Bibles please to Hebrews chapter
1. Hebrews chapter 1. I'm thankful
for all of you who braved the elements. It's cold out there. And they say it's going to get
colder. We're having a heat wave down in the valley. It was 27
when I left down there. So I think it was 20 when I got
here in the parking lot. I'm glad you're here with us
tonight, and we just want to honor our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ No other person Peggy that I was talking about it today
We don't want to honor people. That's not what we're here for
We're here to honor the person Jesus Christ our Lord Hebrews
chapter 1 We're going to read down through verse 4 of chapter
2, Hebrews chapter 1. In Hebrews chapter 1, Paul says,
God, who at sundry times in diverse manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets. hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his son, whom he hath 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, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by an inheritance obtained a more excellent
name than they. For unto 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 saith, and let all
the angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he saith,
who maketh his angel spirits, and his ministers a flame of
fire. But unto the sun, he saith, thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the work of thine hands. They shall
perish. But thou remainest, and they
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 to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? Therefore we ought to give the
more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at
any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels
was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense and reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? God also
bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and diverse
miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will. Let's pray. Lord, as Moses, we pray, Lord,
if you don't go up with us, if you're not here with us, then
we don't want to go. We want to be where you are.
And you said where two or three are gathered, you'd be there
in the midst. And Lord, we're counting upon
that promise. And by faith, we see you here
with us tonight. And oh, how we need you. How
I need your strength tonight. how we all need your strength
and comfort. Those of our church family who
are sick and frail, oh, how they need your strength and comfort
tonight. Lord, we pray that you would
continue to bless us, bless our church, Bless our pastor and
surely as they are away from us now. And I pray father that
you'd give safety and travel to them and others of our church
who are in need. Father, we pray that you would
supply their need according to your riches in glory. We pray
tonight, Lord, that you would help us to see again anew and
afresh our Lord Jesus Christ. Bless us, we pray in Jesus' name,
amen. Paul is the writer to the Hebrews. A lot of scholars I read about
said that they couldn't be Paul because it was a different kind
of writing, but he's writing to a different kind of people.
He's writing to his own heritage, the Hebrews. And in his writing
here, he's writing to those who are under an old system. A new system has been brought
into existence, effectual system, which system had been all through
the world, the system of grace and God's honor and God's righteousness,
but the Jews were actually, if you put it right down to it,
worshiping Moses and the law. thinking that all the glory of
Moses had, and they had all these types and all these shadows,
all these sacrifices, and all these things that God gave them
was to show them that they were ruined by the fall of Adam. They were sinners. They need
to be redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, which sacrificial
blood the priests saw every day and many times during the day,
and people bringing these sacrifices. They needed to be regenerated
by the Holy Spirit. But they made it a system of
works. They made it a system of works salvation. Now some
of us were saved from a system of works salvation. You got to
do this, you have to do that, and if you're going to be saved,
you got to do the coming forward or you got to sign a card or
you got to get on your knees and pray the sinner's prayer,
you've got to have the ABCs of the gospel, or you've got to
have the Romans, four points of the Romans, righteousness
to God. You've got to do something to
get yourself to God. You've got to work, got to do
something. Some of us came out of systems
like that. But all of us came out of a system
of self-righteousness. And that was my problem. Oh yeah,
I came out of a system of works, but my problem was self-righteousness.
