Sermon "Jesus Christ, Our Captain" by Rick Shabi, January 23, 2021

well jesus christ we've talked about jesus christ a lot and we should talk about jesus christ a lot we see him as our leader and in the bible we see so many different names for jesus christ that we can talk about and every single one of those names gives us an an aspect of his character and an aspect of why we follow him jesus christ is called our savior indeed he is our savior without his life and without his sacrifice none of us would have any future we would have no you know no reason even to live without him uh without his sacrifice eternity is in his hands and we owe him everything for that he's called the messiah he's called one time the son of god he's also called the son of man was he was on earth he's called the lamb of god on the other hand he's called the lion of judah he's fierce when he needs to be he's compassionate of course at all times he loves his people at all times he's called king he's called master he's called shepherd he's called chief cornerstone the one on whom our entire belief system in our entire entire future is focused he is he is that foundational cornerstone and so we can and you can name more you know i'm just listing a few that are coming in my mind as i speak here there's more names as we go through the bible that you recognize or could fill in as we went around the room how jesus christ is pictured to us he is he is the most important being to us and we look to him and we literally as we've been talking about in sabbath services and on our bible studies the book of hebrews tells us he is the most important um the most important being in our future and it's only through his name that we will ever have salvation and enter into the kingdom of god well as we've gone through the book of hebrews you know we've seen that jesus christ is first and foremost in the book the book reminds us how important it is and i as i mentioned in my letter to you yesterday i hope we are recognizing and feeling the inspiration of how important jesus christ is and that it's renewed our belief in him and renewed our inspiration as we as we follow him and our commitment as we follow him but as we've gone through the book of hebrews we've learned a number of things but there are three names for jesus christ that appear in the book of hebrews that don't appear together in any other parts of the of the new testament and i want to talk about those three names today because they will give us another insight into jesus christ and what he means to us and as we are here in 2021 and we look forward to the time ahead of us could be a tumultuous road you know ahead of us who knows how long that road will be but between now and the return of jesus christ this this identity that we will give him today that comes from the book of hebrews in addition to all the other identities that he has will see us through and without understanding this part of him we would fail but god gives us that insight so let's let's go back into the book of hebrews and hebrews 2 hebrews 2 and verse 10 we find one of those names for jesus christ and this is the first time in the new testament that he is called by this word that is appropriately translated in the new king james a little differently also appropriately in the old king james but the the translators of the new king james used the greek word appropriately here hebrews 2 verse 10 it was fitting for him for whom are all things and by whom are all things speaking of god the father it was fitting for him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings the captain of their salvation now that's the greek word archagos and it has a it has the meaning literally of chief leader captain in some places it's only appears four times in the new testament and every single time it appears it's in reference to jesus christ also can mean author as it appears one more time in hebrews and prince there are a couple times in acts that it's referred to as prince let's go back and look at one of those in acts 5 and verse 24. acts 5 24 we see a word captain in acts 5 24 as well but this is a physical captain in acts 5 24 it's not the captain and the word that is is translated as captain referring to jesus christ acts 5 24 when the high priest the captain of the temple he was the um civil or the the physical commander and the chief priests heard these things they wondered what the outcome would be speaking you know of of what the apostles are doing let's drop down to verse 20 um seven when they brought them they set them before the council and the high priest asked them didn't we strictly didn't we strictly command you not to teach in this name and look you filled jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on us but peter and the other apostles answered and said we ought to obey god rather than men a principle for us to remember we obey the authorities of the land but when it comes the time between choosing to what god's will is versus man's will we choose him the god of our fathers raised up jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree him god is exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior to give repentance to israel and forgiveness of sins the archagos in verse 20 and verse 31 there is prince princes are leaders they're they're captains they're they're the same principles of our chaos they're more appropriately listed as as prince in hebrews 2 verse 10 more appropriately listed as captain as we will see let's pause for a moment think about the word captain you've all heard the word captain and in our english language there's a number of captains that we can talk about we talk about if you're in business you can talk about captains of industry they're the they're the leaders they're the ones who whom people look to they may set the standard you know we could probably name a few of the captains of industry today who people look to people listen to because they have actually performed very well and their companies stand up very well over the course of time we have captains of ships and those ships you know when they're navigated and they have a captain of the ship he's responsible for everything that goes on there starts at port a ends up at port b and everything that goes on in between is under his control it's his job to make sure everything gets there safely that if storms come up and they have to change navigation he's responsible for it all good captains are tried and true and they know how and they are they are battle tried in getting that ship from port a to port b we have captains of sports teams those of you who are football fans basketball fans every sports team has a captain and those captains are something that are chosen by the team these are these are people that they look up to they're the ones who are an inspiration they encourage they abide by the rules of the team they're the ones who are encouraging and inspiring