Our subject this morning is the
glory of Jesus Christ, the excellence and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll be reading from the
book of Hebrews, chapter 1, and also chapter 3. I'd like very
much, if you don't mind, for you to follow in your Bible as
I read the Scripture today. I think you'll get a greater
blessing from the message if you'll follow it in the Scripture.
Now, you've got time right now. to get your Bible and open it
to Hebrews chapter 1. Now, I'm going to read a text,
verse 8 of Hebrews 1. But unto the Son, but unto the
Son, that's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He saith,
that is, the Father saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Thy throne, O God. The Father
said this to Christ, the Son. Thy throne, O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom." Now, it's not always wise to
seek keys to the books of the Bible. It's not always wise to
try to find a key to a passage of Scripture, because we could
lay hold on the wrong key, and we could go in the wrong direction,
or we could even lay hold on the right key, and instead of
finding all the precious treasures that are there, we might miss
the blessing riding one particular point. But without a doubt, I
can say this without a doubt, the key to the book of Hebrews,
the key to the book of Hebrews is the excellence and glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's absolutely right. You
take the entire book of Hebrews and the key to this whole book,
the key to understanding it, the key to being blessed by it,
the key to receiving the treasures that are there, is to understand
that the book of Hebrews deals with the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and it sets forth his superiority over all things and
over all creatures. For example, look at verse 4.
Chapter 1, now verse 4. You see it there? Talking about
Christ, it says, Being made so much better than the angels,
so much better than the angels, he hath by inheritance Obtain
a more excellent name than they take all the angels of God Michael
Gabriel all of those you cannot name all of the heavenly host
the cherubim and seraphim and our Lord Jesus Christ is Superior
to all of them being made so much better than the angels storm
that Christ now look at chapter 3 verse 3 It says in verse 3
of chapter 3 this man speaking of Christ the God man This man
was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as the builder of
the house has more glory than the house. Now, Moses was a great
leader, and the people of Israel, they kept saying, well, we have
Moses, we believe Moses, and Christ is worthy of more glory,
many times more glory than Moses and all the Moses that ever lived. And then he talks about Aaron
and the priest. It says they were many. Christ
was one. They lived and died. His priesthood
is forever after the order of Melchizedek. They offered many
sacrifices. He only won. They came daily
offering the same sacrifices into the holy place made with
hands. He went into heaven into the presence of the Father. They
brought the blood of animals. He brought his own blood. Their
sacrifices could never, could never put away sin. By one offering
He perfected forever them that are sanctified. They died, He
lives. So our Lord Jesus Christ, His
covenant is so much better than their covenant. His sacrifice
is so much better than all their sacrifices. Our Lord is far superior
and more excellent and has more glory than all of the priests
and the sacrifices put together with the tabernacle thrown in.
Listen to Psalm chapter 8 verse 1. Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is thy name. In all the earth thou hast set
thy glory above the heavens, above the tabernacle, above the
priest, above the sacrifices, above Moses, above the angels,
thy glory above the heavens. You see what I'm saying? The
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to the book of Proverbs.
Solomon, writing about the Lord Jesus Christ, said, when there
were no depths, thou wast brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills were brought forth, when the Father prepared the
heavens, thou wast there. When God appointed the foundations
of the earth, then were you by Him as one brought up by Him,
daily His delight. Listen to this. Whoso findeth
thee, findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. He
that sinneth against thee wrongeth his own soul, and those that
hate thee love death." My friends, this is the sum and essence of
the book of Hebrews. If you want a key to the book
of Hebrews, if you want a theme of the book of Hebrews, if you
want to find the sum and substance of the book of Hebrews, if you
want to take the book of Hebrews and condense it into one word,
it'd be Christ. Christ Jesus the Lord. For that
matter, the whole Bible is the story of the redemptive glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 1 of Hebrews 1.
It says here, God, who at sundry times, or different manners,
different ways, in different ways, or diverse ways, spoke
to our fathers. God spoke to our fathers. How
did God speak to our fathers? He spoke to our fathers by the
prophets. We're talking about Moses, Elijah, we're talking
about Samuel, We're talking about Jeremiah. We're talking about
Isaiah. We're talking about Malachi. We're talking about all of the
prophets. God spake to our fathers, to the Old Testament saints,
to the people who lived before Calvary, to the people who lived
before the apostles. God spoke to them. He spoke to
them by the prophets. He spoke to our fathers by the
prophets. Well, what did he say to the people by the prophets?
