OK, I want you to turn in your
Bibles to Hebrews chapter one again, Hebrews one. Hebrews chapter one, the book
of Hebrews was written to confirm who Jesus Christ is and what
he did. As we studied last Sunday, all of the
scriptures declare Jesus Christ. He himself said, They are they
which testify of me. The Old Testament prophecies
were concerning Christ, the whole Old Testament. And you remember,
as we looked at when Christ appeared to those two disciples walking
on that road, and it says that he preached from the books of
Moses and the Psalms and the prophets, the things concerning
himself. Well, that's the whole Old Testament. So the Old Testament speaks of
Christ. And the book of Hebrews is a
confirmation, it's a summary of the whole Old Testament. That's
what the book of Hebrews is. A summary of the Old Testament,
all the sacrifices and types and so on, and the people in
it, like in Hebrews 11. It's a summary. And it's all
a picture of Christ, because that's what the whole book says.
It declares Christ, who he is and what he did. The whole book
of Hebrews is full of quotes. The first chapter of Hebrews,
if you bothered to look it up, there are over twelve verses
of scripture, twelve Old Testament passages of scripture quoted
in the first chapter of Hebrews and Latter-day Saints. And then
chapter 2, he goes on, he doesn't quit there, he goes on. See,
the Old Testament is all the Bible that the apostles had. It's the only Bible our Lord
preached from. Scriptures. When Christ said
the Scriptures testify of me, he's talking about the Old Testament.
All right? And we make much of the Old Testament,
don't we, here? We study the types and the pictures,
and I hope you enjoy them half as much as I do. Well, the Jews. Why is this important? that we
understand something of the Old Testament. But you can't understand Hebrews
with that. You'll miss the Christ. Somebody
will miss the Christ. They'll miss God. They won't
know God. You see, the Jews, when Christ
came, the Jews didn't believe this Jesus of Nazareth was the
Christ. Why? Well, Christ looked at them
one day, and this is what he said, You do err not knowing the Scripture. Though they read them, they didn't
know them. Why? Because Christ said, They
testify of me. If they'd have known the Scripture,
Christ in another place, he said, Had you believed Moses, you'd
have believed me. Why? Moses wrote of me. Everything Moses wrote, it's
about me, he said. I'm fulfilling it all. If you take your Bibles, he said,
and just go through and then examine it with my life and my
words, you'd see I am that I am. And they didn't, did they, John?
He said, you do err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power
of God. In other words, Deborah, they didn't know who the scripture
spoke of, the Christ, nor the holy and
sovereign and just Almighty God. Who's that? They wanted the same. The various scriptures that they
loved, to quote like Isaiah, that says, like in my favorite
Isaiah 25-9 says, This is our God. When Christ comes, it will
say, This is our God. We've waited for him. He'll save
us. So the Jews believed God was
going to come into flesh. He did. Jesus of Nazareth. And they didn't recognize him.
They didn't believe him. And he kept saying that, if you
don't believe I am, you'll die in your sin. I am. They didn't believe. Why? Because he was a man. And that's
what they said about him. They said, you're just a man.
You make yourself God. I look at you, we know you, you're
the Carpenter's son, Mary's your mother, and we know you're brothers,
you're James and Josie, they're with us and all. You're just
a man, you're not God." They heard what he was saying. He
said he was God. They heard him. And they tried to kill him because
of it. Well, people in the same sense,
in the same way in our generation today, In this generation today, people
don't believe that that One that walked this planet, named Jesus,
is God. They don't believe it. Their
speech betrays them. When they talk about this Jesus
this and Jesus that, that right up there puts an alarm in my
head. You don't call God, not on a
first-name basis, but God. We teach our children to call
adults Mr. This and Mr. That, don't we? Not Billy or Bob or Jim or Joe,
you know. Mr. Parks or Mr. Mayhem or Mr. Williams, don't we? Mrs., don't
we? Well, how much more the Son of
God Himself whom we are to address as Lord? Well, men, they prove
they don't know him by their familiarity with him, and they do err not knowing the
scriptures nor the power of God. Are you still with me? They do
err not knowing the scriptures. Now, that is, this Jesus Christ,
Paul said in Hebrews 13a, is the same. Today and forever, He hasn't
changed. That's what Hebrews 1, that's
what He's talking about. They're going to change, but
you're the same. You're not different. God's not different. When He
took a body, He's not different. He didn't get different all of
a sudden because He became a man. He didn't become like the Catholics
call Him, gentle Jesus, meek and mild. He's still the sovereign
Lord of the universe. Doing what He will, with whom
He will, when He will, why He will. Still in control of all
things. He's not this pitiful failure
and martyr who's walking around and leaning over the banisters
of heaven and knocking on everybody's door. Nobody will let him in.
