WEBVTT

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 It's possible this morning for you and I to feel beaten down by this unbalanced error.

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 So as we've thought about alternate plans for this Lord's Day, I just want to encourage you by helping us walk the tightrope well.

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 Again, the tightrope is right. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

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 But if saved, we are going to be pursuing holiness. Our works are going to evidence the fact that we're saved.

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 Not saved by them, but giving evidence of our salvation.

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 So I err often, acting as if, now that I've been saved, I need to continue to earn that status with God.

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 And this is not the case.

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 In Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 3, it's prophesied of the Christ.

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 A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.

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 You may feel like the flame of your faith is barely lit.

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 So be comforted by joining me in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1.

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 Before I read it, let me remind you as I do each Lord's Day.

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 Beloved, this is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good.

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 And so we would all do well to listen to it, in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

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 And it reads,

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 Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

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 There is one exhortation or encouragement in today's text,

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 and it is the ruling or overarching exhortation of the entire letter of Hebrews.

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 The original audience of this book is a church of Hellenistic Jewish Christians,

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 or Greek-speaking Jews, that had not seen Jesus, but had heard the gospel and believed.

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 They had endured much suffering to this point, and the author is anticipating that they will suffer further.

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 So there exists among them the temptation to forsake their faith in Jesus Christ and return to Judaism.

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 You see, Jews practicing Judaism had long been accepted in the Roman Empire,

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 and this remained true in the days that this letter was written.

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 So there's this very real temptation ahead of them.

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 If we just go back, it's the same God, correct?

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 Like, if we just go back to that, we'll no longer experience this type of persecution.

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 We find in this verse one exhortation accompanied by a warning.

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 Must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

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 The exhortation begins with a therefore,

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 And you may be thinking, how is this text meant to encourage me this morning?

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 Well, here it is.

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 Everything contained within that therefore,

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 which is going to take us back in the book a bit.

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 Therefore refers back to all that the author has said of Jesus Christ in chapter one.

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 So we're going to look together this morning, especially at Hebrews chapter one, verses two through three.

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 But I'll begin reading in verse one of chapter one.

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 There he says,

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 Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

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 But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son,

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 whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

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 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

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 And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

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 After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

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 Now, he has other things to say about Christ in chapter one.

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 But for our time this morning, I want to think together in these two verses about the supremacy and finality of Jesus Christ.

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 Kent Hughes, who is a contemporary pastor, wrote of this text, quote,

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 The grand theme of these verses is the supremacy of Christ as God's final word.

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 Christ is held up like a great jewel to the sunlight of God's revelation.

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 And as the light courses through it, seven facets flash with gleaming brilliance.

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 I had a conversation this past week with a brother, a member of our church,

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 about people who always want to go deeper past the gospel.

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 They want to go deeper.

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 And we were just musing first about what that term even means sometimes.

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 We're not really sure what's being asked in that case.

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 But also about how people want to want to go past the gospel as if it's the simple thing about the Christian faith.

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 And they want to go mine the depths as if there's anything deeper than God's love shown to sinners in a personal work of Jesus Christ.

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 And so you see here Christ's supremacy and finality refracted for us to consider.

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 We get to roll it around, which is the great work, the great theological effort of every faithful Christian mind.

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 So let's give these seven refractions some titles to help us in our study of them.

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 First, Christ is the inheritor.

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 Second, the creator.

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 Third, the sustainer.

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 Fourth, the radiator.

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 Fifth, the representer.

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 Sixth, the purifier.

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 And seventh, the ruler.

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 First, Christ is inheritor.

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 We see at the last part of verse 2,

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 Whom he appointed the heir of all things.

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 It follows that because Jesus is the Son of God, then he is also the heir of God.

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 The writer of Hebrews identifies for us Jesus Christ as the anointed and son of Psalm 2 when he cites Psalm 2, verse 7 in Hebrews 1, verse 5.

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 There he writes,

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 You are my son.

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 Today I have begotten you.

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 In Psalm 2, verse 8, the psalmist writes,

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 Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.

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 So Psalm 2 teaches us that the inheritance of Jesus Christ is the earth and its peoples.

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 But also Colossians 1, verse 6 teaches us that all things, so the cosmos themselves, everything in the universe were created for him.

