Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM-

and course 1b yeah so basically just so you know where so after verse 4 course 1a course 1b good morning what are we all doing this morning you can tell me i won't tell anyone else promise well it's good to see you all this morning it's early thank you for being here um welcome to calvary chapel uh my name is grace this is everyone else but you may have seen my face few and far between um i grew up going here and then i just moved back so it's been about five years since i've been here but um i'm excited and excited to be up here with you um thank you pastor jared for giving me the opportunity to be up here again um it's been a while so would you all stand and worship with us this morning father thank you for this um time

god thank you for the opportunity god um worship is such a beautiful thing that you have given us lord and shown us in your word father as a a sacrifice bringing everything that we have and all that we are to you god this morning may we just forget about everything else lord may we just offer our lives at your feet god those distractions those things holding us back from humbling ourselves before you god lord we deserve nothing but you have given us everything god so may we in response and in reverence and in complete honor and humility offer back our worship our praise our attention to you this morning in jesus name amen father i pray um right now as we continue in this worship lord that again we just lay hairs at your feet god and would walk in the

confidence knowing that you go before us you up god i thank you again just for your grace for your mercy that sustains us day by day moment for your grace that we will never earn god thank you for who you are and for who you are and for who you are and for who you are and for who you are and as we sing this last song god i pray that we can just again honor you and you deserve the best we can lord heavenly father lord we let us surrender our hearts to you this day and always lord we acknowledge that you allowed your son to suffer an agonizing death and bear all of our sins in order to bring to wash us clean and to bring us to you just wait for pastor ryan lord we let us

glorify you and not be a burden to you and to bring us to you and to bring us to you and to bring us would boast in jesus christ lord prepare our hearts to hear your word and apply your word to our lives lord speak mightily through pastor ryan in jesus name we pray amen and let us fellowship with one another good morning you can begin to locate your seat grab your bulletin we'll get ready to go over some announcements welcome to calvary chapel i'm glad that you have joined us this morning a few things to take note of um the left hand side of your seat is the place where inside everything's happening so take note of that um in the middle section ladies you have a ladies breakfast coming up uh this saturday i would like to take note of the fact that

in your bullets and it says it starts at 9 30 a.m which is later than usual so if you get here at 8 30 you get to help prepare so which maybe we should have just left it at that i don't know where sandra is maybe we should just left it at that um but uh take note of that all the ladies are welcome to join for some food and some fellowship diane will be bringing a devotional so um and then over on the right hand side you have nothing but i have two things written down uh number one is that march madness is coming up march the 21st so i think all the looking to see i thought i saw janna what there she is uh everything's set up we're good to go do we have a time six to nine so it'd be a fundraiser for uh some missions trips and

it's just a great time to get together and have a lot of fun more details will be coming soon on that and then also if you are interested in a mission trip to guatemala um there's going to be a meeting right after first service uh back at down at the other end of the hallway in the agape room janna is going to be talking to you about some details on that so if you're interested in going to guatemala with us this summer um go see janna right after uh first service so those are the things that are going on if you would make sure that you're mobile vices silenced for a responsive reading this morning we are going to be in psalm 15 psalm 15 uh looking at the new american standard for this part if you need a copy there should be

one in a row around you and as you are turning to psalm 15 if you are able please stand in the honor of the reading of god's word i will read the odd verses if you will follow along with pastor allen and the even verses psalm 15 a psalm of david oh lord who may abide in your tent who may dwell in your holy hill he walks with integrity and works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart he does not slander with his tongue nor does evil nor does evil to his neighbor nor takes up a reproach against his friend in whose eyes a reprobate is despised but who honors those who fear the lord he swears to his own hurt and does not change and read verse 5 with me he does not put out his money

at interest nor does he take a bribe against the innocent he who does these things will never be shaken and so father i pray that integrity would guide our hearts and lives and father that um that we may be those who honor you in everything that we do and father that we would be able to see you more clearly this morning and so father as we uh get into your word i just ask that you would open the eyes of our understanding lord that we would be able to see the hope of your calling the glorious riches of your inheritance in this and the great uh power that works in us lord that same power that raised christ jesus from the dead so father do your work in us we pray in jesus name amen you may be seated if you would open up in your

bibles to the book of hebrews chapter 2 hebrews chapter 2 we'll finish chapter 2 today as we come to the last part in our series jesus better than the angels uh we first of all pointed out that jesus was better than the angels because of his deity that's why we're going to be talking about chapter 1 is about it proves that jesus is god therefore he is far above the angelic realm and of course the beginning of chapter 2 was the warning that he gave us to beware of drifting because if the message that came through angels who jesus is greater than had had penalties for those who disobeyed how much more the message that came through jesus himself if we drift from it and then he began to re or then he returned to the subject of jesus being

