The Truth About His Love

Affordable Medicare Affordable Medicare Affordable Medicare Affordable Medicare Affordable Medicare Affordable Medicare Affordable Medicaid Affordable Medicare Affordable Medicare Affordable Care Affordablegiggles Affordable Care Affordable Care Affordable Care Affordable Care Affordable Care Affordable Care Leave out the cross and you have killed off the gospel of Jesus Christ. The cross is at the heart of what happened. And without the cross, this whole thing falls apart. Now, we've been in this series where we're talking about what it is to hold fast to a hope that is firm and secure. And we've said that we don't hope in hope. We are hoping in Jesus. It is Jesus, always Jesus. And I want you all to know today, we are going to talk about the cross and it is going to get personal. I just want to say up front that the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ

and the message of the cross, this is what has changed lives. It has outlasted empires. It has healed marriages. It has forged friendships. It has convicted rebellious hearts. It has freed captives and it has saved sinners like you and me. Like I said, it's going to get personal. But I believe this is what God would have us to talk about. And I believe this is at the heart of our celebration, our worship. It is everything. And I believe and our pastors, we've been talking about this and praying about this this weekend. I believe the Holy Spirit is now going to move among us. Are you ready for the spirit to move among us now? Let's pray. Father, we come before you. Some of us are ready. Some of us are curious. Some of us are a little hesitant at all of this. I pray that in your mercy now that you would do what you always do and now meet us as we open your word, as we wade into deep waters and come back out, Lord, that you would keep us fresh, that you would allow us to lean in and maybe more than anything, may we bring the true us to the truth of you and hear you speak to us. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Now these guys are bringing out the blackboard. Yes, it's one of those days. So here it is.

We've been talking about this. We've been celebrating this. It's been the theme throughout the series. But let me, I'm just going to let you look at this for a second because everybody's like, oh, I think I know what that is. I think I know that. Okay. All right. So now we're done with that. Here it is. Let me just tell you this. We will always, always, always come back to Jesus. That's what I just said. Last week, Pastor Angela, I thought in a brilliant way, led us through these various Bible stories and showed us, reminded us that authentic community anchored in God's love is what we ache for, but if you'll recall at the end, at the very end, she was one more time, like one last time, she wanted us to know about Jesus and she said, only Jesus can bear the weight of our longings and our expectations. It's Jesus, always Jesus. You see what you're going to find here in the scriptures is this, is this, this notion that Jesus is really throughout all of the scriptures. Now, let me just say, if you want to talk about him and use sort of an Aramaic name, it's Yeshua. Now we know that name, right? Yeshua. What that means is, and it came from a Hebrew name, Yehoshua, which means God saves, it's baked into his name. God saves us through Jesus. All of this is now going to come back to Jesus.

At every turn, we're going to see Jesus in every way. So let me just show you how this works now. Let's finish this verse that we've been reading and let's, this thought that we've been reading. So we're in Hebrews chapter six, verse 18. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It, this hope enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where our forerunner Jesus has entered on our behalf. have. All together now, can we just say, what? Because for some of us, we're going, I don't know what that means. I don't know how this applies. Let me just say to you, by the end of our time together, I hope, I pray that you will understand that what we just read is the heart of our faith. It's why we celebrate. It's why we worship. Watch this. It's why hundreds and hundreds of people are going to step into the waters of baptism next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, to proclaim to the world that they belong to Jesus. I promise you, it's all connected to what we just read. By the way, one more time, I know you just heard it, but are you making plans to join us? Because it will do your soul good. Come back next weekend. The stories, as always, you cannot, you just, you can't believe how good they will be for you. But if you're still someone who is considering what it means to go public with your faith, one more time, it is not too late. It's almost too late. Like we're almost there. But if you would like to know what it means to tell the world about Jesus, before that, more importantly, if you would like to know what it means to follow Jesus, come on, let's start that conversation in just a minute, okay? But I want you to see now that all of this, all of this will reach back to what we're talking about today. And I'll give you the first clue. If you keep reading in Hebrews 6, what you will see is right after that, right after that, Jesus is referred to as our high priest. Okay, that's not helping. All right, here we go. What we need is a little background. And to understand what the writer is saying here, you have to go to Leviticus. So if you went to Leviticus, let's say 23. By the way, how many of you woke up today and you're like, one of your first thought was, man, I sure hope the pastor preaches from Leviticus today. Anybody? Any, any, not? Okay. All right. Well, you're in luck anyway, because we're going to go there.

