Book: Hebrews

Full Transcript:

John Piper quoted, “If we are going to worship God in Spirit and truth, we have got to get the truth first.”

I guarantee you that there are many parts of the Word of God that you have never heard before or never heard it preached before or maybe never read it or heard it preached before. So we always have to get the truth and the truth will always apply to us in some way or another.

So this morning I am going to look at the preeminency of the incarnate Son over angels.

I have already said that we have embarked on a journey from which we cannot return. Once you have discovered the supremacy and the preeminency of the Son, Jesus Christ, you cannot turn back. You must go forward, you must grow forward toward an ever deepening understanding and a more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is that? So that we can see Jesus in his exaltation as preeminent over all things.

You may be asking a question this morning: Why is it important for me to know Jesus as being preeminent over the angels? Partly, so you don’t remain ignorant in your understanding and you don’t drift away from who Jesus really is and you get a full picture of his being, his person and of His position.

It is also partly that you do not get deceived by some religious system, some group or some persons that have Jesus all wrong. They twisted His person, His Position, His work into something that is unrecognizable by scripture. Look at chapter two of Hebrews verse one:

¹For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

The Bible’s concern is that you and I continue to grow in our understanding of Jesus Christ and not drift away from any truth that is connected to Him.

So when we worship, we know that we are worshipping the true and living God. We know also that the Jesus we are worshipping is recognized and expounded in the Word of God. The Word of God becomes our measure of who God is and who Christ is because this is who God’s revelation to us.

Now remember, in the introduction to the book of Hebrews, I gave some possible reasons of why the writer of Hebrews was writing to the Hebrews Christians. There was some kind of serious crisis that was threatening the purity of the church.

The first one that I mentioned was that of Roman persecution that martyred them and threatened to martyr them. It hit the Christians of Palestine so hard that they would rather denounce their faith and avoid persecution and death. That was one of the reasons it was written.

You will find that it is written in scripture in Hebrews you will find that the writer commends the readers for patience and endurance in the middle of persecution and in the middle of suffering and to hold on to their eternal salvation that has been given to them by God in Christ Jesus. He then warns the readers that God is a consuming fire and that it is tragic and it brings tragic consequences to renounce the Son and he urges them to renew their commitment to Christ, God’s foremost and final revelation to man.

The reason that he says that is that if you renounce Christ, there is no escape from God’s judgement if Christ is not your Lord and Christ is not your savior and Christ is not your sin bearer and Christ is not the One who is reigning on your behalf to bring you into heaven. If He is not the One, then there is no salvation for you.

There is a second reason why this writer of Hebrews writes to the Jewish Christians and that was the attack of the Judaizers. They wanted to Judaize the Hebrew Christians. In other words, a strange new teaching was going around that certain Judaizers wanted to bring them back into the old system of Judaism and to their former religions and that is why he says in Hebrews 13:9 to them:

⁹Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

He is really telling them, do not waiver and neglect the assembly of togetherness as believers, but to be under the Word of God and trust the Word of God as being sharper than any two-edged sword even to pierce down to the very depth of your heart and the very depth of your soul and let it expose you.

So you know who you are in your sin and you know who Christ is as Savior and Lord and Redeemer and with those two together, you will genuinely know you are forgiven for your sin and that you are forgiven not because you are good or could have been good or would have ever been good, but that Christ has completed such a perfect sacrifice.

Therefore, to say that a sacrifice was not perfect was to deny the whole of the Word of God. That was important for him to bring across and both of those things could be possibilities and it trickles along the book and as we go along we will see it.

There is a third reason why he wrote the book and that was the false teaching of a group called the Asceans. The asceans had this unusual teaching. They taught that God would send two Messiahs. One priestly and one Kingly and that above those two Messiahs would be the archangel Michael who will eventually rule over the both of them.

his view of angels come in that angels have authority or a position above Jesus as the Messiah. That teaching would completely subvert the biblical portrait of Jesus the Messiah.

The book of Hebrews is written to expose and turn upside down this teaching and teach instead the complete preeminence and supremacy of Christ over angels and over all created things visible and invisible things and over all others. So Christ is taken and exalted to the place where He should be where scripture exalts Him.

The author sought to inform his despondent, vacillating readers that Christ, the object of God’s final revelation is vastly superior to any other teacher or patriarch or religious system or spiritual, angelic being. What was the great temptation n the passages we will look at this morning. The great temptation is this: For a Jewish Christian, because the main audience is Jewish Christians, to simply acknowledge that Jesus was a great angel, even an archangel, awesome and great in power, but not God, was a temptation.

That is a temptation today. We have major religious groups that do not believe that Jesus Christ is God and somehow relay Him back to some angel that was great and powerful. This was tempting especially in the context of possible ostracism from family, from synagogues, from jobs. It was something in the context where it was tempting because of suffering and even loss of life.

So the pressure they were under to simply stress Jesus as an archangel and not the Son of God was tempting because it was not an outright denial of Jesus Christ, but simply a change in emphasis.

However, if you change that emphasis, Jesus is no longer the One whom the prophets foretold. He is no longer the One that is spoken about in the Gospels. He is no longer the One that is exalted to King ion revelations. He is not that One anymore, not the first, last, beginning and end. The beginning of all creation. He is just set aside by emphasis of just being with the angels.

People today do the same thing in different ways. They conclude that Jesus was the best of men and He is worthy to be emulated. Jesus was superior in His Ethics and morals and we should model Him. Jesus was one of the greatest examples of a sacrifice.

If we want to look at a sacrifice, look to Jesus and we will see the greatest sacrifice. Some say that Jesus was a perfect man. That He was created by God as a perfect angel for a special assignment among men on earth. I am saying this for this reason: To think like this is to be in danger of compromising one’s faith. In fact, to think of Jesus like this is to demote Him and strip Him of His real identity and inheritance. That is the title of Son of God.

This morning as we look at the scripture before us, from verse four to verse eight. You will find that the writer of Hebrews uses the Old Testament in a way that he is very skilled. In fact, the Old Testament for the writer of Hebrews, is a Christ-centered book that every prophet, every type, picture and message in the Old Testament was pointing to Christ. That is how he uses it in a masterful way. When the writer of Hebrews quotes from the Old Testament he often looks beyond the immediate context to a day when their predictions will be fulfilled in greater realities. Not just the apparent immediate context of the situation. As he brings forth the Old Testament passages, they bring out and point to what the Old Testament prophets and teachers were saying and therefore pointing to Christ one verse after another. Before, we even go there, who are the angels? If we look in scripture, the angels are amazing beings. The character of good angels are found everywhere. Let us look at a few passages. Let us look at 2 Peter 2:11:

¹¹whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.

The angels were really pictures of meekness. It tells us in Jude that the Archangel, when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce against him a railing judgment. Instead he said “The Lord rebuke you”. They are meek creatures. Meekness does not mean weak, it means they have power under control. They are also in scripture shown as wise. In Psalms 103:20 it says:

²⁰ Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!

The bible says that angels are holy and set apart for God. In 1 Timothy 5:21 that they are elect. Paul told Timothy:

²¹ I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.

Then in Job and Hebrews again, we find that the angels are innumerable. In fact, the number it uses in scripture is myriads. Myriads of myriads of angels. Meaning that there is no way to number them, there are so many of them. Just go to the sea shore and pick up the sand. If someone gave you a project to number every grain of sand, could you do it? Every beach of the world? It is an impossible task and can’t be done. We know now that with the stars of heaven, it is the same way. It is not just a locked number, there are so many that are innumerable. So Christ has made angels with such a vast number that we could not even count them. In their character, those are angels. In their work in reference to Jesus Christ we find that angels are everywhere. In Christ’s conception in Luke, an angel comes and announces it. An angel comes and announces His birth of Christ in Luke chapter two and an angel announces the resurrection of Christ in Luke chapter twenty-four. An angel even announces the birth of John the Baptizer, who will be the forerunner of Jesus Christ. It says John the Baptist, who was prophesied about in the Old Testament, will point the way to Jesus Christ. Also, in Luke chapter 22:43, angels ministered to Christ. It says:

⁴³ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.

Then in 1 Peter 3:22:

²²who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

Then we see in scripture in Matthew, angels shall execute the purposes of Christ. Angels shall accompany Christ at his second coming. We know that angels also are curious and delight in the gospel of Christ. It says in 1 Peter “Those into whom angels long to look”. That was the very message of the gospel of Christ. They were curious about it. They were ministers of it in many ways. So from these references, you can conclude that in God’s creation these pure spiritual beings ranked very high on God’s scale and in God’s creation and are quite awesome. I didn’t even mention in Isaiah 6 where the angels minister around the throne of God and cry out “Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord” The author of Hebrews depends heavily on the Old testament because in this section he actually uses seven quotations from the Old Testament to display the deity, authority and sovereignty of Christ in contrast to angels. In our text, in verse 4, we see our first major point as we move to see the preeminency of the Son in contrast to angels. We see that the Son is preeminent over the angels by virtue of His position. Verse four says

⁴ having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. ⁵For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”?

