R662 Presenting The Son

Welcome to a wonderful week-long study with Dr. Don Wilton on the book of Hebrews called Presenting the Son. As we study God's Word together, know that we're available to connect on our website right now at www.tewonline.org. Much buzz about the Is This the End series?

Get details at www.tewonline.org. And now, Dr. Don Wilton. Now as you open your Bibles this morning to Hebrews chapter 1, I couldn't think of a more wonderful, appropriate subject this morning than the presentation of the Son of God. That's our subject today from God's Word, Presenting the Son. Now, I should imagine that in America today and right throughout this week that we are going to hear a variety of presentations concerning God. I should imagine that we are going to hear a lot of opinions. People from every walk of life and every persuasion and every religious denomination are going to have something to say about this God under whom we place our trust.

I would like to make an announcement today. I want to say to you without any question in my mind whatsoever that I believe that what God has to say to us is exactly true. We are a nation under God and this God of whom we speak is none other than the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a remarkable thing when we begin to understand the Word of God and as we continue this Bible study for the next months as they lie ahead of us that here in Hebrews chapter 1 as we've already discovered that God tells us how He chooses to tell us about Himself. God who spoke in times past, the Bible tells us in verse 1, we discovered that God has spoken to us through our prophets in a remarkable way. God has recorded for us all that we need to know about Himself.

But in these last days, God has spoken to us through His Son. You know, one of the things that I love about golf is when you watch it, especially the major championships, they always present the one who is about to tee off. So you could watch the United States Open for example or the PGA or the Masters and when one of the players comes up to the first tee, the starter says, may I present to you Mr. Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods or Arnold Palmer or whoever is stepping up to the plate and he tells us something about that particular person. Now he can't say everything he needs to say particularly about a Jack Nicklaus, but he says this is Jack Nicklaus. He's won so many times on the PGA Tour. He is a past champion this number of times and he did this and that, ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Mr. Jack Nicklaus.

And he begins to play the game. Here in Hebrews chapter 1, we have perhaps the most extraordinary announcement ever made ever in the history of mankind. There is a sense in which God is looking down from heaven and He is telling us two things. As he is saying in times past, I presented myself through the prophets and through the priests, but I want to serve you notice that in these last days I have present continuous tense. I am continuing to speak to you through the presentation of my son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now this is one of the most dramatic things that you've ever seen. And as I began to study this some weeks ago, I just readily confessed to you. I said, well, I've got a good message here in the first several verses of Hebrews chapter 1 and I got down to verse 2 and couldn't get any further. God began to speak more and more to my heart. I began to fill up more and more pages of notes and I eventually got to the point at which I said, wow, Lord, are you telling me all of this concerning your son, the Lord Jesus Christ?

Let's read it together. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1. God's word says that in the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets.

Now, how did he do this? We discovered that. Number one, at many times in the word there, rarely as many portions as we've discovered.

Many different portions. He spoke to us, 39 books in the Old Testament. He spoke to us through the prophets and we tried to study these things together. But then he also spoke to us in various ways. He speaks to us through narrative and through wonderful stories and through poetry and through doctrine and through all these things that we discovered here in the word of God. And then he gets down to verse 2 and he says, but let me make a presentation to you. In these last days, God has spoken to us through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says the first of a number of things. He says, whom God appointed heir of all things, and watch this, and through whom he made the universe. What is it that God is trying to tell us? Well, there are two things that I want to deal with this morning. Number one, he is presenting Jesus Christ as the heir of all things. Now, I love to talk about inheritance, don't you?

My favorite subject. You know, the thing about me, I have a couple of brothers, we're all preachers. And just as God would have it, gave to me a mom and dad who are the best in the world.

And then you don't think God's got a sense of humor, folks? We love to talk about being an heir. What do we inherit?

And yet we don't like to talk about it because if you talk about inheritance, you're going to talk about death of those that we love and we certainly don't want to talk about that, do we? You know, there's something remarkable here that God is going to tell us. God is about to make an announcement. He's about to tell us that Jesus Christ has been appointed by the decree of God to be the inheritor of all that which pertains to God.

