[0:00] Well, we have a guest speaker, and I thought I would take some time to introduce you to him. So his name is Leo Kloos, and with him is definitely his better half, Kim Kloos.
[0:15] Leo is kind of this interesting intersection of life. I met Leo in my second year of university. I was with Campus Crusade for Christ, and I remember my leader saying, I was just starting this new Bible study, and he was telling me about the guys in the Bible study.
[0:31] Two of them were lawyers, and the other guy was this business school guy. Leo was an instructor at the Ivy School of Business at that time. And I remember him telling me two qualities, and out of all the guys in the Bible study that I thought I would least likely like, it was Leo.
[0:50] And it was for two reasons. One, he was Pentecostal. And no offense to anybody at Pentecostal, but I was Plymouth Brethren back then. And Plymouth Brethren and Pentecostals were like oil and water.
[1:01] They were the emotional ones. We were the stoic, don't move ones in worship, right? So there was this different dynamic. And the other thing was, he was married. And I kept thinking, who in their right mind gets married at 22?
[1:15] Well, now that I've got to know him, praise the Lord, because Kim is certainly the anchor of that relationship. Yeah. So Leo's kind of an interesting story. So he graduated, got his MBA from the University of Western Ontario, and went on to consulting.
[1:29] They have three kids, Aaron Jr. No, Leo Jr., followed by Aaron and then Sarah. And Lord kind of called Leo out of that business working world to ministry.
[1:42] So he moved his family down to Florida, went to Reform Theological Seminary, and then he returned back to Canada. So Leo's expertise has kind of been in the executive pastoring role.
[1:56] So he has served at pastor, served at churches. Well, the biggest one would have been in Chicago of about 15,000 people. So he was the XO kind of running the administration and all the dynamics that goes along.
[2:11] As you can imagine, that is an overwhelming task. But the biggest part of his life has been spent in London, Ontario. That's kind of about Leo, not who Leo is.
[2:28] There's probably no man on this earth that is closer to me than a brother than Leo. He's been a pleasure to watch as he's grown through life. I've learned a lot about parenting, marriage, when he lost his father, even dealing with his wife's loss of father, and just being there through 30 years of friendship.
[2:48] We've been through a lot together, both the highs and the lows, and just being together. On a good note, this is their first time to British Columbia.
[3:01] So as much as Leo has lived in that world of administering pastoring, my belief is his primary gifting is in preaching. And my prayer for both of them, they're in this segue of ministry, of seeking a pulpit.
[3:19] My prayer is to convince them by being out here in BC that they might make a decision to move out to this grand country. So, Leo, come on up.
[3:34] It's like there's so much I could say in about 30 years of friendship that we've covered, but I'll just leave it at that so we have time for your preaching, but let me just... I know you're not a hugger. Let me give you a hug. Thanks, buddy.
[3:45] You're welcome. Love you. I love you too. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this word. We thank you for this love of Jesus that has pervaded Leo's soul and heart and mind from such a time at university and how it intertwined us, O Father, and it has survived 30 years of friendship.
[4:06] And we give you thanks for your word. That's going to propel his sermon today. It is what motivates and guides his preaching, his living, his marriage, his raising of his children to dealing with extended family problems in the workplace, in churches.
[4:27] He's just seen and done so much, and I can say that he's always done so with a humble heart and a desire to seek your righteousness in all of those areas rather than his own.
[4:40] I thank you that you have created that hunger in him, which has been such a lead for me, an example for me to follow, to be motivated by, to team up with him, and I give you praise for the many areas that our lives have intersected, and it's such a pleasure for me, Lord, just to introduce him to my new friends and loved ones here in Squamish.
[5:05] We ask you these things in your great and glorious name. Amen. Amen. You never told me I was going to need Kleenex, BK.
[5:16] Hi, guys. Hello. It is a privilege to be with you, and we got in Friday night from London, still adapting to the time change.
[5:34] I'm having a bit of an existential crisis as I've been here less than 48 hours, asking myself the question, why am I an Ontarian? Because in this short period of time, I've already have a new appreciation for creation and a strong desire to leave that province, and I blame it on you.
