Well, as I mentioned, we finished
the book of Romans. And, you know, there is so much. There is so, so much in every
book. Where am I going to go next?
You know, right here. Open the Bible up and start right
here. Turn to Hebrews chapter 1. We'll begin a series of studies. I don't think it'll take us two
years like Mark did. 86 messages. That's only, what,
52 Sundays? We didn't even do Bible study
every Sunday, so that was pretty close to two years. A year and
a half. I don't think it's going to take
us quite that long as Mark did. Well, that's Friday night Bible
study, huh? When you get to be my age, you folks, when you get
to be as old as I am, I know someday you will be. I just get forgetful. We might be able to cover it
in the amount of time we did Romans. Well, tonight, this morning,
we're just going to look at two verses here in Hebrews. chapter
1 verses 1 and 2, and Brother Don Fortner introduces these
verses with this. He says, he says, if you are
ever tempted to imagine that there might be some similarity
between the weak, frustrated, helpless Jesus of this idolatrous
generation and the exalted Lord of Glory, if you are ever tempted
to think that there's a similarity between the two, just reread the opening verses
of the book of Hebrews over and over and over again. Here we have the Christ of God
revealed to us, the real Christ, the true Christ, our all-glorious
Savior. If the Christ you worship is
not this Christ that we read about here, the Christ you worship
is Antichrist, a false Christ. And the first two verses of the
Holy Spirit shows us the unrivaled excellence of our Lord Jesus
Christ in three glorious facts. And the first one we're going
to see is the Word of God. Now let's read verses 1 and 2
of Hebrews chapter 1. God, who at sundry times, different
ways, and in diverse manners, various ways, spake in times
past unto the fathers by the prophets. The whole Old Testament
was given to prophets to go before the people and say, thus saith
the Lord. In the New Testament, we see the Lord Jesus Christ
in red letters speaking to us personally. But in the Old Testament,
the Son of God had not become flesh yet, so He spoke to prophets. He inspired them to speak to
the people. Thus saith the Lord, said Isaiah.
Thus saith the Lord, said Jeremiah. Thus saith the Lord, said Ezekiel. Thus saith the Lord, said David.
Thus saith the Lord, said Moses. The Lord Jesus Christ, in His
unrivaled and as excellent as the Word of God, Verse 2, hath
in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom he also made the worlds. Now, in
this second verse, we see these three points. We see first the
word of God. It says, God, who at sundry times and in diverse
manners spake in times past by the fathers, by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. That's in
verse 1. I'm sorry. No, that's in verse 2. I'll get
it right here. And though God spoke to the men
in the Old Testament in the types and shadows and ceremonies and
pictures of the law and by visions of faithful prophets, all the
law and the prophets spoke of and pointed to Christ Jesus.
Now, we've been over that many times, haven't we? How often
have we looked into the Old Testament and seen, well, here's a picture
of Christ right here. This sacrifice, this blood that
was shed the very day that Adam and Eve sinned against God. When
they tried to clothe themselves with their own works of their
own hands, their own self-righteousness, God said that doesn't work. Here's
the only way you're going to be clothed and that's through
the blood, the skins of this animal where blood was shed.
Again, a picture, a type we see of Christ. Now, in these last days, God
has spoken to us one more time, this time with finality and in
one way. Did you ever notice that every
time Christ did something, that was all it took? That was it. When He healed somebody,
they were done, they were healed. When He fed those folks on the
mountain that day, they were fed, all of them. When the Lord
ceased the wind to blow that day, it was over. It was done.
It was clear skies and a calm sea, wasn't it? That's because
He's God. Isn't that wonderful? Let me
tell you why that works really well for me. Why that blesses
me a great deal. That means that He's only got
to save me once. That means when He saved me,
He did it right. And it is finished. Isn't that
what He said from the cross? It is finished. He does it, and
He does it in one way. He does it by His Son. That's what it says right there.
