Keep sharing good news without ads.
No description available
I'm so thankful for the music ministry here that leads our hearts and minds to think about the Lord Jesus Christ. And speaking of music, can you name this tune? Well, I guess I shouldn't sing it, so can you name the song from the lyric?
It's very popular, you should probably guess it right away. On the shore dimly seen through the midst of the deep, where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes. What is that which the breeze o 'er the towering steep, as it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, in full glory reflected now shines in the stream. What song is that from? It is the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave, o 'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
That is actually stanza two. We only sing stanza one, but that is from stanza two. I don't know if you know this, but those lyrics came from Francis Scott Key as he watched the Battle of Fort McHenry.
And he watched in Baltimore as the bombs from England were assailed against the United States of America. It's not quite the United States quite yet, but this is from the War of 1812. I guess it was from the United States, wasn't it?
Yes. 1776. Okay, 1812. Listen, I know the Bible, but this other stuff, I don't know. If you've got to pick a pastor, you've got to choose one. They chose wisely. It wasn't written as our national anthem to start.
It was a song about the War of 1812, written in 1814, set to the popular British song written by John Stafford Smith. The United States Navy recognized it in 1889. President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 recognized it, but it was not made our national anthem until March 3rd, 1931, by Congressional resolution signed then by President Herbert Hoover.
Maybe the last stanza is my favorite. Oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand between their loved homes and the war's desolation. Blessed with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land praise the Power, capital P, that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must when our cause it is just, and this be our motto, in God is our trust. And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o 'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. That's our national anthem.
And did you know for thousands of years, Israel had a national anthem? And it is the most important psalm in all the Bible. You would sing this before every coronation. And this particular psalm that was Israel's national anthem is so important that if you understand it, you understand all of the Bible.
The most important psalm probably ever written because the themes shoot everywhere that celebrate the greatness of the king. If Israel back in the day of David and Solomon had a national anthem, it would be from this psalm.
It would be this psalm. And if you'll turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 1, this psalm is quoted, the Israel national anthem of the day, Psalm 110. Everyone knew this song. They knew all the lyrics to the song, not just the final or first stanza.
And it celebrated a king. It has been said that if you know this psalm, you know the book of Hebrews, that the entire book of Hebrews builds itself from this foundation. It's fundamental. It's important.
It is the text to the epistle of Hebrews. As a matter of fact, once you know this psalm, you'll say to yourself, I understand Christianity. Because the basic problem that we all have is, how do we sinful people stand before a thrice holy God?
How can a man, how could a woman who is a sinner stand before God and Psalm 110 solves that for us? I remember the time when R .C. Sproul was on campus and a man ran up to him, a brand new Christian, and said to Sproul, brother, are you saved?
The real question is, saved from what? Or saved from whom? Saved from loneliness? Saved from low self-esteem? Saved from bad marriages? Saved from sadness in a meaningless life? Jesus came to save sinners.
And he ultimately saved them from God himself and his wrath. And if you understand Psalm 110, you figure out how can God be the just one and the justifier? How can God keep his holy law and not break it, yet still show love to sinners?
That's all in Psalm 110. I mean, can you believe if you have to stand before God as a sinner? Psalm 5, the boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You, God, hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies.
The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. Psalm 7, God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent, God will wet his sword. He has bent and readied his bow.
He has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. And if I might add, he never misses. What do we do? If God were to count our iniquities, who could stand? And Psalm 110 solves the problem.
Psalm 11, the Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
Let him rain coals on the wicked, fire and sulfur, and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. Friends, the wages of sin is death and we need someone to save us, not from low self-esteem, not from bad relationships with our neighbors, but from God himself.
We need a savior, we need a mediator and that's what Psalm 110 talks about. Remember when 1 Timothy chapter 2 says, there's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, right? We need a mediator.
