Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM- Jesus Is Better Than Angels~ Hebrews 1 ~ Pastor Ryan Nichols

Oh come on my soul, don't you get shy on me, lift up your soul. You've got a lion inside of those lungs, get up and praise the Lord.

Don't you get shy on me, lift up your soul, cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs. Get up and get shy on me, lift up your soul, cause you've got a lion. want to go are you playing the chords on bridge 1b there just yeah just do bridge 1b okay i think so too if i tune my guitar again hey ian ian can you give me just a smidge more of jared's guitar just just a smidge i just feel like i'm trying to keep the rhythm right with him thank you oh okay let me tune this again all right well good morning it's good to see everybody i'm glad you can make it out on this cold morning i want to invite you to stand with us we'll pray we'll get started father we come before you this morning we thank you for allowing us to be here lord god

thank you for allowing us to be in your house to be in your presence this morning just ask for your blessing upon this time lord may we just be able to focus solely on you this morning lord and to be able to lavish praise upon you and may your word go out with power and lord we just ask these things and pray these things in jesus name amen and have a seat if you like between us by the cross you came and broke them down you broke them down there were chains around us by your grace we are no longer bound no longer bound you called me out of death has followed just give me you just give me yes lord let that be your presence this morning lord god we just want you just want to be with you lord god

we want to be in your presence seeing that course one more time and give me did you guys stand with me for the last one yes i for the sun to rise for my sleep as i am like god may that be a prayer this morning oh god for the light of your name oh god for the light of your name oh god for the light of your For those of us who are away from you right now, Lord God, teach us to abide in you. Lord God, you are our source of life. You're the one who wakes us up every morning, God, so teach us to abide in you, to remain in you, Lord. Teach us to draw from you, Lord God.

The well that never runs dry, Father God, teach us to draw from you and to teach us to remain in you this morning. And Father, now as Pastor Ryan comes, I pray that you would just do something awesome this morning, Lord. May your Holy Spirit do something awesome and mighty. Lord God, you're a mighty God. So Lord, this morning we ask that you would do something mighty.

Do something awesome, Lord, that we would be talking about it for the days and weeks to come, Lord God. We love you, Lord, and we praise you in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, Amen. Amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning. You can begin to locate your seats. Grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. Glad that you've joined us this morning. A handful of things to take note of in your bulletin. As always, over on the left side are the things going on throughout the week. And as a reminder, both after first and second services, the small group leaders will be gathered out in the New Fourier area. So if you are interested in getting plugged into one of those, take a look at those names over on the left-hand side.

And get with somebody afterwards if you're interested in getting plugged into one of those things. In the middle section of your bulletin, there's a handful more directories out there. I think we just about have everybody covered, hopefully. But if you need one, grab one. Also, just a reminder that there is a youth group parent meeting coming up this Tuesday, the 20th, at 7 o'clock right here at the church.

It's to inform parents of high school and middle school students. It's about the things that are going on this year. If you have any questions, you can talk to Jared. If you don't know who Jared is, he's the guy playing the guitar. He was right there. So those are the things that are going on. You would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 138.

Psalm 138. Look at the New American Standard for this part just so that we all sound the same. Then you go back to reading whatever other translation you brought after that. All right. If you are... If you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word. I will read the odd verses, if you will follow along with Pastor Allen, and the even verses.

Psalm 138, a psalm of David. I will give you thanks with all my heart. I will sing praises to you before the gods. I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your loving kindness and your truth. For you have magnified your word according to all your name. On the day I called, you answered me. You have made me bold with strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord, when they have heard the words of your mouth. And they will sing of the ways of the Lord. For great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is exalted, yet he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand will save me.

The Lord will accomplish what concerns me. Your loving kindness, O Lord, is everlasting. Do not forsake the works of your hands. And Father, we praise you because you are the God who accomplishes what concerns us. And so, Lord, we praise you today, and we find our refuge in you. Father, I pray that as we get ready to spend time in your word, that you would just move through this time by the power of your Holy Spirit.

We just pray your blessing, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1.

Last week we started into the book of Hebrews, and essentially we said that the theme is going to be that Jesus is so much better. We gave it an overarching title of, But We See Jesus. But the idea is that he will continue to show us that Jesus is better. There had been issues that were arising amongst especially the Jewish Christian community at that point in time.

And the issues that were arising had to do with the fact that people were drifting. There was unbelief. But most importantly, people had taken their eyes off of Jesus. And so what he does in the book of Hebrews is the writer to the Hebrews restores our vision. He puts our eyes back on the one that truly is our hope and truly is our purpose. And so he begins to write to us about several different things.

We said that the first half, the first ten chapters of the book are very theological in nature. And essentially we could give the first ten chapters the title, Jesus is Better. And so that's what he's going to do this morning. He's going to tell us this morning. Jesus is better than the angels. Now, if you were to look at the notebook that I first started writing notes in,

because what I do when I sit down to study is I read through it and I outline it and I write down all of my thoughts. And if you were to look at the very first line of that journal, it would say, why do we care? Right? Because as I look at this and I'm like, why is it important that we know that Jesus is greater than all of the angels? Why is this important to us?