and keeping the team together they know each other and they're highly respected by the people on that team now we have captains in the military and when we look in the captains of the military the army the navy the marines they say that they're a special a special breed of people if you look it up on in the on the internet captains is the highest rank that you can achieve in the military and still be in the field it is a field position and it's not something that just automatically comes to you by by virtue of seniority lieutenant is that way but there are qualifications that for someone to be captain they have to be at least four years as a lieutenant but when you become captain it's because you are evaluated and you are promoted to that because of your experience of what you've done in the field you've been through a lot that you are the the army navy marines whatever air force would look at you and say this is a man that we can put our trust in and that people there respect if there's a battle to go into they will look to him and they will follow him when he says go they go and when he says follow they follow but that doesn't happen just by edict it's because of the reputation that he's developed because of the performance that he's had in the field that people would look at to him and say i trust him i know how he can get us through this battle he's got the ideas he's got the tactical skills he's got the communication skills he's got the leadership skills you've developed kind of if you've ever watched the the hbo series on band the brothers he can develop that team that is closely knit together that can follow and take them right through to whatever they're going and it's it's quite a thing it's quite a thing to to have that honor placed on you to be a captain jesus christ it tells us in hebrews 2 verse 10 he's our captain he's our captain he's the captain of our salvation now what does that mean where are we going where are we going what has god called us to well all our goals should be to be in the kingdom of god but we know that that's not an easy task it's not just a matter of of you know being at one place every week and and doing the rope things that we do is part of our worship of god there's an entire family an entire unit troops if you will that god is developing and we as we traverse our time from now until the return of jesus christ there's going to be battles there's going to be trials there's going to be wind storms come up there's going to be things that can throw us off course we need someone we need someone to lead us through because it was just you and me navigating this course alone we would we would run we would fall we would get scared we would back off we need a captain that can lead us through to the kingdom of god only jesus christ can be that captain he is battle tried and battled true he is the leader he has gone before us and he has he has written the script for us we've seen that as he has lived his life as a human that he has traversed the same trail that we have but he's come out and he's been victorious over himself and over human nature and over the world and over satan and now he sits at god's right hand he that's the path that you and i have to be there with jesus christ when we're resurrected but it's a tough road to follow there will be physical leaders but the captain of our salvation the one that we look to the one that can lead us through the one that we can absolutely trust the one who we have to bind to we have to be together behind as we follow through is jesus christ we may have physical leaders but those physical leaders must follow him they must follow him because he's the one who will see us through let's go back to hebrews 10. the verse i gave you in the letter yesterday but i think very fitting here as we look at jesus christ as our our leader as our captain and looking at him as the time that we are in yes he's all those other things that we talked about he is also our captain and he will be the one who leads us leads us to the promised land if you will the one who will take us to the kingdom of god let's look at hebrews 10 beginning in verse 19. we just read this on the bible study the other night therefore brethren having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of jesus that's how he and he entered that holy of holies he did it by sacrificing his life and living his life perfectly as an example for us the boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of jesus by a new and living way or a recent as it could be translated and living way he's paved the path he's done the things that we can that we um we need to do he knows how to get there by a new and living way which he consecrated for us our captain he lived the life he blazed the trail he's the captain he's battle tried he's battle proven we can all follow him we can all get behind him we can all trust in him and rely on him and learn in that as we go through our lives so that when he says follow we would all follow none of us want to be deserters that's a dishonor in the military right you don't want to be deserters you have to trust your captain you have to follow your captain when he says follow you follow when he says go you go but in order to do that you have to be understanding him you have to be understanding the rules of the company you have to be a band of brothers who there are to support each other as you follow the leader just as it is in the military a new way verse 20 which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh and having a high priest over the house of god we have a high priest today in the church jesus christ he's our high priest today after the order of melchizedek no beginning no end our eternal high priest because of all this in verse 22 let's draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith let's believe in him let's follow him let's follow our leader let's learn to trust in him let's learn to believe let's learn to be the band of brothers that god has called us to be that we support each other encourage each other inspire each other as we follow him to where he's leading us let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water let's do that let's follow our leader you know christ perfectly perfectly fits the description of a captain in no matter what arena that you want to define captain he perfectly defines that as you go through the bible and as you see what he's done and how he's blazed the trail no doubt that he is the commander and we need to fall in line behind him and be prepared and be preparing ourselves to learn to follow everything he says and do everything he says so that as he says go and as he says follow we're prepared we're prepared because our faith and our assurance our faith and our trust and reliance is completely on him you know often as we read through the bible and we see concepts in the new testament we can go back to the old testament and we find