[6:00] So, obviously, before we get into God's word, I want to say a few things about BK. You know, there's two mistakes pastors make when they visit to a church where the pastor is a friend, and the one mistake is sort of this obsequious, kind of over-the-top flattery of the pastor in order to curry favor with them.
[6:23] Everyone sees through that. And the other mistake they make is they do what I call the old celebrity roast and just tell a bunch of old jokes and have fun at his expense, but really, in a reverse way to, or in a partnering way to BK, I just wanted you to know that the privilege for me to be here today is that I am coming to, for the very first time in 30 years of friendship, to partner in ministry with him together.
[6:54] Yes, we met at Western. Yes, he has been there through my three children being born and is an adopted uncle to them. He was the guy that flew to Florida to help me move back from seminary to come to Ontario and started ministry.
[7:13] He has been the guy for me that has been through all of my ups and downs, just as he's had his ups and downs. I call him a gospel friend. And I don't know what the age range is here.
[7:28] I'm 54 years old, but I was telling a friend the other day, I said, you know, you start to get into your 50s and you start to realize that you can, if you're lucky, count on maybe two hands the number of friends that have gone the distance with you or that will be there with you.
[7:50] And in my life, BK is one of those most precious gems of a friend that God has given to me.
[8:03] He has helped me navigate many things. He is, as a discipler, helped me grow in my faith. And all I really want to say, I could say so much more, except for the fact that there's someone way more important than BK that I want to talk to you about today named Jesus.
[8:20] But I just want you to know that you've known him for six years. He's your pastor. I've known him for 30 years. I want you to know you have a blessing on your hands here. And just as I'm sure you already see.
[8:37] So thank you for inviting me here. There is an old hymn. And if you've been a Christian a while, I think you'll know this.
[8:47] If you are new to Christianity, you may not. The hymn is, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. Some of you know it? Some of you, can you hear it in your head yet?
[9:00] Because the first verse goes like this. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
[9:21] Now the musicians were, as I did that, were filling in the chord changes along the way. But you know what I'm, what I want to do this morning with you here in Squamish, B.C. Because it doesn't matter where I'm from.
[9:32] It just matters where he is and where we're listening. Is I want to help you turn your eyes towards Jesus because the one thing we all have in common today is that we are besieged by distractions that are warring against our hearts to take our eyes off of him and onto so many things.
[9:54] Now tell me, in Squamish, are there distractions? Not at all. Not at all. I mean, there's just nothing to do here. But I will tell you, I live in boring London, Ontario, which is Canada's equivalent to Dayton, Ohio.
[10:08] And even over there, everyone is distracted. Distracted by media. Distracted by pleasure. Distracted by money. Distracted, distracted.
[10:19] How do we get our eyes onto the thing that scripture says will change us? So if you have your Bibles with you, I'm told this is a church where I can say things like that and people have Bibles.
[10:32] Some of you may like to flip to it on your phone. I don't really care. As long as you can get yourself to a place in God's word. Find yourself in the book of Hebrews. It's in the back end of the Bible in the New Testament.
[10:45] Hebrews chapter 7, verse 25. The book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 25.
[10:57] A little surprise for you today. I'm actually just preaching one verse. Although it's a bit of a trick because I'm not going to do that. But this is the anchoring of what I want to say to you today.
[11:11] Let me read this precious scripture for you and let it penetrate your heart. But consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.
[11:35] Period. Now, this verse, which I'm going to guess some of you have never read or maybe if you did, you forgot. This is one of the hidden gem verses of the Bible.
[11:47] Up there, I think, should be up there with John 3, 16. Often overlooked, yet it captures the essence of Jesus. Now, some of you are immediately thinking because you've been under the teaching of BK and you understand the exposition of scripture.
[12:03] You're like, wow. Really? You're just dropping us right in the middle of a book we haven't had any prep for. We haven't been walking through to even get to this. We have no context. Context. Well, let me give you some context.
