WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.620 Speaking of news, I do want to talk about something 00:00:02.620 --> 00:00:07.400 that I believe is one of the greatest maybe downfalls 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:11.240 of society, and that would be the 24 -hour news 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:16.600 cycle. Now, all my life, I'm young enough to 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:19.539 have only lived in the world of the 24 -hour 00:00:19.539 --> 00:00:22.739 news cycle, but I'm also old enough to have lived 00:00:22.739 --> 00:00:25.739 in a world where around like 8 o 'clock, once 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:28.059 the 8 o 'clock news went off, the TV went off, 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:30.379 and that was it. No more news for the night. 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:32.820 And you didn't get news until the next morning 00:00:32.820 --> 00:00:36.039 when you finally at some point turned the TV 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:40.539 on or got a newspaper. Anybody seen a newspaper 00:00:40.539 --> 00:00:43.799 lately? I haven't. You got a newspaper or on 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:46.039 your drive to work, you maybe had the talk radio 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:54.000 on. But in recent years, it's 24 hours. Voices, 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.600 noise, telling you. what's going on in the world, 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:00.939 telling you what to worry about in the world, 00:01:00.979 --> 00:01:03.020 telling you what to be afraid of, telling you 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:08.659 what to think about what topic, 24 hours, you 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:12.939 don't even get a chance to rest from it. And 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:15.200 if that wasn't bad enough, if it weren't for 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:18.060 the TV stations constantly rolling with the news 00:01:18.060 --> 00:01:20.359 and the radio constantly rolling with the news, 00:01:20.420 --> 00:01:23.159 about 20 -something years ago, this thing called 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:27.260 social media became a thing. And what happened 00:01:27.260 --> 00:01:30.719 was this great thing in Facebook or in MySpace 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:33.040 where it was just a way to connect with people, 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.159 you know, these social networks, these places 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:38.340 to connect with friends from college or friends 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:40.019 from high school that you haven't seen in 10 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:42.719 years. This thing that was really good in the 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:46.719 beginning, for some reason, they let news stations 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:50.579 get on it. And so now... I get on Facebook and 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:52.260 I'm scrolling and I'm scrolling and I'm seeing, 00:01:52.379 --> 00:01:54.819 oh, they had a baby. Oh, that friend got married. 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:57.099 Oh, that friend. And then all of a sudden, Fox 00:01:57.099 --> 00:02:02.239 News, CNN, MSNBC. And all of a sudden, I can't 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:07.620 escape the news because it's there. And then 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:10.099 our phones got this cool thing where now they 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:13.060 can send you notifications from social media 00:02:13.060 --> 00:02:16.800 and from the news channels. And so now you get 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.319 notifications. So the first thing you do when 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:22.020 you wake up in the morning, if you're like me, 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:26.680 is you roll over and you reach for the nightstand 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:31.020 and you grab that stupid little rectangle and 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:33.900 you pick it up and as soon as your eyes open, 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:36.919 well, first you silence your alarm. If you're 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:38.740 like me, you silence your alarm before your eyes 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:41.280 ever open and then you wake up 30 minutes later. 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:44.219 But you open your eyes and the first thing you 00:02:44.219 --> 00:02:49.919 see, is breaking. I won't fill in the blank. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.719 You know what I'm talking about. Or from Facebook, 00:02:52.979 --> 00:02:57.479 your favorite influencer just posted. And in 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:00.180 the middle of the night, for some reason, because 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:03.360 these people don't sleep, you got 20 notifications 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:07.039 from social media, from the news, from people 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:10.680 texting you, from all kinds of advertisements 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:13.000 coming in in your email, and you have all... 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:16.180 of these things clouding your mind before you 00:03:16.180 --> 00:03:21.020 ever take your head off of the pillow. And I 00:03:21.020 --> 00:03:23.860 bring up how awful this is. It's a plague, really. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:27.960 I bring that up to make the point that we all, 00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:32.099 we all, every one of us, whether you like being 00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:34.360 on your phone or if you just constantly have 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:36.699 the talk radio going, if you always have the 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:42.419 TV on, every one of us is plagued with competing 00:03:45.649 --> 00:03:48.169 Voices, vying for our attention. Do you know 00:03:48.169 --> 00:03:52.469 why the news stations went 24 hours? Because 00:03:52.469 --> 00:03:55.830 if I can give you constant access, you'll choose 00:03:55.830 --> 00:03:59.900 me over them. This is why sports reporters, they 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:02.819 don't have social lives because all they do is 00:04:02.819 --> 00:04:04.759 they spend their life on three phones waiting 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:07.080 to get a text from a source, waiting to get the 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:08.860 breaking news so that they can break the news 00:04:08.860 --> 00:04:10.979 first. Because if I can give you the information 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:14.469 before they do, you'll listen to me. Or this 00:04:14.469 --> 00:04:16.769 is why influencers are such a big deal. Because 00:04:16.769 --> 00:04:19.110 if I can tell you how to fix your life, if I 00:04:19.110 --> 00:04:21.050 can tell you how to make everything better, if 00:04:21.050 --> 00:04:23.250 I can tell you how to be a better parent, how 00:04:23.250 --> 00:04:25.430 to be a better spouse, how to be a better businessman, 00:04:25.430 --> 00:04:27.949 if I can tell you this in a better way, in a 00:04:27.949 --> 00:04:30.230 more efficient, in a more marketable way than 00:04:30.230 --> 00:04:33.050 they can, you'll choose me. And it's the world 00:04:33.050 --> 00:04:36.610 competing for our attention. They are clouding 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:39.509 our minds. These people, these things, these 00:04:39.509 --> 00:04:45.290 problems are wanting. our attention and our allegiance. 