And watch this. Then he makes this announcement. He says that when you and I give our hearts to Jesus Christ, watch, we become adopted to be the joint heirs with the son of all that God has given to his son.

Can you imagine that? Friends, we cannot understand our position in Christ if we do not understand the superiority of Christ. This is the most Christocentric passage in all of God's word. God here is standing there making a booming announcement through all the ages concerning the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross.

And he is letting the world know. I want you to know in unequivocal terms that this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And he has been appointed to be the heir of all things. What does that mean? You see, my friends, if Jesus, God tells us this about his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, it means a number of very important things. Number one, it means that he is claimed by God.

If Jesus Christ is the heir of all things, it means, number one, that God has claimed him. I like that, don't you? I don't know if you've ever been in the company of people who are considered important people.

I have from time to time. You know, there is nothing more wonderful when you're out there lost in the crowd and all of a sudden the important person looks over and says, I know him. My friends, just think about this for a moment. Here is this unbelievable announcement coming from the heart of the righteousness of God, that this God who is the one and only, this one for whom there is none that can compare to him, he looks down from heaven and he says, I want you to know that I claim him.

He's with me. What does it mean that he is appointed the son to be heir of all things? Number one, he is claimed by God. Number two, he is unique to God. I love John 3 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. The key here is the word begotten, and that word literally translated means unique.

None like unto him, no substitute. It means that he is the only one who has been authorized to do what he does, that there is nobody else who occupies the same position as the son. Now I'm going to tell you in America this week, my friends, with all the love in my heart, you are going to have commentators, news people. You're going to have religious people of every walk of life, churches.

You're going to have meetings of every description with people standing up and claiming all kinds of things about who this is and what this is and where it comes from. God says, let there be no mistake whatsoever. Not only is Jesus Christ claimed by me, but he is unique to me. There is no other one who can take the place of the son.

And you've heard me say this with all the love in my heart. God's not interested in our opinion. God's not interested in our letters. God's not interested in our emails. God's not interested in our religious training or our theological understanding. God here is saying something.

I want you to know something that this is the one. He's my beloved son. I have appointed him heir of all things. It means I claim him and he is unique to me. And number three, it means that he is the firstborn of God. Well, you can go back into the scriptures.

We don't have time to do it. Go to Psalm 89 and verse 27, for example. Go to the letter to the church at Corinth.

You're going to read time without number. That God makes a statement. He says, listen, concerning Jesus Christ, he is my firstborn. Why did he make that statement? He made that statement because it meant that God was establishing the legal right of the authenticity of the birthmark of Jesus Christ. He was putting it beyond human reason. What God is trying to tell us is you can harness the Supreme Court together.

They can issue one judgment and opinion after another. It's not going to make any difference to me because this one who is Jesus Christ is claimed by me. He is unique to me and he's my firstborn. This is the son of God. But there's a fourth statement here that adds meaning to the fact that Jesus Christ is there of all things. He is installed by God. Go back into Psalm 2.

You're going to read about it. Go into the book of Revelation. You're going to understand the confirmation of this that God himself speaks from the portals of heaven and makes an announcement. And he says, this is my beloved son. He is king and he is Lord. The angels of heaven came down and they made that extraordinary announcement about Immanuel, God with us, and when he ascended, he was seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you and me, God announcing that Jesus Christ is king and Lord, that he owns everything. He is the inheritor of all that God has done and he rules this entire universe.

This is the most magnificent coronation statement that one could ever read about. What God says here boggles the human mind. What God says here loses its way within the feeble framework of our human understanding. What God is announcing to us here today is that this one who was born in Bethlehem's manger is not just a somebody, he is the body and he is king and Lord and not any one of you can make that decision. You don't decide that God is Lord because he is and he claims who he is. He is heir of all things by the appointment of God, by the decision of Almighty God. It means he is claimed by God. He is unique to God. He is the firstborn of God.