He's just crying his heart out and his heart's bleeding. It's
broken and all that. No! This is what Paul goes to
great deal, great depths in Hebrews to talk about. He said he's sitting
down on a throne. This Jesus, that's what Peter
preached at Pentecost. that absolutely filled the people
with hot fear. They thought it was just Jesus,
you know. And when Peter preached Him from the Old Testament, he
said, you know that one in Psalm 2, whom God said, have declared
the decree, sit there till I make your enemies your footstool.
Peter said, that's Jesus. That's Jesus. That's who that
is. He ain't walking around, he's
not knocking on doors, he's sitting down. And he's got his feet propped
up, and his arms folded, the work's done, and he's just expecting
this whole thing to absolutely be carried out. He's upholding,
the Scripture says in Hebrews 1 here, in verse 3, upholding
all things by the word of his power. He's just speaking. Now that's a king. A real king doesn't have to do
anything. He just sits there and gives
the word. Go. Conquer. Bring. Call. Slay. Woo. Bless. Judge. That's what he does, upholding
all things by the word of his power. What's the word of God's
power? In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God, and the word was God. The word was
made flesh. Jesus Christ is his name. Well, like I said, the Jews had
made up all sorts of, or they had all sorts of beliefs about
him. People today do the same. But he's described here, isn't
he? All the way through these verses, He's described. Jesus
Christ is described as He is. Look at it again in verse 3,
Hebrews 1. He's the brightness of His glory.
And Sunday we talked about these pictures that people have of
Jesus on their wall. I tell you, I despise those things. That doesn't look any... There's
no description of Christ in the Scripture. Where did they get
that, Stan? Where did they get that? Michelangelo wasn't around
when Christ walked this planet. Where did
they get that? This book doesn't describe him. As a matter of
fact, it's the opposite of the way they depicted him. Isaiah
53 says there's no beauty about him. He's ugly. This is now. Now, Revelation
1 gives a picture of it, which no man could possibly paint.
And I've told you this before, you know, what kind of fool would
get some similar likeness of his father or his daughter or
mother or somebody he loved, get a similar likeness, and put
it on their wall and call it... Do you do that? Do you go through
a magazine and find somebody that kind of looks like... Your
mother, Rick, he's got a picture of Farrah Fawcett on your wall. It's a woman. She has light hair and about
the same age. That's her. Well, no, it's not.
And Tim James calls him Wild Bill Hickok, with the long hair
and all that and the pointed beard and sitting there. That's
not Jesus Christ. Revelation 1 is a picture of
him as he is. Well, it says in verse 3, he
is a very image of God's person. It says he's sitting down, sat down
at the right hand of God and says he's made so much better
than the angels, verse 4. And verse 5 says that God spoke
out loud when his Son came here and said, Thou art my Son, this
day have I begotten thee. Spoke out loud, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. And he tells earthlings, you
better hear him. And then in verse 6 he says again
when he came into the world, the first begotten came into
the world, God told the angel, God sent a multitude of heavenly
hosts. The angels. I love that over
in Matthew and Luke where it says, A multitude of heavenly
hosts were crying out, Glory to God! God sent multitudes of
angels to announce His Son's birth. And what did they say? They said, Unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. the Lord. I said at the beginning,
call his name Jesus, because it means something, too. He shall
save his people. It means Savior. But ultimately,
he said he's giving him a name above, because there's lots of
Jesuses. There's lots of Jesuses on this
earth. I've got a picture of me with one that I met down in
Mexico. Jesus, little boy. You want to
see a picture of me and Jesus? I've got one. Want to see a picture
of the Lord? Read Revelation 1. This is the description of Christ
in the Scripture. And he says, Let all the angels
of God worship him. And verse 7, read along with
me. Now these angels, these angels, people like to think about angels,
don't they? In our day, you know, Mrs. What's-her-face. That woman from North Carolina,
whose husband's a real famous heretic, she wrote a book on
angels. Angels. And everybody buys that
book. Everybody's all taken with angels. Ladies, have you seen all these
little bits getting popular now in the angels? That's like Noah's
Ark, you know. They're popular. Angels. People,
they're scoffing and mocking, and they're mocking at the Bible.
Noah's Ark, and angels, you know, they got these little fat, tubby,
little chubby creatures, you know, with little wings sticking
out of their backs, flying around and look so angelic, rosy cheeks. That's not the angels in the
Scripture. Look at verse 7, of the angels. Here's a description of the angels.
He maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of
fire. In the Garden of Eden, when the man and the woman fell,
he didn't send some little tubby little creature to tell them
how much God loved them and all that, and if they'd just accept
him, he sent an angel with a flaming sword, the Scripture says, to
keep the man and woman out of the garden. And over in Revelation, all the
way through the book of Revelation is mentioned angels. Seven of
them are talked about. Seven of them. And the first
one, Deborah, says he's coming with fire to scorch men. Fire. That's angels. That's angels. Many, many angels
mentioned in the Scripture, ministers of fire to unbelievers. But look
down at verse 14. It says, Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? They're not just ministers of
fire to unbelievers, but they're helpers, they're ministers, helpers
to God's people. all the way through the Old Testament
and throughout the Gospels and the Book of Acts. Angels are
mentioned. They're sent by God to watch
over God's people, to do things for God's people. Wonderful stories. Many of those angels we believe
are Christ himself. But angel, here's the point,
angel is a real and powerful being, spiritual being, and the
Scripture says that one of them is going to destroy the fourth
of the earth. The angels are real, and they're
powerful, and they're not to be toyed with, or mocked, or
played with, or displayed as decor. How much less the Son
of God, because Job, that's what he's saying here. He's much better
than the angels. He's higher than the angels.
He said to the angels, bow down to my Son. Look at it. Verse
8, unto the Son, he's saying. Now, angels are powerful, aren't
they? They're going to destroy a quarter of this earth. But
unto the Son, he's saying. What's he call the Son? God. Thy throne, O. The angels are going to be sent
to destroy parts of the earth. If the scripture says of the
sun, he's sitting on it. It's his footstool. That's what
the psalm says. He that sitteth on the circle
of the earth. Isaiah said that. And the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. You see these so-called church signs
everywhere, you know, Jesus needs you, Jesus needs that, Jesus
wanting, Jesus, Jesus. The Lord is sitting down and
the earth is, he's not at the earth's beckoning call. The earth
is under his feet. Now, I'm not trying to make him
sound austere and mean or what have you, not at
all. I am trying to declare him as
he is though, as the Bible declares him, the right one. We've got
the right Jesus Christ. I'm declaring this morning the
one who is Lord, as the Bible says he is. Not like men think
he is. Look at this. It says here in
verse 8. I like this. Under the sun he
saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. Isaiah said
his rule, of his reign and his rule, there will be no end. No end. And look at this here,
it says, A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.
A scepter of righteousness. I'll get everybody's attention
now, object-wise. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of his kingdom. What's a scepter? In the old
days, a king used what was called a scepter, a rod or a staff. which was a symbol of his power.
He sat on his throne and he reigned and ruled with this scepter.
He made judgments with this scepter. He conferred honors and blessings
on this scepter. I dove thee, sir, this, or sir,
that, or I bless thee, I give you half of my kingdom, or cut
his head off for anything. Scepter. Sentences passed. Honors conferred. Acceptance. Esther said it was a golden scepter. I didn't have any gold, but that'll
have to do. Got a yellow mop handle. You who know that story over
in Esther said that king held out the golden scepter to Esther. And it says she touched it. And
because of that, she lay hold on it, and she had favor in the
sight of the King, and was granted everything that she could wish.
And because of that, seated at his right hand, therefore,
all of her people were accepted in the blood. What is this scepter
which Christ had? says, Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. A scepter of righteousness. A scepter of righteousness. The
judge of the earth. Now it has a double meaning here.
The judge of the earth will do rights. Whatever God does is
right. When he points his scepter at
you, his word, his providence, it's right. When he finally decides, he kills. He makes a lot. He fires from a job. He gives a job. It's right. It's a scepter of
righteousness. Whatever he does is right. Know
what the scripture says? It's a scepter of righteousness.
It's his rod and his staff. Anybody remember reading that
in the scriptures anywhere? The rod and the staff. They do
what to God's people? Comfort them. That's where Job got his comfort.
He said, He talked to his wife and said,
ìYouíre talking like a foolish woman.î He said, ìGodís given
us plenty of good. Shall He not give us evil also?î
ìHush, woman.î When Eli, Eli said the same thing,
ìItís the Lord.î ìItís the Lord.î ìShall not the judge of the earth
do right?î His rod and those staffs, they
comfort man. They comfort man. But now, wait
a minute, Psalm 2, which he's quoting here, says that he's
going to rule the world with a rod of iron. A rod of iron. Scripture says he's going to
bash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. See that glass? God's going to do it to this
earth. If I had the guts, I'd do it
right now. Rob Berner did it one time, Joe. Didn't he, Ed? Brought ten glasses
up in the pulpit and said, this is God's law. He'd broken every
one of them. Bam. If Dickie didn't have to
clean it up, I'd do it. Scripture said that's Jesus Christ.
