 Hebrews at verse 10 and I'll read to verse 18 and we'll get into our study Hebrews 2 beginning at verse 10 For it was fitting for him for whom are all things and by whom are all things and Bringing many sons to glory to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one For which reason he's not ashamed to call them brethren Saying I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise to you and again I will put my trust in him and again here am I and the children whom God has given me In as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood he himself likewise shared in the same that Through death he might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil and release those who through fear of death Were all their lifetime subject to bondage For indeed he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seat of Abraham therefore in all things he might Therefore in all things he had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful Hype priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people For in that he himself has suffered being tempted. He's able to aid those who are being tempted So as we begin let me remind you of a few things that we've already gone over because in order to Understand verse 10 following. We need to remember what we've already looked at and last time we were together We saw that that God intended man human beings to have Dominion he had pointed that out in verse 7 in verse 7 It said you made him a little lower than the angels and you crowned him with glory and honor and sent him over the works Of your hands you have put all things in Subjection under his feet and so man was intended by God to have Dominion but because of man's fall We no longer have all things under subjection to us. You see when Adam fell Adam brought a curse upon man and Adam no longer has dominion In Genesis in chapter 3 verses 17 through 19 the Bible makes that very clear when the Lord is speaking to Adam After Adam had had failed and taken of that forbidden fruit And God spoke to Adam and it says in Genesis 3 17 through 19 that God said to Adam Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you saying you shall not eat of it Cursed is the ground for your sake and sorrow you shall eat of it all the days of your life Thorns also and thistle shall it bring forth to you and you shall eat the herb of the field and the sweat of your face Shall you eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it where you taken for dust you are and into dust You shall return so we may have biblical reason why we shouldn't listen to our wives Now all the men are very furiously scribbling in that scripture because he said you have listened to the voice of your wife Well, the fact is is that Eve had been Basically seduced by the tempter she partook of the fruit gave it to her husband and he Knowing better he partook of it himself and thus he was responsible for sin And so God brings a curse upon man and makes it very clear in that passage so in the fall man lost his ideal station But in Christ Man regains what he lost in the fall You see all believers are ultimately to reach the goal of psalm 8 by virtue of our union with Jesus Christ The fact is he never failed and because he never failed because we are identified with him and are in him Then we can in him Be an overcomers Ultimately if we endure the scripture says in 2nd Timothy 2 12 if we endure we will also reign with him And even as we are looking at Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6 today This morning in our morning services the Bible tells us that he raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places In Christ Jesus and so though Adam fell yet in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are recovered Jesus took upon himself human flesh and there was a purpose in him doing that Now the writer had already pointed that out in verse 9 for us when he said we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels For the suffering of death and so Jesus became flesh for the purpose of suffering death on our behalf the Lord Became man in order that he might die on behalf of sinful man In Genesis again in chapter 3 verse 15 We have the first prophecy concerning a Messiah that would be sent to redeem mankind And in that passage the Bible says I will put enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed It shall bruise your head, but you shall bruise his heel and so Jesus Christ came and though he was bruised Yet he overcame and he conquered now the Jewish people during this time Of course didn't understand how God would become a man or how Messiah would come to die That's why in the book of Acts that particular teaching is constantly reinforced And you see that through the preaching that you find all the way in the book of Acts beginning with chapter 2 and through the whole book there is a presentation of Jesus Christ death burial and Resurrection through all of the preaching you find in Acts and it was explained over and over again in Acts as to why that was necessary an Example would be found in Acts chapter 17 verses 2 and 3 in that passage It says as his custom was Paul went into the synagogue and on three Sabbath days He reasoned with them from the scriptures Explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead this Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ he said and so over and over again in the preaching of the early church There was a an identification of Jesus Christ as Messiah who died and that's what it's saying here in chapter 2 verse 9 When it says we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death And so Jesus