Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM-

Sorry, I should have been ready. Gosh. Well, I'm not Jared. So you're right in the thought of, wow, he looks different. My name is Grace. Jared blessed me with the opportunity to be able to lead. This has been my home church for, well, my whole life. So I'm very blessed to be up here. Looks a little different from the last time I was up here, but I'm excited and looking forward to it this morning.

So I'll stand this morning. We'll worship the Lord. I'm going to pray to get us started. Lord, thank you for this time. God, thank you just, again, for the opportunity we have to worship you. Lord, the opportunity to gather in your name freely. Lord, with friends and family. Lord, and those we don't know yet, God, I pray that you just fill us with your Holy Spirit this morning.

God, fill us with your love. Lord, make us aware of the things we need to be aware of, Lord. And as we're kind of shaking off, the week behind, Lord, I pray that we just come to your throne this morning, Lord, humble, but bold, Lord, bold in the grace that you've given us, God, and your salvation, God. We're just so grateful, and we can't give you, we can't earn it, we can't deserve it, Lord, but we can give you all that we have right now, Lord.

So may we humble ourselves before you this morning and worship you for what you do. In Jesus' name, amen. You do not deserve, God, that we could never earn.

Seek your face this morning. Choose to honor you. Choose to bless you. Choose to all the things that we have. Heavenly Father, just let us surrender our hearts to you this day and always. Lord, we acknowledge that you allow your Son to suffer an agonizing death and bear all of our sins in order to wash us clean and to bring us, as wretched as we may be, back into your presence

to eternal life with you. Lord, let us glorify, let us glorify you and not be scoffers that we would boast in Jesus Christ and glorify you. Prepare our hearts, Lord, to hear your word and apply your word to our lives, not only while we are here, but as we go out into the world. Lord, speak mightily and through power through Pastor Ryan. Lord, we pray in your name.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Fellowship.

Good. Oh, there it is. Now I'm live. Good morning. Glad that you can be here this morning. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. If you could locate your seat, which most of you have already done as you watch me go.

A few things to take note of in your bulletin. Over on the left-hand side are the things that go on throughout the week, so take note of those. Get yourself involved. Over in the middle section, ladies, just a reminder, there's a women's breakfast coming up this Saturday. I would like to point one major thing out to you. Go ahead, take a look. Right there in the middle,

it says women's breakfast. It starts at 9.30 a.m. Parenthetically speaking, that is later than usual. So take note of that and join us at the right time. And when I say us, I mean the ladies. And if you're here early, you just get to help set up. That's all. So over on the right-hand side, which you have nothing in yours, but I do in mine, just a reminder that March 21st

is our March Madness event. It's a little missions fundraiser that we've been doing. We're going to be doing a little bit of a in the past two or three years. So take note of that. More details to come. And then for the worship team, a reminder that you all have a meeting right after the service down at the other end of the hallway. So those are the things that are going on.

If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. But before we do our responsive reading this morning, I get to do a couple of baby dedications. So if I could have my families come on up.

It's a double header today. All right. This is the, Oh, you got it. There you go. I have to make sure you made me nervous there for a second. Those stairs get me too. It's okay. Okay. So this is Croy. Croy Major. I love that middle name. That's a really fun middle name. Hi, big guy. How are you? Yeah. Oh, you want that microphone so bad you can taste it. Can't you?

Yes. So just so you know, so we explain what's going on. We don't believe in infant baptism here. We feel like baptism is something that an individual needs to decision they need to make for themselves. But we do believe in dedicating babies to the Lord. And so that's what we want to do this morning. So will he let me hold him? Come here, big guy. You are, you're a chunk.

Yeah. Look at you. I didn't make babies this big. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Right. Just do you see, can you see the eyes? I don't know if this thing is going to make it. We'll see. Yeah, it's okay. She's right there. All right. So let's, let's pray. Well, father, we come before you and I just thank you for baby Croy. And Lord, I thank you that he has a family that wants to raise him.

As a man of God. And so, Lord, I just pray now that as we dedicate him to you, Lord, that, that you would be active in his life. Father, I pray that you would begin now to instill within him a desire to know you. Lord, a spiritual thirst and a spiritual hunger. I pray that you would instill in him a desire for your word. And I pray that you would just fashion in him

the heart of a man of God that wants to not only know you, but Lord, be a leader in his community and in his family. And Lord, I pray that you would give his family wisdom to know how to raise him. And the nurture and the admonition of you. In Jesus name. Amen. Okay. And this is Lane. Come here, big guy. Will you let me do it? Come here. Look at you. Oh, straight for the facial hair.

There it is. You're, yeah, you're used to that. You're like, usually there's a handlebar here. So, yeah, yeah, I know. It's not really a handlebar per se. He's ready to preach. The time is coming. All right, let's pray. Well, father, we come before you. And I just thank you for Lane. Lord, I thank you for this little life. Lord, his, for the life that he has

that I could tell is just energetic in him. And Lord, I just want to lift him to you. And father, I want to offer him up to you. And his family wants to see him raised according to you. And so father, I pray that you would make him the man of God that you want for him to be. I pray that he would become that man who loves your word and who loves you. And he wants to lead his family in the things of you.

