Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
A woman named Jeannie gets into a car accident and is trapped in her car. She prays for help and hears a man's voice telling her to call 911. An African American man appears and holds her hand until help arrives. Later, the woman realizes that the man may have been an angel. The transcription then discusses angels in general and how beliefs about them have developed over time, including the idea that angels were a counsel for God. The author warns against worshiping angels, as mentioned in Colossians 2:18. The Hebrew author writing the letter to the Hebrews needs to address this issue. She picks up the phone and she said, you're not going to believe this, I was in the farthest part of the warehouse. And I heard that phone like it was right next to me. And she said, did you forget something? And I said, no, Jeannie's been in a car wreck. And I said, let me tell you though, she's okay, but she's pinned in. They called 911 and I started giving her all the messages at the minute. So I gave her that information. I left that sticky note and the pad next to the phone in the front of the shop. Then she goes and gets in her car, well she calls him and she said, I don't have a phone, would you give me? And she tries to write down the directions. She jumps in her car and that phone is sitting in the seat right next to her. Now all three of us had torn that car apart and it wasn't in there, but it was now. And so she gets on the phone, she calls and she goes, I found my phone. He said, I will guide you here and I will not leave you till you see, till you get to the accident site. So he helps her. In the meantime, what had happened to Jeannie was, it was a brand new apartment, she didn't allow enough time to get to work. She was trying to back road and she was going way too fast. She hit water and rolled the car. And she was pinned, but she was okay. And she realized what had happened, she started praying. She said, Lord, I don't know what to do, please send help. And instantly she heard a man's voice saying, calling 911. So and then all of a sudden, and she is pinned to where she's kind of on her side and her arm is straight out in front of her. And all of a sudden, this older hand of an African American man with a white shirt sleeve reaches through and grabs her hand. And he said, you're going to be okay. He said, God is with you and I will not leave you till, and she goes, I've got to call my mother. And he said, your mom's already coming, she's already on the way. So she didn't give him any numbers at work or her cell phone number. He didn't call her cell phone, he called work. And so anyway, so he talks with her, he calms her down, he just visits, tells them, I was on my way to work. This is a very remote road, not another car passed by. And so the man tells him, yeah, I just worked down here, just a little ways down and Johnson & Johnson. And so then they visit and he said, and she said, oh, I hear the sirens. And he said, I will not leave you till help comes. And he said that many times. Just as soon as he said, okay, you're going to be okay, God bless you, and he let his hand pull away from her hand. Instantly, the paramedic picked up her hand and started asking her questions and all this kind of stuff. And so, yeah, and so she mentioned Mr. Johnson and he said, well, there was nobody here. There was no other car, there was nobody here, just you. And she goes, no, no, no, he was, he held my hand till you came. And so he started going down, the paramedic started going down the path of, well, you know, when you have this traumatic experience, sometimes you, you know, and she just didn't say anything. So about that time then, they finally get the car turned up, they get her out, they got her on the stretcher, get her ready to put her into the ambulance. And the paramedic's saying, I really can't see that anything's wrong, but I'm going to take you, you know, we're going to go to the hospital anyway. You just have a scuff kind of on your hand. And about that time, Chris sees the accident site and she tells Mr. Johnson on the phone that, I see it, I see it, you know, and he said, God's with you, God bless you, and she's going to be okay. So she goes running up and she's like, oh, I wanted to meet Mr. Johnson. And, of course, the paramedic's going, wait a second, you're saying Johnson, she didn't have the head, you know, the paramedic thing. Anyway, they get, she's okay. Now this is about 9 o'clock and she gives me a call and she says, update on Jenny, she's great, we're just praising God for this. But she said, I want to get a hold of Mr. Johnson. And she said, let me tell you what happened with my phone. I found my phone, it was in the car. And, of course, the other lady and I are going, no, it wasn't. It was not in that car. And so she said, but it messed up. There's no recording or record of that phone call on my phone. And she said, would you give me that number again? I don't remember it. And so I said, hang on, I ran up to the front and my sticky note is gone. And there is no stick in the sticky note pad. It's back in the drawer. And I'm sitting in the corner. I know I left it because just as soon as I caught her, I left it by the phone and I went back to tell the other lady, I just talked to Chris. She heard the telephone that time saying hi. Neither one of us had been up there. Nobody else had been in the shop. So I get on the phone to her and I said, I don't have my cell phone. I mean, I don't have the sticky note here. I don't have the cell number. And so we just kind of both were just hmm. And so she said, well, you know what he told Jenny? He worked at Johnson & Johnson. I'm going to call there. She said, because I've got to do something for this man. Called Johnson & Johnson and they said, no, this would be the one. If that was the accident site, this would be the correct location. And we don't have anyone here named William Johnson. We have a Bill Johnson, but he's in his 30s and he's white. And he, you know, it wouldn't be him. He's been here forever, you know, since early this morning. So anyway, so she calls me back and she said, there's no record of Mr. William Johnson. And she said, you don't suppose we just spoke to an angel, do you? And I said, it has to be. We have a cell phone that doesn't say that you made a 15 or 20-minute call to somebody, you know. Anyway, so we were just praising God that he was there for her and that he did what he did. And I honestly believe that I had the privilege of speaking to an angel. That's just what I do. I do too. That's why I wanted you to hear that story. Now, this is going to come back later on in the lesson. We're going to see what the purpose of angels are, or is. And what you just heard is one of those purposes. But we'll get to that in a minute. So, they may appear in other forms. They can speak to man. They do not marry nor procreate. They were created by God simultaneously. They're not such as the death of one that has been felled. There's a vast number, myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. By some estimates, that's millions and millions. All right? The unfallen angels live in the heavens. They're highly organized, divided into ranks and classes. They are more powerful than men. They can move with incredible speed. They have names. Some are identified by naming the Bible. They minister to God and do what he instructs them to do. There's one other scripture passage I wanted to focus on out of what we know about angels out of the Bible. They rejoiced over you. You're going, what? They rejoiced over me? Yes, they did. Look at Luke 15, 10. Who wants to read that blessed verse? Go ahead. In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner. Now, I ask the question, do I fit the category of a sinner who repented? Everybody raise their hand if you fit that category. Guess what they did when you repented? They rejoiced over you. Isn't that great? Isn't that great? Now, here's why the author has to address this subject. It's what the Jews have come to believe about angels. All right? So, and their beliefs had developed over hundreds and thousands of years with what's called the Talmud. The Old Covenant, the Old Testament, is called the Tanakh. But the commentary on the Old Covenant, written by learned Hebrew scholars, rabbis, is called the Talmud. And over time, various ones of them began to look at angels and reach conclusions about angels that probably were not biblically supported. But somehow or another, they got there. So let's look and see what some of those ideas were. They were very important to the Old Covenant. They were used by God to bring His Word to men and to work out His will in the universe. Now, that's not so far-fetched, is it? That's not so far-fetched. Angels acted as God's center of counsel. Now that, I'm starting to go, hmm. So how'd they get there, Genesis 1, 26? Let us make man in our image. And there's some Hebrew scholar somewhere back in the day that said, you know, I think that word, us, refers to an angelic counsel. Now, I don't know how they got there, but they got there. And they began to basically say, we believe this is what is the reality about angels, that they actually were a counsel that God created for him to refer to and to consult with. There were 200 angels who controlled the movements of the stars. There was a calendar angel in charge of days, months, and years. Now, again, this is what they, Jews, had reached some conclusions about angels. There were recording angels that recorded every word men spoke. There was an angel of death and a guardian angel for every nation and every child. Angels were the mediators of their covenant with God and continually ministered his blessing to them. Stephen mentioned that in Acts 7, 51-53. Paul mentioned that in Galatians 3, 19. But the big one, the big one is the last one. Colossians 2, 18. Paul is writing to the church of Colossae, and he's giving them a warning. He says, let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels. They got to the point of where they actually worshipped the angels. And we've got a problem, don't we? And so the Hebrew author that's writing this letter to the Hebrews has to address this. Now we're going to see how he addresses it. So, go to your handout, and we'll start working through it. David, I know this is a little awkward, but there's no reason to believe. I know this may pour hot water on something, but there's no reason to believe that I loved one when they passed away. But they're an angel, right? Angels have all been created. They're already done. That's a done deal. That's over. That's correct. No, we might be like angels. In the Word of God, it refers to us being like angels. But it doesn't say that we become angels. Now, I don't know exactly what characteristics like angels we're going to have, other than we're going to be in glory with them. But no, there is nothing in the Word of God that says we become angels. Right? Good question. Okay. Jesus is superior to angels, first of all, entitled. Having become as much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name today. 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. Now, he's referring to two different Old Testament passages of Scripture. By the way, the Hebrew author here does this often throughout the book of Hebrews. He refers back to the Old Testament because he's using the Old Testament Scripture, which is what the audience relies on, to make his arguments. Now they've got a problem, right? If the Old Testament Scripture that they rely on and believe in says this, now what am I going to do about it? Right? Well, yeah, I've got to do something. Either it's inaccurate, or I'm wrong. Okay? So, that's his technique. He uses it all throughout Hebrews. Two different Old Testament passages. Psalm 2-7. Someone read that, please. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, You are my son, today I have begotten you. All right. And then 2 Samuel 7-14. Go ahead and read that, too. Okay. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. All right. Now, obviously these are not in the context in which they were written, but they both refer to God. All right? And so, when you go back and read the context, you can see that. So, what name or title does Christ inherit? The Son. The Son. The Son. Now, the question is, when does he inherit this title? Let's look at John 1, 1-3. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being. Oh, right there. You see, and he mentions the word Son. What is this part referring to? Creation. He, in the beginning, was the Word. The word beginning means he was there before it happened. God, the second person of the Trinity, the second person of the Trinity, was there with the first person and third person before creation ever happens. Okay? He's God, but he's not Son yet. First, read verse 14. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. Glory is the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. That word begotten means what? Born of, right? Born of. Now he inherits the title Son. It's at his incarnation. So, how was this initiated? One of my wife's favorite passages of Scripture. Okay. I'll let you read it, sweetheart. Luke 1, 26. Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph and a descendant of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, greetings, favorite one, the Lord is with you. But she was very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end. Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I am a virgin? And the angel answered to her and said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, the Holy Child shall be called the Son of God. Now he's got the name. Now he's got the name. It was initiated at the virgin birth. When was it affirmed? Luke 3.22. Y'all remember what happens when Jesus gets baptized? He comes out of the water, and what happens? One of the commentators I read one time says, in essence, the Father takes the heavens and splits them open. And he cries down, that's my boy! That's my boy! That's my boy. He affirms Jesus as the Son of God. As baptism. That's my son, he says, in whom I am well pleased. Wow. Alright? Title. Now, when was it affirmed then? By the Father's baptism. What's the greatest meaning and significance of this title realized? Let's look at Romans 1.3-4. Susan? Concerning his Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. When was he declared with power? At the resurrection. At the resurrection of the dead. He became the Son when he is raised up from the dead. Now, we'll get to that, I'm going to dive into that a little deeper later. But what's the answer to the questions raised in verse 5? Let's see, for which of the angels did he ever say? What's the answer to those questions? None. None. None. None. It hasn't, nor will it ever happen. None. Jesus is superior to angels in title. He's superior to angels in worship. And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, and let all the angels of God worship him. Now he's using a reference from Psalm 97-7. And he's using that reference to establish the fact that Jesus is superior to angels because the angels are commanded to do what? To worship him. Now, question. What is, is it the first commandment? Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Right? Second commandment? No great nations. Third commandment? Don't take the sin of sin. Fourth commandment? Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Right? Why? Because you're going to worship. Okay? And so you're not to worship anyone other than who? God. God. And if he commands the angels to worship Jesus, what's that saying about Jesus? He's God. He's God. Jesus is God. Jesus is superior. To what? To what? When did Jesus ever say, did God ever say bow down and worship angels? No, he never said that. He said there will be no other gods before me. You worship Jesus, therefore Jesus dot dot dot. If A equals B, B equals C, right? Jesus is God. Jesus is God. Wow. He's superior to angels in worship. Firstborn translates that Greek word prototakos, which refers to position, not chronology. He's not firstborn in terms of he was the first one to come out of the womb. He's the firstborn in terms of what? He's the chief one. He has all the rights and heirship of the firstborn son, and he has that right to not only possess, but to rule and to have authority. Colossians 1.18. He is also head of the body of the church, and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything. Now, firstborn from the dead, most honored, dignified, highest, powerful, greatest. I have a question for you. Was he the first one to ever be resurrected? Real quick. Who got resurrected before him? Well, Moses was one. They can't find his body. Moses was already resurrected. But in terms of from the dead, right? Lazarus. Lazarus. Jesus raised him from the dead, right? What happened when Jesus died on the cross? Remember the earthquakes and what happens? The tombs are opened. And all sorts of believers come out of the tomb, right? I've got another one for you. All right? Just a little fun fact. Go back into your Old Testament and read the story of Elisha. Elisha dies and is buried. There's a war. There's a battle. There's a man who's killed in action. And they go to bury him, and they lay him on top of the bones of Elisha. You know what he did? He came right back to life. What a story, right? But what happened to all those guys who came back to life other than Jesus? They died again. There's only one who's ever been resurrected and lived eternally after it, never to die again. Only one. That's Jesus. He's superior to angels in worship. And when he again refers to a future event, not the incarnation, what event do you think that is? How about Revelation 5, 11-14? Caleb? Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And the number of them was myriads and myriads and thousands and thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the land that was planned to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the land, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped. I had you read it again because you read it last week, and I thought if I keep you going, you're going to really get the weakness of a psychic, right? Seriously, this is at the second coming. What happens now, see, angels weren't omniscient. They weren't in the council when God planned all this. There was no council of angels, all right? And so forever, they've been trying to understand what's God's plan. What's he going to do? There's other scripture passages that I didn't bring in, but there's other scripture passages that show that they longed to understand what God's plan was and what his purpose was. It finally comes clear in Revelation that the second coming, all of a sudden the lights come on. I get it. Last week, we talked about the seven seals on the scroll, right? All of a sudden, Jesus is handed the deed to the earth. He starts unrolling the scroll, and he's going to take possession of what's rightfully his. And the angels suddenly get it. He is going to be king of kings and Lord of lords forever. And down they go and worship. Up their hands go. However how they do it, start worshipping. They start worshipping. Jesus appeared to angels in worship. I have a reflection question. Oh, what will the angels finally understand? God's redemption planned through Jesus. What will be the response? Worship. Declaring Jesus' worth and worthiness of all praise. And so the reflection question. Am I so overwhelmed by the magnificence of Jesus Christ, and what he did for me, that I greatly declare his worth in the way I live, the songs I sing, and my devotion and service to him? Is my worship of him obvious to others? Let that sink in. The next time you get up tomorrow morning, get up, get in front of the mirror and look at yourself, ask yourself this question. What's my worship like? What's my worship like? If you're like me, if there's two words, it's needs improvement. Okay? Needs improvement. If you just get honest with yourself. Needs improvement. Man, he's worthy of it. Jesus appeared to angels in origin and purpose. And of the angels, he says, who makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire? But of the sun, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And the righteous scepter is in 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. So the origin and purpose of angels, first of all, is they are what? Created by God. The word makes means to create. I ask the question, who's superior? The creature or the creator? The creator. Is that the way it looks in this world today? Right? In our society and our culture today? Is that what we really believe? What are we normally striving for? I mean, you know, I want me! Right? I mean, when you come to understand you weren't created for it to be all about you. You were created because it's all about him. You're created to be his creation that worships and coexists with him eternally in a way that was far beyond anything I can explain. I mean, I don't even know how to explain it. It's beyond explanation. Man, created by God. Who's greater? The creature or the creator? The creator. But the angels are possessed by God. His angels. His ministers. Who's superior? The possessor or the one who's possessed by another? Right? The possessor. He's the one that's the greater. And finally, he makes his angels winds and ministers the flame of fire. Winds and flame of fire. What do winds and flames of fire do? They go about and enable things to happen, don't they? Various things. Well, guess what? Angels are created to serve God. Winds and flames of fire. Who's superior? The master or the servants? You can say it. The master. The master. Okay. Jesus, the spirit angel, is entitled in worship and origin and purpose. We've looked at the origin and purpose of angels. Now let's look at the origin and purpose of Jesus. First of all, he is declared to be God. Let's see how he's declared to be God in Scripture, Psalm 45, 6. Brian? Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your brightness, the scepter of your kingdom. This is the Father declaring it. And you go back and read the rest of the Psalm. The Father is saying, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. So that word, O God, Jesus is being declared by the Father to be God. Okay? John 5, 18. Brian? For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God, equal with God. So who's declaring himself to be God then? Jesus himself, isn't he? Jesus himself. They used to infuriate those guys. When Jesus would sit there and say, I am the Father of one, that infuriated them. That's really what drove him to the cross. Ultimately, right? Ultimately, y'all remember that in Caiaphas or Ananias, whichever one in the place was second. I can't remember if it was Ananias or Caiaphas. I think it was Caiaphas, wasn't it? Anyway, they're looking for witnesses, trying to find someone that will say something about Jesus that will make him worthy of death. And they can't get any two witnesses to agree on anything. Finally, a couple of guys said, well, you know, I heard him say that he destroyed this temple and he'll raise it up in three days. But even that, you're going, well, how is that worthy of death? So the high priest says, hey, let's just put an end to this. Are you or are you not the Son of God? He says, you said that I am. And when he said, I am, what's he referring back to? He's referring back to the burning bush. I am. I am. And the priest says right then and there, well, you don't have to hear anything else. That's blasphemy. He's worthy of death. By saying he was God, he goes to the cross, which is where he had to go because that was the will of the Father. It was facilitated that way, but that was the plan. And he had to go there because of who? Us. Yeah. Just take your fingers and point right here. Right? Me. But they couldn't have sent him. He had to go on his own. Yeah. You cannot make God do what you want him to do. Yeah. And Jesus submitted himself to the Father. It just gets to me every time I think of that because I know myself and I know that I'm not worthy for him to have done that. As the scripture says in the psalm repeats, he could have called 10,000 angels. Oh, wait a minute. That's what we're talking about. Right. Yeah. Right. To be God by Father, by Jesus. Romans 9.5 Paul addresses it as an apostle. Whose are the fathers and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh who is over all. God blessed forever. He calls Christ, who is Jesus Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all. He is God blessed forever. And in 1 John 5.20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true and we are in him who is true and his Son Jesus Christ. Guess what he says next. This is the true God, the eternal life. So he's declared to be God by the Father, by Jesus, by the apostles. Have praise your throne, O God, as forever and ever. What does a king do when he sits on the throne? Reigns. He reigns. He rules. Right? So he rules or reigns as God and king eternally. And then going back over to the previous verse here, we're going to read it again. It says, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. Now we're talking about the righteous scepter. What is righteousness? Right standing with God. And then defining one point later, all that is true, just, and good. True in whose eyes? According to God. Just in whose eyes? According to God. Good in whose eyes? According to God. So he reigns, rules as God and reigns in righteousness with the righteous scepter. He loves righteousness. And if he loves righteousness, what does he do with lawlessness? He hates lawlessness. That's the opposite of all that's true, just, and good. I've got to tell you, if he looked at our culture today, right? He's not pleased. Okay? Not surprised, but not pleased. The one thing that gives me hope, right? Because I can be just as lawless as anybody. The one thing that gives me hope is he hates the sin, but he loves what? The sinner. He loves the sinner. He loved me so much, he did what we just talked about a minute ago. He went and did this. For God so God made the world that he gave his only begotten son. Exactly. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. So, he hates the sin, but loves the sinner. And so finally, we're going to see one more thing about the origin and purpose of Jesus. Therefore God your God has anointed you with all the gladness above your companions. That word anointed means exalted. He's been exalted above all others. That includes the angels. Christ means the anointed one. So the question is, do I allow Jesus Christ to truly reign on the throne of my heart? To rule everything about me? If that's what he's supposed to be, which he is, whether we want to accept it or not. He's the ruler. He's the one that reigns. One day, Paul says in Philippians 2.10 again. I think I'm going to refer to that in a minute. I'm getting ahead of myself. Listen, your knees are either going to bow now, or it's going to bow in the future. But it's going to bow. I got ahead of myself. The question is, are you letting him reign right now in your life? Alright, the spirit of angels in title, in worship, in origin and purpose, in existence. 