Let me stop right there. There are several things why Jesus has a position in higher rank than the angels in these passages. The first one is this: that Jesus has inherited a more excellent name in verse four. Don’t miss this because this is not a mere desigantion to distinguish one individual from another or Jesus from the angels, no. The very word’s name in Hebrew or in Greek points to the essential nature of a person as to who they really are. In other words, Jesus is marked by such a superior quality that none can compare or stand beside Him even angels with all there excellence. Jesus is has to be much better than the angels because He has inherited a name superior to theirs and that name is this: Son. Jesus is called the Son. Actually, he is quoting from Psalms 2:7. It says:

⁷ “I will surely tell of the [e]decree of the Lord: He said to me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten you.

The reason why he uses Son here too is that the Son is the only One who is qualified to receive the inheritance from the Father. The angels were never in that position to receive anything from what they already had. Once they were created, they had everything that will ever have from God and will be given no more. Especially an inheritance that will only be given to Jesus Christ. In Psalms 2, it was originally sung at the coordination of a king, like David or Solomon. Do not let the phrase from verse 7 trip you up:”I have begotten You” Do not let that throw you off, because it does not refer to the Son’s origin of existence. There never was a time when the Son did not exist. Jesus Christ was always the eternal Son in relationship to God the Father, Jesus was uniquely appointed and declared at a particular time in history that proves that He was who He says He was. When was that? Turn back to Romans 1:4. This is the capstone of Jesus being the Son and gives it some sense on what it means:

⁴ who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

In other words, at the resurrection of the dead, what did it prove about Jesus being the Son that was begotten? Meaning that the sonship of Christ is essential to the property of the divinity of Christ. In other words, in the divine nature. In opposition to what He was in the flesh, the Son of David, Jesus was declared at the resurrection to be the Son of God. Being equal with God, proving that His claims were well-founded. That the God that came in the flesh has risen from the dead and has authority over death, Satan and hell. He showed us that He is God in the flesh. He is none other than God in the flesh. That was never said of angels. That was never a designation of angels. Why is Jesus position higher than the angels? Why is He more preeminent that the angels? Jesus more inherited a more excellent name. Secondly, in verse number five of Hebrew 1, Jesus is David’s greater Son. In Hebrews we will get to the fact that to the writer of Hebrews this is “milk” theology and not “meat” theology. He rebukes them in chapter five for not growing to the point to be able to handle this stuff. To think with their minds to properly worship God and to properly understand who Jesus is. He does not at all fiddle around with all the simplicities of anything. He goes right to the heart of the matter and quotes from 2 Samuel 7:5. First, let’s go back to Hebrews 1:5

⁵ For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, today I have begotten you”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me”?

That is the quote that comes from 2 Samuel, but let us look at the context in 2 Samuel to get what he is saying. Jesus is David’s greater Son. That sounds strange if you did not know the background behind it. Look at 2 Samuel 7. This is the second reason that we see why Jesus’ position is higher than the angels. The second reference that he uses in 2 Samuel 7: 12-16. In verse fourteen of the scripture, he presents the Son as the one who fulfills the covenant made with King David:

14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me;

That is the passage in Hebrews. While this text is a primary reference to David’s son Solomon, a greater fulfillment is found in Jesus Christ and this is how the author uses it. What did the covenant of David actually say? In 2 Samuel 7:12

12 When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your [c]descendant after you, who will come forth from [d]you, and I will establish his kingdom.

He is talking about David and his son Solomon. He is talking about Solomon, who will establish the kingdom. A second thing the Davidic covenant says is in verse thirteen. David’s son will build the temple:

13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

That was the second part of the Davidic covenant. The third part is in verse 14 – 16. David’s throne, his right to rule, will be established forever and never be removed. Even if his son Solomon sins, to a point, that justifies that God will remove the kingdom from him. Did Solomon sin to that point? Yes he did. He took so many wives of other religions and they moved his heart to worship idols and God was very displeased with that. That should have been Solomon’s death, but it was not. Why? Because God made a promise to his father David that He would establish his kingdom forever and his kingdom will never have an end. Look at verse fourteen of 2 Samuel 7:

14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me; when he commits iniquity

We know that Jesus does not commit iniquity, but who does? Solomon.

14ÉI will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men,

Verse fifteen:

15 but my lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

Verse sixteen

16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure before [e]Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’

One of the major things in the Levatich covenant is that God will establish a kingdom forever. We need to have someone that fulfills that. In Matthew it says, the queen of the south came to hear the Wisdom of Solomon. It is recorded in Matthew, where the Queen of the south will rise up with this generation in judgement and condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth and says “Behold, something greater than Solomon is here” Who is greater than Solomon?

Remember, Solomon’s kingdom was not established but actually divided. However, Jesus’ kingdom will be established eternally. It points to David’s greater son and the writer of Hebrews is looking at the passage of scripture. He looks way in the future and sees Jesus Christ fulfill the Messianic promise f redemption and will establish the Millennium kingdom forever and ever. The Father never said that of any angel, He only said that of Jesus.

Jesus is His beloved Son and that His beloved Son would be the greater son of King David, who will sit on the throne of a forever kingdom. We will all be a part of that. He is minimizing the position of angels to a place where Christ is so far exalted that one can never conclude that Jesus was an angel or anything like it. In fact, the conclusion that we will establish here, inescapably, is that the Son is the eternal King. He is the One that sits on the throne and fulfills all the prophecies recorded in the Word of God.

Remember what happens when Jesus comes into the world and begins His ministry? At the baptism of Jesus in Luke chapter 3, the Father says “This is my beloved Son, I am well pleased with Him”. Furthermore at the Mount of transfiguration, again, the Father speaks as the Lord’s image is transformed and the glory of God beams from inside of Him. What does God say then at the Mount of Transfiguration “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him!” The point is that as we consider the Son to be preeminent over the angels by virtue of His position, the second is He is David’s greater Son. Back in Hebrews, the third reason why Jesus is preeminent over the angels is found in verse number six of Hebrews 1:

6 And [f]when He again brings the firstborn into [g]the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”

This is the third reason why Jesus is exalted higher than the angels. Jesus existed with the Father prior to the creation. In this passage, he is quoting from Deuteronomy 32:43 and Psalms 97:7, but he is quoting from the Septuagint. He has a mastery in the Greek and a mastery of the Septuagint. It says from the Septuagint in Deuteronomy 32:43

“Rejoice ye Heavens with Him and let all the angels of God worship Him”

In the Hebrew bible, it uses the words “Gods” instead of angels. There is a whole background that I won’t go into right now. How come it is not in the Hebrew text and it is in the Greek translation of the Old Testament? There is a reason for that, but it is definitely pointing to someone who would fill the description of being an angel in Deuteronomy. What is he saying in Deuteronomy 32? That all the angels of God should worship Him: The One who would come again. The Septuagint in Psalms 97:7, 9 says:

“Let all who worship graven images be ashamed who boast of their idols worship Him All ye his angels”

Why is that? The first thing that? The first thing God says about the angels’ real position in regards to His Son is that angels are to prostrate themselves in worship before the Son and not the other way aroundÑever. In fact, the use of the word “firstborn” in verse six has to do with Jesus’ existence prior to creation and His sovereign power over it. It does not imply that Jesus was created by the Father because He has always been coequal with the Father from eternity to eternity. “Firstborn” covers all the ions of whatever has been created. All creation from its beginning to its end of time. Colossians 1:15 says:

15 [w]He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

In other words, Jesus is a higher rank than the angels because He created them. The angels then, because He created them, are to worship Him. That is what is found in scripture. The angels are worshipping Christ. As a matter of fact, they worship Him in eternity past, they worship Him in the incarnation when He becomes flesh, they worship Him in His ministry on earth and worship Him in eternity present. They even worship Him in the coming eternity. They worship Him all over scripture. To think to say that the angels have any other type of rank over Christ is absurd. He destroys any view of that type of thinking. In fact, in Nehemiah 9:6 gives us the sense of angels worshipping God:

“You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You.

We see these might, excellent, supreme beings designated in scripture as created by Jesus Christ bowing down to Him. In the rest of the scripture, it already identified Him as the creator. The last time we were in Hebrew chapter one in the first three verses. Also in Luke two, we again see the angels worshipping. This is a very familiar passage of scripture. Luke 2:13:

13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

And verse 14:

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men [g]with whom He is pleased.”

