Good morning and welcome to our second
service. On Sunday mornings we have two services, the first of which is our Bible
Prophecy Update that we do weekly. And now second service is our verse by verse study through
the word and we are currently in this amazing book of Hebrews. And Lord willing today we will
complete the seventh chapter. So I'll invite you at this time, if you're not already there,
to turn to Hebrews Chapter seven. Now, we are going to go through the entire
chapter 28 verses, so if you are unwilling or unable to stand for that length
or period of time, where you're seated is fine. You can follow along as I read. If you do want to
stand, that's fine too. So either way, verse one, the writer of Hebrews by the Holy
Spirit, 'This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham
returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, And (verse 2) Abraham gave him a 10th
of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means "king of righteousness"; then also "king of Salem"
means "king of peace." Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of
days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. Just think
how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now
the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect the tenth from the
people - that is from their fellow Israelites - even though they also are descended from Abraham.
This man, however, Did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham
and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the
greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by
him who was declared to be living. (How you doing so far, You're good, you're getting this
right? Yeah. Verse 9) 'One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through
Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor. If
perfection (verse 11) could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood - and indeed
the law given to the people established that priesthood - why was there still need for another
priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood
has changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a
different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear
verse 14 that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing
about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears,
one who has become a priest, not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the
basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: "you are priest forever, in the
order of is Melchizedek." The former regulation (verse 18) is set aside because it was weak and useless (for
the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And
(verse 20) it was not without an oath! Others became priest without any oath, but he became
a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind:
'You are a priest forever.' " Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better
covenant. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing
in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he is
able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede
for them. (Can I just parenthetically say, do you realize that Jesus prays for you? Your name
is on His prayer list, He is interceding for you. Now, what was your problem again? Verse
26) Such a high priest truly meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from
sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer
sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed
for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law (verse 28) appoints as
high priests men in all their weaknesses; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed
the Son, who has been made perfect forever.' All right. Let's pray. Father,
thank You. Okay, this is interesting. There's a lot here
obviously. And it requires that You as only You can, by the Holy Spirit give us
understanding, otherwise our time together today in Your Word is going to be a waste of
time. And I don't think there's anyone here who wants that to happen. That's why we're
here. So Lord, would You open this up to us? Would you by the Holy Spirit bring
understanding of this to us? What is it that You want us to see here, Lord? What is it
that you want us to hear, here, Lord? Will you speak now? Your servants are listening. We ask You in Jesus' name, Amen and
Amen. You could be seated. Thank you. I want to talk with you today about
Jesus. Imagine that? I know, right? I want to talk specifically about
how it is that only Jesus, only Jesus is the answer to everything and anything
that you and I face in our lives today, especially with everything that is happening
in the world today. Only Jesus is the answer. Now I realize that this title, for this chapter
can be seen as an oversimplification of what is arguably a very complex text. But the truth is,
it's all about Jesus, and that's what the writer of Hebrews is saying in this chapter that we
just read. Actually, starting in chapter seven and all the way through to Chapter 10
verse 18, the writer of Hebrews is going to connect Old Testament dots to Jesus.
See, it's been said; and I really appreciate the way this it's said, because it's so true; that the Old
Testament conceals what the New Testament reveals. And you start with Genesis 1:1 and what it is about
is the person of Jesus Christ. And every chapter, even every verse in every chapter points to the
person of Jesus Christ. It's all about Jesus. Now again, understand the context in which
this letter was written. This is prior to 70 AD when the temple was destroyed. So
these new believers, these Hebrew Christians were under tremendous persecution from
their friends, even family members. And they are going to temple and they are,
the priest is there and the high priest is there and they go into the temple and they
performed the priestly duties. It's all ritual. It's all (singing) tradition, sorry that
slipped. You get the point right? All of the priestly duties that were performed
in the Tabernacle, and that subsequently in the temple, all pointed to the person
of Jesus Christ and the finished work on the cross of Jesus Christ. Example: well,
we're going to see this in a in a bit. Also Thursday night, when we partake together of
the communion table, it all pointed to Christ. The priests in the service there in the
temple, they would do the wave offering. Now this is not like we know what it was, (waves). It
wasn't that. It wasn't like that. The wave offering was they would present this offering to the Lord:
North, South, East, West in the shape of a cross. It pointed to the person of Jesus Christ and the
finished work on the cross. Even the Tabernacle as we're going to, Lord willing, see next week in
chapter eight, it all was a picture, a type of the person of Christ. So the writer of Hebrews is
tasked, now with this connecting of the Old Testament to the new covenant and the person of Christ.
