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Berean Community Church - Sunday Service 5.31


Whisper Transcript | Transcript Only Page

00:00:00.000 | ♪ What lays within His hand ♪
00:00:03.340 | ♪ What comes apart from His command ♪
00:00:08.140 | ♪ And what will keep us to the end ♪
00:00:12.980 | ♪ The love of Christ in which we stand ♪
00:00:17.980 | ♪ Oh sing hallelujah ♪
00:00:25.500 | ♪ Our hope springs eternal ♪
00:00:30.000 | ♪ Oh sing hallelujah ♪
00:00:34.380 | ♪ Now and ever we confess ♪
00:00:38.340 | ♪ Christ our hope and life in heaven ♪
00:00:42.840 | ♪ What truth can calm the troubled soul ♪
00:00:54.180 | ♪ God is good, God is good ♪
00:00:58.560 | ♪ Where is His grace and goodness known ♪
00:01:03.560 | ♪ In our grave redeems blood ♪
00:01:08.040 | ♪ Who holds our faith when fears arise ♪
00:01:12.760 | ♪ Who stands above the stormy trial ♪
00:01:17.500 | ♪ Who sends the waves that bring us nigh ♪
00:01:22.200 | ♪ Unto the shore, the rock of Christ ♪
00:01:27.200 | ♪ Oh sing hallelujah ♪
00:01:32.380 | ♪ Our hope springs eternal ♪
00:01:36.780 | ♪ Oh sing hallelujah ♪
00:01:41.540 | ♪ Now and ever we confess ♪
00:01:45.380 | ♪ Christ our hope and life in heaven ♪
00:01:51.380 | (upbeat music)
00:01:53.960 | ♪ Unto the grave what will we sing ♪
00:02:01.220 | ♪ Christ He lives, Christ He lives ♪
00:02:05.600 | ♪ And what reward will heaven bring ♪
00:02:10.600 | ♪ Everlasting life within ♪
00:02:15.020 | ♪ There we will rise to meet the Lord ♪
00:02:19.780 | ♪ When sin and death will be destroyed ♪
00:02:24.780 | ♪ And we will feast in endless joy ♪
00:02:29.480 | ♪ When Christ is ours forevermore ♪
00:02:34.480 | ♪ Forevermore ♪
00:02:37.240 | ♪ Oh sing hallelujah ♪
00:02:42.040 | ♪ Our hope springs eternal ♪
00:02:46.360 | ♪ Oh sing hallelujah ♪
00:02:50.960 | ♪ Now and ever we confess ♪
00:02:54.840 | ♪ Christ our hope and life in heaven ♪
00:02:57.840 | Let's sing.
00:02:58.940 | ♪ Oh sing hallelujah ♪
00:03:03.940 | ♪ Our hope springs eternal ♪
00:03:08.400 | ♪ Oh sing hallelujah ♪
00:03:13.080 | ♪ Now and ever we confess ♪
00:03:16.960 | ♪ Christ our hope and life in heaven ♪
00:03:20.980 | ♪ Now and ever we confess ♪
00:03:24.900 | ♪ Christ our hope and life in heaven ♪
00:03:29.320 | the Lord. (gentle music)
00:03:34.320 | (gentle music)
00:03:36.900 | ♪ Great are you Lord ♪
00:03:55.340 | ♪ Mighty and strong ♪
00:03:59.800 | ♪ You are faithful ♪
00:04:02.460 | ♪ And you will ever be ♪
00:04:07.040 | ♪ We will praise you ♪
00:04:09.800 | ♪ All of our days ♪
00:04:14.220 | ♪ For your glory ♪
00:04:16.840 | ♪ We offer everything ♪
00:04:19.680 | ♪ Raise your hands all you nations ♪
00:04:23.300 | ♪ Shout to God all creation ♪
00:04:27.400 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord you must be ♪
00:04:32.400 | (gentle music)
00:04:34.980 | ♪ Will you send us ♪
00:04:38.720 | ♪ God we will go ♪
00:04:43.140 | ♪ You're the answer ♪
00:04:45.740 | ♪ We want the world to know ♪
00:04:50.460 | ♪ We will trust you ♪
00:04:52.920 | ♪ When you call our name ♪
00:04:57.680 | ♪ Will you lead us ♪
00:05:00.180 | ♪ To follow all the way ♪
00:05:03.040 | ♪ Raise your hands all you nations ♪
00:05:06.660 | ♪ Shout to God all creation ♪
00:05:10.780 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord most high ♪
00:05:15.780 | ♪ We will praise you together ♪
00:05:21.580 | ♪ For now and forever ♪
00:05:25.180 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord most high ♪
00:05:30.180 | ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪
00:05:37.820 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord most high ♪
00:05:44.620 | ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah ♪
00:05:54.040 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord most high ♪
00:05:59.040 | ♪ Raise your hands all you nations ♪
00:06:04.320 | ♪ Shout to God our creation ♪
00:06:08.420 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord most high ♪
00:06:13.420 | ♪ We will praise you together ♪
00:06:19.240 | ♪ For now and forever ♪
00:06:22.840 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord most high ♪
00:06:27.840 | ♪ Raise your hands all you nations ♪
00:06:33.180 | ♪ Shout to God our creation ♪
00:06:37.320 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord most high ♪
00:06:42.320 | ♪ We will praise you together ♪
00:06:48.100 | ♪ For now and forever ♪
00:06:51.760 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord most high ♪
00:06:56.760 | ♪ The Lord most high ♪
00:07:02.380 | ♪ How awesome is the Lord most high ♪
00:07:10.420 | ,
00:07:15.420 | (upbeat music)
00:07:18.000 | ♪ Precious Lord ♪
00:07:38.260 | ♪ Take my hand ♪
00:07:41.460 | ♪ Lead me on ♪
00:07:45.300 | ♪ Set me still ♪
00:07:48.820 | ♪ I am tired ♪
00:07:52.340 | ♪ I am weak ♪
00:07:55.500 | ♪ I am worn ♪
00:08:00.500 | ♪ Through the storm ♪
00:08:05.820 | ♪ And through the night ♪
00:08:09.360 | ♪ Lead me home ♪
00:08:13.200 | ♪ Into the light ♪
00:08:16.820 | ♪ Take my hand ♪
00:08:20.020 | ♪ Precious Lord ♪
00:08:22.660 | ♪ Lead me home ♪
00:08:27.660 | ♪ When my way ♪
00:08:34.340 | ♪ Grows drear ♪
00:08:37.420 | ♪ Precious Lord ♪
00:08:41.340 | ♪ Bring me near ♪
00:08:44.820 | ♪ When my life ♪
00:08:47.980 | ♪ Oh my life ♪
00:08:51.480 | ♪ Is almost gone ♪
00:08:55.940 | ♪ Oh hear my cry ♪
00:09:00.940 | ♪ Hear my call ♪
00:09:05.500 | ♪ Hold my hand ♪
00:09:09.020 | ♪ When I'm at my best I fall ♪
00:09:14.020 | ♪ Take my hand ♪
00:09:17.660 | ♪ Precious Lord ♪
00:09:20.460 | ♪ Lead me home ♪
00:09:22.960 | (upbeat music)
00:09:25.540 | (upbeat music)
00:09:53.580 | ♪ And he walks with me ♪
00:09:58.220 | ♪ And he talks with me ♪
00:10:01.980 | ♪ And he tells me that I am his own ♪
00:10:06.980 | ♪ Oh the joy we share ♪
00:10:12.140 | ♪ As we tear it apart ♪
00:10:15.980 | ♪ None other has ever ♪
00:10:19.380 | ♪ Has ever known ♪
00:10:21.780 | ♪ Oh precious, precious, precious Lord ♪
00:10:25.940 | ♪ At the river ♪
00:10:29.220 | ♪ The river I stand ♪
00:10:32.420 | ♪ Oh God my feet there ♪
00:10:36.180 | ♪ Oh my hand ♪
00:10:39.580 | ♪ Precious Lord ♪
00:10:43.140 | ♪ Take my hand ♪
00:10:45.740 | ♪ Lead me home ♪
00:10:50.780 | ♪ I can't think of a prayer to heal alone ♪
00:10:54.100 | ♪ Through the storm ♪
00:10:56.060 | ♪ It gets so dark down here ♪
00:10:57.300 | ♪ Through the night ♪
00:10:59.980 | ♪ We need the light ♪
00:11:00.820 | ♪ Lead me home ♪
00:11:03.540 | ♪ Take my hand ♪
00:11:04.500 | ♪ To the light ♪
00:11:06.380 | ♪ So I can wait on ♪
00:11:07.980 | ♪ Take my hand ♪
00:11:09.020 | ♪ Take my hand ♪
00:11:11.220 | ♪ Precious Lord ♪
00:11:13.300 | ♪ Lead me home ♪
00:11:18.300 | ♪ Oh ♪
00:11:20.860 | ♪ Take my hand ♪
00:11:23.300 | ♪ Take my hand ♪
00:11:26.460 | ♪ Oh precious Lord ♪
00:11:29.860 | ♪ Won't you lead me ♪
00:11:31.500 | ♪ Won't you lead me home ♪
00:11:35.000 | ♪ Oh ♪
00:11:36.840 | (gentle music)
00:11:50.580 | ♪ There is no song we could sing ♪
00:12:02.640 | ♪ To honor the weight of your glory ♪
00:12:07.640 | ♪ There are no words we could speak ♪
00:12:12.560 | ♪ To capture the depth of your beauty ♪
00:12:17.560 | ♪ Jesus there's no one like you ♪
00:12:24.000 | ♪ Jesus we love you ♪
00:12:27.840 | ♪ Ever adore you ♪
00:12:29.840 | ♪ There's no one like you ♪
00:12:34.840 | ♪ Jesus we love you ♪
00:12:37.800 | ♪ Ever adore you Lord ♪
00:12:42.800 | ♪ We adore you ♪
00:12:50.360 | ♪ There is no sinner beyond ♪
00:12:55.080 | ♪ The infinite stretch of your mercy ♪
00:13:00.080 | ♪ How can we thank you enough ♪
00:13:05.120 | ♪ For how you have loved us completely ♪
00:13:10.120 | ♪ Jesus there's no one like you ♪
00:13:16.480 | ♪ Jesus we love you ♪
00:13:20.280 | ♪ Ever adore you ♪
00:13:22.320 | ♪ There's no one like you ♪
00:13:27.320 | ♪ Jesus we love you ♪
00:13:30.280 | ♪ Ever adore you ♪
00:13:32.360 | ♪ There's no one like you ♪
00:13:37.360 | ♪ Jesus we love you ♪
00:13:40.240 | ♪ Ever adore you ♪
00:13:42.360 | ♪ There's no one like you ♪
00:13:47.360 | ♪ Jesus we love you ♪
00:13:50.280 | ♪ Ever adore you ♪
00:13:53.040 | - Good morning church family.