The prophets brought the message of God. The prophets came and
said, Thus saith the Lord. Habakkuk talked about the burden
of the word of the God. Jeremiah said, He that hath a
dream, let him tell his dream. He that hath the word of God,
let him preach the word of God. What did these prophets say to
the people? God spoke to the people by the prophets. Well, what did God say to the
people by the prophets? Well, look at Acts 10, 43. Now,
this will give you the key to everything that Moses preached
and Jeremiah preached and Isaiah preached and all the rest of
it. It says in Acts 10, verse 43, to him, that is to Christ,
give all the prophets witness. That's right. Christ was their
message. These people came to Christ our Lord, and they said,
we don't want to hear you. We have Moses. Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the law, we have Moses. Our Lord
said to them, you don't believe Moses. If you'd have believed
Moses, you'd have believed me. Moses wrote of me. Well, they
said, Abraham's our father. He said, you didn't believe Abraham.
You're not the son of Abraham. Or you'd do Abraham's works.
Abraham saw my day. And he rejoiced, and he was glad. Moses wrote of me. Christ was
Moses' message. Let me tell you something. When
our Lord took Peter, James, and John and went to the Mount of
Transfiguration, and he was transfigured there before them, Christ was
in the center and Moses and Elijah appeared with him, talking with
him. Do you happen to know what they
talked about? It's pretty important what they talked about. Here
was our Lord Jesus Christ with the very glory of God shining
upon him. A voice from heaven came down
and said, this is my beloved son, listen to him. And here
Moses, the greatest prophet that ever lived, representing the
law. Here's Elijah, one of the greatest prophets who ever lived,
representing all the prophets. And they appeared there with
the Lord and talked to him. What did they talk about? The
Bible tells you. It says they spoke with him about
his death at Jerusalem. That's what they preached about.
That's what they believed in. That's what they looked for.
That's what they waited for. That's what they declared. When
Isaiah saw his glory, he spake of him. Isaiah said He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was laid upon Him. By His stripes
we're healed. They wrote of Him. Acts 10, 43,
To Him give all the prophets witness. Look at John 5, 39.
Our Lord was surrounded by a group of religionists, a group of Pharisees. And they didn't have the New
Testament. It wasn't then written. Christ did not even die on the
cross. They didn't have the gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, and Acts, and Romans, and 1st and 2nd Corinthians,
any of those books. They had the Old Testament scriptures.
Genesis through Malachi. And our Lord looked at them and
he said, you search the scriptures. You're busy searching the scriptures.
You do search the scriptures. And they did. They were students
of the scriptures. They were scribes of the scriptures,
and translators of the scriptures, and students and teachers of
the scriptures. And he said, in the scriptures, you think
you have life. But they are they which testify of me. And then
when our Lord appeared to his apostles in Luke 24, verse 44,
he said this to them. Luke 24, 44, listen to it. All
things, I told you, all things, all things must be fulfilled
which were written in Moses, in the prophets, in the Psalms
concerning me. What did Moses write in the Psalms
and the prophets? concerning me." They wrote that
he'd be woman's seed. That's right, Genesis 3, 15,
the seed of woman shall bruise the serpent's head. They wrote
that he would be Abraham's seed. God said, Abraham, I'll make
you a great nation, and I'll bless you, and through you, I'll
bless the world. Abraham's seed is Christ, not to seeds, to seed,
singular, S-double-E-D, and that seed is Christ. That's what Paul
said, the seed of Abraham is Jesus Christ. They said he would
come of the tribe of Judah, When the prophet was blessing his
children, he said, the scepter shall not depart from Judah till
Shiloh comes. God declared by the prophets
that he would be a man born of woman, that he would be Abraham's
seed, a Jew, that he would be of the tribe of Judah, not Levi,
Judah, that he would be of the family of Jesse, a stem of Jesse,
and that he would be of the household of David. And that's exactly
what Jesus Christ was. And that he would be born in
Bethlehem. They came and said, where is
this king of the Jews supposed to be born? These fellas got
their Bibles out and went through. They said in Bethlehem. That's
where he was born. Mount Micah 3, 5, 2. They said in Isaiah 7, 14, a
young woman, a virgin, shall conceive and bring forth a son,
Mary. I shall call his name Emmanuel,
God with us. He said in Deuteronomy, he'll
be a prophet like Moses. A king like David and a priest
like Melchizedek. They said he'd be sold for 30
pieces of silver. They said he'd have his beard
plucked out. They said he'd have his hands
pierced and his feet pierced. They said they'd spit in his
face. He said in the Word of God they'd gamble at the foot
of his cross for his robe. It said he'd be buried in a rich
man's tomb and on the third day he'd rise again. All of that's
in the Old Testament. It's all applicable only to the
Lord Jesus Christ. He fulfilled every prophecy,
every promise, and every picture which was presented in the scriptures.