So, here's God, the holy God, and here's sinful man. We need someone to stand in between. And Psalm 110 cracks the riddle. How can the mediator be both God, because he has to represent God to be on this side of mediation, and how can this mediator not only be God, but be man to stand for man, this side of the mediator?
If there's one mediator between God and man, it has to be the anointed Jesus who's both God and man, and that is what Psalm 110 talks about. To have a mediator, you need to have someone who's both God and man.
God, who has an infinite amount of righteousness to bestow on anybody who will believe, and man as representative. You need a representative who's God and man. And that is exactly what Psalm 110 talks about.
Mediator is man to represent man and mediator as God to represent God. No wonder Peter says, there's salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
There's no one else who fits the qualifications of Psalm 110 who can be both God, and who can be both God and man. And that's exactly what Hebrews is going to quote Psalm 110 to impress the listeners, to impress the readers.
There's no one like Jesus. Prophets might be great, Jesus is better. Angels might be great, and they are, but Jesus is better. Jesus, God, and man. Now, what's been happening in the book of Hebrews so far?
I think we are going to finish chapter 1 today. I mean, I'm planning on it, but... I mean, I could finish if we have enough time. The writer of Hebrews has been using the Bible, the Old Testament, to make the case.
Not just with a verse here or a verse there, but seven Old Testament passages found in verse 5 through verse 14 to scream out with a megaphone, Jesus is better. Kind of let me count the ways. From Psalm 2 to Psalm 102 to Psalm 104 to Psalm 45, and the rest to show you Jesus is better.
He's not a servant like the angels, He's a Son. He's not created like the angels, He's the Creator. Everything about Jesus is different, and everything about Jesus is better. And so today we come to passage 7, found in verses 13 and 14, from Psalm 110.
Jesus is better than angels. Jesus is great. He is God Himself incarnate in the flesh, and He deserves worship. Let me read verses 13 and 14 of Hebrews chapter 1 to set the stage, and then we'll move into our outline.
This is the national anthem of Israel. And to which of the angels has He ever said? By the way, this is kind of a climax. Do you see back in verse 5? We can't really set the text with subsections back in Greek, but you could set up subsections like this.
Verse 5, which of the angels did He ever say? And now here's the end of the inclusio at verse 13. To which of the angels has He ever said? Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? This morning, if you'd like an outline, it's simple. Two questions. Verse 13 is a question. Verse 14 is a question.
They're both rhetorical questions, but let me give you two questions that if you can answer with the author, you'll say that is the right view. Just as Harry prayed, the right view of Jesus is the Father's view of Jesus.
Well, my God is like this. My God's all love. Well, in my opinion, God is heavy on mercy and not too much on justice. In my opinion, God doesn't send anyone to hell. Those are all irrelevant and those are all false.
What's the Father's opinion of Jesus? Don't you want to think about Jesus the way the Father does? Of course you do. That's why you want to learn from the book of Hebrews. Question number 1 is found in verse 13 with this climax showing Jesus is better than angels.
If you can say, I affirm this question, I see that it's the culmination, you're thinking rightly. And to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?
What's the answer to that question? Oh yeah, Michael he said that of. Oh yeah, that other kind of funny angel named Raphael. A Gabriel. No, he didn't say that to any angel, not one angel. Now he's quoting from Psalm 110, but he's made an allusion to Psalm 110 already.
Go back up to verse 3 please. This language of sitting down at the right hand of the majesty on high, that's Psalm 110 language. We're going to get to Psalm 110 in a moment. You see at the very end of verse 3 of chapter 1 in Hebrews, after making purification for sins, after his substitutionary death, he's raised from the dead, and then the language of coronation.
How is he welcomed after he's completed his task of accomplishing atonement? He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. This is profoundly important, and it finds itself everywhere in the New Testament, especially in Hebrews, the language of Psalm 110.
You could just hear it. It's like when you go to a canyon, and you yell out your... I don't know what you yell out. I was going to say, hear Phido, but that lowers our conversation. You just yell out, hello, and you hear the echo, hello, hello, hello.