Well, as I studied, I began to understand why this was important. And so I'm going to share with you a few things of why it's important that he shows us that Jesus is so much better than the angels. The first reason is because the Jews held angels in very high regard, partly because it was through the mediation of angels, which we'll learn in chapter two, that the law was given to Moses. If you will, in the Old Testament, the mediators between God and man were essentially the angels.

God also used the high priesthood, but they were the ones who delivered messages, oftentimes, from the Lord. And so they were kind of the mediators. So the Jews held angels. They held angels in very high regard. There was a danger. The second thing is there was a danger in the early church at this point in time of the creeping in of the worship of angels. We see this both in the book of Colossians and in the book of Galatians, where in Colossians, he says that not to give into all of these different things,

including the worship of angels as mediating individuals between God and man. And then in Galatians, he says, if anybody gives you a different message, even an angel, they are to be anathema. The third reason is that there was a heretical teaching that was gaining traction at this point in time, that Jesus was an angel. And it's interesting because there is a particular cult around today that says that Jesus and Michael, the archangel, are brothers, which would put Jesus on that angelic realm.

And then the last reason is that there was great pressure on Jewish Christians at this point in time. Persecution was on the rise, and they were finding that there was persecution in the world and that they had been rejected from the Jewish synagogue. And so there was almost no place of protection for them. So there was a great pressure on the Jewish Christians at this point in time to deny the deity of Christ.

And the next logical step, the compromise that many of them were seeing is that they could deny the deity of Christ, but he's still angelic in nature. And so there was kind of this compromise that they came across in their own minds about the deity of Christ. And so with all of these things going on, the writer to the Hebrews needs to reassure us. The great power, the great authority, the deity of Jesus Christ, that he is greater than the angels.

And so we start off in verse 4, and it says this. Having become as much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And again, I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me. And when he again brings the firstborn into the world. He says, and let all the angels of God worship him.

And of the angels, he says, who makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the son, he says, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever. And the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. And.

You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain and they will become old like a garment and like a mantle. You will roll them up like a garment. They will also be changed, but you are the same and your years will not come to an end. But to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool of your feet.

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to render? Service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation. It's interesting because what he's going to do here is he is going to give us a series of Old Testament quotations, almost all of which come from the Psalms. And before I get into this, I need you to know something. J. Vernon McGee and his commentary said this.

He said the Psalms was not just the hymn book of the Old Testament. It's the hymn book of the Bible, the H. I. M. Book of the Bible, because it ultimately is all about Jesus. Many of the Psalms are called Messianic Psalms. But all of the Psalms bring glory to the name of Jesus. And he's going to use a good number of Psalms here to do that for us. So there's three things I want you to take note of from this that he tells us about Jesus.

Number one, he is greater in status. Number two, he is greater in authority. And number three, he is greater in power. Let's start with the first one. He is greater in status. Again, look at verse four. Having become as much better than the angels. He has inherited. A more excellent name than they. The first thing that he tells us about the status of Jesus over the angels is that Jesus has inherited a much better name than they.

Now, in the culture that we live in today, names don't have an incredible amount of meaning attached to them, right? Like, I remember when we were pregnant with my daughter. When I say we, I mean my wife, but I was there too. When we were pregnant with my oldest daughter, we started trying to figure out what name we wanted. Now, we didn't think anything about what her character was going to be like.

We didn't think anything about what her nature was. We thought, what's going to be a great name? What will we enjoy calling her for the rest of her life? What can ultimately be construed as a bad name by a middle school student? Because when you work with youth, you give it the middle school test, right? And so you run it through all of those things. And okay, we came up with a name that we really like.

It's creative. It's fun. You can't turn it into a bad word with a middle school kid. We found a good name. That's how most of us name our kids today, right? If you're not a youth pastor, you might not use the middle school test. If you're looking at having kids, you might not use the middle school test. If you're going to have kids to them someday, you might use the middle school test.

But that was how we came up with the name. But in the time that the Bible was written, a name was not just something that you hoped was going to be neat. A name had a great deal of meaning to it because a name had everything about the character and the nature of the individual attached to it. A name was not just a title. It was a description. And while the angels were created, Jesus had a greater name than them all.

He goes on to explain. What he means by this name by quoting out of Psalm chapter two, verse seven. He says, for to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son. Today, I have begotten you. You are my son. Today, I have begotten you. That's the more excellent name that Jesus inherited. Is he inherited the name of the son? Now, son, not in the fact that he was born, but son in the fact of his character in his nature.

You see, a son bears both the character and the nature of the individual. Let me give you a for instance. In the Bible, it refers to two different types of sons. It refers to the sons of light and the sons of darkness. That doesn't mean that you were born of someone named light. It means that you bear the characteristics of light or you bear the characteristics of darkness.

