The Superiority of Christ, Part 3

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. If you've been with us over the last 12 weeks, you know that we have spent all that time in the first three verses looking at the supremacy and the superiority of Jesus Christ our Lord, why He is superior, why He is supreme, why it is we are to worship and adore Him.

And we told you that everything in verse 1 was about the announcement of the coming King for the fathers were spoken to by the prophets of old. And what do they speak about? They spoke about the coming of the Messiah. So everything was about announcement in the Old Testament. Everything in the New Testament was about the arrival of the Son. And the Son did arrive, the Son did come, just exactly as the prophets foretold. And when the Son came, the Lord spoke to us in the last of those days to His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

So He went from the announcement to the arrival to the authority of that One, why He was so authoritative. He was authoritative because He is a rightful heir to the throne of God, to all that He possesses. He is a rightful heir. He is the all-authoritative One because He upholds all things by the word of His power. He created all things. He is the supreme King of the universe. And so we talked to you about that, help explain to you why He is the authoritative One. And now we come to a point that really is not in verses 1 to 3, but is all consuming throughout the book of Hebrews.

And that is the adoration of this One, this King who has come. Hebrews is about the coming of the King, the Christ, the superior One. Our response to that is to exalt Him, to lift Him up, to live in adoration of this King. And so I want to spend today helping you understand how it is we live in adoration, how it is we are to live adoring this King. So I'm going to talk to you about adoration and what it involves. And while it involves a lot more than what I'm going to tell you today, adoration involves at least these nine elements.

And so as I explain them to you today, I want you to understand they're all-encompassing. And we could spend a week on each one, but we're not going to do that. And we could go into great detail concerning adoration because it is the supreme aspect of our lives. God seeks true worshipers, those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. And we are to live our lives worshiping the King. We live our lives adoring the King. At Christmastime when we sing about, Oh come let us adore Him. But very few people understand adoration.

Very few people understand what it means to adore Christ as King. So I want to take today to help you understand that because the rest of Hebrews is about understanding this one we are to adore. Because God seeks true worshipers. And if we worship the King in spirit and in truth, we do so because we absolutely adore Him. In fact, let me say to you this way.

If you got your Bible, Hebrews 11. We are months away, maybe even years away. I have no idea until we get to Hebrews chapter 11. So let me give you just a foretaste of things to come.

It says in Hebrews 11 verse 4, By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice in Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts. And through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. What does he speak to us about? And we know nothing about Abel, except what Hebrews tells us and what the book of Genesis tells us in just a few short verses. But we do know that Abel was a true worshiper. And as you look at the hall of faith, the hall of faith begins with true worship.

And worship always leads to walk how we live our lives. And Enoch is next. By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death and he was not found because God took him. For he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God. Our worship leads to how we live our lives. And then that walk leads to our work. And that's where Moses, or Noah comes in, excuse me. Verse 7, By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

And so when you look at the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter, the hall of faith, it all begins with worship because Abel, although being dead, he speaks to us about true worship because our lives are about worship.

Worship leads to how we walk and how we walk leads to how we work. And so it's imperative to understand that our steps and our service are always secondary to true worship. And so when we get to the 11th chapter of Hebrews, we'll explain that in more detail to you, but it serves as a introduction to the whole fact that worship is about adoration. So let me speak to you about adoration this morning, giving you nine elements, helping you understand that adoration, true adoration involves at least these nine things.

It encompasses more, but it involves at least these nine principles. Number one, anticipation. All adoration involves anticipation. If you adore someone, you anticipate being with someone. We come together, worship God in anticipation of what we're going to learn about God. When you arrive this morning, hopefully you arrived with the spirit of anticipation. You come anticipating what it is you're going to learn. My life is about anticipation. Every time you spend time in the word of God, it's about anticipation.

What will you learn about the character and nature of the living God? Hebrews is about the character and nature of Christ, the superior supreme God of the universe. And so we live in anticipation. That's why the psalmist said, I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Why? Because the temple in Jerusalem was a meeting place. It was where the Jews would gather together to meet the true and living God. The unique thing about that is, is that you and I don't have a meeting place because our lives, our bodies are the temple of the living God.

