The Gift (2)

“Frankincense - Jesus our High Priest”

Welcome everyone

mens and I heard women's Christmas parties were wonderful = at mens we asked about a special gift or memory we had of Christmas

recap last week = Jesus is our ultimate gift...

Jesus recieved gifts as well = we will be talking about these gifts in the coming weeks Gold, frankincense, and myrrh

Gold = Kingship

Myrrh = Sacrificial servant or Lamb of God

but today we will start with frankincense

we will be reading from the book of Matthew for the next few weeks and before we jump in lets talk context

talk about the journey to Bethlehem so from Nazareth, Galilee to Bethlehem, Judea was approximately 70-80 miles....speak on this....

now in Lukes gospel, if you remember last week, talked about the shepherds and them being the first ones to hear of the new born king

well in Matthew we learn about a new group of individuals, the wisemen or magi...

lets do this real quick, i want to ask you how many wisemen were there? better yet, how many of you have nativity scenes put up in your houses now during christmas time? and if so how many wisemen come with your nativity scene?

tradition would tell us that there were three wisemen, probably because he recieved three gifts, but chances are and according to scholars and theologians there were probably closer to a dozen wisemen....i know sorry to destroy the image of the nativity scene

so we don’t know the number of wisemen present but what we do know this…the wisemen were highly educated, most likely incredibly wealthy, and they were desperate to come and meet the one who might be the savior of the world and they traveled a great length to do so....scripture tells us in Matthew 2:10

Matthew 2:10–11 ESV

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

talk about receiving gifts when Nash was born = diapers, onsies (life savers), blankets, etc....

but this one gift was a combo pack I remember this gift cause Alex really wanted one, it came with nail clippers, a baby comb, and a snot sucker....

talk on this....

Wise men offered three gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

you see just like todays more modern gifts of diapers, onsies, and the amazing snot sucker

These gifts were valuable, they were incredibly practical, and yet they were deeply spiritual

In fact, all Bible scholars agree that these gifts were not only useful for this family, and I'll tell you why as we go through the weeks,

but they also foreshadowed some images of what Jesus would represent.

Gold = represented the kingship of Jesus

Myrrh = Sacrificial servant Lamb of God

frankincense = High Priest

Essential oil advisors (Swiss army) (Not tonight) Frankincense: Possesses antiseptic, astringent, carminative, diuretic, digestive, sedative, uterine, and vulnerary therapeutic properties. ! • Very expensive, practical gift—Helped treat sickness and wounds. • Spiritual—Priests burned—fragrant offering to God (Symbolizing prayer as smoke rise heavens.) Bible scholars: Frank—Symbolized Priestly Nature Jesus—High Priest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unless raised Catholic—Jesus, High Priest might not much—Confusing.

Priest? Represented the people to God! (Functions) ! • Priests made sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. • Priests prayed prayers on behalf of the people to God. (representative)

Sacrifices for our Sins Since moment Adam/Eve sinned. 2 Opposing Forces Holiness of God—Sinfulness of Man! “Sin” isn’t popular concept—Who’s to tell me? Feels good moment! Outdated concept used scare children being good. Sin? Elf/Shelf (list)

Holy—Set apart—Transcendentally Separate—Perfect, Flawless, Pure! Holiness isn’t one of his ATTRIBUTES—Perfection of all them! Power holy—Justice holy—Mercy holy—Holiness makes worthy praise!

He is HOLY—Perfect—We’re not—All sinned—Wages! God Hates Sin—Hurts!

We have to understand the reality of sin because there's the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.

write this down

“If we don't understand the holiness of God, we'll always have a casual approach to sin.”

until we understand what it truly means that God is holy we will never understand the cost and tragedy of sin…

So lets talk about Gods holiness so we can understand it

greek word agios = separate, other

What is God? God is transcendently separate, Our God is perfect in every single way.

He is flawless, He is pure, there is no fault, no wrong, no stain in Him, our God is transcendently other, He's separate, He is perfect,

and so we need to understand that holiness isn't just one of the attributes of God, holiness is the perfection of all of his attributes.

His power is holy, His grace is holy, His mercy is holy, His glory is holy, it's His holiness, His otherness, His separateness, His purity, that makes Him worthy of our praise.

