(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Whosoever surely meaneth me Whosoever meaneth me Let's sing it out on the third! Oh, what a wonderful love Oh, what grace divine That Jesus should die for me I was lost in sin For the world I pine But now I am set free Whosoever surely meaneth me Surely meaneth me Oh, surely meaneth me Whosoever surely meaneth me Whosoever meaneth me Great singing and welcome to Verity Baptist Church and the Wednesday evening Bible study. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Father God, thank you so much for this church, Lord. Thank you for these people coming out here on a Wednesday evening to serve you. I pray that our singing would glorify you, Lord. I pray that you would bless the service and the preaching to come. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, turn to your song books, page number 428. Page 428, we're going to sing It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. Page 428, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. It came upon the midnight clear It came upon the midnight clear That glorious song of old From angels bending near the earth To touch their hearts of gold Peace on the earth, goodwill to men From heaven's all gracious King The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing Page 428, let's sing it out on the second. Still through the cloven skies They come with peaceful wings unfurled And still their heavenly music floats For all the weary world Above its sad and lowly plain They bend on hovering wings And ever o'er its babble sounds The blessed angels sing And ye beneath life's crushing load Whose forms are bending low Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps in slow Look now for gladness Look now for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the way Oh rest beside the weary road And hear the angels sing Let's sing it out on the last. For lo, the days are hasting on By prophet bards foretold When with the ever circling years Come round the age of gold When peace shall over all the world Its ancient splendors fling And the whole world give back the song Which now, which now the angels sing Tongue tied. Alright, well let's go ahead and take our bulletins this evening. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we'll get one for you. The verse is sweet. James 2-5, Harken, my beloved brethren, have not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he had promised to them that love him. And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning service at 9.30 am and we do invite you of course to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for church Sunday evening service at 6 pm and then of course we are glad that you are with us for the midweek service tonight on Wednesday night. We call it the most encouraging service of the week and we're glad that you are here. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 am and then we have additional soul winning times usually on Thursday and Friday at 2 pm. Those are postponed for now but we have a soul winning time on Sundays at 2 pm and if you'd like to go soul winning we'd of course like you to make it to one of those times and if you are a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you. As you walk out of the church building this evening, if you go out our main foyer or if you go out our secondary foyer, you'll see a little table set up on that table you will see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight and there are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. The one I like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it and we want to give this to you as a gift so please make sure you do not leave here without grabbing one of those gift bags on your way out and if you look at the announcements there of course we are a family integrated church. Children and infants are always welcome in the service. We don't separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitor set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service, if you need some privacy, we'd encourage you to use those rooms. If you need to be baptized, you can let us know on your communication card on the back of the card. You can check off that you'd like information about baptism and we'll follow up with you in regards to that. And if you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course we have the workdays coming up tomorrow, Friday and Saturday 8am to 8pm and if you can help with mudding and texturing, that's what's going on this week, then there are three clipboards in the foyer, three different days three different shifts for each day and we would really appreciate your help. If you have any skills with mudding, texturing, that's what needs to get done this week. So please go by there. We would appreciate your help with that. If you have any questions, you can see Brother Joel Usher and he can answer those questions for you. Then we want you to notice there the holiday schedule coming up on a Sunday, December 24th. Of course that's Christmas Eve and that falls on a Sunday. So we just want you to be aware that we'll have our 10.30am service like we normally do. There will be no soul winning time at 2pm on that Sunday. But we are going to have a hot chocolate and Christmas cookie fellowship at 4pm. So we want you to be aware of that. You should also have one of these cards in your bulletin. This is for you to remember the Christmas Eve service and also to invite someone to come with you if you'd like. And we're having at 4pm the hot chocolate and Christmas cookies in the fellowship hall. And we have a clipboard in the foyer where you can sign up. If you can bring cookies for the cookie fellowship, we would really appreciate that. And you can bake them, you can buy them, whatever you want. But we'll have hot chocolate. We'll provide that and we'll have cookies. If you can help us with that, please go by and sign up for that. That will be at 4pm on Christmas Eve. At 5pm we'll have our Christmas Eve service which is an hour earlier than normal. Just want you to be aware of that. We're going to be done by 6pm on Christmas Eve. So that way you can have the rest of the evening to do whatever you need to do. And then on Sunday, December 31st, we have our morning service at 1030. We will have soul winning at 2pm. It says no soul winning there, but we will have soul winning at 2pm. And then there's a 7pm special New Year's Eve service. So that goes an hour later. So normally it's at 6pm. We'll have a 7pm service. That'll be a normal service like we normally have. But afterwards we're going to have a potluck. And then we'll have popcorn, watch a film, we'll pray in the new year. Obviously you don't have to stay for all that, but we want you to be aware of those things. Nine chapters a day is coming up in January. We just want you to be aware of that. That's our nine chapters a day challenge. And we challenge every January at Verity Baptist Church. We challenge our church family to read nine chapters a day in the New Testament in the month of January. And we'll have a chart for you. We'll give that out. And if you've never done it before, lots of our church family have done it. I'd say the majority of our church family does it every year. If you accomplish the task, the goal, then we put your name on a nice plaque. If you go on our foyer, you'll see all the nice plaques and you'll see all the names that are there. But if you've never done it before, you might feel like it's a daunting task. But it's not as hard as it sounds, alright? And you can do it. So just get excited about that and plan to make that one of your new year's goals. Choir practice is on Sunday at 5pm. And children's choir is at 5.15. The adult choir here in the auditorium, the children's choir and the playroom. Homeschool group, they've