Not Worth The Trade

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. You with me tonight? You ready to get after it? All right, let's do this. Verse 4. Having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

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 into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. And of the angels, he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire.

But of the son, he says, your throne, O 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.

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're the same, and your years 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 at your feet?

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Therefore, in light of all of this, pay much closer attention to what we've heard, lest we drift from it.

For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedient received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard. While God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the gift of your grace this evening to study your word. Lord, help us see once again just how great Jesus is.

And we pray this in Jesus' name. And God's people said, amen. Amen. You can be seated. I can still remember the excitement as a young boy. I would, maybe like some of you did when you were a kid.

I'd earn some money doing chores. For me, it was usually mowing yards or doing different projects for my dad. And as soon as I would be given the money, I would almost immediately, like a bullet out of a gun, go to the grocery store and buy me a brand new pack.

Not cigarettes, right? A brand new pack of baseball cards. Does anybody remember collecting baseball cards? Does anybody even do that?

I didn't realize I'd get a clap for that, but thank you. That's awesome. Yeah, like I was an avid collector of baseball cards. I had like the folders that you would put them all in to keep them in mint condition.

I would even collect like the full box sets, you know, tops and upper deck and all of that. Some of you, I'm speaking Greek. Others of you, you know what I'm talking about.

And I had like so many of these cards, the Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire, and I'm really old. So I remember all of those cards. I loved collecting baseball cards.

And if you remember doing that, you know that the joy of baseball cards wasn't just collecting them. It was doing what? Trading. That's exactly right.

Trading. And the kids at school were always like trying to trade different players for this player or this for that. Like this is what made it so much fun.

And of course, everybody was trying to make the best trade they could. And I will never forget, I'll never forget the best trade I ever made. Would you like to hear about it? I'm going to tell you. Best trade I ever made.

His name was Kevin. Kevin Threat. I don't know if you'll listen to this. Sorry, Kevin. And Kevin had a Michael Jordan starting lineup figure.

Now, not exactly a baseball card. It does have a card in it. But he had a Michael Jordan starting lineup figure. And I had a Daryl Strawberry out of mint rookie card.

Some of you maybe not even remember who Daryl Strawberry was. And I offered Kevin my Daryl Strawberry out of mint card for his Michael Jordan mint condition starting lineup figure.

And much to my shock, he took it, right? He took the deal. And not only did he take the deal, he thought he got the better end of the deal.

And needless to say, if you know anything about sports history, Daryl Strawberry's career tanked. Now, I was actually a Strawberry fan. I hated to see that. But he didn't have that much of a career.

Michael Jordan, on the other hand, kind of turned out okay, right? And you'll never guess what I still have today. You wondered why I brought the bag.

That's like, he never brings a bag on stage. That's right. I still have the Michael Jordan. Isn't your pastor so amazing?

Right? I still have it. Now, the Daryl Strawberry card today is probably worth a few dollars maybe. This is worth.

I'm not telling, right? I'm not telling. I'm putting it right back up so nobody touches it. I'm probably not going to retire off this. But I assure you, it is worth more than a Daryl Strawberry rookie card, right?

Now, let's have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for the wisdom of our pastor and his ability to make a trade. Amen. Amen. Amen. Now, I share that kind of silly life story to illustrate and to kind of ask you a question tonight that I want you to think about.

And the question is this. The question is, have you ever made a bad trade? Have you ever made a bad trade? And my guess is that you have.

Of course, you see this in the culture all the time. My goodness, it happens in the sports world like every year. Going back a little bit in 1996, the Charlotte Hornets traded their draft spot to the L.A.

Lakers for a player by the name of Vlade Divac. If you remember Vlade Divac, free cup of coffee in the cafe later. And the Lakers in return for that trade got a guy by the name of Kobe Bryant.

Let's go back even further. In 1920, the Boston Red Sox traded cash. And in exchange, the New York Yankees got a player by the name of Babe Ruth.

And that only happens in sports, it happens in business a lot. Ron Wayne, who was one of the original founders of Apple, he's pictured there in the middle.

He sold his 10% stake in the company in 1976 for $800. If he still had that today, it would be worth millions, if not billions, in that company.

And my guess is most of us have made a bad trade before, haven't we? Probably maybe not to that level. But maybe you traded in what at the time was a perfectly good car.

And in return, you got a complete piece of junk. Maybe some of you made a really dumb trade on your fantasy football league. Or maybe you traded stock in a company that eventually went bankrupt.