[12:16] Okay? Because, I mean, it starts with a therefore, so therefore we know it's coming from something. Here's the context. The writer of this epistle, we don't know who he is, became aware that a bunch of Jewish converts to Christianity were under fire for their faith.
[12:34] They were taking it hard. They were being persecuted. They were actually starting, there was a group of them starting to think about, you know what? Life was a lot easier when we were just Jews. When we went, when he went to temple and we just did the sacrifices, at least we had it this way.
[12:51] But man, being a Jewish Christian, it's killing us. And so there was this murmuring going on within the congregation going, I don't, maybe Jesus isn't all that he was preached to us about.
[13:06] And so there's this temptation going on and the writer of this epistle, actually it's a sermon, if I want to be really specific. If you read it from end to end, it is a 45 minute sermon.
[13:21] The whole point of his letter is this. You can't go back. Jesus is better. That's Hebrews.
[13:33] Hebrews. He's better than the prophets. He's better than the angels. He's better than Moses. He's better than Joshua's rest. He's better. He's a better sacrifice. He's a better tabernacle.
[13:45] He's better than the old priesthood. He is the one and only great high priest. He's the fulfillment of everything all the prophets ever pointed to.
[13:56] And his point is, once you have him, there's no going back. That's like going from gold to tin is his point.
[14:09] So what I just want to do is take this verse and I'm going to go phrase by phrase through the verse. I'm going to guarantee you one thing. By the time you walk out today, you will know this verse. Okay? I want to take it phrase by phrase and let that be the construct of our passage.
[14:24] But I'm just going to throw out some hooks for you if you'd like to take notes. I just have four points today. Here's the first one. Know the name. Know the name.
[14:35] See that first phrase in verse 25? Consequently, he is able. Now, I've been a pastor a long time.
[14:48] And probably at the top 10 of my things to preach on to people is the reality that Jesus Christ is able. And I can tell that I get energized when I just hear about that fact that he is able.
[15:06] When I preach on anything to do with the fact that Jesus is able, I can see it on the eyes of the saints that I preach to when they are reminded of that fact as the Holy Spirit works up in it.
[15:17] Do you know that that idea, he is able, shows up a lot in the New Testament? I mean, Paul knew it as his strength. Romans 16.25 says, now to him who is able to strengthen you.
[15:33] He knew it as his comfort during prayer in Ephesians 3.20. He says, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly all that we can ask or think.
[15:48] Jude knew it as his assurance. Jude 24 says, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless. This is the awesome reality, friends, that Jesus Christ is able.
[16:05] Now, the question you have to ask yourself is, why is he able? Some of you are like, yeah, I've heard he's able before. I actually believe he's able, but the question you should ask is, why is he able?
[16:19] Do you know why? Because it's one thing to say that as a catchphrase. You know, you throw it around like a Hallmark card or, you know, something to encourage a Christian on and you're not really thinking about it, but to really know why he is able.
[16:36] I'm going to tell you something. As someone who's gone through many seasons that have been painful, it's the thing that will carry you to understand why he is able.
[16:50] Now, in order for me to do that, I need you, this is where I find out if you'll work with me here, I need you to flip back about six pages in your Bible to the very beginning of this book, chapter one, verse one.
[17:04] I just need to unpack a little bit there to show you the connection to this point. So we're at the very beginning of Hebrews, verse one, but this is Jesus' resume.
[17:16] This is what he would have provided as his curriculum vitae, as the fancy people in the UK like to call it. Just follow along with me here, verse one.
[17:28] Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. Now, just think of the ways God spoke to people in the Old Testament, okay?
[17:38] Visions and dreams, messages and laws through angels, audible voices and whispers out of the whirlwinds. He wrote on walls. He appeared in burning bushes.
[17:49] He inspired worship songs and psalms. He gave words to especially ordained prophets. Do you get the picture? But now it says, verse two, see the switch?
[18:04] Now, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. The previous prophets had given the word of God.
[18:15] Jesus was the word of God. Now that phrase, in these last days, is a very important phrase.