Psalm 110 is quoted, and then throughout the entire book of Hebrews, you just hear the echo, Psalm 110, Psalm 110, Psalm 110, found in the echo of seated at the right hand of the Father. Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
That's all Psalm 110 language, and that's all here. Go to chapter 8, verse 1, if you would, if we just kind of survey this a little. Psalm 110 is found in this echo fashion in Hebrews 8 .1. Now, the point in what we are saying is this.
We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven. That's Psalm 110 language. Chapter 10, same thing, verse 12, Hebrews 10 .12, but when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, unlike any other priest in the Old Testament day, there's no seat because the work is never done.
Jesus' work is perfect, never to be repeated, and is seated, sat down at the right hand of God. And then finally, Hebrews 12, verse 2, this also just oozes Psalm 110. It's everywhere. You could even think that Psalm 110 is the passage that's been exposited in the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 12 .2, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
This is coronation language. This is exaltation language. You can just imagine the pomp and circumstance, can't you? When even on the earth we see, the one that sticks out in my mind is Prince Charles and Diana.
Remember that huge wedding? So now Jesus, the coronation of Jesus, the father sends the son, the son redeems his people. He dies on the cross, he's raised from the dead, and when he enters into heaven, what kind of reception would he have?
It would be of exaltation. It would be of coronation. It would be seated, you sit at the right hand of the father. I don't think that happened of any angel. I don't think that was said of Moses, or anyone else.
And when you read even the New Testament, can you hear the refrain? Jesus said in Matthew 26, I tell you from now on you will see the son of man, seated at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
Romans 8, who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Colossians 3, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
And even Peter in 1 Peter 3, Jesus has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. This is really wonderful, because the seven things that speak highly of Jesus, here in Hebrews 1, 5 to 14, the best is for last.
July 4th is coming up, and when we're in California, we go to this little city called Scotts Valley, and we sit down, we get our little place reserved, right over there by Taco Bell, drive through, they close the town, and we sit there for the fireworks.
And the fireworks are fine, and dandy, and wonderful, and there's a few things, $20 ,000 shot up in the air, and smoke, and I love the sulfur, and all that. But the end is what we're waiting for, right?
You've got to make sure you go to Peach Coffee, and come back by the time the finale is there. And this is the finale. If you're going to build, Jesus is greater, Jesus is greater, Jesus is greater, it's just like the author, to do what we would expect, the best is for last.
He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He's sovereign. Everything's in subjection to His feet. So what we should do, is we should go to Psalm 110, and take a look at that. So as we've done in the past, from 2 Samuel to Psalm 45, et cetera, let's go to Psalm 110, and one of the favorite things, about the book of Hebrews, in my opinion, is you get to know the Old Testament.
You get to know the Old Testament, as you see the author, read things in a very Christological sense. He reads the Old Testament, when he sees Yahweh, he thinks the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And now we go to Psalm 110, the star spangled banner, national anthem of Israel.
Here's going to be my little reminder. Here's my request, challenge. Every time you hear the star spangled banner, before a football game, before they give a medal to someone in Brazil, from the United States, I want you to think, it's fine to celebrate a nation, we're glad we're free, we're glad we had men and women fight for us, but there's a real national anthem, and it's Psalm 110.
Or I could put it this way, I dare you, not to think of Psalm 110, the next time somebody flubs the star spangled banner. Did I say that? I can't believe that. Psalm 110 is the star spangled banner. It's like the Pledge of Allegiance for Israel.
Everyone knew it. They knew the whole stanza. Why? Because wouldn't you like to have a king like this? How many kings, you think they start well? Remember our kids when they were little, and if they didn't know the answer, it was a default.
And this particular king did evil in the sight of the Lord. And David starts off so well, and he's kind and mischievous, and he's powerful over the Moabites, and then he's on the roof. Solomon. Can't there be a king of kings and a Lord of lords who's great?