Because these Hebrew Christians were being pressured, under tremendous
pressure, to go back to Judaism. And the writer of Hebrews is writing to them,
explaining to them that Jesus is superior, better. Jesus is the fulfillment of all of these
things. He's our high priest forever. And keep in mind, just to kind of give you an idea
of what their daily life was like, they would get up in the morning and get ready to go to work.
And sure enough there's uncle Bob and auntie Sue. If your name is Bob and Sue, we love you. And
they're looking at us, probably giving a stink eye like, look at our high priest, look at his robe. Your high priest, where is he? Oh
yeah, he's in heaven, Huh? Yeah. Hmm. It wasn't tangible. It wasn't physical,
it was by faith. And this was tremendous stress on them and for them. So the
writer of Hebrews by the Holy Spirit brings back up this is Melchizedek which he first
introduced to them earlier in Chapter two. Now before we jump into this, I think it's incumbent
upon me to explain this connection To Melchizedek , who we're actually first introduced to in Genesis
chapter 14. Now I would encourage you, in your own and just allow the Holy Spirit to give you eyes of
understanding. Because it is so rich, what is here. So there is some debate concerning this is Melchizedek.
Some suggest that he was a Christophany which is an appearance of Christ in the Old
Testament, pre-Bethlehem. And others say no, he's not Christ, pre-Bethlehem, a Christophany,
rather he's a type of Christ. And I've heard and studied both sides of this, even
when we were going through the book of Genesis and we got the chapter 14. We talked about Melchizedek
and how he points to the person of Christ. And I've settled in my own heart that Melchizedek
is at the very least a profound picture of Christ. If he is a Christophany, an appearance of Christ
in the Old Testament, that's even more incredible. But at the very least he is a type of Christ. And
so I want to go through that real quick to kind of set the stage. Melchizedek was a king, Jesus is the
king of kings. Melchizedek was both king and priest, see it was one or the other. You were either a king
or a priest. but not a king and a priest. But with Melchizedek, he was both. Just as Jesus is our king
and high priest. Melchizedek was the king of Salem. Jesus is the prince of Salem . You know
what Salem means, right? It's the same word in Arabic as it is in Hebrew. Well in Hebrew
they don't use the 's' sound, they use the 'sh' sound. So it's Shalom, peace. In Arabic we say salaam. So if
I say to you in Arabic salaam alaikum: I'm saying peace be upon you. Jerusalem means possession
of peace. Isn't that interesting? The one city in the world throughout human history that has
been anything but. That's what Jeru they don't pronounce the 'J' in Hebrew. But that's what Jerusalem
means, possession of peace. So he's the king of salem, peace. He's also, his name means King
of Righteousness. And this is a picture of Jesus, who is our righteousness. Now,
this is where it gets a little bit uh... What's the word? I'm going to use the word
gnarly . If you have a better word, let me know afterwards. But we're going to use gnarly for
now. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Here's where it gets gnarly, because this is
where those who believed that Melchizedek was a Christophany, a pre-Bethlehem appearance of
Christ, they go to; because we're told that he was without father or mother. Now some who
suggests that he is a type of Christ say that there's no record of his genealogy, his father or
his mother. So again, either way you get there. You're fine. You don't ruin the Christophany,
if that's your belief, nor do you ruin the type. Well, so too was Jesus without earthly
father and mother pre-Bethlehem. Melchizedek, without beginning or end. Like with
Jesus, the alpha and the omega. Melchizedek was the priest of the most high God. A picture
of Jesus as the son of the most high God. Mel kiseljak remains a priest forever. So as
we're reading the chapter, I hope you caught it. But the writer of Hebrews is very careful to
point out that the Leites, the priestly tribe, from which Melchizedek was not of that order.
