back to index2019-06-09 Jesus Our High Priest
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And I'm going to be focusing on the second part of this text, 16 to 18, this morning. 00:00:12.560 |
"Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook 00:00:16.840 |
of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, 00:00:22.160 |
that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery 00:00:27.760 |
For surely he does not give help to angels, but he gives help to the descendants of Abraham. 00:00:33.280 |
Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in all things, so that he might become a merciful 00:00:37.080 |
and faithful high priest in the things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins 00:00:43.220 |
For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the 00:00:54.080 |
Gracious Father, we come this morning desiring to worship you, desiring to hear from you. 00:01:02.920 |
We pray that what you have anointed in these words, would judge the thoughts and intent 00:01:14.280 |
Help us, Lord God, to desire with all our might to humble ourselves before your throne, 00:01:19.220 |
that we may be pleasing aroma, pleasing sacrifice in your presence. 00:01:24.400 |
I pray that you will bless this time and all those who have come to be ministered by you 00:01:30.540 |
That we would have fertile hearts, that your word would land on soil that will produce 00:01:38.020 |
So we entrust this time to you, asking for your help, asking for your blessing. 00:01:46.720 |
Something that I forgot to announce is next Sunday we have a Father's Day celebration. 00:01:50.960 |
And so if you are a father in a church or soon to be a father, or you're going to be 00:01:55.180 |
bringing a father, next Sunday we're going to be having special lunch for them. 00:02:00.020 |
And just like for Mother's Day, the mothers and the children will also have pizza, lesser 00:02:05.380 |
lunch, but there will be lunch for you if you sign up for that. 00:02:09.660 |
If you haven't signed up, we need to know exactly how many people we need to prepare 00:02:13.660 |
And so our logistics team is getting this set up. 00:02:15.480 |
So please let them know if you are planning to come next Sunday, or if you plan to bring 00:02:20.140 |
And that will take place right after the second service next week. 00:02:24.120 |
Our family actually is practicing or celebrating Father's Day today, because next Sunday, 00:02:30.420 |
Phillip's family are going to be out of town, and so we decided that we're going to do this. 00:02:34.220 |
And usually on Father's Day, we end up visiting my father's grave, and we usually go there 00:02:40.460 |
and pay our respects, and then afterwards we'll come back to our house and we'll do 00:02:48.340 |
I know most of you guys know, but the older I get, the more I think about my dad. 00:02:54.220 |
And the reason why I think about my dad is because he also was a pastor. 00:02:58.980 |
And my grandfather was a pastor, he was a pastor, and I'm the third generation pastor. 00:03:03.580 |
But the reason why I think about him more as I get older is because I don't remember 00:03:08.980 |
my dad that well when he was in his 30s, obviously. 00:03:16.420 |
In my 40s – in his 40s, I do remember, but again, I was too young, so I wasn't really 00:03:24.380 |
But as I creep into my 50s, I have very vivid memories of when my dad was in his 50s. 00:03:29.320 |
He was in the thick of ministry, and my dad was also a reluctant pastor. 00:03:37.500 |
His dad, my grandfather, thought that he had the best character to be a pastor. 00:03:45.980 |
When I was younger, the reason why I couldn't relate to my dad is because my dad's personality 00:03:50.540 |
Philip, my younger brother, is more like my dad than I am. 00:04:02.540 |
So when I was younger, I admired him, respected him, but there was not a lot of things that 00:04:07.180 |
I could relate to because we were so different. 00:04:10.860 |
As I get older, knowing that my dad was reluctant, and yet he embraced his role, he had genuine 00:04:18.580 |
faith, but his ultimate, the real desire was to be a doctor. 00:04:24.060 |
He had the good enough grades, and he wanted to get into med school, but my grandfather 00:04:30.580 |
And so my dad submitted to my grandfather, went into ministry, got a seminary degree, 00:04:35.280 |
and then he came to the United States to get his doctorate so that he could become a professor. 00:04:40.540 |
So being a pastor, local church pastor, was not something he wanted. 00:04:44.740 |
It just happened in the context of pursuing his degree, and while he was pursuing his 00:04:49.780 |
degree, he decided to pastor some churches, and there are years that I remember he was 00:04:54.540 |