And Lord, I lift up his family that you would give them the wisdom to know how to raise him as a godly man. As a young man. And we just thank you, father, in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Yes, go back and see mom now. Yay. Here, I've got a couple things for you guys. That's for you. And that's for you. So much energy and tiny bodies. I love it. All right, for our responsive reading this morning,

we are going to be in Psalm 15. Psalm 15. Looking at the new American standard for this part. If you need a copy, there should be one in a row around you. If not, you may have to make a friend with someone 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, I'll say it really slow. With Pastor Allen. There it is. And the even verses. Psalm 15, the Psalm of David. Oh, Lord, who may abide? In your tent, who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks with integrity and works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, nor does 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 his own hurt and does not change. And read verse five 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, may we be those who are above reproach

in everything that we do. And Father, as we spend time in your word, may you minister to us by the power of your Holy Spirit. I ask that you would speak now, whatever it is that you have for each of us to hear this morning. In Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter two.

Hebrews chapter two. Today we come not only to the end of chapter two, but we come to the end of our part, our series on Jesus better than the angels. We said that the entire book of Hebrews is really about Jesus being so much better than all of the religious things of the world. And in particular, in chapters one and two, he dealt with angels. We said in chapter one,

that Jesus was better than the angels. Because of his divinity. Because who he was as very God himself was better than the angels. And that he proved that by having a greater power, greater authority and greater status than the angels. And then of course, in the beginning of chapter two, we were given a warning. The warning that we were given is that we would not drift from these things.

That if the message that came through angels, speaking of the law, had with it consequences for those who did not obey, how much more will we not, escape if we ignore the message of the gospel that was given to us by none other than Jesus Christ himself. And so we're given that warning. And then he jumped back into Jesus being better than the angels in particular because of his humanity. And then verses nine through 18, we said that there were five things that God did through the humanity of Jesus.

The last time that we were together, we covered the first two. The first one was given to us in verse nine, when he said that he tasted death, for all. And the second was given to us in verse 10, when he said that Jesus was the captain of our salvation. And so now picking up in verse 11, it says this, 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 free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery. All of their lives for us, surely, he doesn't, give help to the angels.

And so we come, first of all, to the third of these things that he gives us that God did through Jesus in his humanity. And number three, he tells us that he calls us his brethren, that he calls us his brethren. Starting in verse 11, it says, For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father. Those who are sanctified and he who sanctifies come from the same source.

Of course, he who sanctifies is Jesus, and we are the ones who are being sanctified. Now, before we go on with the rest of this point about he calls them brethren, I feel like I need to talk about the word sanctification for just a moment because we are referred to as those who are being sanctified. The word sanctified means set apart for holy use. And it's used in several different places in Scripture with different tenses in the way in which it's used.

I point this out because there is a teaching out there called progressive sanctification. And the idea behind progressive sanctification is this, is that you are in a process of being made better. So that you can be made acceptable unto God. And you'll never know if you've done enough until you die and go to heaven. And then God decides whether you did enough in order to be saved.

That's progressive sanctification. And that's not what the Bible teaches. There's two main tenses of sanctification that are given to us in the Bible when it comes to being set apart for holy use. The first is what we will call positional sanctification. The day that you come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are set apart. You are set apart for holy use.

Positionally speaking, you are sanctified unto the Lord. Nothing can make you more sanctified just like nothing can make you more saved. That moment of being justified by faith in Jesus Christ makes you as set apart as you can ever be. You are now set apart for holy use unto the Lord. But we also follow the idea that there is a practical side of sanctification.

Because for the rest of our lives, we will learn what it looks like to live in our lives. In our position. Now we learn to live in the position of being sanctified. And we put that into practice in our everyday life. Paul in the book of Ephesians says that we would live a life worthy of the calling. In other words, of the same weight as the calling. And so when he says those who are being sanctified,

he simply means those who have been set apart for holy use. So what he says here is that he who sanctifies, that's Jesus, and those who are sanctified, that's us, are all from one Father. Or literally, all from one source. In other words, in our humanity, we come from the same source. The beauty of the incarnation is that God became man and dwelt among us. And now we share the same source in our humanity.

What's that mean for us? That means for which reason into verse 11, he is not ashamed to call them brethren. He is not ashamed to call them brethren. I don't know the word brethren, but we always fully take into account what a fantastic statement that is, that Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters in Christ. Right? Like we all have family, you know,

and some of your family you're incredibly proud of. And you go, that's my brother. That's my family. That's my cousin. Right? And then there's the rest of the family like, yeah, I guess we're related. That's what they say. You know? And I mean, it's just, listen, we can all be honest about this. Okay? But Jesus isn't ashamed to call any of us brethren. We'll deal with that more in just a second.