better than the angels and he speaks now of his humanity not only is jesus better than the angels because of his deity but also because of his humanity we said that there were five things that that uh the writer to the hebrews pointed out that god did through jesus and his humanity we said that the first one was that jesus and his humanity tasted death for all the second thing that we said is that jesus and his humanity was the author or the captain of our salvation and today we pick up in verse 11 with the third thing and that's that he calls us his brethren for the sake of fluency let's start in verse 9 we'll read the rest of the chapter and pick up from there

it says this but we do see him who was made a little lower than the angels namely jesus because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of god he might taste death for everyone for it was fitting for him for whom our all things and through whom are all things and being bringing many sons to glory to perfect the author of our salvation through suffering for both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one father for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren saying i will proclaim your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation i will sing your praise and again i will put my trust in him and again behold i and the children

whom god has given me therefore since the children share in flesh and blood he himself likewise also partook of the same that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil and might set free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives for assuredly he does not give help to the angels but he gives help to the descendants of abraham therefore he had to be made like his brethren in all things and he did so for things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to god to make propitiation for the sins of the people for since he himself was tempted and that which

he has suffered he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted and so the third thing that he tells us and what jesus did what god did through jesus in his humanity is that jesus calls us his brethren that jesus calls us his brethren and this is why everything that he does with us is dedicated according to the Informationen we find in history it is stated it is due according toicky and so apparently he leads his church in the procession we have in brief by the literature we do come to this message that when we witness to an animal performing an équilibratoryあっ sintofe instead of an animal suffering passing Mark orим and e de transcendent called progressive sanctification. And the idea of progressive sanctification is that you never

really know if you're saved. You are progressively being sanctified until hopefully one day you become good enough to achieve heaven. That's not the idea of what's being pointed out here when he says those who are being sanctified. There's two different tenses that are used in the Greek when it comes to the process of sanctification. There is positional sanctification and there is practical

sanctification. Positional sanctification is who you are. The word sanctify means to set apart for holy use. And now that's who you are. The day that you came to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were sanctified. You were set apart for holy use and there's no more you can be sanctified. You are as sanctified as you can possibly be. There is no progressive aspect of that to where

one day you can hope to be good enough to be saved. That's not biblical because in a position of things you are now sanctified. Sanctified in Christ just like you are a child of God in your position. However, there is also an aspect of practical sanctification. That is you learning to become who you really are. That is you learning to live the life that God has intended for you to live. That's the practical aspect of

sanctification. I like to point that out because some could use that verse and say, see we are being sanctified. That means that progressive sanctification is what takes place here. No, you're as sanctified as you can ever be. But you're also in process practically of becoming who God wants for you to be. Meanwhile, back at the study. So those who have been sanctified and the one who sanctifies, they are

all from one source. What does that mean? In our humanity, we come from the same source that Jesus did in his humanity. We are from now one family. Therefore, he applies it for which reason he is not ashamed. He is not ashamed to call them brethren. He now gives us three proofs of that in the Old Testament. The first one comes out of Psalm 22. So you might just write in the margin of your Bible in your

notes, Psalm 22, which by the way, you should go back and read this week because Psalm 22 is actually one of the greatest messianic Psalms in all of the book of Psalms. It's the Psalm that actually declares so many things about Jesus. They pierced my hands and my feet. They gambled for my clothing. And so there's so much that claims what took place in the crucifixion in Psalm 22. But this is what it says in Psalm 22. And this is actually verse 22 of that

Psalm. It says, I will proclaim your name to my brethren. And in the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise. This is Jesus in his humanity declaring of the Messiah that he would call us his brethren, that he would, that he would call us his family. And as he calls us his family, he also sung the praises of the father in the congregation of the assembly as a sidebar. Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus sat in the congregation and

he sang praise music? Have you ever, you ever thought about that? Like that in his humanity, that's what Jesus did. Jesus sat amongst all of the apostles. He has sat, he sat amongst all of his family. And, and, and when they would have sung those Hallel Psalms, which is what they would have sung at that point in time, he, he would have sung the praises of the father in the congregation.

He would have sung them along with him. And I want you to think about what that must have been like for Jesus, right? Like, I don't know how many y'all get emotional during worship, but I get emotional during worship. I know that comes as a shock to all of you, but I do, right? Like I got that from my father and, um, and we can't help it because, because sometimes you're just moved by

the music. Matter of fact, I, I hope even if you're not an emotional person, you do get emotional during worship because I think that's a, that's a godly trait is that, is it that emotion of worship would overtake you because you are truly singing the praises. To the creator of the heavens and the earth who loved you enough to come down and die for you, you should be moved. Like, I love that song that, that we sang the, the one about, uh, uh, grace holds that ground. Like, man, that just, that, that moved my heart, right? Like, like I

was just in the back. I couldn't sing that one because I was kind of overwhelmed with, with, uh, with the emotion of it because I was once broken, but now grace holds that ground. And, and, and imagine Jesus singing those, those songs about what the Messiah was going to do, knowing that he was the Messiah and what he was going to do. He sang those songs there in the congregation. I only have one question about Jesus singing the songs.

