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Well again, good morning. I left my clicker somewhere. Hebrews chapter 1. I'll be looking at verses 8 and 9 this morning. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Hebrews chapter 1, verses 8 and 9. But of the Son, he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. Well, welcome back to Hebrews. If you will remember, we're in this section where the author is extolling the greatness of Jesus over the angels. He's really the message of all of chapter one is really found in chapter two, verse one, where it says, For this reason, for everything that's been said in chapter one, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away.

Away from it. We must pay closer attention. And what is the content of chapter 1? Jesus. We must pay closer attention to Jesus. And so many of the reasons. One of the very first is that he is much superior to the angels. In verse 5, his name is superior to the angels.

In verse 6, the angels worship him. And in verse 7, the angels serve him. So pay attention to Jesus more so than any angel or any other heavenly spokesperson. Pay attention to Jesus. And today, he's going to continue that thought. The angels are great. I mean, that Jesus is greater than the angels.

His throne is greater than the angels. And so is his joy, which is where this quotation of Psalm 45 reaches its peak in the message here of Hebrews 1. So we're going to jump into that this morning. Pay attention to Jesus because his joy is forever. Ask you, do you know the joy of the Lord?

Are you a joyful person? I'm talking to each one of you. I want you to think through this yourself. Are you a joyful person? How would other people characterize you? Those who know you the closest, would they say, Yes, that person is joy-filled? Is your family a joy-filled family?

Is your marriage characterized by joy? Or maybe you're like, well, there are moments of joy, but I'm not sure it would be characterized by joy. Are you like the Proverbs 31 woman who smiles or laughs for joy at the future? Or does the thought of the future overwhelm you with anxiety or depression?

Are you more characterized by heavenly joy or earthly happiness? And there is a difference. Earthly happiness is characterized by circumstances. Circumstances. If circumstances are positive, then there is a sense of earthly happiness. And even when things are going well, you may have a Sense of earthly happiness, but that may not be heavenly joy.

Heavenly joy is something that is eternal, it transcends earthly circumstances and is able to be joyful even in the midst of some very sour circumstances. Are you characterized by joy? Do you know the joy of the Lord? Well, in our text this morning, we learn that the Most High in heaven is also the most joyful in heaven.

And sometimes our perception of Christ lacks a vision of his joy. But in our text this morning, we learn that the Most High is the most joyful, and I can't think of anything that will more gladden a sorrowful heart than a good vision of the Most Joyful One in heaven.

And so I'm excited about where the text is this morning. I'm excited about where we will be tonight. We will be looking at the whole Psalm 45, and we'll see that the author who is preaching from this text is himself flowing with joy, like the psalmist of Psalm 45, overflowing with the good theme, can't wait to.

Express himself, and I can picture an excited Paul preaching this message in a synagogue about Christ's joy. His joy exceeds all of his companions. He is the most joyful in heaven, and so we should pay attention to him. You know, I grew up. You've heard me tell stories of the bread route.

My dad had me up early working on the bread route. I didn't realize what a pull-up was, really, in life until much later than, you know, what a pull-up. I did a lot of pull-ups in my life, and it wasn't until I was much older that I realized that pull-ups were something people do with a bar and pull themselves up over.

I grew up doing a whole different kind of pull-up, and I had no idea that there was something else. But my dad, let me just explain to you what my pull-ups were when I was growing up. My dad was a bread man, had a franchise on a bread company, and one of the things all of us did was we had to get up early.

And when school wasn't in session, I'd be up at like 2:15 to 2:30 every morning and would go Delivered the bread to the stores and to the restaurants. And one of the things my dad really wanted us to do is learn how to do a good bread display.

Have you ever been into a grocery store right after the bread has just been put up and it's just a beautiful scene? Well, my dad said, you know, people will not buy bread from messy displays. So I want you to learn how to put that bread in there in a really beautiful fashion.

And so that was kind of my hobby growing up, making nice bread displays. And so we'd have hundreds of loaves of bread, you know, hot dog buns, hamburger buns, cakes like pies and cupcakes and hoot and toots. And you had to get them all put up there really nice to make this nice display.