00:04:46.889 --> 00:04:49.970 See, we've got algorithms that know exactly what 00:04:49.970 --> 00:04:52.350 to show us next based on what we've looked at 00:04:52.350 --> 00:04:54.430 and what we've interacted with. We have influencers 00:04:54.430 --> 00:04:56.629 who don't know us, but they're telling us how 00:04:56.629 --> 00:04:59.050 to parent and budget and feel about our bodies 00:04:59.050 --> 00:05:01.769 and vote and grieve and everything in between. 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:05.189 We have these self -proclaimed self -help gurus 00:05:05.189 --> 00:05:08.149 that they believe that if you'll listen to them 00:05:08.149 --> 00:05:12.139 and you'll buy their product, that they can solve 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:14.639 every issue that you'll face, or at least that's 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:19.199 what they claim. And I could go on and on, but 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:23.560 my point is simple, that there's a lot of noise. 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:26.899 There's a lot of people, a lot of things claiming 00:05:26.899 --> 00:05:30.860 to have the answer for our lives. And somewhere 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:33.819 in the middle of all that noise, most of us, 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:37.660 I would actually venture to say all of us are 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:42.819 tired. We're exhausted. I'm tired of getting 00:05:42.819 --> 00:05:45.420 online. At some point, I just need to get offline 00:05:45.420 --> 00:05:47.519 because I'm tired of getting online and seeing 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:49.259 the next thing that I need to be worried about 00:05:49.259 --> 00:05:51.220 or the next thing that I need to be scared about 00:05:51.220 --> 00:05:53.240 or the next thing that I need to be up in arms 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:56.360 about. I am tired of that. And I imagine you 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:58.959 are too. You're tired of trying to figure out 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.319 which voice is the one that you should listen 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:03.480 to, which voice, which thing is the thing that 00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:05.699 you should give your allegiance to. And hopefully 00:06:05.699 --> 00:06:09.879 we're all aware of this tired, exhausted, worn 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:13.379 out feeling. And hopefully we're all also aware 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:16.500 that this is nothing new. People have always 00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:19.639 had things to worry about. People have always 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:23.490 had voices in their ear plaguing them. fighting 00:06:23.490 --> 00:06:25.970 for their attention. This is a problem that we 00:06:25.970 --> 00:06:28.470 have been facing since Adam and Eve were in the 00:06:28.470 --> 00:06:32.870 Garden of Eden, wondering, should we listen to 00:06:32.870 --> 00:06:36.550 God or should we listen to the serpent? Because 00:06:36.550 --> 00:06:39.170 the serpent had words to say, and he was using 00:06:39.170 --> 00:06:42.069 his words very craftily to get Adam and Eve, 00:06:42.129 --> 00:06:45.970 to get humans to listen to him and not God. And 00:06:45.970 --> 00:06:48.730 then Adam, he's not only listening to the serpent 00:06:48.730 --> 00:06:51.230 and listening to God. He's now having to listen 00:06:51.230 --> 00:06:53.670 to his wife. And men, you know how important 00:06:53.670 --> 00:06:56.170 it is to listen to your wife, right? And so he's 00:06:56.170 --> 00:06:58.410 got all of these people that he's competing, 00:06:58.589 --> 00:07:02.790 that are competing for his attention. So these 00:07:02.790 --> 00:07:06.470 competing voices, they've been there from the 00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:08.490 beginning, but the God that we worship, this 00:07:08.490 --> 00:07:10.750 is the good news today, the God that we worship, 00:07:10.889 --> 00:07:13.850 the God that we serve, he is not one, he has 00:07:13.850 --> 00:07:16.870 never been one to leave his people out to dry. 00:07:17.859 --> 00:07:20.839 Yes, we have a problem that we face with people 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:24.639 and things trying to get our minds in their possession, 00:07:24.819 --> 00:07:29.779 but our God does not leave us helpless. He's 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:32.000 always been there. He's always been there to 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:33.959 help guide us. He's always been there to bring 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:36.660 us back to the truth, to bring us back to the 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:42.259 right voice. Now, this has often been through 00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:45.850 the words of other people. And for us, it's mainly 00:07:45.850 --> 00:07:48.230 through the words that he's given us in the Bible. 00:07:48.610 --> 00:07:50.610 And so I want us to talk about the Bible this 00:07:50.610 --> 00:07:52.230 morning. One of my favorite books of the Bible, 00:07:52.389 --> 00:07:54.990 the book of Hebrews. In this book, it opens by 00:07:54.990 --> 00:07:56.990 telling us what we just established, that there 00:07:56.990 --> 00:07:59.910 are people that are competing. These competing 00:07:59.910 --> 00:08:02.449 voices have always been a part of the human condition. 00:08:02.689 --> 00:08:06.509 The question is, whose voice do we trust? And 00:08:06.509 --> 00:08:09.149 I want you to listen to how Hebrews starts in 00:08:09.149 --> 00:08:12.610 verse 1 of chapter 1. If it's underlined, I would 00:08:12.610 --> 00:08:16.100 love for you to read with us. Listen to how long 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:19.660 ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke 00:08:19.660 --> 00:08:23.459 to our fathers by the prophets at many times, 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:27.180 in many ways. He said all the time. There used 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:30.220 to be a time where God was always, always speaking 00:08:30.220 --> 00:08:34.360 to his people in many ways, mainly through prophets. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:37.139 I want you to think about these guys. Maybe you've 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:40.820 heard of them like Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:44.840 these voices, these mouthpieces of God. all living 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:47.659 and speaking in different chaotic and unideal 00:08:47.659 --> 00:08:51.120 times, all dealing with different circumstances 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:54.879 in human history. But in all of that, God spoke. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.899 But he spoke in pieces over centuries through 00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:02.519 ordinary men. And because those men were ordinary, 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:05.200 just like us, and because the message they preached 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.100 was often not in alignment with what the world 00:09:08.100 --> 00:09:12.279 wanted to hear, these men faced... They faced 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:14.960 pushback. People didn't always listen. They didn't 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.460 always take the advice of these prophets. They 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:19.899 didn't realize, or maybe they did, but they didn't 00:09:19.899 --> 00:09:22.320 believe that these men were speaking for God. 00:09:22.460 --> 00:09:24.399 And even if they did believe they were speaking 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:28.299 for God, the sad reality is so many people did 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:32.519 not care because someone or something else had 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:37.240 already gotten their allegiance. So even in the 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:40.080 ancient world, Figuring out which voice to listen 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:42.759 to, figuring out who you should give your attention 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:44.700 and who you should give your allegiance to, that 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:46.980 wasn't always easy. And people didn't always 00:09:46.980 --> 00:09:50.279 choose correctly. Now, we know that people still 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:53.399 don't always choose correctly. We don't always 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:58.240 choose the right voice to listen to. And see, 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:01.419 for us, I would argue that we have way more competing 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:05.139 voices than they did in the ancient world. I 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:08.960 would argue that... We have more issues than 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:10.860 they did. The same issues, it's the same type 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:13.440 of issues, but we face them more because we have 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:16.159 phones that go with us everywhere we go all the 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.980 time. I don't know about you, but my phone is 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:20.840 literally, like it could be a part of my body. 00:10:21.059 --> 00:10:23.440 It goes with me everywhere. If I get up off the 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.080 couch to go get a drink of water, guess what 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:26.659 I'm doing? I'm grabbing my phone and bringing 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:29.039 it with me. If I go to the bathroom, guess what? 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:30.980 Sadly, I'm bringing my phone with me. That's 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:33.379 pretty unsanitary, I know. There are issues. 00:10:34.220 --> 00:10:36.720 that go with us everywhere we go. We have our 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:38.860 phones. We have our computers that we spend eight 00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:41.960 to 10 hours a day staring at. We have TVs that 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:44.279 are constantly on. We have books that we're always 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:47.000 reading. We have these things that are always 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:51.179 with us, all feeding us more and more and more 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:57.509 voices. Now, on Hebrews. I want to give you some 00:10:57.509 --> 00:10:59.990 background before we get into the meat of the 00:10:59.990 --> 00:11:02.370 chapter. So Hebrews, we have no clue who wrote 00:11:02.370 --> 00:11:05.230 the book. We have our guesses, but we don't really 00:11:05.230 --> 00:11:07.850 know who wrote the book of Hebrews. We can make 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:09.950 these scholarly guesses, but we don't know for 00:11:09.950 --> 00:11:12.769 sure. But what we do know for sure is who it 00:11:12.769 --> 00:11:15.350 was written to. The book of Hebrews was written 00:11:15.350 --> 00:11:17.649 to Christ followers or Christians who came from 00:11:17.649 --> 00:11:21.009 a Jewish Hebrew background. And it's not just 00:11:21.009 --> 00:11:22.730 that these were Jewish Christians. These were 00:11:22.730 --> 00:11:26.419 Jewish Christians who, like us, were tired. And 00:11:26.419 --> 00:11:29.500 they were discouraged. They were worn out because 00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:32.419 there were all of these people trying to get 00:11:32.419 --> 00:11:34.740 them to think differently. There were all these 00:11:34.740 --> 00:11:37.679 voices swamping them. These were people who had 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:39.639 put their faith in Jesus. They had given their 00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:43.039 lives to Jesus, yet life didn't get easier. This 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:45.620 is why I'm like so opposed to self -help gospel 00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:48.460 because the truth is that it doesn't always get 00:11:48.460 --> 00:11:51.679 easier. It doesn't always feel good to be a Christian. 00:11:51.820 --> 00:11:54.840 So these Christians are facing a life that frankly 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:58.539 got harder. Their friends and their families 00:11:58.539 --> 00:12:02.039 had turned on them. Gathering like this to worship 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:05.980 God was very risky. And for these Christ followers, 00:12:06.220 --> 00:12:09.659 going back to their old life, the life before 00:12:09.659 --> 00:12:15.750 they became going back was starting to be very 00:12:15.750 --> 00:12:18.789 appealing. It was starting to be very enticing. 00:12:18.850 --> 00:12:20.870 They started thinking that maybe if we go back 00:12:20.870 --> 00:12:22.909 to the old, that familiar system, maybe if we 00:12:22.909 --> 00:12:26.009 go back to that, the one that didn't really ask 00:12:26.009 --> 00:12:28.389 as much or really didn't cost us as much, if 00:12:28.389 --> 00:12:32.470 we go back to that, maybe things will get better. 00:12:32.669 --> 00:12:36.629 Maybe life will get easier. Does that sound familiar? 00:12:38.029 --> 00:12:42.970 The idea. That if I just go back, if I back away 00:12:42.970 --> 00:12:46.009 from the challenging, if I move toward the things 00:12:46.009 --> 00:12:48.470 that ask less of me, the things that are less 00:12:48.470 --> 00:12:52.370 costly, if I go to that, if I leave this, maybe 00:12:52.370 --> 00:12:57.570 life will be better. And so the writer of Hebrews, 00:12:57.710 --> 00:13:00.070 he sees this problem and he feels like, I need 00:13:00.070 --> 00:13:01.769 to do something about it. I need to say something 00:13:01.769 --> 00:13:04.409 about this. So he looks at these distressed and 00:13:04.409 --> 00:13:07.179 exhausted Christians and he makes... One argument 00:13:07.179 --> 00:13:10.480 over and over and over again in the book of Hebrews, 00:13:10.600 --> 00:13:14.710 and that is that Jesus is greater. And so for 00:13:14.710 --> 00:13:16.429 the next few weeks, we're going to be walking 00:13:16.429 --> 00:13:17.970 through this argument that the Hebrew writer 00:13:17.970 --> 00:13:21.230 makes that Jesus is greater. He's greater than 00:13:21.230 --> 00:13:23.190 the prophets and the angels that you yourself 00:13:23.190 --> 00:13:25.549 used to hold in high esteem. You maybe still 00:13:25.549 --> 00:13:28.509 hold in high esteem. He's greater than the priests 00:13:28.509 --> 00:13:30.590 that you grew up under, those guys that taught 00:13:30.590 --> 00:13:32.830 you, those guys that told you what to think and 00:13:32.830 --> 00:13:34.850 how to think, those guys that taught you. Those 00:13:34.850 --> 00:13:37.799 guys, Jesus is greater than them. The religious 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:40.159 system that you grew up in, the thing that told 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:41.960 you if you keep these