1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:02,960 Welcome to the Illuminate Church podcast. 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:05,520 We hope today's message is encouraging to you. 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,600 This is our series, The One and Only, where we're taking a look 4 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:18,000 at Jesus himself, the only one who was worthy. 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,240 And I want you to be able to answer this question by the end 6 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:25,160 of this series. It's a challenging question, but 7 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:27,280 I want you to see it more as invitation. 8 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,160 You may say this. I know him as Savior, the one 9 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:34,000 who has set me free from sin and death, The one who has set me, 10 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,520 sealed me for eternity with God. I know him as Savior. 11 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,760 I know him as baby Jesus because he celebrate Christmas. 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,560 But do I know him as King? That's the question. 13 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:48,000 Do I serve him, Revere him, worship him as king, as the 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,440 reigning ruler of my life? As I said last week, whoever or 15 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,920 whatever is your king is what will order your life. 16 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,320 So it's imperative as wise people and wonderful people that 17 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,360 you are to make sure that you have the right king because that 18 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,319 king is going to order your life. 19 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,800 If your king is ice cream, you will order your life to get the 20 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,320 ice cream. You'll save your money. 21 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,680 You'll mark it on the calendar. You're driving by twisty tree 22 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,920 like I'm turning in. I didn't mean to turn in, but 23 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:19,720 there it is. I'm turning in. 24 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,400 And then you have an encounter with ice cream and the ice cream 25 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:29,720 changes you, it delights you and it D skinnies you all at the 26 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:31,760 same time, right? It's amazing. 27 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,480 But this is what I mean. Whatever is your king will order 28 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,000 your life and then it will impact your life. 29 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:38,800 You have a sports team as your king. 30 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:43,120 You will know this if you rise and fall with the wins and 31 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,960 losses of your team. And it's OK like after the game, 32 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:49,040 Like man, that stinks. But if on Wednesday your team 33 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,840 lost on Sunday and you're still kicking your cat number one, I 34 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,560 would say why do you have a cat? It's the only creature that God 35 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:08,280 did not create. Sweater got hot all the sudden. 36 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,880 But if your sports team is your king, you will order your life 37 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:16,280 around that team. And then when you interact with 38 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,000 that team, it will impact the way that you live. 39 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,400 So if we make God who is the King of the universe, the God of 40 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,160 order, not of chaos, our God, then he will bring order to our 41 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:28,240 lives if he is king. So how do we do that? 42 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,240 That's what this series is about. 43 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:32,520 Let me ask you again. You know him as Savior, you know 44 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,640 his baby Jesus. But do you know him as King? 45 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:38,000 The way you can answer this question is by doing what those 46 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,520 who honored him as king did and understanding why they honored 47 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:45,000 him as king matters as much as what they did. 48 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,480 We're looking at the magi in Matthew chapter 2. 49 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,040 Open. Your Bibles are the first book 50 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,440 of the New Testament. If you need a Bible, raise it 51 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,160 up. And Rich, who told me I have an 52 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:57,040 ugly sweater today. True story, Rich, I just called 53 00:02:57,040 --> 00:02:59,360 you out in front of everybody. He's a good friend. 54 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:00,960 He's a dear friend. I love you, Rich. 55 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:02,760 Now this is awkward. Everyone clap for Rich. 56 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:06,000 If you need a Bible, raise your hand. 57 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:07,080 That's what we're really doing here. 58 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,960 We're coming to you with Bibles right up here right there. 59 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:11,240 Perfect. Anyone else need one? 60 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,920 Matthew chapter 2 Last week I read the entire chapter almost 61 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:16,040 this. I'm just going to read some 62 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,840 snippets so that we can get in the story together. 63 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:21,920 Matthew chapter 2 verse one. Ready to say yes. 64 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,000 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the 65 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:31,080 time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and 66 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,600 asked where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? 67 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,080 Quite a declaration. We saw his star when it rose and 68 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,320 have come to worship him. Now skip down to verse 9. 69 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,320 After they had heard the king, they went on their way and the 70 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,960 star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it 71 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,560 stopped over the place where the child was. 72 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,040 When they saw the star they were overjoyed. 73 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,280 On coming to the house they saw the child. 74 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:57,200 Not a baby anymore. He's grown up a little bit. 75 00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,720 Wasn't the night he was born? This is a little bit later on 76 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,680 with his mother Mary. And they bowed down and 77 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,120 worshipped him. These non Israelites God has 78 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,600 shown them in the stars. They come, they bring him gifts, 79 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:12,400 and they bow down to worship. And then they open their 80 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:17,839 treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and 81 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,120 myrrh. Everyone say gold, everyone say 82 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:26,720 frankincense and myrrh. Yes, we are not going to do what 83 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,200 most people did when Jesus arrived. 84 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,600 What did most people do when Jesus arrived? 