Apostasy Described (Hebrews 10:28-29)

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June 7, 2021

Description: The author brings three serious charges against the apostate to show that the severe punishment of the apostate is just. An exposition of Hebrews 10:28-29.

00:23: Lord, You're calling me to come And behold the wondrous cross
00:30: To explore the depths of grace That came to me at such a cost
00:38: Where Your boundless love Conquered my boundless sin
00:47: And mercy's arms were open wide My heart is filled with a thousand songs
00:57: Proclaiming the glories of Calvary With every breath,
01:04: Lord, how I long To sing of Jesus who died for me
01:09: Lord, take me deeper Into the glories of Calvary Sinners find eternal joy
01:36: In the triumph of the wounds By our
01:41: Savior's crimson flow Holy wrath has been removed
01:48: And Your saints below Join with Your saints above Rejoicing in the risen
02:00: Lamb My heart is filled with a thousand songs
02:07: Proclaiming the glories of Calvary With every breath,
02:13: Lord, how I long To sing of Jesus who died for me
02:18: Oh, my heart is filled with a thousand songs Proclaiming the glories of Calvary With every breath,
02:29: Lord, how I long To sing of Jesus who died for me
02:34: Lord, take me deeper Into the glories of Calvary For all eternity
03:04: We will sing worthy Our God has set us free
03:13: We'll sing the glories of Calvary For all eternity
03:18: We will sing worthy We'll sing the glories of Calvary For all eternity
03:37: The plan where all our sin
04:34: Was placed upon the perfect Lamb Who suffered, bled, and died
04:40: The wisdom of a sovereign God Whose greatness will be shown
04:48: When those who crucified Your Son Rejoice around Your throne
04:55: And Lord, that You sent
05:05: Your Son for us I gladly count my life as lost
05:13: That I might come to know The glory of The gloriousness was there revealed
05:34: That sets the guilty free That justifies ungodly men
05:40: And calls the filthy clean A righteousness that proved to all
05:47: That justice has been met And holy wrath is satisfied
05:55: Through one atoning death Your Son for us is lost
06:17: That I might come to know Mercy now has been proclaimed
06:56: For those who would believe A love incomprehensible
07:02: Our minds could not conceive A mercy that forgives my sin
07:09: That makes me like Your Son And now
07:14: I'm loved forevermore Because of what You've done
07:21: And oh, the glory of the cross That You sent
07:30: Your Son for us I gladly count my life as lost
07:38: That I might come to know Your Son for us is lost
08:04: That I might come to know The glory of Whose priceless blood has ransomed me
09:13: Mine was the sin that drove the bitter nails
09:20: And hung Him on that judgment tree The Redeemer who crushed the power of sin and death
09:37: My only Savior before the holy judge
09:46: Righteousness The Redeemer, my life
10:08: He bought My love He owns I have no longings for another
10:18: I'm satisfied in Him alone Yes, I will glory in my
10:29: Redeemer His faithfulness, my standing place
10:35: Though foes are mighty and rush upon me
10:43: My feet are His grace My feet are
11:05: Who carries me on eagles' wings He crowns my life with lovingkindness
11:16: His triumph song I'll ever sing And I will glory in my
11:33: Redeemer His face forever to behold
11:50: Heats of gold,
12:08: His face forever His face forever
13:05: Bless you and praise your name For your splendor we will dwell
13:19: Dreadless works, Lord, we'll meditate For awesome power we will tell
13:32: We'll speak of your salvation And your abundant goodness
13:39: Because you are greater than we can imagine
13:46: You are too beautiful for us to fight
13:57: To be praised Regeneration shall sing your worth
14:11: Mercy and your grace We'll sing about the
14:19: Savior who came to earth To bear the sins of those
14:27: He came to save You fill our hearts with wonder
14:34: We'll worship you forever Because you are greater than we can imagine
14:44: You are too beautiful for us to fathom
14:54: And greatly to be praised And greatly to be praised
15:15: To be praised We'll worship you forever
15:50: Worship You fill our hearts with wonder
15:56: We'll worship you forever Because you are greater than we can imagine
16:13: You are too beautiful for us to fathom
16:21: Because you are greater than we can imagine
16:28: And you are too beautiful to fathom
16:35: To be praised
16:42: Yes, you are so great And greatly to be praised
16:49: You are, you are so great And greatly to be praised
17:10: I have a shelter in the storm
17:32: When troubles pour upon me Though fears are rising like a flood
17:41: My soul can rest securely Oh Jesus, I will hide in My place of peace and solace
17:56: No trial is deeper than your love That comforts all my sorrows
18:05: I have a shelter in the storm
18:18: When all my sins accuse me Though justice charges me with guilt
18:27: Your grace will not refuse me Oh Jesus, I will hide in you
18:39: I find my refuge in your word
18:48: I find salvation I have a shelter in the storm
19:26: When constant winds would break me For in my weakness
19:33: I have learned Your strength will not forsake me
19:39: Oh Jesus, I will hide in you
19:45: The one who bears my burden With faithful hands that cannot fail
19:55: You'll bring me home to you
20:01: The one who bears my burden
20:13: With faithful hands that cannot fail You'll bring me home to you
20:23: I could sooner
21:36: Exceed all praise The sunlight fills the skies
21:41: Goodness fills my life For all your precious gifts
21:47: Receive my grace I could sooner drink the seas
22:07: Than fathom all your love Like a never ceasing stream
22:13: Our mercies through your son The death of Christ alone
22:20: Deserves eternal song For such a love as his
22:26: Receive my gratefulness He is high enough to tell the whole show
22:45: He is I could sooner turn back time
23:11: Than turn your heart away Though the years go fleeting by Your mercies never change
23:21: Before you made the sign Your love will stay on us
23:27: For all your faithfulness Receive my gratefulness
25:12: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Kootenai Church on this wonderful Sunday in June.