the very same picture there so let's go back to joshua joshua 5. and as we look at jesus christ and the hebrews you know the the author of hebrews tells us he's the captain of our salvation we see that even in the old testament jesus christ was the captain the captain of the armies of israel as they were about to enter the promised land as we look at 2021 and however long it is before jesus christ returns he will be leading us to the kingdom of god to the spiritual promised land but here in joshua 5 we see he was readied and prepared to do that as joshua was preparing to lead the people of israel to conquer jericho and to inhabit the land that god had promised them joshua 5 let's begin in verse 12. they've come into they've come into um they've come into the land you can read you know through verse 5 you see that they've done the things that god said they hadn't circumcised the males as they were down in the wilderness they got that done in verse 12 they're in the they're in the promised land it says the man has ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land now the land would be feeding them so the god who had been with them and provided for them all those years he would still provide but now the land would be able to feed them it came to uh after they'd eaten the province of the land the children of israel no longer had manna but they ate the food of the land of canaan that year verse 13 it came to pass when joshua was by jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked and behold a man stood opposite him with a sword drawn in his hand and joshua went to him and said to him are you for us or for our adversaries so he said no but as commander of the army of the lord i think in the old king james it says i'm here as the captain of the army of the lord no but as commander of the army of the lord i have now come and joshua fell on his face to the earth and he worshipped and he said to him what does my lord say to his servant now we know who this captain of this army that was marching into the promised land joshua was their physical leader but here was the one who became jesus christ who would lead them into battle joshua would follow him implicitly as he had as he had demonstrated through his life then the captain of the lord's army said to joshua take your sandal off your foot for the place where you stand is holy it was the one who became jesus christ as israel was ready to march into the promised land the captain the captain of israel was there to lead them into that into that land our captain is ready to lead us where he would have us go today in the very same way so we look at that word captain that we see in hebrews we see it in the old testament and we know jesus christ is a captain we can look to israel went into the promised land as they followed god as they as they adhered to his principles as he they did what he said even though some of the orders didn't seem to make sense to some of them as they did what he said they entered in when they stepped out of line and took matters into their own hands and thought i can do this what's the difference they failed as you read through the book of joshua same thing applies to us as we follow jesus christ as we apply into our lives the principles he teaches us as we learn to in detail follow apply and diligently follow him and apply he will lead and we will be there in the kingdom but if we take matters into our own hands if we fear off the course if we're deserters and we're not the band of brothers that jesus christ wants us to be we'll fall we'll fail only with him as our captain only with him is our captain that we will find our way that he will lead us into his kingdom and he's well qualified he's well qualified honestly i don't think anyone could say well this or that you know jesus christ is perfectly qualified he did it all the book of hebrews talks about that as well if we have any doubt that jesus christ is qualified to be our captain we can look at hebrews 6. where another term the only time in the new testament or in the bible that it appears in the bible is in hebrews 6 and speaking of jesus christ and in verse 18 i'll pick it up in verse 17. now let's pick it up in verse 19 where the sentence begins verse 19 hebrews 6 this hope we all have the hope of the kingdom of god it's because of jesus christ that we have that hope he lived he died he was resurrected we have the hope of eternal life because of what he did this hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which enters the presence behind the veil never underscore how important that is that jesus christ that we now have access to the throne of god and we can come boldly to him we can speak freely and plainly to god and bear our souls to him that's hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us even jesus having become high priest forever according to the order of melchizedek the forerunner forerunner the only time that's used in the new testament the only time the greek word prodromos is used in the old testament is right there defining jesus clearly says the forerunner forerunner jesus prodromos means one who goes before could be a could be a scout someone who spies out or not spies out the territory but goes before us reading right from the strong's definition says one who comes in advance to a place where the rest are to follow jesus christ one who came in advance to a place where the rest are to follow he did come in advance he was god but he emptied himself of being god but he became a human so he could live his life as we live ours that he could experience everything that we've experienced that he would be able to live that life and successfully navigate it and show and prove that with god's spirit and as we follow him we too can navigate it without that example without him being in advance of us there'd be something missing and in god's plan he knew we need a captain that we can follow that can say i know exactly what you're feeling i've been through it and with god's spirit with what i will open up to you as his life would demonstrate with his spirit you too can get to the promised land you too can receive eternal life but you have to follow me you have to do it exactly the way i did it he said i am the way i am the truth i am the life you have to follow me i did it and you have to do it the same way there's only one way to the kingdom of god and he demonstrated it in first peter it tells us we've he left us an example that we should follow we follow our captain he did it he was successful now in ancient greek when they would use this word prodromos they had a couple of things that they that they used it for the meaning was there one of them was little armies or little units that they would send in to look at land ahead of time and then come back and say this is this is a this is something that we can conquer this is something that we can do another one is little patrol broads that they would