So when Jesus is referred to as the son of God, it means he bears the characteristics and the nature of God. This was not a title of someone who was born. This is a title of someone who is deity when he is referred to as the son of God. And so his greater name is that he says, today, you are my son. But notice the second thing that he says. He says, today, I have begotten you.

Today, I have begotten you. Again, that's an important word that's used, the word begotten. When we think of that, we usually think of the fact that my daughter was begotten of me. But that's not the idea behind this word as he uses it here. The idea behind the word begotten. Begotten is something that speaks of both equality of substance and equality of nature.

Equality of substance and equality of nature. It is not an entrance into life. It is an entrance into an office. When he says, today, I have begotten you, he speaks of being begotten into the office of God. Now, it's interesting because if we were to look at Acts chapter 13, Paul in Acts chapter 13 quotes this verse. Only when he quotes this verse, he's not speaking.

He's speaking of Bethlehem when Jesus was born into the world. He's speaking of his resurrection when he was resurrected from the dead. You see, in Romans, you might write this in the margin of your Bible. In Romans chapter 1, verse 4, that's Romans 1, 4, it says this. It says that he was declared to be the son of God with power when God raised him from the dead.

You see, the declaration of the begotten nature of Jesus. Jesus was declared to us when God raised him from the dead. He was always deity, but he was declared to be deity when God raised him from the dead. He said, you are my son. You bear my characteristics and my nature. But today, I have begotten you when I raised you from the dead. And so, he is so much better than the angels because he has a better name than they.

But he goes on to quote 2 Samuel chapter 7, verse 14 when he says this. And again, I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. It's interesting because that quotation is actually a promise that was made to David. And it had both a near fulfillment and a future fulfillment. The near fulfillment of 2 Samuel chapter 7, verse 14 about he will be a son to me and I will be a father to him speaks of Solomon.

But the future fulfillment spoke of the greater descendant of David, which would be Jesus. And that he will be a father to him. And that he will have that unique relationship with the Father. That unique relationship between the two first members of the Trinity, which are the Father and the Son. And so, he says he has a greater status than the angels. The second thing that we take note of is that he has greater authority.

It says, and when he again brings the firstborn into the world, verse 6, he says, and let all the angels of God worship. And of the angels, he said, who makes his angels, winds, and ministers a flame of fire, a greater authority. He refers to him as something here. First of all, as the one who is worthy of worship. He refers to him as the firstborn. Now, I won't make you do a show of hands.

I usually do this if I'm talking to kids about it. But I won't make you give me a show of hands who here is firstborn in their family. I bet if you are the firstborn in your family. You think that you have all of the authority over the family, right? Because you, listen, I'm the youngest. I know what this is like, okay? I know what it's like to have a firstborn in the family.

And I know what it's like for the firstborn to think that they are the mother or the father. In particular, the mother, no offense, ladies, of the rest of the family, right? You feel like you should be there for all of the things. And if the other kids need discipline, you should make sure that mom and dad do it correctly. Because you are the firstborn. That's not the idea of firstborn here.

The firstborn has nothing to do with birth. Birth order in what is given to us here. The word firstborn here is the Greek word prototokos. P-R-O-T-O, tokos. And what it means is it speaks of a position of honor or authority. Oftentimes that was given to the one who was the oldest. But it wasn't always given to the one that was the oldest. For instance, David was the youngest.

But he was considered the firstborn because he had the authority. Jesus is the firstborn. Not because. Not because of his birth. Not because of his physical birth. But he's the firstborn over creation because of his authority. The idea of the word is priority to and sovereignty over creation. The word firstborn here is a word of great deity that is used of Jesus.

Oftentimes the cults try to say, you see, he's referred to as the firstborn here. That means that he was a man and he was born. He was not God. And that's because they don't understand. They don't understand that there's a different Greek word between birth order firstborn and authority firstborn. And the word that's used here is not the Greek word for birth order of firstborn.

It's the word that's used for authority of the firstborn. And that's what he is. He is that deity. He is that authority over all things. So all things in creation he is sovereign over. All things in creation he has priority to. But he's not just the firstborn over creation. He's also the firstborn. He's the firstborn from the dead. Because he was the one who was first resurrected from the dead and has authority over all who are.

And so we see that he has a greater authority because he is the one who is worthy of worship. Because I want you to notice what it says. It says right here, let all the angels of God worship him. Now this is a quotation both from Psalm 97 verse 7 and from Deuteronomy 34, 43. I didn't write that one down, but I'm pretty sure that's it. But if you were to read this in the translations that we have from the Hebrew Bible, you wouldn't see this phrase.

This is taken out of the Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament. But the writer to the Hebrews gives it the authority that it needs to show that what's pointed out here is that the angels of God worship Jesus. If we were to jump into the book of Revelation, which we won't right now. If we were to jump into the book of Revelation, we would see two.

