The Supreme Word | Pastor Ronnie Phillips

0:00 I'm going to take you through the book of Hebrews the next eight or nine weeks. I think it's quite fitting in the culture in which we live. You heard from Dr. Miller a few weeks ago about Jesus being in rebbitical school. And uh what the Hebrew church was facing is the same thing that the American church is facing today. And this is what the Lord's put on my heart for us to do leading in to the fall. So we're going to begin with Hebrews chapter 1 beginning with verse one. God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by his son whom he has appointed heir of all things through whom he also made the worlds who

0:46 being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word everybody say the word the word the word of his power when he had by himself pur purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a much more excellent name than they. Heavenly Father, anoint this word today. Bless it and use it like only you can use it in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. The book of Hebrews is a very powerful book. It teaches us that Jesus

1:32 is preeminent, which means he reigns above all. It teaches us that he's above the angels. Why does it say that? That he reigns above the angels, that he's more excellent than the angels. because it was of the Jewish historic belief that the angels were who delivered the ten commandments to Moses on Sinai which is a very powerful and authentic thing. But what was happening here to the Hebrew church is that they were being pulled back into legalism and to the things of the past when Jesus had already paid the ultimate price for their freedom, their deliverance and their salvation. So there was persecution and there was pressure to turn back. Have you ever felt pressure

2:19 to leave your post? Have you ever felt pressure to turn your back on the faith or the word of God or what he's called you to? If you have never felt that pressure, you probably aren't doing it right. Uh we've all been tempted to quit or turn back. And there are times when our flesh will get the best of us and we might even say things like, "What am I even doing this for?" or what's in it for me? I mean, the disciples said those things to Jesus, who's the greatest? What's in it for us? It's just human nature, but they they were under intense persecution and pressure to turn back. And and so I believe the author was Paul. We really don't know for sure whether it was Paul or Barnabas or one of his associates. But I've always felt that it was the Apostle Paul because he was the church planter. And there are a number of reasons I could bore you with for an hour on that, but we don't really

3:05 know the author, but I think it's Paul. But the point of this is to say, why would you go back into religion when Jesus is the only way? When he has proven to be superior above the angels, above your rituals, above your sacrifices. He has proven himself to be the scapegoat, to be the sacrifice, to be the shepherd. He has made all wrongs right. He has shed his blood for our freedom and our salvation. So why are we going back under the law? So the author pins this letter in such a way so that people will know that their past in Judaism and their Jewish rituals are no longer relevant because Jesus Christ fulfilled all of

3:54 those prophecies. Over 350 and a few yet to be fulfilled but they will be in the name of Jesus. He fulfilled all of those. And so you have this purpose here and this purpose is for Christians to remain steadfast in the faith and committed to the word of God. I I tell you with the passing of brother Swagard and John MacArthur, it it it really has stirred my spirit back towards the word of God. You know, as I look at those two generals transitioning into glory, it it made me wonder all the commentaries and Bible colleges and all of the translations through the books of the Bible and and what do we really want to be remembered for? Sure, we could be remembered for our personality or or or

4:40 the people we served or cared for, but I'm telling you, I want to be remembered as someone that pointed people to this and to him. Uh because those things are the only things that will remain. the word of God and the spirit of God. Amen. We worship him in both spirit and in truth. So it also elevates Jesus above the angels in this book, but it also elevates Jesus above Moses, which is not a big deal to us as Judeo-Christians in 2025. But for the writer to say that Jesus is elevated above Moses to a Jewish culture was a big deal, right? That's their hero, Abraham and Moses. I mean, when you now you're you're stepping on our toes, but he elevates Jesus above Moses and above religion.

5:28 And then the Levitical priesthood that Jesus is our high priest, that we no longer have to bring bulls and goats and earthly sacrifices into his temple. We can literally lay our junk at his feet and he will cleanse us. That he is the great high priest. Amen. We don't have to go through the rituals of humanmade laws and religiosity. We have Jesus. Amen. It speaks to us about God's covenant. And that's what I want to talk to you about the next eight weeks is our journey to covenant. What does covenant mean in relationships, in a marriage, in in in church? What does it mean to be in covenant with someone or with Jesus or or with our purpose? What does it mean? It's more than just a casual relationship.

