(gentle music) ♪ I will trust my Savior Jesus ♪ ♪ When my darkest hours befall ♪ ♪ Trust Him when to simply trust Him ♪ ♪ Seems the hardest thing of all ♪ ♪ I will trust my Savior Jesus ♪ ♪ Trust Him when my strength is small ♪ ♪ For I know the shield of Jesus ♪ ♪ Is the safest place of all ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Make my heart the ever-lord ♪ ♪ I will trust my Savior Jesus ♪ ♪ He has set His way His best ♪ ♪ And I know the path He's chosen ♪ ♪ Leads to everlasting rest ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Make my heart the ever-lord ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Make my heart the ever-lord ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Who on that cross ♪ ♪ How it was seen ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the One who died for me ♪ ♪ What could I bring ♪ ♪ For Your gift is complete ♪ ♪ So I trust You, simply trust You ♪ ♪ With every heart of me ♪ ♪ Who on that cross ♪ ♪ How it was seen ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the One who died for me ♪ ♪ What could I bring ♪ ♪ For Your gift is complete ♪ ♪ So I trust You, simply trust You ♪ ♪ With every heart of me ♪ ♪ Who on that cross ♪ ♪ How it was seen ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the One who died for me ♪ ♪ What could I bring ♪ ♪ For Your gift is complete ♪ ♪ So I trust You, simply trust You ♪ ♪ With every heart of me ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Make my heart be ever Yours ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Make my heart be ever Yours ♪ ♪ What can wash away our sins ♪ ♪ What can make us whole again ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ What can wash us pure as snow ♪ ♪ Welcomed as the friends of God ♪ ♪ Nothing but Your blood ♪ ♪ Nothing but Your blood, King Jesus ♪ ♪ Your blood speaks a better word ♪ ♪ Than all the empty claims ♪ ♪ I've heard upon this earth ♪ ♪ Speaks righteousness from You ♪ ♪ And stands in my defense ♪ ♪ Jesus, it's Your blood ♪ ♪ What can wash away our sins ♪ ♪ What can make us whole again ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ What can wash us pure as snow ♪ ♪ Welcomed as the friends of God ♪ ♪ Nothing but Your blood ♪ ♪ Nothing but Your blood, King Jesus ♪ ♪ Your cross testifies and cleans ♪ ♪ Settles on the Father's heart ♪ ♪ To make a way for us ♪ ♪ Now only we approach ♪ ♪ That by earthly confidence ♪ ♪ It's only by Your blood ♪ ♪ What can wash away our sins ♪ ♪ What can make us whole again ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ What can wash us pure as snow ♪ ♪ Welcomed as the friends of God ♪ ♪ Nothing but Your blood ♪ ♪ Nothing but Your blood, King Jesus ♪ ♪ What can wash away our sins ♪ ♪ What can make us whole again ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ King Jesus ♪ ♪ What can wash us pure as snow ♪ ♪ Welcomed as the friends of God ♪ ♪ Nothing but Your blood ♪ ♪ Nothing but Your blood, King Jesus ♪ ♪ Your blood ♪ ♪ King Jesus ♪ - Good morning, church family.
Happy Lord's Day. I'm gonna have you just remain seated for this first song, and then Pastor Peter's gonna come up for announcements. But as we reflect on this first song, I wanted to pick a song that exalts our God and King. We are all His creatures, and He deserves all the glory.
(upbeat music) ♪ O creatures of our God and King ♪ ♪ Lift up your voice and with us sing ♪ ♪ O praise Him ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Thou burning sun with golden beam ♪ ♪ Thou silver moon with softer gleam ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Let all things ♪ ♪ Let all things their creator bless ♪ ♪ And worship Him in humbleness ♪ ♪ Oh, praise this Lord ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Praise, praise ♪ ♪ Praise, praise the Father ♪ ♪ Praise the Son ♪ ♪ And praise the Spirit three in one ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ All are redeemed ♪ ♪ All are redeemed washed by His blood ♪ ♪ Come and rejoice in His great love ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ has ♪ ♪ Christ has defeated every sin ♪ ♪ This Lord has cast all your burdens now on Him ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ He shall ♪ ♪ He shall return to power to reign ♪ ♪ Heaven and earth will join to sing ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Then we shall fall on bended knees ♪ ♪ All creatures of our God and King ♪ ♪ Oh praise him ♪ ♪ Oh praise him ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, oh praise ♪ ♪ Oh praise him ♪ ♪ Oh praise him ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ (upbeat music) - Oh, good morning.
This is weird. All right, so it's good to see you live. Oh shoot. Give me a second. This is very, very important. All our children. What happened? All right, we're gonna have to stop service for a minute. All right. What happened here? (laughs) We haven't done this in a while, so this is kind of messing me up.
All right. You know what? I am so sorry, but we're gonna have to do the birthdays next week. And some of you guys who have been waiting eagerly to hear your name, Pastor Peter has failed you today. All right? It has nothing to do with God. Still love God, but Pastor Peter has failed you this morning so I don't have the paper with me.
Sorry about that, okay? But we wanna congratulate those who are graduating from Chapman University. I don't have all your names, but again, we wanna congratulate you. And then I know that there are elementary students and my son himself has had promotion this week online. And we had Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine I know is coming up soon.