was intended to die He came to voluntarily lay his life down and in doing so Accomplished what no angel could do on our behalf because he voluntarily laid his life down and removed the curse that was placed on Adam and For a time he was regarded as lower than the angels So in his death, he became our substitute. He died in our place He tasted death the scripture says for everyone and so in this sacrifice God Demonstrated his love and his grace towards his fallen creation Jesus Christ Taken upon himself human flesh and dying on our behalf That's what it says here when it says that for the suffering of death He was crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone when he tasted death It specifically means that he literally fully experienced death on perhaps of every person who ever lived or will live So what happens is he's crowned with glory and he's crowned with honor We pick up at verse 10 as he continues this and he says it was fitting for him For whom are all things and by whom are all things and bringing many sons to glory To make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings And so it was fitting for him to do this that word fitting just means proper It was consistent with the character of God God in other words took the proper course of action when he gave his son to die on a cross because it revealed to us two things It revealed his hatred for sin and his love for us And so it was fitting for him to do this so Jesus Christ came and died on the cross in order to bring glory to God Now notice how he says here in verse 10 for whom are all things and by whom are all things God is the goal as well as the originator of all things including salvation Because all things are intended to bring glory unto him and he made the author of our salvation perfect through Suffering when he speaks of the author of salvation that word author means the pioneer or the originator He's the leader Jesus is the only one who by his death obtained our salvation He had to die in our place and it necessitated his taken upon himself humanity and what happened is he went through Sufferings for us. That's why he says in verse 10 that that the author of the salvation was made perfect through Sufferings he died on that cross for us Now when it says he became perfect it speaks of God's act of salvation being brought to full completion The the particular sufferings that brought him to the goal that he came to accomplish Jesus Christ in other words died with a purpose and the suffering that he went through was intended to fulfill God's righteous demands Jesus in other words didn't come just to live and enjoy life and continue on and then it just so happened He was martyred or murdered Jesus came to voluntarily lay his life down for us and in doing so He brought God's plan to fruition Adam fell through disobedience So by one man's obedience, we are brought to a right relationship with God through disobedience We fell through Jesus's obedience. We are recovered and it pleased God to do that That was God's plan all along to make the author of salvation perfect through sufferings was God's plan all along If you take notes isaia 53 makes that clear isaia 53 verse 10 It says it pleased the Lord to bruise him He has put him to grief When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed He shall prolong his days The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand And so Jesus Christ was able to perfect God's Work of salvation in the sufferings that he endured for us I constantly believe that if i'm going to have a deeper walk with the Lord One of the things I need to do is I need to embrace the reality of the suffering of christ I remember as a young believer going through a tough time and I went to speak to a mentor of mine. He was a A pastor as well as a professor at biola And as I was speaking to him I said i'm going through a very difficult time in my life and As we began to share and all he said to me You know david in order for you to be freed from the things that you're feeling you're going to need to do something You're you're going to need to forgive Because somebody had had done something that had disappointed and hurt me and and he said you're going to need to forgive And I remember saying to him, you know, that's easy to say it's harder to do He said well He said david he said god forgave you And I'll never forget looking at him saying to him. Well, of course. He did that's his job And I think a lot of people think that way now. I was you know a spiritual meathead, you know, I shouldn't have said that but I did That's what I was feeling at that time. And so I spoke my heart to him, which was wrong, of course It's not god's job to forgive But that's where I was at that moment. So I said well, of course he did he forgave because that's his job too But you know what as I've matured in the lord I've come to realize something and one of the things I've come to realize is that it isn't his job to forgive It's his pleasure to forgive And god forgives because god is merciful and god is kind he does so because he's compassionate He loves us. He does so not because he's forced to but because he chooses to And uh, for jesus to suffer on the cross, uh, it was not an easy thing for him All we need to do is look at what he endured on our behalf If you think about it for a moment If you study your scripture long enough and pray about and meditate on the things that jesus went through It's quite obvious that he suffered like no other man And and it's quite obvious that the torture that he endured As an innocent man Was endured in such a way that uh that for us it would have been