A new order. And the order of Melchizedek would come from Judah. Yet nobody, Moses
never said that Judah was going to be the priestly tribe. Only the Levites
would
be the priestly tribe. So what's up with that? Well, here's the problem. The Levites,
those priests. Well, how do I say it? They die. So you see why the writer of Hebrews is saying
we need a new order, a better hope. And not only that, but those priests had to do something
about their own sins, before they could even get to your sins. And depending on the priests
serving in the priestly duties at that time, might be a while, especially if you're in front of me.
He's got to deal with your sins before mine. And because, of course your sin list is a lot longer
than mine. No, I'm just kidding. Melchizedek remains a priest forever. Jesus is our
high priest for eternity. Melchizedek, another priest to come in his order. And then Jesus is in
the order of is Melchizedek. Now this is where again it gets interesting, because it's a picture of
communion, the bread and the wine. Melchizedek brings bread which points to and is a type of
the body of Jesus Christ, as the bread broken for us. And Melchizedek also brings wine, which
is a picture of the blood of Jesus Christ as the wine shed for us. He is a type at the
very least of the person of Jesus Christ. Now, it's for this reason that the writer
of Hebrews uses Melchizedek to articulate and communicate that only Jesus is our high
priest forever. Here's an illustration and this really has its place in what we know
as the feasts. It's the, actually again, same word in the Arabic language, my native
tongue as it is in Hebrew. It's the word 'moad'. And it's a word that carries with it, the
idea of a sign pointing to an appointed time, an appointment. And so like again in Arabic, if I
were to say to to you, 'ana undi moad maakum', what I'm saying is I have an appointment
moad with you. Moad. And it points to an appointed time, until that
time is fulfilled. So here's what this illustration is concerning. Melchizedek, he's like
a sign that you see in town. You're in Honolulu and you see a sign. In fact, I think there is
a sign and it says Kaneohe, something like 14 miles or whatever it is. That sign is a moad.
It points to your final destination. Now when you reach your destination, which is
Kaneohe, that sign has fulfilled its purpose. It's still there, it's still there, but it's
fulfilled its purpose. And that's what is Melchizedek is. He is a sign, moad if you prefer
that points to the final destination of Jesus, the Christ, who would come in his
order and fulfill as our high priest forever; because of the finished work of Christ, who
died for us and instead of us. It's only Jesus who can give to us that which we need, only Jesus
And the first one is in versus one through 10 and this is for anyone that is
here today or even watching online, and everything is in utter turmoil and chaos.
We talked about it in the Prophecy Update. Maybe you're here today and you're just filled
with anxiety, even fear with the uncertainty of what lies ahead, with everything that's
happening, the things you're being faced with, the things that are coming against you. There's
a lot at stake. A lot of people are looking at their livelihoods and the real possibility
of losing their livelihoods because of this. Well, you need peace and only
Jesus can give you that peace. Again here, the writer reintroduces Melchizedek. He
first mentioned him back in chapter two verse 17, but now he's going to expound on the
importance of Melchizedek and how he relates to Jesus, the Christ. And it all starts with the
name being the nature. See, they would wait, in the Middle East; they wouldn't give
you a name right when you were born. They would wait to give you a name, because
they wanted to see what your nature was. So they would watch and see what kind of a
personality you had, and then they would name you accordingly. Now, there are exceptions and there
are places in Scripture. I think about Isaac, which in Arabic again the same as the Hebrew, Yitschak,
Iishak. if I say to you in Arabic and ana Iishak maakum, I'm laughing with you. That's what his
name literally means. Yitzhak laughter. Why? Because the name is the Nature. This is
laughable. That a woman 90 years old, her womb long ago closed and barren, has a child. (laughs) I know
we'll name him Yitzhak. We'll name him laughter. The name is the nature. You could go
on down the line, Yaakov, Jacob, heel snatcher, con man. Esau, hairy. I
mean, if you're named hairy, we love you. I know it's a different play on words. You get the
point right? Well such is the case with the name. Melchizedek, because the name is the nature. And
the nature is this: He's a king of righteousness first, then a king of peace. Now stay with me. One
cannot know this peace absent first, righteousness. When we're right with God and it's Christ's
imputed righteousness, then we know peace. When we have the righteousness, then we can have
the peace. The righteousness comes first and this is why the writer of Hebrews is very careful to
explain this. The name is the Nature, righteousness and peace. Only Jesus, I mean, Jesus is our
righteousness, because our own righteousness, as we're going to see in Isaiah on Thursday
nights, is as filthy rags. And by the way, I would I encourage you, if you're interested to
look at the original meaning of that, I don't want to get into that today. It's pretty graphic.
