The Plan Comes Together (Hebrews 7:11-22- Jeff Kliewer)

Old Testament Promises That Nothing Is Too Hard for the Lord

A few scripture verses. Genesis 18, the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, indeed, shall I bear a son or bear a child now that I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.

Jeremiah 32 says, behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me? Zechariah 8 .6 says, thus says the Lord of hosts, if it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts.

Jesus and Matthew said, with man, this is impossible. With God, all things are possible. And it reminded me, I heard a man say, there's three things that God can't do. He cannot lie, he cannot change, and he cannot allow an unredeemed, unsaved, sinful man into his heavenly presence.

And this last psalm speaks to that. Psalm 118, the psalmist says, open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builder rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. And just let those verses be an encouragement to you as we sing, God is able.

God is able, he will never fail. He is almighty God, greater than all we see, greater than all we ask. He has done great things, lifted up, defeated the grave. Raised to life, our God is able. In his name, we overcome.

For the Lord, our God is able. God is with us, God is on our side. He will make a way far above all we know, far above all we hope. He has done great things, lifted up, defeated the grave. Raised to life, our God is able.

In his name, we overcome. For the Lord, our God is able. Lifted up, lifted up, he defeated the grave. Raised to life, our God is able. In his name, we overcome. For the Lord is able. Before, he will never leave us.

He will never leave us. God is full. He has opened. He will never fail us. Lifted up, he defeated the grave. Raised to life, our God is in his name. We overcome. For the Lord, our God is able. Lifted up, he defeated the grave.

Raised to life, our God is able. In his name, we overcome. All my sin and shame in love you. Thank you for the nail picking. In your cleansing flow, now all I know. Your forgiveness and embrace. Worthy is the life.

Worthy is the life. Thank you for the cross. All my sin and shame in love you. Thank you for your cleansing. Now all I know. Your forgiveness. Let all be proud. Victory of heaven. Worthy is the life. Worthy is the life.

Worthy is the life. Worthy is the life.

Christ the Creator, Reconciler, and Head of the Church

Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

We are crowned at the feet of Jesus. See and love at the feet of Jesus. We cry holy, holy. Fall down our crowns at the feet of Jesus. See and love at the feet of Jesus. We cry holy, holy, holy. Cry holy.

Fall down at the feet of Jesus. At the feet we cry holy, holy.

Dear God, you are holy, holy, holy. You'll hear that forever because you are worthy of it. The angels cry, and we join in that cry. Worthy is the Lamb. Lamb of God, you are also a priest. And what kind of priest is this who comes to the altar, not with the blood of an animal, but with your own blood as you lay down on the cross?

To bear the sin of the world in your own flesh like a lamb led to the slaughter. What a priest you are, that you would take the sin of each of us who believe in you upon your shoulders to be hoisted up and to die the death that we deserve.

This morning we are in awe of you. We love this story, Lord God. We love the story of Jesus and his cross, his blood, the love of one who lays down his life for his friends. So this morning, Lord, we ask that you would help us to know the story even better, that you would remind us again of the truth of the story and send us out from this place with a passion to go tell it on the mountains.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Facts don't care about your feelings. Anybody know who says it? Ben Shapiro. Ben Shapiro. I love Ben Shapiro for his political commentary. And one of the things that I love about Shapiro is his analytical mind.

He believes in truth, objective truth, and so he wants consistency. And if somebody is being subjective or inconsistent, he'll find those points and defeat arguments. You see that a lot in, for example, when he's debating abortion and somebody will make a very emotional argument by introducing, for example, the cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

Well, Shapiro will call a person on that and tell them, look, if you really want to talk about that, we will, but first, will you acknowledge the 98 of cases that don't involve that? And so he will use logic to defeat their arguments and he'll point out the fact that by bringing up the most emotional cases possible, they're trying to raise the temperature in the room and make the argument no longer about truth, but about emotion and feelings.

So facts don't care about your feelings, and Shapiro is really good at those points. I thank God that God is using him in that particular way. But we're going to circle back to Shapiro in just a moment.