impossible to take that kind of suffering Because he took upon himself the sin of the whole world as he was suffering In that passionate time that he was beaten and that he was he was placed on that cross and all And so for me it has become a very freeing thing To consider the passion of christ to consider what he went through on my behalf To realize that it was part of god's plan in order to retrieve us in order for us to be saved Jesus who who did no evil and knew no wrong Was actually placed on that cross in order that he might Draw us to himself and and he is the one who did that He is the author of our salvation and he has been made perfect through suffering now In verse 11 he goes on to say both he who sanctifies and and those who are being sanctified are all of one For which reason he's not ashamed to call them brethren saying i will declare your name to my brethren In the midst of the congregation i will sing praise to you and again I will put my trust in him and and again here am i and the children whom god has given me And so in in addition to him being our substitute and all And our author of salvation. He is also the one who sanctifies. He is our sanctifier In other words, he is the one who makes us holy. He makes us presentable to god And and this is all a work of the lord. We are all of the one god This is this work is all of the one god and i and i note with you that the bible says In verse 11 for which reason he's not ashamed to call them brethren That word is shamed to me is a powerful word. It means that he is not embarrassed He's not reluctant through fear of humiliation or shame to call us members of his family Do you have any relatives that you might be a bit ashamed to acknowledge Do you have any if not let me lend you a few You know to say this is my uncle. This is my aunt. This is my cousin I was once a little boy In another century And uh, my brother and I were walking down the street together I was probably seven or eight And frank is a couple years older than I so he was probably nine or ten years old and we were walking down the street together And I you know as a rambunctious little little boy. I was dirty. I was walking. I was barefooted my hair was Was messy and my face was dirty and here come two girls and walking towards my brother and And I and um as I was walking with frankie He looks at me and he sees these two girls and you know He's of that age where he's wanting to be kind of cool and everything and And but he's got this naughty nose little dirty kid next to him and and uh And he looks at me and I'll never forget I was just little little boy at that time But he looked at me and he said you know what I'm ashamed to call you my brother And you know, I was uh, I know you won't believe this, but I was very sensitive and uh, oh I cried very easily and uh Oh, I started crying. I I felt so bad, you know, my brother's ashamed of me And uh, of course, you know, as an adult now, I look back and I think you know, I should have just killed him then No, as I look back I realize, you know, that's just a kid talking and and that was what he was feeling at that moment And it was you know, I understand all of that But I have to tell you when he said that it did it did hit me It made me feel bad It made me feel sad that my own brother didn't want to admit that he was Associated with me and all of that and you know This is one of those scriptures when I first got saved That the Lord actually used in my life As I read this and and it says that he is not ashamed to call me his his brother In other words, Jesus is not ashamed of me as his brother And I have to tell you that really spoke to my heart. It really did it made me feel. Well, you know, I have a big brother Jesus himself who is not ashamed of me. He doesn't shrink back from recognizing me He's not humiliated by me. He's not ashamed of me though. I have to tell you there have been many times I'm certain that I have done things that he he could very well have had a right to feel ashamed to acknowledge that we are related But the fact is by the work of his holy spirit in in our lives by the work of his spirit in us We actually can be brought to live a life that that does not bring shame to him But what blows my mind and blesses me so much is by the holy spirit working in in us We can actually be brought to a place. There are lives actually glorify and bring honor to him So that when people see you you actually are honoring the Lord when when people see the way that you live The way that you are Just the kind of person that you are That they actually can say, you know, you're the kind of person that brings glory to God Now that comes through the working of the holy spirit It comes from a desire to simply be that person who brings honor to him Jesus asked the question once it's found in mark chapter 8 verses 36 through 38 And in that passage he asked this question He said what good is it for a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation The son of man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his father's glory with the holy angels See on the one hand as i'm walking with the Lord and bringing honor to him He's not humiliated or embarrassed to be associated with me But if i'm ashamed of jesus christ If i'm the kind of person who's a great christian around other christians You know, i'm a great testimony and witness amongst other believers But but i'm with people that don't know the Lord and suddenly i i'm exactly like them I'm doing what they do i'm saying the same things they say You know acting exactly like they then what i really am is ashamed of the gospel and i'm ashamed