back to index2021-06-13 Strengthen What is Weak
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If you can turn your Bibles with me, Hebrews chapter 12 verses 12 and 13. 00:00:20.080 |
"Therefore strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble. 00:00:25.160 |
Make straight paths for your feet so that the limb which is lame may not be put out 00:00:33.600 |
Heavenly Father we pray for your blessing, we pray for your guidance by your word. 00:00:37.920 |
I pray that our hearts may be molded Lord God and that your word would guide and lead 00:00:45.400 |
Lord, we know that the preaching is just words Lord God, unless you ordain it and illuminate 00:00:56.360 |
So we pray for guidance, we pray Lord that your grace would allow us Lord to hear and 00:01:08.360 |
Yesterday myself, Elder James and Pastor Mark, we did a podcast together on the subject of 00:01:18.100 |
So some of you guys who may have heard the term or maybe have been hearing it around 00:01:22.840 |
and basically what's going on, again the latest trend is for people to re-examine their 00:01:29.080 |
faith and possibly even questioning the fundamentals of what we believe. 00:01:33.600 |
Like is the Bible real, you know, are the miracles real, is the church necessary? 00:01:38.400 |
And so, and this was sparked by a few well-known pastors who basically denied their faith and 00:01:45.840 |
walked away from Christianity, basically condemning the Christianity that they belong to and they 00:01:51.840 |
participated in and even led and many people came to Christ through them. 00:01:56.000 |
And so because of that and I think, you know, with it basically triggered a lot of people 00:02:01.180 |
just almost encouraging people to go back and re-examine their faith. 00:02:07.040 |
I think re-examining our faith is always necessary because we do live in a somewhat Christian 00:02:13.320 |
culture at least where we live and, you know, you sometimes feel pressure to become a Christian 00:02:19.240 |
when you're in college and then you make a bunch of Christian friends, maybe you came 00:02:23.040 |
from a Christian home and as a result of that being in church was a knee-jerk reaction and 00:02:29.000 |
maybe you never seriously examined what you truly believed. 00:02:34.160 |
But in that process, the danger that we are seeing now is that it's almost encouraged, 00:02:39.880 |
that it's almost normal that we go back and revisit. 00:02:52.040 |
And in that context, many people are beginning to realize that maybe they weren't believers 00:03:00.480 |
I think most of us, if you've been a Christian for any period of time, you can probably name 00:03:05.600 |
at least one person or maybe many people that at one point maybe you looked up to and you 00:03:10.480 |
ran the race with are no longer walking with God. 00:03:16.000 |
Maybe a professor, maybe a Sunday school teacher, maybe your youth pastor, maybe a good friend 00:03:21.540 |
of yours that at one point you were excited and you're walking with God and by all definitions 00:03:26.840 |
of what the Bible teaches what a Christian is, they are no longer walking with God. 00:03:37.480 |
This is not a new phenomenon in what's going on in our generation that all of a sudden 00:03:41.720 |
2,000 years later after the death and resurrection of Christ, this new thing of deconstructionism 00:03:48.160 |
This has happened from the very first century, from the very beginning. 00:03:53.040 |
He said that some seeds are going to fall on certain soils and they're going to look 00:03:56.680 |
like they're going to bear fruit for a period, but then because they don't have any foundation, 00:04:02.640 |
Some of them are going to fall on soils and they just disbelieve and they walk away. 00:04:06.440 |
And then there's some soils where the seed falls on the third soil and in the beginning 00:04:10.680 |
it looks like they're bearing fruit, but because of the worries and concern and deceitfulness 00:04:15.200 |
of this world, their faith gets choked out and as a result they die. 00:04:20.400 |
So whether you call it deconstructionism or backsliding or fading or slipping, whatever 00:04:25.240 |
you want to call it, it is nothing new to our generation. 00:04:31.260 |
And so people who are going through this process are only coming to realize that maybe they 00:04:39.360 |
And this is why it's necessary for us to examine and make sure that we are truly anchored 00:04:45.480 |
in Christ, that our dependency is not the community, that our dependency is not our 00:04:51.460 |
support group and our family, friends, or our tradition, but do I really believe in 00:04:59.000 |
