Angels, from the Realms of Glory (Hebrews 1:1-3:1, 12:3-4, 12-13, 22-23, 28-29)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:03.960 For a little while, lower the and then the angels. You've crowned him 2 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:09.029 with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. Now, 3 00:00:09.109 --> 00:00:12.830 in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. 4 00:00:12.869 --> 00:00:18.629 At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, but 5 00:00:18.789 --> 00:00:22.300 we see him who, for a little while, was made lower than the 6 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:29.420 angels, namely Jesus, Crowned With Glory and honor because of the suffering of 7 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:32.740 death, so that, by the grace of God, he might taste death 8 00:00:33.100 --> 00:00:38.289 for everyone, for it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom 9 00:00:38.409 --> 00:00:43.450 all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder 10 00:00:43.530 --> 00:00:50.479 of their salvation perfect through suffering, for he who sanctifies and those who are 11 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:55.240 sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call 12 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:59.960 them brothers, saying I will tell of your name to my brothers in the 13 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:03.549 midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise and again I will put 14 00:01:03.590 --> 00:01:07.989 my trust in him, and again, behold, I am the children God 15 00:01:08.109 --> 00:01:14.629 has given me, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood. He 16 00:01:14.790 --> 00:01:21.180 himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one 17 00:01:21.299 --> 00:01:25.579 who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all 18 00:01:25.659 --> 00:01:29.859 those who, through fear year of death. We're subject to lifelong slavery. 19 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:34.769 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring 20 00:01:34.810 --> 00:01:38.049 of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every 21 00:01:38.209 --> 00:01:44.290 respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service 22 00:01:44.409 --> 00:01:49.799 of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people, for because 23 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.760 he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are 24 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:57.439 being tempted. Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, 25 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:06.790 consider Jesus, the Apostle and high priest of our confession. And now 26 00:02:06.829 --> 00:02:12.389 let's turn to chapter twelve. These things, these quotations that the author of 27 00:02:12.469 --> 00:02:15.740 Hebrews has brought forth and these points that he's been made. He's made, 28 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:21.780 he then elaborates through the book and then we get some of the conclusions and 29 00:02:21.939 --> 00:02:27.819 applications. I'm here in twelve, so chapter twelve, I'll begin it verses 30 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:32.810 three through four. So remember we just finished with consider Jesus. This is 31 00:02:32.969 --> 00:02:37.490 one of the applications. Therefore, of all these things, consider Jesus, 32 00:02:37.569 --> 00:02:43.250 and now Hebrews, twelve three, consider him who endured from sinner such hostility 33 00:02:43.330 --> 00:02:49.280 against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted in your struggle 34 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:53.439 against sin. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood 35 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:59.710 mud. And then, as we read earlier two verses, now twelve and 36 00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:04.789 thirteen. Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and make 37 00:03:04.870 --> 00:03:07.830 straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put 38 00:03:07.870 --> 00:03:14.419 out of joint, but rather healed. And now twenty two and twenty three. 39 00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:20.379 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the Living 40 00:03:20.419 --> 00:03:25.180 God, the heavenly Jerusalem, into innumerable angels in festal gathering and to the 41 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:30.729 assembly of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, 42 00:03:30.289 --> 00:03:35.770 the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. 43 00:03:37.370 --> 00:03:39.889 And then finishing with twenty eight and twenty nine. Therefore, let us be 44 00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:46.120 grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and let us offer to 45 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:52.960 God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. 