25:18: Please stand as we sing I Sing the Mighty Power of God. I sing the mighty power of God That made the mountains rise
25:36: That spread the flowing seas abroad And built the lofty skies
25:43: I sing the wisdom that ordained The sun to rule the day
25:51: The moon shines full at his command And all the stars obey
25:58: I sing the goodness of the
26:06: Lord That filled the earth with food He formed the creatures with his word
26:13: And then pronounced them good Lord, how thy wonders are displayed
26:21: Where 'er I turn my eyes If I survey the ground
26:27: I tread or gaze upon the sky There's not a plant or flower below But makes thy glories known
26:42: And clouds arise and tempests blow By order from thy throne
26:50: While all that borrows life from thee Is ever in thy care
26:57: And everywhere that man can be Thou, God, art present there
27:31: Eternal God, unchanging Mysterious and unknown
27:41: Your boundless love unfailing
27:46: Grace and mercy show Bright seraphim in ceaseless flight
27:57: Around your glorious throne They raise their voices day and night
28:08: In praise to you alone Hallelujah Glory be to our great
28:21: God Hallelujah Hallelujah Glory be to our great
28:31: God Lord, we are weak and frail
28:41: Helpless in the storm Surround us with your angels
28:51: Hold us in your arms Our cold and ruthless enemy
29:00: His pleasure is our harm
29:05: Rise up, O Lord, and he will flee
29:11: Before our sovereign God Hallelujah Hallelujah Glory be to our great
29:24: God Hallelujah Glory be to our great
29:34: God Let every creature in the sea
29:43: And every flying bird Let every mountain, every field
29:53: And valley of the earth Let all the moons and all the stars
30:03: In all the universe Sing praises to our living
30:12: God Who rules them by his word
30:17: Hallelujah Glory be to our great
30:26: God Hallelujah Glory be to our great
30:35: God Hallelujah Glory be to our great
30:45: God Hallelujah Glory be to our great
30:55: God Jesus, your mercy is all my pain
31:27: I have no defense My guilt runs too deep
31:33: The best of my works Pierce your hands and your feet
31:39: Jesus, your mercy is all my pain
31:53: Jesus, your mercy is all my boast
31:58: The goodness I claim The grounds of my hope
32:03: Whatever I lack It's still what I need most
32:10: Jesus, your mercy is all my boast
32:19: Praise the King who bore my sin Took my place when
32:26: I stood condemned Oh, how good you've always been to me
32:34: I will sing of your mercy Jesus, your mercy is all my rest
32:53: Fears weigh me down And enemies press The comfort
32:59: I cling to In life and in death Jesus, your mercy is all my rest
33:13: Praise the King who bore my sin Took my place when
33:21: I stood condemned Oh, how good you've always been to me
33:29: I will sing of your mercy Jesus, your mercy is all my joy
33:56: Forever I'll lift my heart and my voice
34:02: And sing of a treasure no power can destroy Jesus, your mercy is all my joy
34:16: Praise the King who bore my sin
34:21: Took my place when I stood condemned Oh, how good you've always been to me
34:31: I will sing Praise the
34:37: King who bore my sin Took my place when
34:43: I stood condemned Oh, how good you've always been to me
34:51: I will sing of your mercy Okay.
35:37: Sorry for that. A couple of announcements concerning a couple things coming up. We have a New Families Night on June 25th, so just a reminder that if you want to attend that, please sign up on the sheet out in the foyer so we know who to expect for that.
35:49: Those are for folks who are new to the church within the last eight, ten months, something like that. You haven't had a chance to go through the membership class and you want to come and ask some questions of the elders and deacons and meet the elders and deacons, that night is for you.
36:01: We will provide dinner for you, pizza that night, and that is June 25th, that is a Friday evening, and we start at 6 p .m.
36:08: And then we have a church campout coming up in the month of July. There are details in your bulletin and coming out in the
36:13: July newsletter. And at our annual church campout, we always have a baptism service, so this is my chance to remind you that if you have trusted
36:21: Christ for salvation and you have never been baptized, I would encourage you to obey the Lord in believer's baptism and come and talk with me afterwards so we can arrange for you to attend a baptism class to find out what baptism is about and then to be interviewed by one or more of the elders and have you baptized at the church campout.
36:39: So if that's something you want to do, please come and talk with me sometime the next week or so so we can get that arranged.
36:47: And then my third announcement is, I talked about this in the adult Sunday school class when we were going through the series of lessons on God Wrote a
36:53: Book. I talked about a new Bible translation that is out, the Legacy Standard Bible. This is a translation of scripture that is done by the
37:02: Master's Seminary staff. That is the ministry or the school overseen by Grace Community Church and John MacArthur's ministry.
37:09: They got the rights to the Lockman Foundation's New American Standard Bible, and they took the
37:16: New American Standard translation and made it even better, altering a couple of ways that they've translated things.
37:22: For instance, instead of translating the word doulos as bond servant or servant, they translated it as slave, which is a massive improvement over all the other
37:30: English translations. A second thing that they did is in the Old Testament when you read the name of the Lord, they usually capitalize it
37:36: L -O -R -D, capital, all caps, and that is usually a translation of the
37:42: Hebrew Yahweh, the Tetragrammaton, and Yahweh is God's name. And so in the
37:48: Old Testament translation, whenever you see the word Yahweh in the New or Old Testament, the LSB has translated it as Yahweh rather than just as the
37:57: Lord, all caps. And they've tightened up the NASB. I think that the NASB, the 95 edition, was
38:03: I think the best English translation available to us. And they have taken the
38:08: NASB and improved it and made it even better. And if most people here did not already use the
38:14: NASB, I would switch over and start using the LSB in my preaching, and that might come at some point.
38:19: And they recently published the entire New Testament and the Psalms and the Proverbs in the
38:25: LSB, and the rest of the Old Testament is coming out later this fall, I think in October is when they plan on having that out.
38:32: Well, I say all of that to, and this is what it looks like right here. I say all of that to let you know that as a gift from grace to you, the
38:40: Radio Ministry of John MacArthur, there are 120 of them out in the foyer.
38:47: That's enough for one family or every adult in a family to get at least one copy of the LSB. It's their gift to us, basically through Phil Johnson, because he was here and he saw that you didn't have it, and he said, hey, how about if I send up a few boxes for you?
39:01: And I said that would be great. So get yours. They'll be on a table in the foyer when you leave here today, and feel free to pick up a copy for you and your family.
39:09: We turn now in your Bible, not the LSB, obviously, to John chapter one. We're gonna read the first 18 verses of John chapter one.
