Hebrews – Part 1 Lawson and Aaron Perdue

  Praise the Lord, friends, and welcome to the broadcast. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in. We are sharing today on Hebrews The Better Covenant. We have great teaching. This is one of my favorite books and you know it’s all about Jesus and Jesus makes everything better. So you’ll wanna listen today, tell your friends about the broadcast, and let them know there’s great teaching. It will encourage you and help you move into what God has for you. Blessings. Friends, it’s great to have you here today and we’re beginning this brand new series on Hebrews The Better Covenant. This is one of my favorite books in the Bible, and I’m sure you’re gonna be blessed the next couple of weeks as we teach through the book of Hebrews, talking about how Jesus makes everything better.

 

  Amen. Praise God. So when we begin here in Hebrews chapter 1, it says in the first two verses, “God, who at different times in different manners, spoke in the times past of the Fathers by the prophets, but has in these last days spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed heir of all things by whom he made the worlds.” And so God spoke to us in different times, in different ways, He spoke through the prophets but now God is speaking to us through Jesus. And this is a theme that we see really clear throughout the book of Hebrews and it’s talking about how Jesus is better. And he’s talking about here in Hebrews chapter 1, how Jesus is better than the angels. But he talks about how the angels came and established the Old Covenant, different things happened when the covenant of Moses came. But then he talks about in Hebrews chapter 12, how God is still speaking to us through Jesus. And so that theme has followed completely through the book of Hebrews. But right here in Hebrews chapter one, he begins to talk about who Jesus Christ is. And so he makes a statement. He is in these last days spoken to us by his son. Jesus is the Son of God whom he appointed heir of all things Jesus by whom He made the world. Jesus is the Creator. And then he goes on to say in verse three, who being the brightness of his glory and express image of his person upholds all things by the word of his power, when he by himself purged our sins and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Jesus Christ of the Son of God, he’s the creator. He’s God manifest in the flesh. You know, if you wanna see to the see the Father, where do you look?

 

  You look at Jesus, I love that He’s the express image of his person. If you wanna know who God is, you look at Jesus. Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. If Jesus willed it, it’s the Father’s will. And there’s no difference in their will, there’s no difference in their desires, they’re no… Jesus is the…. He’s the picture of the Father. If you wanna see who God is, you have to look at Jesus. That’s why he said, I’m the only way to the Father.

 

  Yeah. Yeah. You know, when you look at John, John sees Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of the world, which he talks about here. But in Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews. But he says here in Hebrews chapter one, he’s the express image of his person in verse three and he upholds all things by the word of his power. John chapter 1, verse 18 says, “No man has seen God at any time, but the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has revealed him.” That means that no man has fully understood and comprehended who God is but Jesus came to show us the Father. And for instance, a lot of people have this question, is healing the will of God today? Well, you look at Jesus, and there’s 14 times, if I’m correct, that it says in the new New Testament, Jesus healed them all. Jesus healed them, every one. And every person that came to Jesus in the gospels, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to be healed was healed. So Jesus shows us the will of the Father. And God said in Exodus chapter 15, verse 26, “I am the Lord who heals you.” So Jesus reveals that to us. And so he just shows us the Father. And then it says, “He upholds all things by the word of his power.” You know, if God’s word would fail, heaven and earth would pass away. Peter talks about that. Aaron, you had something you wanna share?

 

  Yeah. I wanna talk about just knowing that when you see Jesus, you see the Father. And a lot of people think they really know that. But like you said, a lot of people really don’t understand God’s will. And if you look at Jesus, it’s very clear to see God’s will. His will to provide for people, his will to take care of people, his will to heal people. And you know, I was actually studying this out one time, you know, Jesus’s last message to his disciples before he went to the cross. In John 14, Philip, one of his disciples, this is John 14, verse 8, said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us.” So he didn’t really understand that Jesus was the exact express image of the Father. “Then Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me, Philip?” I think there’s a lot of people who claim to know God, who claim to know Jesus, but they really don’t because they don’t really understand that Jesus is the express image of the Father. “And he said, he who has seen me, has seen the Father so how can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?” And then he goes on and talks about his words, “The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the work.” So he’s saying that the words that I speak, they’re the words from the Father. That’s exactly what the writer of Hebrews then says. Like he’s the express image of the Father because he’s that exact image, the exact desires, the exact person, the words that he speaks, they’re the exact same words as well.