send out big ship was coming into a harbor and there was a storm ahead they would send patrol boats out who would navigate the way and say well this is the way you need to do it got to watch out for this got to watch out for that they would successfully navigate the harbor and they would go back to the larger ship and say this is the way this is the way in ship would do it that they were successful that way they were called boats whatever the brickwork is to show the way they did it they navigated the course they successfully went they successfully came back they were able to steer the ship right to where it needs to be because they knew the lay of the land they had done it now you might be thinking as you as you uh as we're thinking about this of an old testament example a few weeks ago you heard mr perma give a sermon on the scouts of the land in the old testament and it'll be the sermon that we put up on sabbath next next week in in lieu of a webcast on our webcast but the scouts the scouts in ancient israel they were sent you will recall god chose 12 they went into the promised land 10 came back and said we can't do it we can't do it the people are too tall the walls are too high two joshua and caleb came back and said we're well able to take it of course of course we can take it god is with us he's our captain he can see us through these things that seemingly seem impossible in physical terms but god can see us through he we are a well able to do it well you know that the people who didn't rely on god who weren't trusting in their captain who said we're not following him we're not going into that land what happened to them they perished in the wilderness they never entered the promised land that entire generation except for joshua and caleb who abandoned god who looked and were afraid of doing things because of the physical the physical fortresses that were there who didn't have the courage and who didn't have the faith in god even though they saw him do much more mighty things than the walls of jericho and and conquer a few people who were somewhat taller than them they just hadn't developed that faith you and i need to develop that faith that no matter what comes up god can see us through and will see us through back in joshua again joshua 2 as they're about to embark on the promised land under joshua's command at this time he also is going to send out some scouts into jericho and to have them look at the land there and see what is what is going on chapter 2 of joshua verse 1 joshua the son of then sent out two men from acacia grove to spy secretly saying go view the land especially jericho go out and look and see what's going on now you know the story of jericho the walls were tall they were impenetrable the people of jericho thought no human would be able to conquer them god showed he does it so they went and they came to the house of a harlot named rehab and lodged there well you can go through that story you know the story there the scouts when you come down to the end of chapter two this time they came back with a good report this time they didn't come back and say the walls are too tall there's no way we can conquer that they had learned under their captain their physical captain joshua and the example of what had gone before them in the south spout in the scouts who failed to trust in god in verse 23 it says so the two men returned descended from the mountain and crossed over and they came to joshua the son of noah and told him all that had befallen them and they said to joshua truly the lord has delivered all the land into our hands for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are faint-hearted because of us no ifs no buts okay we've looked at the land we can take it god can lead us later in chapter five we have the captain that's there that's leading them through but they knew that god would lead them to do that even though in physical terms it would seem like an impossible task a suicide mission they learn to trust god as we traverse our trail to the kingdom of god we have got to trust in jesus christ he's been there he's done it he was a human and now he sits at the right hand of god he made it all possible for us we can't doubt or shouldn't doubt i should say maybe shouldn't doubt that he is well able to lead us into his kingdom but it has to be done his way we have to follow exactly the way he said he is the way not our ideas on what should be the way he is the way he is the truth he is the life and he gives us plenty of detail on what it means to be following him in exactly the way that he wants to be followed and exactly the way that we have to be as we band together as the troops behind him that he will lead into battles yes some may be tough some may be trying some may think i want to fall back and i don't want to do it but you know we always have to have the faith we are follow him no matter what he is the way he is the only way as it says in john 10 he is the only door to the kingdom the only way if we think that somebody doing something a little less or a little different is going to get us into the kingdom we are fooling ourselves it is only by his way and we are taught that way now as you look at those scouts it's very interesting lessons that we learned from them but interestingly enough the word prodromos in the new testament that only appears in hebrews 6 as jesus christ is our forerunner does have a hebrew equivalent in the old testament but the hebrew equivalent isn't spy it isn't scout even though these were spies and scouts that israel sent out that's not the equivalent of what jesus christ when he's called forerunner the hebrew equivalent of forerunner is first fruit first fruit so you and i are not the spies and scouts we're first fruits who was the first of the first fruits jesus christ paved the way jesus christ showed that it can be done jesus christ showed us it's possible he was the first he's our captain we follow him we will be those first fruits the bible talks about now you can go back and you can look at exodus 13 it takes some time to ruminate and meditate on it when the when the original spies went into the promised land you remember that god told them to bring out specifically he said bring out the fruit of the land and they brought out these huge grapes huge grapes i mean there's artists rendering of them there's there's sculptures made of these huge grapes that the israelites had to bring back on their shoulders it was a good good good land and the greek equates that to the forerunner they had to focus on the fruit of the land look what god is giving us that was the first of the first fruits you jesus christ is the first of the first fruits our job is to follow him to be the first fruits that he has called us to be and as we do that and as we follow him explicitly and follow the principles of becoming first fruits he will lead us to a glorious place that can't even what we can't even imagine he's our captain he's well qualified to be our captain he's been in the trenches he's lived it he's done it he's successfully navigated it and what he navigated is far more difficult than anything you and i have navigated to date and he came out to the other side and he now sits at god's right hand he's been resurrected he has eternal life the very same thing that god says for us if we follow if we see him as our captain and then when times get tough and even as we're looking at all the other things that jesus christ is in our life which is literally everything that we follow our captain and we always remember he showed the way and if we're departing from that way at all that we don't trust him we don't believe him and we simply will not find our way into the kingdom there is just one way he has shown it and he can do it he's our captain he is our prodromas a forerunner we can have faith in him and there's one other name for jesus christ that we find in the book of hebrews that's important as well go back to hebrews 8. 