of jesus christ There are a lot of chameleon christians Who basically blend in with whatever they're you know, whoever they're hanging around with so if they're at work You'd never know they were believers You'd never know they were christians because they act exactly like everybody else on the job Or if they're in school They're the same way that everybody else is in school They go out with their friends if their friends are not believers they act exactly As the friends who are not believers they're you know, they're just blenders they blend in they're they're ashamed in reality of being identified as a christian You know when i first got saved at the age of 20 It was it was different for me when i was 20 i wanted to be identified with with jesus christ I wanted to be identified With people like that because i'd lived a life of shame and humiliation for a so long already Why do i want to continue in that way of life? Why do i want to act like i'm all cool? Why do i want to You know do the same things that my friends are doing and that's that's the stuff that god saved me out of Why do i want to go back to that? Why would i want to do that? Why would i want to deny jesus christ? Why would i be ashamed of talking about jesus to my mom and my dad? Why would i be afraid if they rejected me? I already had lived a life that caused them every reason if they were ever going to reject me to do so and they hadn't yet Why would they do it now? Why would i be afraid of telling my friends? Hey, listen, I want you to know i got saved my life is going to change and i'm going to live for jesus christ Why would i be afraid when i went to college to tell a professor or the students in the class? Listen, i'm a born again christian But today i'm telling you and you know this there are a lot of believers who are ashamed to identify with jesus christ They are ashamed. No, you know, you can be in a pulpit You can preach a message a very forceful and very open message to your church But you will not speak that same message outside of the church And you're regarded by everybody who's being braved because you do so But you never take the message outside. You don't talk to people who don't agree with you Well, you know what in church i've discovered this is just a place that we feed This is a place we get encouraged and then we go out strengthen to do what god has called us to do Which is to live unashamedly for jesus christ to be identified with him Listen, he's not i he's not ashamed to be identified with you Why would you be ashamed of being identified with him? He's not ashamed of you. He'll call you his brother and yet the apostle peter Didn't want to identify with christ three different times They said you are also with that Galilean and he said i don't even know him. I don't know what you're talking about He was ashamed to be identified with jesus christ But because of god's great love for the apostle peter jesus retrieved that that man and brought him back to himself And i believe that he does that for us even to this day Even when we sometimes are ashamed to be identified with him now I have to be honest with you there are times that i've been ashamed not of him But i have been ashamed of my christian brethren Sometimes i've i've seen my brothers say some things that that really well It's not scriptural and it really was unsound and it was unwise and And and i and i think that every once in a while in secular tv You're gonna have somebody some quote-unquote christian man will be brought up Just so they can mock just so they can embarrass You know just so they can say things and ask questions of them and and then hear them say outlandish things And then have them pointed out saying well, this person is an evangelical christian and and basically they're saying Look how stupid he is. He's an intellectual hillbilly. He's a bumpkin He hasn't got any any insight or understanding at all and and sometimes i have to tell you i've been there We're uh, we're one of my brethren have said things that really really were not Proper not thought out weren't sound And and you can't feel this oh my goodness and so the lord for many years has told me You know what i'm not ashamed of you so you be careful not to be ashamed of them He's not ashamed of you. He's not ashamed to say that you belong to him Let me encourage you don't be ashamed of him either because ultimately You know like jesus said listen is the world so important that you're willing to identify with it and reject me If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you But the fact is we're not ashamed of him because what he has done is so marvelous Instead of being ashamed and shrinking back. We want people to know We want people to know what he has done Now notice how it says in verse 12 and 13 saying I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise to you And again, I will put my trust in him and again here am I and the children whom god has given me I will declare your name to my brethren Here am I and the children in other words We are adopted brethren and he is not ashamed to be identified with us And so verse 14 in as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood He himself likewise shared in the same That through death he might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil And release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage For indeed he doesn't give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seat of abraham Therefore and all things he had to be made like his brethren That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to god To make propitiation for the sins of the