Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. If you want to give me a call, the number is 877-207-2276. You can also email me, and that's easy to do. Just direct your emails to info at karm.org, info at karm.org, and we want to hear from you.

So you can do that and put the subject line, radio comment, or radio question, and that should be fine. And then you can get to the money. We get lots. We have a lot of people who send in questions.

In fact, there is, I hate to look at it, I'm afraid to, I'm afraid to look at it. We have on the site, we have a question, a feedback area. And I've just got so much to do, I just can't get to it. But there's lots of questions, like 200 or 300 in there. So they come in over months and stuff like that. People just ask, I'm sorry, just can't keep up with it.

It's what it is. We need a lot of help. You know, we're not like other websites where you have 100, 200 people writing articles, and then it just comes in. We are very, very, we're strict here in that, I don't know, I'm not on any other sites. Just here, we want to make sure that the writers are theologically precise and that they know how to write succinctly and very biblically. And on a variety of topics in the areas that they would be interested in. So we are looking for, hey, you know, and that reminds me, we are looking for writers. So if you are interested in maybe writing, maybe you, you know, you have to know your theology though. This is what's interesting is I've had people over the years contact me and say, yeah, I want to work with Karm and help be a writer. And I says, well, okay, let's talk.

And we'll do that. And 90% of the time they can't pass a basic doctrine test. You know, if you're going to write for this ministry, you have to know your doctrine. You know, what's the Trinity, the hypostatic union, communicatio, indio matum, justification, sanctification, imputation, propitiation. These are the basics.

And I want them to know what they are and how to integrate them together. That's it. It's not that hard. And most people don't know, you know, ask why was Jesus baptized or what's another one.

Is he a man right now and things like that. And so a lot of times they don't know. And you know, I say to them, tell you what, take my doctrine course and go, go read, go study and then contact us again.

And then 90% don't. It's not an easy job. In fact, something interesting, this has happened more than once where people, you know, they go, okay, here we go. And uh, we're going to be, um, we're going to be, uh, you know, we're have do emails. We usually will start them off with a few emails and uh, we check how they respond in the emails.

It's nothing big. We just want to make sure they're okay and doing all right. And we usually warn them. Well, not usually. We always warn them. I say to them, look, if you're going to work with this ministry, just be ready to come under spiritual attack. And uh, they go, yeah, no problem. And about half of them, when they get that far, half of them just take after a couple of weeks, they say, I'm done, uncle, they give up and said, what happened?

It hit the fan. I said, I warned you, you know, and by the other half, they say, man, nothing, no big deal. You know, it's okay. Great. No, no big deal.

So it's just whatever. But um, anyway, you can pray for this ministry too. We certainly need it. And uh, Hey, I want to let you know that we stay on the air by your support. Please consider supporting us. That's easy to do.

Just go to karm.org forward slash donate, C a R M dot O R G forward slash donate and everything you need right there. And you know, cause no one's calling right now. So it just happens about this time of the year. So it's, it's okay. Is that we have three schools now, let me just tell you that, uh, you know, I've been doing apologetics, teaching theology, debating it backwards, forwards, left, right, and a couple of different angles. I mean, I have been really doing this a lot over the years. So I started in, um, in 1980, so that's 44 years of, of really studying and debating and knowing what needs to be said and what are the essentials are and how to present them.

And so when I wrote those schools, um, that's what I did in a school of theology. I put in, uh, so much of what people need to know and I included it because of so many things and so many discussions I've had hundreds and hundreds and thousands of discussions. So when people read through this stuff, they don't realize a lot of times, no big deal. They don't realize that the reason those comments are made or I wrote about those particular topics is because of hundreds of hours of experience. This is why this is important. So people are getting good stuff there and the, uh, the lessons are written, written easily. So you can understand them quickly and easily.

And, uh, we charge $33 for them is to let you know. If you're interested, just go to learn.com.org or go to the CARM home site, home site, go to the CARM homepage and you can go there. And on the CARM homepage, uh, is a link on the right hand side.

You can get to, uh, no, in the middle. That's right. Uh, eLearning CARM online schools. You can click on that and, and go there and, and, uh, we have, yeah, yeah, we have that stuff right there that goes into that by checking it. Yep.

