Please remain standing as we read this morning from Hebrews chapter five. If you would take your copies of the scriptures please, open to Hebrews chapter five. And follow with me as we read verses one through 10. 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. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray since he himself is also beset by weakness. Because of this, he is required as for the people so also for himself to offer for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify himself to become a high priest, but it was he who said to him, you are my son, today I have begotten you. As he also says in another place, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his godly fear. And our text for this morning, verses eight through 10, though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered, and having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all those who obey him, called by God as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Please be seated. written and placarded in just about every football locker room, every weight training room, every training facility in just about every place in America, you'll see a sign on the wall with these words. I remember from my athletic days, it was in bold red letters, no gain without pain. No gain without pain. As if to say the only way to attain the pinnacle of athletic excellence is through the severities of the most demanding and painful physical training. If you are not willing to experience that pain and those demands, you will not be, you cannot be a champion. Where there is no pain, there can be no gain. As in the realm of athletics, so also in the matter of the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ, there would be no gain unless he experienced suffering and pain. If you're familiar with the theme of the book of Hebrews, it's very simple. Jesus in the new covenant is better than Moses in the old covenant. Everything about Jesus in the new covenant is superior to the old. And this was the reason for the many exhortations and very stern warnings in the book of Hebrews to those to whom the writer was writing. We don't know who wrote the book of Hebrews, it wasn't Paul. But whoever it was, he warned these people, if you leave off from following Jesus Christ and you return to Moses, you cannot be saved. Jesus Christ is the savior of mankind, not Moses. Therefore, it is essential for these people to understand the superiority of Jesus Christ and his high priesthood over that of Aaron, the high priest of the old economy. Jesus Christ and his new covenant, he brings a superior revelatory word. Chapter one and verses one through four, his is a superior hope. over that of the former covenant, chapter 7, verses 18 through 19. He's ushered in at an age of a superior covenant itself, in chapter 7, verse 22. A superior priesthood, superior promises, a superior covenant sacrifice, not the blood of goats and bulls offered on Jewish altars. but his own blood offered on Golgotha's cross. And he has ushered in an age of a superior covenant possession, not possession of a land across the Jordan River. but possession of a heavenly Canaan in the new heavens and the new earth, one that does not grow old, one that shall never pass away. Everything about Jesus is superior to Moses and the old economy. And in the more immediate context this morning, that of the high priesthood of Jesus, this is the writer's very point. Jesus is superior as the high priest of the new economy over that of Aaron and the old economy. And two qualifications he gives, there aren't just two, there are many, but two of the chief qualifications he gives in verses one through four are this. He must be called by God and he must be a sympathetic high priest with his people. Now, understand what we say when we're talking about a sympathetic high priest. We're not saying that Jesus is all, oh, you poor thing, I feel so bad for you. Here, let me help you. Now, Jesus is sympathetic in that way. But that's not what the writer's talking about when he speaks of the sympathetic high priesthood of Christ. He is speaking of the fact that Jesus had such an intimate connection with those he came to redeem that he actually took upon themselves in sympathy their humanity. He became a man. That's what we're talking about when we speak of the sympathetic high priesthood of Christ. So with that as our background, let us consider today verses 8 through 10 under the following outline. First off, we'll look at who he was. Secondly, what the text says about what he learned. Thirdly, we'll look at how he learned it. And then finally, we'll consider what he became. Consider with me first off this morning then, what the text says about who he was. Verse 8a, though he were a son, Now, if you're familiar with the book of Hebrews, you understand that this theme of the sonship of Jesus Christ is a major theme throughout the epistle. 11 times the writer speaks of, writes of the sonship of Jesus. Four times he uses, I'm gonna use a word here, don't be put off by it, he uses an anarthrous construction. For you grammarians out there, all that means is he simply says son. He doesn't use either an indefinite article, he doesn't say he is a son, and he doesn't use the definite article, he is the son. Four times he uses an unarthrous construction. We see it first off in chapter one, right at the outset. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions, in many ways, in these last days, has spoken to us, literally, in son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. Jesus Christ is not just a son. He is not just the son. You recall in the Old Testament, oft times, Old Testament writers, they speak of the angels as the sons of God. The writer here is careful to distinguish Jesus from that kind of son and to make sure he sets him forth not just as a son, but he is son. We might accurately translate the phrase here, son though he was. emphasis upon the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the utter uniqueness of him as the son in his commission as high priest. God did not send a high priest simply after the order of Aaron, a man with like weaknesses as ours, particularly sinful flesh, as Aaron was. Who can ever forget Aaron? when Moses confronted him at the base of Mount Sinai with the golden calf. You recall? Moses, you know, I just threw in this gold and out came this calf. And you're just going, oh, Aaron, how can you say such a thing? Aaron was a sinner. Jesus as the high priest of his people under the new covenant is utterly unique as son and God called him in that capacity to be his high priest. Notice with me secondly what the text says about what he learned. What he learned, verse 8b, he learned obedience. Now does that strike you as kind of odd? How could Jesus learn obedience? Wasn't he sinlessly perfect already? Yes, he was. His obedience was not one of transitioning from disobedience to obedience, like us. He learned it in another capacity. And this speaks to us of the humanity of Jesus. Jesus learned as a human being. He learned in the sense of his capacity to understand the will of God. What he knew as a young boy of 12 years of age was not what he knew when he was 33 years old and went to the cross. He grew in that time, he learned. in his capacity to understand what God's will was for his life. He learned also in his capacity to actually do and to accomplish the will of God. What he could do when he was 22 was not what he could do when he was 32, and especially was not what he did on the cross at the end of his earthly sojourn. He learned obedience, he learned the concept of self-surrender. Now stick with me on that because it's everything. This was a lifelong process for Jesus. You recall in Luke chapter two after the incident where he stays behind in Jerusalem and his parents go back home and they don't know that he's not with them. and they finally find him, and after working out all the problems, the text says, Luke writes for us, that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. He increased in wisdom. Jesus, the human being. Jesus, the young boy, was growing as a human being. He was growing in his understanding of God's will for his life and his ability to accomplish it in everyday living. This is normally what we call character formation. Understand there are two kinds of discipline. You mothers and fathers, you understand this. There is corrective discipline, Johnny, I told you not to do that. Now I'm going to have to spank you. You knew it was right, and you didn't do what was right. Now we need to correct you. Jesus never needed corrective discipline. But in terms of formative discipline, character formation was going on at every stage in the life of Christ. Why? Because he was a man, fully human as you and I. We learn as we go. And you say, well, then that means that Jesus was not omniscient in terms of his humanity. Bingo, bingo. He grew in wisdom. He did not know everything concerning the question that his disciples asked him. He said to them, there are certain things that I don't know. No man knows not even the son of man. In terms of his humanity, he was not omniscient. He was engaged in character formation. And he was growing day by day until he would come to that point, as a human man, where he would comprehend perfectly and have been brought to that point in his own experience and in his own power where he could understand the will of my father is that I go to the cross. And then he did it. That was something that he couldn't do at other stages of his life prior to then. What he learned, he learned obedience. Thirdly, observe how he learned it. How he learned it, verse 8c. He learned obedience from the things which he suffered. Now, we all understand, I trust, the concept of the means of grace. God doesn't just zap us, kaboom. A bolt of lightning hits me and all of a sudden, I'm holy. It doesn't work that way, does it? Lord, grant me patience. There we go. It doesn't work that way. Patience is learned. Sanctification is a lifelong process. And while Jesus didn't need to be sanctified in the sense that we do, he did need to be brought to the point of completion. and he learned from the things which he suffered. He didn't know these things intuitively and instinctively. He didn't learn by reading books and scrolls at the local synagogue. This is a refrain that the writer in Hebrews has already given us in chapter two in verse 10. Just flip back the page there. Hebrews 2, verse 10, for it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. God works through means with his people, and he worked through