I want to turn with you to Hebrews
chapter one.
And I'll just tell you ahead of time
that what my exercise is, is to speak
to you about the Lord Jesus from this
lovely book that sets him forth in, I
believe, a very remarkable way.
I don't think that you and I could
ever know too much about the Lord Jesus.
He will be the center of our attention.
He will be the focus of our occupation
for eternity.
And I believe that God's desire is that
we might know more of him as we
grow in grace and in the knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we'll read in Hebrews chapter one.
Tomorrow night, God willing, I'd like to read
with you and look at Hebrews chapter two.
And we'll continue on through the book, not
of course looking at all 13 chapters, but
selectively looking at parts that would have to
do with the attractiveness and the glory and
the beauty and the importance of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Hebrews chapter one and verse one, God, who
in sundry times and in divers manners, and
that sounds like old English and it really
is sort of, it means in many different
parts and many different ways.
God speak in time past under the fathers
by the prophets have in these last days
spoken unto us by or in son whom
he appointed heir of all things by whom
also he made the worlds who being the
brightness of his glory and the express image
of his person and upholding all things by
the word of his power when he had
by himself purged our sins or made purification
for sins sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high being made or
having become so much better than the angels
as he hath by inheritance obtained a excellent
name than they run to which of the
angels said he at any time thou art
my son this day have I begotten thee
and again I will be to him a
father and he shall be to me a
son and again when he bringeth in the
first begotten into the world he sayeth and
let the angels of God worship him and
of the angels he saith who maketh his
angels spirits and his ministers a flame of
fire but unto or as to the sun
he saith thy throne oh god is forever
and ever a scepter of righteousness is a
scepter of thy kingdom thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity or lawlessness therefore god even
thy god hath anointed thee with the oil
of gladness above thy fellows and thou lord
in the beginning has laid the foundation of
the earth and the heavens are the works
of thine hands they shall perish but thou
remainest and they all shall wax old as
doth a garment and as a vesture shalt
thou fold them up and they shall be
changed but thou art the same and thy
years shall not fail but to which of
the angels said he at any time sit
on my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth a minister for them who
shall be heirs or who shall inherit salvation
and that's all we'll read for this part
of our meeting tonight and trust god oh
bless even his word that we've read together
there seems to be a definite relationship between
the epistle of paul to the roman believers
the epistle of romans and this epistle to
the hebrews no i'm not going to say
who wrote hebrews it's not my interest you
can have your own idea someone has said
that it's not a matter of not knowing
it's a fact that the spirit of god
doesn't want us to know because the author
of it is not important in fact we're
not exactly sure just who are the the
recipients of the book but we know that
they're identified as hebrews it's possible they were
hebrews in italy because paul i shouldn't say
that paul says at the end or whoever
wrote this epistle says at the end they
that are of italy salute you i let
uh my own inclination out there i didn't
intend to do that but nevertheless that's what
i think but anyway romans is written specifically
i believe to make it very clear that
god's purpose to save sinners on the grounds
of justification by faith alone in the work
of christ is a plan that he had
before the law ever came into being i
would take that romans and hebrews have more
old testament quotations in them than any other
book of our new testament they're basing their
argument in in both cases on the fact
that what god was doing in the old
testament was not his final plan was not
what god intended eventually to bring to pass
that was only so to speak temporary preparatory
leading up to what god was going to
do in these last days i think that
when you is emphasizing the fact that that
uh even before the law was given and
even the old testament scriptures were were consistently
pointing men forward to the fact that salvation
had to be accomplished by the work of
the lord jesus and he's linking the old
testament scriptures and the new testament fulfillment of
the word of god to make it very
clear that there's no separation there's no real
difference it's all part of one great purpose
of god that has found his fulfillment in
the work of the lord jesus we need
to appreciate the fact that there really is
no distinct separation in that way because it's
all the word of god and it's god
giving to us an unfolding of his purposes
and in the same way hebrews i believe
is making it very clear that the old
testament sacrificial order and the old testament priesthood
was only a measure by which god was
preserving the nation and pointing them forward to
what he really had in view in the
coming of the lord jesus christ and he
is linking perhaps you might say that hebrews
is the most direct link in our bible
between the old testament and the new testament
someone has said the book of hebrews is
god's commentary on the old testament sacrificial order
it's god's unfolding to us the significance of
what was seen typically in the Aaronic priesthood
and as well fulfilled in relation to the
Melchizedek priesthood that is pictured for us in
genesis 14.