Our own righteousness is as that filthy rag. This is not our own righteousness, this is
Christ's righteousness. And not only is Jesus, our righteousness, only Jesus is our peace. You know
that song we sing, You Are Our Peace. He alone gives us peace. And this is not just any peace. Jesus said, John 14:27, 'Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. (Hang on to that.) Do not let
your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. So, I do not give you to you peace as the world
gives. Well, that means that the world has a peace that it can give. Yeah, but I would rather
have the peace that Jesus gives, because that's the true peace. It's supernatural peace. See the
peace that the world has to offer goes like this: You can have peace when everything is going okay.
Well, how is that working out for you? If the only time I had peace is when things in my life are just
going smashingly well, I'm sorry for that word. I'm going to have peace probably, I
don't know, a minute and 30 seconds a day, if that, on a good day. Because see now my
pea ce is predicated upon my circumstances. That's the peace that the world offers. You
can, hey, peace, everything's good, okay. Tomorrow, no more peace. Things aren't
good right now, peace goes, bye bye. That's not the peace that Jesus comes to
give. The peace that Jesus gives transcends human understanding. This is what Paul echoed in
Philippians chapter four, verses six and seven. We talked about this in the update
as well, because there's so much fear, so much fear, so much anxiety. And I've shared
with you very openly. I know it makes people uncomfortable when I'm this candid, but I still
struggle with anxiety, and fear, and worry. I'm a professional worrier, by the way. I have a
PhD I don't know if you do that or not, in worry. Don't call me Dr. Farag. You can call me doctor
worry if you want. But I am really good at it. There was one point, I was so good at it,
if I ran out of things to worry about, I'd ask you if there was something I could worry
about for you. Oh, I was really good at it. But this is the peace that settles you and keeps
your heart and mind in Christ, no matter what's happening. This peace is not determined by the
circumstances in your life. Things in your life can just be upside down and in utter turmoil
and chaos. But this piece that Jesus gives settles you. Everything around you is in turmoil.
But you have this peace, that supernatural peace. That's the peace that Jesus comes to give.
I could use me some of that. How about you? Well, here's the second thing that only
Jesus can give and it's hope, true hope. Now again, the writer is very careful to point
out the Levitical priesthod's insufficiency, and the law's imperfection, which necessitates
a better hope. He draws this point and upon this insufficiency of the Levitical order, and
how that it is imperfect, and the law is imperfect. The law can do nothing for you. The only
thing the law can do for you is show you, you. And when you see yourself in the mirror of
God's law, you see yourself as God sees you , as a sinner who has transgressed the law. That's
all the law is there for. What if I told you that the 10 commandments were never given for us
to keep? Are you kidding me right now? Think about that. Let's just think about that for a
moment. Talk about that for just a moment. I'm busted on number one, and number two,
and number three, and number four, number five, and number six, and all the way to number
10. I even added a couple, if you want, to that. I broke every single one of them. Now, what
is the point of the law? The point of the law is to show me, me and my need for
Jesus. So the law takes me by the hand and says, ''is that what?" You're toast. Yes, I'm
toast. You need a Savior. Yes, I need a Savior. Let's go. Takes me like a schoolmaster by the
hand to the Savior, who fulfilled the law. He fulfilled the law. I cannot keep the law.