traditions and if you honor 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:44.879 these commandments, you'll be okay. Those things 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:49.480 are not greater than Jesus. And because I see 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:52.039 the same thing facing Christians and non -Christians 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:56.000 so prevalently today, I've wanted, I felt like 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:58.860 we needed to spend some time in this book. And 00:13:58.860 --> 00:14:01.320 so we're going to follow this argument all the 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:04.620 way through the book of Hebrews. Because I do 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:06.379 believe that sitting in this room right now, 00:14:07.169 --> 00:14:09.590 Somewhere in a chair in here right now is someone 00:14:09.590 --> 00:14:14.210 who is facing that same exhaustion. Feeling like 00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:16.730 I want to do the right thing, but doing the right 00:14:16.730 --> 00:14:19.110 thing makes life a lot more difficult. I want 00:14:19.110 --> 00:14:20.830 to do the right thing, but doing the right thing 00:14:20.830 --> 00:14:24.009 makes me scared. Doing the right thing takes 00:14:24.009 --> 00:14:25.870 away from my pleasure. Doing the right thing 00:14:25.870 --> 00:14:28.330 takes away from my comfort. And so you may be 00:14:28.330 --> 00:14:32.039 feeling tired. You're tired of searching, tired 00:14:32.039 --> 00:14:35.419 of comparing, tired of competing, tired of wondering 00:14:35.419 --> 00:14:38.139 if what you're doing is following the right voice. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.600 Which is why I think it's cool that the Hebrew 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:45.379 writer starts where he does with who's doing 00:14:45.379 --> 00:14:48.559 the talking. It's not the prophets. It's not 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:52.980 the angels. It's not the priests. It's none of 00:14:52.980 --> 00:14:57.580 them. That's how God used to speak. But now. 00:14:58.220 --> 00:15:00.720 Look at what he says in verse two. But now in 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:05.059 these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.419 Notice the Hebrew writer says in these last days. 00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:11.220 That's important because it tells us where we 00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:16.200 are in the story. He said before, long ago. This 00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:18.259 is how God spoke. But in these last days, this 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:20.440 is how he speaks now. They're not in a period 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:22.639 where all of these voices spoke to people on 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:24.820 behalf of God. They are in a whole new chapter. 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:28.360 And we are in this same chapter today, this chapter 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:32.200 where nobody else speaks for God except for his 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:36.820 son, where Jesus is the only one who gets to 00:15:36.820 --> 00:15:39.679 declare words, who gets to declare being the 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:44.090 mouthpiece of God. And to help us know exactly 00:15:44.090 --> 00:15:46.450 who that son, to help us know exactly who Jesus 00:15:46.450 --> 00:15:49.009 is, the writer doesn't waste time. He gets right 00:15:49.009 --> 00:15:52.289 into it in verse three. He says, he is, the son 00:15:52.289 --> 00:15:56.029 is, the radiance of the glory of God and the 00:15:56.029 --> 00:15:59.309 exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the 00:15:59.309 --> 00:16:02.230 universe by the word of his power. After making 00:16:02.230 --> 00:16:05.549 purification for sins, he sat down at the right 00:16:05.549 --> 00:16:11.070 hand of the majesty on high. Jesus, the son of 00:16:11.070 --> 00:16:15.889 God. The man that all of history, all of history 00:16:15.889 --> 00:16:19.730 corroborates the truth that he did exist. That 00:16:19.730 --> 00:16:24.710 man, he is the glory. He's the radiance of the 00:16:24.710 --> 00:16:29.309 glory of God. He's the exact imprint of his nature. 00:16:29.350 --> 00:16:32.759 That man. So what the Hebrew writer says is when 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:34.940 you look at Jesus, when you listen to Jesus, 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.519 when you talk to Jesus, who you are looking at, 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:40.480 what you are seeing and hearing is not just somebody's 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:44.659 best guess about God. It is God. It is not a 00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:47.240 prophet relaying a message. It is the source 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:51.879 directly. This is God himself made visible to 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:56.860 man, made audible to man. This is why I tell 00:16:56.860 --> 00:16:59.480 people if you've ever wondered what God was like, 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:03.480 Just read the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:07.339 John. Read those biographies of the life of Jesus, 00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:10.680 and you'll find exactly what God was like. You'll 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:13.720 find exactly what God believes, what God thinks, 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:17.960 how God operates. And more than that, the Hebrew 00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:21.339 writer says, he's not just the radiance of the 00:17:21.339 --> 00:17:26.619 glory of God. He's not just someone who is imprinted. 00:17:26.619 --> 00:17:30.650 He's the nature of God. He is the one who upholds 00:17:30.650 --> 00:17:37.309 the universe by the word of his power. He upholds 00:17:37.309 --> 00:17:39.650 it. Think about this. The atoms in your body, 00:17:39.769 --> 00:17:43.089 every particle that's on this planet, every star, 00:17:43.150 --> 00:17:46.490 meteor, asteroid in the sky, every single thing 00:17:46.490 --> 00:17:51.549 in this universe, it's all upheld together by 00:17:51.549 --> 00:17:56.190 the word of Jesus. The words that we have in 00:17:56.190 --> 00:17:59.809 a book. that we get to read whenever we want, 00:18:00.009 --> 00:18:03.269 that we get to listen to whenever we want, that 00:18:03.269 --> 00:18:06.509 we can take with us wherever we go. Those words, 00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:11.430 those same words, the universe is held together. 00:18:12.730 --> 00:18:16.440 And I love that it says word. of his power. Because 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:18.359 the Greek there for word, I'm no Greek scholar, 00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:20.720 I won't pretend to be, but I have Google. I think 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:22.460 I said that last week, same joke still applies, 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:25.160 you can laugh. I have Google. And Google says 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:29.680 that the word for word there is the word rhema. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:34.119 Rhema is the word we get our word rhetoric from. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:37.799 It's the, when we say we have rhetoric or it's 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:41.759 a rhetorical question, rhetoric. which implies 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:47.759 or refers to the active spoken word. So it's 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:52.559 not just words on a page. These are Jesus' words 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:58.680 constantly living, active, speaking. That's what's 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:00.819 holding the universe together. And that's... 00:19:01.069 --> 00:19:04.029 how God speaks to us. See, in a passage talking 00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:06.829 about who we need to listen to, who's speaking 00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:09.309 to us, the Hebrew writer essentially says the 00:19:09.309 --> 00:19:11.329 same voice that is holding the universe together 00:19:11.329 --> 00:19:13.970 is the voice trying to guide you through life. 00:19:16.230 --> 00:19:19.869 The one who is the reason you're alive is trying 00:19:19.869 --> 00:19:23.490 to help you thrive. And yet we have trouble deciding. 00:19:23.970 --> 00:19:27.150 We have trouble... deciding who we're going to 00:19:27.150 --> 00:19:29.450 listen to, if that's the voice we need to listen 00:19:29.450 --> 00:19:31.910 to. We struggle knowing if we should follow the 00:19:31.910 --> 00:19:34.690 words that he speaks or do we follow the words 00:19:34.690 --> 00:19:38.109 of the world around us. And I'm just going to 00:19:38.109 --> 00:19:40.410 be honest this morning. I don't feel like this 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:43.069 should be a competition. I don't think there's 00:19:43.069 --> 00:19:46.589 any contest there. This is like Georgia playing 00:19:46.589 --> 00:19:49.049 East Tennessee High School Collegiate Academy. 00:19:49.650 --> 00:19:53.470 You should win 80 to 4. There should be no contest 00:19:53.470 --> 00:19:57.859 here. Jesus' voice is in a whole different league. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:03.819 Yet, we still give the other voices a chance. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:11.460 You know, if that proclamation that the Hebrew 00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:13.980 writer makes in those first three verses wasn't 00:20:13.980 --> 00:20:18.779 enough to get you to listen, he then goes on 00:20:18.779 --> 00:20:22.279 and says, this Jesus, the radiance of God's glory, 00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:25.059 the imprint of his nature, the one whose words 00:20:25.059 --> 00:20:30.119 hold the universe together, this son, after doing 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:32.960 what was necessary to purify us of our sins, 00:20:33.059 --> 00:20:35.079 which we just reflected on in the Lord's Supper, 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:38.680 after doing what was necessary, dying on a cross, 00:20:38.859 --> 00:20:42.200 being buried, rising from the grave, this Jesus 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:46.759 ascended into heaven and he sat down at the right 00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:53.839 hand of God, of the majesty of heaven. He sat 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:58.700 down. And something of note there is the fact 00:20:58.700 --> 00:21:01.720 that in the ancient world, you didn't sit down 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:05.460 until the job was done. You didn't sit down until 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:07.420 the work was finished. There wasn't a lunch break 00:21:07.420 --> 00:21:10.980 in the middle of the work day. There wasn't a, 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:15.079 I need my break just to clear my mind and have 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:17.599 a chance to just veg out for 15 minutes. There 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:20.339 wasn't a smoke break. There wasn't a bathroom 00:21:20.339 --> 00:21:23.559 break. You kept going until the work was done. 00:21:24.039 --> 00:21:27.420 And so when he says Jesus sat down, what he's 00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:31.319 saying is that the job was complete. Just to 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:34.180 give you an example, the priests in the old Jewish 00:21:34.180 --> 00:21:37.380 way, they never sat down in the temple. There 00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:40.019 weren't chairs for them to sit down on. They 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:42.980 kept going because the work of sacrifice was 00:21:42.980 --> 00:21:45.759 never done. So when they were on the job, they 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:48.940 were standing. But Jesus, now having completed 00:21:48.940 --> 00:21:55.279 the work, he sat down because it's settled. The 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:58.700 word is settled. The job of making it possible 00:21:58.700 --> 00:22:03.160 for us to be reconciled to God, it's done. And 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:06.900 so now the writer turns and he asks this question. 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:09.400 That the first century audience, these people 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:11.359 that are reading this letter or hearing it preached 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:13.859 for the first time, that they would have been 00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:19.380 taken aback by. The reason that this is, is because 00:22:19.380 --> 00:22:23.000 angels were about as high up, the chain of authority, 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.799 obviously besides God, angels were about as high 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:28.559 up as you could get. But I want you to look at 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:31.589 what the question was in Hebrews 1 verse 5. For 00:22:31.589 --> 00:22:34.210 to which of us, or for to which of the angels 00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:37.470 did God ever say, you are my son, today I have 00:22:37.470 --> 00:22:40.789 begotten you. Or again, I will be to him a father 00:22:40.789 --> 00:22:44.710 and he shall be to me a son. He says those angels 00:22:44.710 --> 00:22:48.069 that everybody holds in such high esteem, did 00:22:48.069 --> 00:22:51.029 God ever look at them and declare them to be 00:22:51.029 --> 00:22:57.470 his son? These angels, did God ever look to them 00:22:57.470 --> 00:23:00.250 and say, I'm gonna be a father to you and you, 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:03.420 You'll be like my son, and I have two sons. I 00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:05.599 know how I feel about my sons, and I know how 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:08.039 I feel about other people. I think I love my 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:10.940 sons. No, I don't think. I know I love my sons 00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:13.039 more than I love anybody else in this world, 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:16.859 except my wife. Gotcha, honey. I love those boys. 00:23:17.779 --> 00:23:20.240 And if you have kids, you know how much you love 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:22.880 your children. You love them more than anything 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:25.910 else in this world. There's a special relationship 00:23:25.910 --> 00:23:29.029 where you will do anything for them. You will 00:23:29.029 --> 00:23:32.710 go to every depth, any length to make sure that 00:23:32.710 --> 00:23:34.750 they have what they need, that they are taken 00:23:34.750 --> 00:23:36.349 care of, that they are where they're supposed 00:23:36.349 --> 00:23:39.250 to be. You will make sure that they are okay. 00:23:39.450 --> 00:23:42.109 And so what he's saying is, did God ever look 00:23:42.109 --> 00:23:45.670 at the angels and hold them in as high esteem 00:23:45.670 --> 00:23:49.400 as his son? Did he ever look at Gabriel, Michael, 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:51.279 