Like three. I'm going to fix a couple of things there and make sure it looks easier, but it's learn.com.org. And here's what we say. You know, we do charge for them because it helps keep the lights on and pay the missionaries.

But if you want them and you can't afford them, all you have to do is email us at info at CARM.org and say, uh, Matt said on the radio, you know, he said, if, uh, you can't afford the schools, what you want them, just ask you to give them for free. And we go, yep, we've done it many, many, many, many times. And there's no, no shame. We don't question. We don't quiz you. We just say, okay, good enough. You know? And, uh, we do that. So, uh, we want people to learn their theology and learn what the Christian faith is.

A lot of times people just do not know. Which reminds me, uh, just before I got on the radio here, I jumped in to clubhouse. I was getting ready to prep and stuff like that.

And to get on the show, you know, to do a couple of things with some different platforms to get it all ready. And I went into this room and they're attacking the doctor, the Trinity and the deity of Christ. So what I thought I would do here a little bit is go through a couple of odd, not oddball, but a couple of interesting, uh, ways to, to, uh, deal with the deity of Christ that most people really aren't quite familiar with. And they're really cool.

They're good ways to do it. And I think what I'll do is that. Now in the meantime, if you want to give me a call, please do 877-207-2276. I want to hear from you.

Give me a call. All right. I'm going to show you something. Check this out. This is one of the ways there's different ways, many ways, but I'm going to show you one of the, the, uh, the ways to show the deity of Christ. And then what I want to do after the break is go through Hebrews chapter one, but I'm going to show you something.

Check this out. If you were to go to Isaiah 40 verse three, now this is for those who are listening who don't believe Jesus is God. Okay. There's people who do listen to me who don't affirm that. But this is what it says in Isaiah 40 verse three, a voice is calling, clear the way for Yahweh. That's his name. Clear the way for Yahweh in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert, a highway for our God. So that's really interesting.

Okay. This, uh, a voice is calling, clear the way for Yahweh in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert, a highway for our God. Well, check this out in Matthew chapter three, this is what it says. Verse one. Now in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand for this is the one referred to by Isaiah, the prophet. And he said, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his path straight. So that was a prophecy, a voice is calling in the wilderness. That's John the Baptist. And what is he saying? The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make way, make ready the way of Yahweh. And who's it referenced? Jesus. It's referencing Jesus. Make ready the way of Yahweh, make his path straight. That is really interesting. Also in Mark chapter one, in the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God, as it is written in Isaiah, the prophet, behold, I send my messenger ahead of you who prepare your way.

Ooh, interesting. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. So that's who was preaching with John the Baptist in the wilderness. And he was making the way of the Lord, the way of Yahweh, making his paths straight because that's what it says. Clear the way of the Lord, clear the way for Yahweh in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert, a highway for our God, what?

Make his path straight, make in the desert and make his walking, his going, that's what it's saying. Interesting stuff, isn't it? So there you go.

I think that's good stuff and I like things like that. Here's another verse. I was in this chat room where they were denying that Jesus Christ is God in flesh and someone mockingly said, if only there was one verse that said that Jesus was God. And I said, you know, Hebrews 1.8 and it says, but at the sun, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And it was interesting.

I'm going to get to this after the break. I'm going to do a little teaching on Hebrews 1 because there's really good stuff in there. One of these antagonists to who Christ really is said, you've got to read the Old Testament. It's in the Old Testament. That's what you've got to read. And I said, yeah, I get it. It's in the Old Testament. Psalm 45 verse six. But the writer of Hebrews applies it to Jesus. And I said, that's a fact.

Read it. And there was no response after that. So he's called God. And in fact, that reminds me, I once flew out to Texas at the behest of a single father to talk, to have me talk to his daughter who was in a cult, the Christadelphians. And I said, yeah, I'll go.

I did just to talk to one person. And I said, the conversation will probably be very quick and it won't happen. She won't come out.