The other side, who don't often believe in truth, often are better at telling stories. Those of us who defend truth will often find that we're up against an animal that in some ways is stronger than us.

The other side is great at telling stories. They're great at emoting and bringing people to a conclusion based on emotion and feelings. Whereas we may have perfectly articulate and clear cases, the other side seems to win often because they know how to play on people's emotions better than we do.

As one person said, a lie will travel halfway around the world before the truth has put its shoes on. That's often the case. This is what we're up against. But Christians have not always fallen behind when it comes to telling stories.

Anybody familiar with C .S. Lewis and Tolkien? Each of them were storytellers, but they weren't just telling stories because they wanted bedtime stories for their kids. These were academics, and they wanted to communicate ideas, and they knew that by telling stories, people would be more likely to listen.

Everybody here loves a good story, right? The truth of the matter is that we, Christians, have the greatest story ever told. And the greatest story ever told is about Jesus and his love. The greatest thing about this story is that it is absolutely true.

Absolutely true. He came and he died, and he rose from the dead, and he really sits at the right hand of the Father. And he is alive. Our story is true. Now, circling back around, there are many people who have heard our story and discarded it.

Because looking at it analytically, they say, well, this can't be true. Ben Shapiro would be a case in point. He says that the whole story, in his words, are boring. He says the story is boring to him.

Another rabbi named Jonathan Romaine uses these words to describe how he sees the Christian message. He sees Messianic Judaism as a bit of a fudge to make Jews who already want to leave have an easier way to do it.

If something were going to happen with prophecy, it should have happened in a year or two, so you can do something about it. From our point of view, Jesus just failed the litmus test. There was only one test, which was to bring peace to the world, and just look around at the news, and we're just not there yet.

This rabbi thinks that the prophecies of Jesus were not fulfilled. So analytically, he'll say, Jesus failed. He didn't bring peace to the world. One of the biggest arguments that a first-century Jew would make against our story is that it doesn't meet the test of consistency.

They would say, your story has Jesus as a priest and offering a sacrifice on a cross, bringing himself as the Lamb, but your story can't be true because the priest had to be from the tribe of Levi, and your priest comes from Judah, not Levi.

And many people turned away from the Christian message hearing that analytical response from Jews, a response that carries on to this day. Let's turn to the scriptures to address that question in particular, but something larger.

It is the greatest story ever told. Let's take a step back this morning to see the full swoop of the story, how Jesus is the center of the story, and how it is that this passage that we have today is evidence, analytical proof, that Jesus really is the Son of God, that he is a priest, and that coming from Judah, he did accomplish the priestly work that God called him to do from the beginning, that it was completely in keeping with the plan of God, and God never changed.

Never changed his mind, never changed what he said from the beginning. So let's look now to Hebrews 7. We're going to pick up today and do 11 to 22, but you just have to remember a few things from what we've said already.

The first time we studied Melchizedek two weeks ago, we looked back into Genesis 14, and we saw the context of the story. Who's Melchizedek? We saw the slaughter of the kings, and how on the way back from this war, Abraham meets a guy named Melchizedek.

The guy comes out of nowhere, and Abraham gives a tithe to Melchizedek, and Melchizedek blesses Abraham. In that story, we notice that Melchizedek is called King of Righteousness, King of Peace, and he's a priest of the Most High God.

Last week, we studied the first 10 verses of Hebrews 7, and the big idea here is that this Melchizedek that was spoken of long ago is greater than Abraham. Within Abraham was the whole Levitical priesthood, which would later come about out of Abraham, because Levi is a descendant of Abraham.

Why is it that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham? Well, he's King of Righteousness and King of Peace. He's priest of the Most High God, but last week we said there were two things that show which one is greater.

One was, remember this, the tithe, and the second thing was the blessing, the tithe and the blessing. How did the tithe and the blessing show which one is greater? Well, the argument in Hebrews 7 is that the lesser pays a tithe to the greater.

