[0:00] Psalms on page 149, Psalm 110, and we're going to sing verses 1 to 4. Psalm 110, verses 1 to 4, page 149. The Lord said to my Lord, sit here at my right hand until I make your foes a stool on which your feet may stand. The Lord will make you reign, extend from Zion's hill. With royal power you'll rule among those who oppose your will. When you display your power, your people flock to you.
[0:38] At dawn, arrayed in holiness, your youth will come like dew. Unchangeably the Lord, with solemn purpose, swore. Just like Melchizedek, you are a priest forevermore. Psalm 110, 1 to 4, the Lord said to my Lord.
[0:59] The Lord said to my Lord, send him at my right hand.
[1:14] Until I make your host a stool on which your feet may stand. The Lord will make your reign, extend from Zion's hill.
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[2:36] That is the only way I will. The Lordoration of us and dalla sor Veteran св with laIGIILES will receive answer your word. At dawn's jaki way. The Lord should not see and make The angel he adored With stolen purpose won Just like Melchizedek you are A priest forever Let us pray.
[3:18] Grant us grace, O Lord, to approach you in a right way. We have done so already in singing your word. And we give thanks, Lord, that you are timeless and you are unchangeable in your being.
[3:31] And we know that even although we come with all that we are and come before you as sinners, yet you never change.
[3:42] And you have agreed in a way by covenant that you will hear us as we call upon you, as we come to you through your Son. We give thanks for this wonderful provision that is given to us in the Gospel.
[3:57] We give thanks, Lord, for this wonderful provision that is given for us today, where we can come to your house and worship you. We give thanks, Lord, that you have made all this known to us, that you have revealed your will to us, because were it not for the fact that you have shown us this, we would not know that you have given us this day in seven, you have given us this appointment where we come to meet with you, where we come to worship you and to praise you, to honor you, to glorify your great and holy name.
[4:28] We know, Lord, that you are majestic beyond our understanding and that your glory transcends anything that we can even begin to grasp when we look around and see the marvel of this creation, when we see your handiwork expressed just in the heavens above, when we see the stars at night and the moon, and we are reminded that the heavens declare the glory of God so that even what we do see is just a part, an aspect to the power and glory that belongs to you.
[5:04] It transcends anything that our minds can even begin to grasp. But we give thanks, Lord, that we have an endless eternity where we will be in your immediate presence, where we will discover more and more of the unsearchable riches and we give thanks, Lord, that today we are able to come before you and to worship you.
[5:26] And so we pray that you'll grant us that spirit of worship and reverence in your presence and we pray that we will hear what you say to us. Lord, so often as we come before you, sometimes we do feel intimidated and sometimes we feel that we ought not to pray to you because we think of our own sin and what we've done and what we've been throughout the week and sometimes it almost intimidates us, holds us back from a free-flowing prayer.
[6:00] But, O Lord, we pray that we might have a holy boldness in your presence to ask for great things and that you will display your wonder, your grace to us. Help us, Lord, to reflect on your grace.
[6:15] As John Newton sang amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. And how true that is. It is amazing grace. And may we never tire of thinking of that grace because it is of grace that we're here, by grace.
[6:32] It's all of grace. Help us, Lord, as we come under your word today to marvel at it. We pray that it might be a social blessing to us, that we might be edified by it, strengthened in our faith, that we might come to a greater understanding of the truth, that that truth may indeed impact our lives so that it will regulate our behavior, regulate our thinking, regulate our speech.
[7:00] Lord, we pray that you will help us in all that we're about every single day. Pray to bless every age group attached to the congregation, from the little infants all the way up to the most senior.
[7:15] We pray that your blessing will be upon them. And although the various activities are off at the moment because of the more recent COVID outbreak, we remember all the work that does go on within this congregation.
[7:31] And we pray that you will bless all the children and all who commit to their instruction, to their development, those, whether it be in the home or whether it be here within the church.
