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant in Sinai.  The Law was given through him on Mount Sinai.  In short, Moses was adored and revered by everyone.
 
And here comes the author of the letter to the Hebrews to say that there is greater than Moses here.  There is someone who is worthy of more glory than Moses.  Moses was great, but Christ is greater.  Moses was glorious. But standing next to Jesus, he looks like a gnat. Hold a candle out at arm’s length and look at the noonday sun next to that little flame—that’s Moses’ glory next to Christ.  Jesus’ glory eclipses Moses’ glory.  The author of Hebrews says that Jesus is worthy of more honor than Moses because He is the Creator and Moses is the creation, just like the Creator or Builder of a house is more worthy than the house that was built. 
 
Let me make sure we get this right.  This comparison between Jesus and Moses doesn’t put Jesus and Moses on different teams; it’s to put Moses in the right place and Jesus in the right place on the same team. You and I should love Moses; we ought to love him because he is one of the great heroes of faith.  But he is on a different place in the team than Jesus.  Jesus is the Captain, the Owner, and the General Manager of the team. Moses is a player; a faithful player.
 
The Hebrew Christians had begun well. Early in their Christian experience they endured great suffering and persecution.  Many had their property confiscated on account of their faith, and they endured it joyfully as we read in Hebrews 10:32-34.  But now they were in danger of drifting back into Judaism and neglecting their great salvation in Jesus Christ as the author states in Hebrews 2:1-4.  We are always facing the danger of drifting away from the Lord.  We are always facing the danger of settling for less.  Like the Hebrew Christians, we can start great and finish terrible.  In his letters, Paul spoke about people who started great but finished very poor.  So the author is exhorting them to endurance. 
 
In our text this morning, the message is simple: To endure, consider Jesus.  Consider Jesus.  Ponder Him.  Fix your eyes on Him. To consider somethings requires time and effort. It doesn’t happen automatically, especially when you’re busy. But if you take the time to do it, it usually yields rich rewards.  Our antidote to drifting and our strength for endurance is to consider Jesus Christ from His Word. I implore myself first, because I’m prone to drift, and I implore you: Take time to consider Jesus often!  Our passage this morning suggests two ways to consider Jesus:
 
First: Consider Jesus as the Apostle of our Confession
This is the only time in Scripture that the title “apostle” is applied to Jesus.  “Apostle” literally means, “one who is sent.”  The Gospel of John often refers to Jesus as being sent by the Father (John 3:17, 34; 5:36-38).  He came to reveal the Father to us and to accomplish the Father’s purpose, to redeem us by shedding His blood.  Jesus said that He did nothing on His own initiative, but He only sought the will of the one who sent Him (John 5:30).
 
Jesus is the apostle of our confession, our faith, the body of the Christian truth.  We are to believe what He has taught us in Scriptures; to value what He taught us to value and to prioritize what He calls us to prioritize.
 
Second: Consider Jesus as the High Priest of our Confession
The Apostle of our faith brings God down to us; the High Priest brings us up to God.  Christ is our High Priest who is always present before the throne of God to intercede on our behalf.  Although he was never called an apostle, in function Moses fulfilled that role in Israel. God sent Moses to deliver His people from bondage in Egypt.  But Moses was not a high priest. That role fell to his brother, Aaron.  Jesus fulfills both roles in one.  He is our Apostle and our High Priest.  We must submit to His commands as the authority of God Almighty.  We must come before God only through the merits of Jesus’ blood.  Think often and carefully of Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession!
 
Friends, let’s consider Jesus!  He is God’s sent one to us and He is our High Priest.  As the one sent by God to us, He reveals the very nature of the Father.  He is God’s love and grace in a human form.  As our High Priest, He brings us up to God when we cannot bring ourselves. He is our beginning and our end, our Alpha and our Omega, the author and finisher of our faith, and we need to hold fast to our confidence and confession in Him.  He has no equal in the heavens above or on the earth beneath.  To Him, to our Apostle and High Priest, be glory and honor forever and ever.  Amen.