♪ I will boast in knowing Christ at the cross ♪ ♪ I rejoice in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul ♪ ♪ I will trust in Him no longer ♪ ♪ My soul is satisfied in Him alone ♪ (gentle music) ♪ No wonders here that I confess ♪ ♪ My worth and my unworthiness ♪ ♪ My value fixed, my ransom paid ♪ ♪ At the cross ♪ ♪ I rejoice in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul ♪ ♪ I will trust in Him no longer ♪ ♪ My soul is satisfied in Him alone ♪ ♪ I rejoice in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul ♪ ♪ I will trust in Him no longer ♪ ♪ My soul is satisfied in Him alone ♪ (audience applauding) (gentle music) ♪ What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer ♪ ♪ There is no more for heaven now to give ♪ ♪ He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom ♪ ♪ My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus ♪ ♪ For my life is wholly bound to His ♪ ♪ Oh, how strange and divine I can see ♪ ♪ All is mine, yet not I ♪ ♪ But through Christ in me ♪ ♪ The night is dark, but I am not forsaken ♪ ♪ For by my side, the Savior, He will stay ♪ ♪ I labor on in weakness and rejoicing ♪ ♪ For in my need, His power is displayed ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my shepherd will defend me ♪ ♪ Through the deepest valley, He will lead ♪ ♪ Oh, the night has been won ♪ ♪ And I shall overcome ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ (gentle music) ♪ No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven ♪ ♪ The future's sure, the price it has been paid ♪ ♪ For Jesus bared and suffered for my pardon ♪ ♪ And He was raised to overthrow the grave ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my sin has been defeated ♪ ♪ Jesus now and ever is my plea ♪ ♪ Oh, the chains are released, I can sing ♪ ♪ I am free, yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ (gentle music) ♪ With every breath, I long to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ For He has said that He will bring me home ♪ ♪ And day by day, I know He will renew me ♪ ♪ Until I stand with joy before the throne ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, the glory evermore to Him ♪ ♪ When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, the glory evermore to Him ♪ ♪ When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ ♪ When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ ♪ Yet not I ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Who else can mend all the hosts of heaven ♪ ♪ Who else can make every king bow down ♪ ♪ Who else can whisper when darkness trembles ♪ ♪ Only our holy God ♪ ♪ What other beauty demands such praises ♪ ♪ What other splendor outshines the sun ♪ ♪ What other majesty rules with justice ♪ ♪ Only our holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Cry out, sing holy ♪ ♪ Forever our holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ (gentle music) ♪ What other glory consumes like fire ♪ ♪ What other power can raise the dead ♪ ♪ What other name remains unsaid ♪ ♪ Only our holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Cry out, sing holy ♪ ♪ Forever our holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Cry out, sing holy ♪ ♪ Forever our holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ ♪ Who else could rescue me from my fear ♪ ♪ Who else would offer His only Son ♪ ♪ Who else invites me to call Him Father ♪ ♪ Only our holy God ♪ ♪ Only my holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Cry out, sing holy ♪ ♪ Forever our holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Cry out, sing holy ♪ ♪ Forever our holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ (gentle piano music) - Good morning.

Let me get to a few announcements before we get started. First of all, our membership class, the new format of the membership class is starting at the end of July, July 26th. So it's gonna be, right? People are looking at me like I'm wrong. July? - July 5th. - 5th, 5th, okay, my bad.

Okay, July 5th. I thought I read 26. Okay, oh yeah, right, right. It's the early, the first July. And so this is a completely revamped class. It's starting at nine o'clock to 1030 upstairs at the cafe. So if you haven't signed up for that, please sign up for that.

And what was the other announcement? I can't find my paper. Oh yes, that's July 26th. Okay, that's where I got mixed up. Okay, so July 26th, there is a members meeting that's gonna be taking place. And we're probably gonna, most likely gonna have it on Zoom again because we have more than half the church were not able to join us.

So we're gonna have that online, I think it said 2.30, right? 2.30 on July 26th. So please mark that on the calendar. And those are the only announcements that we have. And just, again, we wanna thank our sister Rachel Wong who started and finished and collected, did a great job with the online auction of all the stuff that came in.

And it was, yes, do it. If you're gonna do it, do it well. Okay, all right, thank you. It raised quite a bit of money, right? And I know some of you guys are bitter and angry. You're gonna have to deal with that for a while. And then some of you have to get extra jobs or wait for the stimulus check to be able to pay for some of this stuff.

So it was out of control, but in a good way. Okay, so right now the needs for our Indian pastors in the village, the leaders and the evangelism that they're doing, so it's really, especially now, they're in need of help. And also for, you guys know what's going on in Ecuador and the churches and the children that you're supporting.

So the money is going to be put into good use. So if you're hurt in your pocket, that's a good hurt. That's going to have eternal value. So again, we wanna thank you for all the labor for that. Okay, just like we do every week, again, for those of you who are going to give the physical offering, just give it while you're coming in or going out.

But also for those who are giving electronically, we'll give you a minute for you to follow up on that as well, okay? So let me pray for us. And then we'll have a few minutes for the time of offering before we begin. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for just your kindness.

Lord, sometimes we take for granted the ability to be able to come into this nice room with air conditioning and audio system and not having to be fearful of persecution and bodily harm, and we know that's not the case with many of our brothers and sisters around the world.