That even if everybody that I know falls away, that I am anchored in Christ. 00:05:03.920 |
Even if the biggest waves come, I am anchored in Christ. 00:05:09.000 |
The text that we're looking at this morning is in the context of the larger context where 00:05:13.520 |
the author has been trying to get the readers to continue to take their faith seriously 00:05:25.560 |
They weren't guilty of waking up one morning and saying, "You know what? 00:05:27.760 |
I don't want Jesus and I'm going to run toward my old life." 00:05:32.200 |
The constant warning is do not drift, do not neglect, do not drift. 00:05:37.340 |
Because most people who experience deconstructionism or backsliding usually happens way before 00:05:47.760 |
That was probably happening behind the scene where they were questioning. 00:05:52.160 |
Maybe there was a sin in their life that they weren't confessing that caused a strain or 00:05:59.000 |
And instead of realizing that maybe something in them was flawed, they turned that table 00:06:04.960 |
around and began to point to the church or the pastors or to the Bible itself saying 00:06:13.640 |
It is in that context that this author has been going through Christology chapter after 00:06:18.360 |
chapter after chapter that we do not drift from this. 00:06:22.520 |
And so we're in chapter 12 where it's saying, "Considering all of this, therefore," so we 00:06:26.840 |
have such a great of witnesses that has gone before us, "to lay aside every encumbrance 00:06:31.520 |
and sin which so easily entangles us so that we do not continue to drift." 00:06:36.760 |
And then in verse 12 that we're looking at where it says, "Therefore, considering what 00:06:40.760 |
Christ has done for us, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble." 00:06:50.000 |
If you are a genuine believer in Christ, there is no reason to quit. 00:06:54.240 |
That's what he means in verse 4 when he said, "You have not yet resisted to the point of 00:06:58.520 |
shedding blood in your striving against sin." 00:07:08.500 |
So a genuine Christian has no reason to quit no matter what struggle, no matter what trial 00:07:14.520 |
because Christ knowing our weakness, Christ knowing our struggle has shed his blood for 00:07:22.600 |
So the only Christian that truly fails in the kingdom of God is the one who quits. 00:07:28.880 |
And so he's encouraging and challenging the church to persevere because it is for that 00:07:37.820 |
Since we have a God who is perfect, who does not make mistakes, there's no reason to quit. 00:07:45.280 |
Since we have a God who loves us and that even in the most difficult circumstances, 00:07:55.400 |
Since we have a God that even in our most difficult circumstances are orchestrating 00:07:59.600 |
things for our own good to train us to be more like him, therefore we do not need to 00:08:06.320 |
And that was the point that we were trying to make last week, right, in the passages. 00:08:10.040 |
And here in verse 12 he continues, he says, "Therefore, therefore we believe in a sovereign 00:08:19.040 |
Therefore strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble." 00:08:24.000 |
Let me stop right here because this is a passage, verse 12 and 13 is a passage that we know 00:08:29.920 |
This is kind of like, "Let's get going" type of passage, right? 00:08:32.700 |
If you're struggling, find out what your weaknesses are and make a list of things that you need 00:08:38.080 |
to correct and then get things right and then let's do it. 00:08:43.720 |
But before we even get to that, we need to first understand, this is why we have inductive 00:08:49.320 |
Bible study because we want to make sure that all of the meaning and the imagery that is 00:08:54.200 |
given in the text is actually what we are getting out of the text, okay? 00:09:00.200 |
First of all, the word for the passage, "strengthen the hands that are weak," is not an exact 00:09:07.280 |
It's more of a transliteration so that we can have the gist of what the meaning is. 00:09:12.120 |
But if you look at the King James Version where they didn't care at all whether you 00:09:16.820 |
understood it or not, they just kind of translated it exactly the way it is written in the Greek. 00:09:21.180 |
In the King James Translation, the meaning behind it is basically to lift up drooping 00:09:29.160 |
So the imagery in our head is right there, okay? 00:09:34.020 |
So imagery that's given in chapter, in verse 12 is an individual where the hands are drooped. 00:09:40.740 |
And then the second part of that, "and the knees that are feeble," meaning that there's 00:09:47.740 |
