Superior To Angels (part 4) - [Hebrews 1:4]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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May 15, 2016

Ordo Salutis (part 5)

00:00: I don't really know all the games that children play today. Maybe Temple Run and Call of Duty or,
00:08: I don't know, Ratchet and Clank. What do they play today? When I was growing up last century though, it was
00:16: Tic -Tac -Toe, Hangman, and 20 Questions. 20
00:24: Questions was big in the 1800s. It's true. That part's true.
00:30: Not that I was there, but I read about it. And it especially got popular in the 1940s when there was a radio show and then eventually a television show called 20
00:41: Questions. 20 questions asked without a correct guess, then you would have stumped the person and you would win.
00:50: Some other variants of the game are called Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral.
00:57: Dickens in A Christmas Carol had a game called Yes and No that was pretty close to that.
01:03: This morning I'd like to start off the sermon with some famous questions, although not 20, famous questions about angels to get you to think about angels in light of our passage in Hebrews.
01:15: Maybe the most famous question by Aquinas, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
01:22: Very, very famous question. I read actually this weekend that since dancing is a sin, the answer must be zero.
01:31: I thought that was pretty interesting. Actually, in the Annals of Improbable Research, Anders Sandberg has presented a calculation based on quantum gravity and physics establishing an upper bound of the question, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
01:51: And his answer is 8 .6766 times 10 to the 49th angels.
02:00: Another question about angels, can several angels be in the same place? That's been asked.
02:06: Do people become angels after death? Of course we know the answer is no. How many angels are there?
02:13: We don't know. There are numerous angels in the Scripture. Superior beings are described as thousands of thousands in Daniel 7.
02:23: Here's another question. Are angels being created now? The answer is no.
02:29: They've all been created at one time. They don't go extinct. They don't die.
02:34: They don't increase in number, nor do they decrease. Do angels have bodies?
02:41: No, we know they're spirits, and spirits don't have flesh and bones, yet sometimes they take the appearance of men in the
02:47: Bible. And, of course, Hebrews talks about entertaining angels unaware. Do angels have wings?
02:56: The Bible teaches that the seraphim have wings. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings.
03:02: With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. Are there different ranks of angels?
03:10: The Bible teaches that there are different ranks. What's the job description of angels?
03:17: That would be a good question. They minister to Jesus after his temptation and agony.
03:22: They declare Jesus' resurrection in Matthew 28, John 20, and Acts 1.
03:29: They rejoice over repentant sinners. And they help deliver
03:34: Mosaic law at Sinai. That's what we've been studying. Acts 7,
03:43: Galatians 3, Deuteronomy 33. They are the intermediaries delivering the law of Moses.
03:51: So let's take our Bibles and ask another question as we approach
03:57: Hebrews 1, verse 5. For those of you that are visiting, this is our, believe it or not, seventeenth message in the book of Hebrews.
04:07: No extrapolating. We'll go faster later on, but these early verses must be dealt with and studied so that you'll get the full effect of Jesus, the great, superior, high priest.
04:24: The final question we'll ask at the beginning of the sermon is, can any angel, single angel, call
04:30: God Father? And the answer is going to be no, not one.
04:37: This book talks about Jesus' superiority. And at the beginning, it's a theological stress.
04:45: And after you get the theological stress down in the first ten chapters, then there's more of a practical outworking.
04:51: So you have the theology and the methodology in that order in the book of Hebrews. Right from the get -go, you can imagine the
05:00: Hebrew people had an esteem and a high regard for Scripture. Therefore, the writer says
05:06: Jesus is greater than the prophets. The prophets were great, but Jesus is greater. And now you can imagine the writer of the book of Hebrews discussing things to Jewish people who would have a high view of angels.
05:20: You read the Old Testament, Daniel, and you think angels are pretty impressive. Jesus is also greater than angels.
05:28: So that's where we are right now in verses 4 through the end of chapter 2.
05:35: Jesus is greater than angels. Paul, I don't think, is writing this.
05:43: I think it's someone else. But you'll see a theological foundation for the rest of the sermon.
