Well, I want to start a new series
this morning as we go into the autumn. Summer came and went
very quickly, didn't it? And it's the epistle to the Hebrews
that I want to look at. Thirteen chapters, so it could
take us some time to get through. And you might say, well, Hasn't
Hebrews already been done to death in various contexts? Haven't
we heard a lot of preaching on the epistle to the Hebrews in
recent years? Well, maybe that's the case,
but why now? Why now? Because the epistle
to the Hebrews is the clearest commentary in scripture on the
meaning of that true religion the Old Testament Jews religion
which alone speaks to God's elect about how he has made them just
with God in Christ. Because it all pictured Christ.
All Scripture speaks of Him. All Scripture. So you read it,
because Jesus said that. He said to the Pharisees, He
said, you search the Scriptures, for in them you think that you
have eternal life. And they were right in that.
Eternal life is in the Scriptures. It's the truth of God. That's
where you find the truth that leads to eternal life. But He
said, these are they that speak of Me. What? The sacrifice of
lambs in Leviticus? All of that sprinkling of blood?
Yes, it speaks of Christ. How do I know that? Because above
all else, in other places yes, but supremely in the Epistle
to the Hebrews we have a commentary on what all of those Old Testament
pictures mean and how they apply to the Lord Jesus Christ and
how they not only picture the Lord Jesus Christ, but how He
is supreme above them all. They were just the pictures and
the types. He is the reality. We have the
reality, by faith we have the reality. These things were great
pictures, a great comfort leading to the truth, but now we have
the reality, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. So this shows us,
what does that mean? You see, the scriptures are the
way that God speaks to his people. God has a people. You can't deny
it. The religious world tries to
deny it, but the scriptures are absolutely clear. God has a people
whom he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Why did he choose them? Because of his love. Because of his grace. But that's not fair. Not up to
you whether it's fair or not. He is God. He has chosen a people
in Christ before the foundation of the world. and it speaks to
his people. This book from cover to cover
speaks to his people about how he makes them just with God,
how he justifies the ungodly, how he redeems the ungodly by
the price that the Lord Jesus Christ paid, how he can be just
strictly just. Holy God can be strictly just
and yet be justifier of those whose faith is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So Hebrew shows the reality of
the Old Testament pictures and types and it specifically speaks
in the context of sovereign grace and particular redemption. Why
am I doing it again? when others have gone through
the book the epistle to the Hebrews in the not too distant past is
because I want us to be absolutely clear this is in the context
of God's sovereign grace this is not just a general message
to mankind as a generality you know use your use your reasonableness,
use your human rationality, and you will come to a knowledge
of the truth. This is God speaking to his people. He speaks to his
people about his sovereign grace, his particular redemption, how
he's applied it so that he's accomplished effectual redemption. Effectual means it works. The
other redemption that you might have believed in, when I first
came into contact with Christian things I heard about redemption
and I never could believe it was effectual because the one
I had preached to me was not effectual. Do you know how it
became effectual? If you made a choice. It's dependent
on man. it's the Tower of Babel man building
himself up to heaven that's why it wasn't effectual God's grace
is effectual grace God's redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ is effectual
redemption so then as we come to it and as we start out it
doesn't start like any other epistle does look at these first
three verses that's all I want to look at this morning is just
the first three verses 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 his son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds,
who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image
of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. Just that, just that. It doesn't start, you know, Paul,
an apostle, and Timothy to the church at, it doesn't start like
that, it just immediately, God, God, God. It's like in the beginning,
God, just a declaration, God. Do you know what life is about? Do you know, you know, it's the
question that philosophers ask, do you know what life is about?
Do you know its significance? What's the significance of life? And this consciousness that is
you, can you understand it? Do you ever wonder? I remember
as a younger man I used to think what is this in me that's doing
this thinking? What is this consciousness that
is me? What is this thing that is my
life? I can't explain it, I can't understand it. Do you know about
it? By reasoning in the flesh on the basis of the knowledge
and intelligence I have just as a person, a man in the flesh
I still don't know, I'm no wiser forty odd years later than when
I first started thinking about it in the flesh. Do you understand
about morality and good and evil? Why there's such a thing as good
and evil? Do you understand about these things? What about death?
I mean, it may seem a long way off to some of you, but none
of us ever know, do we? None of us, none of us. You know,
earlier on in the summer, my cousin, just a few years older
than me, was coming up to retirement, and six months away from retirement,
and was just driving to work, six o'clock in the morning, and
he was hit head on by a car coming the other way, and in a moment,
he was snatched away from his life, his family in a moment,
none of us know none of us in a moment do we know about death
and what beyond death this consciousness that is you does it just stop? is that it? does it just fizzle
out and stop? is it just no more? it's hard
to believe isn't it? it's hard to credit the thing
which is you doing the thinking just stops, you see these things,
how do we know about any of this sort of thing? And what about
the mystery of God? Is there a God? What about the
mystery of God? The scriptures don't argue the
case, they just declare there is a God. So what about God?