Now without really going into that very much
more just let me say to you that
there's an interesting fact and that is that
the key word in the book of hebrews
you know very well is the word better
and that word better means something that is
strong excellent it is power and activity and
effect it really has the idea of something
that surpasses everything else and what he is
saying is that everything that pertains to christ
and everything that has to do with his
priesthood everything that has to do with all
that he is is far superior to all
that which would attract these people i would
naturally keep their attention i was in danger
of of robbing them from enjoying the fullness
of blessing that god wanted them to have
in the lord jesus 13 times you find
the word better also interesting is the fact
that 13 times in the book of hebrews
you find a reference made to angels and
if angels ranked very high in the estimation
of the hebrew believe in the hebrews who
were faithful to the old testament and knew
their history and knew how god had dealt
with a nation if angels ranked very high
to be mentioned that many times he wants
them to know very clearly that the lord
jesus is far far better than angels and
far greater than they are in the hebrew
mind the position of the power of an
angel was that which excelled all others and
so that he wants them to know that
that fades into almost insignificance in the fact
that they are only servants in relation to
the one who is indeed son now when
you look at the book of hebrews there's
another thing about this aspect and there's a
another expression that is found also 13 times
and that's the word let us it's the
exhortation based upon that which is far better
in christ he says let us let us
let us and so he's trying to stir
these people up to respond as they ought
to to the truth that he's seeking to
bring before them in relation to the greatness
of the lord jesus so we have three
things that are mentioned 13 times i'm not
going to place any great importance on the
number 13 because i don't want to do
that but it's just interesting that there's an
equal number of references you might also say
that hebrews centers upon two expressions and the
first part of hebrews centers upon this great
expression thou art my son a declaration of
god to the lord jesus thou art my
son found in here in psalm psalm 2
in verse 7 and so the first part
of the book perhaps centers upon that great
truth thou art this one that he wanted
to attract them to he says thou art
my son how could you be attracted to
anything higher than that or more important than
that one who is the eternal son of
god is the one who is the gathering
center on the attractive point of these people
a lot of other theme the other expression
that you find that really permeates the epistle
of hebrews is thou art a priest thou
art a priest forever after the order of
melchizedek that's psalm 110 i would take it
that both of those psalms psalm 2 and
psalm 110 are distinctly applicable to the lord
jesus as the messiah they are definitely messianic
psalms as they point forward to him in
anticipation and they're declaring the one who is
the eternal son and he's also a priest
for the ages of eternity a priesthood that
will never end and so we have an
emphasis in this book on the sonship of
christ and also the fatherhood of god and
we find both of those themes that are
found very clearly in the book now without
taking any more time for that i want
to direct your attention to chapter one i
think that when you look at chapter one
you're looking at the sonship of christ the
one who is the eternal son you might
say it's a it's a chapter that emphasizes
his deity his essential deity but i want
to point out to you that it's the
deity of christ as the resurrected man it's
not the deity of christ as in relation
to what he was from eternity oh that's
that's very true but it's looking upon this
one who has made purification for sins who
has now sat himself down at the right
hand of the majesty on high he says
that is the one who is the same
one that was from eternity the one that
is to eternity the one that is god
himself in son and so it's the deity
of christ seen in relation to the perfection
of the one who is risen from the
dead and it was now received back in
glory the object of the attention of a
believer today is not christ on earth it's
christ in glory we have no link really
with the lord jesus in his life here
upon earth though it's lovely and perfect and
wondrous in all of its ways we are
linked with a man that is now above
who has seated himself at the right hand
of the majesty on high and so it's
gazing upon him who has been raised from
the dead who is seated at the right
hand of god today and he is the
one who is declared in his essential deity
as the eternal son of god no different
than what he was from eternity no change
for having passed through this world except that
he is now taking glorified humanity to the
throne of god i think that perhaps in
chapter two we'll find that the emphasis is
not so much the deity of christ but
it's the perfect humanity of the lord jesus
he's not the son of god so much
there as he is in chapter one he's
the son of man and as the son
of man will find that he has the
right and will rule over all the universe