So again, we wanna congratulate all of you high school students who are graduating. Congratulations. Okay, I'm just gonna have to wing it with the announcement. So if I forget anything, just wave your hand, okay? All right. So first of all, we have, again, we have three services and those of you who are desiring to come and you're on the waiting list and you couldn't get in, please let us know because we do have space and so we can fill you in.
So email Pastor Mark and let him know. And there is a place to sign up online so they'll be able to get the message and then get you into one of the services, okay? So please do that ahead of time. And what's the other one that I was supposed to say?
Somebody has three legs. What does this mean? Membership, okay, so it's an M, not three legs, okay. All right, so membership. Okay, so starting from the first week of July, we have our new membership class. Before we used to have membership and church introduction, foundational Christian doctrine all in one class.
But starting from July, the first week of July, July 7th, I believe, right? July 5th, okay, so July 5th, the first Sunday of July, we're gonna start a new membership class. It's gonna go for about an hour and a half for eight weeks instead of one hour class for 10 weeks.
So it's actually, time-wise, it's longer, but the days is shortened. And it's gonna be strictly for membership. So there is going to be a separate class for people who wanna learn about Christianity and ask different questions about that. But now it's going to be specific for membership 'cause we wanna dive a little bit deeper into some of the things that we wanna talk about and make sure that we properly prepare people for membership and so just keep that in mind.
So July 5th is when the beginning of that will be. So if you need to do that, please sign up with Pastor Mark and it will be taking place during the second service, at 1030 service, at the cafeteria area. And so we wanna do that because there's more space there so people can kinda spread out, all right?
So if you have any questions about that, please let Pastor Mark know or email and then he'll give you more information, okay? All right, again, I apologize, kids. I'll make sure that I get to you next week. And those of you who are extra good and you are waiting, sorry, parents, I failed today.
I'll make sure I drink plenty of coffee so this doesn't happen next time, all right? So let me pray for us and just kinda, to let you know those who are here, the physical offering, if you choose to do so, there is an offering box in the back. As you're going out, you can give it there.
So our offering, for the sake of not passing out the offering baskets, we're not gonna be doing that for a while and most of you who've gotten the habit of giving online and you wanna continue to do that, so during the offering time, just do that. We'll give you about 15, 20 seconds to do that and then the others of you who wanna bring a physical check, that can be done in the back, okay?
So let me pray for us and then pray for the offering and then our worship team will begin to lead us. Heavenly Father, we praise you and thank you for your goodness. Thank you so much, Lord God, for allowing us to open up the church again. And even though it's not ideal and it's not exactly what we want, but we thank you, Father God, that we're able to gather and we pray that the coming weeks, coming months, that we'd be able to come together, all of us, Lord God, that we may fellowship, that we may love, we may practice the things that you teach us.
And I pray, Father God, that through all of this, that it would cause us to love the church that you sent your son to die for even more. We pray that you would bless this morning, Lord God, as we worship you. Help us to do it in spirit and in truth, that even in our giving, help us to be intentional, help us, Lord God, to be generous, help us to give joyfully, that it may be multiplied for your use in your kingdom.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (gentle piano music) , I'm gonna have you stand now. Those of you at home as well, please stand in where you are and worship with us. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ The radiance of the Father ♪ ♪ Before the dawn of time ♪ ♪ Spoken of creation came to be ♪ ♪ The molecules and planets ♪ ♪ Reveal your great design ♪ ♪ And everyone was made so we could see ♪ ♪ So we could see you are the glorious ♪ ♪ You are the glorious Christ ♪ ♪ The greatest of all delights ♪ ♪ Your power is unequaled ♪ ♪ Your love beyond all heights ♪ ♪ No greater sacrifice ♪ ♪ When you lay down your life ♪ ♪ We join the song of angels ♪ ♪ Who praise you day and night ♪ ♪ Glorious Christ ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ You left the air of heaven ♪ ♪ To breathe the dust of earth ♪ ♪ And dwell among the outcasts and the poor ♪ ♪ You came to be forsaken ♪ ♪ And died to take our curse ♪ ♪ So you could be our joy forevermore ♪ ♪ Forevermore ♪ Sing it out, you are the glorious.
♪ You are the glorious Christ ♪ ♪ The greatest of all delights ♪ ♪ Your power is unequaled ♪ ♪ Your love beyond all heights ♪ ♪ No greater sacrifice ♪ ♪ When you lay down your life ♪ ♪ We join the song of angels ♪ ♪ Who praise you day and night ♪ ♪ Glorious Christ ♪ You're seated now, Lord.
♪ You're seated now in heaven ♪ ♪ And on that God's way ♪ ♪ You shatter death and freedom from our fears ♪ ♪ And though we cannot see you ♪ ♪ You're coming back again ♪ ♪ And all will be made right ♪ ♪ When you appear, yes Lord ♪ ♪ And all will be made right ♪ ♪ When you appear, oh ♪ ♪ You are the glorious Christ ♪ ♪ The greatest of all delights ♪ ♪ Your power is unequaled ♪ ♪ Your love beyond all ♪ One more time.