Cause that's how it doesn't work like that generally. But I, she said, he said, please try it, I did. And she was not receptive, but you know, you plant seeds, but I remember this one woman and I got in a conversation and she says, show me where it says, Jesus is God in the Bible. Cause they, they deny he's God. I said, he was one eight and I showed it to her in the Bible, but of the son, he says your throne, Oh God is forever and ever. It stopped her dead in her tracks.

She'd never seen it. So you never know, you know, why you go someplace and what's going on to make something, make it a clear and understandable to, uh, to people, you know, the truth of God's word is there. This is why you need to know it. This is why you need to speak it. This is why you need to be ready to be used of God. And if you're not being used to God, you got a problem because he says, make disciples. He talks about us doing this. Where to do that in whatever capacity you're in, wherever you are, ultimately it's for the glory of God. And you need to look for opportunities to spread that faith and spread the gospel message. You don't want to be stupid about it, but you definitely want to be clever.

This is one thing you're supposed to be doing. All right. All right. All right.

Hey, there's the music. When we get back, I'll teach out of Romans. Uh, excuse me, out of Hebrews one a little bit. It's great chapter.

It's great. And we'll, we'll go through that. So, uh, hold on. We'll be right back folks. After these messages, please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, everybody.

Welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, it's easy. All I'd like to do is dial 877-207-2276. All right, now, what I want to do is go through, um, Hebrew chapter one a little bit. Might as well do some teaching. Okay. I love doing this.

So it's a lot of fun for me. And I want you to understand something because the book of Hebrews is really interesting. Now, we'll go through it and hopefully you'll recognize there's a lot more than most people have kind of, you know, you just read, you go, yeah, yeah, that's good stuff.

And you go on, check this out. This is Hebrews chapter one, starting at verse one, God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets and in portions and in many ways, now right there, he spoke long ago to the fathers. The fathers would be the, you know, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, those greats of the old Testament period and people, Moses and stuff like that, and, uh, and the prophets. So through the old Testament is what he's saying, that he spoke in different ways, many portions and in many ways, he spoke a lot to the prophets in the old Testament. Now in these last days, he's spoken to us in his son, now the term last days occurs five times in the new Testament.

Now, what's interesting is that in Acts chapter two, starting at verse 17, it says, and it shall be in the last days, God says, I'll pour forth my spirit and all mankind. And so he's talking about the last days, which is now, so God, after he spoke long ago in the prophets in these last days, he spoken to us in his son. So the old Testament was the way God communicated to us before through the prophets, but now it's through Jesus.

Real simple. And this is interesting because in Mormonism, for example, they claim to have prophets today. And, uh, they had Joseph Smith, you know, he's supposed to have restored the true church and all this stuff, you know, it's whatever, uh, Islam, Mohammed was the greatest of, of the, of all the prophets. And so, but notice what the Bible teaches, the prophets were in the old Testament sense, but now we have Jesus because the law and the prophets were until John, Luke 16, 16 anyway, and his last days, he spoken to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things. Now, this is interesting because he appointed heir of Jesus, the father appointed Jesus heir of all things. Well, people say, well, if he's God in flesh, why would he have to be appointed heir? Because Jesus made under the law Galatians, uh, four, uh, four, 10, four, four, wow, I quoted so many verses so many times, Galatians four, four, he was, uh, made under the law and Hebrews two, nine made for a little while lower than the angels. So in that sense, under the law, he would be an heir because an heir H E I R is someone who's inheriting things, who's benefiting things legally.

That's what's going on. And notice what it says. He spoke to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, all things through home.

He also made the world. This is really interesting stuff. And what I think I'm going to do is I need to, yeah, I'll get to it.

That's okay. So when we go to Colossians, check this out. Colossians one 15, it says Jesus, he is the image of the invisible God.

Now remember this cause we'll get to it again a little bit. He's the, the image of the invisible God, the first born of creation. It doesn't mean first created first born as a transferable title for by him. All things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him. And for him, he is before all things and in him, all things hold together. So this is who Jesus is by him.

All things were created. Now we go to John one, one in verse 14, incidentally, we go there, we see similarities in the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. And he was in the beginning with God, all things came into being through him and apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. Wow.

