Hebrews 1

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