And I remember the satisfaction of a job well done, just getting it all put in place, and it would take a long time, and then I'd have to go to the next place, but I would leave, and everything would just be so pretty and order. And you could take the bread, by the way, if you ever want to know how to stack bread pretty, you take it by the tie end and you pull it tight underneath, and you can really stack it in there, and you can do that, and you can make bread looks nice.

That's why I still like going to a grocery store and going through like the cheese display, the bread display, and just Seeing things displayed nicely. It's just my hobby growing up. And so that's what I would do until the early afternoon. And then at the early afternoon, I got to take a break and go back to the house.

But then around five o'clock, another shopping rush would come. And so my dad said, you need to go do your pull-ups. Go do your pull-ups. What were those? Well, I'd have to go back to the store, go back to the back part of the store where the extra bread was, and I'd have to pull those bracks up.

I'd have to completely straighten up the bread again and then put it all up there so that all the fresh bread was up there to be ready for the next day. That was what I thought a pull-up was. You go to the back of the store, you pull up the old material, and you put it on the front.

That was my pull-ups growing up. But I remember sometimes leaving and just wishing, oh, I wish my dad could see this. I wish somebody could see this. It's just beautiful. But I can remember just the satisfaction of a job well done. And there's something I want to. My dad taught me to appreciate that.

And I feel like there's something in our society that we're on the verge of losing forever, and that is the simple joy of a job well done, or the simple joy, let me put it another way, of doing what is right. Is a simple joy that comes from doing right.

It's missing in many people today. Many people, young and old. Are you just satisfied with just a job done well or just the satisfaction of doing what is right? There is a joy in doing right. Old people, individuals, organizations, this spans all nationalities, I see that we are losing that simple joy as a society, a simple joy of doing what is right.

I remember what God said to Cain in Genesis 4. He said, Cain, why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? Very early on, there's a joy in doing what is right. And when you look at our society today, many of us waste considerable amounts of time doing things that are not right.

And so then we have to affirm ourselves in doing things that are not right. So then we must devote our energies to, well, to justifying our actions or to redefining sin. Or to excusing it, or to blaming others. I think you get the picture. And so, what this does is it creates a society where the tone of our dialogue is very much contentious, isn't it?

We have to validate ourselves. There's discord because there's disagreement. We sense this in the political tension in our society. But here's the point: when you do and focus on what is not right with the world, you are going to be depressed. Because there's a lot in the world that's not right.

And it's no wonder that America is becoming a society where people are more and more depressed. You see, we were not created to feel good about doing wrong. In fact, something's normal when you don't feel good when you have done wrong. That's that image that we still bear of our Creator.

But what about church? And maybe what about this church? I see the same problem in church life. I think deep down we know that heavenly joy should characterize our lives together. After all, heaven is about joy, and we're ambassadors of heaven. And so, wouldn't we expect that in our community together that there would be a real reflection of joy?

I think there is. Yet, many ministries, many churchgoers reflect the same sin, the same strife, and even the same depression that marks a fallen world. And so, what will happen is many of us will put on a smile, we'll pretend that all is well, and hope that optimism, mere human optimism, will mask this absence of heavenly joy.

Many of our churches lack heavenly joy. Many of our churchgoers lack heavenly joy. Many of our ministers lack heavenly joy. And what happens? Joyless churches are a result. I think we've all experienced it. I think we know what we're talking about. I think many of you can identify.

But you know what? People sense the charade. If you put on a happy smile, Worldly optimism doesn't mask holy joy. People around you, inside the church and outside the church, they sense the charade. And so what are. We end up with a bunch of joyless churches, even though our doctrine may be spot on.

So what's the solution? What's the solution to this epidemic of joyless people, joyless families, joyless marriages, joyless churchgoers, joyless ministries, and a joyless society? What's the solution? Well, very simple. We need to let the king's joy become our joy. His joy transcends earthly circumstances, and this is much of what the writer of Hebrews is going to communicate over and over.