If we were to jump into the book of Revelation, we would see two or three things take place. We would first of all see that the angels were continually worshiping Jesus. They were continually worshiping at the throne. As a matter of fact, they are those ministering spirits, which is what he refers to them as here. Like they're never sitting. Have you ever noticed that?

They're always hovering around the throne. Why? Because they're ministering spirits and they're worshiping Jesus. And then what you'll find is that John, when he keeps being given these revelations, some of which are given to him by an angel, he wants to bow down and worship because this angel has great power. But do you notice every time the angel will do the same thing?

He will say, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that. Stand up. I'm just like you. I'm a created being. We only worship him because the angels worship God. And so we realize that God here is saying in this passage of Scripture that the angels are to worship God because Jesus, because he is the one who is worthy of all of our worship. He is the one who is worthy of all of our praise.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Because he is equal with the Father, but he is also the firstborn and that he has all of the authority. He has all of the superiority, not only over creation, but over us and over the angels. Therefore, he is the one who is worthy to be worshiped. And can I just go ahead and draw a quick parallel to us here that in our lives, he is the one who is worthy to be worshiped.

As a matter of fact, I would tell you something. that if you really want to understand worship, you must first understand Jesus. That if you really want to understand what worship really looks like, you have to begin to see Jesus high and lifted up. The very beginning of the book of Ezekiel says, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up.

And they all had the same reaction when that happened. It created worship inside of their hearts because when they really saw who Jesus was, when they really saw his power, when they really saw his authority, when they really saw his greatness, their natural reaction was to worship. That's why if you want your experience of worship when you show up to church to be as amazing as it can possibly be, you should prepare your heart for worship before you show up to church. And that's why you getting to church is the greatest spiritual battle you will face all day today.

Because the enemy does not want you prepared for what's gonna take place. He does not want you to show up for what's gonna take place here. Because if your heart is ready and you begin to see Jesus high and lifted up, then you will begin to worship and honor Jesus, which is the very thing that Satan hates the most. Which is why your coffee maker didn't work this morning and you couldn't find your hairbrush this morning and you tried to whip your kid with your hairbrush this morning.

Listen, real talk here, okay? That's why all those things happened. That's why when your alarm went off this morning, you were like, do I really need to go to church? Do I really need to go to church? It's 15 degrees outside. Because the enemy didn't want you to show up this morning. But if you wanna really see what Jesus is able to do, and I wanna challenge you for you to do this next week, okay?

If you really want God to do a major work in your life when you show up to church, it doesn't start when Jared opens us up in prayer. It starts when you open up in prayer when you get up first thing in the morning and your heart is prepared for worship. And I would even say it's even greater than that. If you want God to show up and meet you where you are on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday night, it means that you need to show up every day and let your heart be prepared for what God wants to do inside of you.

You see, when you show up to God's word every single day, it is him revealing more of himself to you. And as he reveals more of himself to you, it creates inside of you a heart of worship. See, if I do my job correctly, if I do my job the way that I'm supposed to, you will not leave and say, I liked what he had to say. You will leave and say, I liked who he talked about.

I want to know the guy that he talked about. I want to know the God that he talked about. I want to get into the word. If I create inside of every single one of you a hunger to get into God's word and a hunger to know Jesus, then I've done my job. If what I've created in you is a desire to show up and hear me speak again, I have not done anything correctly.

I want you to know the Jesus that I know. I want you to worship the Jesus that I get to see. I want you to know the one who is worthy of worship. He says, number one, he has a greater authority. Number two, he has a greater power because of his power or a greater status. He has a greater authority because he is the one worthy of worship. But he also has a greater authority

because he is referred to as God. I want you to notice what it says. But of the son, verse eight, he says, your throne, oh God, is forever. And the scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. You have loved righteousness and you have hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. Why does he have greater authority?

Because he is referred to as God. What's given to us here is a quotation from Psalm chapter 45, sorry kids, verses six and seven. Psalm 45, verses six and seven. And when he says, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever, I want you to realize that the father is referring to the son as God. That's what's taking place in that quotation. I wrote down four things out of David Guzik's commentary

that I thought were fascinating here. Four times when Jesus is referred to as God and he only wrote down four. And so I recorded them as well because I thought that they were great. In the book of Titus, Paul refers to Jesus as God. Matter of fact, twice in the book of Titus, Paul refers to Jesus. As God. In the book of John, John the apostle, in the gospel account of John,

in John chapter one, verse one, it says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, listen, and the word was God. That is John, the apostle, who if you read first John says, the one whom we have seen, the one whom we have held, the one whom we have heard, the ones who our hands have handled, that's the one that I want to tell you about. That's the John, who says that Jesus is God. Not only that, Simon, right?