8 and verse 6. hebrews 8 and verse 6. again speaking of jesus christ it says but now he has obtained a more excellent ministry remember in hebrews it's better the new covenant is better than the old covenant the priestly ministry or the spiritual ministry is better jesus christ is better than the earthly ministry better than the earthly high priest his ministry is better than the old covenant as much as he is mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises as we discussed their promises were you're going to into a landfill with milk and honey a physical land ours is you will have eternal life you will rule with jesus christ forever and ever you'll have eternal life which promises are better but jesus christ here says in verse six he's the mediator he's the mediator now we do find that a few times in the new testament only six times but again only in the book of hebrews do we have captain forerunner and mediator focused on in those areas in those areas the greek for mediator is macetus mesitas it literally means go-between reconciler or mediator why was it important that we would have a mediator why do we need someone as a go-between between us and god if we have access to god the father's throne and to him in prayer any time that we choose to enter in because of jesus christ sacrifice why would we need a mediator well we can go back again to the old testament this time the book of job and we can see that it highlights in the book of job something that's i guess missing if we want to put it in that term in job 9. the the uh hebrew equivalent of matissus or macetus mediator in in the old testament is found in job 9 and verse 33 also in job 33 and verse 23 but in job 9 you know the story of job you know god himself says that he was a blameless man he obeyed god he followed god and yet and yet you know all these things came upon him trial after trial he lost things that to you and me are just kind of unimaginable if we if we put ourselves in job's position if we had lost that much as we as we follow god and you can understand why job would say why did this happen to me i i obeyed god i followed him i you know i did everything he said why are these things why are these things occurring to me in job 9 we'll pick it up in verse 32 we see job speaking here and you can appreciate job you and i would do the same thing you know we would be like is this fair is this fair god verse 32 he's saying for he god is not a man as i am that i may answer him and that we should go to court together you know what he just doesn't understand he doesn't get what it's like to be a man he doesn't understand what it's like to have your business washed away to have your home washed away to have all your kids killed he doesn't understand that how do i talk to him about that he doesn't get it he's god he might have a valid point for he is not a man as i am that i may answer him that we should go to court together nor is there any mediator between us who may lay his hand on us both there's no mediator how can i talk to god he doesn't get it he doesn't understand he's never been a human he doesn't know what it's like to have all these things happen to us that's job's complaint and you know what he identified something that was if i can use the term missing avoid that jesus christ one of the purposes for him coming is that he would be that mediator that he would be able to say i get it i've lived the life that you've lived i've been a human i know the pain i know the joy i know the trials i know the temptations i know what it's like to have people mock me ridicule me i know what it's like to look into someone's face and see that they hate me i know what it's like to have them railroad me betray me i know what it's like to be crucified i no longer i know what it's like to be put to death for nothing that i've done wrong but because people just wanted to silence me for all the wrong reasons jesus christ is a necessary part of the new covenant god saw that it was necessary as part of god's plan for mankind that there would be this mediator and jesus christ is it he's the go-between you know hebrews 4 let's look at hebrews 4. tells us this this is building up to you know calling jesus christ our our mediator hebrews 4 verse 14 seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens jesus the son of god let's hold fast our confession let's look at his life he lived on earth he emptied himself of being god and he lived life with all the all the challenges well more difficult challenges that i've encompa encumbered or encountered in my life probably more difficult challenges than you have encountered in your life he did it he succeeded he kept his eyes on god he kept his eyes on the goal he followed his father he came to do the will of his father who sent him he learned to obey him in all points and as he was a as he was a human he learned i will obey in every single detail i'll follow my leader if i'm going to be in the kingdom if i'm going to to get to the promised land to eternal life this is how we do it seeing then we have a high priest let's uh let's hold up fast to our confession verse 15 for we don't have a high priest who can't sympathize with our weaknesses but wasn't all points tempted as we are yet without sin no longer can we say to god you don't know what it's like you have no idea what it's like to be a human because jesus christ is there at his right hand saying i get it i know what it's like i've been there and he encourages us and he inspires us and he can let us know through his holy spirit keep going keep your eyes on me you have a captain who will lead you to the to the kingdom you have someone who's gone on before you i've already paved the way i've done it and i've gone on before and i've come back and shown you the way that it can be done believe me follow me become a band of brothers behind me follow me as i lead you to the kingdom because