A joy. He's going to bring to the forefront the joy of our Lord. And so I want to focus in on that. And I want to invite you back tonight because I'm going to look more deeply in Psalm 45. The answer to our joylessness is the king's joy.

To let royal joy. Fill our hearts. And that's what we'll be looking at tonight: royal joy. So, how do we do that? How do we experience this royal joy? How do we let the king's joy become our joy? Well, this morning, my answer is going to come from Hebrews chapter 1.

Tonight, it will come from Psalm 45. And they are very much in harmony with one another. But accent some distinction. So, I want you to come tonight. Well, we'll pick up in chapter 1 of Hebrews in the author's vein of thought. He gives three more reasons why we should pay attention to Jesus.

Three more reasons. And as he does, he tells us how to experience his joy. And they build on each other. These build on each other until the final reason. First of all, we'll look at pay attention to Jesus. Why? Because his rule is forever. His rule is forever.

Look at the first word of verse 8: but, but of the Son. In contrast to the angels, is the Son. Concerning the angels, he has just said they are to worship him and serve the Son in verses 6 and 7. 7. But in verse 9, in contrast to the angels, he says something about the Son.

And specifically, he speaks about the permanence of his rule. And so he wants us to take a good, he wants his hearers and his audience to look, take a deep look at the one who rules forever. And there's two emblems of this rule that are forever. He uses two metaphors.

Think about a king sitting, ruling from a throne with a scepter. And those are the two emblems that he uses to describe Christ's rule that is forever. Look back at verse 8. First of all, his throne. His throne is forever. His rule is forever. And the first emblem of this rule is his throne.

But of the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. Now, what is a throne? It's a metaphor for that seat of power, that ruling authority, that place of ruling authority. Jesus is king, and as such, he rules over the universe, which includes all of the angelic realms as well as the human realms and every other dimension.

Mentioned. He is in that seat of ruling authority. And look, forever, forever and ever, into the age of the age. It's an expression of infinity. His throne is forever. And look who he says sitting on that throne. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. Now he's speaking about the Son.

But now he says, Of the Son, your throne, O God. And you see that? He's speaking about God the Son. There is a connection. It was not a mystery in Old Testament thought that God had a Son, a holy Son, not the product of some consort like the pagan deities, but God the Son, one who eternally is of the same nature and spirates, comes from him.

Eternal generation. The Son, your throne, O God. You see, the reason that Christ's throne is forever is because Christ is God. And God is not subject to change like everything else in the universe, including the angels, you and me. We change. He does not. And so, God, by definition, what does he do?

He rules. That's what it means to be God. He is God. He rules forever as God. And so for him to cease ruling would require him to cease to be God. And so his rule is forever. Your throne, O God, is forever. And in Psalm 45, this is taken right from the middle of the Psalm, this statement is unequivocally speaking of Israel's king in the line of David.

Your throne, O God, O offspring of David, is forever and ever. The Old Testament was not silent about the fact that God would personally, directly, and visibly rule his people and the world. This is that anticipated theocracy. The Shekinah glory would take on flesh and dwell with his people.

Son of David, Son of God, Jesus Christ. King, God, forever. His throne is forever. So pay attention to him. Suppose today we woke up and we were told that we had a new president. Suppose it was the 17th person in the succession plan. Do you know who that is?

You're right, it's the Secretary of Veteran Affairs. Whoever's it. Now, after you got over the shock of it, what might your next concern be? What kind of ruler is he going to be? How is he going to govern? Well, pay attention to Jesus. He is the ruler forever.

So pay attention to him for that. But now you want to know what kind of rule is going to characterize his rule. So a second emblem of Jesus' rule that is described here is his scepter, Christ's scepter. Look back at verse 8. Not only is his throne forever, but also his scepter is forever.

But of the Son, he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter. Scepter of his kingdom. Now, what is a scepter? Well, again, it's that metaphor, that ruling staff. It signifies ruling authority to be a staff, a rod, a rod or a standard by which one rules, could be a shepherd's crook, what the shepherd would keep the sheep in the good way, the good and right way, proper place.