05:48: That's why we're taking our time in this book. On a side note, this might be the last book
05:55: I ever preach. I don't know how long I'm going to live. So if I ever have to die preaching, I hope I die preaching the book of Hebrews, telling you
06:03: Jesus is greater. Jesus is better. Why even study something like that?
06:10: When you think about your life, what about that trials in your life? Is that Lord? Is that trial
06:16: Lord? Is sin Lord? Is the president Lord?
06:22: Is the Congress Lord? Is the physical ailment that you have
06:27: Lord? Is that family difficulty Lord? Is Satan Lord? It's a good idea to remember, you know what?
06:33: None of those things are the Lord. Jesus is the Lord, and He's the superior high priest.
06:41: We know a lot about angels, but Jesus is better. And if you want to prove it to Hebrews, people from Israel, you use the
06:50: Bible to do that. So from chapter 1, verse 5, 6, 7, all the way through verse 14,
06:56: He's using the Old Testament, demonstrating from the Old Testament that Jesus is superior to angels.
07:02: Verse 4, having become as much better than the angels, this is because of His incarnation, and then
07:10: His death, resurrection, exaltation, coronation, as He has inherited a much more excellent name than they.
07:21: And now we have these passages. You can see them kind of marked off in your Bible probably. Verse 5, that's the first passage that shouts out,
07:30: Jesus is greater than angels, because He's called the Son. Remember last week?
07:36: Verse 5, for to which of the angels did God ever say?
07:41: That's language that He didn't say this to any angel ever, ever, ever. You are my
07:47: Son, today I have begotten you. Not one single angel ever heard that.
07:54: Why? Because it was Jesus who said of Him in chapter 1, He makes purification for sins.
08:00: He sets down at the right hand of the Father, and the Father says, excellent job, well done, good and faithful servant.
08:08: And instead of entering the joy of your Master, here it's enter into the premium position, the exalted position, my right hand, you are coronated now, the resurrected
08:18: King. And now we move into the second part of chapter 1, verse 5, the second
08:24: Old Testament passage for today, that screams, that yells, Jesus is better than angels.
08:32: 2 Samuel 7, verse 14 is quoted, or again,
08:38: Hebrews 1 .5, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
08:47: If you read the Old Testament, there's not one angel that God says,
08:54: I'll be your father and you'll be to me a son. Now one of the things
09:00: I love about the book of Hebrews, as I say this every week, it helps me understand the Old Testament. B .B.
09:06: Warfield, that great scholar, wrote, the Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished, but dimly lighted.
09:17: The introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before, but it brings out into clear view much of what is in it, but was only dimly or even not at all perceived before.
09:32: Thus the Old Testament revelation of God is not corrected by the fuller revelation which follows it, but is only perfected, extended, and enlarged.
09:43: And that's exactly what Hebrews does when we take a look at 2 Samuel 7, you say,
09:48: I get it now, I understand. So let's take our Bibles and turn to 2 Samuel 7.
09:55: Tonight, as you know, we're having the ordination, examination of Dr.
10:00: Pardeep, and he better know, Davidic Covenant, 2 Samuel 7.
10:05: If I drive over to his house tonight and knock at the door and I say, Davidic Covenant, he in his sleep ought to respond.
10:14: 2 Samuel 7. Here is the Davidic Covenant. Here is the spot in the
10:19: Bible where you think, yes, going backwards to Genesis, there's going to be a
10:25: Messiah who is going to come. Chapter 3, chapter 49 of Genesis, He's going to come from the tribe of Judah.
10:33: And then all of a sudden you think of Isaiah chapter 9, a Davidic ruler.
10:40: It comes right from 2 Samuel chapter 7, and that Davidic ruler is not going to be
10:45: Solomon, it's not going to be Absalom, it's not going to be any other son of David.
10:52: It's going to be the ultimate David, Jesus. 2 Samuel chapter 7.
10:58: Boy, this is amazing to think through. Even if you think of these Christmas verses for a second, too bad they're only used at Christmas.
11:07: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder.
11:13: And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
11:20: Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever.
11:36: The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. 2 Samuel, you should read it this week and you'll see the highlight of what happens when
11:46: Saul the king dies and now David picks up the throne literally.