He's not some pitiful little fellow. Christ is the rod of God. He is the rod of God. That's
what Hebrews is saying here. Who's sitting on the throne,
who's reigning and ruling, who's going to fold it up. Look at
it. Verse 11 and 12. Verse 10, he made the world,
he laid the foundation, the heavens are the work of his hand. And
he said this, he said, Can I do with my own what I will? Yes. Hath not the potter power over
the clay? Yes. To make one a vessel under honor,
choose, elect, predestinate? Yes. And to make another under
dishonor? Yes, he does. He made it, see it, read on.
He says, Thou, Lord, the heavens are the work of thy fingers.
They shall perish, but thou remainest. All shall wax old as doth a garment. A vesture shalt thou fold them
up, like a man would fold his coat up. That's what it says.
God's going to take this world like a garment when he's done
with it. Today, when I get home, when
I'm finished with these clothes, I'm going to fold them up. Well,
I'm going to hang them on a cup. Done with it! That's what God's going to do
to this planet. Jesus Christ, Jesus, Jesus, the Lord, laid aside. And they will be changed, he
says, in a moment, the twinkling of an eye. He's going to bring
his children up to meet him in the air. In a moment, a twinkling of an
eye, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we shall rise
to meet them in the air, and so shall we ever be with the
Lord. And no more tears or sorrow, but it is going to be some weeping
somewhere in the earth. And it ain't going
to be like these fools who say, you know, when the rapture comes,
can I have your car? Have you ever seen that? You
know, when your stupid bumper sticker says, when the rapture
comes, this car will be without a driver? You've seen that, haven't
you? I saw one the other day that
said, when the rapture comes, can I have your car? That's real funny, isn't it? And I don't want a car. Scripture
says you're going to cry under the rocks and hills to follow.
It's going to be the biggest prayer meeting this world has
ever known. Why? Because Jesus, Jesus, is sitting on the throne, and
when he gets up, Old brother Scott Richardson,
he's an old coal miner, doesn't know nothing, doesn't know much
to this world. An old coal miner who would listen. He said everybody's all the time
wanting God to break his silence, wanting God to speak. You know,
God speak, speak, speak. They're talking about Christ
walking around, knocking on doors and all that. Old Brother Scott
said, when he speaks, see, he's been silent all these years.
He's spoken unto us through this Word. That's it. When he speaks
again, Scripture says it's going to be like a sound of many waters. And when he gets up again, see,
he's sitting down right now. He's going to get up. And it's
going to be like when old Stephen Now, he's going to get up to
meet his family in the air. But, buddy, it's going to be
to put his foot once and for all on this earth. Snuff it out. Thou art the same. See that,
verse 12? Thou art the same. The same God
of the old. walk this planet in the new.
And the same one is going to come down here again. And so he concludes, to which
of the angels did he say this? Sit on my right hand till I make
thine enemies thy footstool. They are just ministering spirits
sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. And so, do you see why we read
verse 1 of chapter 2? Therefore, we ought to give the
more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. Christ did this in the days of
Noah. They're marrying and giving marriage and everything. They're
about just every hunky-dory, you know. The days of the flood
were days of prosperity and they were... Because why? Because God came
down here. and has spoken unto us by his
Son, and he said, He that believeth in me shall have everlasting
life, but he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth on him waiting to fall. And I'm not preaching this way
for effect or to scare anybody. I'm just preaching Hebrews 1.
But I do say this, like Paul said, knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord. It's not Jesus. These preachers
are talking about Jesus, not him. We know the right one who's
described right there. And knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, Paul said, we persuade men. I would, if I could, persuade
everybody in here, my daughter, your children, your whoever,
mothers and fathers and husbands and wives, bow down before this sovereign
Lord. Ask Him for mercy and grace. The day is the day of salvation. Today. We're going to leave this
place, aren't we? The sun is shining. The birds
are singing. The skies are blue. At a time
when you think not. Now, that doesn't sound like
a day of judgment to me. Surely, on the day of judgment,
it will be black at a time when you think not. Wouldn't you love to see him
split the skies today? Those who know are looking for
him. Wouldn't you? Huh? He's gone. Joe, do you have a song picked
out? What is it? 222. 222.