It's not going to get that. We're not going to read from Leviticus. Let me just tell you about it. You see, in Leviticus 23, God tells the people, there's something that now I want you to do one day a year. It is a special holy day. It's going to be so thick with meaning and symbolism. And on that day, you will celebrate. Now, you're going to understand and recognize the Hebrew word of this, but this is when God is talking about Yom Kippur. Yom, which means day of Kippur, which is atonement. Okay. Atone. It means to make things right. It means to deal with your sin. It means to, to reconcile with God. So all of this is now going to be about this day of atonement. It was a very big, special day. It only happened once a year. The high priest, the high priest, here we go, would go into a special, uh, place in, in the, in the temple. Now that can, you can find all the stuff that he's doing in Leviticus 7, 16, but what you will see is that he goes into this one place that is cordoned off. It is separate from all of the rest of the temple, really from all of the rest of Israel and the rest of the world. It is what we might call, uh, the most holy place. Sometimes you'll call it the holy of holies. And it's behind that curtain. It's behind that veil that was just referenced. You see, this is where God would reside with his people. God is everywhere, but God showed his people that he wanted to dwell with them. And so in the holy of holies, God, his power, his presence, his glory, it rested there in the holy of holies. Now the high priest can only go there once a year, but the main thing I want you to see here is that this curtain, this veil, it was really more of a wall. We talked about this on Palm Sunday. It's 30 feet high. It's, uh, it's like four inches thick. It's separated the people from God. So the first thing that this is teaching is that we're sinful people and God, he has to separate from us because he can't stand this. And then the rest of the day of atonement is that the priest will bring in and sprinkle the blood of sacrificed animals on this gold top of the ark of the covenant. And it's symbolized forgiveness through sacrifice, through the shedding of blood. Now let's just hit pause here. We're just about done with all of your Hebrew history, but this is where a lot of us get stuck right here, right here. We don't like this part of the old Testament. We don't like this part of the cross. Listen, if we were to take a, an anonymous survey, some of you really were struggling with that last song that we sang. Thank you Jesus for the blood applied. What on earth is going on here?

In the back of your mind, there's a little thing that's freaking out. I want you to understand what is happening here. It's heavy. It's a difficult thing to think about. But from the very beginning, God, through His Word, now this idea of His Word, His Word is trustworthy. If you want a companion message for this, I would go back to May or June of 24, another Blackboard moment, where we talked about the evidence around the Word. We believe this book is like no other. And so God speaks to us through His Word. And He begins to speak to us about Jesus and His plan for all of this. But there are promises. So God makes promises. And then there are these strange, to us anyway, symbols. There are these symbolic things that are happening. And so much of it has to do with sacrifice. So what is God teaching us here? Well, I think in many ways, God is showing us that for things to be made right, you need to know that there is this gap between us. There is sin that has caused a gap. Let's just say that this is God, and this is us, and there is a gap between us. And the only way this gap could be closed is through a sacrifice. Now, let's just say it out loud. God could have just left us to our own devices. He creates all of this for us. We mess things up. And He could have said, you know what, good luck with that. But God, in His love, said, no, I want you to be reconciled with me. I want to make a way to atone for the sin. I hate sin.

I separate from sin. Do you know why? Because God is holy. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. Y'all need to know that God hates sin. He hates what it does to us, what it does to His creation. He hates the way we treat each other when we sin. But God loves us so much that He won't let that be the last word. So there are these promises, and these symbols, and there is this idea of sacrifice. And yes, if we're going to say it, blood is involved, because blood signifies life. So if you look at all of these Old Testament things, God is teaching a primitive people, this is a big deal, and it's going to cost more than you can imagine to make things right. Are you with me? It all comes down to one life, one life, and one moment that we can barely imagine. This is what we begin to see in this story. This is what we begin to see in the Scriptures. This is where all of this is heading. But I want you to know something now. It is not about rituals. All throughout the Old Testament, I could show you Scriptures where God says, I don't need more bulls and goats. I don't need any of that stuff. I'm looking on your heart. Do you know what God wants? God wants us to trust Him. You see, the ultimate plan is that there's going to be a sacrifice that connects us, that reunites us. But what God wants from us is not more ritual. What God wants from us is to trust Him. God, I believe your way, and your way is enough.

