From the Terror of Sinai to the Rest of Zion: Embracing the Fullness of Your Salvation

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Have a prayer to dismiss the children.
[00:00:03] We will say the Lord's Prayer together and they'll be dismissed and then we will have a time of silent prayer and then we will pray together.
[00:00:12] So let's look to the Lord in prayer.
[00:00:17] Oh Father Lord we do thank you for our children Lord we ask that that you would that you would bless them Lord that you would teach them and Lord that that you would show your truth and goodness to them uh Lord we we thank you for in the the many ways that you have blessed them and and Lord that we ask that you would be with our families and Lord we also pray for our children's workers we're thankful for them and
[00:00:44] in their time and commitment and ask that you'll be with Angel in the nursery, that you'll be with our children's church leaders.
[00:00:50] And Lord, we thank you for the grace that you give to us.
[00:00:55] And Lord, we also pray the prayer that Jesus has taught us saying, our Father who art in heaven,
[00:01:03] Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen children can be dismissed
[00:01:38] Let's have a time of silent prayer if there are needs or people that you have on your hearts, you can bring them before the Lord now and then I'll unite us in our prayer together.
[00:01:50] So let's look to the Lord.
[00:02:09] O Lord Jesus, Lord, we do fall before You.
[00:02:14] We praise You because You are our Savior.
[00:02:18] You are Lord and our King.
[00:02:20] Lord, thank You for going to the cross for us, for paying the penalty for our sins.
[00:02:31] For Lord, if we had done that, it would have been death and it would have been eternal death separated from you forever.
[00:02:41] But Lord, by you as living perfectly for us and being the perfect and sinless Son of God, Lord, you went to the cross and bore our sins on the tree.
[00:02:55] And Lord, we are
[00:02:59] Forever indebted to you.
[00:03:03] But Lord, thank you that you have made us free because we are in the Son.
[00:03:08] And Lord, we pray for our time here.
[00:03:15] We pray that as we come to the table and are visibly reminded of your sacrifice for us in taking the bread and the juice as a symbol of
[00:03:29] Your body that was broken and Your blood that was shed for us.
[00:03:35] Lord, help it to be a reminder that we are to live for You.
[00:03:40] For we have been crucified with Christ so that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.
[00:03:48] This faith that we have in the Son of God who has loved us and given as you have given your life for us.
[00:03:58] Lord we praise you, we say hallelujah.
[00:04:01] Lord, we ask that You would be with us in all that we do, that You would be lifted up, that You would be glorified and praised.
[00:04:11] Lord, we do pray for our nation like never before.
[00:04:15] We pray for our leaders.
[00:04:17] We pray for President Trump.
[00:04:19] We pray for Vice President Vance, for Congress, for all of our leaders in government.
[00:04:28] And Lord, we ask that in the situation in Venezuela, Lord, that you will bring a godly resolve here in which you are glorified.
[00:04:38] Lord, we do pray that our nation and all nations on the earth would know you as their Savior, as the Son of God, that they would be saved and converted.
[00:04:53] Lord, there are people of all different nations and languages that are lost who do not know you.
[00:05:01] And Lord, we pray that you would move by the power of your Spirit through your people as well.
[00:05:08] and Lord that you would call people to yourself, that you would change their hearts, that you would make them born again.
[00:05:16] Lord, give us hearts to want to obey you and follow you and give ourselves totally to you.
[00:05:24] Lord, we pray for those on our prayer list.
[00:05:27] Lord, we ask that you would be with each one.
[00:05:31] Lord, we think of our brother Emilio, that you will be with him from the surgery that he had.
[00:05:38] Lord, that you will strengthen him and that you will heal him.
[00:05:42] Lord, we pray for Jason Richards' mother.
[00:05:46] We pray for Larry and Peggy Pagoda that you will be with them.
[00:05:55] Lord, we ask that you will be with David Jones in his upcoming surgery.
[00:06:01] And Lord, we pray for others that are on the list.
[00:06:05] And Lord, thank you that you know all of their needs.
[00:06:10] Lord, you know those that are on our hearts.
[00:06:12] Lord, prepare us in receiving your word.
[00:06:16] We pray for Pastor Joseph that you will be with him, that you will anoint him, and that you will teach through him.
[00:06:25] Lord, we pray that
[00:06:28] that we will fall on our knees before you and confess our sins especially as we come to the table that we might take the sacrament in a worthy manner and we ask all of these things in your name Lord Jesus.
[00:06:42] Amen.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
As we turn there, I have not forgotten our great redemptive history survey.
[00:07:07] Eventually, Lord willing, we'll return.
[00:07:10] I think we'll be in 1 Corinthians 10.
[00:07:12] There's much to preach there.
[00:07:14] But being the first Sunday of the new year,
[00:07:17] We being a people apt to make resolutions and also apt to fail at keeping them, I thought it might be good for a special message to set off the new year.
[00:07:29] A message entitled, The Mercy of Christmas for the New Year.
[00:07:34] There is a story that has been told really it's kind of a lesson object lesson I'm going to change it up just a little bit before we preach here and this idea that these scientists and philosophers set out to scale this great mountain in their mind it's never been scaled before and to reach the peak would be a great accomplishment and so they use all of their wisdom and philosophy together and
[00:08:04] They work very hard and very strenuous and many setbacks.
[00:08:09] Finally the top of the mount is in sight and they're so excited.
[00:08:16] But when they crest to the pinnacle, to their great astonishment, there's a group of Christians that have been there a long time, praying and discussing the Word of God and worshiping the Lord.
[00:08:33] Brothers and sisters, this is where you and I should be.
[00:08:36] The world is filled with stress and strain and labor and never has any rest to their mind or spirit or soul.
[00:08:45] But Christ lived and died and rose again that you might have rest in Him.
[00:08:51] So what I propose to you today in this message is that there is more to the Christian life
[00:09:02] Then most of us, I believe, are walking in.
[00:09:05] Angelo, do you hear that?
[00:09:06] Yeah?
[00:09:08] More!
[00:09:08] There's more!
[00:09:09] We've been putting on our signs.
[00:09:11] Are you looking for more?
[00:09:13] Find it here.
[00:09:16] Not that we alone have it, but unfortunately some are selling Christianity short, if you understand what I'm saying.
[00:09:26] Deuteronomy chapter 5 is a recounting of the Ten Commandments.
[00:09:31] God's coming to man, Israel coming out of the wilderness, and Him coming down on Mount Sinai and giving the Ten Commandments.
[00:09:41] This is of course recounted in Exodus 20.
[00:09:44] And it's repeated here in Deuteronomy 5 because there's another generation.
[00:09:48] That generation, the adults that had received the law have all died out except, well, Moses who's speaking and Joshua and Caleb.
[00:09:57] And so this new generation needs to hear what happened.
[00:09:59] And so here in Deuteronomy 5 we'll have the Ten Commandments and also a recounting of how the people reacted when God showed up.
[00:10:10] Do you think it was, ah, yeah, he gets us.
[00:10:13] Cool.
[00:10:14] That's not quite what happened.
[00:10:16] Let's hear it from Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 5.
[00:10:22] And Moses called all Israel and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
[00:10:34] The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
[00:10:38] Horeb or Sinai is synonymous.
[00:10:40] They're the same, Mount Sinai.
[00:10:42] The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
[00:10:50] The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire.
[00:10:55] I stood between the Lord and you at that time to show you the word of the Lord.
[00:11:00] For ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount, saying,
[00:11:06] I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage.
[00:11:12] Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
[00:11:16] Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth.
[00:11:27] Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them.
[00:11:31] For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
[00:11:46] That's the second commandment.
[00:11:48] Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
[00:11:54] Third commandment.
[00:11:56] Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.
[00:12:02] That's the fourth commandment.
[00:12:04] Six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.
[00:12:10] In it thou shalt not do any work,
[00:12:12] Not thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates, that the manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
[00:12:28] And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm.
[00:12:37] Therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.
[00:12:42] Here's commandment number five.
[00:12:43] Honor thy father and thy mother as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thy days may be prolonged and that it may go well with thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
[00:12:54] Thou shalt not kill, number six.