It says, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. Our Lord Jesus Christ is not
one of many revelations. He is the revelation of the invisible
God. Christ is not one of many words. He is THE Word of God. We know what the words say there
in John 1, verses 1-3. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. You recall
that. You and I cannot see God. We cannot know God. We cannot
speak to God. We cannot be spoken to by God,
or come to God, except for one way. THE way. the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn over to Matthew chapter
11. And while you're turning to Matthew chapter 11, I'm going
to read from John chapter 14, and then I'll join you over in
Matthew chapter 11. In John chapter 14, verse 6,
we read these words, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Does that not declare something
to us, that He is the Son of God? No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. He is the way. Over in Matthew
chapter 11, we see these words. Over in Matthew chapter 11, I'm
getting there. Look at verses 25 through 27. And at that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father. Lord of Heaven. We're talking
about the way, the way to God the Father. You and I can't approach
Him in the flesh alone. We need somebody. We need THE
WAY to approach God. And here it is. I thank Thee,
O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes, even so, Father, for it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither
knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him." So we see that the Lord Jesus Christ
is not many revelations. He is the revelation. We see
the only way to God is through The way, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way. Without Him, there
is no going to God. Folks, even in our same sense,
even though God looks upon you and I, white as snow, without
sin, it's only because of Christ. It's only because of what He's
done for us. We can't approach Him on our
own. We must approach Him in our Savior. Through our mediator,
the one who sits on his throne right now, saying, I shed my
blood for this one. The sins are paid. Oh, that's
good news to you and I, sinners, isn't it, Roger? That's good
news to sinners. Our mediator. That's the only
way to approach God. Without him, there is no knowing
God. Christ is life. Without him, there's no living
before God. There's no prophet like Christ,
other Like Christ, our prophet, he is unrivaled in his excellency
as the revelation of the invisible God. Next we see, in that verse,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things. Our Lord Jesus Christ
is unrivaled in his excellency as the heir of God, the appointed
heir of all things. All things belong to Jesus. Everything. In John chapter 3 verse 35 we
read these words, the Father loveth the Son and hath given
all things into his hands. All things belong to our Savior,
our great mediator, our substitute. He who is our Savior holds all
things in his hands by the rightful and lawful possession Being heir
of all things, he has the absolute right to do exactly what he will
with everything. Sovereign Lord over everything.
None can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? No
one in heaven or earth or hell is going to call him into account
for what he does. Folks, our Lord does everything
right. Everything. That's hard to understand
as we go through this world of chaos around us, isn't it? It's
hard to understand. It's hard to deal with. Our Lord is unrivaled in His
sovereignty. over the universe. Listen to
the words of Matthew 28, 18. And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. In John 17, 2, our Lord in his
priestly prayer says this, As thou hast given me, speaking
to the Father, power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him, speaking of Christ.
He who is God, our Savior, does as He wills, as He wills in the
armies of heaven, in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. He makes one vessel of honor
and another vessel of dishonor, one vessel of mercy and another
vessel of wrath, one to show forth the riches of His grace
and another to show forth the severity of His justice. Oh, the grace of God in what
He has done for you and I. And He does it exactly as it
pleases Him from all eternity. Christ is the appointed heir
of all things personally. Listen to the words of Psalms
2, verse 8. The Lord God said, Ask of me,
speaking to His Son, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine
inheritance. and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. Our Lord has appointed heir of
all things respectfully. Over in Hebrews chapter 6, and
we'll look at this a little deeper when we get there, whether the
forerunner is for us entered even, Jesus made and high-preached
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Do you understand what that means,
after the order of Melchizedek? You know, Melchizedek was a king
in the day of Abraham. There's nowhere in scripture
where it talks about where Melchizedek comes from and where he went
afterwards, which is a picture of God Almighty. You can't tell
where he came from. He's eternity. He's the eternal
one. You can't tell where he went
because he's eternal that way too. There are no beginnings
or endings to our God. That's what it means after the
order of Melchizedek. He's a high priest after the
order of the king Melchizedek. And the king Melchizedek was
a priest. The only priest and king in scriptures
outside of Christ Jesus the Lord. Our Lord is He who is the heir
of all things. He is the dispenser of all things.
