A Greater Access
Jesus is Greater: An Exposition of Hebrews

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Good morning, church. It is good to see all of you here this morning! We’re excited to be here; we are going through the book of Hebrews. We’re in part seven and we’ve entitled this series, “Jesus is Greater,” because Jesus is greater than anything you’re facing today. I don’t care what it is. I don’t care what your problem is, He’s greater than what you’re facing today. That’s really the theme of the book of Hebrews.

We’re in part seven today. We’ll be in chapter four in just a little bit, but we find our theme in chapter one, Hebrews 1:4 (NLT) “This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.” That’s what this book is about. It’s about the greatness of Jesus; the superiority and the majesty of Jesus. Today, we’ll be in the latter part. We’ll be concluding chapter four today. We’ve entitled this message, “A Greater Access;” a greater access that we have through Jesus.

Have you ever had VIP access, you know, backstage passes? Have you ever been to a concert or to an event where you had special VIP treatment?

Some years ago, I attended a leadership conference for ministry leaders in Atlanta, called “Catalyst.” It was so good. There were like 10,000 people there from all over the world. I thought to myself, Man, I need to tell my pastor buddies back in North Carolina about this. So, when I got back home, I told them about it. I was able to get about fifty pastors who said, ‘Yes, we want to go next year.’ So, I contacted the Catalyst leadership and they assigned me a “concierge.” They spoke French to me over the telephone. They said to me, ‘You know, if you’re gonna bring fifty people, we’ll give you your own concierge. Not only that, we’re gonna give you VIP lanyards, so you don’t have to wait in line. You can come in and we’re going to save you seats on the floor in front of the platform. Do you know what else we’re going to do for you? We are going to let you have access to the “green room” where the band and the speakers gather with free snacks.’ This is going to be the best time ever; all I have to do is bring fifty pastors and we get this! It was one of the best events I have ever attended–no waiting lines, no fighting for seats and even free snacks. It was the best! All that I needed was to know somebody that would let me have that kind of access.

I guess we all want special treatment, don’t we? We all want to be special. We want access, especially, to something or someone that we value; something important. We want to go backstage; we want to know things really work. We want seats with the team at courtside. That’s what we want. We want to be treated special; we want guest access. I suppose, at the deepest level, it’s a desire to know and be known. We want to be “in the thick of it.” We don’t want to be left out. Perhaps, it’s something that God has put in us; this desire to be connected to Him.

I wonder today, how’s your relationship with God today? If I were to ask you on a scale of 1 to 5, with five, meaning that Jesus and I are close, and one, meaning that you know Him, but you haven’t been talking with Him much lately.

This message is what this is about today, that you don’t have to stay out there in the cold. You don’t have to stay distant. You’ve been invited, you’ve been offered VIP access through Jesus and you can draw near. You’ve been invited before the throne of grace. That’s what this message is about.

We’re in Hebrews 4:14-16. This book is entitled, Hebrews, because the author is addressing this, really, to Jewish background believers. These were formerly Jews who are coming to faith in Jesus, but they’re trying to work out what that means. They’ve got their Judaism, they’ve got their Old Testament, they’ve got the Hebrew Bible, but they can’t quite figure out all the details of how Jesus fits in. It seems to be that the author of Hebrews is helping them understand that Jesus is actually greater than everything they’ve been taught up until now, because He’s the fulfillment of all. He’s greater than the angels. He’s got the greatest name. He’s greater than Moses. He’s greater than Joshua. We learned this last week. He’s greater than the Sabbath because He is our Sabbath rest.

Now, we come to this transitional place in the book of Hebrews, where he’s introducing us to this idea that He’s the great high priest. Because of that, we have this greater access through Him.

I believe, today, that the text will give us three right responses to this great access that we have in Jesus. Let’s “unpack” it today. We’ll be looking at these three verses, so power packed with such grace today. Let’s read together and then we’ll “unpack” it together.

Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV) 14 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 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. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This is God’s Word. Amen.

SINCE WE HAVE THIS GREAT ACCESS TO GOD IN JESUS…

1. Let us hold fast to our confession of Jesus as Lord.

Let us hold fast to our confession of Jesus as Lord. Let us hold fast, let us cling to this great confession that we have in Jesus.