of this verse 16 let's therefore come boldly to the throne of grace let's go to god when we have issues and we have trials you know job job's problem was that he became self-righteous you know i i'm so good i'm so good but you notice that he spoke boldly to god you know he was he was he was there and he he spoke plainly and we always should come before god with the with an absolute with the absolute correct fear that we should have from him the reverence and the awe but we shouldn't be afraid to ask him when we don't understand something we shouldn't be afraid to ask him to teach us when we and it's not a shame to say god i don't understand help me to understand what do i do how do i do this show me the way that's what jesus christ is for he that's what he wants to do that's what he does there's no harm in doing that we don't have to pretend to god that we have all the answers because he knows we don't he's our mediator he's our go-between he knows what to say to comfort us and to soothe us and to encourage us the same things that you and i need to be learning as we work with one another to encourage and inspire and help all of us to keep going just like when you watch those movies of the band the brothers and someone was was becoming weak and they wanted to fall away and they wanted to leave there would be people who would surround them and say no no no keep your eyes on the battle don't desert don't fall away don't don't betray keep together as a unit let's follow him we trust him that's what god wants of you and me as well mesitas jesus christ is our mediator you know back in greek times being a messitis was an honor they had courts of law just like we have courts of law today and when you would go to a court of law it would make a decision just like we do today right someone sues us the judge says this party wins pay him xx that's my judgment but there's something missing in that there there can be a decision that was made and the greeks realized well we shouldn't say realize they had a system where people would go to arbitration or mediation we still have that today it still goes there you hear about it a lot in in sports conflicts between team and and people who want more money but a mediator in greek society was held in high high esteem it wasn't someone you just hung your hung your shingle out and said i'm a mediator you had to kind of show by your character and what you were that you could be a mediator now here's three of the things to be a to be a mediator in greek society that you needed to do three qualities and as the people of the old of the new covenant back two thousand years ago and read about mediator that'd be like oh oh that's what we have in our society that's what we have in our society here's what these people were like number one qualification you have to fairly represent and sympathize with both sides you have to fairly represent and sympathize with both sides now that makes sense when you understand what the overall role we'll get to that here in uh versus into the second and third steps with jesus christ as mediator god the father we come to him jesus christ directed us to god the father pray this way our father which art in heaven and pray in my name and when you are following me and whatever you ask in my name when it is in accordance with god's will as we learn as we follow and as we accept his will in our lives and practice his will in our lives says whatever you ask i'll give because we have the same we have the same goal of the kingdom that jesus christ has for us god the father understands our prayers jesus christ is there he's the mediator i get i get the human side i understand the emotions involved i understand the fear the dismay i understand the reluctance and the physical barriers that may be there but you also have to understand as you as you are developed by god and as he grows you into who we need to be to be with jesus christ and to reign with him during the millennium that we come to the same mind that we have that these physical barriers we can't allow them to stop us he can break through them all how many times did he prove that to ancient israel in the old testament how many times will he prove that to us if he says go go if he says follow follow and when he says it he will see us through he knows the way so we have jesus christ his mediator who is interested in god the father they are on our sides they understand both sides of the story if you will just like the mediator would i understand god's principle this is the way this is how you do it do it exactly the way i say jesus christ also understands never makes excuses for us and i'm going to repeat that mediating is not making excuses for us but by just saying i get their fail frail frame i understand the weaknesses i understand that they need to grow so that as they fail in this instance they will grow and as they repent and as they purpose in their minds to be strong and use my holy spirit god says they will become strong like jesus christ was that's why we live the lives we do that's why we're here on earth today that's why we aren't baptized and turn into spirit beings the next day we grow and we develop in that so jesus christ is there he's our mediator god the father jesus christ we are fairly represented and sympathized jesus christ can sympathize with us in all points because he was tempted as we are he fits that definition of mediator okay point two a mediator would establish communication between the two parties now in a court of law they don't really care whether you have communication or not you go through divorce court are they interested in oh i'm going to try to bring the parties back together again have husband and wife have husband and wife come back together no they're just going to say here's the edict boom gone they're not issued at all mediator is how do we bring the parties back together again okay we through the course it might be that this hasn't been right this hasn't been right how do we bring the parties back together again that's what jesus christ is interested in he came to be our redeemer he came to reconcile man to god if we're not reconciled to god there is no entree into the kingdom we're here in hebrews 4 so verse 16 is about let us therefore let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace come before god bring your trials bring your cares your concerns to jesus christ to god the father talk to him establish the communication jesus christ broke apart the veil when he died so that we had access and communication availability to god the father i said on the bible studies often i hope we can wrap our minds around that i don't think we can the access that god has given us to go directly to god the father an amazing thing when you think about it and shows shows us just how important just how important it is to god and jesus christ that you and i and the firstfruits today's forerunners that follow jesus christ how important it is to him that we also are able to traverse the trail as we follow him into his kingdom you know they hear our prayers it's mind-boggling to think how many prayers go up to god and he hears every single one of them whether it's in the middle of the night in the middle of the day in the morning in the evening all of us he listens to them all he listens to them all christ opened the way to that communication he is a good mediator verse 3 a good a mediator was to bring a renewed relationship between the parties establish the communication and a renewed relationship hate would result in love estrangement would result in being together again bitterness and suspicion would result in trust bring them together again there had to be a renewed relationship between the party it's the very same thing that god between the parties this is very the same thing that jesus christ wants for us today a renewed relationship between god and us let's go to matthew matthew 5. matthew 5 and verse 23 in his very first sermon you know if the sermon on the mount was indeed his very first sermon jesus christ after he says i'm telling you i'm telling you not one jot or one tittle passes from the law as long as heaven and earth exists tells us god's law was there in the beginning continues today continues as long as there's a physical heaven and earth as long as there's physical man down in verse 23 as he expands on those commandments and takes them from just physical as as ancient israel obey to the spiritual application that we have in our lives today we keep them physically as well as spiritually and verse 23 says therefore if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you leave your gift there before the altar and go your way first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift reconciliation is so so important to god one of the reasons jesus christ came to earth is that we would be reconciled to god well primary reason everything you did reconcile man to god he showed us the way that's why he lived that's why he was sacrificed that's why he spilt his blood that's why he was resurrected that's why he was is now sitting at god's right hand that's why he still is very much interested in what you and i are doing and how we are as we go along our path that we will be reconciled to god but as part of that the band of brothers needs to always be reconciled to each other they have to be growing closer together there's that purpose that god has that we are there that if we have anything he says if there's anything between us you know jesus christ and god the father are perfectly one and he prayed my will is that you are one you all are reconciled to one another you all are following the same path you all get it you're all following it you're all committed to following him and if there's any problem between the two of you be reconciled and god can reconcile make no mistake the most the most bitter things between us if both parties want reconciliation if both parties are being led by god's spirit if both parties have the intent and purpose and goal in their minds that they will be in the kingdom they can be reconciled god chose the way it's up to us do we do it do we follow him do we make him the center of our lives and trust him or do we just say no can't be done that physical barrier is too much i can't do it god i don't trust you enough to do that and i don't sacrif i don't trust myself or sacrifice myself enough to want to do that do we want to be reconciled you know there's an aside i always i always come back to you know when jesus christ asked the um the blind man i think it's the pool of siloam and he said do you want to be well do you want to be well seems like a a question that you would always say yes i want to be well well do you want to be reconciled you know the answer better be yes but if the answer is yes we better do it god's way because it is something that he is looking to us to do and and even as we're you know we have health problems do it his way do it his way follow him his will is that we have all these things anyway didn't mean to get off on that a renewed relationship between the parties a renewed healthy relationship between the parties let's go back to first john first john 1. first john 1. let's pick it up right at the beginning here in verse 1. apostle john you remember walked with jesus christ for three and a half years here we are 60 years or so after jesus christ was crucified and ascended into heaven the apostle john is still walking with jesus christ he's reminding people follow him adhere to him the things that you were taught from the beginning do first john 1 verse 1 that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have had handled concerning the word of life the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the father and was manifested to us that which we have seen and heard we declare to you he says a lot in those first three verses we've seen it we know it exists it's all there that which we have seen verse three and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us it's there because god wants that very close koinonia partnership between him and you and me and everyone he calls you're being told this because that you may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son jesus christ the goal of the mediator is that we become one with god in jesus christ and as part of that that we become one with one another as jesus christ lived his life the same principles the same attitudes the same behavior the same obedience that he demonstrated in his life for the same things that required of us god doesn't require any more of us than jesus christ he's our captain he's our captain as we go into battle he can successfully lead us he's done it he's the forerunner he can do it all he has done it all he's proven to us we can follow him we trust him we rely on him we need to rely on him more and more and learn to trust him more and more and he's our mediator he's interested in bringing us together he's interested in bringing us together as a body in our personal relationships in relationship with god and him a close bond because remember the goal is to become jesus christ's bride that by definition means we'd better be in sync with him totally he's not going to marry a bride that has doubts or concerns and hasn't demonstrated in this life and learned to do the things that jesus christ himself did and has come that we might have it's time for us to look at ourselves it's time for us to look at our relationships it's time for us to become what jesus christ our captain our prodromos our forerunner our mediator wants us to be if indeed we truly want to be in his kingdom only one way and who we need to become we have to be measured and we are measured by the stature of jesus christ that's the way that's the truth that's where eternal life is let's go back a few books to hebrews again in hebrews 12 as the