Second Best
Hebrews - For Those Who Doubt • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 7 viewsJesus is King forever.
Notes
Transcript
Jesus is King forever
Jesus is King forever
As I sat down to write this message, I had just finished writing a funeral that I was preaching the next day.
I had talked earlier in the day to one of our members who lost her father unexpectedly that day.
I had text with a member whose mother decided she has had enough of doctors and needles and pokes and prods
And she’s entering hospice.
While I was writing this, another member’s brother passed away after a long illness.
And all the while, my own mother had finally taken to her bed, unable to eat or drink
Or get out of bed ever again on the face of this earth.
All I’ve got to say is, Jesus better be the king forever.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19 “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
People that say Jesus is a good man who taught great things aren’t wrong.
He was a a good man who taught great things.
But if He didn’t die on a cross and be raised on the third day, whatever does what He taught matter?
If Jesus is good for this life only, what good is that?
You can live a moral life helping other people, but what about the rest of eternity?
If Jesus did not save us
If He did not wash our sins away and conquer death for us and show us the way
What good is He?
We are suckers for following Him, most to be pitied.
But we aren’t suckers.
Because Jesus did wash our sins away and He did conquer death and He did show us that He was the way to abundant life.
Both on this earth and on the next one.
So we follow Him - don’t we?
We are trying hard, aren’t we?
But sometimes it is hard
And sometimes it is so hard we have doubts.
Open your Bibles if you will to Hebrews chapter 1, verses 5 - 14.
This might be a little bit of a struggle.
The writer uses all kinds of quotes and allusions and symbolic language to make his point.
And that’s not the way we think every day.
The problem the writer is trying to answer is the people that Hebrews was written for are tired and discouraged.
They thought Jesus was returning soon and all of their problems would be over.
They kind of felt a little bit scammed, you know what I mean?
You’ve been scammed, right?
You loan someone a couple of hundred dollars and then you never see them again?
You let someone borrow your book report so they can see how you get an A
Only to find out later, she copied your work and turned it in as her own.
When they trusted Jesus, their favorite hymn was “All my hard times, soon be over.”
And now their hard times weren’t over.
So some of them started going back to the way they lived before as good Jewish people.
They would live a good life and if they kept all the rules and were good enough, God would bless them.
The writer to the Hebrews says, “Wait a minute guys, let me explain why this Jesus is the best.”
Kids your three words today for your worship guide are Jesus, Angel and King.
Hear now the Word of the Lord from Hebrews 1:5-14
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”
But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;
they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,
like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”
And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Let’s ask the Lord for help hearing His Word.
Dear Holy Spirit,
Please make Jesus known to us today.
We want to believe, Father, help us to believe.
In Jesus’ name - Amen.
Just to refresh everyone, all this talk about angels is really talk about following the Law and the Prophets
The Bible tells us that the Old Testament was revealed to us by the angels.
It was a good message.
It was the right message - It is God’s holy law.
But it served its primary purpose and that’s to let us know we need more than the Law.
We need a Savior who is not only bigger than our day to day problems
He’s bigger than all of our problems.
What we need is a powerful, wise and kind King.
Hebrews 1:5 “For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?”
He is making His case for Jesus using the very words they are saying they need to go back to.
Psalm 2:7 “I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.”
2 Samuel 7:14 “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son...”
Now, here is where you might get lost and here’s why.
I read this over and over and studied the commentaries over and over before I finally understood.
You’ve got one shot so here we go.
Back in verse 3, we left Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, remember
Hebrews 1:3 “...After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
The Father is not speaking to Jesus on earth - He’s not speaking to the baby Jesus.
The Father is speaking to the ascended Jesus.
He’s talking to Mission Accomplished Jesus - sitting at His right hand in glory and He’s saying,
“Because you have completed the mission perfectly, today I have begotten you as King Jesus.
And the part about, “I will be to Him a Father...”
Think of it like this.
When my son Ben graduated from Northern Illinois University with his PhD, I gave him a big bear hug and said, “My son.”
Did he become my son that moment?
No, Ben’s been my son from the moment of his conception.
Ben will never not be my son.
But in that moment, I knew the hardships he had endured and the determination he showed
Sometimes in the face of what looked like failure
And I was so proud.
He was MY SON.
Far fetched that the Father would say that about the Son upon His return to heaven?
Remember hearing this: Mark 1:11
And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus is the one to follow because He is far and above any other person.
Hebrews 1:6 “And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.””
Is a reference to Deuteronomy 32:4 ““Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods...
Hebrews 1:7 “Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.””
Is a reference to Psalm 104:4 “he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.”
The argument here is the angels are God’s ministers who serve in the natural order.
They bring the winds.
They bring fire.
They deal in the natural realm where we live.
But not King Jesus.
King Jesus rules and reigns in the heavens and those angels worship Him.
Hebrews 1:8 “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.”
This is straight out of Psalm 45:6-7 and makes the point we miss.
Jesus is no longer here to serve.
He’s not here to wash our feet anymore.
He had completed His mission.
He now rules as the divine King.
To the one’s hearing this, they would realize the writer is saying this is the final King in the line of David.
This is the King Isaiah said was coming.
You can not turn back.
There is no going back.
The King has come.
Now this sounds like a bunch of words I know and hi-fallutin thoughts, but it really bears us thinking on this.
