Jacob Vaudrin, elder candidate at Christ the Word Church, exegetes from Hebrews in this series.
[00:00:06] Good morning everyone. You may be seated. Before I really get into the sermon,
[00:00:14] I'm going to be doing something a little bit different from my past two sermons. This
[00:00:18] time around I haven't written in exhaustive script where I have to constantly be looking
[00:00:24] down and reading from it while I speak to you. I'm going to be a little more dynamic.
[00:00:28] I've done extensive laboring in the text as they call it, and I've made very comprehensive
[00:00:35] notes. Notes that I'm just going to be glancing at from time to time, so please have a
[00:00:43] grace for me if I need to collect my thoughts or check my notes just to get a grip on where
[00:00:50] I need to be. This sermon is actually going to be a series. I've decided that I'm going
[00:00:58] to have a kind of continual reading of the book of Hebrews for my next couple of sermons
[00:01:04] because I think the book of Hebrews is one of the greatest books in the New Testament.
[00:01:10] So why exactly did I pick the book of Hebrews? Well, I think RC Sproul has a really
[00:01:20] good quote about the book of Hebrews. He said that if I were to be confined or imprisoned
[00:01:29] for the rest of my life, if I could have one book it would obviously be the Bible. He
[00:01:34] then went on to say that if you could have only one chapter from the Bible, that it would
[00:01:38] be the sixth chapter of Isaiah. That's the one that we went over last week in the Catechism
[00:01:43] of the Throne Room of God. He then continues saying if you could have only one verse, it
[00:01:49] would be a verse out of chapter 15 of Genesis. That's where Abraham makes the God, that's
[00:01:55] where God makes a covenant with Abraham. The covenant that would save the world. He then
[00:02:02] finally says if I could have only one book from the Bible it would be the book of Hebrews.
[00:02:09] Now people who know RC Sproul would say, wait a minute, I thought you'd choose the book
[00:02:15] of Romans. He's written many books on Romans itself. He's exigated that more than any other
[00:02:23] book of the Bible but he responds with, well I think I already know what's in the book
[00:02:30] of Hebrews. I'm sorry, the book of Romans. So I'll choose the book of Hebrews because
[00:02:37] it is the most wonderful exultation of Christ that we see, of how he is better than everything
[00:02:46] else. And he believes that is the full Council of God concentrated into one book.
[00:02:54] And the reason for that is because the author of Hebrews will talk about that later. The
[00:02:59] author of Hebrews took many elements of the Old Testament and said that these things were
[00:03:09] great, these things were appointed by God for salvation. But see, don't go back to those.
[00:03:16] Jesus is here. God has spoken through Jesus and Jesus is greater. So I think I'm going
[00:03:22] to title this sermon. Hebrews, part one, the divine exultation of Jesus. I could go for
[00:03:30] a longer title because Hebrews one not only divinely exalts Jesus but also says, Jesus is
[00:03:36] greater than the angels. So without further delay, I'm going to pick up in two questions
[00:03:45] that we have to get into when directly discussed in the book of Hebrews. The questions
[00:03:50] are who wrote Hebrews and who was Hebrews addressed too? Well, we don't actually know who wrote
[00:03:58] Hebrews. Unlike almost every other book in the New Testament, it doesn't have authorship,
[00:04:04] a signature of authorship, I should say. There are other books like Acts but we can determine
[00:04:10] who the author is, Luke, by the style of writing between Acts and the Gospel of Luke.
[00:04:16] And also we can deduce through historical accounts of Luke was traveling with Paul quite
[00:04:22] a bit. And so he would say many times in Acts, Paul and I traveled together. It's
[00:04:29] Luke. But Hebrews is a little different. We have nothing that can connect Hebrews linguistically
[00:04:35] or I should say literally, but literally, through writing analytical writing of the text,
[00:04:43] we can't really connect it to any other book because it's so unlike every other book.
[00:04:49] So why is it in our Bible if we don't know who wrote it? Well, the reason that it's
[00:04:54] in our Bible today is because the early church had a very strong conviction that it was
[00:04:59] the Apostle Paul who wrote the book of Hebrews. And they had this conviction because
[00:05:05] it seriously fit in with Paul's theology is very consistent with the thoughts of Paul.
[00:05:11] However, it bears almost no resemblance to the writing of Paul. His writing style. He wrote
[00:05:17] letters to churches that were usually long or short theological treatises that would be delivered
[00:05:24] saying from the Apostle Paul to the Church of Romans. This doesn't have anything like that.
[00:05:30] So that's why I almost no modern scholar today believes Paul wrote the book of Hebrews.
[00:05:38] I'm going to emphasize wrote the book of Hebrews because I'm going to present another theory
[00:05:42] to you later. But why don't they believe that Paul wrote this? Well, simply for the
[00:05:47] exact, for the reasons that I gave before it doesn't really match Paul's writing style.
[00:05:51] It's very different to his usual structure of letters to the Church. Well,
[00:05:57] most modern scholars say instead of Paul, it was probably Apollos or Barnabas or Luke.
[00:06:05] It shares their resemblance, it shares their sort of writing styles. And especially Luke's writing
[00:06:12] style. But I actually think that this is Paul. The reason is because when we look further into the
[00:06:21] type of the text, we see that Hebrews is what's called an ancient homily or a sermon.
[00:06:28] Hebrews was a sermon preached and recorded by somebody. That's why I present to you the theory
[00:06:34] that it was preached by Paul and recorded by Luke. So we have to go to the next question,
[00:06:44] who is Hebrews addressed to? Well, the book of Hebrews is Apollonamed Hebrews because it was
[00:06:49] addressed to the Hebrew Christians of the time. Not the first generation who lived and walked
[00:06:56] with Jesus, not to the second generation who were taught by the apostles of Jesus. But actually,
[00:07:01] more towards the third generation. Now this book was probably written before 7080 because
[00:07:08] a big event like the temple being destroyed would have been mentioned with all the temple talk
[00:07:13] in this book. So it's probably written before 7080 and it would have been written to the Hebrew Christians
[00:07:21] of the third generation. So there's a very controversial subject in this book that was
[00:07:27] a big controversy in the Old Church and the big controversy in the New Church. That comes around
[00:07:32] Hebrews 6, but there's a couple other verses here and there because Hebrews seems to suggest
[00:07:37] that a Christian can lose their salvation and never gain it again. That's also a pretty big
[00:07:46] controversy today. But I think the authorship or who Hebrews was addressed to, actually
[00:07:54] answers that question perfectly because it was addressed to these Hebrew Christians. We see all
[00:08:00] of all through the book saying do not turn back to the Old ways. The temple system was great.
