Living Boldly Through Christ’s Mediation: Hebrews Chapter 5

00:00 - Speaker 1
When you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them. So when you said, I believe Jesus has already forgiven me of my sins, you have that according to your words, Hallelujah. When you say, even with pain, even with sickness, I believe that by his stripes I was healed, you'll have what you say. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it will eat the fruit thereof.

00:26 - Speaker 2
Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightNYCcom. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you that he has a real hope and a future for you.

01:10 - Speaker 1
Are you all ready for Hebrews chapter 5 this morning? Do not provoke me, I know what you're doing. Hallelujah. I would love to share this with the second service, but, verily, they cannot bear me now. That was a first service message. Some here need to be gently massaged into that realm.

01:39
Praise God, we're in Hebrews 5. We're going through the whole book of Hebrews, line upon line, precept upon precept. It's a monumental task to end biblical illiteracy, but we're here to take it on, so that we're strong in the word. In fact, you'll see, in Hebrews 5 he talks about a people who are just, they're milk drinkers, and milk is nice when you're a baby, but eventually you want to get on to solid food. About a people who are just, they're milk drinkers, and milk is nice when you're a baby, but eventually you want to get onto solid food. And so, as a Christian, we shouldn't just be used to milk, we have to have the meat, the solid food.

02:17
I reached that point in my Christianity. I've read the New Testament several times, over a couple of dozen times, by the. I was in my early 20s and there are parts that I just didn't understand at all. But what do you do? You ask the Lord for help, maybe try to study it out, and then you keep reading. You can't get stuck and go all right, I'm going to stop reading because this part I don't understand. But after reading it a couple of times through, I got to the place where I said, all right, I don't want to skip entire chapters because I don't know what in the world this guy's talking about. I'm going to do the work with the Lord and dig in, and that's what I invite you to do, and may you dig in, sink your teeth into the glorious truths contained in the book of Hebrews, hallelujah. Well, hebrews, chapter 5, is what we're up to Remember.

03:05
Hebrews is a book or letter written to a very disgruntled group of people, a despondent community of Christians. They were persecuted, they were in a sad place and they were pushed and they're on the verge of quitting Quitting what you say, literally quitting their Christianity. They're on the verge of quitting Quitting what you say, literally quitting their Christianity. They're on the verge of apostasy, abandoning Jesus and abandoning the faith. That's how bad it got. And the letter of Hebrews is how somebody with apostolic authority would address a community and a people group like that what he would say to them. Let's begin. Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 1.

03:47
For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, and the idea is that he could have compassion. So you had under the Mosaic law, under the Old Testament, you had lots and lots of priests, but you had one high priest. They all performed sacrifices, offered up gifts to the Lord. The high priest was the main guy in charge. He didn't get to campaign for that position. You didn't like go up the corporate ladder to get that position. That was given by God himself. And the idea was is that in offering up the sacrifice, he wasn't just a meat cutter you know, he wasn't just a butcher but that he actually had compassion and he understood. Even his outfit was designed in a way, with the 12 tribes of Israel's names on his shoulders. It was designed in a way to remind him of the people. He's doing this for the people. Two, he can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray. Since he himself is also subject to weakness Because of this, he is required, as for the people, so also for himself, to remind him that he's just a human to offer sacrifices for sins, and no man takes this honor to himself but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

05:29
Now I want you to know that everybody here, everybody on planet earth, needs a priest. Did you know that? You didn't know that? I'm glad I could tell you. You need a priest. If you don't have one, you've come to the right place. You get yourself one. How are you going to approach a holy, untouchable God without a priest? You know what a priest is. The actual word means bridge builder. See, just let me take your hand. See, I'm making a bridge. You guys are friends, it's okay, he's not gonna hurt you. A mediator, a bridge builder, a priest All of mankind innately knows this.

06:24
They came from Europe to South America. Guess what they found? People didn't even speak the same language, didn't believe what they believed, but you know what they had? Priests. Go over to Japan. What do you find? Priests Go into the bush in Africa. Priests, because mankind, universal man, innately knows I cannot touch upon the divine without a priest. I need that bridge maker, that mediator. By the way, I'm not him. That's why you don't hear the term priest in association with church governance and how a church should be run.

07:02
In the New Testament. I'm a pastor. That is in the New Testament. I'm a pastor. That is in the New Testament. I shepherd God's people. You have entire denominations, large ones with over a billion people that have priests, yet the only priest you're supposed to have is Jesus Christ.

