Hebrews 1: Jesus Christ - God Almighty

Q: What does the Bible say about the deity of Jesus Christ?

The Bible clearly affirms the deity of Jesus Christ, stating He is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His person (Hebrews 1:3). The book of Hebrews is specifically designed to set forth the person and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 1:3, we find that Jesus is described as the brightness of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature. This emphasizes His divine nature, affirming that He is not merely a created being but God Himself, sustaining all things by His powerful word. Furthermore, as the heir of all things appointed by God, His superiority is not only over angels and the law but also over every created entity, demonstrating His unique status as the Son of God.

Q: How do we know Christ's priesthood is superior?

Christ's priesthood is superior because He offered a single sacrifice for sins and then sat down at God's right hand (Hebrews 1:3). The book of Hebrews emphasizes the superiority of Christ's priesthood over the Levitical priesthood, as He offered a perfect sacrifice for sin that fulfilled the requirements of the Old Covenant. Unlike the priests who had to continuously offer sacrifices, Jesus completed His work with a single offering—His own life—and then ascended to sit at the right hand of God, a position of honor and authority (Hebrews 1:3). This act signified not only the completion of the sacrificial system but also His effective mediation on behalf of believers, establishing Him as our eternal High Priest.

Q: Why is the book of Hebrews important for understanding salvation?

The book of Hebrews is essential because it reveals the superiority of Christ and the New Covenant, which fulfills and surpasses the Old Covenant (Hebrews 1:1-2). Hebrews systematically presents the person and work of Christ, emphasizing His role as the fulfillment of God's promises and the New Covenant. It illustrates how God, who spoke through the prophets in the past, has ultimately spoken to us through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). This transition highlights the significance of the New Covenant established by Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection. Understanding these teachings is crucial for grasping the fullness of salvation and recognizing that turning back to the old ways or traditions negates the grace offered through Christ. Thus, Hebrews serves as both a glorious revelation and a sober warning about the consequences of neglecting this great salvation.

Q: What does it mean that Christ is the heir of all things?

Being the heir of all things means that Christ possesses authority and ownership over all creation, as appointed by God (Hebrews 1:2). In Hebrews 1:2, we see that Christ is designated as the heir of all things, indicating His sovereign authority over the entirety of creation. This denotes not merely ownership but also a unique status given to Him by the Father. Everything that exists has been created through Him and for Him, substantiating His supremacy over all creation (Colossians 1:16). As the heir, all blessings, inheritances, and total dominion belong to Christ. Furthermore, as joint heirs with Him, believers are granted a share in spiritual blessings and eternal life, highlighting the depths of God's grace towards those who trust in Christ.