[00:08:08] Moses was great but Jesus is greater. I'm going to take you through the life of the Hebrew
[00:08:15] Christian to try to further answer the question of what that falling away is. The Hebrew
[00:08:22] Christian life of the time would be probably working the lowest kind of jobs because they believed
[00:08:31] in Jesus, they gave up everything for him. Their families would have completely disowned them.
[00:08:38] Their parents would have gone to the temple and said you're no longer our child because you
[00:08:43] won't come with us. Brothers, sisters would completely abandon a Christian at that time. In fact,
[00:08:50] Christians also had to keep their heads low and hide from the government because narrow had just
[00:08:55] become the son of God in the Caesar cult. He became the Caesar and he had to be the son of God,
[00:09:05] not this Jesus character. So the Christians had to hide at that time and they had to face a lot
[00:09:12] of horrifying things. For instance, the gardens of narrow where he would capture Christians and
[00:09:20] burn them on the stake. They also had to deal with hungry lions and bloodthirsty gladiators waiting
[00:09:27] for them as play things in the circus maximists, the great Coliseums. Those were just some of the
[00:09:33] things that Hebrews Christians had to deal with. And so you could imagine that they would be tempted
[00:09:38] to maybe just say, maybe Jesus isn't worth it. I was worshiping God before, maybe I should go back.
[00:09:47] The book of Hebrews says, no don't. Don't go back. Please, Jesus is greater. And so
[00:09:56] they would also be tempted with what are called the lap sigh. Those Hebrew Christians who did
[00:10:02] fall for that temptation gave up Jesus and went back to the temple system. I believe that is what
[00:10:08] Hebrews chapter 6 says when it claims that there is no longer a salvation or sacrifice remaining
[00:10:15] for those who are fallen because they gave up Jesus completely abandoned him never to return.
[00:10:23] It had to use such harsh language, such terrifying language because it was really a serious problem
[00:10:30] and they faced horrifying temptations to leave Jesus. And so I believe this book is addressed
[00:10:39] to the Hebrew Christians do not lap sigh or fall away. Please do not fall away. So now we'll
[00:10:49] finally get into the text. I think my first slide is for the first two verses but we'll go through
[00:10:57] the whole reading of the scripture and then start exegreading it. I would like to kind of give
[00:11:03] it a original context first because it is addressed to these Hebrew Christians of the time
[00:11:09] who met in caves and houses and who are while facing these temptations while thinking,
[00:11:16] do I turn away? Do I go back to the old system? Well one day they met with their usual group
[00:11:24] thinking these things and tempted to leave Jesus to turn away to go back to the old system.
[00:11:35] But there is a massive shaking in the underground church when a new book had been written.
[00:11:44] It was a sermon possibly preached by Paul but an apostolic work on the last called Hebrews.
[00:11:51] The overseer of their church probably got up, took the letter and began
[00:11:59] long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.
[00:12:06] But in these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed the air of all things
[00:12:12] through whom he also created the world. He's the radiance of the glory of God and the exact
[00:12:18] imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the word of his power after making
[00:12:24] purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
[00:12:29] Having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than
[00:12:35] theirs, for which to the angels did God ever say you are my son today I have been gotten you or
[00:12:42] again I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son and again when he brings the first
[00:12:49] born into the world he says let all God's angels worship him of the angels he says he makes his
[00:12:55] angels wins and his ministers aflame a fire but of the son he says your throne oh God is forever
[00:13:04] and ever the septor of uprightness is the septor of your kingdom you have loved righteousness
[00:13:09] and hated wickedness therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond
[00:13:18] your companions and you Lord laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning and the heavens
[00:13:25] are the work of your hands they will perish but you remain they will all wear out like a garment
[00:13:30] like a robe you will roll them up like a garment they will be changed but you are the same
[00:13:35] and your years will have no end and to which of the angels has he ever said sit at my right hand
[00:13:41] until I make an enemy's footstool for your feet are they not all ministering spirits sent out
[00:13:47] to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation and then the first couple verses of
[00:13:52] chapter two therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard less we drift away from it
[00:13:59] for since the message declared by the angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or
[00:14:03] disobedience received a just retribution how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation
[00:14:11] it was first declared by the Lord and it was attested to a bias by those who heard
[00:14:16] well God also bore witness by science and wonders and various miracles and by the gifts of
[00:14:21] the Holy Spirit distributed according to as well. Father God I pray that you would open our hearts right now
[00:14:33] to glorify your son. Holy Spirit just as you taught the people of Thessalonian Thessalonica, Lord
[00:14:42] you said that they are God taught people please teach us now teach us to glorify your son
[00:14:48] to better worship him the way he must be worshiped the way that your word describes
[00:14:54] he is worshiped the Lord and help us to understand the true weight of his sacrifice on the cross
[00:15:02] Lord and what you gave for us for our sins please remind us of your glory and help us to
[00:15:11] enjoy that fact and exalt Jesus in our own hearts. So we'll begin in verse one but first a
[00:15:23] couple words on the text we just read it was very long and I don't know what was going on
[00:15:28] exactly in the Hebrew community other than what I've already explained to you but for some reason
[00:15:33] they must have had a weird idea about angels because Hebrews chapter one talks a lot about angels
[00:15:40] so what's with all the angel talk? Well if you understand a lot of things about Hebrew
[00:15:49] culture and their sort of cosmology angels are the highest created beings there's there's
[00:15:57] none higher created no creature created higher than the angels they're at the top and pinnacle of
[00:16:03] creation and angels were always ministers of God sharing God's word so I think that makes sense why
[00:16:14] he would have to say over and over again Jesus is not an angel this is what he says about angels
[00:16:18] this is what he says about Jesus so I'm not going to go too far into most of the angel verses