11:54: And is David going to be that king? Could you say to yourself back in Genesis where the seed is going to destroy
12:00: Satan, is David the right king? The lion of the tribe of Judah, is
12:06: David the right king? And for a second you think, yes. What do kings do? They're powerful and David destroys
12:13: Moab and the rest of the Philistines and many others. You think, king should be kind.
12:19: He lets the lame Mephibosheth sit at his table. Maybe that's the king who's the deliverer, who's the ultimate king who's going to take over.
12:27: But then soon enough he sees a lady, doesn't he, on top of the house and her name is Bathsheba and you realize quickly he can't be the real king.
12:37: So then he has a son named Solomon and you think, well maybe Solomon's the right king. Maybe Solomon will destroy the enemies.
12:45: Maybe Solomon will uphold justice. And then all of a sudden Solomon did not have just one wife, not two wives, not three wives and the list would go on.
12:54: That would be 20 questions. I remember when the kids would ask, Solomon had how many wives and how many concubines?
13:03: But the kids don't know what concubines were so I remember one kid asking, how many porcupines did Solomon have? Enough to disqualify him.
13:10: He can't be the king. Doesn't everybody long for a king that will come back and just make everything right?
13:18: You can hear the king on a horse coming up over the hill and you're like, this could be the one.
13:24: It sounds like he's on this charger, this horse that's a victorious horse and he comes up and over.
13:30: Yes, finally delivery. And then he rides over and you think, you know what? It's David, he's sinful.
13:36: It's Solomon, he's sinful. It's Absalom, he's sinful. Where's the king that will come over the hill and just make everything right?
13:44: And what Solomon is going to show us or what David really will show us as he hears from Nathan, it's going to be from David.
13:52: David is the one, although it won't be David and it won't be Solomon. He will be the Davidic king and 2
13:59: Samuel 7 is the Davidic king, the
14:04: Davidic covenant. So what we're just going to do is walk through 2 Samuel 7 because every place in Hebrews that talks about the
14:13: Old Testament, we ought to know what the Old Testament says so we can understand Hebrews better and then say, wow, how all these things go together.
14:20: It's marvelous, it's wonderful and it affirms what we believe about Jesus because the
14:26: Old Testament talks of Jesus as well. 2 Samuel 7, now verse 1, when the king lived in his house and the
14:34: Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, see now
14:41: I dwell in a house of cedar but the ark of God dwells in a tent. And Nathan said to the king, go do all that is in your heart for the
14:49: Lord is with you. I mean cedar houses were pretty. I bet you they smelled pretty good too.
14:57: And God's in a tent. Remember the tabernacle and Israel would go and then they'd put the tent up again and here's the ark of the covenant and I live in this great house and God lives in a tent.
15:07: David's thinking properly. Verse 4, but that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, go and tell
15:14: David my servant, thus says the Lord, would you build me a house to dwell in? I've not lived in a house since the day
15:19: I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling in all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel.
15:29: Did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people of Israel saying, why have you not built me a house of cedar?
15:41: Here's what the Lord is saying, I was never pushy to you. Give me a better house.
15:46: Give me a house with a foundation. Make it a cedar house. Make it smell better. I just went wherever Israel went.
15:53: I was happy to go. I traveled around, went back and forth. I wasn't settled.
15:59: I was on the go. Why? Because the people I love, they weren't settled and I was on the go with them.
16:05: I was the pilgrim God because the people were pilgrims. Davis, the commentator said, but if you really paid attention to 2
16:16: Samuel 7, you are not surprised at Philippians 2. Indeed, you may have almost have suspected as much.
16:26: What's he talking about? Philippians 2 says, Jesus emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form.
16:37: He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
16:43: Of course, God has His people that He loves and when they're in the desert, He's in the desert.
16:51: When they're on the go, He's on the go with them. Wherever they go, He's with them. God with us.
16:56: Emmanuel, God is saying now through Nathan to David, it's been no big deal for me to be in a tent because I'm with you, my people.