Help us to be good stewards of every good gift that you have given us, that our singing, our worship, even in our giving, Lord God, may reflect your kindness and goodness in our lives. I pray that you would anoint this time that our giving would be intentional and that it would be from the bottom of our hearts to signify lordship, that ultimately all of it belongs to you and may be multiplied for eternal purposes.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) - Church family, happy Lord's Day. Could you all stand with us for worship? (gentle piano music) ♪ Oh, oh, Lord, God save themselves ♪ ♪ They're all so glad now ♪ ♪ Our shame was deeper than the sin ♪ ♪ Your grace is deeper still ♪ Sing, oh, oh, Lord.

♪ Oh, oh, Lord, God save themselves ♪ ♪ They're all so glad now ♪ ♪ Our shame was deeper than the sin ♪ ♪ Your grace is deeper still ♪ ♪ You alone can bless you ♪ ♪ You alone can save ♪ ♪ You alone can raise us from the grave ♪ ♪ You came down to find us ♪ ♪ Let us out of death ♪ ♪ To you alone belongs the highest praise ♪ ♪ You, oh, Lord, have made a way ♪ ♪ With grace we find new healing ♪ ♪ For when our hearts were far away ♪ ♪ Your love was there ♪ ♪ Yes, your love goes still ♪ ♪ You alone can bless you ♪ ♪ You alone can save ♪ ♪ You alone can raise us from the grave ♪ ♪ You came down to find us ♪ ♪ Let us out of death ♪ ♪ To you alone belongs the highest praise ♪ ♪ To you alone belongs the highest praise ♪ Lift up our eyes.

♪ Lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes ♪ ♪ Lift up our eyes, you're the giver of life ♪ ♪ Lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes ♪ ♪ You're the giver of life ♪ ♪ Lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes ♪ ♪ You're the giver of life ♪ ♪ Lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes ♪ ♪ You're the giver of life ♪ ♪ You alone can bless you ♪ ♪ You alone can save ♪ ♪ You alone can raise us from the grave ♪ ♪ You came down to find us ♪ ♪ Let us out of death ♪ ♪ To you alone belongs the highest praise ♪ ♪ To you alone belongs the highest praise ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Oh sovereign God, oh matchless King ♪ ♪ The saints adore, the angels sing ♪ ♪ And fall before the throne of grace ♪ ♪ To you belongs the highest praise ♪ ♪ These sufferings, this passing time ♪ ♪ Under your wings I will abide ♪ ♪ And every enemy shall flee ♪ ♪ You are my hope and victory ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ Clothed in power and in grace ♪ ♪ The name above all other names ♪ ♪ To the valley flow my soul ♪ ♪ Thy praise, dear saints, has made me whole ♪ ♪ Your word my heart has well controlled ♪ ♪ Now peace like water ever flows ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ Clothed in power and in grace ♪ ♪ The name above all other names ♪ ♪ Oh praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ And praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ Clothed in power and in grace ♪ ♪ The name above all other names ♪ ♪ The name above all other names ♪ ♪ Yours is the kingdom ♪ ♪ Yours is the power ♪ ♪ Yours is the glory ♪ ♪ Forever ♪ ♪ Yours is the kingdom ♪ ♪ Yours is the power ♪ ♪ Yours is the glory ♪ ♪ Forever ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ Clothed in power and in grace ♪ ♪ The name above all other names ♪ ♪ The name above all other names ♪ ♪ The name ♪ - May I take a seat?

All right, happy Father's Day. In case some of you guys did not know, right? It is Father's Day today, so hopefully you guys had something planned for your fathers. Normally, obviously, we have lunches and things like that prepared for Mother's Day and Father's Day, but we're not in normal times.

So again, we just wanna thank you for the Father's Day. Pastor Mark actually put up a little poem that somebody wrote for the Father, so if you haven't read that yet, please read that, okay? If you can turn to Hebrews chapter seven, verse 26 through 28, and we're gonna be really spending most of the day on one verse, the first verse.

But I wanna read that within that whole context, verse 26 through 28. For it is fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens, who do not need daily like those high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this he did once for all when he offered up himself.

For the law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath which came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever. Let's pray. Father, we pray for your anointing, we pray for your Holy Spirit to help us, guide us, keep us sober and anchored in Christ.

May your word go forth, convict our hearts and sanctify your church. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You know, at church, we've been doing inductive Bible study. I mean, that's kinda like the backbone of our church since the beginning of the church, 'cause we wanted the church to be Bereans.

And that's where we get our name, because the Bereans were considered more noble because they tested to see if everything was biblical. If there's any time in the years that I've been in ministry where the church needs to be absolutely grounded and committed to the word of God, it is now.

Because there are so many voices and so many different people, even within the church, demanding that we follow one direction or the other. And if we're not careful, we may find ourselves drifting with good intentions. So if there's any time where we need to examine the scriptures carefully, that we may be anchored in Christ, it is now.

Remember I talked about how the Bible warns us about the second coming of Christ, and he gave us little things that we ought to be looking for so that we are not caught off guard, like thieves coming in the middle of the night. And the reason why the Bible uses that illustration is when a thief comes into your house, you're not ready, nor do you want it.

'Cause it's not a positive thing for a thief to come. So he tells the church not to be caught off guard, to stay sober and to be watchful. Well, Jesus tells us this in Matthew chapter 24 about the end times, and these are some of the things that we ought to be sober and pay attention to.

So if you look at that, it says, "And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you." One of the primary things that characterize the end times before he comes is misleading. There's gonna be deception. There's gonna be people in the name of Christ who are saying, "This is right and this is wrong." "For many will come in my name saying, "I am Christ and will mislead many." The reason why he says, "I am Christ," at that time, they didn't have access to scripture like we do.

They're not able to run to their scroll and then examine to see if what these people were saying was true. If you believe that he was Christ, you just assume that he was speaking for God. He was the scripture. So the modern day translation for that is say, when people say, "I am Christ," they're basically saying, "I am speaking the truth.