he's son of man for that reason and
so one has said that we have the
gold of the ark in chapter one and
we have the wood the acacia wood of
the ark in chapter two be that as
it may the emphasis in the fact that
god is declaring that this one that he
is setting before these readers is the one
whose supremacy is unchallenged the one who has
the right to the affection the attention the
worship of the heart of all people and
especially those that know him and profess him
as their savior i think that you can
say that in this chapter the lord the
lord jesus and his character is is displayed
in his supremacy to all the prophets of
the old testament scriptures and he's also shown
in all of his supremacy to all angelic
beings no matter how high they might be
whether it be michael the archangel or whoever
it might be he says they're only servants
they're only those that are ministers they're only
responsible to do the willing the will of
this man this one who is now seated
at the right hand of god in the
place that he occupies so he begins by
telling them the fact that in the old
testament time god spoke and god spoke we
saw last night as he brought this word
before men in that day by the voice
of prophets what's most interesting is that the
prophets had a limited ability to express the
of god they were only vessels to be
used by god to be mouthpieces to deliver
a message from god to the people and
they couldn't go beyond that they couldn't say
any more than what god had given them
and so their expression was limited they might
touch on a particular aspect of truth they
might bring before the people a certain need
in relation to their sinfulness and seek to
produce repentance in them there might be another
aspect of unfolding of truth that another prophet
might give but it was all limited it
was all fragmented it was all piece by
piece a little bit here and there because
those prophets were limited mouthpieces of god and
they could only go so far god could
never express himself fully it's simply a human
being even a prophet it required far more
than that we read in john chapter one
no man has seen god at any time
impossible but the only begotten son who was
in the bosom of the father he has
declared him he's brought him out into view
he's made him known he's revealed him in
a way that was impossible for all the
combined aspects of the old testament revelation to
ever possibly undertake as a revelation of the
of god of the person of his son
that is far greater that's why he says
in verse two that in these last days
at the end when the prophets have run
their course and they have no more to
say and god is not going to speak
that way anymore he says in these last
days he has spoken in son that is
god himself in the person of his own
eternal son has come into this world and
in doing so he has conveyed an unfolding
of himself in a far greater way than
a that that all other prophetic voices could
ever do he says this is the one
through whom god is speaking now that emphasizes
the importance of the message that in fact
emphasizes what he has to say is final
and it's full and there's no need for
anymore he says he's the one that he
has made but he is the one who
is appointed heir of all things that is
he is the one like isaac of old
unto whom his father had given everything and
in this aspect of his heirship he has
the right to everything that has ever been
made it's all been entrusted into his hand
he's the one who possesses it all and
even though when one inherits something for their
father they have to wait for them to
die normally to enjoy it well you know
the lord jesus is presently the heir and
he's made that he's been appointed that he's
been declared that everything is given to him
and that of course places even greater a
point importance of what he is revealing of
the character of god he's the possessor of
heaven and earth he's the great one from
eternity and it's by him he says that
he made all things so that he possesses
all things by the right of inheritance he
made all things and that's an interesting word
by whom he made the worlds the word
worlds here is not the word that is
commonly used for the created earth it's the
ages he made the ages and that includes
everything that is in it when you look
at chapter 11 and verse 3 by faith
we understand that the worlds the ages were
framed by the word of god that's not
only the physical elements of this world it
includes i believe the entire unfolding of god's
purposes the dispensations that are running their course
god is controlling everything and this one has
created them and he's moving them forward and
everything is uh is is being directed by
the hand of god nothing happens by happenstance
in this world everything is under his control
he has a purpose and he's working out
he's developing that he's unfolding it little by
little and ultimately he's going to bring it
to his completion he made and he is
moving forward the ages so everything is under
the control of his hand wonderful thing to
remember that he's the one who is the
attraction of a heart he's the lord of
our life he's the savior of our souls
this is the one he says by whom
he made the worlds now i should have
said before i came to that that in
verse two and three you have a seven