17:08: Verse 8, God is going to give a little replay of how great
17:16: He is, how God is to David. Somebody sent me the other day a little 8 -minute video of the highlights of the basketball player of the
17:27: Golden State Warriors. I'm sorry to say, talk about California teams. I'm not really trying to do that. Curry, you ever watch
17:36: Curry play basketball? 8 minutes of just the highlights and I just thought, this is unbelievable. This is like Pete Maravich.
17:43: This is like, I just can't believe what this guy can do. And it's just a little replay. You just watch and you go,
17:48: I'm just amazed. Here's now God's little replay in front of David so you say to yourself, that's impressive.
17:56: Here's the replay. Verse 8, Now therefore thus you shall say to David my servant, Thus says the
18:02: Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture from following sheep that you should be prince over my people
18:08: Israel. I was your God. I chose you. There's all kinds of other sons of Jesse. David, I chose you.
18:15: You were out there tending sheep. I chose you. Remember that David? What's more, the replay continues.
18:23: And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies before you and I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones on the earth.
18:33: I've been with you. I protect you. Here's a little replay. I'm not only sovereign but I'm promising protection.
18:41: I'm your God. The replay continues And I will appoint, verse 10, a place for my people
18:47: Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.
18:53: And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel.
18:59: And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.
19:07: David, I love you. I protect you. It expands to Israel. Now full circle goes back to David and you want to build me a house?
19:15: Great. I haven't been lacking contentment because I've been with my people but David, I build your house.
19:22: You don't build me a house. I build you a house. A dynasty house. This isn't a literal house. This is a dynasty house.
19:28: Like the Boston Celtics had a dynasty, remember last century. They did.
19:35: They were a good team. Everything in this covenant, although it doesn't say covenant, it shouts covenant,
19:42: God does, David receives. Active, passive.
19:48: Isn't that the way the Lord is? God is the initiator. We just respond with faith.
19:54: We are passive. This is the passivity of these covenants. The passivity, even in our own regeneration, in our own redemption,
20:01: God is active. David has no claim on God. No claim on grace.
20:06: I will do this and I'll respond and it's you and me together. No, it's all God. God does everything.
20:12: I choose. I protect. I make the rules. I show everything according to my own unmerited favor.
20:21: In the Near East, strangely, interestingly, maybe it shouldn't be strangely, here's what would happen in the
20:27: Near East with their gods. Gods, we'd like to have more children and more fruit and more grain.
20:35: You know, your temple needs a little refurb. So we'll shine it up. We'll put some new bricks in there.
20:42: We'll paint it some new colors. And then you'll be very pleased with us and now we'll have more grain. They were born
20:49: Pelagian back then like we're born Pelagian. We do these things for you, God, then you'll be nice to us.
20:55: Is that what's happening here? It's the exact opposite. God is the one that says, I do all these things by my own gracious merit.
21:04: I do it. David, I'm preoccupied with my people from eternity past I've been preoccupied.
21:10: I've known you and nothing will be able to destroy it. Friends, if this all depended on David, what about when
21:18: David dies, sins or gets sick? But if this all depends on God, I almost said we have a chance.
21:27: But we have a faithful promise. Verse 12, when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, it's over.
21:38: No, it's not about David. I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish
21:46: His kingdom. I will raise up. I will establish. You're going to die. He shall build a house for My name, verse 13, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom for what?
21:59: Ever. I will be to Him a Father and He shall be to Me a Son. That sounds like Hebrews to me, doesn't it to you?
22:07: Because that's where it came from. Now, not talking about the Messiah, but Solomon and the sons that would follow when he commits iniquity,
22:17: I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the son of men, but My steadfast love will not depart from him.
22:25: Sin's not going to stop it. Death's not going to stop it. Time's not going to stop it. As I took it from Saul, whom
22:31: I put away from before you, and your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before Me.
22:39: How many times are you going to use the word forever? Your throne shall be established forever. In accordance with all these words and in accordance with all this vision,
22:46: Nathan spoke to David. It has to happen. It was promised back in Genesis 3 and it's going to happen no matter what.
22:56: That's why it has to be God doing this covenant. I will be to Him a Father. He shall be to Me a
23:03: Son. The Davidic covenant is found in 2 Samuel 7. David's name will be great.