Who we could really celebrate and not just say, well, you know, let's just take the meat and spit out the bones. And Psalm 110 gives the flicker of hope. There's going to be a great Messiah one day. A son of David.
He's going to be the Messiah. He's coming one day. God's Word is faithful. Psalm 110. The Lord. Be careful as you read this. Have your thinking caps on as you read this. What do you notice? Ask yourself questions when you observe the words.
The Lord. David is writing. The Lord says to my Lord. Yahweh says to Adonai, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. That's what Hebrews 113 quotes. That very Psalm. Yahweh says to my Lord.
So David is getting insight on the Trinitarian conversation. How would you like to kind of listen in on the Trinity? And Yahweh says to my Lord, who's David's Lord? We're going to find out. This is David's son and Lord.
How can this be? How can David have a son who's his Lord? Lord, do you call your son Lord? When I used to... I got laid off in corporate America when I was at seminary. And so I became a janitor at Grace Church.
And we had set up the Grace Church school desks for the week. And then on a Sunday, we'd have to rearrange them and then set them back up. And we had all kinds of names that I could see that were written on the desks of the children.
And we'd have to set them all up in order. And, you know, there's a variety of different names in Los Angeles. Some struck me as interesting. Jesus. But that one wasn't that big a deal. But the one I could never get out of my mind, it was the fifth grade classroom, and there was a kid's name, L-O-R-D.
Lord. Hey, Lord. I guess L-O-R-D-E-S kind of thing. I don't know. How can you have a king, a sovereign, who's your son? And we know the answer to the question. They were waiting for this kind of God-man to show up.
The Messiah. To rule. And look at how He rules. He makes His enemies a footstool for Thy feet. I don't know how many people have footstools anymore, but here's the idea. If you're a king, you like to put your feet up.
And if you're a king who's conquered enemies, you put your feet up on the king that you've destroyed's neck. Why? You're vanquished. You are a strong foe, but I'm stronger. Here, you lay down at my feet.
I put my feet up on your neck. In Joshua 10, it came about when they brought these kings out to Joshua that Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said to the chief of the men of war who had gone with him, Come near.
Put your feet on the necks of these kings. So they came near and put their feet on their necks. Joshua then said to them, Do not fear or be dismayed. Be strong and courageous, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies with whom you fight.
By the way, if you're a listener to the book of Hebrews and you're getting persecuted and you're on the run and some of your leaders are in jail, wouldn't this be good to know? Wouldn't this be a good psalm to encourage you?
Of course it would be. Look at verses 2, 3, and 4. If you had such a great and powerful king, would you have joy in your nation? Would you have a celebration in your nation? To have a powerful, eternal, wonderful king who sovereignly rules perfectly.
Oh, the joy of such a nation. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power. Of course they will.
It's a celebration. In holy garments, from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. What energy, what enthusiasm. And this king is not only a sovereign king, he's a priest. Ever heard about Jesus, prophet, priest, and king?
Well, here's the king priest. The Lord has sworn, verse 4, and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. This David's Lord, who's David's son, not only is a sovereign king, he's the priest forever.
After the order of not Levi, you can be a priest in a different order. This is Melchizedek. We'll talk more about Melchizedek, the king of Salem, in Genesis 14 at another sermon. Zechariah 6, he prophesied there's going to be a king who sits on a throne, who's also a priest.
Oh, if we could have such a great king priest. He'd be a wonderful warrior king, wouldn't he? Yes. Verses 5, 6, and 7. The Lord is at your right hand. He'll shatter kings on the day of his wrath, conquering Messiah.
You can almost feel sorry just for a second with these Jews who saw Jesus, and they wanted Jesus to just take over Rome, because they knew the Bible at least said he does this kind of thing, and Jesus, you're not doing this right now.