Maybe you traded your values just to get a paycheck or to get a promotion at work. We've all made bad trades. We've all made bad trades.

And it's one thing to do that in sports or in business. It's an entirely different thing to do that when it comes to God. To have the opportunity to know God.

And to experience the salvation that is offered in God. And to trade that for worldly things. That is an insane trade.

Amen? And Jesus says it this way in Mark chapter 8. Calling the crowd to Him and with His disciples, He said to them, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospels will save it. For what does it profit a man or a woman to gain the whole world?

What if you gained everything in this world but forfeit his soul? To trade the eternal for the temporary?

To trade the greatest thing for a lesser thing? Faith family, it begs this question of us this evening.

What is it that is so great, so valuable, and so important to you that you would readily trade Jesus Christ to possess it?

A relationship? A 4.0 GPA? A starting spot on the team? A million dollars? Acceptance by a particular group?

Or an easier life? I'm asking, what is so great, so valuable, and so important to you that you would readily trade Jesus Christ to possess it?

It is exactly the trade that these Hebrew Christians are considering. As I mentioned last week and briefly at the top, this book is written to people who had faith.

Many of them had had faith long enough that they should be teachers. They had not pressed on in maturity in their faith. And they've been suffering under Roman persecution because of their faith.

As we mentioned last week, as the rubber bands of persecution have added pressure, it's just become too much. They want to explode. And they know that Judaism is exempt from worshiping Roman gods, and therefore exempt from persecution.

And given that their background is Judaism, they think, well, wouldn't it just make a lot of sense to go back to Judaism? Then life would be easy, life would be comfortable, and they're honestly considering making that trade.

And the author of Hebrews writes to them to wake them up. Listen, listen, listen. When you make a trade, why do you make the trade? You make the trade because you think whatever is on the other side of that trade will be better.

Correct? Like you're going to get a better deal. You're going to get a better paycheck. You're going to get a better life. And that is why this author 13 times throughout the book keeps emphasizing better.

Jesus is better. What He offers is better. He has a better name. He promises a better hope. He's inaugurated a better covenant with better promises. He's offered a better sacrifice.

He's laid up for us a better future. How could you possibly make that trade? You already have the best life.

Not circumstantially, but in Christ. He is greater than anything you would trade Him for. Amen? Faith family, what we need to understand tonight is whatever you would be willing to trade for Jesus, it pales in comparison to Jesus.

And the book begins in chapter 1 by saying right out of the gate, Jesus is the greater Word than any Word that came through the prophets. He's the heir of all things, creator of all things, radiance of the Father's glory, exact imprint of His nature.

He upholds the universe by His very power. He offered Himself as the ultimate and final sacrifice for our sins. He is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high.

Jesus is the greatest. And now the argument continues. Verse 4. Having become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent.

Do you see that there? It's better. It's more excellent than theirs. Now, most of us, because we don't have a Jewish background, may not initially understand why the author is spending so much detail about angels.

Are you with me tonight? When I read the Scripture up front, did you notice how many times angels gets mentioned throughout chapter 1? And it'll happen even later on throughout the book as well.

So why? Why the obsession or why the emphasis on angels? Well, Jews, ancient Jews had a deep fascination with angels.

In fact, some of them would even tip into worshiping angels. Notice that Paul actually warns against that in Colossians. Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food or drink with regard to festival or new moon or Sabbath.

These are the shadow of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you insisting on asceticism, or to say it, worship of angels.

And so ancient Hebrews were obsessed. They were fascinated with angelic beings. And we are too. I mean, many people in our culture today, and certainly we have been throughout history obsessed with angels.

You think about people today, they have angel statues in their home. Some people do. We have television shows all about angels, movies about angels, sports teams whose mascot is the angels.

You view your children as little angels. Fallen angels, to be exact, right? People talk about maybe they have a guardian angel.

Like, we are so obsessed with angels, we even want our toilet paper to be angel soft. We are a people, much like them, obsessed with spiritual beings, obsessed with angels.

Now, I don't have the time. By the way, most of our view of angels today is complete nonsense, biblically. It's far more influenced by the Renaissance than the Bible.

And I don't have the time to give you a full treatment on angels or spiritual beings. And all God's people said, aw. But here's what I will do if you're really interested in diving deeper into this.