Notice that the text begins in verse 14 with, “Since then…” literally, seeing, then understanding, basically everything that he said up to now. Let us now turn to this idea of Him being the great high priest. This would have had so much meaning for the Jewish background believer. This might not have as much meaning for us today, but hang with me and I think you’ll get it because he’s using language to help these Hebrew background believers, if you will. He’s using language to help us to know how to read the Old Testament because sometimes we don’t know how to read it.

I have people come to me and they say, ‘I started reading with you at the beginning of the year, this one year Bible thing.That God in the Old Testament, I don’t know if I recognize Him.’ It’s because we need to read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. Primarily, we need to read the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus. The book of Hebrews might be the most helpful book in the New Testament to help you to know how to look for Jesus on every page of the Old Testament.

Now, the author of Hebrews is going to direct our attention to the ministry of the high priest, which is a Jewish ministry. It’s in the Old Testament; he’s going to give it new meaning. He’s going to show us. He tells us that we have a great high priest.

Aaron, the brother of Moses was never called the great high priest. He was called just the high priest. But this Jesus is the greatest; He’s the great high priest. The word is interesting in Greek; I like this word. It’s “megas.” It’s where we get the word, “mega.” He’s the “mega” high priest, “mega” meaning “great,” “wonderful in quantity” and in quality, in virtue and authority of scale and greatness. He’s the great high priest.

Notice these details about Him: He says that he’s the high priest who has passed through the heavens. That is unusual language. What does that mean? Has He passed through like a shooting star? Did Jesus pass through the heavens? Remember that you need to put yourself in the background of a Jewish background believer. How would they read this? Here’s how they would read this: He is a high priest. Once a year, the high priest would pass through the curtain, through the veil, separating the holy place from the Holy of Holies. Once a year, he was allowed. Only the high priest was allowed and he had to be in the line of Aaron. He could only go on the day of atonement, Yom Kippur, one day on the calendar. He could go; he could pass through the veil and approach the mercy seat, the throne. He must have the blood of the lamb because he can’t be back there without the blood. He comes back with the blood and he sprinkles it on the mercy seat. That’s what the Jews would know the minute that they would read this. He didn’t pass through the tabernacle; He didn’t pass through that man made temple. He pulls back the curtain that separates heaven and earth; He’s the great high priest. He’s the “mega” high priest.

He’s the only one. This is only a type; this is only a symbol. It was only a foreshadowing of the one to come. He’s the great high priest. He doesn’t pass beyond the curtain in the holy of Holies. No, He pulls back the curtain into God’s very throne room. He passes through the heavens. That’s Who this is; this is the great high priest. Make no mistake about Who this is.

We find more revelation about this in the book of Hebrews, as we continue to look at what he says in Hebrews 9:24-26 (ESV), 24 “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” So, the high priest in Aaron’s line would come in with the blood of the lamb only once a year, but now this Jesus has done it once for all and the blood of the lamb that He brought was His own blood because He is the lamb of God.

Verse 14 speaks of the divinity of Christ. Here’s why He is the greatest ; it’s because he is the only one that can pass into the very throne room of God. He’s the only one that can pass through that veil.

When Jesus was crucified, His last words were, “It is finished.” In the Greek language , it is “tetelestai.” In other words, “paid in full.” There was an earthquake that the Gospel writers report and when the earthquake took place, the temple curtain separating the holy place from the holy of Holies was rend; it was torn down the middle, showing that it is no longer the way that you reach God. That way has been brought open.

Jesus is high and holy. name him. His name means, “God’s salvation, “Yeshua.” He’s the Son of God. That’s what we learn in verse 14 . Verse 14 is power packed with information. He’s the only one that could pass through the heavens into the Holy of Holies, before the very throne room on our behalf, carrying His own blood to the real mercy seat, not the copy. This is Who we praise today. This is Who we worship. This is Who we follow. We are to hold fast to that confession, to cling to it, to take hold of it and to seize it. This is the confession of our faith; it’s Jesus. It’s not church membership; church membership won’t get it done. It’s not religion. It’s a relationship with Jesus. He’s the great high priest. He’s the Son of God. This is our confession of faith and so we cling to that, which is to cling to Jesus.