39:26: This is the prologue to John's Gospel. It describes here the intimacy between the
39:32: Father and the Son in the Trinity. It is an introduction to who Christ is, describing his eternality and his closeness with the
39:39: Father and the fact that he is the revelation of the Father to us. John chapter one, and we'll read together these 18 verses.
39:47: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
39:54: All things came into being through him and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being.
39:59: In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
40:06: There came a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light so that all might believe through him.
40:14: He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. There was the true light, which coming into the world enlightens every man.
40:22: He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him.
40:29: But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
40:42: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the
40:48: Father full of grace and truth. John testified about him and cried out saying, This was he of whom
40:54: I said, He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for he existed before me. For of his fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
41:04: For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen
41:10: God at any time. The only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him.
41:16: You stand with me as we pray. Let's bow our heads.
41:24: Our Father, we are thankful to you for the revelation of your nature and your character, your being and essence in the person of your
41:31: Son. We thank you that you have sent the Son into the world to show us who our
41:36: God is and to reveal to us your grace and mercy. We thank you that in Christ, grace and truth have been realized and that in sending your
41:45: Son, you have made propitiation through his death for our sin. And we thank you for satisfying your own wrath against us by sending your
41:54: Son to bear our sin in our stead. And so we worship you and we praise you for this great gift of grace, your
42:01: Son. We thank you that our salvation, though it cost him everything, his life, was your predetermined plan and it is the expression of your love for us.
42:13: So we thank you for your mercy and we pray that as we sing today that you would fill our hearts with love and affection for Christ.
42:19: We pray that you would help us to meditate and think upon his goodness and your grace to us. And we pray that our hearts may be filled with joy as we fellowship with one another and give us grace to sing with enthusiasm and exuberance in a way that is honoring and glorifying to you and fix our hearts and our meditation upon Christ and his work.
42:37: And upon your word this morning, we ask in his name. We're going to sing a new song this morning written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend called
42:50: My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness. My heart is filled with thankfulness
43:09: To him who bore my pain Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace
43:19: And gave me life again Who crushed my curse of sinfulness
43:29: And clothed me with his light
43:34: And moved his law of righteousness
43:39: With power upon my heart My heart is filled with thankfulness
43:55: To him who walks beside Who floods my weaknesses with strength
44:05: And causes fears to fly Whose every promise is enough
44:15: For every step I take Sustaining me with arms of love
44:26: And crowning me with grace
44:35: My heart is filled with thankfulness
44:41: To him who reigns above Whose wisdom is my perfect peace
44:51: Whose every thought is love For every day
44:58: I have on earth Is given by the king
45:05: So I will give my life, my all
45:11: To love and follow him For every day
45:19: I have on earth Is given by the king
45:26: So I will give my life, my all
45:31: To love and follow him To love and follow him
45:44: In Romans chapter 8, verses 31 -34, it reads,
45:50: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
45:56: He who indeed did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
46:07: Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns?
46:15: Christ Jesus is he who died. Yes, rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
46:28: Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea
46:38: A great high priest whose name is love Whoever lives and pleads for me
46:47: My name is graven on his hands My name is written on his heart
46:56: I know that while in heaven he stands No tongue can bid me thence depart
47:04: No tongue can bid me thence depart When Satan tempts me to despair
47:16: And tells me of the guilt within Upward I look and see him there
47:24: Who made an end to all my sin Because the sinless
47:32: Savior died My sinful soul is counted free
47:37: For God the just is satisfied To look on him and pardon me
47:46: To look on him and pardon me
47:53: Hallelujah, Hallelujah Praise the one risen
48:04: Son of God Behold him there, the risen
48:21: Lamb My perfect spotless righteousness The great unchangeable
48:29: I am The King of glory and of grace
48:34: One with himself I cannot die My soul is purchased with his blood
48:43: My life is hid with Christ on high With Christ my
48:49: Savior and my God With Christ my Savior and my
48:55: God Hallelujah, Hallelujah Praise the one risen
49:09: Son of God I bow before the cross of Christ And marvel at this love divine
49:30: God's perfect Son was sacrificed To make me righteous in God's eyes
49:39: This river's depth I cannot know But I can glory in its flood
49:47: The Lord Most High has bowed down low And poured on me his glorious love
49:55: And poured on me his glorious love
50:02: Hallelujah, Hallelujah Praise the one risen
50:13: Son of God Hallelujah, Hallelujah Praise the one risen
50:29: Son of God You may be seated.
50:44: Will you please now turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 and looking at verse 26.
50:57: We'll read verses 26 through verse 31. Hebrews 10 beginning at verse 26.
51:05: For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
51:17: Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
51:24: How much severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the
51:35: Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. And again, the
51:41: Lord will judge his people. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Let's pray together.
51:49: Our gracious God, our Father, we pray that you would grant us understanding in your word this morning, that you would open our eyes and our hearts and if there are any here who have never trusted
51:59: Christ for salvation that they would see their need to do so and that are looking at this passage which warns of turning away from the gospel may truly find a seed and a place in every heart that is here.
52:12: Help us to appreciate your great grace today but also to heed the warning of this passage so that you might be honored and glorified to those who trust
52:20: Christ and lean upon him and believe upon him for salvation. Be glorified through this time, we pray in Christ's name.
52:28: Amen. When we stopped our study last week, I had introduced these three statements that we find in verse 29.
52:35: He has trampled underfoot the Son of God, has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the spirit of grace.
52:43: And those describe the sin of apostasy. And apostasy is no small matter and the one who walks away from the truth of the gospel has in effect done all three of those things.
52:52: That is the author's explanation of why the punishment is so severe. How much severer do you think the one would deserve who has trampled underfoot the
53:00: Son of God, regarded his blood as nothing, and then insulted the spirit of grace? Those three things describe the sin of apostasy.
53:08: Now, granted, admittedly, the apostate would never describe his own sin that way. The one who turns from the gospel would probably describe his sin this way.
53:16: He would say, well, I tried the Jesus thing, it just wasn't for me. Or, I just kind of doubt the legitimacy of it. Or, the church is filled with hypocrites and it wasn't my thing.
53:24: Or, I just didn't like to go to that place, there's a bunch of people that I didn't know and so I just feel better at home.