The law is imperfect. I need a better hope. And that hope is Jesus. See both the Lavitical
priesthood and the law made nothing perfect, but rather served its purpose like that. moad,
that sign pointing us to our final destination, which is Jesus the Christ. Were it not for
the better hope of Jesus being introduced, we're left with little hope in the old order.
And here's why, it was only kaphar, in the Hebrew cover. See these sacrifices in the Old
Testament were only temporary. They were not sufficient forever. They were only
temporary. They temporarily were covered. You know, I thought about this and I thought maybe
I need to... Help me with this Lord, because this is kind of intense. I want you to think about
what it was like for them in the Old Testament. Every time they sinned they had to get an
animal, and they had the take it to the temple. And that animal, they would lay their hands on that animal.
And they would confess their sins, that they were sort of transferring to that animal that
was going to be sacrificed for their sins. And then the priest would take that animal, and
slay that animal, and shed that animal's blood. And now their sins were covered
because the sacrifice was made. I have to share with you.
This is when I came to Christ 39 years ago, I was just a blank slate. I knew
nothing. I went out and got a good news Bible and that was a stretch for me. I killed so many
brain cells, not proud of it, with my lifestyle. So this is a limited vocabulary Bible.
Many of you might remember this. And so I'm, I picked up the Bible and I started in
the book of Genesis. I hadn't heard nothing about, start in the gospel of John. So I started
in Genesis. And I'm reading this Bible. Whoa, then I get to Exodus, and then I get to
Leviticus. And I'm like, are you kidding me? You got to take an animal and kill it and
sacrifice it and shed its blood for your sins. I'm thinking, do they do that? So, I'm driving around
churches looking for livestock in the parking lot. No, I'm not kidding. I was a blank slate. I'm
like, no way. Every time? Wait a minute. Every time I sin, I got to slay an animal, and sacrifice
that animal, and shed its blood from my sin. That's a lot of animals. Right? And for those of you who
faint at the sight of blood, how is that going to work out for you, Right?
That just brings, I mean, right in your face, the seriousness of sin. Can we agree
that that would serve as a deterrent? Every time I sinned, blood has to be shed. And it's only temporary because it's only a covering
of the sin, until the Lamb of God who was slain; until He comes in the order of Melchizedek
as our high priest, who has no sin of His own. And He has sacrificed once and for all. Imagine
my relief when I got to the New Testament. I did not step foot in a church until I had read
the Bible all the way through for the first time. And I actually thank God for that, because
I got rooted and I didn't get into all the stuff, the traditions. But imagine my relief
when I get to the New Testament. When I tell you I was a blank slate, that's not hyperbole. When I
get to the New Testament, it's kind of like, oh, thank You Jesus. That's why there's no
livestock in the parking lots of churches. You were sacrificed, You are the Lamb, You are the
sacrifice for my sins; and it doesn't just cover my sin, it removes my sin as far as the East is
from the West. And You remember them no more, wow! Sorry, I'm yelling. I'm serious. Can you imagine? I was ecstatic.
I'm jumping around in my apartment. I'm just like Jesus, You're the...