Did people enjoy sitting next to him while he sung the songs? Or did people say what they say next to me when I sing the songs? And they're like, shh, I'm just really glad it's a joyful noise. Anyway, uh, but, but he calls us his brethren. And then again, he goes on to say, uh, the next quote, Isaiah chapter eight, verse 17 in the Septuagint, it says, I will put my trust in him. Speaking of

a community of trust in the father. And then again, in chapter eight, verse 18, it says, and behold, or excuse me, this is Isaiah chapter eight, verse 18, again, in the Septuagint, it says, and behold, I and the children whom he has given me, there was a common family association with us and Jesus. Now I want you to think about something. I, along with every other commentator that I read said the same thing. I do not find it remarkable.

I do not find it amazing that I would want to call Jesus my brother. What I find amazing is that Jesus would want to call me his brother. I'm not amazed at all that all of us in this room would want to be like, yep, I know Jesus. That's my brother. Right. But I am amazed that Jesus looks at all of us and says, why not? I'll claim them. Right. Like we all have family. And, and sometimes, sometimes there's parts of our

family we're incredibly close to. And sometimes there's parts of our family that we're related to by blood. And, and when we find out that their family, we're like, well, shoot. Okay. Can't change that now. Can we? And Jesus doesn't feel that way about any of us. Right. I, I would watch a lot of political thrillers. And, and, and one of my favorite things is,

is when they take the, the guy that's going to be the politician and they go through his entire background, right? Like, okay, who's your family? What have they done? And they have to, they have to weed out all of the family members that he's going to be ashamed of. And basically he has to ostracize all those family members that he's going to be ashamed of. Listen, if anybody should have had that done

with their family tree, it's Jesus, right? Like I can just imagine somebody taking Jesus and going, listen, if you really want to have influence, we have got to deal with some of your family. They cannot be in any of the photos. We've got to weed them out. Some of them have a background that's incredibly shady. Some of them are horrible human beings. I can't imagine you would

associate with any of them. And you know what Jesus says, but those are my brothers, but that's my family. And I don't see them like that anymore. I see them as my family and I'm not ashamed to call them my brethren. And in his humanity, that's what he calls us. You know, it's kind of amazing is that, you know, when Jesus started calling the apostles, his brethren, first time he calls them

his brethren. At least as far as I know, I could be wrong on this. Somebody may be able to come up to me with a verse later and be like, actually, the first time I've noticed when he calls them brethren is after he's resurrected. Do you remember what he says to Mary? He says, go, go tell my brethren to meet me. I don't remember what he told him to meet him, see a galley or something like that.

Go tell my brethren to meet me where I told them to meet me. That's the first time he calls them that. He called them his servants. He calls them his friends. Matter of fact, he calls them his friends in the upper room. He says, I no longer call you my servants. I call you my friends. But then after his resurrection, he calls them his brethren. Why? Because now there's a common bond that he has with them

because he shared in their death. So Jesus in his humanity associates with us and calls us his brethren. But the second thing it says that he did is that he, he shared in our humanity. He says, therefore, since the children, share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death, he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil. And then he might

free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all of their life. Therefore, since the children, now I didn't point this out in the last section, although I feel like it's a really good way to point this out, because I love the verbiage that's used here. Here and in first John were called children. I love that. He doesn't call us stupid sheep. He calls us children. Therefore, the

children. Jump back up to verse, the end of this last verse, end of verse 13. It says, and again, behold, I am the children whom God has given to me. This is what sparked this in my mind. I had in my first set of notes, it didn't make the revised set of notes, but I want to throw it in there. I think one of the things that I find the most fascinating about God

is that for Jesus, his greatest inheritance is us. Have you ever noticed that in the prayer in Ephesians chapter one? In Ephesians chapter one, there's this prayer and it says that the eyes of our understanding, Paul prays, that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened to know the hope of his calling and that we would know the glorious riches of inheritance in the saints. That means that we would understand that we are the riches of Christ's inheritance, because that's kind of what he points out here when he says, behold, I and the children whom he has given to me. Do you ever view yourself as that? In this world that

