WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.679 Hebrews 4.14 through the end of the chapter. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:12.839 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:14.519 Son of God. 00:00:14.519 --> 00:00:19.859 Let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize 00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:27.480 with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:29.440 sin. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:35.039 Let us then with confidence draw into the throne of grace that we may receive mercy 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:42.480 and find grace to help in time of need. 00:00:42.480 --> 00:00:49.719 Have you ever let it baffle you that Jesus was tempted? 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:59.079 That a perfect, sinless, God-man, God himself incarnate in human flesh could actually be 00:00:59.079 --> 00:01:01.839 tempted. 00:01:01.839 --> 00:01:03.280 It should baffle us a little bit. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:09.039 It is very deep waters that we are walking into tonight, but we do it together and I 00:01:09.039 --> 00:01:10.840 pray the Lord is blessing on it. 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:15.560 We are in a series called Flesh and Blood, Jesus, and so we are thinking for these weeks 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:18.159 about the humanity of Christ. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:22.840 We think and talk a lot about the God-ness of Jesus, but not about the fleshiness of 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:24.599 Jesus, if you will. 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:31.359 So that is what we are doing, the Bible makes this great point that Jesus was a human. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:37.399 We honor Christ and we honor the word by thinking about this for some time. 00:01:37.399 --> 00:01:42.359 Is it true that Jesus was really tempted? 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:45.879 Like us, how is that even possible? 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:52.959 In the engine room this past Wednesday, Derek spoke from James chapter 1. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:02:03.039 In James it says that each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 00:02:03.039 --> 00:02:08.680 In other words, our sinful desires inside are what turn God's trials into temptations 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:11.319 to sin. 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:17.120 But what happens to someone who does not have sinful desires? 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.919 How could Jesus be tempted then? 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:25.759 Well, that has only happened twice in the Bible, actually. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:30.119 Once was in a garden and once was in a wilderness. 00:02:30.119 --> 00:02:34.519 Adam and Eve, before they sinned, did not have this sinful nature. 00:02:34.519 --> 00:02:41.279 They did not have a broken, cursed sinful flesh telling them to disobey God and climb 00:02:41.279 --> 00:02:42.279 away from God. 00:02:42.279 --> 00:02:45.719 They were perfect in that sense, before the fall. 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:51.080 And Jesus, of course, did not have that sinful inner nature either. 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:56.000 And in both scenarios, they did not have a sinful inner voice telling them what they 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:57.759 should not do. 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.360 They had a sinful outer voice. 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:02.400 In the garden it was a serpent. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:07.039 In the wilderness it was the devil himself. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:13.520 Imagine sitting down for exams at school and you are given the test and you look at it 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:16.200 and you're like, I don't know if I can make it. 00:03:16.200 --> 00:03:17.200 This is a difficult test. 00:03:17.200 --> 00:03:18.560 I don't really know these answers. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.160 This is going to take me forever. 00:03:21.160 --> 00:03:27.439 You or I might have the inner voice saying, why don't you just look over to your neighbor's 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:28.439 shoulder? 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:29.879 Why don't you just cheat a little? 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:33.480 Well, if Jesus to sat down for that exam, he wouldn't have that voice. 00:03:33.480 --> 00:03:40.200 So it's like the devil came and sat in the seat next to him and whispered in his ear, 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:45.479 I don't know where my page two went. 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:47.479 That's no good. 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:49.479 There it is. 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:50.479 All right. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:04:05.359 So that's the difference between that inner voice and outer voice. 00:04:05.359 --> 00:04:07.120 It's what Jesus could say to Peter. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:11.439 When Peter comes up and says, hey, Jesus, you don't really have to die. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:12.439 Come on. 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:15.400 Be the Messiah who conquers, not the Messiah who dies. 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:16.720 What does Jesus say? 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:23.840 Get behind me, Satan, because Peter is being the voice of temptation. 00:04:23.840 --> 00:04:27.720 Peter's saying to him, he's sitting down in the chair next to him at the exam table and 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:32.240 he's saying, why don't you cheat? 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:33.879 So Jesus really was tempted. 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:37.839 He really was and he was tempted from the outside and on the inside. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:45.079 Now we have to understand too that Jesus's temptations were not easy for him to dismiss. 00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:48.360 Temptation is only tempting if it's tempting. 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:50.839 Does that make sense? 00:04:50.839 --> 00:04:53.319 Temptation is only tempting if it's tempting. 00:04:53.319 --> 00:05:00.279 If Jesus wasn't actually tempted by his desires, I think he'd be making a mockery of humanity 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:02.839 instead of dignifying it. 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:05.539 And he wouldn't be able to sympathize with us at all. 00:05:05.539 --> 00:05:14.399 But Hebrews 2.18 says, for because Jesus, he, Jesus himself, has suffered when tempted. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:16.479 He is able to help those who are being tempted. 