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 But not only that, beloved, if you are in Christ Jesus, then you, specifically you, are his inheritance.

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 Through the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross, he has purchased you and he treasures you as his inheritance.

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 In Ephesians chapter 1, in verse 18, Paul tells the Ephesian believers that he always prays that they may know

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 what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

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 What an astounding truth.

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 Christ is inheritor and we are part of that inheritance.

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 But not only are we Christ's inheritance, we are also his co-heirs.

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 In Romans 8 and verse 17, Paul calls us heirs.

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 Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

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 Christ is the heir of all things.

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 He is the heir of God.

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 But as followers of Christ, we are found in him.

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 So we are also heirs.

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 What a thing to think about.

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 What a thing to fully realize and understand.

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 Someday, come Lord Jesus.

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 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 21 and following.

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 Paul writes,

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 What an amazing thing to be said of us who have Christ only by grace through faith in him.

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 Secondly, we see that Christ is creator.

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 Verse 2 again,

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 Through whom also he created the world.

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 Not only does Christ inherit all things, but he also created all things.

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 The Greek word here translated world could be more literally translated ages.

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 It's a wonderful word because it includes all things.

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 Not only space, but also time.

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 Brooke Voss Westcott, a 19th century British theologian, defines this Greek word,

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 which I'm intentionally not trying to pronounce for you, this way.

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 The sum of the periods of time, including all that has manifested in and through them,

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 an order which exists through time developed in successive stages.

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 Everything.

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 All of it was made by Christ.

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 Our galaxy is an average sized spiral galaxy over 100,000 light years across.

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 600 trillion miles.

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 That is not a number we can even fathom.

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 Our medium sized average spiral galaxy, 600 trillion miles across.

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 We can see with modern telescopes about 100,000 million galaxies.

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 Each galaxy contains 100,000 million stars.

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 The average distance between these galaxies is 3 million light years.

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 It's just absolutely astounding.

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 In this scientific age, I will just say, matter of factly,

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 we ought to have more reason to believe in a creator God than people did in the past.

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 What an astounding thing this universe is.

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 And it was created by and for Christ.

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 John chapter 1 verse 3.

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 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

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 1 Corinthians 8 and verse 6.

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 Yet for us there is one God the Father, for whom are all things and for whom we exist,

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 and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

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 Colossians chapter 1 and verse 16.

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 For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,

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 whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities,

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 all things were created through him and for him.

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 And Romans 11 and verse 36.

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 For from him and through him and to him are all things.

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 To him be glory forever.

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 Amen.

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 The cosmos were created that we might praise Christ.

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 We are a new creation, right?

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 Found in him for the praise of Christ.

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 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17.

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 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

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 The old has passed away.

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 Behold, the new has come.

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 So Christ is creator.

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 The creator of all things.

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 The creator of us and the new us.

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 That we might worship him.

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 Thirdly, Christ is sustainer.

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 Verse 3 says,

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 He upholds the universe by the word of his power.

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 Jesus Christ created all things and he sustains all things.

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 He is not now passive once having created.

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 He actively sustains by the word of his power.

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 This means that Jesus says to the world,

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 Move like this.

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 Behave like that.

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 Rain here.

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 Snow there.

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 Weirdly mixed.

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 Rain and snow into terrible ice.

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 Here.

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 Just a little aside.

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 I was just so anticipating the worst ice storm.

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 It just seemed like the recipe for that was going to happen.

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 This is totally off topic.

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 But this is another God's providence to us.

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 The place that we're currently living while we're working on this house,

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 there's a tree that really needs to come down.

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 And one way felling it would hit the edge of a roof.

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 The other way felling it would hit a power line.

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 And I've been anticipating having to climb halfway up this tree and top it and then bring it down the rest of the way.

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 Well, the only tree that snapped in the yard was that tree in half, right where I would have cut it,

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 landed it on the ground, and now I just get to go out there and take care of it.

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 So wonderful.

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 Right?

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 Jesus said that tree should snap right there in the middle and I can just take care of it very safely now.

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 Right?

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 Whatever he says, right, the world obeys.

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 He's absolutely sovereign over everything that happens.

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 This means that nothing will cease to do exactly as it is told until Jesus says to do otherwise.