46 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:59.909 So as we consider these words as we consider who God is, a 47 00:04:00.830 --> 00:04:05.229 consuming fire, and the way that he manifests his self and his message in 48 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:13.939 the world. We consider also ourselves and the angels. The conclusion of all 49 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:15.860 this, the thing that you have to walk away from, is what or 50 00:04:15.939 --> 00:04:20.939 walk away with, sorry, Walk Away with is what Hebrews twelve ends with. 51 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:27.930 Therefore, let us worship God right, let us be grateful for receiving 52 00:04:27.970 --> 00:04:30.889 a can, a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and let us offer to 53 00:04:30.970 --> 00:04:41.879 God acceptable worship, with reverence. And this is our chief end is Christians, 54 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:49.199 our purpose, the reason God made humanity was to come and worship him. 55 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:56.589 At the end of the Christmas Carol, Angels from the Realms of Glory, 56 00:04:56.629 --> 00:05:00.670 which will sing after the sermon, there's a line of refrain that ends 57 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:06.139 every verse. Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn 58 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:12.500 king, and that call to come and worship is the very call that we 59 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:15.699 have here in Hebrews. It's the call that is on all of our lives, 60 00:05:15.779 --> 00:05:19.139 it's who we are as a church, and it's also the evangelistic call 61 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:24.050 that we go out to the world and we tell people come and worship, 62 00:05:24.170 --> 00:05:29.089 come and worship right. This is what it's all all about. And each 63 00:05:29.089 --> 00:05:32.209 verse of that Song, if you know it angels from the Realms of Glory, 64 00:05:32.769 --> 00:05:36.920 is meant to get us to that invitation. In Verse One, the 65 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:42.360 Glorious Angels are called to proclaim the birth of the Messiah. In verse two 66 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:46.279 it's the shepherds, and verse three it's the wise men. Leave your studies, 67 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:51.750 come contemplates some thing greater. In verse four it's God's people who have 68 00:05:51.829 --> 00:05:56.189 been waiting for the Lord, and in Verse Five It's just throw your hands 69 00:05:56.230 --> 00:05:59.870 up. It's all creation, all right, all creation, common worship, 70 00:05:59.990 --> 00:06:03.779 come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn king. Each of these verses 71 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:11.860 of this song are like a royal trumpet blast announcing this invitation, inviting the 72 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:16.819 world to come and to celebrate Jesus, to worship him as our Lord and 73 00:06:17.019 --> 00:06:23.050 as our God. Why? Because of the things that are mentioned here in 74 00:06:23.129 --> 00:06:28.529 Hebrews and throughout the scriptures. In this invitation, we have an invitation to 75 00:06:28.649 --> 00:06:33.079 celebrate the final conquering of evil. As we read, Jesus came to conquer 76 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:39.959 Satan himself, our fear of death. He came to conquer evil, he 77 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:46.199 came to redeem our sins, all resulting in our marriage with Christ, all 78 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:51.790 of these things. That's great victory of freedom from slavery, a marriage all 79 00:06:51.870 --> 00:07:00.189 rolled into one, one person. As we unpack these things, there are 80 00:07:00.269 --> 00:07:04.459 so much, so many different things that we can consider, different ways that 81 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:11.860 we can think and reflect and glory in the glorious salvation that God gives to 82 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:16.209 us, and that's a good thing. As the author of Hebrews Rights, 83 00:07:17.050 --> 00:07:23.370 we need to pay attention, we need to remember, pay attention and, 84 00:07:23.490 --> 00:07:28.490 because we tend to to forget right, we need to pay close attention, 85 00:07:29.490 --> 00:07:32.800 and one of the things that we can pay attention to are the angels. 86 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:39.040 Interestingly enough, perhaps if you're not familiar with Hebrews or if you haven't thought 87 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:44.040 about it a while, you were surprised by all this talk about angels. 88 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:48.269 I didn't know there was this much stuff about angels and Hebrews. There is 89 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:54.589 at this particular moment in history. It seems to me that the way that 90 00:07:54.709 --> 00:08:01.220 we tend to think about angels, this one one part of God's saving plan 91 00:08:03.420 --> 00:08:07.899 that mostly most of us fall into one or if two camps, very unhealthy 92 00:08:07.019 --> 00:08:13.529 camps. On the one side you have people that forget about them almost so 93 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:16.730 frequently. You'd think that they didn't believe in angels. On the other hand, 94 00:08:16.930 --> 00:08:20.250 you have people on the other side who worship them, pray them, 95 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:26.490 pray to them and generally turn them into idols. Well, the Bible holds 96 00:08:26.689 --> 00:08:31.600 to neither of these positions. Neither forgets them or is afraid of them or 97 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:37.120 doesn't want to talk about them, nor does it worship them and glorify them 98 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.230 in the way that we do with God. So let's think a little bit 99 