I don’t cling to church membership. I don’t cling to the fact that I’m a pastor of a church. I don’t cling to my reputation. I cling to Jesus and better than that, He clings to me . He hangs on to me, because sometimes I lose my grip. “Let us therefore hold fast” because sometimes you waver, but He never wavers.

Jesus is the son of God. He passed through the heavens on our behalf. That’s who He is.

What is this confession of faith? The apostle Paul helps us with this in Romans 10:9 (ESV) 9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” In other words, He’s the boss. He’s the CEO of your life. Give Him the car keys; let Him drive. No more of these bumper stickers, “God is my copilot.” That’s heresy. I need to check the parking lot again. I haven’t done that in a while. Get out of the driver’s seat and give it to Jesus. Climb in the trunk if you need to, but get out of the driver’s seat. “…confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead…” This is the confession of our faith . “…then you will be saved.”

Do you believe that He died on the cross, was buried and three days later, was raised and ascended to the Father? He’s the son of God. This is our confession. Hang on to it. Hold it fast. Get a grip on it.

When I was a little boy, my father was a department manager at Sears and Roebuck. It was back in the days when all the Sears stores, all the stores, in fact, were downtown. There were no malls in those days. Sears was a four-story building; it was huge and was located in downtown Bristol. My dad was the manager of the furniture department. He wore a suit and tie to work every day. My mom would take me, sometimes, to see him. I would go running to my dad and ask, “Dad, can we ride the elevator?” We would ride the elevator and he would let me push the button. We’d go up to the third floor. The third floor was for employees only. We would go to the third floor; we’d have to pass through this office area of glass cubicles and ladies at typewriters. There were no computers in those days. Sears was one of the first companies to have a revolving credit department; all of these people were taking notes on how much we owed them. I’m walking through, holding my daddy’s hand. My dad’s name was Claude. These ladies would look up and say, “Claude, that’s your boy. There’s no doubt. That boy looks just like you.” I would puff out my chest as we walked by. I am special. I’m in the office area of Sears and Roebuck. We would go to the back where the break room was. It had snacks; everything was cheap back there. A nickel for this and a dime for that. My dad would ask me, “Would you like a candy bar and a drink?” Here I was; I was too little to be in there. I wasn’t employed. I couldn’t go in there on my own, but I could get on the elevator and push the button because I was holding my daddy’s hand and he worked there. I was there because of him; I had access because of him. As long as I held on to his hand, I could walk right through the office area, right into the employee break area and get some good stuff. Some stuff was even free.

The Jewish high priest was only allowed to go in one day; that was one day a year, on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. He was the only one allowed to go beyond the veil. The other Levite priests could go into the holy of Holies. They could go in and tend to the golden lamp stand. They could make sure that the twelve loaves of bread were on the table of presence. They could make sure that the incense was being burned on the table of incense, but they couldn’t go behind that curtain. Only the high priest could go behind the curtain and he must have the blood when he went and it must be the right day.

Here’s what I want you to know – when you hold fast to Jesus, the curtain has been opened. It’s open now 24/7. You can go in there 24/7 and it doesn’t matter who you are, as long as you’re holding His hand. All that matters is who He is because He is the one who has passed through the heavens. He is Jesus , the son of God. That’s who He is and if you know Him, if you’re holding his hand, you can enter too, which leads us to the second right response.

SINCE WE HAVE THIS GREAT ACCESS TO GOD IN JESUS…

2. Let us consider the sympathy Jesus has for us.

We can hold fast to our confession. The second response is to consider the sympathy Jesus has for us. Let us consider the sympathy, the understanding that He has for us.

We’re in verse 15 now; verse 15 is really explaining something to us. Verse 14 explains to us why He’s so great. It’s because He’s the Son of God. He’s divine; He’s the only one that can pass through the veil of heaven from the seen to the unseen, from the copy to the reality. He’s the only one.

Now, He’s going to make the point that He really wouldn’t be qualified to be a high priest at all if He weren’t also human. He has to be fully human or He can’t represent us. Verse 15 addresses that; verse 15 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.” He’s high and holy. He’s transcended. He’s the Son of God who became one of us.