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 Right?

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 If he says go to the world, it goes until he says stop.

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 Jonathan Edwards, who is the most brilliant theological mind this country has ever produced,

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 and some, even secular people, argue that he's the most brilliant mind we've ever produced of any variety in the States.

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 He had this theory of continuous creation, that is, that Jesus is constantly speaking the world into existence.

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 And it's really fascinating, and I want to read you a couple quick quotes from him,

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 just to marvel, to think for a moment about how it is that all of it is sustained by Christ.

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 He says this, quote,

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 It is plain.

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 Nothing can exert itself or operate when and where it is not existing,

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 because what is past entirely ceases when present exists in the moment that had ceased 20 years ago.

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 Which is to say, my previous self has no power over my present self because my previous self stopped existing when the past went past.

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 The past does not have the power to sustain that which is in the present or in the future.

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 It can't do it.

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 I can't make the future me exist.

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 He goes on.

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 God's upholding created substance or causing its existence in each successive moment is altogether equivalent to an immediate production out of nothing.

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 At each moment, because its existence at this moment is not merely in part from God, but wholly from him,

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 and not in any part or degree from its antecedent existence.

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 That is to say, right, I have no power to sustain my future existence, which means God must do it.

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 Right?

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 He is constantly creating Nathan Rayner.

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 I keep being created in the future.

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 And if your brain is breaking over that thing, join the party.

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 Edwards was brilliant.

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 But the point is that we should marvel.

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 Right?

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 That we are together the way it holds together.

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 And I know that there's science about covalent bonds and things of that nature,

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 but all of that happens because Christ said it should happen.

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 Right?

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 He says, exist like this.

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 And until he says stop, right, it will continue to be like that.

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 If Jesus Christ has the power to sustain the world,

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 then he most certainly has the power to sustain our faith.

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 This is why Paul was able to say with such confidence to the Philippian believers in Philippians 1 and verse 6,

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 I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ,

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 creator and sustainer.

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 Fourth, Christ is radiator.

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 Verse 3 says he is the radiance of the glory of God.

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 Radiance here, I think, is a better translation than the oft-used reflection.

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 The moon reflects the light of the sun.

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 The sun radiates that light.

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 Jesus is not glory.

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 He's the radiance that comes off of God's glory.

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 John chapter 1 verse 18 says,

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 No one has ever seen God, the only God, referring to Christ,

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 who is at the Father's side.

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 He, Christ, has made him known.

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 We get to see God in the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

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 The Nicene Creed, which was made in 325 A.D.,

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 says we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

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 the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages,

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 God from God, light from light, true God from true God,

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 begotten, not made of the same essence as the Father.

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 Jesus is God.

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 So when we see Jesus, we see God.

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 We have to behold him in the Scripture.

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 That's a significant thing that we are able to do.

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 Colossians chapter 1 verse 15, Paul there says,

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 He, Christ, is the image.

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 Fifthly, Christ is representer.

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 Verse 3 says he's the exact imprint of his nature.

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 This phrase balances out the previous phrase.

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 Jesus as God's radiance speaks to his oneness with the Father.

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 Jesus as God's representer or imprint speaks to his distinctness as the Son.

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 So the author of Hebrews gives us a taste of the mystery

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 that is the Trinitarian nature of God

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 and the hypostatic union of Christ.

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 Truly God and truly man.

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 Beloved, this should move us to odd speculation.

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 A God who is one, but three in one.

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 An incarnate God.

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 A mystery that I look forward to having unraveled in glory.

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 Just what an incredible thing, this nature of our God.

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 Exact imprint refers to the image on a coin made by a die.

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 Once again, when we see Jesus, we see God.

00:19:00.899 --> 00:19:01.859
 We know how he thinks.

00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:03.339
 We know how he speaks.

00:19:03.819 --> 00:19:05.500
 We know how he feels.

00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:08.299
 We know how he relates to mankind.

00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:13.720
 God has spoken to us in his Son.

00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:19.799
 I said to you, my intention was to be an encouragement to you this morning.

00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:22.440
 All these things about who Christ is and who we are in him.

00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:25.240
 Let me just be more pointed for a moment.

00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:29.059
 Again, we know how he relates to mankind.