It all made sense now. You're the sacrifice. Oh, thank You, Jesus,
that I wasn't born in the Old Testament. Can I get an amen on that? Because that's what
they had to do. Well, let's fast forward to when this was written, Prior to 70 AD. They're still
doing it. And here's these Hebrew Christians going, no need, no need. Jesus is our high
priest, sacrificed once and for all. He's the better hope. The writer of Hebrews also
quotes a Messianic Psalm. Now, for those of you that were with us when we studied through the
book of Psalms, there were many Psalms that were Messianic Psalms, Speaking of and pointing
to Jesus Chris. And Psalm 110 is one of them. And the writer of Hebrews, and they would
have known it. They're connecting these dots. Every single one of those Hebrew Christians
knew exactly whom Melchizedek was. And when the writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm
110 verse four, they knew exactly what he was referring to. It says this, 'The LORD has sworn
And will not relent, "You are a priest forever (Speaking of Jesus.) According to the
order of Melchizedek." ' He fulfilled that. Melchizedek pointed to that. So now only
Jesus can give me the peace I so desperately need, especially with what I'm up against in my life
today. And only Jesus can give me the hope that I so desperately need with everything
that I'm faced with in my life today. Does it get any better than that? Actually, yes,
it does. The best is yet to come. As they say, eternal life. Only Jesus can give us eternal life. Now, I am keenly aware that this is
a firm grasp of the obvious. However, only Jesus lives forever and remains perfect
forever. You know, h ow do I say this? I'll just say it. The gospel is that Jesus was crucified, buried, and
rose again from the dead. Why is it important that he rose again from the dead? Because he defeated
death. Why is it important that He defeats death? Because in defeating death, He purchased
the price for us for eternal life. Would you agree that the number
one thing that people fear is death? And the apostle Paul, I love it. It's a sanctified
taunting of death; 'Death, where is your sting. O grave, where is your victory?' I have,
Jesus. He defeated death. He paid with His death for my death, in my place. And He paid
with His death so I could have eternal life. Let me ask you a question. What's the
most valuable thing that you possess? Don't say your car, or your stock portfolio,
or crypto currency maybe, I don't know. What's the most valuable thing you
possess? You know what it is. Eternal life. That is your most valuable possession. And
here's the thing, You didn't even pay for it. It was given to you as a gift. Well, someone had
to pay for it. Yeah, He did, Jesus did. He paid in full the price on that cross. He paid the purchase
price. We are not our own. We have been purchased. It's been said that our greatest need was
His greatest deed. What's our greatest need? Salvation. What was his greatest deed? Going to His
death for our salvation. One last thing. And I'll bring it to a close. And I hope that, and I
was reluctant to even mentioned this, but I have to confess this. I've been very intimidated by,
particularly chapters seven through 10 of Hebrews. It is a very complex passage of Scripture in God’s
Word. I heard a story about a pastor who Got to the end of Chapter six and was going verse by
verse. And you know, sort of taking his time. And then when he got the chapter 7 he finished the
entire book in one day, just like, 'I'm done with this book.' It's a really hard book to teach.
So this last week I spent some time with the Lord, and the Lord just said, why are you doing it
again? I know, I know what He meant by that. I'm doing it again. I'm complicating it. My wife
keeps telling me I have the gift of complication. I keep telling her that's not one of the gifts that,
you know... It doesn't matter. You have it anyway. So I usually start about Monday, sometimes
Sunday night just to kind of get a feel for where I'm going. And I read the
chapter. And I'm like, oh God. What? The Levites, the Levitical
priesthood, the law, the imperfection, the insufficiency, the order of Melchizedek,
Christophany type. Blah blah, I mean I was going crazy. Lord's like, why do you do
that to yourself? It's about Me. Sunday's come every week. Deeply profound, I
know, but for me every Sunday it comes every week without fail. And I always remind the
Lord of that. Lord, what am I going to say on Sunday about this? He just says well just
tell him about Me, because that's what it's about. Only Me. I want to end with this.
When you think about your salvation and many of you I'm sure can remember, I can't
remember the actual day. I just know the month and the year. I was a mess, man. I don't
remember anything, actually. But I do remember praying one night and then falling asleep praying.
And then waking up the next morning a new creation in Christ, and old things have passed away, behold
all things have become new, and I never looked back. And maybe you can remember your spiritual birthday,
that day when you came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Have you ever thought of it
like this? Your eternal life started that day. Well think this through with me. Your eternal life started the day you came to
Christ. Do you realize the implications of that? Wait, let me see if I got this straight.