[00:12:57] Thou shalt not commit adultery, number seven.
[00:13:00] Neither shalt thou steal.
[00:13:01] Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.
[00:13:06] Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor's wife.
[00:13:10] Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbor's.
[00:13:23] Now, here's the recounting of what took place when these commandments were given.
[00:13:28] And God comes down on Mount Sinai, actually.
[00:13:31] These words, the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount, out of the midst of fire, of the cloud, of a thick darkness, with a great voice, and he added no more.
[00:13:42] And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
[00:13:46] And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, for the mountain did burn with fire, that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes and your elders.
[00:13:57] And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness.
[00:14:02] And we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire.
[00:14:06] We have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
[00:14:10] Now therefore, why should we die?
[00:14:14] For this great fire will consume us.
[00:14:17] If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die.
[00:14:23] Wow.
[00:14:25] That's a real difference from people today.
[00:14:27] I just wish the Lord would speak to me.
[00:14:30] These people say, I don't want to hear another word.
[00:14:32] I'm going to die.
[00:14:35] That's a pretty sharp contrast, isn't it?
[00:14:39] For who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
[00:14:47] Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it and do it.
[00:14:58] In other words, Moses, you go.
[00:14:59] We can't handle it.
[00:15:00] You go talk to God.
[00:15:01] We're done with that.
[00:15:03] You tell us what he says, and we'll do it, but we can't handle it anymore.
[00:15:07] And the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spake unto me.
[00:15:10] And the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto thee.
[00:15:16] They have well said all that they have spoken.
[00:15:21] Oh, this is the Lord talking.
[00:15:24] Oh, that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
[00:15:36] Go, say to them again, Get you into your tents again.
[00:15:39] But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments which thou shalt teach them.
[00:15:48] that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it you shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you you shall not turn aside to the right hand or the left you shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you that ye may live and that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess may God add his blessing and understanding to the reading of this his holy word
[00:16:15] As I highlighted in my comment on the text here, why is there such a great difference between people who call themselves the people of God?
[00:16:24] In this day, they heard the voice of God.
[00:16:26] They were so terrified that they didn't want to hear another word.
[00:16:32] As a matter of fact, if you go back into Exodus chapter 20 and you read verse 18 through 21, it says that when they heard the voice of the Lord, they removed themselves
[00:16:43] and stood afar off.
[00:16:45] What does that mean?
[00:16:46] It means they ran.
[00:16:49] They fled.
[00:16:50] They were scared.
[00:16:52] And, you know, but today, I just wish I could hear the Lord speaking to me today.
[00:16:58] If he could just, if I could, you know, it's kind of like Job, isn't it?
[00:17:02] If God was here, Job's complaining for many chapters about all the problems that have happened to him.
[00:17:09] Have we ever complained?
[00:17:10] Have we ever blamed God?
[00:17:11] Wonder why?
[00:17:13] Because I just, you know, a lot of what he's saying, I just wish God would show up so I could explain how I'm righteous, how I don't deserve this, how I haven't really sinned.
[00:17:25] I wish he'd show up so I could plead my case over and over and over again.
[00:17:29] This is essentially what Job said.
[00:17:33] When God shows up, how much does Job have to say?
[00:17:36] He takes his hand, says, I repent in dust and ashes, and he shut up.
[00:17:45] He shut himself up and listened.
[00:17:50] What is the difference?
[00:17:51] Well, you see, Adam and Eve
[00:17:54] Have no problem communing with God in the garden.
[00:17:58] No problem fellowshipping with God before the fall.
[00:18:01] Nothing.
[00:18:01] There's no fear.
[00:18:04] But once they sin, what does Adam do?
[00:18:08] He hides.
[00:18:10] And by the time the sin accumulates to the Israelites, when God shows up, they don't hide, they run.
[00:18:20] Well, Adam hides, Israel runs.
[00:18:25] How about us?
[00:18:27] Now I want to point something out.
[00:18:29] If you study the Scripture here, the people, it's not 100% clear, but if you study all of the Scripture, Exodus 19, 20, and here in Deuteronomy and some other places, God invites the people up to talk to them, to Him.
[00:18:44] At the same time, they can't come up because they're not holy.
[00:18:49] So he invites them to come up.
[00:18:51] He says, when you hear the trumpet, you can come up.
[00:18:54] Sanctify yourselves so you can come up.
[00:18:56] But at the same time, there's barriers that they can't come up.
[00:18:59] So it's like God is calling them to come up.
[00:19:02] But then God is basically saying, and Moses says, look, you didn't go up because you were afraid.
[00:19:08] That's what it says in the text.
[00:19:10] Back here in Deuteronomy chapter 5.
[00:19:13] He says that, notice verse 5, I stood between the Lord and you at that time to show you the word of the Lord, for ye were afraid by reason of the fire and went not up into the mouth.
[00:19:28] So God calls them to come, but they can't.
[00:19:32] They can.
[00:19:34] Now Moses goes up, right?
[00:19:36] And then there's later a situation where 70 elders come up.
[00:19:40] But the point is, God is calling us what?
[00:19:44] For us to be scrubs and be just to have a little bit of God and be at distance?
[00:19:49] No, God is calling us back to the relationship that Adam and Eve had before the fall.
[00:19:56] But it can't be reestablished at Sinai.
[00:19:58] Because God is holy and perfect, and man is sinful, and they know it.
[00:20:04] And so there is a dilemma.
[00:20:06] And so the sermon today, the mercy of Christmas, is that Christ comes.
[00:20:11] Christ comes to bridge that gap that man cannot.
[00:20:14] Man can't go up.
[00:20:16] There is a call to come up.
[00:20:19] What does God lament?
[00:20:21] He laments in this chapter.
[00:20:23] Notice, again, he says, oh, oh, verse 29.
[00:20:29] This is God speaking.
[00:20:31] Oh, that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
[00:20:43] But that's not the case yet, is it?
[00:20:45] Because a new heart has not yet been created, has it?
[00:20:49] And we know the only one who can create it has not yet come, and his name is?
[00:20:55] Amen.
[00:20:56] With that in mind,
[00:20:58] Later in Deuteronomy, that Jesus is prophesied to come in specific answer to what the Israelites are crying out to God.
[00:21:09] Please, Moses, you go, you listen.
[00:21:12] Moses can, he can stand in the gap between God and man.
[00:21:17] Moses is just a man.
[00:21:20] How could he go up?
[00:21:22] God calls them all to come up, but they can't.
[00:21:25] Moses goes up, how?
[00:21:27] He's not God.
[00:21:29] Well, God allows Moses to come up.
[00:21:31] Moses comes up in faith.
[00:21:33] Moses goes up as the chosen of God.
[00:21:36] He can stand in the gap, but he can't bring the people with him.
[00:21:42] And that goes along with... Moses is on the border of Israel when he preaches this Deuteronomy sermon.
[00:21:50] Is Moses able... Now, Israel is pictured as the promised land.
[00:21:55] The promised land is emblematic of what?
[00:21:59] Could Moses get them into the Promised Land?
[00:22:02] Moses can't go in.
[00:22:03] He has to die.
[00:22:04] He can't bring them in.
[00:22:06] But who does?
[00:22:08] Joshua.
[00:22:09] And it just so happens that the name Joshua in the Old Testament is what name in the New?
[00:22:15] And Joshua leads them into the Promised Land across the Jordan River.
[00:22:19] So too, Moses is able to stand in the gap, but he can't get us in.
[00:22:24] The law stands in the gap, assuages the wrath for a time, but cannot bring true forgiveness.
[00:22:31] But Christ can.
[00:22:32] And he is the one who's prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 18.
[00:22:36] Let's take a look.
[00:22:37] In Deuteronomy 18, it's really interesting.
[00:22:41] You know, all this witchcraft and paganism and horoscopes and this, that, and the other thing.
[00:22:49] You name it.
[00:22:50] All of that trash.
[00:22:52] Witches.
[00:22:53] Lord have mercy.
[00:22:55] We've made witches a fun thing, right?
[00:22:58] Harry Potter and this, that, and the other thing.