So what is that, what do you think that's a picture of? 00:09:55.000 |
Take a guess of the context of somebody who would be drawn that way. 00:10:03.380 |
This looks like somebody who's in the middle of a marathon, maybe, maybe about halfway 00:10:09.540 |
through, you know, and they're just fatigued and they're out of breath and they don't have 00:10:16.860 |
the same kind of vigor that they had in the beginning. 00:10:20.520 |
And so when an individual gets to that point, what are they thinking? 00:10:32.540 |
So this is a picture of an individual who started the race well, but at some point has 00:10:39.620 |
lost their vigor and have no energy, is slooped down and their knees are starting to buckle. 00:10:45.540 |
And in their mind, they're probably thinking that, "I don't know if I can continue on." 00:10:53.340 |
He's addressing an individual or a group of people who just don't have the strength. 00:11:00.700 |
And they say, "Oh my gosh, you know, how am I going to make it? 00:11:03.860 |
I still have another 13 miles to go and I'm exhausted now. 00:11:12.540 |
It is at this point where many people begin to change their theology. 00:11:20.780 |
Maybe the reason why I feel this way and I'm exhausted is because the church has wronged 00:11:29.620 |
And we have a tendency to either change our theology, change our circumstance, change 00:11:34.860 |
the various things because I don't think I can go on. 00:11:39.580 |
This is the place where the thoughts of deconstruction comes in because they're ready to quit. 00:11:48.740 |
So instead of saying, "I couldn't finish this race," they say, "Maybe the race wasn't the 00:12:01.800 |
It is these people that they are addressing and it is these people who are at this point 00:12:06.540 |
that the whole book of Hebrews is written to, who have their hands drooped, their knees 00:12:11.340 |
are beginning to buckle, they're out of breath, they're tired, they don't know if they can 00:12:14.980 |
continue and the race seems like it's still so far away. 00:12:23.380 |
In the world, when you see an individual at that state, what do we do if you're good friends? 00:12:34.740 |
Or maybe if you grew up in the church, you'll quote Philippians, "I can do all things." 00:12:52.020 |
Whoever you put your mind to, you can achieve and you get motivation speakers, you listen 00:12:55.940 |
to tape or meditation because we need to persevere and that's the answer that the world is giving. 00:13:04.540 |
This is a Christian version of saying, "Hey, keep your chin up." 00:13:08.860 |
But he's not simply saying, "Hey, believe in yourself." 00:13:12.580 |
Just suck it up and find the strength within. 00:13:16.400 |
And if you just discipline harder, if you just work harder, you can continue. 00:13:25.380 |
The point that he's been making is you took your eyes off of Christ. 00:13:30.320 |
And that's why he says he's the author and the perfecter of our faith. 00:13:34.260 |
You started with Christ, but at some point in your walk with Christ, you began to just 00:13:39.260 |
do things yourself and you ran out of energy. 00:13:43.180 |
So the answer is not to go back and try it again and do it harder this time. 00:13:47.060 |
He says, "No, the reason why you became this to begin with is because you took your eyes 00:13:55.580 |
That's exactly the point that Paul is trying to make in Philippians chapter 3, 3-7. 00:14:00.300 |
Where Paul says he is dealing with the Judaizers who are saying that salvation could not be 00:14:09.380 |
Yes, we believe in Jesus, but there's a part that we need to play. 00:14:13.160 |
And so you still need to be circumcised and you still need to respect the Mosaic law. 00:14:17.740 |
And Paul is writing to them and he says, "For we are the true circumcision who worship in 00:14:23.120 |
the Spirit of God in glory in Christ, Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh." 00:14:34.620 |
You know, he says, "No, I put no confidence in it, although I myself might have confidence 00:14:40.780 |
If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more." 00:14:46.520 |
You know, people may say that and not be true, but Apostle Paul, there's nobody who is going 00:14:52.220 |
to go toe to toe with law keeping and his background than Apostle Paul. 00:14:59.740 |
If you think that that's the path of righteousness and you think the reason why I'm preaching 00:15:03.600 |
salvation by grace alone is because somehow I failed in the law, let me tell you who I 00:15:11.960 |
Circumcised on the eighth day, meaning that he's a true Israelite. 00:15:15.880 |
He had the covenant symbol on him of the nation of Israel, not the tribe of Benjamin. 00:15:23.120 |