-fold expression of the glory of christ he's
first of all seen as the heir of
all things secondly he's seen as the one
who is the creator and sustainer of all
the ages in the third place we find
in verse three that he is the brightness
of god's glory and that word brightness means
he is the outshining of the glory of
god you and i don't really see the
sun you know we see the outshining of
the sun we see the the brilliance of
the rays of the light that shine out
from the sun and that is what makes
us know what is behind it all might
not be seen couldn't be seen by our
eyes because it would damage them but he
is the outshining of a person of god
himself he's the visible expression of all that
god is and there's no deficiency in what
god has expressed in him he is the
effulgence he's not a reflection you know the
moon is a reflection of the sun but
the lord jesus is not a reflection of
what god is he is the essence declared
and expressed and radiantly going out to make
men know the reality of the character of
god he is the effulgence of god's glory
and he is the express image of his
person that means he is the exact expression
of everything that god is now don't let
anybody tell you that he's anything less than
god he could never be the exact expression
of what god is if he were just
a man like some claim to be to
be he is the character the word literally
in the greek language is character that's what
we get our word character from and character
is what a person really is it's not
what they put on it's not what they
pretend to be but character is the essence
of the person the word really indicates that
it's that in the original idea of the
word it's that idea of engraving or stamping
with a a die shall we say so
that it produces the exact expression of what
is embodied in this particular thing he says
the lord jesus this one who is the
eternal son is the exact expression of everything
that is divine everything that is of deity
so he is not only the heir he
is not only the maker and the sustainer
of the ages he's the outshining the glory
of god he's the express express image of
his person the exact expression of his person
that means his nature his very subsistence of
god is being expressed in the person of
the lord jesus well then he says something
else he is the one that upholds all
things by the word of his power he
is upholding all things that's not a static
thing as one has put it it's not
the old idea and pagan mythology of atlas
holding the world on his shoulders and sustaining
its weight but the idea of upholding all
things is a fact that he is bearing
them on directing them with a purposeful activity
to bring them to their completion upholding all
things without exception by simply the word of
his power you know this is the one
that spoke everything into existence by the word
of his power everything was made no involvement
of any activity no involvement of any energy
that had to be expended by work god
spake and it was done but he's sustaining
as well by the word of his power
the powerful word when god speaks it releases
energy and that same voice that brought the
worlds of the ages into existence is also
bringing them on along the way and ultimately
bringing them to a full destination so he's
upholding all things presently by the word of
his power and when he had by himself
sixthly the sixth thing about this glorious person
is that he made by himself purification for
sins that is it was a work that
depended upon him entirely there was no looking
for outside help there was no involvement with
anyone outside of himself he by himself made
purification for sins it's not just our sins
it really is a relation to sins in
the completeness and he has accomplished that great
work in such a way that it's absolutely
final and will never have to be repeated
again he made that he accomplished it and
it's finished and the last thing about his
glorious person in these two verses is he
sat himself down you know in the old
testament we know very well that the high
priest never properly sat down not when he
was occupied with his work and occupied in
the activities of the temple or the tabernacle
none of the priests ever sat because their
work was continuous but this one he sat
down and why because his work is finished
no more to be done and four times
over in the book of hebrews we find
that he has sat himself down and he
has been seated at the right hand of
the majesty in the heights at the right
hand of god in the highest place eternal
and he's seated there as a glorified man
carrying with him that perfect humanity into the
presence of god so seven aspects of the
glory of the lord jesus that should thrill
our hearts and should direct our attention toward
him with deepest appreciation but he who began
from eternity as the heir of all things
having made the worlds and expressing all that
god is in his own person ultimately purified
making purification for sins he's now up there
he sat down at the right hand of
the majesty of the heights what a wonderful
person you and i have come to know
and that's the reason of course why our
hearts like the hearts of these people should
be attracted to him that there should be
nothing in our hearts and our lives that
would compete with a place that he is