Now let's open our Bibles to
the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 1. Now I've prepared two messages for
you today from the book of Hebrews. This morning I'm going to speak
from Hebrews 1. We're going to look at every
verse of Hebrews 1. And tonight, in the evening service,
I'm going to preach from Hebrews 2, every verse in the second chapter. Now, the importance of these
messages. If I had the ear, if I had the
ear today of every believer in the world, and the ear of every human being
interested in knowing the living God and
knowing how God saves sinners, I would have them all diligently,
prayerfully, and carefully study the book of Hebrews. When I was going to school to
study for the ministry, and in my early days of association
with different preachers, except for Ralph Barnard, most
of them and most of the teachers and preachers and classes never
touched the book of Hebrews, never dealt with the book of
Hebrews. And it really wasn't until several
years ago when I began preparing Sunday school lessons, verse
by verse, from the book of Hebrews that the significance of this
book dawned on me, the power of this book, the importance of this book.
You see, the book of Hebrews, has a grand design and purpose,
as all the books do, but Hebrews in particular, the great design
and purpose of the book of Hebrews is to set forth the person and
deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the grand design of the
book of Hebrews, to set forth the person and deity of the Lord
Jesus Christ. his priesthood, to exalt Christ,
to show, now watch this, the book of Hebrews is designed especially,
written especially, to show the excellence of Christ. His superiority over all things
and all creatures and over everything. The book of Hebrews sets forth
Christ's excellence and superiority over the angels, over Moses,
over the law. It sets forth the excellency
of his priesthood over the Old Testament priesthood. The efficacy of his sacrifice
over all sacrifices. His sacrifice puts an end to
all sacrifices. His sacrifice is the fulfillment
of all sacrifices. His sacrifice is the one to which
all the others pointed, and for which they were purposed, and
for which they were given. His covenant over the old covenant,
his covenant of mercy and grace puts an end to the old covenant,
fulfills the old covenant. This book of Hebrews is a book
of promises in Christ. It's a book of warning to all
who do not see, believe, receive and walk in its revelations. To go back, to go back to any
tradition or law or precept or priesthood or sacrament or covenant,
after having been exposed to this one Christ Jesus, is to
have no more recovering for sin. It's to sin willfully and have
no more sacrifice. Now, that's the importance of
the book of Hebrews. It seeks, it sets forth the glory
of Christ And it sets forth the glory of true faith in Christ. Now let's look at verse 1. God. God. Like the whole Bible, if
Paul is the writer of Hebrews, that's not really all that important. But the writer of Hebrews begins
where the Bible begins, begins where everything begins, begins
where we have to begin if we're going to find our Salvation comes
to sinners, you begin with God. You don't begin with the sinner,
you begin with God. That's one of the problems in
this day, we're starting at the wrong end. We're beginning with
men, and we're beginning with traditions and religions and
customs and thoughts instead of beginning with God. God, who
at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake
under our fathers by the prophets. God spoke to the people, to our
fathers, to our forefathers. God spoke to them by the prophets.
Who were these prophets? Well, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Elijah, many others. What did he speak to the fathers
about? God Almighty spoke to our fathers. What was the message? What did
he speak to them about? Well, he spoke to them about
Christ, because our Lord said, Moses rose of me. If you had
believed Moses, the people said to the Lord Jesus Christ, we
have the scriptures, we have Moses, we have Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Christ said if you had believed
Moses, you would have believed me. Moses rose of me. They said, we have Abraham, our
father. He said, before Abraham was,
I am. Your father Abraham saw my day. He rejoiced to see it. He was
glad. He saw my day. Abraham wrote
of me. Let me show you something here.
Acts 10, verse 43. This is a summary of the whole
Old Testament right here. Acts 10, verse 43. I'm going
to ask you to turn there. We're not going to leave Hebrews
1 very many times today, but let's look at Acts 10.43. It
says, God, who at various times in different ways spoke to our
fathers by the prophets. What did he speak to them about?
Verse 43 of Acts 10. To him give all the prophets
witness. God spoke to our fathers through
the prophets, and the prophets witnessed of Christ. that through
his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission
of sins." That's the message of the Prophet Christ. Peter at Pentecost said David
spoke concerning him. Back to Hebrews 1. God, who at
different times, in various manners, spake in times past unto the
Father's Book of Prophets, how did God speak? He spoke for the prophets, and
he spoke in prophecy. Moses wrote, the seed of woman
shall bruise the serpent's head. That's a prophecy. The seed of