 

  So Jesus is the creator, Jesus is the Son of God, He’s God manifest in the flesh, He’s the exact image of God. Jesus is the word of God. You know, John begins his gospel with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.” You know, and so Jesus is the living word of God. And he talks about that also here in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12. He says, “For the word of God is living and powerful.” And he says, “Sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” He goes on in verse 13 and says, he says this, “Neither is there any creation that’s not manifested.” It’s sight talking about that the word is this living person, Jesus. But all things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do. So Jesus is all these things. And not only that, it says, “When he by himself purged our sins” Jesus is the savior of the world, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high being made so much better than the angels. Now, here in verse 4 the writer of Hebrews really gets into the heart of this message that Jesus is better, better than the angels. And by inheritance has obtained a name more excellent than they. So this is the key message of the book of Hebrews. We have a better covenant established on better promises and that’s the key verse in Hebrews chapter 8, verse 6 that reveals this. And so the challenge here was that these Jewish believers were going back to the law, such as we see Paul writes about it in the Book of Galatians, but he said, Jesus is better. Don’t go back to the law. Don’t move away from Jesus. And that’s really the message we’ll see throughout the whole book. And he says this in verse five. He says, “For under which of the angels said He at any time, you are my son, today have I begotten you.” So Jesus is the only begotten son of God. And again, “I will be to him a father, and he will be to me a son.” And again, he brings all things in the first begotten into the world. He says, and let all the angels of God worship him. And that to the angels he says, “Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire.” So, you know, angels are to worship him. We’re not to worship angels, but angels are to worship him. And so in that, when Moses gave the law, the angels were there, and it was established in this mediator of Moses, the new covenant is established in the hands of Jesus, the mediator of this covenant, this better covenant. And he goes on it and begins the talk about this, and he says, but to the son he says, “Your throne, oh God, is forever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom and you have loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, even thy God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Now, you have some things probably to say here in about verse 9. You know, Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness above everyone because he loved righteousness and hated sin. Praise God.

 

  Righteousness leads to gladness. You know, when you realize that God has made you righteous through faith in Jesus, it should lead to gladness. You know, what is the kingdom of God? What is it?

 

  Right. It’s righteousness, peace and joy.

 

  Peace, joy, in the Holy Ghost. Romans 14:17, I was gonna share that verse.

 

  They all flow together. You know, if people aren’t joyful, you know, if there’s… Every time I see some preachers that just, they really aren’t joyful people. They’re just always scowling, always angry, always….

 

  Pastor Lawson.

 

  It’s good to be passionate, you know? But if someone doesn’t have joy in their life, I wonder how much you know, real faith they have in Jesus. It leads to righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

 

  Yeah, amen. That’s Romans 14:17. It says, “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” And really, when you’re letting righteousness reign, just like Jesus, you should have joy, the joy of the Lord in your life. And I actually believe that. I believe joy is something you said here, joy is the fruit of faith. When you really have faith in God, you’re gonna have joy.

 

  And I love to, here too, you know, this is from Psalm 45 about that joy. There’s a tangible presence of joy. You know, when you’re around a church or a group of believers that really have tapped into that joy, it’s contagious really. For someone to give something, they have to have it first. And for Jesus to be able to give joy, he has to have it first. You know, in the Old Covenant, the priest were anointed and they could pass on the anointing to the congregation. In the New Testament, Jesus is our great high priest, we’ll learn that later on in Hebrews, but he’s anointed with joy and then he can anoint us with that joy, his sons and daughters, people of the New Covenant. He can anoint us with that tangible, contagious presence of joy.