to have when you think of the glory
that is connected with him now i need
to keep on moving maybe i should have
taken two nights for chapter one but we'll
have to try to cover it in one
night i want to think about seven old
testament quotations if there's seven aspects of his
glory in chapter one and the number seven
i believe is important because seven indicates the
completeness of all that god wants to describe
to us concerning him now he's going to
take up seven quotations from the old testament
and what is interesting is they're all from
the book of psalms you know psalms is
a book of songs songs of praise and
in a sense when you look at the
verses that follow beginning in verse 4 down
through verse 14 what it is is an
anthem of praise that unfolds that expands and
extols the greatness of the lord jesus and
he goes back to the old testament why
is he doing that he's proving the fact
that the old testament anticipated the greatness of
the lord jesus now i want you to
notice as well as we look at that
in these seven aspects that there are a
number of things that mark him in all
of his greatness i've got about eight of
them at least in these verses some linked
with the verses that we've that we'll read
in terms of the old testament quotations but
notice would be first of all that in
verse four he has a superior name he
has been given a name and that name
is in relation to his character that name
is an indication of his dignity that name
expresses and we're not too much concerned you
know many brethren argue and and try to
figure out what name is it well the
name simply is a representation of all that
he is the name speaks of his matchless
worth and he has been given a name
that is above every name we read in
philippians chapter 2 but in this place we
find that as a glorified man he has
become better than the angels and most of
the angels so far as we know don't
even have a name at least maybe god
maybe god has a name for them but
we don't know it it's unknown so far
as we're concerned but no matter what their
name might be this one that we're speaking
about here has a better name a far
superior name he says he has obtained a
more excellent name than they in other words
god is setting forth the the infinitely glorious
dignity of the lord jesus that his name
far surpasses every aspect of these angelic beings
and all their greatness wonderful to think that
in verse four it's said in contrast if
you think about it with the fact that
in chapter two we read that he was
made a little lower than the angels with
a view to the suffering of death but
now crowned with glory and honor and part
of the glory and honor that is his
is the name that he has obtained and
received by inheritance now he won't dwell upon
that but he has a superior name there's
no name that will ever rival or compete
with the name of the lord jesus not
only in our hearts but also in eternity
now in verse five he quotes from psalm
2 and here we have the expression not
of a superior name but of a unique
relationship a relationship that is not comparable to
any other relationship that any other person or
any other being might have with god he
says unto which of the angels said he
at any time sit thou know thou art
my son this day have i begotten thee
now we could spend a lot of time
discussing just what day it is it is
in reference here i'm not too much concerned
about that i personally believe that it has
to do with the resurrection but it might
be also that moment when he was received
back and acclaimed in glory at the right
hand of god that this one coming into
heaven in the dignity of his work that
had been finished and the glorified body that
he carries into the presence of god that
thou art my son the same one that
was from eternity whatever it might be because
you know that you'll find many brethren as
well as many books i take them to
be brethren as well that have argued in
relation to what is this day i don't
believe it's the day of his incarnation i
do it i do believe it has to
do with his humanity but what phase of
his humanity one could have a very difficult
time determining but he still says this there's
something that has been declared in relation to
this person that was never said of an
angel thou art my son this day have
i begotten thee i would take it that
it's an acclamation of the uniqueness of the
relationship between god the father and this one
who is his eternal ungenerated son the one
that was always the sun in the bosom
of the father and here he has gone
in the world to accomplish the will of
god in his perfect humanity and going to
the cross resurrect from the dead and now
ascended back to the right hand of god
god says in all of his acclamation this
is my son thou art my son this
day have i begotten thee so there's a
unique relationship expressed and not only that between
the one who is acclaimed to the son
but notice that the latter part of the
verse he says again i will be to
him for father and he shall be to
me for son so that that relationship is
emphasized in the fact that there is a
father son relationship that has never been broken
you think what about the cross wasn't there
a breaking wasn't there a severing of this
relationship when the lord jesus was alone on
calvary let me just say that the only