Even in the Old Testament, He said rituals were empty if all you're doing is going through the motions. So this is pretty much it. I guess the last thing I would tell you before we kind of are done with our theology and our Old Testament history is this. The cross screams of God's justice and God's way, but it also screams of God's love. The last little tidbit for you. Where was the temple? Where was the Holy of Holies? If you were with us in the last series, you might remember from Scripture that it is on Mount Moriah. Do you remember in peak experiences, one, what happened on Mount Moriah? This is the place where Abraham, God says, don't sacrifice your son. I'll provide for you. And it's all this hint that something is coming where God Himself will provide for us. This is now what's going to begin to separate Christianity from all other religions. I want you to know this is God's son we're talking about. Are you familiar with half-truths? Like sometimes we'll use that term, and I don't even know what we mean when we say, well, it's kind of half. That's a half-truth. Is it true or is it not true? It feels like that's an all or nothing to me, but I get it sort of. There was a news service that did a whole big story on half-truths a few years ago. One of them was about Subway's foot-long sandwich. And what they found through their research was that it's not technically a foot long. It was 11 inches long. And it caused a whole bunch of things, and people had lawsuits. And now Subway has to use like laser. Measurements to make sure that even after it's baked that it's a foot look so all of that, right? So is that a half-truth? I don't know where they try. I don't know half-truths when you say to someone. Hey

You look good in your new outfit When what you really meant to say was hey you got a new outfit So it was half-truth. It was almost true, but not true. How about this just yes or no? Everybody yelled to me out in the in the room now because we just need to to go through this Yes, or no is a peanut a nut No, it's not it's a legume It's got a shell looks like a nut kind of acts like a nut. It's a legume is a palm tree a tree Yeah, you're not sure but some of you are catching on. It's really not a tree It's a flowering plant of sorts acts like a tree You can actually if it's a big one, you can sit under the shade of that thing, but it's not it's sort of halfway there But you're not really there's a mountain goat a goat. You're not sure. No, it's not a goat It's really more related to to to an antelope. Here's the last one and I'm not trying to confuse you but it's pink a color No According to physicists it's not a color because there is no Lightwave length that you can measure that we classify as pink Now when I first read this I was like, well I can make pink in my crayon box I think a blue and a red and I got pink right? Well, technically what's going on there is it's not violet and red Technically what our brains are perceiving as pink is what you see in the light spectrum When you take green out and you have what's left so scientists will tell you it's not really pink It's what they call not green At this point some of you are going none of this is helpful, what are you even talking about? Listen to me now here it is Jesus was a man It's true, right Jesus was just a man Not true Like you got part of it, right? Jesus was a great teacher. Jesus was a brilliant man. Jesus was the the best man who ever lived That's part of the story

But I need you to know for the cross to matter for any of this to make sense For us to proclaim what we proclaim to be as relieved and as joyful as we are about what he has done for our lives He is fully man, but he is fully God God steps into this story It's a mirror it's a miracle the incarnation but he steps into the story He stoops down and he he serves us and he forgives us and I'm telling you all of this Every bit of this has been pointing to the moment when Jesus Jesus It's all connected to Jesus when Jesus is going to make a way God in the flesh dies for us Now I want you to understand fully that that that this separates us from all other world religions and and go study them study them I mean, I went back and read some of the things like in the Rig Vedas and and the Quran and The Bhagavad Gita I read some of that stuff again this week just to see and to refresh myself You will see it's different than Christianity. Now. There's a British Scholar at Oxford. His name is John Lennox a delightful man who who who makes this point? I was listening to a Lecture of his at Harvard and I had to clarify last night. That would be a half-truth if I didn't clear I wasn't at Harvard. Okay, he wasn't speaking to me. I Couldn't find Harvard on a map. All right, they wouldn't let me into the parking lot, but I saw it on YouTube And so this yeah, so I'm just giving you the whole truth So here's the thing what Lennox says is when you study and he's talking to students at Harvard about the Christian faith isn't that interesting and They're leaning in and they're asking questions Because something is happening in some of these universities and it's been going on. This is like a ten-year. This is a ten-year-old video But he says if you look and study the religions of the world They fall into two camps when you start to try to figure out how to solve the human dilemma He says the first camp is basically this you you your religion you treat life Like something that you're studying for until you get to the final exam Everything is heading towards the final exam now, of course What this means is and we love this because it has merit like it's it's based on merit and we love merit Right, we love earning something here