[00:16:25] I will certainly properly exagite them I'll give you the proper context and we will go over them
[00:16:30] they are profitable for us but we're going to be spending most of our time within the first four
[00:16:36] verses because they are very theological dense they are also very long sentences for instance
[00:16:47] long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets but in these last days
[00:16:52] he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed the air of all things through the earth through
[00:16:56] whom he also created the world that's one sentence but there's a lot in there so beginning with
[00:17:05] verse one long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets
[00:17:12] what this would mean to those Hebrew Christians is saying okay this is addressed to me
[00:17:17] he spoke to my fathers that would be Abraham Isaac and Jacob the patriarchs and the prophets
[00:17:23] they would probably think of Elijah he was the face of prophets he was known as the greatest prophet
[00:17:30] but for us I think that we can go a little further to say that this could be said God has spoken
[00:17:40] in many ways and many times God spoke there's many many relevant passages in the old testament
[00:17:48] lots to be dug and mind like gold out of there for our lives have you ever wanted to hear the
[00:17:55] voice of God I'm sure you've all heard the kind of cliche uh read your Bible that's how you
[00:18:01] hear the voice of God speaking well to avoid that cliche I'll go further with that I'll give
[00:18:07] more examples of how God spoke and what ways God spoke if you want to hear the voice of God
[00:18:13] he spoke through more than just ancient prophecies and long genealogies and numberings of the
[00:18:19] armies of Israel but he also spoke in songs and poems songs of praise he also spoke in wisdom
[00:18:27] texts like Proverbs and parables that can be applied to all points of our lives Proverbs is all about
[00:18:33] how a man should act how a young man especially should act and then in the inverse in the negative
[00:18:40] because it gives negative examples of how the women act this is how a woman should act not like
[00:18:47] the one not like spoken of in the first couple chapters of Proverbs later it speaks about what a woman
[00:18:54] should be like that's just an example must wisdom for life Proverbs parables to teach us
[00:19:02] there's even Q and A question it's an answer is in the book of Micah where
[00:19:08] it says who is God it's almost like an ancient catechism a little bit questions and answers
[00:19:15] so he didn't just leave us with strange assoteric visions like in Daniel or in Ezekiel where
[00:19:22] he sees wheels on wheels of fire with many eyes he spoke to us very relevant things all of these
[00:19:29] things that I've mentioned even those visions of Ezekiel are very profitable for us but God has spoken
[00:19:36] we can hear God it's in his word there is many many many bits of wisdom and words for us
[00:19:45] in fact there's hundreds of thousands of words that can be applied to our lives in the Old Testament
[00:19:51] at times I know I have been in the situation where I've thought God why will you not speak to me why
[00:19:57] were you not talk to me in this situation and looking at that from the outside is a little bit like
[00:20:05] saying there's no lakes in Minnesota why is there no lakes in Minnesota? Well there's actually
[00:20:14] 10,000 lakes in Minnesota that was a little joke that John Piper made he's also a Minnesota
[00:20:21] he's a very good preacher so God has given us many words to live by many words for profit
[00:20:30] and to be taught by there's a word for a situation but not only in the Old Testament because we
[00:20:34] go further in verse 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son
[00:20:42] now the original text actually the original language here actually says that he has spoken to us
[00:20:47] by son now they would have understood that to mean an emphasis on that because that is a very
[00:20:54] important fact but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son that's how those Hebrew
[00:21:01] Christians would have heard that whom he appointed the era of all things through whom he also
[00:21:06] created the world now that would have been extremely blasphemous to a Jew at that time
[00:21:15] and maybe even a little bit of a hard saying for a Hebrew Christian because they came out of the
[00:21:20] Jewish line but here it is very clear that the son is given Godhood he's the heir of all things
[00:21:28] through whom he also created the world it says he's the heir first before the creation I like to
[00:21:34] think that the reason it's ordered that way is because he's the heir because he is the one who has
[00:21:39] created the world he's created everything he's the heir of it so what's so great about that well
[00:21:46] this is talking about the gospels Jesus speaks to us through the gospels and the teaching of the
[00:21:52] apostles who are the witnesses of Jesus so not only do we have the Old Testament for
[00:21:58] edification and answers we also have the New Testament I'll give that question one more time
[00:22:04] of do you want to hear God and instead say do you want to hear Jesus well read the gospels
[00:22:09] you can really experience the realness and humanity of Jesus in the gospels I think
[00:22:17] recently I was reading Matthew 18 where Jesus invites the little children up to him
[00:22:24] and you can see the love of Jesus in that and he says don't stop these children from coming to me
[00:22:30] let them come if anybody were to stop them it would be better that they had a millstone around their
[00:22:35] neck and thrown into the ocean because I love them you see the love of Jesus for children
[00:22:41] you can you can look at the example of Zacchaeus who was a short man so we climbed a tree
[00:22:48] he was an infamous tax collector of that area and people wouldn't have liked to see Jesus
[00:22:55] eating with him but Jesus approaches Zacchaeus and says Zacchaeus come down from that tree
[00:23:01] for I must eat at your house that's how Jesus approaches us when we are in our sense he says
[00:23:09] Zacchaeus stop sinning I must eat with you today I must come in your heart
[00:23:19] so if you want to hear Jesus it's all over the gospels you see Jesus come directly out of the
[00:23:24] scriptures that was also the point for the old Hebrews of that time in verse 3 he is the
[00:23:36] radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe
[00:23:42] by the word of his power after making purification first sins he sat down at the right hand of the
[00:23:49] majesty on high so the beginning of this verse is a very complicated and absolutely beautiful
[00:23:59] statement to put it very lightly it says that he's the radiance of the glory of God in the exact
[00:24:06] imprint of his nature that word radiance and the original text is actually something a lot more
[00:24:12] beautiful the Greek word is apalgasma a good English translation of it would be the word
[00:24:19] effulgence I think the ASV version uses the word effulgence which is to be