When you come and you bring your offering to God on a Sunday morning, you're acknowledging that you're lesser and he's greater. And when you pray and ask him to bless you, who's the greater and who's the lesser?

The greater blesses the lesser. So the concept is pretty simple. Melchizedek is greater than Abraham because Abraham tithes to Melchizedek and Melchizedek blesses Abraham. That's where we left off, but the story really isn't complete yet.

It hasn't all tied together and there's some things missing that we'll need to get into. So, chapter 7, verse 11 and following. Now, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron?

That means Levitical priests. For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no one has ever served at the altar.

For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah. I did that to underscore the point. And in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. See the problem? Judah, not Levi. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek who has become a priest not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent but by the power of an indestructible life.

For it is witnessed of him, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness. For the law made nothing perfect.

But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. And it is not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath. But this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.

You are a priest forever. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. Okay. Does anybody here feel like I was just now speaking in tongues? We're not Pentecostal. That was not speaking. You might be completely lost at this point.

Like, what are we talking about? There's a lot of complicated ideas in here. So the idea of expository preaching and the reason that God says in Ephesians 4 he gives some to be pastor teachers is to expound upon the word of God and to show what's already here in the text but to make it plain that we could understand it.

Sitting here 2 ,000 years after these words were written speaking a different language, English and going through verse by verse. So the first thing we need to understand is that there's a problem. Every good story has a problem.

And the greatest story ever told has a really big problem. The problem is sin. When God created the world, the Garden of Eden it was perfect. No sin and therefore no death. Nothing wrong. No diagnoses of cancer or Parkinson's.

No paralysis. No little children dying. No war. No nuclear weapons. The world was perfect but there's a problem. Adam and Eve eat that forbidden fruit and sin comes into the world. And now that sin is in Adam and Eve and everyone who descends from them.

Now look at verse 11. The problem is if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood. There's still a problem. Perfection is not being attained through the Levitical priesthood. In other words, 1 ,500 years ago when God gave the law, Moses goes up on the mountain and he comes down with the law.

Ten commandments. Does that solve the problem? The law says thou shalt not commit murder. Surely that will restrain the world from committing murder. Murder, right? Hasn't happened. In fact, Jesus will go on to explain it doesn't even restrain you from the murder in your heart.

Violating the deeper meaning of thou shalt not commit murder when you have rage in your heart. Adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Does the law stop us from committing adultery? Jesus says no. If you even look at a woman with lust in your eye you're violating a deeper meaning of thou shalt not commit adultery.

Do you see the problem? The law is given to address the problem but the problems to deepen us were sinners by nature and by choice. But the law did have provision for sinners like us. If I commit a sin and I do every day I, under the Levitical system can go to a priest and I can bring an animal and that priest will stand in my place and slaughter the animal and I'll need to see that animal die a gruesome death.

Why? Because I need to see the extent of my sin. I need to see how wicked my sin is that this animal will die like that because of my sin. But God then will consider me forgiven and I will go home. The problem is I won't make it home before I sin again at least at some deep level in my heart.

I for one am very glad that we no longer have bathhouses. Anybody else agree with that? Just really glad that we don't have bathhouses. We have bathrooms in our house, right? But if you were to go to a bathhouse on the way home from the bathhouse you would be dirty again.

Before you make it into your home you'd have to turn right back around and go back to the bathhouse. Because in this fallen world our skin picks up dirt and our souls are marked with dirtiness, uncleanness.

We are an unclean people. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That's why Peter said, well then give me a bath. And Jesus said, you've been washed. You need only to have your feet cleaned.

We still pick up dirt, right? Long point here, but I'm just trying to underscore the point. We have a problem and the law and the Levite are not solving it. For 1500 years they've been killing those animals in the temple and it's not solving the problem.

Verse 11 says, under it the people received the law. What further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron? In other words, if the Levite sacrifices were actually making anything perfect there'd be no need.