But he gives us three scriptural proofs. The first one comes in verse 12, and this is a direct quotation of Psalm 22, verse 22. You might just write that in the margin of your Bible. Psalm 22, verse 22. I would actually highly encourage you to go home and read Psalm 22 sometime this weekend. Because Psalm 22 is what's called a messianic psalm. The entire psalm is about the sacrifice of Jesus.

And in this messianic psalm, he says this, I will proclaim your name to my brethren. And in the midst of this, in the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise. In other words, he calls us his brethren. He says, in the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise. Now, I want you to notice something. It's a little bit of a sidebar out of this verse.

Do you notice what Jesus took part in when he lived on earth with us in his humanity? He was a part of the congregation. He was a part of the brethren. And he sang praise with the people. Have you ever thought about that? I really had not, if I'm being completely honest, until I studied this. And one of the things I thought about was, and one of the other commentators that I read pointed it out,

that when Jesus dwelt on earth and he gathered with the congregation, remember, this is a similar model to what they would have used when Jesus was around. When Jesus was walking on top side of planet earth, they used the synagogue model, which is what we follow here, where somebody stands up and teaches. Actually, they would usually sit and teach while everybody else stood. That might be a better situation, if I'm being completely honest.

Although I might talk longer that way too. But this is kind of the way that it was set up. And usually before the word was given, they would sing some psalms. They were called Hillel Psalms. And they would praise the Lord together. Now, can you imagine Jesus singing a Hillel Psalm about the Messiah and about the Father, knowing that he is the Messiah and that he worshiped the Father?

I want you to think about that in his humanity, right? Like there Jesus is. I don't know how many of you get emotional during worship. I get emotional during worship. I know that comes as a shock to most of you, but I do. I get a little emotional during worship. Matter of fact, we sang this song where it was, I was broken, but you, you love me all the way through or something like that.

And my sins are forgiven and grace holds that ground. But I don't know why that song got me both services. I've just, I couldn't sing very loud because I was kind of quivering in my voice because I was a little bit emotional about it. Can you imagine Jesus being that way while he was here on earth? You know, a little 32 year old Jesus, just crying out to the Lord

and singing those Hillel Psalms to him. Here's the other question that I have. Did he sound good? You ever asked yourself that question? Were they like, Jesus, sing it louder? Or were they like my girls and they're like, Jesus, sing it quieter, right? Like my girls from the time that they were tiny were like, daddy, shh. But he's saying in the congregation,

why? Because we're his brethren. And then he goes on to quote Isaiah chapter eight, verse 17, he says, I will put my trust in him. He was a, he was a part of the community that in his humanity trusted in the father. And then in Isaiah chapter eight, verse 18, he says, behold, I and the children whom God has given me. I and the children whom God has given me.

There was a common family, but there was a common association. And I want to point something out to you about the fact that Jesus refers to us as his children. And we are the children that God has given to him. I want to point something out about that. Do you know that we're told in the book of Ephesians that we are Christ's inheritance? That that's who we are.

Matter of fact, Paul prays for the Ephesian people when he says, I pray that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened, that they would know the hope of your calling. They would know the glorious riches of his inheritance in the saints. That's who you are. That's the kind of value that you have in the eyes of the Lord. And I point that out to us because we live in this world

that continues to attach a value to us that is absolutely false. If you can do this, if you can do that, if you have these abilities, if you have this kind of money, if you look like this, if you have this kind of ability, then you have value. And God says, you don't have value because of what you can do. You don't have value because of what you can give. You have value because you're mine,

because you're my children. That's what gives you value in your life. And we know that that's who we are. We have this common family inheritance with the Lord. And so he says, he is not ashamed to call us his brother. And now I believe it was Charles Spurgeon that said this, it is not remarkable to me that I would want to call him my brother. It is remarkable to me

that he would want to call me his brother. It is not an amazing thing that I would look at Jesus and go, my brother. It is amazing that he would look at me and not go, do I know you? That he looks at me and he calls me his brother. That he's not ashamed of my past, that he's not ashamed of my weakness, that he's not ashamed of my failures because he's covered all of those in his own precious blood.

And so because of that, he's not ashamed to call us his brother. He's not ashamed to say, you're a part of my family. And it's a remarkable thing that he views all of us that way. But I want to bring a little bit of a challenging thought to you. If Jesus is willing to call you his brethren, why aren't we always willing to call each other brethren? Why are we sometimes ashamed of each other?

Why are you ashamed of your brother's past? Why are you ashamed of your brother's failures? Why are you ashamed of your brother's color or his ethnicity or his background? Listen, if we've all been made one in Christ, if we've all been made one, if we've all been made one, in Jesus, and there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, then we should treat each other that way.

Then we should treat each other like family. And this is the big thing that I like to continue to talk to us all about, is the person sitting next to you, that's your family. And I would venture to say that they probably really are your family, but the person sitting on the other side of the sanctuary from you, they're your family too. And the person that's sitting over at the Baptist church right now, they're your family up at First Assembly right now, they're your family.