God spake to our fathers by the prophets. What did he say to
them? There's a prophet coming like
unto Moses, him you shall hear. There's a king coming like unto
David, king of kings and lord of lords. There's a priest coming
after the order of Melchizedek, who met Abraham even when the
whole tribe of God's people were in his loins and he paid tithes
to Melchizedek. My friends, God spoke to the
people in the Passover. God spoke to the people in the
rock that was smitten. God spoke to the people in the
serpent that was lifted up on a pole. God spoke to the people
in the tabernacle and the feast of the first fruits and all the
other sacrifices. God spoke of Christ, Christ,
Christ in his redemption. I hear men talking about dispensationalism,
and I've got no quarrel with dispensations. There are dispensations. There are certain dispensations.
There are different ways in which God reveals Himself. There are
different ways in which God Almighty manifests His grace, but His
grace is always in Christ. His grace is always in Christ.
And whatever dispensation, the way God saves men is by Christ.
Men have never been saved by keeping the law because no man's
ever kept the law. Men have never been saved by
animal sacrifices because the blood of an animal cannot put
away the sin of a man. Men have always been saved by
looking to Jesus Christ, whether before he died or after he died,
whether the coming king or the king who has come, whether the
coming crucified lamb or the lamb that has been slain. They're
saved only by Christ and Christ alone. It's the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, that cleanseth us from all sin without the shedding
of blood There's no remission. So God, in different ways and
at different times, spake to our fathers by the prophets.
Hath, watch the next verse, hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, Jesus Christ, who tabernacled among us. I want
you to read verse 2 and 3 very carefully. I believe we ought
to commit these two verses to memory. You'll see three very
important facts about the Lord Jesus Christ, three undeniable
facts, three important facts, three imperative facts about
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen to me. God hath in
these last days spoken to us, you and me, by his Son, whom
he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he made the worlds,
who being in the brightness of his glory, the express image
of his person, who upholdeth all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of God. God spake to our fathers by the
prophets about Christ, and God has spoken to you and to me personally
by his Son, who came to this earth in human flesh. And right
here in these two verses, he tells us three important imperative
truths about Christ. Listen to me now. First, he tells
us who he is. And then he tells us what he
did. And then he tells us where he is now. Notice the first one. God tells us who he is. Who is
this man, Jesus Christ? They looked at him and said,
well, we know you. We know your mama and your brothers and sisters,
Josie and Judy and all the rest of them. And we know your father,
Joseph. Who do you think you are? Is
not this the carpenter? Just who is this man? Well, read
that verse, too, and it'll tell you. He's God's beloved son. That's what it says. Not the
Son of God by creation as the angels are, not the Son of God
by adoption as I am, but the Son of God in very truth, the
eternal, only begotten Son of God. He is God's Son. This is my Son in whom I'm well
pleased, the Father said. This is my Son. Hear ye Him. Not only that, but He is the
heir of all things. Everything is given over to Christ.
Everything. He's the heir. You say, well,
I'm an heir of God. You're a joint heir with Christ.
Christ is the heir, and whatever you have, you have in Him. Listen,
who is this man? He made the world. He made the
world. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that
was made. Read on. He's the brightness
of the Father's glory. The Father's glory is in Christ,
centered in Christ, revealed in Christ. He's the exact image
of his person. One of the disciples said to
the Lord one day, show us the Father. Show us the Father, and
that'll satisfy us. And he said, have I been this
long time with you, and you don't know me? He that has seen me
has seen the Father. I and my Father are one. He is
the exact image of the Father's person. And then notice, he upholdeth
all things by the word of his power. In him we live and move
and have our being. Let me tell you something. He
who thinks little of Christ thinks little of God. He who thinks
little of Christ or nothing of Christ knows nothing of God.
He who thinks much of Christ has a saving knowledge of God
because God is in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. So in
those two verses, who is this man? Son of God, heir of all
things. by whom he made the worlds, the
exact image of God's person, and the one who upholds all things
by the word of his power. Well, what did he do? Listen.
When he had by himself purged our sins. Do you read that? That's about as plain as a word
could be spoken, isn't it? By himself purged our sins. Who purged our sins? He did.
How did he do it? By himself. Well, didn't the
preacher help him? No, sir. Didn't I help him? No,
sir. Didn't faith help him? No, sir.
Didn't Moses help him? No, sir. By himself. He's our
Redeemer. He walked the winepress of God's
wrath all alone. Even the Father deserted him
on the cross. He bare our guilt and shame and
filth and sin in his body on the tree by himself. You see that? By himself. The royal bath of mercy. in which
black souls are washed white from their guilt and shame and
sin was drawn from the veins of Emmanuel, Jesus Christ, and
no blood of noble martyrs or noble confessors or popes or
priests or cardinals or evangelists or missionaries or preachers
or well-meaning religionists enter that stream. There's a
fountain filled with blood. It's drawn from Emmanuel's veins,
and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. The banquet of mercy is served
by one host. Lord of Glory by himself. What did he do? Purged. Put away
our sins. That's the reason there's no
purgatory. The believer has no sins to purge. They've already
been purged. Calvary is the believer's purgatory.