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 all 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. He is eternal. He existed before, I said this a while ago, John 1.1. I got ahead of myself there. He existed before what? Before creation. Right? And your years will not come to an end, means what? He's eternal. He's before creation, and he's never going to, he's always going to be. He's eternal. He created the universe. You laid the foundation work, which is the works of your hands. There's all sorts of verses I could have cited for that. But any question here about who created the universe? Are we all on the same page on that? What are the angles by the way? Created the universe. He will one day do what? Destroy what he created. Or discard is another word you can use. Look at 2 Peter 3.10. The day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Alright. And then the other verse, 50th page, is Revelation 6.12-14. Chad, you hadn't read it yet. I looked when he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of air, and the whole moon became like blood. And the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree cast its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it was rolled up, and every mountain and the island were moved out of their place alone. Now, I'm going to ask the question, why is he going to do that? Because this world has been marred by sin. There you go. What is it we know about God in terms of his holiness? He hates sin. He hates sin. And it cannot be where? In his presence. So, we've got a creation that's flawed now. It's not his fault. No. He didn't make it flawed. Raise your hand if you had a part in it. You know? It's not his fault. It's not the earth's fault itself. But the earth groans, the Bible says, as it looks forward to that day. There's going to be a day when he's going to say, away with this. Let's start again. And let's do it with a perfect creation. Unmarred. No sin. No scars of sin. I don't even know how to describe that. It's going to be cool. But I guess it's going to be like the garden that we never got to see. Right? I don't have a clue. I'm just guessing. But my goodness, that's going to be great because that's my fourth point. He will create a new heaven and a new earth. He's superior to angels in existence. He never changes. He says, but you are the same. All this other, you're going to take and you're going to start. Let's look at it a different way. One creator, always a creator. Right? He created once before. Now he's going to destroy and create once again. And the greatest creation he ever did, guys, I'm telling you right now, he did right here. Right here. Now, y'all can dispute me if you want. You ought to be. Do you understand his greatest creation was you? When he made you his son and daughter? He did what? He cast out the old and he created the new. And we get to live eternally with him. Once a creator, always a creator. Isn't that good? I like it. All right. Finally. I'm not even going to make it to it. I don't think I've seen it that long. What? I was looking at the clock. I don't think I can go that long. No, you haven't. You have 35 more minutes. I can't go that long. It's like I'm going to get warmed up. Finally. He's superior to angels in destiny, but to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand and don't make your enemies a footstool for your feet? So let's answer that question. None. None. None. The angels are his servants. Well, that's all we're going to get to. That's fine. The destiny of Jesus is to sit where? By the hand of the Father. To do what? To be Lord over all the universe. Lord over all the universe. A ruler is another term. Going back to Philippians 2.10. So in the name of Jesus, every knee will bow. Those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. Like I said, you're going to bow now, but you're going to bow later. But you're going to bow. Right? To have all things what? Subject to him. 1 Corinthians 15, 24, 28. Who has not written that? And I have not called on him. Who would like to read? Do you like to? Go ahead. Then comes the end when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death, and for he has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says all things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is accepted to put all things in subjection to him. And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself also will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, and so that God may be all in all. Okay, that word subjective, we'll get into that for just a second, because I have time. I will go ahead and take the time to explain subjective. Anybody know what would happen back in the day when there would be a battle and the winning team, call it the winning forces, right, led by a king, they would come along and they would conquer a foe. Anybody know what happened to the opposing king, to the defeated enemy? But he wasn't killed. He was paraded through the streets. He was shackled and paraded. Shackled and paraded. There was a symbolic gesture that takes place. He is forced to lie down, and the conquering king puts his foot on top of his neck, totally in subjection to the conquering king, totally under his control, totally, his destiny, totally in the hands of the one who conquered him. That's where that word comes from. Subjective. There's going to be a day, right, and we just read about it in 1 Corinthians, there's going to be a day when all the enemies of God are conquered and Jesus, in essence, is going to put his foot on top of their necks. That's his symbolic gesture. And they're going to totally be in subjection to him. Is that good or what? That's going to be cool. We get to be there. We get to be there. Man! So, to have all things subject to him, to eternally reign over the new heavens and new earth, that's his destiny. Now, Noel, you can answer the question, what's the destiny of angels? He said it a minute ago. They're his servants, right? To serve forever. Right, to serve forever. But who did he serve? Those who are saved. Those who are saved! Wow! Now, isn't that cool? Yes, ma'am. Okay, so, I'm thinking that this verse here, do not neglect to show hospitality for strangers, for some of you are saint angels. And the verse here about, are they not ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? I was thinking that while we're on earth, that when we're in heaven, they're not ministering to us because we're in heaven now. We got Jesus face to face. I can't answer that question. I don't know the answer to that. That's a great question. I'm just reading what it says. Right? Are they not all ministers sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? And I got this out of, you know, I think the word forever is what I'm looking for. You're struggling with that. I will research that and make sure where I got that. I got that in my study, but I don't have it in front of me. I'm just saying, I don't care about the angels when I get to heaven. I just want to be with Jesus, I don't care what the angels are up to. No, I agree. And again, who knows? Who knows? But I'll research that. That's a good question. I'll write myself a note here. I'll get you an answer, and answer that next week. All right? Question mark on forever. I don't remember how I got there, but I got there through my study. Wow. It is cool that God sent them. Yeah. He sent them, you know, for they look like a normal person, so we're not all freaked out. Although sometimes through the Old Testament, they did appear, you know, kind of glowing and stuff. And so sometimes people got freaked out. It wasn't just in the Old Testament. Yeah. It was in Revelation. Yeah. Right? John bowed down to an angel, and he said, don't you worship me. That's right. The angel said, John, get up, buddy. Yeah. You're not going to worship me. Yeah. Okay. Any thoughts, questions, observations