Hebrews 1:5-2:4 - Jesus is Better than the Angels

Pray

Father, thank you for your Word.

Thank you that we have the opportunity now to read it, to read about the glories of your Son, Jesus.

I pray that you would give me clarity to speak and humility to give all the glory to Christ.

And I pray that you would give all of us clarity to hear what you have revealed in your Word.

Please use your Word to change us all into the likeness of your Son, Jesus by the power of your Holy Spirit.

Lord, show us Christ.

It’s in his name I pray. Amen.

Intro

We’re continuing our series through the book of Hebrews this morning.

Last week we saw the thesis statement for the whole book of Hebrews, how Jesus is the best prophet and the best priest.

Now we’re opening the argument for how Jesus is the best prophet, the best messenger of God.

And the author jumps straight to the most authoritative messengers, the angels, to show how Jesus is a better messenger than they are.

It may seem obvious, but messengers announce messages, and two things affect how much we heed their messages.

Their authority and the weightiness of their message.

What authority does the messenger have and how important is his message?

Angels have a really high authority to speak for God, and their messages were really important.

But Jesus has a higher authority and a much more important message.

Have you ever been given a really important message?

How about instructions for what’s necessary to graduate high school from the school administrator…

Or a message from your doctor about how to treat or avoid some deadly illness…

Or how about an eviction notice from your landlord, or a ticket from the highway patrol, or a jury summons from the state.

What happens if you tuck those messages away and don’t pay close attention to them?

You might not graduate high school.

You might unnecessarily put your health or your life at risk.

You might get kicked out of your house, or owe a massive fine to the government, or even go to jail.

If you don’t pay close attention to important messages from authoritative messengers, there are consequences.

And even if we get the message, but its about something way in the future, we might bury the message and forget about it, and suffer the same consequences for drifting away from what we ought to do.

We tend to drift away from God and his message when we don’t pay close attention to it.

That tendency is seen all throughout the old testament, and it’s just as prevalent now as it was back then.

Because of this tendency, God has shown us how Jesus’ identity and message is better than the previous messengers, the angels, so that we will pay much closer attention to him and his message and not drift away.

In Hebrews 1:5-2:4 the argument for how Jesus is better than the angels is presented in two steps.

The first step in 1:5-14 proves from the old testament Scriptures that Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, has a higher authority than the angels.

And the second step in 2:1-4 proves from a lesser to greater argument that Jesus’ message is weightier than the angels’ messages.

So, lets look at the first step in chapter 1 verses 5 through 14, how Jesus’ identity as the Son of God is more authoritative than the angels.

Hebrews 1:5 ESV

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”?

Hebrews 1:6–7 ESV

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.”

Hebrews 1:8–9 ESV

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.”

Hebrews 1:10–12 ESV

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.”

Hebrews 1:13–14 ESV

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?

So, here we have a whole list of quotes from the Old Testament proving that…

Jesus has a higher authority than the angels (1:5-14)

We’ve got 7 different quotes from the Old Testament here, and all of them show how Jesus has a higher authority than the angels.

He has a higher authority as the unique Son of God.

He has a higher authority as the object of the angels’ worship.

He has a higher authority as the eternal ruler the angels rule under.

And he has a higher authority as the one who saved mankind and sends his angels to minister for the sake of those he has saved.

If you look in chapter 1 verse 5, a rhetorical question is asked which begs a negative answer.

“To which of the angels did God ever say…”

And we get a couple of quotes of what God has said to the Messiah.

Psalm 2:7, “I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.”

And 2 Samuel 7:14, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,”

To which of the angels did God ever say this?

And the answer is, “none of them.”

None of the angels have ever been especially called the Son of God because there is only one Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the Messiah, Jesus.

Now, angels are collectively called sons of God in a few places in the Old Testament, but Jesus is the only one especially called the Son of God, the firstborn, the heir of all creation.

Let’s look at where angels are called sons of God.

Job 1:6 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.”

Job 38:4–7 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

Psalm 82:6 “I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;”

These references are why many Bible scholars believe that the sons of God mentioned at the beginning of Genesis 6 are angels.