And the church over in Sudan right now, Kansas, not Africa, the church in Sudan right now, they're your family, but the church in the Sudan right now, I mean, Africa, they're your family, that we're all brethren. And yet somehow, somehow we can be ashamed to call each other brothers and sisters in Christ. Listen, that's who we are. That's how we should live.

And if he's not ashamed to call us his brother, and then you shouldn't be ashamed to call each other your brother. So number four, number four, he shared in our humanity, he shared in our humanity. Notice what it 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.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, that's us, since what we have is flesh and blood, he partook of flesh and blood for us. That word partook means to have a share of, to have a share of. Again, I'm just gonna keep saying it over and over again, because I think it's so amazing. The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the most mysteriously powerful thing that we can ever begin to comprehend.

It's mysterious and powerful, first of all, in the very nature of what took place. That God laid aside his glory, put on the clothing of a man, the flesh and blood of a man, and dwelt among us. And while he was 100% God, he was also 100% man. Like sometimes that's a lot for the mind to take in. And so in its nature, it is both powerful and mysterious. But I don't think that's actually what makes it

the most powerful and the most mysterious. What I think actually makes it the most powerful and mysterious is not its nature, but its motivation. That Jesus was willing to lay aside his glory so that he could come and dwell amongst a stinky, nasty, sinful people so that he could bear on his own body all of the marks of sin and set us free and live in a world that was fallen. You see, the nature of it is mysterious and powerful, but the motivation behind it is even more mysterious and even more powerful.

Because for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. And so we see that he partook of flesh and blood. He took, he had a share of flesh and blood and it was incredibly powerful and it was incredibly mysterious, but he did it, why? So that through death, middle of verse 14, he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil.

I'm gonna take those in some backwards, there's three things I wanna point out, I'm gonna take them in backwards order. First of all, the devil and the power of death. The writer to the Hebrews just said that the devil has the power of death and I hope that creates a question, I hope that creates a question, I hope that creates a question, in your mind, I hope you asked yourself, does that mean that Satan has the power of life and death? The answer to that question is no.

And there's a quick scripture reference that'll tell you that. Do you remember when Satan came before the Lord and God said, have you considered my servant Job? And he said, yeah, but you've got a protective barrier around that dude. And he goes, okay, well, I'll let you, I'll let you have Adam, but you can't touch his life. Why? Because life is in God's hands.

He is the author of life and he is the sustainer of life, therefore he is life. Satan doesn't have that power. So what does he mean if it's not that Satan has the power of life and death, what does he mean Satan who has the power of death? Well, what brought death into the world? Sin brought death into the world. How did sin come into the world? Sin came into the world through the temptation of the devil.

That's what he means when he says that he, the devil, who had the power of death. And what did he do to this one who had the power of death? He rendered him. Powerless. He rendered him powerless. Some of your translations may say to destroy, but the idea is to cause to be inactive. In other words, he is null and void of power. He is null and void of power. And how did he render him powerless?

Well, by dying for us through the power of death. That's what he did. He partook of the same so that through death, he might render Satan powerless. You see, it goes all the way back to Genesis chapter three, when God told Satan, there'll always be enmity between you and the seed of the woman. You will bruise his heel. That was the death of Jesus. He will crush your head.

That was Jesus ultimately defeating Satan. And now Satan is a toothless enemy. Satan is an enemy that has no power. His power has been rendered inactive. His power has been rendered useless. And yet we live as if that's not true. Let me give you a little bit of an illustration to this. When I was younger, my great-grandmother had two dogs. One of those dogs was named Skippy.

Skippy had the largest rear end on any dog I've ever seen in my entire life. And let me tell you, that dog's hips did not lie, right? I mean, that dog, it was the most amazing thing. It moved free of its entire body. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. But Skippy was young and he was dumb and he was incredibly energetic. That's all that there was to it.

And then she had this other dog that was like four pounds. And she was like, oh my God, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. And it was four pounds, right? Maybe five. And this dog was old and frail. I don't know if a dog can be a hundred years old, but I think that dog was a hundred years old. At least in doggy years it was. It was like, how is that dog still standing upright?

That dog could barely walk in a straight line, but it had an incredibly loud bark. Also, no teeth. It was a toothless dog. And here this giant large rear end dog comes walking in that could barrel that dog over and destroy it in a minute, right? Because he's young. powerful and he's much bigger than this other dog. And he has teeth. And yet when that little

toothless dog barked, Skippy ran scared to death. I think I was in college or just a little after the first time that I saw this happen. And I was just like, I've never seen a better spiritual illustration for Satan in us sometimes. Right? Like, like here, here we are just young and a little dumb, but a lot of power over the enemy. And here's this little enemy who's powerless and

toothless, but he has a really loud bark. And we run scared of him all the time while he's been rendered inactive, while he has been rendered powerless. Why do we live that way? Because we don't always believe it. We don't always believe that that's what Jesus did, that he took a share of our humanity so that he could render Satan powerless. We goes on from there to say this,

and that he might free those. Verse 15, who through fear of death were subject to slavery, all of their lives, that he might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery, all of their lives. You see, all of us as human beings at one point in time lived as slaves. We were first of all slaves to sin because ultimately sin and death are somewhat interchangeable.