woman is coming. Moses said, God will raise up
a prophet from the mist of you like unto me. That's a prophecy.
A virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son. His name shall be
called Emmanuel. That's a prophecy. The scepter,
when Jacob blessed his sons, he blessed Judah, and he said,
the scepter shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh comes.
And you can go through the whole Old Testament, and there are
literally thousands of prophecies. Prophecies, that's how God spoke.
A virgin, unless a son is given, a child is born, a son is given,
the government shall be on his shoulders. That's prophecy. And
then God spoke through the sacrifices. He gave the Passover lamb. When
Isphar was in Egypt and God would deliver them and death was coming
at midnight upon the firstborn in every home, God said, take
a lamb, the firstling of the flock, without spot or blemish.
Put it up four days. Watch it. Observe it. Make sure
it's without sin. Slay the lamb. Roast its body. Put the blood on the doorpost.
on the side post. When I say the blood I'll pass
over you, that's Christ. Christ I will pass over as sacrifice. That is a sacrifice. Also the scapegoat. The high
priest would put his hand on the head of the scapegoat and
confess the sins of Israel. And a designated man would take
the scapegoat and lead it out into the wilderness, clear out
of sight, clear out of reach. We're out there leaving, come
back without it. The scapegoat bore their sins.
That's Christ. Bore our sins away. There's a
day of atonement when the high priest would go under the veil
into the holy of holies, into the presence of God. before the
mercy seat. There the broken law in the ark
and the mercy seat and the cherubim, and God said, My glory, Shekinah
glory dwells between the cherubim. And he sprinkled that mercy seat,
mercy seat, perpetuatory, with blood, the atonement, atonement,
reconciliation, and back out of there. That's Christ, our
High Priest, who is our mercy seat, who is our perpetuatory,
who is our blood. Who is the Lord to whom it's
given? See, that's sacrifices. And that's Christ. That's how
he spoke to the Father. He spoke to them by types. People
were bitten with the serpents, and they were dying. And God
said, make a serpent of brass, like the one that's bitten the
people. Lift it on a pole, those who live. Moses lifted up the
brazen serpent. Our Lord one day stood before
people and said, as Moses lifted up the serpent, so shall a son
of man be lifted up. Christ was made flesh in the
likeness of sinful flesh, in the likeness of the bare serpent
that has bitten us. And he was lifted up on a cross.
And those who looked, Leo. Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of the whale. Moses smoked Christ three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth. Moses smoked the
rock. There was no water anywhere. And that rock doesn't look like
it'd give water. You get water out of wells, not
out of rocks. It's the most unlikely place to get water. And especially
by just hitting it, God could turn it into a well
maybe. No, it's a plain rock like the other rocks in the desert,
and it's smitten. And when it's smitten, it gives
forth water. That's Christ. That rock was Christ. Unlikely,
a man, a cartender they say. We know his brothers and sisters,
we know his mother, he's a cartender. But he's smitten on a cross and
he gives forth blood and water, blood to justify and water to
sanctify. That's a picture. That's a type. The cities of refuge. The man
was slain, run in there and he was saved. The covenants. So
God spoke to our Father. about Christ through the prophets. That's what this whole Old Testament
is all about. It's about Christ, the way he
saves sinners. Look at verse 2. He hath in these
last days spoken to us by his Son. What are the last days? The last days, this is a common
New Testament term referring to the days since Christ came
in the flesh in Bethlehem. These are the last days. We've
been in the last days. Somebody said we're in the last
days. Sure we are. We've been in them 2,000 years.
We've been in them 2,000 years. They're the last days. That's
what Paul called them, the last days. You see, this is something
a lot of people believe. I'm not sure about it. I've looked
into it. I'm interested in prophecy, not
to the extent that I lose my interest in Christ and the gospel. But some say that the duration
of this world will be 6,000 years, three equal parts. From Adam
to Moses is 2,000 years. From Adam to the giving of the
law, 2,000 years. From the giving of the law to
the coming of Christ is 2,000 years. From the coming of Christ
to 1989, almost 2,000 years. See, where they get that, you
want to look, here's another place I'll let you turn, 2 Peter,
2 Peter chapter 3. It may be that we're in the last,
last days, I don't know. It'd be fine. But in 2 Peter
3, the whole 3rd chapter of 2 Peter deals with the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's his return. You see, it
starts off that way, that verse 4 says, Where is the promise
of his coming? Since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
All right, down here in verse 8, But beloved, and this is written
to the church, Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day. And many people say, well, he
created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. And
this new creation in the redemption of a people will be 6,000 years,