So our lives are that sanctuary. Our body is that sanctuary. It is a temple. This building is not a sanctuary, by the way, just in case you didn't know that this is not the quote sanctuary. This is the auditorium. This is a building. But your life, your life, your body is a sanctuary. For God dwells in us. The Jews had to go to a dwelling place where God would meet them. How unfortunate they were, how fortunate we are. So we can meet God at any time because God dwells in us. So we behold the presence of God in us and anticipate how he is going to instruct us and lead us in a closer walk with him based on who he is.

Listen to this. Hebrews 11. Let me take you back there for a moment. Verse 13. Speaking of those in the hall of faith, all these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. The Old Testament saints lived in anticipation of the coming promise. And although they did not receive the promise, there was an anticipation about their lives concerning the coming of that promise. They lived in anticipation. All those who adore Christ anticipate him. I have a meeting place in my house where I go every morning at 5 a.m. and I sit in that same chair in the same location to have an encounter with the living God.

And I open his word. I spent time in prayer. I anticipate that time. What is God going to reveal to me about himself through the study of his word? Every one of us should live in anticipation if we are true worshipers of the living God. Remember Simeon? Simeon was given a promise by the Spirit of God that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Christ. But he was one who was looking for the consolation of Israel. He lived in anticipation. In one glorious day, he was able to hold the Christ child in his arms, having seen the fulfillment of what was promised, could actually say, I can die.

I've seen the living Christ. I've held the Messiah. There is nothing else that I long for. I can die now.

He lived in anticipation. Anna, Luke 2, lived in anticipation, looking for the redemption of Israel. That's how she lived her life. Mary Joseph lived in anticipation of the coming Messiah. The Magi, who came from a long distance, lived in anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah. And they came, they bowed before him, and they worshiped him. You see, adoration should characterize our lives. And part of that adoration is anticipation. What do you anticipate more than anything else in the world? I would hope you would say it's the coming of the Messiah.

Christ taking me home to be with him, seeing my God face to face. Until that time, I anticipate every moment I have to open his word as he reveals himself to me that I might truly come to understand who he is. If you adore the Christ, you want to meet the Christ. You want to be with the Christ. You want to hear about the Christ. You want to know everything you can about the Christ. That's true adoration. So, adoration involves at least this anticipation. Also, it involves a disassociation. A disassociation.

That is, because I adore Christ, I no longer associate with the things of the world. I disconnect. There's a disconnection. There is a disassociation with the things of the world. Let me explain to you this way.

Book of Exodus, fifth chapter. Note this. Before there's ever a reverence, there's a severance. Right? Before there's ever true reverence, there is a severance. Matthew, the tax collector, would sever himself from his job, from his friends. He only had a few of them, by the way. He was a tax gatherer. But he would sever himself from all those things to follow Christ. There had to be a severance in order to be a reverence. You see, we can't come to worship Christ dragging the world with us and behind us.

There has to be a disassociation with those things. We just came from the study of Elisha. With Elisha, there was a severance. With Elisha, there was a leaving behind his family, leaving behind his plowing job by taking his plow and cutting it up and taking the oxen and sacrificing the oxen. I'm not coming back. I'm disassociating myself with my former life. I'm following Elijah because I'm mixed in line to be a prophet of Israel. Jesus said these words to the disciples, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

They dropped their nets. They left their future. They left their father. They left their finances to follow the Christ. There was a severance. If any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Follow me. So way back in the book of Exodus, the encounter with Moses, Aaron, and the Pharaoh of Egypt. God says these words.

Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, Exodus 5 verse number 1, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let my people go. Why? That they may celebrate a feast to me in the wilderness. Let my people go because there needs to be a celebration. If there's not a disconnection, if there's not a disassociation from Egypt, they cannot celebrate me. So Pharaoh says, it was the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go. I do not know the Lord. And besides, I will not let Israel go. Then they said, the God of the Hebrews has met with us.

Please let us go a three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Otherwise, he will fall upon us with pestilence or with a sword. In order for there to be a celebration, a feast in the wilderness, in order for there to be a consecration, for the sacrifice unto me, there must be a disassociation with everything in Egypt and all that Egypt stands for. Let my people go that they may serve me. Don't just let them go so they can wander around the wilderness, do whatever they want to do.