attaches worth to things differently than God does, do you ever view yourself as the inheritance of Jesus Christ? That that's how valuable you are in the eyes of your savior, that you are his inheritance, right? I've always said I'm still waiting for that rich uncle to pass away who's going to leave me all of his wealth. And according to my mom, that's never going to happen. I'm still

believing, claiming that by faith. But if you have that, that's the only thing that you have to hold on to is some sort of inheritance that's going to fade away. And you're like, oh, I can't wait for this inheritance. It's going to be amazing. I'm going to have all this money. And Jesus says, I don't care about all that. The inheritance that I want is you. That's the

inheritance. I'm looking forward to that. I get to claim as my children, all the children of God. So back down to verse 14, he says, therefore, since the children share in the flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same. Since we share in flesh and blood, in other words, since we are made of flesh and blood in order for him to call us his brethren,

he had to share in the same. He had to partake of the same. That word partake means to have a share of, and it speaks of his humanity. It speaks of the fact that he decided that he would become flesh and blood so that he could dwell among us. As I have mentioned before, I think one of the greatest miracles is the incarnation of Christ. It's both miraculous in its nature because God laid aside his glory and put on the clothes of a man and dwelt among us,

but it's even more miraculous in its motivation. The fact that Jesus, he loved us so much that he was willing to lay aside his glory and put on the clothing of a man and live among us. That he partook of the flesh and the blood, that he had a share of the same so that he could do one thing. So that he himself, who likewise partook of the same, that through death, he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil.

We're going to kind of take that back. Words. So first of all, let's look at the devil and the power of death, the devil and the power of death. This does not mean that Satan has the power of life and death. We know that specifically from the book of Job, because remember in the book of Job, when, when God presents Job to Satan, he says, but you cannot touch his life because God is the only one who not only has the power

of life and death, but God is the only one that has the authority of life and death. So when he says, him who has the power of death, that is the devil. What does he mean by that? Well, what he means by that is when Satan tempted man, it brought death into the world. That's what he means by the power of death. And now there is a power over each of us. And the power that is over each of us is death

through sin that has its power over humanity in general. Do you know what the number one fear of everybody in the world is? Death. You know what the number two fear is? Public speaking. I face them both every day. That's the number one fear. Why? Because we don't know what's going to happen afterwards. Everybody's scared to die. That was what all of 2020 was about. People were scared to die

and they were willing to do anything to try to prevent the potential of death, except the one thing that they needed to do and trust in Jesus. He says, Satan has the power of death and that's the power that he has over us. But Jesus has rendered him powerless. Some of your translations may say destroyed, but that word powerless is actually the best translation of that word. It means to be rendered inactive or ineffective.

That means that the power that Satan has over us in death because of sin is now rendered ineffective. Why? Because of Jesus' death on the cross. I love this. I think it was Charles Spurgeon that said, he entered the prison so that he could set the captives free. He entered the prison so that he could set the captives free. And because he had a share in our humanity, he could taste death for

humanity. And so he could render powerless that which had power over all of us, which is Satan in death. And he did it through his death. It takes us all the way back to Genesis chapter three. Remember what was said? I will put enmity between you and the seed of the woman. You will bruise his heel. That speaks of his death. He will crush your head. That speaks of his resurrection, the ultimate power over death.

And what we have to realize is, is that our enemy that we face is an inactive, rendered, powerless enemy. And we need to know that. Let me give you a little bit of an illustration. When I was a kid, my great-grandma had a house. She had a house. She had a house. She had a house. She had a house. She had two dogs, right? One's name was Skippy, which is just, that's the only name I can remember because

it's the greatest name for a dog ever. And the other's name was something else. And Skippy was this, this just giant fat dog, right? I've, I've never seen a more Beyonce looking dog in my entire life because it literally, it had a rear end unlike any dog I've ever, I don't know if I'm allowed to say that from the pulpit or not, but it just did. I can't help it. That's the way this

dog was. And this dog was dumb as a rock, right? But it was younger than the other dog. The other dog is this tiny little five pound dog that had no teeth. And it was a hundred years old. Might've only been 20, but it was the oldest dog I've ever seen. I didn't know dogs could live that long, but this dog had the meanest bark, no teeth, half the size of Beyonce, terrible bark.

