WEBVTT 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:06.559 Let me invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter seven. 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:10.480 The book of Hebrews, chapter seven. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:16.079 I'm going to read for us verse twenty-two to the end of the chapter. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:25.440 We're going to be focusing in our time on the Lord's word this morning, just at verse 28, but I want to read, starting in verse 22 to the end of Hebrews 7 to set us up. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:27.440 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.039 Scripture says this. 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:35.280 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:41.439 The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:45.280 But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:53.439 Consequently, he's able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:01:03.759 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:16.480 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of his people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.599 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:30.400 But the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:31.840 Amen. 00:01:50.799 --> 00:02:04.640 And he then turned to make a theological appeal to Christians, particularly, about why we should be comfortable re-evaluating the existence of the Washington and the Jefferson monuments, with the two who he's talking about in particular. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:17.840 And he said this on national TV: quote, Jesus Christ, if that's who you believe, if that's who you believe in, admittedly was not perfect when he was here on earth. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:36.319 And his point was that if Christians have no problem recognizing the foibles and the imperfections of Jesus Christ, the pecadillos even to say it generous generously of Jesus Christ, then we should be okay with an honest discussion of Jefferson and Washington. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:38.560 Now, let me say this. 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:43.280 I love it when people use theology to influence their politics. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:45.520 That makes me so happy. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:57.759 In fact, politics would be better if, I think I agree with this anchor, politics would be better if more people brought their theology into it, if they had the right theology, of course. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:11.199 But in this case, the declaration that Jesus was admittedly not perfect when he was here on earth represents a huge contrast with what the Bible actually teaches about Jesus Christ. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:21.360 And it's worth noting a second that the anchor in making that comment was seeking to appeal to believers. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:25.520 I mean, he was addressing it to those who believe in Jesus Christ. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.479 He wasn't seeking to be dismissive of Jesus. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:35.039 He was seeking to make an argument along the lines of what he takes for granted Christians would believe about Jesus. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:39.120 This is not some uneducated person that stumbled into a TV studio. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:42.719 This is one of the most listened-to people in the United States. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:52.080 And so I pause for a second to just marvel about how little is known about Jesus outside of the church walls. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:54.879 That's the point I take away from this. 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:57.280 I could care less about the monuments, honestly. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:14.960 That doesn't interest me half as much as this interests me, that people in our worlds generally don't know the basics of the gospel, the basics of who Jesus is and what Jesus did in his life. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:17.600 That's the vacuum that is missing there. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:19.439 And we take this for granted. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:29.360 We often think of those outside of the church as being somewhat educated about the gospel and just, you know, rejecting it for whatever reasons they want to reject it. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.160 However, that's not true. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:39.360 I've told you before about a person I met in the park here in Fairfax County that didn't know what Easter was a celebration of. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.759 I think of my own growing up in the United States and in New Mexico. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:46.560 I didn't know that Jesus was God. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:48.639 I had never been told that. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:52.399 I didn't know about the substitutionary death on the cross. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.920 And I knew that Jesus, that Easter was a celebration of his resurrection. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:01.040 I mean, I got that part down, but the rest of it was just vague to me. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:14.560 And so it's noteworthy, perhaps it's even mainstream knowledge out there in the world that Jesus Christ was less than perfect, that he had imperfections. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:20.480 But that is so far away from what the Bible actually teaches about Jesus. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.839 Many passages teach the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:25.120 Let me give you a few of them. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:26.319 I mean the most simple one. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:36.399 If you're looking for one verse that says Jesus was sinless, that's 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21, which says, He knew no sin. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:40.160 You're not going to get a more simple, straightforward declaration than that. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:42.480 Jesus knew no sin. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:49.519 He didn't commit sin, he didn't do sin, he didn't commit sin in his mind or in his heart or with his feet or with his hands. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:51.680 He knew no sin. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:57.120 Peter declares in 1 Peter 2.22 that he committed no sin. 00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:59.360 That's another pretty straightforward declaration right there. 