people For in that he himself has suffered being tempted he is able to aid those Who are tempted now notice in verses 14 and 15 notice it says as the children have partaken in flesh and blood That word partaken means to have had fellowship communion or partnership In other words all human beings are flesh and blood all have partnership in the reality of the same nature Men are related to one another by sharing a common human nature And so even so jesus needed to be fully man to be a substitute on behalf of man And so he shared in the same when it says he shared in the same that means that jesus Took hold of something that was not his own or of his own kind. We are flesh and blood by nature Jesus was not human only by nature He willingly took hold of something that didn't naturally belong to him when he took upon himself human nature But in doing so that enabled jesus christ to die That's the purpose of what is called the incarnation He took upon himself human flesh so that he might suffer and die And that's what it says there and it goes on to say that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil So when it says that through death, he might destroy that word destroy means to render powerless or make in operative Sometimes we look at satan and we look at him kind of like he's almost equal to god There are those that that that adhere to what is called dualism They believe that there is a god of light and a god of darkness And that they are equal and have a cosmic war that's going on. It's called dualism But the bible doesn't teach that the bible doesn't teach that satan is equal to god And the bible doesn't teach that satan is just a little inferior satan is infinitely inferior to god. He's a created being He's not a sovereign ruler king of death king of how Killing people when he desires to do sometimes we have pictures of him like that You have pictures of him as the king of howl and the king of death. That's not what he is He doesn't had an operation that is You know under his kingdom or kingship as if he is equal to god He does have a spiritual operation that does oppose god and god's will We know that he is what is referred to as a ruler the ruler of this world Jesus said will be cast out in john 12 31 We know according to first john 5 19 that the whole world lies into the sway of the wicked when he does have power But he is not something equal to god It was satan's activity though that introduced sin And in his activity in that he rebelled against god and you see this in isaac 14 and ezekiel 28 In his rebellion against god He introduces sin and he sinned He was the first to sin then he came into that garden and tempt eve as well as adam ultimately Was brought into sin too and so his activity introduced sin And he also promotes sin And he promotes sin because sin produces death And that's why he is presented as the one who has the power of death because he encourages sin and sin results in death That's why god said in the book of genesis in the day that you eat there of you shall surely die But satan will promote an activity that will consummate in death And therefore he has what is referred to as the power of death But jesus on the cross destroys him You see when jesus dies on that cross and cries out it is finished and is buried and three days later is resurrected He is demonstrated as having the power of life And jesus christ in coming out of that grave is demonstrating that he conquer sin the grave as well as the devil And so jesus christ destroys or renders him in operative to the work of salvation that he has Done on our behalf and he conquered. That's why in 1st Corinthians 15 55 through 57. We read these words Oh death, where's your sting? Oh grave? Where's your victory? The sting of death is sin The strength of sin is the law But thanks be to god who gives us a victory through our lord jesus christ jesus rendered him in operative That's why jesus said if you hear my word and believe on him who sent me you have present tense eternal life You have it right now When I received christ, I entered into age abiding life. I was passed from death into life And though this body is growing older and one day may be placed into the ground like a seed Ultimately, I will be resurrected this body will be will be brought into a perfection And and I will spend eternity with the lord always be holding his face and worshiping him Because I pass from one thing into the real thing you see I have that life that comes through jesus christ now The person who doesn't have christ is already dead even as they live A person who doesn't have christ even as we saw today in Ephesians chapter two verse one That person is dead and trespasses in sin and that person is a walking zombie is a living dead person alive physically But dead spiritually Jesus christ and dying on that cross render satan in operative in that I now have life through jesus christ Who conquered sin the grave and satan I now have victory and so I live like that I live with this knowledge that though I go through skirmishes and I will go through battles Yet the war has been finally won by jesus who conquered and I have victory in him Now in verse 16, he doesn't give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seat of abraham Jesus christ didn't come to redeem redeem angels angels cannot be saved. I've had people ask What if satan repents I read the last page of the book he doesn't And and there's no way that he does. I mean he is not redeemable satan is not redeemable The fallen angels remain fallen for eternity. They don't ever turn around and say we will worship god They remain fallen angels and ultimately