53:29: Or, I could just go out into nature and worship God on a mountaintop somewhere. I have my own little church in my house.
53:36: All of those excuses for walking away from the assembly of the saints and for departing away from the truth and denying the gospel, those excuses and a hundred more are what the apostate would say to describe his own rejection of the truth.
53:50: And yet, this threefold description of apostasy in verse 29 is in fact the author showing that the judgment that is described in verse 27, the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries, the severer punishment, the vengeance, the
54:06: Lord judging his people, the terrifying thing that it is to fall into the hands of the living God, this is the author just showing us that that punishment, that justice, is actually just and it is not excessive at all.
54:19: It is not over the top, it is not beyond the pale, it is not outside of what the apostate would deserve.
54:25: Because the apostate in turning from the truth is not simply making an assessment about a church body or a preacher or the worship or the message or a church's ability to reach the community or any other excuse that they might use for walking away from the gospel.
54:41: The apostate is not making an assessment of any of those things. The apostate,
54:47: I keep wanting to say apostle, the apostate in turning away from the truth is actually making an assessment regarding the work of the
54:55: Father, the work of the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit. It is a direct and blasphemous attack upon the members of the
55:02: Trinity. So that when the author describes the apostate as deserving of this fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries, he is demonstrating that this is in fact justice, that the sin matches the punishment and that the punishment is not excessive given the nature of the sin.
55:21: Because in Scripture these two things always go together, the amount of light that is rejected and the punishment that is meted out by God in the eternal scheme or even in an earthly and temporal judgment.
55:31: These two things are always proportional to one another, the light rejected and the punishment that is received.
55:37: So that the greater the light that is rejected, the more deserving the apostate is of the punishment and the worse the punishment will be for the one who rejects that light.
55:47: So then how much severer do you think it would be for one who was embraced by the Christian community and invited in as one of their own and believed to be one of their own and has enjoyed all of the blessings, though giving only intellectual assent, he has enjoyed in a superficial manner all of the blessings that are part of this new covenant community.
56:06: And how much more severe do you think the judgment should be upon one who sees the truth and has superficially experienced the truth and has given intellectual assent to the truth but then has regarded the truth as not true and turned away from it and rejected it altogether?
56:21: How much more severe should be his judgment? For who has received more light than one who has been among us and has experienced some of the things that we have experienced and has heard the truth and understood the gospel and come face to face with it?
56:36: Who has received more light than that? So the author has this rhetorical question, how much more severe?
56:43: How much severer do you think he will deserve in terms of punishment? It's kind of like the rhetorical question at the beginning of the first warning passage in chapter 2.
56:52: How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? That is a question that is just sort of thrown out by the author to look upon the question itself.
57:01: How will you escape if you neglect that? How much severer do you think the judgment should be upon one who has embraced these things on a superficial level and been among us and was thought to be one of us but then has turned away and walked away and apostatized from the truth?
57:17: Because the apostate, remember, is not a genuine believer. This is one who has given an intellectual assent to the truth.
57:24: It is one who has outwardly embraced these things and superficially experienced some of them and then has rejected that truth.
57:31: So note the threefold description here of this treachery. And I briefly mentioned last week that there are a couple of different ways that we could categorize these three statements.
57:39: And last week we just kind of introduced them and observed some things about all three of these. We saw that these three statements really could be categorized in terms of the person who is slighted, the
57:49: Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or the work that is repudiated. In other words, the work of the
57:54: Father in sending the Son to be the Savior of the world is spurned when one tramples underfoot the
58:00: Son of God. It is the sending work of the Father and the Father's love for the Son that is spurned. Or to assess the work of the
58:07: Son in His self -giving sacrifice and then to repudiate that or to consider as unclean the blood that He has shed that has sanctified
58:14: Him. Or to look at the work of the Spirit of God in drawing and illuminating and enlightening the mind of the unbeliever to the point where they see and understand the gospel.
58:24: To turn away from that is an insult to the Spirit of grace. So these three sins are a spurning of the
58:30: Father, a scorning of the Son, and a slighting of the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Trinity are in some way repudiated and renounced in the sin of apostasy.
58:39: And the work of each person, the sending of the Father, the self -giving of the Son, and the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit, the work of all three of them is slighted by the apostate who turns away from it and renounces it.
58:50: So that brings us all up to speed. Three persons and their three works. So now let's look at each of these statements.
58:56: He has trampled underfoot, first of all, the Son of God. How much severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the
59:03: Son of God? The reference here to Jesus as the Son of God is, I think, well, I know, it's intentional.
59:09: The author's not doing this by accident. There are a number of ways that he could have referred to the Lord Jesus Christ. He could have referred to Him as a high priest.
59:15: He could have said how much more Him who has trampled underfoot the high priest, or who has trampled underfoot
59:21: Jesus, or has trampled underfoot the Christ, or even Jesus Christ. There are a number of titles and designations the author could have used.
59:28: It's interesting to me that he chooses the term Son of God because that is a designation, that is a description that is intended to show the shocking nature of this apostasy.
59:39: That the person that is being slighted and trampled underfoot is not an ordinary man, just a man named
59:46: Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Joseph. He's not just the Messiah, but He is, in fact, the
59:52: Son of Joseph, the Son of David, the Messiah, the King of Israel, and above all of that,
59:58: He is the Divine Son of God. This designation of referring to Him as the Son of God demonstrates the shocking nature of this.
01:00:05: It reminds us of His divinity. In fact, this is the title of His divinity. When we see Jesus referred to as the
01:00:10: Son of God, it reminds us that this One whom we are talking about is of one nature and one substance with the
01:00:17: Father. He shares the substance and nature of God in full so that He, though being fully man,
01:00:23: He is also fully divine in His essence and His nature. And this describes His divine nature.
01:00:29: It is also how the same designation, the Son of God, is used in the previous warning passage, Hebrews 6, and I think for the very same purpose.
01:00:38: In Hebrews 6, verse 6, the author says, describing these apostates, and then if they have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance since they again crucified to themselves the
01:00:48: Son of God and put Him to open shame. Hear that description? They crucified to themselves the
01:00:53: Son of God and put Him to open shame. It's almost like he is describing the same thing in this warning passage when he speaks of trampling underfoot the
01:01:01: Son of God. It is an open shaming and repudiation of this One who shares the divine nature so that He, being fully
01:01:09: God and fully man, shares in full all of the nature and the substance and the essence of divinity.