Let them go for a specific purpose that they may be all consumed with me. Now we know that they weren't. They began that way, but didn't finish that way. And so it's imperative to understand that in order for there to be an adoration of the God of Israel, there needs to be a disassociation with the things of the world. And all throughout the Gospels, Christ would speak about that disconnection. No man can serve two masters. It's impossible. For you'll love one and hate the other. So you've got to serve only one.

To do that, there must be a disassociation with all the things of the world. But isn't it interesting that for a lot of us, we have a trouble letting go of the things of the world. We hold on to them for dear life. And we wonder why there is not this adoration for the King. That's why the writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews chapter 12, let us lay aside every weight and every sin that keeps us from running the race that honors Christ. There is sin in our lives. There are weights that are not sin, but they're encumbrances that keep us from running faithfully, honestly, and truly for our God.

That keep us from adoring the King. We should not have anything in our lives that takes up precedence in such a way that it demands my attention and affection away from the one that I say I adore as my King. Nothing. So whatever adoration involves, it involves at least these two things. It involves anticipation. It involves disassociation. And number three, it involves obligation.

Obligation. Again, let me refer to you to the book of Hebrews, the 10th chapter, where the writer of Hebrews says this.

Therefore, brethren, verse number 19, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he inaugurated for us through the veil that is his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near. Wow. Let us draw near? See, the Jews couldn't draw near, but we can. We can because we had the confidence to enter the holy place. They could not, but we can. And he says, let us draw near. Here is your obligation when it comes to adoring Christ.

Let us draw near with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Adoration involves obligation. Obligation involves sincerity, loyalty, humility, and purity, based on Hebrews 10.22. Let us draw near, the text says, with a sincere heart. That's an obligation. You can't draw near with an insincere heart, can you? Of course not. You can't draw, you can't come to church to worship the king with an insincere heart, or a hypocritical heart, an unfaithful heart.

It's got to be a sincere heart. It's got to be a true heart. It's got to be a committed heart. This is the obligation of true adoration. You come with a sincere heart. A heart that truly wants to worship God. A heart whose soul is completely committed to God. And so it comes simply out of sincerity. Then it comes with loyalty, or you could use the word fidelity. You come with full assurance. Full assurance because of what the new covenant has done. All the old covenant, all the symbols, all the types, all the shadows that the old covenant provided for us, has all been fulfilled in Christ.

So I am completely loyal to what the new covenant stands for. So I come with full assurance. Full assurance that what I'm doing is truly based on what God himself has accomplished. So I come with not just sincerity, not just with loyalty, but I come truly in humility because my heart has been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. I have humbled myself before the living God, and I have confessed my sin to him. And I realized that amidst all my pride, amidst all my arrogance, I have been washed clean from my sin.

And then not only humility, sincerity, and loyalty, but with purity of heart says, and our bodies washed with pure water. That's the obligation in adoration. I can't come with an impure heart, only with a pure heart. I can't come with an insincere heart, but only a sincere heart. I can't come with divided loyalties. I must be completely loyal to my God, and I must humble myself before him. That's the obligation of adoration. So whatever adoration includes, it includes and involves an anticipation of all that God is, all that God says, and all that God's going to do.

It also involves for me a disassociation from all the things that the world pulls me by. I disconnect. I disassociate from those things because I am sold out for the Christ. It involves an obligation. I am obligated to come with full assurance, with a sincere heart, with a pure and undefiled heart, humbly submitting myself to the King that I might receive from him that which he has for me. That's adoration. Ask yourself, do you adore Christ? Do you truly adore him with all your heart? Do you anticipate his coming again?

Do you anticipate when you open the word what he's going to say to you today? Do you anticipate when you come to church there's going to be God speaking to you through his word, and what does God have for me today? You ever, you ever, ever gone, for lack of a better illustration, to a movie you've been waiting for for a long time, and you can't wait to get there? So what do you do? You get there early, because you don't want to miss anything. Anything. And you want to soak it all in. You want, you want to get the best seat possible.