He’s not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. “Sumpatheō,” in the Greek, is where we get the word, “sympathize.” It comes straight from the Greek language. “Sum” means together, with “patheō,” which has the idea of “deep feeling.” Sometimes, it even alludes to the idea of suffering. Jesus feels it together. The KJV says that He was touched with the feeling of our weakness. He’s been touched; He sympathizes.

Maybe, you’re here this morning and you’re saying, “No one understands me. They don’t know what I’m going through. I’m hurting.” You’re going through something and you try to tell your family. You try to tell your friends about it and they offer you the best they can, they offer you “clichés.” They have good intentions; they say, ‘Let go and let God,’ ‘Trust God.’ ‘I’m praying for you.’ It falls on idle ears. You can’t hear it. It’s like nobody understands what you are going through. Is that you?

There’s one Who fully sympathizes. He’s been touched with compassion for you that’s beyond any that you could ever consider. I don’t think we fully understand, we can’t sympathize with what He went through because we can’t sympathize with what it was like to let go of His claim as being the Son of God and to lower Himself, as Paul talks about in Philippians 2:6-8, “. . .who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Idon’t think we can grasp what it must have been like to grow up to let go of what He let go of and to take on our situation. We might not be able to sympathize with Him, but He sympathizes with us.

He even knows what it feels like to be tempted by sin. He’s not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one Who in every respect… How many places can He relate to us? In every respect. He’s been tempted as we are yet without sin. Yet without sin points back to His divinity, but that He’s got the same weaknesses in His humanity. He’s been tempted as we are; that’s how he relates to us. He understands us. There’s One who understands us.

I was trying to think about what temptation would be like if you never gave in, because when you give in, it hurts, but it releases the pressure of it. Temptation is like a pressure . I was trying to visualize that. I thought, if you inflated a balloon or some sort of float and you tried to press it down underwater, the pressure would cause it to actually shrink if you could tie it to a heavy weight and keep pulling it down. It’ll finally burst because the pressure on the outside wants to get on the inside and once it gets on the inside, there’s no more pressure. The thing that would resist the pressure, the most would have the most pressure against it. The one who continually says “no” to temptation, the pressure is greater than the one who says “yes” to temptation because that releases it.

Jesus was tempted as we are, yet beyond anything we’ve ever understood. He was tempted, yet without sin. He understands your temptation.

You know what we’ll do sometimes, as believers? I’m talking to believers now; we’ll fall into a sin area. It’s often that sin area that’s repetitive for us, that keeps on getting us. We’ve overcome this temptation and that temptation, but this one we keep falling for and now we’re afraid to bring that one to Jesus because we’re ashamed. Instead of coming to Him with it, the one Who understands, we hide in shame. That’s the evil one, convincing us to hide and that’s the flesh because the flesh always hides. That’s the first thing that Adam and Eve did; they hid and so now we hide. He’s the One who understands. He’s been tempted in every respect, just as you have. Go to Him and say, ‘I fell for it again, Jesus. You’re the only One that can face this without sin. Would you help me? I know that You understand. I don’t have to be ashamed to talk to You. You’ve already entered and passed through the heavens. You’ve already paid for this sin, but I keep struggling with it and I know that You understand.’ Instead of hiding, we should run to Him. Yeah, but I’ve done it so many times. I can’t run to Him again. Yes, you can, because He understands and He sympathizes.

The author of Hebrews is helping us understand why He’s the great high priest. He’s the great high priest because He’s the son of God. He’s the great high priest because He’s the only one that could pass into the heavens and pay for our sins. He’s the great high priest because He became one of us and He understands us. He’s merciful and he sympathizes.

Earlier in chapter two, verse 17 it said, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in theservice of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” In other words, to become an atonement for the sins of the people, He became one of us. No one understands me. There’s one; He understands you. He even understands your temptations. He understands your deepest sin areas. He understands your deepest hurts. Consider what He went through. He fasted for forty days and forty nights and then Satan came and tempted him with three different temptations. These are not accidental. They are the same three temptations that you find in the book of Genesis, when Satan tempted Adam and Eve. They’re the same three, but Adam and Eve failed. Jesus overcame, but he was tempted just as they were. He was homeless. He had no place to lay his Head. His family thought He was crazy and tried to break in and take him home one time. His best friends turned their back on Him. His closest confidant betrayed Him for pieces of silver. He endured gossip and slander. He was shamed publicly . He endured periods of hunger and of thirst. His message was rejected. His preaching was critiqued. His disciples didn’t get it again and again. He endured complete separation from the Father, crying out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” He was forsaken for us. So, don’t say that there’s no one who understands. There’s One. He’s your great high priest; it is Jesus, the son of God. He understands what you’re going through when no else understands. He understands you and more than that, He has sympathy for you. He has compassion for you. This leads us to the third right response.