01:01:17: He possesses fully the divine nature so He is not just the Son of God, He is God the
01:01:22: Son. And that phrase describes His divinity. So this is a divine person that is being described here.
01:01:28: Imagine the sin of trampling underfoot the divine Son, the
01:01:34: One who is not just the Son of God, He is God the Son, this One who shares the very nature of the
01:01:39: Father Himself. And when Jesus is described as the Son of God in Scripture, it is intended to show us
01:01:45: His connection to the Father. It is intended to remind us that He shares the same nature with the
01:01:50: Father that He has always shared from eternity past. And that title Son of God also reminds us of the relationship that He shares with the
01:01:57: Father. He is the Son of God. When you and I read the word God in the New Testament, most of the time when we read that word, with very rare exceptions, and there are exceptions, it is referring to the
01:02:08: Father as the person of the Trinity. It is either the entire Godhead that is mentioned or specifically it is addressing the
01:02:14: Father. So when we read here, for instance, that He is the Son of God, we're saying here that He is in relationship to the
01:02:19: Father. He is the Son in terms of His relationship ontologically with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, sharing that divine nature.
01:02:26: He is related to the Father and there is an intimate and personal and loving fellowship between the Father and the
01:02:31: Son. So this is not just an ordinary man. Not only does He have a divine nature and He is the divine
01:02:37: Son, but His nearness with the Father and His relationship with the Father and the Father's love for Him cannot be overstated.
01:02:44: In Matthew chapter three, the voice from heaven said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
01:02:49: That is the Father's assessment of the Son. So this one that we are describing as the Son of God shares not only the divine nature, but He has enjoyed from eternity past the infinite and unspeakable and perfect love of the
01:03:04: Father and the Spirit from all of eternity past. There has been between the persons of the
01:03:10: Trinity this infinite love, this perfect affection, this perfect fellowship between them.
01:03:16: So that this one who is trampled underfoot here is not just one who is of the same nature as the Father, but He is one who has enjoyed perfect fellowship and all of the infinite love that the
01:03:26: Father could lay upon anybody He has put upon His Son. How much severe punishment do you think
01:03:32: He deserves who has trampled underfoot that one? And has repudiated that one? His designation as the
01:03:40: Son reminds us of His divinity, of His relationship with the Father and of the mission that He came into the world.
01:03:47: The idea of His Sonship, His Sonship is related in Scripture most specifically in the Gospel of John to the
01:03:53: Father sending Him into the world to accomplish a task. The Son was sent with a mission from the
01:03:58: Father and it is the Father in the Gospel of John who sends the Son. In fact, it is John in the New Testament that describes this most frequently and it is one of the main themes of the
01:04:07: Gospel of John. If you were with us for that trek through the Gospel of John, you probably remember how often that theme came up of the
01:04:14: Father sending the Son. John 6, 38, For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent
01:04:20: Me. John 8, 42, Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love Me. For I proceeded forth and have come from God, that is from the
01:04:27: Father, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He, the Father, sent Me. And He sent
01:04:34: Him for salvation. 1 John 4, verse 14, We have seen and testified that the Father has sent the
01:04:39: Son to be the Savior of the world. So there is this intimate connection between the Father and the Son. They share the divine nature.
01:04:45: They share love between the persons. And then the Father has sent, dispatched the Son into the world as Savior for the world.
01:04:52: This one the Father has sent into the world. And what is the Father's assessment of this one He has sent into the world?
01:04:58: This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. One of divine nature, one of divine relationship to the
01:05:05: Father, and one with a divine mission. And the Father has sent the Son into the world and therefore the
01:05:11: Son is a special love gift from the Father to this world. The one whom the
01:05:16: Father loved from eternity past. As far back as your mind could go in time, prior to creation, and go back further and infinitely back before anything even existed, including angels.
01:05:28: And the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit existed in perfect harmony, perfect unity, and perfect love together.
01:05:35: And one was sent by the Father into this world to take upon Himself human flesh and to live a perfect life and then to die in the stead of men to bear the sins of all who will believe upon Him.
01:05:47: This one, being God in human flesh, enjoying perfect fellowship with the Father, was sent on this divine mission.
01:05:55: And so Christ then is one of infinite value. He is one of infinite worth. He is one of unspeakable majesty.
01:06:01: He is one whom the angels worshiped before He ever came into this world. He was in the form of God and did not consider
01:06:08: His equality with God as something to be held onto at all costs. But in the counsel of the triune
01:06:14: God, the Father willed to send the Son into the world and the Son came at the heeding of the
01:06:20: Father's will and the Son came voluntarily, not coerced, not against His will, but He came voluntarily to lay down His life on behalf of any and all who will believe.
01:06:31: How much severe punishment do you think He deserves who's trampled underfoot that one? When the
01:06:36: Father and the Son will bear witness against that one, because the sin of apostasy is in fact a rejection of and a repudiation of the most precious gift that could ever have been given, one of infinite value and one of infinite worth, and there is nothing higher and nothing greater and nothing more majestic than the one whom the
01:06:58: Father has sent into the world. And what does the apostate do? Tramples him underfoot.
01:07:06: Now this is obviously not describing a literal physical trampling underfoot. The definition of that word tramples means to despise, to treat as useless, to trample on, or to tread down.
01:07:18: And it's not literally describing that physically this would happen by the apostate. Obviously Christ seated at the right hand of God does not endure that physical shame, but metaphorically speaking, this is exactly what the apostate does.
01:07:30: He treats by turning away from the gospel, the truth of the gospel, he treats with rudeness and insult and spurn, and insults
01:07:37: Jesus Christ in trampling him underfoot. This is metaphorically speaking exactly what the apostate does.
01:07:43: He views Christ as nothing more than a doormat to be trampled underfoot for his own purposes or used for his own purposes.
01:07:50: He treats him as nothing greater than a stick or a piece of dirt or a gravel path to be walked upon.
01:07:56: This one whom the father loved and sent into the world, the beloved son in whom the father is well pleased, one with the father, the object of his eternal love.