00:08:41.350 --> 00:08:46.470 a moment, for a moment about the angels from the Realms of glory, 100 00:08:46.710 --> 00:08:50.950 these angels that are spoken about in Hebrews and other places, and then think 101 00:08:50.990 --> 00:08:58.500 about the place that they play in this new kingdom. Well, the first 102 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:03.220 thing to remember about angels is that they are created beings, and Psalm one 103 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:05.980 hundred forty eight, they are listed among the many different things God is created, 104 00:09:07.299 --> 00:09:11.370 including the sun and moon, water, beasts, cattle, creeping things 105 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:18.289 and humans. Colossians one tells us that through Jesus all things were created, 106 00:09:18.370 --> 00:09:24.639 both the visible and the invisible, and this statement, I think, is 107 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:28.360 paralleled in the very first verse of the Bible, Genesis one one. In 108 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:35.639 the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The invisible and the 109 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:41.990 visible. It's all under him. It's all under his sovereign power. The 110 00:09:41.110 --> 00:09:48.549 Bible also teaches us that, like us, angels are rational, emotional individuals. 111 00:09:48.429 --> 00:09:54.139 They have names, they shudder, they praise, they hide their faces 112 00:09:54.139 --> 00:10:01.100 as they glory, they announce and they serve. This is one of the 113 00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:07.100 things that Hebrews mentions up. Are They not ministering servants? The angels are 114 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:13.169 servants of the Lord, and one of the most remarkable things about them is 115 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:18.769 God has particularly designed them and set them to the task of serving us. 116 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:26.279 That's their charge. Matthew eighteen ten says, see that you do not despise 117 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:28.799 one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven, their 118 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:35.360 angels always see the face of my father, who is in heaven. This 119 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:39.389 reverse verse reminds us that one of the many ways that God cares for us 120 00:10:39.389 --> 00:10:43.389 is through his angels. Now, this does not put them above God, 121 00:10:43.509 --> 00:10:48.470 anymore than the sun or wind or other people that also serve us. It 122 00:10:48.629 --> 00:10:52.539 simply makes them another one of the means that God uses, like a builder 123 00:10:54.059 --> 00:10:58.419 with a hammer or a chef with a knife, God uses his created means 124 00:10:58.259 --> 00:11:03.899 to do his work. As we read, and Hebrews one hundred and fourteen. 125 00:11:03.940 --> 00:11:09.730 Angels are ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who 126 00:11:09.730 --> 00:11:18.399 are to inherit salvation, and we see an example of this in Luke when 127 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:22.799 the Angel Gabriel comes to Mary and says to her, I am Gabriel, 128 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:28.679 I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you 129 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:35.230 and to bring you this good news. The Bible also teaches us that there 130 00:11:35.269 --> 00:11:39.029 are a lot of them. In revelation five hundred and eleven, John Numbers 131 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:45.549 the angels at a hundred million. Not Tens of thousands, he says, 132 00:11:45.590 --> 00:11:50.820 or hundreds of thousands, but thousands of thousands of angels, he says, 133 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:56.100 were numbered around the throne. The author of Hebrews says that they came, 134 00:11:56.500 --> 00:12:05.090 that we come into an innumerable gathering of of angels. The ones that John 135 00:12:05.250 --> 00:12:09.769 sees around the throne of God, the hundred million that he sees around God's 136 00:12:09.809 --> 00:12:16.320 throne, are perhaps only a portion of the angelic population. The Bible also 137 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:20.240 teaches us that the angels are not only numerous, but they are glorious. 138 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:26.240 They are often feared when they are seen, as when the shepherds in the 139 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:30.590 field see an angel, and the angel says to them, as they often 140 00:12:30.669 --> 00:12:37.549 say to humans, fear not, an angel told the shepherd and notice, 141 00:12:37.669 --> 00:12:41.830 and you might remember this, right before the shepherds heard this announcement from the 142 00:12:41.870 --> 00:12:48.259 angel, to fear not. That happened right before a multitude of heavenly host 143 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:54.980 made themselves visible before their eyes. I have come to bring you a good 144 00:12:56.100 --> 00:13:01.169 news of great joy. You hear that they are messengers, they are these 145 00:13:01.330 --> 00:13:09.490 scent ones Hark the Herald right they harold these these good things to the world. 