How can you be such a king priest? He'll execute judgment on the nation, filling them with corpses. He'll shatter chiefs over the wide earth. And the thing is, he's just a regular person. He's not a phantom.
He's not a ghost. He's not anything weird. He's a man. He'll drink from the brook by the way. Therefore, he'll lift up his head. And if you look back at verse 1, that's the verse that's quoted in Hebrews 1.
The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Messiah and the Father talking. Spurgeon said, while we see our Lord and representative sitting in quiet expectancy, we too may sit in the attitude of peaceful assurance, and with confidence await the great outcome of all events.
He sits because all is safe, and he sits at Jehovah's right hand because omnipotence waits to accomplish his will. Therefore, there's no cause for alarm whatever may happen in this lower world. The sight of the enthroned Jesus in divine glory is the sure guarantee that all things are moving onwards toward ultimate victory.
That's good for the writer of Hebrews to tell the people who are reading, and it's good for us to know as well. Jesus reigns and will subdue. Now, did you know something interesting? Jesus talks about Psalm 110, and he applies it to himself.
I think that'd be fascinating, so let's go to Mark chapter 11. Mark chapter 11. When you have a Bible app that allows you to listen, I suggest you listen to the book of Mark sometime soon. You'll think to yourself, this is captivating, this is amazing, Jesus is wonderful, and you'll begin to get the flow of what's going on in the book of Mark over and over and over, and you'll see things like this right there in context, and you think, you know what, Jesus applies this to himself.
Now, before we get to chapter 12 in Mark where Jesus does quote this, I think it's good to see the setup in Mark chapter 11. It's getting close for Jesus to go to Calvary, and he's set his face, as it were, toward Calvary.
And Mark chapter 11 verse 15, let's pick it up there. So here's what we're going to do. We're just going to build our way up to where Jesus talks about Psalm 110. Why? Because it's important, and if you understand Psalm 110, you understand you need God, and you need a king, you need a priest, and that's all found in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, son of David.
Mark chapter 11 verse 15. And they came to Jerusalem, and he entered the temple, remember that, and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
He is kind of acting like the military Messiah now. The city's flooded, it's gorged with people because of Passover. Five times the people. And he's already cleansed the temple once, and now he does it again.
This is not a house of prayer as it used to be. This is like a circus. This is like a country fair. This is like the stockyards. And the people bring in their sacrifices that doesn't write. It's got kind of a blemish, so they need to buy a new sacrifice.
And the whole system's rigged. It's all about money. You don't have the right money. You've got all these money changers. Jesus doesn't like it. What was started by Caiaphas in 30 AD is a flagrant violation of everything.
All the fees. Jesus says, I'm the holy king, and this temple's mine, and I'm going to drive out you sacrilegious people. Verse 16, I mean, the sheer weight of his personality, the sheer charisma, as it were, of his personhood.
And he would not allow anyone, verse 16, to carry anything through the temple. I mean, the guards aren't even stopping him. The power that Jesus has, he was teaching them and saying to them, is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?
And you've made it a den of robbers. Did not Isaiah 56 say the Gentiles should be able to come and pray, and now you're putting roadblocks in front of them? And Jesus is indignant, and the chief priests and the scribes heard it, and they were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
Something has to be done to this man. He's destroying our temple worship. They understood what Jesus was saying, and we've got to get rid of this guy. Maybe we can kind of make it and make a recovery from the first cleansing, but he's going to change everything.
He's going to shut this place down. They knew, but the people were hanging on their words, on his words, rather. And look at how they talk, verse 27. You know, who do you think you are, kind of attitude.
They came again to Jerusalem. He was walking in the temple. The chief priests and scribes and the elders came to him. Show us your credentials. Show us your authorization. Who do you think you are? By what authority are you doing these things, purging the temple, royal entry, triumphal entry?
Who gave you authority to do these? You're a Galilean, Hasidic, Nazarene. Who are you? I don't see any tassels on you. They tried to do this to him all the time, and look what Jesus does. He stakes his authority on John the Baptist's authority.
