Mission Accomplished - [Hebrews 1:30]

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Wasn't that long ago Muhammad Ali said, I am the greatest.
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My question this morning is what is true greatness? How would you define greatness?
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Are you great? Would you like to be great? The world has a different way of measuring greatness than our
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Lord Jesus Christ does. I looked online how to unleash the greatness in you.
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What do you think the world would say? Become the observer of yourself. Watch yourself keenly in all that you do.
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Recognize the purpose of every moment is to unleash your greatness and there is nothing else going on.
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Feel deeply into every moment through the five senses of sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing.
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Let the psychic sixth senses activate. Watch as your greatness manifests the world around you creating new possibilities and paths.
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Walk forward into the world on the path of light that the greatness of your soul creates.
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Now watch and feel for the arising of an authentic expression perceived as a sense of rightness within you.
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And I could go on and on. Is that really what the Bible teaches about greatness?
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Or, as we'll see today, the way to greatness is through our example, the
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Lord Jesus Christ. It is through sacrifice, it is through service, it is the cross before the crown, and it is suffering before glory.
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Let's turn our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 1 this morning and talk about the
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Lord Jesus Christ. I love the Shepherd's Conference for many reasons. One is it reminds me that we're isolated out in the middle of nowhere.
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Are we the only ones who are preaching through the Bible verse by verse? Let's hear about Jesus again today.
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And there are many people across the world who know the value of biblical exposition as the
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God's Word is powerful as it is applied by the Holy Spirit to comfort people that need it, to convict those that need it, to make sure we're focused on who
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God is. I'm 55 years old and I'm determined, with all my might, as I came back here,
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I thought, I am determined to keep preaching the Bible verse by verse in a deep manner, as deeply as we're able to go, so that God's people are strengthened, so that the
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Lord is exalted. And I thought, and this is just no throwaway line, but the day
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Bethlehem Bible Church doesn't want biblical exposition is the day that it will cease, essentially, because we're to learn all the
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Bible. And I thought to myself, what pastor wouldn't love Bethlehem Bible Church to come and to preach every
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Sunday the riches of Christ? And most of the time, people will say to me, I just want to keep going deeper.
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I just want to keep having those messages longer. You're preaching not long enough. And so those are good days.
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Hebrews tells us all about Jesus, how Jesus is great.
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And the first three verses answer this question, why should I listen to Jesus? I mean, the prophets were great.
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Elijah was great. Isaiah was great. Ezekiel was great. Hosea was great.
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Micah was great. Moses was great. Why is
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Jesus better? Why is he greater? Why should we listen? These Hebrew people knew the
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Old Testament. They knew the value of the law, Torah, the prophets. So now we're getting persecuted for the belief in Jesus.
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Maybe we should go back. Maybe we should go back to our old ways. Why listen to Jesus over Moses?
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Why Jesus over any other prophet? And the answer is found in the first three verses, because Jesus is greater so you should listen to him.
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Since Jesus is the final revelation from God and of God, his final agent of revelation, then we should listen to him.
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And what happens as Jesus is talked about with these seven descriptions, it's almost like so much data, so much action, so much accumulation of things that extol
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Jesus. You have to then finally say that I must bow before him and listen to him and whatever
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Jesus says, I will A, believe, and B, if I'm required to do something in light of my union with Christ, I will do it.
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It's all about the one you are to worship. Jesus said in John 4, 22, you worship what you do not know.
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We worship what we know, for salvation is from the
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Jews. Seven affirmations, seven things that should kind of prod the awe out of you, the first one, and we know this as we review, but it's a great review because you just think this is the
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Jesus that we get to worship. How do we know he's superior? Well, one, it says in verse 2, he's the heir of all things.
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God used to speak to the fathers, and these last days he speaks to us in his son, and what's his son all about?
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Number one, he's appointed heir of all things. Why listen to Jesus? Because there's one son, that one son receives all the inheritance, so we should listen to him.