I say to you this morning, behold your God. Jesus Christ is unrivaled
in His excellency as the appointed heir of all things. Next we see
He is the creator of all things. The Lord Jesus is unrivaled in
His excellency as the creator of all the worlds, by whom also
He made the worlds, as we see there in Hebrews chapter 1 verse
2. There is an obvious reference here to the distinct divinity
and the personality of our Lord Jesus Christ as God the Son.
John tells us this over in John chapter 1 verse 3. All things
were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that
was made. Now how can that be misunderstood? Everything was created by our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Turn over to Colossians. Colossians. Go to the left there, just a
few pages. It's right after Philippians. You got Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians. I'm talking about the one who
created all things. Over here in Colossians 1, verses
14-17, we read these words, In whom we have redemption, that's
speaking of the blood of Christ, through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible, Invisible,
whether they be drones. Now, see, we're not just talking
about the physical Earth, the roundness of the Earth. All the
principles. You know how they say, who was that guy who discovered gravity?
What was his name again? I can't remember who it was.
When the tree, when an apple fell from the tree, it fell.
Newton's, Newton discovered gravity. Tree falls out of, or an apple
falls out of a tree. Even that, was created by the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what that's talking about.
That's what that's talking about. Principalities. Or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him. Verse 17. And He is before all
things and by Him all things what? Consist. That means I consist. Honey, you consist. I'm so thankful that you consist
by the power of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I mean that. It's hard for her to believe
that at times, but trust me, I'm hard to live with. So, everything our Triune God
does, He does through the mediation of Christ our Savior. The measurements
of the universe were laid down by Christ, the power of the sun,
the brilliance. Every star is energized by his
sovereign power. Almighty is this irresistible
will. It was Christ our Savior, the
great mediator, the surety of his people, who laid down the
foundations of the world. Christ is a creator of all things. When the Holy Spirit tells us
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the creator of the world, He's
not suggesting that there might be more than one inhabited planet,
rather that He is telling us that every realm of existence
in the universe, I just expressed that to you a moment ago, gravity,
that's what He's talking about. He's the creator of the lower
world, is what that's talking about. He's the creator of our
habitation, where we are right now. He defines the borders of our
habitation. Our Lord is the Lord of all. Behold God's vast creation and
everything in it. In all of its orderly splendor,
It's beauty. Have you ever considered the
body? How beautiful it is, the body that God created. We can
hear. We can feel. Sometimes, unfortunately, we
can smell. Oh, I'm sorry. Shouldn't be that
humorous, I guess. What a beauty. Christ Jesus our
Lord created everything. All that is. To deny that Christ
is the creator of all things and that he rules over all things
is to deny that he is God. That's what free willism is.