I will ask you one question. Answer me, imperative, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me. And they discuss with one another, saying, If we say from heaven, I mean, these guys are cowards, really.
Why then did you not believe him? But if we say from man, they were afraid of the people. They all held John was really a prophet. So they answered Jesus, We don't know. And Jesus said to them, Neither I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Everywhere you go, they put Jesus to the test. They put him to the test. They send out spies to ask him trick questions. Chapter 12, verse 13. That's exactly what's said there. They sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians to catch him in his word, to trap him in his talk by means of a word.
It's like an animal that's going to get caught by a trap. We're going to trap Jesus. This guy's going to destroy our temple worship. Sending spies, it says in Luke. Verse 14. They came to him and said, Teacher, we know that you're true.
Do not care about anyone's opinion. You're not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the word of God or the way of God. That's all buttering him up, allegedly. Now here comes the question. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
Should we pay them or should we not? If we're supposed to pay them and use this kind of coin with an image, an idolatrous image, then that's blasphemy. If he says no, don't pay, then it's sedition by Rome.
Either way, he's gone. Verse 15. But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it. They brought him one, and he said to them, Whose likeness and inscription is this?
Caesar's. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him. Render. Pay back. The government does things for you. That's why you pay them taxes.
They don't build roads for anything. It costs them, so pay them for that. But you're made in the likeness and image of God, and so you ought to give your lives to serve. Verse 18. We're all leading up to Psalm 110.
And the Sadducees came to him, saying, There's no resurrection. They asked him a question. Here's another question. Question, question, question, question. Moses wrote for us, If a man's brother dies, leaves a wife, leaves no child, he must take the widow, raise up an offering for his brother.
Seven brothers took a wife, died, no offspring. Second, third, likewise, seven left no offspring. The woman then died. Verse 23. In the resurrection, when they rise, remember they don't believe in that, whose wife shall they be?
For the seven had her as wife. Is this not the reason you're wrong? Because you know neither the Scriptures, that was their job, nor the power of God. You're wrong. You're mistaken. You've gone off like a stray planet.
You don't know the power of God that gives life and death. Do you see what it says in verse 26? I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. They're dead, but God still calls Him their God.
I wasn't, I was the God of Jacob. I was the God of Isaac. I am. They're dead, but God speaks to them as if they're living. Why? Because they've been raised. So much more goes on. Verse 34. After that, no one dared to ask Him any more questions.
And now, friends, it's Jesus' turn for the question. Question, question, question, question. Do we pay this tax? Are you greater than John? What's going on? Now, Jesus asked the question. Verse 35. And Jesus, answering, began to say, as He taught in the temple, How is it that the scribes say that Christ is the Son of God?
Now, if I were going to ask a trick question from the Bible, I would do something very... Remember the time we did our first Q &A on Sunday nights, and it was with adults. It didn't go too poorly. And then I said, Well, let's have a Q &A on Sunday nights for children.
And so we had a little microphone. It was on the other side of the sanctuary. And I remember Amanda Bilton was the first there. She was little, five years old or something like that. And I had, like, you know, the patronizing kind of pat on the forehead kind of, you know, demeanor.
Yes, you know. And she said, Pastor Abendroth, what was Noah's husband's name? Oh, you know, Noah's wife. Well, there's two Noah's in the Bible, a male and a female, and she got me. That's why, by the way, if you ever invite me over to your house, don't get out Bible trivia, because I lose no matter what.
If I win, you're like, He's the pastor. If I lose, He's the pastor? I leave board games to Cooley. That's what I do. But Jesus asked them from a psalm that they all knew. It was their national anthem.
This is the king that they've been waiting for, anticipating. He doesn't go to some obscure kind of place. This is the psalm. This is the song. Verse 36, David himself said in the Holy Spirit, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put my enemies beneath my feet.