6:14 It means you were joined and joined. You were one flesh. You were his body. You were together through the good times and the bad. It speaks of the importance of faith during times of adversity. It teaches us about running that race and staying the course. It teaches us that Jesus is the son of God, both fully divine and fully human. It teaches us that he's from the order of Melkisedc. We're going to talk about who Melkisedc was and the mystery of Melkchisedc. But I believe what the church is facing today is pressure to become a cultural church or cultural Christians to be more like the culture of this world but not like the kingdom culture that Jesus

7:00 called us to. And I believe it starts at the top. It certainly starts with me. But we've got to be people of the kingdom, not people of this current culture. And how do we do that? By becoming students of the word. I don't care if it's 2025 or not. If it's this book says it's wrong, it's wrong. If this book says we need to do it a certain way, that's the way we should do it. I don't care if it's not doesn't fit the cultural norm. If we stick to the book, if we stay to the word of God, he will not leave us. This is our sword. and this is what will sustain us and carry us until his return. And so we get into Hebrews 1 and we we kick that off. But then let's fast forward to chapter 4 because I want to talk to you about the supreme word. If Jesus is

7:46 greater than that of Moses and the Levitical priesthood and of the order of MelkiseDC and he's above religion and he's above our problems and he's above our struggles, then his word reigns above every other word. So his logos word and then his Rama word. The other thing the word of God does for believers is it helps you identify the nutcases because God doesn't contradict his word. And you've seen so many movements, revival turn into complete heresy because they got away from the book. They got away from the word of God, the inspired word of God. For the word of God, it says in chapter 4:12, the word of God, the first word here is logos,

8:32 written word, speech, divine utterance. Remma, rama is God's revelatory word. For the word of God is living, it energizes, it's active, it's effective, it's powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The word heart there in the Greek is cardio. We get our word cardio, but it means your inner life or soul. This word still convicts me when I read it. Amen. This word still teaches me principles when I need it. Amen. It convicts me when I read it, but it teaches me things when I need it. It also shows me where to begin and where to end and when to trust and and when to

9:18 fight and when to be quiet and when to speak. It is so powerful. This word breaks addictions off people. Uh, this word transforms destiny. This word tells an underdog from the backside of nowhere that they too can become a king. This word tells people that no matter what the enemy tries to throw at you or how much they crucify you, that you have a resurrection coming. That no matter what they do to God's church, Jesus is coming back for it. It tells you that as long as God is with you, no weapon formed against you can prosper. It tells you that he's the beginning and the end. That he's the shepherd, that he's the comforter, that he's the one that lifts you up. That'll never fail you. That his love never fails. It tells you when you want to whip somebody, you got to turn

10:05 the other cheek. But it tells you when you need to turn over some tables every now and then, you can turn over a few tables on some heads, too. This word has never let me down. Now, I haven't always wanted to hear what it had to say, but it's always led me the right way and not astray. Many churches today have neglected the word of God. They want to preach grace without judgment. They want to preach salvation without repentance. Let me tell you something. If you can't make it right, if you can't repent, confess, and turn, then you cannot be saved. You you you you can't have a right relationship with God or anyone else if you can't own your mess.

10:51 And that goes for me and everyone else. You know, if you can't admit you did wrong, how do you expect to have relationship with anyone? Especially God. When he says the way is to repent, to confess, he doesn't say, "I'm going to hold it against you." But he says, "You've got to bring it to my feet." They want to preach relationship without disciplehip. They want to preach authority without submission. They want to preach the kingdom without the process. Everything requires a process if you're going to get to where God wants you to get to. They want to preach psychology without theology. I read a tremendous book. I told Robin Smith about it and others. It's it's a behavioral health book and I don't

11:37 always just read Christian stuff and I read a book by Mel Robbins on my sbatical called the let them theory and it's one of the most powerful secular books I've read in years and I emailed Mel and she actually emailed me back yesterday. She's a she's got millions of followers. She's a best-selling author. But the book has really challenged me in so many ways. But here's here's why it's challenged me because I'm I'm reading this book, The Let Them theory. And basically the premise of the book is stop trying to control things that are out of your control. Stop trying to control people that have a free will. And stop living the rest of your life stressed about things you have no control over. And I'm reading this behavioral health

12:22 book and I'm seeing Bible verse after Bible verse. Now, it's not a Bible book, but it's Bible principles throughout the entire thing to the point I did 8week series called the let factor. And I went everywhere in the Bible where it says let and created a sermon series for it. Y'all have to wait for a while for that. But it it really challenged me. But I'm telling you, if we give the psychology without giving the theology, then we we just tell people how to feel better for a moment. But I'm going to tell you, this book will not just fix your mental health, it will take care of you throughout eternity. It'll get you to where you need to get to if you get in the word. Psalm 95 speaks of the tragic example of the