a pastor of a very large church, and then there were years, many, many years, where 00:04:58.940 |
it was a very small, struggling church while he was teaching seminary, and this was kind 00:05:04.900 |
So when I was younger, I couldn't relate to any of that stuff. 00:05:07.460 |
I wasn't a Christian, and I saw a lot of things that was happening in the church, and had 00:05:12.140 |
a very negative view, but again, I didn't think much about what was happening and his 00:05:18.520 |
experience as a pastor, but the older I get, I have very vivid memories of him at my age. 00:05:26.380 |
And so every once in a while, I would think, you know, it'd be great, and he passed away 00:05:29.380 |
about 10 years ago, and every once in a while, I'd think, and again, it's Father's Day, 00:05:34.340 |
and then his birthday is coming up soon, and so it kind of makes me think, like, wow, you 00:05:39.580 |
I can ask him, or at least hear from him, his perspective and what he experienced. 00:05:44.860 |
I share all of this because though he's not here, I think about, I have memories of him. 00:05:52.400 |
I have memories of him at my age, and it helps me, even though it's not a personal conversation, 00:06:00.500 |
it helps me to think that somebody walked in these shoes before me, and then before 00:06:08.880 |
And so indirectly, it gives me a great amount of comfort and strength to know that this 00:06:13.740 |
is in our family, that my dad, to me, from a distance, set the path for me to go. 00:06:22.340 |
Again, he was reluctant, I came into ministry reluctant, and so this is, you know, what 00:06:28.700 |
God has given us as a lot in life, and he remained faithful to the day that he died. 00:06:35.060 |
And so it gives me strength to even just think about that. 00:06:37.620 |
The reason why I say all of this is because the text that we're looking at tells us that 00:06:42.620 |
this is Jesus' incarnation, and the primary reason why he did, Jesus did what he did, 00:06:49.540 |
was to step in our shoes so that he can help us. 00:06:55.180 |
Paul says, Apostle Paul says in his letters, that he has become all things to all men, 00:07:02.500 |
Those are not original words of Apostle Paul. 00:07:05.540 |
Paul is simply mimicking what happened to him. 00:07:09.900 |
All his life, as a faithful Jew, as a Pharisee, he thought he was serving God, but then when 00:07:15.500 |
he met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, for three days, he was probably contemplating, 00:07:32.780 |
And so in those three days when he was blinded and he was contemplating and repenting and 00:07:38.460 |
his world was being flipped upside down, he probably wrestled with the same idea. 00:07:48.380 |
The answer is pretty clear, it's because he loved us. 00:07:55.740 |
Our Father in heaven loved us enough to send his only begotten Son, take on human form, 00:08:02.900 |
our frailty, so that he can become a sympathetic high priest. 00:08:08.740 |
Verse 16 says that he wasn't to the angels, but the descendants of Abraham, that he sent 00:08:15.740 |
This is all connected to the previous chapter where he says that Jesus is greater than the 00:08:21.540 |
He's kind of wrapping up his argument about Jesus being greater than the angels, but as 00:08:25.500 |
he is wrapping it up, he's not just saying Jesus is greater, not only is Jesus greater, 00:08:33.260 |
It is to us that he has sent his only begotten Son. 00:08:36.460 |
And that's why in 1 Peter 1.12, Peter says, "It was revealed to them, the prophets, that 00:08:42.700 |
they were not serving themselves, but you in these things in which now have been announced 00:08:47.660 |
to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, 00:08:53.820 |
You know what that means when the angels were longing to look? 00:08:58.500 |
They were looking at the plan of salvation for you and I, and the prophets were longing 00:09:09.260 |
But even the angels, as they were looking into it, said, "What is this? 00:09:18.140 |
The previous passage that we looked at, the text that we looked at, it gave us the first 00:09:23.560 |
In verse 14, it says, "Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise 00:09:28.100 |
also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the 00:09:35.820 |
He tasted death, which he could not do as God. 00:09:41.540 |
He needed to live a sinless, perfect life, taste death on our behalf, and then conquer 00:09:45.740 |
the power of death for those who proclaim him as Lord and Savior, that we also may be 00:09:54.500 |
He said that was the intention of his incarnation. 00:09:57.060 |
The second part of that, in verse 17, he says, "Therefore he had to be made like his brethren 00:10:01.180 |