[00:24:26] radiance splendor it is both a noun and a sort of verb it is the very radiance of a light of a glory
[00:24:36] Jesus Christ is explained here to be to put it in an a sort of analogy he is the
[00:24:45] radiance of the sun to the sun right he's the very glowing power of God and his glory
[00:24:53] and the exact imprint of his nature we can also find an example of this radiance in the old
[00:25:02] testament I think Ezekiel has a very good vision of that radiance splendor and upward from what
[00:25:12] had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal like the appearance of fire
[00:25:18] closed all around and downward from what had that appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance
[00:25:24] of fire and there was brightness around him like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud
[00:25:30] on the day of rain so was the appearance of the brightness all around a bow and the cloud that is
[00:25:35] a rainbow he was glowing like a rainbow that appearance of God to Ezekiel and Jesus Christ
[00:25:42] is said here to both metaphorically and in some ways literally that glowing radiance of God
[00:25:51] that is what we behold when we look at the face of Jesus that is the concentration of God's
[00:25:56] glory and a man right there who he also appointed air of all things through whom he's also created
[00:26:05] the world let's not forget those things those are important they'll be important later
[00:26:11] so such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord and when I sell it I saw it
[00:26:17] I fell on my face that's the ending of Ezekiel I always forget that last part
[00:26:21] so this glory this radiant glory of God who is the exact imprint of nature in a man
[00:26:28] Jesus Christ he also upholds the universe by the word of his power before you
[00:26:38] okay before you go on to the next slide there I want to read an excerpt out of Matthew Henry's commentary
[00:26:45] because I think that he very elegantly explains just using words that I could never come up with
[00:26:53] people talked in a much more beautiful way back then so as Matthew Henry very elegantly explains
[00:27:00] of Jesus Christ upholding all things he upholds all things by the word of his power
[00:27:05] he creates he keeps the world from dissolving by him all things consist the weight of the whole
[00:27:10] creation is laid upon Christ he supports the whole and all the parts when upon the apostasy the world was
[00:27:18] breaking into pieces under the wrath and curse of God the Son of God undertaking the work of redemption
[00:27:25] bounded up again and established it by his almighty power and goodness none of the ancient prophets
[00:27:30] sustained such an office as this none were sufficient for it so what exactly does Jesus sustain
[00:27:38] well modern science has studied our universe greatly and we've made a lot of determinations about it
[00:27:48] for instance the universe is 94 billion light years long what is a light year well that's the
[00:27:54] distance that it would take for light to travel in a year so the amount of time it would take
[00:28:04] for light to travel is a year for it for a year in a year is the distance so that's very very
[00:28:10] very far it takes eight minutes for light to travel from the sun to the earth so eight minutes
[00:28:22] expanded to a year that's how long a light year is very very very far distance so the universe is
[00:28:29] 94 billion light years there's two trillion galaxies they're in 100 billion stars in each galaxy
[00:28:37] our solar system alone is 93 trillion miles long the earth is almost six billion metric tons
[00:28:44] with about eight billion people who are alive today our bodies contain seven billion billion atoms
[00:28:52] and that is seven followed by 27 zeros as you can see how many more atoms are there in the
[00:28:59] universe within the entire universe and Jesus by the word of his power is actively sustaining an
[00:29:06] upholding its entirety oh I also forgot to mention that the earth is almost six billion trillion
[00:29:14] metric tons and is being upheld by Jesus Christ he holds every proton and electron that make up
[00:29:22] not just the atoms of the universe of humans but of the entirety of the universe he sustains all
[00:29:29] of that by the word of his power that is the power of the sun of God the original Hebrew obviously
[00:29:41] would not have been able to know all of these things about our universe to them it would have just been the
[00:29:46] sun and the earth but I think that would be a good enough point of Jesus upholding the entire
[00:29:52] universe by the word of his power so after making purifications for sins he sat down at the right
[00:29:59] hand of the majesty on high it is finished Jesus Christ made purifications for sins he came into the
[00:30:07] earth as a baby he stepped down limiting the expression of his deity as Philippians two talks about
[00:30:15] to become a man to become lower than the angels the God who was worshiped by angels became lower
[00:30:20] than angels and once the cross to make purifications for sins he died on that cross in our place
[00:30:27] and rose again on the third day and then he ascended where he sat down at the right hand of the
[00:30:33] high so what's important about the sitting down at the right hand of the majesty on high is these
[00:30:39] Hebrew Christians would have understood that later in Hebrews it talks about how Jesus is the
[00:30:46] high priest well they would have understood that high priests never had a chance to sit down because
[00:30:52] their work was never finished there was no chairs in all of the descriptions of how the tabernacle
[00:30:58] was to be built there's no chairs in the holy of holys there's no chairs at all because the
[00:31:02] priest would be standing constantly because as soon as he for he paid in rams blood it made a
[00:31:09] sacrifice for sins for one person another person right away immediately he'd have to do that sprinkle
[00:31:14] more blood and offer up another sacrifice his job was never done and every single feast the priest
[00:31:21] was standing and never sat down but we see here Jesus is finished the atonement of sins is
[00:31:30] completed and he is sat at the right hand of the majesty on high continuing on now to verse four
[00:31:42] having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than
[00:31:50] theirs inheritance and names are very very intertwined in the culture of the Hebrews
[00:32:03] for instance we see them record entire genealogies going over going back tens dozens of generations
[00:32:13] so Jesus Christ having inherited a name that is much superior to theirs well what is that name God
[00:32:21] now Jesus didn't just inherit this name after he was successful certainly his humanity
[00:32:29] and while he was in his humanity expressing a limiting the expression of his deity
[00:32:34] he was faithful he died he made atonement for sins he completed his task faithfully
[00:32:39] and he inherited his name however any eternity passed he already had this name he was already God
[00:32:45] which we'll see later but just just to mention that here because there's a couple places where I'm