00:14:03.760 | Let's all rise together.
00:14:05.440 | Obviously I'm not Pastor Peter who you normally see here,
00:14:08.480 | but we're gonna start an opening song
00:14:10.840 | before Pastor Peter comes up with announcements.
00:14:13.640 | (upbeat music)
00:14:17.140 | ,
00:14:22.140 | From the brightness of his glory.
00:14:39.460 | ♪ From the brightness of his glory ♪
00:14:45.260 | ♪ Jesus the son of God the Son ♪
00:14:50.260 | ♪ Takes on the nature of a servant ♪
00:14:58.020 | ♪ Jesus obedient to death ♪
00:15:03.180 | ♪ The father will ♪
00:15:06.020 | ♪ The father will to crush him ♪
00:15:11.820 | ♪ As a sacrifice for sin ♪
00:15:16.820 | ♪ He satisfied God's justice ♪
00:15:24.260 | ♪ And a victory rose again ♪
00:15:29.980 | ♪ You are highly exalted ♪
00:15:36.940 | ♪ Name above all names ♪
00:15:40.180 | ♪ Worthy of all praise ♪
00:15:44.980 | ♪ You are reigning in glory ♪
00:15:49.980 | ♪ Jesus you're the king ♪
00:15:53.300 | ♪ Over everything ♪
00:15:57.940 | ♪ Exalted to the highest place ♪
00:16:02.940 | ♪ Given the name above all names ♪
00:16:09.780 | ♪ The father name ♪
00:16:12.700 | ♪ Now the tomb is empty ♪
00:16:25.020 | ♪ The tomb is empty Christ is risen ♪
00:16:30.220 | ♪ Jesus the lamb once crucified ♪
00:16:38.300 | ♪ Angels never cease to worship ♪
00:16:43.060 | ♪ Jesus in heaven glorified to him ♪
00:16:48.060 | ♪ To him belongs the power ♪
00:16:55.820 | ♪ The wisdom, might and strength ♪
00:17:04.060 | ♪ All glory and dominion ♪
00:17:09.060 | ♪ To the Lord of everything ♪
00:17:14.700 | ♪ You are highly exalted ♪
00:17:21.380 | ♪ Name above all names ♪
00:17:24.620 | ♪ Worthy of all praise ♪
00:17:29.460 | ♪ You are reigning in glory ♪
00:17:34.260 | ♪ Jesus you're the king ♪
00:17:37.500 | ♪ Over everything ♪
00:17:42.260 | ♪ Exalted to the highest place ♪
00:17:47.260 | ♪ Given the name above all other names ♪
00:17:53.580 | ♪ Father name ♪
00:17:58.580 | One more time, you are highly exalted.
00:18:05.340 | ♪ You are highly exalted ♪
00:18:13.340 | ♪ Name above all names ♪
00:18:16.820 | ♪ Worthy of all praise ♪
00:18:20.140 | ♪ Name above all names ♪
00:18:23.660 | (upbeat music)
00:18:26.260 | (soft music)
00:18:28.680 | (soft music)
00:18:31.100 | (soft music)
00:18:33.520 | (soft music)
00:18:35.940 | (soft music)
00:18:38.360 | (soft music)
00:18:40.780 | (soft music)
00:18:43.200 | (soft music)
00:18:45.620 | (soft music)
00:18:48.040 | (soft music)
00:18:50.460 | (soft music)
00:18:52.880 | (soft music)
00:18:55.300 | (soft music)
00:18:57.720 | (soft music)
00:19:00.140 | (soft music)
00:19:02.560 | (soft music)
00:19:04.980 | (soft music)
00:19:07.400 | (soft music)
00:19:09.820 | (soft music)
00:19:12.240 | - And 11.30, 12.30.
00:19:38.460 | And so when you come, there's gonna be instructions,
00:19:40.780 | especially for the first couple of weeks,
00:19:42.100 | so we need to get used to how things are gonna be running.
00:19:44.940 | And so just, again, please come a little bit earlier.
00:19:47.700 | You're gonna have to go through the scanning.
00:19:50.020 | You have to wear your mask when you do come to church.
00:19:52.620 | And so we wanna follow all the precautions
00:19:54.980 | that we need to take as our church slowly begins to open up
00:19:58.220 | and we hope that within the next month or so,
00:20:01.540 | the governor said that they're gonna revisit
00:20:03.760 | and to see maybe phase three may be open.
00:20:06.620 | And so he said that phase three actually includes Disneyland.
00:20:11.460 | And so if Disneyland opens,
00:20:14.060 | obviously there's not gonna be any reason
00:20:15.580 | for the churches to have some kind of restriction.
00:20:20.180 | So again, we'll take all the precautions we need to,
00:20:22.420 | but we're thinking that at that time,
00:20:24.260 | we're gonna be able to meet in larger numbers,
00:20:26.900 | not like the way we met before,
00:20:29.360 | but maybe hopefully a little bit bigger
00:20:31.980 | than we are able to do now.
00:20:33.500 | So again, we're waiting and watching for that.
00:20:36.300 | And I just kinda wanna give you just our thought process
00:20:39.500 | and what we've been praying over as our church opens up.
00:20:42.700 | We wanted to make sure.
00:20:44.060 | There are three things that we are considering carefully
00:20:47.620 | as we open up.
00:20:48.580 | And again, as you guys know,
00:20:50.980 | we took a little bit longer than most churches to close
00:20:54.060 | for a specific reason.
00:20:56.200 | Because first and foremost,
00:20:57.740 | we said that our worship is God-centered and not man-centered.
00:21:01.300 | So we wanna make sure that not only the leadership
00:21:03.900 | of the church understands the high calling
00:21:06.100 | of corporate worship.
00:21:07.780 | That what we are experiencing online,
00:21:10.140 | I mean, as great as it is that we have this avenue
00:21:13.260 | to do that, because again, we have brothers
00:21:15.380 | all over the world who don't have that access.
00:21:17.860 | But it cannot ever replace the corporate worship
00:21:21.460 | of the church.
00:21:22.620 | It is not a church sitting at home.
00:21:24.420 | Again, not the way that Christ called us
00:21:26.220 | to gather together.
00:21:27.080 | So we wanna make sure that we are honoring God
00:21:29.980 | first and foremost, that corporate worship
00:21:31.940 | is not something that we just simply fold
00:21:34.300 | because it's inconvenient.
00:21:35.820 | We wanna make sure that again, that it is to us,
00:21:39.620 | whether the government or the world that we live in
00:21:41.660 | says it's not essential, to us it is always essential.
00:21:45.020 | And it is not just one of the essentials,
00:21:47.620 | it is the essential thing that we need to commit to.
00:21:50.700 | And so because of that, we wanted to be careful.
00:21:53.540 | But secondly, we wanted to make sure
00:21:56.100 | that we're obedient to the local government.
00:21:58.740 | That we're not just simply gonna defy them.
00:22:00.740 | The Bible does tell us in Romans 13
00:22:03.220 | to submit ourselves to the local government.
00:22:05.380 | And they have a job to do.
00:22:07.460 | They're not specifically saying Christians cannot meet.
00:22:11.540 | So we wanna do our best, and that's why
00:22:13.080 | we've been patiently waiting.
00:22:14.820 | And so now that the government has released that
00:22:17.420 | and we are able to come together,
00:22:18.540 | and we're gonna try to do our best to follow
00:22:21.200 | the instructions that they give us
00:22:22.460 | until we are not able to do so.
00:22:25.300 | That compromising our faith in God
00:22:28.540 | is required for us to submit to the government,
00:22:31.020 | then the Bible is clear on that as well.
00:22:33.500 | But third principle that we are being careful about,
00:22:36.060 | that we need to shepherd and protect our church.
00:22:38.860 | And so we wanna take this seriously.
00:22:41.260 | We wanna make sure that all the precautions
00:22:43.740 | that the government and the health officials
00:22:45.380 | are telling us that we are taking
00:22:47.860 | all the precautions that we need.
00:22:49.460 | So there's gonna be a video that you're gonna be seeing
00:22:52.580 | online this week of what you should be expecting
00:22:55.620 | and how we are preparing.
00:22:57.180 | One, for peace of mind for those of you who are coming,
00:23:00.180 | that we're not just being cavalier about this
00:23:02.620 | and we're not taking, you know,
00:23:03.740 | we don't want you to be concerned
00:23:04.860 | that we're not taking this seriously.
00:23:06.620 | We are going to do everything in our power.
00:23:08.620 | Every single person coming into the room
00:23:10.820 | is gonna be thermal scanned.
00:23:13.100 | Everyone has to bring their mask
00:23:14.860 | and keep it on during the time that they're here.
00:23:16.540 | Afterwards, people need to leave, you know,
00:23:18.740 | and again, minimum contact with social distancing.
00:23:22.220 | And also, in between each service,
00:23:24.020 | we're gonna be sanitizing everything,
00:23:26.340 | the bathrooms, wherever people are,
00:23:28.820 | so that in between each service,
00:23:30.580 | we wanna make sure that the next group of people coming in
00:23:32.860 | are coming into a room that has been sanitized.
00:23:35.020 | And so, based upon those three principles,
00:23:38.020 | we've been carefully praying and having discussions,
00:23:42.220 | and we thought that, again, it was right timing
00:23:44.660 | because of all the things that are going on
00:23:46.380 | for us to open up.
00:23:47.260 | So please be prayerful, and again,
00:23:49.940 | we're not exactly where we want to be.
00:23:51.860 | We're slowly getting there, but please be mindful of that.
00:23:56.020 | Along with that, we have a few quick announcements.
00:23:59.380 | Again, all the times currently are full,
00:24:04.380 | but there are a few people who are dropping out here
00:24:06.940 | and there, so if you guys want to be on a waiting list,
00:24:11.220 | whether that happens next week
00:24:12.780 | or maybe in the following weeks,
00:24:15.340 | sign up for which service that you would like to come
00:24:18.020 | if there is space, and then if somebody drops out
00:24:21.180 | or the government allows us to have more people in the room,
00:24:25.060 | we'll be able to add you to those services.
00:24:26.980 | So even if we may be currently full,
00:24:29.780 | if you are hoping to do so as soon as we are able to,
00:24:33.940 | please go online and sign up for the service
00:24:36.140 | that you would like to go, maybe a couple of 'em,
00:24:39.020 | and then when we are open, we'll let you know
00:24:41.420 | that you can come that week, okay?
00:24:43.120 | Next Sunday, we are planning to have communion
00:24:48.980 | with the people who are at the physical church.