"I am biblical." So the deception is going to come within the church to mislead. Verse six, "You will be hearing of wars "and rumors of wars. "See that you are not frightened, "for those things must take place. "But that is not yet the end, "for nation will rise against nation "and kingdom against kingdom, "and in various places there will be famines "and earthquakes." So if you notice, when he says that nation will rise against nation, the powerful countries, the countries that have something to gain or something to lose, they will be in conflict, it says.

But the poor countries will not be left out. They will experience famine and all kinds of earthly disasters. So this rumbling is not located in one area. It is worldwide. And if you've been paying attention to what's going on, you and I will admit that there is a rumbling going on.

Maybe some of you guys who are younger may think that this is part of history, and it is to a certain extent. But I can tell you that during my lifetime I've never seen this, to this degree. I remember the last time there was a lot of talk about the second coming of Christ was at the turning of the millennium, year 2000, and simply because it was turning into a new millennium.

And so there was a lot of talk about the coming of Christ and be watchful, and they were saying this is it, this is it. But that was purely because we were heading into a new millennium. What we see now, it may or may not be, but it does have indicators that resemble what we see in scripture.

Verse nine, it says, "Then they will deliver you to tribulation." So after this rumbling happens, the next stage is gonna be a target toward genuine Christians. And they will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations. That this persecution is not gonna be coming from one group of people.

It's not gonna be coming from one area or one political party. It's going to be international. He said, "All the nations, they will hate you "because of my name." And at that time, many will fall away. The church will be tested, and those who are hanging around and have never really counted the cost, that it was very easy, and all the effort that the church has made to bring as many people into the church are gonna fall out when that happens.

He says, "And will betray one another "and hate one another." There's gonna be division that is so intense in the church that it's not simply gonna be division where we're gonna be going to different churches and saying different things. It says, "They will hate one another." It's not us against the world.

It's the church within the church are gonna be throwing insults and hatred, and both sides are gonna think that they are right. And he says, "The church will be divided. "Many false prophets will arise and mislead many." That this is not isolated with a few and a few churches and a few groups.

He said, "Many will fall out "because of lawlessness is increased." Lawlessness is increased. If you've been paying attention to what's going on right now, I think you and I will agree that lawlessness is increasing, and it is not isolated. This is worldwide. Most people love will grow cold because of lawlessness.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved. The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached, that in the midst of this, there will be greater division, greater hatred, greater misleading, greater rumblings, greater trials, but there will be also greater preaching of the gospel. And he said, "When the gospel reaches "the remotest part of the world," he says, "then I will come." And he said, "These things will happen." And he says, "Watch for it.

"For false christs and false prophets will arise "and will show great signs and wonders, "so to mislead." This misleading is so intense and so deep and so wide. He says, "If possible, even the elect." Now, when he says that, he's saying that, of course, the elect cannot be deceived.

But what he is saying, that many people who we thought were elect, by their falling out, will prove that they were not. That's what that means. It means that this division, this rumbling, this hatred is going to be intense. If there's any time right now where Christians need to ground themselves in the word of God, it is now.

You cannot trust me. I've been telling you that as long as you've been here. Because I could have the best intention and be wrong. And that's why I keep telling you, examine the word of God, to make sure what I am saying is biblical, so that your confidence doesn't come from this pulpit.

In fact, the greatest way to deceive you in this room is to deceive you from this pulpit. So, pay attention to what the word of God says. Be grounded. If there's any time where you need to be grounded in God's word, it is now. If you are not, if you're not daily walking with a God, your mind is not daily being renewed, let me just politely say, be quiet.

Because you may be being influenced by misleading thoughts and not know it. So, at best, it's best if you're not walking right with God and the word of God is not affecting you on a daily basis, to stay quiet. Even if you are walking right with God, it is not the best time to be speaking.

Even a fool seems wise when he is silent. Ground yourself with the word of God and cling to him. Now, what does that have to do with the book of Hebrews? The whole letter is written to people who are in similar situation that you and I are in today, and much more intense.

They, at one point, when the early start of the movement of Christianity, they jumped on board and they were high-fiving each other, visiting each other in prison, but it didn't die down. It got more intense. So, after about 20, 30 years passed by, their leaders, their early Christian leaders were actually being beheaded and crucified.

So, it was no longer just this movement of God is doing something great. The Jews and the Gentiles are sitting together and sharing meals, this is awesome. Well, the initial honeymoon of that has waned. And when Jesus said to pick up your cross, they're starting to realize that that's what he really meant.

And when he said to count the cost, they're really starting to have to count the cost. And so, some of them were beginning to drift back into their old life, which happened to be Judaism. Because that's where the persecution was coming from. That's where the difficulty was coming from.

And so, they just kind of slided in. They didn't deny Christ, nor did they deny the world that they came from, and they were kind of straddling both fences, and that's why he says, you must not drift. And over and over again, he says, you must not drift. You have to be anchored in Christ, because when you drift, you won't even know that you're drifting.

So, the situation that Paul, or the author of Hebrews, is speaking to is very similar to the danger that you and I are in right now. Because there is so much confusion with so much voices, with so much passion being spoken that completely contradict each other. I have my opinions, but I'm not asking you to trust my opinions.

I'm asking you to be grounded in God's word, anchor in Christ. See, Hebrews chapter 7, 26 starts out by saying, for it was fitting for us to have such a high priest. That language in English is very peculiar, because fitting seems so casual. That Jesus Christ, it was fitting.