this means with his son as well. Jesus was perfected, and we'll look at that word in a moment, he was perfected not by a lightning bolt out of the blue, but through the everyday processes of suffering. Being son would not exempt him, thus the need for the concessive clause in verse 8, although he was son. being son did not exempt him from the tribulations and the actual processes by which human sons are brought to an age of discretion and maturity and wisdom in their bodies and minds. In short, Jesus' role as the sympathetic high priest of his people required that he would participate with those people in suffering. And that doesn't just refer to his sufferings on the cross. Jesus suffered his life long. He suffered insults. He suffered attempts on his life. He suffered being alienated from people who resented him, sometimes even his own family. The people he grew up with. Resented him. How can this man speak this way? He speaks with authority. Why, this is Jesus. We used to play kick the can in the streets with him. And now he's speaking as though he has some kind of inroad with God. Who does he think he is? He didn't think he was anybody. He was the son of God. And how that must have cut to the quick to have people insult him with regard to his very being. And we see particularly this suffering brought to its culmination in the Garden of Gethsemane. Please turn with me to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14. And notice carefully the wording here because we're gonna pick up on the wording here in a moment. Mark 14. Read with me beginning at verse 32. Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. And he took Peter, James, and John with him. And he began to be troubled and deeply distressed. And he said to them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch. And he went a little farther and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible with you. Take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will. One rendering of this actually says that he sweat as of great drops of blood. The suffering he endured in the garden was a spiritual inward mental torture and torment that made him inwardly shudder at the thought of the cross. He knew it was coming. He knew it was his father's will. And he instinctively turned from it and said, no, no, not that. He suffered in Gethsemane. And it was in that suffering that he came to a marvelous and incredible conclusion. We'll look at that in a moment. How he learned it. He learned from the things which he suffered. Now notice with me, fourthly, what he became. What he became, verse 9a. And being made perfect. Now that again sounds strange to us, doesn't it? Wasn't Jesus already perfect? In terms of his character and his morality, absolutely. Jesus was always sinlessly perfect before God. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners. The word here, perfect, translated in our copies is teleotheis. He was made perfect. It's a difficult word to translate from the Greek. It can have a range of different nuances. It can mean simply he was brought to an end. He was brought to a goal. It stopped. It ended. And in this case, I believe it's something to the effect, having reached the climax of his purpose on this earth, having been perfected in terms of what God his father intended for him to be as the son, as a human being, and as the savior of the human race. He was made perfect in that he was brought to this astounding goal and conclusion. And there's two things that the scripture says here with regard to this perfection. Verse 9b, he was perfected in his salvific commission. He was perfected in his salvific commission. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to those who obey him. This is just to say that prior to the cross, Jesus was not, in all of its perfection, the author of his people's salvation until the cross. You see a progression taking place here. He's growing in wisdom and knowledge. He's understanding the will of the Father. He's suffering. He's learning. until he's brought to the point to where now he is perfectly fitted for the purpose he came to this earth to do and to be, to be the savior of his people. And it was at that time, after he had been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him. This was his raison d'etre, his reason for existence. I came to this world for this purpose, he said. What should I pray? God saved me from this hour? This is why I came here. He was perfected in his salvific commission. And secondly, he was perfected in his high priestly function. Verse 10, he was called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek. When did this happen? At the cross. At the cross. He was perfected in his high priestly function. Now, I just wanna spend a little bit of time on the importance of understanding Jesus' high priestly role as a Melchizedekian priest rather than an Aaronic priest. This is important. Who was Melchizedek? You go back to Genesis chapter 14. You don't have to turn there, but in Genesis 14, there was the war of the nine kings, recall? And Abraham took spoils, having been part of the victory when he had gone and sought to recover Lot, who had been kidnapped. He took spoils from those kings that they defeated. And he gave tithes to a certain priest named Melchizedek. Interesting, his name in Hebrew means King of Righteousness. Melchizedek, King of Righteousness. He was not the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. Please don't go down that road. Melchizedek was a man. We don't have all the information on it, and the writer to the Hebrews kind of plays on that, saying without mother, without father, without genealogy, and he's kind of playing between Jesus and Melchizedek. But he's not saying that Melchizedek was anything but another man. Abraham gave ties to Melchizedek, and it is that priesthood that Jesus partakes of, not the Aaronic priesthood. Turn to Hebrews 7, verses 11 and 12. Fascinating verse. I hope you'll pursue even further your study. Hebrews 7, verses 11 and 12. Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, What further need was there that another priest should arise according to their order of Melchizedek, Jesus, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? Now understand what he's saying. In this larger section on the priesthood of Christ, and please stick with me, I know sometimes we can say, well, priesthood, okay, we understand. Stick with me, there's some really cool stuff coming. Jesus was a priest after the order of Melchizedek. What's that mean? It means that he was not a priest after the order of Aaron. Aaron was a high priest from what tribe? Levi. What tribe did Jesus belong to? Judah. Jesus was not descended from the tribe of Levi. His was a high priesthood unlike that of Aaron and the Levitical order. It was not a priesthood of hereditary succession. Like that of Melchizedek, it was conferred directly by God. You are my son this day, I have called you. Jesus was a priest, a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. And the writer of the Hebrews in chapter seven says here, when you see a change of the priesthood from the Levitical Aaronic high priesthood to a different priesthood, there's a new covenant, an entirely new covenant. That's the point here. Perfection was not through the Levitical priesthood. it came through another priest. And Jesus is designated a high priest after the order of Melchizedek forever. And he reigns in heaven in this very moment as a high priest on our behalf according to the order of Melchizedek. Who he was, what he learned, how he learned it, and what he became. He became the author of eternal salvation to all those who obey him. Now, with the remainder of our time this morning, I'd like to make two applications stemming from these verses. And the first one is this. Ladies and gentlemen, these verses inform us with regard to our biblical Christology. They inform us with regard to our biblical Christology. Now, when we speak of Christology, what are we talking about? Simply, the Bible's teaching on the person of Christ. Who was Jesus Christ? Now, I think most of us here are pretty good when it comes to the deity of Jesus Christ. Well, of course, Jesus is God. Every knee shall bow to him. Every tongue shall confess. That's only of God. Jesus himself claimed to be God. He was God. He is God. He reigns at the right hand of the Father right now as part of the Trinity. We're good on the deity of Christ. That's Christology. But sometimes I think we can be a little weak when it comes to our Christology and the humanity of Christ. We're kind of startled when we read, Jesus grew in wisdom. Well, wait a minute, I thought he was omniscient. We're kind of startled when we read that Jesus became perfected. How could he become perfect if he already was perfect? You see, these are concepts pertaining to the humanity of Jesus Christ. We must never forget that Jesus Christ, yes, he was fully God as though he were not man, but he was fully man as though he were not God. Both natures existing side by side within the one man. the theanthropic person, the God-man Jesus Christ. Chalcedon puts it this way, without mixture, without change, without division, without separation, he was both 100% God and yes, 100% man. And so he would learn obedience through the things that he suffered as a man. And then having been perfected, He would go to the cross and he would suffer untold tortures at the hands of evil men. This verse informs us of our biblical Christology. Secondly, these verses inform us regarding an essential biblical theology of testing. I'm gonna spend a little time here. An essential biblical theology of testing. We have two Adams in the human race, right? The first Adam in the Garden of Eden. Jesus Christ, Paul says, 1 Corinthians 15, one example, was the second Adam. He represents an entire new humanity, just as the first Adam represented the old humanity. He acted on their behalf. He was their federal head. What he did, he did on behalf of the entire human race. So when he deliberately violated God's commandment, ate of the fruit, the whole human race in that Adam fell. Jesus Christ as the second Adam represents not all of humanity, but the new humanity that is reconstituted through faith in Jesus. We are joined to the old Adam through bloodlines. We are joined to the new Adam through faith, and faith alone. Sola fide. Jesus Christ represents the new humanity, and we reason this way as with the master, so also with the disciple. If Jesus learned obedience through the things that he suffered, what? Completed. So will we. So were we, and thus