If you go to Faith Family's YouTube channel, you'll be able to find the spiritual realm class that I taught that's a much more exhaustive treatment on spiritual beings.

Or if you go to the Armor of God series that we did sometime back, that also spent a lot of time unpacking spiritual beings.

So I'm not going to take the time to give a deep dive on that. I'll mention just a few things quickly, and then we'll get to the main point. As I've told you many times before, angel is a function.

It's not an essence. Meaning when we talk about angels, it's why I prefer the category spiritual beings. Because angels is just a function of a spiritual being.

Angel is not their ontological essence. It's simply what they do. Because the word angelos, or the word that we translate angel, simply means messenger.

It's the function that they do. I've told you this before, that just as God has messengers in the earthly realm, like prophets, God also has messengers in the heavenly realm that are called angels or spiritual.

And there's actually a lot of different categories. There's the sons of God, the Ben Elohim. There's Cherubim. There's Seraphim. There's lots of different categories of angelic beings.

Are you with me? They are very, very real beings. I hope you believe that. Certainly if you believe the Bible, you believe that. They play a very important role in Scripture.

They're mentioned over a hundred times in the Old Testament and over 160 times in the New Testament. And angels, these spiritual beings, are awe-inspiring creatures.

Like if you don't already know this, like please know this, they are not precious moments figures. Like whoever came up with this nonsense needs to be, never mind, right?

Like that's complete nonsense. Like study anybody in Scripture that had an encounter with an angel and they were not like, aww, cute.

Look at that sweet little angel. They're horrified. They're terrified. You remember what happened at the Christmas story, right? In Luke chapter 2, verse 8.

And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And at what? An angel, a messenger of the Lord, appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them.

And they said, aww, a cute little angel. A little precious moments figure. No, they were filled with, say it, great fear.

They were terrified. When Moses encountered angels, he trembled. When John does in the book of Revelation, he falls on his face. These are awe-inspiring, glorious spiritual beings.

They are usually invisible, but they often will manifest themselves visibly. Sorry, ladies. Every time they manifest themselves, they're male.

You heard it here, right? So, never mind, right? I'll pay for that one, right? And part of that's because angels don't reproduce, okay?

And the main thing is that while primarily invisible, they will manifest themselves visible. Later on in Hebrews, it'll talk about how be careful when you're around strangers, you may entertain angels and not even know it.

Amen? Finally, just in terms of this brief overview, they do four primary things. There are others. Four primary things in Scripture.

First is they continually worship God. You think about Isaiah chapter 6 or Revelation chapter 5. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. They communicate God's message because they are messengers.

And so, they will often deliver, like in Luke 2, a message from God. They will comfort people in need. In verse 14 of Hebrews chapter 1, they're called ministering spirits that help people in their need.

And we also see, like in Matthew chapter 24 and other places, they're actually a part of collecting people at the final judgment. So, that's just kind of a brief overview.

The point I'm trying to make is angels are very, very important. Are you with me? Does everybody see that point? That spiritual beings, these messengers in the heavenly realm, are very, very important beings biblically.

Now, the bigger question for us is, what in the world do angels have to do with going back to Judaism? Like, what's the connection?

Yeah, like we get that they're important and the Bible has a lot to say about them, but what is the relevance for this book in terms of why the author spends so much time on it?

Well, I'm glad you asked. And the answer to that is because they were mediators of the old covenant, of the Mosaic law. Look, for example, here in Acts chapter 7, in verse 38, this is the one talking about Moses here, who is in the congregation, in the wilderness, with the, with this messenger, who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, he received the living oracles, that is the law, to give to us.

Later on in verse 53, you received the, what? The law as delivered by angels, these spiritual beings, and then you didn't, you didn't keep the law.

Look at Galatians chapter 3, verse 19. Paul says, why then the, the law, the Mosaic law, the old covenant. It was added because of transgressions until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.

Now it makes sense. Are you with me? Now I understand why the author is actually devoting so much real estate to these spiritual beings. It's because they were part of the very mediation of the old covenant.

Which means, if you've zoned out, zoned back in here, if angels are the mediators of the old covenant, verses that we just read, Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, what might you want to show in order to prove to these Hebrew Christians that they should not go back to the old covenant?

Answer, that Jesus is greater than angels. Are you with me? If the old covenant was delivered through angels, and the new covenant is delivered through Jesus, and Jesus is greater than angels, then why would you go back to a far lesser covenant?