It's interesting. So in these last days, he was one to, uh, God, his father has spoken to us in his son whom he appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world. So God made the world through Christ, right? But that's before the universe existed talking about this person of Christ, which means he had to pre-exist. When you go to Isaiah 44, 24, it says this, thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer and the one who formed you from the womb, I Yahweh in the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by myself and spreading out the earth all alone. Wait a minute. God specifically says that he does it by himself alone. That's what he's saying. He does it by himself alone.

All right. So we go back and we look at those other verses, but in particular, now we look at verse two of Hebrews one, it says through whom Christ whom he also made the world through home. Well, Jesus, God said he did it alone. So how could he make it through him?

What does that mean? This is elevating the person of Christ to the level of creation maker. He's the creator. He's not a created being because he is the one appointed by God as the heir of all things by whom and through whom all things are made. Now if anybody, if you're a Jew, listen to this written of the Hebrews, this is going to blow your mind because you're like, what the heck is being said?

Get this. Verse three, and he, that's Jesus, is the radiance of his, that's the father's glory. He is the radius of his glory and the exact representation of his nature.

What? The exact representation of his nature. Now in Greek, it's character, character. That's what it is. Now we get the word character and it means like an engraver who puts an impression of a signet ring in clay. It's the representation.

It's the exact form of that. And that's the kind of a thing that's being said here. That he is that impression that of God in flesh, that's Jesus. Now I like to always think about the Hebrews when they're first sitting down in the synagogue or wherever they are and this is read to them.

The first three verses are going to, I mean, it's going to take a month to get over it because it's just so powerful. So he, Jesus, is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature. That's God's nature.

That's what it's talking about. The very first word of Hebrews is God. So Jesus is the exact representation of the nature of God. That can't be the case if he's an angel, cannot be, as Jehovah's Witnesses teach. And get this, and he upholds all things by the power of his word. How does he uphold all things by the power of his world, his word? Because it says in Colossians 1 17, Paul says, he, Jesus, is before all things and in him all things hold together. Wow.

So I believe Hebrews was written by Paul is my opinion. I could be wrong, but that's what I believe. And when we get back to the break, because there's the music, I'll continue with this. But I would like some feedback to see if you like this teaching, want me to continue to do it because it's good. Joy says the lines may be down, maybe it is, maybe, okay, the number is working. Good.

That's what they're saying. Hey folks, we'll be right back after these messages. Stay tuned. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right, everybody. Welcome back to the show. Hope you're enjoying the teaching. And if you want to give me a call, all you're going to do is dial 877-207-2276. I want to hear from you. Give me a call, and I just want to let you know that we do stay on the air by your support.

Please consider supporting us, and we always like that and appreciate that. All right, all right, all right, now let me get back on here and start to continue teaching on this, because I think it's good stuff, okay? What I'm going to do now is I'm going to share this screen so that people can follow along in the text there.

All right. So this is what it says. Let me get back to Hebrews chapter one, because, oh, man, good stuff.

All right, so I was in verse three, and he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature, all right, and upholds all things by the word of his power. And I have odd habits. I like studying stuff like quantum physics, I do, and oddities, it's just me. And one of the things that is a question within quantum physics, and just normal stuff on the molecular level, level of, assuming not molecules, but atoms, where does, for example, where does the electron get its energy to spin?

It's a question that they don't have answers to yet. Also, in the nucleus of atoms, they have neutrons and protons, and neutrons have no magnetic – no electrical charge, but protons are positively charged. Now, if you've ever taken magnets, where they have the North Pole and the North Pole, two different magnets and put them together, you can feel that very strong force that is repelling each other. Why is it protons are grouped together in a nucleus when they should be repelling, but they're held together and they're bound? So my answer would be they're held together by the word of the power of God.

Now what's interesting is that when you look at this, and I think it's 2 Peter 3, 10, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. So they find out that when you destroy, break apart these nucleus of atoms, that incredible heat and incredible energy is released. Interesting if God is holding every atom together in the universe by his exertion, by his will. Whoa. There's roughly 10 to the 80th atoms in the universe, something like that, particles.