07:22
The Bible says there is one mediator between God and man, the man capital M, christ Jesus. There's only one bridge maker. So I don't need saints to go through. I don't need Mary to go through. She's not a mediator. Saints aren't a mediator. Icons on a wall, they're not mediating for me.

07:45
There's one mediator Jesus. He is mine and yours, high priest. And this high priest, what's so beautiful is he's 100% man, so he knows what you go through. That's what the ideal was of the Old Testament, high priest. Yet you have stories of how they got proud, arrogant anyway, and still couldn't relate to the people. Jesus is not that way. He knows you, he knows your pain, he knows your suffering because he became fully man. Yet listen to this and the characteristics of this high priest he's also fully God. In fact, he is God and he's within the Father. He's within God, he said. I came out from him and will return to him.

08:28
What do you think is happening when you pray, father, in the name of Jesus? You think you're just being poetic. You're saying father, almighty, god, I'm praying to you, I'm talking to you in the name of Jesus, in the name of my high priest, my bridge maker, my mediator. I'm coming to you. How I'm so confident that God Almighty hears every word I say is because I offer it up always in the name of Jesus. That's why Jesus taught us to pray. He said whatever you ask for in my name, I will do for you. And if you find other priests, you're going to be saved. You got a problem. They're not even hearing you. They're dead. Or, if they're living, you got some false teacher over you. No, you got a high priest, jesus. No lawsuits against Jesus. No weird stories you're going to hear in the media Very good, high priest. Hallelujah Loves the little priest. Hallelujah Loves the little children.

09:29
If you thought that's crazy. You should have been your first service hallelujah. Let me just read this to you from the theologian pool a sinner can undertake to manage nothing towards God, immediately or by himself, but with a mediating priest who must know God's mind and performance. The common sense of mankind about it, since the fall doth evidence it no nation being without a religion, a temple, a place of worship or a priest. Today we are also prohibited from being our own priest. It is great arrogance to think we can approach God on our own without a priest. But it is also great superstition to think we need any priest other than Jesus Christ himself. God provides Jesus as a mediator and a priest and we must use the priest God provides. Hallelujah, so every one of your words is heard. This is he's writing. These discouraged people, some of you, you got to hear this. These discouraged people. Some of you, you got to hear this.

10:45
I ran early in my 20s. I ran a prayer line for ministry, like you know, when the television preacher is preaching and then there's the 1-800 number to call. I was the guy and we had these phone booths and I would be managing that and I was there from the start. So I was excited. I always thought I wonder what kind of? Because I never made the call. I wonder what kind of people actually call the 800 number for prayer, don't you wonder? Well, I had a fun first few weeks. I got to know the people who call and it was phones. I mean we had a phone bank 20, 30 phones. They're all ringing off the hook. Who's calling? I got to know them. I'll tell you who they are.

11:30
They would say can you please pray for me? But they didn't mean like I'm praying and you link with me and agree with me. They literally meant can you pray for me? Like my prayers aren't strong and I don't pray, so you do it for me. Can you pray for me? I'm not praying. I'm not praying because I'm full of doubt and unbelief and secretly I don't even believe that God hears me. I'm so dirty. Thank you, lord, save two grand right there. I'm so dirty, I'm so sinful, I'm so condemned. God's not going to hear me. But you, you're working for that ministry. Probably you got, you know, you got the all access pass Somehow. It must be really, really good. So you pray for me. No, there's people like that here right now. I know I've been doing this a while. You may not even admit it, but deep down in there, does God hear me? Maybe I get somebody else? They Does God hear me? Maybe I get somebody else? They'll pray, he'll hear them. No, our ministry team, they're not supposed to pray instead of you. They're supposed to agree with you in prayer. You come with your faith, they come with their faith. Now we got oodles of faith, oodles Faith compounded.

12:45
That's why this is so important that you have a high priest whose job it says he's the high priest of our confession. Part of Jesus' job is he carries your words to the Father. He's the high priest of your confession, of your words. That's why, when you say, jesus, I receive you as my Lord and Savior, jesus carry those words to the Father and you got born again, hallelujah. Whenever you agree with the Word of God, jesus, he brings those words to the Father.