 

  You know, the Bible actually says this in, it says, you will draw water, with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah chapter 12, verse 3. So if you’re born again, you should have a joy that’s in you that just flows out of you as a result of your relationship with God. And joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. A fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, right? And the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

 

  And the joy that’s from this kingdom, from Jesus, it’s different than the… I’m not even gonna call it joy, but whatever the world can give her, entertainment, you know, pleasures.

 

  The Bible actually calls it in the Old Testament, mirth. It’s like the world can have a big wild party, and yet they don’t have joy on the inside. It’s just an outward.

 

  Just the other night, my wife Heather and I invited the entire worship team here at our church and all their families over to our house. We had about 60 people at the house, you know, the people on the team, their spouses, their children, you know, there were like 20 kids running around. And our neighborhood kids came over to the party and my wife just asked ’em in the middle of our kitchen with everyone around, you know, where are your parents at? Like, they’re invited but they said, well, they’re out at the bar. But I’m just thinking, man, we’re having so much more joy here than they’re probably experiencing in the bar. Like they’re, they might be getting a temporary.

 

  It was quite a deal just the Wednesday night service before that, our children’s pastor kind of had a special night, but Fisher brought, your son brought three friends from the neighborhood, some of these same friends where their mothers were the bar.

 

  Some of ’em had never been to church before. This is their first time at church.

 

  And so they ask ’em going home, well, how was church? and they all gave it a 10 out 10. So that’s great when you bring kids from the world to church and they have fun, and there’s a real joy at that.

 

  Well, they can experience it. It’s a tangible thing. You know, that righteousness, that peace, that joy. It’s an anointing, it’s an aroma.

 

  Amen. I believe that our home should be filled with the love and the peace and the joy of God. And people can sense, you know, in thy presence is fullness of joy and at the right hand there are pleasures forevermore. That’s Psalm 16, verse 11 talking about the presence of God. You know, the book of Psalm says, “He that sits in the heavens will laugh.” And sometimes people, but I believe that we can have joy, like you say, that’s contagious. And so he says, “You Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth, the heavens, and are the works of their hands. They will perish, but you remain. They wax old as does a garment.” Verse 12, “And as a vesture, you will fold them up and they will be changed but you are the same and your years will not fail.” God is eternally the same. Jesus is better. He says, “But to which of the angels does he say at any time, sit on my right hand and I will make your enemies your footstool.” This is reiterated throughout the book of Hebrews. Jesus is the son of God. He’s the Savior of the world. He’s the Lord of heaven, the Lord of earth. And he says, “Aren’t they ministering spirit sent forth to minister for them who will be heirs of salvation.” So here we get a good truth from the scripture that the angels are sent to be servants to those who are heirs of salvation. And so thank God for Jesus. Amen. And Jesus, God is speaking to us through Jesus and Jesus is better. Hallelujah. He’s better than angels. We are not worshiping angels. We are worshiping Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Savior of the world and he still speaks to us today. So we’re gonna be back in the second part of this broadcast, and we’ll move into Hebrews chapter 2, so stay tuned, we’ve got some great news to share with you. Blessings. Hi friends. I’m so glad that you’re watching today. I have my son Aaron with me, and we are teaching on the book of Hebrews. This is one of my favorite books of the Bible. And we have some great teaching available on our website CharisChristianCenter.com. It’s free of charge, downloadable, Hebrews The Better Covenant. Hebrews, Jesus makes everything better and my book also, Hebrews The Better Covenant.

 

  And when Barbara and I are in a tight spot, we don’t call 10 or 15 or 20 or 30 people and say, would you pray for us? We don’t do that. Do you know what we call? We call one or two good friends. People of faith are people who know God and we get them to agree with us and believe God with us. It’s not because you pray many prayers, it’s because you pray in faith.