Genesis 6:4 “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.”

But even though the angels are referred to as sons of God collectively, none of them has ever been referred to as the unique Son of God like Jesus is.

Throughout the gospels others refer to him as the unique Son of God, and he refers to himself as the Son of God.

And he’s given this same designation as the unique Son of God throughout the rest of the New Testament.

But the verse that does this the strongest is one of the most well known verses of all time.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Different translations highlight the uniqueness of Jesus’ title as the Son of God as “only begotten Son,” or “one and only Son.”

This is the same unique relationship that Isaac had with his father, Abraham.

Genesis 22:2 “(God) said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.””

God loved the world such that he gave his only Son, whom he loves, and sacrificed him on the cross so that we could be reconciled to him, and become adopted sons of God, heirs of eternal life with Jesus.

Jesus is the unique Son of God, the heir of God, whom God loves, and none of the angels have ever been called that.

In verses 6 and 7 the angels are presented as worshipping Jesus and obeying what Jesus commands.

When God the Father brought his firstborn heir, his Son, into the world at his incarnation the angels worshipped him.

The final line of Psalm 97:7 is quoted here as Old Testament biblical proof of Luke recorded in Luke 2:13–14 an angel announced Jesus’ birth to some shepherds, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!””

Now, the assumption here in this argument in our passage is that angels are superior to humans, and we may be tempted to worship them, but Jesus is worshipped by the angels.

Angels being superior to humans is proved in Psalm 8:4–5, “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”

We are, right now, a little lower than the angels.

We’re going to develop this concept further next week.

The angels are superior to us, and we may see their superiority and be tempted to worship them like John was.

Revelation 22:8–9 “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.””

That angel made sure John knew that we’re not supposed to worship angels, we’re supposed to worship God.

And Jesus is God, so we’re supposed to worship him just like the angels worship him.

Paul also condemned worshipping angels in Colossians 2:18, “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,”

Psalm 104:4 is also quoted in our passage in the context of angels worshipping Jesus.

Let’s back up a bit and see what it says in Psalm 104:1–4 “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.”

The point is that Jesus is the sovereign God of the whole world, and even his messengers, the angels, worship him by being obedient and serving him however he wills.

He makes them winds, and so they obey.

He makes them a flame of fire, and so they obey.

If the angels worship and obey the Son of God, then we ought to do so as well.

The next two quotes in verses 8-12 prove that Jesus, as God, is the sovereign, eternal, and righteous ruler of everyone and everything.

And in the argument it’s assumed that the angels are created beings who only rule under his sovereign, eternal, and righteous rule.

The two quotes in verses 8-12 are from Psalm 45:6-7 and Psalm 102:25-27

Psalm 45:6–7 “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;”

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.”

Now, the assumption is that the angels are not like Jesus in his sovereign, eternal, and righteous rule.

Angels are not eternal, they’re created beings, they aren’t sovereign, and they only rule under Jesus’ rule.

We know that angels are created beings from Psalm 148:1-6 where the angels are lumped in with other things that God is said to have created.

Psalm 148:1–6 “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.”

Paul also explained how Jesus created the angels and refers to them according to their rule under Jesus’ rule in Colossians 1:16 “For by him (Jesus) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

Those “thrones or dominions or rulers of authorities” are the angels ruling under Jesus’ authority.

The angels may have authority to rule, but their authority is given to them by Jesus.

He created them and he has a higher authority, a higher rule that’s sovereign, eternal, and perfectly righteous.

Now the last quote that’s given in verse 13 is from Psalm 110:1, a verse that will keep coming up in the book of Hebrews.

As I mentioned last week, the idea that Jesus sat down at the right hand of God the Father means that his atonement was sufficient so that he doesn’t have to keep offering sacrifices over and over and over.

His sacrifice was sufficient so that now he can sit down, never to offer sacrifice again.

And he sat down at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us, so that when we sin, Jesus says, “I already paid for that.”

But Jesus is also seated at the Father’s right hand until a certain time.

There is coming a time when Jesus will not be seated, when he will come back, and all of his enemies will be subdued.