SINCE WE HAVE THIS GREAT ACCESS TO GOD IN JESUS…

3. Let us confidently draw near God’s throne through Jesus.

We are now at verse 16, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This word, “confidence,” has the idea of freedom, to come freely. Some translations say “boldly.” 24 7 You have freedom. You don’t have to wait for Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. You can come every day and at any hour of the day; you can come with confidence. You don’t have to back up to the door; ust reach out your hand and hold fast to the hand of Jesus. He’s already opened the door. Just let Him pull you in. Draw near, don’t stay out there. Come on in and come on in freely. You don’t have to add anything to it. You couldn’t add anything to it if you wanted to. He’s done it all. He’s the great high priest and you can draw near, you can approach with confidence. “Let us then with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace…” There’s only one throne beyond that veil for those who go in with Jesus. This is the throne of grace.

There’s another throne. There’s another judgment seat for those who don’t go in with Jesus. For those who haven’t believed in Jesus, they’ve rejected His testimony or they don’t hold fast to His testimony. They’ve rejected Him. For them, there’s a throne of righteousness and judgment; they will be judged based upon their works. The Bible says that their works will fall short for the wages of sin is death for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

We don’t want to go to that throne room and we don’t have to because we have Jesus. We want to go to the throne of grace. That’s all God has for us now because of Jesus, because He’s already passed through the room. He’s already put His blood, His propitiation for my sin and your sin. He’s already put it on the mercy seat, paid in full. All we have to do is just hold His hand and come on in. We can come in freely; we can come on in. He’s done it all . He’s ours and we are His.

I’m coming to the throne of grace because I heard they’re giving out “free stuff” over there. That’s what grace is; it’s free, unmerited favor. That’s all God has for you in Jesus. He’s paid it all. There’s “free stuff” over here. Look, I’m bringing a wagon; I don’t know about you. Come on, Lord, help me. I need help and He’s giving it out. He’s giving out grace and mercy freely. That’s the throne of grace. He’s pouring it out; let your cup overflow.

Why are you hanging around out here? Take Jesus’ hand. Come on in. That’s what His invitation is; let us, with confidence, draw near. Come on into the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and forgiveness. That’s all He has for us.

Romans 8:1 says this, “There istherefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” God has already poured out His wrath on Jesus. There’s nothing left for us. He’s already judged us in Christ, so that there’s no judgment left for us. There’s only the throne of Grace left for us. For you that believe in Jesus, there’s only mercy and grace left. He’s giving out “free stuff;” who’s not going to get in line for that? By the way, if you have the “VIP pass,” there’s no waiting.

Verse 16 says this, “Let us then with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace.” If you’ve been looking for grace, you’ve been looking in the wrong place. Come on to the throne of grace.

Who’s in a time of need right now? You’d admit it, ‘I need help.’ He understands; He sympathizes. He says, ‘Come on. You don’t have to wait. There’s no waiting.’

I hate to wait. Don’t you hate to wait? If I’m at Walmart and going through those lines, I look for the short line. I don’t get in the long line. Of course, half the time you have to check yourself out now, right? I don’t know what that’s about.

You can come into the throne of grace. The author of Hebrews talks about this more later in the book. He says in Hebrews 10:19-22 (ESV) 19 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Come on; draw near. Come on in to the throne of grace.

This has always been God’s plan. The whole old Testament was just leading up to its fulfillment in Jesus. It was always God’s plan. All of those sacrifices, all of those days of Yom Kippur, days of atonement, none of them would be good. They’re all just like “checks written on a future deposit” and the “future deposit” was made in Jesus. It was paid in full on that day. He’s passed through the heavens; He’s taken care of it, so now everything makes sense back here now.