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Secondly, we saw several weeks ago, he made the world. You see it in verse 2, why listen to Jesus?
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Number two, he made the ages. The son was the agent of creation.
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Not only time did God make, but he also made the content in the world. I thought, how can
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I make this impressive in my mind? I'm driving down the 90, I almost called it freeway, sorry.
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I've lived here 19 years. I'm driving down the pike, and then up 495. Do we use definite articles?
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The 495? Everything you see along 495, along 90, that just sounds weird with no article.
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Everything you see, every tree, rock, plant, star, when you walked out last night and you think, you know, it doesn't seem like it's going to snow, but look at all those stars.
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Every single one of those things that you've seen, Jesus made. Moses didn't make them,
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Elijah didn't make them, and since Jesus made them, well, we should probably listen to somebody who can make things with a word.
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That's the idea. The created universe, time, space, history, everything
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Jesus made, and he made it with a word, no effort except speaking it into existence.
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By the way, if you say to yourself, Jesus is less than God, you're a fool, because only a fool would say in his heart, there's no
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God, and only a fool could look at these seven descriptions and say, he's less than God.
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And if you've been given eyes to see, wise eyes to see, you'll say to yourself, that's a
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God that's worth spending my life for. That's a God who's worthy to be praised.
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I will honor him. I will worship him. I don't have to be like William Carey or Hudson Taylor or Mary Slessor and move someplace.
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I can do that right here where I am as a mother, as a father, as a worker. This is the kind of God who makes me want to worship him.
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Number three, why should I listen to Jesus? He's the heir of all things, creator of all things, and Jesus is superior because he's the radiance of God's glory.
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Verse 3, he's the radiance of outpouring or shining forth, emitting brightness.
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This is talking about the light of God's glory. Whatever glory God has with the Shekinah, the
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Father, the Son has it as well because the Father is equal to the Son, is equal to the
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Spirit. This is a triune God. The Father and the Son both have glory as well as the
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Spirit. Fourthly, Jesus is the exact representation of God's nature and this is why we listen to him.
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The exact representation of his nature. A mark or an impression that you would have with a coin.
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It looked like Caesar on the coin and it would be a representation of who that Caesar was.
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That's the idea. Or taking a ring and putting in some wax and what the ring looks like on your finger is similar to what it looks like on the wax.
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Number 5, he upholds all things by the word of his power. Without sweat, without effort, without toil,
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God creates the universe, the Son does, and he brings it to fruition. He upholds it. He sustains it.
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He moves it along with micromanager type effect. And if God is going to start the world and he's going to make it go to glory, something has to be dealt, something has to be done to deal with sin and that's exactly what happens as we see number 6 in verse 3 when he had made purification of sins.
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If the goal is glory, there can't be sin in glory. There needs to be purification for sins and Jesus, the book of Hebrews, tells us and will tell us many times, once and for all
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Jesus dies on behalf of sinners, is raised from the dead. Cleansing.
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We looked last time, aren't you glad the sins that made you dirty, sullied,
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God has cleansed, clean, holy. I along with you, we are dirty people and God says based on my son's cleansing work,
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I purify you. You're holy. Why is Hebrews 1 addressing this so particularly?
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Because there were some people saying let's go back only to the Old Testament. That's our final answer.
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Today maybe a good application is people don't want to listen to Jesus and his apostolic messengers, they want to listen to subjective things, mystical things.
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Sinclair Ferguson writes the spiritual ones were in Calvin's day a major thorn in the flesh to biblical reformation.
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Calvin despaired of helping people who felt the need to mention the spirit in every second sentence they spoke.
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For the Puritans, the inner light movement constituted a similar danger. In both cases what the spirit said and what the human spirit heard were divorced from and then exalted over the word.
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Put more brutally, Sinclair Ferguson says subjective feeling and emotion reign supreme over the objective revelation of scripture.