this gives us an essential biblical theology of testing and suffering. Okay, are we getting to the point now? Am I striking a nerve? God, why do you allow me to suffer? Anybody here ever suffered? Oh, there's somebody that never has. We have all suffered. Some of us are suffering now. and certainly we shall suffer in the future. Why does God allow that? Well, I'm gonna be the first one to tell you, he doesn't. He doesn't allow it, he has ordained it. Now, why make this point? Being God's son, and ladies, your sons too, God's people, necessitates suffering. There's a theology out there that goes something to this effect. God loves you so very much, and this is very deceptive, he loves you so very much that as his beloved child, he wants only the best for you. He doesn't want you to suffer. He doesn't want you to be sick. He doesn't want you in that wheelchair. He doesn't want you in that sickbed. No injuries, no disease. He doesn't want this for you. Therefore, suffering in your life must be your fault. It's because of your sin or it's the devil. You know, I've often said that I think the devil gets a bad rap. He gets blamed for a lot of stuff that he has nothing to do with. A lot of times it's our fault, but we're pointing the finger at him, we're good at that. The woman thou gavest me, the devil thou gavest me. Well, a lot of times we do suffer because of something we've done, and he's not talking about that. God has ordained our sufferings. And this theology that says God doesn't want us to suffer, my friends, is rotten to the core. because your and my sufferings are absolutely essential for our sanctification and for our glorification. Without them, you cannot be son. Every son must be tested. Every son must suffer. Please turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. In this hortatory section of the epistle, the writer writes, beginning in verse four, you have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. That's an imperative. What's an imperative, Greek students? It's a command. It's a command, it's not optional. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which you have all become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live? For they indeed, for a few days, chastened us as seemed best to them. But he, for our profits, that we may be partakers of his holiness. Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. There's character formation. Training. Like it or not, if you are a child of God here this morning, you are in God's boot camp. I mean, any ex-soldiers here, ex-military, you ever been to bootcamp? I'd never been to bootcamp, but I played major college football, and it's every bit as bootcamp. It was torture. The training, the pain, the endurance that is being drilled into you has a purpose. Friends, if you are a Christian here this morning, You are an eschatological being. Another big word, you can learn big words. Eschatological refers to what? We are people of the eschaton, of the last times, of the end. We are eschatological people. Our vision is toward the age to come. It is not rooted in this age. Yes, we live here. We breathe, we eat, we conduct our life's affairs, but ultimately our home is where? It's in God's kingdom. And it's there that we are looking as the people of God. And we need to understand that with Christ, as he learned obedience through the things which he suffered, it was after that process that what? He reached perfection. It was not apart from that process. As with the master, so with us. You will be brought to your human capacity in perfection through sufferings. Without sufferings, not only will you become nothing, you are nothing. That's how important your sufferings are to you. Sheesh, preacher, that's a big bite to bite off. Maybe it is. Apart from his sufferings, Jesus could not have been savior. Apart from his sufferings, he could not have been perfected. Adam was tested. The first Adam failed. That wasn't the last time a son was tested. We read Abraham at the foot of Mount Moriah. What happened there, people? He was commanded by God, another command. He was commanded by God as God's son to do something, something very, very difficult, something he didn't want to do. Offer up your son, Abraham. What? Yeah, offer up your son. Now we know that was a test, but put yourself in Abraham's sandals. My only son. He's my beloved son, he's my one and only. Offer him up. Abraham was tested there, a focal point of testing. Remember when we were kids, used to get those little magnifying glasses and a box of Cracker Jack and we'd go out on the sidewalk and we'd focus that light on an ant. That's what God is doing. He's focusing the intensity and the heat of his will on each one of his sons. Abraham was in the focal beam of that testing. Abraham responded properly. He went up, and just as he was about to plunge the knife into his son, the angel said, no, now I know. that you believe me. Israel, the son of God, Israel was called the son of God, the whole nation, God's son, was tested where? In the desert. How long? For an hour, right? A day? A year? 40 years of testing. Israel failed miserably. And that generation, what happened to them? They fell in the wilderness. Jesus Christ was tested his whole life. And the focal point of testing, all the heat of that magnifying glass that