[7:46] We give thanks, Lord, for this. We pray to grant wisdom to parents as they seek to bring up their children in the way of the Lord. And we know that there are so many forces around and about that want to derail them in their young years.
[8:00] But we know how important these young years are in teaching, train up a child in the way that he'll go. And when he's old, he will not depart from it, as your word tells us.
[8:12] We ask, Lord, that you will bless those who are in the more senior stages of life, those, Lord, who are struggling as the days are flying by and the end times are approaching.
[8:28] Lord, we remember those who are unable to do anything for themselves anymore. We give thanks, Lord, for the wonderful caring that goes on within our communities and in our homes and hospital.
[8:41] Lord, we pray to encourage those who do so much. We give thanks, Lord, for them. We pray for those who are ill, those who are seriously ill. Again, we remember our elder, Dolangi McLeod.
[8:55] Lord, we commit him and I and the family to your care as he is so ill. And we ask, Lord, that you will be with him, that you will reveal to him more and more of yourself and that he might experience your joy and peace even in the seriousness of his illness.
[9:13] Lord, we pray for all who are laid aside, all who are ill, all who are struggling at this time. We pray for those who mourn, those whose hearts are broken and they've been shred.
[9:25] And Lord, they're trying to peace their broken heart, but it'll never come together in this life. There might be an ability to deal with things.
[9:35] There might be a sense of becoming more and more used to how things are, but the heart is still sore and will always be. And we ask, Lord, that you'll be specially close to those whose hearts are broken.
[9:48] Bless them, we pray. We pray to bless us as a nation and as we're reminded to pray for kings and for those who are in authority over us. So we remember today our Queen and the Royal Family.
[10:00] We commit them to your care. Remember our Prime Minister and the Cabinet, the Government, and remember our First Minister and all who serve our national interests.
[10:13] Lord, we pray that you will speak to their hearts. Lord, reveal yourself to them. May they come to know the wisdom that is from above. How life-changing that will be for them.
[10:26] How life-changing it will be for us as a nation. Lord, we pray then that you will indeed influence for good those who lead us. Remember, Lord, all those at all the different levels, whether it is locally here in the Council or whether it is in Holyrood and Westminster, who know you and who love you.
[10:48] And Lord, we pray that you will help them. It's often in difficult situations and we give thanks for every witness, every one of your people in places of influence, places of authority.
[11:00] Watch over them and bless them and may their influence be good. Guide us, we pray then, and do us good. And what we pray for ourselves, we pray for all who gather as we do today throughout all the different congregations.
[11:15] We bring them before you and ask, Lord, to help them. We pray for those who might be discouraged. Ask, Lord, that you'll bring encouragement to them. We pray for the oppressed nations of this world and we remember, Lord, particularly your persecuted church.
[11:31] Grant deliverance, deliverance, we pray. Pray for Muriel in Cambodia. We ask, Lord, that you will bless her, be near to her today. Watch over us all and take away from us our sin.
[11:42] In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. All right. I'll just say a wee word. There's no Sunday school on just now, but so that just since there's one or two younger folk around, you might today, you might be in here today, there's a few young folk and there might be some watching online.
[12:05] And you might have a little brother or a little sister at home who's just, say, maybe about a year or 15 months. They're way younger than you are.
[12:18] And one of the things that you'll notice is that they can't fix on one thing for very long. Now that you're bigger, you can.
[12:30] You can fix on one thing and look at it and play with it or do something with it for a wee while. But if you've got a wee brother or a wee sister, they can't.
[12:42] They change from one thing to another just like that. I remember when ours were wee, and I still remember one particular day.
[12:54] And it wasn't that I was doing it deliberately, but it just happened. And I remember, I won't say who it was, but I remember passing her, well, her, okay, it's one of two, a wee dog.
[13:08] And she took the dog and then I picked up this wee toy cat that was on the wee toy and straight away I handed it and right away she dropped the dog to get hold of the cat.