He is installed by God. And number five, what it means is this, my friends, is that he is in possession of everything that belongs to God. What does the word teach us? That he is the ruler of everything to the very ends of the earth. And by the way, that Hebraic expression there to the very ends of the earth carries with it the limitless boundary of eternal imagination. In other words, how far, what is the vast extent of God's dominion?

It goes beyond human comprehension. You and I couldn't send a space rocket into space for the next million years and ever reach the vast extent of the possession of God through His Son. In fact, I think what God is saying to us is you just waste your time. Now, what does God possess? God possesses everything.

I want you to ask that question within your own heart and life. What is Jesus Christ in charge of? He's in charge of all the affairs of man. He's in charge of the world. He's in charge of salvation. He's in charge of people.

He's in charge of our possessions. Let me ask you a question today. Are you tithing? Is there anybody listening to me today, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of you? Is there anybody listening to the voice of this preacher today? You're not tithing. You say, pastor, what is that? Bible tells us that you and I as believers have to give minimally one-tenth of all that we have to the Lord's house where we are engaged. If you're a member of First Baptist Church, First Baptist Church.

Member of the First United Methodist Church goes to the First United Methodist Church. I'm going to ask you a question. How are things going? I want me to give you a clue. You say to me, pastor, I just cannot get a handle on my finances. Are you tithing?

Yes or no? Some of you say, we've got you now, pastor. You know, I'm a student. Are you tithing your $20? That means have you given minimally $2 to First Baptist Church, to the Lord's work, if this is where you remember? If you're not tithing, my friend, I will guarantee you, you will uncover one of the reasons why you're in trouble.

Now, folks, listen carefully. Is God speaking? I've had people from time to time come to me and say, now, pastor, do I need to tithe by Social Security?

Well, let me ask you a question. You want God to be involved in your retirement or not? Now, what does God tell us about Jesus? He says that He is in possession.

He is the owner and the operator of all things. Is that less your retirement? You say, no, I'm not going to tithe. You're saying to God, literally, I accept everything you say about God, but I don't want the Lord Jesus Christ to be involved in my retirement. Well, what about my house payment?

You know, I've got this house payment. Well, you want God to be involved in your house? If you've earned up to this point this year $30,000 and you haven't given up to this point minimally $3,000 to your church that you're a member of, you're not tithing. God's not going to bless you.

You can shake that any way you want to. I have people come up and say, well, pastor, you don't understand. I support a missionary. It's not tithing.

Well, I support Habitat Humanity. That's not tithing. Carolina Pregnancy Center is not tithing. Child Evangelism Fellowship is not tithing. The tithe comes to the storehouse.

There is no way around it. You cannot argue your way out of a paper bag, but you know what man is doing today? Man is saying, I'm going to do it my way. I don't care what God has to say. What is God saying to us?

Are you up to date on your pages to the building fund? Say, well, pastor, the economy's tough. My friend, you haven't seen tough if you stop and renege on your plan to pledge to God. You literally, folks, you're literally saying, I don't want God involved in this part of my life.

I'm going to go it alone. You say, pastor, you're passionate about these things. I'm passionate about them because God has made an announcement concerning the son. He said he's been appointed heir of how many things?

All things. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton here on The Encouraging Word. He'll be back in just a moment with the rest of today's teaching, but we want to remind you that you can connect with him on our website at TEWOnline.org, a great place to follow Dr. Don on his socials, to hear today's message, both video and audio versions, and also to sign up for the daily encouraging word. It's online at TEWOnline.org. Sign up for that daily devotional. It will bless you in your email box every morning.

That's online at TEWOnline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don. Well, what does it mean? By virtue of what? Well, Jesus Christ is heir by virtue, first of all, of his relationship to the Father.

He is heir by virtue of his relationship to the Father. Now, I don't mind telling you this. Some time ago, I was invited to say a prayer at an NFL football game. And that's happened to me a number of times. I've been very grateful. Well, when I got this invitation and they told me I would be treated like royalty, I liked that.