85 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,720 Nothing. They completely missed it. 86 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:38,920 This is what we talked about last week. 87 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,000 No one was at his birth except for a ragtag group of shepherds. 88 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,000 And then later on these magis show up and of course, Joseph 89 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,120 and Mary were there. Everyone else whiffed. 90 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,160 We as Illuminate Church and I pray the rest of the Capital C 91 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,080 Church across the world, we're not going to do that. 92 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:58,000 Instead, we're going to embrace Jesus even as the Christ child, 93 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,360 as king. We're taking a look at these 94 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,440 gifts in order to understand why the Magi brought them to Jesus 95 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,720 and why they declared that He is King. 96 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,480 More than symbols are these gifts. 97 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:15,440 They're indicators of who this baby is and how we should 98 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:20,360 respond to and live in light of the Christ child in our hearts. 99 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:25,400 Specifically, each of these gifts very, very, very 100 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:29,400 specifically teaches us how to respond to baby Jesus, not as a 101 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:34,960 baby, but as a king, the only one, the one and only king. 102 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,760 Last week we talked about gold and we asked this question, is 103 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:39,880 he your king? Your answer is in the way that 104 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,160 you live and the way that you give. 105 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,760 When we live according to his word, we give him glory. 106 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,800 We're we're we're signed signpost. 107 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:50,920 What's the word? I'm looking for billboards for 108 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,280 his glory. So if I'm obeying him and 109 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:57,120 following his ways, which bless me and bless my life, then I 110 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,160 will reflect that he is a good God. 111 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,640 When I follow his ways, I want to live for him and give him 112 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:06,640 glory that I also want to give to him and bring my treasure to 113 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:08,920 him. And when I do these two things, 114 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:13,520 live and give, the world will know that he's not just my get 115 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,680 out of hell free card, that he's actually the master that I 116 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,680 serve. And that's a distinction. 117 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:25,000 And I just want to testify and sing Hallelujah because last 118 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,440 week to this week, 18 new households decided to become 119 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,120 first time givers here at Illuminate Church. 120 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,320 And you may not think that's anything, but I'll tell you 121 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,000 this, I'm so excited for those 18 households because suddenly 122 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,960 you've gone from money being an idol to God being the one that 123 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,280 you worship. And I can't wait to see what 124 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:47,520 happens in your life as a result of transferring your allegiance 125 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,840 from money to the Lord. It's going to do miracles in 126 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:52,560 your life. My wife and I started tithing in 127 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:57,080 1999 and 20, almost 27 years later, we haven't stopped 128 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:58,960 because of what God does in our lives. 129 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,640 When we order our lives, You're the king, not this money, not 130 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:04,320 this treasure. And just want to celebrate that 131 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:06,280 that's happening for those eighteen families. 132 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,560 Praise God. That was gold. 133 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,240 Today we look at frankincense. What in the world is 134 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,680 frankincense and why did the magi bring this to Jesus? 135 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:19,800 I can show you what frankincense isn't. 136 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,920 No relationship with Frankenstein. 137 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,400 This is frankincense. Put the candle back. 138 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,000 Anyone? Yeah. 139 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:35,480 Young Frankenstein. Love the movie. 140 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,160 Strange movie. Yeah. 141 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,040 Frankincense. It comes from a tree called the 142 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,960 Boswellia tree, which is mostly found in like northern Africa 143 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,160 and southern Asia, the strip of land. 144 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:47,880 Here's a Boswellia tree. Isn't it beautiful? 145 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:49,880 The SAP of it is the frankincense. 146 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,280 When it hardens, they harvested. Here's the SAP. 147 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:53,720 You won't believe the color of it. 148 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,680 Isn't that something just glorious? 149 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,880 This is frankincense. This is what the Magi brought to 150 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:03,000 King Jesus. Why in the world would they do 151 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,280 this? It might be frankincense might 152 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:11,600 be the best named object item product on the earth. 153 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:17,360 The word frankincense comes from the old French frank incense. 154 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:19,320 However you say that, did I sound French? 155 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,440 I felt French. It literally means frankincense 156 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:27,480 means pure incense or pollutant free incense. 157 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,240 Have you ever want to tell somebody the truth just plainly 158 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:31,920 and bluntly? And you said to them, I'm going 159 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,799 to be frank with you. You're like, where did that come 160 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:36,799 from? You're Tim? 161 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:38,600 Not well. I want to be frank. 162 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:40,960 I'd rather be frank. I wish my parents named me 163 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:42,480 Frank. No Frank there. 164 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,240 When you're saying Frank means I'm going to give you the truth 165 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,680 without any mixture. It's going to be pure truth and 166 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:51,440 nothing but the truth. So I'm going to be frank with 167 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:52,560 you. It's the same thing that's 168 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:56,080 happening here in Frankincense. When the first shipments of 169 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,000 Frankincense arrived from The Crusaders up into Europe, or 170 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,000 from the traders from the Far East and bringing it into 171 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:06,440 Europe, they tasted it, they burnt it and smelled it and they 172 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:12,120 said this is the real thing, this is the Frank, this is the 173 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:14,760 pure, this is the noblest incense. 