got PE class tomorrow. Thursday, December 14th at 10am. And then ladies weight loss, there's a ladies weight loss accountability group. If you'd like to be part of that meeting, ladies, you're welcome to do that. They meet on Wednesday nights at 6.15pm. They meet in the mother baby room closest to the entrance. There's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for this week. We had Ms. Victoria Nellitescu's birthday was on December 11th. Victor Zuniga's birthday was on December 12th. And today is Brother Aldo's birthday, December 13th. So happy birthday to him. Praise report, money matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. You should have one of these Christmas gifts for Jesus inserts as well. Just want you to be aware of that. That you can purchase something as you're out and about to help the church this Christmas season. And we've got a Christmas gifts for Jesus drop off in the main foyer so you can drop stuff off there. Of course you can make a special donation towards Christmas gifts for Jesus as well if you'd like. I think that's it for all of the announcements. So we're going to go ahead and take our song books and let's go to page number 422. Page number 422. And we're going to sing Thou didst leave Thy throne as we prepare to receive the offering this evening. 422, sing it out on the first Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy holy crown when Thou cameest to earth for me. But in Bethlehem's home where's there bound no room for Thy holy nativity O come to my heart, Lord Jesus there's room in my heart for Thee. 422, sing it out on the second Heaven's arches ring when the angels sing, proclaiming Thy royal decree. But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth and in great humility O come to my heart, Lord Jesus there's room in my heart for Thee. The boxes found rest and the birds their nest of the forest tree but Thy couch was the subtle Son of God in the deserts of Galilee. O come to my heart, Lord Jesus there's room in my heart for Thee. Thou cameest, O Lord, with the living Word that should set Thy people free. But with mockings torn and with crown of thorns they bore Thee to Calvary O come to my heart, Lord Jesus there's room in my heart for Thee. Let the heavens shall ring and the angels sing at Thy coming to victory. Let thy voice call me home saying, Yet there is room, there is room at my side for Thee. My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus when all comes and all is for me. Amen. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love You. We thank You for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord, we pray that You bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Amen. All right. Well, let's go ahead and take our prayer sheets tonight. If you do not have a prayer list, if you didn't get one on the way in, please raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a prayer sheet, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. And, of course, I want to remind you that the way you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card on the back of the card. There's a place for you to write down a request. Please make sure you mark whether it's private or public. If it's private only, I will see it. If it's public, we'll put it on the prayer sheet. If you don't mark it, we'll do our best to figure it out, but we usually don't put those on. The requests are added in the order that they're received and they're removed after a couple of weeks, so if you'd like it to be there longer, you'll have to write another request. And I'm going to go ahead and take these requests to the Lord in prayer, and I ask that you follow along in your mind and your heart, and let's go ahead and pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church family. Lord, we thank you for the privilege that it is to come to you in prayer to be able to enter boldly into the throne of grace and ask for help. And Lord, we pray for these requests from our church family, Ms. Cricket, praying for her healing. Also, Ms. Brandy Barrett, praying for her friend, Becca, and her baby, who was born premature. And also, Brother Joe Maples, praying for Joe Jr. and for his health to recover. Scott Scroggs, praying for healing of his digestive problem. Mary Prince, praying for strength and complete healing as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer. And Ms. Tamara, praying for her mother's knee surgery. And Ms. Christine Ortiz, praying for her own health and the health of her sister, Judy, as she battles cancer. Brother Salvador, praying for his health as well. And Brother Edgar and Ms. Lena, praying for little Uretzi, that she'll continue to be healthy and strong. And we're, of course, praying for our missionary, Dave Gavantala's wife, Ms. Angel, and for her breast cancer as she's battling breast cancer as well. Lord, we just pray for all of these individuals. Lord, we pray that You would put Your healing hand over them. We know that You are the great physician. Lord, we ask that if it's Your will that You would heal them. We pray that You would recover them. We pray that You would relieve pain. Lord, we ask that You would give wisdom to the doctors and nurses dealing with them. We also pray for the ladies in our church that are expecting Ms. Victoria, Ms. Julissa, Ms. Ruby, Ms. Taylor, asking that You give them all healthy pregnancies with no issues and no complications. Lord, and that they would have no problems. We also pray, Lord, for these that have just physical requests and praying for Brother Mike, who has a praise report, for being able to get a new job. And Lord, we thank You for that, for the answered prayer there. And then we're praying for Brother Joe Laquetta and praying that there would be no issues as they transition to their new home in Fair Oaks. And Lord, we also pray for Brother Salvador for his finances and his work. And Lord, we pray in all these situations, Lord, that You would help and guide and that Your will be done. Lord, we ask that You would be with these situations. And we also pray for salvation. Ms. Christine Ortiz praying for her family's salvation. Ms. Dogma praying for her daughter and her family's salvation. And Lord, we ask that You would help these individuals. Lord, we pray that Your Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and their lives, Lord, that they might come to the place where they would be willing and able to be saved. Lord, we pray that His soul would communicate the gospel clearly to them. We also pray, Lord, for Ms. Christine and Brother Salvador for their faith and their walk with You, that You would continue to strengthen them and help them and be with them. And then, Lord, we pray for all of these that have unspoken requests, Brother George, Ms. Denise, Brother Nate, Brother Salvador, Ms. Dogma, all having unspoken requests. Lord, You know what their petitions are. You know what they're asking for. And we ask, Lord, that You would please answer according to Your will. Lord, make it clear to them when You've answered, Lord. And we also pray for our ministry here, of course, for our prison ministry and the families being affected through that. Lord, we ask that You continue to bless that. We pray for these work days. We ask that You'd help everything to go well and smoothly and help us to transition to the new property soon. And we pray for our church plants in the Philippines, Manila, Pampanga, Bicol, and for Pastor Stuckey and his family, that You'd continue to strengthen and bless them as well. We, of course, pray for our ministry here in Sacramento, Lord, that You would be with us, that You'd guide us, that You'd provide for our needs, Lord, that You'd be just with us in every step of all the things that we're doing right now, Lord. We ask that You'd meet with us tonight as we open up Your Word and we study the Bible together. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Please open your mouths to Hebrews, Chapter 5. Hebrews, Chapter 5, if you do not have a Bible, please put your hand up and I know you can bring a Bible. Hebrews, Chapter 5, just keep your hand up or she'll come by. Hebrews 5, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom. Hebrews 5, Verse 1. For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared, though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them which obey him, called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have many things to say, and heart to be uttered, seeing your dull of hearing. For when for the time you ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age. Even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for our church, Lord, for your word. Please give us all a tender heart to the message tonight. May it be thy pastors who strengthen them, and fill them with spirit. We love you. In Jesus' name, pray. Amen. All right, we're there in Hebrews chapter number 5, and we are continuing, of course, our Wednesday night Bible study. We're doing a verse-by-verse study through the book of Hebrews, and tonight we start a new chapter, Hebrews chapter number 5, and though it is a new chapter, it is a continuing theme, because the theme continues in chapter 5 that got started in chapter number 4. In fact, if you just real quickly go back to verse number 14 of chapter 4, if you remember, it says seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And of course, we dealt with that portion of scripture last Wednesday night, but that is the context in which we enter into chapter 5, and of course you might remember that the chapter divisions and the verse divisions, though they are extremely helpful and we're glad to have them, were not originally in the writing when the Apostle Paul, I believe Paul, wrote the book of Hebrews, or whoever wrote the book of Hebrews, it's not like they divided this letter into chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, that was added later for our benefit, and when we come to Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 1, we're continuing this idea from chapter number 4. And of course we've been talking, as we've been going through the book of Hebrews, we've been talking about the theme of the book of Hebrews, and there's lots of things that are taught in Hebrews, lots of different themes, but I would say the major theme that we find through the book of Hebrews is this, that Jesus is better. We've been talking about that. We learned that Jesus is better than the prophets, we've learned that Jesus is better than the angels, we saw that Jesus is better than Moses, we saw that Jesus is better than the Sabbath, and last week we saw that Jesus is better than the high priest, or that Jesus is a better high priest, and that's what we saw there in verse 14, seeing then we have a great high priest. What we find in chapter number 5 is the writer of the book of Hebrews is going to begin to talk about just the high priest in general, and we're going to look at how those correlate to the Lord Jesus Christ, and then he makes some specific applications to how the Lord Jesus Christ is a high priest. So if you're taking notes tonight, and I always encourage you to take notes, I'd like to give you six different thoughts regarding our high priest, Jesus our high priest, from this passage of Scripture, and six different thoughts that are outlined here for you, or that I will outline for you from the passage, and maybe you can jot these down. The first is found there in verse number 1, and it says this, for every high priest, now remember we just got done talking in chapter 4 about Jesus, our great high priest, and we're going to come back to the subject of Jesus later on even in the same passage, but in verse 1 he's not necessarily just talking about Jesus as the high priest, although that's definitely the context, he's just talking about high priests in general. He says for every high priest, every high priest, meaning not just Jesus but all of the high priests that were since Aaron, and we know that Aaron, we've been studying in the book of Numbers, that Aaron was the first high priest, his son was the second high priest, and so on. And we find the high priest in the New Testament as well. Unfortunately, by the time we get to the New Testament, the high priests are no longer the heroes of the story, they are the villains in the story, they're the ones that are putting Jesus to death. But here in verse 1, we read for every high priest, for every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men. I want you to notice that the writer of Hebrews is telling us, look, every high priest is taken from among men. And again, we're talking about just the normal high priest that the nation of Israel had, because again, if you remember, the book of Hebrews is written, it's written to all of us for our admonition, all scriptures given by inspiration of God and it's profitable but the primary applications we find in Hebrew is that we're learning how to transition out of the Old Testament into the New Testament. And it's written to first century Jewish believers who have to kind of figure this thing out. How do we go from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, and here the writer says for every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men. The idea is this, that a high priest is chosen from among men. And think about what we've been learning in the book of Numbers with Aaron. Aaron was an individual who was part of a family who was part of a tribe of Levi, he was just a man, he was taken from among men and he was ordained to do a ministry for men. It says they're taken from among men, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Now, why is this point being made and why is this important? The reason that it's being made we find in verse 2. Who can have compassion on the ignorant? Because remember the high priest was the leader or the head of the priesthood, of the Levitical priesthood for the nation of Israel. All the other priests were under the leadership of the high priest. So the high priest kind of forms this idea that he represents all of the priests. And the idea is this, that a high priest or really any priest, but here we're talking about a high priest, was taken from among men and was ordained for men because what is it that high priest did? They would often help and lead in the sacrifices I mean we saw it there at the last part of verse 1, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. So sometimes they would bring sacrifices for sin that the high priest would then conduct that had to be done because of the people's sin. Sometimes they would bring gifts or what we would call offerings, free will offerings, where there wasn't a sin that was involved. It was just them tithing or them wanting to give a gift above their tithe. But the Bible tells us in verse 2 that the reason why it was important that the high priest would be taken from among men and ordained to men is that they could have compassion on the ignorant. Now why does it say that? Because remember often times they would bring a sin of ignorance. They would bring a sacrifice for the sin of ignorance and it would be this idea where someone would come and say, I have sinned. I did wrong. I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't set out to do it or I didn't even know that it was a sin but now I realize it is a sin and they're bringing the sin and the high priest was to help them, was to have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way. So not only just the ignorant, those who sinned by ignorance and if you remember we learned about that in the book of Numbers it means that they did it without