The word fitting means suitable, or proper, or right. For Jesus to be our high priest, that it was simply fitting. I don't know about you, but when I look at that, that's the furthest thing that I can think of about Christ's sacrifice for us. I mean, the son of God, dying for us?

Son of God crucified for you, for me? That's fitting, that's right? In what universe could that be right? The just for the unjust? When will you ever see in our justice system, a just person taking the punishment of an unjust person, and that be celebrated? How could this be fitting?

Well, the word fitting, and I think in the English, at least in the way that we understand it, doesn't necessarily fit. I think that the better way for us to understand what he means by fitting, that it was necessary. That only Christ could fulfill that role as our mediator.

It was necessary because he's the only one who qualifies. It was necessary 'cause he's the only one. There's only one mediator between us and God, Jesus Christ. And so when he says it was fitting, a better way for you and I to understand it is, it was necessary. There was no other way that you and I would have had access to this holy God, other than for Christ to become our mediator.

In the very Lex 9, he actually describes what qualified him. And so as we look at the meaning behind these words, what I want you to pay attention to is, as much as he's describing the qualification of Christ, he's also describing what disqualifies us. And that's why it says, he is holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and that's the whole point.

He is unlike any other priest that came before him. He is unlike any other priest that may come after him. He is unlike any other human being that has ever lived. And that's why it was necessary for him to be high priest. So as we study these words, these three words, holy, innocent, and undefiled, remember, as much as Christ is being separated from the other high priest, remember that these are descriptions that disqualify every single one of us.

He starts out by saying, the reason why it was necessary was that Jesus was holy. He was innocent, he was undefiled. So if you read this casually, what you may get from that is, Jesus is holy, holy, holy. All three words basically means that he is perfect, he is pure.

And you may just move on without really thinking more than that. Superficially, it's true. All these words on the surface is saying the same thing, that Jesus is perfect, he is holy, he is holy, he is holy. But there's a reason why he goes in depth. Now whenever we read scripture, we have to read scripture understanding that this was written by God himself.

There is no fluff in the word of God. I remember back in school, basically I was a Bible major undergrad, and then I studied, obviously, theology and seminary, and I took six, seven years just studying the Bible. And so most of what we do is just study the text and write papers, study the text and write papers.

So just writing papers, I just pump out papers for seven, eight years, that's what I did. But I remember one of my professors would always say to us, if he didn't like your paper, he would write on the top, stop pumping sunshine in your paper. And what basically that means, if it was a 10-page project, that you have three pages of content and seven pages of fillers.

Meaning you could have said that in three pages, but the seven pages was because you're trying to meet the requirement. And I'm sure some of you know exactly what I'm talking about, right? We know how to pump sunshine. There is no sunshine in the word of God. The author is God.

You and I could put all our energy, everything that we've studied, you can Google it and spend the rest of our life writing a letter to make it as perfect as we can, using the perfect vocabulary to gain all the wisdom that you and I can research and ask people and write this paper.

And we cannot come close to the depth of meaning of what the word of God says. Because this is an omniscient, omnipotent God who knows all things. Everything that Google, that you can search is only a drop in the bucket with what he knows. And in his wisdom, he used certain words.

He used certain people, he used certain contexts, he used certain cultures to communicate with us his deep ideas, eternal thoughts. My point is, we should never read the scripture just casually. Just skim through it and read it and say, I've done it, I've done my Bible reading project. We ought to dig, uncover, ask questions.

That's why in the Inductive Bible Study, one of the first things that we learn, we teach, is you have to ask questions. Even if just one word, ask questions, ask 10 questions, even if it sounds ridiculous. Because the asking of the questions will uncover deep treasures in the Bible.

Now I say all of this is set up, holy, innocent, undefiled on the surface may look the same, but it is very purposeful. As much as it describes the holiness of Christ, it also describes in depth the sins that disqualify us. If you look at the Old Testament, especially in the book of Leviticus, when God says to give offerings and sacrifices, he doesn't simply say, you've missed the mark, and so give these sacrifices.

He was so specific of what that sin looks like. Your heart, your intention in the ceremony, at home, medically, things that you did on purpose, things that you did by accident, about the animals, about children, about families, about parents, about obedience. I mean, it is so accurate. He doesn't simply say, you're guilty of sin.

He goes in depth. The purpose of all of that is that we recognize where we are in our relationship with this holy God. The word holy. The typical word that you and I think of holy is the word agios. So oftentimes when we talk about the word holy, it says agios.

Agios basically means, literally means to be set apart. The word set apart is a very general word. So an animal could be agios, holy, because it's set apart for God's use. A priest can be agios. He could be holy because he was set apart. So we have a holy priesthood.

The gathering of the people are holy. The priesthood is holy. The items that are offered up that was used at the temple are holy. The temple itself is holy. The curtain is holy. Anything that has been set apart for God's use is holy. So that could mean morally atonement, but it's a very general term to talk about something that has been set apart for God's use.

So you and I are holy because we have been set apart and we are called his children, but that is not the word that is used here. It is not agios. The word he uses here is asios. And the word asios means obedience. That you and I or whoever obeyed God's command perfectly.

So asios, agios can be given to us freely. Asios is something that you have to earn. And so when he says he is asios, that not only was he set apart, but he was the only one who was perfectly holy. Perfectly obedient. A good example of that is we see it in the book of Leviticus chapter 10.

After Aaron's two sons are anointed and cleansed, sprinkled with water, and they were considered holy because they were set apart to be the first priests to offer sacrifices. But they disobeyed God by offering strange fire. He didn't listen to what God said. These are the prescriptions. These are the things that you need to do in order for you to be able to come before me.