And Skippy was scared to death of this dog. And you're like, dude, every time Skippy comes running in the house, the little dog, and Skippy runs in fear. Why? Because he doesn't know that that dog is rendered powerless. And too many of us act just like Skippy, right? We do not know that it's a, and I remember I was in, I was in college when, when I noticed this and I was like,

that's just like us. Satan's a toothless enemy. He can't hurt us anymore. And yet we run in fear all the time when he begins to bark. Why? Because we forget that he's a toothless enemy. He is rendered powerless. We forget that he is rendered inactive. I'll clean this story up for second service. I promise. So just, we'll just lose this one off the internet. Right now,

five people just tuned out, seven people tuned in, but five people tuned out. We don't always realize that's who Satan is, that he's rendered powerless. We just hear the loud bark and we think I should be scared of that. Instead of realizing he's got no teeth because he's been moved by Jesus. He's been rendered inactive because Jesus took a share in our humanity. And verse 15, that he might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery

all of their life. Who might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all of their life. I want you to think about this. Before you came to know Jesus, that's exactly who you were. You were a slave. You were a slave to sin, which is the same as being a slave to death. Because what are the wages of sin? Death. What is the sting of death? Sin. They work together. You see that? In all of our

lives, we were slaves to sin. But Jesus has set us free. You know what that word set free means? That word set free means to deliver or to release from the grip of. To deliver or to release from the grip of. And there are two ways to deliver or to release from the grip of. And there are two ways that this happens in our lives. Number one, you are set free from the fear of death through sin

by being set free from the penalty of sin in your life. You have been set free from sin. You have been set free from the penalty of sin. You have been set free from the power of sin. We have not yet been set free from the presence of sin. That happens the day we go home to be with Jesus. But you've been set free from sin. And so you don't have to live as a slave any longer.

You don't have to live in the jail cell any longer. You don't have to live that way any longer in your life because Jesus shared in our humanity. He rendered the devil inactive and he set us free from the slavery to sin. I tell us that because too many people have been set free, but you still walk around like you've got chains on. You still walk around like you're in the prison cell.

Meanwhile, the cell is open, but you go back and sleep there every night. Why is that? Why do we do that? You've been set free from the slavery to sin. You have been released from the grip of sin in your life. But not only that, you've been released from the fear of death. You've been released from the fear of death. Listen, I'm just going to be really honest with

you. I faced a lot of death in the past 10 years of my life. I have faced a lot of death in the people that I love. I have faced a lot of death in the funerals that I've done. And I'm here to tell you right now, you can tell the difference between doing a funeral for a family that loves Jesus and whose loved one is home with Jesus and doing a funeral for a family who has

no clue. And all you can do is tell them there's hope for you now. There's hope for you to be set free from this now, even though we don't know what happened with loved one. But there's a difference between those two because there is a lack of fear in the life of a believer. I've been at the deathbed of believers and I have watched as they confidently faced their death. Everybody

fears dying. There's nothing wrong with that. I'll never forget when Pastor Mark was first going through cancer and he and my dad and I were sitting down and talking and he said, I'm not scared of death. I'm scared of dying. That's a fair fear, okay? We need to understand that. That does not make you less. I'm not scared of death. I'm scared of dying. It doesn't make your faith small. Nobody's looking forward to the process.

But what we realize is there's no fear in the ending. There's no fear in the ending because the end is simply the beginning. The end is simply the beginning of what God ultimately has in store for us. You know, I think about the people that I love that have gone home to be with the Lord and the things that they're not subject to any longer. I think about loved ones of mine who love Jesus with all of their hearts

and they still battled addiction. And I do believe that those two things can coincide. I know that that's not a popular statement, but I know that it is true. You can battle addiction and still love Jesus. And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're home with Jesus now and they don't battle addiction any longer. I think about the fact that Pastor Mark can just

stand whole before the Lord and and speak strongly again. I think about the fact that that Doc Sellers has two good legs and he can eat Werther's originals. I know that means nothing to you, but my dad always had them in his pocket at men's study. And my dad would say, Doc, and he'd say, Robbie, you know, I can't have that. Give me one. I'll tell Dollar about it later. I think about the fact that on the day that my dad

closed his eyes for the last time on this side of eternity, I think about the fact that I'm not eternity. He opened them. He can see clearly for the first time on the other side of eternity.

Glenn has perfect rhythm now. I mean, just everything, you know, all the things because there's no fear in death because we have been set free from that slavery. Why? Because we've been set free from the slavery of sin because the sting of death is sin. And that's what holds us back. We don't have to be held back by that any longer. Why? Because Jesus took a share

in our humanity so that through his death, he could render powerless the enemy so that he could set us free from the slavery. And so I'm here to tell you right now, don't live like a slave. Right? I love that song that we sang. I'm no longer a slave to fear because I am a child of God. We should live as confidently as anybody on top side of planet earth, because we have the confidence of the knowledge that we are children of God,

who have been loved by God, who have been blessed by God, who have been redeemed by God and have a future and a hope in God. That confidence should carry every part of our lives. And yet, how do we walk around as Christians sometimes? Gosh, I hope, I hope it's going to be an okay day, even if it's not. It's okay. I just got done reading the book of Philippians and I love Philippians chapter one