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:03.920 1 Peter 2.24, or 2.22, Jesus committed no sin. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:09.839 John, who is the disciple whom Jesus loved, he declares, in him there is no sin. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:11.600 That's 1 John 3, verse 5. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:14.319 That inside of Jesus there is no sin. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:20.399 I know I'm speaking to a modern audience, so you might say, oh, but that's all men. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:22.480 You can't trust men. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:24.720 What does a woman say about Jesus? 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:29.439 Well, Pilate's wife declared that Jesus was sinless. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:33.759 Matthew 27, verse 19 said that he is righteous and innocent. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:36.639 Okay, well, that's men and women. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:38.240 What about an angel? 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:40.000 I can believe an angel. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:44.399 Luke 1, verse 35, declared that Jesus is the holy one of God. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.279 Alright, but those are all allies of Jesus. 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:50.879 Can we get somebody who is opposed to him to say that he was sinless? 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:52.560 I'm glad you asked. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:07:10.160 Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, Matthew 27, verse 4, ends up weeping and mourning his own action, and he goes back to the Pharisees, the very ones whom he betrayed him to, and was distraught and said that he had sinned, quote, by betraying innocent blood. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:15.040 If you don't want a declaration, perhaps you would refer a narrative. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:24.480 You can look at his temptation, Matthew 4, where the devil tempts him over and over and over again, and Jesus resists the devil's temptation. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.959 Perhaps you're a lawyer and you want a legal verdict here. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:37.519 John 8, verse 46, in his showdown with the Pharisees, Jesus asks the question, which one of you has enough evidence to convict me of sin? 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:39.360 And the answer was no one. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.199 That's John 8, verse 46. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.800 Or perhaps you're a person that says, I don't care about the talk. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:46.399 I just want to see if he walked the walk. 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:48.399 What about his actual life? 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:50.879 I'm not persuaded by what people said about him. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:52.480 What about what he actually did? 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:57.920 And for you, you have Romans 10, verse 4, which says that he kept the whole of the law. 00:07:58.160 --> 00:07:59.920 All of righteousness was kept by him. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:01.600 That's Romans 10, verse 4. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:05.839 Everything the law commanded, he actually did in his life. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:10.959 But I'm drawn to this passage this morning, Hebrews chapter 7. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:27.600 Because this is a passage that shows not just a declaration of the sinlessness of Jesus Christ, but a declaration that of the sinlessness of Christ by way of contrast with everybody else, by way of contrast with the whole priestly system of the Old Testament. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:38.159 And this verse, when you unpack this verse, it's Hebrews 7, verse 28, when you unpack this verse, you see how much of Christianity is wrapped up in the sinlessness of Jesus. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:48.080 This is not just some token doctrine or something that's just by implication we deduce that Jesus is sinless because he's God and God can't sin and therefore Jesus was sinless. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:49.759 This is more significant than that. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:57.279 This is so much of our theology is wrapped up, so much of our faith is wrapped up in the sinlessness of Christ. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:01.759 And so I want to walk you through this passage here. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:08.159 And if you look at verse 28, it says the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:18.399 And this is a declaration of the very statement in the Old Testament that the believers, Jews, they needed their sins atoned for. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:21.440 Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:29.200 And so the whole Old Testament law, the book of Leviticus in particular, is wrapped up around the ongoing sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:31.279 There were sacrifices you would do every month. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:33.440 There were sacrifices that you would do every year. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:38.399 There were sacrifices that you would make for every category, every kind, and every type of sin. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:49.440 And chief of all these sacrifices was the day of the atonement, when the high priest would make a sacrifice in the temple, in the Holy of Holies, would be offered for the atonement of the sins of the people. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:51.279 That was the top sacrifice. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:10:02.879 But before the high priest could even do that, the holiest moment of the year in the Old Testament, before that could be offered, the high priest had to make a sacrifice for his own sins. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.759 That's described in the book of Leviticus, chapter 4, verse 3. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:12.000 He had to offer for his own sins first before he could approach God. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:16.799 And that's a way of declaring the weakness of the priest. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:22.960 He's not walking into the Holy of Holies or walking into the temple as if he belongs there. 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:27.840 He's walking there with severe trepidation because of his own sin. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:29.120 He is a foreigner. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.919 He is an alien inside of the temple. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:33.200 This is not his home. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:37.200 He doesn't, by his own nature, belong in the Holy of Holies. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:38.960 That's not his realm. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:49.279 He's stepping in there cautiously, and because of his own sin, before he goes in, he's making a sacrifice for his own sin. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.720 And this is what Paul has in mind earlier in Hebrews chapter 7. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:11:01.519 When you look at verse 23, the former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:04.720 And that is just a really funny verse when you think about it. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:06.720 Talk about a euphemism right there. 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:10.159 They were prevented by death from continuing in office. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:11.519 You know. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.720 Oh, he's prevented by death from continuing in office. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:18.559 Okay. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:20.960 He died, is what that means. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:22.720 He's not here because he died. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:26.960 Why did they need so many priests in the Old Testament? 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:29.679 Because they kept dying. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:32.960 Why did they keep dying? 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:35.759 Because they kept sinning. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:38.720 The wages of sin is death. 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:56.320 And so the Old Testament priesthood, with all of its pomp and circumstance and sacrifice, is very evident that it is not an adequate priesthood for the removal of sin and the changing of the heart. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:12:00.639 You cannot achieve eternal life through the Old Testament priesthood. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:04.720 The Old Testament priesthood declares death after death after death. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:09.600 What, praise God, verse 22 is there that Jesus is a guarantor of a better covenant. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:18.240 Because, verse 24 says, He holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:21.600 And forever is this arrow is going in both directions. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:24.720 He existed before the creation of the world. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:26.799 He's the eternal son of God. 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:31.440 In time, he takes on a human nature and comes to earth. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.080 He becomes the king according to the line of David. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:39.039 He becomes the prophet according to the prophecy given to Moses, and he becomes the high priest. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:41.919 And he remains in those three offices forever. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:45.679 He is the eternal son of God, of course, all the way in eternity future. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:49.840 He will be the eternal king who reigns over the world all the way in eternity future. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:56.159 He is God's final prophet, having spoken finally through Jesus Christ, and that will remain true forever. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:59.120 And he is the high priest forever. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:06.799 This is why verse 25 says, He's able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.639 The high priest was not able to save to the uttermost. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:13.039 The high priest would offer his sacrifices. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:18.000 It says daily in the Isvi, but the Greek there is day after day after day. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.080 This thing kept going on. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:25.360 Year after year after year, there were continual sacrifices for sin. 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.159 It had never achieved its goal. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:33.200 And so they had to keep being offered. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:39.600 What a contrast with Jesus, who does his sacrifice once and for all on the cross and then lives. 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:44.960 He keeps living afterwards to make intercession for sin forever and ever and ever. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:52.559 This is why verse 26 says that we have such a high priest, holy, innocent, and unstained. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:55.279 Holy means entirely set apart from everybody else. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.399 Innocent means he didn't actually commit any sin. 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.360 Unstained means there is no sin found on him. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:02.480 No blemish. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.279 No accusation can even be made against him, which is legitimate. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:07.840 And of course, that's testified to at his trial, remember? 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:09.919 At his trial, they were looking for witnesses. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:19.759 They were willing to pay witnesses to testify that they saw Jesus' sin and they had no shortage of people that wanted the money, but they couldn't get any two witnesses to agree on the basics. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:23.679 So they ended up convicting him on a lie, remember? 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:25.519 They asked him, should we pay taxes to Caesar? 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:26.320 And he said yes. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:30.080 And so then they charged him with saying we shouldn't pay taxes to Caesar. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:32.960 They didn't even come up with something plausible. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:36.960 Nevertheless, their lies don't keep Jesus on earth. 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:40.480 He remains, verse 26, says exalted above the heavens. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:47.840 Verse 27, he had no need, like the other high priest, to offer the sacrifices all the time. 