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Similarly today the subjective, experiential, self -oriented touchy -feely secular mind of the 60s has come home to roost in the evangelical world.
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This is good for us because as Jesus is to be heard because he has these seven great characteristics, that should give us pause to say anything about, well, it's the
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Bible plus, it's Jesus and the apostles plus. And now we come to new, wonderful, exciting seventh attribute, our action of Jesus that should make us say the final word, the period when it comes to God's revelation is in Jesus.
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Verse 3 he is superior because, I'll just read the verse, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
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Remember back in the garden temptations, wilderness temptations rather?
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Satan to Jesus, why bother with death? Why bother with suffering?
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Why bother with the cross? You can have everything now. It's worth it. Just take it all now.
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It's mine to give to you Jesus. Bypass the cross. It's not worth it. Don't go through Calvary.
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Was it worth it? Was it worth it for Jesus to die that gruesome death? Was it worth it for him to assuage the wrath of the
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Father? They've had close, intimate fellowship for the entire existence of eternity.
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Love for one another and closeness to one another. And then
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Jesus has to go it alone on the cross. Was it worth it? This part of the verse answers the question.
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Was it worth it? Yes, it was worth it because look at how God the Father exalted him. Look at what place of honor, authority, dominion.
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He sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Some other translations read this way.
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Then he sat down at the right side of God, the great one in heaven. He sat down at the right hand of the greatness in the highest.
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He received the highest position, the one next to the Father in heaven. He sat down in heaven at the right hand side of God, the supreme power.
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Was it worth it for Jesus to go through the cross to get to glory? The answer is yes, everlastingly so.
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Is that a word? It is to me. Everlastingly. That's a word, isn't it? I put an ly at the end.
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Interestingly, what's God called there? Majesty on high at the right hand of the majesty on high.
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It's kind of shorthand indirect way to talk about God, but man, it's a brilliant way. It's a wonderful way.
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Look at chapter 8 verse 1. It describes who God is in this exact same way.
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Hebrews chapter 8 verse 1. You talk about the glory of the
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Son. Well, here we have the glory of the Father as well. Maybe the Son gets so much glory for Himself that the
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Father's glory will be eclipsed. Maybe the Son is taken away from the Father's glory. Oh, no.
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He still has majesty, does the Father. 8 .1. Now, the point in what we are saying is this.
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We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven.
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Sometimes we like to sing the song, majesty, worship His majesty. Do you know that song?
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I don't think any place in the New Testament or old does it say we worship His majesty, but it could be said, we worship you majesty.
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God is called majestic. The majesty underscoring how great the
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Son is. Back to chapter 1 verse 3. It means greatness. It means awesomeness.
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What a great word for God. Sometimes, now remember
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Hebrew people didn't like to call God, God. They'd pick a different word. They'd say something about from the heavens, if it meant from God.
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And here, maybe that's it as well. He's talking to Hebrew people. And so what does He call God the Father? Majesty.
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But I think the real reason the writer uses this, Jesus has so much glory, maybe somehow
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He's taken away the Father's glory. But no. The Father is full of glory. The Son is full of glory.
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And obviously the Spirit is full of glory as well. And Jesus sits down here.
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The awesome greatness of God. And what I like is when it says the majesty on what?
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The majesty on compound Greek word.
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It means the highest high. The highest height. There's no higher place to sit.
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No more greater seat of honor than right here. The highest seat in the universe belongs to Jesus.
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God the Father won't give His glory to another. To a lesser. But He gives His glory to His Son because they're equal in nature and in essence.
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The triune God. Why would this place be given to a Son if the Son was lesser?
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If the Son was a created being? It wouldn't ever happen. But Jesus gets the seat by the majesty of the highest height.
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The writer of Hebrews wants his readers to think this way about Jesus. So my question to you is when you think of Jesus, do you think of Him this way?
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State of greatness. Importance. Prominence. Truly important. And He sits not on the left side.