And until the Lord revealed to me that he is the only righteousness
there is and that I have no righteousness at all, then my eyes were open. I could see. There was to be in all of these
sacrifices, all of these types, all of these shadows, there was
to be faith in the one who was typified. You see, Abraham, Jesus,
our Lord said, Abraham saw my day, rejoiced that he saw my
day. And, That was when probably he was
up on Mount Moriah with Isaac and the Lord showed him the lamb
that would be the substitute. And that's what all the shadows
and tithes and sacrifices was all about. There had to be a
substitute. We couldn't do anything for ourselves. and they pictured Jesus Christ. Moses spoke of me, our Lord said. When he was talking to the two
on the way to Emmaus, he said to them and he talked to them
about himself through Moses and the prophets. And here in Hebrews
chapter one, One of the phrases or one of the words that you'll
see throughout the whole book is the word better. For instance,
it's down in verse four. Being made so much better than
the angels. Christ is better. In actuality,
there is no comparison. None. He's so far above principality
and power. He's so far above that there's
really no comparison at all. How can we compare ourselves
to the Lord Jesus Christ? There's no way. No way. And that's what I want to talk
to you about tonight, is the incomparable Christ, the matchless
Savior. So far away and above, He's gone. I was talking to Bruce one time,
Bruce Daly, at one of our I think it was on a squirrel hunt at
that time, out in the woods, and we was talking about things,
and I said, you know, one of the things I learned very early
in coming to church and hearing Brother Donnie preach was that
God is actually God. He's actually God. I said, I
don't know if anybody can understand that. And he looked at me and
said, I understand it. God is actually God. There's no comparison. He's so
much better. He has a more excellent name
than they. He is the, He is all. He is all
and in all. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. He's the fulfillment of all the
law and the prophets. He's the only way. He's truth. He's life. He's resurrection. He's the bread of life. He's
the water of life. He is the I am that Moses saw
at that burning bush and who spoke to him out of the burning
bush and said, I am that I am. He's the one, well, actually,
just a few verses after Abraham saw my day, the Lord says, just
a couple verses later, he says, before Abraham was, I am. I am, I've always been existing,
existed. When he was in the garden, they
came to take him. And he said, who are you searching
for? Oh, we're searching for Jesus of Nazareth. I am. And what'd they do? They fell
backwards. I am. He is the I am. He's better than angels. And
when you read through Hebrews, he has more glory than that of
Moses. He is the rest for God's people. By Him, we have better things
that accompany salvation. He is our hope. We have hope
in Christ, hope in Christ. In heaven, a better and enduring
substance, the writer says. His are better promises. His is a better covenant. His
is better sacrifices. His is a better country. His is a better resurrection. And the key to all of it is found
in chapter 11, verse 40, God having provided some better way. Not in comparison, but far above,
far above. You see, what Paul is saying
actually in the book of Hebrews, if you have not Christ, you have
nothing. John said it this way, he that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Who he was, what he purposed
in eternity, he revealed and accomplished in time two and
four. His people. He is the incomparable
Christ. As we go down through these verses,
I want us to see what He's like. I'm not gonna tell you anything
new. You're gonna hear what you've heard before. Actually, if somebody
got up here and told you something new, you better just turn that
off. Because the wise preacher said,
there's nothing new under the sun. It's all right here in God's
word. And Paul here in chapter one
gives us a taste. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. He gives us just a taste. And
throughout the book, he shows us Jesus Christ and what he has
done for these Hebrews, but he didn't do anything more special
for them than he did for you and me. It's all the grace of
God, or it's nothing of grace. It's all the grace of God. And
here in chapter one, he says, God, that's where you start.
God. In the beginning was God. You start with God, his decrees,
his purpose, his will. As a matter of fact, the last
verse that we read in chapter two and verse four, the last
few words says, according to his own will. That's how things are done. If
he wills it, do you think he'll get done? If he purposes, do
you think he'll bring about his purpose? If he decreed it, do
you think his decrees will happen? He's God. He's God. And he's the beginning of it
all. He's the alpha, omega, the beginning,
the end. John said it this way in John
chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was the word. What
beginning? Well, you just put any kind of
beginning you want there. Whatever beginning it is, he's
the word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. Same
was in the beginning with God. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. He says, God who at sundry times
in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets. God has always had his preachers,
the prophets, preachers today, his preachers. God has always
had his preachers. And in various times, various
places, they preached the word of God to these Hebrews. But
now, in these last days, and we're living in the last days.