these angels that we know about, that they would 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.319 have known about in this first century, to any 00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:57.480 messenger and say, you are my only begotten son, 00:23:57.740 --> 00:24:03.039 I am your father? No, he didn't. There's only 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:08.200 one person that God declares to be the son, and 00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:11.279 that's Jesus. And he goes on because what he's 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:14.019 doing here, he's not simply making the case for 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:16.319 Jesus being better than the angels. He's making 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:19.880 sure we understand, again, that Jesus is in a 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:25.380 league of his own. Nobody can compete. And he 00:24:25.380 --> 00:24:29.980 says in verse 8, But of the Son, he says, Your 00:24:29.980 --> 00:24:35.180 throne, O God, is forever and ever. Now did you 00:24:35.180 --> 00:24:38.799 catch the fact that he's speaking for God here? 00:24:39.649 --> 00:24:42.809 He says, God looks at the sun and says, your 00:24:42.809 --> 00:24:48.269 throne, oh God. God is putting some respect on 00:24:48.269 --> 00:24:51.269 Jesus' name. And he says, this is your throne. 00:24:51.829 --> 00:24:54.250 It's your throne. Oh God, we're in the same league. 00:24:54.549 --> 00:24:56.809 God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, they're in the same 00:24:56.809 --> 00:24:59.470 league. And so God looks at Jesus, he says, your 00:24:59.470 --> 00:25:03.470 throne is forever and ever. It's not borrowed. 00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:06.220 This is yours, and it's not temporary. It's forever 00:25:06.220 --> 00:25:09.279 and ever. Every other voice that you have ever 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:12.640 heard, every other voice, even the good ones, 00:25:12.700 --> 00:25:15.299 even the wise ones, your parents, your mentors, 00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:19.759 your preachers, every other voice has an expiration 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:23.980 date. All of your favorite influencers, your 00:25:23.980 --> 00:25:26.900 favorite podcaster, your favorite teacher, expiration 00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:29.700 date. Your favorite authors, expiration date. 00:25:29.819 --> 00:25:32.660 Every voice has an expiration date, but Jesus 00:25:32.660 --> 00:25:36.759 does not. His throne, his power, his majesty, 00:25:36.859 --> 00:25:40.440 he sits on his throne forever and ever and ever. 00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:42.259 And I don't know if you know what forever means. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:44.900 I'm pretty sure it's a simple word. It means 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:52.420 forever. And so Jesus sits on his throne. Forever 00:25:52.420 --> 00:25:56.299 and ever. So the Hebrew writer spends the rest 00:25:56.299 --> 00:25:58.940 of chapter 1 emphasizing this point that Jesus 00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:01.759 is in a whole different category. He's in a whole 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:04.400 different league from everyone else. But I want 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:06.400 you to see how the text kind of shifts us to 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:09.200 two different places. On one hand, there's this 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:12.980 thing where, you know, having this truth, it's 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:16.500 liberating. It's freeing. Because if God has 00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:19.140 spoken fully through His Son, then that means 00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:21.680 we can stop the exhausting search of who the 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:24.380 next voice is that we need to listen to. We don't 00:26:24.380 --> 00:26:26.720 have to keep trying out new gurus or guides. 00:26:26.900 --> 00:26:28.779 We don't have to keep giving our attention and 00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:31.400 allegiance to influencers. After all, we have 00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:35.779 the final word of God, so we can rest now. But 00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:39.619 on the other hand, the truth brings urgency. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:44.680 It requires something of us. It's not just liberating. 00:26:45.130 --> 00:26:47.829 But it brings a response, or at least a necessary 00:26:47.829 --> 00:26:50.250 response. I want you to look how the Hebrew writer 00:26:50.250 --> 00:26:53.849 starts chapter 2 in verse 1. Therefore, we must 00:26:53.849 --> 00:26:57.269 pay much closer attention to what we have heard, 00:26:57.430 --> 00:27:01.509 lest we drift away from it. After all the things 00:27:01.509 --> 00:27:04.390 he just said in chapter 1, the first thing he 00:27:04.390 --> 00:27:10.049 warns about is drift. He says, therefore, which 00:27:10.049 --> 00:27:12.890 just means everything else I've said, this follows. 00:27:13.069 --> 00:27:17.509 Therefore. We have to pay attention. We need 00:27:17.509 --> 00:27:22.230 to pay much closer attention to what we've heard. 00:27:22.970 --> 00:27:25.450 What he's saying is, to the good news we've heard, 00:27:25.589 --> 00:27:27.690 to the commandments of Jesus that we've heard, 00:27:27.750 --> 00:27:30.150 to the teachings of Jesus that we've heard, we 00:27:30.150 --> 00:27:33.230 have to pay very close attention to that. Not 00:27:33.230 --> 00:27:35.650 the words of some teacher, not the words of some 00:27:35.650 --> 00:27:37.589 preacher, although I do love when you pay attention 00:27:37.589 --> 00:27:41.029 to what the preacher says. But if the preacher 00:27:41.029 --> 00:27:44.579 says something that is not what Jesus said, Exit 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:47.380 out, cancel it, don't listen to that. If the 00:27:47.380 --> 00:27:50.559 angels say something that Jesus didn't say, cancel 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:55.359 that. If some priest, if some great teacher says 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:58.680 something that Jesus didn't say, cancel that. 00:27:59.380 --> 00:28:04.660 Pay close attention to what Jesus says so that 00:28:04.660 --> 00:28:09.819 you don't drift. He doesn't say so that you don't 00:28:09.819 --> 00:28:13.579 run away. He doesn't say so that you don't willfully 00:28:13.579 --> 00:28:17.740 rebel. He says so you don't drift. The way a 00:28:17.740 --> 00:28:20.140 boat drifts when it's on the water and there's 00:28:20.140 --> 00:28:23.559 waves coming in, and one little wave at a time, 00:28:23.660 --> 00:28:26.259 without anybody really noticing, if you're not 00:28:26.259 --> 00:28:29.160 paying attention, the boat then finds itself 00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:35.359 way off course. That, that's what he's warning 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:39.539 against. And sadly, that's what happens. Even 00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:42.119 still today, even though we have this book, even 00:28:42.119 --> 00:28:44.339 though we have the teachings of Jesus, even though 00:28:44.339 --> 00:28:46.519 we have the teachings of someone like the Hebrew 00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:49.099 writer saying, pay attention to what Jesus says 00:28:49.099 --> 00:28:53.200 so that you don't drift. Sadly, we drift. Most 00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:55.960 Christians don't wake up one day and say, you 00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:58.940 know what? I'm done. You know, I'm done with 00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:01.140 this Jesus thing. I don't want to follow him 00:29:01.140 --> 00:29:03.700 anymore. I'm done going to church. I'm done having 00:29:03.700 --> 00:29:07.299 my allegiance in Christ. I'm done. Most Christians 00:29:07.299 --> 00:29:11.759 don't do that. What happens is, is most people, 00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:16.220 or I guess some people, stop listening. They 00:29:16.220 --> 00:29:19.740 stop listening to Jesus. Life gets busy. Things 00:29:19.740 --> 00:29:23.079 happen. We start hearing other voices, those 00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:25.319 competing voices. We start listening to them. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.920 We start giving our attention to them. And the 00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:32.920 next thing we know, we're really far away from 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:36.069 our great shepherd. We're really far away from 00:29:36.069 --> 00:29:38.630 our great teacher, our great high priest. We're 00:29:38.630 --> 00:29:41.269 really far away from Jesus. I want you to think 00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:44.990 about marriages. You know, so often when marriages 00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:49.970 fail, the thing that is mentioned is we love 00:29:49.970 --> 00:29:55.049 each other, but we just kind of drifted apart. 00:29:56.630 --> 00:30:00.630 Over time, we just kind of grew apart. Or like 00:30:00.630 --> 00:30:04.230 friendships. You know, my best friends in elementary 00:30:04.230 --> 00:30:06.950 school weren't my best friends in middle school. 00:30:07.109 --> 00:30:09.269 And my best friends in middle school weren't 00:30:09.269 --> 00:30:11.009 my best friends in high school. And my best friends 00:30:11.009 --> 00:30:13.230 in high school, I have one that I still talk 00:30:13.230 --> 00:30:18.109 to like once every couple of months. The reason 00:30:18.109 --> 00:30:23.970 is, is because we drift. We stop talking to them 00:30:23.970 --> 00:30:26.589 daily. We stop spending time with them daily. 00:30:26.910 --> 00:30:29.490 We stop paying attention to them daily. And the 00:30:29.490 --> 00:30:35.859 next thing we know, We're far off. So where do 00:30:35.859 --> 00:30:39.180 we want this truth about Jesus being the final 00:30:39.180 --> 00:30:42.220 word, the only word we should listen to, the 00:30:42.220 --> 00:30:44.819 only word that should have our attention? Where 00:30:44.819 --> 00:30:48.240 do we want this to take us? Should we rest or 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:53.579 do we live with urgency? Trick question. It's 00:30:53.579 --> 00:30:59.039 both. It's both. We can rest because the only 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:01.359 voice that matters, the only voice that we need 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:04.759 has already spoken. But we have to stay alert. 00:31:05.180 --> 00:31:08.440 We have to keep our minds fixed on that voice 00:31:08.440 --> 00:31:11.059 because it is entirely possible. In fact, it 00:31:11.059 --> 00:31:14.039 is way too possible, way too common to have the 00:31:14.039 --> 00:31:16.980 right voice available to you and unknowingly 00:31:16.980 --> 00:31:21.490 stop listening to it. I want you to think about 00:31:21.490 --> 00:31:23.430 the 12 men that followed Jesus. He had these 00:31:23.430 --> 00:31:25.990 12 friends, these 12 disciples that followed 00:31:25.990 --> 00:31:28.069 him. They learned from him. They listened to 00:31:28.069 --> 00:31:31.410 him. They lived with him. He walked this earth 00:31:31.410 --> 00:31:35.589 with these guys. For years, they followed and 00:31:35.589 --> 00:31:39.390 learned from him. Well, on one day on a mountain, 00:31:39.450 --> 00:31:42.670 this is at the end of their journey walking with 00:31:42.670 --> 00:31:46.390 him. Jesus has these three disciples go with 00:31:46.390 --> 00:31:50.009 him, Peter, James, and John. And they get a glimpse 00:31:50.009 --> 00:31:53.130 at exactly who this son of God is. This man that 00:31:53.130 --> 00:31:57.769 we just said is the exact imprint of God. He's 00:31:57.769 --> 00:32:00.250 the radiance of God's glory. He sits down on 00:32:00.250 --> 00:32:03.329 a throne next to the majesty on high. This man 00:32:03.329 --> 00:32:05.210 that they've been spending these years of their 00:32:05.210 --> 00:32:09.529 lives with, this man takes them up on a mountain 00:32:09.529 --> 00:32:12.390 and they get to see. And what happens is Moses, 00:32:12.569 --> 00:32:15.069 this great Jewish leader from way back in Jewish 00:32:15.069 --> 00:32:18.599 history, he appears to them. And Elijah, this 00:32:18.599 --> 00:32:20.920 great prophet from way back in Jewish history, 00:32:21.059 --> 00:32:24.160 he appears to them. The law and the prophets 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:26.660 standing right there in front of them next to 00:32:26.660 --> 00:32:30.019 Jesus. And Peter, this disciple who kind of pops 00:32:30.019 --> 00:32:32.359 off at the mouth a lot, he doesn't really think 00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:34.920 before he speaks. He just kind of does stuff. 00:32:35.180 --> 00:32:37.420 Peter starts talking about building shelters 00:32:37.420 --> 00:32:42.700 for these three men as if Jesus belonged in the 00:32:42.700 --> 00:32:47.170 same category as the other two. And then a voice 00:32:47.170 --> 00:32:51.950 from heaven interrupts Peter in his little, I 00:32:51.950 --> 00:32:56.589 don't know what you want to call it, spout. God 00:32:56.589 --> 00:33:00.970 speaks through and he says this, this, this Jesus, 00:33:01.109 --> 00:33:03.049 this man that you've been following for years, 00:33:03.130 --> 00:33:07.029 this one man, not these other guys, this man, 00:33:07.170 --> 00:33:12.109 this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. 00:33:12.650 --> 00:33:19.329 Listen to him. Not listen to them. Not take some 00:33:19.329 --> 00:33:21.730 advice from each of them. Not pay attention to 00:33:21.730 --> 00:33:28.009 each voice. Just listen to Him, to Jesus. And 00:33:28.009 --> 00:33:30.890 so in a world... drowning in voices in a world 00:33:30.890 --> 00:33:32.750 where everyone is trying to get our attention 00:33:32.750 --> 00:33:34.930 and our allegiance in a world where people are 00:33:34.930 --> 00:33:37.329 pulling us in different directions and trying 00:33:37.329 --> 00:33:39.509 to push us in different directions in a world 00:33:39.509 --> 00:33:43.069 like that. Choose one voice to listen to. And 00:33:43.069 --> 00:33:45.269 I need you to know that choosing one voice to 00:33:45.269 --> 00:33:51.190 listen to isn't limiting. It's liberating. Because 00:33:51.190 --> 00:33:55.069 if I've got one person holding my arm and another 00:33:55.069 --> 00:33:58.029 person holding my other arm, and one person holding 00:33:58.029 --> 00:34:00.690 my ear and another holding my other ear and one 00:34:00.690 --> 00:34:02.650 holding my leg and they're all pulling me in 00:34:02.650 --> 00:34:07.190 different directions, that is exhausting, constricting, 00:34:07.430 --> 00:34:11.230 it's painful, it's not a good way to live life. 00:34:11.309 --> 00:34:16.769 But if I just give my ear to one, and if I just 00:34:16.769 --> 00:34:19.889 give my ear to the one that I know is going to 00:34:19.889 --> 00:34:24.329 lead me where I need to go, if I just listen 00:34:24.329 --> 00:34:30.179 to the one, I'll be okay. So here's what I want 00:34:30.179 --> 00:34:33.519 you to walk out of here with this week. The next 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:37.280 time one of those voices shows up trying to get 00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:39.719 your attention, the next time somebody shows 00:34:39.719 --> 00:34:42.599 up with some new information, another breaking 00:34:42.599 --> 00:34:44.659 news thing that wants you to get