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But He sits on the right side. Why is right important? We'll take a look at chapter 1 verse 13.
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You know this language. It's everywhere in Scripture. It's a position of privilege. It's a position of honor.
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Hebrews chapter 1 verse 13. And to which of the angels has He ever said sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool at your feet.
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The place of privilege. Not for the angels. The place of honor. Not for the angels. The place of authority.
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Not for the angels. It's a place where Jesus is. And so now the writer wants to tell us in conduct.
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Well we should listen to Him. Anybody that sits there has my attention. John 17
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Jesus prayed and now glorify thou me together with thyself
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Father with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
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Jesus now goes back to His original place. His original place of power. Authority.
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Dignity. No wonder the psalmist said in thy right hand are pleasures forever.
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He sits. Well when I look at this passage and say He sits. What's the opposite of sitting?
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Well it's standing. If you were an Old Testament priest what would you do? In the tabernacle you would always stand.
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No chairs in the tabernacle. No seats in the tabernacle because the priest's work were never finished. And now when
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Jesus receives the sour wine on the cross He said it is finished. Debt paid in full.
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He bows His head and gives up His spirit. Most people when they give up their spirit then they bow their head.
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They die and then they bow their head. Jesus in control of His own destiny the whole time. He bows His head and then dies.
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Mission is accomplished. Everything is done. Jesus at the right hand of the
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Father. Place of honor. Now if you've got somebody that you really like and they help you and you appreciate all their help.
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You call them what? What kind of man do you call them? Left hand man. Right?
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He's my left hand man. What do you call him? When you go to Europe you'll see that people wear their wedding rings on their honorable hand.
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On their good hand. On their right hand. Why do we wear our wedding rings on our left hand?
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Well you can look at the English kings for the answer there. I'm not trying to say we should switch everything to the right hand although this is a position of honor and of authority and rest and completion.
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When you think of right hand you should say to yourself this is a position of favor.
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Psalm 80. Did we just not hear it read to us moments ago? But let your hand be on the hand of your right hand.
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On the man of your right hand. The son of man whom you have made strong for yourself.
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This is a position of favor. Of exaltation. Turn to Revelation chapter 3 please.
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Verse 21. I think you'll find this interesting. Especially as you think about the Father is
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God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. The Father is not the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Son. And the Son is not the
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Father. One God subsisting in three persons. How can
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Jesus be at such a spot for Jesus to be seated at the right hand of God?
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Do you know what this means? It means He shares the Father's throne. Revelation 3 .21
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proves it. The one who conquers I will grant Him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my
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Father on His throne. Purification of sins as a priest completed.
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Job done. Mission accomplished. He sits down. They share the throne together.
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Now when Jesus died on the cross what do you think the world thought of? What did the world perceive it to be?
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What does the world think today of Jesus' work? I could ask you what does Harvard think of Jesus' work?
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What does Yale think of Jesus' work? What did Christopher Hitchens think of Jesus' work?
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Well, sadly they don't think it's too good. But what did the
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Father think of the Son's work? The honor that Jesus receives, not recognized by the world, 10 ,000 other
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Jews were crucified under the hands of the Romans and none of them received honor and none of Jesus' contemporaries received honor either and Jesus from the world did not receive honor.
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But if you had to take a pick, do I want to receive honor from God or would I like the world's accolades?
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Which would you pick? I know which one's more tempting because we think to ourselves glory before suffering.
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We think and we're tricked when we don't walk by faith. It could be the crown before the cross.
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But when you think biblically, when you think rightly, if there's one person in whom
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I would like to say well done good and faithful servant, if there's one person in our lives where we say, you know what,
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I'd like them to just say good job, way to go. To be recognized by God and then to be given the highest place in the universe.
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The writer of Hebrew says this is why Jesus is worthy to be worshipped. I think this is a good paradigm for the
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Christian. I'd like to be recognized at work. I'd like to be recognized in my community.