Not Simon, excuse me, Thomas, the one who gets given all of the criticism for being doubting Thomas, makes one of the greatest declarations of the deity of Christ in all of the New Testament. Because in John chapter 20, when Thomas says, listen, I'm not gonna believe unless I can stick my fingers in his wrists and if I can put my hand in his side because I know that he's God, I'm not gonna believe unless I can put my hand in his side. Because I know that he's God, because I know that he's God, because I know that he's God, because I know that he's God, because I know what I saw. I know how dead he was because I saw what happened to him.

And I won't believe unless I can see for myself that he's alive. And one day Jesus shows up and Jesus says, come here, Tom. Go ahead, put your hand there. Pulls back his robe a little bit and goes, go ahead, put it right there. And Thomas, as he beholds the risen Savior in front of him says, my Lord and my God. One of the strongest statements to the deity of Christ in the New Testament

is by the one who doubted that he could have resurrected. And then of course, we have this amazing reference given to us out of Psalm 45 of the Father calling Jesus God. Why does he have a greater authority? Because he's God.

Listen, someone's gonna show up at your door at some point in time and they're gonna be riding bicycles and they're gonna have little name tags on and they're gonna be incredibly, they're gonna be the nicest human beings you've ever been around in your entire life, okay? They will appear to be the almost not normal nice. And they will begin to ask you questions. They wanna know what you believe.

They wanna know what you believe about the Bible. And they wanna know what you believe about God. They will tell you that Jesus is not God. And you will be going, how do I prove that he's God? I just gave you four proofs. Well, the fact that Jesus is God. And if those don't settle it, I want you to remember what Jesus said before he went to the cross. We talked about it last week.

I think it was out of John chapter 16. It might've been 14. When Jesus is talking to the disciples, he said, I'm going to the Father and you're not gonna know where I'm at for a while, but that's okay. And Thomas looks at him and says, Lord, show us, Jesus, show us the Father. And Jesus said, have I been with you so long that you don't know me? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.

As a matter of fact, there's another place where Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and they took up stones to stone him because he declared that he was God. He had blasphemed. And so when those people show up at your house and they wanna tell you that Jesus never said he was God and the Bible doesn't say that he's God, I want you to open up the book of Hebrews and I want you to go, what are you gonna do with this? What?

What will you do with this? Because this is definitive proof that he's God. And so he has greater authority than the angels. He has greater status than the angels, but number three, he has greater power. I want you to notice what it says in verse 10. And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of your hand.

They will perish, but you remain. And they will become old like a garment and like a mantle, you will roll them up. Like a garment, they will also be changed, but you are the same. And your years will not come to an end. But to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits

sent to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? Salvation. Jesus has a greater power. And that power is twofold. Number one, it's the power over nature. Number two, or power in his nature. Number two, it's the power in his position. We're gonna camp out for just a little while on verses 10 through 12 here. It's a quotation out of Psalm 102,

verses 25 through 27. And there's several statements that are made here about the deity of Christ in his power and in his nature. And I think that they're really important. I want you to notice what it says again. It says, and, you, Lord, you, Lord. That phrase, Lord, is really important there because the word Lord is a statement or a title of authority and power.

It's a title of authority and power. You see, if you were living in a time when there was a king, the one who was in power over you, you refer to as Lord. You refer to him as the one that had the authority. He was the one that had all of the power and you were subservient to him. So when this statement is used, in Psalm 102, to refer to Jesus, which, by the way, Psalm 102 is a messianic psalm.

When it is referred to as Jesus, we are told that Jesus has all of the authority and that Jesus has all of the power because Jesus is Lord. And this is an important thing that we can now apply to our lives because a lot of people know that Jesus is a savior, but not a lot of people know Jesus as their Lord. You see, Satan knows who Jesus is. He knows that he is the deity, but he still doesn't call him Lord of his life.

And I'm here to tell you right now, there's a difference between knowing who Jesus is and what his word says and purchasing for yourself some fire insurance by asking Jesus into your heart. There's a difference between that and Jesus being the Lord of your life. You see, when you ask Jesus into your heart, he can be your savior, but eventually he wants to be your Lord. He wants to be the one who is in authority over your life.

He wants to be the one who is the authority in your life. And everybody's gonna have to make a decision for themselves. You can talk to a lot, a lot of people and you can say, well, do you know Jesus? And they're like, yes. I asked him into my heart one time when I was seven years old. And that's usually when I like to ask the second question, but is he your Lord?

Is he the one that rules and reigns in your life? Because if the answer is no, then I would question whether or not the answer to the first question is accurate. Because Jesus can't be your savior unless he's also your Lord. And there's a lot of people running around right now claiming to believe in Jesus, but he's not the Lord of their life. I follow this guy on Instagram

that's always putting out all of the famous people that get saved. And there's some girl, I don't know her name, but she's an OnlyFans person, whatever that even means, model or something like that. She's a porn star basically. And recently she got baptized and everybody went, it's so amazing. She got baptized. This is so cool. Until you start reading some quotes from her.

And you realize that she said, yes, I have faith, but it's not gonna change the things that I do. I still believe in God. I still believe in gay marriage and I'm still gonna keep being an OnlyFans model. See, that's somebody who's claiming Jesus as their savior, but Jesus isn't their Lord. And we hear that and we go, oh my gosh, why would she ever do that? Really?