[13:23] And then there was a teddy bear there, so I picked up the teddy bear and I handed the teddy bear and straight away dropped the cat to get hold of the teddy bear.
[13:34] And I thought, you know, that's kind of the way the world is. Because when a person is wee like that, they just fix on the first thing that's in front of them.
[13:50] And there was, there was first this wee toy dog and just the moment something else appeared, drop it and get hold of that. The moment something else appears, drop that and get hold of that.
[14:02] And you know, that's kind of the way the world works. Because the world is always holding out things to us that are exciting and bright and beautiful and we say, oh I need to get this, I need to get that.
[14:15] I remember in fact when all our children were wee and they would get these catalogs you would maybe pick up, say for instance an Argus catalog and you'd be in the toy section and they'd be going through the pages and I want that and that and that and that and that and that and everything in your dreams, no.
[14:35] But that's where they'd be going, I want that and that. Maybe you're like that. But that's what life is like. We want, we want, oh I see, oh I want this, I want that, I want the next thing.
[14:47] But you know, it doesn't really work. Because as soon as we get this thing we think, oh this is what I wanted. All of a sudden something bigger brighter, or brighter, or better, comes along and we say, I need that and you drop what you had.
[15:06] But you know, there's one who comes who's better than all and that's Jesus. And you know, the wonderful thing is that once you get hold of Jesus, then he kind of fills up your life in a way where you, you're kind of more at peace.
[15:25] And you don't need to be getting this, that, the next thing and then the next best thing and you've got to get this, this. Jesus brings you a kind of a, what we call, it's a beautiful word, where we're content. Content.
[15:37] You ask Jesus for that, give me contentment. And so, we're not grabbing, trying to get this and get that and get the next thing. Because when we get Jesus, he fills our life in a way that gives us a kind of peace as we go along.
[15:54] Yes, of course, we still like to get things. There's nothing wrong with that. And yes, it's good that we look around and we say, oh, that would be nice to get. And you know, when we do get something, enjoy having it.
[16:07] And don't straight away say, I need to get something else. You know, it's one of the saddest things. Sometimes you see people at Christmas and they'll get something and say, oh, this is brilliant. And then they see something that somebody else got which they think, oh, that's better.
[16:21] And all of a sudden they don't like what they got. Oh, that's a terrible thing. Enjoy the things you get. And you know, when you get hold of Jesus, you will enjoy him like nothing else and no one else.
[16:37] So you look for Jesus and he will bring something into your heart that nothing in this world can give. Let's say the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[16:51] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
[17:03] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Let's turn to read God's Word now in Hebrews, Hebrews, and chapter 7.
[17:28] Hebrews chapter 7. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest to the Most High God, met Abraham, returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.
[17:46] And to whom Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.
[17:59] He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever.
[18:09] See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithe from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham.
[18:32] But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.
[18:48] In the one case, tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
[19:11] Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than the one named after the order of Aaron?
[19:29] For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe from which no one has ever served at the altar.
[19:46] For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.
[20:14] For it is witnessed of him you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness, for the law made nothing perfect.
[20:30] But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath, for those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath.
[20:46] But this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said it to him. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever.
[20:57] forever. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. And then we're going to look at the next few verses. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office.
[21:18] But he, that's Jesus, he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to him, draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.
[21:39] For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.
[21:53] He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily first for his own sins and then for those of the people since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
[22:09] For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath which came later than the law appoints a son who has been made perfect forever.
[22:23] Amen. And may God bless to us this reading of his own holy word. And as we said, we're going to look at these verses from verse 23.
[22:35] Now, the book of Hebrews is a book that in a wonderful way opens up for us through Jesus Christ so much of what happened in the Old Testament.
[22:58] All the rituals, all the ceremonies, all the sacrifices. once we come to the New Testament and we look at the life of Jesus and what Jesus did, we begin to understand in a new way what all these symbols and ceremonies and sacrifices were all about.