[18:26] It's saying, the last revelation that God's ever going to give about who matters is him, period. It's Jesus.
[18:38] He is the final and fulfilling revelation of all that the Bible was pointing to. Now, some of you are like, well, what about all those apostles who wrote in the New Testament after Jesus left?
[18:50] Didn't they provide revelation? Well, yes, they did, but they were his witnesses. They weren't writing anything that supersedes Jesus. They were expounding on or applying Jesus to people's lives.
[19:06] Knowing this is, knowing this verse is going to be very helpful to you when you hear someone from another religion who says to you, hey, I'm with you, man. Jesus was pretty cool.
[19:19] Jesus was great. Jesus was, like, I rank him very highly among the world's esteemed people. He was even a prophet. I'll go as far as that.
[19:31] But, there's the but. But, for so many people, there's a but. but there's another revelation that came along later. And, he's our final authority or he's our final prophet or he's our final deity or something like that.
[19:48] Look at the rest of verse two. It says, whom he appointed the heir of all things. Through whom also he created the world.
[20:00] And then, if you wouldn't mind just dropping into the middle of verse three and notice this phrase, a repeat. and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
[20:11] Now, a little mind-blowing here. Jesus created all things and he upholds all things by his power or by the word of his power.
[20:24] Now, some people find this actually a little bit confusing and amazing at the same time. They think to themselves, you know, when I think of Genesis chapter one, verse one, in the beginning.
[20:36] I mean, I think about God the Father. Well, here the New Testament is giving us greater light. The specific instrument of creation is none other than Jesus himself.
[20:51] And just think about all that he created. I mean, here I am walking around Squamish, I'm looking at creation in a new light, but I need you to get a little bit bigger than that. let's go beyond that to the planet.
[21:04] Let's go beyond that to our solar system. Let's go beyond that to galaxies and billions and billions of galaxies. Can you comprehend that? I can't. And yet, the Bible says that he upholds every atom of that by the word of his power.
[21:25] notice verse 3. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.
[21:36] Think of all the times in the Old Testament you hear about the glory of God, the holiness of God, how passionate it is, passionate God is for his own glory and that all the nations would see it.
[21:47] Well, the point here is Jesus is the pure radiance of his glory. in Jesus you see exactly what God is like.
[22:02] One of his disciples, I've always found this part of the gospels hilarious really. One of his disciples, Thomas, sometimes known as Doubting Thomas, in John chapter 14 verse 9 says to Jesus, and I'm paraphrasing a bit here, but he says, you know, if you could just show us God the Father, if we could just see him, then we'd really be able to believe Jesus.
[22:30] And Jesus says the most incredible thing in that passage. He says to him, have I been with you so long, Thomas? You don't know.
[22:42] He who has seen me has seen the Father. He's like, do you really want to see the Father? Anything you need to know about the Father, you can know by looking at me.
[22:57] That's quite a claim. Sometimes we wonder, is God really forgiving?
[23:07] Well, look at Jesus and his life. What do you see? Do you see someone who forgives? At times we doubt, is God really loving and compassionate?
[23:25] Well, look at Jesus and his life. Do you see someone who is loving and compassionate? Or sometimes we wonder, is the Father really capable of anger and judgment?
[23:42] If he's supposed to be all loving, well, look at Jesus in his life. Did you ever see him righteously angry and pronouncing judgment?
[23:53] Yes, you did. Deep down, we all long to know, does God care for me and the burdens that I'm carrying this week?
[24:08] Look at Jesus. What do you see in that man? Does he care? He is everything God wants us to know. Now, finally, at the end of verse 3, it says, after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
[24:28] Now, this is really amazing. In the Old Testament, the Old Covenant law had a sacrificial system where the priests repeatedly offered animals to cover sins of the people.
[24:41] They were always busy. There was no sitting down. It never ended. It was a picture of what Jesus would ultimately do. But it couldn't accomplish what Jesus did on the cross.
[24:55] It could give external, it couldn't give external forgiveness, a changed life, and a new heart. That's why the gospel is incredible. That Jesus offered himself once for all as the perfect sacrifice for sins, and then he sat down.