174 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:20,160 And since then, the frank incense, the name has stuck in 175 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,440 every ancient culture. The core idea was the same. 176 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:28,720 Frankincense is the purest, most sacred form of incense on the 177 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,520 planet. So it's so pure that it's 178 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,760 reserved for kings, temples, and gods. 179 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,400 They're the only ones considered worthy of burning frankincense 180 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:43,000 to this two word frankincense. Therefore, once again, let me 181 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,480 tell you one of the most accurate product names in 182 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,040 history. It literally means the real 183 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,240 incense and that's what people have been calling it for the 184 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,400 last 800 plus years in English Frankincense. 185 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:55,760 Aren't you glad you know all this now? 186 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,880 Don't you feel smarter? All right, let's pray, Father. 187 00:09:58,880 --> 00:09:59,800 Thanks for today. Amen. 188 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,720 There's more. Why did they bring out of all 189 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,880 the objects and all the things that can be burnt as incense, 190 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,440 why is it frankincense that is brought to King Jesus by the 191 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,960 Magi? Frankincense, it turns out, is 192 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:18,320 the gift of for a God, for divinity. 193 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,800 As I've already been saying, in every temple from Egypt to 194 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:24,880 Babylon to Rome, and even in Jerusalem, only frankincense was 195 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:29,640 considered pure enough to burn as an offering to a deity. 196 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,280 It was a widely known practice. It's just what people did. 197 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,960 If you wanted to worship your God, you burned incense. 198 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,840 And incense was burned, by the way, to create an atmosphere, 199 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:41,600 but it also looked like something going up to the Lord. 200 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,480 So it says prayer to whatever God or deity up and up to the 201 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:48,080 Lord. So and it also often created a 202 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,200 beautiful aroma in the room. It just everything combined was 203 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,280 like, this is for you, our God, whatever God they were 204 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,400 worshipping. Now in Jerusalem, the sacred 205 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:03,320 incense was burned twice daily in the golden altar in the holy 206 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,760 place, and the incense had to contain frankincense. 207 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,520 I'm going to show you some pictures so we have context of 208 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,680 what I'm talking about. This is just a model of 209 00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:15,800 Solomon's Temple. If you go with us to Israel in 210 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,120 the next year and a half or so, you will be able to see this 211 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:22,440 very model on the ground there. So what I'm about to talk about 212 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,680 is inside the structure there, the tall structure in the end, 213 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:29,520 there's 2 chambers in there. One's called the Holy Place, and 214 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,960 then the other part is called the Holy of Holies. 215 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,760 Let's go inside. This is a terrible picture, but 216 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:37,880 I looked all over the Internet. Somebody needs to do a great 217 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,960 rendition of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. 218 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,040 This is what we get. But in the Holy Place, this 219 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,400 first chamber on the right, my right. 220 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,280 Oh, Oliver, right. If I stand this way is where the 221 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:52,760 priests would come in and operate. 222 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:55,400 You have the lampstand, which is the light of God on the far 223 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:57,840 right side. You have the showbread, which is 224 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,400 the provision of God. And then here he's standing 225 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,480 before the altar of incense and you can see the incense burning 226 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,600 up in front of the, the, the curtain. 227 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,320 There's a veil here. You can't see it because we're 228 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,320 at the side view, but there's a, there's a veil there between 229 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,520 where he's standing and then behind here, which is the Holy 230 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,560 of Holies, where the ark of the Lord, Raiders of the lost ark, 231 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:23,680 that ark sits. And God would come and sit here 232 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:29,080 in all of his glory and splendor to be present with God's people, 233 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,040 the Israelites. Are we all together? 234 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,960 Does everyone understand? Let me read the scripture where 235 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:35,920 we get the command to burn incense. 236 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:41,160 Exodus chapter 30 verse 7 says Aaron, who's a priest, must burn 237 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,360 fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the 238 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:46,960 lamps. He must burn incense again when 239 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,520 he lights the lamps at twilight. So incense will burn regularly 240 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,200 before the Lord for generations to come. 241 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,920 Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt 242 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,240 offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on 243 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,280 it. This altar in the holy of 244 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:05,800 Holies, I'm sorry, in the holy place is strictly for the 245 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:11,160 burning of this incense. Now not only that, but burning 246 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:17,280 this incense outside of the temple was punishable by death. 247 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,440 That's how precious it was to the people. 248 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,520 It belonged exclusively to God and God only. 249 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,520 Exodus chapter 30 verse 34. Then the Lord said to Moses, 250 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:31,040 Take fragrant spices, gum, resin, uncha and galbanum. 