Can we work anything out about God? The philosophers have tried
to come up with arguments that argue for the existence of God
or against the existence of God. Can we do that? No, of course
we can't. But the scripture's clear that
rational man just in himself, in his flesh, in his own natural
reasoning is without excuse when it comes to the day of judgment.
There's enough, look out of this window now, look at what God
has made. There's enough there to tell
even a fallen, sinful, rational person that there's a God. There's
enough there, and yet they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge. They didn't like that. Why? Because of accountability.
They didn't want to be accountable. They wanted to live as they want.
They would not, as the Pharisees said, have this man rule over
us. They wouldn't have this man rule
over them. So how do we know about these
things? How can we know? Do you remember the conversation
that Jesus had with the disciples, John 14, you know the way. And
Thomas says, we don't know the way. How can we know the way?
Isn't that what the natural man says? How can we know the way?
Truly, if we're being honest, we don't know. We can't know.
How can we know the way? Mortal man, we're earthbound. How can we know the way? We're
going to die. How can we know the way? How
can we know about eternity? You can't. unless God speaks. That's the point. God must speak
if you're to know anything. One from heaven must come down. One who knows from heaven must
come down and tell you. Jesus said in John 8, 23, He
said unto them, Ye are from beneath, I am from above. Think about
that, that was an incredibly arrogant statement if he wasn't
the son of God, wasn't it? If he wasn't God in human flesh,
that was an incredibly arrogant statement. He said, you are from
beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not
of this world. James tells us in chapter one,
verse 17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above
and comes down from the father of lights. In Ephesians chapter
four, I think it's verse nine, Paul there is talking about Christ
coming down from above in the context it's to reveal the will
of God to us if you want to know something for example if I want
to know about Bahrain there's a couple of people in this room
who I know know I can go and ask about what's it like in Bahrain
because they've been there I haven't been there if you want to know
about heaven and eternity if you want to know about that then
you need If you want to know about eternity, you need to listen
to somebody who knows about those things. And that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's come down from above to
tell us these things. If you're going to know anything
about eternity and eternal life, God must tell you. Has God spoken
to you? Has He? Will He speak to you?
Can you hear anything? I mean, you're listening to me.
You're listening to the voice of a sinner just like anybody
else this morning. But can you hear anything else?
You know, when God speaks through his preachers, when he truly
speaks, the voice of the shepherd comes through those under shepherds
and speaks to men and women. Is he speaking to you? Can you
hear anything? Everyone has ideas in religion
about how it'll be all right after their death you know the
funerals we've been to this summer have been absolutely full of
false assurance of everybody having a happy time all reunited
and all looking down from the cloud on us all celebrating their
lives and this is the vicars in the churches that are telling
you this sort of thing this goes on all the time false, false
assurance that has no foundation. What God says in Isaiah is a
refuge of lies. But what is the truth? Now this
is what we're coming to. I've got three points this morning. God has spoken, and that's the
title of this message. God has spoken. I want to look
at that. To whom has he spoken? And about what has he spoken? We see this in these three verses
before us now. God has spoken. Now just miss
out some words. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time fast unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath, God hath, in these last days, spoken unto
us. God has spoken unto us. Do you hear that? God has spoken
unto us. In the situation of not having
a clue in your flesh or any ability to understand anything about
any of these things, about eternity, God has spoken to us. That's what it says. God has
spoken to us. the unfathomable, the unknowable,
the sovereign of the universe, the one who is the source of
all life, has spoken to some people. He's spoken to some people,
the infinite, the inexplicable source of life. has spoken. That's
what these words say. When has he spoken? At sundry
times and in diverse manners. We've got the King James Version
and the language is maybe in places showing signs of being
hundreds of years old but that's absolutely fine, we can understand
it. I'd far rather have it like that and know that this is what
the Word of God says with confidence God who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, at various times since the creation of the world, God
has spoken. To whom? Who did he speak to?
The fathers. Who were they? The patriarchs
is what it's talking about. It's talking about that line
that had the grace of God revealed to them, Seth. the son of Adam
and Eve you know after Cain murdered Abel Abel knew the truth Cain
didn't he brought the works of his own hands but Abel brought
a sacrifice that represented Christ the Lamb of God he brought
an acceptable sacrifice and Cain murdered him but then there was
another son Seth and God showed him the truth and then we read
about Enoch and about Noah who found grace when all the world
had completely thrown overboard any idea of worshipping God it
was just exactly then as it is today but Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord and do you know how many saw that truth
and believed that truth? A lot fewer than there are in
this room this morning. Eight. Altogether, including
Noah. Just those saw that truth and
found grace in the eyes of God. He spoke to them. He spoke to
Abraham. In Ur of the Chaldees, in that
culture of complete idolatry, we know it was that. The scriptures
tell us Abraham's family were all idolaters. They all worshipped
false gods. But God spoke to Abram. Abram
didn't work it out for himself. God spoke to him. God said, Abram,
do this. Come out of there. Come to a
land that I will show you. I'm going to show you how I am
going to make sinners Some sinners just with God. That's what God
basically said to Abraham. I'm going to show you how I am
going to make sinners just with God. He spoke to Abraham's son,
Isaac, for in Isaac would the promise be fulfilled. He spoke
to Jacob, for Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. He spoke
to Joseph, and took him into Egypt, and went through all of
those things, and made him such a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ.