[25:17] A king sits down when there's nothing left to do. It was finished, as he says. That's the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus did a work for us that we could never do for ourselves, making purification for sins.
[25:34] Without that, it says in the Bible, we would remain unclean, unholy before God with no hope of acceptance.
[25:45] But if you are in a relationship with Jesus, I'm telling you today, this is done for you. That's what forgiveness of sins is all about.
[25:57] Do you want to know what the real difference between Christianity and every other religion of the world is? It comes down to this. It's simply this. Two things. All other religions and their prophets teach obey, then acceptance.
[26:17] acceptance. Jesus taught the opposite. Acceptance, then obey and follow. All other religions say, obey these rules, do these rituals, live this way, and maybe, maybe, you'll be accepted by God or deity or whatever.
[26:39] Sadly, even some Christians who come week after week to church hear the Bible proclaims still in their minds have somehow twisted themselves to think that it really is.
[26:52] I have to earn, earn, obey, try, ritual, this, and maybe, just maybe. Do you want to know what the problem with living that way is?
[27:04] The problem is if it's what you do that earns acceptance before God, then your heart is going to crack in half in one of two ways.
[27:21] On the one hand, your heart's either going to be ruled by guilt and fear because you'll always think you've never done enough. So you'll be one of those professing believers struggling constantly with, I'm not there yet, I'm not there yet, I don't know how to, but on the other hand, you could become someone ruled by pride and feeling that not only are you good enough, but I've banked enough for God to give me some credits.
[27:57] Jesus reverses all of that. He says, your acceptance before God comes not on the basis of what you do, but what I've done in your place if you embrace me by faith.
[28:10] And that must lead to a life of living not to earn it, but to reflect it. So I've really pushed hard on knowing the name here because it sets up everything so much easier in the rest of this verse.
[28:26] That's where it starts. Know the name. So my question to you is, do you know? Do you know the name? Not just factually, but personally.
[28:39] If not, let's just talk about that for a second. Here's the second part of the verse I want you to see, and if you're taking notes, experience his power. Now, flip back to chapter 7 and we'll park there for the rest of the sermon.
[28:54] 7 verse 25. Notice this next phrase. I'm just going to keep repeating the verse. You'll get it. Consequently, he is able to save. Now, catch this.
[29:06] To the uttermost. If you like to underline in your Bibles, I would underline that word, uttermost. Some translations say completely. The New American Standard says forever.
[29:19] So uttermost, completely, forever. Which one is the best translation? Yes. They're all good.
[29:29] They all capture the linguistic meaning of that word. I would actually just say it this way. He saves to the extreme. He is able to save to the extreme.
[29:44] My friends, that is hope. There's no person here Jesus can't reach. Do you know that? I mean, think about the people sitting in this room right here.
[30:01] Isn't it incredible to know that there's not one person here today, not one person sitting in this room this morning in any situation that Jesus cannot penetrate.
[30:16] He is able to save to the uttermost. That means no matter where you've been in your life, He's able to save to that place.
[30:29] That means no matter who you've become, through the choices you've made, He is able to save to the uttermost. You may be sitting here listening to this and go, well, yeah, it's easy for you to say preacher, but you don't know my story.
[30:42] I can't be a Christian right now. I'm not there yet. I'm not good enough. I haven't cleaned up enough of my life. That's the problem.
[30:56] As long as you keep viewing yourself that way, as long as you've made that your identity, you're missing the heart of the gospel. The simple message that He is good enough and if I'm in Him, I'm clean, I'm holy, I'm saved, I'm righteous, I'm justified, I'm being sanctified, I will be glorified.
[31:25] That's why the gospel is good news. Other people here may be saying something different. They're like, well, I didn't know I even needed saving. I'm not even sure I buy the idea of saving.
[31:37] I've been listening to some other religious podcasts and they're not even using language like that to so outdated. They're talking about enlightenment. The scriptures say the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[32:01] Can I just give you the straight up goods here? That's why we're in church today, to be clear. there's a place in Hebrews in chapter 9.
[32:12] You don't have to flip it. I just want to read it to you. It describes an appointment that is on all of our calendars. I don't care how old you are today, whether you're aged like I am or whether you're a young person here just pondering what to do with your 20s.
[32:29] There's an appointment for all of us on our calendars. the Bible says this way, and just as it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
[32:55] You and I are going to die one day. This isn't going to go on forever and ever. And the Bible says that every human being on the planet, whether they want to admit it or not, are slaves to the fear of death.
[33:20] The world pretends they don't have to deal with it. They don't have to think about it, that nothing really significant happens when they die.
[33:31] But deep down, even the most hardened anti-Jesus, anti-whatever, pro-whatever, knows they can't escape this thing that God has already wired it into us because we're made in the image of God, that we are going to die.
[33:49] And that there is something beyond the grave. It shows up, though, for people in different ways, none of them good, for example, if you're the kind of person that lives your life like to the max, trying to suck the marrow dry out of every pleasurable, fun experience you can, and that's all your life is about, I'm going to tell you there is a lot of pressure on you to get everything out of life you can right now in the remaining years you've got, whatever that is.
[34:24] And it's going to go like that. For some people, they're just so enjoying it, but for other people, they can become very bitter when they miss out on the good stuff about life that they wish they could have, and they're caught in this cycle of trying to get all there is out of life because it's over when it's done.
[34:45] For other people, though, they start to panic when they see themselves aging because they know aging is the process of dying, so they become rabidly focused on pursuing youth through midlife crisis purchases or plastic surgery or about obsessing about their legacy or being remembered or whatever it is.
[35:12] And for some of you, if you're honest, there's the fear of death because you do have a sense that you're going to have to give an evaluation or an explanation for your life to God.
[35:28] And so you're trying so hard to figure out how to, in your own way, work to please him so that you have something to give God. Hoping that what you do here will cover up the bad stuff here.
[35:44] Question. Question. What have you done with Jesus Christ? What do you believe about him?
[35:59] Peter said, there is no salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
[36:11] Can I just ask you, do you believe that? Do you believe Jesus is the son of God? Romans 10 9 says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
[36:33] You'll be forgiven. Do you believe that he died as a substitute in your place to pay the penalty for your sins?
[36:47] It's as simple as that. You don't have to climb the ladder of some kind of human performance to impress God thinking that'll do it.
[37:00] You need to call upon the name of the Lord. Receive Jesus Christ. Turn from your sin and embrace him by faith.
[37:11] I promise you, your life will be changed for all eternity. And listen, it can happen to you now. Jesus is able to save to the uttermost.
[37:27] Now, for those of you that have done this, and this is just reviewing stuff that you hold precious, let me move to this third point.
[37:43] Receive the invitation. Receive the invitation. We're in verse 25, going phrase by phrase. You're getting to know it more and more now. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.
[38:02] At this point, some of you might be thinking, hey, you know, this stuff about Jesus, about salvation, I already got this. I got a great pastor who preaches this to me every week.
[38:15] My issue with Jesus, my issue spiritually, is that my faith feels dull and lifeless right now. I remember a time when walking with Jesus was like electricity.
[38:32] It was like passion. I worshipped my face off. I was in his word every day. I was just looking for ways to serve him. I prayed with fervency, but something along the way has taken that away from me.
[38:45] And I sit here and I'm going through motions. And it just isn't the same. And I don't know what to do about it. And I'm embarrassed to bring it up in small group because I don't want to be judged.
[38:58] And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I feel like a fraud. I feel like a fake. Oh, brothers and sisters, the enemy loves you there.
[39:15] That's where he wants you. The Holy Spirit doesn't want you there. Look at the two most critical words in this phrase, in this verse.
[39:30] Draw near. Draw near. Draw near. The Greek word means continuously draw near.
[39:44] It's not just a one-time event. It's an ongoing, continuous drawing near. The phrase occurs six times in the book of Hebrews. And each time it's dealing with your access to Almighty God.