♪ You are the glorious Christ ♪ ♪ The greatest of all delights ♪ ♪ Your power is unequaled ♪ ♪ Your love beyond all heights ♪ ♪ No greater sacrifice ♪ ♪ When you lay down your life ♪ ♪ We join the song of angels ♪ ♪ Who praise you day and night ♪ ♪ Glorious Christ ♪ (upbeat music) Amen.
(upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ You ignite the fire of a thousand burning suns ♪ ♪ Blazing in the heavens ♪ ♪ There is only one ♪ ♪ He is our God ♪ Who commands? ♪ Who commands the nations ♪ ♪ Building up and tearing down ♪ ♪ Silencing his rivals ♪ ♪ There is only one ♪ ♪ He is our God ♪ Yes, he is.
♪ He is our God ♪ ♪ Holy ♪ ♪ You alone are holy ♪ ♪ Matchless in your glory ♪ ♪ Holy God ♪ Who would come? ♪ Who would come to save us ♪ ♪ When we turned away his love ♪ ♪ Conquer us with kindness ♪ ♪ There is only one ♪ ♪ He is our God ♪ ♪ He is our God ♪ ♪ Holy ♪ ♪ You alone are holy ♪ ♪ Matchless in your glory ♪ ♪ No one is like you, worthy ♪ ♪ You alone are worthy ♪ ♪ We adore you, holy ♪ ♪ Holy God ♪ ♪ Now to the king ♪ ♪ Now to the king on the throne ♪ ♪ Who was and is to come ♪ ♪ And to the lamb who was slain ♪ ♪ Be glory ♪ ♪ Now to the king on the throne ♪ ♪ Who was and is to come ♪ ♪ And to the lamb who was slain ♪ ♪ Be glory ♪ ♪ Now to the king on the throne ♪ ♪ Who was and is to come ♪ ♪ And to the lamb who was slain ♪ ♪ Be glory ♪ ♪ Holy ♪ ♪ You alone are holy ♪ ♪ Matchless in your glory ♪ ♪ No one is like you, worthy ♪ ♪ You alone are worthy ♪ ♪ We adore you, holy ♪ ♪ Holy God ♪ (upbeat music) - You know, I did remember one person's birthday.
Okay, Hanami, all the way from Japan, is celebrating her birthday today. So, happy birthday. Okay, everybody else, forgive me, I'll get back to you next week, okay? If you can turn to Hebrews, and I know some of you guys who are on the Facebook, you saw me changing the name of the title of the sermon this morning, "No Justice, No Peace." And I know some of you probably saw that change and thought, finally, he's addressing what's going on.
Okay, and some of you guys may have said that, maybe some of you look at this symbol of this fist, and that symbol alone kind of triggers bad thoughts. Okay, and so, what is going on? Well, all over the country, maybe even all over the world, right now people are protesting and saying, "No justice, no peace." And that little phrase is something that's been around for many decades.
And I actually did a study to find out where it started, and no one knows for sure. Some think that it started maybe during the Civil Rights Movement in the '60s. Some people think that it may have started sometime in the '70s after the Vietnam War, during the protest at "No Justice, No Peace." Now, we don't know exactly where it started, but what we do know is that the idea behind "No Justice, No Peace" is rooted in Scripture.
In fact, the very foundations upon the gospel in which we celebrate and sing about is at the core, "No justice, no peace." In fact, all throughout the Old Testament, God is establishing the necessity of justice. And as the Jews were looking for the shalom, for peace, and they would greet each other for peace, God was establishing that the only way that peace was gonna come about is if God brings back justice, righteousness.
So at the core of the gospel message is this message, there is no justice, there is no peace. But here's our dilemma. Who's justice? And what kind of peace are we looking for? If we look from the black communities, and again, obviously black community are not the only people who experience racism.
You don't have to be a particular race to know what racism is. You can be a Caucasian in America and experience racism. But the black community in particular, and I think it's important for us to acknowledge their pain. No other group of people, yes, there are Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, there are Native Americans, and various other groups of people who have experienced tremendous racism.
But the African Americans, their history is slavery. They were brought here by force hundreds of years ago with forced labor. And so even though that was many, many generations ago, racism was blatant even up to the 1960s. And so you have a community of people where there is deep-rooted bitterness and even hatred that is underlying what they remember, what their history is.
So to simply say to get over it is not only too simplistic, but is highly insensitive. They are more sensitive to what seems to be racism. Even if objectively we may look at it and say, "How is that racism?" They are more sensitive to racism, understandably. Just like if somebody was abused, they are more sensitive to abuse.
If somebody has grown up in an abusive home, and what may seem like abuse, they are going to, whenever that gets triggered, their emotions get triggered, all of their past experiences, all their grandparents, and all their past history are all going to come into play in how they view that particular situation.
In fact, I remember, I told you, I have personal experience in racism, but I had a friend back in junior high school, and we went to school in the Valley. He was so sensitive to racism because he didn't, I came to the United States when I was really young, so my English was fine, but he came a little bit later.
He came almost at the end of elementary school, so he had a thick accent. And so, obviously, people targeted him, you dumb chink, dumb chink, but he was not a small guy like me, he was a big guy. And so he was so hypersensitive. I remember walking down the hall one time, and we heard something at the end of the hall, and he went running, and then he started railing on some kid and I had to pull him off, and we're walking out of school, and I said, "What happened?" He said, "He said something about Ching Chung something, "and he heard it at the end of the hallway, "and I don't even know if that's what actually happened.