David himself calls him Lord, and so what sense is he his son? And the great crowd enjoyed listening to him. We know the answer. Divine, human, incarnate, second person of the Trinity. We get it all. They were befuddled, these Pharisees.
Who talks to their son as calling him Lord? The Messiah is God. The Messiah is man. David's Lord, David's son. He's the eternal son, and he is David's son, human and divine. Oh, if we could just have a king who is powerful and sovereign.
In Judah, 23 kings and one queen. Israel, 21 kings. Add them together because David and Solomon are on the same list. 42 kings, and not one of them lived up to Psalm 110. It's been 500 years since Israel's had a king.
Remember, Israel and Judah had all the kings, and then they went into exile. Oh, give us a king. And now it's been 500 years. We'd like to have a king. It would be good to have a king. Jesus is saying to them, when you go back to read David in Psalm 110, David probably knows authorial intent.
David is singing about who? 900 years ago when David wrote this, what's he talking about? And what does David write? Sit at my right hand. Okay, we have the father. His Messiah king has done his job, and he comes back into heaven, as it were, and what does he say to this son, David's son, Jesus?
Sit at my right hand. Friends, do you know if you study kings, you just don't walk into the king's room, the throne room, or you get your head chopped off. If the king is standing, you don't do anything until the king says, sit, then you sit.
If the king is sitting, you don't stand, you kneel. Why? Because your head doesn't go higher than the king's head, or else you lose your head. This particular Messiah, this particular son of David, as it were, saunters into the throne room of God and sits at the right hand of God the Father, and the Father says, welcome.
I praise you. I thank you. Angels, you worship Him. This particular son of David is God's right hand man. Remember where Jesus was as He's talking about all this? The temple's right behind Him. Who do you think you are, Jesus, barging into the temple, doing all these things at the temple?
You act like you own the place. I mean, Jesus, if He wanted to, I'm sure He could have just walked over into the temple, into the holy place, into the holy of holies, and just walked in and said, where's my chair?
There's no chair here. One priest, one time a year, goes into the holy of holies. With the curtain behind Jesus, it's like He says, I am the holy one in the holy of holies. I'm that king. I own the place.
It's mine. Who do you think you are, Jesus? You're walking around with some kind of authority? Yes. The beginning of the chapter in chapter 11, who are you? By the end of the chapter 12, I own it. I go where I want.
I sit where I want. That's what kind of king I am. It's fascinating. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter 1. Jesus is the eternal Son, and He is the Son of David. One of my all-time favorite books is the book of Romans.
This whole theological treatise starts off with a prism that if you don't get, you don't get the entire book. All of the theology of Romans stems from this particular idea concerning the Son, verse 3 of chapter 1 of Romans, who was descended from David according to the flesh.
Remember, Paul is about ready to die, and he says, Timothy, let me write you a swan song. I've got a few things I want to remind you of. If you just remember this, Timothy, you've got it all. There's nothing else you really need to remember, because if this is at the forefront of your mind, you have it all.
2 Timothy 2 .8, remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, offspring of David. Risen from the dead, He's God, so He can mediate for God. Offspring of David, He's really man, a perfect man. He can mediate for man.
That's what you need to remember. That's Psalm 110 language. More quoted in the New Testament than any other psalm. More allusions to Psalm 10 than any other psalm. More quotes from Psalm 110 in the New Testament than any other passage.
I reread verse 13. And to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? And there's no answer. Question 2. Now, if I were a young person and I realized, pastor has two questions.
The first one is taking him 43 minutes to answer. That's what I'd be doing right now. I'd be calculating that. But as pastors know, including Pastor Bowman, your second points are always faster than your first points.
Question 2. Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Jesus is the Son, angels are servants. Angels are important, but before God, they pale in comparison.
He's the one seated at the right hand. They just go do His bidding. Jesus is the one sending them off to do things. They're just servants. They don't own the restaurant. They're table waiters. Jesus is the one sent to save.