251 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,480 However you say that, and pure frankincense, all in equal 252 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,400 amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a 253 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,840 perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and 254 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,200 sacred. Grind some of it to powder and 255 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,520 place it in front of the Ark of the Covenant Law in the 10th of 256 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,640 meeting where I will meet with you, it shall be most holy to 257 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:50,960 you. Do not make any incense with 258 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,760 this formula for yourselves. Consider it holy to the Lord. 259 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,480 Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut 260 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:05,280 off from their people. Wow, so special, so holy, so 261 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,240 sacred. This fragrant frankincense, this 262 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:12,200 incense burned only to the Lord. By giving frankincense to a 263 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,560 baby, the magi are declaring, proclaiming silently, they don't 264 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:17,760 have to speak. Everyone in the room would have 265 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,000 known. This child is divine. 266 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,520 This child is God. Can you imagine the affirmation 267 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,920 that Mary and Joseph felt when strangers showed up and they 268 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,760 offer them gold? They're like, whoa, but then 269 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,560 they open the next gift and it's frankincense. 270 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,160 And to them it would have been immediately known. 271 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:43,720 You only use this for a God. And here they are presenting it 272 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,840 to Jesus and Mary. I just imagine Mary, Joseph 273 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:49,880 looking at you like it's really real. 274 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:51,680 Like these guys, we never met him before. 275 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,560 They come from a Far East and they're bringing frankincense to 276 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:57,720 our Son who we've heard is the Son of God. 277 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,040 And now it's being affirmed over and over. 278 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:03,440 This child is divine. This child is God. 279 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:08,480 Secondly, frankincense is the gift for a high priest, is the 280 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,800 gift for a high priest. Once a year still to this day. 281 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,560 Those are the Jewish faith celebrate Yom Kippur. 282 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,120 It happens usually in September, October, depending on how the 283 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:22,520 Jewish calendar lands. Yom Kippur, Yom means day and 284 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:26,400 Kippur means covering. If you ever seen a Jewish person 285 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,600 wearing a small hat here we call a Yamaha, but it's also called a 286 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,200 kippah because it's a covering. You have to have a covering when 287 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,120 you go to the Western Wall and stand at the temple, you must 288 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,160 approach it with a kippah, a covering on your head. 289 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,440 Yom Kippur, the day of covering, also known as the Day of 290 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:47,840 Atonement, the day where the people sins get covered over how 291 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:51,640 well the Day of Atonement was the one day a year that the high 292 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:55,480 priest and the high priest only could enter into the holy 293 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:56,520 holies. Jeff, will you throw that 294 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,880 picture back up there of the, the, the the temple one day a 295 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,720 year and one day only the high priest who's like the Pope, the 296 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,600 president, he's the head of all theological and cultural Jewish 297 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:11,480 culture. And that day he himself would go 298 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:16,760 behind the curtain into the presence of God to offer prayers 299 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,680 and sacrifices for God's people. Everyone put on your big 300 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:21,200 thinking caps. You got to do some thinking and 301 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:23,680 understanding here. All right, what is going on? 302 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:31,240 Well, in the very beginning, God makes a covenant with a man 303 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,760 named Abraham. Father Abraham had many sons. 304 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,360 His grandson is Jacob. Jacob gets his name changed to 305 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:39,680 Israel. So we're talking about the 306 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,360 lineage of Israel starts with Abraham. 307 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,240 Everyone following me so far, that's a lot of thinking, but 308 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:49,120 put your it's important to know this and the covenant was 309 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:50,960 Abraham. I'm going to bless you and make 310 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,400 you a huge nation that will bless all other nations. 311 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,080 The whole world's going to know about me because I'm going to 312 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,640 bless you and your family, right? 313 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,000 The only thing you have to do is obey me and follow me. 314 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:03,960 So let's make a covenant together. 315 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:05,920 And it's not just a handshake or a wink wink. 316 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,800 It's not even a signed document. We're going to make the most 317 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,599 purest form of covenant. And he tells Abraham this is all 318 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:14,079 in the book of Genesis. You can go read it. 319 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,880 Get some animals, cut them in two, put them on two sides and 320 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,079 make a pathway down the middle. This is how people make 321 00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:21,880 covenants in those days. And he says, you and I are going 322 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:23,880 to pass between the parts of the animal. 323 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,359 And here's what it meant. Like if I don't keep up my end 324 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,320 of the bargain, then may it be to me as it is to these animals. 325 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:35,120 If I don't keep up my part, then blood must be spilled. 326 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:39,280 Somebody must die. Well, you may know the story, 327 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:41,600 but God's people did not keep their side of the covenant. 328 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:48,080 They continually offended, broke the law of the Lord over and 329 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,040 over. And God was merciful. 