And they didn't follow it. But this, they disobeyed. So they were agios, but they weren't asios. And as a result, they see the capital punishment. Romans 15, four says, "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? "For you alone are holy." The word you alone are holy is asios.

We all together are agios 'cause we have been set apart. But he says Christ alone is asios. You know, if you're a Jew, the word without defect would have been ringing in your ears when it came to the temple. Because over and over again in the book of Leviticus, you will see the term without defect, without defect.

And it's not just referring to the animals. The method had to be perfect. Who touched what? Only they could touch it. What animals? What kind of animals? How much of these animals? He was so precise. They had to be without defect, the method, the location, the animal. But out of all of them, the priests had to be without defect.

Leviticus 21, 21. "No man among the descendants of Aaron, "the priest who has a defect, "is to come near to offer the Lord's offering by fire "since he has a defect. he shall not come near to offer the food of his God." If you believe that this is the way to get to God, what a tremendous burden.

Who can fulfill this? You make even one mistake. You know people joke about having, you know, Asian parents that A is not enough. You have to be A+, and if you get A+, you have to A++, and you get A++, you have to get A+++. You can never satisfy these Asian parents.

I don't think Asians are the only ones guilty of that, but that's where the typically the joke is. I mean, it makes Asian parents look like the gracious people in the world. You have to use the right pen, the right paper, the right ruler, the right seat at the right time, and the right penmanship.

And you can't, you can't get 99.9% right, because the moment that you get that 1% wrong, you're defected. If this was the way to get to God, who can worship this God? But that was not the point. The whole point of all of this was the point to somebody who was going to fulfill all of this, and that's why he says it was necessary, because no man could fulfill this.

No man could be without defect. No method could be perfect. No location, no animal is perfect. That's why it was necessary for Christ to be our mediator. Now, we can stop right there, because that alone disqualifies every human being that has ever been born on this earth. Past, present, and future.

And we can move on just from that and say, "Okay, we're done. We need Christ." But the Bible is much more accurate than that. And then he says, "Not only is he athias, he is innocent." And the word there is akakas. In the King James, it's translated "harmless" or "blameless." Literal translation is "without evil." Whenever you see in the Greek the word "a" in front of a word, the "a" basically means "without." So, akakas is "evil." So, "without evil." You know what's really interesting about this word is that the theologians believe the application of this word literally means to not be duplicitous.

That in your doing good, somebody who is akakas always has some evil in it. Meaning, every human being in every good endeavor, because of our fallen nature, there is some coveting. There is some self-righteousness. There is some wanting glory. There is some retribution. There is some pride that always taints every good thing that we do.

And only Christ is completely akakas. Without evil. And that's what it means that He is separated from all the other human beings. Because you and I do not qualify. Even at our best attempt, it is with our fallen nature that we do what we do. You know, the perfect example of that is found in Matthew chapter 16, 22 to 23.

This is right after Jesus tells Peter, "Who do men say that I am?" And Peter gives the right answer. And then Jesus says, "Upon this rock I will build my church." So he's flying high. And then in the very next passage, Jesus says, "I'm going to go to the cross." And Jesus and Peter, with his good intention, and you have to remember that Peter loved Jesus.

He was not just some casual fan of Christ. He was in his heart willing to die. I believe that he was willing to die. And that's what he was doing at the Garden of Gethsemane. But look what he says. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke Jesus and saying, "God forbid it, Lord.

This shall never happen to you." I mean, it's because he loved Him. Not only does he say that, he says, "It's not going to happen to you. Even if they all fall away, I will not. I'm going to stay loyal to you, and I'll fight till death. If you die, I die." And I think Peter meant it with all his heart.

But even in his good attempt, there's pride. He's tainted with evil in his heart. There's self-confidence, self-glory, that all the other disciples were wrestling with, and Jesus rebukes him. Says to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." Satan. Even in his loyalty. Even in his attempt to do good. Jesus says, "Get behind me, Satan." Can you imagine how shocking this must have been for Peter?

I said this because I love you. I said this because I'm literally willing to die for you. I can't speak for the other disciples, but I will go to death with you, for you. And Jesus says, "No, that's satanic." He doesn't just say, "Peter, you missed the point. You missed the mark.

You didn't come all the way." He says, "No, it's satanic." And he describes why. "You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on God's interest, but man's." What is the man's interest that he's talking about? Jesus. As the man. He was trying to preserve his friend.

He was trying to fight for his friend. And he said, "It's satanic because you're concerned about my flesh." That's not why I came. I came to die. God came for the spiritual redemption of mankind. That's what he means. That in your attempt to do good, you deny the cause of Christ.

So that's what it means, "kakas," without evil. That even in our best endeavors, we have been tainted by sin. So if Christ is the only one, that is without defect, there is no hidden motive behind him, that all that even when it seems to be no good, that only Christ is good, the best and the safest place for you and I to be is to be where he is.

Do what he does. Say what he says. Go where he goes. That we do not make our own cause and then cry out to God to join us. That we see what his cause is and we join him. That even in our very causes, we are tainted with "kakas." Matthew chapter 9, 1 through 6.

People come to Christ with a friend that they have who is lame. Break, open his house, put him down. I mean, they took a risk messing up someone's house. They cut the line with many people who are there and they're there because they're desperate. So you can imagine the pain of the paralytic.

And they want to help their friend. So again, it was no small task. That even if we get yelled at, even if we get put to jail, even if we get stoned, I'm going to help my friend. So you can imagine the suffering of that individual and the friends who are coming alongside to help him, but Jesus doesn't heal him.

What does he say? Your sins are forgiven. Because they didn't understand. They didn't thank him. We did all of this and that's it. And who are you? How dare you even say that? In response to that, he says in verse 5, "Which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk.' But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed, and go home." He fed the poor.