It was God’s eternal purpose for Jesus to open up free and confident access to Him. This is what it says in Ephesians 3:11-12 (ESV) 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

There was a famous photograph back in 1963 in the October edition of a magazine called, “Look.” Those of you, in my age group, might remember this big magazine. It was full of pictures. It was “Facebook” before there was a Facebook . It was mostly pictures with captions. There was this famous photograph that you’ll probably recognize, maybe even the young people, in history books that you’ve seen. It became iconic because it was released just days after JFK was assassinated. It was heartbreaking for Americans to see this photo because it’s a photo of our president in the oval office with his son, John Jr., playing under the resolute desk. The resolute desk had a little door in the front that would open and close. There were several photos taken, but this one is the most famous, taken by photographer, Alan Stanley Tretick. In this particular photo, Tretick describes the interchange that was going on between father and son. He said that Kennedy’s wife, Jackie, was out of town and JFK was giving his son candy because she would never let him have candy. He had candy. He’s under the president’s desk, playing with his toys. Tretick said that John Jr, called the desk his house. He would open the door and peep out. He would play with his toys and eat candy. I bet he was “wired.”

You can visit the White House. If you’re an American citizen, you can visit, but they won’t let you in the oval office. You can try, but you will end up in jail. You can’t just go in there; that part is closed off. You can’t just go in. There’s no access for you into the oval office. You are only invited by appointment. But, if you’re the son of the president, you can play under the desk. You can call the desk your “house” if you’re the son of the president.

If you know the Son of God, if you know Jesus, you can take His hand and hold firmly, hold fast to your confession of faith in Him. He will lead you right into the throne of grace any time; you have access through Jesus.

We can confidently, freely “climb inside His desk.” Hold fast to the confession. Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Would you do it today? Would you take His hand? He’s reaching His hand out. Would you take His hand? He understands. He’s the son of God, but He became human for us. He is both God and man. There’s no one else like Him. He’s the greatest and He’s the only access to the Father. Would you come on in, out of the cold? Come on in. You can have access to the Father’s throne of grace.

My mother used to sing this song. It was perhaps the song that she was most well known for. We would travel from church to church as I was growing up and she was a well known gospel singer. She was requested to sing this song often. It was a hymn written by Tommy Dorsey,an African American who was a beautiful song writer. He wrote so many beautiful spiritual songs. He wrote this song in 1932. I can still hear my mama’s voice:

“Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand. I am tired. I am weak. I am worn. Through the storm through the night, lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home. When my way grows drear, precious Lord linger near. When my life seems almost gone. Hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand, lest I fall. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.” He’s the greatest. He’s the only one. If you know Him, you get to go to the throne of grace.

Let’s pray. Let’s talk to Him right now. Lord, there might be someone here today, is it you my friend? You’ve never answered the invitation. Jesus is standing at the door, knocking at your heart’s door, right now. He’s a gentleman. He won’t kick it in. You have to open it. He wants to take you by the hand. Have you ever given your life to Jesus? Have you ever done that? Have you ever surrendered your life? You can do it right now. Prayer is just talking to God; it’s expressing your faith. You can pray with me right now, right in your seat. Pray like this, “Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need a Savior and I believe You died on the cross for me, for my sin. I believe that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me; I invite you in. I declare You as Lord of my life. Come and forgive me of my sin and make me the person You want me to be. Come on in Lord. I give my life to You.” If you’re praying that prayer of faith, believing, the Bible says that you’ll be saved and you’ll be adopted into God’s family. You’ll be a child of God. You can come to the throne of grace. You can draw near. Others are here and you have a relationship with Jesus. You’ve trusted your life to Him, but for some reason, maybe you know what the reason is or maybe you don’t, you feel distant. You feel like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. Where’s God? You’ve been asking that. Where’s God? You believe in Him; you don’t doubt His existence, but you don’t feel close right now. Is that you? You have access. Draw near right now. Just say, “Lord, I come near to You. I’m leaning into You. I need access right now, Lord Jesus. I know You understand.” Lord, forgive us for trying to do things on our own. We draw near to You right now. We hold fast to our confession and belief in You. We come near to that throne of grace. Lord help us in our time of need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.