For The Joy Set Before Him - Nancy Wheatley

​The Hebrews writer tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, the author, the source, and the champion who initiates our faith. For the joy set before Him in faith, Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame. In other words, He endured the most excruciating act of costly love ever known, because of the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen. So whatever the race marked out for you looks like, run it with perseverance.

Full transcript generated by ai (please excuse errors):




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​Lord, we love you. We're so grateful to be your people. We're so grateful, Lord, as we as we look toward Holy Week. Father there's no way that I can do justice, what you showed me this week. And so my prayer is just that your Holy Spirit would open up to my friends. What you've opened up to me this week. If they don't hear, or remember, a single word I say, doesn't matter. But you Holy Spirit, which you glorify Jesus, among us. In Jesus name. So, as I've been thinking about Holy Week, and just looking forward to that, there was a phrase from the scriptures that I just couldn't get away from. And it was this one that will be real familiar to you all from Hebrews 12. Two for the joy set before him. And that phrase came to me and I just started, it was just I wasn't even aware of it. At first, it just kept ruminating, just ruminating, ruminating for the joy set before him for the joy set before him. And I finally realized that the Lord was wanting to have a dialogue with me. Takes me a little while sometimes. And I said, Lord, what do you want me to know about the joy that was set before Him? And so we've just been having a little conversation about the joy set before him this week. And I'll be honest, I've been weepy all week. And so I don't know how well I'll do getting through this. But, um, but I'm just trusting that Holy Spirit's gonna show you what he showed me. And that's all that matters. So I started looking into this. And the context of that verse really starts back around Hebrews 10. And we'll come back to that at the end. It starts around verse 19. And in this passage, the Hebrews writer is giving an impassioned plea for his hearers, to persevere in faith. And in chapter 11, we all know that chapter it's, you know, we call it the hall of faith. And he reels off a list of biblical examples of faith of those who persevered with confidence in what they hoped for, and with assurance of what they didn't yet see. In some saw their faith rewarded. Abraham and Sarah did receive their son of promise, but God had promised them descendants more in number than the sand on the seashore. They didn't see the fulfillment of that. That promise they welcomed from a distance. The Hebrews writer says Moses saw his people delivered from Egypt. But he didn't get to see them delivered into the promised land. Joshua saw the walls of Jericho fall, but not the full occupation of the land. Each of the people listed here lived through a piece of redemption history that was costly. Some the Hebrews writer tells us gained what was promised. The Lions mouths were shut. The battles were won. The dead were raised. But some were killed. Some were not spared the sword. They were sawn in to they submitted to torture refusing to be released because they trusted in the fulfill moments have a promise beyond their earthly lives. And it's right here that the Hebrews writer points back to us his audience and says, These are the ones in the crowd urging you on in the face of their sacrifice and faithfulness, get rid of everything hindering you, and press on. Whatever the race marked out for you looks like run it with perseverance. So I want you to stop for just a minute and consider that Abraham, Moses, and Joshua, and Rahab, and David, and Mary Magdalene, and Paul, and John, they're all in the stands, and they're watching us. They're urging us on. They've run their race. They've passed the baton to the next generation. You know who else is in those stands people like Martin Luther, and John Wesley, and millions of others whose names we don't know, have joined their ranks, having run their race and done their part to pass the baton. And now, they await the finishing of the race, and for us to do our generations part, carrying forward the promises of God. But even though the stands are filled with this great cloud of witnesses, that's not what He tells us to focus on. They're honestly background noise. Even with their exhortation is ringing in our ears. The Hebrews writer tells us to fix our eyes, on just one fixing your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Jesus is the pioneer of faith. Other translations call him the author, the source, or the champion who initiates our faith. And he's also the Perfecter, the finisher, and the Completer of our faith. Were to fix our eyes on Jesus, because he's running with us. He's out in front pacing us. The cross stands eternally as a stunning affirmation of faith. For the joy set before Him in faith, He endured the cross, scorning its shame. In other words, He endured the most excruciating act of costly love ever known, because of the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen. For the joy of those things. He went to the cross. So as I've been chewing on that this week, and asking the question, what was the joy set before him? What was the substance of things hoped for? That he was holding, as he went to the cross, what things not yet seen was he seeing as he walked towards Jerusalem, as he sat at that last meal with his friends, as he wept in the garden, as he refused to call down 10,000 legions of angels, as he allowed himself to be tortured. And as he breathed his last breath and commended his spirit into his father's keeping? Well, I've been kind of guessing that this week, you'll be able to come up with more things, I'm sure. But I want to share with you just a few of the things that I think were