Who are they? The heavenly host, the innumerable angels that have been created by Christ, who are now at His coming into this world praising God from the heavens. They are worshipping. In Revelation 5:11:

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

Now can you make a mistake on who this is who is sitting on the throne? Who the angels of God, in their vast number, are worshipping and getting others to worship? They point to His vast attributes by letting everyone know who this is on the throne. That He is rich in wisdom, might, honor, glory, blessing and He is to be worshipped. The angels are pointing to the One who created them. That He is worthy and we are not worthy to be worshipped. You and I are not worthy to be worshipped. No one in all the world, created, is worthy to be worshipped. Only Jesus Christ is worthy to be worshipped. Remember, Jesus Christ always was and was never created. He was from eternity to eternity. That is why He is the Beginning and the End. He is the the First and the Last, Alpha and the Omega. In Hebrews 1, we will see coming eternity. In verse six, there is an interesting word that caused a lot of problems as far as interpretation. In Hebrews 1:6:

6 And [f]when He again brings the firstborn into [g]the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”

Notice the word “again”. Where does that point to? From the text, it shows that since Christ has already come once, it is pointing to a time when all the angels were worshipping openly showing their subjection to His exalted position and this passage is referring to the second coming of Christ in judgement. The angels again will worship Him and it will be an outright public worship and all will know who Christ is and there will be no mistake about Jesus Christ at all. Is that not what we need to know? We cannot get Jesus wrong. There are many people today worshipping Jesus, but not the Jesus of the bible and not the Jesus of scripture. If we get Jesus wrong and create some other Jesus in our mind to worship then that can be the doom of our salvation and bring on the judgement of God where will be lost for eternity because we did not get Jesus right. We should have such a strong conviction and understanding of who He is that no one can move you from it. In Philippians 2, Paul writes to the Philippian church, a most awesome passage of scripture. He wanted them, in his own way, to get it also when it came to who Christ was and who is to be worshipped. In Philippians 2:9 it says:

9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,

Verse 10:

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

Verse 11:

11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Do you realize that this is talking about those who have rejected Christ? They will one day bow before Him and call Him what he rightfully is. I pray that everyone will be on the right side and be convinced in this life. Not only theoretically that Jesus is the Son of God and is to be exalted. The unescapable conclusion in this passage of Hebrews is that the Son is fully divine and fully God, but the angels are not divine and are created beings that worship Jesus, the Son of God. We will be totally convinced theoretically and practically. It would bring conviction to our hearts that when we meet together to worship it is to worship Jesus Christ. It is to lift up His name and be ready in our minds, to move aside all distraction and worship Jesus Christ in truth. We worship based on who He really is and what the scripture really say about him corporately. Then, throughout the week, when we face the world, we will learn to worship Him there as well. We will have a proper understanding of Him so we can come together in a very definite way, every day of our lives and no one can move us from that position of who Jesus Christ is. In Hebrews 1:7, 8, it supports the second major point that the Son is preeminent over the angels by virtue of His position and authority. In Hebrews 1:7

7 And of the angels He says, “Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.”

Verse 8:

8 But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of [h] His kingdom

In other words, in verse number seven, we see that the angels are creatures (created) and servants that minister on Christ’s behalf. Also in verse eight, if Jesus Christ is sitting on the throne and His throne is forever, then the angels are subjects in His kingdom and are stationed before the throne. In other words, they are creatures and Christ is the Creator. They are servants and Christ is the Ruler. They are subjects who minister around the throne and before the throne. Jesus is the King who sits on the established throne. The contrast in the verses are there to show the difference between the angels and Christ. In verse seven where the passage says:

“Who makes His angels windsÉ”

The angels are like winds can mean they are invisible, rapid in movement and capable of creating great effects like the wind can produce. In other words, they are so quick to carry out His will and purposes and move swiftly wherever they go. Secondly, in verse eight where the passage says:

“Éand His ministers a flame of fire.”

They carry out the good deeds of God’s purpose and plans, but also the judgement of God’s purpose and plans. We think of Sodom and Gomorrah. Who poured out fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah? The angels did that. God has these creatures as ministers and they cannot attain any greater heights. They are only the instruments of divine agency and that is it. This was an issue then and can be an issue today if we replace Jesus with any other object of worship, we are guilty of the same thing. What is the conclusion that we have? If the Son is preeminent over the angels because they are subject to His authority, will and sovereignty, what are we to do with the Son? There is only one conclusion: we are to worship. Exclamation mark, period. We are to worship Him. Now ask yourself, do you worship Him? Worshipping Him means to listen to Him, obey Him. You love His word and want to hear what He has to say. Put into practice what He said. All the implications of what it means to worship takes on a very practical understanding in our daily life. Do you worship Jesus? When we meet to worship in the body, we should worship fervently, why? We have a relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior who died in our place, rose from the grave, declared to be the Son of God, sits and reigns on the throne and makes intercession for His saints. In Hebrews 1:14, the author concludes:

14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

The angels have been created for you and I who know Christ. They are our ministers, however they may minister through our life, and they have been giving to us. We are connected through the Son and inherit something the angels cannot even inherit, eternal salvation. That is awesome. The author is saying in this text “where do we stand with Christ?” If you have not trusted Him, trust Him today. Do not let anything, anyone, any demon, any spirit or any angel hold you back from trusting in Christ. Show that you trust in Christ by living for Him, serving Him and following Him; then we can worship together. Not only here, but someday in heaven. Worshipping with no obstacles, hindrances or anything to distract us and it will be awesome.

Full Transcript:

Let us take our Bibles this morning, and turn to Hebrews. We continue in this great epistle this morning. We have already embarked on the journey through Hebrews. According to this book, we cannot return. Once you discover the truth about the supremacy of the Son, you cannot turn back or turn away. You must forever move forward toward an ever-deepening understanding and intimate relationship with your Lord.

As always in my prayer, I pray that through this study if you do not genuinely know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, that you will be led to faith and repentance under its message. This is so that you will follow Him and grow in your love for Him all the days of your life.

If you do know Him, I pray that you would remain forever worshipful and delightfully amazed at the supremacy of the Son. Also that you would not defect from a high Christology, which sadly the church and the world often do.

We cannot defect from a high Christology presented to us in the holy Word of God. We must, according to Hebrews, hold fast to it, learn more of it, and be faithful to proclaim it.

As a review from last time, here are some Jewish Christians that are reading the book of Hebrews. Because of their persecutions and the difficulties living the Christian life, like you might have found in your own life, they were half-inclined to throw in the towel and revert back to their former system of Judaism.

Religion is easy compared to Christianity. Christianity is a full, whole-hearted, whole-life commitment to Christ. Christ wants all of you, not just some of you. He wants all of you right now. They, as we, are hit with an undeniable introduction that is very difficult to dismiss. That is, the God of Christianity, the God of the Bible is a God who speaks.

God did indeed speak! In content, He spoke in a certain manner in the Old Testament. This morning, in our text I want you to see two major points.

The first one is this, that God began speaking. He wanted humankind to know something. He wanted it written down, He wanted it proclaimed, He wanted it to be shouted from the rooftops. He never wanted it to be stuck in a corner or on a shelf where nobody heard or opened it. That is what God’s intention has always been. And yet, men have tried to suppress it, put it down, close it, put it away, and forget it. But that cannot happen, because God speaks. And if God speaks, He will be heard.

Let me pray. Lord, this morning I do ask You in the Word of God, that You would speak again to us. I pray, Lord, that we would have listening ears to hear so that we can respond appropriately and we can give You the glory and honor for it. So that we could be thrilled with the sense that You have given us the supreme revelation in Your Son Jesus Christ. Help us, Lord, to more fully understand that today. In Christ I pray, Amen.

Look at Hebrews 1:1, it says this:

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways.

God spoke in various parts and ways in the Old Testament. When I think of the word used here, “portions,” I think of going to a fine restaurant. They do not just give you a hamburger and fries and plop it in front of you. Instead, you have a little appetizer, salad, main dish, and then before your dessert you may cleanse your palate a bit. You are given the food in portions to enjoy and mull over in your taste buds. So you get the full impact of the flavor of the food.

It goes right to the end with the closing and a beverage. You enjoy the food during a long sitting, it is not fast food. The essence and the taste of the food is an experience. In a very real way, the Lord has spoken in many portions, not all at once.