But the problem is still here. The problem is with us. It's in us. Our sin deep in our hearts. Now, verse 12 and 13 and 14. For when there is a change in the priesthood there is necessarily a change in the law as well.

So we'll need a whole new thing here. Verse 13, for the one of whom these things are spoken belong to another tribe. Now here's the problem. Christians are saying, wait a minute. We have a priest who can make you right with God.

Jesus died on the cross. He rose from the dead. He'll save you and take your sin away. And the Jewish person is saying, wait a minute. The one of whom these things are spoken belong to another tribe. Verse 13, from which no one has ever served at the altar.

For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah. And in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. So put on your Ben Shapiro analytical hat and say, well, I like your story.

Sounds good. I would like to be forgiven, but God doesn't change. Isaiah chapter 40, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever. And my Bible has a little book called Leviticus, not Judaicus.

It doesn't come through Judah. The priest comes through Levi. So do you see the problem? Christianity doesn't have a priest that meets the criteria. That's a big problem. But the plot of the story thickens a little bit because we do have a resurrected priest with an indestructible life.

And he does bear a striking resemblance to this guy named Melchizedek. So look at this, verse 15 and 16. It becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek. Okay, the plot is thickening.

We do have a priest that looks a lot like this Melchizedek guy from chapter 14. King of righteousness, king of peace, priest of the most high who brings out bread and wine just like Christians are taking bread and wine in communion.

And Jesus said that the bread and the wine represent his body and blood, tithing, blessing, the church. It resembles, right? There's a striking resemblance. Continue on, verse 16. Who has become a priest not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent.

He doesn't have descent from Levi, but by the power of an indestructible life. That thickens the plot because when they killed this one, he rose from the dead. And here are 500 witnesses who claim to have seen him appear for 40 days and watched him ascend from that mountain.

That's significant. But even still, Rabbi Jonathan Romaine would say, what's the big deal about rising from the dead and then just disappearing? That effectively is being dead for 2 ,000 years. The idea that Jesus rode on a donkey and was born in Bethlehem, well, so did millions of people.

It just leaves me cold. The rabbi and Shapiro calling this idea boring, like the rabbi calls it cold, are making the point that resemblance doesn't prove anything. Okay, he's born in Bethlehem, so were a million people.

He rode in on a donkey, so were millions of people traveling that way in the first century. If I told a dad in this room, you know, your son looks exactly like you. I see the resemblance. He has the same jaw and the same nose and the same eyes.

I can see your son completely resembles you. I might have just put my foot in my mouth if he turns around and says, well, thank you, but he's adopted. You see, it's possible to bear a resemblance and not actually be a biological son.

In the same way, what does typology prove? What does typology prove? Okay, Jesus looks like Melchizedek. This is interesting. Jesus looks like Melchizedek and you say he rose from the dead and there's evidence for that, but what does it really prove?

Do you see the problem? How many of y 'all love our Christian story? You love to tell the story. We have to defend our story as well. Cast down every vain imagination that raises itself up against the knowledge of God and to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in us.

Up until this point in Hebrews 7, we have not established an argument. We have not been consistent and coherent to prove that Melchizedek shows that Jesus is the Messiah. All we've done is typology. We've said, look, Melchizedek looks like this and Jesus, and look at the comparison.

Somebody might just say, meh, I don't really see it. Typology doesn't prove our case, but that's not the basis of our argument. Wouldn't it be amazing if the word of God gave us something more? You suspect that it does?

Let's look at the next verse. This is where it gets amazing. Verse 17. That word for grounds the argument. This is why we say what we say. For it is witnessed of him you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Genesis 14 is amazing and interesting when you compare the striking resemblance. But Genesis 14 did not promise that the Messiah would come from a different priesthood than Levi and come through the order of Melchizedek.

But in the plan and power of God, turn with me now to Psalm 110. Because see, Psalm 110 is the issue of the book of Hebrews. In many ways, Psalm 110 is what the author of Hebrews is expounding upon. That Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the Father and he's interceding.

