Let's take our Bibles together and open up to the book of Hebrews 1. Hebrews 1, we'll be looking at verses 5 to 14 together this morning. Have you ever given much thought to just how incredible angels are? Angels can take life. We see that in the book of Exodus. The death angel moved throughout all the land of Egypt, snuffing out the life of every firstborn son who didn't have, that their family didn't have blood over the doorposts. Angels can destroy entire armies. In one night, a single angel struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. That's incredible. Angels can roll away huge stones, like they did at Jesus' tomb, which seemed to then produce an earthquake. Angels can shut the mouths of lions, as we see with Daniel. Angels can unlock prison doors. They can stop animals in their tracks, like what we see with Balaam's donkey. Angels can exercise power over nature, like what we see in the book of Revelation. Angels are so majestic that people in scripture often mistake them for God. And maybe you're thinking, you know what? I could really use a good angel in my life right now. I think that's what I need. It's a bit ironic how thinking about angels reminds us of how needy we are. When confronted with our problems and needs, we can think that there is something better out there for us than Jesus and his salvation. There's something here in the created order that I need that can make it all better. You might think that there's something better out there for you than Christianity. Jesus, maybe, I mean, if you're just being totally honest and just shooting really straight, you'd say, you know, I love Jesus, but he's made my life complicated in my home, in my marriage since I came to faith, or on the job, or with my government, or maybe just feel like, you know, this Christian life, it is kind of this narrow path, and it seems to eliminate so much fun in my life. You might think there's something better than turning from sin and living for Jesus. Every time you sin, you know, when we do that, we're essentially saying sin is better. My sin is better. My lust and sexual appetite, that is better and more satisfying than Jesus could possibly be. My anger is better. My bitterness is better. My comfort, my happiness, that's better for me. Maybe you're thinking about quitting the race of the Christian life, thinking that quitting is better than running the race for Jesus. Maybe you think that there is a whole world for you out there that is probably so wonderful and appealing. Maybe you're a teenager and you've had thoughts like this kind of going through your mind for a while. You're thinking, man, when I get out of my parents' house, I'm so done with this, this Jesus thing, you know, like there are greener pastures out there somewhere for me. Or maybe, I mean, you profess Christ, but I mean, if you're being honest, you might kind of be neglecting Jesus because he doesn't seem that important. You don't have much interest or time for him. You rarely open up his words to you and read them. There are other things more worthy of your time and your attention than Jesus. Maybe you've come here today and you sit here very aware that you need something. I mean, you're here and you're like, man, I have massive needs in my life and I want to find answers and solutions. And so you're searching for those. You're absolutely convinced that you are needy. But you haven't necessarily thought that Jesus might be the direct answer to that need. The recipients of the book of Hebrews were needy people in their own right. They had suffered difficulties. Many of them were probably suffering persecution for their faith in Jesus in a world that was very antagonistic towards him. But their need, their greatest need was to see Jesus. What these people needed to do was to see the ascended Christ on his throne. They were tempted to look everywhere else for answers, but they needed to hear, no, no, Jesus is everything. The writer of Hebrews here contrasts Jesus with angels to display the unsurpassable glory of the ascended Christ. There is nothing better for you than Jesus and his salvation. And every Christian needs to hear that. And if you're not a Christian, you need to hear it too. Because of who Jesus is and where he sits, Jesus is more than you could ever ask for. He's also more than you could ever need. And so you're invited as we open up to Hebrews chapter one, look at him. I mean, Jesus is superior to angels. Let's jump into this text, Hebrews chapter one, and our text is verses five to 14, but we'll jump back up to verse three as we start. He, that's Jesus, is the radiance of the glory of God, and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power, after making purification for sins. That's a reference to Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He sat down by God the Father. Having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. That name is the title son. For to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Or again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he brings the firstborn, that's Jesus, into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. Of the angels, he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the sun, he says, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up. Like a garment, they will be changed. But you and again, all