Because the wages of sin is death and the sting of death is sin, right? Like that's just the truth. And so we lived as slaves of sin until Jesus came in and set us free. Only the problem is while we were set free from the slavery of sin, many of us still continue to live as slaves to that sin. Many of us still continue to live with the jail cell open, but we still sleep there at

night. The door to the prison is open, but we still come back there every single night because that's what we know. And that's what's comfortable to us. Meanwhile, God's saying, but I have set you free and I want you to live in freedom. I've set you free from that. And I want you to live free from all of those things. Why do we keep going back? They did this study with, I believe it was a dog where they

tied a dog to a stake and they kept that dog tied to a stake for years. And then one day they took the chain off of the dog. And do you know that the dog continued to run the exact same circle? The whole. The whole backyard was open to it, but it still believed I can only stay here. You see, that's part of the retraining of our brains that has to take to take place through the power of the Holy

Spirit is we have to be retrained to realize I am no longer a slave to sin. I have been set free because Jesus has rendered the devil powerless. But not only are we not a slave to sin, we are not a slave to death. Who? Let me read it again. It might free those who through the power of the Holy Spirit, through fear of death, were subject to slavery all of their lives. Do you know what the

number one fear is in the world today? The number one fear is death. It remains undefeated. The number two fear is public speaking. I face them both on a daily basis. The number one fear is death. I've always said that's what 2020 was all about. It was all about people being scared to die and being willing to give up their freedoms. Because of fear of death. Kind of like us, right? Kind of like humanity still lives. People willing

to give up their freedoms because they're scared of death. And I'm here to tell you right now, as believers in Jesus Christ, we need not fear death. I've done an incredible number of funerals in my life. In the last 10 years, I've done an incredible amount of funerals. I've done funerals for people who have no clue who Jesus is. They don't know where their loved one ended up. And

I've done funerals for people who love Jesus. And I've done funerals for people who love Jesus. And they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their family is home. And I'm here to tell you right now, those are two very different funerals. Those are two very different services. Because the amount of hope that I can speak with, the amount of hope in the midst of the grief. And I want you to

understand that just because there's hope doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I don't ever want to diminish that. I think if anybody understands that, it's me. Just because there's hope doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. But we don't grieve as those with no hope. Because there is not that same fear of death. And can I say, I've had lots of loved ones that have gone home to be with the Lord. And there's

just a different way that people approach it when you are a believer in Jesus Christ. I'll never forget when Mark was diagnosed with cancer, Pastor Mark Fry. He and my dad and I were having breakfast or coffee or something one time. And I remember him saying, I'm not scared of death. I'm kind of scared of dying. And listen, that's a really good honest place for all of us to be.

I don't think any of us, I don't think it means that you lack faith if you're scared of the process. I actually think that's a really good, healthy place for you to be. That's what keeps you from jumping off of roofs and things like that. Because you're a little bit scared of the process. That's a normal, natural thing. The greatest men of God that I've known in my life were a little scared of the

process. But they weren't scared of the result. They didn't fear the result of death. Because they knew that the result of death was just the continuation of life in a different body. And I'm reminded again, that we don't have to fear death. Because Jesus has already defeated death. It's a toothless enemy for us. I talked about this first service, but you know, what I've seen in the death of godly people

is I've actually seen the ultimate blessing that comes about in life. I've known loved ones in the past who battle addiction, but they still love Jesus. And I know a lot of people struggle with that statement. Well, no, if you love Jesus, you'll be set free from addiction. I understand that. But addiction is an incredibly real thing. And you can love Jesus and still

struggle to get past your addiction. And I think that we've got to give some grace to some people on that and be merciful with people on that and say, I know that you love the Lord. And I'm not saying you're not saved. But I also understand that this addiction has control of you. And those people that I've seen in those situations, they're not addicted anymore, because they're home now.