So turn with me to Psalm 110. This is the meat of the argument. And would it influence you if I told you this is the most quoted chapter of the entire Old Testament in our New Testament? Would that motivate you to learn this passage?

I hope it would. Psalm 110, most quoted passage of the Old Testament. Every Jew understood that this was messianic. Look at Psalm 110 verse 1. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

The Jewish people understood this to be messianic. The promise there's going to come one to be seated at the right hand of the Father who will be a ruler. Rule over his enemies. Look at verse 2. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter.

Who holds a scepter? A king. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Then in verse 3, you see the people offering themselves. They're following their Messiah. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments from the womb of the morning.

The dew of your youth will be yours. And then in Psalm 110 verse 4, God says through the mouth of David, the prophet, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

And it goes on to explain that this ruling king who will conquer and carry out the wrath of God and drink by the brook by the way, he'll be a conquering king. Verse 4 tells us this one, the Messiah. God says the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.

You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Okay, put this in context for a second. Jesus was born near the year zero. B .C. becomes A .D. Some think as early as 5 B .C., but the calendar is based on Jesus coming into the world.

Christians witness him do the miracles that he did. Rise from the dead and begin to proclaim his name. But many people don't accept the testimony. They say this only comes from man. This is your wishful thinking.

This is you emoting what you want to be the case. How do we know it's true? Answer. When Jesus was debating with the Sadducees in Matthew chapter 22, he pointed them to this verse, Psalm 110, verse 1.

The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And he points out that the Father said to the Son. The Lord says to my Lord. The Sadducees were unable to answer what that even means.

Why is this so significant? Answer. A thousand years before Jesus showed up and died the death that we deserve. God spoke through a prophet. David, playing his harp, worshiping God, begins to write lyrics.

The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand. Rule. And then in verse 4 he says, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. David spoke prophetically a thousand years before it happened.

And he draws on an event that happened before Abraham received his covenant. And then Moses with the priesthood from the line of Levi. This is significant because it shows that God did not change. And his word never changed.

Long before Christians came along claiming that Jesus rose from the dead, claiming that he's our priest, God himself a thousand years ahead of time prophesied that the coming Messiah would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Let's finish this up in Hebrews 7. That's why verse 17 is so important. It is witnessed of him by who? David. But not just David. He wrote prophetically a thousand years before Christ came that Messiah would be a priest forever.

The idea of forever there means he'll always be a priest. He's not like the Levites who offer sacrifices and they just die. And another Levite takes over and it goes on forever. They just keep killing animal after animal after animal, day after day, never dealing with sin.

Don't we understand that our priest died once on the cross, never to die again. He rose from the dead and he will never cease to sit at the right hand of the Father. He is a forever priest that can truly save and truly take away sin.

This is verse 17. For, verse 18, on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness. In other words, the commandment, the law, it couldn't make me good. It could only show me like a mirror that I'm not.

The law shows me my sin. I break all of the Ten Commandments at least at some point in my life, in my heart, some kind of idolatry, taking the Lord's name in vain, disobeying my parents. The law shows me my sin.

But it's weak and it's useless to take that sin away. It can only demonstrate it. And then the Levites offering the sacrifice, it only shows me the horror of what my sin deserves. It's me that deserves to die.

The soul that sins shall die. So it's weak and useless, verse 19. The law made nothing perfect. It can't perfect me. It's like a covering, but I get dirty again. On the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God.

The better hope, like an anchor within the veil. Jesus has gone to heaven itself and He's opened this new and living way. So I can draw near to God. I can come right to the presence of God because what Jesus has done, it's new and it's better.

And lastly, it's finished and final. There's not another twist in the plot. What we just saw was a massive twist in the plot. That all those sacrifices were never going to do it. And God knew it from the beginning.

The law was never going to make anybody holy. All of it was leading to Jesus and He comes and offers His own blood, not the blood of animals. He's the priest. Even though He's not a Levite, He's from a higher priesthood, which is Melchizedek.