23:10: There will be a place or land, undisturbed rest, and a royal dynasty established by God.
23:19: By the way, I must read the rest of this section, verse 18, because David just praises
23:26: God. You think there's emotion in Scripture? You could feel it here.
23:33: Then King David went in and sat before Yahweh and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me thus far?
23:41: And this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord. You have spoken also of Your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is the instruction for mankind,
23:51: O Lord? In other words, You don't usually do this for people. You're doing it for me,
23:56: I praise You. And what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant,
24:02: O Lord God, because of Your promise according to Your own heart, You have brought about all this greatness to make
24:08: Your servant know it. Therefore, You are great, O Lord God. There's none like You. There's no
24:14: God beside You according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like Your people?
24:20: Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be His people, making
24:26: Himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before Your people whom
24:33: You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt a nation and its gods. Nobody's like You.
24:39: You're incomparable. And You established for Yourself Your people,
24:47: Israel, to be Your people forever. And You, O Lord, became their God.
24:54: So here's what's happening. David is the recipient of the promise of God that it won't be you,
25:01: David, but one in your line is going to be the Messiah. That's 2
25:07: Samuel 7. So doesn't it make sense that as the writer of Hebrews says, you know, by the way, that verse in Psalm 2,
25:15: You're my beloved Son, and today I've begotten You, that refers to Jesus. And of course, doesn't this make sense that the
25:23: Davidic Messiah refers to Jesus as well? Of course it does. Listen to Paul preach in Acts 13.
25:30: And when he had removed Him, he raised up David to be their king of whom he testified and said,
25:36: I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart who will do all my will.
25:41: Of this man's offspring, of David's offspring, God has brought to Israel a
25:47: Savior, Jesus, as He promised. Where did He promise? 2
25:52: Samuel 7. Romans 1, concerning His Son who was descended from David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the
26:04: Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead.
26:12: Remember when Jesus comes into Jerusalem? And to those who went before and those followed were shouting,
26:19: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. We remember that. What does He say after that?
26:25: What does the crowd say? They say, blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David. The Davidic King is here finally.
26:34: David sins. Solomon sins. Absalom sins. All these sons sin.
26:39: But there's going to be one who doesn't sin. How do we know He doesn't sin? Because He, Jesus, dies on the cross not for His own sins, but for our sins.
26:49: He is raised from the dead and now the Father says, you sit right here as my coronated king.
26:56: Chapter 1, verse 5 of Hebrews, you're my son. Chapter 1, verse 5 of Hebrews, now
27:01: I'm your father. I'm your father. The Davidic covenant.
27:10: The unique relationship between father and son. John 7 says, when they heard these words, some of the people said, this really is the prophet.
27:19: Others said, this is the Christ. Some said, is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not scripture said that the
27:26: Christ comes from the offspring of David? They knew. When I say dynasty, what should go through your mind is not
27:39: Celtics, Cooley, not the Lakers, not the
27:45: Patriots, not the soap opera series in the 1980s with the Carringtons. All of you that laughed are pagans through and through.
27:55: I didn't know what it was. I didn't know it was about a wealthy family residing in Denver, but you all knew.
28:04: Dynasty house is not a building. It's the king that's always going to live up to the expectations of the promises in 2
28:14: Samuel 7. Who is going to be from the line of David to be the ultimate king?
28:25: Here's the point. An angel? Which angel? Gabriel? Michael?
28:31: No. Turn back to Hebrews, please, but turn to Hebrews 10.
28:39: The special relationship, the central promise of the Davidic covenant is
28:45: Jesus is going to be the Davidic Son and therefore
28:50: He's better than angels. And I want you to see how this is related to your life as you walk by faith.
29:01: Walking by faith. The writer of Hebrews wants to make sure his readers have a high view of Jesus, the object of their faith.
29:12: Hebrews 10 .32. But recall the former days when after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.
29:24: Hebrews 10 .33. Sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
29:33: For you had compassion on those in prison and joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
29:43: Therefore, do not throw away your confidence or your faith or your belief, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised.