abandonment that the lord experienced was by his
god not by his father there was never
a moment that's hard for us to understand
of course that there are different aspects of
that relationship but in his manhood he was
forsaken by god but as the eternal son
he was never forsaken by the father but
here he is and he's seen in this
quotation from some from one of the psalms
at some which one it is it's uh
psalm 89 verse 26 and 27 in this
particular case is spoken in the psalm in
relation to solomon as god speaks to david
and he emphasized the fact that he is
going to put his son upon the throne
of israel and he says no matter what
may take place he says i will always
be to him as father and he will
be to me a son and if that
could be said in that limited way in
relation to a man that very obviously failed
even though he had such a responsibility how
much more could it be said in all
of its perfection in an unlimited way god
could say i will be to him a
father and he shall be with to me
a son i think of the gospel of
john when i think of those words because
you remember perhaps in reading that gospel there
are more times that the lord jesus speaks
to the father not to the god not
to his god he speaks to his father
and he's speaking to him as one who
enjoys an intimate continual unbroken relationship he says
father i will my father i desire and
so on and so we have this unique
relationship that is enjoyed that is unbroken and
is expressed even now in eternity then again
in verse six we have another quotation in
verse in this verse from another psalm it's
not psalm 97 and verse 7 it's interesting
that psalm 97 and verse 7 begins with
a little expression the lord reigneth there are
four psalms in this particular section of the
book that begin or have an in them
that expression the lord reigneth and i believe
it points forward to the millennium this is
the time when he will sit upon the
throne and it will occupy the place of
absolute authority so when i look at verse
six i think about the lord jesus he
not only has a superior name on a
unique relationship but he has a higher position
than all others it says when he bringeth
the force first begotten into the world he
saith and let the angels of god worship
him that would show that these angels are
in a vastly inferior position to the one
that he's speaking about they are commanded to
worship this one and i take it that
when he is going to come back in
his glory he's going to come again into
this world and at that moment the angels
along with all created beings will worship him
he is the one to whom all praise
and honor and glory will be directed in
the millennials in that millennial condition and he's
also the one that will receive all praise
and honor and worship for all eternity so
here is he is seated he's seen in
the higher position that he has because worship
is always directed toward one who is higher
than we are if he's higher than angels
he's greater than angels he's their god and
he's their lord then in verse seven he
says of the of the angels he saith
who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers
a flame of fire now that's quoted from
psalm 104 verse 4 and here he is
seen as the one that is seated upon
the throne the angels themselves are simply ministers
this word ministers is the one that indicates
public service servants that are fulfilling an official
capacity and here they are as those that
surround the throne they're the ones that are
willing to go at his bidding to do
whatever he wants him to do to fulfill
his work can do obey his word he
says he makes his angels spirits or wind
and his ministers a flame of fire will
there be to accomplish his work of power
or in relation to judgment their instant and
their obedience to him they've been made that
he makes them that but the son is
never made he says in verse 8 as
to the son he saith thy throne oh
god is from the ages to the ages
a scepter of righteousness is a scepter of
thy kingdom this is one of the clearest
statements in relation to the deity of the
lord jesus god is speaking to him this
is quoted i believe from psalm 45 which
is clearly a messianic psalm there's a psalm
that declares the one that is coming back
to destroy his enemies he's going to gird
his sword upon his thigh and he's going
to come to defeat them who have been
his adversaries and he's going to ultimately take
to himself a bride that is pictured in
psalm 45 he says thy throne thy place
of authority thy right of power and thy
scepter which is the execution of that power
is forever and ever never will come to
an end you remember that said about him
that of the increase of his government in
psalm in isaiah chapter 9 in verse 7
onto us a child is born unto us
the son is given and the government shall
be upon his shoulder and his name should
be called wonderful counselor a mighty god the
prince of peace the everlasting father that is
the father of eternity and of the increase
of his government and his peace there shall
be no end upon the throne of david
to establish it for the word of god
of course has spoken it so we have
the one who is going to occupy the
throne and god is speaking to the son
he says thy throne oh god there are
many who have tried to get around this
expression and some way to try to to