400 years or so later he spoke to Moses, the son of Pharaoh's
daughter as it were, the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, and
he spoke to him and he took him out of that situation. He spoke
to Joshua to come into the land of Canaan. Joshua is the Old
Testament Jesus, the name Jesus. You'll read in Hebrews chapter
4 and verse 8, for if Jesus had given them rest, it's not talking
about our Lord Jesus Christ there, it's talking about Joshua in
the Old Testament, it's just that Jesus is the Greek name
for Joshua, the Hebrew name. He spoke to Joshua. The Saviour
is what it means, the Saviour. about going into the promised
land. He spoke to Gideon, and others
of the judges, to Samuel, to David, we could go on, Solomon,
and Elisha, and all the prophets, he spoke to them, and by whom
did he speak? By the prophets, because God raised up prophets
to speak. God moved mortal men, he moved them, by his spirit
he inspired them, and they spoke the word of the Lord, and they
came saying, thus says the Lord. And what did he speak to them
about? as I've said, how God justifies sinners when his justice
demands retribution. He spoke to them about his holiness,
about the sort of God that he is, that he's a holy God of purer
eyes than to behold iniquity. He spoke to them about sin, and
how they had fallen short of the glory of God. He spoke to
them about how there is none righteous, no not one, and that
there is a judgment to come, and that he must be just, and
that he cannot be God and overlook sin. And yet how can he justify
sinners? And he shows us that he is a
just God. And every sin is punished. And
yet he justifies sinners. And how does he do it? Only one
way. In the Lord Jesus Christ. And
how does he tell people before that one has come? He pictures
it. He paints pictures that they
must go through in precise way. He paints pictures and they follow
those pictures and by faith he shows them in those types. In
the sacrifices. In the scapegoat. We sang in
that hymn, my faith lays its hand on the head. And that's
alluding to the scapegoat, where the priest confessed the sins
of the people and they were taken away into a wilderness by a fit
man, and drove it away by a fit man. God has taken away the sins
of his people. He is just. He is still God,
who's perfectly just. But because of what he's done
in Christ, he is able to justify his people and remain God. Absolutely
true in every respect. But now, that's how he spoke
in the past, that's how he spoke in the Old Testament, by the
prophets to the fathers. But now, in these last days,
verse two, he's spoken unto us by his son, by his son. Oh, just another prophet, yeah?
Another one, that kind of the best one of the line that's come
along. No. No, far more than that. On an altogether different plane.
not just another prophet not as false religions say oh yes
he's a prophet he's worth listening to no not like that no he's not
just another prophet he's altogether different the son is excellent
above all others the son is supreme above all others there are no
rivals he's not just one of a line of which he is the, no he is
supreme he's in an altogether different category God has spoken
by sinful men in the past. He inspired... Elijah was a sinner. As much as God spoke the Word
of God through him, Elijah was a sinner. So were all the prophets.
They were all sinners. All. Not a solitary one. Every one had that sinful trait
from Adam. For as in Adam, all die. But
in Christ he came, not the son of Adam as such, but the son
of Mary, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem those
who are under the law. God became man. The holy God,
the infinite God, became man. God contracted to a span that
he might redeem his people from the curse of the law. And in
these last days, he's spoken to us by his son. There's none
greater. There's none higher than the
Son of God. This is what this epistle is
going to show us. There is none greater, there
is none better. He is supreme over all. He is God the Son. He's not God's
little boy. Please don't misunderstand me
when I say that. I'm not trying to be irreverent
in any way. But lots of people have this
view that Jesus is God's little boy. He's not. He is God manifested
in the flesh. When we say he's the son of God,
you could use words like he's the manifestation in human form. of God. He's the God-man, as
we call him. He's equal with the Father. He
thought it not robbery to be equal with God. For a little
while he was made lower than the angels for the suffering
of death, as we'll see later in this epistle in chapter 2.