in all things, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest." 00:10:07.500 |
Not only did he taste death to deliver us from the power of death, he became a merciful 00:10:21.100 |
He had to be a mediator, because a mediator is an individual who is able to mediate between 00:10:27.980 |
If you've ever been in a lawsuit and two parties come together, a mediator, an outside 00:10:33.260 |
objective mediator is hired to stand in between, that they can understand the arguments of 00:10:38.020 |
both sides, so that they can mediate and bring them together. 00:10:41.020 |
You don't bring somebody from your side, or somebody who's on the other side. 00:10:47.900 |
You bring somebody in the middle who can understand both sides. 00:10:50.220 |
So Jesus came as a man, because he already knows who God is. 00:10:56.020 |
He's the second person of the Trinity, but in order to represent us and mediate us between 00:11:05.300 |
But you know, one of the things that we studied this year, about doing an inductive Bible 00:11:16.620 |
If you really want to dig and understand, not just kind of skim over it, but you have 00:11:20.940 |
So if you're reading this text, one of the first questions that I hope you would ask 00:11:26.180 |
is, he said he became like us, made like his brethren in all things. 00:11:53.720 |
If you're a grandparent, he's never been married, he's never had kids, so he's never had grandkids. 00:12:00.460 |
How much of our struggle as parents is raising kids? 00:12:08.460 |
When he says he was made like us in every way, I mean, that sounds like an exaggeration. 00:12:14.220 |
How often we think like Jesus could not understand. 00:12:19.140 |
That's half the congregation in here that isn't a male. 00:12:28.580 |
He was never a female, so he wouldn't understand. 00:12:46.900 |
A Middle Eastern Jewish man from 2,000 years ago who died at the age of 33, who was never 00:12:58.780 |
What does he mean that he became like us in every way? 00:13:03.620 |
Well, you have to keep reading that because he qualifies what he means by all things. 00:13:10.860 |
He was made like his brethren in all things so that, okay, that's really important because 00:13:16.100 |
the psaltic basically answers that question, so that he might become a merciful and faithful 00:13:25.020 |
His whole point of incarnation and experiencing humanity is so that he may become a faithful 00:13:36.340 |
So what he experienced was for the purpose of mediating. 00:13:44.260 |
So his humanity wasn't simply so that every single person who suffers and struggles and 00:13:50.700 |
has difficulties in life, that Jesus can come alongside and you can cry on his shoulder. 00:13:58.160 |
Not to say that God doesn't invite us to do that. 00:14:00.420 |
But his primary purpose of his humanity, his incarnation, is to mediate between us and 00:14:11.140 |
In the things pertaining to God, he experienced all things. 00:14:20.660 |
First Timothy 2, 5-6 is that for there is one God and one mediator, also between God 00:14:38.220 |
The reason why he became a man is so that he could be that mediator. 00:14:53.640 |
Every other person would simply be a messenger. 00:15:01.620 |
Jesus lived a sinless, perfect life as a man and to this now he stands as a mediator. 00:15:07.500 |
But we have to understand, we go a little bit further than that. 00:15:10.620 |
Because in Hebrews 7, 24-25, Jesus on the other hand, because he continues forever, 00:15:21.700 |
Therefore he is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him since 00:15:26.540 |
he always lives to make intercession for them. 00:15:29.660 |
You know one of the common questions that people have is how will our eternity be different 00:15:36.820 |
Because God made us sinless at the Garden of Eden and yet we fell. 00:15:41.100 |
What's going to guarantee that when we are in eternity that this is going to happen again? 00:15:45.380 |
And that the cycle of falling and redemption, falling and redemption may happen through 00:15:50.700 |
Well the answer is made clear in Hebrews chapter 7. 00:15:54.300 |
That Jesus the mediator was not one time thing that happened in justification and then it's 00:16:08.540 |
That he stands before us and God interceding for us, how long? 00:16:18.960 |
Whether he comes in glory or whether we go to glory from our death, when we meet Jesus, 00:16:32.940 |
Then the scripture says that he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped 00:16:38.100 |
and he became nothing and took on human form. 00:16:44.180 |
At the end of that he says well because of that he was exalted to glory. 00:16:56.100 |
It's not a description of God who fell and then was raised back up. 00:17:00.900 |
It's a description of the humanity he took on. 00:17:04.820 |