The point is that Jesus accomplished our salvation, he’s currently interceding for us, and he’s coming back to conquer all his enemies, to make all things right and new, and to wipe away every tear from our eyes.

But what do the angels do?

Verse 14 of our passage basically says that angels are ministers who are sent by Jesus to serve him for the sake of those he has saved.

Where else do we see this concept of the angels ministering for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

How about Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13:41–43 “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Or how about Psalm 91:11–12 “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”

Now Satan used this one out of context to tempt Jesus to jump off of the pinnacle of the Temple, and Jesus refused to put God the Father to the test.

But the context of this Psalm is talking about how God protects all those who trust in him using his angels to guard us.

The first two verses of that Psalm say this: Psalm 91:1–2 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.””

When we put our trust in the Lord, he protects us and sends his angels to guard us according to his will.

So, we saw from Scripture, from the Old Testament, how Jesus’ identity is more authoritative than the angels because he’s especially the Son of God, the angels worship him, his rule is sovereign and eternal, and he saved those the angels are sent to minister to.

Now lets look at the next step in this argument that Jesus is better than the angels.

How his message is weightier than the angels’ messages in chapter 2 verses 1-4.

Hebrews 2:1–2 ESV

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

Hebrews 2:3–4 ESV

how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

So, here we have a lesser to greater argument proving that…

Jesus has a weightier message than the angels (2:1-4)

In verse one we get our primary application, what we should do in light of Jesus’ superiority to the angels.

Pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

What is it that we have heard… what exactly are we supposed to pay attention to?

The gospel.

Jesus’ message of salvation from sin and death.

Salvation through faith in him because of his incarnation, death, and resurrection on our behalf.

That’s what we are supposed to pay attention to.

Why are we supposed to pay close attention to the message of the gospel?

Because if we don’t we’ll drift away from it.

And if we drift too far we will end up completely neglecting it and abandoning it, proving that we never put our faith in Jesus to begin with.

Now, this is the first of many warning passages in the book of Hebrews, and I want to explain the heart behind all of them right now.

These warnings are not hypothetical.

A hypothetical warning is pointless.

It lacks the urgency and impetus to do what the warning was intended to do.

Think about it… if I preempted a warning by saying, “now, this could never happen… but if it does, then these are the consequences”

Do those consequences mean anything, or are they completely empty?

Yeah, they’re completely empty, and the warning is useless, just a bunch of words that mean nothing because apparently the circumstances that would bring about the consequences could never actually happen.

So, these warnings are not hypothetical, they are real, they can actually happen.

But some of these warnings are directed to believers, and the consequences sure seem like believers could lose their salvation.

But we know from other passages that God won’t let any of those he’s saved be lost.

So, what’s the point of these warnings?

The point is not to find out what’s possible or not.

The point is to look at these warnings to find out what we are compelled to do or not do by the very real consequences we want to avoid.

These warnings are primarily tools that God uses to make sure his people stay safe and do what he wants them to do.

Not theological arguments for what is possible or not.

Imagine my youngest daughter, Evie, and I are walking along a trail, and I let her wander and play along the trail as long as she stays in sight.

But then we come to a part of the trail that’s super narrow and there’s a sheer cliff on one side.

So I stop her, and I get down on my knees at her level, and I look into her eyes and explain that she has to hold my hand and walk very carefully or else she will slip and fall off the cliff and get big ouchies and die.

She understands the danger, she understands what’s at stake.

So, she holds my hand very tight, and together, we slowly walk along the cliff, and we safely get to the other side.

Now, was the danger real?

Yes.

That cliff really existed, gravity really existed, her body’s frailty really existed.

Was the warning effective?

Yes.

She held my hand, she walked carefully, she avoided the consequences by obeying.

Was I ever going to let her fall if she disobeyed and let go of my hand?

Absolutely not.

But that doesn’t negate the purpose or the truth of the warning.

If you are truly saved, then let these warnings compel you to hold tighter to Jesus and to do what he tells you to do.

And if you are not saved, then let these warnings compel you to put your faith in Jesus in the first place.