00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:32.259
 God has spoken to us in his Son.

00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:36.639
 Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28 and 29.

00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:43.960
 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

00:19:44.600 --> 00:19:52.340
 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:55.500
 Christ is a representer.

00:19:55.500 --> 00:19:56.500
 Christ is a purifier.

00:19:56.500 --> 00:20:03.119
 Christ is a purifier, verse 3 says, after making purification for sins.

00:20:03.859 --> 00:20:06.940
 Jesus Christ is the supreme priest.

00:20:07.700 --> 00:20:14.259
 He was the agent of the purification for our sins and the sacrifice necessary for that purification.

00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.059
 He fulfills all that's necessary.

00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:21.980
 He is the supreme priest and the final priest.

00:20:22.819 --> 00:20:31.639
 The author of Hebrews will go on to expand on both realities in his letter later in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11 and following.

00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:39.580
 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

00:20:40.180 --> 00:20:46.620
 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

00:20:47.080 --> 00:20:51.580
 waiting from that time until his enemy should be made a footstool for his feet.

00:20:51.579 --> 00:20:58.960
 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

00:20:59.199 --> 00:20:59.299
 Right?

00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:04.299
 Justification and sanctification carried together there.

00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:12.879
 In John chapter 19 and verse 30, Christ hangs on the cross and just before he gives his final breath, he says,

00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:15.919
 It is finished.

00:21:16.419 --> 00:21:19.279
 Everything necessary for our salvation.

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 That the beginning, the intermediate part, and the end was accomplished by Christ on the cross.

00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:27.599
 Done.

00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:29.359
 Once for all.

00:21:30.019 --> 00:21:30.539
 Accomplished.

00:21:31.559 --> 00:21:32.680
 Romans 6.10 says,

00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:37.279
 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all.

00:21:37.859 --> 00:21:40.460
 But the life he lives, he lives to God.

00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:43.740
 So Christ is our purifier.

00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:46.680
 Not works done by us to purify us, but Christ himself.

00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:50.700
 Seventh gives us the purification for sins.

00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:54.820
 Seventh, Christ is ruler.

00:21:55.420 --> 00:21:59.259
 It says he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

00:21:59.840 --> 00:22:03.080
 Jesus Christ does not have to work as the Levitical priests works.

00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:05.480
 They never sat.

00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:09.779
 They were continually making sacrifice for the sins of Israel.

00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:13.560
 The writer of Hebrews' words are astonishing here.

00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:15.279
 Don't let it be lost on you.

00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:20.200
 His original listeners would have taken such courage from this phrase.

00:22:20.599 --> 00:22:24.839
 He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

00:22:25.059 --> 00:22:29.779
 Not only is he seated, but his location is significant.

00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:33.660
 His session is at the right hand of God the Father.

00:22:33.660 --> 00:22:39.779
 They would have remembered that Jesus' sacrificial work is final.

00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.700
 Paul wrote in Romans 3, verse 21 and 22,

00:22:42.800 --> 00:22:45.820
 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.

00:22:46.140 --> 00:22:48.620
 Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it,

00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:54.000
 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:59.819
 It's so significant that Jesus is at the right hand of the majesty on high.

00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:07.400
 The right hand was the place of highest honor and power in the court of a king.

00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:11.880
 In Ephesians 4, in verse 10, there Paul says,

00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:30.480
 In Jesus' session or his reign, Paul tells us something that he is doing specifically for those who believe in him.

00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:33.400
 In Romans chapter 8, verse 31 and following,

00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:37.819
 Just after a grand explanation of God's elective purpose,

00:23:38.339 --> 00:23:38.900
 Paul writes,

00:23:38.900 --> 00:24:08.280
 He sits at the right hand of the Father,

00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:11.700
 He lays claim over his people,

00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:15.319
 and he prays on our behalf.

00:24:16.299 --> 00:24:21.279
 So Christ is the inheritor, the creator, the sustainer, the radiator, the representer,

00:24:21.779 --> 00:24:24.920
 the purifier, and the ruler.

00:24:25.099 --> 00:24:30.539
 And all of that is packed into the therefore of Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1.

00:24:31.139 --> 00:24:37.960
 Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.