And it's a beautiful thing, because they've been set free from that addiction. And I think about the fact that Doc Sellers, you know, I don't know if everybody saw the email or not, but you know, Doc went home to be with Jesus Friday night. Tough phone call to get. But there is a little bit of a blessing in it, because, you know, Doc's got two whole legs now. And Doc can

hear and probably talks quieter than he used to. He can eat Werther's Originals again. My dad used to bring Werther's. He was diabetic. My dad would bring Werther's Originals to me every day. And I would go to the men's study on Monday nights and Doc would go, Robbie, you know I can't have one of those. Give me one. Don't tell Darla. That's probably how we got here, but whatever. I think

about how Pastor Mark was in those months before he passed, that he'd become a shell of himself, and his voice wasn't strong. He couldn't sing anymore. And I think about the fact that he's whole now, and he can sing again. I think about the fact that Steve Manley can hear now, which is amazing. I think about the fact that my dad can see now. Glenn Davis has rhythm. It's just

everything, you know. I mean, like, it's amazing, because we don't have to fear death, because Jesus has defeated it. And it's just a toothless enemy. We don't have to live as slaves to sin, and we don't have to live as slaves to the fear of death. I believe that the believer in Jesus Christ should be the most confident person in the world. Not confident because

you're arrogant, but confident because of who you serve. Confident because you serve the God who has defeated death, and that your life is in the hands of God, and that nothing is going to come into your life that hasn't first been filtered through the hands of a loving God, and then enters into your life, and you can rest in God's power when it comes to that. Why? Because he had a share of humanity. Because through death, he defeated the one who has the power of death,

and rendered him inoperative, and has delivered us. What that word delivered means, that, or is it set free in here? How's that word in this one? It might set, oh yeah, might set free. That word set free means to release from the grip. It means to release from the grip. In other words, you have been released from the grip of death, and you have been released from the grip of sin that's been holding you down your entire life. Listen, learn

to live like it. Learn to live in the boldness and confidence of being alive in Christ. Learn to live that free from sin. Learn to live in the boldness and confidence of saying, grace holds this ground now. It's not your sin any longer. It's not your fear any longer. It's not your anxiety any longer. It's held by Jesus, and you can live in confidence because of it. So not only did he taste death for

us all, not only is he the captain of our salvation, not only does he call us his brother, not only did he share in our humanity, but number five, he gives. aid to those who are tempted. Notice what it says, for assuredly, he does not give, verse 16, for assuredly, he does not give help to the 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 a faithful high priest in 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. The first thing he says is he does not offer aid to the angels. Why? Because the angels are ministering spirits, but he does offer aid to the descendants of Abraham. Well, what does that mean? Am I a descendant of Abraham? You betcha. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, then by faith, you're a descendant of Abraham, because that means that

you are by faith a descendant of the father of faith. That's what we're told. That's why that song, Father Abraham, had many sons. Let's just all stand up and sing it. No, let's not. I'll fall off the stage once I spin around. That's why Father Abraham, such a fantastic song. I remember singing that song as a kid. I'm like, why do we sing this song? Right? Is it just because

we like to do the, is that why we do that song? No, we sing that song because it's a description of who we are. Father Abraham had many sons. I'm one of them. I hope you are too. I changed the words just a little bit there. So let's just praise the Lord. And so he offers aid to those who are the descendants of Abraham. What does he mean by that? He offers aid to those who are the

descendants of Abraham. What does he mean by that? He offers aid to those who are the descendants of Abraham. What does he mean by that? He offers aid to those who are the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, verse 17, he had to be made like his brethren in all things. He had to be made like his brethren in all things. Do you realize that Jesus went through all of the things that you go

through in your life? I think it's one of the most fascinating things in the world about the incarnation. That in his 33 years, he went through all of the awkward garbage that we go through in life. Think about this. We know very little about the life of Jesus up until his baptism when he starts his earthly ministry. We know two stories. We know that crazy story about Bethlehem, right?

And then we know about some situation that took place when he was 12 years old in the temple. That's all we know about Jesus, other than what we're told here in Hebrews. And that's that he went through everything that we went through. I did a chapel one time at Ark City Christian Academy. I took all of these awkward photos of myself when I was growing up. By the way, there's a plethora

of them. And I said, look at this awkward photo. Do you know Jesus went through this too, right? Uh, and listen, I want us to understand something. There are zero people in life who have ever thought to themselves, you know, when I was a really shining star, junior high, you know, when I really hit my pinnacle seventh grade. No, there are, there are zero people in the world that

think that their best time in life was in junior high. Do you realize Jesus went through junior high? I don't know what they called it, Jewish school at his point in time, but he lived it. He knew what it was like to be an author. He knew what it was like to be an author. He knew what it was like to be an author. He knew what it was like to be an author. He knew what it was like to be an author. He knew what it was like to be an author.

You know, I've been a really awkward 13 year old kid. Listen, I love all you junior high kids, but y'all are awkward, right? Listen, I was too. So was Jesus. So were your parents. I knew some of your parents when they were in junior high. And let me tell you, they were awkward. Jesus went through all of that. Jesus knew what it was like to hit puberty. Can you imagine Jesus's voice

changing? Can you imagine what it was like growing up perfect, right? Are any of you the good kid in your family, right? And what, what happens when you're the good kid? Of course you did it right. Never get in trouble. I didn't have that problem, but other people do. And as much as Jesus' brothers hated him, they hated him even more when he did everything perfect.