Notice the text in verse 14. They're sent out to serve. Delegated authority, Jesus is sent out to save. He says in John 4, my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and accomplish His work. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. They are sent out to do guardian angel type of things. Jesus is the one sent to accomplish salvation. And by the way, do you notice the language there, inherit salvation?
We think of salvation as when we're first saved. But just like with Romans 13, 11, now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. There's a present possession aspect of salvation. We were saved when we believed.
We are being saved progressively. And ultimately, in glory, we will be saved. Angels do the bidding of God, God the Son. We could talk about guardian angels. Are there guardian angels? The answer is yes.
Do we each have a guardian angel? The text doesn't tell us. And you can look at Psalm 91 and see all the different things that angels do. But the focus, I do not want to leave this morning with the focus on angels, except they're errand messengers.
That's all they are. Jesus, Chapter 1, He's the Son. Jesus, Chapter 1, He's God. Jesus, Chapter 1, He's the Lord. Jesus, Chapter 1, He's greater. And so this morning, I want to end where I started. If you understand Psalm 110, you understand Christianity, because you need a representative who's a substitute.
Representative, He's David's son. Substitute, who could withstand the wrath of Almighty God in our place, He has to be the eternal Son. And the Father praises the Son. I don't know if anybody is here who mentally knows these things, intellectually knows these things, but there's a faith that doesn't save.
You can believe and still go to hell. There's just an intellectual only faith. And so I call you, is this the way you believe? Affirming what the Father says. It's like when the Father says things of the Son, you say, I heartily agree.
I confirm that. I affirm that. I agree. I confess that. And as we end in Chapter 1, when people come up to you and say, I'm a modalist. I'm a Sabellian heresy person. I don't believe in the Trinity. The first thing you should do is say, do you know what?
Let me show you Hebrews, Chapter 1, because there could not be a more grievous sin to commit. You blasphemer. To say what the Son, say of the Son what the Father doesn't say. No wonder John says, gospel loving, kind John.
He says, those kind of people that don't affirm, as it were, Hebrews 1, they're liars and they're antichrists. If you're here today and you're just working through the issues, I don't know if Jesus is God or not, you're welcome.
But if you're here to try to somehow plant evidence in people's minds, how can Jesus be the Son, the eternal Son, and receive worship? Friends, the answer is found in Hebrews, Chapter 1. It's the time of weddings, of course, in the summer.
And I hope grooms pick their brides based on their loveliness and how pretty they are on the inside and outside. But can you imagine God loves this God, who loves His Son in such a wonderful way, loves sinners as well.
And Romans 5 says, God loved us when we were enemies. God loved us when we were helpless. God loved us when we were ungodly. And God loved us when we were sinners. And if He loved you like that, do you think He's going to keep loving you now?
As children of the living God, the answer is yes. The next time you hear, oh say, oh say, can you see, is that it? Because if you say that, you start singing it, then I know better. The next time you hear the national anthem, you think, fine and dandy, I love America, but it's Psalm 110 that matters.
Father, I thank You for this morning. I thank You for these dear people who want to learn and grow. And we are reminded, even with Paul in the book of 1 Corinthians, when the last enemy is to be destroyed, it's death.
He reigns until he puts all his enemies under his feet. Father, Republicans can't stop it. Democrats can't stop it. We can't stop it. The UK leaving Europe can't stop it. Terrorists can't stop it. Our declining health can't stop it.
And Father, as wrathful as You rightfully are, Your wrath is only matched by Your condescending love that in eternity past You would arrange it in such a way to have Your Son go die for people like us.
The song that we sang earlier was right for such a worm as I. Such a worm as I. And if You love ungodly, You must love Your children as well. We thank You for that. I pray for people today that are here who have not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as attested to by the Father's words as the eternal Son.
I pray that You would give them saving faith. Give them peace for their soul. In Jesus' name, Amen.