[39:59] God. The fact that you can commune with him and have fellowship with Jesus Christ. And listen, drawing near to God is the critical spot of your relationship with God right now.
[40:18] So I ask you, what is stopping you? What is causing you to come and then go, yeah, no. You know, you know, have you ever been there?
[40:29] You're like, I know I got a drawing near, I'm doing it, and then something hits or you have some thought and you're just like, tomorrow. What is it? Is it, is it knowledge?
[40:41] Is it apathy? Is it guilt? Is it a fear of rejection? have you ever had a friend who you were always trying to kind of impress and you, no matter what you did, it's like you always found that you felt like they were judging you.
[41:06] And they were always kind of looking down at you and somehow when you're hanging out with them, you always kind of feel like you're a little bit on trial. You feel like if you got into an argument or a disagreement and you said just the wrong thing, the wrong way, they just dump you.
[41:26] And so you always smile and you're always careful and you're walking on eggshells and you're never really your true self because you just so desperately want to keep that friendship.
[41:38] friendship and then one day you actually do say the wrong thing and that friend wrote you out of the book. It's happened to most of us, I'm sure.
[41:52] The problem is when we begin to humanize God that way and we say, well, that's the way I know people to be and I think that's how God might be with me and God's in heaven just sort of just sitting on the edge of his throne watching every move I make and every sin I commit and every mistake I make and just waiting to go, that's it, she's out.
[42:25] Again, that's the deceiver's lie. Can I lay down some truth for you? Hebrews 4.15 says, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin.
[42:45] Right there, that's one of the most comforting things in all of scripture for the believer. That we have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses.
[43:00] Physical sickness, emotional stress, fear of man, temptations of all kinds. He can sympathize with those weaknesses even though yet he did not commit the sins that we so often do when we feel weak.
[43:17] I ask you this morning, are you struggling with something? Are you feeling the weight of something? I want you to know Christ loves you.
[43:27] He sees your situation. He can sympathize with that very weakness that is your stumbling block, your point of failure, which is why this invitation is so critical.
[43:47] Verse 16 of chapter 4 says, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
[43:59] Now, the simplest way for me to explain the throne of grace, and I'm really just keeping it simple here, is it's the place of prayer. Well, why do I need that?
[44:11] This is Christianity 101, and yet we need to be reminded of it every week. We need to go to the throne of grace for mercy and grace.
[44:23] The text says these two things continuously. You need mercy? Do you even know what mercy is, by the way? It is God withholding from us what we deserve.
[44:37] That's mercy. What do we deserve? Judgment, death, separation from God. Hey, if that was dealt with at the cross, why would I need to draw again to the Lord for mercy again?
[44:58] Well, what about daily mercies? What about daily mercies in your life? I'm just telling you there's a day coming in heaven where you will learn about all the ways God reached into your life and showed you mercy when something else could have happened but didn't because of his mercy.
[45:18] mercy. And when you hear it on that day, it's going to blow your mind. Notice also, we draw near for grace to help.
[45:30] While mercy is God withholding what we do deserve, grace is God giving us what we don't deserve. They're very tightly linked, two sides of the same coin.
[45:41] Grace is the good things that God gives to us, like life and breath and strength for another day and peace and hope and wisdom and discernment and all these things we so desperately need from the Lord.
[45:54] Do you need something from the Lord today? Draw near. Don't let anything hold you back.
[46:10] Receive the invitation. Oh, and by the way, apparently, we can do this with confidence, it says. Not, not, well, Lord, I hope it's not a bad time to come talk to you right now.
[46:31] I know you're upholding the universe and attending to the prayers of millions, maybe billions of people I don't even know. And, you know, I don't want to be a bother and, you know what, I'll come back another time.
[46:43] No, no, no, no. Oh, no. The believer, armed with this truth, knows that at any moment, any second of any day, you can draw near in prayer with confidence.
[46:59] That's the throne of grace. A privilege for the believer. And instead of talking like that, it's more, Lord, I'm here because of what Christ has done in my place.