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I'd like to be recognized in church. I'd like to be recognized at such and such. But if you say to yourself
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I may or may not be recognized but I want to do all to honor God. He'll know. He'll keep track.
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There's a day of reckoning where all that will be done. I think
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I'll side with I'll honor the Lord and let him search it out and figure it out. Right? I know that's your heart's desire.
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Jesus' exaltation. Not recognized by the world but recognized by God. The highest place in the world and the cosmos.
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I have a question for you. Is there any discussion of the resurrection in the book of Hebrews?
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We go from purification of sins to sitting down. Does it say in the book of Hebrews anywhere resurrection?
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Well you say it's implied. Go to Hebrews chapter 13 verse 20 please.
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There's lots of death burial resurrection talk in the Bible rightfully so. Hebrews here early on just talks about purification for sins and then sitting down job is done.
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And it implies a resurrection but I want you to know that Hebrews does talk about the resurrection.
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But the focus in Hebrews happens to be purification for sins and then sitting down because what reason?
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The book of Hebrews is talking about Jesus the high what? Priest. And what do high priests do?
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They're purification for sins. They're arranging the offering. They're dealing with things about sin.
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And they never sit down. So the focus in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews is the priestly work and so the resurrection of course he believes it.
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But that's not where his emphasis is. But to prove that he does believe in the resurrection. The explicit passage in Hebrews is
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Hebrews 13, 20 and 21. Now may the
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God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant covenant equip you with every good everything good that you may do his will working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever.
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Amen. Of course the writer believes in the resurrection. But the focus throughout the whole book all 13 chapters is the purification as priest.
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What the priest would do on the day of atonement. The perfect high priest by the death and exaltation of Jesus.
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Turn if you would to Psalm 110 please. Verse 1. If you're studying
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Christology the study of Christ and you're thinking about the Old Testament and I were to ask you a question what is the key verse in all the
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Old Testament about the messianic promise. I hope you would go to Psalm 110 verse 1.
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It should just be a reflex. Probably quoted 12 times in the New Testament.
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Psalm 110 verse 1. And it gives us a flashback to the
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Old Testament that you know the people who are reading this epistle would think about because they're
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Hebrew people. This is the way they think. This is the announcement of Jesus the
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Messiah being exalted to the right hand of God. Did the writer of Hebrews just make it up?
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No. It's found right here in Psalm 110 verse 1. It is a messianic
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Psalm. Notice as we have made special effort with the capital
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L, capital O, capital R, capital D, and then capital L, small case,
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O, R, D. Notice how important this is. We have a discussion between two people of the
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Godhead. Yahweh says to Adonai.
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Do you see it? The Lord says to my Lord. Adonai says, excuse me, Yahweh says to my
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Adonai. Can you imagine David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit recording a conversation as it were between two members of the
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Trinity? The Father and talking to the Son. It's fascinating. It's messianic.
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The Lord Yahweh says to my Lord. David's Lord was the
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Messiah. Sit at my right hand, the place of honor, authority, power, rest, exaltation.
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Sit next to the majesty on the highest heights until I make your enemies your footstool.
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Jesus claimed these words for himself in Mark chapter 12 verse 36. David himself and the
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Holy Spirit declared the Lord said to my Lord. Sit at my right hand.
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When the writers of the
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Old Testament spoke of the Messiah, they spoke of Jesus. And when the readers of Hebrews read this, they had to think of Psalm 110 verse 1.
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Pradeep is going to be ordained into gospel ministry here within the next couple months. I will give
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Pradeep a little hint right now. You will be asked, Pradeep, Dr. Pradeep, what is the key messianic
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Psalm verse by memory in the Old Testament? And you will say that is
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Psalm 110 verse 1, the Lord said to my Lord. I'm not kidding,
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Spurgeon. Now Christ, our high priest, having once for all offered himself as a sacrifice for sin, has gone to the most holy place and there he sits on the right hand of the majesty on high.