This warning in our passage is explained using a lesser to greater argument, basically the lesser message of the angels in the Old Testament came with severe consequences for disregarding it, so the greater message of Jesus, the gospel, comes with greater consequences for disregarding it.

Let’s look at a couple examples of the lesser message of the angels and the consequences for disregarding their message.

Lot’s wife disregarded the angel’s warning in Genesis chapter 19.

Genesis 19:17 “And as they brought them out, one (angel) said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.””

Their message was the command to escape from Sodom and Gomorrah, and to not look back.

But Lot’s wife disregarded their message, and she looked back like they told her not to.

Genesis 19:24–26 “Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”

Her consequence was death.

Here’s another example, and probably the example the author of Hebrews had in mind.

God’s Law was given by him to Moses through angels on mount Sinai in the book of Exodus.

Now, we know from Acts and Galatians that it was delivered through angels even though the account in Exodus isn’t super clear on this point.

Stephen preached in Acts 7:37–38 “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us.”

Then he concluded his preaching with a condemnation of the religious leaders in Acts 7:53 “you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.””

Paul explained in Galatians 3:19 “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.”

Now, there are a lot of rules and instructions in God’s Law, and the consequences for disregarding God’s Law given through angels was death.

Deuteronomy 17:2–6 “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.”

That’s a pretty severe warning… obey or die.

And that message was reliable, everything that was spoken through the angels in the Law was true, and the consequences were real.

Every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution… death.

But that’s actually a lesser consequence than the consequence for disobeying Jesus.

Jesus’ message, the gospel, is not different from the Law but a fulfillment of the Law, what the Law was leading to all along.

You see, the Law was put in place to show us that we are all sinners, and that we all deserve death.

That’s the bad news that makes the good news so good.

Jesus fulfilled the Law because he took that bad news and paid our penalty for us by becoming the perfect sacrifice.

He’s 100% God and 100% human, he took on the wight of all of our sin and all of God’s wrath against our sin and he died in our place, then he rose from the dead conquering sin and death so that we could be forgiven and live with him forever by putting our faith in him.

And the consequence for disregarding Jesus and his message is eternal punishment in hell.

Jesus described it multiple times as a place of anguish, torment, darkness, and weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In Revelation it’s described as the lake of fire and the second death.

Revelation 20:14 “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”

Revelation 21:8 “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””

The consequence for disregarding the angel’s messages in the Law was the first death, but the consequence for disregarding Jesus’ message, the gospel, is the second death.

The second death is a weightier consequence as Jesus explained in Luke 12:4–5 ““I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”

This is not just your physical life at stake, it’s your eternal life that’s at stake.

How will we escape if we neglect or disregard such a weighty message, so great a salvation?

We won’t!

So don’t neglect it, don’t disregard it, don’t get distracted from it, pay much closer attention to it.

It’s important to remember that this consequence is not simply for disregarding Jesus’ message.

We might be tempted to think that eternal punishment in hell is too severe of a consequence for simply disregarding someone, or that it’s too severe of a punishment for our seemingly minor sins.

But this consequence is rightly deserved for our sin against God, and all of us have sinned against him.

We’ve sinned against almighty eternal creator God, so our just punishment is rightly eternal and severe because of the status of the one we’ve sinned against.

And Jesus’ message is how to be saved from the punishment we already rightly deserve, how to be saved from sin and death, how to go from eternal torment to eternal life with him.

That’s why disregarding his message results in eternal punishment in hell.

Because it’s disregarding the only way we can be saved from that punishment that we rightly deserve anyway.

Now, just like the angel’s messages proved reliable, Jesus’ message also proves reliable.

It was declared at first by Jesus himself, as God’s best revelation, better than the prophets or the angels.

Then it was reliably declared by first-hand witnesses, Jesus’ disciples.

And it’s been reliably declared by subsequent disciples all the way up to the present.

It was also proven to be reliable by God the Father who accompanied Jesus’ declaration of this message with authenticating signs.

We looked at many of those authenticating signs as we went through the gospel of John this past year.

And when Jesus’ disciples declared his message after him, they also did so with God’s authenticating signs and miracles.