freaked out 00:34:44.659 --> 00:34:47.440 or get worried, the next time someone, one of 00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:50.800 those voices, shows up trying to take your attention 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:55.539 away from Jesus, know what to do. And you know 00:34:55.539 --> 00:35:00.519 what to do. Block out the noise and listen to 00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:04.059 him because he is greater than all of those other 00:35:04.059 --> 00:35:06.860 voices. He is greater than any other mortal and 00:35:06.860 --> 00:35:10.519 temporary voice. His voice is not only eternal, 00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:14.500 it is all powerful and it goes on. It sits at 00:35:14.500 --> 00:35:19.329 the right hand of God forever and ever. In fact, 00:35:19.369 --> 00:35:21.309 let me give you one tool for application this 00:35:21.309 --> 00:35:23.409 week, just one thing that I believe will bless 00:35:23.409 --> 00:35:25.769 your life if you'll do it, and I'm going to do 00:35:25.769 --> 00:35:28.070 it with you. So don't let me do it alone because 00:35:28.070 --> 00:35:30.530 that would be lame. We do this together. When 00:35:30.530 --> 00:35:33.230 you wake up, I want you to let the first thing 00:35:33.230 --> 00:35:37.269 you do be knees before feet and Bible before 00:35:37.269 --> 00:35:42.269 phone. So when you scramble on your nightstand 00:35:42.269 --> 00:35:44.590 to pick up your phone and you finally get your 00:35:44.590 --> 00:35:48.170 hand on it, Hopefully, in your scrambling, you 00:35:48.170 --> 00:35:52.349 felt a Bible. And you'll touch that Bible. And 00:35:52.349 --> 00:35:53.789 you'll go back to the Bible. You'll let go of 00:35:53.789 --> 00:35:55.869 your phone. You'll go back to the Bible. You'll 00:35:55.869 --> 00:35:58.550 grab it, and you'll let your eyes adjust. Maybe 00:35:58.550 --> 00:36:00.090 you'll turn on the lamp and wake up your spouse. 00:36:00.329 --> 00:36:01.969 They can't get mad at you if you're reading the 00:36:01.969 --> 00:36:07.090 Bible. Okay? Lies, I'm looking at you. You can't 00:36:07.090 --> 00:36:08.230 get mad at me if I'm reading the Bible. So you'll 00:36:08.230 --> 00:36:11.150 turn on the light. You'll open your Bible, and 00:36:11.150 --> 00:36:14.409 you'll read it. And you'll let God be the first 00:36:14.409 --> 00:36:18.780 voice. The first words you hear for the day. 00:36:20.239 --> 00:36:24.000 Not Fox News, not CNN, not Facebook, not Instagram, 00:36:24.139 --> 00:36:27.400 not TikTok. God's words will be the first words 00:36:27.400 --> 00:36:31.019 in your mind for your day. And so you'll listen 00:36:31.019 --> 00:36:35.780 to him. And then when you slink out of bed, because 00:36:35.780 --> 00:36:37.199 you're not going to just pop up and run to the 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:39.360 shower. You're going to slink down into the floor. 00:36:39.460 --> 00:36:40.920 You're going to put your knees on the ground. 00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:44.199 And I do believe there's something special about 00:36:44.199 --> 00:36:48.199 praying. on your knees. You'll get down on your 00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:51.539 knees, and the first person you will talk to 00:36:51.539 --> 00:36:55.239 will be God. And so the information you take 00:36:55.239 --> 00:36:57.780 in first thing in the morning, the direction 00:36:57.780 --> 00:37:00.300 for your life that day will come directly from 00:37:00.300 --> 00:37:03.480 God, and the first words you say will be words 00:37:03.480 --> 00:37:07.300 to God. Because if you're like me, I have a lot 00:37:07.300 --> 00:37:09.280 of issues if you haven't figured it out yet. 00:37:09.619 --> 00:37:12.360 If you're like me, The first thing you do is 00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:13.820 you grab your phone, you scroll for a minute, 00:37:13.900 --> 00:37:15.980 then you realize, I'm 20 minutes late, you'll 00:37:15.980 --> 00:37:18.280 put the phone down, you'll pop out of bed, you'll 00:37:18.280 --> 00:37:20.380 run to the shower. As you're running to the shower, 00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:21.920 you'll yell at your wife, it's time to get up, 00:37:21.940 --> 00:37:24.800 we're late, get the kids going. And that's not 00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:27.420 a good way to start the day, is it? It's a pretty 00:37:27.420 --> 00:37:30.679 lousy way to start the day. But if the first 00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:39.219 words you say are, God, Father, help me, guide 00:37:39.219 --> 00:37:44.909 me. Direct me. Forgive me. Light the path for 00:37:44.909 --> 00:37:47.429 my day. If those are the first words you say, 00:37:47.650 --> 00:37:49.690 and if the first words you hear are the words 00:37:49.690 --> 00:37:53.349 of God, how could you possibly have a bad day? 00:37:54.329 --> 00:37:56.809 Now, you might have bad things happen, but if 00:37:56.809 --> 00:37:58.730 God's voice is in your ear when those bad things 00:37:58.730 --> 00:38:01.409 happen, you're going to be okay. And if you're 00:38:01.409 --> 00:38:03.409 talking to God when those bad things happen, 00:38:03.550 --> 00:38:05.869 you're going to be okay. So knees before feet 00:38:05.869 --> 00:38:08.269 and Bible before phone, if you will start your 00:38:08.269 --> 00:38:11.599 morning. Like that, I promise you, you will feel 00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:17.500 it is so much easier to navigate life. Even better, 00:38:17.579 --> 00:38:20.440 let the Bible passages you read come from one 00:38:20.440 --> 00:38:22.960 of the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:25.800 I recommend my recommendation for you today, 00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:28.019 Matthew 5 through 7, the Sermon on the Mount. 00:38:28.619 --> 00:38:30.619 Because I believe that is where Jesus does his 00:38:30.619 --> 00:38:33.420 best teaching on how we ought to live. And so 00:38:33.420 --> 00:38:37.360 this morning, I'm challenging you. To listen 00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:40.159 to God first because his voice, Jesus' voice 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:42.619 is so much greater than anything this world has 00:38:42.619 --> 00:38:46.179 to offer. And talk to God first. And today, if 00:38:46.179 --> 00:38:48.199 you have drifted because you stopped listening 00:38:48.199 --> 00:38:50.960 to the voice of Jesus, or if you've never heard 00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:53.460 the voice of Jesus, but today you started listening 00:38:53.460 --> 00:38:55.940 for the first time, I'm offering the invitation 00:38:55.940 --> 00:39:00.219 for you to come to him, to open your life up 00:39:00.219 --> 00:39:04.219 to his teaching. If you need to repent and return 00:39:04.219 --> 00:39:07.079 to Jesus, if you're ready to learn more about 00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:09.980 him and his word, or if you are ready to give 00:39:09.980 --> 00:39:12.300 your life to him and commit to listening to him 00:39:12.300 --> 00:39:15.800 until he returns, whatever it is you need, we 00:39:15.800 --> 00:39:18.039 offer a time at the end of the lesson before 00:39:18.039 --> 00:39:21.280 we depart of invitation where we invite you to 00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:24.079 come and lay it all down at the feet of Jesus, 00:39:24.199 --> 00:39:26.679 to come and speak with me or one of our shepherds, 00:39:26.739 --> 00:39:28.900 to speak with somebody, to pray with somebody, 00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:32.460 to lay everything down at the feet of Jesus. 00:39:32.860 --> 00:39:35.400 So if you need to do that today, We would love 00:39:35.400 --> 00:39:37.539 to help you. We would love to help you better 00:39:37.539 --> 00:39:41.079 trust and follow him. So whatever you need, please 00:39:41.079 --> 00:39:43.219 come now as we stand and as we sing.