01:08:04: The apostate tramples him underfoot. Imagine then that you are hearing this as a
01:08:10: Jew who is considering going back to the Old Testament sacrifices in the temple for your worship in the first century.
01:08:16: Here's what the author is intending to say. If you go back to that, you are esteeming the person of Christ as nothing greater than an ox or a bull or a lamb that is slaughtered on your behalf.
01:08:29: If you would prefer the blood of an ox as better than and greater than the blood of Christ who shed it to atone for your sins, you are esteeming him as nothing more than blood to be trampled on in the courts of the temple.
01:08:41: You're esteeming Christ as nothing of greater value than an ox or a sheep or a lamb to be slaughtered in the temple.
01:08:48: That's the trampling underfoot. Today, if you turn from the gospel and reject
01:08:53: Christ and refuse to heed the call to salvation, then what you are doing, for whatever reason you're doing it, what you are doing is you are saying that the pleasures of this world, the pleasures of sin for a season, are more valuable to me than that one whom the
01:09:09: Father sent into the world. And that I would rather have my sin, I would rather have the fulfillment of my lusts,
01:09:16: I would rather be king of my own domain than to bow the knee to this one whom the Father esteems as the most valuable thing in all of creation.
01:09:27: Or, to walk away from and repudiate Christ is to say, I would rather, I value higher the esteem of the world and the reputation that the world may give me if I can turn away from the gospel and instead have the fame and accolades of the pagan world or of this creation.
01:09:44: To turn away from Christ is to esteem something else as higher than that which the
01:09:49: Father esteemed as higher than all else. That is what trampling him underfoot is.
01:09:55: And one who rejects and turns from the gospel does this very thing. You see, a rejection of the gospel message is in fact a rejection, not just of a message or of a declaration or of an offer or of an invitation, the rejection of the gospel is a rejection of Christ himself.
01:10:12: That's the hideousness of the rejection of the gospel. Because Christ is the prize of the gospel. What is offered to us in the good news of the gospel is not just a message, it's not just an invitation.
01:10:23: Again, it is a person. It is him that we receive. It is him that we are to believe upon. So what is held forth to us in the offer of the gospel is the atoning work of that son.
01:10:32: It is all that he did as the divine one loved by the Father on the cross for our sake.
01:10:39: And to look at that, to behold that and to turn away from it is to value something else as higher than that.
01:10:45: What is offered to us in the gospel is his work, his sacrifice, his perfection and his righteousness.
01:10:50: What is given to us in the gospel is all of his doing and all of his perfect life and all of the righteousness that he has, an infinite and unblemished and perfect righteousness.
01:11:02: That righteousness is offered to us in the gospel. All of his wisdom, his truth, his glory, the reward for years of faithful service and belief and faith, his headship.
01:11:12: You see, what is offered to us in the gospel is bowing the knee to Christ and making him our head since he is given as head over all of the church and God has made him as the preeminent one over all of creation.
01:11:24: When the gospel offers us Christ, it offers us him as the head of all things. And when we reject the gospel, we are rejecting him.
01:11:32: His kingdom and his glory, his nature, his goodness, his mercy, his loving kindness and his grace, all of that is wrapped up in the gospel.
01:11:40: When you hear the proclamation of the good news of the gospel, what you are being offered is Christ. That's it.
01:11:46: You say, that's it? Yeah, that's it. But guess what? That's it is everything. He's not just that's it.
01:11:52: He's everything. So what God offers to us in him, yes, it is Christ, but in him, we have everything.
01:11:58: Every good thing that God could give us is offered to us in the person of Christ. His infinite wisdom, his infinite righteousness, his infinite grace, it's in the person of his son.
01:12:08: This one who is the beloved one, who is the divine one, who is the one in whom the father is well pleased, the most valuable and esteemed one by the father, the one whom the father esteems and has elevated above all else.
01:12:20: He is what is offered to us in the gospel. And the apostate that turns from that and says, no, no thanks.
01:12:28: He is trampling underfoot the son of God. And receiving the gospel is receiving Christ. To receive the gospel is to receive him.
01:12:36: To reject the gospel is to reject him. It's to say, yeah, I don't want him. I'd rather have something else.
01:12:42: It's to say that there is something else more valuable than him. Because in the gospel, Christ is offered to us.
01:12:49: In fact, the command of the gospel commands us to embrace not a message, not a system of propositional truths, not some beliefs or a doctrinal statement or dogmas or a life reformation plan, none of that.
01:13:03: The gospel command is to repent and to believe upon and trust him. So the command of the gospel is to come to him all ye who are weak and heavy laden and he will give you rest.
01:13:13: The command of the gospel is to trust him for your salvation and eternal life. The command of the gospel is to turn from your sin to him.
01:13:21: You're turning from idols, from your sin to the living God and an embrace of Jesus Christ.
01:13:28: To trust and believe the gospel is to yield yourself to him, to believe upon him, to trust him like one trusts a parachute, to put him on, to embrace him.
01:13:38: To borrow the analogy of John chapter six, it is to eat his flesh and to drink his blood, to appropriate himself to us what is provided in the gospel, what is offered in the gospel is forgiveness of sins and it is righteousness but it is those things contained in Christ and you cannot have those things without having
01:13:56: Christ. So if he is not precious to you, if he is not valuable to you, if you are not willing to submit to him and yield to him and love him and obey him, then you have no part in anything that he offers you because you cannot have the blessings of the gift without the giver of the gift as well because the blessings that come to us are in fact given to us in and through the giver of the gift which is
01:14:18: Christ himself. And so I can't have all, I can't have righteousness and forgiveness and grace and mercy and escape hell without receiving
01:14:26: Jesus Christ and appropriating him to myself. I must take him, eat his flesh, drink his blood,
01:14:32: I must have him, I must have an infinite connection to him and if he is not precious, then I trust you, trust me, there is nothing else in the gospel that will be precious to you because everything that is provided in the gospel is summed up the glorious and majestic person of Christ.
01:14:48: Reject him, refuse him, you're trampling him underfoot. And it is a rejection of the father as well because Christ is a revelation of the father.