six days. A thousand years is a day under
the Lord and a day is a thousand years. I do not know, but I do
know verse 2 is saying this, he hath in these last days, and
these are the last days since the coming of the Redeemer. He
hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son, the Lord Jesus,
is our prophet. Turn to Deuteronomy 18, Deuteronomy
18, verse 18. Christ is that prophet. You see,
no man knows the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son
will reveal him. The Scripture says no man has
seen God at any time. The Only Begotten reveals Him.
And here in Deuteronomy 18, verse 18, many, many years ago, 4,000
years ago, Moses says, And the Lord said, verse 17, And the
Lord said unto me, Deuteronomy 18, 17, They have well spoken
that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet
from among their brethren, like unto thee. And I'll put my words
in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command
him." You know, our Lord said, the words that I speak are not
my words, they're the words of him that sent me. And you remember
many times these Jews, and they read these scriptures. In fact,
some of these Jews, like Saul of Tarsus and Gamaliel and Nicodemus
and others, they lived in the Word of God. They were students,
diligent students of the Word, and they asked. They asked John
the Baptist, are you that prophet? Are you the Christ? Are you that
prophet? Talking about this right here.
They looked for that prophet. You see, God spake to our fathers
by the prophets, but he hath in these last days spoken to
us by that prophet. And that prophet is so far above
those prophets, it's not even describable. Now look at the
next verse. verse 19, and it will come to
pass, verse Deuteronomy 18, 19, it will come to pass that whosoever
will not hearken unto my words, which that prophet shall speak
in my name, I'm going to require it of him. I'm going to require it of him.
Like Barnard used to say, we're responsible not only for what
we hear, but what we could hear if we listen. What we could hear. Men are responsible for what
they hear, but they also, well, I'm not accountable for that,
I never did study that. You could have. You could have. Read on. He's spoken to us by his Son.
Now watch this. Whom he hath appointed heir of
all things. Christ is the heir of all things,
by whom he made the world. All that the Father has is in
Christ, given to Christ. The Father loves the Son and
has given all things into his hands. He's given him the kingdom
of the universe, the kingdom of nature, and the kingdom of
grace. Everything's in the hands of Christ. Turn to Colossians
with me, chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 16. Christ is the heir of all things. God has given all things into
the hands of the Son. It's his by decree, it's his
by death. Now watch Colossians 1.16. For
by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are
in earth, visible, invisible, whether it be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things created by him and
for him. He's before all things. By him
all things consist, or they're held together. He's the head
of the church, head of the body of the church. who is the beginning,
he's the firstborn of the dead, that in all things, in everything,
among all things, he might have the preeminence. Christ has everything. It pleased the Father that in
him should everything dwell, all fullness dwell. And these
things are ours. We participate in and partake
of anything God has spiritually by relationship with Christ,
by union with Christ. That's how it's yours. He's the
heir, your joint heir. Oh, that we might learn that.
All right, let's go on, verse 3. In this verse, you have three
important things set forth. three great important things. First of all, who he is. Who
being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholdeth all things by the word of his power. Who
is this prophet? Who is this man Jesus Christ?
Well, he's the very brightness of God's glory. He's the exact
image of God's person, same nature, same name, same perfection, same
power. And everything in this whole
universe and all the galaxies or whatever they are, wherever
they are, are held in his hand and upheld by his hand and held
together by his hand. It's all in Christ. It's in this person by whom the
Father has spoken to us. That's who he is. All right,
what has he done? Look at the next line. When he
had by himself purged our sins, this one who's the brightness
of God's glory, the exact image of God's person, actually came
into this world because of his love for us, because of his love
for the Father's will and purpose, he came into this world and was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh, born of woman, made of
a woman, made under the law, walked this earth, and by himself
purged our sins. He did it all by himself, by
becoming a man, by obeying the law, by dying on the cross, by
shedding his blood. He did it by himself. You see,
when Abraham said to Isaac, God will provide himself a lamb,
he's saying this, that God will provide, yes, God will provide
a lamb, and he'll do it himself, but he'll provide himself as
the lamb. That's what he's saying. And
this is what this is saying, Jesus Christ by himself. By himself, by his body, by his
obedience, by his blood, by himself purged our sins. But he did it
