Turn with me, if you would, to
Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews 13, the Lord willing,
we are going to finish our study of the book of Hebrews this morning.
We have been in this book off and on for about a year and a
half. And I have enjoyed it so much. But the writer to the Hebrews
ends his letter by saying in verse 22, and I beseech you,
brethren, suffer the word of exhortation. For I have written
a letter unto you in few words. He said, let me leave you with
this. Suffer the word of exhortation. Suffer the word. Suffer means
bear up, sustain, endure, hold to everything that has been written
in this letter. Hold to everything that has been
written to you. He said, I've written only a
few words. I've just written a few words.
Now, the book of Hebrews seems like a pretty big book to me,
with a lot of words in it. But when we realize that it is
basically a summary of the Old Testament, that's what Hebrews
is. It's a summary of the Old Testament.
And compared to the Old Testament, this is only a few words. Let's
compare a few scriptures and see this. This is an eye-opening
thing right here. This is a glorious thing. If a person has never seen this,
this is so important, so important to see. Hold your place right
here in Hebrews and turn with me to Genesis chapter 1. Genesis 1, verse 1 says, in the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. God did. Verse
3 says, and God said, let there be light, and there was light.
Verse 6 says, and God said, let there be a firmament in the midst
of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Verse
9, and God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered
together unto one place, and let the dry land appear. And
it was so, and God called the dry land earth. Verse 14, and
God said, let there be lights in the firmament. Verse 21, and
God created great whales and every living creature. God is
the one who said, let us make man after our own image. God
did. All right, go with me back to Hebrews, this time chapter
one. Hebrews 1 verse 1 says, God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by son, the word his is in italics, whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Now who did
all that creating that we just read about in Genesis chapter
1? Christ the Son. Christ the Son. Not the Father. The Son. The Old Testament is
Christ concealed. The New Testament is Christ revealed. The Old Testament is Christ concealed.
The New Testament is Christ revealed. The entire book of Hebrews has
been telling us who the Old Testament is talking about. The entire
book of Hebrews. Hold your place in Hebrews again.
And turn with me to Psalm 45. Psalm 45 verse 3 says, gird thy
sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy
majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously
because of truth and meekness and righteousness. and thy right
hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under
thee. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. A scepter of thy kingdom is a
right scepter." All right, now go with me back to Hebrews chapter
1. Verse 8 says, But unto the Son, he saith. But unto the Son, he saith. Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Who is Psalm 45 talking about?
Christ the Son. Christ the Son. That psalm declares
the high and holy God in all of His judgment sitting on His
throne. It's talking about Christ the
Son. The Old Testament is Christ concealed,
hidden. The New Testament is Christ revealed. Both of them are talking about
Christ. Both of them. One more time. Hold your place
in Hebrews and go to Isaiah chapter 8. Isaiah 8 verse 17 says, and I
will wait upon the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital
D, Jehovah, the highest God, the almighty God. I will wait
upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob,
and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom
the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel
from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion." I'm
going to put my trust in the Lord Jehovah, capital L, capital
O, capital R, capital D. I'm going to put my trust in
the God of hosts because he said, I and the children. This is what
He said. I'm going to put my trust in
Him. Because He said, I and the children will dwell safely. So I'm going to hope in Him.
All right, now go back to Hebrews chapter 2. He's still talking about the
Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2, verse 9 says, But
we see Jesus. Verse 10 says, for it became
him. He's speaking of Christ. Now
look at verse 13. And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which God hath given me. Who is Isaiah writing about?
The Old Testament is Christ concealed. The New Testament is Christ revealed. And we're not going to flip back
and forth through the whole Bible study. But we could. We could. We could literally go through
everything that's said here and see the revelation of Christ
from the Old Testament. We could. The whole book of Hebrews
is exhorting what chapter 3 verse 1 says. If you look with me at
chapter 3 verse 1, and so I don't lose anybody, I'll just tell
you, we're just going to skim through Hebrews, okay, quickly.