"He may have dropped something, "he may have made it sound like Ching Chung or something." But he was so sensitive. Anything that sounded like racism, he ran over there, because he was constantly walking in rage. So to a certain extent, it's understandable that there is hypersensitivity. And I think it is insensitive and not right for us to not to acknowledge that, that there is that.
And the anger toward the politicians in particular, and to the police, because they represent the power structure. And that's where they've experienced racism, even if it's not personal, at least historically. So for us to completely nullify that, again, it's beyond insensitive, and I think that's something that Christians should be sensitive about and pay attention to.
But we also need to acknowledge from the other point of view. Our police officers, right now there's a movement to defund the police, the police are evil. Imagine if you're a police officer, and you have taken an oath to serve and to protect. And your job is to go out there and risking your health and your life to help other people.
And because of a few acts of certain police officers, a small percentage of them, have abused their power, that what the hatred going toward the police also seems very racist. A broad stroke toward every officer that has been trying to do their job. In fact, think about this perspective.
Not that many years ago, after 9/11, the two planes hit the Twin Towers. While thousands of people were running away from that building because of danger, police officers and firemen ran toward those buildings, and hundreds of them, in the context of trying to save these lives, lost their lives when those buildings crumbled.
Some of you guys may not remember, you might have been too young, but for several years after that, people would buy NYPD and NYF, right, fire department, uniforms and hats to celebrate the bravery of our police officers, first responders. They were the heroes of our society, not that many years ago, because they literally, their job is a calling to risk their lives, give their lives for the safety of other people.
So to be in that situation, and then just a few years later, to be demonized, saying that they are all racist, you can understand why it is very difficult for them to handle. And you have the police officers and the people who are deeply hurt by the history of this country, standing side by side, pushing each other, and why there is animosity in these demonstrations is understandable.
Even the protesting of the flag, you can see how the black community are taking the knee to protest what they view as injustice. And then you can see the response from that, in particular from veterans who went out to war, and for them, it's not just a symbol. They lost their friends, people that they loved, that they walked with, that they are going to remember for the rest of their lives.
So to them, disrespecting the flag is disrespecting their friend. So you can imagine why there is an extreme response from kneeling from that community. And we can also understand the heart behind why they may be protesting. Again, whether you agree or don't agree, we can understand the heart behind that.
That slogan, "No justice, no peace," it is rooted in the Bible. But how do you practice this? Whose justice? Because what is justice to one community may be injustice to another community. What may seem like justice to one group can easily be interpreted as injustice in another group. So is justice in community simply based upon who has the power?
So if the police and the government has power, they can do whatever they want and whatever they think is justice and treat people any way they want because they have the power and whatever they view as justice. If we have enough rioting and enough force and get enough people to get behind these protests and they can strong arm people and even get rid of the police station, is that justice?
Whoever has power, how do we practice this? If it is at the root of the gospel that you and I profess and sing and believe in, how do we practice something that is so difficult to practice? I didn't change my sermon today. It just happened that the topic of the sermon, the text that we're looking at today, tells us that Jesus Christ is the king of righteousness and king of peace.
You know what's interesting is the word for righteousness, dikaios, in other parts of the Bible is translated justice. It is the same word. So in other words, this text tells us that Jesus is the king of justice and Jesus is the king of peace. So again, I didn't jump into this text.
It just happened in God's sovereignty we landed on this text. Hebrews chapter 7, 2B, this is what it says. By the translation of his name, king of righteousness, Melchizedek. Melchi means the king, zedek, righteousness or justice. His name means king of justice and then also king of Salem. Salem is the Hebrew version of that is Shalom.
Many people think that Salem is the old ancient name of Jerusalem. Jeru meaning city, Shalom meaning peace. So he's the king of righteousness and the king of peace. But if you notice here, the author, if you don't pay attention, there's a subtle but very important thing that he says here.
By the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, king of peace. He puts that in order. In other words, that's no different than saying no justice, no peace. Because peace comes from righteousness. Righteousness first and then peace. If we don't establish righteousness, there can be no peace.
Because peace without righteousness is anarchy. Righteousness without peace is fascism. Whoever has the power does whatever they want. The whole purpose of why we study the Bible, what the gospel is, why Jesus came and died and was resurrected and established his new kingdom, is so that by establishing righteousness, by establishing justice, that he was going to bring peace.
In Psalm 85, nine through 10, it says, "Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, "that glory may dwell in our land, "loving kindness and truth met together, "righteousness and peace have kissed each other." In description of the kingdom that Christ was going to bring, he says that righteousness and peace are going to have perfect harmony.
They're gonna kiss each other. See, at the root of who Jesus is, king of justice, king of righteousness. See, it is very, very difficult for us to practice justice. Because, for four reasons. One, the way we see justice, we see it from our point of view. And there's no human being that is not biased that way.
Every single person is biased that way. The longer that I live, the more I become biased. Because of my past experience. Certain things that I've experienced, certain things that I've read, it causes me to be biased. Because when I run into somebody, or I get into a certain situation, I remember the previous situation.