 

  Friends, it’s so good to have you staying with us today. And we’re right here in Hebrews. We’re gonna move into Hebrews chapter 2. In Hebrews chapter 1, we found out that Jesus is the express image of the Father. He’s the son of God, he’s the savior of the world and he’s better than angels. We don’t worship angels, but angels are sent to minister to us, to serve those of us who are heirs of salvation. I love Psalms chapter 34, verse 7. It says, “He gives his angels charge over us.” That’s actually Psalm 91 verse 11, “to keep us in all of our ways.” Psalm 34, verse 7 says, “The angel of the Lord encamps around about those who fear him.” Praise God for that. But then, you know, Jesus is the one. And so he says in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1, “Because of this therefore we should give more earnest heed to the things that we’ve heard, to the gospel, lest any time we should drift away, we should let them slip” And so many people start out, you know, they’re on fire for Jesus, on fire for God, but somehow they drift away. Well, in my life, that hasn’t happened. Praise God. I have been saved for 51 years. Hallelujah. That’s almost all of my life. 51 out of 59 years I have been saved. How, and you know what? Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.

 

  Like it says, we have to give earnest heed to the things we have heard. That means like there’s effort on your part, to press in, to be earnest with hearing the gospel. You should have a desire to hear it, to hear it taught, to go to church, to worship God. There should be a desire there, there should be an earnestness about it. And you know, sometimes you’re gonna have to stir yourself up and press in and make an effort.

 

  Amen. Press into the gospel, press into Jesus. You know, what he’s saying, don’t move away from Jesus. Don’t move away from the gospel. Paul makes this statement in Galatians chapter 1, verse 6. He says, “I marvel that you are so soon removed from him who called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel.” If you’re moving away from grace, if you’re moving away from the gospel, you’re moving away from Jesus. And so press into Jesus, press into the gospel. Don’t let this slip. Don’t drift away from the gospel. Don’t, don’t begin to think it’s about you instead of about Jesus. And he says this in verse 2, Hebrews 2, verse 2, “For if the word spoken by angels,” he’s talking about that old covenant when Moses, you know, brought the law. He said, “spoken by angels with steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just repayment of reward. How shall we escape if we neglect so great of salvation?” He’s saying, we have a great salvation. You need to remember how great your salvation is. You need to remember how great Jesus is. You need remember how great the gospel is, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, but was confirmed to us by those who heard him, God bearing them witness. God still bears witness to the word by the Spirit of God, both with signs and wonders and different kinds of miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will. The gifts of the Spirit operate according to the will of God, the will of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So we can put ourself in a place to be used by them, by the Holy Spirit. But you know what? It’s the Holy Spirit that works these gifts. And so he says, “For unto the angels, which he put into subjection, which he is not put into subjection in the world to come whereof we speak, but in one place he testified saying, what is man that you’re so mindful of him or the son of man that you visit him?” So again, he begins to talk about, you know what we were created, we were created with authority. But Adam lost his authority at the fall. And you know, because sin and death entered in, sin robbed mankind of their authority, of their dominion. He said, but you have made him. This is talking about Jesus in verse 7, a little lower than the angels. Now when he says that in verse 7, and this is written in Psalm chapter 8, it says, “You have made him a little lower than Elohim or you have made man a little lower than God.” But when it says it here in Hebrews chapter 2 in verse 7, it says, “You have made him a little lower than the angels.” It actually mean it says angels, angelos is the Greek. So what he’s saying is, Jesus came and identified with man and took our sin and was made. He completely identified with us and was made a little lower than the angels and he did that so he could conquer the devil and give us victory and authority over the devil. And that’s what he begins to move into. “And you crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of your hands.” Again, when man was made in the original creation, he was created with dominion, created with authority, but he lost that authority through the fall. So Jesus identified with humanity and became a man, but when he went to the cross, he identified with us completely and was made a little lower than the angels himself. And so he came to do that so he could restore us to a place of authority. He says, “You have put all things in subjection under his feet for in that he put into subjection all things under him he has left nothing that is not put under him. But we see yet not all things put under him.” You see, the only thing that wasn’t put under Jesus when he was raised again, was the enemy of physical death. But Jesus will put that under his feet when he comes again. But he says, we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, who identified with man for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, should taste of death for every man, for it became him, for whom all things, speaking of Jesus, all things were made for him and by him. You can read that in Colossians chapter 1. Jesus is the Lord of heaven in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their suffering perfect through suffering. So Jesus was the creator of the world and yet not only was he Lord of heaven creating all things, he was Lord of the earth when he came and walked on the earth. And then he went to the cross and went to the grave and he was Lord of the grave. And so he says, “For both he who sanctifies and they who are to sanctified,” he’s now speaking about Jesus who sanctifies and they, us who are sanctified we’re all of one. Jesus became a physical man. He took not the nature of angels but the seed of Abraham, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Jesus understands what we’re going through. Jesus understands every temptation. He was tempted in all points like we are yet without sin, saying, I will declare thy name. He came to declare the name of God to my brethren and in the midst of the church, I will sing praise to you and again, I will put my trust in him. Again, I and the children which God has given me. So Jesus came to bring many sons to God. He said, for as much as the children are partakers of the flesh and blood, Jesus likewise partook of the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death. This is why Jesus had to die. This is why Jesus had to come as a man. He had to die. And if he didn’t come as a man, he couldn’t die, but through death because he did no sin, right? It says he might destroy him who had the power of death. See, Satan thought he won the battle till Jesus died. And then Satan went, Jesus went and conquered him in the grave. “He spoiled principalities and power,” Colossians 2 says, “and made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it.” And not only did he destroy Satan, take away his power, Jesus was raised from the dead in Revelation 1:18 and he said, “I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I have the keys of hell and of death.” Jesus is Lord of heaven, creating all things, Lord of the earth when he walked on earth, never sinned, Lord over sickness, disease, death, demons, Lord, over every realm, and then he went to the grave and he was Lord of the grave. And he said, “And deliver those who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage for He did not take the nature of angels, but he became the seed of Abraham.” He brought us, he became the seed of Abraham so he could bring us back into covenant with God. And so it says in all things it behooved him to be made like his brethren, that he might be merciful. He’s merciful because he was tempted in all points like us, yet without sin. And he’s faithful because he never sinned as a high priest in all things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. He restored us to right relationship with God for in that He suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. Jesus understands what you’re going through. He can help you. Aaron, share a word before we go.