And then because he was humbled, God exalted him as a man and now he sits at the right 00:17:09.060 |
hand of his father mediating, interceding on our behalf for eternity. 00:17:16.500 |
Our justification was not something that happened 2,000 years ago. 00:17:21.100 |
Our justification is not something that happened when you became a Christian, when you raised 00:17:27.020 |
The scripture describes our justification as ongoing intercession by Jesus Christ for 00:17:34.620 |
And that's the difference between our Garden of Eden and our eternity. 00:17:40.700 |
So after we die physically and we are in eternity with God, 500 million years later we will 00:17:48.980 |
just as much be in need of Christ as we are today. 00:17:54.540 |
His mediation isn't just when we are in this flesh. 00:18:01.500 |
You understand the depth of what he is saying? 00:18:03.940 |
He didn't just come temporary, took on human form, and then did his job and went back home 00:18:11.140 |
The Bible describes his sacrifice as an eternal sacrifice. 00:18:19.900 |
It's not simply when we are done with our flesh, Jesus' job is done, so therefore he 00:18:25.220 |
is going to just relax in eternity and be worshipped by creation. 00:18:28.380 |
The Bible says he will continue to be interceding on our behalf. 00:18:45.940 |
He experienced humanity in order to become a faithful, merciful high priest in the things 00:18:52.620 |
pertaining to God and then he says to make propitiation for the sins of his people. 00:18:58.620 |
The word propitiation basically means that a party has been offended and something has 00:19:04.780 |
to be done to appease the anger of the one who has been offended. 00:19:10.260 |
Christ came, took on human form, lived a sinless life. 00:19:13.140 |
He tasted death on our behalf in order to satisfy the wrath of God. 00:19:18.980 |
The primary reason behind his incarnation is our salvation, to appease the wrath of 00:19:26.020 |
1 Timothy 1, 15-16, Paul says, "It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance that Christ 00:19:36.020 |
Apostle Paul wasn't saved because he had the most potential. 00:19:42.020 |
It wasn't because of his status, because he was a Pharisee, that he knew the law better 00:19:46.940 |
Apostle Paul says it's because he was the foremost of sinners. 00:19:51.500 |
Before Paul became a Christian, ask any Christian at that time who they thought was the chief 00:20:01.220 |
Who hated the Christians more than anybody else? 00:20:03.980 |
They would have easily chosen Paul because he took the responsibility over Stephen's 00:20:10.060 |
He was the one who instigated the persecution and wanted to jail, beat, and kill the Christians. 00:20:16.020 |
He got the approval of the leaders of Israel, got an army, chased them down onto Damascus 00:20:20.860 |
until Jesus strikes him over the head, and then he becomes a Christian. 00:20:26.340 |
He said, "He chose me because I was the worst of sinners." 00:20:33.900 |
And the only reason he was chosen is to highlight Jesus' mission for the gospel. 00:20:40.380 |
If he can save him, if Jesus can be merciful to that sinner, he can save me too. 00:20:52.100 |
I'm sure there were other men who had more money than he did. 00:20:55.140 |
He could have chosen somebody who was maybe a part of the royal family. 00:20:59.300 |
I mean, Apostle Paul, yes, he was a Pharisee. 00:21:03.060 |
But couldn't Jesus have converted Caesar himself? 00:21:14.340 |
And that's why Jesus says in Matthew 9, 6, and Mark 2, and Luke 5, when they brought 00:21:20.940 |
the paralytic to be healed, Jesus, instead of healing them, healing him, he says, "Your 00:21:29.500 |
As long as Jesus was healing people, opening the eyes of the blind, healing the lepers, 00:21:37.860 |
But when he began to speak about forgiving sins, they started getting offended. 00:21:44.380 |
When he began to tell these Jews who had believed him, "If you believe in the Son, if you abide 00:21:50.140 |
in my word, you shall know the truth, truth shall set you free," they got offended. 00:22:00.020 |
Jesus didn't come to save mankind from slavery. 00:22:06.260 |
Horrendous things were happening under slavery even at that time. 00:22:10.300 |
He didn't come to save women who were being abused by their husband. 00:22:13.820 |
Horrendous things were happening at that time. 00:22:19.540 |
He didn't come to save us from the wickedness of the Roman government. 00:22:23.860 |
His primary purpose is to propitiate for our sins. 00:22:33.540 |
That's why he says, "When the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." 00:22:39.200 |
Not freedom from poverty, not freedom from marriage problems, not freedom from relationships, 00:22:44.140 |