01:14:59: This is what we read in John chapter 1, no one has seen God, the father, at any time. But the only begotten
01:15:06: God who is in the bosom, in close relationship with the father, he that is
01:15:11: Christ, the divine son, has explained or exegeted the father to us. John chapter 1 is saying that no one has seen the father at any time but the son closely related to the father, sharing one in essence and nature with the father, that one who was the word from eternity past, who was always with God and always was
01:15:29: God, that one has explained to us what the father is like. So that Jesus could say in John chapter 14 to Philip's question, show us the father.
01:15:37: Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. And it's not that Jesus and the father are the same person.
01:15:43: They're not the same person, but they are the same nature. They are the same essence. And Christ is so much a revelation of the nature and the character of God the father, that Jesus could say, if you have looked at me and have seen my character and my nature, then you have beheld the very same nature and character of the father.
01:16:00: Without seeing his person, you have seen his nature. All of the revelation of the father that we could need or that we could receive is in the person of the son.
01:16:09: So to reject the son is also to reject whom? The father. It's to reject the father.
01:16:16: To look at Christ and say, I do not want him, I will not have him, I will not yield to him, is also to repudiate the father.
01:16:25: So if this one whom the father has loved and has sent him to the world, and this one who shares the very nature of the father, and this one who has revealed the nature and the purpose of the father, if this one who is himself the revelation in human flesh of the glory and majesty and the person and the being of God, if you reject him, you are also rejecting the father.
01:16:46: Jesus said, he who receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. In John chapter 5, listen to the close connection between believing
01:16:54: Christ and receiving the father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life.
01:17:04: He who hears my word and believes him who sent me. To heed the word of Christ is to believe the testimony of the father.
01:17:11: Because Jesus said, I don't say anything on my own initiative, but I only say those things that the father gave me to say. And Jesus said,
01:17:16: I don't do anything on my own initiative, I only do those things that the father sent me to do. I only do what the father sent me to do, and I do all that the father sent me to do.
01:17:24: And Jesus claimed to be a perfect revelation of the father. John 12, verse 44, Jesus cried out and said, he who believes in me does not believe in me, but in him who sent me.
01:17:32: See, to receive him was to receive the father. John chapter 13, verse 20, truly, truly,
01:17:37: I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.
01:17:43: Because Christ being one in word and mission and purpose and will and nature with the father has revealed the father to us, so to reject the son is also to reject the father.
01:17:53: You cannot reject the son and expect to have the grace of God because all of the grace of God that is to come from the father comes in one place and one place only, and that is in his son.
01:18:03: You see, Christianity is an exclusive religion in the sense that there is only one path to the father, and that is through the son, the
01:18:10: Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other name given under heaven among men by which men must be saved.
01:18:16: And if anybody is to be saved, it would be through Christ and Christ alone. Why? Because there is only one perfect revelation of the father, and that is through Christ.
01:18:24: And there is only one person who is the channel of all of God's grace, and that is Christ. And there is only one who has done the work necessary to atone for the sins of men so that we may have our sins forgiven, and that is
01:18:35: Christ. And to reject him is to reject all that the father might give you. It's also to reject the father's assessment of the son.
01:18:44: See, the father said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. To reject the son is to say, the father's assessment of the son, yeah, not so much.
01:18:54: That's not really accurate. That's not really truthful. I reject the father's approbation of the son.
01:19:01: I reject the father's love for the son. I reject the father's assessment of the divine son.
01:19:07: It's to reject him, his beloved son, the father, this one whom the father has highly exalted and put at his right hand and given him a name which is above every name, and it exalted him in the heavenlies above all authority and all power, and he has made him head of the church.
01:19:26: This is the father's assessment of the son. So that when the son said, it is finished, and he died, the father vindicated his work by raising him from the dead, and then bringing him to his right hand, and seating him there above all authority and above all power, and has given to him the disposal of all of his creation.
01:19:45: This one through whom the father created all of the world, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him by the father.
01:19:51: The judgment of all mankind has been committed to him by the father, and everything in heaven and everything on earth and everyone on earth and in heaven and under the earth will bow the knee to this one whom the father has loved.
01:20:05: And so to reject Jesus Christ is to reject the assessment of the father, and it is to reject the father himself.
01:20:13: The very nature and character of that revelation. This is the one whom the father has given.
01:20:20: How much more severe punishment do you think he deserves? Who spurns the son of God by trampling him underfoot, and turning from him and saying he is not valuable, he is not worthy, he is not majestic, he is not deserving of my worship or my faith.
01:20:37: Instead, I would rather have the passing pleasures of sin, or instead, I would rather have the accolades of this world, or instead,
01:20:44: I would rather have the acceptance from my family and my friends, or instead, I would rather have my own freedom and my own autonomy.
01:20:51: How much more severe punishment do you think he deserves than that? That would choose playing around in the dirt to enjoying the fellowship with the divine son and the father who sent him into the world.
01:21:07: Now, non -Christian, if you're here, and you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, if you reject the truth of the gospel and the person of Christ, all the responsibility for that rejection falls upon you and your head.
01:21:21: For you have heard the truth, and you know the truth, and you see the truth, and you are truly without excuse.
01:21:28: If you reject the good news of the gospel, you will get exactly what your sin warrants you.
01:21:33: All your blasphemy, your lies, your stealing, your taking God's name in vain, your lust, your greed, your selfishness, your slander, your gossip, your backbiting.
01:21:40: Every idle word you have spoken will be judged on that day. Every thought, motive, and deed you have ever had that you thought was done in darkness will be brought out into the light.
01:21:49: All things are naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. There is nothing hidden from his sight. Every deed you have ever done, every thought you have ever had is written down in his book, and he remembers them all, every last one of them.
01:22:02: And on the day of judgment, when you die, you will stand before him and give an account for all those deeds, and you then will bear the responsibility and the brunt of his wrath, justly so, for your sin, which you deserve.
01:22:14: You have it coming, and you deserve it, and that is what justice will be. If you reject that message, you bear all the responsibility for that.
01:22:23: Christian, if you have embraced that message, and you have trusted Christ for salvation, you get no praise or glory for that whatsoever.
01:22:31: None whatsoever. Because it is God himself who has opened your eyes and illuminated your mind so that you might understand and know and receive the truth.
01:22:40: And it is God himself and the person of the Holy Spirit who has drawn you to that message and changed your heart and given you eyes to see and a mind to comprehend that truth.