Why would you go back to Judaism when Jesus is greater? So look at what the author does, verse 5. For to which of these messengers 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.

I want to show you here the superiority, the greatness of Jesus over these incredible, awe-inspiring, biblically important spiritual beings, and I want to do that in at least four primary ways.

Here's the first. Jesus is king. Angels are merely servants. Now please let this broaden your view of Jesus and your understanding of his greatness.

Jesus is king, and these spiritual beings are simply servants. Now you may ask, I don't like the verse, you just read verse 5, I don't like, where are you getting king?

Because the word I see when I read it is son. Are you with me? You know, pastor just likes to kind of pull things out of thin air and you know, make stuff up biblically, right?

No, I'm not. Where am I getting king when the words here are son? Well, where I'm getting it is that the references, what you'll notice in your Bible is that almost the rest of chapter 1 is quoting Old Testament scriptures.

Do you see that? So the author here is pulling scriptures from the Old Testament to make his point. The scriptures he's quoting here in verse 5 are from Psalm 2 and 2 Samuel 7, which, are you listening, were the scriptures used at the installment of the Davidic king.

Meaning the point here is not just that Jesus is divine, though he is, it's that Jesus is the eternal Davidic king.

that when God gave the promise through David that there would be a king that would reign on an eternal throne, the author is saying that's Jesus.

He's the eternal king. He reigns. What or who, amen, yay, golf clap, right, but I appreciate you.

who does he reign over? Look at what Paul says in almost an identical verse of Hebrews 1.4.

This is Ephesians 1.20. That he worked in Christ when he raised Jesus from the dead, seated him at his right hand.

Think about Hebrews 1.4. He's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. In the, talk to me, heavenly places, far, not just a little above, not just barely above, not just kinda above, far above, all rule and authority and power and dominion and, notice the reference of Hebrews 1, above every name.

Every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. In other words, you see the connection clearly here to Hebrews that when Jesus, listen, listen, listen, like let your mind, like take this in.

When Jesus accomplished his redemptive work on the cross, through the resurrection, and then ascended back on high and was seated at the right hand of the Father, we talked about that last week, what was he given?

He was given a name. A name that is superior to any name that has ever been given, even to angels.

It's the Davidic name. It's the son language. It's an enthronement name reflecting this unique dignity given to Jesus as the victorious king.

And listen to me, faith family, no spiritual being has ever been given such a status. This status belongs to a crowd of one.

And it's the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the way, an angel, a really, really important angel by the way, foreshadowed this. He spoke of this very reality when Gabriel came to Mary.

Do you remember what Gabriel said to Mary in Luke chapter 1 verse 26? Now come on, stay awake. I know it's a rainy day, but pay attention to the language of Hebrews 1 and what we've just kind of unpacked in what the angel says to Mary.

In the sixth month, the angel, Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin but betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph.

And he came to her and he said, greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was, aw, precious moments figure. No, no, she's greatly troubled and you would be too.

This awe-inspiring spiritual being appears to you and she's troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting it might even be. And the angel said to her because he's a messenger, behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus.

Think Hebrews. Hebrews, he will be great. He will be great. He will be great and will be called the Son.

To which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son? He will be called the Son of the Most High. We're not done.

And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his Father, for David. Do you see it? Do you see it? What the author here is saying is that Jesus is the Son of the Most High and he was given the eternal throne of David.

When did this come to pass? Hebrews tells us when he completed his work of redemption and returned back to heaven and was seated at the right hand of the majesty on high.

Don't you see there's no one higher? There's no one greater? There is no one more glorious possessing greater honor than Jesus Christ.

He is Lord and King even of the angels. So I ask you and me, what is so great, so valuable and significant to you that you would trade Jesus Christ to possess it?

Keep reading verse 6. And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him.

Here's the second point and we'll go quicker. Jesus is worshipped. Angels worship. Worship. Right? I mean, come on, faith family, you don't need a PhD in New Testament to figure this out.

Who is superior? Who's superior? Who's greater? Who's better? The one that's worshipped or the one doing the worship? Obviously, the one who is worshipped.

It's why in Revelation 22, the angel says when John begins to worship the angel, what does the angel say? Don't worship me, worship God. God. Don't worship me, worship God.

Faith family, notice this on the screen. Why would you be preoccupied with angels when angels are preoccupied with Jesus? They worship him.

They adore him. They honor him. They recognize who he is. And in that regard, you and I could learn a lot from the angels.