In the nation of Israel, they were, you know, there's a pecking order as to which tribes 00:15:31.360 |
Tribe of Judah, because that was the kingly line. 00:15:33.640 |
But next to the tribe of Judah, the Benjamites were known for two things. 00:15:37.800 |
One, if you remember the book of Judges, the Benjamites were known as the mighty warriors. 00:15:46.400 |
And then two, they were known to be the ones who remained faithful to Judah when the kingdom 00:15:51.280 |
split where the 10 tribes went with one group and the Judah and Benjamites were the only 00:16:02.480 |
And so to say that he's a Benjamite right off the bat, right? 00:16:07.080 |
You want to go toe to toe, what tribe are you from? 00:16:16.280 |
Say, I'm from a tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrew. 00:16:23.120 |
Pharisees were the ones who took the law and they were OCD about the law, right? 00:16:28.420 |
They took the book, they took the Sabbath and they said, "Well, we want to make sure 00:16:34.280 |
And they had all these other laws like, if you do this, if you touch this, if you walk 00:16:38.240 |
this many, you know, steps and you go one step further, you broke the law. 00:16:41.840 |
These were the Pharisees who took the law seriously. 00:16:46.960 |
And he says, "You want to, you're accusing me that maybe I couldn't, I couldn't find 00:16:52.080 |
righteousness and that's why I'm reverting to grace. 00:16:56.240 |
But as to zeal, are you questioning my passion? 00:17:05.520 |
You know, when he said he was a persecutor of the church, you have to remember that during 00:17:09.160 |
that period, the Israelites didn't have authority to carry out capital punishment. 00:17:15.280 |
So when Stephen was being stoned and they put all their cloaks, everybody who stoned 00:17:19.280 |
Stephen to put their cloak at the feet of Apostle Paul, who was Saul at that time, basically 00:17:24.720 |
means that he's going to be responsible for this. 00:17:27.760 |
And Apostle Paul basically said, "Yeah, if I go to jail and I die for this, I'm willing." 00:17:36.320 |
As to righteousness, which is in the law, found blameless. 00:17:44.920 |
Yeah, maybe in the eyes of God, but to other Jews, Apostle Paul, not only was he a Pharisee, 00:17:51.400 |
he was, he was a direct disciple of Gamaliel, the top scholar of Israel. 00:17:58.180 |
And there's rumors that he was already a member of the Sanhedrin. 00:18:02.120 |
So it was assumed that he was blameless in the law. 00:18:05.700 |
But whatever thing were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake 00:18:12.360 |
If my righteousness is based upon my being, me being zealous and my background and keeping 00:18:19.820 |
the law perfectly and said, "You want to go toe to toe, I'll beat all of you." 00:18:24.560 |
But the message of the cross actually makes all of that rubbish. 00:18:30.440 |
It's not because we simply need to work harder. 00:18:33.360 |
It's not simply because we need to be more disciplined. 00:18:36.320 |
All of these things are things that we ought to do, but the primary reason why they got 00:18:40.700 |
to the point where they were about to quit is because they took their eyes off of Christ. 00:18:46.280 |
They thought at some point that they can do it by their own strength. 00:18:51.600 |
You and I all know the story where Jesus tells that you have a tax collector and a Pharisee 00:18:56.320 |
who goes up to pray and the tax collector is praying, "Thank God I'm not like them. 00:19:03.640 |
And then the tax collector is beating his chest. 00:19:11.880 |
He said, "The tax collector, because he received forgiveness." 00:19:18.000 |
So in the beginning in justification, we know that we have to be like a tax collector, beating 00:19:24.160 |
our chest, recognizing our sin, asking for forgiveness and remaining humble. 00:19:28.520 |
But at some point after the justification, we come to sanctification, we become right 00:19:37.120 |
To be justified, I need to be like a tax collector. 00:19:39.560 |
But to be sanctified, I need to be like a Pharisee. 00:19:43.040 |
I need to get all my ducks in order and I need to check off all the boxes. 00:19:48.640 |
I need to have all my theology and I need to witness to so many people and I need to 00:19:54.120 |
And then we start to measure everybody else based upon these checkoff lists that we have. 00:20:00.120 |
And at some point we forget that we're always the tax collector before Christ. 00:20:07.320 |
We're always beating our chest in need of His mercy. 00:20:11.600 |
It is not by our own righteousness we are justified. 00:20:17.120 |