We love that yet Don't just give somebody a bonus or a promotion or let them start the next game because it's their turn No, you gotta earn it, right? We love that. Well, it leaks its way into world religions. And so what you see is that you earn your way all the way through your life. You do whatever the rules are of that religion. You do your thing, and then you hope for the best at the end that you, like, you pass. Or maybe not even pass. I mean, we want an A, don't we? Is that too much? Like, what grade did you shoot for when you were entering into that class? Was it a B? How many of you said B? Like, man, if I could get a B, I'm good with that. Was it D for diploma? I mean, that's a motto. C, C minus. Let's just say a C minus, because at least that's better than the guy that lives next to me or the gal that works with me. I mean, at least I'm better than them, right? His whole point is you do everything that you do, and you hope that you scored a passing grade. And the way it works is you want more good things happening. You want more brownie points in your life.

You want all of this to outweigh the demerits, the not good marks on your account. And so that's how you lived your life. And you don't even know whether you're going to make it until the end of your life. And then you find out you did or you didn't. Uh-oh, or you made it. That is every other world religion in a very simplistic way, but that's every other world religion. Some of them, when you fail, you're gone, and sorry about that. Others, it's like, oh, no, we're gonna send you right back in, and you're gonna be reincarnated, and you're gonna learn. I'm just telling you, this is how it works in every other world religion. So that's one camp. What's the other camp? Well, the other camp is really one faith system. Now, you know where I'm going with this, but let's just go on ahead and say it. In that first faith system, it's all about what you do. In this other faith system, it is all about what God in the flesh, Jesus the Christ, has already done. It all now is loaded on him, not us. What does Ephesians 2, verse eight say? Let's put that one up there. You guys got that one? God saved you by his grace when you believed.

And you can't take credit for this. It is a gift from God. So it is by grace that you are saved through faith, and it's a gift. So it's merit or grace. You're gonna have to decide which way you're gonna go with this, and it's a gift. It's not something you earn. It's a gift that you receive. Now, I think that this is such, such good news, but it's also gonna require us to tell the truth about ourselves. Here's where it gets personal. Through all sorts of research, even after everything that has happened in this world over the last few years, apparently we still overestimate our abilities. Now, we don't over, they call it optimism bias. Now, we're not necessarily optimistic about everyone else. Like, you're not optimistic about the person three seats over. You're not overestimating their abilities. You just are overestimating your own abilities, right? So here's what we're gonna do. There's a neuroscientist, her name is Tali Sherratt, and she has studied this her whole life. When she's doing these things, sometimes she will do sort of a visual experiment in the rooms. We're gonna do that now here at each of our sites.

Those of you who are online, let's do this now. The first thing I'm gonna ask you to do, I'm gonna ask a question, I'll get us started, but would you just meet some people around you? Because you're gonna wanna do this in groups. So go ahead, this is the awkward moment. Yeah, like now, go ahead and meet some people, get in your groups, go on ahead. It's gonna take a minute. All right, make sure that you're including the people around you. These are the moments where some of you don't wanna do it. I know, I know. Okay, so here's the first thing now. I'm gonna ask you a question, and the first one we're gonna do together, and you're gonna raise your hand. The rest of these, you're gonna talk to each other, and you'll get the prompts on the screen, okay? So here it is. Every time you give an answer, you're giving your answer relative to the rest of the population. So wherever you are in the population. So the first question, and we're gonna start this one off, is how well you get along with others. So could I just, how many of you would say you're in the bottom 25% of getting along with others? Just raise your hand right now. Okay, I've got a few of you out there.

First of all, thank you for your honesty, and good luck with the rest of your group. So, okay, but that's honest, that's honest, right? Okay, so now here's the next one, and they're gonna get progressively more uncomfortable. You have to keep looking at the screen. I'm going to get out of the way now and y'all are going to talk. The next one is, how's your driving ability? Go ahead, talk to each other. Okay, all right, okay. Some of you would like to continue your explanation of your answers. Let's just do the last one together, okay? The last question she often asks is, how modest are you? How many of you would say you're in the lowest 25% on modesty? It's kind of a trick question. If you raise your hand, you probably aren't, right? Okay. So you know where the point is. We've made this point in so many different ways. I mean, even like, let's just say it out loud. We know our kids are gifted. We know our family is special. How about this? We know the crossing is full of exceptional people, amen? Amen. By definition alone, we can't be above average about everything. Who cares, right? Unless we're talking about the most important elements of our existence. You see, Romans 3.23 says that we got to tell ourselves the truth. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