13:16
Some of us aren't giving Jesus the Word of God, giving him a bunch of complaints, a bunch of grumbling and Jesus in heaven going give me something to work with here. You want me to bring that to the Father. That's why he said in Mark 11, 24, you will have whatever you say. You will have whatever you say, whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them. But before that he said if you speak to this mountain and command it to be moved, it'll obey you and you'll have whatever you say. So when you said, I believe Jesus has already forgiven me of my sins, you have that according to your words, hallelujah. When you say, even with with pain, even with sickness, I believe that by his stripes I was healed, you'll have what you say. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it will eat the fruit thereof. Hallelujah, verse 5.

14:21
So also, christ did not glorify himself to become high priest, but it was he, the Father, who said to him you are my son. Today I have begotten you. That means that's the moment of his resurrection. Today I have begotten you. As he also says in another place, you are a priest forever. According to the order of Melchizedek, we're going to get to Melchizedek. That's Hebrews 7. This eluded me for years. I didn't even know how to pronounce his name, let alone what the deeper meaning behind it is. But it's there for a reason and we should know it. Let's keep reading.

15:07
Who, in the days of his flesh, jesus, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears. What's he talking about? When did this happen? Thank you, the Garden of Gethsemane. He's crying out to the Father. If it's possible, let this cup pass from me, Nevertheless, not my. Thank you, the garden of Gethsemane. He's crying out to the Father. If it's possible, let this cup pass for me, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. So what was the prayer of Jesus? His honest prayer was give me the strength to go through with this. And that prayer was heard, With vehement cries and tears to him, who was able to save him from death, and was heard. Jesus was heard. He did what he was supposed to do for us, even though in that moment, he was terrified. You know why he was terrified Because of the boo-boos.

15:59
What do you think Jesus dreaded about the cross? He did, she did. She said it like standard English too, like a newscaster would. She did, she did say it. Good, did you hear what she said?

16:21
Yeah, yeah, because when you talk about the cross and when I first got saved, everybody talked about the physical pain of the cross, which is no joke. Those were like railroad-sized spikes they put through him and it wasn't. I mean, some of us we studied it out years before the Passion of the Christ what actually happened in the crucifixion. And then people were horrified to watch Remember the Passion of the Christ and they're like this is R-rated. We never thought it was like, yes, that's how it is, it's whipped flesh torn off of him.

16:57
But that's not what he was dreading. He was dreading, for the first time ever, being separated from the Father, because sin separates us from God, and Jesus would become sin on the cross. And for the first time ever in history, he would hear the Father moving away from him and we would hear my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That's what he dreaded. When I'm experiencing the holiness of God, the presence of God, I don't even like one little sentence. It's like get that off of me. You're going to mess with the holiness of God in. I don't even like one little sin. It's like get that off of me. You're going to mess with the holiness of God in me and around me. And who am I? I'm nothing. I need a lot of help still. Imagine Jesus in perfect holiness then becoming sin.

17:42
Verse eight All right, though, he was a son, and this is what Sean and the worship team so beautifully sang about. Yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. And, by the way, do you know that Christ is our example, that we learn obedience through the things which we suffer? Amen, amen. Of course, that always gets a real rowdy response. Now we have to let the Bible define the Bible, amen.

18:19
And I found that whatever people are going through, they blame God. Whatever kind of suffering they're going through, they blame God. Whatever kind of suffering they're going through, they blame God and go. I must be just like Jesus. You know, jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered. So I got a lot of crud going on in my life right now. In fact, there's always crud going on in my life. I've never not known crud. I'm married to crud Every day. I'm just God, take me home today. That's not God's will and not all suffering is the sufferings of Christ.

18:59
And I want to show you from the scriptures because, no matter what I say, some of you, your minds won't be changed because you're addicted to your suffering, you're married to your suffering, you love your suffering. You make bad decisions all the time. That's why you're suffering. You have bad theology. You're not in the word. That's why you're suffering. And then you're getting your butt kicked by the devil and you're going to go and testify in church and say God is putting me through all this to mature me and disciple me and that I might learn obedience. You're your own worst nightmare. You're your own worst enemy. You need a mind renewing. So we are promised the sufferings of Christ. That's a specific kind of suffering. Sickness is not a part of that. Lack is not a part of that. Emotional turmoil not a part of that. You got your heart broken by somebody. Oh, sufferings of Christ. No, no, you dated the wrong person. You thought they were loving you. Meanwhile they were DMing 50 other people and oh, it's the sufferings of Christ.