[00:32:50] going to have to make it very clear that Jesus did not have some beginning but that Jesus always was
[00:32:57] and always has been God any eternity passed because this this chapter alone has been abused more
[00:33:05] than any other chapter to limit the deity of Jesus we'll get to that later
[00:33:13] so we see the superior nature of Christ is is proved here from his superior name
[00:33:18] Jesus is not some mere angels but he's inherited the name of God he was successful
[00:33:24] so do not turn back to the old ways do not turn back to the preaching of of prophets and the
[00:33:34] messages of angels because we have the sun he is speaking to us now from his son
[00:33:40] his son is better than the angels he isn't inherited a name greater than theirs
[00:33:46] once again I'll go back to Matthew Henry on this the scripture does not give a high
[00:33:51] anglerius title without a real foundation and reason in nature nor would such great things have
[00:33:58] been said of our Lord Jesus Christ if he had not been as great and excellent as those words import
[00:34:06] so Jesus having inherited the name of God stands to reason that he is very God and has earned
[00:34:16] Godhood when he when he limited the expression while he was human he earned that name
[00:34:22] that speaks for his greatness that's certainly what have spoken to the Hebrews of that time
[00:34:28] that he inherited the name of God I am Yahweh that would be blasphemy to the Jews
[00:34:40] continuing on in verse 5 for which are the angels that God ever say you are my son today
[00:34:46] I have been gotten you or again I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son
[00:34:54] now this also would be something that Hebrews would recognize
[00:34:59] he speaks of the he says which of the angels did God ever say this you are my son today
[00:35:03] have been gotten you I will be to him a father and he should be to me son he was what have been
[00:35:07] able to recognize two things first of all Jesus Christ is the son of God
[00:35:14] secondly they would have recognized these two phrases from their old testament
[00:35:21] this first phrase here comes from Psalm 2 verse 7 it is the enthronement ceremony of David
[00:35:29] David was a type of Christ his life was a pattern and a pedigree of Jesus Christ to come
[00:35:34] and here we take what was said of Jesus or sorry said of David in Psalm 2 7
[00:35:41] and the author of Hebrews actually applies it here to Jesus this is Holy Spirit inspired
[00:35:46] interpretation of the Old Testament because yes it was said of David but here in Hebrews
[00:35:51] it is said of Jesus Psalm 2 7 is I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me you are my son
[00:35:58] today I have been gotten you and this is a little fun thing to do I won't do it here but if you
[00:36:05] read Psalm 2 with the context of Jesus it's awesome to see how Jesus so plainly
[00:36:12] appears in the Old Testament when you read the entirety of Psalm 2 it's just it's wonderful
[00:36:18] because that is an enthronement and exaltation of Jesus continuing on similarly today
[00:36:24] bit as a type keep it on that slide similarly today bit as a type so with Solomon
[00:36:31] because this next phrase I will be to him my father and he shall be to me a son and Samuel 2
[00:36:37] chapter 7 verse 14 I will be to him my father and he shall be to me a son
[00:36:43] now the rest of the verse is when he commits an equity I will discipline him with the
[00:36:46] rod of men with the stripes and of the sons of men and we know Solomon had a fall and he was
[00:36:52] corrected by God but Jesus never had to be corrected by God because he never sined
[00:36:58] but much like Solomon Jesus was a type to come and why is this important because David
[00:37:06] is Jesus's father in the Hebrew culture we see Matthew go very very far into detail proving
[00:37:14] the genealogy of Jesus being the son of David that's an little name of David is that Jesus was a son of
[00:37:22] Solomon was the first in the household of David the building of a kingdom that Jesus would
[00:37:28] one day become the true son of David the true head of that kingdom which would last forever there
[00:37:34] were never lack a priest on the throne as it says later in Samuel chapter 7 that would be Jesus
[00:37:40] now going back real quick to David being a type of priest I'm gonna say that in the future
[00:37:46] I would love to preach on that someday because it is magnificent watching the greatness of David
[00:37:53] predict what has to happen in Jesus Christ there's a lot to talk about there so I'm going to move on
[00:38:00] starting in chapter 6 in verse 6 sorry and again when he brings the first born into the world he
[00:38:08] says let all God's angels worship him so we see here once again Jesus is not an angel all
[00:38:15] the angels worship Jesus and we know and Isaiah God is very clear about a few things one there is no
[00:38:25] other gods besides him two that you show worship no other God but me I'll throw in a third here just
[00:38:36] on the fly that something that I thought of as Isaiah also talks about how there's no other redeemer
[00:38:41] but God so if Jesus is not God how could he be another redeemer that would directly contradict
[00:38:50] the prophecy of Isaiah so when Jesus is brought into the world we see angels worshiping him like in Luke
[00:39:00] when they say when they surrounded the multitude of heavenly hosts praising God saying glory to God in the
[00:39:05] highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased is not wonderful God is pleased with us
[00:39:13] he brought Jesus in the world he's pleased with us we see the angels worshiping Jesus when he was born
[00:39:20] and then after his ascension to the throne of God and the right hand of the father we see all of
[00:39:26] heaven worshiping him revelation 511 and through 12 then I looked and heard the voice of many angels
[00:39:34] numbering thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000 saying with a loud voice
[00:39:43] saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom
[00:39:49] and might and honor and glory and blessing that is the angels the perpetual worship of angels and
[00:39:56] actually when it says 10,000 upon 10,000 and 10,000 times 10,000 that means it is innumerable
[00:40:03] that is to drive forward the point that you cannot count them numbers are completely pointless because
[00:40:08] there is more than there are numbers of angels that is the point of 10,000 upon 10,000, 10,000 times 10,000
[00:40:16] and they all worship Christ we see again revelation 7 verses 11 and 12 all the angels
[00:40:22] were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures they fell down
[00:40:27] on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom
[00:40:34] and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever amen. This is
[00:40:40] the proper response to our Lord Jesus Christ for what He has done for us. This is how we are
[00:40:47] to worship Jesus we should be in perpetual worship and eventually we will be when we are with
[00:40:54] we will be around the throne in the perfect blessed presence and peace and joy and pleasure of Christ.