01:22:49: And then he has turned you from your sin, giving you the gift of repentance, and he has given you the divine gift of faith so that you might believe the gospel of your salvation and receive all of the blessing and all of the glory that comes with salvation in the person of Christ.
01:23:02: So if you reject this message, you have no one to blame but yourself. If you have received this message, you cannot thank yourself.
01:23:08: You can only thank God and no one else. That's the glorious news of the gospel. So to the undeliver,
01:23:13: I would say repent and turn and embrace Christ while it is still called today. Today is the day of salvation.
01:23:19: If you do not know him and you die in this world without Jesus Christ, you will pay for all of your sin.
01:23:25: If you do know him in Jesus Christ, you have all of your sins paid for. And not just that, but all of the righteousness of the divine son is imputed to your account so you get credit for all of the righteous life that he has lived.
01:23:37: That's the good news of the gospel. To turn from that is to trample underfoot the son of God.
01:23:45: How much severe punishment do you think you will deserve? Who has done that? Now as Christians, we celebrate the gift of the father every time that we observe communion together.
01:23:57: We are remembering not just the sacrifice of the son in what he did in giving his body and his blood so that we may have forgiveness of sins and his righteousness, but we also are reminded that this is a gift of the father to us.
01:24:10: That the father sent the son into the world. A body he prepared for the son so that the son could say, a body you have prepared for me.
01:24:18: And God did not desire the offerings and the sacrifices, the blood of bulls and goats, but instead the father sent the son into the world to shed that blood and to provide that atonement which bulls and oxes and lambs could never purchase, could never atone for.
01:24:36: That payment that has been done by the person of Christ is full, it is sufficient, it is final, and it is enough.
01:24:43: So if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, as we observe communion, I would invite you to not partake of these elements.
01:24:49: The bread and the juice, they're not magical, there's nothing mystical about it. They're not supernatural in any sense whatsoever, miraculous.
01:24:57: These are elements that we use to remind us as symbols of the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're meaningful to us as Christians because we recognize the cost of our salvation.
01:25:09: This was the divine plan. The plan of salvation was not an afterthought in eternity. It was the father willed to give up his son.
01:25:16: And he knew what it would cost him even before he created the first angel or the first Adam. He knew what the cost of that salvation would be.
01:25:24: And he created this world anyway for his own glory. And he created men for his own glory.
01:25:30: And he allowed us to fall for his own glory so that he might redeem us and that we might give glory to him by embracing
01:25:36: Christ. So if you are not a believer, let the elements pass from before you. This is not for you. Scripture says you eat and drink judgment to yourself.
01:25:42: If you are believers, we partake of communion. We're going to have first a time of quiet prayer, just a few moments for you to confess your sins.
01:25:50: Scripture says we don't want to partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner. That would be to eat and drink either in the sinful state while we are not repenting of our sin and not confessing our sin or while we have ought against a brother and we know that we are at odds with somebody, we need to reconcile.
01:26:05: Those are ways that we eat and drink in an unworthy way. We don't want to do that. So I'll ask the ushers to come forward now and I will step down and then we will take a few moments to pray together and then
01:26:15: I will lead us in prayer of confession. All right, let's bow our heads, quiet our hearts.
01:26:47: Our Father, we are unworthy recipients of your grace. We do not deserve any of the gifts of your mercy.
01:26:54: We don't deserve to have your son die in our place and in our stead so that we may have eternal life.
01:27:00: We deserve none of that. We don't deserve his righteousness. We deserve only punishment and hell for our sin.
01:27:07: And so we thank you that knowing that we were ruined in our sin and undone, that we were unable to save ourselves, that you sent your son to die for us.
01:27:18: We thank you for so great a mercy. We confess to you that though we believe and trust you, we are still sin each and every day in ways that we are aware of and ways that we are not even aware of.
01:27:31: We fail to honor you as you are worthy to be honored. We fail to esteem Christ as he is worthy to be esteemed.
01:27:38: We fall short each and every day, but we thank you that the righteousness of Christ avails for us, that his blood is atoned for us, and that that forgiveness is ours in him.
01:27:49: Thank you for providing a sacrifice of such inestimable worth and such a value and majesty for us unworthy sinners.
01:27:58: And thank you for including us in it and drawing us to Christ that we may partake of these graces and your mercy.
01:28:04: We praise you in the name of your son. On the very night that our
01:30:39: Lord was betrayed, he took the bread and when he had broken it, he said, Take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you.
01:30:45: Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, after supper, he took the cup and said,
01:33:32: This is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
01:33:42: Father, your mercy is infinite. We thank you that though our sin debt was also infinite, that your grace has supplied all that we need.
01:33:52: We thank you that there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ, and we thank you for the great sacrifice of your son in giving him to this world so that he might be our savior.
01:34:01: We pray that you would fill our hearts with joy and affection for Christ so that we may love him and serve him and honor him as he is worthy to be honored.
01:34:11: And may we see in him the perfect reflection and the perfect manifestation of your nature and grace and goodness.
01:34:19: And may you fill our hearts with love for him and for what you have done for us. And may we not forget that and may you continue to encourage us in our obedience and our love and our mortification, love for you and our mortification of sin.
01:34:30: We ask this in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen. Please stand.
01:34:49: Tell me the story of Jesus Write on my heart every word
01:34:58: Tell me the story most precious Sweetest that ever was heard
01:35:08: Tell how the angels in chorus
01:35:13: Sang as they welcomed his birth Glory to God in the highest
01:35:23: Peace and good tidings to earth Tell me the story of Jesus Write on my heart every word
01:35:38: Tell me the story most precious Sweetest that ever was heard
01:35:48: Tell of the cross where they nailed him Writhing in anguish and pain
01:35:58: Tell of the grave where they laid him
01:36:03: Tell how he liveth again Love in that story so tender
01:36:13: Clearer than ever I see Say let me weep while you whisper
01:36:22: Love paid the ransom for me Tell me the story of Jesus Write on my heart every word
01:36:37: Tell me the story most precious Sweetest that ever was heard
01:38:21: You spoke and time began Light dawned at your command
01:38:27: Fight began to move Mountains with your hands
01:38:38: Breathe life into all men Made it all and saw that it was good
01:38:46: There is no rival to you