Jesus. Amen? Amen? How many times do we become preoccupied with things more than we're preoccupied with Jesus?

Can I offend some people? Thank you. The Catholic Church. Don't worry, I'm going to offend us in a minute. Alright? Catholics oftentimes are more preoccupied with the saints than they are the Savior.

Pray to the saints. Worship the saints. Do the things that keep the saints. You know what the saints would tell you? What the angels tell you?

Don't worship us. Worship Christ. Don't be preoccupied. Like, we're like sinners. Well, that would really mess up Catholic theology, right?

Right? Like, just be preoccupied with Jesus. How many people are like preoccupied with creation and they love creation and they worship creation and it's like, have you lost your mind?

Worship the one who created creation. Now I'm going to offend us. There are evangelicals who love the Bible more than they love the one to whom the Bible is about.

They worship the Bible and don't get me wrong, we, like, we love the Bible but do you know who we love more than the Bible? The one the Bible is about, namely Christ.

The Bible is simply the mechanism through which I get to know more about Jesus. Do not love saints, angels, creation, or the Bible more than you love Jesus.

Angels teach you that lesson, right? Because Jesus is the one that's worshipped and they are the ones worshipping. So I ask you, what is so great, so valuable, and so significant that you would trade Jesus Christ to possess it?

Keep reading. Verse 8. But of the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. The next point here is that Jesus sits on the throne and angels surround the throne.

So once again, the question is, who's greater, the one on the throne or the people around the throne? Obviously, it's the one who's on the throne. Hello, McFly, right?

It's obvious. Isaiah chapter 6. I saw the Lord seated on the throne, high and lifted up. Above him were the seraphim, and they cried out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

So angels here are around the throne. Who's greater? The one seated on the throne. So what is so great, so valuable?

So significant to you that you would readily trade Jesus to possess it. Finally, verse 13. And to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool at your feet?

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Here's the last point. Jesus is sovereign and angels are sent.

Jesus is sovereign, angels are sent. Simple question, who's greater, the one who gives the orders or the ones who have to obey the orders?

The one that gives the order, right? The point here is that angels are really important, they're really significant, they're biblically important, however, they're just ministering spirits who are sent out to do the work of God.

So, who's greater? Well, obviously, Jesus is greater because Jesus not only reigns over creation, he sends angelic or spiritual beings out to do a specific job in creation.

I mean, could you read a more convincing argument than this? Are you with me, faith family? Come on, come on, come on, come on. Really?

You're going to go back to the old covenant? You realize that the old covenant was mediated through angels. And the new covenant that you have in Jesus was mediated through Jesus.

And you're going to go back to that which came through angels? Don't you realize who Jesus is? He's king. They're just servants. He's worshipped and they worship him.

He's on the throne and they sit around the throne. He's sovereign over all and they do whatever he says. So what would you give up?

What would you trade in place of Jesus? Do you realize how great Jesus is? And I want your mind to kind of wrap around this.

We're almost done. Hang with me. Is even spirit, these awe inspiring when human beings encounter them they tremble beings are secondary to the greatness of Jesus Christ.

So you ready for the conclusion? Here's the conclusion that the author gives. Based on everything I've said in chapter 1, look how chapter 2 begins. Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we've heard lest we go back, lest we drift from it.

In other words, get the full flow of the argument here. It's that if God spoke, this is chapter 1 verse 1, if God spoke partially in the past, but He has now spoken a full and final word in Jesus Christ.

And if angels who helped mediate the law are secondary to Jesus who mediated salvation, how could you possibly go back?

How could you make that trade? So what should you do? Wake up! Pay attention! Lest you drift away.

Realize what's on the line with this trade. We must pay much closer attention to what we've heard, lest we drift from it.

So set your focus, Christian, on the greater word, so that you don't drift away from the greatest thing.

Amen? Amen. Alright, so what would be the lessons for us as we finish the message tonight? Just a few quickly. Here's the lessons that we should take away.

Number one, which is one of the primary themes of chapter 1, is never trade the primary thing for secondary things. Never trade the primary thing for secondary things.

And we do this. We do this. We're tempted just as they are to do this. We do this in religious ways. I hope we are not one of them.

I'm going to do everything I can to continue to shatter any golden calf that we build in this church. What I mean by that is don't worship, don't love church traditions more than you love Jesus.