That's what a scepter is. And typically, we think of it as just as like a token or some kind of emblem of royal authority. You know, you don't really, like when the queen takes her scepter or the king, and you see in various parts, you aren't really going around conquering people with it and ruling.

It's a metaphor for ruling authority. It's like a ceremonial prop, a token. But what's being spoken of here, Jesus' scepter is no mere token or a ceremonial prop. It's the means of his actual reign. It's that staff, the means to keep sheep in their place, good place. And what is this scepter?

Rightness. Righteous, the righteous scepter. It's a righteous scepter. This word refers to uprightness, things that are right. It's rightness that is his scepter. Justice, it's really also used to describe level ground. Think about that for justice. Level ground. Let's level the playing field. That's the idea. And across, rightness is the, he does what is right.

That is his scepter. Christ's scepter is that which is right. He thinks and does what is right simply because it's right. The righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. He has a kingdom. And that kingdom, the word kingdom, speaks of jurisdiction, realm, place of royal dominion, reign, which is ultimately everything, as the writer of Hebrews has already brought to our attention.

So when you put it all together, what he's saying is God's righteousness is the spiritual standard by which Jesus rules the spirits of the universe and everything else in it. That's the standard. Rightness. He does what's right. He thinks what's right. He administers that which is right. And since his throne is forever, the standard of the universe, rightness, is forever the standard.

So pay attention to Jesus. Makes good sense. In fact, it's very reckless not to pay attention to him. I mean, this individual is unlike any other that has ever crossed the horizon of this earth. You do well to pay attention to him, and you are reckless if you do not.

Now, why? Why is rightness forever the means by which he rules? Okay, he has the throne, it's forever, and he has chosen rightness to be the way he rules. Why is that? Well, very simply put, his preferences are forever. Pay attention to Jesus. Not only is his rule forever, but his preferences are forever.

We're in a society where much is discussed about preferences and individual preferences. Well, what really matters is Christ's preferences because his throne is forever. Christ's preferences are described in two ways, verse 9, by what he loves and by what he hates. Look back at the beginning of verse 9.

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. That's why that's the ruling rod or staff or scepter of his kingdom, his rightness, is because he loves righteousness and he hates lawlessness. What does it mean to love something, to esteem something, to value something, to have great affection for something?

There is something that Jesus greatly treasures. What is it? Look in the text. Righteousness. He loves that which is right, that which is upright. There's also something that he's hated. What does it mean to hate, to abhor something? Instead of to have great affection for something, to be repulsed by something, to despise something, to detest.

There is something that greatly repulses Jesus. What is it? Look back at the text. You have loved righteousness and hated, and there's the word, lawlessness. What is lawlessness? Well, means no law. He hates no law. He hates the idea of being without law, without standard. Specifically, God's law.

He hates that notion of there are no ultimate standards. There is no ultimate instruction. And those who imbibe this kind of thinking, they go through life doing as they please. Their ultimate authority is what they please. And say this about them, they're arrogant. Those who disregard God and His ways are arrogant.

They think they know more than God. That's arrogant. And by doing what is right in their own eyes, they elevate themselves above the laws of the universe. And when you or I, or our society in which we live in, elevate ourselves to do what is right in our own eyes, we are saying to the God of the universe, we know more than you do.

That's what he hates. You see, to love righteousness is to hate lawlessness. There isn't a middle ground. You cannot serve two masters. You will be devoted to one or the other. And either righteousness is absolute or it's relative. That's what he's saying. It's an interesting contrast, isn't it?

You've loved righteousness. What's the opposite of righteousness? You might think, well, evil. That's not what he says. He says, lawlessness. The opposite of righteousness is lawlessness. That's the contrast. On the one hand, there is a definite standard for what is right. And on the other spectrum, no, there's not.

There is a moral absolute. No, moral relativism. That's what's being contrasted here. Pay attention to the judge. He's told us how he's going to judge. See, righteousness is absolute and It either has to be found in the person of God or it has to be found in man.