This gap between us and God, it's real and it's for each of us. This is where we are. In fact, if you really want to put it in a very blunt way that some of you would just absolutely hate, God doesn't grade on a curve. He grades pass, fail, and that's our grade. So what do I do when I get to that place? What do I do when I begin to understand? Maybe it's a series of sins that have been in my life that are just, they're overwhelming me. Maybe it's a glob of unworthiness that is in the bottom of my soul. What do I do then? Everything, every promise, every symbol, every practice, all of the hints and clues, it all comes down to this moment. Because the way forward and the way back to God is the cross. Now finish this thought here in Romans 3. So all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Remember he's writing to believers in Rome. And then he says, but y'all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. There it is again. It's free. It's grace. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood to be received by faith. I just want you to know this whole thing comes down to will we trust that what Jesus has done for us is enough? Because if we don't, then the rest of our days we're going to be wondering. We're going to be a little cringy. We're going to be a little, oh, is it good? Is it good?

Is it? You don't have to live your life in fear of whether you made the cut at the end. You turn to Jesus now and he says, that's it. John 1 12 says, to as many as received him, remember this is a gift. He has given them the right to be called children of God. God paid the debt for you. There is no other religion in the world that says this. Jesus did this for us. Now I think this is so important. I'm going to try it one more way. I just want you to see the difference. Brad and Kim, yes, it's time. I know you guys got asked to help with this, so y'all just come on up here. But I want you to think about this. And some of you are in relationships. Some of you have been in relationships. Some of you are saying, no, thanks, not interested in that. But many of you will understand this. Okay, Kim, you stand here. Brad, you come here on the other side of me. Okay. Yeah. All right. So I, first of all, thank you. Okay. Now, how long have y'all been married? 36 years and four months. Husbands, did you hear that? Yeah, did you look that up and do the math before you came up here? No, you had that.

You had that. Okay. All right. Do y'all remember when you first met? Okay. And when you first fell in love, like, what was that like? It's fine. Yeah. You're not going to give me any details. Are you? That's okay. That's okay. That's okay. So, so, but there were those early days where you were like, Oh boy, I think this is the one, this is it. And then there was that moment of, of like the vows and the commitment and the public celebration. Y'all are married 34 years, four months, 36 years, four months. Kim, I'm just going to do, I'm just going to say this to you. Cause I think it'd be fun. Uh, we could go the other way, but, um, what if as y'all were falling in love, maybe it was at the wedding. I don't know. And, and, and Brad said, okay, Kim, this is a, uh, well, it's a cookbook, not that kind of cook. Well, I mean, they could be there, there, there are recipes in here. There are formulas in here of what make me happy. There are all, look, it's even annotated. There are things in here of, of, of like, uh, the things that I think are the right way to do it and the wrong way to do it. It's, this is just, this is it. And, and Kim, I'm giving this to you now. And if you will live up to this for, uh, way past 36 years and four months, let's just say it's 40, 50, 60 years of God allows, right? If at the end of our time, now you got to live up to this. If at the end you do, I just might accept you.

I just, I just might love you. Thoughts? I would give that right back to him. You would give that right back to him. Maybe this way, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, no. Why? Why? Because that's not love. So you guys know each other and you've learned about each other. You took a step together. You keep learning along the way. Now here's the deal. There are probably things in here that you learned about him and there are things that you could learn about her and go, oh, so that's the way you do it. I, okay. I could, I couldn't, I could do that. Oh, I can learn that way. Right. But you're not, yeah, right. It would have helped so much. Brad, um, I'll do the jokes. Okay. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. No, you're making a great point, right? But you wouldn't do those things to earn her favor. You're doing that because you love her, right? Nobody, nobody is interested in a relationship where somebody says, here are the rules now live up to it. And maybe in a few decades, I'll let you know if we're good.