Genesis 1 and onward, we see hundreds of thousands of years of revelation to this day. Of course revelation stopped with the coming together of the Old and New Testaments, but it is clear that the Lord spoke into history. The Lord wanted us to know His thoughts and to know His plans and purposes. Just as Romans 15:4 says:

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

God has given us the Word of God, the mind of God, the thoughts of God, the plans of God, and the purposes of God so His people at every point in history can have hope. What He was telling them and who He was pointing to, the Lord also spoke in prophecy. But if you look at prophecy, God gave promises yet fulfilled. He gave judgments yet to come, He gave understanding of the future and yet showed us that the Messiah would reign in glory and in His eternal Kingdom.

So He has given portions along the way. He has spoken to us and it was written down. A second thing in verse 1 is that He spoke in “many ways,” multi-faceted ways, which is literal rendering. God, after He spoke long ago the fathers and the prophets, in many portions and in many ways.

Yes, God did speak richly, abundantly and in so many different ways as the Hebrew Scriptures record. But only in fragments, not in completeness. God spoke in dreams, He spoke in visions, He spoke in a burning bush to Moses, He spoke in the pillar of fire when the tabernacle was in the wilderness. But His primary vehicle in which He spoke was through the prophets, as it says in verse 1, “to the fathers and the prophets.”

So there is a line of prophets that spoke on behalf of God and bore testimony to the truth. Men like Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, right down to the last prophet of the Old Testament, Malachi. He had the last word on what was going on with the people of God. He had the last word from God to the people and the last word talked about the people going through the forms and rituals without any heart it in, they were hypocrites.

And then 400 years of silence and God raises up John the Baptist and He speaks through John the Baptist who picks up the message of Malachi and begins to proclaim it to the leadership of Israel.

God spoke richly and abundantly but all of it was incomplete. Yes He spoke through Moses, and yet promised to send another prophet. If you look back to Acts 7:37, it quotes from Deuteronomy 18:15. He promised a prophet vastly greater than Moses, even though Moses was responsible for the prophecy.

Look what it says in Acts 7:37:

This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren.’

So Moses was not the last word of things. He was actually the beginning of much of what was going to happen. He was the one who spoke and said, “listen there is going to be someone who is going to be great like me, but also greater than me.”

And Deuteronomy adds something to this passage of Scripture in Acts. In Deuteronomy 18:15 it sounds the same, but listen to what it says:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

So Moses way back when said, “listen, over here there is going to be one greater than me. You think it was great for you to come through the Red Sea, for me to lead you through the wilderness, for me to do all these miracles before you as the instrument of God? The pillar of fire to lead us at night and the pillar of cloud by day to show the presence of God in the midst of IsraelÉ you think all that was great? That is nothing compared with the One who is coming. But I want to tell you know so you can tell the next generation, and so that generation can tell the next generation right up until the day when you must listen to the One who is coming. I am pointing to Him.”

God works according to consistent and straightforward unswerving plan. Moses was part of that plan. God’s plan of deliverance and salvation was not just for the people of Israel in bondage. But Moses actually became a picture of the One who would come after him and who would be the greatest of deliverers because the One who would come after him would be a spiritual deliverer. God would provide the ideal ruler to fulfill His promises. The man would be prepared to be the ideal redeemer.

Those who heard the prophets also heard God. Remember the prophets never came up with their own message. It was always a message that God gave them, which they then delivered. It was not something they spun on their own. As a matter of fact, the ones that spun it on their own were the false teachers. And they would even be, in the Old Testament Israel economy, put to death for giving falsehoods to the people.

God spoke. Again and again He spoke, in many different ways but all of them were inferior. It was the apostle John who told us in John 1:17:

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

That very verse is on a plaque on Mount Nebo in stone, it is written there. It is the only verse that is there. This is where Moses went when God showed him the promise land. God took him on Mount Nebo, and this is the verse that is there. Moses was the one pointing to the One who would be full of grace and truth.

So God definitely from the Word has begun to speak from the Old Testament times, when it was written down. Now, what do we have? We have God saying here in this passage of Scripture in Hebrews 1 that He finished His speaking. God spoke and now He is finished with His speaking. Look at what it says in Hebrews 1:2:

In these last days, have spoken to us in His Son.

So the Word of God is telling us that God has sent His Son who would go beyond Moses and all of the prophets. God now speaks fully and completely in the person of the Son. He makes a comparison here in Scripture between a good that was partial and piecemeal and that came little by little throughout the ages in portions, to something better that came all at once in the person of His Son.

The comparison is between the good and the better. Moses was good but what I am sending is better. Moses and the prophets were partial but what I am sending is definitive. Moses and the prophets and all that was spoken was only partial. I am sending someone who is final.

God finishes His speaking so Scripture is meant to make clear this morning, that God’s revelation in His Son was full, it was final, and definitive in a way that all previous revelations were not. Are you still listening to the Son? Are you listening to God’s final revelation to mankind. He is done giving us Scripture, signs and types. That was done at a portion of time, and now in His Son it all comes together.

Also the writer of Hebrews, whoever he may be, does not mess around getting to the meat. He gives us seven essential things about the One who is the crowning point of divine revelation, Jesus Christ. Let us look at those things. I want to give them to you in a package, all together. Because, all throughout Hebrews each one of the will be brought up again.

So I want you to get a sense of what this writer is saying to the people. If God spoke and He has finished speaking in His Son, then you have to listen to Him because there is nothing else. If you reject this final revelation, there is no other revelation! There is no other message, or anywhere else to go. This is it. So you have to listen.

He gives seven essential things about the Son, about the crowning part of divine revelation. Here is the first thing He says in Hebrews 1:2, it says this:

In these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

The first thing is the Son is the inheritor of all things. An heir signifies a person who on the death of another becomes the possessor of the other’s property. Usually the son gets the property of the father. But it is unusual here because it is at the death of the Son, that He inherits. Because the Son has to die. So here, the way Christ the Son came to His inheritance is by being placed there, and being appointed by the Father to carry it out.

There are a couple of things about an heir. An heir becomes lord of all that he inherits. In fact, Paul says it like this in Galatians 4:1:

Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything.

In other words, a boy could not inherit. Usually, he had to grow to maturity in order to completely inherit his father’s property. When He did, He owned it all. He was the Lord of everything.

Secondly, an heir takes full possession of all it inherits. If you would like to look with me at Psalm 2:8, we will see that most of the scholars that deal with this passage of Scripture go back to the prophecy that comes out of this passage in Psalms which says:

Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession.

In other words, it is saying here that Christ the Son is the one who is heir of all things, being Lord of every single thing. And then He possesses it completely. I would like to remind you, though, that all those who are true children of God and fellow heirs with Christ, it tells us in Romans 8:16-17:

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

So we are inheritors of all things with Christ. Could you imagine that? Wrap your brains around that one. We are worried about all of our little possessions that we have, and the things we do not have. But the Bible is saying that if you are in Christ, you own everything and possess everything.

Of course we do not realize that now by sight, we have to obtain that or hold to that by faith. That is why Hebrews is getting to, that we hold it by faith, why? Because these are God’s truths and revelations to us, and it is definitely true that everything is ours.

A third thing that it says in Hebrews 1:2, is that not only is He the heir of all things but look what it says at the end of the verse:

Through whom also He made the world.

This is getting very interesting. His superiority is seen as the Creator of all. Actually the word translated here, world, maybe a bit misleading because you may be just thinking of the earth. But the Greek word is actual eons. It means that God created the eons that can be translated as the universe. Jesus was the agent in whom and through whom the entire universe of space and time were created. Hopefully you are starting to ask yourself, who is this Son? Who is this who is the apex of revelation? Who is this person that at the very creation when the eons of time began, God made His Son heir of all things, not according to the Son’s deity, but according to the Son’s humanity?

As a Son He inherits it all. In fact, He had to become a Son to inherit. God did not have to inherit anything but the Son did, in the flesh. So because he does, we do. God had to send His Son incarnate into the world so the Son, Jesus, created the hundred thousand million galaxies each containing some hundred thousand million stars. And we know now in an ever expanding universe that Jesus created every speck of dust in the hundred thousand million galaxies. He also created all the sub microscope systems that have no measurable size, or can even be seen.

In other words, Jesus created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them that have their being and have their existence and have their identity and have their function within that system. Outside of that system, there is nothing. This theme is represented all through the Word of God, like the passage of Scripture in John 1:3:

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Colossians 1:16 says:

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authoritiesÑall things have been created through Him and for Him.

This is amazing to think that Jesus Christ, the Son, is not only inheritor of all things, but He is the inheritor of all things He created. And we cannot forget, brethren, that the One who redeemed us is the One who created us. Our Redeemer and our Creator are one and the same person.