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Notice that this implies rest. When the high priest went within the veil, he did not sit down.
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He stood with holy trembling, bearing the sacrificial blood before the blazing mercy seat.
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But our Savior now sits at his father's right hand.
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The high priest of old had not finished his work. The next year another atoning sacrifice would be needed.
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But our Lord has completed his atonement and now there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
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And there no longer remains sin to be purged. There he sits. And I am sure he would not be sitting if he had not finished the salvation of his people.
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He sits in a place of honor. Of course we are talking figuratively now and you must not interpret this literally.
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Jesus sits on the right hand of his father. The father delights to honor him. Not only does
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Jesus sit in the place of honor, but he occupies the place of safety. None can hurt him now.
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None can stay his purposes or defeat his will. Christ at the right hand of God signifies the eternal certainty of his reward.
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Jesus loved the church and gave himself for her. Jesus is the
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Messiah. Luke 24, was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
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The glory he had with his father seated at his right hand. The enthronement of Jesus.
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Now it's asked by some. Now Jesus is seated at the right hand of the father signifying his work is done.
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Does he ever stand up? And how would you answer that question? Is there a New Testament case where Jesus stands up to do something?
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The answer is what? Yes, Acts 7. Let's just go there to be reminded that this is a place not only of authority and power and exaltation, but it's a place where he makes intercession.
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Hebrews 7 even says he always lives to make intercession for us. He's praying for his people.
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He doesn't just die for them as a substitute. He prays for them. He has access. He has the father's ear as it were.
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But there is a time when he stands up. And there is a time he stands up. Acts chapter 7, verse 54.
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Acts 7, 54. Jesus' work is done. He'll never stand again to slay another sacrifice or to be slain.
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But he will stand for other reasons. When I was working on my doctoral work at Southern Seminary, my advisor said, you know, that was such a good idea that you came up with.
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I think when Dr. Mohler gives you the doctoral things and says congratulations, Dr. Abendroth, I think
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I'll stand up in your honor. Wow. Okay. Well, when
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I walked across the platform, he did stand, but I found out later that every advisor is required to stand for every one of their students.
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Jesus isn't required to stand to finish any work. He's required to stand because if he died for your sins, won't he make sure he takes care of everything else you need?
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Doesn't he love his people? Of course he does. Acts 7, 54. We pick it up here with Stephen.
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And when they heard this, they were cut to the quick and they began gnashing their teeth at him. And being full of the
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Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
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Why? Because Jesus is there to help. He's done with sacrifice work, but he's not done with intercessory work.
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Behold, I see heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
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They cried out with a loud voice and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him and witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named
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Saul. They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said,
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Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice,
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Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Having said this, he fell asleep.
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And isn't it fascinating? For Stephen as well as Jesus, the cross before the crown, the suffering before glory, and Jesus' work is done when it comes to sacrifice, but when it comes to intercession and help, he's there to help and intercede.
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Turn to Philippians chapter 2, please, as we consider this suffering, then glory, cross, then crown, obedience, then reward motif.
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And Philippians 2, while talking about how Christians should get along in the church, it uses
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Jesus as an example, as a model. And I think you'll see here again, when
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Jesus does his work, he sits down and is rewarded by the Father. What is true greatness?
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Who gives it? The Father does. And how is it obtained? Jesus does through his obedience to the
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Father and then we get the reward. For all of us here, remember as we consider this for our own lives, it is obedience, then reward.
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It is cross, then crown. It is suffering and then glory. I could put it this way, friends, this isn't heaven and God remembers everything you've done for him.
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And since those two things are true, additionally, there is heaven in the future and that's where the big reward will be.
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Philippians 2, 5, talking about the Son's obedience and then the
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Father's reward. Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
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We think this might have been a song for the early church, a hymn for the early church. It seems to have that kind of meter and that kind of phraseology.
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We've covered this passage several times, but I think it's worth going back. One man called this passage oceanic.