also by himself, without any aid, without any help. He did
it by himself. He did it alone. Where is he
now? He sat down. He sat down. His work is complete. You see,
our priest is an effectual priest. Our atonement is an effectual
atonement. Our redemption redeems. He sat
down, having finished his work. I've told you this so many times
in the Old Testament. There were no chairs in the tabernacle. There were no chairs anywhere
about there because the priests never sat down. They always were
standing, always working, always doing the same thing. They never
finished their work. They'd offer a sacrifice, but
it couldn't take away sin. So they never sat down. So now
when they got home, but not about the ministry of the tabernacle,
when Christ finished, offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
he sat down. He sat down. He sat down. On the right hand, now that position
there, right hand is important, that's the right hand reserved
for acceptance and love, that's a special place. On the right
hand of what? within the veil, the very majesty
of God. Brethren, that's our representative.
That's that prophet by whom God's faith, that's that Redeemer whom
God sent. That's our representative, our
federal head, who purged our sins himself through himself
and by himself and was exalted to the very right hand of the
majesty of Almighty God. Now watch this, verse 4. Being,
this is what makes his offering so effectual, this is what makes
what I'm preaching so important. Being made so much better even
than the angel, so much better. You know, people talk about angels
with a special reverence, and angels with a special feeling,
and angels with a special emotion. Even some people, even some believers
in the Bible, fell down to worship angels. When an angel appeared,
they fell on their faces. But here, when God talks about
our Redeemer, he says he's so much better. indescribably, unspeakably,
infinitely better than the angels. He is so far superior to all
creatures and all created beings, even angels, as the creator is
over the creature, as the independent over the dependent, as he who
blesses over he that is blessed, as he that is worshiped over
he that worships. There is a king over his subject.
He is so much infinitely better, he is like the one who sent over
the one that sent. You see that? Being so much better than the
angels, as he hath By inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they and everybody put together. He's exalted above all exaltation
in the excellency of his name. That's our prophet. That's the
one whom God lovingly and graciously and mercifully sent for us to
listen to. And yet, when he came and spoke,
he said, let another come in his own name and him you hear.
I come in my Father's name, and you won't hear me. We've got
so many voices today, everybody's listening to everybody and everything,
they're just voices everywhere, religious, so much talk and sermons
and preaching and assemblies and all this, and most of it's
worthless, most of it's useless, most of it's not worth the powder
it'd take to blow it out of here. God spoke to our fathers by the
prophets, he has spoken to us by his son. And he tells who
he is, and he tells of his glory, and he tells what he did, tells
where he is, and tells us if you're moved toward angels, or
priests, or preachers, or things that have a spiritual atmosphere,
Think of it, he's so much better than angels. It's so much better
to hear him than an angel. If an angel was sent down here,
you'd say, boy, I'd like to go home tonight and the angel would
be sitting in my room. I wouldn't. I'd be afraid he'd
be there for bad purposes. Because God has always spoken
through his Son. And that's sufficient. Father, look, verse 5. Under
which of the angels did he ever say, At any time thou art my
son, this day have I begotten thee? Did God ever say that to
an angel? Did God ever say that to Moses? And again, I'll be
to him a father and he shall be to me a son. In fact, actually,
verse 6, and again, when he bringeth the first begotten into the world,
he said, Let the angels of God worship him. Let the angels be his messengers
in service. Let the angels come down when
he's born in Bethlehem and just be servants to announce his birth. I tell you, that's a glorious
job for an angel, to say to the shepherds, unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior. Or after 40 days of fasting in
the wilderness, let the angels come down and fix him some supper. That's right. Or let the angels
come down and minister to him in his agony in Gethsemane's
garden. Or let the angels come down when he ascends back to
glory and say, ye men of Galilee, this same Jesus is coming back.
You be ready. Angels, angels. Did God ever
say to an angel, dark my son? No, sir, God said to the angels,
let them all worship him, adore him, fall down at his feet. And
verse 7, and unto the angels, God said, unto the angels, God
said, who maketh his angels spirits. Angels are spirits, they are
non-material, created spirits, they die not. And his ministers,
same thing, servants of flame of fire, the angels are servants
of God, and they're called flames of fire for their power, their
swiftness, their zeal, the fact that they execute God's wrath.
And I tell you this, when that chariot came down to pick up
Elijah, chariot of fire, wasn't it? You
know what it said? Elisha, chariot of fire Elijah. That might have been angels.