because Philippians chapter one is all about perspective, right? Because Paul's all like, should I stay or should I go now? Right? If I stay, there will be trouble. If I go, there won't be double. And so, so he, he's like, do I stay here? Do I go? I don't know which one, but it doesn't really matter because either way, Jesus is going to be glorified. He says, I want you to know, brethren, that my chains are actually working out for the

furtherance of the gospel. And not only for me, but other people are becoming bold to share the gospel because of my chains. You see, that's the man who though chained by the world around, him is set free in Christ and isn't living like a slave. And so he has the right perspective. So he has the proper confidence. So he walks in freedom. That's what it means to no longer be a

slave. And yet we walk around and we had a bad day and we think, oh my gosh, everything's ruined. No, change your perspective because you're still free. And so we find that, that not only did he call us his brethren, actually, let's go through all of them. Not only has he tasted death for all, not only is he the author or as I prefer the captain of our salvation, not only does he

call us his brethren, not only did he share in our humanity, but he gives aid to those who are tempted. Notice what he says, for assuredly, he does not give help to angels, but he gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. He starts off by saying, it's not to the angels that he offers

aid and support. He does not offer aid and support to the angels. Why? Because the angels are spirits, but he does offer support to the descendant of Abraham. What does he mean by the descendant of Abraham? Well, we are reminded that everyone who is a child of God through faith is a descendant of Abraham, who is the father of faith, the first to really have faith. And so we

are all the descendants of Abraham in a spiritual sort of a sense, because we are all children of God according to faith. It says he offers aid to the descendants of Abraham. What does he mean by that? Therefore, he offers aid to the descendants of Abraham. He offers aid to the descendants of He had to be made like his brethren in all things. He'll address this again, but let's deal with it

now. He had to be made like his brethren in all things. I think sometimes since we don't know anything about the first 29 and a half years of Jesus's life, except two small stories, his incarnation and that one little situation in the temple when he was 12, we don't really know anything else about Jesus's childhood. The only thing that we know we're told in Hebrews where he was faced with everything that we're faced with yet without sin. But he was made like his

brethren in all things. I talked to a group of kids at Oregon City Christian Academy a couple of years about this, and I took a bunch of my awkward photos from when I was growing up, which there was a plethora of them. The awkward photos from when I was growing up, and I was like, see that awkward photo? Do you know Jesus went through something like that? I think we forget what all

Jesus went through, right? We forget that Jesus knew what it was like to be a child of God. And so I feel the awkward feelings of being 12, right? Like, I don't know if there's any 12-year-olds in here or not, but man, I love junior high kids, but they're just the most awkward human beings on the face of the earth, right? And I've had a couple of them who have really gone through

some things, and they're like, this is just, I don't feel like I fit in anywhere. I don't feel like I belong anywhere. And life is just hard. I don't feel like I have any friends. And I tell them, listen, you just need to understand something. I've talked to zero people in my life, zero people on the face of the earth that are like, you know when I was really shining bright

junior high. You know when I, you know when the pinnacle of my life was? Seventh grade. I've talked to zero people that feel that way about it. Do you know that Jesus probably felt the exact same way in seventh grade? I don't know what it would have been in a Jewish school at that point in time, but do you realize that when he was 12, 13 years old, he probably felt a little bit awkward?

And like, he didn't really fit in with the other kids? Add to that the fact that he's, well, you didn't talk about goody two-shoes, right? Like, you know, that dude got yelled at all the time. That's why his brothers hated him. Oh, Messiah, huh? Yeah, great. You don't do anything wrong. And Jesus is like, and I love you too. And they're like, shut up. He went through all of that.

He knew what it was like to have a bad day at work. He knew what it was like to, to try to figure out what he was going to eat that day, whether or not he was going to be able to pay his bills, whether or not he was going to be able to pay his taxes, right? Matter of fact, he struggled so much to pay his taxes, he had to go fishing to catch a fish that had a coin in it to pay his taxes. Jesus was made like us in all things. He'll go on in the book of Hebrews to say

that he faced every type of temptation that we could possibly face and yet without sin. And, and every time I say that, especially to a group of kids, they're like, well, Jesus never had a phone. Jesus didn't, doesn't know what it's like to face the kind of temptation I face. I'm like, bro, Satan himself came against Jesus, right? Like, like, like you get a lesser demon, like, like you get the remedial demon that deals with

you. Jesus got Satan and he dealt with him in his humanity and he dealt with him after he hadn't eaten anything for 40 days. Think about it. Jesus faced the three main temptations that everybody faces, right? So, so the first one, 40 days without food, out in the middle of the wilderness, no food in sight. And Satan comes to Jesus and he says, I have an idea for you. You should turn one of

these many little stoves, uh, stones. Into a little loaf of bread. Now I want you to think about it. Some of y'all can't even quite make it to lunch today without thinking you're going to die of hunger. You're like, well, I make it to lunch with this guy. Shut up. I'm going to die of starvation soon. 40 days without eating. That's like starting today and making it to the end of March.