I remember the previous experience. And so I don't start neutral. I start with wherever I left off. And every single human being is biased to a certain degree. You know, when you're a child, if you've raised children, or every single one of us were children at one point, and I think you all know what I'm talking about.
You hear the term, it's not fair. What is fair? Usually what we consider fair really starts with us. I remember when our kids were young, you know, in order to take them to Disneyland, and again, you guys know how much I love being at Disneyland. We did it for the kids.
Spent all day sacrificing, literally carrying our cross for the kids. And at the end of the day, we're going home, thinking, oh, let's get some Jamba Juice, you know? And we stop over, get some Jamba Juice. But then they didn't get quite the flavor that they wanted, or we had to split the cup in half, and the other kid got a little bit more than the other.
And the rest of the ride from Jamba Juice home was, it's not fair. Now as a parent, I wanna pull over and get everybody to leave, walk home, okay? I've literally, you know, spent all day in the hot sun, paying money I didn't wanna pay, in a place I didn't wanna be.
Mickey Mouse in my face, all day long. And because you didn't get what you wanted, it's not fair. Now, we're not kids. We're a lot more sophisticated than that. But we say that in our hearts all the time. When we don't get what we want, God doesn't answer our prayers, or when people say certain things, we say in our hearts, it's not fair.
I've heard a lot of people say, "I didn't get a stimulus check." Maybe, what happened? What did you do to earn that stimulus check? But I've heard a lot of people say, "It's not fair." You know, Jesus has a parable about that in the Bible, in Matthew chapter 20, one through 16.
The parable of the laborers, where he promised a certain amount of money, but certain people went in at different parts of the day, and then a guy got it at the very last hour, and he got paid the same thing, and the rest of the workers who worked all day say, "What, it's not fair." It wasn't because God was unjust.
Because God promised them, and they're getting what they were promised, but the other people got better. See, our idea of justice usually starts with us. How does it benefit us? And so, because it starts with us, it's always from our perspective, it's very difficult for us to really come down with what we think is just.
'Cause what we think is just is unjust from another person's perspective. So, how do we do that? In Judges chapter 21, verse 25, during the period of Judges, if you've read that text, he said that the reason why they kept on falling into sin cycle over and over again, he says, "In those days, there were no king in Israel, "and everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Do you notice here, they didn't say, "Everyone did what was wrong in their own eyes." Everyone did what they thought was right in their own eyes.
What they thought was righteous, what they thought was just. And that's what kept on causing this problem, a cycle, because there was no king. Well, the Bible tells us that Christ comes in the order of Melchizedek, and there's only one king of righteousness. And until he is established as king, we have a tendency, all of us, to do what is right in our own eyes.
And what we think is right in our own eyes would be unright or unrighteous in someone else's eyes, and eventually, you're gonna meet each other. In your pursuit of justice from your perspective, you're gonna meet somebody else in pursuit of justice in their perspective, and you're gonna clash, and the result is going to be whoever has the biggest gun is going to win.
And that's where war comes from. Two countries seeking justice in their own eyes, and whoever has the biggest guns ends up determining what is just. The second reason why it is difficult for us, and only Christ can be the king of righteousness, king of justice, our idea of justice keeps changing.
What was just 30 years ago is no longer just today. What was just 100 years ago is no longer just today. I remember right after 9/11, the whole country was outraged, Republicans and Democrats. And for the first time, I saw the Republicans, Democrats, standing side by side with their arms linked, saying, "We're gonna go to war.
"We cannot let them attack our family and children "in our land." And so they all universally, not just President Bush, the Democrats, Republicans said, "We are united. "We are not divided." They went to war. Since then, years have passed, and many anti-war movements have come in, and now these same politicians who at that time, in order to get elected and stay elected, voted for the war, now they're backtracking, saying that was a mistake, because what was right then is no longer right today.
Even in the church, if we're not careful, if our righteousness is not grounded in Christ and his word, what was acceptable 30 years ago is no longer acceptable today. What wasn't acceptable 30 years ago is no longer acceptable today. Our tendency is that we continue to change. There is no such thing as relative truth.
In order for justice to be true justice, it has to be justice in every generation. It can't be just to you and then unjust to that person, because in the context of practicing justice, you're going to practice injustice with somebody else. Truth has to be immovable. Truth cannot be flexible.
You cannot know anything unless you have truth. The Bible uses the term cubit to describe a size of something. 10 cubit, 15 cubit. If you've never heard that term or somebody never explained to you the size of what a cubit is, you probably have no idea. A cubit could be a mile.
A cubit could be a weight. Cubit could be half a mile. You don't know. The only way that we know what a cubit is is we compare it with something that we know to be true, that it doesn't change. A cubit usually is a measure between someone's arm and his hands, his palms.
In the average, it's about 12 inches, about a foot. When the Bible says it's a cubit of something, it's about a foot of something. 20 cubits would be 20 foot, something, right? But we know what it is because we're able to compare with something that is consistent. If a cubit is something to you and it's something to you and it's different to him and it's different today and different tomorrow, you can never know what a cubit is.