20:19
First Peter Pastor Mo is doing a mental count of how many texts and emails he's going to have to reply to this week. He's like you. Don't make my job easier, let's go to 1 Peter. I want to let the Bible define the Bible, no, but this is important. This is important because the rap that God gets he should be arrested for child abuse, the way some of you think about him. All right. First Peter, the one in chapter four. You got that. First Peter 4.12. I had this somewhere here. I'm just going to have to trust you. Okay, it's up there. First Peter 4.

20:59
By the way, first Peter, if you want to learn about suffering which I encourage you to, because we learned that Jesus, he learned obedience by the things which he suffered and by the way we are promised suffering. You know when the Apostle Paul got saved, how would you like to get saved like this? He gets blasted by the light of God off his donkey and here's the call that's pronounced over him when God is speaking to Ananias. He says Ananias, go lay hands on him, command that the scales come down. I'm going to show him what great things he must suffer for my namesake. What kind of call is that? But it's a divine call.

21:41
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing has happened to you. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of whose sufferings? Christ's, christ's sufferings, good. You don't have to pray about those, just go here. I am Lord. I know you're going to do what you're going to do. All the other stuff you have a responsibility to pray against, to stand your ground in the word. So what are the sufferings of Christ that were promised Well.

22:15
Number one persecution. People speaking bad of you, wanting to harm you, trying to sabotage you, not because you're a jerk, but because of your faith in Jesus. I've met Christians who are jerks. Everybody hates them and they go. It's the stuff. They're persecuting me for my faith? No, it's because you're drenched in the annoying and what you really need is the anointing. But you, you're majorly annoying. You step on toes, you're rude, you're ugly and now you're going to blame Jesus because everyone hates you. No, number one persecution Envy, being misunderstood, your good intentions being called evil. Those are the sufferings of Christ. You partake of Christ's sufferings. Notice he doesn't say sickness, getting fired, emotional turmoil, feeling lonely all the time, feeling like unfulfilled, don't know what my destiny is. Those aren't the sufferings of Christ. That's stuff that God invites you to come and work out with him that, when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

23:30
Verse 14,. If you are reproached, see reproached, shamed. Those are the sufferings of Christ. Is this helping anybody? It should help you.

23:40
There's one thing I want you to know the cross of Jesus, the grace of Jesus, and know this and you'll know more than most PhD theologians God good, devil bad. And so many people ascribe very bad things to God and then still somehow say he's good. Well, you know, his ways are mysterious and past finding out. No, you know, if you believe a piano fell from the 20th floor and crushed your infant next to you, don't try to spiritualize I know something good is going to. No, that's the devil. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.

24:26
So what are the sufferings of Christ? Reproach, right, persecution. This is a good list you should have. It's not that long. It's like three things on it being misunderstood by people, being envied by people to the point that they want to kill you, and being persecuted. By the way, if you don't have any of this in your life, get some. Maybe first service happened just so I could get some. See, I'm not in a popularity contest. Jesus said woe unto you when all men speak well of you. No, you should always be persecuted for the uncompromised word of God. If there's not enough persecution, that means my fire is not bright enough, hallelujah, but let none of you suffer.

25:14
Then he actually he knew what people would think. They think you know all sufferings from God and whatever bad things happen, is God trying to mature me? He said but no, don't suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer. And he's just. It seems like he's listing random things. He's like murder. Good, well, I'm not going to do that. Then he says a busybody, you on social media? Boom, are you having fun? Because I am, join me, join me this morning on enjoying God's presence, total forgiveness of sin, and let his word wash over you. And if you are enjoying yourself, send a quick text message to your face and notify it and let what's happening on the inside reflect on the outside a tad.

25:56
All right, first, peter is the great book on suffering. There's three portions where he speaks about it. Next one First, peter 3. You're going to see a theme here. 1 Peter 3, verse 13.

26:18
And who is he? Who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed and do not be afraid of their. What? What kind of suffering is he talking about? He's talking about suffering for righteousness' sake. He's talking about people threatening you, persecuting you.