[00:23:01] Folks, if this was the Bible times, Harry Potter would be dead.
[00:23:07] What does it say?
[00:23:09] Deuteronomy chapter 18.
[00:23:10] Look at the context.
[00:23:11] Verse 9.
[00:23:12] He's a good witch.
[00:23:13] There ain't no such thing according to the Bible.
[00:23:15] Verse 9.
[00:23:16] When thou art come into the land, he's talking about the people going into the land.
[00:23:21] The land's supposed to be holy.
[00:23:23] Therefore, when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
[00:23:31] There shall not be found among you one that maketh his son or daughter to pass through the fire.
[00:23:36] or that useth divination, you know these fortune tellers, crystal ball, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits,
[00:23:54] or a wizard or a necromancer.
[00:23:58] For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.
[00:24:02] And because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
[00:24:07] Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.
[00:24:10] For those nations which thou shalt possess hearkened unto observers of times and unto diviners.
[00:24:15] But as for thee the Lord hath not suffered thee to do so.
[00:24:17] Why?
[00:24:18] Because these are satanic delusions, distractions, and
[00:24:22] I want a God I can put in a box.
[00:24:29] I like to get my horoscope in a fortune cookie.
[00:24:32] Then I'll know that's pretty easy to handle.
[00:24:34] And by the way, it tastes sweet going down.
[00:24:37] I want God and the mountain to shake and the fire and the smoke and the trumpet sounding louder and louder and louder and him coming down and lightnings and thunderings that terrify me that Moses himself says I exceedingly fear and quake before the holy God the one that he went up we don't want that give me a God I can manage a God I can handle a God I can turn on and off take out of my little box and put back in the box when I don't need it
[00:25:07] This is the context.
[00:25:09] God says, no.
[00:25:10] This is what you're going to have.
[00:25:12] Verse 15, The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me.
[00:25:20] Who's talking here?
[00:25:22] Moses.
[00:25:24] Unto him ye shall hearken.
[00:25:26] Moses says, God's going to raise up a prophet from among you, the Jews, like me, Moses, but you're going to listen to him.
[00:25:35] Who is he talking about?
[00:25:36] According to all that thou desirest of the Lord thy God in Horeb.
[00:25:40] Remember?
[00:25:40] He says, here's the answer to your request.
[00:25:43] You said, Lord, please don't speak to us anymore.
[00:25:45] Oh no, let somebody else go and speak, Moses or whoever.
[00:25:49] He says, here's the real answer.
[00:25:51] I'm not the real answer to your request.
[00:25:53] Here's the real answer.
[00:25:55] A prophet's going to be raised up, verse 16, According to all that thou desirest of the Lord God in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, when you were saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
[00:26:12] and the Lord said unto me they have well spoken that which they have spoken I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee I will put my words in his mouth he shall speak unto them and all that I shall command them him and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name I will require it of him who's he talking about
[00:26:41] Jesus.
[00:26:42] Well, one person knows it.
[00:26:44] What does the Bible say?
[00:26:46] Turn with me to Acts chapter 3.
[00:26:50] Let's make sure we know who it's talking about.
[00:26:52] I think Darlene's right.
[00:26:55] But let's see what Peter has to say.
[00:26:58] Acts chapter 3.
[00:26:59] Peter and John go to pray.
[00:27:01] They met a lame man on the way.
[00:27:02] He asked him for silver and gold.
[00:27:06] This is what Peter did say.
[00:27:08] Silver and gold I have none, right?
[00:27:09] But such as I have, I give.
[00:27:11] In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
[00:27:14] And he goes walking and leaping and praising God.
[00:27:17] And everybody's amazed.
[00:27:19] And then Peter has a chance to preach.
[00:27:21] And this is what he preaches.
[00:27:23] Acts chapter 3, beginning in verse 12.
[00:27:27] Not long after Pentecost.
[00:27:29] And when Peter saw it, he answered of the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this?
[00:27:34] Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we have made this man to walk?
[00:27:39] The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
[00:27:52] But ye denied the Holy One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, Barabbas, and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses.
[00:28:04] And his name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom you see and know.
[00:28:09] Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
[00:28:15] And now, brethren,
[00:28:16] I want or I know that through ignorance you did it and did also your rulers but those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all of his prophets that includes Moses he was a prophet too that Christ should suffer he hath so fulfilled then what are we supposed to do verse 19 repent
[00:28:36] Ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his prophets since the world began.
[00:28:57] Now notice, he's going to quote Deuteronomy 18, and he's going to say, this is about Jesus.
[00:29:03] Verse 22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me.
[00:29:13] Him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
[00:29:17] And it shall come to pass that every soul which shall not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.
[00:29:22] So he's saying this is Jesus.
[00:29:24] Yea, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
[00:29:31] Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
[00:29:39] Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, and turning away every one of you,
[00:29:46] From His Iniquities.
[00:29:48] So Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, makes it clear that this prophecy in Deuteronomy 18 is about Jesus Christ.
[00:29:54] And so the people can't take God full force.
[00:29:58] So God says, all right, I'll raise up a prophet.
[00:30:02] I'll send him to you, and it's going to be Jesus.
[00:30:04] And he's the one you're going to listen to.
[00:30:06] In other words, I'm going to take my voice and my truth, and I'm going to bring it into you in a package that will not terrify you, that you can listen to.
[00:30:18] As a matter of fact, a little baby in a manger.
[00:30:23] That's what we're singing about in that song.
[00:30:26] It's interesting, though.
[00:30:27] The people are upset with God because He comes and He terrifies them and they just can't handle it.
[00:30:34] They say, Moses, you go be with God.
[00:30:36] I don't want to be with God.
[00:30:38] That's essentially what they're saying, isn't it?
[00:30:40] God wants people back with Him.
[00:30:42] Isn't that what the whole thing is about?
[00:30:44] This is communion.
[00:30:46] Us together, one, with Christ and the Father, as it was in the beginning, right?
[00:30:52] That's the way it's supposed to be.
[00:30:53] But the people are afraid to go, and the people can't go, because they're not holy.
[00:30:59] But God comes in the person of Jesus Christ.
[00:31:01] So now God comes in Christ, think people should be happy.
[00:31:05] Oh, that's exactly what we wanted, Christ.
[00:31:07] Now I'll believe.
[00:31:08] no oh who is this who is this from nazareth who is this from galilee look and see no prophet arises from galilee who is this oh he hangs out with tax collectors who is this he is not holy he's not the messiah so what is it you want god comes in power and majesty and if i just saw god do something i might believe you know he did something ah
[00:31:33] I wish God wouldn't do that.
[00:31:35] I wish he'd come in a way that I could handle.
[00:31:37] Oh, he comes.
[00:31:38] Ah, I don't believe in him.
[00:31:41] What do you want?
[00:31:46] What else do you think God can do to prove to you who he is and his claims on your life?
[00:31:52] This is exactly what Jesus was talking about later on.
[00:31:58] He talks about it in Matthew.
[00:31:59] Well, let's take a look at that real quick.
[00:32:01] Matthew 11.
[00:32:04] He basically says what I just said, and of course a much better way, referring to his ministry and John the Baptist.
[00:32:12] The people liked John the Baptist, but they ultimately rejected his message.
[00:32:17] The people liked Jesus, but then they ultimately rejected his message.
[00:32:22] And what does Jesus say?
[00:32:23] Matthew chapter 11, beginning in verse 16.
[00:32:27] But where unto should I liken this generation?
[00:32:30] It's like children sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows and saying, we've piped unto you and you haven't danced.
[00:32:39] We've mourned under you, you've not lamented.
[00:32:43] For John neither came eating nor drinking, and they say, ah, he has a devil.
[00:32:47] The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ah, behold, a man gluttonous and wine-bibber, afraid of publicans and sinners.
[00:32:55] But wisdom is justified of her children.
[00:32:58] What, do you want the prophet to eat and drink or not eat and drink?
[00:33:01] Doesn't matter.
[00:33:01] God sends you this one, he doesn't eat and drink, ah, full of a devil.
[00:33:05] This one eats and drinks, ah, gluttonous and wine-bibber.