Christ loves the righteousness of God. He does not like, in fact, despises this relative notion of righteousness among man. That's lawlessness. Pay attention to the judge. What does he say in Matthew 7 after he gets to the end of the Sermon on the Mount? He says this, as he sends those off into an eternal hell, he says, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. You've gone through life as one who lives as if there is no God. Now you will spend eternity apart from him. And then he goes on, therefore, everyone who hears, this is Christ's teaching. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock.

Listen to Jesus. That's Jesus saying, pay attention to what I'm saying. And then he goes on to say, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. You see, the opposite of lawlessness is conformity to God's instructions, conformity to God's desires, conformity to God's will.

And I can assure you, what Christ loves, he loves forever. What Christ hates, he hates forever. So you should pay attention to Jesus, and you should pay attention to his preferences, because what he loves and what he hates is forever. Pay attention to what he loves, pay attention to what he hates.

Because his preferences are what are going to define and characterize the new heavens and the new earth and the heavenly hosts and all of humanity forever. So his preferences are forever. Ours are not. So pay attention to Jesus because his rule is forever. His preferences are forever. And number three, his joy is forever.

His joy is forever. Look at the second part of verse 9. And notice the word, therefore, there is a cause and effect that you need to see in this verse. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.

God, your God. You see, there's a cause, and the cause is his love for what is right. Therefore, because of this, God, your God, isn't that an interesting statement? God, your God. I love it. You see, God the Father, God the Son. Messiah is God. The Son is God, Messiah, King.

And he's blessed by God at the same time. Christ's preferences are God's preferences. And God greatly rejoices in His preferences. God loves thinking about what is right. He loves pondering on what is right. He loves doing what is right. He loves saying what is right. He loves blessing what is right.

Why? Because it is right to do so. That rightness is bound up in the very person of God Himself and the standard. So there's a cause, and notice this: there's a cause also for joy. Therefore, God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.

Anointed. What does it mean? Well, it means to be assigned something special, appointed, something special, special task. The Hebrew equivalent of this word is a smearing, a saturation. God your God has saturated you, has smeared you, has set you apart for something special with the oil of gladness.

What is oil? Fatness, richness, fruitfulness, blessing. God has anointed you. He has saturated you with gladness. What is gladness? It's a state of rejoicing, a state of really exuberant joy. God has smeared, saturated you with exuberant joy, celebration, jubilation. He has saturated you with his own joy. Joy.

Therefore, God, because you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, therefore, God, your God, has anointed, has saturated you with the oil of gladness above your companions. The context of Hebrews 1, certainly that includes the angels. I'll look at it tonight in the context of Psalm 45, and it includes everyone else for that matter.

We're going to be looking at a royal wedding tonight. Don't you love royal wedding? Well, we'll be looking at the royalists of weddings and the beauty of the king and the joy of the king and the beauty of the bride and the response of the bride and all that celebration.

But certainly, what is being communicated here is that Jesus is saturated with God's joy much more than anyone else in heaven, of all companions. Because he is God, he loves righteousness perfectly. Because he is God, he is the most high in heaven. Because he loves righteousness perfectly and thoroughly, he is the most joyful in heaven.

Heaven's joy is his joy. What is heaven about? Heaven is about sharing God's joy with Him and with each other. It's joy. Defined heaven in one word, it would be joy. And it's His joy. Heaven is the joy of loving what is right and good for eternity and getting the opportunity to explore and to share what is right and good for eternity.

That's what God wants to share with you. He wants to share ultimately His joy. That's why He made you. That's why He created you. He wants to share His joy with you, and that's what heaven is all about and what He is preparing you for. But the good news is, He not only wants you to experience His joy in the age to come, but also in this life as well.

God wants to share something with you, even in this lifetime, and that is His joy. That's where life is going. Some of you may say, Pastor, but you don't know what I've been through. You don't know what I'm going through. And my response is, you're right. But let me add, you don't know the depth of his joy.