26:52
Hey, again, I got to knock it every which way. Again, this is so. If you're suffering in a way that doesn't fall in line with this, that means it's not the sufferings of Christ, it's not your portion, it doesn't belong to you. I'm talking. There's some people you'll know I know as a pastor. There are some people. They're married to their suffering. It's this weird abusive relationship, this unholy alliance they have with their suffering. You try to pull them out. No, no, this is all I've ever known. I'm so comfortable here. If I'm not just underneath life's boot and in agony, I don't even know who I am. In fact, when it's peaceful, I get scared and I make drama for myself.

27:37
And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. Verse 15. But sanctify the Lord, god, in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers, see that's the suffering. They're going to defame you, talk about you as an evildoer. An evildoer, those who revile your good conduct in Christ, may be ashamed, for it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. In other words, you will suffer persecution, reproach, being envied yeah, part of the suffering is being envied. The word blessed yeah, part of the suffering is being envied. The word blessed. Its primary meaning is empowered to prosper. You know what its secondary is To be envied. When you're blessed, there's going to be haters. They're going to be peeking from the shadows praying for your downfall. They think God is cheap. So whatever he gave you, now he's run out and there's no more left for them. They're going to be hating on you.

28:51
Let's go to 1 Peter, the next passage. I'm just letting the Bible define what suffering is. Hallelujah, so all that other stuff you don't like. That's in your life. You realize the devil put it there, not God. What do you do about that? You stand on the word. You stand on his promises. After you've done that, then you just ignore the problem. The most offensive thing you can do to your enemy is to ignore him. So do I pray about my problems all the time? No, I dealt with that. Now I ignore it. I'm focused on Jesus. I'm focused on where he's taking me and I ignore it. And you know what happens. Like several months later I'm like wasn't I ignoring that thing? What was that thing anyway? Oh, the Lord took it. The Lord just dealt with it. It's gone. It's like he removed a splinter out of my side. I didn't feel the operation and now I'm walking better, hallelujah. For what credit is it?

29:46
He's talking about suffering again? Is it if when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? Now he's also saying biblical suffering is when you haven't done anything wrong. Now, I don't know if you're this way, but I am. When I look at my suffering.

30:01
In my life, 99% of what I've experienced suffering had nothing to do with God. It wasn't Christ's sufferings. I've had Christ's sufferings, but this is a little portion. What's all the other stuff? Me experiencing the consequences of my own bad decisions, bad decisions. I'm not getting an amen because everybody inwardly said oh me instead of amen. That's what he's saying. He's saying when you suffered the sufferings of Christ, you didn't do anything wrong. But a lot of this stuff is just our own bad decisions or consequences of sin. It's not God punishing you if you're a Christian, because that punishment has already been poured out on Jesus. But sin has its own consequences. And then there's just the virtue of living in this fallen world.

30:59
I actually now have no suffering. I have no suffering right now. There's no. I got total shalom in my home and my wife and my no, but still there's a cry in my heart. I can't wait to see him. I'd like to see some things on earth before I see him. But bigger than that is. I want to peace out already. I love the lord, I want to be with him. So there's a. There's a suffering, there's a yearning. Still have for the revelation of the sons of God, hallelujah.

31:28
But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable. Before God, verse 21. For to this were you called. So your calling is suffering, but only the sufferings of Christ, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, for when he was reviled he did not revile. In return, when he suffered, he did not threaten but committed himself to him who judges righteously, amen. So if you're being persecuted, the Bible says don't even pray about it, rejoice, for in that day the Spirit of God and of glory rests upon you. That's Christ's sufferings, all the other sufferings.

32:16
Take a stand. Don't be a Christian wimp, that's actually an oxymoron. You're a true Christian. The Bible says the righteous are as bold as a lion and you have to draw the line. Some of you haven't opened up your mouth in forever to the Lord, or sometimes you've got to open it up to the devil and say devil, this far and no further. I break your plans over my life. Your power over my life is broken. The blood of Jesus is against you. You are not permitted to operate in my home, at my place of work. I don't permit you. Jesus said whatever you bind on earth, it will be bound in the spirit realm, in the heavens. And then loose, lord and I loose the blessings of God upon city lighters, the prosperity of God, and whatever you loose on earth with your words here Be loosed in the spirit realm, in the heavenlies, hallelujah.

33:13
Let's go back to Hebrews. Though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered, the sufferings of Christ, and having been perfected, he became the author Sean, our worship leader. He read from a different version same meaning he became the source of eternal salvation. But watch this to all who obey him Remember he's writing to a group of people who are being tempted to not obey and completely backslide and forsake the faith. So what do I want you to see here? I just want you to see here that obedience is packaged in with believing. The scripture doesn't differentiate between the two of it.