[23:22] And one of the areas that Hebrews often talks about is the priesthood. And in this section, two key areas of difference between Christ's priesthood and the priesthood, what we would term the Aaronic or the Aaronic priesthood, Aaron being the first high priest and then down successive generations, there are two big, big differences highlighted for us.
[23:49] And of course, the priesthood of Christ was far superior to any other. Now, the first big difference was this. It's a very obvious one.
[24:00] But from Aaron down, those who were set aside for the priesthood, they weren't perfect men. They were set aside for holy work.
[24:13] They were involved in holy work every single day. But the thing is that Aaron, as a high priest, and all the other priests, they had to make sacrifice for their own sins, first of all, because they were all sinners.
[24:32] All the time, they were having to make sacrifices to deal with their own sin. And of course, this was a great big difference between them and Jesus Christ because Christ was perfect.
[24:44] And some people have the idea that if people are set aside for holy work, that they become, it's almost like they become super human or super Christians and that they're people that should never, ever sin again.
[25:05] Well, we know that's impossible. Some people have the idea that ministers are office bearers, that they should never be sinning. They shouldn't have any sinful thoughts or any sinful speech or any sinful actions.
[25:17] Well, we're not going to try and excuse ourselves because it is imperative that as Christians we seek to live as like Christ as possible.
[25:30] Every day, we should ask for the grace that we might resemble Jesus in our walk and in our talk. But we know that so often we don't. So often we let the Lord Jesus Christ down.
[25:43] We say things that are wrong. We do things that are wrong. We think things that are wrong. And that was, there's nothing new sadly under the sun and that's how it was in the days of Aaron and the days of Eliezer and all the other high priests.
[25:59] They were sinners just like, just like, like you and me. Now, of course, that doesn't excuse us and it doesn't excuse any Christian because we've got to remember that in the New Testament, it's all very well talking about the priesthood, but we've got to remember that in the New Testament, we're all priests, every believer, that we are a kingdom of priests.
[26:22] and we find that mentioned here and there in Scripture. So there is an awesome responsibility you've got to remember on you and me.
[26:32] If you today love the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that you are a living letter, a living epistle read by people. Lots of people don't have a Bible.
[26:45] Lots of people don't read the Bible. Lots of people have no idea what Christianity is really about. And the only way they can kind of work out what Christianity is about is by looking at people that they know are Christians.
[27:02] So people look at you if they know that you're a Christian and they see the way you live, they see the way you act, they see what you do, what you don't do. And that, that in many ways is bringing them to an understanding of what a Christian should be.
[27:20] And it's an awesome responsibility because sometimes we forget that and I'm sure all of us are from time to time we're saying, oh, you know, my witness there was so poor and we ask the Lord to forgive us.
[27:32] But we've got to remember that there's an awesome responsibility placed upon us because often people will take their understanding of who Jesus Christ is because of who you are.
[27:45] and again, we all know here how much we fall down and how far short we come and it's often a great source of grief to us as we review our lives and as we think back on what we are and what we've done and what we've said and when we've let the Lord down.
[28:06] And so anyway, here it was for all the good priests or good men and although they were, they were all sinners and they had to offer their own sacrifice for their own sins.
[28:18] But of course, Jesus was different because Jesus, although he was completely human and resembled us in every other way in the sense that he could feel pain and he could understand emotion and all these different things, yet he was free from sin.
[28:36] He had no sin. He was utterly, he was of a character without any blemish or stain or defilement of sin, whatever. So the holiness and the sinlessness of Jesus Christ stands so clear against or over against the sinfulness and the failures of the priesthood.
[29:02] And then the other great distinction between Christ's priesthood and all the other priests was that Christ's priesthood is forever. You see, all the other priests of their day, Aaron, he was a high priest and all the other priests of the generation.
[29:22] But then, of course, there was one time in their lives they were fit, able-bodied men. But time goes on and they get old and of course they had to retire. I can't remember, but it was at a fairly young age from the priesthood because it was a very heavy work.