I thought it suited a man of my caliber. And besides, I liked football. And the game wasn't on a Sunday, so I could go. So I wrote back and I said, I'll do it.

And not there long after, I got a wonderful letter from the organization that said, thank you, Dr. Wilton, for doing this, blah, blah. We just need to let you know a couple of things. When you come to the football game, the NFL game, we need to just remind you that there's going to be a lot of people there, and on that basis, we want to remind you that you may not mention Jesus Christ at all in your prayer.

Well, I wrote back and very politely informed them that I was unable to come. And there's a simple reason for it, folks. A prayer that is void of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is not a prayer.

Any questions? God is making an announcement. I don't care if they gave me a $100 million contract to say that prayer, I cannot violate the Word of God.

Have you noticed in America today how many prayers are offered and someone gets up and says, thank you for the lovely day and whoever it is up there and we ask your blessings, amen. Well, who did they just talk to, my cat? They have a conversation with their dog. Were they talking to me? Because if they were talking to me, my friend, I can do nothing.

I am nothing. If they were talking to the Pope, he can do nothing. If they were talking to their guest preacher, he can do nothing. I want you to know that God in His Word is making a statement about the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ and He says this from heaven. He says, this is my beloved Son, whom I have appointed heir of all things by virtue of what? By virtue of His relationship to the Father. Number two, by virtue of His establishment as King.

We've talked about it. You can go into Colossians chapter 1 and verse 16. You can go into Romans chapter 11 and verse 36. The establishment of Almighty God through Christ Jesus as the ruler of this universe is the functional central feature of who God is. By virtue of what is He heir of all things? Not only His relationship to the Father and His establishment as King, but by virtue of His accomplishment as Savior. That's the finished work of the cross.

What is this all about? It is about the authority of Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father and it was His very accomplishment as Savior upon the cross that established His divinity and His right to be the heir of all that God has for His own Son. It was not only His relationship to the Father and His establishment as King and His accomplishment as Savior, but He is heir by virtue of His resurrection as conqueror. Turn quickly with me to 1 Corinthians and verse 15. 1 Corinthians 15, let me hear those pages turning. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 54.

Listen to what Paul reminds us about here. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory.

I love this part. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

Here it is. The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through Christ Jesus. Do I hear an amen this morning? This is shouting time.

This is what it's all about. Jesus Christ has been appointed heir of all things, not just because of His resurrection as conqueror, but because of His ascension as Lord. I can't wait to get to that point in Hebrews. Just down the road in verse three, the Bible's going to tell us that after Jesus Christ had provided purification for sin, that the same Jesus who has been appointed heir of all things, this same one, the spotless Son of God, that He sat down at the right hand of majesty in heaven. You ever had someone come to you and say to you, what can you say about Jesus Christ?

Who is He? Number one, according to God's own word, He is heir of all things. Number two, He is the maker of all things.

Look at the second part of verse two. Bible says, and through whom He made the universe. Wow, He is the maker of all things.

By the way, that word there is probably better rendered. He is the creator. He's the maker. And herein lies the essence of what God is saying, is that He takes something out of nothing and He makes nothing into everything.

And so I am beholden to ask this question. What does God mean by this? That through whom He made the universe, what sets Jesus apart? Number one, because of His sinlessness. Number two, because of His righteousness.

Number three, because of His holiness. What makes God divine in Christ Jesus and what makes the Son set apart is His ability to create. Oh, and the joy of knowing that God's created you for a unique purpose. He has a plan for your life. You've heard Dr. Wilton as he's been preaching.

Now as he steps into the studio, open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you've given your life to Christ, won't you call and let us know? Our phone number is 866-899-WORD.

Dr. Wilton has free resources he wants to put in your hand. If you've just given your life to Jesus or rededicated your life, meet us at 866-899-9673. We'd love to hear from you. You just mean so much to me and how thankful we are for the Word of God together. You can call right now and connect with me at 866-899-9673. Call and connect with me right now. Our time's gone for today, but stay connected with us online at tewonline.org.