34:01
Now, at some point in churchianity not not Christianity, but churchianity in America I understand the gospel is easy it really is and salvation is easy it really is. But it is possible to make it too easy and unscriptural, and so that's why you have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people who believe they're going to heaven because they said a prayer when they were in third grade at summer camp that year. Oh yeah, I said a prayer, I believed. And the response to them is even the demons believe from James. Even the demons believe and they tremble. At least what's required to receive salvation Faith, believing, but not the way we define believing like mere intellectual assent.

34:50
Oh yeah, I believe in jesus. Meanwhile, I'm just gonna live my own life and not even study the word, not care what the word says. I'll make every excuse. I see that on christian's profiles. I'm a christian, but don't be scared. If you see me at the club, I'm gonna be scared first for me. What am I doing at the club? I'm going to be scared First for me. What am I doing at the club? And you're there, I'm scared.

35:11
I actually read that. I thought you're telling me how carnal you are, like that's the intro. I'm kind of a Christian, but not really. Nah, so when you believe, it means I believe. I believe with my whole heart, I believe with everything within me. Like you gave your life to me, now I believe I'm giving my life to you and so I obey. Do you see that? And having been perfected, he the author, the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, hallelujah. The way we back up our faith and our believing is through obedience. That's how we show that we actually believe. Hallelujah, verse 10. Oh, hallelujah man, that was good worship. These mashups are getting to me. There's something anointed about them. Let every heart. I was like I was ready to do laps around here, called by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. We'll get to that in Hebrews 7. Of whom we have much to say and hard to explain.

36:33
Now, this is a huge rebuke, since you have become dull of hearing. What does dull of hearing mean? It's happened to all of us, myself included, happened to my wife and I. We talked about it. It comes at times where you're not hungry for the word. You love the Lord, you know you do, but you're like that hunger I used to have for the word is not there. And, oh, it's a satanic attack to make me dull of hearing. And what was the problem with the Hebrews? They were on the verge of quitting. Now, which do you think happened first, that they were on the verge of quitting and they became dull of hearing, or they wallowed in their lukewarm state of dull of hearingness and then they were tempted to quit? I promise you it was that they first allowed themselves to wallow in being dull of hearing. And when you wallow in that swamp for too long, next thing you know you're tempted to abandon the faith and depart from Christ. So, shun dull of hearing.

37:35
If I don't have a passion for the Lord, for the word of God, that is a huge red flag and it'll happen to all of us. There's times you gotta say, even if I don't feel it, no, jesus, keep me hungry. Jesus, keep me in your will. Lord, set me ablaze that I would burn for you. I don't want to be normal, I don't want to be regular, I don't want to have a balanced Christianity. Balance. I have people say you know, I'm Christian, I'm not like extreme or anything that is not christian. But god coming in the flesh and dying for the world is extreme. He didn't do it quietly in a closet, he did it naked in a mountain for all to behold. That's extreme. He calls us into extreme living.

38:27
Next verse, verse 12. For, though, by this time you ought to be teachers. This, this is something he's rebuking him again, which I like his style. Whoever wrote hebrews. He's not pulling any punches, he's being very loving and he's presenting jesus in a wonderful way and the truth of Jesus, but at the same time he's saying you're in this mess because you've allowed some bad things to brew here, and one of those things is that you're dull of hearing, you're not in the word and you're past the baby stage of Christianity and you ought to be teaching others, but you're not, and I want you to know that my heart is 100%, obviously exactly the same, in accordance with the word of God. It's not saying necessarily that you should be a teacher of the word, have a traveling ministry where you teach the word. It just means that every believer should have in them the ability, the capacity, through the years, through exercising, to teach people.

39:29
Before I pastored, I got very good at teaching people. I was actually pastoring before I pastored. That's why I started pastoring. How was I doing that? In my early 20s, even in my late teens, the same way most of you are going to be doing it.

39:43
Lots and lots of coffees, lots and lots of coffees, lots and lots of coffees. Every one of you should be equipped. There should be a goal that you can have coffees with people. Meet with people and teach them the ABCs of Christianity. If your Christianity is all locked up on the inside, you're not encouraging anyone, edifying anyone, teaching somebody. There's people they don't even we sing about the blood of Jesus. They have no clue. They think it's a horror movie. Why are they singing about you? Teach them the power of the blood of Jesus. There's people don't even understand the Trinity. Help them. Don't know how to get baptized in the Holy Spirit. Get good at teaching someone the ABCs of getting baptized in the Holy Spirit, then start having lots and lots of coffees.