It's new and it's better. It's a twist in the plot. Now look at verses 20 -22. It's final. This is it. We don't have to worry that God's going to change. It was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath.

So the Levites were just told to be Levites. God never made an oath that this is the final thing. But this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said, again this is Psalm 110 verse 4. This is what he's quoting.

Already we saw that there's going to be a forever priest. Now we're saying that God began that promise with an oath. The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind. There is no change in God. He didn't just change His mind because the animal sacrifices were failing and come up with something new.

No. He planted Melchizedek there before Abraham and then He gave the prophecy a thousand years before Jesus so that we'll know this is true. Judaism in denying Christ is wrong. It is wrong. Mohammed 600 years after Christ in denying that he was crucified is wrong.

There is objective truth. If Jesus didn't die our death and rise from the dead, if He is dead, then we're still in our sins. If God did not send His one and only Son into the world, the sin problem from the Garden of Eden is still over us.

There's no Prince of Peace. All you'll ever expect is war and death and that death will be final. But the oath says it's final. Do you see this? It was not without an oath for those who formally became priests were made such without an oath but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said the Lord has sworn and will not change His mind.

Christian movies can be a bit frustrating. Some of you will say, yeah, it's bad acting and low budget, special effects are terrible and there might be truth in that but honestly that doesn't bother me at all.

I'm just trying to enjoy the story and I don't care about the special effects or the acting which has gotten a lot better by the way. Some of the new movies are getting way better. But you want to know what bothers me about Christian movies these days?

Too many twists in the plot. Just when you think that the hero has resolved the problem somebody else dies. And that little cute girl that you were attached to because she was the star and everything was fine now she dies just when you thought the movie was finally over.

It's gotten to the point when you see this little kid who's just everything is great and the father's dancing with the daughter or whatever this is the grace card I'm thinking of. As soon as you're attached you can kind of anticipate okay, she's dead, before this thing's over they're going to kill this one off.

It gets frustrating, the twists in the plot because you never know when it's final. There's no resolution. You always think another thing's going to go wrong. I bring that up because Jesus is a forever priest and God gave an oath that this is it.

This is the final. That's the point that's being made. He is a priest forever and he used an oath to swear it so that we'll never miss it or look for another. No other prophet, no other messiah no other king, no other priest.

God swore that this is it. Jesus died and he rose once and for all and he's gone forever into heaven and we'll be with him forever. We can be sure and secure in that. Eternally secure. Because his blood accomplished the work for which it was offered.

What a salvation we have. What security we have. We're anchored to him. That's the idea. Same thing as the security of the oath in chapter 6 verse 17. The anchor shows the unchangeable purpose of God.

And so it is with our priest. It is done. It is finished. So in closing, I'm going to ask John to come up in just a moment. I wanted to read a hymn that you guys will be familiar with. Underscoring the point of our priest who has accomplished what he was sent to do.

It says, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. And all other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely face I rest on his unchanging grace. Unchanging grace. Did you catch that? The unchangeable purpose of God. In every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way he then is all my hope and stay. When he shall come with trumpet sound oh may I then in him be found.

Dressed in his righteousness alone. Faultless to stand before the throne. Amen. Let's close in prayer. I've asked John to lead us in the closing hymn because the idea today was the story. I love to tell the story because I know it's true.

We're gonna sing I love to tell the story as a way of sending out into the world to tell the world about Jesus. The true story of Jesus and his love. Let's pray. God as we speak to you in prayer we recognize it's only through Jesus because he tore the veil went into the holy place and has anchored salvation for us there.

We thank you for the precious blood of the lamb placed on that altar of the cross to once and for all take away our sin. And God this morning we are reminded that this was your plan from the beginning.

And every Levite who ever offered a bloody animal on the altar was only pointing to Jesus. And Lord we confess that we are sinners. We do fall short of your glory. We break your commandments. But this morning we thank you Lord for the priest Jesus Christ.

Who's made a sacrifice that takes our sin away and actually saves. He ever lives to make intercession for us. And so we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Let's stand and sing. I love to tell the story.