Paul was living in the last days. The last days is the time of
Christ. Paul was living in these last
days, and he said, he hath in these last days, God in these
last days has spoken unto us by his Son, the Son of God, the
Son of the living God, the incomparable Christ. He's the Son of God. The matchless savior. He's the
son of God. He did all the will of his father. He never did anything without
the father will in his life. What the father told him, that's
what he did. He's the incomparable Christ. In these last days, he's spoken
unto us by his son. And notice that he made whom
he hath appointed heir of all things. The incomparable Christ
is the heir. The matchless Christ is the heir.
He's the heir of all things. Everything that was created,
everything now belongs to him. And he sits on his throne and
he guides it all according to his decrees. whom He hath appointed
all things, by whom also He made the worlds. He's the Creator. He's the Creator. Our matchless
Savior is the Creator. He's the one that created us.
And then He created us anew, being born from above, a new
nature, partakers of the divine nature. He created that nature
within his people. By whom he made the worlds, his
creator, who being the brightness of his glory, he has more, chapter
three, verse three says he has more glory than Moses. Well,
sure he does. But what is the glory? Well,
in Exodus 33, 34, Moses said, show me thy glory. And what'd
the Lord do? Took him up on the mount. put him up on a rock,
then told him that he was gonna pass by, put him in the cleft
of the rock, passed by, and proclaimed the name of the Lord and said,
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I will have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. That's His glory. That's His
glory. The free grace of God. I'll have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. Paul said it this way in Romans
9, I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion. It's
according to God's will. And He's the brightness of God's
glory. John said in John 1.14, I started the quote
a while ago and now it just slipped my mind, John 1.14. For the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. That's who he was. The incomparable Christ is the
one who is glorious, the glorious, the matchless Savior. Notice
that he is the, the next expression is, and the express image of
his person. He's the exact image of God. If you want to know God the Father,
you look at God the Son. As a matter of fact, when we
get to glory, when we get to heaven, we're going to see God
the Son. That's who we're going to see.
And when we see Him, we're going to see who the Father is. Because He's just like Him. Philip
says, show us the Father and it suffices us. Jesus said, Philip,
if I've been so long with you and you've not known the Father,
he that has seen me has seen the Father also. The matchless
Savior, the incomparable Christ, is the exact image of who God
the Father is. You read his life, you read all
that was around his life, And you see that he was, that express
image, he was God. John said, no man has seen God
at any time. The only begotten of the Father,
he hath declared him. The incomparable Christ, the
matchless Savior, he's the express image of God. And then he says,
upholding all things by the word of his power. Uphold all things
by the, that's a mighty word, isn't it? He speaks and it's
done. He spoke the world into existence. And he upholds this whole system,
this whole world, all things by the word of his power. He
is the mighty son of God. By Him, Paul said in Colossians,
all things consist. They're all held together, not
only upheld, but held together by Jesus Christ. That's how powerful,
that's how mighty our Savior is. And then the writer says
He's mighty to save. Boy, that ought to give us comfort
right there. He's mighty to save. He can do it. He has done it. He's provided for all of salvation. He is salvation. And He's mighty
to save. That day He opened my eyes. He
showed me who God was. And He was mighty to save. Mighty
to save. Thank the Lord that He is mighty
to save. And then it says, and when He
had by Himself purged our sins, by Himself, He did it alone. And He purged our sins. He's the substitutionary sacrifice. He went to the cross, died on
the cross. He became sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And when he died on the cross,
bearing our sins, he paid for all of them, he put them all
away, and he purged them. He purged our sins. He wiped
them out. Wiped them off the face of the
map. As far as the east is from the west, so have I separated
your sins from you. Wow. There's no stopping of east
and west, is there? He's our substitutionary sacrifice. Look at Hebrews chapter nine
with me. Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews chapter nine and go down
to verse 23. It says, ìIt was therefore necessary
that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified
by these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these.î Thatís the Old Testament, blood and bulls and goats. ìFor Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands, which the figures of the true,
but in heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us.
Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest
entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of
others. For then must he often have suffered since the foundation
of the world. But now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. Look at chapter 10. and go down
to verse 10. Paul says, and every priest standeth
daily ministering and offering sacrifices, oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God once Forever. He died for our sin. Once for all, he did it. And
then he put away all those sins. They're purged. When he had by
himself purged our sins. Our matchless Savior, the incomparable
Christ, is our substitutionary sacrifice. And the only one we
need. The only one. He sat down then
on the right hand of the majesty on the high. The work is done.
The work is done. It's accomplished. It's finished. Nothing else to do. Nothing else
anyone could do. It's all finished. All done. Our salvation is complete. in Jesus Christ. He sat down
at the right hand of the majesty on high because he was accepted
of God and then honored of God. He is God's only begotten son. He's the son of his love, my
beloved son, he says. And then in verse four, he's
made so much better than the angels. Again, it's not a comparison.
It's completion. It's a statement of completion.
Nothing like him, the incomparable Christ. And he inherited a name
that's more excellent. Verse four, being made so much
better than the angels and he has by inheritance obtained a
more excellent name than they. That at the name of Jesus, every
knee should bow. And every tongue should confess
that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That name
by which we're saved, there's none other name under heaven
given among men whereby ye must be saved. That name we use when
we pray, we invoke his name in prayer. And all who gather in
his name, his presence is with them there. He inherited a more
excellent name than they. Can you think of a greater name?
Can you think of a more excellent name? Can you think of a person
who's anywhere near like our Lord Jesus Christ? Now, he never
said to angels, verse five, And which of the angels said he at
any time? He never said to the angels, thou art my son, this
day have I begotten thee. He never said to the angels,
you're my son. He never said, this day I've
begotten thee. Here's the incarnation. Our Lord
leaving heaven's glory, leaving the riches of glory and coming
impoverished himself, humiliated himself to become a man for one
reason. With that body, he could be our
sacrifice. And he did. He did it for you
and me. Thou art my son this day have
I begotten thee. I will be to him a father. He
shall be to me a son. He's the son of God, the son
of the living God. That's what Peter said, isn't
it? Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. The eunuch
said the same thing. I believe he's the Christ. I
believe he's the son of the living God. And then it says in verse six,
when he bringeth the first begotten into the world, he saith, and
let all the angels of God worship him. That happened, didn't it? We read about it in Luke chapter
2 at his birth. The angels came and told the
shepherds where they would find the Savior. And then there was
in the heavenly hosts, they were all praising God and saying,
glory to God in the highest. That really happened, didn't
it? That's what Paul was referring to here. And let all the angels
of God worship him. And they did. And of the angels,
he saith, who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flame
of fire. But unto the Son, he saith, thy
throne, O God. He's the incomparable Christ.
He's the matchless Savior. He has a throne. He has a kingdom. And that kingdom is not of this
world. For he said if it were of this
world, he could call upon his kingdom and they would do something
there when he was standing before Pilate. But his kingdom is not
of this world. It's a heavenly kingdom. It's
a better place. It's a better country. It's better
things. It's our hope. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. The incomparable Christ. He's
eternal. He's eternal. Forever and ever. Eternal. He
has been on the throne. He is on the throne. He will
be on the throne. He has been king. He is king. He will be king as we go in and
sit around that throne. the throne of our Savior, Jesus
Christ. He's the incomparable one. He's
the matchless one. And to the son he saith, thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever. Notice he calls him God.