knowing it was a sin but it also means that they did it without intending to. They didn't set out to do it. It was not preconceived. It was just in the heat of the moment they said something they shouldn't have said or did something they shouldn't have done. Here the Bible says that the high priest because the high priest himself is a man like they are, is one of their brethren. He could have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. Because of the fact that the high priest himself has sin, the high priest himself at times had to bring sacrifices for the sins of his own ignorance or at times he was out of the way. He was transgressing. He was doing wrong. The high priest could have compassion. So I want you to notice and if you're taking notes here's point number one. We see the sympathy of our high priest. Now here we're not talking about our high priest. We're going to talk about our high priest here in a moment. But here we just see high priest in general. The earthly high priest was taken from among men so that he could relate to men and have compassion on men. And what we see here is really an attribute of leadership. And the attribute of leadership is this, that those who are called by God to lead have to have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way. Now that would seem like it would just make like, isn't that kind of a duh statement? And you would think yeah, the whole point of a high priest, the whole point of a priest, the whole point of a pastor would be to have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way. But you know the longer I pastor the longer I realize it and I really just honestly had kind of an epiphany about this just recently. When I say recently I mean in the last couple of days. I often as a pastor, you know our church isn't huge. It's not some mega church but it's not little either. It's not like we have 20 people here. I mean we've got 190 or close to 200 people here tonight. 250 people on Sunday mornings. And one thing I've kind of learned and I've always known this, you know sometimes you feel something, you know what you feel. My job as a preacher is to kind of put that in put language around it and help people understand it. I was talking to my wife about this just yesterday. I often feel this pressure from people of how it is that they expect me to treat all of you. All of the church people. And you know the expectations that I should lay on you and what I should expect from you as part of the safety team or as ushers or as volunteers on a work day or whatever. But one thing that I've realized is everyone who's constantly wanting me to come down hard on or tell us what I've realized is none of those people have 250 people following them. None of those people have 16 ushers that they're in charge of. None of them have 5 or 6 safety team members. None of them have 100 soul winners that show up. And what I'm learning is this, often times the leader has more compassion for the flock than the rest of the flock does. Because if I led the way some of you wish I'd lead, we'd have no ushers. We'd have no soul winners. We'd have no flock. There'd be no volunteers. There wouldn't even be a building. And here what we see is that the reason God, it was very important for God that the leader would have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way. On the ones that are not doing what they should be doing and on the ones that do know what they should be doing and just aren't doing it. Right? You know you're not supposed to be on your phone watching the game while you're an usher. But you do it. Or safety team or whatever. Pianist. I don't know if the pianists do that. And the leader is to have compassion. Here the Bible says that he was taken from among men and is ordained for men to have compassion on the ignorant. Now when we think about that in the role of human leadership doesn't that make sense? It makes sense that we are to have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way. For that he himself also is compassed with confirmities. We see that the earthly high priest was taken from among men so that he could relate to men and have compassion on men. And what the point that's being made that this is for the earthly high priest. But the reason that he's saying this, the writer of Hebrews is saying this because this is true of our heavenly high priest. See the earthly high priest was taken from among men so that he could relate to men and have compassion on men. But the heavenly high priest became a man. Go to Hebrews chapter 2. He wasn't taken from among men. He became men. Hebrews 2 and verse 14. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14. The Bible says this for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood. He also himself likewise took part of the same. And this is talking about Jesus of course. That the children were partakers of flesh and blood. They were human beings. So he also himself likewise took part of the same. What are we talking about? The humanity of Christ. What are we talking about? The fact that the word was made flesh. That's what we're going to celebrate here in a couple of weeks on Christmas day. What's Christmas about? The fact that he also himself took part of flesh and blood. He took part of the same because we were partakers of flesh and blood. He also himself likewise took part of the same. That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Verse 16, For verily he took not on him the nature of angels. He didn't take on the nature of angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham. The descendancy. He inserted himself into the lineage of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren. Why? Why did we need a high priest? Why couldn't Jesus just come down? Why even have Christmas? Why didn't he just come down, get beamed down from heaven? He got beamed up to heaven. Why didn't he just come down in his glorified body, forget Christmas, forget the shepherds, forget the wise men and just come down? There's multiple reasons. There's multiple answers to that question. But one of the answers to that question is this. That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest. In things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for sins of the people for that he himself had suffered being tempted. He is able to succor them that are tempted. See the heavenly high priest, the earthly high priest had to be taken from among men so that he could relate to men, so that he could have compassion on men, so that he could have compassion on the ignorant, he could have compassion on them that are out of the way. And I would just say for us that are humans that is a leadership lesson. You truly are the leader when you actually care about people. You realize that they're going to fail you. You realize that they're going to come short. You realize that they're not going to do the things they're supposed to do. But you care about them anyway. The heavenly high priest was not taken from among men. He became man. That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest. For that in he himself had suffered being tempted he is able to succor. The word succor means to aid, to support them that are tempted. Go back to Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 3. You're there in Hebrews 2. Just go back to chapter 5 if you would. So we saw number 1 the sympathy of our high priest. He became man so he could sympathize with us. So he could empathize with us. So that he can relate to us. So that he can know. Look Jesus knows and we talked about it last week but Jesus knows what you're going through. He was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin. Anything you've gone through, he's gone through it. Anything that you have felt and hurt, he's felt that hurt. He became a man so