330 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,680 And he said instead of you sacrificing yourself or your 331 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:59,680 children like other gods require, Baal, they used to 332 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:02,760 throw their children in the fire as sacrifices to Baal. 333 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,720 Don't do that, he said. Instead of you sacrificing 334 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,200 yourselves, I'll allow you to sacrifice a perfect spotted, 335 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,600 spotless lamb in your place. And the people would do this. 336 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,080 They would bring their offerings, and if they couldn't 337 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:17,720 afford a land, they would buy a dove or a bird, and they would 338 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,240 sacrifice that there at the temple. 339 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:24,760 But once a year the high priest would take the most perfect 340 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:29,080 spotless lamb and sacrifice it and bring the blood of it into 341 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,640 the Holy of Holies and spread it around, praying. 342 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:37,320 Lord, may this blood cover us and cover our sin, because we 343 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,760 still need a covering between US and you. 344 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:43,880 Exodus chapter 33 actually tells us that no man or woman can 345 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,600 stand in front of God and live. Too much glory, too much power, 346 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,400 too much brilliant light. No one can do it. 347 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,880 So there always needs to be a covering between US and God. 348 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:57,760 At some points it's the veil. And then when the priest would 349 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,560 go into the holy holies, well, how is he covered? 350 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:02,640 Look with me at Leviticus chapter 16. 351 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,520 He, the priest, is to take a sensor full of burning coals 352 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,000 from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely 353 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:13,680 ground fragrant incense, frankincense, and take them 354 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,720 behind the curtain. He is to put the incense on the 355 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,360 fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will 356 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:22,240 conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the 357 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,520 covenant law so that he will not die. 358 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,920 The veil separates us from the presence of God so that we won't 359 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:31,920 die. And then when the High priest 360 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:36,000 goes in to the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of the Lamb, 361 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,000 he is covered by the cloud of incense. 362 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:44,640 Are you following me? Are you following me back there? 363 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:54,080 Yes, he is, at least now listen closely, just as it was for the 364 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,720 High priest. I want you to know it's still 365 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:01,000 impossible for any human being and stand in front of a holy God 366 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:05,680 uncovered. Too much glory, too much 367 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,200 holiness, too much purity, too much power, too much light. 368 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,120 It's impossible. That has not changed. 369 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,120 What has changed is the covering. 370 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:22,520 It was the veil that went away. And for the high priest, it was 371 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,000 the frankincense. And now today, because of the 372 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:29,840 death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our covering is 373 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,320 the blood of Jesus applied to us by faith. 374 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,480 You're not smeared with actual blood of Jesus, but by faith 375 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:42,960 there is this covering and now we can approach God. 376 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:45,560 This is why John the Baptist, when he's announcing Jesus's 377 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,080 arrival, he even says, hey, there's Jesus, everybody, the 378 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,600 Savior. He says look, his first words 379 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:55,120 about Jesus. It's the Lamb of God come to 380 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:59,600 take away the sins of the world. The perfect, spotless, once and 381 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:04,320 for all sacrifice is here amongst us and it's him. 382 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:09,040 He's pointing to Jesus. What's happening in this moment 383 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:12,200 should still take our breaths away. 384 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,280 Look at what Jesus. What happens with Jesus? 385 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:18,480 Matthew chapter 27. He's on the cross. 386 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,160 He's about to breathe his glass. And when Jesus had cried out 387 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,280 again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 388 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:30,960 At that moment, the curtain, the temporary covering, is torn in 389 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,560 two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks 390 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,160 split. What was accessible only once a 391 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:41,040 year under the cover of a cloud of incense is now approachable 392 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:43,240 for anyone who put their trust in God. 393 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:49,880 The presence of God Jesus has become our covering and This is 394 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,720 why the Magi bring the Frankincense. 395 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,240 Frankincense was the Magi's way of saying, without saying a 396 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:02,440 word, we recognize this child as God in human flesh, the ultimate 397 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:07,640 priest king who will offer himself as the sacrifice for the 398 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,840 sins of the world. It's why out of the thousands of 399 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:13,760 things that they could have brought, costly things, 400 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,840 incredible things, they bought frankincense because it is the 401 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:23,560 most theologically loaded item on the earth imaginable in that 402 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:25,400 culture. Frankincense. 403 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:30,840 And you may be saying like, great, that's nice to know. 404 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,400 Thanks for sharing all that. I'm not sure what to do with all 405 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:35,720 that. What do I do? 406 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:39,760 Remember, the point of understanding the gifts is to 407 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,400 understand that they brought them to signify that He's king. 408 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,960 So our job, our response as a church in this Christmas season, 409 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,080 really every day of your life, is to continually bring these 410 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,600 gifts before the Lord so that you and I together do the same 411 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,760 thing. I want to declare with my life 412 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,800 to the Lord, to myself, and to all the rest of the world, that 413 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:01,720 He's my king. So if they brought frankincense, 414 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,360 I'm going to bring frankincense. If that's what they did, then 415 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:07,720 that's what I'm going to do. We need to bring our 416 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,080 frankincense to the Lord. And I put it in a question. 