He opened the eyes of the blind. And he raised paralytics all for this purpose. So that mankind may know that he came to forgive sins. Because man's problem is not his, is not being paralytic. His greatest problem is not hunger. His greatest problem is not racism. It's much deeper than that.

Those are only symptoms. That's why we need to pay attention. Examine the scriptures. That even in the context of doing good, that we have kakas in us. Only Christ is a kakas. Third and finally, he says he is undefiled. And again, without defilement. And that same word is being used in Hebrew chapter 13, 5, saying that, "Do not defile the marriage bed." And so the word basically means Christ, "Asias," that he is obedient.

Externally, he did everything that God told him to do. Internally, he is without defect, without sin. Externally and internally. And then the third word, "undefiled," means that he continues to remain in that position forever. You see how precise this is? It covers everything. It covers your external obedience, it covers your internal obedience, and it covers the continual obedience.

Without defect. The guilt offering in the Old Testament, of the five major offerings, was when somebody dedicated, let's say an animal to be dedicated and to be given as a sacrifice, it became agyos, it became holy. But an individual inadvertently defiles that animal, that person who gave the offering now can't offer that animal.

So the guilt offering basically called the man to basically give sacrifice to atone for his sin, but also to compensate for the damage that he's done by giving an extra 20%. I mean, it's very precise. So the whole offering was, if you defile someone else's offering, you have to give them and compensate them along with repenting for your own sins.

But what defiled that animal? Obviously the animal was without defect when they brought it to the temple, but what would defile the animal? Because if it was already defiled, he wouldn't be able to bring it to the temple to begin with. The animal gets defiled when he is declared without defect and he is dedicated to the Lord and another defiled human being touches it.

That's how the animal gets defiled. And so they can no longer use that animal for sacrifice. It was the human touch that defiled that animal. You know, one of the best explanations of this is found in the book of The Holiness of God, if you've read that. There's a section on that that describes about the punishment that Uzzah got.

After David gets anointed as king, the Ark of the Covenant is with the Philistines and so he sends people to go get it. And Uzzah is on that team and he gets it. And as they are bringing the cart back, the Ark of the Covenant slips and Uzzah reaches over and he touches it to keep it balanced so that it doesn't fall to the ground.

God's anger is burned. And as a result, Uzzah dies. And it doesn't explain, it just moves on. I remember reading that for the first time thinking, how is this fair? Uzzah was actually trying to help. Uzzah was trying to straighten this out so that the Ark of the Covenant would not get dirty.

And he went all the way over there to get it. I think R.J. Sproul does the best job describing this because I remember years ago when I read Holiness for the first time, it was paradigm shifting. Because by that time I was already several years as a pastor and I've given sermons on holiness.

I've memorized scriptures on holiness. You know, he would evangelize by saying that we've offended a holy God. So I've been talking about this. But it didn't hit me the way that it hit me when I realized to the depth. Of my sins and who God is. So I understand.

If you've been at a church and you know, you kind of read it, you skim through it, but you don't really understand the gravity of this. I think R.J. Sproul does the best job. He says in his book on that chapter about that event, we must ask the question, what was the Ark doing on an ox cart in the first place?

God was so strict about the holy things of the temple that the Kohothites were not even allowed to gaze upon the Ark. This too was a capital crime. God had decreed that if a Kohothite merely glanced at the Ark in the Holy of Holies for an instant that he would die.

Not only was Uzzah forbidden to touch the Ark, he was forbidden even to look at it. He touched it anyway. He stretched out his hand and put it squarely on the Ark, steadying it in place lest it fall to the ground. An act of holy heroism? No. It was an act of arrogance, a sin of presumption.

Uzzah assumed that his hand was less polluted than the Earth. But it wasn't the ground or the mud that would desecrate the Ark. It was the touch of man. The Earth is an obedient creature. It does what God tells it to do. It brings forth its yield in its season.

It obeys the laws of nature which God has established. When the temperature falls to a certain point, the ground freezes. When water is added to dust, it becomes mud, just as God decided. The ground doesn't commit cosmic treason. There is nothing polluted about the ground. God did not want his holy throne to be touched by that which was contaminated by evil.

That which was in rebellion to him, that which by its ungodly revolt had brought the whole of creation to ruin and cause the ground and the sky and the waters of the sea to groan together in travail waiting for the day of redemption. Man, it was man's touch that was forbidden.

Only Christ is undefiled. No human being can stand before a holy God and live. In Jeremiah 6, 14 to 15, before the Assyrians come and take Israel to captivity, Jeremiah pleads with the nation of Israel. And one of the constant themes of the book of Jeremiah is that they have taken the sins of my people lightly.

And you see that phrase repeated over and over again. They have healed the brokenness of my people, superficially saying, "Peace, peace," but there is no peace. And then he describes, "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all. They did not even know how to blush.

Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall." See, they're crying out for peace. But God says there is no peace. There will be no peace. Until there is an answer for sin. People today are shocked because they've seen racism on videos. Racism has always been. But the problem with mankind goes much deeper than what you have seen.

Much deeper than that. What you are seeing on video that is different than maybe 10, 15 years ago, it's being blasted on video everywhere, but mankind has not changed. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The condition of man has not changed. The problem that we see now is much deeper than what you have seen.

People ask me, "Why did you stop doing homeless ministry?" I mean, you thought you and your wife Esther thought that you were going to do that full time and that you hated the church and all that was true. But why did you stop? I remember years ago, I was out on the street and I saw this lady, a middle-aged lady, and she had two young kids.