You probably do it all the time. You claim that Jesus is your savior, but you don't live like he's your Lord because you still live the way you wanna live. You still live according to your desires. You still live according to the things that you like to do instead of consistently sacrificing your desires to the Lord. You still live according to the things that you like to do.

You still live according to the things that you like to do. See, we talked about this in men's breakfast yesterday. A disciple is someone who, number one, denies himself, denies his personal desires. Number two, he takes up his cross. Number three, he follows Jesus. And I want you to know something. Jesus isn't looking for converts. He's looking for disciples.

A convert changes their mind. A disciple changes their life because he is their Lord. So my challenge for you is this. Is Jesus the guy you claim as your savior? Or is Jesus the one who is your Lord? Because there's a difference between the two. He says, but you, Lord, with the title of authority and with the title of power, you, Lord, in the beginning. We talked about this last week,

but I think it needs to be said again. In the beginning. That speaks of the eternal nature of Jesus. Some of these things I don't think we can plumb the depths of. Some of these things I don't think you can think about enough that Jesus is the eternal God. He is the one who dwells outside of time and space. He was already existent. He was already existent in the beginning.

And he will always be existent forever. As we talked about last week, eternity future is something we can think about. Eternity past is what sort of blows our mind. That Jesus always has been. That he is the eternal God. And it's important for us to hold on to these things because if he is not the eternal God, listen, then he's not God. Because if he's not eternal,

it means he had a beginning. Which means that he cannot be the God who created. You have to understand who he really is. But not only do we have to understand that because it creates in us the knowledge that he is God, but it creates a great deal of rest in us. Because if I know that God is the God who dwells outside of time and space, then it's a whole lot easier for me to trust him

with everything else. Because if I know that he is the God who is beyond my understanding, then I know that he is the only God who can truly give me understanding. And so he says, you Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth. I love that as a phrase. That's quoted also in Isaiah chapter 45, I believe. I think it's 45 chapter verse 18, 12 and 18.

Where it's quoted also of him there that Jesus is the one who laid the foundation of the earth. That he is the creator God who spoke everything into existence. Again, if he is the God who created the earth, then nothing in the earth is too difficult for him. If he is the God who created, then nothing in the world is too hard for him. Because he is stronger than the strongest of forces.

He is wiser than the wisest of men. Nothing is too difficult for him. And he has a greater power than we can ever imagine because he is the creator God who not only created the earth, but created the angelic realm. It goes on to say, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They all will become old like a garment. That aspect of they will perish, but you will remain

speaks of the self-sustaining nature of God. The self-sustaining nature of Jesus himself. You ever thought about the fact that Jesus outside of time and space, when he was not dwelling on earth as a human being, that Jesus doesn't have to sleep to recover at night, right? Right? Like, that's a fascinating thought to me because if I don't get enough sleep, I don't function as a normal human being.

And science actually teaches the greatest amount of recovery that you do is during your time of sleep. That is so necessary for us. You know that Jesus doesn't need the proper nutrition because he is self-sustaining. Jesus doesn't need proper hydration because he is self-sustaining. Jesus doesn't need all of the things that you need. Jesus doesn't need all the things that the angelic realm needs

because he is a self-sustaining God and as we learned last week, sustains all of us. So he is not dependent on anyone or anything. Everything is dependent upon him. The next thing it says is, and like a mantle, you will roll them up. Like a garment, they will also be changed. Like a mantle, you will roll them up. That speaks of his sovereignty over creation.

His sovereignty over creation. You know what the word sovereignty means? The word sovereignty means all-powerful. That he is the all-powerful God over all of creation. I have to be honest with you and say that there's a lot of things in life I don't understand. I don't understand why God acts the way he does in some ways and not in others. I don't understand why God sustains some people

and brings other people home. I don't understand why natural disasters hit some places but they don't hit other places. There's a lot of things in this life that I don't understand. And if I go there, I allow my mind to wonder for too long, I can find myself doubting a lot of things. Matter of fact, over those past couple of years, I have found myself doing that.

As a matter of fact, I'm just going to be very, very bold and honest with you guys and say from the time that I stepped into the position that I'm in now, which technically has almost been nine years, but really has almost been 10 years, I've probably had more questions than I've had answers because I've had to shoulder a lot of very heavy burdens almost from the very word go. And there's been very many times where in the midst of shouldering some of those very heavy burdens, I have found myself going, Lord, I don't get this one. This one doesn't make sense to me. I don't understand why you would allow this to happen.