So this is a textbook case of win win. Yes, it is. And by the way, as one so aptly put it,
for the Christian, this is the most hell we will ever know. Conversely, sadly for the non Christian,
this is the most heaven they will ever know. I suppose in some ways you could say it like
this, because it's true, this is as bad as it gets. Whoa, but pastor, what if it gets worse between
now and the rapture? Oh, right, good question. Fair question. Here's the answer. And it's the
answer that the Lord has settled my heart with. And I mean it has just settle it
for me. Here's the question again. Things are getting really intense
and I faced the real possibility of losing my livelihood, and my house
and it looks like it's getting worse. My world right now, my family
right now is in utter turmoil. My son, my daughter, prodigal son,
wayward daughter, I mean it really is hell as I'm going to understand it. And I
don't know how much longer I can hang on. Okay, here's the answer to that question. So He
paid for you, purchased your eternal life. And as we just read in this chapter that He was the
guarantor. You understand that in financial terms? He signed, the Holy Spirit is the earnest
money down on this purchase, this investment. He has way too much invested in
you. The Holy Spirit indwells you. You think He's going to forsake you or abandon
you. He will never leave you or forsake you. You be encouraged. You have eternal life. And
until that day when that trumpet sounds, and I believe it's going to sound sooner than any of
us can possibly imagine; and the dead in Christ rise first, and we who are alive and remain will be
caught up raptured up to meet the Lord in the air. And all of those loved ones that died, that we
miss so much, they're going to rise first bodily resurrection with their new glorified bodies. I'll
tell you man, it doesn't take much for me. I just start thinking about that, and I'm so encouraged,
because I know I'm going to see my daughter Noelle again; going to see my mommy again too. I hope
I'm going to see my dad. I believe I might. I know he came to Christ before he died.
I really believe that. That's my hope. But all the loved ones. And I, as I stand behind
this pulpit, I look out to you as an amazing church. And I just love you all so much. And a lot
of you, we've been through a lot, haven't we? So many have gone home to be with the Lord. And we are
going to be reunited with them soon and very soon. And I'll tell you, if God's going to do that and
He is, this is not pie in the sky, no pun intended, why wouldn't He do whatever we need until that? Is there anything He wouldn't do? I mean, you
and I, as earthly parents, are fallen and sinful and yet if our Children have a need, or ask us
for a fish, we're not going to give them a snake. I mean, inasmuch as it lies within us. If
we see our child in need, oh my goodness, we're going to tax the moon and the stars for
them, we'll move heaven and earth for them. How much more Heavenly Father He's purchased us. We're under new management,
Under new ownership. We are not our own. He has us and He will take care of us until
he takes us in the air to be with Him. You be encouraged, you be encouraged. Why don't you
stand? We'll have the worship team come up and... I'm learning to love this book of
Hebrews. Let's just put it like that. You know, the first part was great. And by the way, when we
get to chapter 11, I cannot wait for Chapter 11. Read chapter 11. That'll that'll really encourage
you. As it's been affectionately referred to the Hall of Faith, where the writer recalls
and recounts all of these men and women who by faith, and then you can fill in the blank.
You're like, whoa. Can't Wait till Chapter 11. But we've got chapter 8 and 9 and 10 first.
And you have to come back those weeks. Let's pray. Father, thank You so much for Your
Word. Oh Lord, thank You for this book of Hebrews, this chapter here. What a much needed
reminder for us of just the simplicity. It's just you, Jesus. This is you. It's
all about You. We sing it. We say it, but Lord, we want to live it. I want to live it. Lord, If there's somebody here, maybe watching
online that just I mean struggling and barely hanging on, would You as only You can, give
them that peace, that supernatural peace. Fill them with hope as only You can. And remind
them that they're saved, they're saved, that we're going to spend eternity with You.
That's what we have to look forward to, and that makes whatever we're going through so much easier
to get through, knowing that we have eternity to look forward to, with You. Thank You, Jesus. Cannot
thank You enough, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