40:30
If somebody comes up to me and says I want to be in full-time ministry, I'm called to five-fold ministry. To the offices. My advice would be great start right where you're at. Have lots and lots of coffees. Zoom meetings. Send a lot of encouraging texts. Teach via text. Don't, please don't, go right on Facebook and put a camera to yourself and start. Did we have enough of of those? No, but really, because it's not for the whole world.

40:49
You're not called to teach a bunch of rando people who are going to watch your five minute video for six seconds anyway and you go on to the next one. You're called to other people that God has put around you. Teach them. You know you possess the truth. When you can teach it to somebody else, you know you own truth. When you can teach it to somebody else, you know you own it, you have revelation of it.

41:12
When you can now impart it to another person, he says for by this time you ought to be teachers. You need someone to teach you again the first principles, the ABCs of Christianity, the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk. He's like I can't even get to Melchizedek until chapter 7, because you're a baby and you need milky and not solid food. So this is why we have life groups, discipleship 101. You get your milk and then you can get the cajun steak. Hallelujah, amen, after milk comes cajun steak, for he is a babe for everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of right.

42:02
Now. That phrase, unskilled in the word of righteousness, that gives me the heebie-jeebies Ooh. It's like when the other hyenas say Mufasa, ooh, ah, unskilled, unskilled. So become skilled in the word of righteousness. By the way, this isn't to ministers, he's writing this to regular people. I know, I heard this voice. It's from the devil. He gives you every excuse.

42:36
Why to have just a superficial, cursory understanding of the bible? When I would read in the early years the bible, I mean I heard a mocking voice all the time. You'll never get this you. This is past you. You don't have the intellectual capacity for this. You don't have a spiritual capacity for this. I heard that like a broken record in my head. You got to ignore that and make a decree. Lord, you've given me the Holy Spirit, who's the spirit of truth. You promised he would guide me into all truth. You and your word are one. When I partake of your word, I'm actually partaking of you. Make me skilled in the word of righteousness so I can pluck others out of darkness, present them into your marvelous light. Yeah, I don't want to be a babe. I don't want to be unskilled in the word of righteousness how about you? But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who bite. Now.

43:27
This is important by reason of use. Worship team, come on up. Who those everybody shout. Reason of use? Have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. This is a huge key to the supernatural, to flowing in the Holy Spirit, to hearing the voice of God. It's that you have spiritual senses that can be exercised and get better with exercising them.

44:00
So, for example, when I first started hearing the voice of God, just to be very clear, not with my audible ears, my physical ears, but with my spiritual ears on the inside. First of all, this is healthy. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't gonna go crazy. This is healthy people. Should you talk about hearing from God? Make sure you're not a schizophrenic. No, really make sure you're not.

44:32
I mean, I was like 19, 20 years old when I really started pressing in to hearing the voice of God and the first thing I wanted to make sure was I wasn't going to get deceived, and so that one of the first things I learned was that God's voice will never contradict his word. But there were times many times more often than not where I would think I heard from God and it wasn't God. So you know what I did then, something I found a lot of Christians don't do. I simply made note of that. It's so good Because I see people all the time. God told me to move to Iowa, I'm gonna start a business, and then they do that. They come back. I'm like, all right, what do you do now? God told me I'm gonna make it on Broadway, and I'm gonna, and then they go do that and they're all over the place and I'm going all right.

45:20
You have now obviously clearly missed the voice of God five times in a row. Do you ever stop and just do like a review and exercise your spiritual senses so you know where you messed up, so you hear more accurately the next time? The flakes, the nuts they don't do that. So they have a 50-year history, 20-year history of just, and they never do a review, god forbid you try to correct them. And they never do a review, god forbid you try to correct them. The level of your inner healing, the level of your wholeness in Christ, will always be evident in proportion to how much you can receive correction. Amen, yeah, you know the demoniac, the demoniac legion. You know how they knew he was delivered Because it says they were coming upon him and they saw him seated that's the posture of a disciple and they saw him listening to the word of God, a Jesus. Oh, he understands authority, he's submitted and his demonic pride is gone and he can now be taught. Hallelujah, hallelujah.