It's denying that he's God. It's saying I have power over
God to make a decision of my own destiny. to be shown the truths of God's
Word. Do you know that to deny our
God is to mock Him? Did you know that? It's to blaspheme Him. It's to attempt to deny Him of
His glory. How often have we spoken about
going through the red lights? Oh, another red light! Oh, another
red light! Man, I've got all these red lights! I'm going to be late! No, you're
not. I guarantee you, you're going
to get there exactly when the Lord wants you to be there. Exactly
how He wants you to be there. And you're going to go through
exactly what He wants you to go through to get there. including
red lights. To deny the throne of our Lord
Jesus is to deny you and I hope. Isn't that where our only hope
is? Is that He is God and that He controls everything. If He
doesn't control everything, what is our hope in then? If He doesn't
work everything out according to His counsel, including Our
troubles? You know, when those storms raised
up against the apostles in the sea, who was it that brought
those storms on them? Was that not God? Was that not
God who brought that storm against His people? Why? So that His
people would come to Him and say, Lord, do you not care about
us? Do you not care if we die? It says in John chapter 17 verse
2, As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. All power
is given unto him. Romans 14 verse 9, For this is
the end. Christ both died and rose and
revived, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. That covers it all. None but
an absolute sovereign Lord can save his people. None but an
absolute sovereign can be trusted completely. None but an absolute
sovereign Lord can save. None but an absolute sovereign
Lord will be worshipped. A long time ago, a prophet Isaiah
wrote of the greatness and the superiority and the excellence
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, unto us a sign is given. You know, I want to make sure
I got all that right. I'm going to turn over here real quick. Isaiah
chapter 9 verse 6. I just preached on this not too
long ago, but my mind is weak. Isaiah 9, not 6. I want to make
sure I got it right. Okay. For unto us a child is
born. For unto us a son is given. This is Isaiah. Now he's declaring
who the Lord Jesus Christ is thousands of years before Christ
ever walked this earth. And the government. We've seen
this happen. We know what that means. That
means everything. That means all principalities, all powers,
Everything that you and I thought at one time was ruled by either
Mother Nature, Lady Luck, or whatever other foolishness we
had in us, all of that is ruled by our Savior. The government
is on His shoulders. That's what Isaiah said. What
else did he say there? He said, and His name shall be
called Wonderful. Wonderful. What a description
of Christ the Lord. Isn't that how we see Him? Isn't
that what we think of when we think of our Lord? How wonderful
that you would save a wretch like me? Oh, I know, folks, we
think at times we just don't deserve it. Our faith is small. Yet our Lord is wonderful. Wonderful
to you and I. Counselor, counselor, the mighty
God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And then hundreds of years later
after that, an angel appeared to Mary and announced that though
she was a virgin, though she had never known a man, she would
conceive and bring forth a son by the power of the Holy Ghost.
And that her child would be the Son of God, the Savior of His
people, Jesus. He said these words over in Luke
chapter 1, verse 32 and 33. He shall be great. This is the
angel speaking to Mary. He shall be great. Oh, wonderful. And He shall be called the Son
of the Highest. God in the flesh and the Lord
God shall give unto him the throne of his father David And he shall
reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom there
shall be no We read in Colossians chapter
1 verses 18 and 19 That is the will and the purpose
of the triune God that in all things He, our Lord Jesus Christ,
might have the preeminence. I ask you this morning, does
God have the preeminence in you? We're going to look into this
a great deal deeper here in our next message. It says, that he
might have the preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in
him should all the fullness dwell. Now that which God spoke by the
prophet, announced by his angel, and proclaimed by his apostles
has come to pass. In Hebrews 1-4 the Spirit of
God informs us that the Lord Jesus Christ is superior to,
greater than, and exalted above all things. In fact, this is
really what this entire book is going to be about. This excites
me. This excites me about this book.
I love to read about the exaltation of my Savior. I love to place
Him up just as that serpent was placed up above. Because see,
I've been bitten by the serpent of sin. And I know I have. And
I know I've got the killing poison going through the blood of this
body. Every day I get up and I'm reminded
of the poison that goes through this body. As soon as this mind
starts to think, sin comes forth. This book, this book of Hebrews,
it's all about my Lord being greater than anything that was
promised in the Old Testament. A key word in the book here is
better. Better things, better Savior,
better sacrifices. The primary purpose of this book
is to show us that Christ is better than all who came before
Him. He is better than the prophets,
better than the angels, better than Moses, better than Joshua,
better than Aaron. His surety is a better covenant. Friday night study, huh folks?
Those of you who joined us for Friday night, that might have
to be one of our Friday night studies. We're studying the characteristics
of grace. A better covenant. establishing
upon better promises, giving a better hope. Christ our Savior
is better than the tabernacle. It's better than the altar. He's
better than the mercy seat. He's better than everything.
He's giving us better access to His Word through Him rather
than through the prophets. He's giving us a better understanding
of what His Holy Word means. In all things, Christ is better
than all others. He is infinitely better. He's in a better word here to
put it, unrivaled. You know what that means? Nothing
can compare to our Savior. Amen?