OUr god is holy our problme is we are not

none of us are, not you, not that super nice person at work, not me, none of us are

we all have all sinned we have all fallen short, we have all done something wrong,

and heres the scary thing scripture tells us for the wages of sin is death

preach on this…

sin breaks are intimacy with God it break his fellowship with us, and this is why God hates sin

sin is everything he is not

God hates sin

Holiness of God—Sinfulness of Man! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Priest—OT Once year sacrifice—Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) Priest sacrifice innocent animal: Tabernacle—Behind Veil—Holy Holies. ! Burn the incense (Frankincense)—Representing Prayers of people! Sprinkle blood on the mercy seat! (Animal died in place people payment)

Goat—(Scape)—Confessed sins of people—Symbolically transfer sins. Send goat wilderness—Off cliff—Sin forgiven and removed! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sacrifice? Extreme—Gross—Unfair!—Kill innocent animals!

Because God is JUST—Punish sin. Not only JUST—MERCIFUL!

The sacrifice satisfies God’s justice and at the same time extends mercy!

Temporary—Old Covenant—We are not under Old—New!

want to tell you about a better new sacrifice

i like the NLT version here

10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. 11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Hebrews 10:10-12 NLT

speak on this

a priest would stand day in and day out speaking the sins for the people to be forgiven, something that had to be done year after year

Jesus—High Priest—Paid price for our sins! Not a Temporary Covering—Permanent Removal!

talk about story of young pastor and old pastor

"Take off your filthy, smelly robe." I took it off. Then he took off his priestly robe, and he put it over my shoulders, and he said, "Jesus, our High Priest, sacrificed His life, "so He could take His robes of righteousness, "scripture says, and cover you with His righteousness,

"it's not yours it's His "so that whenever God looks at you, "He doesn't see your sinfulness, "but He sees the righteousness of Christ."

This is our High Priest who gave His life. Satisfying the justness of God, and simultaneously extending mercy.

Jesus is not just a distant savior he understand what we have gone through because he has gone through it too……

Hebrews 4:14–15 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Understands all our weaknesses—Relates to trials—Sympathizes w/pain!

I hope you'll understand, and embrace the truth that whatever you're going through, Jesus understands. He relates to our trials, He sympathizes with our pain. Whatever you're going through at this very moment, He understands what you're going through.

in the garden of gethsemane when he battled anxiety because he knew what was coming to him he fell down and cried out to his father…

battling anxiety our high priest has been there…

battling temptation remember in the desert christ battled temptation at his most vulnerable yet did not sin

he understands…

do you understand who our high priest is??

you dont think he understands look at it like this… • Conceived out of wedlock to teenage mom. • Growing up very small town—known as “that bastard boy.” • Lived in poverty, criticized, ridiculed, bullied. • Tempted over and again by the devil attacking his most vulnerable. • Had a close friend die—Grieved loss of family members. • Accused of things he didn’t do—Friends betrayed him. • Worst all—felt abandoned & deserted by God, he wasnt but felt it

Worst of all, He felt abandoned by God on the cross. He wasn't, but He felt that way, because when Jesus, the great High Priest, became sin for us, kind of like the scapegoat, gave His life for sin, God looked away. Why? Because God is too holy to look upon sin. And Jesus cried out in agony, "My God, my God, where are you?"

If you've ever felt like you couldn't reach the presence of God, Jesus understands. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What you feel—He felt! Where you hurt—He hurt!

he is not sitting in heaven—Sucks to be you—Our High Priest Understands.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

conclude here

I hope you understand. You can come to Him today,

you can come to Him as you are,

you can come boldly, you don't have to cower when you come to Him,

you don't have to be afraid when you come to Him, you don't have to pray in King James language when you come to Him. Let us approach... (Jesus) Boldly

Nash knows how to get what he wants…

talk about cozy time,

if i dont he is bold and confident enough to come to me if mama says no……

and i give in

come boldly confidently to God this morning

you have a Loved one far from God—Jesus Savior!

Struggling financially—Jesus My Provider!

Hurting emotionally—Jesus My Comforter!

Struggling physically—Jesus Healer!

So let us come boldly before the throne of our gracious God! Receive his mercy—Find help when we need it most!

And He is full of mercy. Our savior, He is our High Priest, He is holy in every way,

He's our healer, our redeemer, our savior, He is Lord! The details of God—In beginning Word—Flesh!

You're tired, you're exhausted, you're overwhelmed, you don't feel like you can hold it together,

you're completely weak and broken.

When you are weak, Jesus the High Priest is your strength, He understands in your weakness, His strength is made complete.

lets pray

HOLY SPIRIT TAKE OVER……