probably part of the joy before him, that he was cherishing that got him through that darkest week. The first thing I felt like the Lord showed me, that was part of that joy that Jesus was holding was the joy of the Father. Jesus really, really loves the Father. That might seem obvious, but it's so holy. Let's just sit with it for a minute. In John 1431, as things were about To get real at the Last Supper, Jesus said that He would not say much more to his disciples because I'm quoting now, the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me. But he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father, and do exactly as my father has commanded me. It was because the father so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten son. The father didn't want any to perish. He longed to give us everlasting life, which is union with Him, just as Jesus prayed in John 17, three and 21. Think how much the father must have wanted this. To put this plan of redemption into motion. We're told in Colossians, that it is the father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life, and that it was the father who has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. It is the father's great joy, to establish and populate the kingdom of the Son of His love. I think one other aspect to consider of the joy of the father can be found in the passage of the Old Testament most quoted in the New Testament, Psalm 110, which says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion rule in the midst of your enemies. I cannot imagine how a holy God tolerates the evil and lawlessness that are running roughshod over his beautiful creation. But I can imagine the joy and the celebration coming when the devil is cast into the lake of fire. And the cosmic war we were born into finally ends. We are the children of war. We have never known life without it. But we have tasted the goodness of the Father in His kingdom. And his joy over the kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit that is coming is palpable. The joy of the Father looks forward to that to the end of the enemies in the book of Nehemiah, it was when the people were deeply grieved over their own faithlessness to Yahweh, that these beautiful words were spoken. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Why would the Lord be joyful? It seems a strange response. His people had been exiled, the land was devastated. And those who stood weeping in front of Nehemiah had returned with no understanding of the law that bound them to Yawei. So much had been lost. And they had such a long way to go. I'm guessing here. But I think the Lord was joyful. Because he had fulfilled his promise to bring his people back to the land. And they were standing before him repentant. And he could work with that. They had turned a corner, and the salvation story was moving forward. And they were one step closer to the arrival of the Son of His love, and the coming of his kingdom. So in the midst of what was dark and hard, the Lord had his eyes on the horizon, and rejoiced at what was dawning there. So as Jesus faced his journey to Jerusalem, and all that awaited him there. I think he looked beyond the cross to the joy of his father. And the joy of the Lord was his strength. A second thing I think, was maybe part of that joy was the joy of creation restored. I'm going to read a few passages to you this one is from Isaiah 65. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. For behold I create Jerusalem as a rejoice Sing and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. And then a few verses later in verse 24, it says, It shall come to pass that before they call I will answer. And while they're still speaking, I will hear the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food, they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord. Can you hear the desire of the Lord to have his creation restored? Listen to this. This is from Romans chapter eight. For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the Creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility. Not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth bang birth pangs together, until now. I don't know this, but I know it. That when Jesus walked this earth, he was constantly aware of that groaning. I believe he felt it in his bones. And I believe that he felt it, that groaning of creation to be restored, to be redeemed, to be released from bondage to corruption. And listen to this one, this is from Colossians chapter one. He says this, starting at verse 15, he Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, over all creation. For by Him, all things were created, that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and invisible. When Jesus walked in creation, it was his creation. All things were created through Him. And for him. It was his creation. And then down in verse 19, it says, For it pleased the Father, that in him in Christ, all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross, as Jesus walked toward the cross, He knew that it was through the cross, and through the resurrection, that all of his beautiful creation would be reconciled to its creator, and set free from its bondage to futility. And so I believe that part of the joy set before Jesus was the anticipation of the new heavens and the new earth. There's this quote from a guy named Wilford Harrington, he's a theologian. He says, God's new world also opens up the perspective of a future in which the cosmos is redeemed and perfected. This is not just a restoration of our broken world to its imagined original state, but a transformation beyond imagining a transformation so radical, as to be a new creation. And a big part of the joy of this new created order, is that it will no longer be under the tyranny of death. Death thrown into the lake of fire, never to terrorize God's creation again. And I believe that as Jesus faced death himself, he saw ahead of him the joy of deaths defeat. The next thing I think, is probably part of the joy that was set before Him is the joy Have His redeemed image bearers. At the pinnacle of creation, are the only creatures said to bear God's image. All creation speaks of His glory, but we alone bear his likeness. What must it have been like for the Godhead to watch that image be distorted and perverted by sin, to watch our spirits die. To watch sin infect us and the world go dark. To see us who were intended to carry out the holy vocation of governing the Earth, as God's Regent's, instead, turn inward, and become instruments of evil. We see a little bit of God's feelings about that in the story of the flood. He wanted to wipe it off the face of the earth. So what joy would there be for him in looking ahead, to the removal of evil in all of its manifestations, to see the new heart and the new spirit he would place within us to have our spirits once again united with His Spirit once again alive. What joy would it give him to look forward to us being holy, and blameless and above reproach in his sight, able to approach him without shame. His image restored, and our vague vocation once again taken up. Romans 829, promises us that we are predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son. I want you to picture a whole family of Jesus's that look like us. A whole nation of them. Noble, good, honoring, powerful, kind, brilliant, just like Jesus, the restoration of the family likeness. I think the anticipation of that was part of the joy set before Jesus. And lastly, and this is where you'll hear that beautiful song the joy of with God's desire has always been with from his fellowship with Adam and Eve in the garden. What did he like to do he liked to take walks with them in the cool of the day. Just with just companionship, just friendship just with to the tabernacle in the center of his people. To the triumphant proclamation of Emmanuel, God with us, God's intent has always been that we would experience with him the witness that has eternally existed in the Godhead. He wants us to know that, that witness, that's what Tyler was talking about earlier, right now, we don't feel the fullness of that witness and sometimes we feel without. But there is coming a time when there is going to be a union. Oh with that will never be taken away from us again. Listen to a few beautiful promises. This is from Isaiah 25 verse six. And in this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all people, a feast of choice pieces of feast of wines on the LEAs of fat things full of marrow of well refined wines on the lease, and he will destroy on this mountain, the surface of the covering cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. And it will be set in that day Behold, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited for him, and we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. And from Revelation Chapter 21. Then I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, the whole the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And God himself will be with them, and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. And then I want you to hear this in the last moments of the past overnight, this is what was on Jesus heart, from John 17. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify Your Son, that your son also make glorify You. As you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life. That they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. And then down to verse 20. He says, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as you father are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me and the glory which You gave me, I have given them that they may be one, just as we are one, I in them, and you in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them, as you have loved me, father, a son of this I desire that they also whom you gave me, maybe with me where I am. That they may be hold my glory, which You have given Me, For You loved me before the foundation of the world. Oh, righteous father, the world has not known you but I have known you. And these have known that you sent me. And I have declared to them your name and will declare it that the love with which you loved me, may be in them. And I in them. I think Jesus looked beyond the suffering beyond the crushing beyond the cross to the joy of the wedding feast. I think he looked forward to wiping away every tear from our eyes to us experiencing His glory and the love we were created for and to the joy of the eternal we have so how do we respond? How do we respond to the joy set before Him that sent him to the cross? How do we respond? Hi, again, I'm sure you guys will have more than I came up with. But here's a few things that occurred to me. I think we joined in the yearning A few years ago, was a few years ago now. I was in a season of just really drawing close to the Lord just yearning for him seeking Him, spending a lot of time just just seeking Him. And it was good time. But all of a sudden, one morning, I woke up with a fragment of a song in my heart. And it sounded familiar, but I didn't know the song I had, it took me half a day on Google trying to find this song just trying to look up the lyrics. And you'll recognize that I think I didn't at the time. But the chorus of it goes, singing. Way waiting here for you. I found it it was. It's called waiting here for you. It was sung by Christie naugles. That least the one that I found. And I started listening to that song. And I just couldn't stop. And I sobbed. And I saw and I saw. And I still can't hear that song without crying. Because the yearning was so real. And the here's the thing, here's the thing. It wasn't just my yearning for him. He woke me up with that song. And the picture that he gave me was of him standing on a wind swept cliff, I can still see it with the sea below. And the wind blowing and Jesus just standing at the edge of this cliff. And all I could feel was his yearning is yearning for us for his bride. And it just took my breath away, because it never, I just I don't know. I saw him as like, dispassionately waiting for the consummation of the ages or something. And the end, this yearning was so real. And then he was like, meet my yearning. And he gave me that song. And so I started just worshiping with that song and going, yeah, just like you're waiting for us to he says, we're waiting for you. We're waiting for you. And we want you to come back. We're waiting here for you. We're just waiting for you. And it's so hard down here sometimes. But you know that because you've been here. But we're waiting for you and we know you're coming. We know you're coming Jesus. I've never felt so close to God in my life, as in that season, when I just joined him in that yearning for that consummation. So I think that's one of the ways we respond to the joy set before Jesus. It's just by joining him in the journey. And, you know, if our if our, if our hearts and our lives are so filled with this life, that we don't we don't have room in them, to yearn for him. Then we're missing reality. We're missing the best part. Think we also respond by hastening the day. This is from Isaiah, chapter 60. And this is the Lord talking about this coming consummation. And he says, The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you. But the Lord will be to you in everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for this for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your morning shall be ended. Also, your people shall be all righteous. They shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become 1000 and a small one, a strong nation, and I, the Lord will hasten it in its time. The Lord says he will hasten the day. And so I think one of the things we do is we ask him to, with Revelation to Only two we set our hearts on his coming. And in response to his words, surely I am coming quickly we cry, man, even so come, Lord Jesus, Maranatha come. We don't want to set up kingdoms on this earth that has an end. We want His eternal kingdom. Now Peter tells us in Second Peter, that we too, can hasten the day of the Lord just as the Lord is hastening it, we can hasten it too. He says this. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, talking about the current, the current regime, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. We can hasten the day the Lord how, how can we hasten it? Well, there are a couple of things that were told in Scripture, one of them is discipling the nations which is as you know, one of Aaronovitch focuses both foci Matthew 24, Matthew 2414 says, And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world, as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. We all have a part to play in preaching the gospel of the kingdom to all the nations of the earth. think another way that we hasten the day is through acts of insurrection. Every time we participate in the kingdom of God, the ways and acts of the kingdom, they are acts of insurrection against the current evil regime. They are statement of our allegiance to our King. They prove who's we are, and they demonstrate His power and glory in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Every time we forgive. Every time we engage in acts of sacrificial self giving love. Every time we choose hope, faith and love, over hatred and despair. Every time we embody the kingdom, we are setting ourselves in agreement with the joy that carried Jesus through that cross. Whenever we stand in the authority, Jesus gave us and draw from the heavenly resources that he's made available to us to see darkness defeated here. And now. We are part of the growing and spreading of his kingdom. Every time we pray for healing, every time we see someone delivered, every time we help to lift the poor out of oppression, these are acts of insurrection. We do this on a personal level. And as we have opportunity, we do it on a larger scale. The Lord's Kingdom is not going to be fully established until he returns to Earth. But it is our privilege to bring his kingdom influence in every sector of society in every way in every opportunity. We are the rebels on this planet, and we are bringing in the kingdom that is coming. It is here and it is coming. And we have a role to play. We may be undercover, there may be times when we are operating undercover, but we have an allegiance and it is not to the kingdom of this world. Creativity is an act of defiance. There's I'm not going to read it now because I don't want to take the time. But this guy, this theologian. He's a theologian and a scientist and it's called the God of hope in the end of the world. And he has a very compelling part in here about the shore and certain demise of the current earthly or material universe. He talks about the fact that you know the hydrogen is going to all burn up in 5 billion years or so. And he's got a whole bunch of other things about like this material universe. is not built to last forever. That's his point. But our hope is not set in this current material universe, our hope is set in the new heavens and the new earth. And so I believe that the word that some of us have been pondering from Zechariah, about the craftsmen who defeat the four horns is a very pertinent word. Because when we take up our vocation, as CO creators with God, even though the physical order of things is going to make way for the new heavens and the new earth, just as our physical bodies Paul tells us are the seeds that get planted and then are resurrected as spiritual bodies. I believe that those things that are going to be raised incorruptible, I believe that our acts of CO creating with God are also the seeds of something eternal. Jesus said that out of our abiding in him, there would come fruit that would remain, remain. And so I think that when we co create with God, that is the seed of something that will remain. The Seven Pillars of Arrow Nova apostolic prayer, the spiritual disciplines, New Testament community, obedience, listening and followership, the mantle of Elijah, the way of the sons of his car, raising up spiritual leaders, and the call to the nations. These are all ways of posturing ourselves, to be part of the hastening of Jesus kingdom. They are a way of life because the Kingdom is a way of life. It is a total allegiance to Jesus as King. So what does it look like for Jesus to be king, king over our lives, over our families, over our nations and over the world. We hasten the day of Jesus return by living as sons and daughters of the kingdom we saying that we we hasten the day of his appearing by living as sons and daughters of the living God. Now, right now, I'm going to just go over these briefly, but I pulled these from era novas website. These are some of the ways that era Nova is raising up, friends of Jesus people who walk with Him, that we are prayer people, given to a lifestyle of prayer, skilled artisans, and knowing the will of God. voracious learners, pursuing all wisdom and spiritual understanding spiritual athletes constantly growing and spiritual fitness. God pleasers rather than self pleasers or man pleasers fruit bearers, fully fruitful in good works in every area of our lives and in our families. God lovers increasing in love and intimacy, and walking with God, having relational, experiential and intellectual knowledge of God, we get to experience eternal life now, because eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has said, obviously, we're gonna get to know him a whole lot better later. But we get to come to know him and taste eternal life, every day of our lives right now. And the more that we do that, the more of his kingdom we carry, and the more we hasten the day of His appearing. Strong people filled with God's power, spiritual endurance athletes, marathon runners, we are in it for the long haul, y'all. That's why we have to take care of our bodies. We're we're here for a while. And we do not do God any good when we're sick in bed. We got to be I mean, yeah, you can pray in bed, but we got to stay healthy so that we can do the work of the Kingdom. There's stuff to be done. Let's take let's take care of these physical bodies as long as we need them. There's coming a day when we're gonna get much better ones. Yay. I'm looking forward to that. But for right now, I got to take care of the one I have write spiritual endurance athletes, marathon runners, possessing supernatural endurance for all of life. We are not quitters. We are not those who give up easily. We are not those who shrug and walk away when when the healing doesn't come or when the mountain doesn't move. We're not those people. We are the one left standing, speaking to that mountain when everybody else has walked away. joyful people abounding in divine happiness, enthusiasm and fulfillment and grateful and grateful Grateful and humble errs, who live as children of light and children of the day. So here's I just have two more ways of responding. And I think that this one I love this one, I love them all. But I really love this one. I think one of the ways that we can respond to the joy, that carry Jesus through the cross is by remembering where we are in God's big story. If we could pick out individual voices from that great cloud of witnesses, I think some of them would be calling out. Don't lose the plot. Do not lose the plot. Remember what story you're living and don't get distracted and miss your part. I can remember when, when I used to teach first grade. And we would do the little plays for the parents. And and you know, the parents are so excited to see their child come on the stage and say their one line dress like a tree. I think Tom to add one is just as a treat. That was a tree. Okay. Okay. So his parents, I'm sure we're eagerly awaiting his one line as a stink weed or as a tree. And you know what those first graders they're squirrely people. And they get distracted in the wings. And they start fighting with each other, I had to break up a few, you know, tussles behind stage. And I'm like, your parent is waiting for you to go deliver your line. Now, come on, you're gonna miss your part. The last thing in the world we want is for the player to move on. And for that child's part to have been missed. Because that's a heartbreak for everybody. Don't lose the plot. Remember what story you're living. Don't get distracted and miss your part. We are living the story of the ages. The age to come began with Jesus resurrection. And it seeds are already at work within us. We are already eternal beings. We are already sons and daughters of the kingdom. We are waiting for the final unveiling but but it's already the seeds are already at work in us. We are living the part of the story between the resurrection. And the time when the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever. We're in between those two high points. And it might seem like we're in a dark part of the story. But don't lose sight of the plot. Or you'll get sucked into the darkness. And you'll get distracted in a tussle in the wings. And you will miss playing the role you were born for. And you have a heavenly parent who's really excited about your part. Whether you're a stink weed, or whether you have a leading role, you have a heavenly parent who rejoices for you to come and play your part. We have to look ahead to the things that gave Jesus joy as he embraced the cross and despised its shame. For the joy set before Him, Jesus went to Jerusalem and we're going to walk through that this week. He went to Jerusalem. And he went to Golgotha. And I think he was carrying the joy of the Father. I think he was looking forward to his restored creation. And I think he was looking around at all those faces and just thinking I cannot wait to see you. filled with the Spirit redeemed restored. Right back to the father's original intentions for you. I can't wait to see that. And I think that he went cherishing with both the width that he'd enjoyed in the flesh, but more the width of that wedding feast. The eternal with what he accomplished in this Holy Week, strengthened by that joy. We're going to be unpacking for all of eternity. But we're invited to partner with him in that Joy. And now I want to go back to where I started in Hebrews 10. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, I'm in verse 19, if you want to follow along, by a new and living way, which he consecrated for us, through the veil, that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near, with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another, in order to stir up love and good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching. The day is approaching. I don't know when it will be. But it's approaching I want to ask a question. Is there somebody in your life who endured a lot of hardship? To stick it with to stick with you or to be faithful to you? And you went through hard times? Yeah. So me military guys that we spent years I mean, away from our family and our spouse endured a lot. Maybe a parent, you know, we didn't realize how much and, and I know everybody has different parental experiences. But I'll tell you, in most of those, as children, we don't realize how much our parents sacrificed to love us. Until we get older till we become parents. And then it gets real. And then, as a parent, you have sacrificed so much for those kids you love. And they have no clue. They have no clue how much you sacrificed. And you don't talk about it, because you're not it, you know it for you, you were willing to do it. But the sacrifice that is made is extraordinary. And the reason why I asked if there's someone in your life, the idea is to get us closer to the heart of God. And many times we could see his heart and people around us who have acted like God, who have lived like God. And it's my desire, Nancy, that we that this this is the challenge that we always have is to receive truth in our hearts, not just our heads, which means that it moves me. Now, I'll tell you, this is the danger in the Christian life. It's just huge. You serve the Lord for years and years and years. And if you're not careful, you'll get on cruise control. And before long, you're not having those, those experiences where you're moved by the heart of the Father. And I shared earlier that in my own life, I went through years as a young man where I just man, I was like, man, Lord, I can't feel this. Like I need to, I need to be moved by God's heart, I need to see it. And I'll tell you what you're speaking tonight. It's so important for us that our hearts are moved and moved and moved and moved again. And that is the task here for me is to is to press deep into this to hear and feel the heart of the Father. I want it I want to fall apart. Like I want to just I want to be broken with tears and touched I don't want my heart to be hard where I cannot sense it. You know there's a certain amount of endurance that we all have. But ultimately that endurance has to come from being inspired by a God who has chased us down and we forget who has has endured much pain. We forget that. And you guys know we do a whole teaching on the suffering heart of God, a God who has paid the price. And I'll tell you, I was just talking to someone the other day about my own father. And my dad was far from perfect like most of your dads. But man, I'll tell you, he loved us. And you can see his love in the sacrifices he made in his life. And now that I'm older, and then I'm a grandfather, it has a whole different meaning to me. But in all of that, I see just a glimpse of the heart of a God who's like that father in the prodigal son, you know, he has two sons, one's a prodigal and one's not. But both sons he loved them with all of his heart. And the one son who returned in repentance, man, we love. We, you know, a lot of people don't realize how much we love repentance. Even people that don't know the Lord, they love repentance a lot more than they think they do. That's why they love to watch A Christmas Carol. That's why people love Ebenezer Scrooge. That's the number one reason why people love Ebenezer Scrooge in the Christmas Carol, because he's a man who literally did a complete one ad. And when he changed, he changed completely. Remember his nephew, all his nephew wanted to do is be with him at Christmas. But he was so hard, he couldn't see it. And then when he repented, he didn't repent. 99.2% 99.5 You know, he repented 1,000% in his whole heart. And I think that's what moves. That's what Dickens story moves people for centuries. Because people love repentance and a heart that turns. And that's that part of us that God put in us to love that. And so all these words, there's what there's so much here, too, for us to immerse ourselves in. I want to pray. And I want to ask the Lord, to somehow cause this to, and I want to pray it personally. And I know this is not selfish. I'm not just asking for me. I'm asking you to pray the same prayer, Lord, cause my heart to absorb and to comprehend more of the love of the Father, to be not to be touched by the love of the Father, to be broken by the love of the Father, to be Lord wrecked in a good way. By the love of of the Father, by your love, move my heart so that when I love and when I serve, when I walk everything I am and do, it's out of the love of the Father, that I made long for you as you long for me. And Lord, we pray revive the dead into places of our hearts, those places that have gotten hard and we didn't even know it, because of sin because of busyness, because of heavy sin or because of life, sin, whatever it is, routine monotony. Whatever it is, Lord, we pray that you will cause our hearts to just melt and to be moved by the heart of Jesus, Lord of the Father, and the heart of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Thank you for joining us today. Aaron ova is raising up spiritual leaders in many nations through our spiritual enrichment events, syndicated NetCast international prayer Council network, and numerous international seminary scholarships. 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