God calls his son God. There are quite a few religions
out in this world that do not believe that Jesus Christ is
God. They believe that he is a great
teacher in some. One group believes he's the brother
of Lucifer, just one of the angels. But they don't believe that he's
God. Well, look at this. Here God is saying it. God is
speaking. Thy throne, O God. God calls him God. I think I'll
take God's word for it, won't you? He is the incomparable,
the matchless Christ, the incomparable Christ, the matchless Savior. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. He is the Lord our righteousness. The Lord our righteousness. I
like saying that because I'm not righteous at all. There's
none righteous. No, not one. but He gave me His
righteousness. And I can say with joy and gladness
in my heart, the Lord, our righteousness. And that's my only hope, for
this sinner to enter into glory and to be at the feet of Jesus
Christ, our Savior. My only hope is He is my righteousness. He's my Savior, the matchless
Savior, the incomparable Christ. And he brings in that better
covenant. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity, he says. Then look at verse 10. And thou,
Lord, the Lord God calls him Lord. He's Lord. What's Lord? Lord's the master. What he says goes. The servants
follow the Lord, follow the master. Sometimes we don't act like the
servants of God. I've just said it about me. Sometimes
I don't act like the servant of God, but he's still my Lord. and never stop being my Lord.
The incomparable Christ, the matchless Savior, will never
stop being my Lord. My Lord for all eternity. And so we speak of Him as such,
as the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who laid the foundation
of the earth. He's the one that the heavens
are the works of His hands. And then in verse 11, Paul puts
a little bit, he talks about the temporal and the permanent,
the temporal and the eternal. He says, the heavens are the
works of thy hand, you've laid the foundation of the earth,
verse 11, they shall perish, but thou remainest. This world
is gonna, earth is gonna pass away. It's gonna pass away. What's going to remain? The Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ. His people. Because He makes them part of
Him. And they remain. You'll remain.
He remains. They shall wax old as a garment. And what's He going to do? He's
going to fold them up. This world, He's just going to
fold it up. It's done. One day He'll say
time is no more. It's done. It's done. One day he'll call his people
home, and in the resurrection there'll be on one side the sheep
and on the other side the goats. It's done. Years ago when I was so-called
preaching, they'd always taught me in Bible school that these
Hebrews were going to get a second chance. There's going to be a
tribulational period, and if they endure during that tribulational
period, they can go into the millennial period with the rest
of the saints. Now, when the Lord calls, it's
done. He's just going to fold it up. It's done. It's over. There'll
be no more of those excuses. Well, one day I will. Someday
I'll bow to him. No, at that day, it's done. And
it's done for us too. There'll never be another prayer,
because all the prayers are answered, aren't they? When you sit at
the feet of our Lord and Savior, there's no need to pray. You're
right there. Faith becomes sight. We see. And we know Him. Oh, He's the
incomparable Christ. He's the matchless Savior. He's
the Lord from the beginning, in the beginning. He'll fold
them up like a garment. They shall be changed, but thou
art the same. The writer of Hebrews says He's
the same yesterday, today, and forever. Aren't you glad He's
the same? Our matchless Savior, the incomparable
Christ. He is the same, always the same. What He was, He is and will be. He never changes. I am the Lord,
I change not. He is immutable, if you want
to use one of those 50 cent words. He's immutable and that just
simply means He's unchangeable. He won't change. He won't change. Thy years fail not. No wonder
He says we have a better and enduring way. No wonder He says
we have a better hope. No wonder He says we have better
promises. I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. Who in the world could promise
something like that? but our matchless Savior, the incomparable
Christ. And don't you love that in Isaiah
43 verse 1? I have redeemed thee. I have
redeemed thee. He promised redemption and he
gave it. He worked it out. He finished
it. I have redeemed thee. I will
be their God and they shall be my people. There's a promise. Better promises. Now which of
the angels did he say at any time in verse 13? Sit on my right
hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool. This was said
to our Lord. And then are not all these angels
ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall
be heirs of salvation? There's a group of people that
will be heirs of salvation. And these angels, their job,
maybe I should say this first, the word angel means messenger.
We get the word gospel from a word that actually has two words in
it, and one of them is angel. Good angel. Good message. The only good message The gospel
message. The gospel of free grace. And
they minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. There's
still some who shall. Every time you read it, it says
it. There shall be some. There's still some who shall.