13:09 Israelites. They had come out of Egypt, but Egypt hadn't come out of them. And they had applied the Passover blood. They'd come through the Red Sea. They had been sustained in the wilderness with mana from heaven. They had God's provision, saw rocks spring out water, saw so many things, but they never got slavery out of their spirit. Isn't it interesting? As Christians, we can experience the greatest things in the world, but until we fix the deep roots inside of us, we might be out of Egypt, but Egypt may not be out of us. You know, the enemy will let you act like a slave as long as you want to be a slave. The moment you want to start acting like a king or a queen in God's kingdom, he going to put his favor on you, his anointing on you, his affirmation on you. But so many people

13:54 still are in bondage in their souls. We all worry about what people to do on the outside. But people are dad gum in bondage on the inside of them. And until you confess that and give that to Jesus and realize what the Bible says about you, not what humanity says about you. This is what it says in verse 11. It says, "Let us be diligent there to enter that rest." Talking about the Israelites. Psalm 95. Let us be diligent to enter that rest so that no one will fall through following that same example of disobedience. What was their biggest mistake? They never got Egypt out of them. And they didn't have the faith to go into the promised land. I want to challenge you this morning. I don't know what your Egypt is. I don't know what

14:41 happened to you when you were a child or what happened to you in your past or what you're holding on to. Drama, trauma. I'm sure it was unfair. I'm sure it hurt. But whatever it is, you got to let that thing go. You got to let it go so you can enter into God's Sabbath, his rest. And I'm not talking about a day of the week. Jesus changed the game. He's the Sabbath all the time. And we can enter his rest. Come to me all you who labor and heavy laden and I will give you a Sabbath, a rest. That is who Jesus is. The reason we're no longer bringing bulls and goats into the house is because Jesus is our Sabbath. He is our rest. He is everything he said he would be. John 19 says that he is our

15:27 Sabbath and that he shed his blood for us. Renowned theologian John Phillips, not to be confused with Ron or Ronnie Phillips. But John Phillips from the 1800s told a story of one of his missionary journeys to Africa. And he offered a local man who was really having some difficult times a ride in the back of his pickup truck while he was feeding people and doing mission work. And this local man got into the back of the pickup truck with his backpack that was very heavy. Had everything he owned was in his backpack. Was very heavy. So they drove about an hour or two and John Phillips stopped the vehicle to stop to get something to drink and asked the man why he was still wearing the backpack in the back of the truck. He was still carrying that load when he didn't need to carry it. And it was very interesting

16:14 what what he said. Um the missionary pulled over. He asked him this and and the man said he didn't think that the pickup truck could carry him and his load. And I really believe that's the way we are in the Christian life. We don't think God's big enough to carry our baggage. We don't think God's big enough to carry our mess. We don't think God's big enough to find us in a pig pin or wherever we are or whatever we're doing. We don't think God's big enough to know where we are right now in our journey with him in our journey to covenant. We don't think God's big enough to know where we are. Let me tell you this morning, he knows exactly where you are. He knows exactly what's hurting you. He knows exactly what you're struggling with and he has come to set you free from that. He's a God of love. All you have to do is turn to him. All you have

17:00 to do is repent. All you have to do is own your mess and enter into his rest. God is calling us to enter into him today. How many of you need rest? And by that I don't necessarily mean sleep. I mean, how many of you are tired of trying to fix stuff that God didn't call you to fix? You know, I I'm telling you, we try to fix everybody. We worry about everything. We We stay up at night anxious, worried about people who have a free will. Sometimes you just got to let them. You You do what you're supposed to and you got to let them be who they are. You got to let them go their own way and trust that the God who saved you can save them. And you've got to give certain things to

17:46 God or it will wear your mental health down. Number one, today God's word is the foundation for our existence. It was present in creation. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life and that life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. Genesis also says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It was present in creation, but I'm going to tell you, his word was present in tribulation, too. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen.