Are you in the best seat possible today? Maybe you are. I have no idea. I'm not sitting where you're sitting. My seat's really comfortable. I'm in a great seat. But are, are you in the best place possible? Did, did you come today to, to receive from Christ the word of the living God? When you came, did you disassociate from all the things of the world? Or did you come dragging the world with you, into the assembly of God, with his people? Do you come with sincerity of heart, humility of heart, loyalty of heart, purity of heart?

That's adoration. So it involves at least those three things. It also involves number four, before reflection. Reflection. Not, not just anticipation. Not just disassociation. Not just obligation. But it involves reflection. That's right. Reflection. That I might be able to reflect on his holiness, so I can accurately reflect on my sinfulness, so I can accurately reflect on his forgiveness, so that I can accurately reflect on all that God has for me when it comes to service. You see, when you adore something, you spend time in a meditation, investigation, because there is a supreme reflection.

I reflect upon the Christ, and I reflect upon my life in light of the Christ, because he's the standard, nor the person is the standard. That's why the psalmist said, oh, how I love that law. It is my meditation all day long. I spend so much time reflecting on who you are, because it's my meditation all day long. God is in his holy temple, Habakkuk 2, let all the earth be silent before him. Why? Because when God speaks, his people listen.

And they listen with a reflective spirit, because they learn about themselves only in light of who he is. They can get an accurate assessment of all that he is. That's why Hebrews 12, go back to Hebrews 12 again, says this. It says, verse 3, for consider him, that's a mathematical term, where you calculate all there is about him. To do that, it requires reflection. For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so you may not grow weary and lose heart. The reason we grow weary, the reason we lose heart, is because we don't spend time in reflection upon the greatness of his character, and all that he's called us to do.

We grow weary, we lose heart, because we have no idea who God is and what he has accomplished through his finished work on Calvary's cross. So the writer of Hebrews, when he gets to Hebrews chapter 12, is what is going to get you to look back on Christ. Take a look back and reflect on him. Consider him. Remember Mary at the birth of Christ, when the disciples ran to her, I'm sorry, the shepherds ran to her, and spoke about this word, this reality that they had seen and heard. And the Bible says in Luke chapter 2, that Mary pondered all these things in her heart.

There was a great reflection upon the Christ. But all the things that these men had said to her, because all she knew was that it was Joseph and her, and the angel who made the announcement, and Elizabeth, and Zacharias. It's all she knew. Who else would know? But the shepherds, they knew. They made haste to go to Bethlehem to see this reality that was spoken to them by the angels. And they would begin to relay that message to Mary. All-consuming message. This 13-year-old girl, if she was that, overwhelmed by the birth of the Christ child, and now doubly overwhelmed by the words of the shepherds.

She took time to ponder all these things in her heart. Whatever adoration involves, it does involve reflection, obligation, disassociation, anticipation. On top of that, adoration always involves appreciation. Appreciation. Thanks be unto God for his indescribable gift. Very few of us live in the realm of appreciation, because all we can think about is how bad our situation is, how negative our situation is. So we are overwhelmed with negativity. But true adoration always involves appreciation, because I can't give enough thanks to God for his gift that is absolutely unfathomable, unspeakable, indescribable.

That's why in Isaiah chapter 9, verse number 6, the prophet Isaiah said, for unto you, the Lord God said to the pen of Isaiah, for unto you is given this day in the city, I'm sorry, wrong quotation. Ah, for a son will be given, a child will be born. His name will be called Wonderful. Wonderful. Because the son given and the child that is born is going to fulfill all your desires, because he's wonderful. Not only is he wonderful, he is counselor. So not only will he fulfill all your desires, he will facilitate all your decisions, because he's the counselor.

Not only is he wonderful, not only is he counselor, he is mighty God. He is El Gabor. He is God in the flesh. He will fortify all your defenses, because he's the mighty God. Not only that, he is the everlasting father. He is the originator of eternity. He will fashion your destiny. Not only that, he is the prince of peace. He is the only one who can free you from distress. This is the gift that is unspeakable. This is the gift that is unfathomable. And we are to give thanks for that gift, not just at Christmas time, not just at Thanksgiving.