One of these days, that'll be over with. And they minister
to those who shall. They minister them. This is God's
sovereign grace. Heirs of salvation, I like that,
don't you? He's the heir and we're joint
heirs with Him. He's the heir of all things and
we're heirs of salvation. Heirs of God's salvation. He's
the matchless Savior, the incomparable Christ. Now, chapter two, give
them more earnest heed. Give them more earnest heed.
If that's who He is, don't you think you ought to listen If
that's who He is, don't you think you ought to follow? If that's
who He is, don't you think you ought to love Him? If that's
who He is, don't you think you ought to appreciate Him? If that's
who He is, don't you think you ought to bless His name and praise
Him and worship Him? Give them more understanding
than what we've heard. The gospel of free grace, lest you let them
slip. Look up that word slip. That
means to flow past. It's like a river. It flows past. The water's gone. You got new
water coming in. Don't let it flow past you. Don't
let these things get by you. Don't let these things escape.
As a matter of fact, he uses the word escape. How shall we
escape in verse three? if we neglect so great salvation. How shall we escape? Why would
you want to flee from the matchless Christ, the incomparable Christ,
the matchless Savior? The word spoken was steadfast. That's the gospel. It's the sure
word of prophecy Peter talks about. There was a just recompense
of reward, lest we let it slip our minds God is the judge. This is the justice of God. Every
transgression, every disobedience, there's a just recompensive reward. Thank the Lord that our Lord
took that upon himself. We never could have borne that.
We never could have gotten through that. He's the incomparable Christ. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? So great salvation. All done for us. Made effectual
in the lives of His people. So great salvation. First spoken by the Lord. Confirmed
unto us that heard Him. and God bearing them witness
and signs and wonders, the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
This was all done according to his will. He's the incomparable
Christ. He won our victory. He says it's done, it's done. There's nothing we can add to
it. It's just like the writer of Revelation. At the end he
says, don't you add anything to the words of this book and
don't take anything away from it. Don't you add anything to
grace and don't you take away from it. It's God's free grace. It's God's salvation. Let me close by reading a tract that was written
several years ago. It's no longer in print. to kind of give us a flow of
what was going on here, the incomparable Christ. More than 2,000 years
ago, there was a man, a God-man, born contrary to the laws of
nature. He laid aside his purple robe
for a peasant's tunic. He was rich, yet for our sake,
he became poor. This man lived in poverty. and
was raised in obscurity. He received no formal education
and never possessed wealth or widespread influence. He never
traveled extensively. He seldom crossed the boundary
of the country in which he lived. But this man's life has decreed
the course of history. In infancy, he was the king. In childhood, he amazed religious
scholars. In manhood, he ruled the course
of nature, walked on stormy waves, and hushed the raging of a C
to sleep. He healed multitudes without
medicine and made no charge for his services. He never practiced
psychiatry, yet he has healed more broken hearts than all the
doctors far and near. He never wrote a book. Yet his
life has inspired more books than any other man. He never
wrote a song, yet he has furnished the theme for more songs than
all songwriters combined. He never founded a college, but
all the schools put together cannot boast of having as many
students. He never marshaled an army. He
never drafted a soldier or fired a gun. Yet no leader ever had
more rebels surrender to him without a shot fired. Herod could
not kill him. Satan could not seduce him. His
enemies could not destroy him. The grave could not hold him.
After three days, he rose from the dead, alive forevermore. He is the ever perfect one. He is the Christ, the son of
the living God. This man stands forth upon the
highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed by God, acknowledged
by angels, adored by his people, and feared by demons as the risen
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father, thank you for
our Savior, Jesus Christ. We have just touched the surface. There's no way that our finite
minds could capture all there is about our Savior, and especially
in just a few minutes. But Father, as we read your book,
and as you tell us the story time and time again of your free
grace, show us again our Savior, high and lifted up. in all eternity. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.