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There's so much in there. I don't know how many times you have to go to the ocean before you just say, you know what, done with that.
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Pacific, done, don't ever want to see it again. Atlantic, done, never want to go back. You're drawn back to the ocean, aren't you?
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At least when there's good waves. If I ever get asked to speak someplace,
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I'm always asked by the children, are there waves there? This is oceanic.
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This is majestic. Church, you've got some problems going on here at Philippi.
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How should you act? Well, what did Christ do? What was his model?
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Later on in the book, Paul's a good model. Timothy's a good model. Epaphroditus is a good model.
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But Jesus is the ultimate model. Listen to what he did and what he went through so we can remember that paradigm of cross before crown.
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Before I even read it, just a side note. It's not necessarily a side note. You can always tell a false teacher when they offer the crown before the cross.
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When you see people get up on television, the largest church in the world in Houston and the guy has a big grin and he's talking about your best life what?
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It's a lie. Because the paradigm is it's cross and then crown.
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It's suffering and then glory. Here is Jesus the model. And of course we're drawn to things now because life is difficult and trials are tough and we want things right now.
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But Jesus, it says in chapter 2 verse 6 of Philippians, who though was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
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Jesus at no time was less than the Father in his deity. He's not less than God.
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This is all talking about the deity of Christ. He was in the form of God, preexistent.
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He was there with God. But he didn't say you know what I'm not going to follow your will for me and then empty myself by adding human flesh.
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I'm not going to grasp that. I'm not going to only do things for my benefit.
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You can see if two people can't get along in a church and they both prefer one another over themselves, you introduce
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Jesus as the one who could have preferred himself ultimately but didn't and he went and served, he would be a good model.
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Romans 15 .3, Christ did not please himself. What did he do?
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Verse 7, he emptied himself. He didn't say I'm no longer going to be
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God but he certainly set aside his privileges of glory in heaven.
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He certainly didn't do anything on his own authority unless the Spirit of God was moving in him to do it.
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No independent authority. Sometimes he set aside prerogatives of deity in terms of omniscience but he never was emptied of any of his attributes.
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Sadly when Wesley wrote the song and can it be when he said emptied himself of all but love, that's not what we're talking about here.
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That's not true. He still was just. He still was gracious. He still was merciful. He was omniscient unless he decided not to be.
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He veiled his pre -incarnate glory. He decided not to use all of his attributes even though he had them.
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But the main point is he condescended by becoming a slave. He was rich but for your sake,
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Corinthians says, he became what? Poor. Look at verse 8, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death and not just any old death but even death on a cross.
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The worst kind of death. The ultimate indignity. If he was so great in eternity past with the glory of God, this certainly then by comparison shows how great he loved us because he would do that.
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Philippian church needed to hear that. They needed to hear that the Lord of glory, to use the language of Hebrews 1, a radiance of his glory, exact representation of who
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God is, was nailed to the tree like a rat, like a vermin people would call it, to obey the
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Father. Jesus obeys the Father and it is cross before crown and it is glory before suffering and so what's the response?
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What's the response? Hebrews response is he made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand.
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Here's the way Philippians describes it. And this is good for us to be reminded that this isn't heaven and the rewards that we will get come in eternity.
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Therefore, Jesus was so humiliated, yet so obedient.
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What did God the Father do? Has highly exalted him. That reminds me of Hebrews 1, at the right hand of God, high and lifted up and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
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He doesn't only get the greatest seat, the greatest position of honor, the greatest exaltation, but he gets the name that is above every other name and that name is
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Yahweh, Lord, Kurios. Why? Verse 10, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under earth and every tongue confess that Jesus is, there's his name,
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Lord, to the glory of God the Father. For those that somehow are deluded and saying that Jesus is less than God the
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Father, that the Father and the Son and the Spirit aren't co -equal in nature and essence and in substance, then why would
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God ever give such an exalted place to a created being? Well, he never would, but Jesus isn't a created being, he's the eternal
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Son. And God the Father gives him a great position of authority and honor.