[00:33:09] It's the same thing with mankind.
[00:33:11] God comes in power?
[00:33:13] Oh, we can't stand it.
[00:33:15] God comes in meekness?
[00:33:16] Ah, that's not God.
[00:33:18] What do you want?
[00:33:24] Take a look with me if you wouldn't.
[00:33:25] 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
[00:33:30] Talked about there's more.
[00:33:32] There's more to the Christian life.
[00:33:35] If you've been born again,
[00:33:38] You need to understand this great privilege.
[00:33:42] You need to understand what God has done for you.
[00:33:44] You need to understand now is a very special time.
[00:33:48] Right now!
[00:33:50] Take a look, 2 Corinthians 5, if you're born again, verse 17, this is true of you.
[00:33:56] Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature, he's a new creation.
[00:34:01] All things are passed away, behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given unto us the ministry of reconciliation.
[00:34:12] What is reconciliation?
[00:34:13] Remember, God wants His people with Him.
[00:34:16] That's reconciliation.
[00:34:17] If we're separate, there's no reconciliation.
[00:34:21] He wants us completely reconciled.
[00:34:22] He wants us to the top of the mount.
[00:34:25] But not Mount Sinai, another mount.
[00:34:28] There's a song written about that, by the way.
[00:34:30] And so, we see, To wit, that God was in the Christ, reconciling the world, verse 19, unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
[00:34:40] Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us.
[00:34:45] We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
[00:34:49] Let me ask you a question.
[00:34:50] Who's he speaking to here, Paul?
[00:34:52] Is he talking to the church or talking to the unchurched people?
[00:34:56] He's talking to the church.
[00:34:57] And he's telling the church, be reconciled to God.
[00:35:01] Aren't they already reconciled?
[00:35:04] Is there something more?
[00:35:06] Isn't that what we're preaching on?
[00:35:10] Be reconciled to God.
[00:35:12] You say, ah, well, Pastor, I said some kind of prayer.
[00:35:15] I'm saved.
[00:35:16] What more do you want from me?
[00:35:17] I don't want anything from you.
[00:35:19] I want you to receive the fullness that God has bought and paid for you through His Son, Jesus Christ.
[00:35:26] And so there's something more.
[00:35:27] You need to be reconciled.
[00:35:29] There's something more for the Christian than just, oh, I'm saved.
[00:35:32] I'm going to heaven now.
[00:35:34] Who's playing football today?
[00:35:36] Lord, have mercy.
[00:35:40] He goes on to say, For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous of God in him.
[00:35:48] Chapter 6 verse 1, We then as workers together with him beseech you also, listen, that you receive not the grace of God in vain.
[00:35:58] Have you received the grace of God?
[00:36:00] The grace of God in Jesus Christ, the unmerited gift, the grace of God is by which we are saved.
[00:36:06] It is His unmerited gift and favor that we receive by His love and mercy through His Son Jesus Christ.
[00:36:14] Have you received it?
[00:36:15] And if you have, don't receive it in vain.
[00:36:18] What does it mean to receive it in vain?
[00:36:19] To receive it, or at least think you received it, and then to live your life for yourself and the devil.
[00:36:26] Do you think God saved you for you to be a tool of the devil?
[00:36:30] Do you think God saved you for you to be a tool of the world?
[00:36:34] Do you think God saved you for you to just go around just like every other person in America doesn't have any true hope and yell, I believe in Jesus, but then every little thing comes and you're afraid.
[00:36:46] Every little trial comes and you're in distress.
[00:36:49] Every little issue, however hard it is, however difficult it is, it's just like the world.
[00:36:53] No matter what happens, your responses are just like the world.
[00:36:56] If that's the case, you've received the grace of God in vain.
[00:37:02] God did not die for you to have such a life, but for you to have eternal life.
[00:37:10] That doesn't just begin, folks, when you die, but it begins when you're born again.
[00:37:17] If you're truly saved, you have eternal life now.
[00:37:21] And it is a life of reconciliation with God, a life in which the fullness of the Godhead that was in Christ has now come into us through the Holy Spirit of God.
[00:37:34] A supernatural life that God is calling us to.
[00:37:37] And that's why in the very next verse, verse 2, it says, listen folks, he saith, and he's quoting from Isaiah, he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee.
[00:37:47] Behold, now is the accepted time.
[00:37:50] Behold, now is the day of salvation.
[00:37:52] Isaiah 49, verse 8.
[00:37:53] It's right now.
[00:37:55] This is a very special time in history.
[00:37:57] The first 4,000 years of history from Adam and Eve in the fall to Jesus, people are under the law, even not the whole time, just the last 1,400 years.
[00:38:06] They're not sure they can approach God.
[00:38:09] The iniquities of mankind have separated them from God.
[00:38:12] And even when the law comes, only the high priest can be in the presence of God only once a year on the Day of Atonement, and even that in a figure, not heaven itself.
[00:38:20] What is the hope?
[00:38:22] There is fear.
[00:38:23] We're afraid of God.
[00:38:26] We're terrified of condemnation.
[00:38:28] But now God has heard the cry of sinful man and he has condescended in his love and mercy he that was in the form of God and thought of not robbery to be equal with God, Jesus Christ.
[00:38:40] Who is God?
[00:38:41] The second person of the Trinity.
[00:38:43] Humbled himself and made himself of no reputation, even into the womb of a virgin, yes, and a life of obedience to the law and subjection to his parents, never sinning one time, humbled himself to the form of a servant, even to the point of the death of the cross.
[00:39:05] For our salvation.
[00:39:07] The Christmas gift of Christ is an answer to our complaint as sinful man.
[00:39:13] We can't handle it, God.
[00:39:15] Please don't terrify us anymore.
[00:39:18] If you speak anymore to us, we're going to die.
[00:39:21] That's all right.
[00:39:22] I'll come down myself.
[00:39:24] As a matter of fact, I'll do what you can't.
[00:39:27] I'll follow the laws that I'm giving you now that are terrifying you.
[00:39:30] I'll fulfill them perfectly.
[00:39:32] I'll die on the cross and I'll receive the punishment that each one of you deserves.
[00:39:38] And then I'll give you eternal life.
[00:39:40] And I'll give you that heart that I lamented that you didn't have.
[00:39:44] That's what it says in Jeremiah and in Ezekiel.
[00:39:46] A new covenant I'll make with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
[00:39:49] I will put a heart of flesh inside of them.
[00:39:53] I'll write no longer on stones the Ten Commandments and an ark that we don't know where it is now.
[00:39:58] No, I'll write my laws on the tablets of their hearts.
[00:40:02] and they will know me and they will follow me and i will live in them and they will be my people and i will be their god this is the gift of christmas but it says here the mercy of christmas it's a mercy for the new year how does this truth if you're a believer you should say yes amen i believe that pastor that's great what's next but before you say what's next i want to ask you has it made any difference in your life
[00:40:31] I think there's something more for most of us that we are not walking in, and I want to get to that here in just a moment.
[00:40:40] Notice if you continue in chapter 5.
[00:40:42] First of all, 5.20 says, Be reconciled to God.
[00:40:45] 6.1 here in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 says, Receive not the grace of God in vain.
[00:40:49] 6.2, now is the accepted time.
[00:40:52] Look, Christ has, God came once on Mount Sinai to initiate a covenant with the people, and they were terrified.
[00:41:01] God's come twice in the person of Jesus Christ, in meekness.
[00:41:06] He didn't come killing and destroying and condemning.
[00:41:09] He came saving.
[00:41:11] He came meek.
[00:41:11] He came into Jerusalem, not as a conquering Lord, but as on a donkey, humbly, to bring save.
[00:41:19] And now is the time of grace.
[00:41:20] Now is the time of mercy.
[00:41:21] Now is the time of salvation.
[00:41:23] It's a wonderful time, a unique time in history.
[00:41:25] But folks, the Lord's coming a third time.
[00:41:29] And when it comes a third time, there will be no more time.
[00:41:35] And there will be no more opportunities to repent, or to change, or to say, well, I wish I didn't listen to Frank Sinatra and do it my way.
[00:41:49] But now is not that time.