This is insanely huge. Anyway, I think this stuff is interesting. All right, so he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. So what does this mean, purification of sins? Well, when you look at the issue of what Christ did, that the blood of Christ is the one who is offered to God because he offered himself as a sacrifice. So Jesus bore our sin in his body on the cross, 1 Peter 2.24. So this is when he made purification of sins because he is the blood sacrifice by which our sins are atoned for. Now this is found in Leviticus 17.11, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your sins, or for your souls, excuse me, for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. So this is fulfillment of the Old Testament law. He made purification of sins in that he cleansed us.

Now purification of sins is an interesting phrase because it deals with the Hebrews who would need purification of themselves through ceremonies in order to have sacrifices offered and things like this. And then it says in verse 3, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. So the right hand is the place of authority, the place of power. And we see this reflected in Acts 7, 55-60 because there is where Stephen was being stoned. And he says in verse 55, being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. So at the right hand is that place of power and authority, and that's what Jesus has. So when he made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. So to the Jew, this would mean that he had authority, that he is the exact representation of the nature of God, and he sits down at the right hand of God, the Trinitarian essence. Now here's a question to think about, why would the writer of Hebrews be speaking like this? Were the Jews absolute strict Unitarians, in that they taught that God was a single person in a Unitarian sense and that's all? Not necessarily. Some people just assume that.

Let me take you on a little bit of a ride here. This is Deuteronomy 6-4, my bad. O hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And that is echad in Hebrew. And it's used in many places to demonstrate composite unity, like one cluster of grapes, one group, and it means that kind of thing in it. Now also what's really interesting is that in Genesis 1-26, God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. So God referred to himself in the plural three times.

Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. That's very interesting. Also check this out. You go to Genesis 19-24 and it says, whoops, it says this, it says, then Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of heaven. Yahweh rained fire and brimstone from Yahweh. What?

Isn't that interesting? And then when you go to Amos 4, 10 and 11, God is talking. He says, I sent a plague among you after the manner of Egypt. I slew your young men by the sword along with your captured horses. I made the stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils that you have not returned to me declares Yahweh. I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

Wait a minute, wait, wait, what? So Yahweh is speaking and he says he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah the way God did it. But yet when you go to where this is referenced in Genesis 19-24, where it says the Lord Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of heaven.

This is really interesting stuff, at least it is to me. So now if we go back to Hebrews, as he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, this is really impressive. It's really showing who Christ is. And now let's go to verse 4.

Having become as much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. Now remember, this is critical, I've said this so many times that I've taught, you've got to remember, in context like this, remember Hebrews 4-4, I mean excuse me, I've done it so many times, oh my goodness, I just quoted it, he's made under the law, Galatians 4-4 and Hebrews 2-9, he's made for a little while more than the angels. So in Galatians 4-4 he was made under the law. Under the law means he has to keep the law requirements. So therefore he will inherit things according to that law. This is what the minds of the Jews would understand. He's become much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they.

Now this is where it gets even more interesting, at least to me it does. But to which of the angels did he ever say? The he here is referring to God the Father, or we would just say God who's introduced in the beginning of verse 1. Which of the angels did he, God, ever say, you're my son? An angel isn't God's son.

In Jewish thought, a son is like his father, but not his father. You are my son, today I've begotten you. And again, I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, and let all of the angels of God worship him. Let's spend a little bit of time on this verse, because it's really important for us to understand this term, firstborn. So when we get to the issue of firstborn, firstborn is a transferable title.

Because what we find in scripture, what we find is, for example, Ephraim and Manasseh. In Genesis 41, 51, it says, and Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, and the name of the second, he called Ephraim. But in Jeremiah 31, 9, Ephraim is called the firstborn. And then David, David and Goliath, David was the youngest, but he was also called the firstborn in Psalm 89, 20, and 27.

Firstborn is a transferable title. And we'll get back to the break, we'll get through this some more. Please stay tuned, we'll be right back after these messages.

All right. Welcome back to the show. So what I'm going to do is continue on. Looks like they are having some phone problems. We've had a couple people say they called and that no one was picking up.