That's crazy, isn't it? All right. So all illustrations break down. This was fantastic. Thank you so much. You guys thank them. You wouldn't dream. And this is Lennox's point. You wouldn't dream of entering into a relationship that was a scored performance where somebody throughout the years was going, yep, nope, yep, no. And then at the end of the end of the end, you find out whether you made it, whether you were loved, whether you were accepted. None of you would accept that. And Lennox's point is there are millions and millions and millions of people who think this is what it's like to try to earn a relationship with God. Y'all got to hear me. That is not true. The God of the universe loves you. He stepped into the story. He stooped down to service and he died for you. He poured his heart out and died for you so that you could have life with him now that stretches into forever. But we never deserve it. We could never earn it. When I do what I do, it's on a good day. It's out of worship. It's out of gratitude. It's not me trying to earn his favor. Listen to Lennox himself. This is the wrap up of his, the last closing lines of his lecture. Christianity competes with no other religion here, because as far as I can see, Christ is the only person that offers me the knowledge of forgiveness right here and now. So in my life, I try to live for him, not in order to gain his acceptance, but because ladies and gentlemen, I already have it. Amen. You are the beloved and we do this, not.

to make the cut someday. We do this because we have been accepted. And I wanna say one more time, that's why so many people will be stepping into the waters next week. Not to somehow earn God's favor, to not to somehow to make things right between them and God. That all happens on the cross. That all happens when you receive that gift. They're doing this out of love, out of obedience, out of trust, and flat out worship. And one more time, if you're still considering that powerful, pivotal moment of your journey, come on, it's not too late. If you're wanting to know what it means to accept Jesus, come on, it's not too late. But for those of you who have done both of those things, I need you to hear God continues to call us to be loving, bold, courageous, humble people who will forgive others. That's what this world needs, amen? How is that even possible? You live in the shadow of the cross. I'm gonna say this out loud, I am a work in progress. There are moments that I get just almost right, and it's like, oh, that worked, that worked, and I'll follow it up with something idiotic next. But because God loves me, and because I am a new creation, and I am in his family, he continues to forgive me. I want you to hear me.

You don't have to live your life worried about, uh-oh, does God love me or not? Am I good with him or not? What the word tells us is that when we confess our sins, when we come to him, that's it. He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. That's the promise you have, how? Because of the blood of Jesus. Ooh, that's a lot. I'm gonna give you one more thought, and then communion. So Keller writes about this in one of his books, and it references another theologian. So I started kind of chasing him down a few years ago, and then that led me to a guy named Meredith Klein, and then that led me back to the prophet Zechariah. And again, like I said a couple of weeks ago, I just wanna thank all of them for getting us to this place that can remind us of how good Jesus is. But here it is, the prophet Zechariah. So if you read Zechariah in the Old Testament, you will see that it's pretty trippy. It's a lot like, it's an Old Testament version of the book of Revelation. Lots of visions, lots of symbols, lots of, you're like, ooh, and you're trying to piece it all together. Now, we're not gonna go through all of that. I just wanna tell you that there was a series, there were a series of night visions that God gave Zechariah. This was a time in Israel where they had come back from the exile, they're trying to rebuild their lives,

they're trying to rebuild the temple. They've kind of lost their momentum. Some discouragement, God begins to lay some truth on Zechariah about the future. It's thick, it's rich. And there are these series of night visions. Somebody has suggested that maybe they all are occurring on the same night. Whoo, that's some night. I mean, bad sleep score that night, but some night. We're just gonna look at the fourth vision, and it's in Zechariah chapter three. Just real quickly, some of this is now all gonna come together, and it's all gonna make sense for you here. Because in Zechariah three, what we see is a vision of what we think is kind of trying to describe a moment, maybe the day of atonement. Because the prophet, and his name is Joshua. It's not the Joshua that followed Moses. It's a different Joshua. The name Joshua in Hebrew is Yehoshua. It too means God saves. And along the way in Aramaic, you just shortened it to Yeshua, same name. But this Joshua now is standing in what looks like a courtroom setting. And again, you kind of have to look at all of this, it takes a little bit, but in this courtroom setting, you have God Almighty presiding as judge. You have Satan, the accuser, standing next

to this high priest. And then something begins to happen. But I want you to picture now the setting. The setting is that they are in kind of a courtroom at the center of the cosmos. Let's just say it's the holy of holies. God is present there. His presence is so palpable, it's the day of atonement. And what Dillard tells us, if you look at history, is that the high priest, when he would go behind that veil, had so many things that he had to go through. He is secluded for a week before the day of atonement so that no one can get to him, so that nothing impure happens, so that you get to a place, like they would serve him his food. They just didn't want him to do anything or to touch anything that was unclean. They are preparing him for the awesome moment when he goes behind the curtain to stand before God Almighty and all of his glory and holiness. Big deal. So that's it. The night before the day of atonement, he would be up all night praying and reading God's word to purify his heart. And then on the day of, the day. Yeah, there's all of these rituals that are going on, but he would scrub himself clean.