It is not simply by our own righteousness that we will be sanctified. 00:20:21.560 |
And it is not by our own righteousness that we will be glorified. 00:20:25.520 |
You know, one of my favorite passages in the New Testament, I think one of the most beautiful 00:20:29.560 |
things that Jesus quoted is in Matthew chapter 12, verse 20. 00:20:34.540 |
As he is healing the sick, the Pharisees and the scribes are offended that Jesus is performing 00:20:43.840 |
And instead of forgetting, instead of seeing the miracles, like, oh my gosh, this guy, 00:20:51.320 |
Instead of seeing the miracle and glorifying God, how can you be healing on the Sabbath? 00:20:59.440 |
Jesus in receiving, knowing what's in their heart, he says in verse 20, a battered reed 00:21:05.000 |
he will not break off and a smoldering wick he will not put out until he leads justice 00:21:13.920 |
A battered reed basically is a reed that has been broken. 00:21:18.780 |
A smoldering wick is kind of at the end of the candle. 00:21:22.240 |
You know, that's what you light in order for the oil to burn. 00:21:25.240 |
A smoldering wick is basically it's used, it's burned. 00:21:33.760 |
In any other, any definition, it would be trash. 00:21:38.080 |
We wouldn't look at a smoldering wick and say, let's salvage that. 00:21:50.640 |
And so he's using that imagery, saying that he's having compassion. 00:21:55.120 |
It's a lost sinner, really in rebellion against God. 00:22:00.160 |
He's worse than a smoldering wick and a broken reed. 00:22:10.040 |
But he's saying that even if that is the case, he says, I will not put it out. 00:22:17.000 |
I think it's one of the most beautiful scenes, beautiful things that Jesus has ever said. 00:22:21.600 |
And it's his way of saying that I will not turn away, ever turn away a repentant sinner. 00:22:28.040 |
I will never turn away a genuinely repentant sinner. 00:22:33.880 |
And that's what he means when he says Hebrews chapter 12, verse 3, for consider him who 00:22:38.000 |
has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and 00:22:46.880 |
We look at that and say, he endured hostility so that we will not grow weary. 00:22:54.120 |
Does he mean that he set an example for us of persevering? 00:22:59.520 |
And even though he was being attacked, he endured, so therefore he set an example. 00:23:03.320 |
And so we need to follow that example that in the midst of persecution that we need to 00:23:16.120 |
I believe the main thrust of what he's saying here is that in the context of being weary 00:23:23.120 |
and losing heart and arms drooping and knees buckling, he says Jesus has accomplished what 00:23:33.880 |
He endured hostility against sinners against himself. 00:23:38.640 |
He went to the cross despite the suffering, despite the rejection, despite the pain. 00:23:46.760 |
He said he went to the cross so that when we are weary, that we do not need to quit 00:23:53.800 |
because God's not placing that on our shoulder that you better get your act straight. 00:23:58.400 |
He says no, because he knew we were going to be weak. 00:24:03.000 |
He knew there are times that we're going to be drooping arms. 00:24:08.320 |
He says he endured for us so that you would not lose heart. 00:24:12.000 |
In other words, to look to Christ that when those situations happen, that we do not look 00:24:19.240 |
to people, we do not look to leaders, we do not look to circumstances or community or 00:24:24.920 |
finance or politics to fix your eyes upon Christ, the beginner and the finisher of our 00:24:37.160 |
Romans chapter 8, 26 to 28 says in the same way the spirit also helps our weakness. 00:24:42.000 |
For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with 00:24:49.600 |
This passage is always so encouraging to me because even in our prayers, he says when 00:24:56.920 |
you can't pray, I know I commanded you to pray. 00:25:00.720 |
I know how important prayer is, but even when you can't pray and you don't know what to 00:25:09.560 |
The spirit inside of us interceding and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind 00:25:13.800 |
of the spirit is because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 00:25:18.000 |
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, 00:25:22.960 |
to those who are called according to his purpose. 00:25:27.560 |
He even provided knowing that there are times where we're going to have a hard time praying. 00:25:38.800 |
We don't know what to pray for, where we're lost. 00:25:41.920 |
That even in that context, he says, I made it so that the Holy Spirit will groan with 00:25:52.400 |
So that there the Holy Spirit is interceding on our behalf even when we are struggling. 00:26:01.960 |