not freedom from economy, not freedom from the government. 00:22:48.820 |
When the Son sets you free from your sins, you will be free indeed. 00:22:54.540 |
That's why the beginning of the gospel is not, "Are you hurt and broken? 00:23:11.820 |
The beginning of the gospel is to bring us to conviction for our own sins. 00:23:16.300 |
Gospels chapter 3, 10-18, "There is none righteous, not even one. 00:23:35.180 |
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness? 00:23:39.860 |
Destruction and misery are in their path, and the path of peace they have not known. 00:23:51.340 |
The Jews may have thought, "They must be talking about the Romans, because this doesn't sound 00:23:58.220 |
They must be talking about the Assyrians, or the Babylonians, or the Greeks, or maybe 00:24:22.860 |
Who would want to be a follower of Jesus if this is how Jesus describes the people who 00:24:31.940 |
Especially in our generation, where we're so concerned about our self-esteem. 00:24:39.820 |
Any little discouragement is the greatest sin. 00:24:45.460 |
And yet the gospel begins by an indictment, because he didn't come to help us because 00:24:55.620 |
He didn't come so that we can lean our heads on his shoulders and cry when things get tough. 00:25:06.260 |
But the primary reason is to set us free from the bondage of our own sins. 00:25:11.700 |
That's why David says in Psalm 51, verse 4, as he is repenting over his sin of what he 00:25:16.740 |
did to Bathsheba and her husband, he says, "Against you and you only I have sinned." 00:25:32.380 |
How can he possibly say, "Only to you have I sinned"? 00:25:35.620 |
I mean, he sinned, clearly he sinned against Uriah. 00:25:56.900 |
He's not excusing himself and saying that he did nothing wrong to them. 00:26:02.620 |
What he is saying is ultimate sin was against God. 00:26:08.580 |
That every sin that he commits ultimately is a cosmic rebellion against this holy God 00:26:19.180 |
That's why he says, "To you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that 00:26:25.780 |
you are justified when you speak and are blameless when you judge." 00:26:36.460 |
David is exactly where Apostle Paul is trying to get the readers of Romans in Romans 3, 00:26:50.020 |
Romans chapter 118, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, 00:27:01.060 |
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." 00:27:08.780 |
Christ came to mediate us, to protect us against the wrath of God. 00:27:16.900 |
If we miss that, if the church becomes anything less than that, all Jesus becomes is a security 00:27:22.740 |
blanket that we run to when we are scared, tired, lonely, or in despair. 00:27:30.700 |
Sometimes God causes us to be in despair so that we can recognize our sin. 00:27:35.500 |
Sometimes God causes poverty so that we can recognize what we're truly bound by. 00:27:44.740 |
He will put us in desperation because God's primary reason why He came is to bring us 00:27:51.780 |
to God, to mediate us between this holy God and sinful man. 00:27:56.740 |
And if the church becomes anything less than that, if we get sidetracked from that, if 00:28:02.060 |
it becomes a place where we meet our family, raise our children, do some good things, and 00:28:06.540 |
feed the orphans, and yet we stray from this, you haven't just missed something important. 00:28:11.780 |
You've missed everything about what we are about, about why He came. 00:28:17.380 |
Verse 18, it says, "He was tempted in that which He suffered." 00:28:26.980 |
You know, temptation itself means that you were coveting something, you desired something. 00:28:48.060 |
He experienced temptation because He took on human form. 00:28:54.380 |
What a strange, strange thing for Satan to take Jesus up to the temple and say, "If 00:29:00.780 |
you would just bow down to me, I will give you all of this." 00:29:09.220 |
I mean, what Satan was showing Jesus was not even 1%, .00001% maybe less than that, than 00:29:19.020 |
And yet Satan, in his audacity, stupidity, thought possibly that he could tempt Jesus, 00:29:26.300 |
that if you bow down to me, I will give you this. 00:29:33.180 |
For the first time in Satan's existence, he saw Jesus vulnerable in his humanity. 00:29:46.140 |
He suffered in order that he may become a merciful and faithful high priest. 00:29:50.860 |
Hebrews 5, 8-10, "Although he was a son, he learned obedience." 00:29:57.580 |
He learned obedience from things which he suffered and having been made perfect, meaning 00:30:09.860 |
He became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation and being designated 00:30:14.380 |
by God as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. 00:30:22.300 |
That's why he came, to save us from the power of death and to become a permanent, merciful, 00:30:29.980 |