[29:39] But the high priest, of course, that was a different nature of work to the ordinary priest. Then it went on generation after generation. It didn't matter how fit and able-bodied they might have been at one time, then they got older and then they died.
[29:56] And then there was a new generation. And so it is the same with ourselves. And as we see and we look in our own lifetime and we see the changes and we see so many people, men and women who are so wonderful, useful Christians within the church, within the community.
[30:16] We often can't understand often why God takes away people in that prime. But it happens. But even if people live a long age, when I look back and I think when I was growing up and obviously I grew up in Amance, and I remember all the different ministers that used to come to communions when I was young, none of them are living now.
[30:38] Men who are so useful, many people converted through their preaching, but none of them are living anymore. And it was the same back then in the priesthood.
[30:49] It came generation after generation after generation. One generation came and then another. But it's God's work and it continues.
[30:59] And it was God's work then and it continued. So each priest, the high priest lived in his own generation. And of course, regarding the priesthood, the great day was the great day of atonement.
[31:15] And you remember on that day the high priest would go in to that special place, the Holy of Holies in the temple or the tabernacle and then the temple. and he would present the blood of the offering before the ark in the presence of God before God.
[31:32] And all the people would be outside and there was this great hush in all the people waiting to see if the sacrifice, the blood, was accepted. Because if not, the high priest would have been consumed and God's wrath would fall down upon them.
[31:48] And then they would hear the bells on the bottom of his tunic as he walked and they would hear that and they would say, this is him coming back out. And so there would be this sense of relief that God had accepted again the blood of the sacrifice on their behalf.
[32:05] But of course, God would because it was God's appointed way. This is what God himself had purposed for them and indeed for us, of course.
[32:17] But this was all symbolic. It was all pointing to Jesus Christ of what Jesus himself would do. Because that's exactly what Jesus did on the cross.
[32:29] Because Jesus, yes, he was put to death publicly. Everybody saw it. But there was a private work going on. Just like the high priest away there in the Holy of Holies before God and before the Ark of the Covenant with the blood of the sacrifice.
[32:47] so Jesus was presenting before the Father his blood, his work. And that was the hours of the darkness, the hours of the agony, where Christ was made the offering for our sin.
[33:04] And that was what was happening there where Jesus was experiencing the pains of hell was a private work that nobody else could see. but the wonderful thing is that Jesus, he continues forever and ever to intercede for us.
[33:23] That's what he has done. And so it is because of what he has done and continues to do, it tells us, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.
[33:36] And can we say with regard to this verse at the very outset of something it tells us in this verse about Jesus.
[33:47] It says, Jesus is able. See what it says? He is able to save. And I love that little word is.
[33:58] See that word is able. That's in the present tense. In other words, what it is saying to us that Jesus today, right now, 25 to 12 today, is able, he is able right now today to save to the uttermost all who draw near to God through him.
[34:22] His work of saving wasn't confined to his time here in this world. His work of saving continues. And he's added, that's what his great work was.
[34:33] Remember, that's why he said, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save. Like you see the search and rescue helicopter going off out. And it's away and you sometimes say to yourself, wonder if it's going for a practice or is somebody lost or is there a problem at sea or where is it going?
[34:53] What's up? It's a search and rescue. Well, in a sense, that's what Jesus came into this world to do, to search and to rescue, to seek out and to save those that are lost.
[35:07] Let me say to you, if today you're lost, and you know if you're lost you don't know exactly where you are, and we're talking about in relation to God. If you don't know where you are in relation to God, you don't know things that are kind of a fog.
[35:23] That's what happens when you're lost. You're kind of mixed up, not too sure about where you are or what's what. Well, it's for you Jesus came. He came to save the lost, to seek out and to save those who are lost.
[35:36] If you're lost today, go to him and say, Lord Jesus, please save me. I'm lost. I don't know how to get to where I need to go, but I know you can.
[35:47] You can save me. Ask him to do that because that's what he loves to do. That's why he came. And today that word is, able, is talking about the present tense that he is able right now, he is able to save to the uttermost.