author wraps up the book we find a pretty good summation of what we have talked about today and a new a new not a new and additional way we look at jesus christ in addition to all the others because they all together prove he's everything we need hebrews 12 1 therefore we also let's talk about you and me right he's talking to you to us the same as he was talking to the hebrews back then in the first century therefore we also since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight you know let every weight the things that keep us apart from god the things that that cause us sleepless nights the things that keep us apart from one another the things that keep us from being what god wants us to be or becoming what god wants to be because we will not yield our wills to him we will not be forgiving people as we'll we'll read we're not going to read today but we'll read as we go through the book of hebrews and finish it up that we're not forgiving people that we aren't committed to doing the things that god said and letting his lives his life in us since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses all these men and women who went before us who did sacrifice their lives in old testament time let's lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us you know we all have those sins that easily bested us before we know it we've done it we need to learn how to catch ourselves and ask god you know why do i keep doing these things help me to understand or not understand but help me catch myself before i do it and make the difficult choice to say no i deny myself i'll do what you want to do instead and as we practice that it becomes easier and easier to always choose god's will well anyway the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking unto jesus the author there's there's archagos in this instance they translated author where before they translated captain he is the author he's the one who began the work with us and he will finish the work with us looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith again only one way only one way the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him the same joy that we can set before us keeping our eyes on the kingdom looking past the pain looking past the the things that might concern us and cause us fear looking to god and learning to trust in him and looking forward to the kingdom when we inherit what god has promised us who for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross he despised the shame and now he has sat down at the right hand of the throne of god consider him think about it consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself you and i haven't been tried in that way yet consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls you want to give up think about what jesus christ went through he never said it was going to be easy he said we would have to rely on him he said we would have to replace our attitudes with his attitudes his our will with his will his way instead of our way consider him lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls that's where you and i come and come in uh come into play with each other as well when we see that happening to be able to say wait don't give up don't don't go away remember remember what christ did to you remember what he called you to remember what he said before us you haven't yet resisted verse 4 to bloodshed striving against sin and you've forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as the sons you never see that word exhort think about the zeal and the energy that's behind that verse uh verse five my son don't despise the chastening of the lord there's that word pihadiya that we talked about a few years ago the training that god has us in that you and i are in today don't despise the chastening of the lord we're not perfect of course there's going to be things that god corrects us along the way that may come from his word that may come from a sermon that may come from a minister that may come from your spouse that may come from a friend don't get mad go back and do what god said if indeed you want to be in his kingdom don't despise it embrace it my son don't despise the chastening of the lord don't be discouraged when you are rebuked by him for whom the lord loves he chastens and he scourges every son whom he receives when we go through these things god wants us to learn nothing happens to us just by i hate to use the word nothing things don't happen to us just by chance he's got a purpose in mind there's something we need to learn when we go through the things that we do let him teach and ask him what it is he's teaching let's drop down to verse verse 22. you and i we've come to mount zion into the city of the living god do we appreciate that the heavenly jerusalem to an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly and church of the firstborn that's the church that god has put you and me in that's the body through which he is perfecting us today that's the body in the band the brothers that learns to follow him that learns to trust in him that sees him as captain and appreciates all he's done so the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven they are first fruits god sees you in me as that jesus christ has already navigated the way as first of the first fruits you are registered in heaven to god the judge of all to the spirits of just men made perfect the process that you and i go through in our physical lives to jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of abel the new covenant everything that god has us living in today is better this is the time to be prepared and now is judgment on the house of god as he gives us all these things and we have the panorama of human history to understand what god is doing verse 25 a warning for us see that you do not refuse him who speaks see that you don't refuse him who speaks he's our captain he's the only way there is no other way if we refuse him who speaks then we're basically saying i don't believe i'm wasting my time i wanted i want to achieve god's kingdom my own way it's the same attitude that adam and eve had look where it got them it got them thrust out of the garden of eden only god's way doing it his way following our captain following our forerunner being thankful always that he's our mediator i hope we'll all choose to be part of the company we'll all choose to be part of the band of brothers that he wants us to become that as we as we go through difficult times we will look to jesus christ our captain who's also our savior our master our king the lamb of god the lion of judah the chief cornerstone on which our life on which our beliefs are there we can trust him we can rely on him we can follow him wherever he leads you

Channel: United Church of God Orlando

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Length: 66min 55sec (4015 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 23 2021