faithful high priest who mediates for us for eternity. 00:30:36.020 |
Jesus became merciful because he suffered and he was tempted. 00:30:40.100 |
You know, I found out, this is a survey that went out in 2018. 00:30:45.500 |
They said that every year now, there's at least 1.4 million attempts of suicide, 1.4 00:31:02.420 |
Suicide, people who choose to take their own life. 00:31:05.620 |
In the last 10 years, the suicide rate in the United States has increased almost 5%. 00:31:19.020 |
There's this many people who are in despair to the point where they believe ending this 00:31:26.220 |
You know, recently I read an article about this young man who's 16 years old who took 00:31:32.580 |
He was a baseball player at Coronado del Mar High School. 00:31:38.740 |
And he wrote this long letter of why he committed suicide and it made national news. 00:31:44.780 |
In his letter, I was combing through what he was writing and it was a common frustration 00:31:55.220 |
And any little mistake that he makes, he feels this pressure and he said he couldn't take 00:32:02.420 |
And it made national news because his experience, his frustration is very common to many young 00:32:11.060 |
In fact, when you look up the reasons for suicide, it may sound very mundane unless 00:32:21.680 |
The most common suicide letters are about breakups in relationships, losing of jobs, 00:32:31.020 |
financial problems, academic failure, bullying, and loneliness. 00:32:40.020 |
Every single one of us have experienced some of this. 00:32:49.100 |
And these are the reasons why people take their life. 00:32:52.260 |
Now if we're not emotionally attached to any of this and this is not the state of mind 00:32:55.760 |
that we are in now, we may look at that and say, "Man, taking your life because you broke 00:33:04.940 |
Taking your life because you have financial problems? 00:33:08.620 |
We've experienced some form of bullying and academic failure and you took your life for 00:33:15.860 |
Imagine if we feel that way, what God would think. 00:33:29.160 |
He's allowing the sun to stay where it is and everything that was made and sustained 00:33:37.620 |
And because this didn't go right or that didn't, because I don't know if we're going to pay 00:33:45.940 |
And we would expect God to say, "What's wrong with these people?" 00:33:57.680 |
He took on human form and he walked in our shoes. 00:34:18.700 |
He experienced all of that in order that he may be a merciful high priest. 00:34:26.980 |
That's why he says in 1 Peter 5, 7, "Cast all your anxieties upon him because he cares 00:34:32.180 |
He didn't just hammer and say, "What's wrong with you?" 00:34:36.140 |
He had compassion when he heard our groaning and then he came and he walked among us. 00:34:47.820 |
And that's why he became a sympathetic high priest that we can relate to. 00:34:52.220 |
I told you that I felt like I had no channel to communicate with my dad. 00:35:06.860 |
I can speak Korean, you know, but I can't speak Korean the way I speak English. 00:35:11.300 |
So usually when people hear me speak Korean, like for the first time, they say, "Oh, your 00:35:20.940 |
We really want to express what I really feel. 00:35:23.140 |
I can't go beyond that because I don't have the vocabulary. 00:35:26.020 |
And so people can tell right away I was raised here, not in Korea, once we get beyond the 00:35:30.940 |
So I feel for many of you because you're in that situation where your parents aren't good 00:35:37.540 |
in English and you guys aren't good in your parents' mother tongue, so the communication 00:35:54.820 |
But as I get older, without a word being spoken, I understand my dad more than ever. 00:36:04.920 |
And I know he would understand me because he was in my shoes all his life. 00:36:10.340 |
And I find comfort and strength to know that he was in my shoes and I'm going in his shoes. 00:36:18.240 |
How much more to know the God who counts the hair on your head, who created you, who loved 00:36:26.740 |
you, experience what we experienced when you and I was deserving of death. 00:36:37.840 |
How much more should we draw near to our Father's throne with confidence? 00:36:44.960 |
But not only was he merciful, he said he was faithful. 00:36:49.340 |
You may have somebody in your life that is very, very merciful to you. 00:36:56.400 |
You may have a really close friend who no matter what you do, you can rely on them. 00:37:01.080 |
You've done horrendous things, said horrendous things, but they forgave you and they've been 00:37:06.960 |
You know, most people won't put up with our sins to that degree. 00:37:10.640 |
But no matter how merciful they have been to you, they have limitations to their faithfulness 00:37:21.460 |