[00:41:51] Now is a wonderful time.
[00:41:53] Now is the time of grace.
[00:41:54] Now is the time of mercy.
[00:41:55] Now is the time of his patience.
[00:41:57] Now is the time of salvation.
[00:42:01] Yeah, yeah, Pastor, I'm saved.
[00:42:03] I'm good to go.
[00:42:03] Can we get out of here?
[00:42:08] No.
[00:42:08] If that's your thought, you're missing it.
[00:42:13] You've received the grace of God in vain because there's more.
[00:42:18] And what is that?
[00:42:20] Can there be more than salvation?
[00:42:21] Not more than salvation, but more of salvation.
[00:42:26] That you're not walking in, that you're not appreciating, that you're not... Because to do it is not only to not receive and walk in the fullness of what God has bought and paid for in His Son Christ Jesus for you, is not only to do a great disservice to yourself, but to...
[00:42:46] Blaspheme, if you will, God and the value of what he has done for you, to not appreciate it and walk in it.
[00:42:55] For he continues on in chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians,
[00:42:58] Talking about what it looks like.
[00:43:01] If we are going to be reconciled, if we are going to receive not the grace of God in vain, then what does this accepted time of salvation look like for the believer?
[00:43:12] Go down to verse 14.
[00:43:14] Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
[00:43:17] For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
[00:43:20] And what communion hath light with darkness?
[00:43:22] And what concord hath Christ with Belial?
[00:43:24] And what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
[00:43:27] And what agreement hath ye the temple of God with idols?
[00:43:30] This is a call to live in holiness, to live sanctified, set apart unto God.
[00:43:35] For ye are the temple of the living God.
[00:43:37] This is actually ye, this is the church.
[00:43:40] As God hath said, I will dwell in them, I will walk in them, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
[00:43:45] What a wonderful truth!
[00:43:47] God in us!
[00:43:48] Reconciliation!
[00:43:49] So let's begin to act like it.
[00:43:50] Let's walk like it.
[00:43:51] Let's receive it.
[00:43:53] And let's share this glory that is in us of Christ Jesus.
[00:43:59] Verse 17, Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.
[00:44:03] Why does the church look just like the world?
[00:44:05] It shouldn't.
[00:44:06] Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.
[00:44:09] Touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and I will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
[00:44:16] That's reconciliation.
[00:44:18] Not just you can be my servant, you can be my slave.
[00:44:22] You can be my son.
[00:44:23] You can be my daughter.
[00:44:25] Come.
[00:44:25] Come.
[00:44:26] This is for what I died.
[00:44:28] But when you walk around the world today, are you acting like it?
[00:44:32] Are you walking in it?
[00:44:33] Can people see it?
[00:44:35] Really, the summation of this whole thing is in the first verse of the next chapter 7.
[00:44:39] Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh,
[00:44:49] and the Spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
[00:44:54] There is a fear of God which is sheer terror which is negative.
[00:44:59] That's what these people had at Sinai.
[00:45:01] There's a fear of God which is reverential, which is filled with love, which is filled with honor, which is filled with a desire to please and to honor and to obey our Triune God and to ultimately be with Him.
[00:45:15] And that's a beautiful fear of God that, brothers and sisters, is so scarce in the world today.
[00:45:23] And I'm very sorry to say I'm afraid scarce in the very church itself.
[00:45:28] But it should be ever present with us.
[00:45:31] That reverential fear that we are to have of God that draws us not away from Him but towards Him.
[00:45:43] Thomas Watson
[00:45:45] I hope Brother Emilio is watching.
[00:45:47] Thomas Watson, he loves Thomas Watson.
[00:45:48] Anyways, that's another story.
[00:45:50] But he talks about a magnet, and back then in the 1600s they called it a lodestone.
[00:45:56] And he says, isn't it interesting that the lodestone doesn't draw silver, doesn't draw gold, doesn't draw pearls, but it draws the simplest and the roughest of metals, iron, to itself.
[00:46:10] So too believe people who are proud.
[00:46:12] Look at me.
[00:46:13] I'm gold.
[00:46:14] I'm silver.
[00:46:14] I'm a pearl.
[00:46:15] God should be happy to have me.
[00:46:17] Doesn't get drawn close to the Lord.
[00:46:21] But old rusty old iron.
[00:46:24] Just like that.
[00:46:26] Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up.
[00:46:30] God comes in power, people complain.
[00:46:33] God comes in meekness, people reject the Lord.
[00:46:36] Isn't that what it says in John chapter 1?
[00:46:38] Let's take a look at a few verses 10 through 18.
[00:46:41] Gospel of John chapter 1.
[00:46:43] Familiar verses, but they really point out and illuminate this truth, I believe.
[00:46:50] 1 John 1 verse 10 and following.
[00:46:55] He was in the world, Jesus, the world was made by him, Jesus, and the world knew him not.
[00:47:02] He came unto his own, his own received him not.
[00:47:06] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
[00:47:19] And the Word was made flesh, that's the Incarnation, that's Christmas, and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld his glory.
[00:47:25] The glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
[00:47:30] John bare witness of him and cried, saying, This is the one, he of whom I spake.
[00:47:35] He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me, and of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.
[00:47:43] Listen to verse 17.
[00:47:44] Look at the contrast.
[00:47:46] For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
[00:47:51] No man hath seen God any time.
[00:47:53] The only begotten Son was in the bosom of the Father.
[00:47:56] He hath declared him.
[00:48:01] Turn to Hebrews 2.
[00:48:02] Look at the first four verses.
[00:48:03] Here's a warning.
[00:48:07] In the Old Testament, they had the prophets.
[00:48:09] They had all kinds of messages.
[00:48:11] They had all kinds of visitations.
[00:48:13] That was good.
[00:48:14] But Hebrews makes it clear that God comes in Christ, and that's the final, ultimate, climactic manifestation of God Himself.
[00:48:25] for Christ is the express image of God and so after explaining that and pointing out and illuminating drawing from many Old Testament passages and bringing out the truth that Jesus is in fact God far superior to the angels and the prophets
[00:48:41] Then we find in chapter 2 verse 1, Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
[00:48:50] Oh man, if I was at that mountain and I saw it shake, and I saw that thunder, and I heard that loud trumpet, I'd have respect for God then, man, I tell you what.
[00:49:01] Unto whom much has been given, much is required.
[00:49:05] Jesus' coming is far greater.
[00:49:08] God Himself come to us in the flesh.
[00:49:12] That's what the Bible is telling us.
[00:49:14] So we ought to give Him the more earnest heed.
[00:49:16] For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, that's Mount Sinai, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, people were stoned, right?
[00:49:26] Killed for disobeying the Old Testament.
[00:49:28] But when you disobey the New Testament, what's going to happen?
[00:49:31] Not just death but eternal death.
[00:49:34] How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him?
[00:49:43] God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will.
[00:49:50] We have been warned.
[00:49:53] Adam when he sinned hid.
[00:49:56] The Israelites, when God shows up, Adam has sinned.
[00:50:00] God shows up, he hides.
[00:50:03] Israel has sinned.
[00:50:05] God shows up, and they run.
[00:50:12] What should be our response?
[00:50:16] Yes, Adam hid, the Israelites ran, but Jesus calls us to rest in Him.
[00:50:25] Here is, I think, quite frankly, the more that most Christians are not experiencing today.
[00:50:32] Are you really resting?
[00:50:34] Resting?
[00:50:35] Is your soul really at rest?
[00:50:39] Are there things troubling you?
[00:50:41] Are you stressing over issues?
[00:50:44] Things perhaps in your body, physical, maybe in your marriage or your family, maybe the workplace, maybe all sorts of struggles,
[00:50:54] that keep you up at night, that worry you, that bother you, that continue to cause you distress.
[00:51:03] Christ has died for something far better than that.
[00:51:08] He calls you to rest in Him.
[00:51:11] As a matter of fact, don't you think Adam and Eve, yes, they weren't to be lazy, but didn't they have rest before the fall?
[00:51:19] But then once the fall came, no more rest.
[00:51:21] You're out of here.
[00:51:22] Hit the road, Jack.
[00:51:23] Well, they have to go.
[00:51:25] They can't stay in the garden, right?
[00:51:27] They got expelled out of the garden.
[00:51:28] Get out of here.
[00:51:29] You can't be in here.
[00:51:30] And angels with flaming fire, you can't come back in.
[00:51:35] And the Israelites, of course, they weren't resting.
[00:51:38] They continually going around and around and around, right?
[00:51:41] They only entered into a semblance of rest when they entered into the Promised Land.
[00:51:46] You say, well, yeah, I guess when I go to heaven, just like the old cartoons, you know, when somebody gets killed or whatever.
[00:51:52] Those cartoons are pretty violent, by the way.
[00:51:55] And somebody ends up underground, there's a tombstone, R.I.P.
[00:51:59] What's R.I.P.?
[00:52:01] Rest in Peace.
[00:52:02] The only way you're going to rest in peace is if you know Jesus.
[00:52:06] But it's not just peace for heaven, which certainly, if we believe the Scripture, we'll have, but there's supposed to be a peace right now.
[00:52:14] We're supposed to be able to rest right now, not to be worrying, not to be all troubled and stressful and filled with insecurities and fears and what's going to happen next.
[00:52:27] No, no, because we need to know that God is in control.
[00:52:31] And we also need to know that God is good.
[00:52:34] And we also need to know that if we are his children, he will cause all things, even the bad things, to work together for my good and the good of all of those
[00:52:49] who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
[00:52:53] Do you really believe that?
[00:52:54] If God's ultimate in control, and if He is good to His children, and He will cause all things to work together for good for you, even the bad things, then what have you got to worry about?
[00:53:11] Could it be that there's some disconnect in our faith, Walt?
[00:53:17] Is there something more?
[00:53:20] Christ is calling you in 2026 to enter into His rest, which He bought and paid for, if you are truly the elect, if you have truly believed and repented and trusted in Christ and are the born-again child of God.
[00:53:34] Later in Matthew 11, after Jesus says, hey, you know, you're like kids in the marketplace, we've piped you, you didn't dance, you know.
[00:53:43] we've mourned and you didn't lament you know in other words nobody can please you children but later in matthew 11 he gives them an invitation matthew 11 27-30 come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and i'll give you rest i look across the landscape of america if i'm wrong forgive me come correct me later i look at our own church a lot of people are laboring and heavy laden
[00:54:12] With all sorts of burden.
[00:54:15] What's your burden today?
[00:54:16] I don't know.
[00:54:19] All of us suffer sadness and disappointments and troubles and trials, but God has died and rose again that you might not dwell there.
[00:54:29] And that even in the midst of disappointments and difficulties and challenges, no matter how difficult they may be, God can strengthen you because the joy of the Lord is our strength.
[00:54:40] And we've received Christ, we've received His joy, we've received His love, we've received His Spirit, we've received His Word, we've received His armor, we've received all things that pertain to life and godliness.
[00:54:54] And so, no matter what we face, I will not fear.
[00:54:58] What man can do unto me, because I rest my case before God and His Son Christ Jesus at His right hand, whoever liveth to make intercession for me.
[00:55:11] Wow!
[00:55:12] Do you really believe Jesus is up there praying for you right now?
[00:55:15] I just don't know what I'm going to do.
[00:55:17] I just don't know what I'm going to do.
[00:55:18] I just don't know what I'm going to do.
[00:55:20] Do you think that's what Jesus is doing at the right hand of God?
[00:55:23] Oh, so-and-so, Lord, I just don't know what I'm going to do.
[00:55:26] Forgive me, Lord.
[00:55:27] Of course he's not saying that.
[00:55:29] He's praying for the very solution that he's already created for whatever problem you're going through right now.
[00:55:38] And do you think that his prayers are going to have a good chance of getting answered?
[00:55:44] Pastor Andy, I need another hour.
[00:55:48] Sorry, we're not going to do that.
[00:55:51] Come unto me, all you who labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest.
[00:55:53] Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your soul.
[00:56:00] Don't answer, but is your soul really at rest right now?
[00:56:06] Christ suffered that it would be.
[00:56:09] There's something more for you in 2026, resting in Jesus.
[00:56:14] It's not just 2026, but since it's the first Sunday of the year, I want to call you up
[00:56:20] To a higher plane that Christ has given us the authority to walk upon, which is this place of resting in Christ.
[00:56:31] Think of Hebrews chapter 4.
[00:56:34] We find this discussed.
[00:56:35] Let us therefore fear, verse 1, lest a promise being left of us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
[00:56:44] Who's he talking to?
[00:56:46] Church people.

[00:56:47] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Yeah.

[00:56:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Verse 2, For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them.
[00:56:52] Now if you read the context, the them are the Israelites in the wilderness.
[00:56:56] The very same ones who said, Ah!
[00:56:58] Don't come and scare us anymore!
[00:57:02] Why didn't they make it to the promised land?
[00:57:04] And the promised land, by the way, it's over there, not over here.
[00:57:06] The promised land is emblematic of rest.
[00:57:10] Why didn't they get to rest?
[00:57:14] The same reason that you and I don't look.
[00:57:17] For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
[00:57:28] God's in control of all things ultimately.
[00:57:30] You believe it?
[00:57:32] He's promised that He will cause all things to work together for your good if you're His child.
[00:57:37] Do you believe it?
[00:57:39] Then what have you got to worry about?
[00:57:41] But do you worry?
[00:57:43] There's a lack of faith.
[00:57:45] Help us, Lord God.
[00:57:46] Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God.
[00:57:49] Lord, help us.
[00:57:49] We need to grow in this.
[00:57:51] Verse 8.
[00:57:52] Take a look.
[00:57:52] Verse 8.
[00:57:53] For if, now in the King James here, it would be better to say Joshua.
[00:57:58] The Greek word Joshua and Jesus is identical.
[00:58:01] So in verse 8 of Hebrews 4 it says, For if Jesus had given them rest, it should read, For if Joshua, if Joshua had given them rest, then would be not afterward another day spoken of.
[00:58:12] So Joshua did take the Israelites into the promised land, which was emblematic of rest.
[00:58:17] But 400 years later in the days of David in Psalm 95 verse 7 and 8, he talks about, Oh Lord, entering into the rest.
[00:58:27] And so he's saying, Hey, if Joshua got them into permanent rest, David wouldn't have been praying for you to bring your people into rest.
[00:58:35] Why is he praying?
[00:58:36] Because Joshua
[00:58:37] Only brought the people into a rest in a figure, but the true Joshua, Jesus Christ, will bring his people into eternal rest that doesn't just start like the cartoons when we die and have a tombstone that says R.I.P., but begins when you're born again.
[00:58:51] Once you're born again, what is it?
[00:58:56] Some kind of, well, I just guess I just had to go around.
[00:59:01] It's my lot to just suffer.
[00:59:04] Oh, woe is me.
[00:59:06] Oh, woe is me.
[00:59:07] No happiness, no contentment, no nothing until I get to the sweet by and by.
[00:59:14] I love the sweet by and by.
[00:59:16] I can't wait to get there.
[00:59:18] And by the way, there's people in this old world that want to help me get there quicker.
[00:59:21] But the point is that we are to have rest now.
[00:59:26] in the spirit and that's what this bible says hebrews chapter 4 verse 9 there remaineth therefore in verse 8 for if joshua had given them rest they would not afterward have spoken of another day there remains therefore a rest for the people of god and i want you all to be in it this year i want you to be in that rest i don't want you to worry your life away waste your life god's purchased a much greater salvation than we give him credit for
[00:59:56] Can I get an amen?
[00:59:59] That doesn't mean I'm done.
[01:00:00] Hold on.
[01:00:04] For he that is entered into his rest has also ceased from his own works as God did from his.
[01:00:10] That's talking about Jesus who entered into his rest on the first day of the week and that's why our Sabbath is the first day of the week.
[01:00:15] Verse 11.
[01:00:16] Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.
[01:00:20] That sounds crazy.
[01:00:21] Let's work so we can rest.
[01:00:23] Let's labor so we can rest.