So something's up with the phones. What I'm going to do now, what I will continue to do is continue to go through the book of Hebrews here and get into this. I love this stuff. It's good. So as I said before the break, firstborn is a transferable title. It does not mean first created.

So that's important. Now let all the angels of God worship him. Now the word here is proskoneo, and it can mean to do obeisance, to bow down before. Now the Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, in their false Bible, will say let all the angels of God do obeisance to him because they deny that Jesus is God in flesh. But this is what is going on because it's a quote from the Old Testament in Psalm 97. It says, Worship him, all you gods.

So this one phrase that is being spoken of here, the issue of worship, that's what it means in the Hebrew, is used as the writer of Hebrews is referencing the Old Testament as it relates to Jesus and pointing out to Jesus as the one who's fulfilling all these things. So he is to be worshiped by the angels. Now this is important because in the Jewish mind, the angels are pretty significantly powerful and important. They were even means by which God communicated in the Old Testament.

As I said earlier, the Lord rained fire and brimstone from the Lord, Yahweh from Yahweh, and God is the one doing this. Well, there's many places where God is seen in the Old Testament, as Adam and Eve were walking with the Lord. But you also have Exodus 24, 9-11, where it says Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel went up and they saw the God of Israel. And there's lots of stuff like this, Exodus 6, 2, and 3, where God spoke through the Moses and said to him, I am Yahweh, and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty. So he's saying these things, God sees them, and a lot of times what they would do is say it was an angel of the Lord, a special representation of God. This was how they would deal with it a lot. So notice what Paul, I believe Paul's saying, the writer of Hebrews is saying that all the angels of God worship him.

Ooh, interesting. From Psalm 97-7. So what is going on? The listener who's a Hebrew is going to really be forced to consider what the Old Testament says. And then he goes on to say, and of the angels, he says, who makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire? But of the sun, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is a scepter of his kingdom. Now notice what is going on. Now sometimes people say, well, he says isn't there.

Yeah, you're right, it's not there. It's in the previous verse, and it's just borrowed. That's how you write in Greek sometimes. And of the angels, he says, and of the sun, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, into what he says in there. So it says your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

Now that's a quote from Psalm 45, verse 6. Now this is important because I've got to get a little bit of Greek here for you. In Greek, the nominative and the optative are the same spelling. So it's like saying, oh my, that's optative, and the subject of something, God was walking, God is the subject. Well they're both spelled the same, omicron, sigma, ending. And so your throne, check this out, thronos, is an o-s ending, and God is also an o-s ending.

And so what we have here is something really interesting because what we're looking at is the issue of is it nominative or optative. And the reason this is important is because you can legitimately translate this as God is your throne forever and ever. That's a legitimate Greek translation. The problem is this is a quote from Psalm 45, verse 6, and you don't do that in Psalm 45, verse 6. In Psalm 45, verse 6, your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

That's what is being said. So false groups, they alter the word of God to make it fit what they want. All right, so it says your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. So he's being called God specifically.

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you. Now a lot of times people do is they will only go to verse 9 and they'll say God, your God, they'll say that's God the Father, anointed Jesus. So he's not God. And they forget the rest of it, that he's worshipped and that he's called God in verse 8, and that he's the representation, the exact imprint of God, and he himself is upholding everything by the exertion of his will.

How does a creature do that? Because a creation, a creature, doesn't hold all the particles together in the universe. God does that, okay? So therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. So what the writer of Hebrews is doing is exalting the person of Christ.

And you, Lord, or Yahweh, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth. And the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will become like an old, like a garment. And like a mantle, you will roll them up like a garment, they will also be changed.

But you are the same, and your years will not come to an end. And notice what it says, but of the sun, he says this, and you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation. The overall context is in verse 8 that God is speaking of the sun. Then he says and, and he's saying this. Now what the cults do is say that the word and there then changes the subject back to God.

They have to say that because they're cults. But nevertheless, you, Yahweh, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, the heavens are the works of your hands. But yet in the previous part, it says that he upholds all things by the word of his power. And that's it, it just, this is amazing about who he's saying Christ is, okay? You will perish, but you will remain, et cetera.