You can't practice justice if what justice looks like is different today and it's different tomorrow. It's different to this person, but it's different to that person. To the rich, justice looks like this. To the poor, justice looks like this. See, you and I are not able to practice perfect justice because it is constantly changing when it is based upon ourselves.
In Isaiah 40, verse eight, it says, "The grass withers, the flowers fade, "but the word of God stands forever." There's only one thing that stands consistent, generation after generation. The truth is the truth. Whether you are white, black, Asian, Hispanic, it doesn't matter. It is the truth. And so he says, "The king of righteousness is Christ." The king of justice is Christ.
And if Christ is not king, there is no justice because justice cannot be relative. Thirdly, it's hard for us to practice justice because we lack knowledge. Right now, you have to be very, very careful how you consume information. And it is not only true today, it is true all the time.
I remember one of the best things that I learned while I was in seminary or while I was taking Bible class, and we were learning Western civilization, and our professor gave us an assignment. It said, "All your resources has to be firsthand resources." For those of you who don't know what firsthand resources, you have to go to the original person who wrote it.
And so I said, "Well, how do I even do that?" So he said, he told us where these resources are, and we have to go to certain seminaries, and we have to go to Cal State, we have to go to UC, and if you go to the dungeon, usually people don't read this stuff 'cause a lot of times it's not translated, or if it is translated, it's very difficult to read, and it's volumes and volumes.
So it's not a condensed version. It's just original writing of whoever wrote it. So we were learning about Western civilization, and so I had to go dig up books in the dungeon that they probably haven't been touched for decades, and only people like us who are learning how to do research would ever even go look for these books.
And I remember doing research about certain particular period of history, and the point that he was trying to make is how much of the history books are their interpretation of what they read. So you can have one person write about George Washington as the godliest man on earth, and you can have another person writing about George Washington, and he was a reprobate, which is true.
So he was teaching us how to go to the original source. So all information, not just media, all information come through people who have sinful agendas, 'cause they are looking at things from their purpose, whether they are doing it deliberately, whether they're doing it because they are blind, all information, we have to be careful.
We, especially now, because of how fast information spreads, we've all seen videos of cops pushing people. Oh, that's another sign of racism, and then we see the larger context of somebody trying to swing a bat at him or a malative cocktail, and that part is not shown. They only show you that part where he pushed, and they said, oh my gosh, they didn't show the whole context.
And you can see that in the other, where you can see a police officer arresting that person, and they say, hey, this guy was resisting arrest, and he was doing all this stuff. When you see the larger context, that wasn't the case. He wasn't resisting the arrest, and there was abuse.
So we have to be very careful how we consume information, because we need to have perfect knowledge to be able to practice that. But the problem is, even if we knew all the context, you and I are not omniscient. Job, if you remember, what, humanly speaking, has experienced tremendous injustice, 'cause because he was righteous, he was targeted.
He loses his health, his children, his wealth, even his friends come there accusing him. All this happened because you did something wrong. There's three cycles of this in the book of Job, and finally, Job cracks. He was standing strong until the end, and he cracks, and he says, God, why are you allowing this?
I'm a righteous man, why did you do this to me? And he begins to complain, and then God shows up to speak to him in Job chapter 38, two to five. Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? In other words, Job, you have no idea what's going on.
Now, gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct me, since you are trying to say that you are being unjust. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who set its measurements, since you know, or who stretched the line on it?
In other words, do you know who you are, and do you know who you are? Question it. In Job chapter 40, verse one and two, after three chapters of God putting him in his place, that you don't have the knowledge to be able to know what is right and what is wrong.
And then he says, chapter 40, verse one and two, then the Lord said to Job, will the fault finder contend with the Almighty? In other words, it's not fair. Let him who reproves God answer it. God not only knows all things, he knows us. Not only does he know all the information, in Psalm 139, two to four, you know when I sit down and when I rise up, you understand my thought from afar, you scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all. Not only does he know all information because he's the creator, he says he already knows what's in our heart, if there really is racism or not. He already knows what's crooked. He already knows our intention, even before we actually even do it.
See, you and I lack knowledge. We lack context. Do you have that picture? I don't know, I think I might have missed it. You do, okay, can you put that up? See that picture? Remember that? Remember this? What color is that? Some of you guys may remember, 'cause I saw it all over your Facebook.
Some people see it as blue and black, some people see it as white and gold, right? Okay, this picture, I don't know if this is, if this represents that properly, but this was a big thing on the internet because it's actually, I guess for most people, they see it blue and gold, and a lot of people saw it as white, no, blue and black, a lot of people saw it as white and gold, and they were fighting each other.
You guys remember this? Am I the only one that has internet? Okay, yeah, so they're looking at this, and they were, 'cause absolutely adamant. How do you know what is true? If enough people say it's black and blue, does it become black and blue? What if they actually see white and gold?
See, you and I don't have the ability to make that final judgment. Only God knows. Not only does God know the truth, only God knows our heart. But fourth and most importantly, this is what you and I need to remember. We are sinful. So our perspective will always be sinful.
Even the way that we see justice is sinful. In Romans 3, 10 through 12, it says that, "As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. "There is none who understands. "There is none who seeks for God. "All have turned aside. "Together they have become useless. "There is none who does good.