We are to live a life of gratitude. We live a life of appreciation. That's why the psalmist said these words in Psalm 107. I love this. Psalm 107. I got to find it here. Psalm 107 says this. It says, Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting. Psalm 105. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him. Sing praises to him. Speak of all his wonders. Glory in his holy name. Let all the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.

Seek the Lord in his strength. Seek his face continually. Remember his wonders which he has done, his marvels and his judgments uttered by his mouth. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. In Psalm 122, Psalm 122, when the psalmist speaks the fact that I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. He says why? So that we may give thanks to the name of the Lord, our God. Verse four. Oh, I was glad. Why? Because I can give thanks to the Lord. I can appreciate all that he's done.

I can tell him how much I appreciate him. Do you adore the living God? Because adoration at least involves anticipation. At least involves a disassociation. At least involves an obligation. At least involves some sort of reflection. And at least involves appreciation. But on top of that, those who adore their God understand that adoration involves always trepidation. Always. To this man will I look, says the Lord, to him who is broken and of a contrite heart and who lives in trepidation of my unfailing word.

Isaiah 66, verse number two. They live in complete and utter fear of the word of the living God. You see, the unbeliever does not live in trepidation of God. But the believer does. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest fear me. That's why the Bible says in Isaiah chapter eight, these words, Isaiah eight, verse number 13, it is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy.

He shall be your fear. He shall be your dread. Wow. That's a great verse, man. Isaiah 8, 13. You got to memorize that one. Memorize them all, but at least memorize that one. Okay. It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. He should be your fear. He shall be your dread. Then and only then, verse 14, will he become your sanctuary. Then and only then will he become your dwelling place. Then and only then will he be your place of refuge. Only then. When you regard him as holy, how do you know you regard God as holy?

You live in absolute terror of his holy name, absolute fear of who he is and what he's accomplished. That's important. Adoration involves trepidation. How many times have we told you that the Christmas story is all about fear? Shepherds feared, Mary feared, Zacharias feared, Elizabeth feared. Everybody lived in fear. When the angel showed up and they heard the news, there was great fear. And it was always, do not be afraid. Why are you guys afraid? Do not be afraid. But that's because the holy ones live in fear of the holy God.

And so you must understand that adoration involves trepidation. Hebrews 12, verse number 28, says this. Hebrews 12, 28. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom, which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude. That's appreciation, right? Let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God, that's obligation, an acceptable worship with reverence in all, with great fear and trepidation. Because that's how God's to be worshiped. Again, Hebrews 12. We're looking at the end of Hebrews as we go through this, because when you understand Christ, this is what happens in true adoration.

You adore him. Yesterday, I had the privilege of doing a vow renewal for someone in their church, and I was getting ready to go home. As I came home, there's a couple standing outside our door. They said, are you the pastor of the church? I said, yeah. Can we come in just for a minute? We were married here 20 years ago. Really? Yeah. I said, come on in. We brought him in. I said, we just want to stand where we stood at the altar 20 years ago. Sure, come on in. They came and stood right down here.

Things had changed. Before there wasn't stairs here, there wasn't a baptismal there. A lot of changes at the church. They came, they stood right here. He held their hand. She held his hand. They gave each other a hug. They said, hey, thank you so much. I said, hey, you're welcome. Can I ask where you worship? They told me. I said, that's great. They said, you know, our church doesn't perform weddings anymore. I'm like, you got to be kidding me. Your church doesn't perform weddings anymore? I said, really?

Now, if I told you the church, you'd be shocked. Absolutely shocked. This is not some liberal church. I said, yeah, we don't perform weddings anymore at our church. I said, how can you not perform that which God created as an institute to be honored and glorified, to picture his relationship to the church? How can you not do that? I said, well, because there's been so many lawsuits concerning marriage and gay marriage and that kind of stuff. Our church doesn't want to face those things anymore. So you can imagine what I said.

I said, how can your church not be willing to face those things anymore? Because you live in the fear of God, not the fear of man. But it would seem like you fear man more than you fear God. Go back and tell your pastor that. Tell him I said it. And then tell him to give me a call. How can you not perform weddings anymore? Because you're afraid of lawsuits. And what would happen because we don't perform gay marriages? We don't perform gay marriages here either. We're never going to do that. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop marrying people who are truly committed to one another and we want to honor Christ.