46:28
I was at a party about a month after I got saved, not like a wild party, just a party high school kids and I didn't know anything after a month of being saved. But I had this thing that I did at parties no joke, that my father taught me and it was where we would get people and I'm not going to go through the whole thing in detail, but I would have them place their index fingers under only four people in a particular pattern that would lift the person up to the ceiling. Now my father said it was having to do with magnetic poles and things. He was taught it when he was a kid and I started doing it I was the life of the party. So then they're like oh, will it work for anyone? I'm talking about superhuman strength, where they pick him up to the ceiling using only two fingers. And so they got the biggest kid. He was a huge sumo guy, 17, going on 30, you know. And they said, well, I said, do it. And they did the pen, and it went right up to the ceiling and I noticed that. I've done this many times, but now I was saved.

47:37
I noticed all of a sudden I started getting a huge headache, like my head was going to explode. I started feeling very dirty and dark on the inside. I started feeling very dirty and dark on the inside and the girl who led me to the Lord was there. She didn't know much either, but she said, hey boy, because I wasn't Bo yet. Hey boy, I think what you're doing is demonic. And I thought, no, I even no. But now my spiritual senses were getting exercised to discern good and evil and it actually was demonic.

48:16
This is an invitation to exercise your spiritual senses, to learn to hear from God. And when you miss God which will happen. You want to play it safe. Great, you won't be deceived. You also won't hear from God. I'd rather go and press in and want to hear God's instruction for my life, god's direction, god's opportunities, knowing, though, with humility, that I can be deceived. And I'm holding his hand. I'm using the written word of God as a metric and as a plumb line. He'll never tell me something that contradicts his written word. And then I'm going to learn. I've had huge misses in my life. You know what I'm talking about a miss, even as a Pamlic church. This is what we're doing. This is where we're going.

49:02
Doesn't work out, not so much lately, but back in the early. Look, you know, sometimes I talk about how we've had 30 locations in 20-plus years. That's not because God moved us around so much all the time. Some of it was just me. And then I learned oh okay, I was really, really desperate. I really really wanted to make something happen, so I resorted to my own strength, and then I told myself that it's you. And then I got up in front of the people and said it was you. Uh-huh, not good. Better learn from that. Don't do that again. Amen. And that's how you learn. Is this making sense? Okay, is that it for Hebrews? I think we have a little more. What an anticlimactic way to end if that is the last verse, because my laptop shut off. That's the last verse. Wow, I got to learn how to close a service.

50:02
It's very talk about. You know, I'd like every head bowed, every eye closed, is that it? Oh, we must be over. Okay, but listen, I want an extended invitation.

50:15
If you want your sins forgiven, if you're not certain that, if you were to die today, if you're not 100% certain that you're heaven bound, that you're going to be with God forever, I want to pray with you and for you. So I'm going to ask you to raise your hand. I'm not even going to ask you to get up out of your seat, but I want you to raise your hand and keep it up. Every head bowed, every eye closed On the count of three. If you're not absolutely certain that all of your sins are forgiven, if you're not absolutely certain that all of your sins are forgiven, that you're heaven bound, if you were to die tonight, lift your hand up on the count of three. One, two, three. Lift your hand up, thank you, thank you, Thank you, thank you, thank you, keep it up. Thank you, thank you. Who else Thank you in the back? Thank you, sir, in the back. Thank you, keep your hand up. I want you to have the humility to keep that hand up. Every head bowed, every eye closed, all right, anybody else? Keep your hand up.

51:13
While we say this prayer, we're all going to pray together, but here's what you're going to be doing. You're going to be repenting and receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you're giving your whole life to him and then, when you walk out of here, you're walking out with zero condemnation, zero guilt, zero shame, knowing that you are saved, knowing that you are born again, you are God's property and you will be with him in heaven forever. All of you say this out loud, especially you with your hands lifted up. Say it loud, say dear Jesus Louder. Dear Jesus, I believe in you. You died on the cross and took away my sin. I repent, I change my mind. I believe in you. Your blood has washed away all of my sins. I am now forgiven. I am born again. I'm a new creation in Jesus Christ. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, teach me your ways. I believe and I receive eternity. In Jesus' name Shout a big hallelujah.

52:31 - Speaker 2
This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.