146 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:16.000 As we reflect on these things, a pattern emerges. We see the 147 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:22.679 angels are glorious, powerful servants of the Lord. They are made by him, 148 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:30.190 they proclaim his praise and they serve him. They are amazing creatures who 149 00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:35.149 rightly deserve our awe, but they never deserve our worship, for, like 150 00:13:35.509 --> 00:13:41.429 us, they are creatures, they are servants, they are under the command 151 00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:46.299 of God. But there's one more thing that we need to say about angels, 152 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:52.259 and it's this from Hebrews A, chapter one, Verse Five Four. 153 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:58.809 To which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son Today, 154 00:13:58.450 --> 00:14:03.289 I have begotten you, or again I will be to him a father 155 00:14:03.649 --> 00:14:09.080 and he shall be to me a son, none of them. That's the 156 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:15.639 point. God never said these words to any angel, which of course begs 157 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:20.759 the question to whom where they spoken? Well, they were spoken to a 158 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:26.190 human, to David, first of all, in the promises that were made 159 00:14:26.269 --> 00:14:33.429 to him, and ultimately to God's incarnate son, human son in Flesh, 160 00:14:33.470 --> 00:14:39.700 Jesus Christ. There's a contrast that we see in chapter one, verse seven, 161 00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:45.340 of his angels, he says he makes his angels, wins his ministers 162 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:50.100 a flame of fire, and that's amazing, that's awesome, but it doesn't 163 00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:54.649 compare to what he says of the Sun that we read. In Verse Eight. 164 00:14:56.169 --> 00:15:01.570 Of The Sun, he says your throne, Oh God, is forever 165 00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:05.409 and ever, the scepter of uprightness, is the scepter of your kingdom. 166 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:11.559 So what we see is that these passages of a scripture about kingdom and authority, 167 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:20.080 about power and even a human kingdom and Human Authority and human power are 168 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:28.070 all coalescing and coming around in a single person, Jesus, who is also 169 00:15:28.269 --> 00:15:35.379 God. Now, why did God do this? Why did he make Jesus 170 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:41.700 lower than the angels, as he says in verse nine, and then Crown 171 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:52.289 him above them? Because of what we have because, because of what God 172 00:15:52.490 --> 00:16:00.730 says in Verse Ten of Chapter Two, it was fitting that he, for 173 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:04.360 whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, 174 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:11.279 should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. And it goes on 175 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:15.759 to say that Jesus becomes like his brothers. Those whom he comes to save 176 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:22.870 are those who he becomes like. Verse Fourteen, since therefore, the children, 177 00:16:22.029 --> 00:16:26.830 that means the children of God, US, share in flesh and blood. 178 00:16:27.870 --> 00:16:32.470 We are human, we have these bodies. We are not spirits, 179 00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:38.500 unlike the angels are. He himself likewise partook of the same things, namely 180 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:44.059 flesh and blood, that through death, he might destroy the one who has 181 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:48.450 the power over death. You see what the author of Hebrews is saying. 182 00:16:48.450 --> 00:16:52.570 You see what God is saying. He's saying Jesus can't became like us. 183 00:16:52.610 --> 00:17:03.119 Jesus took on humanity so that he might die. If he had become an 184 00:17:03.160 --> 00:17:07.519 angel, he wouldn't have had flesh, he wouldn't have died. And why 185 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:15.869 did he die? He says that he might destroy, in his death, 186 00:17:15.990 --> 00:17:21.789 in his suffering, the one who has the power of death, that is, 187 00:17:21.910 --> 00:17:25.869 the devil, and then deliver all those who, through the fear of 188 00:17:26.029 --> 00:17:32.740 death, were subject to life long slavery. Conclusion, Verse Sixteen. For 189 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:37.539 surely it is not the angels he helps, but he helps the offspring of 190 00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:41.500 Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect 191 00:17:42.019 --> 00:17:47.930 so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of 192 00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:55.609 God. So who is this? Jesus? Jesus is the one who is 193 00:17:55.849 --> 00:18:00.839 the son of God, who took on human flesh, who became incarnate out 194 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:07.720 of love for us so that he could call us brothers. And this would 195 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:15.470 happen through his own loving death, his sacrifice. Jesus became man so that 196 00:18:15.549 --> 00:18:19.190 he could die like a man, so that he could raise men in salvation, 197 00:18:21.109 --> 00:18:26.950 so that, instead of remaining in our sins and cowering, fearing death, 198 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:30.619 fearing the judgment of the God of God, of constantly being under the 199 00:18:30.740 --> 00:18:36.500 control of Satan, who had who wields this power of guilt and shame and 200 00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:41.450 fear and death in our lives, God becomes us so that we can be 201 00:18:41.970 --> 00:18:48.970 set free. That's why he didn't become an angel. That's a remarkable thing. 