[01:00:25] What do you mean?
[01:00:26] That's crazy, Pastor.
[01:00:27] Let us labor to enter into the rest.
[01:00:30] And what is that?
[01:00:31] The kingdom of heaven suffers violence from the days of John the Baptist until now.
[01:00:35] And the violent take it by force.
[01:00:37] We're to labor, we're to press, we're to strive to enter into the straight gate so that we're not only
[01:00:42] Oh, well, I guess I got fire insurance.
[01:00:44] Hopefully I won't go to hell when the Lord comes back.
[01:00:46] No!
[01:00:46] That we have salvation now.
[01:00:48] That we're walking in it.
[01:00:49] The joy of the Lord is my strength.
[01:00:50] I'm walking in the peace of God that passes all understanding, that keeps my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
[01:00:55] And no matter what happens, no matter if the heavens depart as a scroll, I'm ready.
[01:01:00] Come Lord Jesus not because I'm ready in me and my righteousness but I'm clothed not in this black robe but in the white linen garment of Jesus Christ that's been bleached white by the crimson blood of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world for me and I hope for you and if you know that God himself has lived and died for you and rose again and given you the victory over death
[01:01:25] Hell, Satan, and every fiend in the spiritual world.
[01:01:30] Oh, what victory we have!
[01:01:31] Oh, what wonderful life!
[01:01:33] Life, life, eternal life!
[01:01:36] Death is swallowed up in victory.
[01:01:39] Oh, grave, where is thy sting?
[01:01:42] Oh, death, where is thy sting?
[01:01:43] Oh, grave, where is thy victory?
[01:01:45] Death is swallowed up in victory.
[01:01:48] Our life should be a life of victory in Jesus Christ.
[01:01:53] And that victory doesn't always look like, I'm the Lord, I'm a Christian.
[01:01:58] The victory is, I'm resting in Jesus.

[01:02:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Haven't you heard what happened in the news?

[01:02:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
I'm resting in Jesus.

[01:02:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Didn't you hear what happened in Mosul today?

[01:02:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Praise God, I'm resting in Jesus.
[01:02:15] I'm looking forward to that glorious day when the clouds are parted,
[01:02:21] And Christ comes back and nothing on this earth can take that away from me.
[01:02:30] I'm resting in Jesus.
[01:02:31] How about you?
[01:02:33] Bear with me just a little bit longer.
[01:02:35] I have much more to preach in very little time.
[01:02:39] A long way to go and a short time to get there.
[01:02:44] Real quickly, John 3.
[01:02:48] What do we deserve?
[01:02:49] The wrath of God.
[01:02:51] That's why Jesus tells Nicodemus,
[01:02:54] Verily, verily, I say unto you, just as Moses raised up the serpent, as the serpent was raised up in the wilderness, so too must the Son of Man be raised up, that whosoever believeth in him should have eternal life.
[01:03:08] And the very next verse, John 3, 16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[01:03:17] Why a serpent on a pole being like Jesus?
[01:03:20] Because the serpent was the wrath of God.
[01:03:23] God sent fiery serpents to kill and to punish those Israelites, the very same Israelites who said, oh, we can't hear God, we can't hear God, because they had a heart of unbelief.
[01:03:36] But when we trust in Christ, we see that the wrath of God that we deserve, they were all snake bit.
[01:03:45] We too, by the snake, his name is Satan.
[01:03:49] When we look to Christ and we see the wrath of God poured out upon Him for us, we understand the meaning of those three poignant and powerful words, It is finished.
[01:04:08] And so, look at chapter 12 of Hebrews.
[01:04:14] Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses,
[01:04:20] All the patriarchs and fathers of faith in the Old Testament.
[01:04:25] Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
[01:04:31] We're in a race.
[01:04:32] I can't rest, Pastor.
[01:04:32] I'm in a race.
[01:04:34] Run with patience.
[01:04:36] Because remember, Jesus is the author and the finisher.
[01:04:39] I'm just so worried about how it's going to come out.
[01:04:41] No, no.
[01:04:41] Jesus is the finisher, too.
[01:04:42] He's at the finish line.
[01:04:43] Come on, son.
[01:04:44] Come on, son.
[01:04:45] I'm waiting for you.
[01:04:47] You don't have to worry.
[01:04:48] Run with patience the race that is set before us.
[01:04:50] Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[01:05:04] For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
[01:05:10] I just can't take anymore.
[01:05:12] Jesus did.
[01:05:13] Yeah, well, he's God.
[01:05:15] But he took it so you wouldn't have to.
[01:05:19] Did you hear that?
[01:05:21] He bore it so you wouldn't have to.
[01:05:23] That doesn't mean you'll never have affliction, but He bore the anguish and the torment of it that you wouldn't have to.
[01:05:30] You see?
[01:05:32] But, as Pastor Andy mentioned in Sunday School, there is chastising for our sins, and it continues there, just bear with me.
[01:05:39] It goes on to say in verse 5, And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children.
[01:05:44] My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.
[01:05:49] For whom the Lord loves, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
[01:05:54] If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.
[01:05:57] For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?
[01:06:00] Are you going through difficult times?
[01:06:03] If you're gods, he will take care of you.
[01:06:07] He is sovereign even in this, and he is teaching us, he is training us, he is conforming us to the image of his Son.
[01:06:13] But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, you are bastards and not sons.
[01:06:19] Furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence.
[01:06:23] Shall we not much rather be in subjection of the Father of spirits and live?
[01:06:27] For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our own profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
[01:06:34] Why are we chastised or why are we chastened?
[01:06:36] That we might be partakers, not just be holy, but partakers of his holiness.
[01:06:42] Partakers of his holiness.
[01:06:43] You, a partaker of the holiness of God?
[01:06:47] How can we rest?
[01:06:49] If you have the holiness of God, then where's the division?
[01:06:54] There's no division.
[01:06:57] That's what this is about.
[01:06:59] That's what Christ came to do for you and for me.
[01:07:03] And so, the encouragement comes.
[01:07:06] Verse 12, Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down.
[01:07:10] Oh woe is me.
[01:07:11] Lift up those hands in praise.
[01:07:14] David Jones,
[01:07:17] and the feeble knees and hips, right?
[01:07:20] Lift them up!
[01:07:21] Get ready to go on the highway of holiness.
[01:07:23] That comes from Isaiah 35, I believe.
[01:07:26] For he goes on to say, Make straight paths, verse 13, for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way.
[01:07:33] Let it rather be healed.
[01:07:34] Follow peace with all men, and listen, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
[01:07:42] Christ wants you holy.
[01:07:44] Set apart for Him.
[01:07:46] and to him and with him.
[01:07:48] Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
[01:08:00] For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
[01:08:08] We're just going to finish this chapter and then we'll go to the table.
[01:08:10] So bear with me.
[01:08:11] I want you to hear this end of this chapter, which I pray will tie together the sermon nicely, and I pray remind us of what God has done in the mercy of Christmas for each and every one of us.
[01:08:24] Verse 18.
[01:08:27] For ye, Christians, ye are not common to the mount that might be touched.
[01:08:33] What mount is that?
[01:08:35] Sinai.
[01:08:36] You hadn't come to that mount, Sinai, where, oh, oh, don't talk anymore, we're going to die.
[01:08:43] You hadn't come to that mount if you're a Christian.
[01:08:45] You've not come to the mount that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they heard, entreated that the word should not be spoken anymore.
[01:09:00] For they could not endure that which was commanded.
[01:09:03] And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
[01:09:09] And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.
[01:09:15] That's Moses talking.
[01:09:17] But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels.
[01:09:29] the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn which are written in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel why does Jesus blood speak better than Abel's blood what did Abel's blood cry out for
[01:09:54] Vengeance, Revenge.
[01:09:57] What does Jesus' blood cry out for?
[01:10:00] Salvation, Reconciliation, Cleansing, Holiness, Justification, and Peace for you and for me.
[01:10:11] See then that you refuse not him that speaketh.
[01:10:15] For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth,
[01:10:20] Much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying yet once more, I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
[01:10:34] and this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain wherefore Christians we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved let us have grace
[01:10:52] whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire.