[47:17] Because the Holy Spirit has been given to me. Because of the new covenant, you have brought me into where you're my high priest. And I got some burdens in my heart.
[47:28] I have some things I need to lay before you that are too much for me. And I need you to move in mercy and grace in my time of need because I have nowhere else I gotta go.
[47:40] And so I'm coming to you. That's how you come with confidence. Receive the invitation. Receive the invitation. Final thing, I'll be very quick.
[47:53] Rest in the promise. Rest in the promise. It's the last phrase of verse 25. And it ends like this. Since he always lives to make intercession for them.
[48:09] Now, whole books have been written on this idea of the intercession of Jesus. And far be it from me to theologically delve into all that involves.
[48:22] I'm just gonna sketch out a couple things for you about it. But you need to know that that phrase there is a major, major promise for you. It's aimed to settle your heart when you wonder, but what if I struggle in all this like it's resting on me?
[48:45] I love this quote from the Scottish preacher Robert Murray McChain. I've gone to it more than a few times in my life, let me tell you.
[48:57] And he said this in one of his journals. He wrote, if I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.
[49:13] Yet the distance makes no difference. He is praying for me. Isn't that amazing? Friends, Jesus does pray for you.
[49:28] But it's more than that. Intercession means he represents you. He represents you at the throne.
[49:39] He represents you before God the Father. Now, I gotta tell you, when I was a young Christian and I heard about this idea of representing, I was a bit confused about it and it didn't comfort me because I had it all messed up in my head.
[49:56] I kind of had this picture of Jesus as a trial lawyer coming before a cranky judge, pulling out my very big, thick file, and kind of saying something like, you know, judge, let's just give this kid a break.
[50:16] I know he's messed up and he's trying and besides, you kind of owe me one for that thing I did on the cross. And then I had this picture in my head that the judge would say, well, look, we'll review this again in a year, maybe.
[50:34] And my worry was, that's twisted theology, by the way, but I'm telling you what I was thinking. My worry was, if that was true, how long could Jesus keep this up?
[50:47] Coming back every year with the same thick file, the same cranky judge, saying the same things. Eventually, at some point, the judge is going to crack and go, enough with him.
[50:58] If that's you, major adjustment time.
[51:11] When it says Jesus intercedes, do you know what's going on? He is there representing you as the prophet, priest, king, saying, Father, you do require justice.
[51:25] You are a just God. And my friend here, my brother that I have purchased with my own blood is guilty. But I have made payment.
[51:38] I have purchased their life. They are mine. And because of the blood, it would be unjust to get two payments for the same debt. Therefore, because I have made payment for this debt, because I have made him my own, I'm not asking here for mercy.
[51:56] I want your justice and your justice, your very righteous demands that you completely, eternally embrace and accept them because of who I am and because of who they are in me.
[52:12] And that, friends, is an infallible case. That brings assurance. That brings confidence.
[52:25] Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
[52:43] Would you pray with me? Almighty God, to even preach these things is, well, I'm just so aware that I'm dealing with the holy.
[53:04] We are talking about the preciousness of your son, what he has done, and who he is to us. And in this moment, I would pray for those here who perhaps do not have a relationship with Jesus, that after hearing this, after maybe having the veils taken off their eyes, that somehow, Lord, in your providence, in your power, in your sovereignty, you would reach in and awaken their hearts, give them new birth, to then call out to receive Jesus Christ, to call out for forgiveness and embrace him as Lord, embrace him as Savior, and to know what it means to be a child of the King.
[53:48] And for others here today, Lord, who know you and have been reminded just who you are, I pray, Lord, that you would comfort their hearts. If we were to take the time, Lord, to go around the room and ask about burdens and trials and suffering and pain, we could write a book today.
[54:10] But Lord, you see it. You see every situation. And so I pray that you would move by the Holy Spirit into their lives today, through their lives today, to stir them, to urge them, to call on the name of the Lord, to come before your throne with grace and to receive grace and mercy, because you've told us to do that with confidence.
[54:32] Because we know that there we have someone who represents us. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always makes intercession for them.
[54:51] And we pray these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.