00:05:16.479 --> 00:05:19.000 In other words, to reverse that. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:25.959 Jesus can help you when you're tempted because he suffered when he was tempted. 00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:32.279 The temptation was tempting for him and resisting the temptation was hard. 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:36.759 To the point of suffering. 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:40.719 Now we might ask too, was Jesus really tempted like we are? 00:05:40.719 --> 00:05:49.000 In other words, does Jesus know personally the same sort of temptations that I face? 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.799 And if not, can he really sympathize? 00:05:51.799 --> 00:05:55.039 Can he really help? 00:05:55.039 --> 00:06:00.839 Different life circumstances bring their own unique temptations, don't they? 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:06.719 There are specific temptations that come along with old age, with singleness in your 00:06:06.719 --> 00:06:11.679 30s and 40s, with same-sex attraction. 00:06:11.679 --> 00:06:19.679 There's certain temptations that come along with wealth and financial success. 00:06:19.679 --> 00:06:22.120 What do you do with those temptations? 00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:28.799 If Jesus, as a, you know, he died as a 33-year-old Middle Eastern man in the first century, he 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:33.720 doesn't know what it's like to be single in 34. 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:37.400 Not alone 44, 54. 00:06:37.400 --> 00:06:39.800 What do you do with that? 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:47.080 Well, we need to look below the surface struggle. 00:06:47.080 --> 00:06:51.280 So the surface level, let's take singleness as an example. 00:06:51.280 --> 00:06:54.519 At the surface level, the struggle is singleness. 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:56.400 Singleness is hard. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:00.839 But the desire below that is loneliness, isn't it? 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:03.479 And rejection. 00:07:03.479 --> 00:07:08.959 Does Jesus not know loneliness and rejection? 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:15.279 Rejected and despised by men, his own people, his own country, his own religion, his own 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:20.599 disciples, his own students, his own friends, turn their back on him or drove the nails 00:07:20.599 --> 00:07:23.199 into his hands. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:28.079 And from the cross he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:29.079 Jesus knows loneliness. 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:34.079 Jesus knows rejection, deeper than any of us do. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:39.120 And with all of the temptations that are unique to different circumstances in life, if you 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:44.319 go deep enough, you will find a sympathetic savior. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:50.079 Because the Holy Spirit says in the book of Hebrews that he was tempted in every respect 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:59.919 as we are, so that he could be a thorough savior, one who sympathizes and helps us. 00:07:59.919 --> 00:08:05.399 Now that's the foundation of the rest of the sermon, that Jesus really was a human or really 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:09.879 was tempted in his humanity, and that Jesus really was tempted in every way. 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:12.199 Those two are important. 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:15.479 Now we just take the Bible straight and move on. 00:08:15.479 --> 00:08:16.959 So four points tonight. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:23.799 Excuse me, learn about temptation from Jesus, learn about endurance from Jesus, take your 00:08:23.799 --> 00:08:26.719 temptation to Jesus and take your sin to Jesus. 00:08:26.719 --> 00:08:29.639 So number one, learn about temptation from Jesus. 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:35.319 When we look at the fact that Jesus was tempted, we look at this verse in Hebrews 4, what do 00:08:35.319 --> 00:08:36.319 we know? 00:08:36.319 --> 00:08:37.960 What can we learn? 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:43.199 Well, temptation is not a sin. 00:08:43.199 --> 00:08:45.559 You ever think of it that way? 00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:51.719 Hebrews 4, 15 says that Jesus was tempted yet without sin. 00:08:51.719 --> 00:08:56.159 So temptation is not the same as sin. 00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:58.279 Let me put that another way. 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:04.959 You do not have to feel guilty about your temptations. 00:09:04.959 --> 00:09:07.639 Temptation is not a sin. 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:10.079 What's the difference between temptation and sin? 00:09:10.079 --> 00:09:13.279 Well, I like how Martin Luther put it. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:17.799 He said you can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop it from making 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:22.360 a nest in your hair. 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:25.240 That's the difference between temptation and sin. 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:33.759 So if Jesus was sinless and Jesus was tempted then, logically, temptation can't be a sin. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:35.240 That's good news for us. 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:39.360 Stop beating yourself up over your temptations. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:47.279 Now another thing that temptation is not, is it is not a sign of God's displeasure. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:51.480 This is related, but think back to Luke chapter 4. 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:55.840 The gospel accounts when Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:02.240 In Luke chapter 3, right before the temptation, he's baptized, he comes out of the water, 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:06.320 heaven cracks open, and the voice of God the Father speaks down and says, this is my beloved 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:13.800 son with whom I am well pleased, and the very next thing is the spirit of God drives him 00:10:13.800 --> 00:10:15.960 out in the wilderness to be tempted. 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:23.560 So temptation is not a sign of God's frown. 00:10:23.560 --> 00:10:33.000 Sometimes God sends trials and tests to his very beloved servants and sons and daughters. 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:38.480 If you are in Christ, you already have the smile of God. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:44.399 So please don't jump to the conclusion, which I have often jumped to, that if you're experiencing 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:51.799 a barrage of temptations, weathering the storm, that it's because God's angry with you. 