[00:41:04] What a beautiful picture also in John or sorry I'm jumping ahead of myself another note
[00:41:11] and a very good example of bad exegesis this is that one of those examples I was talking about
[00:41:16] of how Hebrews is abused is that first born here has been heavily abused by heresies since
[00:41:25] the ascension of Jesus and the beginning of his church. Nosticism,
[00:41:29] Aryanism which said Jesus was just the first greatist creature and monotimes Mormonism
[00:41:35] where Jesus is a created God he ascended to Godhood and another time created by God the Father
[00:41:44] who was a separate God from Him but we know that He was born of this
[00:41:53] this first born title is more of a cultural thing. Jesus was not quite literally the first
[00:42:00] born because we know that He was born of the virgin Mary in the year zero AD or around that time.
[00:42:08] We know Jesus was born of the virgin Mary there's a lot before that. Jesus was not the first
[00:42:12] born creature so they say then well Jesus was the first born because He was created before all
[00:42:19] of the things. Well that's not really scriptural you're just taking that word first born
[00:42:23] and applying it to the rest of Scripture rather than taking the rest of Scripture or even
[00:42:28] just the rest of this chapter alone and looking at that word first born. So to give the cultural
[00:42:34] idea of the first born I'm going to use the word protocos let me just make sure I have that
[00:42:42] well I don't have that word fully translated here but protocos it's the Greek word
[00:42:50] that has a lot less connotation than saying first born. It practically means the same thing
[00:42:55] but Jesus was culturally the first born. He basically is just going to inherit all things that's
[00:43:02] another way of saying that he's the inheritor of all things not that he was first created not that
[00:43:08] he was born before the earth because we see later in the chapter he was there at the very creation
[00:43:12] of earth and all things actually but that he was born first born being the inheritor of all things.
[00:43:20] That's what that meant to the Hebrews and that's what we should understand that was the use of
[00:43:26] the author of Hebrews because we know in John in the beginning was the word the word was with God
[00:43:32] and the word was God in the beginning he all things were made through him and without him was not
[00:43:38] anything that was made so Jesus made all things he was not the first made of all things.
[00:43:46] Continuing on in verse 7 of the angels he says he makes his angels wins and his ministers a
[00:43:51] flammifier but in the original poetry these are called couplets where the first line explains the
[00:43:58] second so in the first line he says of the angels he says he makes them wins and those ministers
[00:44:04] flames of fire that's referencing some it's referencing a song and that's basically to say that
[00:44:12] the angels are the tools and the servants of God who just like God commands the wins he commands the
[00:44:19] angels. So we see the next verse kind of explaining this one but of the sun he says in contrast
[00:44:27] your throne oh God is forever and ever the septor of uprights of of uprightness is the
[00:44:33] septor of your kingdom so much unlike the angels the father says to the sun your throne oh
[00:44:40] God is forever and ever the septor of uprightness uprightness is the septor of your kingdom.
[00:44:46] And then verse 9 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness therefore God your God
[00:44:52] has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. I have more to say on verse 9
[00:44:58] but going back to verse 8 real quick this septor the septor of of Jesus of his kingdom
[00:45:04] the septor of uprightness a septor was the kind of symbol of a king's reign that's what the king
[00:45:10] stood for that meant the king is raining over the country and that was his symbol of rule. What is the
[00:45:17] symbol of Jesus' rule uprightness? His loved righteousness and hated wickedness
[00:45:24] that is another part of his septor of his rule. Jesus was not only a lover of righteousness
[00:45:30] but he hated wickedness. He is God, he hates sin, he is holy, holy, holy. We see in Matthew chapter 21
[00:45:39] Jesus entering the temple and driving out all who sold and bought in the temple flipping
[00:45:43] tables making court of whips. He hated wickedness. He had a lot of harsh words to say to the Pharisees
[00:45:52] saying things like you den of robbers calling them a brood of vipers, sons of the devil etc
[00:46:03] Jesus was not a fan of wickedness and that is a symbol of his kingdom. So going on to
[00:46:08] you have low or therefore God, your God is anointed you. First of all Jesus is anointed with omnipotent
[00:46:15] gladness and joy. Jesus completed the Father's task. He ascended in rows to the right hand of God
[00:46:21] and now he has perfect joy given to him by the Father and that joy will be enjoyed by us in heaven.
[00:46:29] That pleasure that God has anointed the Son with that will be our pleasure. Jesus has accomplished
[00:46:34] his task and freed us from sin and saved us to the glory of God. That joy will be ours.
[00:46:41] Hold on steadfast to that promise because it is one of many great promises. So let's go to this
[00:46:49] interesting line therefore God, your God has anointed you. Well first of all if I were a Hebrew
[00:46:58] of that time, if I were a Jew of that time, I heard that I would have just, what? That is the most
[00:47:08] clear line in this whole text that Jesus Christ is God and the reason that's so surprising to the Jews
[00:47:16] is because this is a direct quote of Psalm 45 verses 6 and 7. Your throne as the verse says,
[00:47:27] your throne O God is forever and ever the subter of your kingdom as a subter of uprightness.
[00:47:32] You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore God, your God has anointed you with
[00:47:39] the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Now that's an old testament thing right there and yet
[00:47:47] the Jews didn't believe in the Trinity. Well that's because a lot of things were kind of hidden and
[00:47:53] obscured by shadow because the full revelation is Jesus Christ and Jesus' time was not yet but
[00:48:00] even here David wrote of God having a God. That's a weird thing right the original the original
[00:48:09] text in Psalms used the word Elohim. Elohim your Elohim has anointed you just so we're very
[00:48:17] clear about that. That same word is also used in Genesis 1 and the beginning God created the heavens
[00:48:23] in the earth and the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth right so there's no
[00:48:29] mistaken that this is God the Father saying to God the Son I have anointed you. Even the old Jewish
[00:48:38] rabbis who lived years sometimes decades, sometimes hundreds of years before Jesus would write
[00:48:45] of this strange plurality in God and this is where we find that strange plurality in God.