Chapter 3 verse 1 says, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling, consider The Apostle, capital A. And High
Priest, capital H, capital P, of our profession, Christ Jesus. Here's what he's saying. See
Christ in it all. See Christ in all of it. That is the exhortation. of Hebrews. See Christ in it. Verse 2 right
here says, Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also
Moses was faithful in all his house. He's about to start showing
that everything Moses did and wrote was about Christ. Our Lord
himself said, Moses wrote of me. He wrote of me. Verse 3 says, For this man, Christ,
was counted worthy of more glory than Moses inasmuch as he who
hath built the house hath more honor than the house. For every
house is built by some man, but he that built all things is God. And Moses barely was faithful
in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things
which were to be spoken after but Christ. As a son over his
own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end. The entire
book exhorts, see Christ in it. See Christ in it. That's the
key to the scripture. That's the key to the gospel.
See Christ in it. Look with me at chapter four,
verse nine. There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. The Old Testament cried, if you
are going to inherit eternal life, you have to rest on the
Sabbath. You have to. What was concealed
in that? What was that pointing us to?
What was that really saying? What was that really saying?
I would love, I would love. I'm so thankful for the opportunity
to preach the truth. Do you realize how many people
are under the bondage of Sunday? They're under the bondage of
their own Sabbath. Can't do that on the Sabbath.
So many people are under the bondage, and if it's not Sunday,
just put something else there, something else in the law. They're
under the bondage of the law. They're trying to keep something
that Christ has already kept. They're trying to keep something
Christ has already kept. Christ did it already. And they're
trying to go back and say, well, I think I better do it again
just in case. There's a rest for the people
of God. Christ, our rest. Christ is our Sabbath. You better
rest on the Sabbath. Okay. Let's go do something. Verse 1 in chapter 4 says, Let
us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into
His rest. His rest. Any of you should seem
to come short of it. It says down in verse 10, He
that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his
own works as God did from his. And the glorious thing of that
is, he has ceased from the work of trying to not do anything.
The man who is resting in Christ is not under the bondage of his
own works. He ceased from all that. The Sabbath was given to point
us to Christ. Everything was given to point
us to Christ. Chapter 5, verse 1. For every
high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things
pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices
for sins. God said in the Old Testament,
if you want to live, because all have sinned, if you want
to live, you're going to have to have a high priest. who can
absolutely, effectually, completely offer a blood sacrifice for your
sins. You're going to have to have
somebody who can offer a payment, an atonement for your sins. What
does God's New Testament now reveal to us about that? Look
at chapter 4, verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession." Here's the question so many people
ask, what about my sin? Yes, I believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and I want to go to heaven, but what about my sin? Men and
women can try to cover it up all they want to, but eventually
they have to get honest with themselves and they know, I have
sinned. I've sinned. I'm still a sinner. I didn't used to be a sinner.
I'm still a sinner. What about my sin? We have a
high priest. We have a high priest. Don't
you know that the Israelites loved knowing they had a high
priest in that temple? We have a high priest who is
right now seated on the right hand of God, offering intercession for us. The Old Testament concealed but
pointed to what the New Testament reveals. Chapter six, verse 13,
it says, God made a promise to Abraham. When God made promise
to Abraham, Because he could swear by no greater, he swore
by himself. I love that verse. He swore by
himself. God made a promise in the Old
Testament to Abraham. It says in this chapter, an oath
and a covenant, okay? Oath and a covenant. Why did
God make that? Verse 18 says, that by two immutable
things, unchangeable things, his oath His covenant, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us." What is the hope set before us? And verse 19 says, which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which entereth into that within the veil. Somebody went
into the veil for us. Somebody made intercession in
the Holy of Holies. Who was it? Whether the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
glorious. Back in that time, the high priest
wore bells at the bottom of his robes, and the people listened
for the bells. As long as the bells were ringing,
he was still alive, still going about his business. That high
priest went in and if God was satisfied with him and satisfied with the atonement
that was made in the blood, that priest came back out. But if
he went in and God was not satisfied with him, God killed him right
then and there and he never came back out. What does that tell us? Chapter
7 verse 22 says, By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better
testament. And they truly were many priests
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood,
wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. He went into the grave, bringing
the blood and atonement to God for sin. And had God not been
satisfied with him and not been satisfied with the blood he offered,
he never would have come back out. God would have killed him,
and he never would have come back out. But he came back out. He came back out. That means
God his Father is satisfied. He's so satisfied. Verse 26 says,
For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Chapter
8, verse 1, Now of the things which we have spoken, this is
the sum. Here's the sum of everything
that has been spoken so far. We have such an high priest. who is set on the right hand
of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of
the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched
and not man." Why did God tell Israel all through the Old Testament
to keep setting up that tabernacle tent? Everywhere you go, you
set up that tabernacle tent. That was to show us that we have
an eternal house of worship in the heavens. Christ himself.