00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:46.220
 Because of Jesus' supremacy and finality, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.

00:24:46.819 --> 00:24:53.500
 The author of Hebrews is referring to all they knew of Jesus, his person and his work.

00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:57.180
 Which she refers back to in the therefore of 2.1.

00:24:57.180 --> 00:25:02.660
 And forward to, in 2.3, as such a great salvation.

00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:04.220
 Pay attention.

00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:12.880
 It's a present verb tense, which means that the author does not have in mind the completion of the task in any given amount of time.

00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:19.580
 This suggests that one can pay attention, but that we must all continue paying attention.

00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:23.620
 You could translate it, pay attention, pay attention, pay attention.

00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:32.260
 The work of paying much closer attention is not a work that will be completed on this side of glory.

00:25:33.340 --> 00:25:34.580
 Note with me the emphasis.

00:25:34.579 --> 00:25:38.740
 Not pay much closer attention to yourself.

00:25:39.879 --> 00:25:44.699
 Our faith cannot be sustained if the focus of it is on ourselves.

00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:50.779
 Our faith is sustained by focusing on what we have heard.

00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:56.059
 All that is true of Jesus Christ, his person and his work.

00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:02.659
 Saving and sustaining faith must find its focus on Christ.

00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:05.720
 He is the object of that faith.

00:26:06.660 --> 00:26:11.460
 So we're given this encouragement to pay much closer attention.

00:26:12.420 --> 00:26:16.660
 But it is also, I told you, accompanied by a warning.

00:26:17.540 --> 00:26:19.960
 Lest we drift away from it.

00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:25.240
 The picture the author is painting here is of a ship safe at harbor.

00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:32.200
 Not having its anchor properly set, slowly moving out toward the danger of the sea.

00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:40.080
 The sea is often portrayed in the Bible as a place of tumult and of danger, unknown things.

00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:46.440
 The ship, of interesting note, was a common early symbol of the church.

00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:53.019
 In 1 Peter chapter 3, Peter makes a connection between Noah and his family being carried safely through the flood

00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:56.539
 and the church being in Jesus Christ.

00:26:56.539 --> 00:27:08.579
 In 1 Peter chapter 4, Jesus calms the storm on a sea, showing that he has power even over something felt as so unknown and evil.

00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:14.759
 When the symbol of the cross had to be hidden, it could be easily disguised in the mast of a ship.

00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:24.079
 Brothers and sisters, this picture of drifting is meant to elicit imagery of subtle movement.

00:27:24.599 --> 00:27:27.000
 Little by little.

00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:28.779
 Don't drift away.

00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:31.799
 Pay much closer attention.

00:27:32.500 --> 00:27:39.960
 Because this drifting is a movement toward danger made by degrees and increments at a time.

00:27:39.960 --> 00:27:45.980
 Later in Hebrews, the author writes, chapter 6, verse 19 and following,

00:27:46.860 --> 00:27:51.440
 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.

00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:59.720
 A hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.

00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:05.819
 Pay much closer attention, lest we drift away from it.

00:28:05.819 --> 00:28:11.939
 In Hebrews 6, verse 7 through 12, having just spoken of the apostate,

00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:16.079
 the author of Hebrews uses a different metaphor.

00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:17.779
 There he says,

00:28:17.779 --> 00:28:24.480
 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated,

00:28:24.819 --> 00:28:26.619
 receives a blessing from God.

00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:32.000
 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed,

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 and its end is to be burned, lest we drift away from what we have heard.

00:28:41.140 --> 00:28:45.019
 Paul speaks of the same concern in his first letter to Timothy.

00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:50.180
 In 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 19 and 20, Paul makes mention of Hymenaeus and Alexander,

00:28:50.339 --> 00:28:56.480
 who made shipwreck of their faith by rejecting faith and a good conscience.

00:28:56.480 --> 00:29:01.900
 And then in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 20 and 21, he writes,

00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:04.339
 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.

00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:09.240
 Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.

00:29:09.779 --> 00:29:12.579
 For by professing it, some have swerved from the faith.

00:29:13.460 --> 00:29:14.480
 Grace be with you.

00:29:15.779 --> 00:29:18.200
 So we go back to Hebrews 6 and verse 9.