417 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,800 Is he your king? Bring him your frankincense. 418 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,640 So everyone, on the count of three, I want you to dig in your 419 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:17,920 pockets. Bring your frankincense down to 420 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:19,360 the altar. Ready 123. 421 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:24,080 Anyone got some frankincense? I know there's a lady at the 422 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,160 backstage. Like I can say frankincense oil. 423 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:31,160 Like don't mix that with Anchenka and goblin because you 424 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:32,520 have to be separated from your people. 425 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:37,720 Everyone in this room has frankincense and you may not 426 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,400 know it. You have it right here, right 427 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,920 now, and you could bring it to the Lord right here and right 428 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,440 now if only you knew that you had it. 429 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:52,080 Psalm chapter 141 says, I call to you, Lord, come quickly to 430 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,160 me. Hear me when I call to you. 431 00:23:54,360 --> 00:24:00,080 May my prayer be set before you, like say the word incense. 432 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,720 May the lifting of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. 433 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,640 This is the Old Testament. And when something's in the Old 434 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,160 Testament, in the New Testament, it's really affirming to us as 435 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,040 believers. It says, wow, this is a story 436 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,120 that has stretched the entire thread of the Gospels all the 437 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:16,240 way through the entire biblical narrative. 438 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:20,520 Revelation chapter 5, We're in the throne room of God. 439 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:25,160 John is being given a vision from the Lord of what the future 440 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:26,760 will be like. We're in the throne room of God. 441 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,120 God is sitting there. He has a scroll in his hand that 442 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:31,360 explains with the final judgments that will be poured 443 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:33,400 out on the earth and how things will end. 444 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,600 And here in verse 8, it says that Jesus takes it. 445 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,960 And when he, Jesus, had taken it, the four living creatures 446 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:43,560 which only exist in heaven and the 24 elders fell down before 447 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,200 the Lamb. Each one of these elders had a 448 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,200 harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense. 449 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,600 What's the incense? The instance are the prayers of 450 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:59,600 God's people. Frankincense in these golden 451 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,560 bowls, in the prayers of the Saints, lifted up before the 452 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:05,120 Lord. In other words, this is easy. 453 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:07,400 You can put this together for yourself, but to offer the gift 454 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,480 of frankincense is to pray unto the Lord of Lords. 455 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:19,520 You have frankincense, it's in your heart, it's in your mind, 456 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:20,720 it's in your soul, it's in your spirit. 457 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:26,600 It's these prayers that we want to offer before the Lord, but we 458 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:28,360 have these mixed up feelings about prayer. 459 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,400 Some of us think that it's just a chance to sit down with God 460 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:38,520 and make requests like Santa, I want this and that and that. 461 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,520 And then you send it up and you say, I hope I've been good 462 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:46,560 enough that he responds, right. Maybe if I did things right and 463 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,800 went to church religiously and put my money in the box 464 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,680 religiously, I'm going to get for him my list. 465 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:57,360 We think of it as a list of asks unto the Lord. 466 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:00,880 Or we think it was like the boring chanting of monks. 467 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:07,520 And I would dare say that most people in this room, much less 468 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,840 people outside of this room, barely pray at all. 469 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,400 Maybe you pray before Emil or a big moment, right? 470 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,880 Oh God, I need help right. He's like you're last minute 471 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,560 rescue. I get it, totally normal human 472 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,880 is just what we do. But what would it look like as a 473 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:35,880 church if we were like happened in the temple regularly and 474 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:41,600 constantly sending our fragrance, our incense burning 475 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:46,240 up to the Lord? Maybe you need to rethink and be 476 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:48,080 invited into what prayer really is. 477 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,320 At its root, prayer is communion. 478 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:59,400 Prayer is simply you spending time with the one that you love 479 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,360 and you allowing the one that you love to spend time with you. 480 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,360 Have you ever said a prayer like this, like, Hey God, how are 481 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:09,960 you? And then stop and listen. 482 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:16,080 You ever tried that? Hey, God, what's on your heart? 483 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,480 What's on your mind? What is your request of me? 484 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,000 Have you ever, I mean, if you have a relationship with 485 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,080 somebody, spending time, especially somebody you love 486 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:30,400 dearly, somebody who's rescued and saved your life, you spend 487 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,120 time with them. You know, just talk the whole 488 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:34,120 time and make requests like, hey, I know that you've done a 489 00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:35,800 lot for me already. But here's 17 more things I want 490 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:37,160 you to do. And you better do them in this 491 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:38,880 order. And you can do anything you 492 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:40,360 want, but choose from one of these five options. 