And that's what the author, the preacher of Hebrews, is proclaiming. His joy. He loved doing what is right, thinking what is right, doing what is right, acting upon what is right, celebrating that which is right, and it has resulted in joy. There is a connection. Well, we have looked at three more reasons why you should pay attention to Jesus.

His rule is forever, his preferences are forever, and his joy is forever. You know, worldly happiness is inevitably circumstantial. Where are you today? Is your day, are you up and down in this realm of worldly happiness? Some days up. Aggie's one. We're up, right? But heaven's joy is fixed and eternal.

Listen, if you love one, What is not right, and hear me on this. If you love what is not right, you will never experience heaven's joy. That's why you've got to hate unrighteousness, lawlessness, and come out of that. Oh, don't get me wrong, if you love what is not right, there may be times that you experience some sort of worldly circumstantial happiness, at least for a season.

But you'll never know that joy that transcends these earthly realms. You need to come to Christ. You can't love what is not right and experience heavenly joy. You have to hate the one to come to the other. You need to come to Christ. That's the first step to you truly experiencing heavenly joy.

And I think there's a lot that probably have grown up in the church that live a charade. You think somehow you can put on a smile or put on some sort of outward conformity to some kind of religious standard and somehow convince other people that you are fine and good.

But deep down, there is an absence of heavenly joy, and you're living a charade. You really practice lawlessness, the secret sins, the things that you do, things that you think, it's lawlessness. You've made yourself a rule and law to yourself, and you need to. Hate that and come to Christ because that is your downfall.

Its desire is to have you. But here's the good news. It's interesting in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 17. Let me read to you. I think many of us can identify with this verse. 10:17 says this, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. You see, though we have even, all of us here at one time, have loved lawlessness, did what was right in our own eyes, but Christ is forgiving, Christ is loving.

Therefore, come to him truly today. Repent. Hate that lawlessness. Hate the notion that you have lived as your own rule instead of lived under God's rule. But even as Christians, if you focus on what is not right with you, or if you spend your time focusing on what's not right with those around you, or what's wrong with the world, or even your own ministry, you're going to be depressed.

If that's where you navel-gaze and focus. Now, this doesn't mean you turn a blind eye to things that are wrong in the world or mourn for things that are off, but it does mean that you also have an eye to what is right in the world. Let me tell you what's right in the world.

Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and Christ loves righteousness. He loves what is right, he loves what is good, and he hates what is wrong, and he hates what is harmful. That's what's right in the world. So, don't focus on merely what's wrong with the world.

But even as you go through life, focus on those unique opportunities to see what is right, to seek what is right, to do what is right, to think what is right. That's what Christ did in this fallen world. It was a unique opportunity to glorify the Father. So, focus on what is right.

Christ is right, and there are opportunities for you as His child to serve and to experience His joy even in the midst of painful circumstances. And if you will seek what's right, do what's right. And grow, you will grow in experiencing his joy. You see, success in life is about pleasing God.

And the Father, just as he always equipped his son to do what was necessary to please him, so he will equip you. You'll never run out of opportunities to do right, and so you'll never run out of opportunities to experience his joy, even in this fallen world. He always gives us opportunities to do what's right, and he rewards them with joy.

So think what is right, even if no one sees your bread display. Do what's right, and the God who sees will reward you. This is the solution to this epidemic of joyless people, joyless marriages, joyless churches, and joyless society. Love what he loves, hate what he hates, grow in loving what he loves, grow in hating what he hates, and you will experience his joy in greater degrees.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we bow our hearts before you. Today, thanking you for this window into the joy of our Lord. Father, often we have eclipsed his joy, eclipsed seeing him as a man of joy, but as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And Father, we recognize that he did experience, and so will we.

And we will experience tribulation. Father, help us not to lose sight that he did it all for the joy that was set before him. That there was something about doing right that transcended all the pains and sorrows and circumstantial low points. Father, help us to walk and to know your joy.

Help us to love what you love, hate what you hate. Help us to recognize that your rule is forever. Help us to incline our preferences to your preferences and help us to experience your joy each and every day for your glory in Christ's name. Amen.