Psalm 110, if you'd like to follow along. These are the words of God. Give your careful attention, if you will. Psalm of David, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power. In holy garments, from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses. He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way. Therefore, he will lift up his head." And all of God's people said, amen. Please be seated this morning. And as we come to God's word, let's ask the Father's blessing on us. that we may hear it with hearts of gratitude and hearts ready to hear. Father, bless us, we pray. These are your words, inspired centuries ago, millennia ago, but just as relevant, just as intentional for us here today. Lord, these are the words that you have given us this morning, that you've given us to consider, to ponder, to meditate upon. Father, I pray that as we do, that we would see Jesus, that by the power of your Spirit, we might know him, not just intellectually, not just academically, but relationally, and not just as friends, not just as acquaintances, but as our sovereign Lord, as our King, as our Priest. Father, bless us this morning. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be a pleasing aroma to you, our Lord and our God. Father, bless us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, this morning I want to continue a series that we started last April, looking in turn at each of the three persons of the Trinity. There is great comfort in knowing that God is fundamentally From eternity past, he is a father. He is the father. There's great comfort knowing, as we saw last time, that as a father, he is present with us in every aspect of our lives. He is not some distant deity, some unknown, unknowable foreign power force, or philosophical prime mover, as Aristotle called it. He is present with us, present in our inmost hearts and minds. He knows us intimately. He has the hairs on our head numbered. He knows each one of them before they were formed for us, the days that are ours, before any of them were created. There is comfort in knowing that He is not just present, not just there, but also engaged, actively aware of every moment of our existence. There is no trial, no hurdle, no difficulty that He does not already know about and that He is not already actively equipping us for. There is comfort knowing that He is not ashamed to identify Himself as our Father. He is not ashamed of us, and he is not ashamed to verbalize his love for us, and he is not ashamed to praise us before others. That's what we looked at back in April as the father speaks to the son at his baptism in the Jordan River. And so having already spent time considering the father, the question for this morning is this, what comfort is there in knowing God as son? We've seen God as Father, and as He's revealed Himself to us as a Father, what does it mean that God is revealed to us as a Son? And what comfort do we have with that? What peace, what strength, what courage, what steadfastness of soul and heart that we need in this life? Which of those things can we gain? Well, we can gain all of those things, but how does that come to us through knowing Christ the Son, knowing God as Son? And to do that, I want to simply just, first off, walk through this Psalm of David, which clearly is a prophetic picture of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our great King and High Priest. And then afterwards, pull out three main ways that we can consider Jesus, like I said, as we were exhorted last week, to consider Jesus, to consider the Son. Three main ways that that brings tangible, real, practical comfort to us and to our souls in this life. And so diving right in, David begins, Psalm 110 verse 1, the Lord says to my Lord, and remember whenever you see the Lord in all caps, that is standing for Yahweh, the covenant God, the God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. And so this literally reads, Yahweh says to my Adonai. David was the ruler over all Israel the only Lord the only Adonai above him was God himself and So for Yahweh to speak to the Lord above David We should read this as the father Speaking to the son God the father speaking to God the son Yahweh speaking to the son just as he did in Psalm 2 which we read for responsive reading where the son himself says Yahweh said to me I You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. It is no earthly son, no earthly ruler like David that Yahweh promises the ends of the earth, but rather only to his only begotten son, Jesus the Christ. Jesus himself in Matthew 22 quotes this first verse of Psalm 10 and by doing so effectively shuts up the Pharisees By asking them how okay if you're so smart How does how is it that the son of David could in fact be? David's Lord that was his question quoting this verse and they were either unwilling or unable to reply and But the answer, of course, is the incarnation of Jesus, born to the house of David in fulfillment of the father's promise to David. Jesus was born in the line of David, descended from David. But that son was not merely the human descendant of David, but also the son of God. And therefore, not only David's son, genealogically, but also David's lord and master, creator and redeemer. So by Jesus' own testimony, as well as many other places in the New Testament, Jesus' own testimony tells us that this psalm is about himself, that this psalm is about Christ. And so here in Psalm 110, through the power and the inspiration of the Spirit, David records for us the Father's blessing over his only begotten Son. The Father begins with the imperative, sit at my right hand until I make all your enemies your footstool. To sit at the right hand of the Father was to sit in the seat of honor, the seat of power, of sovereign rule. And the verb to sit is more than just sitting down in a chair. When I say you may be seated, you sit, but it's more than that. The verb has the connotations of dwelling in, of inhabiting a space. Dwell at my right hand, the Father