He would put on a white linen robe, and then he would go behind the curtain, behind the veil, and he would sprinkle out the blood of a bull that had been sacrificed, and this was for his own sin. And then he comes back out, he takes another bath, scrubs again, puts on a different white linen, completely clean robe, and this time, he goes in and takes the blood of an animal and sprinkles it across the Ark of the Covenant for the sins of all of the priests that are serving with him. And then one more time, he comes back out and he takes that off, scrubs again. By the way, all of this, Dillard tells us, is happening in public. Now, nobody's seeing anything, there's a screen there, but the nation is cheering him on because this is, man, this is everything. I'm like, this is, the stakes are high. And so he's doing it again, scrubbing again, puts on the white linen robe, and this time, he goes behind the veil, behind the curtain, to offer sacrifice for the sins of the people. That's the history of this, you with me? The vision is that Joshua, the high priest, is standing before God in this courtroom setting, but his linen robe isn't clean. It's absolutely filthy.

And when I say filthy, I'm being kind. In the Hebrew, what that word really means, like the commentaries just avoid this. They just avoid saying this out loud. I will tell you, the word that they use to describe it is the word excrementitious. Anybody wanna guess what that word means? No. Joshua, the high priest, on the most important day when the stakes are so high, is standing before Almighty Holy God in a robe dripping, stained with feces. This is the vision. This is what's going on. Now, you start to go, well, what on earth does this mean? Why would something like this happen? I mean, the children of Israel would never allow him to do this. He would never dare to do this, to stand before God this way. So what's the purpose of this vision? No matter how many times he tries to scrub himself clean, no matter how many different times he goes through a wardrobe change three times over, this is as good as we can get it. We stand before God, and even through all of our efforts to say, I think it's good enough, I think it's good enough, we stand there stained in our shame and our filth.

And this is a strange vision, but it sounds familiar, because in Isaiah, he says, our righteousness is like filthy rags to God, and that word is also a very difficult word. The prophet Jeremiah says, you can use all the soap you want, but you can't scrub out the sin in our hearts. Listen, God looks on our motives, God looks at our hearts, and there is no way ever that we are good enough. No wonder Satan is standing there in the courtroom, in the role of the prosecuting attorney, saying, he's the accuser. You ever been there? You ever been there where there's sin in your life, and you're like, oh, God, I, I'm telling you, in this moment, if you read the whole story, the God of the universe, the judge of the living and the dead, the dragon slayer, the serpent crusher, in this moment, says to the accuser, who is merely an angel of darkness, silence. And then he says, this one has been snatched from the fire. This one is mine. He may not look like much to you, but he is mine. And then he says, take off the dirty garments, and put on these rich, clean robes. How? If everything I've told you about God's justice and about sin, how does that happen?

Joshua can't do that. How does it happen? If you keep reading, what you will see is that he tells this Joshua, there is one coming, the branch. Now, that doesn't mean anything to your Gentile ears, but I'm telling you, it's code for Messiah. It means Messiah. Messiah is coming. Go to Isaiah 11, go to Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 33. This is Messiah. God is saying here, in this moment, with a man who is hopelessly convicted, he says, I'm sending one who is gonna make things right. In fact, what he says, if you read it, he says that there is one who is coming, and I will send him, and he will remove the sin of this land in a single day. The day of ultimate atonement is coming. It's the cross, y'all, it's the cross. And it's Dillard, this scholar, who makes the point. Another Yeshua, Yehoshua, our high priest, spent a week preparing for this day of atonement. And on the night of his betrayal, he did spend the night in prayer, communing with God, preparing himself for that moment. But in the ultimate twist of events, on his day, he wasn't cheered as he went toward that holy place. He was jeered, he was abandoned, he was betrayed, he wasn't bathed with clean water.