this is referring to Jesus. You are the same and your years will have no end. And 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 speaking of angels, not all ministering spirits sent to serve, sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? The author, and maybe you picked this up just looking at the text, he's chained together several Old Testament quotations. Almost everything that I just read is an Old Testament quotation. And he's strung all of these Old Testament quotes together and applied them to Jesus to make three contrasts. Here's the first one. Angels are supernatural, but Jesus is God's divine enthroned son. I mean, angels are, they are supernatural and amazing. I mentioned several things that you're like, wow, that's incredible. They're so amazing that when people encounter them in scripture, they're often immediately awestruck and they're afraid and smitten with fear and their first response is to fall down before them and maybe even begin to try to worship. The ascended Christ, though, is so much better. He is infinitely superior. And where the writer of Hebrews starts, he highlights that Jesus is God's divine son. And as such, that language is highlighting that Jesus is the Davidic king. If you look back at verse five with me, Again, we read, for to which of the angels did God ever say, and then he quotes two Old Testament passages. The first one, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Or again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. Jesus has always been, and he has always been God's son. But verse four that we saw a few weeks ago indicates that that title took on greater significance at the resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of Jesus in heaven. We see this same thing going on elsewhere in the New Testament. In Romans 1 verse 4, it puts it this way, and was declared, this is again speaking about Jesus, to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness. Okay, so he's declared to be the son, and then we have this time reference, by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. In their original context, the two Old Testament quotes in verse 5, they're about the line of David, the Davidic king and his descendants. And these references are being used here to show that Jesus is God's Messiah. Jesus is the great and final Davidic king, and he has been installed on his throne in heaven as God's ascended son. And his reign as king has commenced at his resurrection and ascension. We see this same connection being made in the book of Acts from the exact same Old Testament quotation that we have here in Hebrews 1. This is Acts 13, 32 to 34. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus. Okay, so we've got this resurrection language and resurrection timeframe. As also it is written in the second Psalm, the same quote that we have here in Hebrews 1, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, I will give the holy and sure blessings of David. What's going on here? One writer summarizes the idea this way. Although Jesus was the preexistent son of God, he entered into a new experience of sonship by virtue of his incarnation. That's his coming to earth as a man. His sacrificial death and his subsequent exaltation. Jesus is greater than angels because he is the enthroned Davidic king, because he is God's unique son, and as the son, he rules over all. The writer of Hebrews is stringing all this together so that you would see Jesus in his proper place, enthroned in the heavens. Jesus is the Davidic king, and Jesus is worshiped by angels. Look at verse six. And again, when he brings his firstborn, that's Jesus, into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. Wherever you see Jesus and angels brought together in the Bible, who is worshiping whom? Well, these glorious creatures are always worshiping the son. You remember when Jesus was born, angels filled the sky and they worshiped and they praised God. All the way at the end of the Bible in Revelation 5, 11 to 13, John writes, he says, then I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, and not just like a few. Numbering myriads and myriads and thousands of thousands. So I mean just tons of angels around the throne Saying with a loud voice worthy as the lamb who was slain who is that? Well, that's Jesus to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. I could be mistaken on this, but I think the reference to God bringing Jesus into the world in verse six, at kind of first thought, we think, oh, that must be Jesus being born. But I don't sense it's so much a reference to Christ's birth, but rather to his ascending into the heavenly world, into the heavenly realm, and taking his seat. A world is used kind of in that sense in chapter two, verse five. So you ask, well, who do the angels worship? We see them worshiping Jesus there in verse six. More specifically, though, who do the angels worship? They worship the ascended enthroned Christ in the heavens. Angels are supernatural, but Jesus is God's divine enthroned son. And because of that, he is more than you could ever ask for and more than you could ever need. And the writer of Hebrews is just, by all this, he just keeps saying, look there, Look at Jesus enthroned in the heavens. What can we take from that? Well, you need to bow before the authority of Jesus in your