besides Susan's question? Which is a great question. Ron, I gave you plenty of time. Oh, no. I don't have anything to say, actually. Well, then we'll leave early in the day. Yeah. My wife will all pay it back. Well, you know, this is going to be the fun part of the discussion. Because now we can ask the questions. Now, all the questions are directed to the heart. Okay? Because as a man and woman thinks in their heart, so are they. So now we realize that the challenge is the challenge of life. The story that you shared was great. Because now we realize that, hey, there are angels among us. And they're not us. And the point also is the fact that now we get to choose the direction we go in life. Because now, it goes all the way back to Genesis 1, in the beginning. What? Yeah, see, now that's a true assumption, that there is a God. And He is a creator God. Okay? Those are true assumptions. Now we realize that there are others. And struggle with that today. Because truth is really being disputed. There is no absolute moral truth in the world today. See, so now we see that now we have a challenge that gets to the nitty-gritty of life. And the challenge that we face is one that's a challenge that God permits Satan to mess with us. Here. In the heart. Because now we see that there are people that really do bad. And that's considered good. And the people that do good are considered bad. That's called the cancel culture today. The negativism that's rampant in the world today is really overwhelming. We face it at every level. As a physician, it's really tough. Because now, as a doctor, if you don't practice medicine in such and such a way, you lose your license away. Okay? That's happening today. And now we realize that we don't promote things like permitting lives of people. That if we don't do that, then of course our licenses are at stake. Now, in the Second World War, the Nazi Germans, they actually forced the doctors in Holland, today's Holland, to terminate the lives of Jews. Alright? The doctors gathered together and brought a big trunk. And in that trunk were all the licenses of the doctors in Holland. And they said, you make us do this. Here are our certificates of licenses to practice medicine. And we're going to close up all the hospitals. So no one's going to get any care. So what do you think happened? They had to get somebody else to do it. Well, yeah, but they couldn't, see? So the powers that they had to sort of swallow their pride and sort of say, okay, we won't let you do that. We'll do something else. Now, if our doctors today would do that, you see, we'd be on a lot of hot water. But ever since Roe versus Wade, which began in the 1960s, this is when I was going to medical school, okay, we're disputing the fact that we should terminate the lives of little babies. And when that law was passed in 1973, it was legal to now terminate lives of children. The Hippocratic Oath, written 2,500 years ago, says, I will do no euthanasia or refer to anyone who does. I will do no abortion or refer to anyone who does. And I will teach no one who has those inclinations. That's in the Hippocratic Oath. Now, this is a polytheist, you know, Hippocrates. And he was right. See, because if we harm people, what that does is corrosive trust, right? Now, do we do that to each other? Do we harm each other? See, that's corrosive of trust. Are there Christians in this building that you don't trust? Are there? Yes. You see what happens? We know that the way of Satan is insidious. So as we study the book of Hebrews, we're going to realize that there are things that will cause us to drift away from God and His Word. Now, you've been given an excerpt with us of God's Word here today, all of chapter 3. And you see how much theology is in there because it refers both to Old and New Testament. We're going to be referencing both Old and New Testament as we walk through here. Because this book, this book, is a hymn book. An H-I-M book. It is all about Jesus, who is superior to the prophets, who is superior to the angels, and as we will see later on, He is superior to the priests. Even in the high priest in the order of Mount Kizanek, the highest order of priesthood. Now, we see the prophet is really to help us to be a messenger of God's revelation to us. See, a priest is God's representative for us to God. So are we priest and prophet here on earth? There's something to think about here. Because if we think with our heart, what happens is, something happens that's transformative. And what is transformative is the fact that now we think differently about life. Now if we read, and those of us, one of our favorite passages in scripture is the Sermon on the Mount. And some people live just that way. Now the question is, is it possible to live the Sermon on the Mount perfectly? What do you think? Those that say yes, raise our hands. And the ones that say no, raise our hands. Most of us, I agree, it's impossible. The impossibility is to live God's word. So now we look at this word here, and we say, well, is that possible? And the answer is, only with the Lord is it possible. See, what's impossible with man is possible with God, like Luke 1.37 says. So now we have to realize that in order for us to live in a way that is superior to the way people live, is to go to the one who is superior to everything that's created. So now we see that now there's a word that is mentioned in the word. And the word is aeon. And that means the ages. So the idea of the ages is what God has done in his creation. And when he says the ages, he says, hasn't those last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also made the world? And so he made the world in his time. And the idea is, is the fact that the only way that we can live our lives in the ages is to say that when God says there's a time for creation, he says, and this is in, Solomon says it nicely, there's a time for everything. And in Ecclesiastes 3.11, Solomon says, God has made everything beautiful in its time, and he's placed eternity in the hearts of all men and women. So God has placed, essentially, like Pascal says, a God-shaped vacuum here. And only God can fill it. So now, as we struggle with life, how do we fill our lives and our hearts with that which will carry us through the barnyard fertilizer of today? The barnyard fertilizer is all the bad stuff. And there's a lot of bad stuff, right? Because we're living in a world that really tries to place Christians in a very bad position. Now granted, we Christians have a problem, because we Christians have a struggle with living the Word of God itself, like this little acrostic that we talked about in Scripture. And you see, the Word of God also, Old and New Testament, talks about that particularly, like 2 Timothy 3.16.17 says, All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and righteousness, so that the man and woman of God may be thoroughly equipped to do every good work. See, the good that he does is, through the ages, as he moves through creation, is to show us that