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00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:21 ♪♪♪ 00:31 ♪♪♪ 00:37 Luccas Rodor: Welcome, friends. 00:38 Thank you so much for being with us today for 00:39 our Sabbath School Study Hour. 00:41 Today we have a very deep study. 00:44 In my opinion, this is one of the most important lessons 00:46 of this quarter's lesson because it's so central. 00:49 It has to do with everything that we read about 00:52 and learn about in the book of Hebrews. 00:54 Jesus is at the very core of it, and that's why 00:56 this week's lesson title is, "Jesus, the Faithful Priest." 01:02 And so, today is going to be about that. 01:04 But before that, I would like to thank you for being here 01:07 with us, for investing your time, for spending time 01:09 in studying your lesson. 01:10 Thank you so much for those here today in our local congregation 01:13 that are going to be spending this time with us, 01:15 learning more about Jesus as our high priest, 01:17 studying the Sabbath School lesson. 01:19 The lesson of Hebrews is deeply important and our understanding 01:24 of Jesus is greatly enhanced by studying this very special book. 01:29 So I encourage you to not only study or have studied, 01:32 I hope you studied this week's lesson, 01:33 but study the whole quarter's lesson. 01:35 It will be very beneficial to you. 01:37 Before we get to it, I would like to ask you 01:40 to take advantage of our special offer today. 01:44 It's called, "Blood Behind the Veil." 01:47 And it ties very well into today's Sabbath School lesson. 01:51 So, "Blood Behind the Veil," if you'd like a copy of this, 01:54 you can call 866-788-3966 or 866-Study-More. 02:00 That's if you're on continental North America 02:02 and you'll get it mailed out. 02:04 And you can ask for the Offer number 130. 02:08 Again, if you're on continental North America and you would like 02:11 a digital download of this free offer, then you can text "SH154" 02:16 to the number "40544" and we'd be more than happy 02:19 to send it to you. 02:20 If you're outside of North America and you would 02:22 still like to study this or to read this beautiful lesson, 02:25 then you could go to study.aftv.org/SH154 02:31 and you could download a digital copy of this. 02:34 Don't forget to take advantage. 02:36 It is a beautiful sermon. 02:38 Before we do begin, I'd like to invite you to say 02:40 a word of prayer so let's pray. 02:42 Dear Lord God, thank You so much for Your love. 02:44 Thank You for Your power and thank You for being 02:47 the intercessory before us or between us and God. 02:52 Thank You, Lord, because we only need Jesus. 02:54 Jesus is everything that we need. 02:56 Jesus is the High Priest that fulfills everything, 02:59 all of our needs, all of our desires, 03:03 all of the things that we would need 03:05 in any other intermediary, any other--intermediary. 03:12 I thank You because Jesus fulfills that. 03:15 Please bless us now as we study this lesson, bless those 03:18 that are watching at home, those who are here tonight, 03:21 those that will be watching from the future. 03:23 Please be with them also, Lord, I ask in Jesus's name, amen. 03:27 Friends, I learned a lot. 03:30 I was richly benefited or I benefited richly 03:38 from the study of this week's lesson. 03:41 The reason for that is because without Jesus 03:46 there is no everything else. 03:48 There is no understanding everything else. 03:50 Understanding Jesus in all His regards unlocks the keys 03:54 of the Bible, the keys of Scripture. 03:56 And so we learn so much from seeing Jesus 03:58 from different perspectives. 04:00 Jesus really is the catalyst by which we understand Scripture, 04:03 we understand life, we understand existence. 04:05 Once we understand Jesus, we understand everything else. 04:09 That's why the memory verse of this week's lesson is 04:12 so important, so vital. 04:14 The memory verse comes from Hebrews 7, verse 26, that says: 04:17 "For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, 04:21 harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become 04:26 higher than the heavens." 04:28 Now, before we actually get into Jesus as our high priest, 04:32 I would like to give a little bit of context. 04:34 Now, we've been studying the lesson so far and we've been 04:37 learning about what the message of Hebrews is. 04:40 I do hope that you have been reading this lesson, 04:43 "The Message of Hebrews." 04:44 And this quarter has been so deep, but for you to understand 04:50 everything, it's important to understand 04:52 what the book of Hebrews is. 04:54 It's really not a book. 04:56 The book of Hebrews is a sermon. 04:58 It's a word of exhortation. 05:00 That's what chapter 13, verse 22 says: 05:03 that this is a word of exhortation. 05:05 Now, this sermon was preached to motivate the 1st century church 05:10 that was living during the difficult times 05:13 of the 1st century. 05:15 It was a sermon preached to motivate, to encourage, 05:18 to provide comfort and relief to that 1st century church 05:24 that was going through the depths of persecution. 05:27 They suffered so many things. 05:29 Most of them had been Christians for a very long time already. 05:33 They remembered the preaching of the apostles, the miracles. 05:36 They remembered the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 05:39 And during those first years, they suffered insults, 05:41 they suffered persecutions, they suffered the confiscation 05:44 of their property. 05:46 They had been banned from their communities, 05:48 banned from the synagogues, and over time they grew tired. 05:52 They grew discouraged, they grew dreary. 05:56 Over time, they ran the risks of becoming victims of pessimism. 06:00 Now, the profile of these Christians, 06:02 it's not all that different than our profile, than our story. 06:07 To the modern Christians today, to us living today, 06:10 in the world that we are in, in the situations that we are in, 06:14 we can relate to these 1st century Christians, 06:17 because we oftentimes grow discouraged. 06:19 We oftentimes grow frustrated, pessimistic, 06:23 about the results of our acceptance of Jesus Christ. 06:26 And the problem with this is that this discouragement, 06:29 this dismotivation, it oftentimes 06:31 becomes negligence in our faith. 06:34 We become so discouraged that then we become negligent 06:37 in our relationship with Jesus Christ. 06:39 Have you ever felt that? 06:40 That because you've become so tired, so discouraged, 06:43 so unmotivated, you then just become negligent 06:45 with your relationship, in reading the Bible, 06:48 in going to church, in relating with your fellow believers. 06:52 And the problem with negligence or the negligence of faith 06:55 is that it leads to disbelief, to chronic disbelief. 06:59 It then becomes the hardening of your heart. 07:02 Everything that has to do with God, with religion, with church, 07:05 it becomes difficult to accept and you begin 07:07 to resent these things. 07:10 And then you easily fall into systematic and chronic doubt, 07:14 and finally, the public renouncement of your faith 07:17 in Jesus Christ. 07:19 That's why if you give in to frustration, to unmotivation, 07:23 to disbelief, it leads down this dangerous path. 07:28 And that's why this sermon, this word of exhortation, 07:31 the book of Hebrews to the 1st century church, 07:34 makes so much sense to us today 07:36 who so many times, see ourselves become tired, 07:39 discouraged, unmotivated, in our Christian walk. 07:44 One thing that I really want you to understand 07:45 is that the book of Hebrews has a central theme. 07:49 It has a central point. 07:50 The argument is that Jesus is better. 07:54 That is the most important thing for you to understand 07:57 in the book of Hebrews. 07:58 That's what you have to understand, that Jesus is better 08:00 than anything that you have ever known, 08:02 anything that you could know. 08:04 To those 1st century Jews, those 1st century people living 08:08 at that time, going through what they were going, 08:11 they needed to understand that Jesus was better. 08:14 He covered any cost. 08:15 He was a better revelation than the one given to their fathers. 08:19 His name was better than any patriarch. 08:22 He was a better leader, is a better leader, than Moses. 08:25 He is a better first priest than Aaron. 08:28 He brought a better priesthood than the Levitical priesthood. 08:31 He established a better covenant, a better bond. 08:35 The gospel is better than the law. 08:37 Calvary is better than the Sinai. 08:39 His blood is better than the blood of bulls and goats 08:42 and sheeps--sheep and lambs. 08:44 In Him we await a better land than the Israelite dream 08:48 of Canaan. 08:49 He is better. 08:50 He--or He offers a new Jerusalem which is way better than 08:54 the old Yerushalayim, the old city of peace. 09:00 In short, friends, Jesus is better. 09:04 Better than everything, better than anything 09:06 that they and us could ever imagine. 09:09 He is better than everything we could ever leave behind. 09:12 No matter the cost, Jesus covers it. 09:16 That is the message of this book. 09:18 And that's what you cannot miss. 09:21 That's what you can't leave out of your understanding 09:23 of Hebrews. 09:24 This week's lesson is an emphasis on this reality. 09:27 You see, friends, the shroud of sin has separated us from God. 09:31 It's torn us from God. 09:32 The human heart became, because of sin, polluted. 09:37 Polluted by pride, by selfishness, by jealousy, 09:40 by malice and countless other immoralities. 09:43 In a way--in a way, sin has made humans regress to the point 09:52 of pre-creation. 09:54 Humans have become void and formless again. 09:58 Just as the world was formless and void before, humans because 10:02 of sin became formless and void, in a state of confusion 10:06 and darkness. 10:08 The human race found itself, as a whole, 10:10 in a state of rebellion, alienated from God. 10:14 Scripture simply states of the fact that humanity lost 10:18 its dominion and life: the shade of sin covers 10:22 our small little planet. 10:25 And that's the reality that we find ourselves in. 10:28 And we are facing an enemy that we cannot, by ourselves, 10:31 overcome. 10:34 That's the reality of the Bible. 10:36 Sadly, the phenomenon of Stockholm Syndrome-- 10:39 have you ever heard of that phenomenon? 10:41 That is our reality. 10:43 That is the reality of this planet, 10:45 a planet that has fallen in love with its kidnapper. 10:51 Sinners need a divine recreation, 10:54 and that is precisely what Jesus did and still does. 10:59 The plan of redemption answers the question that arose 11:02 with the great rebellion and it also provides a deliverance 11:05 for us, a restoration for the human family. 11:07 Look what 2 Corinthians 5:17 says. 11:10 It says: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is," what? 11:14 "A new creation." 11:16 Because we needed a new creation because sin placed us 11:19 in a state of formlessness and void. 11:24 So we needed a new creation, a recreation. 11:27 We have become a new creation. 11:29 Old things have passed away. 11:31 Behold, all things have become new. 11:34 So what this means is that, rather than sitting idly by, 11:36 than just ignoring everything that had happened, 11:39 God came into play to help fallen humanity. 11:44 God didn't just sit idly by. 11:45 He rolled up His sleeves and He got right into the mess with us. 11:49 Now, the typology of the sanctuary illustrates 11:52 how this plan has been executed 11:54 throughout Christ's atoning priesthood. 11:57 That's what the whole thing of the sanctuary, 11:59 the whole doctrine, the whole story that we talk a lot 12:01 about the sanctuary, it really has to do with this, 12:04 with what Jesus has done and what He's doing. 12:06 Throughout the Bible, we see God's effort in this. 12:09 But nowhere else, nowhere else, is it made more clear than 12:13 in the life and in the ministry of Jesus. 12:18 And so that's why our study today focuses precisely 12:20 on Hebrews chapter 5 through chapter 7. 12:24 That zero in on this truth. 12:27 They emphasize the significance of His priesthood in our favor. 12:31 Sunday's lesson--Sunday begins the week here with-- 12:35 it already starts at, you know, 60 miles an hour. 12:38 The title is "A Priest on Behalf of Human Beings." 12:40 It comes from--basically, this day covers Hebrews chapter 5, 12:44 verse 1 through verse 10. 12:46 Have you ever wondered what a priest was? 12:49 What was a priest? 12:51 What was the central purpose of a priest? 12:54 Well, the Bible answers that. 12:55 A priest was a mediator between God and the people. 12:59 All throughout the year, when someone sinned, 13:01 when people sinned, they would bring a little sacrifice, 13:03 a little lamb. 13:05 They would bring it to the temple, and that sacrifice 13:07 would represent something very specific, 13:09 and something very specific was done to that sacrifice. 13:13 And it was all intermediated by the priest. 13:17 Priests were mediators between God and between people. 13:21 Now when we break down Jesus's ministry, both here on earth and 13:25 in heaven, there are some very similar aspects between Jesus 13:29 and the Old Testament priests, but there are also 13:31 some very different aspects. 13:33 There are some things that Jesus did and still does 13:36 that the Old Testament priests could not do. 13:40 They simply could not do. 13:42 Now, the reason why there are some big similarities first, 13:45 the reason why there are some very big similarities, 13:47 is because this entire concept of priesthood was derived from 13:50 God wanting to be transparent in His plan of redemption. 13:55 Everything that those Levitical priests did were shadows, 13:58 were examples, of things that the ultimate priest would do 14:01 on our behalf. 14:03 That's why when we see what the Old Testament priests did, 14:05 we can see, well, they did this, this is what Jesus is doing. 14:08 They did this, this is what Jesus is doing. 14:10 They--there was this ceremony, this ritual, 14:12 this is what this represents in the heavenly sanctuary. 14:15 So that's why--where you get so many similarities 14:18 between the Old Testament priests. 14:20 There had to be similarities, 14:21 otherwise it just wouldn't make sense. 14:24 But in reading the text here in Hebrews 5:1 through 10, 14:29 we're not going to be able to read the entire text today 14:32 for the lack of time, but I do encourage you to read it. 14:35 But in reading the text here, that defines the role of-- 14:39 the roles of the priests, we see that there were, by necessity, 14:43 things that Jesus did that these priests could not do. 14:47 Some very big differences in Christ's role that 14:50 all the other priests, they couldn't measure up to. 14:53 They weren't even called to do. 14:55 For example, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 5, verse 1, 14:59 that Jesus was not chosen from among men. 15:01 It says here, "For every high priest taken from among men 15:04 is appointed for men in things pertaining to God 15:07 that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." 15:11 So, every high priest was taken from among men. 15:15 But Jesus wasn't. 15:18 That's what this text is saying. 15:19 So it already starts off here that Jesus, while He was a man, 15:23 He did become a man, He wasn't chosen from the lineage of Levi, 15:27 of Aaron, to be our high priest. 15:31 The second thing that was different and this comes 15:33 from Hebrews chapter 5, verse 3, it says: "Because of this, 15:37 He is required, as for the people so also for Himself, 15:40 to offer sacrifices for sins." 15:42 So this is talking about the old high priests, 15:44 the Old Testament high priests. 15:46 You'll remember that on the Day of Atonement, if you read there, 15:48 Leviticus chapter 16 and a little portion of chapter 23, 15:52 you'll remember that the high priest, 15:54 he would enter the holy of holies 15:55 and he would do the whole ceremony there, 15:57 but before everything else, he had to offer sacrifices for who? 16:01 For himself. 16:03 Why? 16:04 Because he was a sinner, he committed sins. 16:06 He did bad things, wrong things. 16:07 And so he needed to atone for his own sins 16:11 or ask atonement for his own sins. 16:13 Not so with Jesus. 16:16 Jesus didn't need to offer sacrifices for Himself 16:18 like every other high priest, because Jesus had nothing 16:21 to offer sacrifices for. 16:24 He didn't sin. 16:26 If Jesus did have to offer sacrifices for Himself, 16:29 well then, Jesus would Himself be part of the whole problem 16:32 and He wouldn't be able to save us. 16:34 And so that's where you find here in Hebrews 5:3 because 16:36 of this you see a distinction between the old priests, 16:40 the old high priests, and Jesus that didn't have 16:42 to offer sacrifices for Himself. 16:45 The third difference is that Jesus learned obedience 16:49 through what He suffered. 16:50 Look at what Hebrews 5:8 says. 16:52 It says: "Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience 16:56 by the things which He suffered." 16:58 So some people might look at this text right here and say, 17:00 "Well, did Jesus have to learn how to be obedient? 17:03 That doesn't make sense. 17:05 Why would Jesus need to learn how to obey? 17:07 Does that mean that before Jesus learned how to obey, 17:09 He was disobedient?" 17:12 So this might be a kind of a confusing verse, but no, 17:16 Jesus wasn't--Jesus wasn't learning obedience 17:19 because He was before disobedient. 17:22 You have to think that He's God. 17:24 Jesus is--was and is God. 17:29 Did Jesus ever have to obey before? 17:33 Do you think that Jesus, in the times of eternity past, 17:35 He ever had to obey anyone? 17:37 He was God. 17:39 Jesus was used to people obeying Him. 17:41 So, at this point, we're seeing that Jesus, He learned-- 17:44 it was something new to Him. 17:45 The lesson here on Sunday, it says: 17:48 "Obedience was new to Jesus. 17:49 Not because He was disobedient, but because He was God." 17:53 And as Sovereign over the universe, 17:55 Jesus did not obey anyone; instead, everyone obeyed Him. 18:00 And so, that is another very big difference between Jesus 18:02 and the other high priests. 18:04 A fourth difference is that even Jesus's suffering 18:08 in regard to sin was different than our suffering, 18:12 than the suffering of the high priests. 18:14 Jesus did not suffer to be perfected by His suffering. 18:18 Jesus did not suffer to be tested or to be refined 18:21 by His suffering. 18:24 His suffering didn't make Him stronger 18:25 or more resilient to sin. 18:27 Jesus was always strong. 18:29 Jesus was always resilient to sin. 18:31 You see that in the desert of temptation. 18:33 You see that Jesus answering the devil. 18:36 He was resilient, quoting Scripture, quoting His Father, 18:39 trusting in His Father. 18:41 And so, suffering didn't really refine Jesus. 18:44 His suffering, rather, revealed Him. 18:47 It revealed who He was. 18:48 It revealed the plan of redemption. 18:50 It revealed the character of God. 18:52 And that's why this was so central to His mission. 18:55 In the book of Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 7, we read that 18:58 "He," it's talking about Jesus, "who, in the days of His flesh, 19:01 when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement 19:05 cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, 19:08 and was heard because of His godly fear." 19:11 So, what is the context of this text? 19:13 It can be very confusing, right? 19:15 Jesus is crying out. 19:16 He is suffering. 19:18 Why is Jesus--why is this happening to Jesus? 19:20 Well, when Jesus goes through this, He does it on our behalf 19:23 to demonstrate just exactly who God is. 19:28 See, Jesus is the supreme revelator of God's character. 19:33 Martin Luther, I think I've said this here 19:35 before but Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer, 19:38 he once said that humans put on masks to hide 19:41 themselves, right? 19:43 That's why we wear masks, to--well, that's-- 19:45 masks represent you trying to hide something about yourself. 19:49 God did the contrary. 19:51 God put on a mask so that we could understand Him better. 19:55 He limited His--Himself into a mask so that we could better 19:59 understand who God is, and that mask was Jesus Christ. 20:03 And so, everything that Jesus goes through here serves as an 20:06 example to us and a revelation to us, for us to understand God 20:12 a little bit better. 20:14 The lesson also says that what Hebrews means here 20:17 in this verse is that it was through sufferings 20:20 that the reality of Jesus's brotherly love, 20:23 the authenticity of His human nature, 20:25 and the depth of His submission as representative 20:28 of humanity to the will of the Father, 20:31 were truly expressed and revealed. 20:34 He was perfected in the sense that His sufferings 20:37 qualified Him to be our High Priest. 20:40 It was His life of perfect obedience and then His death 20:43 on the cross which constitute the sacrificial offering 20:47 that Jesus presented before the Father as our priest. 20:50 And so, Jesus's suffering, it helps us understand God better. 20:55 It understands--it helps us understand 20:56 the reality of sin better. 20:59 Friends, if there are a few things that 21:00 we need to understand in our walk with God is, first of all, 21:04 we need to understand sin. 21:06 What is sin? 21:07 That's a big one. 21:09 There's a whole area of theology called hamartiology that is 21:12 dedicated to understanding sin, the implications of sin, 21:16 what happens. 21:18 Another thing that we need to understand always better is 21:20 God's relation to sin. 21:23 Why is sin such a horrible thing to God? 21:26 And why is it so important for us to get close to Jesus 21:29 so that we can divest ourselves of that nature, of that reality? 21:36 But let's move on. 21:37 Monday's lesson, the title was, 21:40 "According to the Order of Melchizedek." 21:42 So, Monday's lesson and the subject that is covered 21:46 on Monday's lesson is and has always been kind of a mystery, 21:50 not only to me but to anyone that reads the Bible. 21:52 When we hear of this mysterious figure, Melchizedek, 21:55 there are a lot of questions, right? 21:57 Because the Bible doesn't talk a lot about him. 21:59 It doesn't mention him or talk about him all that much. 22:02 What we do have is found in Genesis chapter 14, verse 19 22:05 and 20, and this is basically everything that we have 22:07 in the Old Testament about Melchizedek. 22:10 It says: "Then Melchizedek, king of Salem," and Salem, later on, 22:14 become Jerusalem, right? 22:16 That's, after King David conquered Jerusalem, 22:19 the city was renamed. 22:22 Before, it was Jebbus, and before that, 22:27 it was called Salem, and so Melchizedek 22:29 was the King of Salem that later on 22:31 became Yerushalayim, Jerusalem. 22:34 And so it says, "Then Melchizedek, the king of Salem, 22:36 brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 22:41 And he blessed him and said: 22:42 'Blessed be Abraham of God Most High, 22:44 possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, 22:49 who has delivered your enemies into your hand.' 22:51 And he gave him a tithe of all." 22:53 So, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe of all. 22:58 Now, again, we don't know much about him. 23:00 We don't know--we absolutely don't know much about him. 23:02 The context of this verse is after Abraham rescues Lot 23:08 from the hands of the enemies that had conquered, you know, 23:12 Sodom where Lot lived, and it's really--there's very interesting 23:16 detail here that Lot, you know, we usually remember Lot 23:21 referring to his--in the context of him being rescued 23:24 from Sodom and Gomorrah, from--by God's hands. 23:28 But Lot was actually rescued twice: once here by Abraham 23:33 and then another time by those angels sent by God. 23:36 There's a lot to be said about Lot's life. 23:38 But in any case, we don't know much about Melchizedek. 23:41 Melchizedek was both a priest and a king. 23:44 As he appears here in the narrative, he was above Abraham 23:47 because Abraham returns tithe to him, all right? 23:50 And again, it's a very mysterious reference because 23:52 we don't know what's going on, we don't know very well 23:54 the context of what's going on here. 23:56 But the book of Hebrews draws a connection, a bridge, 24:00 between Melchizedek and Jesus. 24:02 The reason for this is because Jesus-- 24:05 who could you compare Jesus to? 24:08 Which one of the priests could you compare Jesus to? 24:11 None, because all of them were part of the Levitical system, 24:15 the sacrificial system that for millennia already at that point, 24:20 over a millennia, over 1500 years, had already been 24:25 so entrenched into the Jewish tradition that something 24:30 different, some different reference was needed, 24:33 to help people understand that Jesus was so much more, 24:37 that Jesus transcended everything 24:39 that they could imagine. 24:40 And so here, the author of Hebrews, he draws 24:43 from this very mysterious figure of the Old Testament, 24:46 Melchizedek, the lineage of Levi, and this is 24:50 why Jesus wasn't part of that. 24:51 The lineage of Levi was part of the system. 24:54 We just saw that they also needed to offer sacrifices 24:57 for themselves. 24:58 So Jesus needed, in a way, to be different from that. 25:01 And while they fulfilled their role that was established 25:05 by God, they were still part of the problem. 25:09 Jesus needed to be outside of that, in a way. 25:12 He needed to be more than that. 25:15 An example is when Paul tells us that Melchizedek, 25:18 and here we're understanding there's a very big conversation, 25:23 who wrote the book of Hebrews, right? 25:25 And a lot of people say that it was someone else. 25:29 Ellen White, in a revelation, she understood that it was Paul 25:34 and that's why Seventh-day Adventists understand 25:36 and interpret the book of Hebrews as being written 25:39 by the apostle Paul. 25:40 And so, right here, the apostle Paul, he gives us an example of 25:44 Melchizedek, right, that he was without--this is in Hebrews 7:3. 25:48 He was without father, mother, genealogy, birth, and death. 25:52 Now, what was Melchizedek? 25:53 Some kind of alien? 25:55 Was he, you know, mother, father, he didn't die, 25:58 he wasn't born. 26:00 So how do you understand a text like this? 26:01 If you take it literally, well, you're going to be stumped. 26:04 And that's, in that kind of incorrect interpretation 26:07 of the Bible, a lot of people end up believing 26:09 that Melchizedek himself was Jesus. 26:13 But that doesn't make sense within the scope of the gospel, 26:16 within the scope of the Bible. 26:17 So, does this mean that Melchizedek was God Himself? 26:21 No, friends, this is a comparison. 26:23 This is a parable. 26:25 You see, what the text is trying to say is that Jesus 26:28 was untethered. 26:31 He wasn't held back in the same way or by the same 26:34 Levitical priesthood system. 26:36 That's what this text is saying. 26:37 In the same way, where Melchizedek, the Bible doesn't 26:40 give us anything about him, Jesus in the same way, 26:44 Jesus was untethered. 26:45 The answer to this is perfectly summed up by the lesson when 26:48 it says: "Instead, Hebrews uses the silence of Scripture 26:53 regarding Melchizedek's birth, death, and genealogy, to build 26:57 up a typology, a symbol, for Jesus's priestly ministry." 27:01 And you'll find that in Genesis chapter 14. 27:03 And it reveals that Jesus Himself was eternal. 27:07 So, in short, Melchizedek was a Canaanite king priest 27:10 who served as a type of Christ. 27:12 So I hope I made it clear. 27:14 Here, the Bible isn't saying that Melchizedek 27:16 was Jesus in the Old Testament. 27:18 Jesus did not have a pre-incarnation before 27:20 His incarnation, all right? 27:21 It--that's not how it works. 27:24 What the Bible is saying, what it all points to, 27:27 is our initial point, that the message of Hebrews 27:30 is that Jesus is better, His priesthood was better 27:33 than the Levitical one, His high priesthood 27:35 was more effective than Aaron's. 27:37 The focus here isn't on Melchizedek or that Melchizedek 27:40 was a divine being himself. 27:44 The focus, the emphasis, is that he appears as a symbol, a type, 27:48 representing the qualities of Jesus as our mediator, 27:52 the qualities of Jesus as our intercessor. 27:54 Different in that sense than anything that had come before. 27:58 So, you're getting the scope here, right? 28:00 Jesus is better. 28:02 In the context of Hebrews, Jesus was different. 28:06 Now, I'm not saying that Jesus wasn't Emmanuel. 28:08 Jesus was God with us. 28:10 But Jesus, to be our high priest, 28:13 there had to be something that transcended what came before. 28:18 And that kind of leads in, that leads into our Tuesday's lesson 28:24 which, title is, "An Effective Priest." 28:26 Now, would you say that Jesus was an effective priest 28:29 or an ineffective priest? 28:31 That Jesus is an effective or an ineffective priest? 28:34 So, the switch that the author of Hebrews is doing his best 28:38 to drive home is that the only way to actually get something 28:43 permanent out of the old sacrificial system, 28:47 the old way of things happening, is through Jesus. 28:50 The only way how that became permanent, that became eternal, 28:55 was through eternity, and only God is eternal. 29:00 So, the easy way to understand this is by understanding 29:03 that how many times in the Old Testament 29:05 do you find sacrifices going on? 29:07 The sacrifices of lambs and, you know, bulls and--how many times? 29:11 Countless times. 29:12 It happens a whole bunch of times. 29:14 Why does it keep repeating itself? 29:15 Because it wasn't perfect. 29:17 It wasn't permanent. 29:20 Only through Jesus does it become permanent. 29:23 That's why we don't have to do these things today, 29:25 because Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of these rituals, 29:29 these symbols. 29:31 The only way is through Jesus. 29:32 There is no other way. 29:33 At that time, the religious system of the Jews had-- 29:36 of the Jews had become so mechanical, again, 29:38 so entrenched by their legalistic 29:41 self-righteous tradition, that they have lost sight 29:44 of what these rituals, what the ceremonies, 29:47 what the feasts were representative of. 29:51 They couldn't see anymore that they were illustrations, 29:54 they were symbols, that all pointed towards 29:56 one concrete reality. 29:59 And what was the reality? 30:01 Jesus, all of it. 30:04 Everything converges on Jesus. 30:06 So that's why I said in the beginning, if you remove Jesus 30:09 from the gospel story, from the biblical narrative, 30:12 nothing makes sense. 30:14 All you have is a historical book. 30:16 That's all that you have. 30:18 Jesus is the catalyst of Scripture. 30:20 Everything makes sense in Him. 30:23 The main reason here for Jesus being not only 30:26 the most effective priest, but the only truly effective priest, 30:32 is because He was the one absolutely perfect. 30:36 He was the only absolutely perfect one from birth to death, 30:41 through and through. 30:42 Look at what Hebrews 7:11 says: "Therefore, if perfection were 30:47 through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people 30:51 received the law), what further need was there that another 30:55 priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, 31:00 and not be called according to the order of Aaron?" 31:03 So what is this text saying? 31:07 It's saying that if it were possible for another high priest 31:12 to substitute Jesus, he would come through the order of Aaron 31:15 and not through the order of Melchizedek. 31:17 Another important thing to note here in the same context is 31:20 the fact that Paul speaks of a change of law, 31:23 so do laws change? 31:24 I mean, Hebrews 7:12 says: "For the priesthood being changed, 31:27 of necessity there is also a change of the law." 31:32 So, someone might ask, "Well, do laws change? 31:35 Isn't God eternal? 31:37 And aren't God's laws a reflection of His character? 31:41 How is it that these laws are changing?" 31:45 Well, when it comes to the ceremonial law, 31:49 and that's what we're talking about right here: 31:51 the laws that guided the ceremony, the rituals of Israel, 31:57 it doesn't change as much as it's completed. 32:01 These laws, they don't really change, they're just completed, 32:05 they're fulfilled. 32:07 What did Jesus say? 32:08 "I have not come to abolish the law, but to," what? 32:11 "Fulfill it." 32:13 And so, these laws are more fulfilled than done away with. 32:19 With the phenomenon of Jesus Christ, 32:21 some things did end and some things were commenced. 32:24 So what things ended? 32:25 Well, we see that the fete-- the feasts that were completed 32:28 in Jesus's life and death-- birth, life, and death, 32:31 well, they ended. 32:33 That's why we don't celebrate these feasts anymore is because 32:35 their meaning was completed in Jesus Christ. 32:38 What about the sacrificial system? 32:40 It was torn. 32:41 As soon as the veil was torn, top to bottom, when Jesus died, 32:44 you'll have no more sacrificial system 32:46 because Jesus completes it. 32:47 The fact is, friends, that according to the old law, 32:50 only the Levites could become priests and here, 32:53 we're answering the question that kind of arose 32:56 with the verse that we read before. 33:00 In the Old Testament, only Levites could become priests, 33:03 but was Jesus from the tribe of Levi? 33:06 No, he was from the tribe of Judah. 33:09 And so, the law gives way to another law, a more perfect, 33:12 more relevant, more complete one where Jesus becomes 33:15 both sacrifice and high priest. 33:18 So, in the Old Testament, you had the sacrifice 33:20 and you had the high priest. 33:22 In Jesus, you have the sacrifice and the high priest converging. 33:27 Everything converges in Jesus. 33:30 Hebrews 7, verse 18 and 19 says: "For on the one hand there is an 33:33 annual--there is an annulling," sorry, "an annulling 33:36 of the former commandment because of its weakness 33:39 and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; 33:43 on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, 33:46 through which we draw near to God." 33:50 And the lesson completes this idea by saying, 33:52 "Jesus's coming also implied a change in the law of sacrifices. 33:56 Sinners were required to bring different kinds of sacrifices 33:59 to obtain atonement. 34:01 But now that Jesus had come and offered a perfect sacrifice, 34:05 the law of animal sacrifices has been put aside as a result 34:09 of the new covenant and the fuller revelation 34:12 of the plan of salvation." 34:14 And that's what we mean by present truth. 34:17 In every period of time in history, we've had our present 34:19 truth: what makes sense for this moment, right now. 34:23 And the present truth here, revealed here, 34:26 is that Jesus was better. 34:28 Better than the old bulls and rams and feasts. 34:30 Everything--in everything, Jesus was better. 34:35 And that segues into Wednesday's lesson. 34:37 The title is, "An Eternal Priest." 34:40 So this one kind of completes Tuesday's lesson. 34:44 Not only is Jesus the effective priest, 34:46 He is the only eternal priest. 34:48 And the implications of this are very deep, are very profound. 34:52 It means that Jesus's ministry on our behalf is eternal. 34:55 It reaps eternal results. 34:57 It will always be relevant. 35:00 And of course, that is why only He could be such a priest. 35:03 Why could only Jesus be our eternal priest? 35:07 Because only God is eternal. 35:09 Every other created being is infinite, can be infinite. 35:14 The angels are infinite, they will never die, 35:15 but they had a point of beginning. 35:17 They are not sources of life. 35:19 God is the only source of life. 35:22 He is the only life-giver. 35:26 In that way, God breathes life into His ministry 35:29 and what He does on our behalf. 35:31 It means that His ministry on our behalf has eternal results. 35:37 And of course, that's why only He could be that priest. 35:40 And so, speaking of Jesus in this context, Hebrews informs us 35:44 in chapter 7, verse 16, that He "has come not according to the 35:48 law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power 35:52 of an endless life." 35:54 So what authority--what granted Jesus the ability to become 35:58 an eternal priest and be our eternal priest? 36:00 Well, it's very simple: the fact that He's eternal. 36:03 It's obvious. 36:04 Only He is eternal, only He could be an eternal priest. 36:07 His endless life is the source of our future endless life. 36:12 But friends, it goes beyond the quantity of time. 36:14 It goes beyond the temporal aspect. 36:16 The lesson completes this idea by saying that 36:18 "the implications of these facts are astounding. 36:21 It means that Jesus's ministry will never be surpassed 36:25 or outclassed. 36:27 Jesus saves completely, eternally, to the uttermost. 36:32 The salvation that Jesus provides is total and final. 36:36 It reaches the innermost aspects of human nature." 36:40 You know what's interesting in the story? 36:42 You'll remember that in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, 36:44 the preacher, right, the teacher there in Ecclesiastes, 36:48 he says that God has placed what in the hearts of men? 36:52 Eternity. 36:54 God has placed eternity in the hearts of men. 36:57 He has written eternity into the hearts of men. 37:00 But God is the very embodiment of-- 37:05 He is the very definition of what eternity means. 37:08 So by saying that God has placed eternity into the hearts of men, 37:12 what does that imply? 37:14 God has placed Himself into the hearts of men. 37:18 Hebrews 10:12 completes this idea because it says: 37:21 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house 37:23 of Israel after those days, says the Lord: 37:26 I will put My laws in their mind, 37:28 and write them on their hearts. 37:30 I will be their God and they shall be My people." 37:32 You see, "I will write My laws in their hearts." 37:36 He will put eternity, Himself, in our hearts 37:39 and He will write His laws in our hearts. 37:42 You cannot have true laws without God in your heart, 37:46 and that's exactly, precisely, what the Israelite nation 37:50 was doing in His day, and that's why they failed miserably. 37:56 God put eternity into our hearts. 37:58 The entire Bible is interwoven into one grand mosaic 38:02 that portrays Jesus in His plenitude. 38:06 Another aspect of this, another thing to consider here, 38:09 is that Jesus becomes the catalyst to make 38:12 the covenant better. 38:13 You know, friends, I get very-- how do I-- 38:18 how would--disappointed? 38:20 Not disappointed, it just annoys me when I see sometimes 38:24 people making this huge differentiations 38:26 between the covenant. 38:29 You'll see, "Well, you have the old covenant, 38:30 you'll have the new covenant. 38:31 You have this--" 38:33 Friends, the covenant has always been about one thing. 38:35 The covenant has always been about redemption, 38:38 about God saving us, be that the covenant with Adam, 38:41 be that the Abrahamic covenant or the covenant with Noah, 38:44 the covenant with Isaac and Jacob or Israel. 38:46 The covenant has always been one of salvation, always. 38:51 So--and then you can say, "Well, all right, Pastor, 38:53 what does the New Testament, this text that you just read, 38:55 why does it say, 'new covenant'?" 38:58 Well, it's--in the Greek language, 39:00 there are two words for new. 39:03 Two words for new. 39:06 One means new of a-- of the same kind. 39:10 New of the same kind. 39:11 Think of a car, all right? 39:13 I have a, I don't know, a Honda, all right? 39:15 We have a Honda Civic. 39:18 Now, let's say that my Honda Civic 39:19 is a very old Honda and I want a new one. 39:22 I want a new car, and I go out and I buy a Honda Civic. 39:25 It's new, but it's of the same kind. 39:29 Or you could buy a completely different car. 39:31 You could buy an Altima, a Nissan Altima. 39:34 It's new, of a different kind. 39:37 So when the Bible says, "new covenant," is it talking 39:40 about new of the same kind or new of a different kind? 39:44 It's talking about new of the same kind. 39:46 It's a renewed covenant. 39:48 You see, the old covenants, it's always God extending 39:50 His arm to reach out to the human family. 39:54 The problem is that the human family always slips. 39:58 You see that with Abraham, you see that with Noah, 40:00 you see that with Adam, you see that with Israel, 40:04 and the Israelite kings. 40:05 The human--the divine hand that's reaching out is always 40:08 met by the feeble weak hands of humans that end up slipping. 40:12 But when Jesus comes, the arm of God reaches out and on the other 40:17 side, you have the arm of Jesus, and Jesus's arms never slip. 40:23 Jesus doesn't let go. 40:25 He keeps the covenant, and that's how we have--it's the 40:28 same covenant of redemption, but this time, it's perfect. 40:33 It's a perfect bond. 40:35 And in that way, not only does Jesus bridge the gap, 40:38 Jesus becomes the bridge over the gap. 40:41 He Himself becomes the bridge. 40:46 The covenant has always been a covenant of salvation, 40:48 but with the addition of Jesus's blood, His atoning sacrifice, 40:52 and the cross, His ministry for us in the heavenly sanctuary, 40:55 it has been renewed. 40:57 It's been made better, perfect, complete. 41:00 It is still the same covenant of redemption it always has been, 41:03 but now it's whole. 41:06 Now it's complete. 41:07 That's why Hebrews 7:22 informs us: 41:09 "By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a," what? 41:14 "Of a better covenant." 41:17 A better covenant. 41:19 Renewed, made whole. 41:24 The covenant in Him becomes the everlasting covenant, 41:29 because only He is everlasting. 41:32 Do you understand it? 41:33 The everlasting covenant is only everlasting because Jesus 41:37 is everlasting, and that is why He is our everlasting priest. 41:43 In Jesus, it will never fail. 41:46 The covenant will never fail because His ministration 41:48 on our behalf guarantees a better, unending covenant. 41:53 The lesson sums it up perfectly by saying that the Father 41:56 established Jesus as a guarantee to us that He will not default 42:00 on His promises. 42:02 That that's how certain we can be of salvation 42:05 that we have been given in Jesus. 42:08 Finally, Thursday's lesson. 42:11 We're ending the week here. 42:13 At the foundation of this whole perspective of Jesus 42:16 as the only effective, the only eternal priest, 42:19 is the fact that He was spotless. 42:22 He was sinless. 42:24 That's where our memory verse comes in. 42:25 This is such a beautiful memory verse. 42:27 Hebrews 7:26: "For such a High Priest was fitting for us, 42:30 who is holy, harmless, undefiled, 42:34 separate from sinners, and has become higher 42:37 than the heavens." 42:38 So, this verse, this very short verse, 42:40 it describes five characteristics of Jesus 42:45 needed for Him to be able to mediate for us 42:47 as the perfect high priest. 42:49 First of all, He was holy. 42:52 Jesus was holy. 42:53 His relationship with God was uninterrupted. 42:56 It was never broken. 42:57 The only moment where you see a break is in the Gethsemane. 43:00 Not even in the Gethsemane. 43:02 It's really on the cross, "My God, My God, 43:03 why have You forsaken Me?" 43:04 Because there, and this is where you see the reality 43:06 of 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21, that says that 43:10 "He who had no sin became sin, so that we who were sin could be 43:17 made the righteousness of God." 43:19 That's my favorite Bible verse. 43:21 "He who knew no sin became sin." 43:24 But in every other sense, Jesus's relationship with God 43:28 was uninterrupted, never broken. 43:30 The arm that God had extended to Adam, to Abraham, to Isaac, 43:33 to Jacob, to Israel, that arm that had always met, 43:37 as I said before, the human arm that slipped, 43:40 it now met the arm of Jesus. 43:44 He became our bridge. 43:45 And so, in that way, Jesus was holy. 43:47 He was separate. 43:49 The word "holy" literally means separated. 43:51 We are called to be a holy nation, are we not? 43:53 What does that mean? 43:54 We're called to be separate. 43:57 Jesus was holy. 43:59 That's what it means: separated. 44:01 Second, He was undefiled. 44:02 That's what the verse is saying. 44:04 He was never conquered by sin or evil. 44:06 Jesus was never conquered by sin. 44:09 So this means that while Jesus was affected by sin, wasn't He? 44:12 I mean, you see that Jesus on every side was affected by sin, 44:15 but in that way He was never infected by it, 44:17 He never caved to it. 44:18 I'm not saying that Jesus wasn't tempted, 44:20 and I'm not saying that Jesus couldn't have fallen. 44:24 But what we see, the empirical truth in the Bible is 44:26 that Jesus never sinned. 44:28 And so He remained undefiled. 44:31 "Although He was tempted in all points," as Hebrews 4:15 says, 44:37 which truly means, I mean, when you think-- 44:39 when you truly consider it, He was tempted on all points. 44:41 Well, what does that mean? 44:42 Was Jesus tempted with every single sin? 44:45 That's impossible. 44:46 Jesus wasn't tempted to watch wrong things on the Internet 44:50 because there was no Internet. 44:51 Jesus was never tempted to use drugs, at least, you know, 44:54 modern drugs. 44:55 Why? 44:57 Because they had no modern drugs. 44:58 So you can't say, "Jesus was a man; 45:00 He couldn't be tempted as a woman is." 45:02 Jesus wasn't a father; He can't be-- 45:03 He couldn't be tempted as parents were. 45:06 Jesus wasn't married; He could be tempted as a married man is. 45:10 So when the Bible says that He was tempted on all points, 45:12 what does that mean? 45:14 It means that He was tempted at the foundation of sin, 45:17 rebellion against God. 45:20 When we say, you know, that sin is transgression of the law, 45:23 what that means is sin is rebellion against God 45:27 because God's law reflects His character. 45:30 If I transgress His character, am I not rebelling 45:32 against His character? 45:34 And so, in this way, Jesus was tempted 45:36 at the foundation of every sin, just like all of us. 45:41 But what this text here is saying is that sin 45:44 never found echo, it never found resonance. 45:48 What does the book of John chapter 14, verse 30 say? 45:51 It said, and this is Jesus saying: 45:52 "The ruler of this world is coming." 45:54 He's speaking about Satan. 45:55 "The ruler of this world is coming, 45:57 and he has nothing in Me." 45:59 There was no echo. 46:02 So we have Jesus being undefiled. 46:05 Third, He was separate from sinners. 46:08 Again, this is the--this is the verse that I just read, okay? 46:11 This isn't me coming up with this stuff, right? 46:13 So for such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, 46:16 harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, 46:19 and has become higher than the heavens." 46:21 So, He was separate from sinners. 46:24 Now this doesn't mean that He couldn't relate to us because, 46:27 after all, if Jesus couldn't relate to us, 46:28 what kind of Savior would He be? 46:30 That's why the Bible tells us that Jesus-- 46:32 we don't have a High Priest in heaven that cannot comprehend, 46:36 He can't feel what we're going through. 46:39 Or course He can. 46:41 But what this verse indicates is that while He was here with us, 46:45 while He was and still is Emmanuel, God with us, 46:48 He never sinned. 46:50 He remained unblemished, and in that way 46:51 He was separate from sinners. 46:53 That's what the text is saying. 46:55 Fourth, He was exalted above the heavens. 46:58 Now, this text is echoed in Colossians chapter 1, verse 15, 47:02 that says: "He is the image of the invisible God, 47:04 the firstborn over all of creation." 47:07 So, this verse is misused a lot, with a very early heresy called 47:14 the Arian heresy. 47:15 Has nothing to do with Arianism as we understand it today. 47:18 Has nothing to do with races or anything like that. 47:20 The Arian--it came from a guy called Arius, 47:22 and so he believed that Jesus was the first created creature. 47:26 He was the first created being. 47:27 So in that way, Jesus wouldn't be God; 47:29 He would just be the first created being. 47:31 Now the Bible is completely against that, right? 47:34 But the thing is that they used this text. 47:37 Jesus was the firstborn of creation. 47:40 There's a very different way-- there are many different ways 47:43 in which the way of thinking, 47:45 the biblical way of thinking, is different than ours. 47:48 And so, when the Bible here is saying that He was the firstborn 47:50 over all of creation, it's not talking about--it's not speaking 47:54 quantitatively regarding time, but qualitatively. 47:59 Qualitatively, Jesus is the firstborn, 48:02 so let me explain this a little bit better. 48:05 Was Jacob the firstborn? 48:08 No, but did Jacob receive the firstborn blessing? 48:13 Yeah, that's what this means. 48:15 He was the more important one, all right, when speaking 48:18 about the biblical promises. 48:20 So by saying that Jesus is the firstborn over all of creation, 48:23 what we're truly saying is that He is--He has preeminence, 48:27 He is over all of creation. 48:30 Jesus is better. 48:31 And so that's what exalted above the heavens means: 48:34 Jesus is better. 48:37 He is above. 48:38 And thank God for that. 48:40 Praise God for that reality. 48:41 Because of His victory, He was exalted and, friends, 48:44 because He lives we can face tomorrow. 48:48 We don't have to leave every morning our home 48:51 to conquer victory, because in Him, we are already victorious. 48:56 We already have His victory, His righteousness. 49:00 Finally, He was fully human. 49:03 That's what the text implies. 49:06 Since Jesus was fully human, as we talked about before, 49:09 but also perfect, He is in the perfect position 49:12 to be our high priest, 49:13 to mediate between us and the Father. 49:16 Jesus is precisely what He always needed to be, 49:18 for all, forever. 49:20 And as a human, He's our example. 49:24 We know this. 49:26 Jesus is our example. 49:27 You see, friends, Jesus came to this world with two missions: 49:31 two ultimate reasons for coming. 49:34 First, to be your and my substitute. 49:40 That's what being my high priest implies. 49:44 I needed someone to substitute what was going to happen to me, 49:50 because sin--what is the consequence of sin? 49:52 Death. 49:53 The wages of sin is death. 49:57 I needed a substitute. 49:59 And secondly, an example. 50:02 An example in how to live, how to relate to God, how to love, 50:06 how to relate to those around me, how to love others, 50:10 how to be kind, how to be pure, how to be better. 50:13 Jesus is better than everything, and with Him as my example, 50:17 I can do my best. 50:19 But here's the thing: it's in that order. 50:22 First, Jesus is my substitute and then He is my example. 50:26 There are some things that Jesus did that I'm not called to do. 50:28 I'm not called to die for anyone else, 50:31 not in the way that He did. 50:33 The Bible does say that a good friend dies for-- 50:35 lays down his life for his brother, right? 50:37 But in--I'm not--I was never called to be a Messiah, 50:40 to be anyone's Savior. 50:42 And so that's what the Bible implies here. 50:45 And so, friends, because of all of this, because we have Jesus 50:48 as our high priest, our eternal, our effective, 50:51 our great high priest, we can grow in Him, 50:54 we can reflect His love, we can reflect His mercy, 50:57 we can extend to a dying world the love, 51:00 the arm of God, that Jesus took and that He became our bridge. 51:04 We can extend that to a dying world, 51:07 and we can tell them that we have hope 51:09 in the ultimate priest. 51:11 I want to end with a text, a quote from the SDA Bible 51:16 Commentary written by, really, it's the Letter Number 90. 51:19 It was written 1906 by Ellen White, and it says: 51:22 "Christ is watching. 51:24 He knows all about our burdens, our dangers, 51:27 and our difficulties; and He fills His mouth 51:29 with arguments in our behalf. 51:31 He fits His intercessions to the needs of each soul, 51:35 as He did in the case of Peter. 51:37 Our Advocate fills His mouth with arguments to teach 51:40 His tried, tempted ones to brace against Satan's temptations. 51:45 He interprets every movement of the enemy and He orders events." 51:50 Friends, in Jesus we not only have a judge, we not only have 51:55 an advocate, we not only have a high priest, we have a brother. 52:00 We have family. 52:01 Heaven is invested in us, in you, and in me. 52:07 And so my invitation to you today is to accept 52:09 this high priest. 52:11 Allow Him to be the only mediator that you need. 52:13 Allow Him to live in your life and I am sure that your life 52:18 will then be full of hope. 52:19 Please bow your head and pray with me. 52:21 Dear Lord, thank You so much for Your love. 52:23 Thank You for Your companionship. 52:24 Thank You for being our high priest. 52:27 Allow us daily to consider this reality and to put into our life 52:31 what this means, in a practical way, and allow us to extend 52:35 to the world around us the implications 52:37 of our eternal effective high priest. 52:41 Bless all--please bless all of those that are watching 52:43 from home, those that were here today, 52:45 and those that will be watching from the future. 52:47 Allow this message to inspire and to instigate. 52:51 I ask these things in Jesus's name, amen. 52:56 Friends, please don't forget to take advantage 52:58 of our free offer: "Blood Behind the Veil." 53:02 If you want it, you can call 866-788-3966 or you can ask-- 53:07 and you can ask for Offer Number 130. 53:11 You can text "SH154" to "40544." 53:18 Or, if you're outside of North America, you can go 53:20 to study.aftv.org/SH154 53:23 and you can get a digital download. 53:25 May God bless you. Have a great week. 53:30 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 53:32 free resource. 53:33 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 53:35 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 53:38 or mobile device. 53:39 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 53:43 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 53:47 shown on your screen and be sure to select 53:50 the digital download option on the request page. 53:52 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 53:56 with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, 53:59 and most important, to share it with others. 54:06 announcer: "Amazing Facts" Changed Lives. 54:09 ♪♪♪ 54:14 female: Well, my conversion story is when 54:18 I was in the Philippines, I just graduated as a nurse 54:23 and afterwards I did not have any religion and one time 54:27 I found myself inside a small church, 54:31 Catholic church, in Manila, and before a big cross. 54:37 And I was kneeling before and I could hear Jesus telling me 54:42 to enter the convent, save myself and also my family. 54:47 And I said, "Lord, I would like to follow You all the way." 54:50 At that point, I seemed to be happy externally, 54:54 but because inside the convent we don't read the Bible, 54:58 we don't study about the Word of God. 55:01 We prayed the rosaries, we also at the same time 55:05 studied the lives of the saints and also our founders, 55:09 and the encyclicals of the Pope and the Virgin Mary. 55:13 And so I do not know the truth and I had this torture of 55:17 conscience, the guilty feelings that cannot be resolved. 55:21 So I would confess to the priest in the confessional box, saying, 55:25 "Father, forgive me. 55:28 Since my last confession was last week. 55:30 Since then I have committed the following sin 55:33 including the root cause: why am I falling and falling 55:37 in that same sin over and over again." 55:41 And still for 21 long years, I struggle and I struggle 55:46 and I struggle. 55:48 I realized that I was totally empty, 55:51 I was totally helpless and hopeless, 55:54 and so depressed, and so desperate 55:58 that I would like already to end my life. 56:01 I was working for five years as dean of the University 56:04 of San Agustin College of Nursing in Iloilo City, 56:09 one of the islands in the Philippines. 56:12 After five years I received a commission from my parents 56:17 to help my sister who is being a battered woman. 56:21 This is one of the reasons why I came over to United States. 56:26 It is because my sister needs my help. 56:30 As I was working in the hospital in New York, 56:33 my boss-- he was so gracious enough 56:36 to give me an invitation to the Millennium Prophecy. 56:40 As I was listening to Pastor Doug Batchelor's presentation, 56:44 my heart really was beating so fast, and my mind, 56:49 I'm able to grasp the truth, that this is the truth 56:55 that I've been longing to hear all my life, 56:58 that I have been seeking for so long. 57:01 My personal relationship with Jesus, 57:04 I can see Jesus as my personal Savior. 57:08 He is not only the Savior of the whole world 57:11 but He is my personal Savior. 57:14 He was the one who delivered me mightily from the depths of sin, 57:20 from the mighty clay. 57:22 Pastor Doug Batchelor has been used by the Lord 57:25 in my conversion. 57:27 The Amazing Facts, I owe to them. 57:30 The Lord really blessed this ministry and I'm so proud 57:35 I was able to attend this Millennium Prophecy. 57:39 My life has never been the same. 57:42 It has given me the peace, the joy, that never-- 57:47 I have never tasted in my life, and now I am set free to be able 57:53 to work for Him and to follow Him. 57:57 ♪♪♪ 58:07 ♪♪♪ 58:17 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2022-01-26