And like a garment, they'll be changed. Verse 13, but to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? Are they not all ministering spirits, that's the angels, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? So the writer of Hebrews here understands that the angels are the servants of God, and that they serve in the capacity to minister to the people of God, the chosen ones, particularly the people of Israel. And now it's expanded to others, and that's other stuff later on because of the priesthood of who Christ is and his offices. So this is what's going on, the book of Hebrews chapter one is a clear declaration of the deity of Christ, his godness, his god quality, that he's above the angels, and that he upholds all things by the exertion of his will. This is a claim, an assertion of the deity of who Christ is, his magnificence, his awesomeness. That's who it is. All right, so, okay, well, I'm not sure which, the standard number, yeah, we're in contact here with the people, they are having phone problems there, so he's going to check out to the IT guys.

Maybe that's why they didn't have much calls last Friday, I think it was, something similar, we don't know, I don't know, it doesn't matter. So look, I hope that was interesting to you, I hope that kind of stuff is good, because when you go verse by verse, and you start going through slowly, particularly in Hebrew chapter one, you start seeing the importance of who Christ is. He is God in flesh. Now let me show you something else here, I'm going to do this, I'm just going to take a little bit of time, I'm going to go to a couple of verses, I'm going to go to Exodus 6, starting at verse 2, God spoke further to Moses and said to him, I am Yahweh, I am the Lord, I am Yahweh, what it is in the Hebrew, and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name Yahweh, I did not make myself known to them. So what this is saying is, God is saying that he appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty. Now I've had many discussions with people on this, and they like to say that it's an angel that was appearing, who has the name of God, and will speak for God. So my response is, okay, but you know that the word angel doesn't necessarily mean created being, it's a messenger, right? They don't like admitting that, but the average person who criticizes this verse about the deity of Christ, I'll show you how, they will admit that, they will. And I say, so let me get this straight, so what you're saying, when it says God spoke for the Moses, it really was not God. He says, I am Yahweh, it really was not Yahweh. So what you're saying to me is that an angel is claiming to speak for God, and says that I am Yahweh, so an angel is going to say I'm Yahweh, and even though the text says it's God, is that what you're saying?

Now this is where they have problems, obviously, for obvious reasons. Now why am I bringing this up? Because there's something really interesting here. See, God spoke to Moses and said, I am Yahweh, and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty. Now there's different places where we can see that, but you can go to Genesis 17, 1 pretty quickly, and it says there, when Abram was 99 years old, Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, I am God Almighty. And that's what it says, it says Yahweh appeared to him. But wait, God can't be seen, right? Because you go to 1 Timothy 6, 16, and we don't have time to go through all of this to pray slowly, but it's talking about God and Jesus, and it says in verse 16, who, well in verse 15, he will bring about at the proper time, he who is the blessed, the only sovereign, the king of kings and the lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. And I say to people seeing, 1 Timothy 6, 16, God can't be seen, and they'll say, that's right man, that's why he's not Jesus.

He's not God, they think they have me. And I help them out a little bit further, I say go to John 6, 46, not that anyone has seen the father, except the one who's from God, he has seen the father, now that one who's from God is Jesus, okay? So he has seen the father. So no one has seen God the father, and I get them to admit that, right?

And they say, yeah, that's right. But yet they were seeing God almighty in the Old Testament, because that's what God says in Genesis 17, 1 and Exodus 6, 2 and 3. So if they were seeing God almighty, but it was not the father, who else is God almighty who's not the father?

And that is when we get to some really good discussions as they paddle upstream trying to make sense of things. And the depths that they will go to twist God's word away from what it clearly teaches is amazing. There are so many people who hate the person of Christ, and they deny who he truly is. They deny that he's God in flesh, and so they are ultimately of the spirit of antichrist. That's what 1 John 4 talks about, the spirit of antichrist is the one who denies that Jesus is come in the flesh, and who is that talking about?

Jesus, who is God in flesh. Amen and Amen. Okay there we go. May the Lord bless you, and by his grace we'll be back on there tomorrow. Hopefully the phones will be fixed by then and we can talk, and I'll give a great evening everyone. God bless. Another program powered by the Truth Network.