there is purpose and meaning and significance in life, which Solomon is saying, everything is meaningless and empty. See? Now he's the smartest of the smart, he's the wisest of the wise, he's the richest of the rich, you know, and he's saying everything is empty and meaningless. Now is he right? What do you all think? Without price, it is. A plus infinity, okay. You all get A pluses, actually, if you just show up to hear the light of the run. Yeah, there's no... Purple heart. Okay, purple heart. But I say it's a medal of honor, because the reason for that is that most people do not take Scripture to heart. Do you agree? Because one of the things that we probably lack in our daily walk is to open this book. Now, I'm old and I have time, I'm retired, so I have time to open the book. But now do I really read it? Well, I read it fast, and so sometimes it's here, but it doesn't go here. Now there's a problem with that. Is there a problem with that? Having God right here, but not here? So what do you think is the thing that makes the difference? Now you're going to get an A plus, but I want you to say it, huh? The Holy Spirit. Yes. You know, we see that the Triune God is active and alive today, and what the Holy Spirit does is He does something wonderful. It's transformative. In other words, it changes our hearts. It also changes our mind. So now we see that the Word of God, if we read it, and we read it carefully, now what does reading carefully do? Well, see the O here, observation, is what does it say? What does it mean? So that does mean we have to sort of think about really what God's Word is saying to us. And then the A here is the application of it. What does it mean to you that you would be willing to make a change in your life, to take God's Word seriously? Now oftentimes what we do is we pass over God's Word and we say, well, I think that that's meant for my neighbor down the street because he really needs to know His Word. Or this person that's sitting with me in my pew next to me. You see what happens is we now look at other, we look, instead of looking at our heart seriously, we look and judge other people. And of course the Sermon on the Mount addresses that, doesn't it? Because there's this log in our eyes that keeps us from really seeing and reading the truth. So then we realize that now God is talking about our attitudes toward life in general. Now as we take God's Word to heart, what do you think the attitude by which we look at God's Word so that we can do what David's trying to, not trying to, but he is actually just delivering God's Word to us. As he delivers God's Word to us, what do you think is the attitude that we have to have in order for us to really listen and take note of what God is really saying to us? An attitude of, yes Lord, whatever you say. Okay, A plus to infinity. Now God wants us to go beyond that. See, because in order for us to change our hearts, God has to do it, right? So we have to be open to be willing to do that with God. That's the key of when Jesus was in Gethsemane. He's saying, not my will, but thy will be done. So now how do we come to the place where we get to say, not my will, but thy will be done? In Matthew 16, in Luke 9 and Mark 8, Jesus is asking the question, who do you say that I am? Now who in our heart do we say Jesus is? Who is he? God. A plus to infinity. Beyond, because now we realize that now the only way that we can come into grips with the triune God is to take his Word to heart. To recognize who he is, and David has just articulated that so well, that Jesus Christ is superior to prophets, superior to angels, and now we're going to go on to every other thing that's existed in this world. So what is that attitude that God wants us to realize in order for us to do what Jesus says? The answer that Peter gives in all those passages, Matthew 16, Mark 8, and Luke 9, Peter answers, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Then Jesus asks the question, if any man will, will you? Deny yourself. If any man will and deny himself, take up his cross, follow me. Wow. Now what would help us in our attitudes to be willing to do that? Realizing that if we don't follow, Jesus is not our Lord, my Lord. Amen. A plus to infinity and beyond. Now see, you all get this because you're all agreeing with him. Now we realize that now we have a wonderful task at hand, and that is we get to choose the direction that we choose to go. If any man will, deny himself, take up his cross, follow me. Now, David was referring to Luke 2, verse 5. It says, and this is the attitude that Jesus said, take upon yourself the mind and attitude of Christ Jesus. And so what did Jesus do in this process? Now that process is called kenosis. It's being willing to lay down our prerogatives and rights as individuals. We get to lay ourselves, lay aside our rights and prerogatives of either following him or following us, following ourselves. See, the problem with the whole idea of the creation of life as God describes through Genesis and also Hebrews, we realize that the purpose of the creation, and the creation aspect is the fact that God is trying to tell us there's purpose and meaning behind his creation. There's purpose and meaning why God would create us in this place. See now, at the end, our destiny is everything's going to burn out. It's the thermodynamic law of entropy. All forces in the world of all energy is going to do this. It's going to come together. And when that happens, comes together, then it implodes, an explosion of multiple atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs will occur, and everything will burn out. Nothing is left. So what does God do? He makes a new heaven and a new earth. Ah, hey, now that's going to be good. Because the point of this little discussion right now is why is it so distressing when we go through suffering and go through trials of all sorts like James 1 talks about and Romans 5 talks about? Why is it so distressing that we're upset at all the stuff that's happening in the world today? Whether it's COVID, whether it's health problems, whether it's death, there's lots of things that happen that are just so, so devastating. Like for some of my friends in Maui, they're still trying to find bodies. Now we realize, hmm, this is a fragile world. And the thing is, we're all going to end in death. All of us are going to die. So Dr. Yang is not going to heal anything. You know, see, I'm supposed to be here to help you, but the thing is that every one of you is going to die. If you have a broken bone, I can fix that, okay? But now that, see, not me, but the one that's going to heal that is the chief, right? And that's God himself. So now we get to think about, now, what am I going to do with the dilemmas that I face in life today? So Peter gives the right answer here. The Christ, the Son of the living God. So what is the attitude that Peter takes upon himself? You've got to remember now, when Jesus is in the storm and he's walking on the water, and Peter sees him walking on the water and says, is