29:54: For yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay, but my righteous one shall live by what?
30:01: Faith. May I submit to you that chapter one is the object of your faith?
30:07: Jesus. What do you tell people when they're losing their homes? All right, let's extrapolate.
30:16: Soon enough, I'm not a prophet or a son of a prophet. Soon enough, the government will go after this church.
30:25: I think it'll start off this way. If we don't do what people say, we get fined. Then it will be, who knows, you have to give your social security number.
30:37: You'll get taxed extra if you'd like to call yourself a Christian who's involved in hate speech. When that starts happening, what do you think the message from the pulpit will be?
30:47: How could I try to encourage you? You're losing your houses. You're losing your friends to prison.
30:53: You're losing your money. And isn't it amazing that instead of saying, do you know what?
30:59: I understand. It's happening to me too. That would have been fine. Do you know Jesus understands these things?
31:06: That would have been fine. But what does a writer of Hebrews do? I want to make sure you realize the person you say you believe in, think about that person right now and say, this is the
31:16: God who saved me, redeemed me, and has promised to help me. He said
31:22: He's never going to leave or forsake me. So right now I need to be thinking about Jesus in the middle of all my troubles.
31:29: That's what's happening. What do you tell people when they're losing their houses for Jesus' sake?
31:35: You tell them, let me remind you of Jesus again today. I want to tell you about Jesus today. So you stop and think for a second and say, all right,
31:42: I did this the other day. I said to myself, you know what? I know how many sins I've committed, but I don't know all the sins
31:50: I've committed, but God knows every sin I've ever committed. And God has freely in eternity past chosen me, had
31:58: His Son die for me, given me the Spirit implanted in my heart so that I might walk in faith, given me the
32:07: Scriptures, and I am a free man. You ever watch people on TV?
32:13: Has the jury made their decision? All rise. And all of a sudden you're just watching the face. Are they going to say guilty or not guilty?
32:20: And I know I'm guilty, and God says not guilty. Jesus paid for everything. Today I believe that happened.
32:27: Today I believe that's true. Today I have to walk by faith, and so you know what? That should affect everything
32:33: I do and say the rest of the day. That's the idea. Now I'll stop here for a second and ask this question.
32:42: There's a unique relationship between the Father and the Son in Hebrews 1 .5. But do you have a unique relationship with God based on the
32:52: Son's work? In other words, can you call God Father? And does it matter? You actually have the right to become children of God even to those who believe in His name because of what the
33:10: Son has done. You get to call God what Jesus called Him, Father.
33:17: J .F. Packer, If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being
33:24: God's child, having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand
33:37: Christianity yet. So in the rest of our time today, we're going to just move away from the central role of the
33:45: Davidic covenant, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and now say to ourselves if we are heirs with Christ, join heirs with Christ, we get to call
33:55: God Father. What does that mean to be able to call God Father? Why don't you turn to Matthew 6 and let's find out.
34:03: To have God as your Father, what does it mean? If I ask you Father, or I say to the word to you
34:11: Father, what comes in your mind? Maybe you've had an awful father. But here we're going to look at the real
34:16: Father, the best Father. To be able to call God Father, adopted into His family,
34:23: Matthew 6. Ephesians says we're predestined unto adoption through Jesus Christ unto
34:31: Himself. Galatians 4 says when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law, in order that He might redeem those under the law, that we might receive the adoption.
34:45: And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father.
34:52: What does it mean to have God as your Father? When John said,
34:59: Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us that we should be called, what? Children of God.
35:07: Does it matter that God is your Father? What motivates you in your
35:13: Christian life? Father. Look at chapter 6 verse 1 of Matthew.
35:22: Sinclair Ferguson said, I don't think he was even exaggerating, that Matthew 6 is the single most important influence on the way we live the
35:32: Christian life and how we think of God. That's pretty impressive. The single most important thing is going to be knowing
35:40: God's your Father. That's amazing. God as a Father, the intimacy of a father and a son, father and a daughter.