[00:48:52] Your your their own oh God forever therefore God your God has anointed you
[00:48:58] and I think they author of Hebrew uses this text very, very efficiently and the Holy Spirit
[00:49:05] inspiring him to write this interpreting that text as Jesus' God. This is the birthplace of all
[00:49:14] theology it's why theologians and and philosophers have thought and pondered and speculated about
[00:49:21] and systematized the knowledge of God and the understanding of God because right here we see
[00:49:28] there's there's almost two gods but we know that Isaiah says there's one god. How can that be?
[00:49:35] Well the simplest answer I can give you without because we're short on time without going
[00:49:40] really really far into it is there are three who's because the Holy Spirit we also see is a person
[00:49:47] and is attributed with the things of God but we see three who's one what okay very very simple
[00:49:57] explanation where our words completely fail us to delve into this mystery but this is a very good
[00:50:02] example of the Father and Son our God but there's only one god they are the one god the father
[00:50:09] Son and Holy Spirit are the one god before I start to fall into a heresy on the pulpit I'm going
[00:50:17] to continue on because it is a very hard topic to talk about very complicated and just the
[00:50:23] slightest lip of the tongue can get you in a trouble. Continuing on very quickly to verse 10
[00:50:31] and you Lord laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands
[00:50:35] Jesus laid the foundation of the world and the heavens are the work of his hands
[00:50:41] with being consistent in scripture God created the world Jesus is God.
[00:50:47] Verse 11 they will perish but you remain they will all wear out like a garment
[00:50:52] verse 12 like a robe you will roll them up like a garment they will be changed but you are the same
[00:50:57] and your years will have no end. Jesus at the end will roll everything up a life of garment all
[00:51:02] creation the angels well he can roll them up is kind of what that's saying but if you want to do all of
[00:51:10] creation that includes these angels can be rolled up Jesus just rolls them up like a garment. I think
[00:51:17] that is a very clear picture of Godhood and the power of Jesus upholding the universe
[00:51:23] and yet another argument made to those Hebrews. One more thing
[00:51:28] but you are the same and your years will have no end. What an amazing truth to behold that Jesus will ever change
[00:51:35] God is unchanging the theological term is immutability but that just means he won't change and that's great
[00:51:42] that means that forever and ever and ever we will be impure bliss and joy and pleasure
[00:51:50] in the love of Jesus Christ in eternity and in paradise and he will never change. He will never change his mind
[00:51:58] because of God who change is probably the scariest thing ever. God at the drop of
[00:52:05] hat could you say I'm bored of you. I have no more love to give you. I'm creates us or puts us in hell
[00:52:15] that is not our God. Our God is never changing and he will never change
[00:52:21] and unlike creation which changes and where's out he will never wear out his years will have no end.
[00:52:27] Verse 13 and which of which of the angels has he ever said sit at my right hand until I make your
[00:52:34] enemies a footstool for your feet. This is just a little reminder of the fact that Jesus Christ is
[00:52:39] our victorious warrior king who slew sin death in the serpent. The God the Father will make his
[00:52:45] enemies a footstool at your feet. Now Hebrews would have understood this basically what would happen
[00:52:53] in when a king was defeated in the olden times. The king would be put at the feet of the wedding
[00:52:58] king and his he would put his foot on the neck of the defeated king of pure supremacy and sovereignty
[00:53:08] over that king in his victory. Jesus Christ crushed the head of the serpent in that way. Verse 14
[00:53:19] Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit
[00:53:24] salvation? Once again he's speaking of the angels and they're here to serve us
[00:53:32] us who are to inherit salvation. Now aside note this is why we need good exegesis. Let me spin
[00:53:39] this verse around take it out of context real quick. I won't linger on this point too long because
[00:53:44] it is very bad reading of this text but didn't Jesus wasn't Jesus an angel because didn't
[00:53:53] he say just as a son of man did not come to be served put to serve and to give life his life
[00:53:58] as a ransom for many. Did Jesus not come to serve? We see here are they not ministering spirits
[00:54:03] sent out to serve for the sake of those who were to inherit salvation and certainly he served
[00:54:07] us and inheriting salvation by dying for us. That's what happens. That's the claims of say
[00:54:14] arionism that's the claim that Jesus is an angel and that's what happens when you take verses out
[00:54:19] of their proper context and don't explain the rest of Hebrews because you would never have that thought
[00:54:25] if you read the rest of Hebrews, you would never have the thought that the very good the very
[00:54:31] radiance of the glory of God, the expressed image of his nature is an angel. Is a ministering
[00:54:38] spirit? He would not think he who upholds the universe and created it and can roll it up like a
[00:54:43] garment is an angel unless you take this verse completely out of its context. That's the point
[00:54:49] of exegesis that's the point of expository preaching. It's so the pastor cannot just say what he wants
[00:54:54] to say in the text. It's exegesis is taking with the text says what the Holy Spirit inspired
[00:55:00] and bringing it to God's people to feed them and edify them. So let's go back to that verse.
[00:55:08] What does the verse really mean? The angels are here to serve you. There are angels in this room
[00:55:14] right now. They observe the proper worship of God and serving us that does not mean we can
[00:55:21] just command them and say angels move these chairs around. I don't like the placements of them.
[00:55:26] No, they are serving us because they are following the directions of God and their express purpose
[00:55:32] is that we inherit salvation. They keep us safe, they keep us alive, they keep us from attacks
[00:55:38] from the enemy. There are these infinite countless angels that God sends out all over the world
[00:55:45] for his believing ones, for his people and they serve us unto our salvation.