Even with the best of intentions, they will never fully understand you. 00:37:30.120 |
Not only was Jesus merciful, he was faithful. 00:37:32.800 |
In Hebrews 4, 15, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, 00:37:37.560 |
but one who has been tempted in every way, in all things, as we are, yet without sin." 00:37:53.780 |
He represents the holy God in his perfectness. 00:37:56.600 |
And he represents frail humanity in his frail humanity. 00:38:06.380 |
As long as you and I exist, he will be mediating on our behalf. 00:38:17.240 |
I know we knew the love of God and that's why we were attracted to him. 00:38:29.160 |
But when we first come to know the love of God, it's very superficial. 00:38:32.200 |
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. 00:38:35.480 |
All of that is true, but spiritual maturity and sanctification is knowing the depth and 00:38:46.840 |
And when we begin to understand that we had a very tunnel vision and then the more we 00:38:50.880 |
studied the Bible and why inductive Bible study is so important, that's a plug for our 00:38:56.840 |
Why this is so important is because the more we intently look upon it, we see the depth 00:39:01.560 |
and the width and the length and height of the love of Christ. 00:39:09.920 |
The more we are exposed to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are changed. 00:39:24.560 |
You can't tell it's a Christian song because I'm only going to read the first part and 00:39:26.960 |
then because he gets to the cross at the end, but I'm just going to read the first part. 00:39:31.480 |
And basically it's a song that our father wrote for his growing son, recognizing that 00:39:37.080 |
at one day he's going to grow up and experience hardship and live in this sinful world. 00:39:41.360 |
And he's writing this song as an advice to his son. 00:39:44.400 |
He says, "When I look at you, boy, I can see the road that lies ahead. 00:39:49.240 |
I can see the love and the sorrow, bright fields of joy, dark nights awake in a stormy 00:40:00.180 |
So keep to the old roads, keep to the old roads, and you'll find your way. 00:40:06.020 |
Your first kiss, your first crush, the first time you know you're not enough. 00:40:13.800 |
The first time there's no one there to hold you. 00:40:18.180 |
The first time you pack it all up and drive alone across America. 00:40:26.260 |
Keep to the old roads, keep to the old roads, and you'll find your way. 00:40:33.780 |
And you know the part that really gripped me was when he says, "The first time you know 00:40:42.140 |
First time, what he means by that, when the despair is so deep. 00:40:54.780 |
And the father's looking on that and says, "First time there's no one there to hold you." 00:40:59.700 |
And as a child, the parent, if we could, we would take the pain for them. 00:41:06.160 |
Every single one of you who have small children, taking them to get vaccines or shots, or they've 00:41:11.260 |
broken their arms, and you see how much they hate to be there. 00:41:15.140 |
And they're screaming their heads off because they're screaming in fear and terror. 00:41:20.980 |
How many of you parents thought to yourself, "I wish I could take your place." 00:41:32.460 |
When you come to your wits end, and you come to realize for the first time you don't have 00:41:51.780 |
The old road he's talking about is the cross. 00:41:56.960 |
The old road he's talking about is the path of Christ. 00:42:13.740 |
We will all experience the fall of mankind one way or another. 00:42:20.620 |
But when that happens, and maybe you are in that now, remember why Jesus came. 00:42:30.020 |
Before you go to the counselors, before you go to your friends, before you go to your 00:42:34.500 |
leaders, before you go to your church, before you veg on Netflix, before you make your next 00:42:41.460 |
travel plans, before you go to get your next meal, remember why Jesus came. 00:42:48.660 |
He tasted death to free us from the bondage of our own sins and to become a sympathetic, 00:42:56.620 |
merciful, faithful high priest on our behalf. 00:43:08.540 |
As our worship team leads us, I want to invite you to take some time to pray. 00:43:15.740 |
I'm not exactly sure what all of you are going through at this time. 00:43:26.780 |
But as I said, God will allow us to feel certain pains at times in order to highlight the cross. 00:43:36.460 |
If that's you right now, I invite you, don't run to things, don't run to people, come to 00:43:41.820 |
Christ, the mediator, merciful, faithful, sympathetic. 00:43:49.160 |
Let's take some time to pray as we come before the Lord and ask him, "Open my eyes, Lord, 00:43:54.260 |
that I may see you and love you and worship you."