He purged our sins. How many of them? All of them.
All of them. He's cast them behind his back.
He's cast them into the depths of the sea. He separated them
from us as far as the east is from the west. He's blotted them
out. He said, I'll remember them no more. He's purged our sin.
How'd he do it? By himself. By himself. By the sacrifice of himself,
he appeared to put away sin. Well, where is he now? Read on.
You see, God has spoken to us. He spoke to our fathers with
the prophets. Same message. Same message. He spoke to us
by his son, his beloved son, by whom he made the world. who
by himself purged our sins." Where is he now? He sat down
at the right hand of the Majesty on high. That's where he is.
Our great high priest, having finished his work, sat down.
Now let me tell you something. If you know anything about the
tabernacle or the temple, there were seven pieces of furniture
in the tabernacle, but not one chair. Not one chair. There was
the altar, and there was the washbasin, and the candlestick,
and the table of showbread, and the incense, and the mercy seat,
and the Ark of the Covenant. No chairs. Why no chairs? Why,
those men ministered in there every day, 365 days a year, every
year in the decade, in the millennium. They ministered in that temple.
No chair. They never sat down. Why did
they never sit down? They never finished their work. Their work
was not effectual. Their work was representative.
Christ, by one offering, perfected forever, them that are sanctified.
Having completed his work, he sat down. The great high priest,
Jesus Christ, has finished his work. He said that from Calvary
so that heaven, earth, and hell could hear him. It's finished.
And what a fool I'd be to try to add anything to it. What a
fool I'd be to try to add anything to the glorious, grand work of
the Lord Jesus Christ, which is finished. He sat down. And
there at the right hand of God, he is our mediator, the only
one we have. There is no other mediator. You
needn't pray to Saint Jude or Saint Christopher or any other
saint. He can't help himself, let alone you. Don't pray to
me, I can't help you. We pray. But Christ is our mediator. Christ is our intercessor. One
God, one mediator between God and men. And that's the man Christ
Jesus. And God Almighty will not speak
to nor be spoken to. except through Jesus Christ.
Now watch this. And the Father spake of His excellent glory. Look at verse 5. He said, Thou
art my Son. This day have I begotten Thee. In verse 6, He says, Let all
the angels of God worship Him. In verse 8, this is the text
that I read a moment ago. Thy throne, O God, is forever. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God
in human flesh. Christ is God. If you wanted
to select a passage of scripture that would show you that Jesus
Christ is God Almighty, where would you go in the Word? Well,
I'd go to Isaiah 9, verse 6, where it says, unto us, a child
is born, a son is given, the government shall be upon his
shoulders, his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Or I'd go
to Isaiah 7, verse 14, which is repeated in Matthew 1, where
it says, A virgin shall conceive and bring forth a child, a son.
Thou shalt call his name Immanuel, God with us. Or I'd go to John
10 verse 30 where Christ said, I and my Father are one. And
the religious people took up stones to stone him. And he said,
many good works have I done among you. For which of these do you
stone me? And they said, we're not stoning you for good works.
We're stoning you because you're a man and you claim to be God.
And that's what he did. He not only claimed to be, he
was God and is God. Or I'd go to Acts chapter 20,
where the Apostle Paul was preaching to the elders, and he charged
them to feed the Church of God, which God purchased with His
own blood. But I'll tell you, this is an
undeniable Scripture here. In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 8,
it says, The Father said to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Let all the angels of God worship
Him. God Almighty commands His angels
to worship. Now, my friends, the only one
who's to be worshipped is God. You have respect for men, you
give honor to whom honor is due, and respect to whom respect is
due, and obedience to whom obedience is due, but worship? Nobody but
God. And our God is commanding us
to worship the Son, for Jesus Christ is God. And He said His
throne is forever. His throne is a throne of holiness.
Isaiah said, I saw the Lord, the Lord Jehovah, sitting on
a throne, high and lifted up. And all the angels and cherubims
and heavenly hosts cried, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
holy. His throne is a throne of holiness.
His throne is a throne of justice. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Yes, he'll do right. Holy and
righteous are his judgments. But his throne, thank God, is
a throne of grace. And he tells us to boldly come
before the throne of grace that we may find mercy to help and
grace in our need. And his throne is forever. And
he says he's established his throne and his people shall reign
with him and his enemies shall be his footstool. Those who love
him, who trust him, who believe in him. will share his glory. It says they shall reign with
him. But it says here that his enemies
shall be his footstool. God the Father says, sit thou
on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. God spake to our fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son. And the message, Jesus Christ
is both Lord and Christ.