is saying. Inhabit this place of power and responsibility and authority. Stay here and rule until all your enemies are made a footstool. And to be a footstool is to be vanquished and conquered, to be so stripped of power and influence that you become as fearful and as formidable as a piece of furniture, a helpful prop for someone's resting feet. While the right hand of the Father is a place of honor, a place of prestige and glory, the footstool of the Lord is a place of dishonor, a place of subjugation, a place of shame, And the son will dwell at the father's right hand until all his enemies have been put into that position. And also, there is no ambiguity about that word until, as if the complete subjugation of all evil is still somehow in doubt. No, the father is saying, I will, I shall subdue all your enemies and place them beneath your feet. Stay here in this seat of honor and authority until that has been accomplished. David goes on in verse two, the Lord sends forth, again Yahweh, sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Again, he's still speaking to the sun. Your mighty scepter, rule in the midst of your enemies. Again, continuing to speak of Jesus, David declares that Yahweh will extend the rule and reign of the sun from Zion outward. Beginning there, it spreads like dropping a rock in a pool and the ripples spread out to the shores. And the image here is of universal dominion over the nations of men. Remember Nebuchadnezzar's vision where he sees a stone cut by no human hand come in and strike the feet of that statue made of gold and silver and bronze and iron and clay. And that statue crumbles and that stone becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth. So too the rule of the sun would extend from Zion to the uttermost parts of the world The sun would rule as king even in the midst of his enemies meaning the sun will reign as their king Even though they didn't vote for him Even though they don't love him even though they don't want him even though they don't even want to know him know about him He is still their king He is still ruling over them. It's not that Jesus is the chief of this band over here, and Satan is the chief of this band over here, and other things, or people are chiefs of the band over there, and they're all on this equal footing, all these chiefs, and Christ is just the chief of the church, this particular band. No. Christ reigns as the sovereign king over all things. King of kings. Lord of lords. Chief of chiefs. The sun will govern the nations of earth, even in the midst of his enemies. Verse three, your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments. Again, that your is referring to the sun. And so he reigns, remember, he reigns over all things, even in the midst of his enemies. But not everyone, the Son rules, will be his enemy. The Son calls to himself a people who will offer themselves freely, willingly, ready to serve him. Literally, they will place themselves on the altar as freewill offerings. That's this word here. Offer, in verse 3. We see echoes of this in Romans 12, where Paul calls us to be living sacrifices of praise. His people will hold the son in such high regard with such high honor that they will willingly reorient their lives around him in order to give him praise and glory and to offer themselves for cheerful, loyal, and obedient service. That's what this verse is speaking of. And they will come in holy garments. Like the priests in the Old Covenant, washed and wearing pure robes of white, so too his people will come before him, made clean and set apart for worship. The verse continues somewhat ambiguously, and even in the English, it's ambiguous, and the Hebrew is even more ambiguous. But the English, the ESV says, from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. And it's not quite certain which adjective modifies which noun and which order all these words are taken, but reading through several commentaries and studying this, The most likely interpretation, because of the sun's power in the previous clause, the likeliest interpretation is that the psalmist is speaking of an innumerable army of those who love the sun, as innumerable as the drops of dew in the morning. They will come and they will stand with their king, fight with their king, and therefore share in the promised victory of their king. David switches gears slightly in verse four. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And just a side note, this is another reason why we know that this is not speaking of David, because David was never a priest. David was never a priest in the order of Melchizedek. New Testament abundantly makes this clear that we're speaking of Jesus here. And we'll get to this in more in more depth in a moment, but not only will this son be the victorious king whose very feet will rest upon the heads of his enemies, riding at the head of a victorious army, he will be our priest, an ordained priest, a set-apart priest to offer sacrifice, to intercede for his people, and he will be a priest forever. Note too how emphatic Yahweh is about this. He has both sworn and and refuses to change his mind. The promises of God are already sure. Anything God simply says is already sure. But he wants us to know that this one especially cannot ever, ever, ever be revoked. And we'll see why in a bit. Verse 5, the Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. Back to the image of the warrior king riding out in victory over the conquered enemy host. And again, David uses language that reminds us of Psalm 2, where the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh and against his anointed son. These are not just random rulers facing the judgment of the sun's wrath, by the way. These are the rebellious demonic plotters and cosmic powers who have rejected God and have set themselves against him and against his people. They will be shattered, Psalm 110 tells us. Literally, beat to pieces, crushed to dust. They will be made utterly impotent, incapable of inflicting harm on his people, incapable of destroying the people of God. A similar theme runs through verse 6. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses. He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. And perhaps this kind of language makes us a little uneasy. Perhaps it sounds a little too harsh for the peace-loving, meek-and-mild, flower-child Jesus that our culture has grown comfortable with. But Jesus himself says that he did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10, 34. He came, in other words, to draw a line in the sand and to call all who would love him and all who would follow him to step over that line and stand next to him, to join him. Those who refuse to follow Jesus, those who rebel to the utter end, who hate him and who want nothing to do with him, will find themselves on the wrong side of his wrath on that final day. So far from being a comfortable, cartoony, precious moments pastel, Jesus is the rider on the white horse of Revelation 19. Just listen, close your eyes if you want, just listen to how John describes him there. Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe, dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Why are there no figurines of that Jesus? Judgment is coming. The day of wrath is coming. And when it comes, the sovereign son of Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 will execute judgment on the arrogant and rebellious nations, filling them with corpses, shattering chiefs over the wide earth. Because we live in the relative safety and peace of 21st century America, it's easy to forget the reality of war. But make no mistake, we are at war. Not with flesh and blood, Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And it is against these enemies that we strive and that we struggle. And it is these enemies that the sun will shatter completely on the day of his wrath. It's true, all who rebel against him, all who continue to love self more than Christ without repentance, will find themselves thrown into the lake of fire on that day. That's a reality, and that calls us to an urgency in spreading the gospel. Because if they make it there without repenting, it means they would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven. But the thrust of these verses here in Psalm 110 is against the rulers and authorities and the cosmic powers of Ephesians 6. And this is a war in which we fight alongside our captain and our king. We are again that do of his youth. We are that innumerable army waging war for his truth. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10, for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy what? Strongholds. Yes. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. Where does that come from? Those come from demonic cosmic powers. That's who we're waging war against. And the promise of this psalm is that those arguments will be destroyed. The strongholds of death and fear will be demolished. And we will tear down every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. It will happen. For our King will execute judgment among the nations. That is deeply comforting. The deeper our understanding of sin and darkness, the greater desire we will have to see it destroyed. So we see its effect. We see the destruction. We see the death that it brings in our lives and the lives of others. And we want it gone. We want it eradicated. We want it destroyed. I want a king who will carry a sword that will strike down all wickedness, all oppression, all injustice, along with every evil ruler and king. I want to be like the dew from the womb of the morning, part of that army arrayed in fine linen, following our Lord on white horses of our own. That will be a terrible and yet wonderful day to behold. Victory over sin, victory over death, victory over corruption. They are terrible enemies, yes, and yet we have one who stands before us who is more terrible still. Terrible and wrath terrible injustice terrible and holiness terrible and righteous white hot anger all of it Entirely directed at our enemies For in Christ our enemies have become his enemies Reminds me of Psalm 18 go home this afternoon and meditate on Psalm 18 we're out of a fierce love for David the Lord bowed the heavens and came down and With thick darkness under his feet, the earth reeled and rocked. The foundations of the mountains trembled and quaked because he was angry at the enemies of his child. Not angry at his child, but angry at those who would mess with his child. Angry at those who would oppose his child. Angry with those who would come and bully his child or seek to deceive his child. Angry at those who sought to abuse his child. That is the picture of the sun in his terrible and beautiful justice and wrath, thundering from the heavens, flashing forth lightnings, tearing up the sea and making a path of dry land for you, his child, his precious one, that you may walk in safety, that you may know peace. With all the very real and dangerous agents of darkness out there, I don't want a milquetoast king. I want a burly king. Ferocious and terrifying in his anger toward those who would stand against me those who would seek to do me harm Christian You want this king? You want a king who has so completely vanquished the enemy that in perfect freedom and in perfect peace and safety He is able verse 7 of Psalm 110 He is able to stoop down and drink from the brook by the way and therefore lift up his head in victory After all the warfare in Psalm 110, that image of peace, the image of final victory, where I have conquered, I can now stoop and drink, refresh myself. That's the King we want. And this is the first great comfort to be gained in knowing God as Son. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. His name is faithful. His name is true. He is not silent in the face of evil. He is not shy in the face of injustice. Jesus holds the scepter, not Satan, not any lower demon, not any earthly power, not any human body of legislation or justice. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, the Son. The King sits on his throne. He has ordained all things for his good purposes, that his glory might be put on display. His hatred of sin, His wrath against evil is glorious. His mercy and His love are glorious. He is glorious. Flip over to Isaiah 9, a passage that we normally only read at Christmas, which is really a crying shame, because there is such beauty and such hope in this. Familiar words because we read them every year, but we need to remember them throughout the year Isaiah puts it this way starting in verse 4 Isaiah calls us to rejoice for the yoke of their burden the staff For their shoulder the rod of their oppressor he has broken as on the day of Midian and that yoke is is the slavery of sin and The staff is the tool of oppression by our enemies, the rod of our oppressor, the rod of those holding us in their thrall through sin, through death, through the dominion of darkness. They have been broken. They have been shattered. Because they have been shattered every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood Will be burned as fuel for the fire Evil Wars Wickedness Oppression all of it will cease because Christ reigns as king His enemies will be made a footstool Isaiah goes on, why is all this wonderful? Because to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. This is the Son. This is Jesus. This is His power. This is His authority. This is His strength. He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords and the government of all things. All things has been placed on His shoulders. This means His power over the wicked is complete. His jurisdiction over the justices sitting in Washington and Sacramento is complete. His sovereignty over the wicked legislation currently being promoted is complete. His dominion over the crumbling culture is complete. His rule over the moral demise of our nation is complete. There is nothing that escapes his eyes. There is nothing that slips between his fingers. There is nothing happening that he does not know about, nothing that he is not using for his great glory in this world, nothing that will hinder the expansion of his kingdom, the success of his mission, the discipling of the nations and the sanctification of his people. As we watch the moral fiber of our country disintegrate around us, we must keep our eyes fixed on the comfort that comes from knowing the Son, knowing that He is King, knowing that He reigns supreme, that He governs the governors. The longevity and stability of this particular nation, at this particular point in history, is not the ultimate purpose of our King. The longevity and stability of this world is not the purpose of our King. He sits on the throne. He has vanquished his enemies so that his gospel, his good news, might freely spread to the four corners of the earth. So that one day the knowledge of the Lord might cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. His purposes can never be thwarted. His church will grow. His kingdom will be established and the gates of death itself will be torn down and demolished on that final day. when we ride with our King in victory over the crushed heads of Satan and his minions. The sovereign Lordship of Christ over all things doesn't fill you with supreme comfort and hope, and you need to check your pulse. See if you're alive. See if you're hearing these words. There is nothing that can stand against the Son. It is in Him that we dwell. It is in the Son that we have our very life. It is to the Son that we have been irrevocably united by faith and by His faithfulness towards us. So what can stand against us and succeed in taking away our hope? The Supreme Court? The extreme left? The New York Times? How about things less trite? Can the rise of Islam succeed in taking away our hope? Can the hatred of the world succeed in dismantling all the Son has accomplished for us and through us? As we approach our own final breaths on this earth, can death itself separate us from the love of the Father seen in Christ the Son? No. Ask yourself this question. What are you scared of? What frightens you? What are the things that loom large in your heart and cause anxious thoughts to rise up and trouble your soul? Identify them. Know them. Seek them. See them. Put them before you. Get them out into the light. Say them out loud. And then ask yourself, is Jesus enough? Is King Jesus bigger than my fear? Is King Jesus more powerful than all the hosts of darkness put together? King Jesus in all his power and glory and majesty and sovereign lordship is he sufficient to meet my every need to meet my every fear When I am afraid I will put my trust in you In God whose word I praise in God. I trust I shall not be afraid what can flesh do to me? Psalm 56 3 & 4 The second comfort to be taken from Psalm 110 is right at the center of the psalm in verse 4. That verse reads again, The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Again, hear the extra emphasis that David gives to Yahweh's words. He has sworn and he will not change his mind. The author of Hebrews offers us divine commentary on this emphasis in Hebrews 6, 16 and following. In fact, turn over to Hebrews 6. We'll be spending the rest of our time in this chapter and in Hebrews 7. Hebrews 6, starting in verse 16. Again, the author of Hebrews is commenting on Psalm 110 in these chapters, and specifically this verse about the Lord swearing and not changing His mind. He says this, people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes, an oath is final for confirmation. When we give our word to someone, when we shake hands, when we say yes, when we sign on the dotted line, We are giving an oath. We are committing ourselves. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The author here says in verse 18 that we are given two unchangeable things on which to set our hope. And remember, this was written to the Jews in the time of the persecution in first century AD, when they are being persecuted, when they are being hounded, when they are being literally put in prison and killed, or being pressured extensively to return to Judaism. And so the author of Hebrews wants to give them comfort in that time. And so he says here, with regard to the priesthood of Christ, that we have two unchangeable things on which to set our hope. First, the unchangeable character of God himself, his purposes, his plan, his will, his nature. And second, the strong guarantee of an oath. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. And it is impossible for God to lie. How much stronger could our hope get? How much stronger could this encouragement But why does Yahweh make this promise doubly strong? Why is it so vitally important that the son be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek? Several reasons. First, simply on a logistical level, Jesus was not qualified to be a priest in the order, the normal way, in the order of Aaron, because he was born of the tribe of Judah and not of the tribe of Levi. And so according to the laws of Moses, Jesus could not have served as priest because he was not a Levite. But that is just a technicality next to the fact that the Levitical priesthood was established by law, by necessity, by bodily descent, whereas God wants us to know that Jesus was made priest by promise, in freedom, without obligation, in other words. Look over at Hebrews 7, down at verse 11. And read along with me. The theology is about to get a little thick here, but this is absolutely critical for us to understand. This is why we have such a doubly strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us in Christ. If God is emphasizing something, it really does behoove us to pay attention and try to sort it out. Hebrews 11, starting in verse 7. Switch that. Hebrews 7, starting in verse 11. Sorry. Now, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron? Remember, Melchizedek was not even a Hebrew. He met Abraham in the fields after Abraham went and rescued Lot. from the five kings Abraham is coming back and and Melchizedek in Genesis 14 comes to meet him and Abraham blessed or is blessed By Melchizedek Abraham is and Abraham then praises God and and serves God through Melchizedek who is a priest it says of the Most High so Not a Jew not a Hebrew not a son of Aaron Because he's not even a son of Abraham in other words what God is saying here. In other words, if all the ceremonies and rituals and temples and tabernacles and sacrifices that God told Moses about on Mount Sinai, going back to that first phrase of perfection had been attainable to the law through the Levitical priesthood, through the law, if all of that actually worked at the heart level, if they actually led the people into internal and not just external righteousness and holiness, then there would be no need of another kind of priest, another type of priest, another line of priesthood. Aaron was capable of leading the people into holiness with nothing more than the law and ceremonies then Jesus is superfluous Hebrews is saying But obviously the law did not it cannot save anyone the Mosaic Covenant only can identify the sin it cannot take it away and So another kind of priest a priest different than Aaron a priest in the line of Melchizedek is needed Let's get down to verse 15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. In Genesis 14, we don't have any genealogies about Melchizedek. We don't know who his father was. We don't know who his kids were. He just kind of appears in scripture. Gone, so we don't hear about his birth. We don't hear about his death and metaphorically that symbolizes Eternality that symbolizes an indestructible life. And so when Christ comes he comes in the line of Melchizedek Who has no beginning who has no end For it is witnessed of him quoting psalm 110 verse 4. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside, the Mosaic Covenant, because of its weakness and uselessness. I love that word. For the law made nothing perfect. But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. It's obvious that the Mosaic Covenant didn't work. We have the entire Old Testament confirming the fact that the law saves no one. And so we get to the New Testament and go, there has to be something better. There has to be something that can actually save us from our sin, not just tell us that we're sinners, not just identify the sin that we have. A better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests, those in the priestly line of Aaron, were made such without an oath. They were made priests simply by being born into it. But this one, Jesus, was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him, again quoting our text, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. A better covenant. Do you see? Does this make sense? The old Mosaic covenant was powerless to save people from their sin because it was governed solely by the law. And all the law can do is point to sin. It can't make us perfect. The law is simply an inert signpost pointing in a particular direction. The law points to perfection. See, that's what perfection looks like. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Don't kill, don't steal, don't commit adultery. The law points to perfection, just like the sign for Santa Cruz points you down Graham Hill to Santa Cruz. It cannot take you to Santa Cruz. You can't just hop on the signpost and go, OK, I'm ready to go. For that, you need some mode of transportation. In the same way the law cannot take you to perfection, you need some mode of transportation, some vehicle of redemption, some vehicle of restoration and reconciliation and resurrection. The sacrifices and ceremonies of the Old Covenant were too weak and useless. The blood of bulls and goats was not sufficient to remove the stain of sin on the hearts of the people. They could do nothing about the redemption and resurrection required. So, enter Jesus. Though he is from the kingly tribe of Judah from the house of David. He is made a priest not on the basis of law Not because he was just born into it Not because it was