change his wording and try to take away
the fact that it's an absolute declaration of
the deity of the lord jesus and yet
they can't do it because you ruin the
verse and you violate the principles of proper
translations to do so no god is declaring
in this passage in psalm 45 the uniqueness
and the unity between jehovah and the lord
jesus the eternal son he says thy throne
oh god is forever and ever so here
he is occupying a place of superior authority
the one who directs the angels and they
do his bidding and they don't hesitate in
running very rapidly to carry out his will
notice in verse 8 something that i feel
is very precious first of all we have
an eternal throne a throne that is forever
in verse eight as well we have a
righteous rule that will come from that throne
and then as well there's the righteous character
of the king in verse nine wonderful day
when that's going to be expressed child of
god when all kings and all authorities are
going to be cast down ultimately the highest
expression of man's rebellion against god in the
throne of the beast will be destroyed and
this one who is forever who has an
eternal throne will exercise an upright rule because
of his own personal righteous character that no
one has ever expressed before notice as well
in this verse that the lord jesus christ
is unique first of all in his position
he's the one who god declares that he
is god he's unique in his position he's
unique in his power thy throne is forever
and ever he's unique in his position he's
unique in his power he's unique in verse
nine in his personal character he loved righteousness
and hated lawlessness he's not only that but
he's unique in his promotion verse nine even
god by god hath anointed thee with the
oil of gladness above thy fellows so in
every way the lord jesus has a unique
place he's unique in his position he's unique
in his power unique in his personal character
and unique in his promotion above all others
i won't spend any time trying to argue
about who the fellows are i think you
could probably get about as many answers as
books you would read or men you would
listen to but uh one thing is very
clear what the word of god is saying
is that there's none to compare with him
whether they be previous kings that are set
upon thrones he's far above them if you
might see them as angels he's anointed with
the oil of gladness above them if it
has to do with the saints that will
be associated with him he's the one that's
going to be above them all he has
identified himself with us wonderful grace while he's
going to occupy the place that is far
superior he'll be the object of worship and
praise but time is about gone let's just
notice this in verse 10 he has another
quotation it's from psalm 102 verse 25 through
27 and in this case it's not the
superior character of christ that we see in
verse 9 it's the superior power that is
displayed because it says that thou lord in
the beginning has laid the foundation of the
earth and the heavens of the works of
thine hands everything has been made by him
and the word of god says that without
him was not anything made that was made
that's john chapter one but here's the absolutely
superior power of the lord jesus but notice
in verse 11 he says all those things
that he has made shall perish in other
words physical things are all passing away they're
all temporary they're all transient they're all intended
for a change it will one day take
place they're not intended to go on the
way they are he says they shall perish
but thou remainest now that word remainest indicates
the thought of permanence a permanently unchanging state
in contrast to everything else that will stay
with the world come to a point they
shall perish but thou remainest and they all
shall wax old as doth a garment this
whole earth is waxing old it's getting older
and older and there's a degeneration that is
taking place and there's a diminishing of power
there's a diminishing of order more disorder now
perhaps than there ever was he says they're
all going to wax old as doth a
garment it's a garment that expresses the greatness
of god in his creation and he says
in verse 12 as a vesture thou shall
fold them up that word simply means he's
going to change them you know really the
world though it's it's going to perish he
says and it's all going to be it's
all waxing old it's out of that that
he's going to make a new heaven and
a new earth this world is doomed for
the fire of god's judgment but that's not
the termination of it because god is going
to create out of it a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness that
is where righteousness will be permanently at home
and not be a transient character as a
vesture thou shall change them and they shall
be changed but thou art the same so
there we have his absolute permanence the one
you know it's interesting that when it comes
to the end of the book in chapter
13 and verse 8 he says jesus christ
the same yesterday today and forever you go
back into eternity and what he was then
is what he is now and what he
is now is what he will be for
all eternity you always need to remember that
god is not bound by time he is
not defined by the limitations of chronology he
is one who is outside of time altogether
he's always the same no change jehovah knows