flames of fire. Could have been. May have been
angels. But that's what he says to the
angels. You're servants. You're servants. You're ministers. But, verse 8, under the sun. Oh, tune in to him. We'll talk
about this tonight. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? Tune in to the sun. Why is it
we clamor to turn on our television, watch these guys talk about something
they don't know anything about, raising money, building schools,
all this paraphernalia, we get so excited over their excitement
and all, and God is even, God has taken the angels. He said,
I have spoken by my Son, whom he has appointed heir of
all things, by whom he made the world. who being the brightness
of his glory, the exact image of his person, when he by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of God, he spoke
unto us. And we said, well, we like the
supernatural, we like the angels. To which of the angels did he
ever say that, my son? He said, at my right hand I make.
Why, he said the angels of God worship him. He says angels are
but ministering spirits. But unto the Son, He said, Thy
throne, O God. Thy throne, O God. See, angels are before the throne.
Christ is on the throne. If you want any mercy, you better
get acquainted with Him that's on the throne, not those that
run around before the throne. If you want any mercy, you've
got to come to the throne of grace and deal with the one who's
on the throne of grace. That's right. Thy throne, O God,
is forever a scepter of righteousness. Oh, my soul, is the scepter of
thy kingdom. What is the scepter? The scepter
is the reign. The scepter that the king holds
represents his reign, his power, his authority. That's his scepter,
his rule. Well, what's our Lord's rule?
It's righteousness. It's holiness, it's justice.
Now, I tell you, we need to get acquainted with this. His throne
is a reign of righteousness because he's God. His throne is a reign
of righteousness because these are his ways. Holy and reverend
is his name. And all who have a part in his
reign must have a part in his righteousness. I know that all of us think about
going to heaven. And I hate to think of anybody
not going to heaven. And we got the idea, well, this
person is going to heaven because she was a mother. A sweet, devoted,
dedicated mother. And I love my mother, and my
mother loves me. And mother just, God, apple pie
and mother just goes together. What would heaven be without
mother? I heard a man tell me one time, his mother wasn't in
heaven, wasn't nobody in heaven. And then there's preachers. The
man's a preacher. He teaches the word. He'll surely
be in heaven. He's a preacher. This man was
a deacon and a Sunday school teacher, and he lived by the
law, and he lived a straight, dedicated life, and whipped his
children into line. paid his bills and worked hard
on the farm, got calluses on his hands, sat on the front porch
and swatted flies and never got drunk and never gambled and never
went around. Surely he's in heaven. And I
could go on and on. This man gave this much money
to church and this man did all these things, you know, surely
he's in heaven. They walked down an aisle and talked to little
girls and boys in Sunday school and sang, Jesus loves me this
I know. Surely they're in heaven. Everybody's
in heaven. But my friend, you listen to
me now. We've just been talking about this one. Unto the Son,
He says, Thy throne, O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. He's got a kingdom. He is a king. You don't have a kingdom without
a king. You don't have king without kingdom. And the scepter or the
reign or the distinguishing mark of His kingdom is holiness. Holiness. Holiness. Holiness. Righteousness. Pure, perfect
righteousness. And I'm not talking about that
holiness down the street here that's got it on the door, holiness
to the Lord and that church, the holiness church. I'm not
talking about that. That person that doesn't drink,
smoke, cuss, chew or run around with those that do, I'm not talking
about that kind of holiness. I'm talking about a perfect,
absolute, perfect standing before God Almighty in the things pertaining
to God. That's what I'm talking about,
holiness. And that's the people that are going to heaven, that
have that holiness, that have a pure heart, clean hands, never
lied, never sinned, never offended God in any point, shape, form,
or fashion. That's the holiness that's His
kingdom. Well, you say, you're crazy,
preacher. I'm true crazy. And this holiness is found in
Christ. He is our righteousness. That's
why He came to the earth. That's why he suffered on the
cross. That's why he obeyed the law, to give us a righteousness. That's the righteousness Abraham
had, by believing him. I'm telling you the truth. And
I know exactly who's going to be in heaven. Christ is going
to be in heaven. And everybody's going to be there who's like
him. That's exactly true. Everybody in heaven is going
to be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. They're going to be there because
He loved them and gave Himself for them. They're going to be
there because they looked to Him, believed in Him, rested in Him,
trusted in Him, and received Him as their righteousness. That's the truth. It applies to me, you, or anybody
else. It applies to Mother. It applies to the preacher. It
applies to the old farmer. And it applies to the dear sweet