And we also declare Jesus’ message with the authentication of the gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will just like the first disciples did.

Although, now it appears that we need less spectacular divine authentication in the moment and more looking back to the spectacular authentications of the past.

Now the gifts of the Holy Spirit help us love each other better and sometimes authenticate who actually believes and who may be pretending.

Conclusion

So, Jesus is clearly better than the angels.

He has a higher authority than the angels…

because he’s God’s only begotten Son, the Son he loves,

because he’s the object of the angels’ worship since he’s God,

because he’s the eternal ruler of everything and the angels rule under his authority,

and because he’s the one who saved mankind and he sends his angels to minister for the sake of those he has saved.

Not only does he have a higher authority than the angels, but he also has a weightier message than the angels.

His message was proved just as reliable as the angels’ messages.

But the consequence for disregarding the angels’ messages, the Law, was only physical death.

And the consequence for disregarding Jesus’ message is eternal punishment in hell, the second death.

Because his message is all about how he provided the only way to be saved from that punishment that we all rightly deserve for breaking God’s Law, for our sin against God.

There are two applications I want to leave you with from this passage.

The first is the main application for the whole book of Hebrews.

Don’t retreat from Jesus in fear, run toward him in faith.

For the original audience, retreating in fear was going back to the old covenant way of life.

For us, retreating in fear may look more like falling back into old sinful patterns of life because they’re comfortable, or they’re what we’re familiar with.

When we’re fearful of our circumstances, persecutions, hardships… we fall back on what we’re familiar with because we’re fearful of what may happen.

And very often what we’re familiar with is sinful selfishness and pride.

Don’t fall back on that old way of life.

Push forward toward Jesus in faith because he’s saved you from the biggest threat you could ever encounter.

The second application was directly stated in our passage.

Pay much closer attention to the gospel.

You can never focus too much on the gospel.

It’s the greatest message… period.

It’s the only message that has the power to save us from sin and death because it’s the message of what Jesus did to accomplish that salvation.

And we all need to pay close attention to it so that we don’t drift away.

Now, if you’re truly saved, then God won’t let you drift so far away that you abandon your salvation.

But he’s used this very real warning to remind you what’s at stake.

Your eternal life is at stake, so don’t drift away, keep focusing on the gospel, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, pay much closer attention to the ultimate message of so great a salvation.

Now, if you aren’t saved, then consider what I’ve been talking about.

This isn’t my opinion.

And this isn’t something you can just brush off or put off until later.

Your eternal life is at stake and you don’t know when it will be too late.

This is the truth, the verified and reliable truth that Jesus is God who became human, died in your place, and rose from the dead all so that you can be saved from sin and the just eternal punishment in hell you deserve for your sin against almighty eternal God.

He did all of the work to save you, to accomplish your salvation, and all you need to do to apply that salvation is put your faith in Jesus and submit to his rule in your life.

If you haven’t done this yet, then I’m pleading with you to do so right now.

Tell God in prayer right now that you believe and that you are submitting to Jesus as the rightful ruler of your life.

And if you put your faith in him this morning, please let us know so that we can rejoice with you in your salvation from sin and death, and give God all the glory for it.

Pray

Father thank you for your Son, Jesus.

Thank you for giving us assurance of his highest authority.

And thank you for giving us the most important message we will ever be given.

I pray that you would help us remember the weight of it, what’s at stake.

So that we will pay much closer attention to it.

And so that we will have a sense of urgency to proclaim the message of salvation in Christ to those who are on their way to eternal punishment in hell.

I pray that you would give us boldness to share Christ with everyone we encounter in our daily lives.

Give us an excitement and a joy in Christ to be compelled to talk about him and how great a salvation we have in him.

Please do a work among us here in Eureka and in Humboldt county.

We want to see the dead come to life, we want to see you work a miracle and save those around us.

Lord, I pray that you would save our families, our friends, our co-workers, our classmates, our baggers at the grocery store, and the beggars on the streets.

I pray that you would use us to save those around us as we faithfully proclaim so great a salvation because of what Jesus did, what you sent him to do.

I pray all of this in the glorious and authoritative name of Jesus. Amen.