that you? If that's you, Jesus, call me. And Jesus says, come. So guess what Peter does? He gets out of the boat and walks on water. Okay, now, the question is, would Brian Yamamoto get out of the boat and walk on water? And the answer is absolutely not, you know, because I can barely swim. You see, but you see, what happens is God calls us to do something special. And God calls us to do something that's transcendent, rises above the norm. What's above the norm today? And the norm is, well, do we believe man and all the information that he gathers? In medicine, it's great because it's more and more faster and faster. We do stuff in medicine that's unbelievable, you know. You know, we're operating through little holes like this, and we can, through that little hole, we can unclog arteries in the heart. We can unclog arteries in the brain. We can even fix an anterior cruciate ligament through a little hole, you know, which is amazing for a knee surgeon. But you see what happens? We see that progress is more and more faster and faster. So what happens is more and more pushes away the fact that we need to cultivate a relationship with the Lord, Jesus. So I think the challenge for each of us is to say, well, how can I then stand up to the ploys of the world and Satan who came to steal, kill, and destroy us as Christians? He's doing it effectively because there are a lot of Christians today that are going left and right and other ways, you know. And we say, well, how can a believer do that? Now, first, certainly that's not us, right? Now, I'm the first one that would sin if I were in the Garden of Eden. I would have been eating the tree on the first day. So now we see that we all have that same issue. And the issue is one that Peter addresses in 1 Peter 5. He said, God mocks proud mockers, 1 Peter 5.5, Amen. See, A plus infinity because now that's the beginning of changing our hearts. So he says in verse 6, And then he says, Now, be alert. Be sober-minded because the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking by the books. Whom he might devour. The devil doesn't want us around. You feel like you've been in some market and it's not going to stop. But, he says in verse 9, but he says resist him. Stand firm in your faith in Jesus Christ because this is the slogan that all believers have, that there's this person in the world. But then the promise, verse 10, he says, but God, always but God, but God who has called us to his eternal glory that after we've suffered a while, he'll restore us and make us firm, strong and steadfast in him. See that experience you had with the little angel? You know, that makes you have faith, doesn't it? Wow. How can that happen? But, you see, God, that's a survival moment. But, see, God then uses Peter to give us a thriving moment. God wants us to thrive in our walk with him. So, to give you a preview of what we're going to be talking about in the future, is that thriving is with the Lord, of course, because Jesus is superior. So, he's saying, now the moment that we trusted in Jesus Christ, we talked about this a little last time, the moment we trusted in Jesus as our savior, for by grace have we stayed through faith and that not of ourselves is the gift of God, not of works as any man should boast, because we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Now, the moment of salvation, he's given us his love, agape, 1 Corinthians 13. All you ladies know that one. Okay, there are 16 points, and they're all valid. And he also gives us wisdom from above, James 3.17, that's first of all, pure and peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, full of good fruit, impartial and sincere. And he's also given us the fruit of the Spirit. He's given us that. All nine qualities, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, filial self, and all that. He says, in order for you to thrive, this is called the process of sanctification, I want you to be diligent to do something very special. 2 Peter 1, verses 5-10, I want you to be diligent to add to your faith virtue, the courage to excel, to virtue knowledge, cognitive, to knowledge, self-control, the last of the fruit of the Spirit, to self-control, perseverance, have to go through some barnyard fertilizers, so be thankful in your suffering, because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, character produces hope, which never disappoints, because of the love of God that's bound to be poured into your heart by the power of His Holy Spirit. If you don't have enough love, He's going to give you some barnyard fertilizers to cultivate that. And then, he says, to persevere is godliness, to be holy, because God's holy, to holiness, brotherly kindness, phileo, and to phileo, agape. From faith to unconditional love, which only God can give. We get to be the recipients of that, and we then get to cultivate that in our lives. And that's what Hebrews is all about, so we don't drift. And the way we drift is by ignoring God's Word. So we're afraid that we won't drift, all right? And we pray that for each other. And we'll be sending out a list of all of our... Is it okay if I share your contact information? Sure. Okay. Pretty much asked everybody, okay. So we'll send... We'll give that out next week. Tom is our relay man. He takes care of all of our videos and recordings. And if you miss... You know, if you miss a Wednesday, we have this on Zoom, so you can see this on TV. But also, we'll record it so that you can listen to it at your convenience. You know, if you're driving a car or something like that, okay? So let's pray and thank God for this day and be challenged so that we not drift. Dear Lord, thank you so much for your Word. Thank you for the teaching that you give us through David. What a neat study, to study Hebrews chapter 1 to realize that you are superior even to angels. And even though we have some thoughts about angels that apparently may not be quite accurate, angels are your creation. And because of that, dear Lord, we know that you have given us a purpose and meaning and significance in life because your purpose for us, like you tell us in Romans 8, 28, you cause all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to your purpose. And your purpose, in verse 29, for whom you foreknew, you also predestined for us to be conformed to the image of your Son, Jesus Christ. So, dear Lord, we pray that you would help us to remember that if you are for us, who can be against us? And therefore we know that we get to be with you, not today, but forever, by trusting in Jesus Christ. We pray that you would help us to do this because the main thing is the main thing that the key and mystery of life is Christ in us, the hope of glory. Help us all to continue to proclaim you, teaching and admonishing everyone with all wisdom so that we will be able to present everyone that we meet, greet and serve to be perfect and complete in Christ Jesus. We pray these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, thank you so much. To be continued, so thank you.