That's a stinking long time. All you got to do is make a piping hot loaf of bread. Just turn it into your own. Personal Panera only cheaper and better. Jesus faced the lust of the flesh in that moment. Think about that. The greatest drive he had in that moment was to eat. The greatest fleshly drive he had in that moment was to eat. And he still said, no, the second thing that he was faced with

is he was faced with being taken up, um, to see all of the kingdoms of the earth. And he could see all the kingdoms. Satan said, I'll give you all of this power. If you will just bow down and worship me. Not only would it mean that he wouldn't have to sacrifice anything, but it would also mean that the lust of his eyes could be fulfilled. You can have everything plus the eyes. And then of course he was taken up to

the pinnacle of the temple and said, listen, you should throw yourself down. And angels were told in scripture, this is Satan quoting scripture. Angels will catch you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. You know what that is? That's the pride of life because it would have told everybody he's telling the truth. I am the Messiah. I'm not a child of, uh, of, uh, of, uh, illicit relationship. I am the

Messiah. And in that moment, he could have drawn all of the attention to himself. That's the pride of life. Jesus in that moment faced the three greatest temptations that we all face on a daily basis. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. He came through unscathed. He was made like us in every possible way. Therefore he had to be made

verse 17, like his brethren, so that he might become a merciful and a faithful high priest and things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the people. He was a merciful and a faithful high priest. He not just was, he is a merciful and a faithful high priest. You know who the people that you usually appreciate telling things the most to are the people who have been through exactly what you've been through, right? Like, like after the loss of

my dad, I found great comfort in people who had been in a similar situation because, because you could just share in a different sort of way because, because you could be like, Hey, and they're like, yeah, like you don't even have to finish your sentence because they get it. And so, and so there was a great comfort in that they're very merciful and they're, and they're very faithful in the way that they handle you. And so, and so there's just a different level with someone who's, who's been through the things that you've been through. And that's the way that it is with Jesus. There's nothing that you go to Jesus where it's like, I don't get it. Like, I mean,

I can appreciate where you're coming from here, but no, cause he's been through it already. And he's like, yeah, let me tell you about the time I went through it. And we read it in scripture. He's a merciful and a faithful high priest because of everything he's gone through. And he made propitiation for our sins. That word propitiation is a giant word that means mercy seat. And the

he offered himself as a sacrifice, this merciful and faithful high priest who offered himself as a sacrifice. What does that mean for us? Well, since he was verse 18 tempted and that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted because he was tempted in the things that he suffered. He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. That word aid is really interesting. Some of your translations may

say sucker C S U C C O R. It means to run to the cry of those in danger and give them help to run to the cry of those in danger and give them help. That's the idea of the aid that Jesus offers to us is that when we cry out to him, he comes to the aid of those of us who are in danger. That should tell you something that should tell you that what we're trying to do. That's the idea of the aid that Jesus offers to us. That's the idea of the

aid that Jesus offers to us. That's the idea of the aid that Jesus offers to us. Whatever, whatever you find yourself in the midst of whatever temptation you find yourself in the midst of Jesus is ready to run to your aid to help you in the times when you are suffering. Now, now this temptation carries with it several different ideas. Two main ideas. I would say the first is

the temptation of the difficulties that we go through the sufferings that we go through. I mean, I think of the things that people face on a daily basis in life, the physical ailments that we face, the emotional ailments that we face, and those are all temptations. They are temptations not only to turn away from God, but temptations to give in to our emotions in those moments. And Jesus is always running to the aid of those who cry out to him.

In other words, in those moments, Jesus is as close as he can possibly be. One of the places in the Psalms that I've always run to the most is where it says that he is near to the brokenhearted, that he heals the brokenhearted and he binds up all of their wounds. Those are two scriptures I give to everybody in the world when they're going through a really difficult time in their life because those are two scriptures that God ministered to me in some of the most difficult times in my life, that he is able to come to the aid. He is able to come to the aid of those who are in any kind of suffering.

I could take you through a whole list of scriptures that when I've gone through my hardest times and I have cried out to the Lord, I have felt God distinctly speak specifically to me about something through the scripture that he brings up in my life because God always comes to the aid of those who cry out to him. Sometimes he'll come to our aid through someone. Sometimes he'll come to our aid through scripture. Sometimes he'll come to our aid through a song.