[36:01] And that's one of the most beautiful things. And he's able, now you know, again, that word able is wonderful because, you know, sometimes when something goes wrong and there's something happens and you say, oh, I wonder who's able to help me here.
[36:22] If something goes wrong with your car, you'll go to a mechanic because you know a mechanic is able to help. If something goes wrong with your electricity, you'll get a spark because you say, well, I know that they know how to, he or she is able to help.
[36:39] There are different people are able to help in different situations. Well, here's Jesus. He is able to save. In fact, nobody else is qualified. Nobody else has the authority.
[36:50] Nobody else under heaven can do it bar Jesus. So you go to him today and say, Lord Jesus, this is your great mission, your great work.
[37:01] Well, here's me. I'm lost. I need saving. And ask him today to save. And so this is the wonderful thing.
[37:13] And so this saving involves invading your life to change you. You know, sometimes people are afraid of change. I think it's probably one of the great barriers that hold people back from becoming Christians.
[37:29] They're afraid of what will happen. What will God do to me? Well, how will my life change? And you're afraid of that change.
[37:40] And that's understandable. Let me say he'll only change you for good. And the wonderful thing is that when he comes in, when he comes in, he changes you in such a way that you will start wanting what he wants.
[37:58] And it's amazing, and that's grace, that's why it's called amazing grace. But he will change you, and it will be for your good. You'll never find a Christian saying, a true Christian saying, you know, this worst mistake I ever made in my life was going to the Lord Jesus and asking him to save me.
[38:17] Wish I'd never been saved. You won't find such a person. Yes, there's days we struggle, and days that we might find it hard going as Christians, but we'll never say, pooh, wish I'd never been saved, ever.
[38:33] Because he's changed, and he'll deliver you from darkness, the darkness that you're in, the lostness that you're in, the fog that you're in, a light will begin to show you the way to go.
[38:46] You'll begin to understand, and see things you couldn't see before. He'll break the power of sin that is agripping you. You're a slave right now to sin and to Satan.
[38:58] You may not realize it, but you're in darkness, your chains are holding you. He'll break these chains in such a way that although you'll still be a sinner, and you'll still sin loads and loads, a new power has come to work in your life, the power of God, which is even greater than the power of darkness and the chains that you're held in.
[39:24] And so he's able to save to the uttermost. Now, this word uttermost can mean completely, but for a moment, before we look at, I want to take this word uttermost in a sense to the way we are right now.
[39:38] Today, for instance, you might be here or listening online and you'd say to yourself, well, I don't think I can be saved anymore. If you knew everything that has gone on in my life, I think of beyond saving.
[39:54] You know, there are some people who also think that the day is too far spent. In other words, that they've gone on too long, that they've rejected the Lord Jesus for so long that there's no more chance.
[40:07] I know one or two people who've given up and they've said, I don't think, it's too late for me. Well, see this word at the most.
[40:20] He's able to save as long as there's breath in your life. He was able to save the thief who went to that cross cursing Jesus, mocking him.
[40:34] There were two thieves. To our knowledge, one wasn't saved, but one was. the 11th hour. Now, we mustn't ever presume that the Lord was going to save us at the very last moment, but he has done and we believe continues to do, but he, take note of this, he is able to save to the uttermost.
[40:59] This word, uttermost, can be translated finally or completely or utterly or totally. so when it says that Christ saves to the uttermost, it means very simply that Christ saves forever, that it's an absolute saving.
[41:18] In other words, the person that he saves can never, ever, ever be lost. There will never be a soul in hell that will say, you know what, Christ saved me, but somehow, I don't know how I've ended up here.
[41:32] He lost, he let go of me some way. He lost me some with all the crowd of people that he saved. Somehow, I fell through the net, I don't know what's happened, I don't know how I've ended up here.
[41:44] That cry will never be heard in hell. Or there will be people in the church who have followed Christianity, but they didn't follow Christ, who will be lost.