that he could relate to men and have compassion on men. We see the sympathy of our high priest but I want you to know that secondly tonight not only do we see the sympathy of our high priest but we also see the sinlessness of our high priest. Notice verse 3 Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 3 and by reason here of he ought. Now I want to go back just a couple of verses just to get the context because there's a couple of things he's saying here. Look at verse 1. For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. So he's telling us this is a good thing about the high priest, the earthly high priest. That because he himself is compassed with infirmity, because he himself has sinned and has sickness and has weakness in his life. He can have compassion on those who come to him to try to make reconciliation with God when they have failed, when they are weak, when they have not accomplished what they should do. That's a positive thing. But then in verse 3 he says here's the negative part about our high priest being taken from men. The fact that he's taken from men is good because he can relate to us but the negative thing about the fact that he was taken from men is this. And by reason hereof, what reason hereof are we talking about? The reason hereof is that he was taken from men. That he is compassed with infirmity. By that reason he ought as for the people so also for himself to offer for sins. So the earthly high priest because he was taken from among men, he also had to offer sin not only for the people but also for himself. And we talked about it last week. I won't take the time to go into detail but the high priest on the day of atonement would go into the holy of holies, would go into the most holy place and he would give an atonement or a sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of the people but before he could give an atonement for the sins of the people, he had to give an atonement for his own sins because he himself was a sinner. So as for the people so also for himself he had to offer for sins. That's the earthly high priest. The heavenly high priest on the other hand go back to Hebrews 4, look at verse 15. We saw this last week but let's just look at it. They're verses worthy of looking at multiple times. The earthly high priest was a sinner. The heavenly high priest was sinless. The reason that Jesus was a better high priest is because though he had the same benefit as Aaron and Eleazar and every other high priest, he was taken from among men so he could relate to men. Jesus became a man. The Bible says he came unto his own and his own received him not. He became a man so he could have the same benefit as a leader. He could relate. He could be touched by the feelings of their infirmities and he could succor them and he could empathize with them. He could sympathize with them and he could have compassion on them. But though the earthly high priest had a negative which was that that made him a sinner which means he had to offer a sacrifice for his sins, Jesus is a better high priest because he had the same benefit of humanity minus sin. He was sinless. Hebrews 4, 15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Why? Because he became man. Because the mystery of godliness is that God was manifest in the flesh. But was in all points tempted like as we are, here's the only difference, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So we see the sinlessness of our high priest and that's really what makes him a better high priest. What makes him a better high priest was that he still had the benefit of humanity and compassion of human beings without sin. I'd like you to keep your place there in Hebrews that's obviously our text for tonight. Go to the book of Isaiah chapter 53. If you open up your Bible just right in the center, you're more than likely to fall in the book of Psalms. You go from Psalms you have Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Isaiah. Now if you find Psalms I'd like you to just stick your finger there in Psalms or a ribbon or something because we're actually going to go back to Psalms later on. But I'd like you to find Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is one of the most famous passages in the Bible. It's one of these messianic passages or prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53 is an Old Testament prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's an amazing chapter. We could study the whole chapter and that would be a great study. We've done that in the past. I'm not going to do that now. I do want to just show you some things. If we ask the question why? And it's a good time of year. I mean we're in Hebrews. Hebrews isn't really your common Christmas sermon but it's a good time of year to ask the question, why Christmas? Why become a human? Why become a man? Well part of it is because of the fact that the high priest had to be able to identify with the people that he was sacrificing for. But then we ask the question why did God become man? Well we've seen the answer already because we already had high priests that were taken from among men and the problem with the high priests that are taken from among men is that they themselves were sinners. So they could not be the salvation or the savior of our sin. And just on a very practical level, well let's look at the passage. Isaiah 53, look at verse 3. Notice what the Bible says is about Jesus. He is despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we did as it were, we hid, excuse me, as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Notice these words. I want you to notice this. These are some of the most famous passages in Scripture and we often look at this as very lovely poetic passages and they are lovely and they are poetic and they are amazing but there's a reason why we're being told and notice what it says. Surely he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. That is not this poetic verbiage that is saying, well he was a human so in the same way that we've carried griefs, he carried griefs and in the same way that we carried sorrows, he carried sorrows. Now that's true but that's not what this passage is saying. This passage is not saying that because he was a human, the same way you and I carried griefs, he carried griefs and the same way you and I carried sorrows, he carried sorrows. No. What this passage says, surely he hath borne our griefs. The griefs that I've carried and the griefs that you've carried were carried by the Lord Jesus Christ and he carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Verse 5, but he was wounded for our transgressions. Do you see why I say to you, it's not that it's saying he had grief like we had griefs, he had sorrows like we had sorrows. No, no. It's not that he had transgressions like we had transgressions. No. He had no transgressions but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. That's beautiful language. It is beautiful language. But don't miss the practical application here. I often out-solt when I explain this to people and I think it's good for us to just be reminded. It is beautiful language. It does make for a beautiful story. It does make for nice sermons and I understand that and praise God for it. But on a very practical, theological, doctrinal level, God had to become flesh because the one who took our sin had to be sinless. If I went to God and I said, God, I love my wife. I love my children so much I don't want them to die and go to hell. I would like to die and go to hell in their place. Even if I was genuine and even if I authentically that's what I want to do, I want, obviously, I want to just get them saved and we can all go to heaven together. And they are saved and praise God for that. But like Paul where he had his kinsmen in the flesh who rejected Christ and he said that he wanted to, he said if he could that he would be a curse, that they might be saved. But God wouldn't allow that. You say, why? Well, God would not allow me to take the place of my wife or my children and to pay for their sins to go to hell because the problem is that I have my own sins to pay for. You say, well, I pay for the sins of my spouse or my children but you have your own sins to pay for. The reason that the high priests that were taken from among men could never pay for the sins of men is because they had their own sins to pay for. The high priest that paid for our sins, that carried our griefs, that carried our sorrows, that was wounded for our transgression, that was bruised for our iniquity, that high priest had to be sinless because in order to take our sins he had to be without sin. That's why Jesus came. That's why God became flesh because no one else could do it. Because since Adam there's never been, there's never been a man without sin except one, Jesus. So we see the sympathy of our high priest and we see the sinlessness of our high priest. Keep your place there in Psalms if you would. Go to 1 Peter chapter 2. If you kept your place in Hebrews, from Hebrews you have James and then 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 21. 1 Peter 2.21. 1 Peter, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter. 1 Peter 2.21 For even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps. Verse 22, notice these words. Who did no sin? Neither was gall found in his mouth. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Verse 24, who his own self, this is from Isaiah 53, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. The only way that our sins could be put on Jesus is if he was sinless. That we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. And look, I understand that this is basic theology, but it must not be that basic since there's so many people out there who don't understand salvation. Because if you simply understood that salvation was this, Jesus who was sinless became man and came to this earth and salvation is that my sins were taken from me and put on him and he paid for my sins and his righteousness was taken from him and put on me. That's what salvation is. If you understood that, you wouldn't be mixed up with, well do I need to repent of my sins in order to go to heaven? What does that have to do with anything? Why would I need to repent of my sins if my sins have been removed from me? You have to keep, you know, what if you stop going to church? That just tells me you don't understand what salvation is. If my sins have been taken from me and put on Jesus, what does me going to church, me praying, me reading the Bible, me getting baptized or any of that have to do with anything? It doesn't. Obviously once you're saved, God wants to have a relationship with you and you need to grow in grace. We understand all that. All those things are important. But when we just have this basic understanding that salvation is this, Jesus was a man like us which made him eligible to die for us. But the difference was that he had no sin. So he could take our sin. That is atonement. That is salvation. So we see the sympathy of our high priest. We see the sinlessness of our high priest. And I'd like you to notice thirdly, go back to Hebrews 5. Keep your place there in Psalms. Keep your place in Psalms. Go back to Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 4. I'd like you to notice thirdly the selection of our high priest. The selection of our high priest, Hebrews 5.4, and no man taketh this honor unto himself. We're still talking about the earthly high priest. Now this should make sense to you because we've been studying it in numbers. No man, right, like Korah. No man like Dathan and Abiram. No man taketh this honor unto himself. What's the writer of Hebrews saying? Nobody decides to make themselves a high priest. If you're a high priest you're chosen by God. We've been studying this in numbers so this should click with you. Somebody decides to make themselves a high priest, God's going to open up the earth and swallow them into the pit alive. And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God was Aaron. Right? We talked about that. That's why the red heifer's not needed, blah blah blah. Verse 5. The earthly high priest did not choose himself. That's what we saw in verse 4. In the same way the heavenly high priest did not choose himself. Verse 4, no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron. Verse 5, so also. Here's the application. In the same way Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest but he that said unto him, thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. Now the way that the structure of the sentence is worded is maybe a little different than the way that we would say it in our modern vernacular so I just want to make sure you understand it. He says in verse 4, and no man taketh this honor unto himself but that he is called of God. Nobody makes himself a high priest, the high priest had to be called of God. Verse 5, so also or in the same way that Aaron and Eleazar and all these other guys did not call themselves into the high priest position. They were called of God like Korah, Dathan or Bairam. They could not do that. He says in the same way, Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest. Then when it says, but he that said unto him, thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. The idea that he's putting forth is this. Christ did not call himself to be a high priest but here is who did call him to be a high priest. Who called him to be a high priest? He that said unto him, thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. Now who said that? Well that's a quote from Psalm 2 so let's look at it real quickly if you kept your place in Psalm. Go to Psalm 2, look at verse 7. Psalm 2 and verse 7, I will declare the decree notice these words, the Lord has said. Who said? The Lord said. The Lord had said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. So Psalm 2, keep your place, stay right there in Psalm. Psalm 2 says, the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And then the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 5-5, so also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest. But he that said, this is the guy that did glorify him to be a high priest. The guy that said, the person that said, the source of this quote, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And then in Psalm 2 and verse 7, it's clear that the Bible says that the Lord said that. So who made Jesus a high priest? The Lord. Now keep your finger right there in Psalm, we're going to come right back to it, go back to Hebrews 5, look at verse 6. Here's another quote. As he sayeth also, he says the same person that said, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, that's the person that chose Jesus as a high priest and then he says, and here's what he also said, as he sayeth also in another place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Go to Psalm 110, let's look at that quote. Psalm 110 and verse 4, who's saying these things? Well Psalm 2-7, I will declare the decree the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, the Lord hath said. Psalm 110 and verse 4 says this, the Lord has sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So who said that? The Lord. Who said thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee? The Lord. So in the same way that the earthly high priest did not choose himself, the heavenly high priest also did not choose himself, Jesus did not choose himself because the person that said, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, the person that said, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, that is the person that made him and called him a high priest. Who is that? It's the Lord. So we see the selection of our high priest. That Jesus did not choose himself to be a high priest. Go back to Hebrews 5. We saw the sympathy of our high priest, we saw the sinlessness of our high priest, we saw the selection of our high priest, like you notice fourthly tonight, the suffering of our high priest. And this is all connected to his humanity. He only suffered because he was human, the suffering of our high priest. Now there's no connection here to the earthly high priest because the earthly high priest really didn't suffer, but our heavenly high priest did. Look at verse 7. I want you to really look at these verses and think about what these verses are saying. Who in the days of his flesh, that's his humanity. The days of his life. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications. Notice these words. These words ought to break your heart. With strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared. You know the Bible tells houses that Jesus is our heavenly high priest. Yes, he was sinless. Yes, he was God in the flesh. He was 100% God, but he's also 100% man. He didn't come down here like Superman and having bullets hit him and not hurt him. The Bible says that in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard and that he feared. The Bible says that he cried with tears. The word cry in our King James Bible means to yell, to scream. He cried out with tears, making prayers and supplications. What is this referring to? We don't know exactly what the writer of Hebrews is referring to. It doesn't specifically quote for us, but when I read it to me it sounds a lot like the Garden of Gethsemane. Let's look at it quickly. Luke 22, if you would. Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke 22 and verse 42. Luke 22 and verse 42, the Bible says this, saying, Father, this is right before the death of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's praying, saying, Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me. And I will but thine be done. Jesus prayed at the very last moment before he was to be arrested, he was praying, are you sure there's no other way? He said, what is that? That's his humanity. Obviously, he came to seek and to save that which was lost. But he suffered. He wasn't necessarily looking forward to that suffering. He said, Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. And just to get an idea of the type of pressure that Jesus was under, verse 43, and there appeared an angel unto him from heaven strengthening him and being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Listen to me, whatever stress and anxiety you have been under, Jesus understands. Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood. Keep your finger right there. Go back to, go to 1 Peter if you would. If you kept your place in Hebrews, right after Hebrews you have James and 1 Peter. 1 Peter, chapter 2. We saw these verses already tonight, but I just want you to see it again. Let me highlight something else for you. 1 Peter 2.21, for even here unto were ye called because, notice these words, Christ also suffered for us. Leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was gall found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, look at these words, when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. I want you to notice that Jesus suffered. The Bible says that Jesus suffered. By the way, we've been talking a little bit about prayer as we've been dealing with this idea of the high priest because we saw in Hebrews 4, go back to Hebrews 5, we saw in Hebrews 4 that we can come boldly unto the throne of grace we can come boldly unto the throne of grace and we can seek help from Jesus Christ. He's there to help us. He's our high priest. He's our mediator. He's our advocate with the Father. But I want you to notice that in Hebrews 5 and verse 7 we find another little lesson on prayer and it is this. Notice verse 7, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, he says he offered up prayers. What was the prayer? We saw it. Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. What was the answer to that prayer? No. Which is why Jesus said, nevertheless, not my will but thy be done. But wait a minute, look at verse 7, Hebrews 5 7. When he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, notice these words, and was heard in that he feared. You know that just because the answer is no doesn't mean God didn't hear? We have this idea, well if God didn't answer my prayer he must not be hearing. He heard this prayer and the answer was still no. Sometimes the answer is no. Who do you think you are that just because you pray a prayer, God has to answer it? Our prayer life should be this, not my will but thy be done. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Now it's great when God answers prayer but just because the answer is no doesn't mean that he didn't hear our prayer because the Bible says here about Jesus and was heard. The answer was no. Which is why he said, nevertheless, not my will but thy be done. Look at verse 8, Hebrews 5. Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. See, not only did he suffer, but he also submitted himself. And this is, we see, you say what is it saying here, yet learned he obedience. He obeyed when he said, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. Go to Philippians chapter 2. If you kept your place in Luke, after Luke you have John, Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Philippians chapter 2. Look at verse 7, Philippians 2 verse 7. This is about Jesus, Philippians 2 verse 7, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Made like unto men. Was made a man. And being found in fashion as a man, this is all referring to the humanity of Christ. Notice these words. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death. Isn't that what we saw in Hebrews 5? Yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered and became obedient unto death even unto the death of the cross. Let me ask you this question. What if you pray something and God says no, can you still obey? Because Jesus' response was, if thou be willing remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. And the Bible tells us that he humbled himself and became obedient unto death and became obedient unto the death of the cross, which is what we're reading in Hebrews 5 and verse 8. Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And the idea there when it says that he were a son is that though he were the son of God, though he were the second member of the Godhead, though he could have called for the angels and God, the Father, he could add access to a legion of angels to come and rescue him and save him. Go back to Hebrews 5. Let me give you the last two points and we'll do these quickly. We saw the sympathy of our high priest. We saw the sinlessness of our high priest. We saw the selection of our high priest. We saw the suffering of our high priest. And I'd like you to notice, fifthly tonight, the salvation of our high priest. Look at verse 9. And being made perfect. And the word perfect there is not what we think of without sin. It's complete. He was already perfect. He wasn't made perfect. But the idea is that he came to this earth and he did what he was supposed to do. He came and he completed everything. He said, I must be about my father's business. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation. Until all of them that obey him. We're learning how Jesus is better. He's better. He's a better high priest. Why is he better? Well, he's better because though he has the benefit of humanity, where he can empathize and sympathize and connect with us, he's touched with the feelings of our infirmities, he is sinless. And he's better because of the fact that he was able to take our sins while the other high priest had to make a sacrifice for their sins. But here's another reason why Jesus is better as a high priest. Go to Hebrews chapter 10. Look at verse 10. Hebrews 10 and verse 10. These verses kind of explain the point that I want to make. Hebrews 10, 10. The difference between the earthly high priest and the heavenly high priest, the difference between every other high priest and Jesus the high priest, is this. Hebrews 10, 10. By the witch will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. He was not only the high priest, he was also the sacrificial lamb. He was all of it. Notice these words. By the witch will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Notice these three words. Once for all. Once for all. O sinner, receive it. Once for all. We just have to believe it. Once for all, verse 11. And every priest standeth. Notice, here's the comparison. And every priest, we're talking about every other priest, standeth daily ministering and offering. Notice these words. Oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. See, the other high priest, they made sacrifices every day. They made the sacrifice of the atonement and it was a yearly sacrifice, every year. They were offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. Here's how Jesus is better. Verse 12. But this man, Jesus, why does he say but this man? Because he was a man. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. The earthly high priest offered yearly sacrifices, daily sacrifices. The heavenly high priest offers eternal salvation, eternal atonement, once for all. And by the way, that's why we believe in eternal security because once you're saved, you're always saved. Once for all! But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice, I love the wording, for sins forever, for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. We saw the sympathy, the sinlessness, the selection, the suffering, the salvation. I'd like you to notice lastly tonight, and I'll only mention this because we won't talk about it at all because we'll talk about it in detail in just a few weeks down the road in Hebrews, but I'd like you to notice lastly tonight the superiority of our high priest. We've already been talking about it. He's a better high priest. The superiority of our high priest. Look at verse 10. Called of God. That point's already been made. Now, like Aaron, so is Jesus. Called of God and high priest. But here's the difference. After the order of Melchizedek, Aaron was a high priest of the Levitical order. Aaron was a high priest that descended from Jacob, from Israel, from Isaac, from Abraham. Jesus was a high priest from a different order. And again, I'm not going to get into details because we're going to deal with it in detail in a few weeks. But I just want you to get in the mind of a first century Jew who saved but struggling with this idea of how do we transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament? How do we go from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant? Now you're telling me that Jesus was a high priest, but I've never knew that Jesus was from the tribe of Levi. I didn't know that he was the son of Aaron. I've heard that he was of the tribe of Judah and he was a son of David. How could he then be a high priest? And the writer of Hebrews is about to set us up for a big dialogue answering this question about how Jesus is a better high priest than the priesthood of Leviticus. Because he's of the priesthood of Melchizedek that actually came before Levi. Called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek, but to a first century Jew, he says in verse 11, of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered. He said, this is going to be hard to hear, guys. Seeing ye are dull of hearing. Now we're going to end it there. We're going to pick it up right there next week. But I want you to notice that Jesus is not only a sympathetic high priest, not only is he a sinless high priest, not only do we see his selection and his suffering and his salvation, but he is superior to Aaron. He's superior to the tribe of Levi because he is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. It's about to head to another word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord we love you. Thank you for your word. Thank you for these passages of scripture. Just 11 verses, but so much to pack, so much to gather, so much to learn from there. Lord I pray that you'd help us always be mindful of Jesus our high priest. Christmas is not just the time that we celebrate the birth of Christ, although it is, but the reason that the birth of Christ is so important is because God was manifest in the flesh. He became our sinless high priest and took our sins upon us. Lord help us always to remember that Jesus is there. Jesus has felt what we felt. He has been burdened with the same burdens, the same griefs, the same sorrows that we have. And although sometimes it might feel like God is just not paying attention, help us to always remember that even when the answer is no, He hears our prayers. And Lord we thank you for that. In the matchless name of Christ we pray. Amen. We're going to have brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song. I just want to remind you of a couple of things. First of all don't forget that we have workdays Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And we really don't need any guys to come other than if you can mud and texture. If you can mud and texture there are clipboards in the back, three clipboards, three days, three shifts. We can really use your help. Until we get past that mudding and texturing phase there's not too much else to do. So if you are able to help us with that we would really appreciate your help. And if you can paint using a sprayer there's a clipboard for you to sign up as well so that brother Joel can be ready to as soon as that mudding and texturing gets completed we can just hit the ground running with the painting of the auditorium and all that. So if you can help us with that we would appreciate it. Also don't forget that there's a clipboard over there for cookies. So maybe you guys will get drawn to the cookies and accidentally sign up in the workday. I'm not sure how that will work. But there's cookies also for the cookie fellowship for the hot chocolate and cookies Christmas. So ladies you can go by there please. We would appreciate your help with that. If you can bake cookies or bring cookies for the Christmas Eve cookie fellowship that would be great. And of course if there's anything that we can do for you please let us know. We'll have brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song. Please enter song books page number 421. Page 421 we're going to sing the first Noel page 421 the first Noel and let's sing it out on the first The first Noel the angel did say was to certain poor shepherds in fields where they lay in fields where they lay keeping their sheep on a cold winter's night that was so deep. Noel Noel Noel born is the king of Israel page 421 let's sing it out on the second and by the light of that same star three wise men came from the tree part to seek for he was their intent and to follow the star wherever it went Noel Noel Noel Noel born is the king of Israel this star drew nigh to the northwest for Bethlehem it took its rest and there it did both stop and stay right over the place where Jesus lay. Noel Noel Noel Noel born is the king of Israel singing on the last then entered in those wise men who dream whole reverently upon their knee and offered there in his presence their golden mirror and frankincense. Noel Noel Noel Noel Noel born is the king of Israel great singing can I please have brother Nate close us some more to prayer Amen. Amen.