202 00:18:51.089 --> 00:18:53.049 The angels, as glorious as they are, as wonderful as they are, 203 00:18:53.049 --> 00:18:59.079 as much as God loves them. He didn't become an angel, he 204 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:03.319 became a man. He was made like us, a little lower than the 205 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:11.430 angels. He endured suffering and shame, he endured death itself so that he 206 00:19:11.470 --> 00:19:19.029 could raise us all up in him and establish a kingdom of men and angels 207 00:19:19.829 --> 00:19:26.539 that would last forever, a kingdom that cannot be shaken, a kingdom in 208 00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:30.980 which we now stand. And so that then takes us to chapter twelve. 209 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:40.450 When we come to chapter twelve, the author says that we have not come 210 00:19:40.650 --> 00:19:48.210 to Mount Sinai, like the Israelites did when God rescued them, redeemed them 211 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:53.839 out of Egypt. We've not come to Mount Sinai and and we have not 212 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.359 been established into a kingdom that can be shaken and fall apart, is indeed 213 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:02.839 it did, because of their disobedience to the law, because of their sin. 214 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:07.670 Now we have come to Mountain Zion, verse twenty two, and to 215 00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:11.789 the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and what is in 216 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:18.990 this place? The innumerable angels infestal gathering, and to the assembly of the 217 00:20:19.109 --> 00:20:25.220 firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven and to God, the judge of all, 218 00:20:25.380 --> 00:20:30.019 into the spirits of the righteous made perfect. Everyone's there, all right, 219 00:20:30.140 --> 00:20:33.619 all the servants of the Lord, those who have gone before us, 220 00:20:33.619 --> 00:20:36.890 who have died in Christ and have been and who are now with him, 221 00:20:37.569 --> 00:20:42.250 those angels in that gathering, in all of this, through Jesus, who 222 00:20:42.250 --> 00:20:48.970 is our perfect mediator, fully God and fully man, who speaks a better 223 00:20:48.049 --> 00:20:53.359 word than the blood of Abel, the author says, through him and through 224 00:20:53.519 --> 00:21:00.039 his blood we have standing in this place, in this kingdom, in this 225 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:04.509 city. If you want to go around in the world, you need a 226 00:21:04.710 --> 00:21:10.470 passport or some kind of documentation that says you get to be here, you 227 00:21:10.710 --> 00:21:15.990 belong here, you have a right here, right otherwise you are illegal or, 228 00:21:15.910 --> 00:21:19.779 as he's talks about here, illegitimate children, children that don't belong, 229 00:21:19.940 --> 00:21:26.059 not rightfully here. But that's not who we are when we are in Christ. 230 00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:34.769 We belong to the Kingdom of God. Through Jesus, through his blood, 231 00:21:37.369 --> 00:21:45.210 we are able to come and worship. And that's the conclusion of chapter 232 00:21:45.250 --> 00:21:48.759 twelve, and that's, of course, the conclusion of the him angels from 233 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:53.359 the Realms of Glory. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom 234 00:21:53.400 --> 00:22:03.390 that cannot be shaken and offer to God through Christ acceptable worship, with reverence 235 00:22:03.549 --> 00:22:11.069 in awe. It's not acceptable worship to go to the sun, of the 236 00:22:11.190 --> 00:22:18.660 moon and angel, hume in anything that God has created and hope that somehow 237 00:22:18.819 --> 00:22:23.019 that thing, of that person will be your access into the heavenly places. 238 00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:30.410 We have a perfect mediator, the one who is crowned a little lower than 239 00:22:30.450 --> 00:22:33.690 the angels but now sits at the right hand of God, ministering on your 240 00:22:33.890 --> 00:22:41.650 behalf, a man for a kingdom of men and a kingdom over all all 241 00:22:41.730 --> 00:22:45.240 of creation, a kingdom that cannot be shaken. In light of all of 242 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:52.680 this, do not grow weary. Strengthen your spines, strengthen your knees, 243 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:59.589 keep on walking, keep your eyes on Jesus, consider him the author and 244 00:22:59.750 --> 00:23:07.109 perfector of your salvation and, when your faith is placed in him, worship 245 00:23:07.230 --> 00:23:14.019 the Lord and call others to the same. Amen. Let's pray to our 246 00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:14.539 God now.