lady who teaches the boys and girls to sing Jesus Loves Me.
If she's resting in that, or he's resting in that, they'll
perish. But if they're resting in Christ
and his righteousness, they'll be there. Verse 9, Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity, he always has, he does now. Therefore God,
even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows. And thou, Lord, all this is to
Christ now. And thou, Lord, in the beginning
hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are
the work of thy hands. They shall perish. The heavens
and the earth are going to perish. They're going to melt with the
fervent heat. But thou remainest. They'll all wax old as a garment.
This suit right here that I've got on is going to get old, threadbare,
it's going to begin to get slick places and the buttons fall off.
What'll I do? I'll take it off, fold it up,
lay it aside. put in a garbage can somewhere.
That's what he said about the whole world and creation. Like
a garment, it's going to wax old, verse 12, and as a garment,
as a cloak, as a coat, shalt thou fold them up, and they'll
all be changed, but thou art the same. Thou art the same. The same yesterday, today, and
forever. When are we going to get a hold of it? I hope, I hope
before God calls us away from here. When are we going to lay
hold on it? Well, I like Brother so-and-so.
Well, I do too. But I don't like Brother so-and-so.
Well, you ought to like him. There's no reason not to like
him. No reason not to love him. God loves you, and you're a stinker.
It's not what you feel about Brother so-and-so anyhow. Well,
I'm a Calvinist. I'm this, that, and the other.
I'm a Baptist. I'm a Catholic. I'm a junkie. Everything's in
Christ. All of this we've invented, all
of this we've got around us, all of this we wear, all of this
we see and touch and feel and appeals to our senses. He says
it's going to wax old, they all perish, but he'll remain. They'll
fold him up and put him away, but he's the same. Thy years
fail not. All things are in Christ and
someday God's going to gather together all things in Christ.
What think ye of Christ Jesus? That's the question. Not what
you think of me or my doctrine or theology or this building
or the Baptists or nothing else. Well, we worship by waving our
hands. Well, I don't. We worship by running around
the aisle, you know, and throwing psalm books. Well, I don't. I
worship Christ. My hope's in Christ. When I think
of him, my heart is glad. But when I think of him, I'm
humbled. I don't feel like running up and down the aisle and screaming
and yelling. I feel like a sinner before the throne of grace. I don't need to lift my hands.
He's here too. Why not reach him out? Reach
him down. If I ascend into heaven, die
right there. If I make my bed in hell, die
right there. If I take the wings of the morning, die right there.
Where shall I flee from the presence of the Lord? God tells us this is all going
to be jumped, but he's forever. Now, verse 13, to which of the
angels said he at any time, to which of the angels, or to Moses,
or to the Baptist, or to the denomination, or to your profession,
or to your preacher, to which of anybody did he ever say at
any time, sit on my right hand? Cecily said that to Christ, until
I make your enemies your footstool. Almighty God didn't say that
to the angels. He didn't say that to the Baptists.
He didn't say that to the Calvinists. He didn't say that to the reformers. He didn't say that to the church
people. He said that to Christ and only
to Christ. You sit on my right hand, and
everything contrary to you, and everything that despises you,
and everything that's not in love with you, because he said,
if you're not with me, you're against me, and everything that's
not devoted to you, And in you, I'm going to make your foot still. Oh, isn't that something? And
they, these angels, look at verse 14, are they not all ministering
spirits? Sent forth to minister for them
who shall be the heirs of salvation. Oh, I hope I'm one of those,
don't you? An heir of salvation. A joint heir with Christ. I want
to be that. Well, there's churches everywhere
and voices and preachers, and they're all carrying on something
this morning, saying something, trying to get somebody to do
something, somebody to give something, somebody to donate something,
somebody to will something, somebody to set a new record over last
Sunday and all this. We played our games until we
think they're godly, and we think they're scriptural, and we think
they're heavenly, and we commit everybody to heaven. But you
read the book of Hebrews. It's Christ. It's Christ. It's Christ. It's all in Christ
Jesus. And that's where we want to be.

Hebrews 1: Jesus Christ - God Almighty

What does the Bible say about the deity of Jesus Christ?

How do we know Christ's priesthood is superior?

Why is the book of Hebrews important for understanding salvation?

What does it mean that Christ is the heir of all things?

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Hebrews 1: Jesus Christ - God Almighty

What does the Bible say about the deity of Jesus Christ?

How do we know Christ's priesthood is superior?

Why is the book of Hebrews important for understanding salvation?

What does it mean that Christ is the heir of all things?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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