00:24:51.360 | We're hoping that the next time we have it,
00:24:53.700 | that again, all of us will be able to gather together
00:24:56.740 | and have communion, but for those of you who are here,
00:24:58.780 | we just want you to prepare ahead of time,
00:25:01.160 | and again, the communions are gonna be done
00:25:03.940 | a little bit differently for the purpose of
00:25:06.460 | trying to respect the health purposes in the church,
00:25:09.880 | so again, when you come next week,
00:25:11.400 | you'll see what's going on with that.
00:25:13.260 | And please, please review the safety outlines
00:25:16.540 | before you come to church next Sunday.
00:25:19.000 | Again, for India pastors, we are taking renewed sign up
00:25:23.180 | for monthly commitment, $50,
00:25:25.540 | and so it'll be going from June to June,
00:25:27.620 | and as I've mentioned to you guys before,
00:25:29.460 | I've been communicating with the Indian pastors regularly,
00:25:32.120 | and what's going on over there,
00:25:34.900 | not only for health reasons,
00:25:36.780 | but because of what's going on with the COVID,
00:25:41.780 | the local governments and local Hindus
00:25:45.300 | are making it even harder for Christians
00:25:47.060 | to access their food, and so we need to get the funds
00:25:50.700 | to them as soon as possible.
00:25:51.820 | Right now, we don't even have an avenue to get there
00:25:54.300 | because they're not allowed to move around,
00:25:56.000 | but as soon as that opens up,
00:25:57.180 | we're gonna try to send it to them,
00:25:58.540 | and so if you are planning to sign up,
00:26:01.700 | please do so as soon as possible,
00:26:02.980 | and again, we'll try to get the funds to them
00:26:04.900 | as soon as we can.
00:26:05.720 | Then I'll give you more updates
00:26:06.920 | when I get it from the pastors.
00:26:09.060 | All right, so we have a few good boys and girls today.
00:26:14.060 | Jade and Kim was a good boy last week.
00:26:17.320 | Alex Bae, I heard that you guys,
00:26:19.220 | you did a very good job last week.
00:26:21.700 | Chloe Lin, again, thank you for helping out with the parents
00:26:25.180 | and again, worshiping together in a great way.
00:26:28.420 | We have a few birthdays.
00:26:30.280 | Thomas and Tony Lau is turning five today.
00:26:32.840 | Happy birthday.
00:26:33.740 | And then Serenity Lee is turning 12 today.
00:26:37.140 | Happy birthday.
00:26:38.660 | Okay, all right, so just like,
00:26:41.380 | even though when we get together,
00:26:42.620 | we're gonna have our service,
00:26:45.140 | we're gonna keep it the same way that we've been having it
00:26:48.740 | with the change of, we're gonna have the opening
00:26:52.900 | pray song to begin with,
00:26:54.100 | and then I'll come up and give the announcements,
00:26:55.540 | and then the offering time is going to be the same.
00:26:58.820 | Because most of us are gonna be doing it electronically,
00:27:00.700 | for those of you who are able to come here
00:27:03.380 | and you want to use physical checks,
00:27:06.820 | we're gonna ask you, we're gonna have a offering basket
00:27:10.120 | or offering house set up in the back.
00:27:13.020 | So as you're coming in or going out,
00:27:14.940 | you wanna put your physical offering there.
00:27:17.020 | Otherwise, we're gonna ask you to continue
00:27:18.820 | to do electronic offerings so that we don't have
00:27:21.500 | to pass around the offering baskets
00:27:23.120 | with people touching it, okay?
00:27:24.740 | So let me pray for us and we'll open up the service,
00:27:26.700 | and again, we'll give you about 30 seconds
00:27:28.700 | to give your offering, okay?
00:27:30.180 | Gracious, loving Father, we thank you so much
00:27:36.940 | for being sovereign, that in the midst of so much chaos
00:27:40.340 | and turmoil in this world, and even today,
00:27:42.520 | we pray, Father God, that you would remind us
00:27:45.540 | where we find our peace.
00:27:47.140 | You truly are the King of righteousness and King of peace.
00:27:52.800 | Help us, Lord God, that this is not simply our doctrines
00:27:55.540 | that we confess, but the thing that we cling to,
00:27:58.380 | especially now.
00:27:59.800 | I pray that the offering that we give to you
00:28:01.660 | may be cheerful, intentional,
00:28:04.300 | and may it be multiplied for your use.
00:28:06.700 | In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
00:28:08.340 | (gentle piano music)
00:28:12.400 | (gentle piano music)
00:28:15.480 | Why don't we all stand together again,
00:28:33.560 | at least those of you in the room?
00:28:36.400 | (gentle piano music)
00:28:39.480 | ♪ Christ the sure and steady anchor ♪
00:28:48.120 | ♪ In the fury of the storm ♪
00:28:53.320 | ♪ When the winds of doubt blow through me ♪
00:28:58.560 | ♪ And my sails have all been torn ♪
00:29:03.920 | ♪ In the suffering, in the sorrow ♪
00:29:08.920 | ♪ When my sinking hopes are few ♪
00:29:14.080 | ♪ I will hold fast to the anchor ♪
00:29:19.240 | ♪ It shall never be removed ♪
00:29:23.060 | (gentle piano music)
00:29:30.040 | ♪ Christ the sure, Christ the sure and steady anchor ♪
00:29:35.040 | ♪ While the tempest rages on ♪
00:29:42.160 | ♪ When temptation claims the battle ♪
00:29:47.240 | ♪ And it seems the night has won ♪
00:29:52.360 | ♪ Deeper still than goes the anchor ♪
00:29:57.560 | ♪ Though I justly stand accused ♪
00:30:02.560 | ♪ I will hold fast to the anchor ♪
00:30:07.680 | ♪ It shall never be removed ♪
00:30:11.500 | (gentle piano music)
00:30:14.580 | ♪ Christ the sure and steady anchor ♪
00:30:25.840 | ♪ To the floods of unbelief ♪
00:30:30.840 | ♪ Hopeless somehow, O my soul now ♪
00:30:35.920 | ♪ Lift your eyes to Calvary ♪
00:30:40.960 | ♪ This my palace of assurance ♪
00:30:46.000 | ♪ See His love forever proved ♪
00:30:51.200 | ♪ All my hope will be at the anchor ♪
00:30:56.200 | ♪ It shall never be removed ♪
00:30:59.920 | (gentle piano music)
00:31:03.000 | ♪ Christ the sure, Christ the sure and steady anchor ♪
00:31:12.320 | ♪ Once we face the wave of death ♪
00:31:19.160 | ♪ And these trials give way to glory ♪
00:31:24.160 | ♪ As we draw our final breath ♪
00:31:29.240 | ♪ We will cross that great horizon ♪
00:31:34.360 | ♪ Clouds behind and life secure ♪
00:31:39.520 | ♪ And the calm will be the better ♪
00:31:44.720 | ♪ For the storms that we've endured ♪
00:31:49.720 | ♪ Christ the sure of our salvation ♪
00:31:57.400 | ♪ Ever faithful, ever true ♪
00:32:02.600 | ♪ We will hold fast to the anchor ♪
00:32:08.320 | ♪ It shall never be removed ♪
00:32:15.000 | Amen.
00:32:15.840 | (upbeat music)
00:32:22.580 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:32:33.320 | ♪ To us and astounding to town ♪
00:32:37.760 | ♪ Forever existing in worlds above ♪
00:32:42.120 | ♪ Now offered and given to all ♪
00:32:46.600 | ♪ O fountain of beauty eternal ♪
00:32:51.080 | ♪ The Father, the Spirit, the Son ♪
00:32:55.520 | ♪ Sufficient and endlessly generous ♪
00:33:00.520 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:33:06.160 | (upbeat music)
00:33:08.740 | ♪ Creation is brimming with faithfulness ♪
00:33:17.760 | ♪ The mountains exalted they stand ♪
00:33:22.120 | ♪ The seas rejoice in your faithfulness ♪
00:33:26.600 | ♪ All life is sustained by you ♪
00:33:29.320 | ♪ And you crown love ♪
00:33:31.040 | ♪ You crown every matter with color ♪
00:33:35.560 | ♪ You paint every shade in the sky ♪
00:33:40.000 | ♪ Each day the dawn wakes as an hour for love ♪
00:33:45.000 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:33:50.560 | ♪ How great, how sure ♪
00:33:55.520 | ♪ His love endures ♪
00:33:59.920 | ♪ Forevermore ♪
00:34:04.360 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:34:09.360 | ♪ What grace that you entered our brokenness ♪
00:34:20.880 | ♪ You came in the fullness of time ♪
00:34:25.360 | ♪ How far we had fallen from righteousness ♪
00:34:29.760 | ♪ But not from the mercies that brought your cross forth ♪
00:34:34.200 | ♪ Your cross is our door to redemption ♪
00:34:38.640 | ♪ Your death is our fullness of life ♪
00:34:43.120 | ♪ That day I'll forgive this Lord as a friend ♪
00:34:48.120 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:34:53.680 | ♪ How great, how sure ♪
00:34:58.680 | ♪ His love endures ♪
00:35:03.000 | ♪ Forevermore ♪
00:35:07.400 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:35:12.400 | ♪ How great, how sure ♪
00:35:17.200 | ♪ His love endures ♪
00:35:21.520 | ♪ Forevermore ♪
00:35:25.840 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:35:30.840 | (upbeat music)
00:35:33.440 | ♪ United in ♪
00:35:37.640 | ♪ United in your resurrection ♪
00:35:42.320 | ♪ You left us to imminent heights ♪
00:35:46.800 | ♪ Could any place ever take us ♪
00:35:50.480 | ♪ No ♪
00:35:52.240 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:35:57.640 | ♪ How great, how sure ♪
00:36:02.000 | ♪ His love endures ♪
00:36:06.280 | ♪ Forevermore ♪
00:36:10.600 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:36:15.600 | ♪ How great, how sure ♪
00:36:20.360 | ♪ His love endures ♪
00:36:24.680 | ♪ Forevermore ♪
00:36:29.000 | ♪ Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love ♪
00:36:34.000 | (upbeat music)
00:36:36.840 | - All right, you may be seated.
00:36:50.400 | (papers rustling)
00:36:53.240 | All right, again, we're eagerly anticipating
00:37:00.720 | for the church to come back.
00:37:03.160 | And I think if there's any, you know,
00:37:05.880 | one good thing that came out of all of this
00:37:08.360 | or is coming out of all of this
00:37:09.600 | is a greater thought about
00:37:11.720 | the corporate gathering of the church.
00:37:14.120 | And I know because of the internet,
00:37:16.760 | many of the churches have been wrestling with the idea
00:37:19.760 | of going online and how to minister to people
00:37:23.120 | and reach out to people online.
00:37:24.280 | But along with that came the challenge of
00:37:27.840 | the loss of the importance of the
00:37:29.600 | physical corporate gathering of the church.
00:37:31.640 | And more and more people have been
00:37:33.600 | just kind of nonchalantly taking the corporate gathering.