35:48: And if you don't have God as your Father, you pray like pagans, verse 1. Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them, otherwise you have no reward with your
35:57: Father who is in Heaven. Pagans have to pray that way because they don't have
36:05: God as a loving Father. And now when you move down to verse 9, these 57 words in the
36:11: Greek, as you know, maybe are the most wonderful words you could ever be taught by the
36:18: Lord Jesus on how to pray. We need help and the
36:23: Lord has helped us. Pray then in this way, our what?
36:29: Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Now, Jesus didn't pray this prayer ever because He doesn't need to have
36:39: His sins forgiven. He doesn't have sins. Chapter 6, verse 12. But here the
36:45: Lord says to these disciples, pray in this way. Approach God this way.
36:53: Seek God in this way. When it says pray then in this way, don't pray like these pagans did, like these
37:00: Pharisees did, trying to be heard. No, this is an act of worship. Don't think about what other people think.
37:09: This is an act of devotion. And now He gives this template, this model, this example on how to pray.
37:15: Pray like this. Do you notice the text? Pray such as this. This is a paradigm. This is a pattern.
37:21: This is not what to pray, it's how to pray. I think it was 15 years ago, a lady attended the church for four months and she said,
37:30: I'm leaving the church. I said, I'm sorry to hear that. Why are you leaving? Because we don't ever say or sing the
37:37: Lord's Prayer as a congregation. This is not meant to be said as a congregation.
37:46: This is meant to be a template, how to pray. I mean, since the days of Adam, we've had all kinds of problems and confusions in our mind about life and how to respond to God.
37:56: God has to tell us. That's why this whole paradigm of, I think worship God should be this way.
38:02: No, that's exactly what Nadab and Abihu thought and it didn't work out so well. God says, this is how you approach me.
38:09: This is proper etiquette. This is proper prayer. And now the Lord Jesus, to His band of disciples, would you pray this way?
38:16: This is the right way to pray. This is the pattern prayer. Let me help you. I love you. And here's the good news.
38:23: You don't have to repeat stuff. You don't have to make up stuff. You need no Latin.
38:28: You need no incense. You don't need a bunch of beads. You don't need a mat. You need to know one thing.
38:35: I have a Father. How do you approach a Father? How do you approach a good
38:41: Father? How do you personally approach a Father? Notice it doesn't say anything about O great ground of our being, big guy in the sky, man upstairs,
39:02: Saint Christopher, Holy Mary, Holy Mother, Father.
39:11: I just go to Him as my Father. That determines everything. By the way, this is not everybody's
39:20: Father. Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of men. If you're not a believer, did you know the first century church said if you're not a
39:27: Christian, we forbid you from praying this prayer because God isn't your Father. Satan is.
39:35: But for those who have been recipients of divine grace in Christ Jesus and you're forgiven, redeemed, reconciled to God, justified, you have a
39:46: Father. And you come to Father and you say, Father, but not just my
39:51: Father. That would be fine. You can pray that way, but there's a corporate element to it. Our Father, many times,
40:03: I say to my brother who's nine years younger and my sister who's about four years younger, we'll text each other and we'll say, if something good happened to one of us or something interesting, we regularly say to each other, if we could only tell
40:18: Dad's story. I'd love to tell Dad this story. Brother, sister, and brother, we're just part of the family and we relate to our
40:28: Father in a certain way. How much more here? Our Father. We're adopted as children.
40:34: Our Father. Dearest Father. That's the idea. Personally, individually, yes, corporately, and so we don't go too far off the deep end on intimacy and forget transcendence.
40:47: What does the text say? Who art in heaven? He's a close
40:53: Father. He's an intimate Father. What do fathers do? They love, they protect, they serve, they guide, they provide.
41:01: But this Father, He isn't only just a close Father. He's not just a friend. He is a friend, but not just a friend.
41:08: He's a heavenly Father and there's only access to Him through the work of Christ.
41:15: There was a no trespassing sign before Christ did His work and now we can call Him Father. John Colquhoun said,
41:27: When a man is driven to acts of obedience by the dread of God's wrath revealed in the law and not drawn to them, by the belief in His love revealed in the
41:36: Gospel, when he fears God because of His power, justice, and not because of His goodness, when he regards
41:44: God more as an avenging judge than as a compassionate friend and Father, and when he contemplates
41:51: God rather as a terrible majesty than infinite in grace and mercy, he shows that he's under the dominion or at least under the prevalence of a legal spirit.