life. And we can start with this kind of these kind of thoughts. Is he your king? If he is the divine son, the enthroned Messiah. Is he your king? Or are you your own king? Has there ever come a point in your life where you recognize, no, no, no, I'm actually not the king? I'm created by God for his pleasure and glory. Jesus is the king and I was made for him. And so Jesus, here's my life. Jesus came, he left heaven, he came to earth, he died on the cross to pay for your sins and he rose again so that you could be a new creation in Christ and you could bow before him as king and be right with him. Have you ever cried out to Jesus and said, Jesus, I am a sinner. I have not lived for you. I have not bowed before you as my king. Here's my life now. If you haven't, why not today? Jesus, you'll be my king now. Save me. Here's my life. And if you've done that, well, are you living with him as your master and Lord? Are you living for him and following him? When Jesus speaks in his word, do you listen and obey? We can think about your marriage, for example. Does God's or Jesus' blueprint specifically for your marriage matter to you? Jesus says, hey, this is what I think about your marriage, and this is how you should live and function within it, and this is how you should relate to your spouse. Does that matter to you? Is Jesus' goal for your life the same as your goal for your life? What should that be? Well, it should be to honor, please, and glorify Jesus in everything. And who do you worship? Now we see here that the angels worship Jesus. These incredible creatures bow before Jesus. Do you? We also see that they're busy doing his bidding. Just like the angels, you were created to worship Jesus. So if we were to turn that kind of on its head, do you have any idols in your life? Things that if Jesus should be up here on the throne in your life, you said, oh, actually, I'd like to put something else up there. Things that you have elevated above King Jesus, and by the way, they could be good things, they could be wonderful things, they're just elevated too high. The things that you're willing to sin in order, you're willing to disobey God and sin so that you can have. Also, maybe we just think for a moment about why we have gathered here today. Why are we here? What does this time slot look like? What what is this all about? What does our church exist for? Why have we gathered? We have gathered here this morning as as Christ Church. We have gathered as a church, we exist to worship the ascended Christ, and I think sometimes we forget that. We have gathered to worship the ascended Christ, the one who sits on his throne and rules and reigns, and yet we could come in here and not really be thinking in those terms. I've come to worship. We have come to worship. This time is about Jesus, the king over all. If we're not careful, we start to think that our church exists first and foremost for ourselves, and this becomes the place where we talk about Jesus and we do Bible things, but we can quickly start looking at ourselves and be focused on what can the church do for me? And yet we have gathered, we are here for Jesus. A second contrast that the writer of Hebrews makes, angels are God's servants, but Jesus is king of all. Angels are but servants of a king. Angels are God's servants. Look at verse 7. Of the angels, he says, he makes his angels winds. And his ministers, that's another reference to angels, a flame of fire. What does this verse teach us about angels? Well, a few things. It teaches us that they belong to God. They're called his angels. He owns them. How's that? Well, they were created by God. They are creatures who have been fashioned by God. Based on verse two, we might even say that Jesus created them. I don't know exactly what verse seven is communicating, but I do think we should note the verb. It is God who makes them what they are in the verse. And it is he who deploys them however he wants. And so I think what God wants us to do based on this verse is grab that creator-creature distinction. And they serve God, they're called his ministers, they are his agents in sending the wind and fire, whatever Jesus the King wants, angels go and do. They serve him. They're awesome. They are God's servants, but Jesus is king of all. There's no comparison. Jesus is God's co-regent, ruling with God the Father as one, co-equal and co-eternal. Verses three to four say that after making purifications for sins, he, Jesus, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited, son, is more excellent than theirs. And then we get down to verse eight, and these magnificent Old Testament words are attached to Jesus. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. Those words are spoken about Jesus. Jesus reigns forever and ever. Angels gather around the throne, but Jesus sits on it. He's the divine son and he reigns forever and ever. It's a rule without end, eternal sovereignty. And he reigns in righteousness and justice if you look there at verses eight and nine. But of the sun, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. That's how Jesus reigns, in uprightness. And it says of Jesus that you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Those are big statements. Jesus is the perfect king. He hates wickedness. Many of our earthly rulers love it. Jesus hates it, and he loves righteousness, and he rules in perfect justice. There is no king like King Jesus. So far, as we've looked at what's said of Jesus as king, it fits with our framework, right, of kings. When we read in here about earthly kings, we're accustomed to hearing the language we just heard in some sense. We're accustomed to hearing the language of power and weakness. We're accustomed to hearing of authority and dominion and conquest and defeat and justice and injustice. All that we've read so far fits with our earthly framework of what kings are like and what they do in good and bad ways. Jesus is just quintessential and perfect in that way. What we have read so far fits our framework of a king. Making what comes next all the more striking because it is not what we're thinking. It's not what we expect to hear next. This is not what we hear when we hear about kings. Here it is, Jesus reigns with unrivaled joy and gladness. Look at verse nine. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. You think you've seen joy? You think you've felt joy? You think you've seen the biggest smile that ever could be as you watched your kid with that ice cream cone and ice cream running all down their face and all down their shirt, just pure joy, delight, and gladness? You think you've seen expressions of joy and delight, and I'm sure that you have. But what you have seen and what you have felt is nothing compared to the joy and delight of the ascended enthroned Christ. He sits on the throne with unrivaled joy and gladness. Here is a king who sits on his throne smiling and glad. Does that look like the pictures of royalty that you've seen? I don't know about you, but with everything I learned about this king, I love him more. There's something that that draws you to him. He's enthroned and he's glad. Perhaps we should just pause for a moment and ask. Well, what makes the ascended and thrown Christ so joyous and glad? The joy of the ascended son is no doubt joy, and his father a reciprocal joy in the Trinity. Perfect, magnificent joy and delight. We see it going the other way when the son is baptized and the father says, this is my beloved son in whom I delight. But there's this joy that has always been there amongst the members of the Trinity. Mutual delight in one another. But Christian, there's something wonderful here. The ascended Christ, the risen son, has brought you into that. Why is the joy and gladness of Jesus so unrivaled? Because it is joy in his father that is then exploded into joy in his redeemed people. He has brought us in, and that is amazing, and that is today. And so I'd say to you, as as I think the writer of Hebrews is saying to all of us, behold, your king. He's amazing. I don't know what you have going on here today. But you have been brought into a reign of joy. Isn't that awesome? And so rejoice and be glad and celebrate and give thanks because Jesus is far more than you could ever ask, more than you could ever need. You want joy in your life? Maybe you sit here and go, I don't know that I've really got that today. Well, what should you do? You should gaze upon the ascended and thrown King. and dwell in the presence of this King. You know, if you will take the time to open up the words of Jesus and you will park there in His presence, you will walk away with joy. Get to know Him better each day. You will find joy in Him, and it's a joy and gladness that cannot be taken away, and it is a joy and gladness that cannot be found anywhere else, because it literally flows from the triune God. You want joy? Then see this King's joy in you. Our sin makes us, if we're honest, fairly appalling. Don't you feel that sometimes? Maybe this last week you found yourself confessing sin and in the moment you were loving it and it was awesome and it was wonderful, but that at the end of the day, you're like, this is wrong and you repent it and you're just overtaken by how disgusting and awful your sin is and what your sin, how it impacts your relationship with God. And you might find yourself thinking, how could God love me? God must hate me right now. But that is not true. He takes joy and delight in his people, the people of his kingdom. When you sin, you go run to Jesus, you go run to the ascended Christ. His disposition towards you is so much better than you could ever imagine. We see also of Jesus, the enthroned king, that he reigns as the uncreated, powerful creator. Look at verses 10 down through verse 12. And you, Lord, again, all this is being applied to Jesus, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning. And the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment, like a robe. You will roll them up like a garment. They will be changed, but you are the same and your years will have no end. Jesus is not like the angels. He's not like any other creature or creation itself because he is not created. The contrast here is he's the creator. Everything in creation wears out, but not Jesus. And one of the images that's being used here is that of a garment wearing out. Do you have a favorite piece of clothing, a favorite article of clothing? Maybe it's a pair of sweatpants you've had since high school that your wife is begging and begging and begging you to get rid of, but it is not happening. These are the best. Maybe it's an old ratty T-shirt or a well-worn pair of jeans. Hands down for