He didn't just justify us and then said, you better get to work. 00:26:07.200 |
He didn't just justify us and say, now everything, I've done everything I could, now you just 00:26:13.800 |
He who started a good work in you, he will carry it onto completion. 00:26:17.520 |
And he says, all things work together for good. 00:26:22.040 |
For those who are the most disciplined, for those who have the best theology, for those 00:26:27.440 |
And I said, for those who have been called and for those who love him. 00:26:38.220 |
So the most important question that a Christian should be continually asking is, do I love 00:26:49.140 |
And that's the measuring stick that God uses. 00:26:52.060 |
And he says, if you are justified and if you love him, all things will work together for 00:27:07.440 |
And it's proof that maybe we haven't really truly have even died yet. 00:27:12.980 |
We have a tendency to live up to the expectations of people rather than the calling of the gospel. 00:27:18.580 |
So, we jump through hoops and do what we need to do because that's expected of us from 00:27:25.940 |
Maybe our leaders, our friends, our family members. 00:27:29.500 |
You know who is under that pressure more than anybody else? 00:27:49.220 |
So, we live up to the expectations of what other people think we ought to be rather than 00:27:56.740 |
living up to the calling that God has given us as his children. 00:28:01.540 |
So, what ends up happening is we become experts in presenting ourselves. 00:28:06.420 |
The longer you've been a Christian, you know the knee-jerk answer. 00:28:18.340 |
And we have these generic things that deep inside is like, "Man, I'm about to die. 00:28:23.140 |
Man, I've been hooked on pornography for months." 00:28:37.900 |
And so, when that begins to break down and we start the hypocrisy of a double life that 00:28:44.940 |
we're living and all of a sudden either that causes us to repent and get right with God 00:28:51.340 |
or we go through deconstruction saying that maybe it's their fault. 00:28:55.540 |
Maybe I'm in this situation because they were the ones who put that pressure on me and then 00:28:59.380 |
I try to live up to their standard because they started judging me. 00:29:03.840 |
Not realizing maybe from the get go we were founded upon the wrong foundation. 00:29:11.300 |
You know, there's this song from Twyla Paris. 00:29:14.420 |
I don't think she is famous anymore but she was at one point and has a song called Warrior 00:29:23.940 |
It says, "Lately I've been winning battles left and right but even winners can get wounded 00:29:30.500 |
People say that I'm amazing, I'm strong beyond my years but they don't see inside of me I'm 00:29:37.340 |
I don't know that I come, they don't know that I come running home when I fall down. 00:29:41.700 |
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around. 00:29:45.100 |
I drop my sword and cry for just a while because deep inside this armor the warrior is a child. 00:29:51.300 |
Unafraid because his armor is the best but even soldiers need a quiet place to rest. 00:29:56.120 |
People say that I'm amazing, I never face retreat but they don't see the enemies that 00:30:03.240 |
They don't know that I come running home when I fall down. 00:30:05.600 |
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around. 00:30:08.400 |
I drop my sword and cry for just a while because deep inside this armor the warrior is a child." 00:30:21.560 |
We try so hard to present ourselves a certain way because we think that this is what we 00:30:28.340 |
ought to do and so you do that for a year, two years, four years, five years and then 00:30:37.520 |
the pressure begins to buckle because we're not standing on Christ. 00:30:43.800 |
So when he says if your arms are drooping and your knees are buckling that's what he's 00:30:49.780 |
been trying to do to fix your eyes upon Christ. 00:30:55.320 |
The reason why the Hebrews were in the position they were isn't simply because they weren't 00:31:06.180 |
They forgot what brought them to Christ to begin with. 00:31:19.980 |
And it isn't until you and I recognize from beginning to the middle to the end that we 00:31:27.060 |
will always be a burnt out wick that is desperately in need of his grace. 00:31:33.860 |
We are always tax collectors beating our chest in need of his mercy. 00:31:41.820 |
We've been justified so we don't need Christ. 00:31:44.580 |
My ticket's in heaven already so we don't need Christ. 00:31:52.900 |
And so since I'm justified I'm just going to be better. 00:31:57.820 |
It's probably that very reason why they started to drift back to begin with. 00:32:06.860 |