God held upon him was brought to bear upon his innocent head in the Garden of Gethsemane, where we see what I call the contradiction of the will. Do you know it was not Jesus' desire to go to the cross? Do you see that there? Father, I would that this cup would pass from me. Nevertheless, what? Not my will, but thy will be done. Jesus was confronted with the very same task that the first Adam was in the garden. Two Adams, two gardens, two trees. through decisions, through eternal outcomes. Jesus had to take his will. You ever seen him build a skyscraper? You see those big, heavy steel I-beams that they have? That was the will of Jesus. That's all of our wills. It's like one of those steel I-beams. And Jesus had to muster all of the moral courage and strength that he had gained down through the years in the maturation process as a human man, and bend that I beam of his will, not my will, but thy will be done. And he took that I beam of his will and said, Father, my will is not instinctively to go to that cross, it's to run from it, but I know what your will is. And so he bent his will into conformity to the Father's will, and he went and did that which the Father commanded of him, even though at first it was not his will. He made the Father's will his own will. And there again, as with the master, so with the disciple. This is what each one of us are doing every day of our lives. We are confronted with this choice, my will or God's will, which one will it be? Let me think, that's a hard one. We know the answer, don't we? God's will, right? But how many of us have been trained through suffering? And notice what the writer in Hebrews 12 says. If you don't endure this, if you're not experiencing this suffering, he says, you are not sons of God. Every child of God will experience this, otherwise you're not a son. Your will is being trained every day. You're being tested every day. Do you recognize it? Remember when we were in school, teacher used to come up, okay, put your books away, pop quiz, boom, whoops. I didn't study last, I didn't read the assignment. God gives pop quizzes, doesn't he? When we least expect it. We're driving down the road, singing hymns, right? Having a good time and some guy plows into the back of us. Pop quiz, how you gonna do with that one? There's a million different pop quizzes God gives to us every day of our lives. Do you recognize them? Do you understand the purpose of your sufferings, Christian? Some of you may be suffering here this morning. Why does God do this to me? It's not because he hates you. Every son he loves, he disciplines. I think the rendering he scourges, that's not quite right. He's not whipping us with a whip, a cat of nine tails. But he disciplines, he disciplines. It doesn't just happen, whoops, God's not up in heaven going, how'd that happen? I didn't want, why did that happen to old Fred there? I don't know. God does these things and he's doing it with this purpose in mind. He is bringing us, in our humanity to that point of perfection to where now we will be able to enter his kingdom as perfected and redeemed human beings. I said we're eschatological people. Somehow, somewhere along the line, down through the centuries, and I know as an ex-Roman Catholic, this is driven to me, that heaven is going to, we're all gonna be sitting around on clouds in white garb and playing golden harps. And I said, well, you know, that doesn't sound like a very good time to me. That's not what heaven is. That's not what glory is. Glory is even beyond heaven, because in heaven, we're still in a disembodied state, remember. glorious new bodies. And what God is doing with us right now is he is training us for that eschatological time when we rule with him in the new heavens and new earth. That's correct, rule. We will be kings along with Jesus in the new earth. And God our Father is not about to give over the kingdom and the entire universe to be ruled by sons who have never been tested. He will give that kingdom and the very serious business of the rule of it to those who have been brought to maturity and perfection through suffering. Your sufferings are essential for your place in God's kingdom. They give you a new perspective on suffering. And I know in the crucible of suffering, you're not gonna go, I remember the sermon that guy preached and now it feels good. It's not going to feel good. But you're going to know what's happening and you're going to know why it's happening. Your father who loves you brings these things into your life. to purify you and to test you and to bring you to maturity. So you will be fit and prepared to rule with Christ in the new heavens and the new earth as an eschatological son, daughter of God. Never lose sight of that time. That's what God is doing. If you're suffering here this morning, I don't mean to downplay. the severity of your trauma. I only mean to let you know that your heavenly Father does love you. If you have faith in Jesus, the proper response is what? Nevertheless, Father, not my will, but thy will be done. May you do the will of your Father this day in the midst of a crucible of the most intense suffering humanly possible. Do the will of your Father, knowing that it results in a heavenly kingdom and glory in the age to come, ruling the universe alongside of Jesus Christ.