18:32 It was present in creation, but it's present in tribulation. Listen, when you're going through a hard time, that word will not fail you. That word will come alive in your spirit. It's also powerful in its revelation. powerful in its revelation. Only the word of God can divide between flesh and spirit. Only the word of God can cut right down through the nonsense, through the drama, through the flesh, through the earthly desires and tell you the difference between flesh and spirit. Psalms 119 verse1 13, the unfolding of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. John 7:38, "Whoever believes in me as scripture has said." See, Jesus understood, having been a rabbi, having been trained in the

19:18 Torah, how to take that revelatory word and use it to change lives. Why would he need to quote the word? Because he understood he was a part of it. Amen. He came from a word. He was the word. It was in him and he was the word. So, in order to change minds, how what did he use the word? Did he have to use the word? No. He used the word because he was the word. God's word is the exposition for all mankind. We adopt here the way I was raised. I don't always preach this way, but I believe in expository preaching because I believe the word of God doesn't need my help all the time. In fact, it doesn't need my help ever. There are other ways to preach and I adopt those other ways as well. But

20:04 every now and then people need the word of God. And we have to trust that God's spirit will take that word and do a work in the heart of the person. Expository means to expose, to unveil what the word says for the listener. And I believe God's word is the exposition for all mankind. For the word of God is living and powerful. It says in Hebrews 4:12, sharper than any two-edged sword. It exposes first sin in our lives. That's what the word does. Everybody say expose. Expose. Expose. Nobody wants to be exposed. That's right. But the word of God exposes sin in our lives. It's a discerner. It brings light on what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, where we fall short, where

20:49 we need to go. It exposes things, but it doesn't just expose. It explores our motives. It keeps us from, you know, false humility and pride and arrogance. It brings us to where we're supposed to be as human beings and as Christians. It exposes not just the sin in our lives, but it it exposes greatness within us. Amen. You may have never been told you're great. You may have never been told you amount to something. But the word of God says you're more than a conqueror in Christ. Jesus says you're a son or a daughter. That you are blessed and not cursed. That you're the head and not the tail. That you're forgiven. That you're a love. That you have an attorney. That God was involved in the creation of you. Amen. That's what the word of God says. And if you believe it, it trumps every other

21:35 negative word ever been spoken over your life. It exposes greatness within us. That we are his creation, that we're sons, that we're daughters, that we're blessed head and not the tail, that we are somebody called to something. It exposes the fact that his ways are not our ways. We learn in the word of God that life sometimes isn't fair. Most of the people God used went through hell in unfair circumstances. From Job to Isaiah all the way to Saul that became Paul to the Apostle Peter. Listen, they all had problems and they all had unfair things that they went through. And we as Christians sometimes wonder why we're going through it. Woe is me. We should have known the history when we signed up for this.

22:20 Because God used people mightily, but he broke them. Yes, he broke them so that he could use them. It's the exposition for all mankind. It exposes greatness within us. And it also exposes the nature of God. There is no creature hidden from his sight. No creature hidden from his sight. But all things are naked and open. That word open means to have the throat exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. God knows what we're up to. God knows our motives. He knows our anointing. He knows where we fall short and where we excel. He created us. And if we submit to him and his sovereign so sovereignty, then God can use us in a powerful powerful way. Number three,

23:07 God's word is the roadway to salvation for all who believe. It's the roadway to salvation for all who believe. Now, if I put a a four square on this screen up here and I put Billy Graham and John MacArthur and Hulk Hogan, then I put Aussie Osborne on the bottom, y'all probably think you knew which ones of them were in heaven and which ones of them weren't. But the reality is we can judge the fruit of the top two, but we don't know the hearts of the bottom two. I've heard stories about both of them. Let me tell you, the word of God will help us observe fruit, but only God knows someone's heart. And the word of God tells us how we can

23:53 take this heart of stone and dedicate it to the things of the Lord and have Jesus come in and transform it and transform our life and save us. You know, getting to heaven is not about how good we were on earth. It's about who's the Lord of our life. Who did we give our life to? Who did we confess to? What did we believe in? You have to become vulnerable to be saved. As I said, the Israelites were saved and separated from Egypt, but they had to make a choice to move ahead internally from that mindset. You can stay in bondage or you can enter into God's kingdom. Israel's salvation, separation represents our need for salvation and separation spiritually. sanctification,

24:41 the the act of being set apart for a great purpose with God happens by way of the Holy Spirit. And it comes through the finished work of Jesus Christ. That's what sanctifies us. I tell you, every so often, people need to just get alone with God and his word and allow that sanctification process, the act of being set apart to come on their lives. Psalms 18 says this, verse 35, you make your saving help my shield and your right hand sustains me. Your help has made me great. You provide a broad path for my feet so that my ankles do not