We see the painting of this friendly and kind Jesus carrying a lamb across His shoulders.
Anyone besides me getting these ads on Facebook?
And that’s what we’ve been raised to see.
And it’s not wrong - it’s simply not the full picture.
If you need Jesus to find you and save you, He’s there.
If you need rescue, Jesus is there.
But Jesus doesn’t stop there.
He is at the right hand of the Father ruling over us.
Figurative language here - He has in His Hand the scepter of uprightness
Meaning - He rules with justice and righteousness.
He will reign God’s way with God’s rules applied fairly to young and old, rich and poor.
Hebrews 1:9 “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.””
This is an allusion to Isaiah 61:1 where the final King in the lineage of David will bring good news to the poor
He’ll bind up the brokenhearted
And proclaim liberty to the captives.
How can He do that?
He’s the King - He can do anything He wants.
Hebrews 1:10-12 reflect the words of Psalm 102:25-27
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
“The Father rewarded him with rule over all because he was the obedient Son, because he never strayed from doing God’s will.” (Thomas Schriener)
From the foundation of the universe until this very moment, Jesus never strayed not for a skinny minute from the task at hand.
And all of this that was created,
It will all perish
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
And while that happens, Jesus remains the same, yesterday, today and forever.
Ruling and reigning and carrying His people home.
Hebrews 1:13 “And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?”
Straight from Psalm 110:1.
It’s like the author is incredulous here.
“How could you ever turn back to something, no matter how much easier it appeared to be
“How could you ever turn back from the only one who has total mastery over EVERYTHING.
You know the old way didn’t work.
How could you consider going back.
Look at Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”
This is the writer’s final statement.
It’s not an allusion or a quote - it is a statement of fact.
He is saying to them and to us, “are not angels sent to serve us?”
“Are not angels sent to serve those who God has called to salvation?
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t given much thought to angels.
I’ve read about them.
I’ve prayed for the Lord to send His angels to bring comfort to grieving families
But I guess that for me was more of a figure of speech for the Holy Spirit - do you get what I’m saying?
But according to this writer, angelic beings are sent from God on a mission to serve you - to serve those who are to inherit salvation, he says.
Not serve as in give us want we want
But serve in that they will give us what the Lord wants.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary says, “God commissions angels to protect his people, deliver them from danger, transmit divine messages, and encourage believers.”
While I was at New Providence, a tiny teenage girl lost control of her car.
He car went sideways and tumbled over and over.
The window burst and she was thrown out of the car and landed in a ditch.
Then the car rolled over on top of her.
When they got to her, she was trapped under the car
But she was not crushed.
She landed inside a little indention in the ditch that was just her size
So when the car landed on top of her, it didn’t crush her.
Could angels have been involved in that?
When we die, it will be angels that take us to King Jesus.
I’ve been told stories by nurses of people in ICU reaching for the angels in the room.
And my own dad when he died, yelled the strangest thing to my mother.
“Barbara! Barbara! I’m flying. I’m flying.”
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if we could see them that this room right this minute isn’t full of angels.
In the book of 2nd Kings, there is a story of Elisha and his servant being surrounded by the forces of the Syrian king.
Listen to the story: 2 Kings 6:15-17
When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Its a fairy tale right?
Let me ask us this: If you knew that the next time you walked into a contentious meeting at work
You’ve prayed, You’ve asked the Lord’s guidance, You’re willing to accept whatever outcome the Lord decides
As you walk into that meeting at work, what would it do in your spirit if you knew you were walking in with an army of angels around you?
Would you be more confident knowing that you are not there alone?
Not simply depending on the Spirit’s leading inside you
But knowing that there was literally a person right beside you?
How would that boost your confidence?
King Jesus rules over the angels.
The angels worship Him as He sits at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus rules over you and me.
He rules and reigns.
He’s not passive and meek.
He’s a king.
And He’s totally in charge.
There are lots of good things that you can follow and learn from.
Some are easier than others and some produce faster results than others.
There is a lot of good knowledge to be learned outside of the Bible
It just has to conform to the Bible.
But what we are being warned about here is following the good and neglecting the great.
It’s a good thing to strive to be a good person.
It’s a great thing to follow Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, do a gut check.
What is the driver in your life?
There are boatloads of good things you can do and have your kids to do.
But are they the best things?
Why would you trade the good for the great?
And friends
If you haven’t considered following Jesus, why don’t you?
I suspect you are a good person.
I suspect you don’t wake up in the morning wondering what trouble you can get into today.
I suspect you simply want to live a good, comfortable life.
And I’m not going to tell you Jesus will give you that.
Instead, I’m going to tell you that Jesus will give your life an eternal purpose.
Not simply to live comfortably until you die
But to live and make an impression for all eternity.
If you want to follow Him, He requires that you turn your back on the way you do things
And turn to Him and follow Him.
He requires you confess to Him that you realize you have lived your life your own way and not listened to Him.
That’s called sin - and you are a sinner.
And once you’ve confessed who you are to Him, He requires you to call on Him to save you.
Sincerely.
From your heart.
You mean it - it’s not just words.
When you do that, well, then you become our brother or sister
And Jesus becomes your King - and your life changes.
I invite you to do that right now.
We’ll pray and sing.
If you’d like to talk about Jesus, I’ll be on the front pew.
Come down and talk to me
Or grab a friend close by.
We all want you to know Jesus.
Let us pray.