But do not miss the point because the focus here is not the comprehension of the divine act of creation even though we can get lost in that. The point is the apprehension of the true nature of the Son who is displayed in His full deity in creation. The very power and essence and glory of God is displayed before our eyes, day in and day out even for the things we can see with our eyes, and even those who put things under the microscope who see things you cannot see with just your eyes. There is another life past what I can see.

We gaze into space and we realize that Christ Jesus made all that too. And He made me! This is all too grand to wrap our brains around and yet that is what it is saying here. The One who created me is one in essence and one in power and one in glory with the Father, Jesus Christ the Son.

So He is not only the Inheritor and the Creator, but the fourth thing is that He is also the Radiator. It says in Hebrews 1:3:

And He is the radiance of His glory.

Another word is the effulgence, and in the original there, some tried to translate this as a passive. This would mean that Jesus Christ is the reflection of the Father. But that would be inconsistent with the whole flow of the text. It should be translated as an active adjective.

Jesus Christ is the very beam that comes forth from the light source. It is like the sun has its own light but when we look at the moon glowing, its light source comes from the sun and is reflected. Jesus Christ is not reflected light, Jesus Christ is the very source of light. He is the effulgent light source of God’s brightness in the Word of God.

All the Jews knew what this meant, that any time you see the radiant glory of God going out, that had to do with the Shekinah glory, that had to do with God’s brightness, unmistakable presence among His people. That is why He presented Himself to Moses in the burning bush. God was going to present Himself in light, that is why He presented Himself in the pillar of fire to show His glory amongst His people.

When Paul got saved, remember what He said? At noon when God spoke to him, that the light around him was brighter than the noon day sun. This means that he understood that it was the glory of God. It was the very brightness of God that was shining around him.

And what do people do when that happens? They fall on their faces. Just try one day staring into the sun when it is a really clear, bright day. You cannot do it. You cannot stare into the glory of God. It should bring us right to our faces.

Now, by way of example turn over to Matthew 17:1-2, the whole chapter there talks about God’s inherent glory, that means His glory is not reflected but inherent in Him. A good example is found here on the Mount of Transfiguration, having to do with Jesus. It says in verse 1:

Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ² And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.

What was that all about, that the deity of Christ burst forth from within Him showing forth His glory. Theologians refer to this incident as back to Hebrews and John 14 where it mentions that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. It says that we say His glory, most likely referring to the Mount of Transfiguration. This is where they saw the glory of God. Right before them, Christ was transformed.

Jesus Christ is the Radiator. He is the very source of God’s light. He is not the reflected light. Another thing back in Hebrews 1:3, it says also:

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.

A fifth thing is that the Son is a representer of all things. The exact representation of His nature. Actually the word here is character. It means a stamp or impression, like a signet ring that kings used to wear and would use to leave the impression of their logo right in the wax, and it would be an exact replica. Another example is a coin that is minted where we see that the coin is the exact representation as the dye in which it was stamped from. Jesus is therefore completely the same in His being as the Father.

When you see the Son, you see the Father. And yet Jesus is also distinct, and I believe that this passage of Scripture gives us that distinction. He is the source of light and He is the exact representation of the Father, yet there is a distinction. Jesus being the second person of the trinity. He is not the Father, He is different in person but the same in essence and being. This is problematic for anyone to wrap their mind around the whole concept of three in one.

It was in John 14 where Jesus was dealing with Philip and the conversation went like this in verse 7-10:

If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” ⁸ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.

There is a connectedness between the Son and the Father that is taught in the Word of God and communicates that Jesus Christ is not only God but is also given this mission to be man. So you see the Son bear the exact likeness of God’s nature. The divine image and the nature of God has been stamped onto the Son.

You cannot go through the gospels and miss that. Where Jesus goes, things happen, people get healed, demons get cast out, all kinds of things go on when Jesus shows up. When you look in Scripture and see Jesus, well we know what the God of the universe is like.

When you see Jesus, you know somewhat of how God thinks. When you see Jesus, you know how He talks, how He relates to people. We know what His will is as prescribed in the Word of God. God has spoken in His Son. There is no one like Him. There is no other way to be saved. You see who He is, see how you cannot get around this introduction?

Here is a fifth essential thing that we find in Hebrews 1:3. It says in the middle of the verse:

He upholds all things by the word of His power.

Jesus did not create and then let His creation continue on its own, like many philosophers have concluded. No, but He upholds it all, He bears it, He carries it. Jesus actively exerts His divine power every single day in the conservation of creation by keeping it from sinking back into its original state of confusion and nothingness, as you find in Genesis 1.

He not only created it, He holds it together. If you and I are still here, and the world is still here, He is still holding it all together. God is actively, right now, in your and my life keeping things where they ought to be. In Hebrews 11 we will read “by faith, we understand that the world was prepared by the Word of God. So that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

And then you come to the gospels again and look at what happens. Jesus is dealing with His disciples and they are in the boat together in Luke 8, and the winds are surging and the waves are coming over the boat, and they are getting scared to death. They ask Jesus if He cares about them because they will perish. And what does Jesus do? He gets up and He stops the wind and the waves right in the middle of a violent storm.

What happened to the disciples? Jesus said to them, “where is your faith?” The disciples asked themselves, “Who is this? That commands even the wind and thew water and they obey Him?” Who is this? He is more than a man! He is more than a prophet! That is what they are concluding in their minds. Exactly what God designed. They are concluding that He is God and He is has full authority over and keeps everything from falling apart. That is why pretty much in the end, when the Lord says He will not hold it together anymore, it will all fall apart.

That is why at the judgment, Heaven and earth will pass away. God says you are done. We know that Jesus, too, is given authority to judge so the Son is the sustainer of all things.

A sixth thing in Hebrews 1:3, the Son is the Savior of all the redeemed. Look how He says it at the end of the verse:

When He had made purification of sins.

The purging of sin belongs only to the priest. Jesus is the superior High Priest. He not only offers the last sacrifice and the final sacrifice, but apart from the Old Testament priests He is the sacrifice. Which makes Him completely different from the Old Testament priesthood. This is where the fullness of the divine character is displayed in His dying love.

It was John who said, “No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who was in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” He has exegetes Him. Where does He exegete God the most? On the cross. God’s attributes were exhibited in creation and in God’s providential workings all along, but ultimately in the work of redemption. In that alone, His full excellence appears. Nothing could have obliterated the abominable mountain of sin that we have committed and cleansed the indelible stain of sin that has been left on the mark of our guilty souls.

Therefore God thought it best and most for His glory to ordain the mediatorial work of His incarnate Son so that He would take away the sins of His people. Accordingly, by the sacrifice of Jesus this great mountain of our sins was removed and cast into the depth of the sea. This indelible stain on our consciouses, and on our souls was washed as white as snow by His shed blood on the cross.

Only in Christ are His perfections fully realized. As the text says, He had made purifications for our sins. He has cleansed us completely before the Father, and before God’s justice and righteousness. You see what He is getting at and what His argument is. You cannot get away from Jesus, not when you see Him like this.

I am responsible to Him as Creator, Sustainer, as a representation of God, and in every facet as the Savior. Without His redemption, there is no redemption or salvation! That is the great point that He makes.

There is one last thing in Hebrews 1:3, that the Son is the Finisher of all things. If God said, “This is my final revelation to you, then this final revelation finishes and seals up all revelation.”

Look what it says at the end of verse 3:

He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

This whole visual thing of sitting down really has to do with work accomplished and finished. It assumes His position of authority too. It was in Acts 2:34 that it said:

For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “sit at my right hand.”’

Look at Hebrews 12:2 for a minute:

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

He is sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God. It says also in Hebrews the majesty on high, and that is the attribute of one who is a king, one who was mighty, one who has majesty, one who has honor, and one who is God. That is why it says in Acts 2:33-34:

Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. ³⁴ For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “sit at my right hand.”’

The right hand of authority, the rightful place of Christ. No one else has finished like Christ has finished. So Jesus has been displayed in this segment of Scripture as the apex of divine revelation in which Jesus fulfills the office of prophet, of priest, and of king. He is the Finisher of all that God has spoken. Therefore, the incarnate Son is the superior revelation of God, that God has spoken in His Son and it is His ultimate communication to humanity. It is His final word to humanity.

It shows the superiority of the Son. Now why all that? We will not get to it this morning, but look at Hebrews 2:3. Here is the question:

How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

That is the warning at the end of the introduction. If you ignore, if you deny, if you neglect God’s highest and final revelation, how will you escape? How will you do it?

Of course the answer to this rhetorical question is that you will not escape, but you will forever be under God’s righteous wrath. Why? Because God began speaking in many portions and in many different ways and finished speaking in Christ. The book is closed and the message is complete. Now respond to it.

It also should bring to us as Christians a very serious look about our Christian walk. We should not take sin lightly and think we can have sin and can have God too, like it is not a big deal. We cannot presume that God will forgive us even though He is a forgiving God. No, God is serious about sin and punishment. He will bring them to pass.

Are you listening? Are you believing and following Him? That would be just some of the conclusions this morning to this message. If you are not, please today is the day that you need to make right before God and come in repentance and faith and believe in God’s final revelation and what He has accomplished on behalf of sinners.

And if you are saved, please be serious about your Christian walk and life! Do not neglect it and set it aside as if it does not need nurturing and constant pruning. It needs that all the time so that it will grow and expand.

That is why we get to Hebrews 5 and he is rebuking them for what? Not being teachers, because they have not been growing. Something shut them down. We have to be warned about the same thing. So, in one way it is a grand and glorious message. To begin to think about Christ like this, it is a whole new way of thinking.

I cannot bring Him down to just be a carpenter or a good teacher, or someone who only had a good ethical and moral story. If I can conclude that, you might as well take this portion of Hebrews and cut it out. You would make the Bible like Jefferson made his, whatever he did not like He took out.

But we cannot do that! We cannot discard this introduction. This applies to all mankind. And if you are believers and are walking with the Lord, what a privilege it is to know this and hear it. What a gift of God to allow these things to come into our ears, to seep into our minds, and to begin to reorganize the computer so that we could look at things the way God wants us to, that will be liberating and free and in a way that honors God. Even in our imagination, thoughts, and doing of life. It is a privilege to be able to know this about Christ.

Do you see that you cannot go back? Do you see that you cannot go back the way you came, you have to go forward. He who puts his hand to the plow, looks back and is not worthy in the Kingdom of God. So keep looking forward and keep pressing on. Keep having your eyes fixed on the One who is the Finisher, and Author of your faith. Amen?

Let’s pray. Lord, thank You, for this portion of Scripture. It is awesome to think upon in the way the Scriptures have revealed You, Lord. It keeps us from the reverted interpretations of many scholars, many schools and liberals. I pray, Lord, that we would always continue to press on toward the high calling of Jesus Christ.

I ask You, Lord, that You would work Your Word into our hearts, minds and souls until we understand, Lord. Until we see what You want us to see, hear what You want us to hear, and do what You want us to do.

Lord, thank You for not giving up on us and for always speaking to us. Thank You, Lord, so much that we are even able to hear this. We give You praise, honor and glory because You are exalted. You sit at the right hand of the Father in majestic glory. Thank You for so great a salvation. Since You have done this, no one can take it from us. Thank You. I pray this in Christ’s Name, Amen.

Full Transcript:

I’m going to be introducing this book this morning. There are some important things that I need to bring up before you even dive into this great book of the Bible, probably a book that people do not know too much about. But I believe that we are about to embark on a journey that will bring us to a place in which we all will have the opportunity to fall in love with our Lord Jesus Christ and come to worship Him more consistently and more deeply, which is what we all need.

I pray that through this study, you who really do not know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, will be lead to repentance and faith and you will follow Him for the rest of your days. To those who do know Him, that you would discover afresh the supremacy of Christ in all things, because that is what this book is about.

Do you ever wonder why the Bible really never goes out of its way to give us the five steps of having a great family, or the five steps of having a great marriage, or the five steps of having victory over this or that addiction? If you love christ, you will have a good family, you will overcome your sin and addiction, and you will know the power of Christ in your life to live in this world the way you and I ought to live and have the joy in our hearts maintained by God’s spirit. There are no rules in the Christian life! If we would have one rule, it would be to love Christ and obey Him. And you will do well if you do this.

Hebrews remains one of the most timely and relevant books of the Bible. Some 300 years ago John Owen, an English puritan, appropriately marked without a doubt that the epistle next to importance to Romans is Hebrews.

Now this book builds a compelling case for the superiority of Christianity, and for the superiority of the Christ of Christianity. Hebrews urges those who have experienced God’s ultimate work of grace in their heart by Christ Jesus, to hold fast to the final word of revelation in His Son that God has given. Look at Hebrews 1:1-2:

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ² in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

Wow what a dynamic opening to a book! He is quickly establishing for us that the Father spoke in many ways in the past but His ultimate, His full, His final revelation is found in the person of Jesus Christ. We are going to discover who He is in the book of Hebrews.

If you turn to Hebrews 13:22, it says:

But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

That phrase, “word of exhortation,” suggest to us that this book takes on more than the sense of a letter. But actually this book was more like a sermon and follows the pattern of the Hebrew homily, which is a Hebrew sermon. In fact, it also has the earmarks of being a letter if you look at the rest of the passage. Take notice of Hebrews 13:23-25:

Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you. ²⁴ Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

²⁵ Grace be with you all.

That is the ending of a letter. It informs us that the author, whoever he may be, has cast the homiletical word of exhortation into letter form and put it in print to be circulated to the churches. It was what needed to be written and communicated to his friends because of some urgent need within the church. The common practice for all who want to take on a new book of study, whatever book of the Bible it may be, it has to start with asking some basic questions.

The only problem is that when we come to the book of Hebrews, it is hard to answer those questions. We can only take guesses at them, which is what we will do this morning. We are going to have a little bit of fun this morning in asking these questions and looking at Hebrews. This is giving you a sense of how much of a struggle this book has had in history.

Before we do that, let us bow for a quick word of prayer. Lord, we humble ourselves before You this morning as we come to a book of this caliber and nature. Help us, Lord, each week to be growing in what it is presenting about You. Help us to be convinced without a shadow of a doubt before we are done that You are God’s final revelation for all mankind.

And I pray, Lord, that we would be strengthened in our faith, and that we would have the confidence to live by faith as those in Hebrews 11 like we have never lived before. That we would be able to hold up the shield of faith and ward off all the fiery missiles of Satan and stand strong with the shields of Christ and the armor of Christ. Enable us to do that Lord, so we can live as lights in this world and glorify our Father who is in Heaven. And I pray this in Your Name, Amen.

So some of the common questions that one would have when they come to a book is, who wrote it? When was it written? Why was it written? In other words, what is the historical occasion that provoked this writing? To whom was it written? Who are the recipients of this book?

Here is a great mystery because the identity of its author, the time of its writing, the people and place to which it was sent are all locked up by the Holy Spirit. We do not know.

In past history when the Word of God was coming together and all the books of the Bible were being written, Hebrews was surrounded by great controversy because these questions were not able to be answered.

In fact, when they came to whether Hebrews should be part of the canon of Scripture, now I know that the word canon can be a new word for you so let me just explain it. It is a word that notes a reed, or the sense that the reed that was used like a measuring stick, like a tape measure, was used for measuring purposes. So this word, canon, that came to mean measuring rod or a standard of measuring something.

The books of the canon then are those writings that have been measured by a certain standard to determine whether they are indeed God’s Holy Word. And if they pass the test, they enter the canon. And if they do not, they do not.

But fortunately in saying that, it is not a man who is credited with God’s Word, but God Himself! God Himself has credited His Word. But nonetheless, man has set up a standard to determine what writings belong in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The 66 books that compile our Bible are said to be canonical, or part of the canon that God has given to us, protect for us and now we have it in our hands as the final revelation of God.

Some of the criteria that men would use in determining whether a book would be part of the canon included the source of the writing. For example, does it have a sense of divine source?

The second question would be, what is the purpose of the writing? The third question would be, is it clear that the work was given by immediate inspiration of God. In other words, was it written by an apostle? And if it was not written by an apostle, then what kind of apostolic authority was connected to that book?

Those are some things that they asked when determining whether a book was part of the canon of Scripture. Now, you can see by just some of these things there were some problems in history as to when this book was actually accepted by some churches and groups.

As a matter of fact, because no one knew who wrote the book, or the historical occasion for its writing, it was not until the 4th century that it was finally determined to be apostolic and canonical. In the year AD 367, the bishop of Alexandria Athanasius put the eastern church’s final stamp of approval upon the 27 books and now that is known of course today as the New Testament. It was also confirmed by who they call the Synod of Carthage in AD 397. And of course the last church that accepted the authenticity of Hebrews was the church at Rome. Luther had problems with this book at the beginning, but at the end of his life he gave all that up and said that this is definitely the work of God.

But the fact is that this is divinely inspired and could hardly be called into question in view of its agreement with all the rest of Scripture. And also, its revelation of Jesus Christ’s deity, His grace, His sacrificial death, like in Hebrews 9. His mediatorial work is found right here in the book of Hebrews.

You will see that the contents of this book will surely be proved by itself. It is indeed the Word of God and no theologian will deny that fact in our present age and through most of history after this time. We cannot forget though, that the author of Scripture is the Holy Spirit.

Those who have put pen to parchment and set down the message were merely writers. We must keep in mind that what the writers set down was by the Holy Spirit, just like 2 Peter 1:21 so clearly communicates:

For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

In any study of a book like this, you are going to find a mass amount of information on of all the background context, before you even get to the text. I just wanted to give it to you in a nutshell so that you can get the sense that there is no longer a problem.

Let us look for a while and ask some questions, like who wrote the book of Hebrews? I will tell you what some have said in the past, and then maybe you can make your own conclusion about what I have to say. I am not going to go through the whole list of people that are candidates, but I want to highlight some of the higher range possibilities.

In the end, we cannot make a conclusion on any of them. But here is the first one, and in fact it was the reason why some of the major theologians accepted the book of Hebrews into the canon, because they finally determined that the apostle Paul wrote it.

That was the conviction of the early church, and that was the main reason why it was accepted as Holy Scripture. Origen, once bishop of Alexandria, determined that the apostle Paul wrote Hebrews and because of his influence, many followed suit. Clement of Alexandria also said that Paul wrote Hebrews, as well as that he wrote it in the Hebrew language.

Then, the Hebrew version was translated by Luke the Physician, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts, into Greek. Luke, we know, has a very highly polished Greek. It is very difficult for Greek students to interpret Greek; Acts and Luke contain the hardest Greek in the Bible. Thus, he was a very smart man, and had very eloquent Greek. Therefore this became the conclusion of the early church.

Jerome followed that conclusion, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and many others followed suit. But by the time of the Reformation, when Luther came on the scene, and even John Hus before that, when the Renaissance schools began to have freedom to do more study and scholarly work, they began to look more closely at the literary structures of Biblical books.

They, including a man such as Erasmus, found out in studying the book of Hebrews that the literary differences were so opposite to the way Paul wrote, and to the way Paul laid things out that they concluded in the end that Paul did not write the book of Hebrews. In fact, modern day scholar F. F. Bruce evaluates the authorship of Hebrews as follows. He says, and I quote, “we may say with certainty that the thought of the epistle is not Paul’s, the language is not Paul’s, the technique of the Old Testament quotation is not Paul’s.”

But at the same time, not many would deny that when you read through the book of Hebrews there is a Pauline influence there. There is a Pauline theology behind it. Paul had something to do with it, but not directly.

The second candidate is of course Luke, because of his rich Greek found in the book of Hebrews. Luke becomes a candidate because of his Greek and because of his writing of the Gospel of Luke and Acts. It has that kind of a quality to it and so he becomes a strong candidate for it. But it had a such a strong Jewish flavor to it, that it becomes very difficult to place Luke as the writer of Hebrews.

Some have also considered Barnabas, from the book of Acts. Do you remember that he was the kind of a person who was a close companion with Paul? Barnabas was also called the “son of encouragement.”

Early Christian tradition suggested that Barnabas may have written Hebrews. According to Tertullian in AD 220, many early authorities believe that Barnabas was responsible for the letter because he was educated, he had a pastoral mannerism about him, he gave many Jewish exhortations, consultations, admonition, and calls to repentance. Furthermore, Barnabas was a Levite and would have been familiar with the Jewish sacrificial system which is so prominent in the letter. So he becomes a valid candidate for the writing of the book.

But again we must say it is inconclusive, we do not know. Some have also suggested Clement of Rome, or even that it was done by a husband and wife team, Priscilla and Aquila. Some have said that it is a second generation Christian who wrote the book of Hebrews who had a mastery of the classical Greek, who knew the Bible in its Septuagint form, that is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. They were also conversant very much in Alexandrian philosophy and they were an apologist to the Christian faith. So it could have been a second generation Jewish Christian who wrote this book.

The last one I want to suggest to you is Apollos. The Bible does not say much about Apollos, but what it does say is very interesting. I want you to take your Bibles and turn to Acts 18. Remember not long ago, that I was in the book of Acts. In Acts 18 that gives us several things about Apollos because he was a man of such great ability.

It was Martin Luther actually, that suggested first that Apollos is a great candidate to be included in the list of people who might have written Hebrews. In Acts 18:24, it says:

Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.

This shows that he was raised outside of Israel, yet grew up and was nurtured in the Jewish faith and culture. It also says he was Alexandrian by birth, and Alexandria was located in Egypt near the mouth of the Nile and had a large Jewish population.

In fact, they had a great university and library there and it was the main seat of Jewish, Hellenistic learning. Remember from our study of the New Testament survey that Hellenism is when a culture is influenced by the Greek culture and the Greek language. Here are Jews who have been influenced by the Greek culture and the Greek language, meaning that they would know, Hebrews being written in Greek, the Greek.

He also learned the Old Testament under Philo, and we know that in Alexandria the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Koine Greek called the Septuagint. If you are ever reading through a book and it has LXX, that means seventy, and it refers to the marking for the Septuagint.

Now look at verse 24, it says that Apollos is an eloquent man. This term eloquent is actually a word that means “learned.” It appears only here in the New Testament, and it could mean “a man of words” literally, or “a man of ideas.” Nonetheless it means that he was a studied well-educated person. And we know that anybody who wrote Hebrews had to be well-educated in this background.

Apollos was trained in the finest institutions of learning in his time. What is most important about him is that even though he had a fine education, it looked like it was all subservient to the education he received in the Hebrew Bible. The next two verses indicate this, look at the last part of verse 24 and verse 25:

And he was mighty in the Scriptures. ²⁵ This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord.

Remember in 1 Corinthians 1:12 where Paul starts out the following argument:

Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”

How did Apollos get in this list? Maybe because he was this kind of man; he was mighty in the Scriptures. When we look at Acts 18:27 it says:

And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace.

He assisted the believers in their spiritual growth through his powerful preaching. All that faith is a gift of grace and in verse 28, we see:

For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Here’s Apollos, an overwhelming debtor who is able to crush his opponents by disproving their points with Scripture. Brethren, I cannot say but you are going to have to decide who wrote Hebrews. We have to leave it there, because I do not know.

I know what the Holy Spirit did, and that He wanted this book in the canon, but I do not know who. I do have a favorite, and you may get a sense of who it is but nonetheless I do not know.

But that is alright, let us just say this that as to the identity of the author, we can affirm no more than Origen in the 3rd century. He said this, “but as to who actually wrote the letter, God only knows.” I am alright with that, and you need to be as well.

Here is a second question that is important to the book of Hebrews. To whom was the book written? Again, we run into a real problem even though we do know that it was written to Hebrews. But we do not know which group. It was not a particular church, but it could be Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, or Jewish Christians from the diaspora in the Greek speaking communities.

Or it could be written to Christians with the instruction that they need to oppose Alexandrian Judaism which was trying to push its way back into the church, and push these Jewish Christians back into the old system. We see these trends in the book of Hebrews, but we cannot be conclusive on any one of them.

They could be a Jewish colony in Rome, just as many Jews in Rome received heavy persecution, especially under Nero. This becomes a favorite for Scholars, that the book was written to a Jewish colony in Rome.

They give several reasons, which include that the letter was first known in Rome no later than AD 96. A second reason comes from Romans 11:13-18 which suggests that the church at Rome consisted of a Jewish Christian minority. A third reason would be a reference to persecution and suffering; look at Hebrews 10:32-33:

But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, ³³ partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated.

Somewhere down the line, these Christians being written to were persecuted. It could have been in Palestine too, which is a second favorite for some believing that the tradition was that there were Hebrews, Jewish Christians, living in Palestine and being under persecution and Judaism pounding against the church for them to go back to the old way.

Or to those that were on the edge of becoming believers, were afraid to go the next step and believe in Christ because of this persecution and opposition. This provides a real tension in the book of Hebrews and it becomes a very important one for you and I because this helps us to understand that these believers, whoever they were and whether they were in Palestine or Rome, were definitely under attention. They were brought to the place where they either believed in Jesus and then went back in denial of the faith, or they were not coming to believe in Jesus at all out of fear, and they would therefore lose their lives.

We are going to see this in Hebrews just like in chapter 6 and 10, which are very important chapters that give us the indication that something serious was going on in the book.

Next week I will be getting into the first couple of verses of chapter one, and will start to unpack the things that the book says about Jesus Christ.

Let me ask one last question though, before I close this morning. Why was the book of Hebrews written? What was the purpose?

I have mentioned some of it, and there are three good suggestions as the purpose of the writing of Hebrews. The first one would be Roman persecution. Remember, this is a word of exhortation, and it is the final revelation that God is going to give to the Christian community.

We do know that there was some kind of crisis that threatened the purity of the early church, but we do not know specifically what it was. The first one is a good indicator, which is Roman persecution. Remember Rome was also an influence in Palestine, so it could have been Rome or Palestine or both.

Martyrdom and the treat of martyrdom hit a group of Christians either in Rome or Palestine. Instead of dying for their faith however, they were denouncing their faith in the early church. But we really do not know what was connected to that, even though it would be a common human reaction.

If I pray someday that if I am called upon to denounce my faith, I would not by God’s grace. But what if you have seen some of your Christian brothers and sisters martyred right in front of your eyes simply for being believers? That would wear on you, and that is a good possibility of what was happening here.

In fact, R. C. Sproul says here that some of these people are called “lapsies,” which were people that denied their faith under persecution and afterward wandered back into the church. The big ordeal with this was whether or not to let them back in.

That is a complicated situation. I do not know if that would be me, but I pray that I would die for the faith if given the chance. I know where I am going, I know where I am heading, I know what Christ has done for me. Therefore, I would just bow my head and let them do what they have to do. And if God intervenes and I do not die, that would be God’s will! He would have more work for me to do. But if not, I am will be in His presence. The persecutors do not know that, they think they are winning not in the case of believers who have followed Christ.

The writer in the book of Hebrews commends his readers of the need to be patient when enduring persecution and suffering. He also reminded them that they were the heir of salvation and therefore could trust Jesus Christ. Look at Hebrews 12:12:

Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble.

And in Hebrews 12:28 it says:

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.

The writer is giving them hope here, telling them that they have a kingdom that cannot be shaken or overcome, and for them not to give in. And in Hebrews 12 it continues to let the reader know that we have not endured as much as Christ has endured. What did our Lord endure? He endured suffering unto death!

Why would we, as His followers, at any context in human history expect less than that someday? It may come to that quickly and things may change. I always keep this in mind. There is a great possibility that things may change on a dime. The atmosphere of our country could move rapidly in a direction that we never knew before. It happened to nations before us and it could happen to us.

The book of Hebrews becomes violence strengthening our faith to let us know where we stand with Christ. Where are we going to go when we die and are we sure of these things? This becomes vitally important.

The author of Hebrews proclaims to his readers the fearful judgment that awaits those who repudiate Jesus Christ. Look at Hebrews 12:29 where he says:

For our God is a consuming fire.

Back in Hebrews 10:26-31 the author reminds the audience of the tragic consequences of renouncing the Son. It says:

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. ²⁸ Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” ³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

This is prodding those people not to repudiate Christ in any circumstance and not to be threatened by any group that says, “if you leave this Jewish faith and come over fully to trust in Christ you will be put to death.” He is challenging them to trust in Christ and if it means death, then so be it.

It does take hard and strong language for us to be convinced of that because if people do not come to Christ, and this is the key for everyone, they will not escape God’s judgment. That is where he starts out.

Look back in Hebrews 2:3 at the question he asks:

How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard.

He is saying here, “Listen what makes you think that we can escape the judgment of God if we are indifferent to this great salvation, or if we neglect or lay it aside as if it is nothing?” The answer to this question is, you will not escape. There is no escape without Christ.

There are not many different ways, but only one way through Jesus Christ. He is the way of escape and the One in which we are set free.

You see that this Roman persecution was a real threat to the people that the writer of Hebrews writes to and wants to inform.

A second thing that can be interjected here as far as why the book of Hebrews was written, was the attack of the Judaizers which I already mentioned. The Judaizers wanted the Hebrew Christians to have all the trappings of the old system in their new faith, so the author of Hebrews tells them about strange new teachings of certain Judaizers who sought to draw them back to their former religion.

Look at Hebrews 13:9:

Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

This was also going on in Colossians, with the food issue. This was written to these wavering believers so they would not neglect what they ought to pay attention to. And that is why there is the admonition in Hebrews 10:25:

Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

They were giving up even assembling together. In Romans 13, they lost confidence in their spiritual leaders because they thought their leaders were moving them and teaching them wrong when they were instead teaching them rightly.

So here is the main issue that the writer of Hebrews is trying to get at to strengthen the church and to rescue these Hebrew Christians from a demise that could be eternal.

I believe that is why it is more packaged like a sermon and then put in a letter as an exhortation for people to read. You can feel the heart of the preacher coming through to the people and at the same time encouraging them, pointing them to their hope in Jesus Christ.

So we see that the author under the attack of the Judaizers, affirms the heavenly, eternal character of salvation secured by Christ. And he lets them know that the legal sacrificial system was powerless to affect the remission of sins. And Christ of course is the eternal high priest, that is why it says in Hebrews 7:25:

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

In other words, come to the God who has provided everything for you and draw near to Him because He is able to save you to the uttermost eternally. Do not hesitate or step back, but come all the way over and believe in Christ. Let go of your fear and trust in the One who always lives to make intercession for the saints; in God Himself who is the mediator and the intercessor for all those who believe in Him.

There is one last thing, which can come out in the first chapter of Hebrews. Some say it is the false teaching of a group called the Essenes. We know of two groups in Scripture, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. But there was another group that is not necessarily mentioned in Scripture but who are mentioned by Josephus and Philo as being a very antagonistic group to the true faith of believers.

A lot of the information about this was found when they found the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. They suspected some of these things by other extra biblical writings, but now they confirmed it a bit more, saying that this could be part of the problem on what the writer of Hebrews was addressing.

This group of Essenes had several characteristics to them. The first one of which was that they were ascetic. They separated themselves from everyone else and they were very concerned about future events that became a major part of their theology. But the main thing was that they taught that God would send two messiahs. One would be priestly and one would be kingly, and above those two messiahs would be the archangel Michael who would rule over them.

You might think that this is odd, but look at Hebrews 1:4-5:

Having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

⁵ For to which of the angels did He ever say,

“YOU ARE MY SON,

TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”?

And again,

“I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM

AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”?

Look also at Hebrews 1:13-14:

But to which of the angels has He ever said,

“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,

UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES

A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”?

¹⁴ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

There was definitely a problem here, with people thinking there was some kind of angelic hierarchy of worship. Therefore, the writer is refuting this too.

Several of these things can be all in one lump and can be possible in this book, with the tension we see in this book. But I must say that this kind of teaching would definitely overturn the portrait of Jesus Christ that is presented in the New Testament.

The book of Hebrews is written to expose and turn upside down those teachings that would steer away from Christ being completely supreme in all things, and supreme over angels, kings, priests, and prophets.

The author sought to inform his despondent, vacillating readers that Christ, the object of God’s final revelation, is vastly superior to the greatest of Judaism’s patriarchs, to Judaism’s religious system, and to all spiritual angelic beings that could ever be presented. So we may not know the answers to all these basic questions, but we can be sure of this one thing and I know you will be convinced of it as we go through the book. That the main theme, focus, and passion of this Biblically authoritative book without any qualms is the supremacy of Jesus Christ. That is the theme of this book. And you will find it in every single chapter right to the end.

If you do not come to Christ after studying a book like Hebrews, you will never come. If your faith is not strengthened by studying a book like Hebrews, your faith will never be strengthened. If you do not come finally to a place that if you had to die for Christ, after studying a book like Hebrews, that will never happen.

Maybe you say, “well I never want that to happen.” No one wants that to happen, but there is always a possibility. I think we all have to be ready for that.

I am not just talking about dying for your faith, I am talking about going on your job and living for your faith, going into school classrooms as a teenager and living for Christ. Addressing your sins as you ought to and living for Christ right now in your life. Being the husband you ought to be, being the wife you ought to be, and being obedient children are all things that prod us when we study a book like this.

To live by faith, to be able to see further than anyone else, to be able to endure longer than anyone else, to be able to run the marathon race because we are believers and because we know things that other people do not know. You know what a privilege it is for you to be able to get into a book like this, what the author is going to bring to us, and what it is to actually know these things.

I hope you see it like that because I know that if you do and you give yourself to the study of this book, you will get all the benefits that God has for you. Live every day as if Christ is supreme in your life and in all things. You will live differently, in an eternal perspective. Eternity is going to be stamped on your eyeballs.

And all God’s people said, “let’s pray.”

Lord, thank You this morning for having this book in the canon of Scripture. Thank you Holy Spirit for preserving it and protecting it, and Lord as we get into it, as we see what it says about You, use it to break us down. Use it, Lord, to convict us of sin. Use it, Lord, to bring those who do not know You to conversion. Use it in the lives of those who do know You, to grow deeper in their faith and their love for You. And Lord, use it ultimately to exalt Your great Name to the place it ought to be, and I pray Lord as we do that, we would worship You with a depth and an understanding that only the Spirit of God could give. And I pray this or us, use it Lord as You see fit. And I ask this all in the Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, my Savior, Amen.