he'll always be the same so he says
in view of the fact that all this
creation is going to be changed it's waxing
old it's going to be transformed it's all
going to be made something else he says
thou art the same it's interesting to remember
that that type that is the title of
the lord jesus the same no change the
one who was continually of the same character
and the same expression of his person even
though there may be different ways in which
he works very briefly though in verse 13
and 14 he says to which of the
angels said he at any time one more
one more quotation psalm 110 now psalm 110
is a is a psalm that is entirely
from beginning to end speaking about the messiah
a messianic psalm it begins you know the
lord said unto my lord sit thou on
my right hand until i make thine enemies
that i footstool we find that it's speaking
entirely about the lord jesus as the one
who presently is sitting sitting seated the right
hand of god waiting for the moment when
god will uh when god will in god's
time he will come back and he will
vanquish his foes and he's also seen there
in his eternal priesthood but to which of
the angels said he at any time never
god never said to an angel sit thou
at my right hand the right hand and
the word of god is always a place
of honor it's a place of dignity it's
a place of acclamation you remember when solomon
was sitting upon the throne and his mother
Bathsheba came to him he had a had
a seat put for her at his right
hand on the right hand is a place
where one would put the king would put
one that he wants to honor and in
this case it's an indication that god has
given him honor and glory that he never
has given anyone else and there as a
genuine touchable tangible man is one who is
seated at the right hand of god angels
must wonder about all that angels never occupied
that place no he says in verse 14
they're just ministering spirits same word that he
thought that we find back in verse 7
it's the idea of those that are occupied
in carrying out a public function under the
direction of another he says they're just ministering
spirits they're just servants they surround the throne
to do the will of him who is
seated at the right hand of god today
and he says they're ministering for those who
are about to become heirs of salvation that
involves you and me i believe looking on
to the future salvation that we look forward
to because our salvation is not complete we're
going to one day be in the presence
of the lord jesus delivered out of a
world that is full of sin and from
a body that has a tendency towards sin
salvation will never be complete until we're in
the presence of the lord jesus and in
the meantime he says these angels are just
serving serving these that are about to be
heirs are going to be heirs of salvation
and while they're serving the one that sits
upon the throne they're serving us as well
they're also serving i would take it in
relation to the nation of israel that one
day they are going to come into the
good of god's salvation when they're restored and
in the repentance and they see him and
in the meantime they are occupied in preserving
that nation under the hand of god until
god's purposes are fulfilled so we're occupied in
considering this lovely book of hebrews we just
want to look at the lord jesus so
many other things we can look at in
it but i just want to direct your
attention to think about him that's a subject
we can never think too much about and
i trust that we look at him with
a better light as a result of seeing
what the word of god declares concerning the
greatness and the wonder of the lord jesus
christ may god enlarge your hearts and give
us an ability to take it in let's
pray our father we're thankful that thou has
so graciously and kindly brought us into eternal
association with thy beloved son we thank thee
condescends to call us brethren and we would
respond by calling him our lord we bow
with rapt with with an attitude of worship
and thanksgiving to thee for all that he
is from all eternity to eternity even by
means of that pathway of humility that he
willingly took and the cross that he willingly
endured we thank thee to the right hand
of god today one is thine eternal son
who is our lord jesus christ we offer
thanks to thee for him we pray that
thou would help us so god as we
read thy word to appreciate him more and
understand more of his greatness and grandeur we
look to thee for thy blessing take us
home safely we pray as we give thanks
again in the worthy and precious name of
our lord jesus christ amen let's just sing
a verse of number 414 the first verse
says majestic sweetness sets enthroned upon the savior's
brow his head with radiant glory is crowned
his lips with grace or flow we'll sing
verse two and then the meeting be over
now if you want to look ahead into
chapter two i just suggest to you and
i want to look with you at five
different aspects of the lord jesus that emphasize
the importance of his incarnation why did he
become a man and why did he move
into this scene in which you and i
have found i believe they're found in chapter
two and i hope we can look at
them in some major profit tomorrow night god
willing so remember that if you can come
come again and we'll hear more about the
lord jesus