42:04: I ask you a question. Tomorrow you have to go to work or you wake up at work. What motivates you as a
42:11: Christian? Colquhoun is saying that God loves you, that He's a Father. I want to please the
42:18: Father, not because it earns me any standing, but because He's loved me and He's given
42:23: His Son for me. Father. I don't know about you, but with the
42:30: Luther 500 coming up next year, I'm thinking a lot about Martin Luther and what's the most famous Martin Luther song that we sing?
42:40: A mighty fortress, what? Is our God. Do you remember this line?
42:46: And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us. Do you remember how it continues?
42:51: We will not fear for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for Him.
43:01: His rage we can endure, for lo, His doom is sure. What's the next part?
43:08: One little word will fell Him. One little word shall fell
43:13: Him. My friend asked a question the other day on a blog. What's the word? What's the little word?
43:21: Boo? Satan's attacking you. What's the word? Skedaddle.
43:30: Go. Scram. What's the word? And you know, my friend was right.
43:36: I never ask the question. What's the little word? In Galatians 4, in his commentary,
43:46: Luther writes, this is but a little word, and yet notwithstanding, it comprehends all things.
43:56: The mouth speaketh not, but the affections of the heart speaketh after this manner. Although I be oppressed with anguish and terror on every side, and seem to be forsaken, and utterly cast away from Thy presence, yet I am
44:08: Thy child, and Thou art my Father for Christ's sake. I am beloved because of the
44:15: Beloved. Wherefore, this little word, Father, conceived affectionately in the heart, passes all the eloquence of Cicero, and the most eloquent rhetoricians that were ever in the world.
44:29: What's the little word that fell Satan? You have a Father.
44:35: A loving Father. Luther, we are born in sin.
44:42: To doubt the good will of God is an inborn suspicion of God with all of us. Besides the devil, our adversary, goes about seeking to devour us by roaring,
44:52: God is angry with you. God is going to destroy you forever. In all these difficulties, we have only one support, the
45:00: Gospel of Christ. To hold on to it, that is the trick. Christ cannot be perceived with the senses.
45:06: We cannot see Him. The heart does not feel His helpful presence. Especially in times of trials, a
45:13: Christian feels the power of sin, the infirmity of his flesh, the goading darts of the devil, the agues of death, the scowl and judgment of God.
45:21: All these things cry out against us. The law scolds us. Sin screams at us.
45:27: Death thunders at us. The devil roars at us. In the midst of the clamor, the
45:33: Spirit of Christ cries in our heart, Galatians 6, Abba, Father.
45:41: And this little cry of the Spirit transcends the hullabaloo of the law, sin, death and the devil and finds a hearing with God.
45:53: The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for Him. His rage we can endure, for lo,
45:59: His doom is sure. One little word shall fell Him. And that little word, my friend,
46:06: Christian friend, is Father. Let's pray. I thank You, Father, for today and for this reminder.
46:14: Why do we do what we do? Earning Your pleasure? Well, even the Davidic covenant would teach us the opposite.
46:22: We do it because You're our Father and we want to please You because You've done these wonderful things for us and You are a compassionate, good, loving, heavenly
46:33: Father. Father, for those that might be here today who don't know You as Father, I pray that You'd reveal
46:39: Yourself to them. You would grant them saving faith in the risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
46:46: Father, give them no sleep or rest until they rest in the Son. And Father, for us, even as I just say it now,
46:54: Father, we sin, we fall short, we don't measure up to anything, and yet You still love us.
47:04: You care for us. And You've even told us how to come to You and we come to You with Abba, Father, our dearest Father.
47:12: And on behalf of Bethlehem Bible Church today, dearest Father, I would ask that You would help us to honor
47:19: You today and this week as we work, as we learn and go to school maybe for some of us, husbands leading their families and wives by their side.
47:30: Would You help us as a Father? Would You come alongside of us? What dad would ever be asked for help and say,