493 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,160 Want to do right? If you have a real relationship 494 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:47,720 with somebody, you sit and you listen and you just hang. 495 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,280 Sometimes when you have a really great relationship with 496 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,560 somebody, you can sit with each other and not say anything at 497 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,280 all. It's like, hey, good to see you. 498 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,160 You too, let's just hang. I'm glad to be with you. 499 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:07,560 The discipline of prayer becomes the joy of prayer because you 500 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,440 recognize I'm just coming to hang out and have communion with 501 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,120 you. Her also does what frankincense 502 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:17,240 does. It means that we say with our 503 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:21,680 life, this isn't just a myth or a legend, this Jesus thing. 504 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:26,880 He's not a wood carved idol. He is the able 1. 505 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,840 He is God in the flesh. He is deity. 506 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,920 And I pray not to a vapor, but I pray to the real one who is 507 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:35,800 able. And when I pray, I declare it 508 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,080 with my life to myself, to him, and to everyone else in my life. 509 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,160 When I pray, I also reaffirm that he is the one who is my 510 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:46,240 covering. That's why we pray, Father, in 511 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:51,560 Jesus name, I come to the covering of the one who gave his 512 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,720 life for me. I'm entering into the Holy of 513 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,600 Holies, into the presence of God through the covering of Jesus. 514 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:03,280 And that's why we say at the end, in Jesus name, Amen. 515 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:09,960 And not only that, but most crucially, prayer is the 516 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,640 exchange of wills. Prayer is where you say God, 517 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:19,160 I've got some ideas and I've got some wants and I got some things 518 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:20,840 that I really need to happen in my life. 519 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,080 But I'm going to take all of that and submit it way under 520 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:31,040 your will from my life. May your will be done on earth 521 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:33,800 as it is in heaven. By the way, we were made from 522 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:35,680 the earth. We were made from dirt. 523 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,400 So when you pray, Lord, will your will be done on earth in 524 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:44,000 this earth, in me, as it is in heaven. 525 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,640 Paul, the apostle who writes a lot of the New Testament, he 526 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:52,360 says pray without ceasing. Like, how can I do that? 527 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,000 Like sometimes I've got to work and I can't be like, hi, here's 528 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:01,280 your Big Mac. Like, how do you pray without 529 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,680 ceasing? Well, you can constantly 530 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:08,360 exchange your will without saying anything in every moment, 531 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:11,000 in every situation. Driving on I-4, waiting in line 532 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,080 for Space Mountain, whatever you're doing, that takes a lot 533 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:18,800 of patience. Raising children, driving to 534 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,120 your in laws for Christmas, whatever. 535 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:29,200 I love my in laws, by the way, At every moment you can exchange 536 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:30,560 your will. And when you exchange your will 537 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,680 for God's will, that is prayer. And you are offering your 538 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:42,160 incense to the Lord, going up to him regularly all the time. 539 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,840 I'm inviting the church this Christmas to be a Church of 540 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,640 prayer. Maybe it's something new that 541 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,840 you and your spouse, you and your neighbor, you and your 542 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,120 friend, you and somebody else, you and the Lord start a new 543 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,320 tradition every night and every morning. 544 00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:58,560 Remember how Aaron would like the incense in the morning, at 545 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,240 night? I'm going to pray and I'm not 546 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:03,400 just going to give Idlib service. 547 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:05,920 I'm actually going to do it. I'm going to set a reminder on 548 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:09,000 my phone and every time I'm in the morning, every time I'm 549 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,320 going to gather my children, I'm going to gather some Co workers. 550 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,000 Hey, we're going to be people of prayer. 551 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,160 We're going to let our incense go up to the Lord. 552 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,000 I love the scripture in Hebrews. It kind of puts all of this 553 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:22,720 together. Hebrews chapter 10. 554 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,600 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to 555 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,720 enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, you understand 556 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,880 that now, right? I have confidence to go into 557 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:35,720 where the Lord is because of the blood of Jesus by a new and 558 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,080 living way opened for us through the curtain that is his body. 559 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:41,880 He's become the curtain, our covering. 560 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:44,800 And since we have a great priest over the House of God, that is 561 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:49,160 Jesus, let us draw near to God. This is prayer, drawing near to 562 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:52,400 God with a sincere heart and with full assurance that faith 563 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,000 brings. Having our hearts sprinkled to 564 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,960 cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies 565 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:02,360 washed with pure water. Let us hold unswerved to the 566 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,600 hope we profess for he who promised is faithful. 567 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,760 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love 568 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:11,320 and good deeds. This is what I'm trying to do 569 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:13,680 today. I'm spurring you on to these 570 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,720 good deeds. Verse 25 not giving up meeting 571 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:20,920 together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging 572 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:25,880 one another on all the more as you see the capital D-Day 573 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:30,360 approaching, the day of the Lord, a day of His return. 574 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,720 Let us be prepared. Drawing near to him in faith, 575 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,400 covered in the blood of Jesus, praying unto Him, offering our 576 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:41,000 fragrance to Him. Paul says in Second Corinthians 577 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,440 that we are fragrance, A fragrant aroma pleasing to the 578 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:46,640 Lord. I just want to leave you today 579 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:52,000 with this thought, and it's going to be a little strange, 580 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:56,320 but this is what the Lord gave me. 581 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:08,120 When you wake up, you stink. You just got your body smell and 582 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,800 most people, not every people do something about that. 583 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:15,000 We have this thing called deodorant. 