00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:22.380
 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things,

00:29:22.700 --> 00:29:25.019
 things that belong to salvation.

00:29:25.019 --> 00:29:30.579
 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name

00:29:30.579 --> 00:29:32.859
 in serving the saints as you still do.

00:29:33.700 --> 00:29:36.599
 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness,

00:29:36.660 --> 00:29:39.740
 to have the full assurance of hope until the end,

00:29:40.180 --> 00:29:41.660
 so that you may not be sluggish,

00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:47.339
 but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises,

00:29:47.579 --> 00:29:51.480
 sanctification that accompanies our justification.

00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:56.160
 So how do we ensure that we are not drifters?

00:29:57.259 --> 00:30:00.779
 We pay much closer attention to what we have heard,

00:30:01.299 --> 00:30:03.519
 lest we drift away from it.

00:30:04.180 --> 00:30:09.099
 We love the person and work of Jesus Christ.

00:30:09.099 --> 00:30:12.519
 Somebody has doubt of whether or not they are in Christ.

00:30:12.659 --> 00:30:14.039
 A fair question to ask is,

00:30:14.399 --> 00:30:16.899
 do you find that you love him?

00:30:17.139 --> 00:30:20.339
 Are you affectionate toward Christ,

00:30:20.419 --> 00:30:23.240
 his person and his work?

00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:28.679
 And then do you find that producing in you a desire to serve him?

00:30:29.439 --> 00:30:32.579
 You will serve what you love.

00:30:32.579 --> 00:30:40.059
 You will find that you will be inclined toward the ways of Christ if you love him.

00:30:40.779 --> 00:30:42.819
 Set your gaze on him.

00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:49.460
 Recognize that all the promises of God are confirmed in his completed work.

00:30:49.859 --> 00:30:56.220
 His work as inheritor, creator, sustainer, radiator, representer, purifier, and ruler.

00:30:56.220 --> 00:31:01.779
 In closing, I'd like to read to you a prayer from the Valley of Vision,

00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:04.100
 which is a collection of Puritan prayers.

00:31:04.180 --> 00:31:06.539
 I hope you're familiar with this work.

00:31:07.420 --> 00:31:09.700
 Note in this little prayer his great humility,

00:31:09.940 --> 00:31:12.500
 his self-awareness of how frail he is,

00:31:12.700 --> 00:31:14.579
 the attitude of his heart,

00:31:15.339 --> 00:31:20.519
 which I will assume led him to pay much closer attention.

00:31:21.259 --> 00:31:22.400
 He prays this.

00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:48.880
 May I live by you, live for you,

00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:51.220
 never be satisfied with my Christian progress,

00:31:51.220 --> 00:31:53.240
 but as I resemble Christ.

00:31:53.900 --> 00:31:55.660
 And may conformity to his principles,

00:31:56.120 --> 00:31:58.880
 temper, and conduct grow hourly in my life.

00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:03.579
 Let your unexampled love constrain me into holy obedience

00:32:03.579 --> 00:32:06.380
 and render my duty my delight.

00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:09.200
 If others deem my hope delusion,

00:32:09.460 --> 00:32:10.880
 my meekness infirmity,

00:32:11.420 --> 00:32:12.620
 my zeal madness,

00:32:13.339 --> 00:32:14.680
 my hope delusion,

00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:16.900
 my actions hypocrisy,

00:32:16.900 --> 00:32:20.059
 may I rejoice to suffer for your name.

00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:25.779
 Keep me walking steadfastly towards the country of everlasting delights,

00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:29.019
 that paradise land which is my true inheritance.

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:32.259
 Support me by the strength of heaven

00:32:32.259 --> 00:32:34.160
 that I may never turn back

00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:37.819
 or desire false pleasures that will disappear into nothing.

00:32:38.519 --> 00:32:41.059
 As I pursue my heavenly journey by your grace,

00:32:41.120 --> 00:32:43.279
 let me be known as a man with no aim

00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:45.839
 but that of a burning desire for you

00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:49.579
 and the good and salvation of my fellow men.

00:32:50.059 --> 00:32:50.899
 Let's pray together.

00:32:50.900 --> 00:32:52.259
 Thank you.

00:32:52.259 --> 00:32:52.259


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