are judged forever And so jesus christ came to save mankind not to redeem angels angels are not Going to be redeemed at all. He doesn't give aid to angels Therefore he says in verse 17 in all things he had to be made like his brethren That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to god To make propitiation for the sins of the people And so the lord jesus christ took upon himself human flesh in order that he might be that proper sacrifice that Satisfies the righteous demands and anger of god That word propitiation in verse 17 is a word that speaks of satisfying anger jesus christ came In order that he might satisfy the righteous demands of god as well as the anger of god God actually has a wrath that is poured out on those who reject him And ultimately in in an eternal judgment in what is called hell That is where god's Justice is met in people remaining there For rejecting him and the incredible price that he paid to redeem you through his son jesus christ And so he made propitiation for the sins of people jesus died on that cross in order to satisfy god's righteous demands And his anger The standard for entrance into the kingdom of god let no one deceive you The standard for entrance in your own goodness into the kingdom of god the standard is perfection God does not grate on the curve It's either everything or nothing You cannot say well i've kept most of the commandments because james tells us if you sin in one point you've offended in all You may never have committed adultery physically you may never have killed somebody But if you've lied or if you've cheated or if you've stolen It's as good as if you broke every one of the commandments and not only that Sometimes we think of the commandments and we limit them to the 10 commandments But when you study the old testament you discover there are some 613 specific commands that are given in the old testament Paul made it very clear that people couldn't keep those commandments because they were intended to be a school master to bring us to To faith in jesus christ you see what they were intended to do is to awaken in us our imperfection Those commandments help us to have a standard that we fail to achieve Which brings us to a place of hopelessness So we cast ourselves on god and we say god i'm miserable i can't do these things I want to be a righteous person, but i find that within me. There's a law that is constantly Combating my desires and and the will is present with me But the ability to perform that which i desire is not and then we ask that question O wretched man that i am who is going to save me from this body of death and then we can say well Thanks be to god through jesus christ Because what it's intended to do is to bring us to the point where we realize I can't do these things now We know that that those who do such things are are justly going to be condemned by god So it causes us to have a concern and so we hear the message of the gospel that gives to us An escape route if you will where god says listen You cannot do these things perfectly no matter how hard you try And so i have done something for you that you cannot do for yourself i sent jesus christ the perfect sacrifice He lived a perfect life That's why jesus could look at people and he could say which one of you can convict me of sin He could say that to his mom he could say that to his brothers He could say that to all who are around in that town anybody who knew him for an entire lifetime Which of you can convict me of sin? Who here in this room could ask the same question without having somebody raise their hand and say well I can if I said which one of you can convict me of sin You know my whole family would jump up and say man How many how many sins do you want me to convict you of? Jesus on the other hand jesus says who here can convict me of sin his mom And and nobody else could say that they'd ever seen him lie steal cheat to do anything disrespectful anything like that He must have been an incredible an incredible brother to have You know because he never got in any trouble If mom said make the bed not only did he make it he probably created one. I mean I mean this is this was the perfect kid I mean, how do you how do you point out sin in him? There was no sin in jesus christ not a single bit of sin and therefore he was that perfect sacrifice See this is all basic christianity. This is christianity 101 This is what we most surely believe that jesus christ is perfect that he never did wrong that he took upon himself human flesh He satisfied the anger as far of his father He did everything perfect for us in order that we who do not do things perfect May have somebody who has gone ahead for us and has done it on our behalf He did that not to give aid to the angels He did that in order to give aid to us Because we like abraham have faith in him and trust in him and and because of that Because I trust and I receive and I believe and I just hold fast to him Then I couldn't know be on a shadow of a doubt that he's on my side When it says in verse 18 in that he himself has suffered being tempted. He's able to aid those who are tempted You can be going through things and you can be saying I don't understand this. I don't understand what's going on But jesus you do you understand You need took upon yourself all the sin of mankind you understand the sufferings of mankind Therefore you understand what it's like And what i'm going through Notice in chapter 4 verse 15 here in hebrus how how he says here We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses But was in all points tempted as we are Yet without sin He understands he