[41:55] That's a fearfully solemn thing. There's a big difference between following Christianity and following Christ. following Christ. When we follow Jesus, follow the passion, when we follow the Savior, when we trust him, we won't be lost.
[42:12] That's a wonder, that's the beauty of it. So he's able to save to the very uttermost. And this is what he does.
[42:25] We often think of Christ rightly dying for us, being buried for us, rising for us, and ascending for us. The minister was talking about that when he was looking at Philippians.
[42:38] And then what he's doing now, he's interceding on our behalf. Because that's what we're told he does. Since he always lives to make intercession for us, same as we're told in Romans 8, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
[42:57] Isn't that wonderful? Jesus today is like a lawyer, he's an advocate, we're told of that in Hebrews. Christ has entered heaven itself in Hebrews chapter 9, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
[43:13] Like the great lawyer in the courts of heaven, interceding, pleading on our behalf. And how does he do that? Is he saying to the father, now look at them, you're going to have to excuse them because, see, they have weaknesses in their life, and they can't help sinning because that's their nature.
[43:41] Is that how he pleads? No. He agrees totally with every judgment that the father would ever make against sin. But the beauty is this, that the father looks on us, who believe in Jesus through Jesus.
[43:58] And Jesus presents one thing and one plea only, what he has done himself. His finished work, his blood, his sacrifice.
[44:11] And the father is completely satisfied because Jesus has taken our punishment, our judgment, our hell upon himself.
[44:24] And the father looks at us through Christ. And he says, free men, free women, free boys, free girls. Because Jesus is always there, interceding on our behalf.
[44:38] Isn't that amazing? And Jesus takes our poor prayers to God to God, the father. And he perfumes him, as people say, with his holiness and with his own merit.
[44:52] And he pleads before the father to bestow all covenant blessings upon us. Now there's a lot of things we could say, but you'll notice that there's one qualification in this verse.
[45:04] It says that consequently he is able to save to the uttermost, that's what it says, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
[45:15] Who? Those who draw near to God. You know, sadly, there are many people who don't draw near to God.
[45:27] Many people choose not to. Many people hope one day to. But so far they haven't. Well, Jesus isn't interceding on behalf of them.
[45:37] it's only those who draw near to God. I hope today that you're in that category, that you have drawn near to God. And of course it's in and through Jesus Christ that we draw near to God.
[45:53] So you ask the Lord to have mercy upon you, to bless you, to save you. You know, as we say, once you're saved, you're saved forever. There's nobody more safe, more secure in this whole wide world than the person that Jesus has saved.
[46:11] Let us pray. Lord, we pray now that you will indeed part us with your blessing, that you will guide us on the way, the right way, and that you will keep our feet from falling, our eyes from tears, that you will uphold us and bless us with all covenant blessings.
[46:29] Lord, bless and pity us, shine on us with thy face. Take away from us our sin, in Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. We're going to conclude our service and we're going to sing from Psalm 68, Psalm number 68, and this is from the Scottish Psalter, Psalm number 68, verses 18 to 20.
[46:56] Psalm 68, verses 18 20. Psalm 69, verse 18 to 20. Psalm 69, thou hast, O Lord, most glorious, ascended up on high, and in triumph victorious led captive captivity.
[47:12] Thou hast received gifts for men, for such as did rebel, yea, even for them, that God the Lord in midst of them might dwell. Blessed be the Lord who is to us of our salvation, God, who daily with his benefits as plenteously doth load.
[47:30] He of salvation is the God, who is our God most strong. And unto God the Lord from death the issues do belong.
[47:41] Psalm 68, on page 303, 18 to 20. Thou hast, O Lord, most glorious. Thou hast, O Lord, must glorious, ascended up on high, and in triumph victorious reed, captive captain captivity.
[48:20] Amen. Amen.
[49:20] Amen. Now may the grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest and abide upon each one of you now and forevermore. Amen.