584 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,000 It's taking away the odor, deodoring you. 585 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,960 We have this stuff called Cologne Edu Toilette. 586 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,840 I don't even know what that means of the toilet. 587 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:29,440 Doesn't make any sense to me. If you're French, you could 588 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:32,320 probably explain it to me, but I don't want to know the truth 589 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:34,800 because I'd rather stay ignorant. 590 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:44,760 Perfume And then we go out into the world and if we put on the 591 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:47,840 perfume and the deodorant, the people around us like smells 592 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:49,520 nice. I I grabbed Ronnie, we would 593 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,000 give a hug and I got in his neck and I, well, that sounds weird. 594 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,440 I just was hugging him and my nose happened to be near his 595 00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:58,960 neck. I'm like, man, you smell good. 596 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:03,880 He put on some stink. Think you know, you know where 597 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:09,000 I'm going with this. I wonder what we smell like to 598 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:13,199 the Lord. And trust me, however you smell 599 00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:18,920 to the Lord is how you're going to smell to others when you pray 600 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:22,120 in the morning. It's like putting on the Cologne 601 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:29,040 of heaven, the perfume of the Lord God Almighty, the fragrance 602 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,800 going up to him and going out to others. 603 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,159 I'm wondering this morning, how do you smell? 604 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:40,360 We do breath checks. You know what I'm talking about? 605 00:34:40,679 --> 00:34:44,320 Anyone, anyone. We do, we kind of do this 606 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,600 sometimes. You ever done those checks? 607 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,239 Anyone you ever picked up your shoe? 608 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,920 Like, oh, like, why do we do that? 609 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:58,120 When we do it, we, we need to check the smell of our spirit 610 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:04,120 and see if it smells like the fragrance of heaven or the stink 611 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,760 of the world. Because the world going to get 612 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:11,840 on you. It smells its odors. 613 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:17,680 And you can leave that there or you can pray and be doused in 614 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:20,040 the incense of the Kingdom of God. 615 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:25,200 This is our frankincense. How do you spell? 616 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:34,480 Last question, are you covered? Believers in Christ Jesus are 617 00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:38,440 covered by the blood of Jesus. He is the final sacrifice that 618 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:41,080 upholds the covenant that God made with Abraham in the very 619 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:45,160 beginning. And when you believe on Jesus, 620 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:50,200 yes, you are set free from your sin, from the penalty of sin. 621 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:56,960 Very clear, which is death, spiritual death, but what's 622 00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:01,240 greater is your set towards set free towards a life with God 623 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:04,480 that begins the moment you believe, begins the moment you 624 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:06,680 take on the blood of Jesus covered by him. 625 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:11,400 Now able to approach the throne of God with confidence and there 626 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:15,320 hang out with him, draw a life from him, make requests from him 627 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:17,880 and also listen to his request from us. 628 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:21,880 This happens when we're covered by the blood. 629 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,000 The Bible says that if you believe in your heart and 630 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,240 confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be 631 00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:29,800 saved. You will be covered in the blood 632 00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:32,600 of Jesus. If you've never done that, then 633 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,400 look at me closely. The reason God brought you here 634 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:39,440 today is because He wants to cover you in His love, Cover you 635 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:42,480 in the blood of Jesus so that you and He can have fellowship 636 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,800 together, perfect communion without the penalty or the power 637 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,320 of sin in your life because of His goodness and His love for 638 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:50,520 you. So if you've never done that, 639 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:52,960 today is your day. We're going to pray and give you 640 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:54,560 an opportunity right now to do that. 641 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:56,720 Would you bow your heads, close your eyes? 642 00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:58,720 Father, thank you for the gift of Jesus. 643 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,640 Thank you that the curtain is torn, that the veil has been 644 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:07,360 lifted, that we can enter in to your holy presence because of 645 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:11,320 the blood of the Lamb. We rejoice in our salvation. 646 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:17,280 We rejoice in this covering, Thank God. 647 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:20,000 We recognize that there may be some here today who have yet to 648 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:22,560 make that step, and you've brought them here today to do 649 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:24,280 that. So Lord, till the soil, make 650 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:28,680 ready the hearts of those who are to believe by your goodness 651 00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:33,000 and mercy. Whole church, would you pray out 652 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:37,560 loud as we do every Sunday saying Father in the name of 653 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:41,840 Jesus? I recognize that I am a Sinner 654 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:47,520 who is uncovered and I need a Savior who will cover me. 655 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:56,640 So I confess and I believe that Jesus is my Savior, that his 656 00:37:56,640 --> 00:38:02,840 blood covers over my sin and gives me access to the Father. 657 00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:06,400 Come and live your life through me, Jesus. 658 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,640 Thanks for joining us today. We hope God is speaking to your 659 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:14,240 heart through this message. If you'd like to connect with 660 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:21,440 us, you can text connect to 407-588-0115 or visit Illuminate 661 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:24,040 dot church. Have a great week.