God created marriage. That's a supreme sanctified institution. But you see, adoration involves trepidation. And it doesn't involve fearing man. It only involves fearing the one true God of the universe. Oh, I must hurry. Let me give you the last three real quick.

True adoration always involves imitation. Imitation. Because you want to be like the one you adore, right? If you say we love Him, we believe in Him. If we say that, we abide in Him, we're going to walk even a sea walk, 1 John 2, 6. But we live a life of imitation. Christ says, follow me.

Why? I will make you into something. I will make you fishers of men. I'm going to mold you and make you into my image. We are His workmanship. Ephesians 2, 10. Christ is going to make us like Him. So we shine brightly, we walk rightly, we walk wisely, walk in wisdom, be imitators of God, walk in love. Ephesians 5, 1, right? Adoration involves imitation. You can't say you adore God and imitate the world. You can only say you love God and adore God and imitate Him because you love Him and you live in adoration of His character.

And then adoration involves oblation. Oblation. What is that? That's a sacrifice. That's an offering. Right? How can you say you adore the one you are not willing to sacrifice for? That's what an oblation is. We give an offering to God. We give a sacrifice to God. We are willing, we are willing to sacrifice our lives. That's the ultimate oblation, right? We present our bodies as a living sacrifice, a living gift to the living God. David said in 2 Samuel 24 when he purchased the threshing floor on the Temple Mount from Arunah the Jebusite, I will not offer to God that which costs me nothing.

So he bought it for 50 shekels silver. David, Israel, by fact that they purchased the Temple Mount own the Temple Mount. No one else does. Just Israel. But David sacrificed because that's what we do as believers when we adore the King. There is an oblation. There is an offering. There is a sacrifice. There is a gift. We cannot hold anything back from the one we adore. We just want to give it because we love Him so. We love Him so. And lastly, adoration involves at least anticipation, disassociation, obligation, reflection, appreciation, trepidation, imitation, oblation, and notification.

Notification. I will warn you. I will announce to you. I will notify you of all impending judgment if you do not adore this Christ. That's what the writer of Hebrews did. Five times he gave a warning. Five times he gave an announcement. Five times he notified these people in this assembly. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the day of provocation in the wilderness. If you go on sinning willfully, there is a terrifying expectation, a judgment, because our God is an all-consuming fire.

And He will judge you. You see, if you adore the Christ, you want others to adore Him. If they choose not to, you must notify them of the impending judgment that they are about to face if they do not repent of their sins and give their life to the living God. How can we say that we adore the Christ and not warn others of their eternal destiny without Christ? How can we say that? If we adore Him, we want others to adore. We're going to introduce others to Him. We have to because we love Himself. And once you've presented Christ in all of His beauty, all of His splendor, all of His glory, and they say no, you warn them, you notify them of impending judgment that's going to come if you do not repent of your sins.

And the writer of Hebrews did that so eloquently all throughout the book of Hebrews. He gave the warning. He gave the alert. Be careful. Be watchful. Understand this. Once you've seen Him in all of His splendor and you reject Him, it will be impossible to renew you to repentance once you've tasted of the heavenly gift. Once you become partakers of the Holy Spirit, it's impossible for you to ever come to a place of repentance. The writer of Hebrews did it so eloquently, so beautifully, so people would be without excuse.

Why? He adored the Christ. Do you? Like I said, adoration includes so much more than these nine elements, but includes at least these elements so we can ask ourselves, do I adore the living God? Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today. Truly we are grateful. Truly, truly we are thankful. Forgive us for our lack of gratitude. Forgive us for not disconnecting and disassociating from the world, trying to drag it in here with us. Forgive us, Lord, for not reflecting solely upon the Christ, meditating upon your name and your glory and splendor. Forgive us, Lord, for not offering to you the greatest of all gifts, our lives, all that we are, all that we hope to be for the glory of your kingdom. Forgive us, Lord, for not notifying the world, those we work with, of the impending judgment that will come their way if they neglect, neglect to worship you, King of kings, Lord of lords.

We pray in Jesus name. Amen.