And they're like, Jesus, I hate you. You know what Jesus probably said to us, but I love you. And they were like, shut up, right? The whole love your enemies thing. He went through all of that stuff. Listen, Jesus knew what it was like to lose people he loved. He lost his very good friend, John the Baptist. Most believe that he lost his earthly father, Joseph,

before he came into his earthly ministry. He knew what it was like to lose people that he loved. Jesus knew what it was like to face all of the temptations that we face. I've told this to kids before. They're like, Ryan, there's no way he's faced what we faced. There's no way he dealt with internet stuff. There's no way he dealt with the bullying that we faced.

Yeah, you're right. His was probably worse. You know why? Because you probably get the remedial demon that comes after you. Jesus got Satan, right? In his humanity, he dealt with Satan. Now, what do you think? Think about this. Okay, so if we were to go all the way back into the Gospels, and we were to look at the temptation of Jesus, right? So Jesus starts off the hardest season of his life

by going 40 days without eating food. Think about that. Think about going from now to about the end of March. Nothing to eat. That's a freaking long time, right? Nothing to eat. And then you're out in the desert the entire time. You know what there's not a lot of in the desert? Anything. He's just out in the desert. And Satan pops up. He's like, listen, Jesus,

I think you could take any of these stones at any point in time, and you could just turn one of them into a loaf of bread. We clearly know he had that power because of the feeding of the 5,000, right? You could just turn any one of them into a loaf of bread. You could set up your own Panera right here, only cheaper and better at any point in time that you wanted to.

Now, listen, I was a wrestler. I know what it's like to go two or three days without eating anything, and how hungry you are, and how you start looking at not good things, and they're like, whew, that looks birdie-tasted. Right now, Jesus endured one of the most difficult aspects of the lust of the flesh, because that's what that was. His flesh wanted to be satisfied, and he said no to it.

Well, then he comes to the second temptation. And remember, in the second temptation, he was taken up and seen all of the kingdoms of the world. And Satan said, you can have everything that your eye sees if you will just bow down and worship me. That's the lust of the eyes. He could have had any... Imagine this. You're offered all the wealth in the world. This is what's happening in our nation right now,

is all of the politicians are offered all of the wealth in the world, and they're like... And they just go for it. And we go, you do the same thing. He had the lust of the eyes put in front of him. And it would have meant he didn't have to go to the cross. He still said no. And then the last one. Taken up to the pinnacle of the temple. And Satan says, if you just throw yourself off here,

the Bible says... Satan calls the Bible to him. The Bible says... He'll catch you up and won't let you dash your foot against the stone. He could have proven to everybody that he was the Messiah right then and there. And all of the rumors would have stopped. And everybody would have gone, oh, and worshiped him in that moment. But you see, that's the pride of life.

Jesus faced the three main difficulties that every temptation that we face is made up of. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. And he faced it at his most physically weak moment. That any of us could ever imagine. Yeah, I would say when it says he had to be made like his brethren in all things, I think he gets us. Only he goes farther than getting us.

Notice what it says. So that he might become a merciful and a faithful high priest.

After the loss of my dad, I found a great deal of comfort in people that had been through what I'd been through. Found a great deal of comfort in hearing from people who knew what I was going through. Who knew what it was like to experience what I experienced. Because they understood me. They knew that sometimes I didn't always know what to say. They knew that I didn't always have the words

or even know how to articulate how I was feeling. I could just go, and they'd be like. And we knew exactly what we were talking about. Because we both experienced it. That's the idea of what's being put across here. He's a merciful and a faithful high priest because he understands what we've gone through. So when you go to Jesus and you share with him what you're struggling with,

he doesn't say, I mean, I can't relate. I've never been through that. No, he's like, I get it. Let's talk. I've been there. Matter of fact, read in the Gospels. I'll tell you exactly how I handled that. He's a merciful and a faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. Why? So that he can make the propitiation for the sins of the people. Propitiation is a really big word, right?

Nobody knows what that word means. Nobody uses that word. Unless I'm teaching the Bible, that word never comes out of my mouth. That word literally means mercy. But the idea behind it is the offering of himself as a sacrifice on the mercy seat. Because he was a merciful and a faithful high priest. He went through all of the things that we did, yet without sin,

so that he could make propitiation, so that he could be our ultimate sacrifice for sin. Why did he do all of those things? Why is that important? 4 verse 18, 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 was tempted in the things that he suffered, and he can now come to the aid of those who are tempted when they suffer.

That word aid is a fantastic word in the Greek. That word aid means to run to the cry of those in danger and give them help. To run to the cry of those who are in danger and give them help. That means that when you face the temptations of this world, you do not have to do it alone. Because he was made like us. Because he had a share with us. And because he gives us aid, we know that he is there with us.

And I have watched this happen in my life. I think that there's two ends of the idea of him coming to our aid and temptation. There's first of all the temptation of just the things we go through in our lives, right? Like the difficult things that we go through that either cause us to doubt or to want to give up. And it's fascinating how God shows up in those moments.