me, my favorite piece of clothing that I have ever owned in my entire life is a thick, heavy, hooded Carhartt sweatshirt. I've lived in it for the last 10 years, and that's not an exaggeration, especially in the wintertime. It's so bad that if you look at our family photos, you know, the ones that As a family, you're like, hey, we should take some pictures, Christmas time, kids' birthdays, that sort of thing. That's what I'm wearing in every photo, to the point that it's actually become a little bit embarrassing. But ten years ago, my sister sent me that sweatshirt for Christmas, and when I opened it up, in the box there, it was plush, it was thick, it was without snags, holes, or stains, a kind of a deep maroon color. And it's held up well. But it's no longer thick and plush like it was. It's snagged in some places. It has stains. There's a few spots where it's beginning to unravel. The color is beginning to become dull. For what it's worth, I'm hoping to get at least another decade, maybe two, out of it. Unless it starts fading to pink, then we're done. It'll be time to get a new one for the last half of my life. But such is the life cycle of any created thing, right? There's a newness. It's strong and vibrant. And over time, it fades and wears out. It's true of the entire universe. Our physical world is growing tired and decaying. It's wearing out, we read here, like a garment. And one day, the earth and the heavens will be rolled up and discarded. And what we see here is that Jesus contrasts with that in every way. He is uncreated. If you look there at verse 10, you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Jesus is the creator. He's always been. He's the uncreated one. And with that, he's unfading. If you look at verses 11 and 12, they, speaking of the heavens and earth, they're gonna perish, but you, Jesus, remain. They will all wear out like a garment. Like a robe, you will roll them up. Like a garment, they will be changed, but you are the same and your years will have no end. Jesus doesn't wear out. Jesus doesn't fade. Jesus doesn't grow tired. None of that. His strength does not diminish. He doesn't get Alzheimer's and his mind wear out and start to fail. We see that he's unchanging there in verse 12 at the end, but you are the same. Your years will have no end. Nothing in the created world is truly static, at least not on its own. No thing or no person, including you, has staying power. You live in a world where people change, and often as they change, they disappoint you. You live in a world where people come into your life and they go out. You live in a church, or you're part of a church that's like that. Situations in your life change. You change. You live in a created and fallen universe where everything and everyone is dominated by change and decay, really only moving in one direction. And in contrast to that, we read that the one who sits enthroned in the heavens never changes. He is eternal and unchanging. If you took physics or some classes like that, you may recall that the second law of thermodynamics states that entropy in an isolated system always increases over time. You buy a new car and it rusts. This is how the created universe works. Also of Jesus, he is unending. The end of verse 12 there, you are the same and your years will have no end. The Lord Jesus will never die or expire. He lives and he lives forever. He reigns forever. Angels are God's servants, but Jesus is king of all. Because of that, he's more than you could ever ask for, more than you could ever need, so you keep looking at Jesus. You might be very anxious right now about who knows what. I would imagine in the room here today, there are a lot of anxieties about a lot of different things. It could be the political scene. It could be tariffs. You know we've heard a lot about those. The economy. An upcoming doctor's appointment. Your job. One of your children. Whatever it is. I mean I'm sure there are just all kinds of things that those of us here today are anxious about. In a world of uncertainty where everything is changing where things are constantly shifting where it seems like things always have this tendency to be on a downhill trajectory. You should put your trust in the ascended Christ's unchanging promises and his character. Keep your eyes on him. This book is written to needy people, and it starts out with Jesus is enthroned. Look at him. Also, in this section of chapter one, we see the angels doing the bidding of Jesus. They're serving him. That's what all creation was created to do. Do you do that? Do you serve Jesus and do his bidding? All of creation is there for Jesus. What are you doing with your life? You know, tomorrow morning when you wake up. How can you serve Jesus? Well, maybe that that involves you getting up and I'm going to love and serve my family today, my spouse and my children. I'm going to get up and serve Jesus by by spending time with him and becoming more like him. I'm going to get up and serve Jesus by going to my job and just putting in an honest, ethical day of work and treating the people around me like Jesus would. I'm going to faithfully try to raise my kids and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord when that's exhausting from day to day. One more contrast that we see in this chapter, angels, they're not only God's servants, angels are our servants. But Jesus is our victorious conqueror. Look at the last two verses of the chapter, verses 13 and 14. And to which of the angels has he ever said this? Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. In contrast, verse 14, are they the angels not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? These verses are really a reminder That Christ, though he has ascended and taken his seat, all has not yet been brought into perfect order and equilibrium. We're very well aware of that. We await the return of the king. But verse 13 reminds us and it puts before us that Jesus is our victorious conqueror. Verse 13 indicates that a day will come when God will put all of Jesus' enemies under his feet where they belong. They will be vanquished. We might say that Jesus' enemies have been defeated through his death and resurrection, but they're still at large running around. Not for long. Who are those enemies? Well, our minds quickly run to Satan and his hordes of fallen, evil angels and demons. We think about world powers. We think about those who hate Jesus. But we might also include such things as sin, death, the grave, and the curse. Those are the enemies of Jesus. And that day is coming when all of that will be put under his feet. In contrast, we read that angels are the servants of God's heirs. Look at verse 14 again. Are they, the angels, not all ministering spirits sent out to serve who? Well, they're sent for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation. If we're followers of Jesus, that's us. As we await our eternal inheritance, our eternal salvation, God's servants, the angels minister to us. And you're like, tell me more. And I don't know that I have a lot more to tell you. Just read that they do. That's cool. Though angels are our servants, Jesus is much more, Jesus is our victorious conqueror. We have some fascinating pictures of that idea of victorious, conquering kings putting their enemies under their feet in the Old Testament. I want to share a couple of those with you. After the Israelites defeated and captured five Amorite kings, Joshua 10, 24 says that when they brought those kings out to Joshua, I think they were in a cave, if I remember correctly, they bring these five kings to Joshua. Joshua summoned all the men of Israel. OK, let's get everybody together here. and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, come near and put your feet on the necks of these kings. They dragged these five kings that they just conquered out. They throw them on the ground and these guys have their feet on their necks. This act represented the total defeat and subjugation of the enemy, as well as the complete victory and dominance of the conqueror. It's a very vivid picture. In the book of Judges, I think I like this example more, the Israelites captured a king by the name of Adonai Bezek, and do you know what they did to him? They cut off his thumbs, and then they cut off his big toes. This kind of mutilation was both humiliating and disabling. I mean, if you cut off somebody's thumbs and their big toes, they're not going to be charging out at you in battle with a sword, right? That's over. And when they did this to this King Bezek, he saw it as just and fair repayment, and he said this, 70 kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. It's quite the picture. He said, as I have done, so God has repaid me. 70 kings down there at his feet trying to grab little scraps of food without thumbs, crawling around. Jesus will subdue it all, sin, death, the curse, the grave, Satan, and all of his enemies under his feet. Angels are our servants, sure, but Jesus is our victorious conqueror. Have you lost hope? Can you just find yourself with a heaviness hanging over you? And you don't feel like you have a whole lot of hope right now. Because our world is dark and heavy and our personal lives can be very difficult and trying and discouraging. Have you lost hope? The writer of Hebrews says you look at Jesus because he reigns and he will triumph. And we know from elsewhere in scripture that we will dine with him. We will eat with Jesus as all of his enemies are under his feet. I mean, what Bezek thought he had going on was cool. All these 70 kings under his table picking up scraps without their thumbs. When Jesus sits and dines with his people, every last enemy will be under his feet. Totally and finally dealt with. And so we're summoned to put our hope in Jesus. Also, if you're a Christian, can I just remind you that your eternal future is secure? At the end of the chapter here where it talks about inheriting salvation, 1 Peter 1 also talks about the eternal salvation that we will inherit being kept for us, and not just that, but us being kept for that salvation, guarded by God's power. If you are a Christian and your faith and hope are in Jesus, you've said, Jesus, save me. Well, then he has and he is and he will. And you can rest in Jesus with great assurance of your salvation and security and hope. We're here to worship this king today. Because of who Jesus is and where he sits, he sits enthroned in the heavens. Jesus is more than you could ever ask for and more than you could ever need. And so I'd ask you, I could say that to you all day long, but do you actually believe that? Look at Him. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.