Have you ever just been, man, life is just hard and you're crying out, Lord, I just need some sort of reminder that you're here. And a song comes on and man, God just ministers that to you. And I know that that's, some people are like, oh, that's just kind of cheesy. It's like, I don't care. Like, like I've been there, right? Where I'm like, dude, life is hard and God brings a song.

And I'm like, yep, that's my song right there. That's the one I'm holding on to right now. The, the, the truth of that, the truth of that song is just amazing. I'll never forget. Uh, early twenties, rough times in life. And, and this is when we still used to listen to these things called CDs. Um, I don't know if you, those of you, uh, everybody knows what those are,

but they're fun and you can skip to different songs. And, but you always have to play the whole song through. It's a little different than digital, but I like them. Matter of fact, I think I just received this song on vinyl. It's great. It's a Reliant K song. It says, never underestimate my Jesus. You're telling me there's, there's no hope. I'm telling you, you're wrong, right?

And I remember, I can tell you exactly where I was and exactly what was going on. I was driving home from work, uh, about 4 45 in the afternoon. It was springtime and I'm on my way home from Lakeview village on the way back to the apartment that I lived at on 83rd and Metcalf. And I was around 87th and Lamar in this song came on. And in that moment, I just felt like God said, I got you.

Okay. The aid of those who are suffering, he runs to help those who cry out to him, but it's not just in the hard times. It's also in the times of temptation. When we face sinful temptation, when there's something in front of us, it's like, man, that's the thing I struggle with the most. Lord, I need your help right now. It's amazing how, when you're sometimes struggling with temptation, the hardest somebody calls

you. Have you ever noticed that? Oh, I'm really struggling with temptation, whatever area it is right now. And you're, you get a phone call. You're like, well, that was God, right? God's like, they need help. I'm sending a friend, phone a friend, or you get a text message from somebody, or you look down and there's your Bible. Or somebody says, Hey, listen, I know that that's going to be a frustrating thing to

get involved in. Why don't you come talk to me? God always gives aid to those who are suffering. God gives aid to those who are facing temptation, but you got to cry out to Jesus and know that he's a merciful and a faithful high priest. Know that he's not going to judge you. He's not like, how are you going to find yourself in this situation again? Right? That's why I appreciate the apostles and all the stories about the apostles and, and all

of the, all of the gospel writings, because, because the apostles really screwed some stuff up, right? And they recorded all of it for us. They recorded all of it for us so that we would go, yeah, they get me too. And Jesus just kept being patient with him. Just like he keeps being patient with us because he's a merciful. He's a merciful and a faithful high priest.

Who is Jesus in his humanity? Well, Jesus in his humanity tasted death for us all. He took on the death that we all deserved so that we wouldn't have to. He is the captain of our salvation. He is not only the author of our salvation, but he is the one who leads us to our salvation. He is the one who calls us his brethren, who is not ashamed to call us his brethren.

He says, they're with me. They're my family. They're my brethren. He is the one who. Shared in our humanity and every part of our humanity so that he could render the devil powerless through death so that we would no longer live as slaves. And he is the one who gives aid to anyone who is tempted. The one who runs to the cry of those who are in danger to deliver them because he understands

what we're going through, but he doesn't just get us. He saves us and delivers us. Amen. Let's all stand. I'd like to invite the worship team to come up.

And as they play this last song for us, and as we sing together, I'll remind you of what I reminded second service of last week. At the end of the first service, we sang the song. We talked about how great Jesus is and we sang the song and it felt like we just kind of moved on. We sang the song and hope that we got done fast so that we can get out of here. But I reminded second service of something.

I said, worship is intended to be a response. To who Jesus is and what Jesus has done and what we just spent the last 45 minutes doing is talking about everything that Jesus is and everything that Jesus has done. So I want to challenge you to respond. Don't sing this like it's the last song and you just hope you can get out of here soon. See it like you are praising the God who took on flesh to dwell among us to become a part

of us. So that we could be a part of him who set us free from the slavery of sin and death so that we could live as children of God. Sing it a little louder. Throw those hands up in the air and praise God for who he is. Father, we come before you and I just pray that as we close out here this morning, that your Holy Spirit would continue to do the work that only your Holy Spirit can do.

Father, I pray that you would move through this time and Lord, that you would just bless us and encourage us. And strengthen us. Father, draw us near to you, we pray. In Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed. For this church. God, I pray that as we go forward with this week, Lord, we don't forget what you spoke to us, Lord, this week, continually reminding ourselves of who you are, all the distractions

or to show yourself through all the distractions. You're always there. It's up to us to listen and to see God. So may we worship you and everything that we say and do. God, may we. Honor you and glorify you with our thoughts, our words and our actions in Jesus name. Amen.