I actually did an entire study about this at camp last fall, about all of the times that I saw God show up in the moment. And it was usually through, sometimes it was through people. Sometimes God gives us aid through the people that are around us. Oftentimes it's through the scriptures that we read. I can give you an entire, this is why you should keep a journal.

I can give you a list of the scriptures that God's given me over the years. Some of them I had to write down. Most of them were written on my heart. About when God showed up. And I'm like, man, that was 100% for me. You know, God does that with songs sometimes too. Have you ever noticed that? Like I remember specifically, I can tell you, and I will in just a minute,

I'm going to tell you exactly where I was in this moment. Early twenties, hard times that I was going through. And something I thought was breaking on my truck. And it was just like, can anything get any worse right now? You ever been in that moment where you're like, well, what else can go wrong? Right? Skippy dies. Anyway, I'm just kidding. His hips don't lie.

Anyway, so, so I, why y'all let me up here? Anyway, so I'm, I'm, I'm driving home from work. I was working at Lakeview Village at the time and I'm driving home from work. And I'm listening to my new Reliant K CD. This is the golden age. My new Reliant K. Kids, we used to listen to these things called CDs. They were fantastic. I actually just got, my wife just got me this on a vinyl record for Valentine's Day.

Isn't she the greatest wife ever? Anyway, so, so I'm, I'm driving down the street and I'm just, I'm as discouraged as I can possibly be. And it was one of those moments where like, Lord, I just, Lord, I just need to hear from you. And I remember exactly where I was. I was on 87th street at about Lamar in Overland Park, Kansas. Right in front of the Westlake Hardware.

And this song comes on, on the Reliant K CD. It says, never underestimate my Jesus. You're telling me that there's no hope. I'm telling you, you're wrong. And in that moment, that song, which is called For the Times When I'm Faint, that's the name of the song, came on. And it's like, dude, I was just, it broke me. I was just like, thanks, Lord. I really needed to hear that.

Because it felt like everything was going wrong. And I was like, you're telling me that there's no hope. And that's how I felt. I'm telling you, you're wrong. And in that moment, God showed up in the cab of my old F-150 through that song to say, I got you. Don't give up. Keep rolling. The truck's going to be fine. And it was. God shows up in those moments. But it's not only the difficult things where God shows up.

It's in the midst of the temptation. In other words, when you're tempted to sin. I don't know what area you struggle with the most. I don't need to know what area you struggle with the most. I don't need to know what area you struggle with the most. I don't need to know what area you struggle with the most. I'll probably just give you the list of the sins of the flesh.

And I can say it probably fits into one of those. Because we all have an area where we struggle the most. And you know when you start to struggle, God, if you'll pray, God shows up. He really does. If you will pay attention, God shows up. God shows up by somebody calling you. I don't know how many times I can say, yep, I got a phone call right in the middle of that situation.

And it was good because I was about to do something I shouldn't have done. And I got a phone call from somebody. Or I got a text message from somebody. Or I happened to look. I looked down. This is not a hard thing to do in my house because I own way too many Bibles. And I go, there's a Bible. And I go, oh, that's a good word. Or somebody reads me a verse right when I'm about to rip into someone because I'm really angry.

Right? Or God sends one of my daughters to say, Dad, do you think that's what Jesus would do? And I'm like, you know what? That's enough from you.

From the mouths of babes. But he shows up to give us aid when we need it the most. That's what God does for us. He runs to the cry of those who are in need to give them help. And so, brothers and sisters, I want us to know about the humanity of Jesus. I want us to understand it because when we understand what he became for us, it gives us everything that we need to be who he calls us to be for him.

Because we respond to everything that he has done. He tasted death for us all. He is the captain of our salvation. He calls us his brethren. He's shared in our humanity. And he gives aid to the tempted. Brothers and sisters, we see Jesus. As we see Jesus, he changed the fabric of who we are. Amen? Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me.

Father, we come before you. And Lord, I thank you for who you are. Lord, I thank you that you are the God who chose to come and dwell among us. Lord, I thank you that you are the God who gives us aid. The God who has rendered Satan powerless. The God who has set us free from the slavery of sin and death. But more than anything, Lord, you're the God who calls us your brethren.

And so, Father, I pray that for anyone in here who is still living in the slavery, Lord, they're still living in the fear, still living in the sin, still going around the same circle. Because it's what they've always done. Still living in the same jail cell. Because it's way more comfortable than stepping out in faith. I pray that you would reveal to them the freedom that you want for them to walk in.

Lord, I pray that if there's anyone here this morning that has never met this Jesus that I have described. Lord, maybe they've heard about a religion. Or maybe they've heard about a list of rules that they needed to keep. But they've never heard about this Jesus who loved them this much. This Jesus who wants to set them free. This Jesus who... Who wants to call them a brother.

Lord, may today be the day that they cry out to you. May today be the day that they surrender their heart to you. And so, Father, do your work in our hearts and lives. Continue what you've begun here this morning, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. My Savior, our Savior. We need to worship you in everything we say.