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:59.480 Now the last thing we learn about temptation from Jesus is that temptation is withstandable. 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:01.519 Temptation is withstandable. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:08.159 Only a cruel father would give his child a job that they couldn't do. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:16.120 Only a cruel teacher would give a student an exam that they could not pass. 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:23.759 When you are in the midst of the storms of temptation, you can put your feet down on 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:30.519 this concrete biblical truth that you can withstand this temptation. 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:34.759 Yes, you can. 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:41.360 James 4, 7, Resist the devil and he will flee. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:47.199 First Corinthians 10, 13, No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. 00:11:47.199 --> 00:11:48.559 God is faithful. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:52.199 He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. 00:11:52.200 --> 00:12:00.720 But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you will be able to 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:03.840 endure it. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:13.200 Sometimes, just knowing that you can get through the temptation will get you through the temptation. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:18.879 Now think about those last two words in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, endure it. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:26.559 That's how the Holy Spirit talks about withstanding temptation is endurance. 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:33.559 So point number two, learn about endurance from Jesus. 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:35.759 Let's think back to Luke chapter four for a minute. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:36.960 Actually you can turn to Luke four. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:43.559 We're just going to read a couple verses and it might be helpful to have it open. 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:50.119 So verses one to 14 are the temptation in the wilderness section. 00:12:50.119 --> 00:12:55.919 In verse one and verse 14 function like the book ends of that section. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:59.359 The technical term would be an inclusio. 00:12:59.359 --> 00:13:03.839 And that helps you let that helps let you know something crucial about everything that 00:13:03.839 --> 00:13:08.000 comes in between those bookends. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:09.879 So look at verse one. 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:16.039 Jesus full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit in the 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:18.600 wilderness. 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:20.639 Verse 14. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:28.879 And Jesus returned in the power of the spirit to Galilee. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:35.759 Jesus endured the devil's temptations by the power of the spirit. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:40.399 He did not rely on his divine nature. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:45.360 Jesus did not tap into his Godness when the going got tough. 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:52.120 He suffered and was tempted with human flesh as a human. 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:58.519 And to endure his temptation, he had to endure it just like we can endure it by the power 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:00.039 of the Holy Spirit. 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:07.559 And if you love and trust Jesus, that same person called the Holy Spirit who empowered 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:12.599 and filled Jesus of Nazareth fills and empowers you. 00:14:12.599 --> 00:14:16.319 It's the same person. 00:14:16.319 --> 00:14:21.399 That's how you can endure temptation. 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:26.199 And endurance is also Bible wielding. 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:30.800 If you scan what comes between verse one and verse 14 in Luke chapter four, between those 00:14:30.800 --> 00:14:35.360 bookends, what happens is the devil comes and gives him three temptations. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:39.040 And to all three of the devil's temptations, what does Jesus say? 00:14:39.040 --> 00:14:43.840 It is written. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:52.440 Jesus was full of Scripture and he endured temptation by using Scripture like a weapon. 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:55.980 What verses do you preach to your heart? 00:14:55.980 --> 00:15:02.159 When you're under temptation, what verses, what truths about God do you cling to and 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:07.680 wield like a sword against your own sinful desires? 00:15:07.680 --> 00:15:09.639 We should all have them. 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:11.159 We should all find them. 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:16.120 Sometimes it takes years to find for the Lord to speak to you in such a way through a verse 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:22.399 that it becomes just sharp, like a weapon. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:25.039 But it's worth asking the Lord for. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:30.159 Give you these passages, these verses to help you fight temptation with. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:31.159 Here's one of mine. 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:35.519 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:38.360 I love that. 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:43.839 Now, the last thing that we learn about endurance from Jesus is this. 00:15:43.839 --> 00:15:48.879 Endurance is motivated by joy. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:50.000 Endurance is motivated by joy. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:56.120 Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 says, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to 00:15:56.120 --> 00:16:03.200 Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.639 the cross. 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:09.919 Jesus endured for joy. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:15.720 So we look back at the joy that Jesus endured for, the joy of claiming us, of saving us, 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:17.559 spending eternity with us. 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:28.799 We look back to Jesus's joy and that drives us forward into our joy, the joy of new obedience. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:35.719 Do you know the joy of an unbothered conscience? 00:16:35.719 --> 00:16:42.119 Every temptation, every single temptation is a God-given opportunity to endure for the 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:51.519 joy of uninterrupted fellowship with Jesus and a clean conscience. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:58.679 And that's a joy that, yes, is anchored ultimately in heaven, but you can have some of it now. 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:00.519 You really can. 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:03.240 Jesus doesn't just forgive your sins. 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:07.119 He cleanses you from your sins. 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:13.039 He washes you clean. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:18.000 Endurance through temptation is motivated by joy. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.039 Last two points more quickly. 00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:24.479 Point number three, take your temptations to Jesus. 00:17:24.479 --> 00:17:28.119 When we are tempted, Thomas Brooks said it this way, the old Puritan. 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:35.519 He said, the devil presents the bait and hides the hook. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:40.200 Our temptations will say, this sin, it's just pleasurable, isn't it? 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:45.799 Look at all the joy or happiness you'll get out of it or whatever the benefit is. 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:51.920 But the devil and your own sinful desires will not tell you of the consequences, the 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:55.160 ugliness of sin. 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:57.799 He presents the bait and hides the hook. 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:04.079 So we take our temptations straight to the cross because that's where we see clearly 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.000 what it is. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.879 That's where we see the hook of our temptations. 00:18:09.879 --> 00:18:17.799 The consequences of our sin were born in the body of Jesus instead of yours so that we 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:21.159 don't have to do that anymore. 00:18:21.159 --> 00:18:27.399 The devil would say that there's more joy to be had in your sin than in Jesus. 00:18:27.400 --> 00:18:35.000 There is more joy to be had in Jesus, friends, than in your sin. 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:44.519 Our passage in Hebrews says that because Jesus was tempted like we are, he can sympathize. 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:49.080 Do you ever think about Jesus as sympathetic? 00:18:49.080 --> 00:18:57.360 Not pitying, not like, oh, I'm sorry for you, but real deep sympathy. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:00.359 Because Jesus was tempted like we are. 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:02.079 Here's what we can do now. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:09.479 We can, in prayer, we can take our temptations to the throne of grace and then we receive 00:19:09.479 --> 00:19:17.679 mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 00:19:17.679 --> 00:19:19.679 That's because he was tempted. 00:19:19.679 --> 00:19:22.799 We get that great privilege. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:24.639 Take our temptations to him. 00:19:24.639 --> 00:19:27.319 Receive help. 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:30.480 Number four, take your sins to Jesus. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:33.879 What about when you give in to temptation? 00:19:33.879 --> 00:19:35.679 And we all do. 00:19:35.679 --> 00:19:40.480 We let temptations ride right over us and we take the opportunity to sin. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:46.039 We turn God's trials into temptations and then we just surrender and give up and we 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:48.519 do what we shouldn't do. 00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:51.200 What do we do then? 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:57.119 Well John Owen recommends this, that we go to Jesus in prayer and we make a transaction. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:01.039 Do you ever have transactions with Jesus? 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:09.239 He says that we just go and say, Lord, I've sinned and I'm sorry and I hate it. 00:20:09.239 --> 00:20:17.879 Now will you take my sin on you and then would you, Lord, would you give me your perfect 00:20:17.879 --> 00:20:22.559 obedience and righteousness? 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:25.639 Doesn't that sound presumptuous? 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:27.920 But Jesus loves it. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:29.800 It's what he came to do. 00:20:29.800 --> 00:20:35.680 It's the reason the Son of God was incarnate in human flesh, was so that he could take 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:45.560 your sins from you and give you his perfect endurance to give you his righteousness. 00:20:45.560 --> 00:20:48.160 He delights in that. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:54.080 Make that your daily habit. 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:57.759 Let's end there and let's do that now. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:04.039 Let's approach the throne of grace with confidence and let's ask for help in time of need. 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:07.879 We all have temptations in different ways, don't we? 00:21:07.879 --> 00:21:14.240 They probably worsen as life gets harder and weirder. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:16.679 So let's go to the throne of grace now. 00:21:16.679 --> 00:21:19.960 Would you pray with me? 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:25.680 Jesus God, we confess that we have longed too much for the comforts of this world. 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:29.200 We have loved the gifts more than the giver. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:35.840 In your mercy, help us to see that all the things we pine for are shadows, but you are 00:21:35.840 --> 00:21:41.640 substance, that they are quicksands, but you are mountain, that they are shifting, but 00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:43.960 you are anchor. 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:51.480 We plead your forgiveness on the merits of Jesus Christ, except his worthiness for our 00:21:51.480 --> 00:22:00.039 unworthiness, his sinlessness for our sins, his fullness for our emptiness, his glory 00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:08.360 for our shame, his righteousness for our dead works, and his death for our life. 00:22:08.360 --> 00:22:11.240 We pray and ask this in Jesus' name. 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:12.240 Amen. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:14.240 Amen.