understands me. That's why I can cry out to him in times of sorrow or pain Or when i'm dealing with something that that that I don't know anybody can understand That's why I can take it to him. That's why I can cry out and say god you understand jesus You know what it feels like to feel lonely jesus. You know what it feels like to be rejected jesus. You know what it feels like to have This inclination or this desire you understand that not because you gave into it But because you took upon yourself human flesh and understand from that perspective and therefore I say to you be my help Help me lord because I don't want to give in I don't want to yield to this I want to be victorious I have discovered that sometimes the temptation in my life was so great That resisting it was painful Because the pleasure of giving into that temptation was so delicious That I wanted to yield to it I wanted to because I enjoyed that sin so much And it became very difficult when my flesh would war against the spirit Because I would be saying it would be just so easy to do that and and I want to do that and And I can repent later on I actually would think that way And then I began to learn as I grew older What it cost jesus for me to be set free from that What did it cost it cost him every drop of his blood It cost him pain on the cross Was it easy for him to do that to embrace that cross? No, not physically it wasn't it was painful for him to do so To be separated from his father even for a moment there as he took upon the sin of my my sin upon himself The sin of the whole world was that easy for him to cry out and say my god my god My god myself forsaken me was that easy? No, it wasn't Why did he do that? He did that so he could say to me listen I have overcome And in me You can too You know, there were a lot of reasons for me to remain faithful to my wife A lot of reasons to him. I've got a great wife. I love her with all of my heart She's faithful to me There are a lot of reasons for me to remain faithful to her One of the main reasons that I remain faithful to her Is because I remain faithful to him It's because I know I know That if I were to be unfaithful to her that it would break her heart But I also know If I were to be unfaithful to her it would break his heart And I don't want to break the heart of the Lord I don't want to add to any pain that I've already caused him as he took upon himself my sin I don't I want to remain faithful to him And so I do cry out to the Lord and I said god, um, can you please help me? You know, this person has made me very angry and I most definitely want to let them know exactly What they have done to make me so angry and I want to give them five reasons why it wasn't wise for them to do so I'll receive an offering. I'll give you a portion. But may I please tell them off and God says no No, you may not What you need to do is you need to die to yourself and the inclinations of your flesh and You need to pray for them because they've despitefully used you And you need to press on Because vengeance is mine say it the lord. I'll recommend I'm doing good them. You may win them to me So why do you want to be that way? Well, I want to be that way because it's easier to be angry than it is to be forgiving That's the hardness of your heart But I can break your heart and I can make you have a heart of flesh if you're willing. Are you willing? Well, lord, that's the most difficult thing. I'm not willing at the moment So would you make me willing to be willing? And the lord says I surely will My mom smoked for many years I mean, I can't remember a time as a young person where I didn't see my mom with a pack of cigarettes I mean my mom smoked for many years And uh After she got saved She decided it was a wise thing to see smoking. That was many many years ago She decided it was a wise thing to see smoking. She'd been smoking since she was a little girl And uh, she would go without a cigarette for a while and then she'd crave one and And finally she told me something because she had given up and I haven't seen my mom with a cigarette in her mouth for 35 years But my mom said to me she goes, um You know what the lord did I said what? She said well, I would constantly be asking him god take away the cigarettes Take away the cigarettes You know, but I could always go to the liquor store and buy another pack You know So what I finally started praying is lord, would you take away my desire for cigarettes? Would you remove the desire for cigarettes? She said you know what he has done. He's removed that desire She says I don't smoke anymore because I don't desire to smoke anymore Because I yield the desire to him And so I learned from that lesson my mom and her and her cigarette smoking habit and all And I asked the lord to do the same in my life Lord, I just want the desire to be removed And I wanted to be replaced with the desire to please you And because I know that you understand these things I am asking you To replace the evil desires that my natural inclinations produce Replace them with desires for you for you have said in your word That if I delight myself in you You will give me the desire of my heart And the desire of my heart is to be pleasing to you So I'm asking you to remove the desires that would take me away Replace them with desires that will draw me close And you understand these things Because you have suffered and in the suffering you give to me evidence that I can overcome through you Because of you And so lord may I live a life that brings pleasure to you Because I know that you are able to help me when I'm being tempted May god help us to understand that