I don't understand your purpose in this. And if I'm not careful, I can allow myself to begin to doubt. Until I come back. Until I come back to a truth like this, that God is sovereign and I am not. God is sovereign and I am not. Job is one of the greatest examples of this, right? I just love the book of Job sometimes. Because in Job, he goes through all of those challenges and they were all not only allowed

by God, but in some instances, sort of God's idea. And you go. I don't understand it either. Neither did Job. Job went through an incredible amount of testing until he comes to the very end. And finally, he gets almost mildly belligerent with God and says, Lord, I need you to answer me. Why did you allow this to happen? And finally, God shows up. He says, Job, gird up your loins like a man and answer some questions for me.

And at the end of it all, Job goes, dude, that's my bad. I'm sorry. I messed up. And then there's a great verse that's one of my favorite verses in all the Bible where Job says, I'd heard of you through the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Essentially, he said, I understand that you're sovereign and I'm not. That verse is just so important to me because the things that have happened that were oftentimes

too heavy for me. At the end of the day, I have been able to say, but now my eye sees you because I can see that even in this, you are the good and sovereign God, you are sovereign, you are God, and I am not because that's who Jesus is. He is the sovereign over all creation. And listen, if he is the sovereign over all creation, then we can rest in him. You may get some answers on this side of eternity.

You may not get some answers on this. Some answers that you seek in life, you will not arrive at until you can see clearly in eternity. And then you'll go, that's what it was. Now I see there's some fellows I'd like to have conversations with when I get to heaven where I'll say, so why did God allow that to happen to you? And they'll be able to tell me because they can see clearly now that God is sovereign

and they are not. And that's okay. The second verse that I love in regards to this comes out of the book of Deuteronomy. I call it the elastic clause of the Bible. It says this, the secret things belong to God. The revealed things belong to us. The secret things belong to God. The revealed things belong to us. In other words, on this side of eternity, God's going to keep some things secret from

us and that's okay because he's God and he's sovereign and that's his right to do so. My job is to do what I know how to do. Every day I have to wake up and say, okay, Lord, what do you want me to do today? I can't answer the questions from yesterday. I certainly can't answer the questions that are coming tomorrow. All I can answer is what am I going to do with what you have told me?

What am I going to do with the knowledge that I do have? Because that's all that I can control today because I'm not sovereign. And I would venture to say that there are probably people sitting in this room this morning and listen, I'm just going to say it like it is. There's some of us sitting here this morning. Some of you that have some control issues and we want to be in control of everything

and God is teaching us you can't be because that would make you sovereign instead of me and we have to release that control. That's part of Jesus becoming Lord in your life. And so he says, like a mantle, you will roll them up and like a garment, they will also be changed. But I want you to notice what it says next. But you, you are the same and your years will not come to an end.

You are the same. Another great book by A.W. Tozer is called Knowledge of the Holy. And in the book Knowledge of the Holy, he goes through different attributes of God kind of like this. And one of them is the immutability of God. In other words, God's unchanging nature. The nature of Jesus is that, is that he doesn't change. Everything in the world around us changes, right?

Like, like the one thing you can count on in life is change because, because something's always going to be different. And I, I don't know about you, but I hate change. I like everything to stay the same, which is why I love Jesus. Because no matter what's going on around me, Jesus is, Jesus is never going to change. Jesus is always going to be there. No matter what happens.

Listen, you have to understand something about people. People will let you down. People will fail you. People will change their mind. People will hurt you. Jesus never will. Jesus will never change because he will always continue to bear that character and that nature of who he is. As a matter of fact, if Jesus changes, he can't be God. But he tells us right here, everything else will change.

Like a garment, they will also be changed. But you, oh Lord, are the same. And I just keep coming back to that in my life. I hope you can keep coming back to that in your life. That he is the unchanging God, who even though the entire world is falling apart right now, he is not. Even though the entire world seems to be on fire right now, he has not changed.

And we can rest in that. And so those of us that fear the change, let us find our rest in the unchanging, nature of an unchanging God, who is sovereign, who is creator, who is eternal, and who is ultimately the greatest authority, that wants to be the greatest authority in your life. And so he gives us all of these things out of Psalm 102, verses 25 through 27, to show the great power that Jesus has in his nature. But the next thing he gives us is the power that he has in his position.

Because notice what he says. But to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? That's a quotation of Psalm 110. It's Psalm 110, verse 1. Again, another messianic psalm. You should go back and look some of these psalms up and read them in context, because they're kind of fascinating to read through.

But he says, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The right hand is the hand of authority. And the seated position is the place. Of authority. And he tells them, this is who you are. You are seated in authority. Again, I will remind you of what we said the angels are doing right now. What are the angels doing right now? They are fluttering around.

It's angel wings. It's fluttering all around the throne, right? They're ministering servants. They are ministers to us and to him. He says, this is the position that he has. He has the position of authority. He says, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool. Are they not all? Verse 14. Ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.

Are they not all ministering spirits? That's what the angels are. Not only ministering spirits unto the Lord, but he has loaned them to us. Those of us who will inherit salvation. Well, I don't think we should overemphasize the work of angels, because I think that's actually one of the issues we have in some people in the culture. Today is a fascination with angels.