He was covered in his own sweat and blood and the spit of sinners. The God of the universe died for us in that moment, and he is treated as if all sin had been piled onto him. My filth, my shame, it's been piled onto him. It was so horrible that in that mysterious moment we try to describe, even the father had to turn away. But this is when the price was paid. God satisfied his justice, but God screams to us of his love. The judicial record is clear now. Take that filth off. But then he wraps us in his righteousness. Do you have any idea how much God loves you? This is what we proclaim when we preach the cross. This is what we talk about when together we say, what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And now, maybe we're ready for communion. You see, if you have your elements, I would ask you to take them and get them out. We'll take them together. Thank you. They're gonna take all of this away, and we're gonna just remind ourselves of what all of this means. You hear us say this each time. Maybe, maybe something's hitting a little bit differently now. Jesus said on the night of his betrayal,

before all of those horrors, he said we're gonna take these common elements that are in this symbolic meal, and it'll be a way for you to remember me. Remember me. Remember how much this cost for you to have unhindered relationship with God. Remember what I do for you now. Remember how much I love you now. And so, I want us to remember. Oh, next weekend is gonna be something. I just wanna say again, please come back. But next week's gonna be something. But right now, we remember. You see, some of us need to put ourselves in a place of remembering, because we have forgotten that we are forgiven, and there's that sin that's just haunting you. It's time to confess it. It's time to come to it. For some of you, you are struggling with something. It is time to ask for God's help, and to then take the step, maybe into community, and say, I need help with this. For some of us, it's time to remember that we're not doing this on our own, or that you don't have to do it alone. And maybe for some of you, for the very first time, it is time to consider that Jesus did all of this for you. You see, if you're seeking him now,

if you're trying to understand what all of this means, then these elements aren't for you. Remember, empty rituals don't mean anything to God. But I would suggest to you that in these coming moments, when we take first the bread and then the cup, you could, in your own way, in a simple prayer, say, Jesus, I know these elements don't save me, but in the context of this moment, I wanna receive your grace. I want the sacrifice, the blood applied to my life. So, I wanna give you just a second here. If you'll take the bread out, and if you'll hold that in your hands here, and we're doing this really at all of our sites together, but I'm gonna ask if you would to consider just how much God loves you. I want you to consider how we just kinda tried to capture so much of the Old Testament that just comes rushing into the life of Jesus, but it is Jesus, always Jesus. And at that point of the meal, he takes the bread, and he said, this is my body, which is for you. Remember me. After the meal, Jesus took the cup and with the cup he said, this is my blood in the new covenant. This is the new way now. If you keep reading in Hebrews, it says that the high priest makes this sacrifice

and that's it, once and for all. That's it, that's it, there are no more sacrifices. That's how powerful this moment is. That's how powerful the life of Jesus and the sacrifice of Jesus and yes, the blood of Jesus is. For some of you, honestly, again, I feel maybe just compelled to say that for some of you, there is that specter, that haunt of a past that you just can't shake. If you have come to Jesus, I want you to remember, he's enough. Revelation 11 says that our answer to the accuser is the blood of the lamb. So now in this moment, Jesus says, when you take this cup, remember me. Paul says in one of his letters, every time you take the elements, you are proclaiming, you are proclaiming the death of Jesus until he returns. I really hope y'all come back next week because we are gonna celebrate the victory of the cross and the triumph of the resurrection. Are you ready for that? But until then, until then, it seems to me like the best thing we could do is to leave here by filling the room one more time with the victory of the cross. Would you stand with us

and let's let these be our last words. ♪ Brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ Let's declare this together. ♪ Thank you Jesus for the blood of life ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus it has washed me white ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus you have saved my life ♪ ♪ Brought me from the darkness into glorious light ♪ ♪ There is nothing stronger than the wonder working power of God ♪ ♪ The wonder working power of God ♪ ♪ The blood that calls us sons and daughters ♪ ♪ We are risen by our Father through the blood of life ♪ ♪ The blood there is nothing stronger than the wonder working power of God ♪ ♪ Than the wonder working power of God ♪ ♪ The blood that calls us sons and daughters ♪ ♪ We are risen by our Father through the blood of life ♪ ♪ The blood ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus for the blood of life ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus it has washed me white ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus you have saved my life ♪ We are so glad that you came today. If you have any questions about anything you heard, you come find us. If you need prayer, you come find us. If you want to talk about that step of baptism, go find them out in the lobby or come find us down front. We are so glad that you are here today. We really do hope we see you next week. Thanks.