[00:55:53] Moving on to chapter 2. I'll go through this quick. There's one really important thing that
[00:55:59] I want to say out of these so I won't exeget all of it but therefore we must pay closer attention
[00:56:05] to what we have heard less we drift away. For since the message declared by angels proved to be
[00:56:11] reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution. How shall we escape
[00:56:18] if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord and it was attested to
[00:56:24] us by those who heard. Well, God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles
[00:56:29] and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to as well. That is how I'll begin my
[00:56:36] conclusion. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? There's a couple of ways
[00:56:45] we can neglect salvation that is outright denying the faith. That is outright going back to the old ways.
[00:56:50] They would go back to the old temple system, we go back to our old sin. I don't know if anybody
[00:56:57] recently has thought, I really want to do that but I can't because I'm a Christian. If only I
[00:57:03] wasn't a Christian, maybe I could do that. I've had those temptations. I've had those thoughts
[00:57:09] sometimes but we must not turn away. We must not turn away and forsake this great salvation.
[00:57:19] What is this great salvation? I'll go through it with you real quick. In conclusion, God
[00:57:26] became a man for a time and dwelt among us but he was not a beloved king of nations,
[00:57:32] exalted by all men under heaven, rather as the Isaiah prophesied. In chapter 53,
[00:57:44] he was despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows acquainted with grief.
[00:57:51] Jesus whom the father appointed the heir of all things through whom he also created the world
[00:57:58] was called the man of sorrows because he was the suffer in our place. Jesus was betrayed by his friend
[00:58:07] who be thought was a friend Judas and he went to the cross where not only was he the upholder of
[00:58:14] the entire universe but he was also beat and spit upon and mocked. prophesied, who is it that
[00:58:22] struck you if your God, the angels worship him but he did not call upon their countless legions
[00:58:29] to stop those Romans from hitting him and crucifying him. Even though they mocked him saying,
[00:58:36] if you're the Messiah, save yourself and not only was either radiance of the glory of God in
[00:58:42] the exact imprint of his nature but he was also made a cursive and forsaken by God.
[00:58:49] What upon him is he cried out,
[00:58:51] hey, hey, let me saw my God, that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
[00:59:00] And faithfully he took the entire cup of the wrath of God that was to be an eternity of suffering
[00:59:06] for I'd like to think billions. I'd like to think billions of people are saved
[00:59:11] and he took an eternity of wrath for each and every one of them on that cross. How can that be?
[00:59:17] I don't know. How can God be forsaken by God? I don't know.
[00:59:22] But that is what the text says. And then he gave up his spirit and death with a passionate cry,
[00:59:29] it is finished that word is to tell a style in the original language. That would be stamped
[00:59:35] on a receipt to say, paid and full. That's what he said on that cross. It is done, it is finished,
[00:59:42] paid and full. There is no more guilt for those who are in Christ, the sort of justice had been
[00:59:48] satisfied and his people are as clean and beloved by the Father as is the Son.
[00:59:56] Jesus rose from the grave three days later, conquering sin death, sin and death, and crushed the head
[01:00:02] of Satan. He appeared to 500 people and their families. That's important, those 500 witnesses.
[01:00:10] They were only count as the heads of families, so their families would have seen Jesus as well.
[01:00:15] And he ascended to sit at the right hand of God for the atonement had been purchased. We are
[01:00:20] free from sin and we can be friends of God rather than enemies if we just believe on Jesus.
[01:00:28] So I say to any who doesn't believe in Jesus, please believe on Jesus and be saved.
[01:00:36] That is all that was required to live forever with him in glory and joy and pleasure on ending.
[01:00:43] It is not your good works that save you. Remember it is a gift. In fact, I'll say this,
[01:00:49] do not go back to the old way of works trying to please God with works have faith. It is a gift.
[01:00:56] You cannot give money to the church to be saved when the streets of heaven are aligned with gold.
[01:01:04] How can we escape when he has done this for all of us? And as Hebrews 7 says,
[01:01:11] consequently, he is able to save to the other most those who draw near to God through him since he
[01:01:16] always lives to make intercession for them. Let us not neglect this great salvation. Let us not neglect
[01:01:23] that God has died for us and He can save us to the uttermost and that He ever lives to intercede
[01:01:31] for us to pray for us, to plead with the Father. Please bring them further into salvation,
[01:01:36] sanctify them more, give them health. He prays for us. He ever lives to do so.
[01:01:45] Draw near to God and Jesus will intercede for you. He will plead directly with the Father
[01:01:51] for your good and all of this promises and riches and treasures are for you.
[01:01:57] Finally, I'll leave you with the working of salvation and then pray.
[01:02:03] Titus chapter 3 verses 5 through 7 says,
[01:02:06] He saved us not because of work done by righteousness but according to his own mercy by the
[01:02:11] washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit who we poured out on us richly through
[01:02:17] Jesus Christ our Savior. So that being justified by His grace, we might become airs according
[01:02:22] to the hope of eternal life the subject of my last sermon that blessed hope that we are all
[01:02:29] waiting for. Father God, hope us to understand the weight of the Son of God
[01:02:40] dying on the cross, the weight of you sending Him. We're Jesus how can it be that even though you
[01:02:48] were the very radiance of the glory of God, you became a man of sorrows for us.
[01:02:57] Holy Spirit, please change our hearts, please soften them, remove hard hearts now
[01:03:06] and help us to truly exalt Jesus as He is meant to be. As the Lord of our life, our Savior,
[01:03:13] our blessed Redeemer who died for us and who is glad even right now on the throne.
[01:03:22] Who intercedes for us? Let us understand these facts and meditate on them, reveal the true glory
[01:03:29] of Jesus Christ to us. Father, help us not to be distracted and tempted to go back to our old ways
[01:03:35] of sinning, but to remain in the faith and adore your Son as the most blessed treasure.
[01:03:43] Prepare us to do these things throughout this week to show others of your great love and salvation
[01:03:51] and mercy. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.