One girl, one boy, and what I remember about those two kids were like this bright brown eyes. So cute, so intelligent. But they were living out of their mom's truck and this wasn't a truck that had the, you know, the camping thing in the background. It was just, you know, the two-seater in the front.

That's where they were at. The mom was in the driver's seat and the other two kids on that and that's where they were living. So I felt bad and I said, "You know what? Why don't you come with me? I'm going to get you a hotel room. We'll pay for your stay.

We'll buy you food and then send your kids to school. Send your kids to school and then maybe hopefully we can help you get on your feet and then, you know, we'll provide whatever it is that you need." So she agreed. She came with us, put her in a hotel near where we were living at that time, and I would come and check up on her every once in a while and about a week to a week and a half passed and I get a phone call from the motel and she said, "You need to come here because the lady won't open her door." So I go and I knock on the door and when she hears my voice, she finally opens and I opened and it was disaster.

She was a hoarder. So she had trash piled up above her knees. So it was at the height of the bed and I was shocked because there's no way they could have created this trash in that short time. She must have brought it in from outside. So something was not well with her.

So I convinced her, "Let the ladies come in and clean up. That's all you need to do. Just leave for 10 minutes, let them clean up." And she agreed, cleaned it up, and I asked her, "Just let them come in and do that. You don't have to do it." Another week goes by and I get a phone call and he said, "The lady hasn't let us into the room for the last week." I go back to check up on her and I open the door, same thing.

Then I asked her to do that and she said, "Okay." And then the very next day she packed up her bags and she disappeared. The kids were gone. And I was so broken for those kids. I've seen plenty of ladies like her out on the street during that time, but these two kids were bright young kids who were just following the mom around, just sleeping in their truck.

And I couldn't help her. I remember another guy named Rolando. He was a Cuban African-American guy that I met out on the street. He was funny, he was charismatic, but he was an alcoholic. I invited him to come and he felt bad. So he said, "Can I stay at the church?" And not at this church, but the previous church I was serving at in Irvine.

And so he stayed at the church. He stayed there for months and months. And so our church guys would take him out to eat, buy him stuff, but after a few months we would see him disappear and then find him in bars, completely drunk, out of control. And then I'd have to reprimand him and then the next week or so he'd be fine.

And then after that, same pattern over and over again. And after about two, three months of that, he ended up leaving. And I couldn't help him. Remember I told you that I was out on the street for a few days because I wanted to see what it was like?

If I'm going to work with the homeless, I need to know what it's like. There was a guy named Angel. His name was Angel. He was a ex-gang member, a drug addict that I met out on the street. He became a Christian while he was in prison. So he came out and I met him and I befriended him.

And we were good enough friends where I would invite him to church and he would come on the weekend. I would go pick him up, hit up church, and then I would take him back to his housing that he got. And so when I was out on the street, he was the one who took care of me.

And that's why I was able to go out because him and another friend basically stuck with me the whole time, all three days. He's the one who took me to the shelter, to the food lines, and showed me what was going on. But after a while, Angel couldn't kick his crack at it.

So he would disappear for two, three months and then he would show back up at Santa Ana. And I said, "Angel, where were you?" And he was embarrassed, but he told me I was in jail. I said, "What happened?" He's like, "Yeah, I fell. I got back on with crack." He went through that for about a year, year and a half before he disappeared.

And I didn't know where he went. I just assumed that he did something more serious and he got sentenced to jail. Again, this is before cell phones. This is before internet. So once they disappeared, they disappeared. I can tell you story after story after story of frustration after frustration after frustration.

The story that to me stands out the most, remember I shared with you, I had a a guy that I met out on the street. He slept with us in our house for a while. His name was Michael Lee. He has an Asian name, but he was an African-American guy.

So I met him out on the street and you know, you would never know he's homeless. He was homeless. He's another guy who went to prison because of drugs, came out, he cleaned himself up. And Esther and I were just talking about him just a few days ago. And the thing that we remember the most about Michael is he smelled like soap.

Because he was so clean. He was constantly like washing. I don't know. I never really put it together that maybe maybe I I you know if I was to psychoanalyze him that he constantly felt dirty because he couldn't kick the cocaine out of it. But he was at our church and I was with him for almost a year and a half, two years.

Brought him to church. Some of our old, old Korean members know, again, I'm not talking about our church member, that when I say old I literally mean old. They loved him because you know, we used to play so much basketball and he was good at it. He was our best rebound.

He played like Dennis Rodman. You know, he was the trash guy. Who picked up everything, he hustled like crazy and he would give it to the shooters. I like to shoot so I liked him. So our church guys bought him basketball shoes because it was his birthday. He was about two, three years older than I was.

But they went too far. You know, this is a guy who was struggling with crack and they bought him Michael Jordan's and I remember it was ridiculous amount. It was like 160, 170 dollars. They bought it from because they they loved it. They loved the fact that we he's there and he's getting off of drugs and then he would just disappear.

And I was so frustrated with him because I was doing discipleship and he'd be doing fine for a while. Remember I told you I got pulled over by a cop with an African-American friend. It was Michael. So in order to help him, I told him to come into my house so that we can watch him, keep him accountable.

This is before we had kids. Well, they gave him that shoe and a few days later he disappeared for two weeks. After two weeks, I said man, what's going on with Michael, you know, and I went out to Santa Ana looking for him and I knew it had to be something with drugs because he was constantly struggling with that.

Two weeks later, he showed up at my house barefoot and he was older than me, but he was crying like a baby. He was crying because he couldn't kick his habit. Man, I wanted to be charismatic. I wanted to just lay hands and just cast that out of him.