[01:11:08] In the Old Testament more than once someone laid out a sacrifice and they pray God consumes it with fire from heaven.
[01:11:20] Our God is a consuming fire.
[01:11:23] For unbelievers and for those who refuse this wonderful grace, this unique opportunity to this time of salvation and rest in Christ, eternal torments and burnings.
[01:11:39] And I think the worst part of hell is there's no rest day or night.
[01:11:44] You know, the unbeliever, the person on earth can be sick, can be in terror, and they think that they can escape by committing suicide.
[01:11:52] Of course it's not because then they enter in, of course if they're unbeliever, to hell.
[01:11:57] But once you're in hell, there's no suicide.
[01:12:02] There's no sleep.
[01:12:04] There's no break.
[01:12:05] Can I have a five minute break from this torment please?
[01:12:10] Day or night,
[01:12:12] Week to week, year to year, decades, centuries, millennium of sufferings and burnings and utter anguish and absolute despair that there will ever be an end to such suffering.
[01:12:28] God forbid anyone here have that before them.
[01:12:33] And if you have any loved ones that you think that might be their case, oh, may God renew for you and rekindle that desire to share Christ with them.
[01:12:41] And yet that same consuming fire, the same fire that warms us on a cold day, you know, the same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay.
[01:12:55] And that same consuming fire that comes in judgment and burns and torments the unbeliever enters the believer through the Holy Ghost.
[01:13:07] Coming in like Jeremiah.
[01:13:09] It's like a fire in my bones.
[01:13:11] I just can't help but preach the Word of God.
[01:13:13] I just can't help but live for Jesus.
[01:13:15] I have God inside of me by the Holy Ghost and the power of God is in me.
[01:13:20] The joy of God is in me and no matter how downcast I may feel or no matter how lukewarm I may at times backslide or cold, praise God that fire, the Holy Spirit,
[01:13:33] The bellows of the Spirit come and here comes the fire again.
[01:13:36] Hallelujah!
[01:13:37] And I'm on fire for Jesus Christ.
[01:13:40] And in that place, yeah, but I'll be busy.
[01:13:43] I'll be ministering.
[01:13:45] I'll be talking to people.
[01:13:45] I'll be up late at night telling them about Jesus and praying.
[01:13:48] And you'll have rest like you never knew before.
[01:13:53] Because you'll know that you're doing exactly what you were created for and born again for.
[01:14:01] And it is just a preface to what God has laid up in eternity for you.
[01:14:07] Resting in Him now, an eternal rest in heaven, in a place of praise, in a place of thanksgiving, in a place of peace, in a place of joy, in a place of fulfillment and purpose, in a place of power, in a place of glory.
[01:14:26] Through the Holy Ghost, in the name of the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who bought and paid for it for you, if you truly believe.
[01:14:41] What's your choice?
[01:14:43] What's it going to be?
[01:14:46] We come now to the table, Pastor Andy, to uncover the table, and the choir is getting ready to sing for us.
[01:14:55] The mercy of Christmas for the new year.
[01:15:01] Brothers and sisters, behold the mercy of Christmas.
[01:15:13] How more could he humble himself than to die so that you might partake of him by faith.
[01:15:22] Amen?
[01:15:24] What a privilege we have today.
[01:15:27] Let's pray.
[01:15:28] Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your Holy Word, for your Son, Christ Jesus, the Word becoming flesh.
[01:15:34] And now, Lord, as we come before you, we rejoice in the opportunity to give unto you the tithe and the offerings.
[01:15:41] Even as we're blessed in song, may our hearts be lifted up to heaven itself as we marvel at your mercy in giving us your Son, Christ Jesus, that we might be filled with your Spirit, resting in you, living for you, and giving you the praise and thanks in Christ Jesus' holy name.
[01:16:01] Amen.

[01:16:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Wonderful, merciful Savior Precious Redeemer and Friend Who would have thought that a Lamb could Rescue the souls of men Oh, who'd rescue the souls of men You are the one that
[01:17:09] You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for Oh, our hearts always hunger for Counselor, Comforter, Keeper Spirit we long to embrace
[01:17:37] You are for hope when our hearts dare Hopelessly lost the way Oh, are we hopelessly lost the way You are the one that we praise You are the one we adore
[01:18:04] All mighty infinite Father Faithfully loving Your own Here in all weakness You fight
[01:18:45] You are the one that we praise You are the one we adore You give the healing and grace Our hearts always hunger for Oh, our hearts always hunger for

[01:19:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
[01:19:31] Praise Him all creatures here below.

[01:19:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Praise Him above the heavenly host.

[01:19:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[01:19:51] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[01:19:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
The Lord Jesus tells us in John 15, He says, Abide in me, and I in you.
[01:20:08] As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can you except ye abide in me, or if ye rest in me.
[01:20:22] I am the vine, ye are the branches.
[01:20:24] He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.
[01:20:29] For without me ye can do nothing.
[01:20:36] As we come to the table, as we eat the bread and the grape juice, and it reminds us of Jesus' body and blood and Him being broken for us, that we might have forgiveness of sin, that we might have eternal life.
[01:20:56] Remember Jesus saying in John chapter 6,
[01:21:02] He says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
[01:21:12] And what Jesus is meaning is that this sacrament, these elements, are not just merely symbols, but that we are to feast on Christ in faith, in believing and trusting in Him.
[01:21:30] We are to eat the flesh.
[01:21:32] of Jesus.
[01:21:34] We are to drink His blood spiritually by our faith in Him, by resting in Him, by giving our hearts completely to Him.
[01:21:46] It is not that the elements become physically or in reality the Body and Blood of Christ.
[01:21:52] They are still symbols.
[01:21:54] But we are to feast in faith upon Him.
[01:21:58] And so,
[01:22:00] If you do not believe this, if you have not come to Christ, if you have not given yourself to Him, then these elements are not for you.
[01:22:09] They are for those who have come and who have bowed to Christ.
[01:22:16] And so, let us look to the Lord in prayer.
[01:22:21] O Lord God, Lord, we thank You that You shed Your blood, that You went to the cross for us,
[01:22:29] As the perfect Lamb of God, that you might bear the wrath of God for sin for us, that as we receive you, as we eat and drink of your sacrifice and what it stands for here, Lord, that we might know your salvation, that we might have the assurance of your salvation, that we might receive your rest.
[01:23:00] That was only accomplished by you and by your death for us.
[01:23:05] So Lord, we ask that you would be with us now, that you would take this bread and this grape juice, that you would use it for our spiritual nourishment and draw us close to you.
[01:23:16] And Lord, we pray that if there are any here that have sinned before you,
[01:23:25] They have sinned between them and you.
[01:23:26] They have not confessed it.
[01:23:28] Lord, we pray that they will confess it now and they will come freely and eat free of judgment, free of condemnation because great is your forgiveness.
[01:23:42] Only, Lord, let us have repentant and humble hearts before you.
[01:23:46] Let us confess our sin.
[01:23:50] For you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we will only confess.
[01:23:57] We praise you.
[01:23:57] We thank you.
[01:23:58] We ask all of these things in your name, Lord Jesus.
[01:24:02] Amen.
[01:24:05] The Lord Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, he took bread and when he had blessed it,
[01:24:15] He broke it and He gave it to His disciples as I do ministering in His name and He said, Take, eat, this is My body which is broken for you, this do in remembrance of Me.
[01:24:26] In the same manner after supper He took the cup
[01:24:31] And he said, this cup is the New Testament in my blood.
[01:24:36] Do this as often as you drink this cup in remembrance of me.
[01:24:39] For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
[01:24:50] This is the table of the Lord.
[01:24:51] It is for believers of the Lord.
[01:24:56] He calls us to come and to feast upon him
[01:25:00] Remembering His salvation and to walk in it, to live for Him and to rest in Him.
[01:25:14] So I ask, as believers of the Lord, if you will come up
[01:25:20] We can form two lines on each side here and then as you take the elements if you can go around and make your way back to your seat and if you will hold the elements together so that we might partake together showing the unity of the body of Christ.