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Friends, the way to glory is through suffering.
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The way to the cross, the crown, rather, is the cross. Beware of any and beware of all who somehow conflate that and switch it around.
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Just get it all now. You could have it all now. When I was younger, by the way, this was a lot easier to believe in.
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When you're 25 and healthy, it's a lot easier to be a word -faith person, a prosperity gospel person.
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Because when you're 55, 65, 75, 85, anybody here over 85 and want to admit it?
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It's hard. But the way of life is, do you know what? There's trouble on earth and then
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Jesus promises us heaven because he earned it for us. By his obedience, he earned heaven for us.
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How do you get to heaven? The rich young ruler runs up to Jesus, how do I get to heaven? Well, what's the law say?
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Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says, you've answered correctly.
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Okay, what do I need to do? Just do it. Do this and you'll live. Obey this law and you will live.
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Except we know that it's impossible to do. Strike that. It isn't impossible if your name is
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Jesus because he loved the Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and loved his neighbors himself. And since he did that and made purification of sins, then what does he do?
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He sets down at the right hand of God. I've been asked to teach some doctoral classes at Master's Seminary, just if I'm there in the summertime and some mentoring and stuff.
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It's just one class, I shouldn't say some classes. So I thought I better go into the doctorate of ministry
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I want to call it an inquisition but it wasn't. For students inquiring about the doctorate of ministry at Master's Seminary, they had a luncheon at the
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Shepherds Conference. I thought I better go in because I'm going to be there this summer and teach these new students.
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I get two hours to teach them this summer. I kind of should get to know them. So I sat down and then other students followed me and they sat down too.
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There was an empty seat right here and what I didn't know there was a little reserve sign right here and I was sitting at the reserve table and the seat to my left was
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John MacArthur's seat that I just kind of sauntered up to sit down by. I was sitting at the right hand of John MacArthur.
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A place of honor. A place of authority. High position.
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He came and talked by the way for 30 minutes and never sat down. But when you push yourself up like that and I had no real intention of doing it.
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Can you imagine if John would have said, sorry these are for the students when you go sit in the back. But can you imagine when you're in the back as it were and then all of a sudden
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God the Father says, no you come right up here. Not only was the
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Son exalted to the highest place, for every Christian, for everyone who trusts in the
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Lord Jesus Christ, even though this life is hard and difficult and trial filled
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Jesus has purchased heaven for you Christian and at the end of the day let's come up to the right hand of the
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Father where you have access to Jesus. You Christian have that. Let's pray.
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I thank you Father for this day. I thank you that your word is true.
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Thank you that you work through frail preachers. I thank you that Jesus has accomplished salvation for us.
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To the one who conquers I will grant him to sit with me on my throne. Not just to the church of Laodicea, but for every believing church.
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Father I pray for those that are here who refuse to bow their knee. They know plenty about their own sin.
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They know plenty about what the Bible teaches. They know about eternity and Christ's claim about his death and resurrection.
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But because of their own sin, blinded by Satan, they won't bow. I pray that you grant them repentance this morning.
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Grant them not only conviction of their sin, but also a real terror for what that judgment will be like if they don't repent.
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And Father I pray then you grant them belief. I want them to be blessed. I want them to know the paradigm.
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Not get it all now. Not reward now, but the reward is later. Cross then crown.
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Suffering then glory. Father I pray for Bethlehem Bible Church that you would keep us from subjective mysticism.
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Why would we listen to our own hearts or anyone else who claims to speak for you when Jesus is the one who is the heir who created the eons, who is the radiance of your glory, who is the exact representation of who you are, who upholds all things.
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He made purification for sins and because of all those things you had him sit down at your place of honor.
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Who else would we follow? And we're thankful that heaven isn't on this earth, but it's in the future where one day amazingly you'll reward us for the things that we've done and we would honor you with those things and cast our crowns at your feet.