He says, "And make straight paths for your feet so that the limb which is lame may not 00:32:13.860 |
So you see this imagery of the race that he uses again. 00:32:17.940 |
Here's that man who's running and he's about to quit and he says, "Here's the solution. 00:32:23.220 |
In other words, get back up and then he says, "Here's what you need to do. 00:32:27.260 |
Make the straight path straight for your feet." 00:32:32.100 |
If you're going to run this path you need to make sure that you're on the right path. 00:32:37.300 |
But again you have to understand that a first century Jew when you talked about a straight 00:32:41.540 |
path there's an immediate understanding of what they were referring to. 00:32:47.140 |
Like today if I asked you what are the best streets in this area, right? 00:32:53.940 |
What are the streets that you feel like you can take a car and just go as fast as you 00:33:01.860 |
What are the streets that they pay the most attention to, to make sure that there's no 00:33:06.740 |
potholes, there's no quick turns, that you can get on that street and go straight and 00:33:12.860 |
step on it and you're going to be able to be safe going on that street? 00:33:28.300 |
And there's certain cities you have a pot, you know, like a, what do you call it, hole 00:33:40.460 |
You just drive slow and then you just have to be careful. 00:33:44.100 |
But you will never see a pothole on the freeway. 00:33:47.780 |
Because if you have a pothole on the freeway people can die. 00:33:52.580 |
And you won't see the freeway turning real quick. 00:33:59.380 |
And they, if any, even an object is on the highway, somebody will come, the CHP officers 00:34:05.060 |
will come and they'll clear that out because it's dangerous. 00:34:08.480 |
So the best roads around us are always the highways. 00:34:12.060 |
They're the biggest roads, they're the safest, they're the flattest, and they pay the most 00:34:20.540 |
All the best roads in Israel were the roads that led to the cities of refuge. 00:34:26.820 |
The cities of refuge, if you didn't know, were six cities that were commanded by God 00:34:31.260 |
that as they entered into the promised land, and they were spread out in Israel in those 00:34:35.740 |
six places, so that any part of Israel you couldn't look up because they were built on 00:34:40.620 |
hills and you were able to visually see where they were. 00:34:44.820 |
And you knew that if anything happened, you needed to run there, you knew exactly which 00:34:51.060 |
So the reason why he did that, he said that if somebody is like plowing or farming and 00:35:00.340 |
accidentally he kills his neighbor, and so the neighbor's family member who becomes angry 00:35:09.260 |
that their brother or sister or father was killed, even though it was accidentally, that 00:35:14.220 |
they want to take vengeance, and so they call that individual "Avenger of Blood." 00:35:19.620 |
And so when that Avenger of Blood wants to take vengeance on that individual who killed 00:35:23.020 |
accidentally, that he would pack up his stuff and run to the city of refuge as soon as he 00:35:27.940 |
can, and then when he gets to the gate, they would have a trial to see if it was accidental, 00:35:34.420 |
if he is innocent, that he didn't deliberately murder this person. 00:35:37.760 |
And if that's found to be true, they would open the door, and the one who was fleeing, 00:35:43.180 |
he would enter into the city, and the city was run by the priests. 00:35:48.540 |
And the leader of these cities were the high priest. 00:35:51.260 |
So under the protection of the high priest, the Avenger of Blood could not get to him, 00:35:55.340 |
and that's where he would live out the rest of his life in order so that the Avenger of 00:36:03.280 |
How often do you think this happened in Israel, that he would establish six cities? 00:36:11.580 |
How often does accidental killing happen in our community? 00:36:16.860 |
I mean, it can happen, right, car accidents, but they didn't ride cars back then. 00:36:20.420 |
So typically, if they killed somebody by accident, it was probably they're, you know, throwing 00:36:24.500 |
the whole back, and then they hit somebody in the back of the head or something, or they 00:36:29.180 |
were getting carried away with their cows, and they ran over somebody. 00:36:35.940 |
That he would, and it's mentioned in Deuteronomy, it's mentioned in the book of Numbers, it's 00:36:40.780 |
mentioned in Joshua, in Exodus, it's mentioned in all these. 00:36:45.480 |
This was significant enough that he has six cities, all this money dedicated just so that 00:36:53.740 |