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:52.960 Jesus didn't have to sacrifice for his own sin year after year after year. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:57.200 He makes one sacrifice for our sin, once for all. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:04.799 This is why it says, verse 28, the law appoints men in their weakness. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.039 Men are weak because they're sinners. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:08.559 Men are weak because they die. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:10.720 Men are weak because they are frail. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.840 Men are weak because of their ongoing sin. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:20.879 They don't have the capacity to walk into the throne room of God to make intercession on behalf of their followers. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.320 Men make very bad high priests. 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:33.840 But the word of the oath, which came later than the law, it appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:40.399 This word of the oath is speaking of Psalm 110, where God declares that the Son of God will be made a high priest. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:43.039 And it's interesting that it comes after the law. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:55.279 And if you think about the progression here, in the terms of the Old Testament, you understand that there will be a Savior who will be a human, and this comes from Genesis chapter 3. 00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:06.799 So at the very beginning, God promises Adam the Savior will be from the seed of the woman, prophesying the virgin birth, but nevertheless prophesying the humanity of the Savior. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:09.759 The Savior will be a Jew. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.080 That promise comes to Abraham. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:15.759 Abraham has promised it'll be one of his descendants. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:21.679 The Savior will be a prophet, and that is a promise that comes to Moses. 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:26.639 The Savior will be a king, and that's a promise that comes to Judah. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:29.519 To Jacob, really, but then to Judah, his fourth son. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:37.279 But that the Savior will be a priest, that is a promise that is withheld all the way into the life of David. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:41.600 That's not revealed until Psalm 110, written by King David. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:43.759 Why was that withheld? 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:46.559 We find out that he'll be a king before Israel has a king. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:50.480 We find out that he'll be a Jew before there is even such a thing as a Jew. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:55.679 We find out that he will be a human, and that's revealed to the very first human beings. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:02.960 But the fact that he will be a priest is withheld until the priesthood is very well established. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:11.039 And that's because it's a demonstration of how weak the priests are, because they keep dying. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:22.720 By withholding that piece of information until after the high priests have already repeatedly died, it is a triumphant signal that Jesus will be a better quality of priest. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:25.519 He will not be a priest in the line of Levi. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:27.599 He will be a different kind of priest altogether. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:29.920 He'll be a priest over the line of Levi. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:31.839 Because he won't die. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:33.920 And why won't he die? 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:38.799 Because the end of verse 28 says he has been made perfect forever. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.799 He's been made perfect forever. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.400 That's a weird expression, isn't it? 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.839 He's been made perfect implies some kind of progression. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.000 Forever implies no progression. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:59.359 He is perfect in eternity past, he will be perfect in eternity future, but he was made perfect in his incarnation. 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:03.359 And so to understand this, you really need to put on your theology caps here. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:04.640 You got them on? 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:06.319 I see your theology masks. 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:08.240 I'm talking about your theology caps. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.759 The one person of Jesus Christ has two natures. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:17.279 He's the nature of God and the nature of man. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:23.440 In the nature of God, he is perfect forever, in eternity past and in eternity future. 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:27.359 He does not take on the nature of man until his incarnation. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.359 He's declared that he'll be a high priest before he becomes a man. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:38.240 It's already been declared that he will be a man, but he doesn't take on the human nature until he is born in Bethlehem. 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:42.799 When he is born in Bethlehem, he has a true human nature. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:46.000 He is born with divine nature and a human nature. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:50.559 In his human nature, he is weak, he is a baby, he's dependent. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:53.920 He needs to be fed, he needs to learn. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:19:02.240 And the key thing he needs to learn is obedience, the book of Hebrews says, and through him learning obedience, he is made perfect. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:12.640 That's Hebrews 2, that's Hebrews 4, verse 15, that he's able to sympathize us with us in our weakness because he too was tempted, yet was without sin. 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:17.759 His human nature was perfected, it was made perfect. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:24.000 Entirely without sin from start to finish. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:28.480 So that on the cross, he takes on our sin. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:38.880 The one person, Jesus Christ, with a divine nature and a human nature, takes on our sin on the cross, can atone for our sin because he had no sin. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:43.599 His divine nature had no sin, his human nature had no sin. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:48.799 In his human nature, he learned obedience, in his human nature, he grew. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:54.720 And he is made perfect forever. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:59.359 You can't even begin to say any of that about the best high priest. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:06.640 And do you see in here a little insight into how just fundamentally different Christianity is from every other religion in the world? 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:13.920 There is no other religion that even postulates something in this kind of world. 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:24.480 That God became man and led a sinless life, a perfect life, to take on our sins upon himself. 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:30.799 So indeed, the law appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:44.000 Well, the sinlessness of Christ is critical, this passage makes it clearer because it proves, I'm going to give you five five things this morning, that the sinlessness of Jesus Christ approves these five critical elements of our faith. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:46.000 These critical elements of our faith. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:50.960 If you're taking notes, Jesus' sinlessness proves these five elements of our faith. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.400 First, it proves the power of Jesus' life. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:00.480 The sinlessness of Christ is attested to by all the verses I said earlier, including Hebrews 7, verse 28. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:03.839 It proves the power of the life of Jesus Christ. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:10.400 His ministry, his life began with 40 days of temptation in the wilderness, 40 days of temptation by the devil. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:14.079 Because the devil had finished every temptation, Luke tells us. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:15.519 That's Luke 4, verse 13. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:19.920 Jesus could begin his public ministry because he was validated as God's own son. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:26.720 Jesus could not begin his ministry until his ministry was validated by his sinlessness. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:36.640 Had he given in to the devil's temptation in the wilderness, the rest of his life would have been, of course, fruitful in ministry, like all the prophets were, but not salvific. 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:40.240 Adam, when he was tempted by the devil, fell. 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:43.279 Jesus, when he was tempted by the devil, resisted. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:46.880 Adam, because he fell, brought all of mankind into sin. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:53.680 Jesus, because he resisted, his life now becomes a suitable sacrifice for our sins. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:57.519 That's what's at stake with the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:00.480 If you say that, hey, we all know Jesus made Mistakes. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:02.480 We all know Jesus was far from perfect. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:08.720 What you're undoing there is the substitutionary power of Jesus' life. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:11.759 And the Pharisees understood this. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:24.079 The Pharisees kept laying traps for Jesus to get him to stumble, to get him to violate some part of God's law, because they knew if he sinned in a single way, you could ignore the rest of his life. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:25.599 That's Mark 12, verse 13. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:28.079 They were set out to catch him in a trap. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:35.920 The Pharisees knew if they could find one way, no matter how small, that Jesus was less than perfect, all of his preaching would be nullified. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:39.519 The prophet's preaching was not nullified by their imperfections. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:44.400 Jeremiah's anger at God and Jeremiah's disputing of God did not nullify his message. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:49.359 In fact, it just authenticated the reality of Jeremiah's sufferings, honestly. 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:52.319 But Jesus' preaching was different than Jeremiah's. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:54.720 Jesus' preaching was different than Isaiah's. 00:22:54.880 --> 00:23:02.880 Jesus' preaching was different than all of the prophets because the prophets preach faith in a future Savior that could atone for even the prophet's own sin. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:04.720 That's not what Jesus preached. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:09.680 Jesus did not preach faith in a future Savior who could atone for even his own sin. 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:16.960 Jesus preached the power of a sinless life to be that sacrifice, to be that substitute. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:23.359 So had he sinned a single time, all of his preaching would be void and nullified. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:30.960 You could say it this way: Jesus preached the same gospel we preach, but we preach it in an entirely different way. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:37.839 When you're evangelizing someone, you're telling somebody to put their faith in the same savior that can forgive you of your own sins. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:42.079 You're looking at somebody and saying, you want a common place to start in evangelism? 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:45.599 The person you're talking to is a sinner, you're a sinner, you both need a savior. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:47.359 There's your starting ground right there. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:54.400 You don't have to, you know, relate it back to soccer, relate it back to chess or whatever you like, relate it back to politics, whatever. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:55.599 You can skip all that. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:02.640 Your common point, your starting ground in evangelism is that they're a sinner, you're a sinner, you both need a savior. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:05.279 That's not how Jesus evangelized. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:08.720 Jesus was not a sinner who needed a savior. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:15.920 But if you say that he had sin in his life, then it undoes the power of his life to be our substitute. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:24.640 Secondly, the sinlessness of Jesus proves not just the power of his life, but it also proves the power of the cross. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:31.440 On the cross, Jesus took the punishment from God that we deserve for our sins, and he bore that punishment in our place. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:33.839 The cross was very much substitutionary. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:38.480 The cross wasn't an example for us, it was a substitute for us. 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:45.599 If Jesus had any sin in his life, he would have died for his own sins, not for ours. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:52.960 If Jesus had sinned a single time, then the cross would have had to be atonement for his own sin. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.400 It cannot be substitutionary. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:03.039 It can only be a substitute if he's sinless. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:07.440 You understand this with credit cards, I think. 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:20.559 If you have a balance on one credit card and a balance on another credit card, and you send it a balance transfer to the first credit card, they're going to take that towards the payment that you owe them. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:25.440 They're not going to take on the debt from somebody else when you owe them money to begin with. 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:31.440 For Jesus to die on the cross, he has to be debt free. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:37.359 Otherwise, his death is payment for his own sin, not for ours. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:44.480 But because he is debt-free, when he goes to the cross, our sins, and Jesus writes the balance transfer check. 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:47.039 I'm Americanizing it a little bit. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:53.119 On the cross, he writes the balance transfer check to take our sins on himself. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:57.279 And so his death becomes our death. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.799 This would be impossible if he was not sinless. 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:20.559 This is why Peter can declare, 1 Peter 1, verse 18, that the death of Christ was acceptable because we were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold, but rather with precious blood of a lamb unblemished, spotless, the blood of Christ. 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:27.200 The fact that Jesus was an unblemished lamb is what gives his blood its efficacy, its power. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:31.599 So the sinlessness of Jesus proves the power of his life. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:33.039 It proves the power of the cross. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:35.680 Thirdly, it proves the power of our prayers. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:40.400 I mean, if you think about it, what is a priest if not an intermediary, not an intercessor? 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:45.279 A priest is God's representative before mankind and man's representative before God. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:47.519 The priest is the bridge between the two. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:53.119 The old covenant priests were very bad at this, of course, because they were trying to be the bridge with their own sin. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:55.039 This is why they kept dying. 00:26:55.359 --> 00:27:00.000 Jesus can be very powerful at this because he is sinless, because of his two natures. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:06.079 He really can be man's representative and God's representative because he is both in one person. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:18.480 This goes against the whole fabric of Roman Catholicism, by the way, which teaches that priests have an ongoing intercessory role, or that saints can even be intercessors between God and man. 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:28.640 In contrast, the book of Hebrews here says that we have a high priest who sympathizes with us in our weakness, yet is himself without sin. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:30.559 That's Hebrews 4, verse 15. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:39.039 We have confidence that Jesus can be an intercessor for us, that he can bring our prayers before the Father because he is sinless. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:45.519 A sinful person cannot intercede on behalf of others because they need their own intercessor. 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:51.599 This is why 1 John 2, verse 1, John says, if anyone sins, we have an intercessor between God and man. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:57.359 We have an advocate with the Father, namely Jesus Christ the righteous. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:02.079 Because he is sinless, he can be our intercessor. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:05.440 He can bring our prayers before the Father. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:09.200 David read earlier for us Romans 8, 33 through verse 34. 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:11.440 Who can bring a charge against God's elect? 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:14.880 It's God who justifies. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:16.480 Who can possibly condemn us? 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:18.480 Christ Jesus, he who died. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:19.920 Yes, rather he was raised. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:23.119 He's at the right hand of God who also intercedes for us. 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:24.559 That's how that passage ends. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:28.640 Jesus intercedes for us because of his sinlessness. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:31.759 This goes all the way into the feature. 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:39.680 Revelation 5, verse 8 describes the prayers of the saints as a bull of incense being poured out in heaven before the feet of the Lamb. 00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:46.000 In other words, the Lamb is the one receiving the prayers of the saints and their incense before him as he brings them before the Father. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:47.920 That's Revelation 5, verse 8. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:54.480 You have the ability to pray to the Father because Jesus is our intercessor. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:57.759 He is an intercessor because he is sinless. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:01.920 He has been made perfect forever. 00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:06.640 So he can continue to make intercession for us. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:14.720 That's if you look at Hebrews 7, verse 25, those who draw near to God through him because he makes intercession for them. 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:17.279 This all hinges on his sinlessness. 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:27.680 Fourthly, Jesus' sinlessness proves the power of his life, the power of the cross, the power of our prayers, and the power of sanctification. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:32.000 Christians are supposed to grow in godliness throughout their life. 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:40.799 And we are guaranteed to grow in godliness throughout our life because Jesus is our model and he was sinless. 00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:51.039 Had Jesus sinned, had he, as the TB anchor said, imperfections, had he been less than perfect, then how would you decide? 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:52.559 I just want you to think practically here. 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:54.079 Put the theology aside for a second. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:55.519 Just think practically. 00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:10.319 If Jesus had sinned, if he had been less than perfect, if some of the things he did were less than wise or problematic to use today's language, how would you know which parts of his life to follow and which parts to avoid? 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:14.160 How would you learn negative lessons from Jesus' life? 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:19.359 If some of it was good and some of it was bad, who chooses what is what? 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:22.559 How do you look at Jesus' life and say, you know what? 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:25.279 Healing the leper was good. 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:29.119 Forgiving the woman for adultery, bad. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:31.039 Who gets to decide that? 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:32.799 Why not reverse those? 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:34.960 I mean, it's impossible. 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:37.759 You would be left to your own moral grid. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:39.759 It would be total moral relativism. 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:43.759 You would be saying, I like these parts of Jesus' life, so we follow them. 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:46.559 I don't like these parts, so we avoid them. 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:49.599 And honestly, that's where most of the world is with all religions. 00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:51.119 I like those parts good. 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:55.279 I don't like those parts bad, so I make my own religion, which is another way of making yourself God. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:56.480 You realize that, right? 00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:03.519 When you say I like these parts of Jesus, not those parts, what you're saying is that you are over Jesus, which is saying you are God. 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:09.119 Because Jesus is sinless, we are all under him. 00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:11.119 None of us are over him. 00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:14.480 John says this, 1 John 3, verse 2. 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:19.200 We know that when he appears, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:27.359 And everyone who has this hope in him, everyone who has the hope of being made like Jesus, will purify himself. 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:28.720 Do you catch that? 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:35.680 You fix your eyes on Jesus, and your hope of seeing him purifies you because you want to be like him. 00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:38.000 It makes you holy. 00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:42.400 The much maligned WWJD bracelets. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:45.200 You remember those bracelets? 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:48.319 1980s Christian music. 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:50.400 WWJD bracelets. 00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:53.119 They're effective for this reason. 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:56.480 Jesus is a model for us in how to live. 00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:59.039 He does motivate our sanctification. 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:08.400 Colossians 1 verse 22 says, He has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. 00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:13.759 Because you are now united to Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit, you can now pattern your life after his. 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:16.480 I think of the song once in Royal David City. 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:17.839 I love the line in there. 00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:19.039 He is our lifelong pattern. 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:21.359 Some versions say child, he is our childhood pattern. 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:24.400 He's our lifelong pattern. 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:27.039 Day by day, like us he grew. 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:29.920 Tears and smiles like us he knew. 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:35.359 Our life can legitimately be patterned after Jesus because he was sinless. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:38.240 You see all this that unravels. 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:50.000 If you say that Jesus had sin, you lose the power of his life, you lose the power of the cross, you lose the power of your prayers, you lose the power of sanctification, but mostly you lose the promise of heaven. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:56.319 The sinlessness of Jesus proves the promise of heaven because he remains a priest to this very day. 00:32:56.400 --> 00:33:01.279 Notice the end of verse 28, the last word, he has forever been made perfect. 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:18.720