I mean, you just know, like I'm telling you. You see the great. Thirty years of doing this, I have seen people that I could stand up and like preach complete heresy about Jesus, but cancel their favorite program and they would lose their ever-loving mind.

And there are people that are so in love with their building, they're so in love with their tradition, they're so in love with their style of music, they're so in love with their translation of the Bible, and it's just like, don't ever make that trade.

When you have let something secondary take the place of what's most important. Amen? And by the way, that's the very point that Paul makes to the Corinthian church.

Faith, hope, and love, these remain, but the greatest of these is love. You're arguing about who has the best spiritual gift. Like, stop and think about it. Spiritual gifts are meant to encourage one another, and you're tearing one another apart over who has the greatest spiritual gift, because you've let secondary things take the place of the most important thing.

And we not only do this with traditions or church things, we do this with theological things. Ask me how I know. Hypothetically, this is entirely hypothetical, as far as you know.

I know people that we entirely agree on Jesus, entirely agree on the gospel, but disagree on the timing of the rapture, and they won't even speak to you.

or disagree over whether or not speaking in tongues continues today. I knew I'd wake you up, right?

Are you with me? It's okay if we disagree on secondary things, as long as we agree on the most important thing.

Amen? And I'm not suggesting that spiritual gifts aren't important. I'm not suggesting the timing of the rapture is not important.

What I am saying is none of them are more important than Jesus. And what they're tempted to do is trade a secondary thing for the most important thing.

And if we're not careful, we will do the same thing. And then, of course, people do this in non-religious ways, where it's hobbies, it's family, it's a job that become the primary love of their life instead of Jesus Christ.

So my point to you, to me, to all of us tonight, are you listening? Never make that trade. Never, ever, ever trade the primary thing for a secondary thing.

Secondly, is never trade suffering for safety if, read the rest of the statement, if it means less of Jesus.

Never trade suffering for safety if it means less of Jesus. Why is the whole reason they're considering making this trade or going back?

It's because they're trying to alleviate suffering. But what they won't have if they go back to Judaism is Jesus. And that's not worth the trade. Jesus with suffering, suffering is way better than no Jesus with no suffering.

Amen? So don't make that trade. Don't make that trade. Say it this way, never, ever trade Christ for comfort. Never trade Christ for comfort.

And then finally, is never trade what God has said for how you feel. Never trade what God has said for how you feel.

And this is one of the major points of this section because how does Hebrews 1 start? God spoke. Are you with me? God spoke. How does chapter 2 begin?

Pay attention to what He said. God spoke. Pay attention to what God has said.

There are lots of words words in your life but there must only be one word that drives your life. There's a lot of influence and a lot of this is how I feel.

Yes, but what has God said? So, as important as your emotions and my emotions can be at time, don't trade how you feel for what God has said.

Y'all with me tonight? Faith family, every one of us, come on, every one of us has been just like my friend Kevin before. We've all made a bad trade. And while that might be true in life, I hope it is never true when it comes to Jesus.

For what did Jesus ask us? What would it profit you? If you gain the whole world but you forfeit your soul.

Instead, if you want to make a trade, then tonight through the gospel, understand that Jesus has offered you the greatest trade of a lifetime.

Amen? Because through the gospel, what's the trade? Here's the trade. At the cross, Jesus traded His life of perfection for your life of sin.

He traded His perfect obedience for our life of disobedience. And the good news of the gospel tonight, faith family, is that if you would look to Jesus by faith, if you would trust Him with your life, you can trade your life of sin for eternal salvation.

salvation. And that's a trade you'd be foolish not to make. And all God's people said, amen. Pray with me, pray with me.

Lord, thank you for your word to us tonight, and I hope that it has opened our eyes to see even more the greatness of Jesus. These spiritual beings that people tremble in the presence of and stand in awe, greatly troubled, those same spiritual beings stand in awe of Jesus.

He's King. He sits on the throne. He has the name that is above every name. Oh, that there would be nothing in life more important and more significant that we would trade for Jesus Christ.

Christ. And tonight as we enter into this time of remembrance, let us think about the trade that is offered through the gospel. How Jesus offered himself up for us and that we get to trade our sin for salvation.

To trade our disobedience for his perfection. What a gracious trade. What a gracious trade. And I pray that each and every one of us have made that trade by faith in the Lord Jesus.

Tonight, may we remember that, celebrate that, and worship Jesus for it. We pray it in his name. Amen. may may may may may!

may may!