they can have, if that ever happens, and my guess is it was pretty rare that that even 00:37:01.500 |
Why was so much attention given to these six cities of refuge? 00:37:07.820 |
Every one of these cities was a visual reminder of the coming of Christ. 00:37:14.140 |
Next time you read the New Testament, see how often the word refuge is related to God. 00:37:20.800 |
How often you see the term refuge as Christ being our refuge. 00:37:25.940 |
All of this was an example, as Christ, as our high priest, protects us from the avenger 00:37:34.180 |
All of this to point to that when Christ comes, that he will be our refuge. 00:37:40.340 |
And so the Bible says in the book of Deuteronomy that all the roads have to be paved well, 00:37:47.780 |
so that if this happened, the best roads in Israel would always lead to the cities of 00:37:53.180 |
In the rabbinical tradition written by Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, he says 00:38:01.720 |
it was well known that the best roads in Israel all led to the cities of refuge. 00:38:09.020 |
In fact, every year it was part of their law to clear out these roads in case it got damaged, 00:38:17.220 |
in case there were potholes, in case there were, you know, like they had a flood and 00:38:23.020 |
Every year they had to go revisit and make sure that these roads were clear and it was 00:38:30.380 |
Even on the roads that are rarely traveled, they would build bridges to make sure that 00:38:33.700 |
just in case if that happened, that an individual was running would have the clearest and the 00:38:40.500 |
And then on top of that, to make sure that the people who are on this path would not 00:38:44.740 |
get lost, they put signposts every so often so that as they are running, they are reminded 00:38:52.540 |
So on these signs, it would say, "Refuge, refuge, refuge, refuge." 00:38:58.940 |
So a first century Jew, when he reads this, "And make straight paths for your feet," the 00:39:05.220 |
first imagery that he has is the cities of refuge that leads to Christ. 00:39:12.080 |
And it is in this backdrop that Christ comes to fulfill what he's been preparing, that 00:39:23.540 |
The refuge means when you are at the point where you are about to quit, that you don't 00:39:27.700 |
have any strength to lift up your arms and your knees are beginning to buckle. 00:39:33.300 |
The only refuge that can truly protect us, where we can find life, is in Christ. 00:39:42.240 |
That's why in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3 to 4, in the prophecy about the coming Christ, 00:39:47.420 |
he says, "A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. 00:39:52.780 |
Make smooth path in the desert a highway for our God. 00:39:55.580 |
Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough ground 00:40:00.680 |
become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley.'" 00:40:04.380 |
This was a prophecy about the Messiah coming. 00:40:09.140 |
And this is exactly how John the Baptist's ministry is described in Mark chapter 2, verse 00:40:14.380 |
It's written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you who will 00:40:19.660 |
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord. 00:40:27.060 |
The primary ministry of John the Baptist was to pave the road so that the access to the 00:40:36.820 |
You know, that's the ministry of every minister. 00:40:41.540 |
My calling in ministry is not so that I can know what the latest trend is in our culture 00:40:47.980 |
and tap into that and find all the business ideas that we can implement in the church 00:40:53.940 |
that will be the best organized and get the best money to do the best things. 00:40:58.980 |
And I remember early on in ministry just being burned out by all of that because it was just 00:41:03.660 |
And it dawned on me, God never called me to do that. 00:41:08.540 |
That was the expectation of maybe the church. 00:41:11.220 |
That was an expectation from the Christian culture. 00:41:17.400 |
He deliberately picked fishermen who knew nothing. 00:41:21.580 |
I mean, if he wanted wise, smart people to build his first church, he picked the wrong 00:41:29.500 |
In fact, when the Corinthians began to divide one another because they were so smart, he 00:41:35.660 |
reminds them, "God chose you because you were dumb." 00:41:44.520 |
And now you're trying to be one up on another, and that's what's causing this division, all 00:41:48.740 |
So as I was reading through Scripture, I was like, "Oh, I don't need to be that smart. 00:41:57.380 |
The primary thing that he called me to do is to make the path straight, to make the