 

  I think so a lot of people, one thing that the enemy does is try to make you feel like you’re isolated, feel like no one knows what you’re feeling, no one knows what you’re going through, no one… he really tries to separate you and isolate you, but Jesus knows you better than anyone. He actually knows you better than you, than you know your own self. So whatever struggles you have right now, just go to Jesus. Jesus cares. The Bible says that we can cast all of our cares upon him. All of your worries, all of your anxieties, even all your sicknesses, you can cast those upon Jesus. Jesus actually took them all and wants to take them all right now for you.

 

  Praise God.

 

  So let Jesus just minister to you right now.

 

  Amen. You know, if you need prayer, we have trained prayer ministers, and they’re here, they’re waiting to receive your calls. And I just want to encourage you to call today to receive prayer if you need prayer. And I wanna say a great big thank you to our partners for helping us make this broadcast available. And again, we have this teaching and many other teaching. We actually have two teachings on Hebrews and they’re available. My teaching, Hebrews The Better Covenant and Aaron’s teaching, Jesus Makes Everything Better on the internet. Blessings.

 

  In the Hebrews package, which includes Hebrews The Better Covenant and Hebrews, Jesus Changes Everything., you’ll learn how the new covenant is better than the old simply because of Jesus. We’d like to bless you with a digital copy of each teaching, a $70 value free of charge. You can also order the book, Hebrews The Better Covenant, for $9.99. Download your free teachings and purchase the book today at CharisChristianCenter.com.

 

  Praise the Lord. Friends, I want to invite you to church this coming Sunday morning. Whether you’re in Colorado Springs or whether you’re wherever you at, if you’re in Colorado Springs, you can see us Sunday morning at 8:30 or 10:30 AM live. But you can also watch us with our livestream congregation at 8:30 or 10:30 AM or you can go to our website and get it anytime at CharisChristianCenter.com.

 

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