I felt completely helpless because he was with me for two years. I loved that guy. So every time he did that, it was like a good friend that I couldn't bring out of the mud. Eventually, I had to send him home, which was in Virginia. We bought him bus tickets to go home.

And again, this is before the internet. This is before cell phones. So I would get letters every once in a while and he told me he found a job and the job had some sort of a drug program where they would move him from place to place so that he doesn't get comfortable and find drugs.

And he would send me every time. He's like, "Hey, I'm doing well. You know, thanks for your support." And this was going on for about maybe about a year or so. Then he just started disappearing and I stopped hearing from him and I just assumed that he started struggling with drugs again.

The problem of mankind is not something you and I can fix. You and I do not have that power. It is the arrogance of man to think that if we just work harder, if we are better united, if we put better policy, that we can fix this problem. You know, so many people can say, "Oh, we got to stop the sex trafficking." Yeah, I mean, if that doesn't burn your heart and bring you to tears, there's something wrong with you.

But the way that we go about helping is, "Oh, we're going to go and we're going to deliver them from these evil men." What they don't realize is that majority of these young girls are coming out of their villages voluntarily. They walk into where these Westerners are and offering up their bodies because that's the only way they can eat.

And we think that if we just eradicate these bad men, that that will take care of the problem. The fallenness of where you and I are is much deeper and greater than you and I could possibly imagine. So when the Bible says that it was necessary for Christ to come, it means he is the only way.

He is the only way that we can even make a dent on what you and I see. The years of frustration of trying to help people, I realize I don't have the power. What is foolishness to man is the power of God. Christ crucified. That's what Paul means. They seek for signs and the other look for wisdom.

But we preach Christ crucified. Foolishness to those who are perishing, but the power of God for those who are being saved. So as we are stirred by what's going on around us, do not run to the same hope that the world is running to. Do not run to the same things that they think are going to fix this.

It should remind us even further to get back to what God called us to begin with, to go make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you to the end of the age.

We speak of coming to Christ so casually because the church has in the last three, four decades have tried so hard to make God so accessible to as many people as possible and they have completely presented the wrong God. Exodus 32 verse 33 verse 20, but he said, "You cannot see my face for no man can see me and live." Deuteronomy 5 25, "Now when they should, why should we die?

For this great fire will consume us if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die." They didn't see God's presence as something to be welcomed because they knew who he was. They were trembling in fear when God told them to come. They said, "If we go we might die." Even when Moses came up and just glory, a reflection of his glory brought fear to the nation of Israel and they begged him to stay in the tent because the reflection of God's holiness scared them to death.

1 Samuel chapter 5 verse 10, the Philistines wanted the ark to be gone because everywhere the ark went people broke out in cancer and tumors. So they didn't welcome the ark. David, not knowing as a young king, thought we're going to bring this presence of God and God's going to bless us again and he learned to the death of Uzzah to not to take lightly.

And that's why in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 5 when Isaiah is confronted with God's holiness he doesn't say, "Thank you for showing me your glory." That was not his response. He broke down and he says, "Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among people of unclean lips.

For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. He saw that he wasn't holy. He saw that he was defiled." That's what he means when he says it was necessary. Necessary. Our fight is not against flesh and blood. If there's any time that we need to be reminded of this is right now.

Right now. Our fight is not against flesh and blood. It is against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. You're not going to go into battle to conquer demons simply by yelling and by organizing and by screaming.

If there's anything that we are served to do now more than ever is to be the light. Make the hope of Christ clear. Let the world where it's hurting know there's hope in the name of Jesus Christ and Jesus only. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we need you desperately. Lord, so many people are hurting, crying out.

And I know, Father God, that you saw the hurting world and you had compassion and that's why all of us are here. Help us to show that compassion by deed and by words. Help us, Lord God, not to be indifferent to the suffering of sinners. But in the midst of that, help us never forget why you came.

Help us to be your ambassadors and be a light, especially now that we would not turn from your word to the left or to the right. With all the confusing voices, Lord God, even coming from within the church, help us to hear your Son's voice and only his voice that we may follow him.

May it be a great opportunity for revival. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness The sweetest bread, but wholly laid On Jesus' lap Across the solid rock I stand All other ground is sank in sand All other ground is sank in sand When darkness veils His lovely face I rest on His unchanging grace In every high and stormy vale My anchor holds with faith On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sank in sand All other ground is sank in sand His covenant, His blood Support me in the well You flood When all around my soul is wet It is all my mistake On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sank in sand All other ground is sank in sand On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sank in sand All other ground is sank in sand He shall come, He shall come with trumpet sound Oh may I then in Him be found Dressed in His righteousness alone Faithless to stand before the throne On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sank in sand All other ground is sank in sand On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sank in sand All other ground is sank in sand Our benediction is going to come from Hebrews chapter 7 verse 27 and 28 Why does not, who does not need daily like those high priests to offer up sacrifices First for his own sins and then for the sins of the people Because he did once for all when he offered up himself For the law appoints men as high priests who are weak But the word of the oath which came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever Heavenly Father we pray for your grace to be sufficient this week Lord we are weak men and women who are desperately in need of you Even just to be sober Lord God rest of today So we ask Lord God that the Holy Spirit that you've deposited in us Would continue to groan on our behalf Where Christ may be exalted Help us Lord God not to be moved, not to drift But to be firmly anchored in Christ and His word this week May His grace, His love and His power and fellowship consume us in all that we do Amen God sent His Son They called Him Jesus He came to love Heal and forgive He lived and died To buy my pardon An empty grave is there to prove My Savior lives Because He lives I can face tomorrow Because He lives All fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because He lives Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen