Transcription
Church, I'm gonna ask you to stand right now, if you would, and open up your Bibles to Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one. Together tonight, we'll go as far as we can. Oh, no, we're gonna fly on this book. We're gonna really, really move on this one, the book of Hebrews. Rather than right now, tonight, as we've kind of eaten up some of the time, rather than get much into the introductory part of it, we're just going to read two verses together and go as far as we can on them.
Hebrews, I'm going to ask all of you that are here tonight, if it's possible, I do not want to take you away from your church. If your church that you attend is dependent upon you, then you need to pray about, uh, maybe not coming on Wednesday nights here. But if you have the ability to do that and you're not gonna in any way, uh, leave the the church that you attend in the lurch, then then you're fine, you're great. But I ask all of you to be very sensitive to this request. All of us don't know in our lives. Catholic, we have Catholic friends, they need this Wednesday night teaching. The book of Hebrews, like you can't even begin to imagine, because almost everything in this book will be new to them. Because for some reason, I think I know, the Catholic Church avoids studying this book verse by verse. Because if you study this book verse by verse, you will wake up to the realization there's only one priest, and and he's not a man. And he says, "You come to me with your confession directly, and you confess to me, and I will set you free." And I am not only your priest, I'm your atonement, and I am your attorney, I am your judge, I am your defense, I'm everything. Okay? And his name's Jesus, and you'll meet him in a whole new light, whole new light.
Church, uh, Hebrews chapter one. I'll read verse one, if you'll read verse two in our responsive reading together. Hebrews chapter one. "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets." Father, speak to us Your truth during the journey of Hebrews. Dear God in heaven, save souls, open our eyes, draw us closer, and may we become so intimate with the One who loves us the most, that we would find ourselves, every single one of us, completely, completely transformed. The truth that transforms in this book will cause us to be different people, and how we need that in this time. We love You, God, and praise You in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, Amen. Amen. You can be seated.
The book of Hebrews presents, as you can well imagine, Jesus Christ as the one and only. Throughout the entire book, the book of Hebrews will take Jesus and shine the light of His person, shine the light of His ministry, shine the light of His work. And not only that, by virtue of so many analogies or types in the book of Hebrews. In fact, there are books you can buy regarding typology found in the book of Hebrews, because it's all of, listen, it's all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus in the book of Hebrews, fulfilling the Old Testament references to atonement, forgiveness, sacrifice, blood, uh, innocence for the guilty, in ways that the book of Hebrews shines light on the Old Testament, which allows us in our 21st century to understand the Old Testament so much better. So if you just think about it, and I should have done it as a prop and put on like big sunglasses, because the book of Hebrews is like big glasses, and you look through the lens of the Old Testament, and then all of a sudden, the taking of the dove and sacrificing it and laying it this way, and the blood, right? And the entrails of the animal laid out, and the priest washes them and performs this thing, and it's one thing that you and I read in the book of Leviticus and we go, "Why am I reading this book?" And it makes no sense to us.
Listen, I'm not going to mention his name, but you all know his name. But a friend of mine who's Jewish says, "The priesthood in the Old Testament was just a, it made it made up a bunch of glorified butchers." Think about it. If you were a priest in the Old Testament, you were bloody all your life, cutting this, taking the blood, putting it over here, sacrificing this, pulling this apart, bringing this. It was crazy, right? Until you look at the book of Hebrews, and then you find out that all of that stuff that we thought was nothing speaks of exact detail regarding Christ's atoning work for us. And you're going to learn about that in this book. Every way, in all of scripture, the prophet from the Bible for us when we read it is to see the centrality of Jesus in the Bible. That is so vitally important. And so we're going to be seeing some things by way of getting ready for this. Church, you might be blessed by a few things here. Hebrews chapter 10, for example, verse 7 says, "Behold, I have come; in the volume of the book it is written of me: To do Your will, O God." The author of the book of Hebrews, there in 10 verse 7, he's quoting Psalm 40. In Psalm 40, it speaks about the Messiah. If you're Jewish tonight, you know that already. Us Gentiles, we're just figuring that out. That Psalm 40 announces that it's the Messiah who says, "Behold, or lo, I come." And in the volume of the book, in the volume of the book, it is written of me. Did you get that, everybody? It's written about me, the Messiah, Jesus.
So how do you know it's Jesus? Because the writer of the book of Hebrews, we don't know who the writer is, by the way. If you say, "What do you keep saying, the writer?" We don't know who it is. Most people believe it leans toward Paul, highly possible. But for some reason, his name is left out. Maybe there's a purpose to that, and I believe there is. But will you note this? What's the name of this book? The book of what? Book of Hebrews is written to, listen, Jews who moved out of Judaism and into Christianity. Or as Jews say it today, they don't say they're Christians. A Jew who comes to Christ today says they are believers. I like that, by the way. They are believers. Everybody's a Christian these days. Satan's probably a Christian, right? I thought you were a Christian. This guy robs a bank and, "What, I thought you're a Christian?" You know what? Listen, forget about that title. If you're a follower, you're a follower, and it's obvious. If you're not a follower, you know what? You run around and hide behind labels. And so when a Jew came to know that Jesus is the Messiah, they became believers. And so it's very, very possible that the authorship of this book, as it speaks to the Hebrews, we're talking about Hebrews who came to know Christ as Messiah.
But we're going to come to passages of this book, church, that's going to blow your mind. Because you're going to be challenged for years, maybe decades in your life. You've been told, "Oh, that verse, or those verses, that passage that teaches you can lose your salvation." And it's right here in the book of Hebrews, and it's the exact opposite. Those verses that some have used against you to think that you could lose your salvation, it's the verses that are warning the person who was a Hebrew leaving Judaism and now follows Jesus, but doesn't really wind up following Jesus. Decides to go back to make animal sacrifices. They don't lose their salvation. They never had their salvation. They, they warmed up to the things of God, they got near to the truth. Instead of drinking in the Lord, the word that they are guilty of is that they sipped, they tasted of the heavenly gift. They didn't eat it up. The book of Jeremiah says that you and I, as a believer, when we find the word of God, we eat it up. Did you know that? That's one of the signs, by the way, of a real believer. A real believer. So amazing, because if you get in between them and a Bible, you're going to get, they're going to bite your finger. They just, that's one of the beautiful things about being around new believers. They devour the word. But there'll be those in the book of Hebrews, they're they're guilty of hanging around church but never being truly converted.
John chapter 5, verse 37. John 5:37 says, "The Father Himself who sent Me has testified of Me." Listen to this. Jesus is speaking. "The Father," He says, "has testified of Me." What a statement! The Father, God Almighty, has sworn an oath and has upheld who I am. He says, "You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do," listen to this, verse 38, "but you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe." "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life; and these are they which do testify of Me." That's Jesus speaking. Is that a tremendous statement? Are you guys here? Jesus was speaking that to those who weren't believing Him and believing the Scriptures. And I love the fact that He says, "Listen, okay, it's obvious you're not listening to what I'm saying, and you're not believing who I am. You ought to at least pay attention to the One who sent Me." Oh, and by the way, you're not paying attention to Him either. So maybe you ought to read the word like you guys are scholars and boast in the word, because that very word testifies of who I am. Jesus says this.
Remarkable, but the book of Hebrews and the supremacy and centrality of the biblical account of who Jesus is. Colossians chapter 2, verse 16 tells us, "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath." Somebody asked me that on Sunday, "Pastor Jack, should we not be having church on Saturday?" I said, "No." Well, somebody told me that we're wrong here because we should be having church on Saturday, not Sunday. And I said, "Well, were they Jewish?" "No." Well, listen, I said, "Go to Colossians 2." So listen to this next verse. You get, you get caught up in things about, "Well, this and that and all this and thing." Wait a minute. Colossians 2, verse 16 and 17. Verse 17 says, "These things which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ." You want to know what the Sabbath is? First of all, if you're Jewish, okay, then you need to be concerned about the Sabbath. But if you are a Jew who comes to follow Christ, guess what? And those of us who are Gentiles, every, the Bible teaches, every day is a Sabbath for the believer. Every day. There's not a certain day. Did you know that? If you want to go to church and worship God on Monday, God says, "Right on." If you go on Tuesday and Wednesday, all of you, you're not sinning by being here. But a legalist will think so. No.
And the Bible here says in Colossians 2, that as we get into the study of the book of Hebrews, that it's all about Jesus Christ. That all the rules and regulations were shadows, but the substance is Christ. That goes from religious practices and just the constant following of rules and regulations and all these things, man-made things, or even, let's give it credit, even things that came from Moses. Because the book of Hebrews is going to tell you that Moses gave you the law, but Christ came and set you free with His own blood and righteousness. The law could never save you, but Christ's savior. The law says God is holy, and Jesus comes and says, "I will take you who are unholy and make you holy by My saving power." It's absolutely amazing. You're going to learn in the book of Hebrews that even the temple itself in Jerusalem was made after the pattern which God showed Moses that was in heaven. You know, the Ark of the Covenant. Just think right now, if the Ark of the Covenant, can you imagine? Imagine if I pressed the button and the Ark of the Covenant came up here. We found it. We found it. Tradition would say, "Get back, get back, don't touch it." I understand where you're coming from. If we're living in the Old Testament economy and God's glory is associated with the Ark of the Covenant, don't touch it, you're going to die. You saw Indiana Jones, remember what happened when that German touched the thing? That Nazi guy touched the Ark, and he just melted right there in front of you, right? That was right on if it was the Old Testament.
But do you know if the Ark of the Covenant popped up on this stage tonight, did you know you could come up, take pictures of it, touch it, nothing would happen to you? Did you know that? Nothing would happen to you. Why? Because it's only a shadow. The substance is Christ. If there was a temple still standing in Jerusalem, did you know today you could walk right in there? You could walk into the Holy of Holies. You want to know why? It's not holy of holies anymore. The Lord has left the house. It's not about a building. It's not about artifacts. It's not about things like that. And I know that that challenges our traditions, and some of you are going to have a hard time in this book with traditions versus what God has said. But just remember this: the substance is Christ. Don't pride yourself in your religion and in your deeds. Humble yourself before Him who is mighty to save, and watch what happens. It's a world of difference. One is laborious, tough, hard, and you have, you sometimes have a good feeling that because you had a good day, but most of the time it's such a heavy load to bear. And you, listen, if that's if that's your life, you have a view of God that He's always upset at you about something. And if He's not really upset, He's just, He's not happy either. And you're just like, you're kind of like walking on glass all the time on the other side.
Because Christ is the substance, there's liberty and freedom in your life. Now listen to me when I say liberty, I mean I'm not bound by my desires anymore, my flesh and its desires. Every day, take a more distant back seat. The old man is dying. My old man, your old man, you have an, I don't care how young you are, if you're Christian, you have an old man inside of you. That's what the Bible calls them, the old man. See, I'm only 19. You got an old man inside of you. If you're a Christian, that old man says things that you're not supposed to say, and he thinks things you're not supposed to think. And thank God you have a struggle with that old man, because now you're born again. The spirit life wars against the old life of who you once were. But listen, that relationship is not based upon your performance. It's based upon Christ's performance. And instead of, listen, instead of you saying, "Really, really, it's all based on His performance, not mine?" Well, then I like this liberty. Let's live it up. You don't know what I'm talking about, then you have no idea what I'm talking about. You're still over there on that side of the podium, because over here is where you find out how much He's crazy in love with you. Over here is when you find out that what He's got for you is way better than what the world can ever muster or put up. And when you find out that when you just give up a little bit, He winds up showing you what He wants to do with your life, and it is so, can I use this word, it is so intoxicating that there's nowhere else to go.
And I see people who struggle with their relationship with Jesus, but they're still trying to get high on the world. They're still trying to get a buzz and a feel. But they'll be religious on Sundays, or maybe even on Wednesdays. But then they still to cope, "I need this to cope." Little do you know that when you come over here with all of your problem and dilemma, because it's a love relationship, anyone who loves someone else doesn't want to see the one that they love go through hardship. And the Lord wraps you up on a daily basis. Hey, listen, for some of us who are in a perpetual state of, "God, I need You." He walks me by the hour, by the hour. And there's no greater way to live. It's free, it's liberating, and it's, it's like walking with a friend on a trail, or maybe along the beach, or whatever it is. He's amazing.
Hebrews chapter 10, verse 1. Hebrews 10:1. There the scripture tells us, "For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things." So the law is a shadow pointing about something that's better. Listen, everyone, you need to hear this. The law of God found in the Old Testament is righteous, holy, pure, and good. Are you hearing me? Just think of the Ten Commandments. If any person, any culture, any city, I think every city should have the Ten Commandments. You know, when you pull into, when you drive from Diamond Bar to Chino Hills, and you go through Grand Avenue out there in the country, isn't that beautiful out there? And, uh, you're driving along and it says, "Welcome to Chino Hills." You know what we should do? I think we should do this. If I was, if I was the dictator, I'd have every city in America have this town, "Welcome to, welcome to Mayberry," and have had the Ten Commandments posted on both sides of that sign. You say, "You can't do that." Yeah, that's our problem. [Applause] Yeah, yeah, you're right, we can't do that. We'd rather have people murdering one another, and ripping off one another, and sleeping around, and beating up, and drunk. Are you hearing me? I mean, you kept with the Ten Commandments up, somebody might feel bad about what? Hello? About what? Well, you can't put the Ten Commandments up because people might read them. "Thou shalt not murder." We don't want to quench anyone's First Amendment right, right? Think of it. Now, I'd like to do a big social experiment. Post the Ten Commandments entering every classroom for one year. Just one year. May God, may God touch school boards across the land, that the school board would say, "Things are out of control. We're going to do a huge experiment. We're going to put the Ten Commandments back up in class like they were in 1961." And maybe junior might read it and respect his teacher. Can you imagine? What's, what's the harm? Because we sure ain't doing good now, the way we're going on that one.
But that's not what I was going to say. I was going to say that in Hebrews chapter 10, right in the middle of verse 1, it says, "They can never," listen, "image of these things can never with these same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year," he's talking about earthly priesthood, "make those who approach perfect or complete." Verse 2, "For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have no more consciousness of sin." This is what Jesus does. Jesus, when He comes into your life, He removes the guilt. I mentioned guilt earlier tonight. He removes the guilt from you. You know that thing that you did six years ago? He removes that from you. You know that thing that you're hiding and hoping nobody finds out? He removes it. He removes it. An earthly priesthood doesn't have the power to do that. Listen, you could go in the foyer tonight after service and say, "Pastor Jack, I need to confess a sin." You can tell me whatever you want to tell me. I can't do anything about it. I'm going to get, I'm going to get mail on this next comment right here. I do not say this to be mean. I say this to be purely theologically accurate for your betterment. It is this: you confess to a human about your sin, you're still guilty of that sin. It didn't do you any good. He has no power to forgive you because it wasn't his blood. It has to be the priest's blood for you to get forgiveness from the priest. Everything of the Old Testament was pointing you toward a high priest. Remember the high priest, the Aaronic priesthood, Aaron? But did you read about Aaron's life? They were types. Aaron simply wore the high priest clothing. And we'll get into all the parts in the future of all the intricacies of that, why those stones and that order, and why 12 of them, why did this gown have to be made out of this, why did his hat, his miter, have to be of a, it's all a shadow of Jesus. Each of those things speak regarding a work that the Messiah performs.
So when you say, "Father, forgive me for I have sinned," Jesus said, "Shh, do not call anyone on earth father." You only have one Father, and that's your Father in heaven. Call no man on earth your father. Wow. First John tells you that if you confess your sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive you. Paul told Timothy, "There is only one mediator between God and mankind, and that's the man Christ Jesus." It's not, listen, it's not Billy Graham. It's not the Pope. It's not, it's not, uh, Charles Stanley, Dr. David Jeremiah. It's not me or anybody else. And you should say, you should say, "Hallelujah!" There's nothing like flying nonstop, flying direct. Why get off at destinations and lose your bags? Fly straight to Jesus. When you pray, pray straight to Him. When you cry out, go straight to Him. When you confess, go straight to Him. We're going to learn a lot in the book of Hebrews. I'm telling you right now, it's going to be fireworks on Wednesday nights because we need these. We need these. I'm still reading Hebrews 10. I'm not finishing this. We're never going to get into, I've got points, I've got data here, I've got verses, tons of them.
So verse 4 says, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 4. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats which take which could take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said, 'Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.'" Translation: All of the animal sacrifices of the past only covered up, never took away the sin. Christ comes into the world and says, speaking of the Father, "You've given Me a body." What was that body for? Think now, why did Jesus come into this world with a human body? Yeah, you could say it. I'm hearing it. Sacrifice. Then John chapter 1, verse 29, John the Baptist said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." God provided His Son a body. That's the plan of redemption for God to die in our place. What an act of love. There's no greater display. Not that just a man would die in our place, that's something. But God would do this for us is absolutely awesome.
So with the time we have, we'll start. I'm going to regret it, and we'll repeat it next week. So we're looking right now, and we'll be looking at this for a few weeks, is the fact that we're talking about the knowable God. And I want you to write that down to the top of your notes: The Knowable God. Every chapter of the Bible, every book of the Bible, every page of the Bible is an articulation by God announcing, "I'm knowable." God has gone through great lengths to produce for you and to preserve for you this book called the Bible. Think of it, the Bible. Here we are in the 21st century, and we're still talking about a book, and the truth of this book cannot be quenched. It can be destroyed, it can be outlawed, doesn't change a thing. Why? Because God is knowable. In the book of Hebrews, we're going to find out how incredibly knowable He allows Himself to be. He's personal. He's knowable.
First point is that He's personal. The God of the Bible is personal. And we see this in chapter 1, verse 1, when it says here in Hebrews 1, "Look there. It says, 'God who...'" And I just want you to write that down: God who. This immediately challenges us to realize that it's God who initiates the conversation between Him and yourself. And I want you to think about you right now. How has God reached you? Ask yourself this question in your own life. Can I articulate how God has reached me? Because the Bible teaches us that it is God who... And I want to deliberately hang right there with a question mark. Not "God who," like who He is, though He is knowable. This is the God who initiates the conversation with you. God transcends all things to reach into your soul. That's why the life that you and I live, we need to be so awake. We need to be so, uh, dialed in. Listen, dialed into everything about life. Please listen. If you're watching or you're here tonight and you feel like your life has been so dumbed down and so, uh, numb because of the world that you and I are in now in life, this time, I want you to know something. Don't let the narrative of the world define you. Don't listen, don't, don't let it happen to you. There seems to be this sucking sound of a vortex going down a drain, and people are swirling in hopelessness, and there's nothing we can do. And we're hearing things like this. Listen, look, I'm an old guy, I can tell you this right now. People who think they don't need to go back to work because the government will pay them, listen, they're falling for a demonic trick. It's not a political trick, it's a satanic trick. We're living in a satanically energized age. Here's what will happen to you. God from the beginning told Adam, "Work in the garden." There's meaningful benefits to that. When you are no longer producing, the human psyche that has been, that you've been created by God, listen, God's active. You've been created in the image of God. And when you sit around, literally, listen, if you sit around and you just press the remote, or you just put on your slippers and you go from one room to the next, you look out the window, and you get a check in the mail, and you say, "I could just live like this." It is a death march. Don't do it. Don't do it. I'm pleading with you. I'm not kidding. If you'll, your mind, listen, your mind will start to calcify. Your mind will start to harden. You'll have no motivation. You, your life will wind up being worth nothing, and you'll have zero self-worth. Listen, I hope I'm wrong and what I'm about to say. I'll probably get a phone call from media tomorrow, but I'm telling you, I don't want to be right on this. If we keep people sequestered and they have no reason to get out of bed, brush their teeth, or comb their hair, listen, you and I have seen nothing in the way of suicide numbers that compared to what's coming. America will be a suicide nation if we don't get back to work, because God made you and I to till the garden, to build things, to do things, to make our life matter. That's what He's put within us. And right now, there's a thing, there's a violin being played, and money's coming out of it, and, and you're just getting lulled into this cancerous worldview. It's satanic, and he's going to inject you with his bite in the not-too-distant future, and that will bring you into a state of coma. You'll just become toast in your life, and then the money will run out. It will run out, and you'll be so lethargic, you won't even know how to get a job. You won't know how to interview. Nobody wants to hear this anymore, but it's pure truth. I'm telling you right now, Satan's on the march, and this is an energized culture. Thank God that He initiates the conversation. He's speaking to you tonight, and He's saying, "Listen, I made you to live a life, not this. I made you to be somebody, not this." The God who is, is the God who initiates the conversation.
And I love how the opening chapter of this book to me is reminiscent of Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. Look, Hebrews 1:1 says, "God who..." And we'll hear how He spoke to us. Do you see an apology with Hebrews 1:1? No. Do you see any apology with Genesis 1:1? "In the beginning God created." Boom. Don't you love that first book of the Bible? Can you imagine? Just some, "I've never heard about God. Why don't you read the Bible?" "Well, I'm an atheist." "So what? Why don't you read the Bible?" "If you're if you're an atheist, then you're safe. If He doesn't exist, then read it for fun." And the, he turns to the first page. "In the beginning God created." The Bible just says it. There's nothing PC about it, right? Think about it. "Well, not is that is that proper? Is that proper talk that in the beginning God created?" You think God cares? Honestly, do you think He cares? "I don't know how I feel about that." "He doesn't care. In the beginning, I created." That's what God says. "I don't know how to put it. There was a beginning. I did it. I was there, and it happened." "Well, we want you to say you're sorry." "Can't say I'm sorry. I'm God, and I did it." "Are you guilty then of creating everything?" "Guilty. I did it. In the beginning, God." Hebrews opens up, God, right from the start. God initiates the conversation. He reaches into the souls and to the minds and the hearts of people to bring life. He does this. It's beautiful. And by the way, in both of those opening statements of those great books of the Bible, there's an assumption that people know that God exists, isn't there? An assumption. The Bible assumes people know that God exists. That's why I believe the greatest number of people who come to Christ do so at a very young age, children. The greatest evangelistic outreach taking place at this church is not its multiple broadcasts or its outreaches and missionary work. You know it is? It's those buildings that are behind this building, children's ministry. Amazing. That's the biggest. Every week, evangelistic outreaches, children are coming to Christ every, every week. Because you know why? Because they're smarter than us. We're all polluted and clouded with junk. A kid looks at a bird, "God must have done that." They have no problem with it. Have you noticed that? They get it. They get it. But I love the fact that the Bible assumes everybody knows that God exists. I'm not exactly sure, I may be wrong, I'm not sure if anywhere in the Bible I can find an atheist. I find pagan worshipers, right? I find people worshiping poles and carved images. I find people worshiping the stars and the sun in the Bible. And again, I'm not kidding, I may be wrong, but I don't think I've seen an atheist in the Bible. Somebody, even Caesar, it's a god Rome worshipped. All these gods. Somehow, not too long ago, our insane culture concocted what they thought at the time was some sort of a soothing balm against the concept of God. And somebody said, "We're atheists." And I actually don't think I've ever met an atheist. Now, maybe you're an atheist here tonight, and you can't wait to tell me that, but I got news for you, I won't believe you. You're going to try to tell me that you're an atheist, and I'm going to tell you, "I don't believe you." You say, "I don't believe in God." I don't believe in you. You want to know why? Because every atheist I've known, when they get cancer, yeah, when their baby gets kidnapped... [Music] Pastor, will you pray? I'm serious. Being an atheist is a luxury you can afford it, but not for long. Because when life happens, yeah, I gotta end. I gotta tell you, I'll leave you with this. I, I'm told to never say this because he was a horrible man, but I don't know. I'm just gonna tell you, I don't approve of the man, but for some reason, I just loved the guy. And I was so sad when he died. But you guys remember Christopher Hitchens? Don't, listen, don't go to YouTube, filthy language, just terrible. He was a brilliant man, atheist, toured the world debating believers and crushing them. It's kind of until he met up with a, I think he met up with, he never recovered from his meeting with John Lennox. He never recovered after William Lane Craig got done with him. Frank Turek debated him. But most of the time, he crushed the believer in God. But Christopher Hitchens, if you ever listen to him rant and rave about atheism, number one, he never had one answer, not a one. He only had critiques. And his big angst, his big critique was, "I don't know why God allows this in the world." And "If I were God, I would never have allowed Vietnam. If I were God, I wouldn't allow cancer on the earth." And if I have, have you ever heard him? He's, he's was furious about how God was running the universe. And I listened to, I don't know how many, I might have listened to 100 hours of him talk over his lifetime, and it dawned on me, that guy's got great faith. No, I'm serious. It's like one of the few original thoughts I've ever had in my life. So let me have it for a moment, and we'll wrap it up. It was, wait, he's got great faith. Now, it's wrong, but it is great. So how do you mean? Every time he went to defend his atheism, he drifted off of it real quick because it's got no answers, and everybody knows it's foolishness. And then, then he would spend 90 minutes attacking how God runs the universe. How can you attack someone who doesn't exist? Who are you upset with? God? I thought you're an atheist. Oh, and that's true in your life. It's true in your life. The man or the woman who you know who says they do not believe in God, ask them why. Don't let them get away with it. Ask them, for their own soul, ask them why. Why? Because "If I were God..." Are you hearing me? People, God is personal. We're going to learn this in the book of Hebrews. He initiates the conversation in your life. Listen to Him when He speaks. He's the authority, not us. He's got the answers. We have the questions.
Father, Lord, Creator God, we ask of You this night, You would speak to our hearts by revealing to us more and more Your nearness, Your presence. There may be a person right now who knows so much of their shame and their guilt, and they might even be the person who would say, "All this sounds nice, but I'm so bad. God would never have me." Lord, will You do what You do? Because I'm praying that prayer first, because that was my life. That was me. So, Lord, I know that You know how to persuade them. I pray that You would begin and initiate the conversation with them. With that person, Lord, I pray tonight for the man or the woman, the boy or girl, who's struggling with religious performance versus the freedom that's in Jesus. And I pray, Lord, for them, that You would initiate the conversation with them. [Music] Father, there are those here tonight, no doubt, always in our lives, we're asking You for guidance, asking You for answers. We don't know what to do. Do we go left? Do we go right? Do we stand up? Do we sit down? Is it this or that? Lord, I pray that as they seek You, that they would not jump before You say jump. That they would not move before You say move. That they would wait on You. I know that every bit of their fiber is going to be screaming, "Got to give the answer now," or "We got to do it today," or whatever it might be. But You're going to say, in that still, small, gentle voice, "Wait. Be still." And may they sense You initiating the conversation. [Music] So, Father, we ask You, Lord, tonight, that You transform us as a church. I'm praying, dear God, in fact, church, will you, will you stand and join me in this prayer? Please. Um, I can pray it by myself, and I have the faith to pray it, but I don't want God to answer the prayer and you not get to enjoy it. So we're going to be in this one together, okay? Father, I'm asking You that You would do something here on Wednesday nights that cannot be explained. I'm asking You, Father, with my brothers and sisters tonight, that as crazy as our world looks, well, Lord, that You would do something wonderfully crazy in response in our lives. [Music] Lord, we give You ourselves tonight. I'm asking You to just take over Wednesday nights. Lord, if it's Your will, will You teach us Wednesday nights? And Lord, if it matters to You, we'll, we'll do Wednesday nights. Lord, if, if nobody comes, but Lord, if You want to do Wednesday nights into every home and every town and community, Lord, if You want to take what's going on here and just, please, do something so authentic that that hell itself couldn't stop it, that no demon could hinder it, that no devil, Lord, could resist it, that whatever You're doing in these last days, God, that it would actually cause there to be an awakening in California, and that it would sweep out what, out east, and down south to the tip of the Keys of Florida, all the way, Lord, to the tip of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. We'll throw Hawaii and Midway in there too, and Guam. And God, we just pray that You would take and You would do an amazing thing that would start right here. We're not asking for any reason but for You to be glorified. We are, Lord, we will confess, we are jealous for You. We want You to move in our lives. We are satisfied, but we're not. We're not looking anywhere else. You have quenched our soul, but we're not satisfied because we want to see You do something radical in our lives. We want to see You move before this show's over, God. Before You wrap things up, and before You call us up out of here, God, we want to see You move. We're going to see Your glory, God, sweep across California. May people be convicted of their sin, fall on their knees, and say, "Jesus, be merciful to me." Father God, that You would just take over and do such great things in our state. Lord, even today, you know what I'm talking about. When that person on the phone today made that little funny laugh about California as they sat there in Washington D.C., "Oh, California, it's gone. What? There's nothing that can be done with California." Well, Lord, I know You heard that because I heard it, and I'm asking You, Lord, in Jesus' name, that You would just prove this nation wrong when it comes to California. You made it. You own it. God, we pray that You would move mightily.