"There is not even one." Now, some people may look at that and say, "That's a hyperbole. "That can't be true. "Nobody seeks God, not even one. "Everybody has turned aside. "Together they have become useless." Clearly, there has to be hyperbole. This can't be true. Either he is just overblowing the state of mankind, or if he is actually telling the truth, there's not a single person who's exempt from this.
And because Satan and sin has tainted not only our heart, but our sight and our mind, our ability to even reason has been tainted by sin. And that is the starting point of salvation, when we recognize that we have sinned, and that sin has tainted all that I am.
So repentance isn't just, "I repent because I did this act. "I repent because I did that." Repentance is recognizing that I don't have the ability to know what is right and wrong. I don't just repent about an act, I repent of who I am. It's our sin that causes us to see things in certain perspective.
And until we humble ourselves before the throne, when we say, "No justice, no peace," if we're not careful, you can do more damage than good. Hurt people have a tendency to hurt other people. True. Hurt people have a tendency to hurt other people. But here's the problem. Who's in here that hasn't been hurt?
I can tell you, in 30 plus years that I've been in ministry and counseling people, I haven't met a single person, not one, who doesn't have deep pain. Whether it was somebody did something to them, or something happened in their life, or coming from their families, or even just from their own sins, there's not a single person that I've ever met that isn't hurt.
And so our natural tendency for those who are hurt is to hurt other people. You know, the most dangerous people are not the people who are doing wrong and they know it's wrong. Those most dangerous people are people who think they're right. They're unrighteous in carrying out their what they think is justice.
Because they feel it's right. Because we feel it's right. That even when it's, even the way we do it, even if it's wrong, because we're on the right, it justifies it. Our sinfulness causes us to make it difficult for us to carry out justice. But here's what the gospel says.
Jesus Christ comes in the office of Melchizedek. He's the king of justice. And only when justice is carried out by the king, we can have true peace. Remember, if you look at the Jewish community, nobody suffered more than the Jewish people, all the way up to modern history. If you look at their history, they started out in slavery.
For hundreds of years, they were oppressed by the Egyptians. And the reason why they started was because God heard their oppression and crying out, and he answered their prayer, and he delivered them. And then they wandered out in the desert, and they had to fight and scrap just to get into the promised land.
But a few years later, the Assyrians come in and brutalizes them, forced them into labor, take all the precious things and all the precious people, and they take them into bondage, and they are living in bondage. And after that, the Babylonians come, and they enslave them. After that, the Persians come, and they're a little bit more gracious, but for the most part, they're living under dominion.
After the Persians come, it came the Greeks, and Greeks dominated them. And after the Greeks came, the Romans came, and then the Romans dominated them. And I don't have to tell you about the modern history. We know about the Holocaust. But there's almost 2,000 years in between of suffering.
In fact, you can take a whole class, if you go to the university, of just the suffering of the Jewish people. But at the time of Christ, when Jesus was telling his people, when you get slapped on one cheek, turn the other cheek. Do you know why Jesus said that?
Because they were getting slapped. Jesus said to the Jewish people, if they tell you to walk a mile, walk a second mile. That wasn't a random statement. There was actually a Roman law that said, even if you're a pregnant woman, if you were a Jew, a Roman soldier carrying all of his equipment got tired, and said, I need you to carry this by law.
They had to carry it a mile. By law. So you can imagine the animosity and the hatred that they had that was built up from generation to generation. If any group of people that was oppressed, it was the Jewish people. So you can understand why they wanted a militant Messiah.
They wanted the Messiah to come and finally overthrow their enemies. Because they were living injustice. They felt this injustice day after day. But remember when Jesus was going into Jerusalem, he wept. Remember why he wept? He wept because he said, only if you knew today what would bring true peace.
But because you did not recognize the King of justice, you will not see this peace. And he wept. And it was finally time for him to go to the cross when he was offered up with Barabbas. They rejected him. And it was not by accident that Barabbas was a zealot who was a militant Jew who wanted to overthrow their enemies with his knife.
They wanted to overthrow. And so they wanted Jesus to join the revolution. And when he would not and he gave up his life and he surrendered, what did they say? We'd rather have Barabbas. We want somebody who's going to bring justice the way we want justice. And so they crucified him.
Because he would not join the revolution. Because the peace that he was going to bring did not look anything like they were expecting. In Isaiah chapter 42, verse one and four says, behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations.
If we stop right there, you would think that they were right to wait for the Messiah, the King to overthrow. Because if any group of people would have been shouting in their souls, no justice, no peace. We want Shalom. And we want a Messiah that's going to come and bring justice.
But this messianic promise doesn't end in verse one, it goes in verse two, it says, he will not cry out or raise his voice. He's talking about how he's going to bring his justice. He will not cry out or raise his voice, nor make his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth justice. See that part in verse two and three doesn't fit what we think justice is. He came and he offered his life. The only just human being, the only righteous being that has ever lived on this earth, the only one who had the right to say no justice, no peace.
Only person who walked this earth who could justly say no justice, no peace, absorbed our sins. And as it says in 1 Peter 3, 18, for Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, having put forth to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.