Christ our tabernacle. We worship God in him and through
him. Not through anything on this
earth. Aren't you so thankful for that? I'm not dependent on
anything on this earth. I'm not dependent on this mind. Aren't you so glad for that? Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. I'm not dependent on this heart. Come on now, feel something. So dead. I'm not dependent on
that. I'm not dependent on my weak,
pitiful prayer that I just repeat the same words all the time.
The Holy Spirit is groaning with intercessions for us. I'm not
dependent on anything in this world. There is a tabernacle.
The stakes will never be pulled up, it says in Isaiah. Christ
is that tabernacle. Worship is being made. And it's
gonna happen forever. It's gonna happen forever. If
something happens to this building, it's okay, we have a tabernacle. Go to chapter 10, verse 1. In chapter 9, he was talking
about that tabernacle and he said it was a figure. It was just a figure. Chapter
10, verse 1 says, For the law, having a shadow of good things
to come, that's what the law is, a shadow of good things to
come, and not the very image of the things, can never with
those sacrifices which they offer year by year continually make
the comers there unto perfect. Verse 4 says, For it is not possible
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Verse
11 says, And every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.
But this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God. Why did he sit down? He was finished. Verse 14, for
by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. What about my sins? In the blood
of Christ, what sins? Perfected forever. Verse 19 says, having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
and by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through
the veil, that is to say, his flesh. That veil in the Old Testament,
that concealed his flesh, that represented his flesh. The veil,
the only way we can enter into the holiest is through that veil,
through him. That veil that was rent, it had
to be rent to open up this new way, that's Christ. And it says
in verse 21, having a high priest over the house of God, let us
draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water, and let us hold fast the profession of
our faith without wavering. What he's saying is, believe
on him. Believe on Him. It's finished. He did it. Rest on your Sabbath. Trust Him. Go meet God with peace
in the heart, in Christ. It's finished. It's settled.
Look to Him. Don't look to anything on this
earth. Nothing. It's all pointing to Him. All of it. Hebrews 11 is all
about faith. It's all about faith, just believing
on Christ. All that work is finished. Everything
the Old Testament was pointing to, Christ did it. Hebrews 11
verse 6 says, Without faith it's impossible to please Him. Without
faith, without believing on the Son of God. But even in that
faith, look to Christ. Don't look to the faith. Why do I believe the Lord has
prepared a place for me? Well, because I have faith. No,
because Christ finished it. I believe because of Him. Chapter
12, verse 2 says, Hebrews 12 verse 2 says, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. He
is the author. He is the finisher. He started
it, and he finished it. And that's what all of God's
people will see. That's what all of God's people will have
revealed to them. When Christ starts it, Christ
finishes it. Start to finish. So he says in chapter 13, he
went through this chapter saying in verse 9, be not carried about
with divers and strange doctrines. Don't be carried about with what
men say about this Word. Don't just believe what some
man says. Search the Scriptures. See if
these things be so. Trust this alone. It's all pointing
to Christ. Verse 10, he said, Remember,
we have an altar. Christ is that altar. And he
went on down through there saying, because of all this, let's remember
each other, let's be generous toward each other, let's pray
for each other, pray for the pastors and teachers that guide
the Word. And then he said in verse 23,
he said in verse 22, I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word
of exhortation. I've written a letter unto you
in a few words. Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at
liberty, with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. When
the Lord raises up a group of people, He always sends that
people a true preacher. He always sends a true preacher. He always brings a man who will
guide through the word. And he said, my heart's desire
is that Timothy might come to you and I might come myself.
And then he said in verse 24, salute all them that have the
rule over you. And we saw in verse seven and
verse 17, that means guide, guide the rule over you, guide you
through the word. Salute all the pastors, all the
teachers. Salute all them that have the
rule over you and all the saints. Salute all the saints. You know
God's people love each other. They love each other. Salute
all the saints. If another man or woman is clinging
to Christ, salute them. God's people love each other.
And verse 24 says, they of Italy salute you. They salute you in
the