forced upon him as in having because he was as if he had been descended from Levi But rather because he has the power of an indestructible life the blood of bulls and goats allowed the Israelites to dwell in the approximate presence of God and But there was still a thick curtain and many levels of priesthood and ritual that separated them from the actual presence of God. They could not simply draw near to God like we can. They did not have the freedom to simply stand before him in the holy of holies while the glory of the Almighty rested on the mercy seat. For the blood of bulls was spilled and then gone. You needed more and more bulls, more and more blood, because they were not indestructible. They were finite. They could do nothing about cleansing our sin nature. They could only atone for sins in an external way. And not only were the animals themselves insufficient, but the priests themselves were prevented from being effective by death. Look at verse 23. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. As soon as one got good at his job, he'd die, and then another one would come up. But he, Jesus, holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. Indestructible life. And for the same reason that Jesus is the eternal king, the son is also the eternal priest. And that reason is the cross. The Son of Heaven descended to earth to conquer sin and death. The law was not sufficient to make us whole. The law was powerless to raise us from the dead. The law could not turn a valley of dry bones into a living, breathing army. But the Father wanted a living, breathing army and not a valley full of bones. How do we do this? Jesus comes down to be the vehicle of our perfection, our transportation to holiness. The Son met the power of death and sin on the cross and conquered. He brought death down into the grave. He brought the power of sin down into Hades, the place of the dead. And because death died in the death of Christ, it no longer held any power over him. Indestructible life. He was raised to a life indestructible. Because He holds the keys of death in His hand, death is now something tame and domesticated for Christ. It can never touch Him again. And because of that indestructible life, He can serve as our High Priest forever. Forever. On the cross, the Son put these two great themes from Psalm 110 on display. On the cross, we see both the authority of a King, And we see the compassion of a priest. Jesus says in John 10, I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. Jesus has the authority of a king, of the king, the authority over death itself. He has the power to lay down his own life. He has the power to take it up again. But he also has the compassion of a priest to actually do it Right. It's one thing to have the authority to do it. It's another thing to actually go ahead and do it It's it's one thing to have the authority to lay down your life to to be willing to sacrifice yourself on the cross To be willing to go to the grave to be willing to to go through that whole procedure that whole painful messy business It's one thing to have the authority and the the willingness to do it. It's another thing to actually do it Jesus had the authority the ability, the freedom to do it, and he also has the compassion to actually step forward and meet that death. As he says a few words up in John 10, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the father knows me, and I know the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. With kingly authority and priestly compassion, he is now able to save, Hebrews 7.25, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives in destructible life, since he always lives to make intercession for them. And it was the cross that made all of this possible. To become king of all things, he had to first gain victory over death. To become our high priest, he had to approach the altar of heaven with a more perfect blood than the blood of bulls and goats. And this is precisely what he did when he offered up his own flesh, his own blood on the cross. Hebrews 7 verse 26. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for the needs of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of an oath The word of promise, Psalm 110 verse 4, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever, and therefore can be our priest forever, can be our king forever. And this is the third great comfort that comes from knowing God as son. Jesus has taken up the authority of a king. Jesus has taken up the compassion of a priest, and he has done this for you. personally as in he had your name on his lips when he did it when he went to the cross and In this act he has accomplished your final reconciliation with heaven granting you access to the very presence of the father This is why that thick great curtain in the temple remember in Matthew when Christ offers up his final breath that great thick it was it was probably between a foot and a half and two feet thick and It tore, split from top to bottom. Just like that when Jesus died. No more separation between you and God. His presence there is now for all people through Christ. You don't need to stand out in the outer courts and offer up a bunch of sacrifices and offer up a bunch of blood and let some other priest do it for themselves and then for you. And then once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest goes into the very presence of God. That doesn't happen anymore, because our high priest is in the presence of God, and we are in him. And therefore, we are in the presence of God, free to be there. We have a right to be there. As priest, Jesus makes constant intercession for you, praying for you, bringing your own prayers and tears to the Father. And as king, he governs all things well so that nothing touches you except it passes from his own careful and loving hands first. As priest, Jesus has the compassion to hear you, to care for you, to listen to your fears. As king, he has the power and authority to do something about it. This is our