I do know that they have been sent out to support us. That they have been loaned out as ministering spirits to us. And it's always fascinating to know some of the stories from the Bible where angels actually are ministering spirits. There's some fascinating stories about the spiritual angelic realm of things that are going on. One of them, of course, is from the book of Daniel.

When Daniel was seeking an answer for a, he prayed and for three weeks he waited for this answer from the Lord. And you're going, God gives him this crazy vision. Why does God wait three weeks to give him the answer? Well, when the angel shows up to give him the answers to the questions that he has, the angel says, I left the moment that you prayed. But the prince of Persia withstood me, which is Satan.

The prince of Persia withstood me. And Michael the archangel had to come help me. But now he's not. But now he's not. But now he's not. But now I'm here to give you a message. You see, there's this angelic realm that's going on. Another story, I think I told this last week too, but why not? We'll do it again. And it's the story of Elisha and the fact that Elisha had an enemy king that didn't like him

because he kept telling the king of Israel what the enemy king's armies were about to do. And he's like, who keeps doing this? Who keeps giving away our plans? Which one of you is a traitor? And they're like, bro, none of us are traitors, man. There's this guy living in Israel. His name is Elisha. Guys in your head. In your head. He knows what you're thinking before you say it.

So let's go get him. So he sends his army down to round up Elisha. The army surrounds Elisha's house, right? And there Elisha is with his servant. His servant kind of looks out the window and he goes, oh, dude. Oh, dude. I don't know why the curtains are that small, but that's what they are. Oh, man. He looks all the way around him. He says, we have a problem.

We are completely surrounded by an enemy army. And Elisha, while sipping on coffee, I made that part up, but I think that's true. While sipping on coffee, he says, it's not really that big of a deal. There's more of us than there are of them. And he's going, I don't know who taught you math, but you're not good at it. There's way more of them than there are of us.

And Elisha says, Lord, would you peel back the heavens so that he can really see? And he peeled it back and there was an army of angels surrounding him. Because greater is he who's innocent, he that's in the world. And those angels are sent as ministering spirits. They're not something to be worshipped. They're something that God uses in our lives to give us support.

We're actually going to be told later in the book of Hebrews, beware of entertaining strangers because some have entertained angels unaware. I don't think that you should every time that you look go, are you an angel? First of all, people won't talk to you anymore and that'll be weird. And if you do that, please don't tell them you go to my church. I go to Calvary Chapel.

I would like to know if you're an angel. Well, I'm never going to that church. Attendance is down. It's down to 10. Anyway, sorry I took that trip with you. But it is kind of a fascinating thought that that's what these angels are sent out for for us. So he tells us Jesus is greater than the angelic realm because he's greater in status. He has a more excellent name because he is the son of God.

He has a greater authority. He is the one who is worthy of worship and he is declared as God. And he has greater power both in his nature because of his unchanging sovereign nature and in his position. Because he is seated at the. Right hand of the father, he has greater power in all of those things. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of the greatness of the glory of Christ over the angelic realm and ultimately over all.

Why have a book that I'm reading right now about the book of Hebrews? It's by Andrew Murray. It's called the holiest of all operates differently than any other commentary because Andrew Murray operates differently in his life than every other commentator. But in his commentary and his introduction, he says this, and I haven't put this. It's up there to know Jesus Christ and his glory is the great need is the only safeguard and sure growth of the Christian life to know Jesus and his glory is the great need.

It's the only safeguard and sure growth of the Christian life. It's almost like what God gave me to share with all of you on the very first Sunday of the year is going to be the theme for everything we go through in the book of Hebrews. It's almost like God knows what he's doing. Remember the theme? Knowing Jesus, the purpose, and the power. Brothers and sisters, as I told you earlier, if you take one thing away from any of my messages, I want it to be this.

I want it to be that you want to know Jesus to an even greater degree. I want it to be that you have a hunger created inside of you to know Jesus through his word and through your relationship with him to a greater degree. If you take that away, I've done my job. Amen. Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me, Father, we come before you. And Lord, I praise you for who you are.

Father, I praise you that you are the sovereign God over the heavens and the earth. Lord, that you are creator God. And that you are the unchanging God. And I thank you that you have revealed yourself to us through Jesus. You have made yourself the unknowable God, knowable to us because of who Jesus is. And so, Lord, I pray for each person that's here this morning.

That you would give. That you would give us a clearer vision of who you are. Lord, that you would give us a clearer understanding of who you are. Father, like Elisha, I ask, Lord, peel back the eyes of the flesh and let us see through to the things of the spirit. Father, that we would have, as Andrew Murray said, Lord, the ability to know you in your glory.

Because it's truly our greatest need, our greatest safeguard, and the greatest surety of our knowledge of God. And so, Lord, take us deeper into our walk with you. Take us deeper into our understanding of you. And may it translate into a completely changed life. Lord, may it translate into us being disciples of Jesus. And so, Father, we pray these things now, trusting that you always hear and answer our prayers.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.