The greatest injustice on earth was experienced by Christ, the only just. The just for the unjust. You know, people are saying, why don't we march? I don't have any problem with marching. If you see racism, you should call it out. If something is wrong, we should not stay silent.
But I've heard people say, is all we're going to do preach the gospel? And I hear some people say that, even from pastors, I hear people saying that. Do you not realize that that's why we preach the gospel in the first place? Social justice and the gospel are not two separate things.
We preach the gospel because the gospel is the only answer to racism. The Jews want signs, the Greek want wisdom. And the reason why they want signs and they want wisdom is because that's what they think power is. But Paul says, we preach Christ crucified. Foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Do you believe this? Especially now, as the world is chanting, because they think they know the answer. As Christians whose eyes have been opened to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Justice can only be found when Christ is established as King. And true peace, true shalom, will only come to us by the grace, by the blood and the body broken for us.
This morning, we're going to participate in this communion. And so I want you guys to take this. And again, it's going to be a little bit different. And I apologize for those of you who are home. The reason why we don't do this for when we're separated is because part of the significance and the meaning behind the communion is the gathering of believers.
Jesus says, when you are together to do this in remembrance of me. And so we want to make sure that the meaning behind this is our unity, our physical gathering to express our unity in Christ. And so we hope that this is the first and last time we do this for those of you who are at home.
Hopefully you can join us the next time. But if you can take the lid off. And I was told that some people in first service didn't know that there is a little wafer inside. Okay, so if you didn't get to the wafer, if you look at the top, there's a little bread.
And there's a reason why we don't do this normally because this is much harder than I thought. First service, it just came right out. Okay, all right, there it goes. So if you take this, representing the body of Christ and the blood of Christ, as we participate in this, that we're uniting in expressing that our hope is found in Christ.
So don't take it yet, okay? We're gonna do it all together. That our hope is found in Christ. That we establish him as the King of righteousness, King of justice, and King of peace. And that we are united. We're not divided by our politics. We're not divided by which side that we take 'cause ultimately, we're united in Christ.
He's the answer. It's okay for us to feel injustice. We should feel compassionate for those who are oppressed. Those people who are hurting, even if we have different opinions, it's okay to do that. But do not join the crowds. In chanting and wanting a form of a Messiah that you think you're gonna revolutionize the world.
Only Jesus has that power. So as we participate in this communion and this bread, let's be united in Christ, expressing what he has done and being thankful. Let me read for us in 1 Corinthians 11:23, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, this cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
So let me pray for us and after that, we'll participate together, okay? Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to participate in this sacred event. Remembering again that our hope is founded on Christ because of what he has done for us on the cross and because of his new resurrected life, Lord God, that our hope is firmly planted in him.
I pray especially now, there's so much anger and division in our world, especially in our country. Help us, Lord God, to be a light. Help us, Lord God, to show the world that there is hope in the name of Jesus. As you sent your only begotten son, that the just may justify the unjust.
I pray that this celebration of this sacred time cause us to be united and to be committed, that we may spread the gospel and to be of the almighty love of Christ wherever we go. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (gentle piano music) (pastor and congregation clapping) As we close out our communion, why don't we all stand for our closing praise?
(gentle piano music) ♪ Before the throne of God above ♪ ♪ I have a strong and perfect plane ♪ ♪ A great high priest whose name is love ♪ ♪ Whoever lives and pleads for me ♪ ♪ My name is graven on his hand ♪ ♪ My name is written on his heart ♪ ♪ I know that while in heaven he stands ♪ ♪ No tongue can bid me thank thee, Father ♪ ♪ No tongue can bid me thank thee, Father ♪ ♪ When Satan tempts me to despair ♪ ♪ He tells me of the guilt within ♪ ♪ Upward I look and see him there ♪ ♪ Who made an end to all my because ♪ ♪ Because the sinless Savior died ♪ ♪ My sinful soul is counted free ♪ ♪ For God the just is satisfied ♪ ♪ To look on him and pardon me ♪ ♪ To look on him and pardon me ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Hold him there in the risen land ♪ ♪ My perfect spotless righteousness ♪ ♪ The great unchangeable I am ♪ ♪ The king of glory and the one with ♪ ♪ One with himself I cannot die ♪ ♪ My soul is purchased by his blood ♪ ♪ My life is here to win Christ on high ♪ ♪ With Christ my Savior and my God ♪ ♪ With Christ my Savior ♪ ♪ One with himself ♪ ♪ One with himself I cannot die ♪ ♪ My soul is purchased by his blood ♪ ♪ My life is here to win Christ on high ♪ ♪ With Christ my Savior and my God ♪ ♪ With Christ my Savior and my God ♪ (gentle music) - Our benediction comes from Isaiah 11, verse three to four.
And he will delight in the fear of the Lord and he will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by what his ears hear. But with righteousness he will judge the poor and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth. And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Heavenly Father, we entrust our mind, our hearts, our generation, our black brothers and sisters, police officers, the politicians, our leaders. We lift them all to you, Father God. You are sovereign and you are our only answer. Help us to submit to you, amen. ♪ God sent his son ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to us ♪ ♪ For our ill and for him ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to ♪ ♪ My Savior our lift ♪ ♪ Because he lived ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lived ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lived ♪ - I gave some announcements.
♪ 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 past ♪