day-to-day, moment-by-moment source of comfort and strength. When you fall to temptation and sin, and Satan is right there at your shoulder accusing you, trying to persuade you that no one could love a sinner like you. No one, especially not a thrice-holy God. You're disgusting. Do you know what's going on in your head? You should be ashamed. Who would ever want you as a child? As good as Jesus is, you're just too wicked to be saved. When Satan starts whispering those lies in your ear, knowing the Son as you do, you have the freedom and the authority to tell Satan to get lost. Knowing the truth of the Son means recognizing the lies of the devil. The more you gaze upon the truth, the more you consider Jesus, the easier it becomes to catch Satan in his deceptions. When you are overburdened and weighed down by pain or fear or stress or just plain old human fatigue, And all you have the strength to pray is, Lord, help me. That's all you have the energy for. Knowing the Son means knowing that Jesus cares, Jesus listens, Jesus provides. He is with you in the small hours of the morning when the world has shrunk to the size of a dark and lonely room. He is there, He hears you, and He cares for you. And he gives you all of his compassionate, authoritative self. Knowing the authority of a king, of the king, and the compassion of the priest means knowing he will move mountains for you in order to make your way straight. He will drain seas that you might walk across on dry land. He will hold back the sun in its orbit until all your enemies are defeated. He will bow the heavens and come down in all his righteousness, in all his righteous anger against your shame, against your fear, against your guilt, and he will crush their heads beneath his victorious, pierced feet. As priest, he walks through fire and flood with you, protecting you in the midst of danger. As king, he gives you wisdom in difficult situations. As priest, he gives you peace in the midst of grief. As king, he fills you with faith for the fight, compassion for the lost, boldness for the mission, humility to love others as you yourself have been loved. For he has both the authority and the compassion, the desire and the ability, the freedom and the willpower to give you all things in himself. God as the Son is the King on the white horse, coming with justice and with wrath. He is the priest who offers himself on the altar, making full payment for the sins of his people and thereby giving us grace upon grace upon grace. He is the king who reigns from heaven over the nations of men. He is the priest who collects in bottles the tears of his saints, never ceasing to pray for you by name. He is the king who has authority over death itself, granting you freedom from slavery to your former passions. He is the priest who has the compassion of a friend that sticks closer than a brother. As priest, he is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. As king, he is the destroyer of death, accomplishing for us our own indestructible life. Revelation 17, 14. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them. For he is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. Therefore all hail the power of Jesus name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. Sinners whose love can never forget the wormwood and the gall, go spread your trophies at his feet and crown him Lord of all. Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball, to him all majesty ascribe and crown him Lord of all. Father, we want this to be the testimony of our life. We give you praise for Christ. We give you praise for the Son. We give you praise for his authority over all things, his authority over death itself. And we praise you for the compassion that he has as our priest, that he willingly, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. Willingly laid down his life for us That we might know him that we might love him that we might be united to him by faith And father that is that is good news It's good news There's nothing that stands against us. There's no accusation that sticks to us because we have been freed in Christ for all time We cannot be brought back into slavery Lord, yes, sin remains, and it will until the day we die. But again, we don't confess it, we don't bring it before you because we have yet to be forgiven. We confess it because we have been forgiven. We acknowledge it, we identify it, and we put it aside, and we have the freedom and the authority to do that because Christ dwells in us, and he has the authority over all things. And that good news of his lordship and of his mercy, of his power and of his grace, of his authority and his life that he offers us in his blood, that is the good news that we are to take from here outside these walls, outside the walls of our own mind and heart, and into the lives of this world that desperately needs to know. Father, fill us with strength to do that. Empower us to do that. Give us that same compassion. Give us that same authority to speak the word boldly, to not back down, to not be intimidated by the demonic forces and the cosmic powers and the darkness that has been defeated and put to open shame on the cross already. Father, we are your people. made your people by the blood of your son, made his subjects by the rule of his authority, made his friends, his brothers, by the good purposes of you. So Father, as we praise him, let our hearts and our minds and our souls and our bodies all combine to praise him thoroughly. to praise him loudly, to praise him strongly, not just with the words of our mouth, but with our actions and our attitudes, our gratitude, our love for others, and our ability and our willingness to serve others in their needs, putting their needs ahead of our own. Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you that you as Son have met us and have revealed yourself to us. We give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let's stand in response and sing, all hail the power of Jesus' name. Let's stand together.