00:37:36.080 | And I think this has at least caused
00:37:38.280 | the conversations to happen,
00:37:39.520 | to take a deeper look at to
00:37:40.800 | what the corporate worship really means.
00:37:43.200 | Why do we need to have to get together?
00:37:45.320 | What is the purpose of the Sabbath?
00:37:46.880 | What is the difference between having service
00:37:49.040 | in your own living room
00:37:50.500 | versus the physical gathering of the church?
00:37:52.560 | And hopefully when we gather together,
00:37:55.160 | not only in our churches, but other churches,
00:37:58.440 | that that may be restored in a high view of God
00:38:00.920 | and high view of worship may be restored in the churches.
00:38:04.120 | We're gonna be jumping into Hebrews chapter seven again.
00:38:07.680 | And I'm just gonna read the first verse
00:38:10.680 | before we jump in this morning.
00:38:12.040 | And I'm gonna take some time.
00:38:13.600 | Usually I don't talk about political things,
00:38:16.760 | but this morning I'm gonna jump into a bit
00:38:19.440 | before we get into the text itself.
00:38:23.120 | Because of many things that are going on
00:38:25.440 | around the world right now.
00:38:26.380 | So let me read verse one.
00:38:28.400 | For this Melchizedek, king of Salem,
00:38:30.480 | priest of the most high God,
00:38:32.240 | who met Abraham as he was returning
00:38:34.280 | from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.
00:38:37.040 | Let's pray.
00:38:37.860 | Father, we thank you so much for who you are.
00:38:43.680 | None of us are worthy to call you Abba Father
00:38:47.880 | by our own merit.
00:38:48.940 | We are here, Lord God, as sinners who are forgiven.
00:38:53.480 | We are here unworthy, Lord God, to be in your presence.
00:38:59.800 | And yet we come to your throne with boldness
00:39:02.200 | because of the blood of Christ.
00:39:03.760 | I pray that that truth would convict us,
00:39:08.060 | renew our faith, renew our passion, renew our love,
00:39:12.120 | and whatever it is in our thoughts, our emotions,
00:39:15.200 | in our lives, Lord, that we have been entangled with.
00:39:19.280 | I pray, Father God, that that truth may deliver us.
00:39:22.140 | May our focus be you and you alone.
00:39:25.560 | In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
00:39:27.120 | I think all of us know what's going on to a certain degree.
00:39:35.580 | Some of you guys may be following what's going on
00:39:38.960 | in the news probably more closely than other people
00:39:42.080 | and obviously we had the COVID-19 fear
00:39:44.160 | which we're not out of the woods yet.
00:39:46.240 | It seems like it is getting better.
00:39:47.880 | But as a result of that, the churches have shut down.
00:39:52.880 | Many people who are in businesses,
00:39:55.200 | some of you have been furloughed.
00:39:56.920 | Maybe some people lost their jobs permanently.
00:40:00.520 | And so there's a lot of stuff that's going on
00:40:02.320 | behind the scenes.
00:40:03.920 | Politics, whose fault is it?
00:40:06.160 | Who did what was wrong?
00:40:07.240 | Who is doing right?
00:40:08.400 | And every day we have, especially in this country,
00:40:11.520 | we have two parties who are eager to blame each other
00:40:14.280 | and point fingers, thinking that maybe the solution
00:40:16.520 | is in their party.
00:40:17.780 | We have financial crisis, international affairs.
00:40:22.040 | We have issues with what's going on in China,
00:40:25.100 | with Iran, with North Korea.
00:40:27.560 | There's problems going on even between China and India.
00:40:32.360 | And so if you're watching the news carefully,
00:40:35.360 | it almost seems like it's just ready to blow.
00:40:39.520 | And then on top of all of that, you know very well
00:40:42.840 | what's been going on around us in Los Angeles.
00:40:46.240 | And even in Irvine today, I heard news that there's going
00:40:49.160 | to be a protest happening at the Civic Center.
00:40:52.080 | And so again, we wanna caution you not to drive in that
00:40:54.720 | area because they have planned protests in that area.
00:40:58.360 | What happened this week with the racial tensions,
00:41:03.020 | the killing of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd?
00:41:08.320 | I think we've all seen videos and I haven't talked
00:41:12.400 | to a single person who wasn't outraged of what they saw.
00:41:16.640 | If what they are saying is true, it must stop.
00:41:21.640 | Protests are a good thing, again, within reason.
00:41:26.400 | You know, we're not talking about like burning down
00:41:28.240 | buildings, but again, to make sure that some of these things
00:41:32.640 | that are happening, that policies need to be changed,
00:41:36.440 | there needs to be accountability.
00:41:37.640 | And I think we are all in agreement with that.
00:41:40.680 | But we must not conform to the pattern of this world.
00:41:45.680 | Romans chapter two, 12 verse two, it says,
00:41:49.560 | "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
00:41:53.280 | "by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove
00:41:56.000 | "what the will of God is, that which is good
00:41:58.820 | "and acceptable and perfect."
00:42:01.120 | So when he's talking about not to conform to the pattern
00:42:04.120 | of this world, he's not simply talking about pornography
00:42:07.440 | and murder and killing.
00:42:09.960 | It's just the way, what we value, how we respond to things,
00:42:14.360 | how we react to things, that we don't react and think
00:42:19.320 | and implement things just like the world,
00:42:20.960 | because our values are different.
00:42:23.000 | What is important is different.
00:42:24.660 | Our answer, what we believe to be the answer
00:42:27.200 | to human problem is different.
00:42:30.240 | Politics isn't gonna solve it.
00:42:31.560 | Just because you change laws,
00:42:33.680 | it doesn't change the heart of men.
00:42:36.620 | So this racial tension that has been simmering for years,
00:42:41.620 | probably decades, it's beginning to explode.
00:42:46.440 | Tinder has always been laying there,
00:42:48.440 | but what has happened in the last few weeks
00:42:50.960 | has basically put that into flames.
00:42:54.920 | Let me make this very clear.
00:42:57.120 | There's a few things that I wanna say about racism,
00:43:00.840 | and this isn't completely disconnected
00:43:02.780 | with what we need to talk about this morning,
00:43:04.360 | about Melchizedek.
00:43:05.660 | Okay, racism is sickening, is sickening.
00:43:10.260 | You know, I think all of us, to some degree,
00:43:16.100 | no matter what national background you're from,
00:43:18.660 | may have experienced some of that, some more than others.
00:43:22.240 | I remember when I first came to the United States,
00:43:24.000 | we were so excited because Korea
00:43:25.660 | was a third world country in the '70s.
00:43:28.140 | And so we barely ate meat.
00:43:30.460 | You know, I could remember a few times where we had candy,
00:43:34.900 | you know, at least that's what I remember.
00:43:37.240 | You know, eating fruit was a huge treat in the '70s.
00:43:40.900 | And so coming to the United States basically meant
00:43:42.960 | that we thought we were coming to heaven on earth.
00:43:46.600 | We moved, my parents moved to Philadelphia,
00:43:52.480 | and my earliest memories of Philadelphia
00:43:55.040 | was my parents working their tail off,
00:43:57.000 | coming home at 10, 11 p.m. at night,
00:43:59.760 | and me and my brothers, basically, we were latchkey kids,
00:44:03.000 | you know, and my younger brother, Philip,
00:44:04.800 | coming home, walking home from school
00:44:06.280 | when he was five years old and losing him one day.
00:44:09.080 | So, you know, all of these things
00:44:10.580 | are memories of my childhood.
00:44:12.380 | And we also moved to Kansas,
00:44:14.640 | and I remember being in Kansas, we were so weird in Kansas.
00:44:18.960 | And not only were we the only Asians,
00:44:21.080 | we were the only minorities, period.
00:44:22.780 | So we had three Asians in the school,
00:44:24.500 | me, my two brothers, and that was it.
00:44:27.200 | And I remember back then,
00:44:28.720 | because she couldn't pronounce my Korean name,
00:44:31.640 | my teacher would actually call me China Boy.
00:44:34.560 | And so it wasn't weird, because it's like,
00:44:37.840 | oh, China Boy, I'm the only China Boy in the class,
00:44:39.520 | so she must be referring to me.
00:44:41.440 | And again, as a third grade student,
00:44:43.600 | didn't think much about it, you know,
00:44:45.320 | that's just the way it is.
00:44:47.360 | And then we moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
00:44:50.200 | In Atlanta, Georgia, in the South, in the '70s,
00:44:53.840 | I mean, racism was blatantly out in the open,
00:44:56.640 | not just the teachers, but even the students.
00:44:58.840 | And I remember every single day, somebody calling me chink.
00:45:03.720 | And so, unlike my brothers, I didn't just absorb it.
00:45:08.600 | So I got into fights, you know?
00:45:10.720 | And so every day I went to school,
00:45:13.360 | I thought maybe today I'm gonna lose it.
00:45:16.000 | So even to this day, I don't like wearing slippers outside.
00:45:20.200 | Because mentally, mentally,
00:45:23.160 | even though those are like decades and decades ago,
00:45:26.120 | mentally, I think maybe something's gonna happen today.
00:45:29.520 | So I don't wanna be wearing slippers.
00:45:31.660 | Even though it's irrational.
00:45:33.540 | That's embedded, yes or no.
00:45:34.960 | I don't like wearing slippers outside, right?
00:45:37.360 | For that reason, just in case something goes down.
00:45:39.860 | When my parents decided to go back to Korea,
00:45:43.400 | I thought, okay, finally,
00:45:44.560 | we're gonna go back to my home country where I belong,
00:45:46.960 | because clearly I don't belong here.
00:45:49.440 | And I was made very aware of that when I went back.
00:45:53.280 | But I realized that I didn't belong there either.
00:45:55.200 | That short time that I was here in the United States,
00:45:57.320 | about four or five years, I was Korean American.
00:46:00.200 | I wasn't Korean anymore.
00:46:01.880 | And so I remember being in Korea,
00:46:03.260 | constantly being told to go back to my country.
00:46:05.620 | My country, where is my country?
00:46:08.580 | 'Cause I thought I was in my country.
00:46:10.660 | And that's when I realized that I didn't have one.
00:46:13.140 | I didn't belong there, and I didn't belong here.
00:46:15.660 | And right around that time, I was about 12, 13 years old,
00:46:20.500 | and going through an identity crisis.
00:46:22.260 | And when my parents decided to come back
00:46:24.300 | to the United States, I came back kicking and screaming.
00:46:28.100 | 'Cause it wasn't going back to heaven on earth anymore.
00:46:30.820 | I knew exactly where I was going back to.
00:46:32.420 | I was going back to a place where I didn't belong,
00:46:35.380 | where I'm gonna have to fight just to be a part of a school
00:46:39.420 | wherever my parents went to.
00:46:41.420 | So even to this day, when I see racism,
00:46:45.700 | it reminds me of all of that.
00:46:48.500 | And if there's one thing that I hate,
00:46:50.860 | one sin that I truly, truly hate, is racism.
00:46:55.380 | Because it scarred me deeply when I was young.
00:46:58.540 | But when I say that, I'm not talking about just anything.
00:47:02.900 | Because sometimes the way that we call racism
00:47:05.160 | cheapens that sin of racism.
00:47:08.120 | There is a difference between people being insensitive.
00:47:11.740 | There is a huge difference between people being ignorant.
00:47:15.320 | They don't have evil intent.
00:47:17.500 | It's just that they haven't been around other people
00:47:20.200 | who are different than them.
00:47:21.140 | And so they say things that they would say with their race
00:47:24.100 | or the people that they're familiar with,
00:47:26.020 | and they don't realize that this may be offensive
00:47:28.700 | to somebody else.
00:47:29.540 | And I don't consider that racism.
00:47:31.880 | That's just being ignorant.
00:47:34.700 | Oftentimes being very insensitive.
00:47:37.140 | Racism is sickening at the core when it is true racism.
00:47:41.360 | But racism is also universal.
00:47:44.340 | It is not local.
00:47:45.300 | Racism doesn't just exist in one group of people.
00:47:49.960 | Because at the core of it, it's prejudice.
00:47:54.200 | And every single one of us is prejudiced.
00:47:55.660 | So if I say Chinese people are, or Koreans are,
00:48:00.660 | black people are, Mexicans are, we have certain thoughts.
00:48:05.980 | Some of us are careful not to express it,
00:48:09.340 | but we all have certain thoughts.
00:48:11.480 | People in Irvine are, people in Santa Ana are,
00:48:15.800 | people who are short are, people who are big are.
00:48:19.580 | We all have certain prejudices that we have inwardly,
00:48:23.140 | and we know how to temper that
00:48:25.980 | because we know how it will be perceived.
00:48:27.780 | But at the core of prejudice, or racism, it's prejudice.
00:48:31.580 | And every single one of us is guilty of that
00:48:34.020 | because the sin of prejudice resides in all of us.
00:48:37.020 | Because at the core of prejudice,
00:48:39.020 | we elevate ourselves above other people.
00:48:41.320 | And at the core of human rebellion is wanting to have glory.
00:48:46.780 | That's why we work hard to be better than other people,
00:48:50.280 | to get better jobs, to have better houses,
00:48:52.420 | a better career, better schools.
00:48:55.620 | And all of that innately feeds into, if we're not careful,
00:48:59.860 | at the core root of our rebellion.
00:49:02.000 | And prejudice is a byproduct of every human being
00:49:08.300 | that is trying hard to be better than other people.
00:49:11.800 | It's just racism is just the fastest way to get there.
00:49:16.180 | And that is not isolated in certain people,
00:49:19.260 | certain parts of the country.
00:49:21.460 | It's everywhere, universal.
00:49:22.900 | All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
00:49:25.180 | So I wanna ask you to be careful
00:49:28.340 | to not to react to racism as if we are completely exempt.
00:49:34.140 | That if we legislate and we get rid of those people,
00:49:40.020 | and if we isolate those people,
00:49:42.120 | that we will be free from prejudice.
00:49:44.340 | Racism is in us, and we have to be careful
00:49:49.620 | that in the way that we deal with racism,
00:49:52.420 | that we ourselves don't become racist.
00:49:54.620 | That we don't just make blanket statements.
00:49:59.300 | When somebody says white people are racist,
00:50:02.500 | that's also racism.
00:50:04.180 | When those people are like this, that's also racism.
00:50:08.860 | So we need to be very careful and precise.
00:50:12.660 | You know, one of the things that I noticed,
00:50:14.660 | again, doing church ministry for so many years,
00:50:17.500 | is that people come to church,
00:50:20.260 | and if they have a bad experience with a few people,
00:50:24.220 | they will leave the church and they will say,
00:50:26.980 | Berean Community Church is like this.
00:50:29.480 | And if you sit and talk to them,
00:50:31.820 | usually it's because they've had a bad experience
00:50:34.380 | with one or two people.
00:50:35.900 | But our tendency is when we're hurt,
00:50:39.940 | when something negative happens to us,
00:50:41.420 | we're not precise with our criticism.
00:50:43.340 | We usually throw bombs,
00:50:45.940 | just kind of like what's happening with the riots.
00:50:48.980 | You know, why are they burning down buildings?
00:50:50.740 | Why are they looting people,
00:50:51.980 | especially in their own neighborhood?
00:50:53.800 | But we have a tendency, when we're angry about something,
00:50:56.660 | when we're hurt and we feel injustice,
00:50:58.820 | our tendency is to throw bombs.
00:51:01.260 | We don't have to participate in riots,
00:51:04.020 | physically, to be rioting in our hearts,
00:51:06.400 | because when we're hurt,
00:51:07.380 | our natural tendency is to, they're like this,
00:51:10.380 | even between husband and wives.
00:51:12.020 | When we're angry, we don't say,
00:51:15.340 | why don't you help me with dishes?
00:51:17.180 | We say, how come you never help?
00:51:19.700 | How come you're always like this?
00:51:22.540 | Because that is our natural tendency.
00:51:23.940 | When we are upset and when we're hurt,
00:51:25.720 | we have a tendency to throw bombs.
00:51:28.020 | So we need to be careful that in the way
00:51:30.980 | that we deal with racism,
00:51:33.780 | that we ourselves don't do more damage than good.
00:51:37.580 | But fourth and finally, racism,
00:51:42.940 | the answer to racism is always Jesus, is regeneration.
00:51:47.940 | Because at the root of racism is our human rebellion.
00:51:52.060 | At the root of racism is our sin.
00:51:56.840 | And so as much as we wanna cry out and say,
00:52:01.200 | we don't want what happened to that black brother,
00:52:05.580 | from what I heard, he was a Christian,
00:52:08.220 | to ever allow that to happen again,
00:52:12.500 | that in our protest,
00:52:14.260 | I pray that the Christians will see
00:52:18.940 | the proclamation of the gospel as more important.
00:52:22.720 | That we don't just simply point out what is bad.
00:52:26.460 | That we don't just get outraged and say,
00:52:29.100 | if we just change the law,
00:52:30.540 | if we just lock up a few people,
00:52:32.340 | this would be a better society.
00:52:33.940 | You and I are here because we believe
00:52:36.820 | that that is not the case.
00:52:37.860 | All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
00:52:40.940 | Police department, Asians, blacks, whites, Hispanics,
00:52:45.940 | all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
00:52:50.240 | Democrats, Republicans, all have sinned
00:52:53.900 | and fall short of the glory of God.
00:52:55.500 | Americans, Chinese, Korean, Indians, Mexicans,
00:52:59.460 | all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
00:53:02.100 | So the only remedy to sin that you and I believe
00:53:07.220 | is a regeneration that happens by the blood of Christ.
00:53:11.540 | So before we pour so much energy
00:53:15.700 | into changing the politics,
00:53:18.780 | again, I think we live in a free country
00:53:22.340 | where they give us the right to vote,
00:53:24.500 | right to protest, and so when we see evil,
00:53:27.620 | we should point that out.
00:53:29.480 | But in the process of pointing evil,
00:53:32.860 | that we make sure that we give the remedy
00:53:35.140 | along with pointing out the evil.
00:53:37.420 | That the remedy is Christ and Christ alone.
00:53:39.760 | You know, dealing with racism is very tricky,
00:53:44.020 | especially if you've faced racism before.
00:53:48.140 | I remember years ago, I had an African American friend
00:53:52.940 | who I was driving around town and I was in Buena Park.
00:53:56.980 | And he was sitting to my right and I was driving around,
00:54:02.100 | we were trying to look for something
00:54:03.340 | and I got pulled over by the police.
00:54:06.500 | And when we got pulled over, I was like,
00:54:07.740 | I wasn't speeding, you know,
00:54:09.540 | and I, or at least I didn't think I was,
00:54:11.740 | so what did I do wrong this time?
00:54:14.020 | So they pulled us over and they told my friend,
00:54:15.820 | his name was Michael, to get out of the car.
00:54:18.540 | And again, he was an African American brother.
00:54:22.100 | He went out and I was sitting in the car
00:54:23.460 | and a police officer came over to me and asked me,
00:54:25.620 | are you doing okay?
00:54:27.140 | And I said, yeah.
00:54:28.020 | So what's this about?
00:54:29.620 | He's like, okay, we just have to ask some questions.
00:54:32.660 | So they had a list of questions that they asked him.
00:54:36.020 | Then I got out of the car, I said,
00:54:37.460 | 'cause I began to realize what was happening.
00:54:40.460 | And so I got out of the car and I said,
00:54:41.700 | officer, did I do something wrong?
00:54:43.260 | He's like, no, no, no, no, no.
00:54:44.100 | We just wanted a double check.
00:54:45.700 | And I asked him, what are you double checking?
00:54:48.780 | I just wanted to make sure that you're okay.
00:54:50.980 | So I said, what do you mean?
00:54:53.540 | He said, don't worry about it.
00:54:54.620 | And then asked him a few questions.
00:54:55.740 | Okay, you can go.
00:54:56.580 | And then we got back into the car.
00:54:58.140 | And so I realized the only reason that we were pulled over
00:55:01.620 | was because he was black and I was Asian
00:55:04.900 | and maybe it fits some profile.
00:55:06.580 | Maybe there was some report
00:55:08.020 | or they were looking for somebody.
00:55:09.140 | And I asked Michael, Michael, does that happen to you often?
00:55:13.140 | And he said, I'm used to it.
00:55:14.660 | That's what he said.
00:55:16.460 | Now, again, I'm also a minority, right?
00:55:20.380 | But I don't experience that.
00:55:22.260 | So he just kind of blew it off as like,
00:55:24.980 | I'm just used to it.
00:55:25.820 | And he didn't make much of it.
00:55:27.460 | I was upset for him.
00:55:32.700 | And I was also very confused
00:55:35.260 | because the officers pulled us over for my protection.
00:55:39.220 | They were doing their job.
00:55:41.660 | They pulled me over because their duty is to protect.
00:55:47.540 | And they thought maybe if this is not,
00:55:51.020 | maybe it fits some profile.
00:55:53.860 | And then they really was trying to protect me.
00:55:57.180 | So in one sense, I was thankful
00:55:58.700 | that they were doing their job,
00:55:59.940 | but I was also upset because of my friend.
00:56:02.980 | Dealing with racism isn't black and white
00:56:09.660 | because it's not about policy.
00:56:12.660 | It's not about changing programs
00:56:16.140 | and getting rid of certain people.
00:56:18.540 | But all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
00:56:24.340 | The answer is not that simple.
00:56:28.700 | At least in the eyes of the world.
00:56:31.260 | You think, oh, if we can get Republicans
00:56:34.620 | to run four more years, we'll have a great country.
00:56:37.660 | If we can get the Democrats in office,
00:56:39.420 | that things will get so much better.
00:56:41.220 | That is the lie that Satan tells year after year
00:56:45.580 | after year after year.
00:56:46.780 | And if you live long enough, you know.
00:56:48.900 | Like the politicians that come and give all these promises,
00:56:53.380 | these are all promises.
00:56:54.340 | And if you've been watching politics,
00:56:55.780 | following for any period of time,
00:56:57.460 | you know that the politicians
00:56:58.740 | are not as powerful as they think.
00:57:00.460 | Now, what does this have to do
00:57:04.620 | with the passage that we're looking at?
00:57:06.580 | The letter that is written to the Hebrews
00:57:09.980 | are drifting back to their old life
00:57:12.820 | because they took their eyes off of Christ
00:57:15.660 | and whatever problems that they were having in life,
00:57:18.180 | they thought it would be easier
00:57:19.420 | if they can just go back to the majority,
00:57:21.260 | if they went back to Judaism.
00:57:23.420 | And they weren't outright doing it.
00:57:25.820 | They were just kind of drifting back
00:57:27.740 | because that was the easiest path to take.
00:57:30.060 | And so the author is reminding them to be anchored in Christ.
00:57:35.060 | Have you forgotten your confession?
00:57:37.260 | Have you forgotten why you come to worship?
00:57:41.420 | Have you forgotten that Christ
00:57:44.580 | and Christ alone is your refuge?
00:57:47.740 | He's the only one who can change our hearts.
00:57:51.500 | No amount of hard work, no amount of discipline,
00:57:54.100 | no amount of discipleship is going to weed the sin
00:57:57.260 | that has corrupted our very being.
00:57:59.300 | That's why Jesus said to Nicodemus,
00:58:02.580 | "You must be born again."
00:58:04.620 | He didn't say, "You need to work harder.
00:58:06.380 | "You need to go to the temple.
00:58:07.300 | "You need to memorize more of the Old Testament."
00:58:10.620 | He said, "No, everything that you've done
00:58:13.180 | "until you are born again is useless."
00:58:15.660 | Well, how can a man be born again?
00:58:18.420 | How do I do that?
00:58:20.660 | He said, "You can't.
00:58:23.220 | "It's the work of the Holy Spirit.
00:58:25.580 | "Where he comes, where he goes, no one knows.
00:58:27.660 | "He's like the wind."
00:58:28.740 | In other words, we're completely helpless.
00:58:32.060 | We're completely helpless until Christ comes and saves us.
00:58:37.380 | And so that's the underlying tone
00:58:39.540 | of the whole book of Hebrews,
00:58:42.140 | to not to drift, to be anchored in Christ
00:58:45.420 | so that we would look to him and not to run to the world.
00:58:48.260 | And that's why he says in Hebrews chapter seven, four,
00:58:50.100 | "Observe how great this man was
00:58:51.820 | "to whom Abraham the patriarch
00:58:53.340 | "gave a tenth of the choices spoils."
00:58:57.180 | Observe means to intently look.
00:58:59.980 | And obviously, he's not saying to look at Melchizedek.
00:59:03.060 | He's saying to look at Melchizedek
00:59:05.460 | because Christ comes in the order of Melchizedek.
00:59:10.020 | Again, at the tail end of book of Hebrews chapter 12,
00:59:14.300 | you can say that summary of everything
00:59:16.620 | that he's been trying to say in chapter 12, verse two,
00:59:19.380 | he says, "Fix our eyes on Jesus,
00:59:21.620 | "the author and the perfecter of our faith."
00:59:23.940 | Not only is he the one who begins our faith,
00:59:26.140 | he's the one who's going to continue to sanctify us.
00:59:29.660 | You don't just begin with Christ and end with hard work.
00:59:33.620 | You don't just begin by grace and then end with work.
00:59:38.620 | He says, "No, it is by grace you are saved.
00:59:40.380 | "It is by grace you are sanctified.
00:59:41.740 | "It is by grace that you will be glorified."
00:59:46.700 | So it humbles us that we are always desperate,
00:59:50.620 | whether you've been a Christian for one year,
00:59:52.980 | whether you've been a faithful Christian for 40 years.
00:59:55.820 | Until the day we die, we meet Christ,
00:59:58.980 | we are all desperately in need of Christ.
01:00:02.200 | He says, "Christ is different than the other kings.
01:00:07.680 | "Christ is different than the other priests
01:00:10.140 | "because he is a king-priest."
01:00:14.220 | Now, king-priest doesn't sound like much,
01:00:16.060 | but if you know the Old Testament,
01:00:17.620 | it was prohibited for kings to be priests.
01:00:21.500 | Malchus 6-7-1, it says, "Malchus is the king of Salem,
01:00:24.260 | "priest of the most high God."
01:00:26.340 | God prohibited the kings of Israel to be priests,
01:00:31.100 | and the priests were not able to be kings,
01:00:33.540 | and there's a specific reason for that.
01:00:36.140 | See, the kings of Israel had limited power.
01:00:38.460 | They're not like other kings.
01:00:40.460 | So if you were the king of Egypt,
01:00:42.900 | if you were the king of Babylon,
01:00:45.020 | king basically meant that you created the law.
01:00:48.220 | In fact, if anybody is immune to the law,
01:00:51.240 | it would have been the king because the king creates it.
01:00:53.100 | If you broke the law, you can say,
01:00:54.140 | "Well, today that's the rule."
01:00:55.640 | King of Israel did not have that kind of authority
01:00:59.060 | because there was a king above that king,
01:01:01.980 | and God made that very clear to the nation of Israel.
01:01:05.180 | Deuteronomy 17, verse 14-20,
01:01:08.780 | "God was preparing the nation of Israel
01:01:10.680 | "to get into the Promised Land,
01:01:12.180 | "and he foretold that when you get in,
01:01:16.380 | "one of your primary problems that you're gonna run into
01:01:19.680 | "is that you're gonna put your hopes on the kings."
01:01:22.940 | So he gives them restrictions.
01:01:25.720 | Verse 14-20, "When you enter the land
01:01:28.400 | "which the Lord your God gives you,
01:01:29.800 | "and you possess it and live in it,
01:01:31.240 | "and you say, 'I will set a king over me
01:01:33.440 | "'like all the nations who are around me.'"
01:01:36.140 | In other words, they were looking for leadership.
01:01:38.300 | We want what they have, and he says,
01:01:41.640 | "You shall surely set king over you
01:01:43.360 | "whom the Lord your God chooses."
01:01:45.780 | Even the one you choose, he said, "No, I will choose him.
01:01:50.060 | "One from among your countrymen
01:01:51.360 | "who shall set as king over yourselves.
01:01:53.420 | "You may not put a foreigner over yourself
01:01:55.560 | "who is not your countryman."
01:01:57.400 | So even the selection of the king,
01:01:59.240 | God himself said he's going to do it.
01:02:01.000 | In other words, there's a God above this king.
01:02:03.520 | Secondly, verse 16 and 17,
01:02:06.880 | "He shall not multiply horses for himself,
01:02:09.520 | "nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt
01:02:11.920 | "to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you,
01:02:14.840 | "You shall not again return that way.
01:02:17.440 | "He shall not multiply wives for himself,
01:02:19.560 | "or else his heart will turn away,
01:02:21.280 | "nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself."
01:02:24.720 | Let me stop right there.
01:02:25.920 | Well, what's the benefit of being a king?
01:02:29.880 | I mean, you would think that if you're the king of the world,
01:02:32.160 | king of the country, of course you're gonna have
01:02:35.360 | wealth beyond everybody else.
01:02:38.240 | But God says you will not multiply your wife.
01:02:41.360 | You will not multiply the horses.
01:02:43.520 | So this king was, in a sense, he was an under shepherds,
01:02:49.900 | because it didn't belong to him.
01:02:51.860 | I mean, what king, what king has these kind of restrictions?
01:02:58.080 | If you're the king, you're the owner of the palace.
01:03:00.540 | If you're the king, you're the owner
01:03:02.000 | of every possession in that land.
01:03:03.640 | But he said to the king of Israel,
01:03:05.960 | "You shall not have many horses, or silver, or gold."
01:03:10.960 | So, you know, people often ask,
01:03:12.640 | you know, look at King Solomon.
01:03:13.760 | He had many wives, and God was not pleased with him.
01:03:17.440 | You have to be careful that we don't extrapolate
01:03:22.160 | things that are happening in narratives and say,
01:03:25.480 | "Well, God is okay with it."
01:03:26.840 | No, God clearly spelled out he is not okay with it,
01:03:30.620 | and part of Solomon's sin was he went astray,
01:03:33.520 | and he disobeyed God.
01:03:35.800 | He goes on in verse 18, "Now it shall come about
01:03:38.600 | when he sits on the throne of the kingdom,
01:03:40.240 | he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll
01:03:43.480 | in the presence of the Levitical priests."
01:03:45.960 | So even the law itself, the king didn't create the laws.
01:03:51.040 | God gave him the laws.
01:03:53.380 | So he couldn't, he couldn't be, he couldn't will himself,
01:03:56.680 | he had to be chosen.
01:03:58.160 | He couldn't get many wives,
01:03:59.680 | or he couldn't become wealthy for himself.
01:04:03.100 | And even the law, he couldn't create the laws.
01:04:06.280 | God would give him the laws.
01:04:08.080 | This doesn't even sound like a king.
01:04:10.960 | But he said, "The nation of Israel,
01:04:13.160 | because you're asking for a king."
01:04:15.300 | He said, "I'm gonna give a king to you,
01:04:17.980 | but this king is going to be an under-shepherd."
01:04:21.240 | And then verse 20, "The reason for all of this
01:04:25.120 | is that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen."
01:04:28.580 | Think about that statement.
01:04:32.440 | So that the king may remain humble
01:04:35.280 | like the rest of the subjects.
01:04:37.540 | The king, so that the king of Israel will not become proud
01:04:45.140 | and he thinks that he is somehow better than the subjects.
01:04:48.680 | Compare that to any other king,
01:04:53.220 | even the king of the smallest country in the world.
01:04:56.900 | Even the most insignificant,
01:05:01.100 | a country that you've never heard of,
01:05:02.380 | if you say he's the king of that country,
01:05:04.740 | you would automatically assume he's the richest guy,
01:05:07.340 | he's the most powerful guy, he's the most honored guy.
01:05:10.100 | And yet the kingdom of Israel, he says,
01:05:14.080 | "So that your heart may not be lifted above his countrymen
01:05:16.460 | and that he may not turn aside from the commandments
01:05:18.780 | to the right or to the left,
01:05:20.180 | so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom
01:05:23.340 | in the midst of Israel."
01:05:25.020 | So Israelites' kingdom was unlike any other kingdom
01:05:31.140 | because there was only one true king.
01:05:33.100 | And all the other kings in Israel's history
01:05:38.420 | were supposed to represent the true king.
01:05:41.220 | And God put limitations on them.
01:05:43.740 | And one of the limitations that he put
01:05:45.620 | is that the king could not be a priest.
01:05:48.900 | He is not, he wasn't allowed to occupy both offices.
01:05:55.180 | We see in 1 Samuel chapter 13,
01:05:58.420 | King Saul breaks that commandment
01:06:01.060 | and as a result of that, he loses his kingdom.
01:06:03.820 | We also see that in 2 Chronicles chapter 26,
01:06:07.060 | King Uzziah, King Uzziah becomes a great king.
01:06:12.060 | And as a result of that, of all of his accomplishment,
01:06:17.700 | it says in chapter 26, verse 16,
01:06:19.780 | that he became powerful.
01:06:21.180 | And then when he became powerful, he became proud.
01:06:24.460 | And as a result of this pride,
01:06:26.260 | he said his kingdom was going to be lost.
01:06:30.100 | Just like he said.
01:06:31.060 | In fact, we see a clear picture
01:06:34.740 | of what kind of king Israelites had
01:06:36.780 | in 2 Samuel chapter 12.
01:06:38.340 | Remember King David?
01:06:39.580 | He commits this horrendous sin.
01:06:42.460 | He commits adultery.
01:06:44.140 | He takes someone else's wife
01:06:45.460 | and in order to cover that up, he murders him.
01:06:48.580 | This is a man after God's own heart.
01:06:50.540 | Now, in any other nation, any other king,
01:06:55.660 | that would have been perfectly fine.
01:06:59.860 | As outrageous as that may be,
01:07:02.500 | who's going to contest him?
01:07:04.620 | Who's going to call him out?
01:07:05.700 | He's the king.
01:07:06.540 | He could just come out and say,
01:07:08.740 | "You're my wife today," and that's it.
01:07:11.060 | Because he makes the laws.
01:07:13.340 | All the wives are going to be my wives.
01:07:15.660 | Who's going to say anything?
01:07:16.940 | He's the king.
01:07:18.460 | He could take their land.
01:07:19.780 | He could take their wives.
01:07:21.260 | 'Cause he's the most powerful.
01:07:22.740 | But in the nation of Israel,
01:07:25.060 | the kings were not like the other nations.
01:07:29.060 | That's why when the prophet Nathan comes
01:07:31.740 | and confronts him about his sin
01:07:33.300 | in 2 Samuel chapter 12,
01:07:35.820 | David couldn't do anything other than repent.
01:07:40.740 | 'Cause he recognized his sin.
01:07:43.900 | And what's interesting about the way he repents
01:07:46.340 | is Psalm 51 verse 34 says,
01:07:48.420 | "For I know my transgressions
01:07:50.020 | "and my sin is ever before me."
01:07:52.020 | 'Cause he knew that there was a king above him.
01:07:56.140 | "Against you and you only I have sinned
01:07:58.900 | "and done what is evil in your sight."
01:08:01.020 | Now that seems like a completely immoral thing to say.
01:08:06.780 | 'Cause he committed adultery.
01:08:08.500 | He killed a man who was faithful to him.
01:08:11.340 | And yet when he repents, he says,
01:08:13.540 | "You only I have sinned and done what is evil."
01:08:17.100 | What are you talking about?
01:08:18.340 | You sinned against your kingdom.
01:08:21.220 | You sinned against Bathsheba.
01:08:23.820 | You sinned against her husband.
01:08:26.940 | What do you mean only you I have sinned?
01:08:29.740 | Now he's not saying that I'm innocent of his blood
01:08:32.340 | and I'm innocent of adultery.
01:08:33.460 | He's not saying that.
01:08:35.220 | But as the king of Israel,
01:08:36.780 | the only law that he broke is God's law.
01:08:41.580 | Because he was the king.
01:08:43.900 | And that's why he was saying, "I've broken your law."
01:08:48.540 | As a king, I could do whatever I want.
01:08:52.380 | But as the king of Israel, I've sinned against you.
01:08:57.380 | See, Israelites kings were not like any other kings.
01:09:02.140 | God establishes kingdom.
01:09:05.260 | God established kingship and authority,
01:09:09.700 | even in the secular world for the purpose
01:09:11.860 | of carrying out punishment for evil.
01:09:13.740 | That's what it says in Romans chapter 13.
01:09:15.820 | And that's why we are called to submit
01:09:17.340 | to those who are in authority.
01:09:19.060 | See, the priesthood was given
01:09:21.380 | in order to reconcile sinners to God.
01:09:23.300 | So the kings were to carry out the law.
01:09:26.940 | They couldn't create the law,
01:09:28.540 | but they were to carry out the law that God gave them.
01:09:31.180 | The priest existed so that when they broke the law,
01:09:34.460 | that there would be a remedy.
01:09:35.900 | And God said that these two offices cannot come together.
01:09:40.340 | Now, why is that?
01:09:42.340 | Why did God do that?
01:09:43.540 | Now I'm gonna get to that in a minute.
01:09:47.980 | But Jesus fulfills what he prohibited
01:09:51.980 | in the nation of Israel,
01:09:53.300 | because the kings were under shepherds
01:09:55.900 | and the priests were also under shepherds.
01:09:58.500 | And he kept these two things separate
01:10:01.100 | because it was reserved for Jesus and Jesus alone.
01:10:06.060 | So when he says Jesus comes
01:10:08.220 | in the priesthood of Melchizedek,
01:10:10.380 | he's saying that Jesus is also king and priest,
01:10:14.860 | which was not allowed in the nation of Israel.
01:10:18.420 | When Jesus came and he said,
01:10:20.780 | "I did not come to abolish the law,
01:10:21.980 | "but I came to fulfill the law."
01:10:23.660 | To fulfill the law means two things.
01:10:25.220 | One, he obeyed it completely.
01:10:27.420 | Whatever God told him to do, he did it completely.
01:10:29.740 | But secondly, what it means to fulfill
01:10:32.060 | is to take it to completion.
01:10:34.620 | That whatever God gave him the law,
01:10:36.460 | what his intent was, he said it pointed to him.
01:10:40.140 | And so he came to fulfill the prophecy
01:10:43.740 | that your Messiah is going to come as a king priest.
01:10:48.300 | So Jesus came to fulfill that law.
01:10:50.340 | In Zechariah 6:13,
01:10:52.060 | "Yes, it is he who will build the temple of the Lord
01:10:54.640 | "and he who will bear the honor
01:10:56.240 | "and sit and rule on his throne."
01:10:58.260 | In other words, he's going to be the king.
01:11:00.240 | "Thus he will be a priest on his throne,
01:11:04.320 | "which other kings were punished for doing."
01:11:07.640 | But he said, "Your Messiah is going to come
01:11:09.460 | "as a priest on his throne."
01:11:10.980 | And the counsel of the peace
01:11:12.140 | will be between the two offices.
01:11:14.620 | In other words, he says when the Messiah has come,
01:11:16.300 | he's going to bring those two offices together.
01:11:18.660 | The only other place Melchizedek is mentioned
01:11:21.500 | in Psalm 110, verse four,
01:11:23.740 | "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,
01:11:25.800 | "you are a priest forever
01:11:27.740 | "according to the order of Melchizedek."
01:11:30.940 | Now why is this so significant?
01:11:35.620 | Imagine.
01:11:41.800 | And I think hopefully this will help out.
01:11:43.900 | Imagine if Jesus was just king
01:11:46.980 | and his role is to carry out justice.
01:11:52.440 | Where would you and I be?
01:11:56.140 | We wouldn't be here.
01:12:00.180 | 'Cause we all broke the law.
01:12:03.660 | So if Jesus is king of kings and Lord of lords,
01:12:08.060 | you and I would be crushed.
01:12:11.040 | We have no opportunity.
01:12:13.400 | It is not a throne of grace that we approach.
01:12:16.120 | It's just the throne.
01:12:17.320 | And when you approach the throne,
01:12:20.600 | a God who is holy, holy, holy,
01:12:22.620 | just like everything in the tabernacle said,
01:12:25.720 | if you come with any sin,
01:12:27.200 | if you're tainted in any way,
01:12:28.600 | if there's any disobedience in you,
01:12:30.720 | you will be consumed by my holy wrath.
01:12:34.720 | If Jesus was only king,
01:12:38.440 | you and I have no hope.
01:12:40.380 | But he's not just king.
01:12:43.900 | He embraced priesthood.
01:12:44.740 | And the purpose of priesthood
01:12:46.920 | was to reconcile sinners to God.
01:12:49.580 | But if priests,
01:12:54.000 | priests never, they didn't carry out the punishment.
01:12:56.600 | Kings did that 'cause they were the ones
01:12:59.340 | who were in authority.
01:13:00.320 | The priests were always receiving the gifts
01:13:02.140 | and to reconcile, we're all reconciled.
01:13:03.420 | Your sins are forgiven.
01:13:04.580 | Now, if Jesus was only priest,
01:13:08.580 | which many people forget that he is also king,
01:13:12.700 | and we only see him as a mediator
01:13:15.420 | who's always mediating for us,
01:13:18.420 | one saved, always saved,
01:13:21.060 | and our sins are always forgiven,
01:13:23.100 | it doesn't matter what we do
01:13:25.140 | because all we see him as is a priest.
01:13:29.180 | And so because only see him as a priest,
01:13:33.780 | there is no lordship.
01:13:34.980 | It's not necessary because they don't know him as king.
01:13:37.740 | The Bible tells us
01:13:41.300 | that Jesus Christ came to fulfill
01:13:45.360 | that office that was reserved for him and him alone.
01:13:48.100 | He was king priest,
01:13:52.260 | and he was king priest perfectly.
01:13:54.580 | In Psalm 110, verses one through four,
01:13:58.140 | the Lord says to my lord,
01:13:59.820 | sit at my right hand until I make your enemies
01:14:02.100 | a footstool for your feet.
01:14:03.900 | The Lord will stretch forth your strong scepter
01:14:06.340 | from Zion, saying, rule in the midst of your enemies.
01:14:09.900 | In other words, you're going to be established as a king.
01:14:13.180 | Your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power.
01:14:17.180 | In other words, your kingship,
01:14:20.960 | you're not gonna rule in fear.
01:14:22.940 | You're not gonna rule in judgment.
01:14:25.060 | You're not gonna carry out justice
01:14:26.780 | because you're going to slap them.
01:14:28.940 | He said, they're gonna come to you
01:14:30.300 | because you're also the priest.
01:14:33.020 | And he said, they're gonna offer up worship to you freely.
01:14:36.580 | So his kingdom is unlike any other kingdom.
01:14:39.740 | He's not just a king, he's also the priest.
01:14:42.340 | And the way he reconciled us to himself,
01:14:44.940 | he's absorbed our sins upon him
01:14:48.420 | before he sat on his throne.
01:14:50.020 | You know, I heard a great illustration this week
01:14:54.300 | about what happens.
01:14:56.720 | In order to make something clean,
01:14:59.280 | you have to make something unclean.
01:15:02.760 | Just like we're trying to sanitize everything,
01:15:04.940 | and in order to do that, we have to pick up a rag.
01:15:07.440 | And you don't use dirty rags if you want to clean things.
01:15:09.900 | You take a clean rag,
01:15:11.420 | and then you take the dirty surface,
01:15:13.700 | and then you wipe it down.
01:15:15.460 | And so when you wipe it down, the surface becomes clean,
01:15:18.620 | but where's the dirt?
01:15:19.800 | It's on the rag.
01:15:21.680 | So the rag that was clean is made unclean
01:15:26.820 | in order to make the surface clean.
01:15:30.360 | The Bible describes our priest king.
01:15:33.360 | In order to make us righteous
01:15:36.740 | so that we may dwell in his kingdom,
01:15:39.880 | he absorbed our sins upon himself.
01:15:43.500 | He who knew no sin became sin
01:15:46.380 | so that you and I may become the righteous in the face of God.
01:15:50.020 | That is his kingdom.
01:15:51.240 | Imagine why this king-priest office is so important.
01:15:57.160 | This may not be a perfect illustration,
01:16:00.020 | but imagine, imagine if you got into trouble, right?
01:16:04.980 | Genuinely got into trouble, and you got taken to jail,
01:16:07.880 | and the public defender comes,
01:16:11.860 | and he wants to have a conversation with you,
01:16:16.220 | and then somebody whispers in your ear,
01:16:17.660 | and he says, "Hey, he's also the DA."
01:16:21.020 | Now you're confused.
01:16:25.340 | He's a public defender, 'cause public defender,
01:16:28.780 | I'm supposed to tell him what's going on
01:16:30.260 | so that he could defend me.
01:16:31.760 | DA is my enemy.
01:16:34.900 | If I tell him all my sins,
01:16:38.180 | I'm gonna go to jail for a long time.
01:16:40.300 | But the guy who's defending me is also the DA.
01:16:43.700 | Now, they will never let that happen.
01:16:48.820 | They will never let that happen,
01:16:51.200 | because those two offices are contradicting,
01:16:57.340 | because no human being can carry out the public defense
01:17:01.460 | and DA at the same time,
01:17:03.960 | because we're gonna be prejudiced in one way or the other.
01:17:08.780 | Either you're not gonna do a good job as a DA,
01:17:12.100 | and say, "You know what, I'm gonna pretend
01:17:13.220 | "like I never heard your sin,
01:17:15.240 | "and I'm just gonna defend you,
01:17:17.520 | "and I'm gonna do a great job, I'm gonna let you go."
01:17:19.780 | Or you're a public defender,
01:17:21.480 | and I heard all your sins,
01:17:25.420 | you told me everything,
01:17:26.940 | but no human being is able to be a public defender
01:17:32.780 | and DA at the same time.
01:17:34.800 | Only a being who has perfect judgment,
01:17:41.820 | who has perfect knowledge,
01:17:45.500 | who himself is not tainted with prejudice himself,
01:17:50.060 | who is able to carry out perfect justice
01:17:53.860 | and perfect grace at the same time,
01:17:58.140 | and there is no human being that can ever be in that role.
01:18:03.140 | That's why it was prohibited for kings and the priests
01:18:08.140 | to, that those two offices would mix,
01:18:10.420 | because no human being can carry that out.
01:18:12.520 | Only Jesus, only Jesus can carry that out perfectly.
01:18:21.980 | A holy, holy, holy God who knows all things,
01:18:26.900 | who judges all things,
01:18:29.580 | loves us unconditionally,
01:18:32.540 | because of the love of his son, Jesus Christ,
01:18:36.080 | his blood covers us.
01:18:38.300 | That's the king that we worship.
01:18:42.540 | That's the mediator that stands before us.
01:18:48.820 | Our DA, our public defender, is the same person.
01:18:53.820 | Where he doesn't sweep our sins under the rug,
01:19:00.380 | he doesn't allow chaos to happen,
01:19:03.000 | he doesn't tolerate the sin,
01:19:05.440 | the kingdom that we are headed to is not anarchy,
01:19:09.160 | where people do whatever they want.
01:19:11.780 | There is order, there is righteousness,
01:19:16.020 | but there's also peace, there's also grace,
01:19:19.180 | because we have a king who comes
01:19:22.700 | in the order of Melchizedek.
01:19:24.860 | Why would we want to drift and replace him
01:19:30.540 | with anything else?
01:19:31.720 | Why would we want to go to any other kingdom?
01:19:36.380 | Why would we put our confidence in any other leader,
01:19:40.420 | in any other mediator?
01:19:41.720 | That's the point that he's trying to get to,
01:19:45.860 | and that's why this is the meat of Hebrews.
01:19:48.980 | Let's pray.
01:19:52.520 | Father,
01:20:03.020 | what we know of you,
01:20:07.960 | we know, Father God, that we're like children,
01:20:14.420 | trying to understand this vast world,
01:20:18.340 | even a glimpse of your glory.
01:20:21.960 | And we know, Father God, we are so far
01:20:26.660 | from really understanding who you are.
01:20:29.420 | But we thank you for your patience
01:20:33.180 | as we wrestle through the deep things that you've given us.
01:20:36.660 | I pray that this truth of who Christ is
01:20:41.300 | will not just remain with us with good thoughts
01:20:43.420 | and good feelings.
01:20:44.860 | Help us, Lord God, to be good subjects,
01:20:48.980 | to establish you as our king,
01:20:52.420 | Lord of lords and king of kings,
01:20:55.820 | that this throne that you've established,
01:20:58.860 | the throne of grace,
01:21:00.060 | that we may not observe it and point to it
01:21:03.620 | and just admire it from a distance,
01:21:06.340 | but that we may come in confidence,
01:21:12.140 | that we may find help in times of trouble,
01:21:15.120 | when we need answers, that you are the one that we turn to,
01:21:19.760 | where we want refuge, Lord God,
01:21:22.700 | that we do not give into our fleshy pleasures.
01:21:27.380 | Teach us how to pray.
01:21:30.140 | Teach us how to come before you,
01:21:33.520 | that our love for you may grow
01:21:37.780 | as we see a greater and greater glimpse of your glory.
01:21:41.740 | In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
01:21:43.420 | (gentle piano music)
01:21:47.420 | - Why don't we go ahead and stand for our closing praise.
01:21:50.320 | (gentle piano music)
01:21:53.400 | ♪ Should nothing of our efforts stand ♪
01:22:03.580 | ♪ No legacy survive ♪
01:22:11.300 | ♪ Unless the Lord does raise the house in vain ♪
01:22:16.300 | ♪ Its builders strive ♪
01:22:25.100 | ♪ To you, Lord, do morrows gain ♪
01:22:30.100 | ♪ Tell me, what is your life ♪
01:22:37.740 | ♪ A mist that vanishes at dawn ♪
01:22:42.740 | ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪
01:22:49.180 | ♪ All glory be to Christ our King ♪
01:22:55.500 | ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪
01:23:03.540 | ♪ His rule and reign we'll ever sing ♪
01:23:08.540 | ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪
01:23:15.020 | ♪ His will be done ♪
01:23:22.780 | ♪ His kingdom come ♪
01:23:25.980 | ♪ On earth as it is above ♪
01:23:32.420 | ♪ Who is himself our daily bread ♪
01:23:37.420 | ♪ Praise him, the Lord of love ♪
01:23:43.980 | Let living water.
01:23:45.500 | ♪ Let living water satisfy ♪
01:23:50.500 | ♪ The thirsty without price ♪
01:23:58.460 | ♪ We'll take a cup of kindness yet ♪
01:24:03.460 | ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪
01:24:10.060 | ♪ All glory be to Christ our King ♪
01:24:16.500 | ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪
01:24:24.540 | ♪ His rule and reign we'll ever sing ♪
01:24:29.540 | ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪
01:24:36.100 | ♪ And all the day the great I am ♪
01:24:45.900 | ♪ The faithful and the true ♪
01:24:53.460 | ♪ The lamb who was for sinners slain ♪
01:24:58.460 | ♪ Is made the newborn King ♪
01:25:04.940 | ♪ Oh, thy God shall live with us ♪
01:25:12.100 | ♪ And be our steadfast light ♪
01:25:19.060 | ♪ And we shall ever be boldly ♪
01:25:24.060 | ♪ All glory be to God ♪
01:25:30.580 | ♪ All glory be to Christ our King ♪
01:25:36.980 | ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪
01:25:45.300 | ♪ His rule and reign we'll ever sing ♪
01:25:50.300 | ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪
01:25:55.960 | - Let's close our eyes for the benediction.
01:26:03.860 | First Peter 2.9, "But you are a chosen race,
01:26:10.340 | a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
01:26:14.380 | a people for God's own possession,
01:26:17.200 | so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him
01:26:20.300 | who has called you out of darkness
01:26:22.240 | into his marvelous light.
01:26:24.220 | May Christ's love overwhelm his people
01:26:29.660 | that we may be a light, especially now in this dark age.
01:26:34.980 | May God's love be magnified.
01:26:38.300 | Amen.
01:26:41.580 | ♪ God sent his Son ♪
01:26:46.580 | ♪ They called him Jesus ♪
01:26:51.940 | ♪ He came to love ♪
01:26:57.460 | ♪ He'll land for you ♪
01:27:03.020 | ♪ He lived and died ♪
01:27:08.620 | ♪ To buy my poverty ♪
01:27:13.620 | ♪ An empty grave is there to put my Savior's name ♪
01:27:19.100 | ♪ Because he lives ♪
01:27:30.340 | ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪
01:27:36.940 | ♪ Because he lives ♪
01:27:41.940 | ♪ All fear is gone ♪
01:27:47.620 | ♪ Because I know ♪
01:27:53.300 | ♪ He holds the future ♪
01:27:58.740 | ♪ And life is worth the living ♪
01:28:04.420 | ♪ Just because he lives ♪
01:28:07.840 | Amen.
01:28:12.900 | ♪ All we have ♪
01:28:22.940 | ♪ All we need ♪
01:28:27.940 | ♪ All we want ♪
01:28:32.180 | ♪ Is you ♪
01:28:37.180 | ♪ All we have ♪
01:28:42.780 | ♪ All we need ♪
01:28:47.960 | ♪ All we want ♪
01:28:52.140 | ♪ Is you ♪
01:28:57.140 | ♪ All we ♪