25:27 give way. I heard a story about a Palestinian teenager, Mosab Hassan Yousef, and this story is about 9 years old. and he was raised in Hamas, the terrorist group. He was conditioned to kill Americans, to to hate Christians, to to hate people. And one day, a British businessman gave this young teenager a Bible. His father was high up in Hamas, but privately behind the scenes, Mosab started reading the word of God. And over time, he gave his life to Christ. and he couldn't go public with it because it would it would ruin his

26:12 calling. But behind the scenes, he was converting Hamas terrorists one by one to the kingdom. And now it's just a shadow of what it was. And you hear about the wars and you hear about the threats of American presidents and how we killed this one and killed that one. But I'm going to tell you, there was something else happening behind the scenes. Jesus was behind the scenes. Jesus was changing hearts of this terroristic group behind the scenes. Ask me why. Cuz a missionary from Britain had the courage to give a terrorist a Bible. When I'm up here preaching to you, man, I'm serious about this. God changes lives. Amen. I know we have the Gideonss represented here. I see Bill Piggrim back there. We

26:58 We are involved in getting Bibles to people all over the world. But I'm going to tell you, you have access to the word of God. There are people, groups that don't have access to what we have access, and we leave unopened on our Bible app or dusty on our shelves. And I believe God's calling us to return to the word of God. Amen. It's not enough to come here once or twice a week and get you a little to-go word and then go try to live the rest of your life. You need to be up in the word for yourself. Praying to a sovereign God for yourself. Pleading the blood of Jesus over your family for yourself. You need your own walk with God. Where would we be without the precious word of

27:46 God? Where would we be without in the beginning was the word and the word was God and the word was with God. Where would we be without the characteristics of Jesus? Where would we be without the Ten Commandments? Where would we be without the Torah? Where would we be without the fact that God is not a man that he should lie? Where would we be without the gospels learning about the miracles of Jesus? Blind eyes being opened, food being multiplied, prostitutes being delivered, wine flowing at a wedding of Canaa, a man 38 years laying by the pool of Bethesda told to rise, pick up his bed roll, and walk. Where would we be without the gospel? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever call upon his name shall not perish but have everlasting life. Where would we be without the scriptures?

28:33 Where would we be without therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold all things have been made new. Where would we be without the precious blood of Christ? Where would we be without Saul, the murderer of Christians, who would tell us that no temptation has the power to overtake you in first and second Corinthians? Where would we be without the word of God? Where would we be without the characteristics of God? That he is our shepherd. We shall not want. That he is our provider, that he is our banner, that he is our cover, that he is our redemption, that he is our deliverer, that he is our everlasting father, that he is the great I am. Where would we be without the book of Revelation knowing no matter what the devil throws our way that Jesus is coming back and that he didn't just say to tell us on the cross that when he comes back? It tells us in Revelation at the very end that it is

29:19 finished. that he is the alpha, the omega, the beginning, and the end. And I'm here to tell you today that the supreme word reigns above every word because Jesus reigns above every false deity. Would you stand on your feet with me today? Give God some praise for his precious word. I would ask you this morning. Do you know Jesus as your savior? Are you saved? I didn't ask if you're religious. I didn't ask if you were raised in a church. I asked if you know Jesus Christ. The Bible says that the only way you can know him is to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. And if you do that, you shall be saved. So, I'm going to have my pastors make their

30:05 way down today. And I'm going to join them. First thing we want to do based on the word of God is give you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. The reason why we have altar calls is not to embarrass you, but to give you an opportunity to say, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ." So, if you need Jesus in your life, you say, "Pastor Ronnie, I don't know where I'd spend eternity. I don't know where I'd go if I died today unexpectedly." I just want you to pray this prayer with me. Have this house help me. Would you bow your heads with me? Just pray this prayer with me. Say, "Dear Lord Jesus, Dear Lord Jesus, Lord, forgive me of my sins. Please come into my heart and save me. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Holy

30:52 and use me for your glory. Listen, I know there's stuff going on in the hallway. We got porch tonight for 20somes. We got golf sponsorship. But nothing's more important than this moment. If you prayed that prayer or you wanted to, Bible says, don't be ashamed. I want you to run down and tell one of us. We just want to pray we help you get started. If you're scared to go, why don't you ask somebody next to you to walk with you? Maybe you don't need to be saved today. Maybe you need to be a part of a church that puts the word of God in a preeminent position. Maybe you need a church family. Have a house maybe where God's calling you. Maybe you need healing. Whatever God says to do today, just obey. Bible says he sent his word and he healed your disease. Amen. Let's give God praise for these already coming

31:38 today. Hallelujah. Let's give God some praise today. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.