Made a little lower than the angels, or made for a little
while lower than the angels. And while he was in that state,
he said, my Father is greater than I, but in every other respect
Throughout eternity he's co-equal with the Father. He is God in
human flesh. The only reason that for a little
while he said, my Father is greater than I, is because of this. He
who was in the form of God, who thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, he took nothing away from God that was not rightfully
his, he was God, yet he humbled himself for the purpose of dying
as the substitute for his people. He laid that glorious side And
he came to earth, and he accomplished his purpose. And what did he
pray in John 17? Restore to me the glory that
I had with you from the beginning. Restore to me that glory, because
it was rightfully his. He'd accomplished his purpose.
In his humility, he'd come down for that purpose, and he accomplished
his purpose. Now restore restore that glory
restore him to that place and what do we see when the apostle
john sees him or when the apostle paul saw as he was sees him on
the damascus road and what does he see a light shining from heaven
who art thou lord and what does the apostle john see he sees
one who isn't just a man, meek and mild, like anybody else,
with no comeliness that we should desire him, as Isaiah says. He
doesn't just see that, but he sees a glorious being, an absolutely
glorious being. He sees God in that manifestation,
the Word made flesh, the God-man. Glorious, beyond words, it's
just poetic language, but that's all that can be used to describe
what he saw in that vision. He is God's Word that speaks
and reveals God. That's the first thing to note
about him. He is God's Word. The prophets all spoke in types
and pictures pointing to Christ. Now he, in these last days, has
spoken. God has spoken by his Son. His
Son has spoken with finality. Just in this one way, clearly,
he's come and he's spoken. And his voice? is the voice of
God to your soul. If you hear His voice, it's the
voice of God to your soul. This is the voice of the One
who made you, the One who is supreme over all things, the
One whom you must face in the judgment, the One before whom
we all must stand at the judgment seat of Christ. This is the One,
and He is the Word of God to you. It's his voice that's the
voice of God. Had you better not stop and listen? How many people hear these things?
How many people stop this rat race of life just for a moment
to think about these things? Is He speaking to your soul?
He's the Word of God. He's unique. Look at John chapter
1. You don't need to turn to it
because I know it's very familiar, but just let me read these words
to you. In the beginning was the Word, capital W, and the
Word was with God and the Word was God. No A in there, as the
Jehovah's Witnesses say. The Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him.
and without him was not anything made that was made. He's not
a created being because without him nothing was made that was
made. If he was a made being that couldn't
be true, that would be illogical. In him was life and the life
was the light of men. Verse 14, this word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. And we, the disciples, beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. And verse 18, no man hath seen
God at any time. God said in the Old Testament,
no man, you shall not see my face and live, no man shall see
me. No man hath seen God at any time. the only begotten Son which
is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him he hath
manifested him he has revealed him he has made him known so
that when Philip says to Jesus the man show us the Father and
that will suffice us Jesus says Philip have I been so long with
you and you have not seen me or known me he who has seen me
has seen the Father Think of that. Here's a man and he's saying
to another man, he who has seen me has seen the essence of God. He's God in flesh. This is the
one who is speaking. And if you would know anything
about eternity, if you would know anything about truth and
life and justice and judgment, if you would know anything you
must listen to him for he is the way alone he is the truth
alone he is the life alone and no man comes to the father but
by him oh let's look at the value of all these other faiths and
let's see how we can match things up and all be good pals together
not according to the Scriptures, no man comes to the Father but
by me. But we have to be open. Yes,
we have to be friendly, we have to be reasonable, we have to
give no offence to anybody, we don't take up swords to fight
against anybody, but when it comes to eternal life, no man
comes to the Father but by the Lord Jesus Christ. If you would
know truth, if you would know anything to do with eternity
and truth, then you would listen to Him. No man comes to the Father
but by me. Your false prophets who tell
you that you will inherit paradise if you go committing atrocities?
Absolutely not. The word of God is clear. Secondly,
he is God's heir. Look at this in verse two. Whom
he hath appointed heir of all things. Do you ever just trip
over words in the scripture and you just flip on to the next
one and you don't really stop and chew it over and think about
it? He's spoken by his son who is
his word, but he's also his heir, whom he has appointed heir of
all things. All things are his. This is speaking
of his sovereignty. This one by whom God has spoken
to you and me is the heir of God. And that means he's sovereign. This one is sovereign over all
things. Daniel says this, Daniel 4.35,
he's speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, none can stay his hand, the hand
of God. None can stay his hand or say
to him, what do you think you're doing? None can do that. Jesus
said in Matthew 28.18, all power is given unto me. In John 17
verse 2 he says, he's given him, the father has given the son
power over all flesh to give eternal life. to as many as the
Father has given to the Son. Power over all flesh. He's sovereign
over everything. The Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign.
This One who speaks, God has spoken by His Son, and the One
who speaks is sovereign over everything. He orders all things
according to the counsel of His own will. He causes all things
to work together for good to those who love God, who are called
according to His purpose. All things. He's sovereign over
everything. He's sovereign over providence.
He's sovereign over the affairs of nations and of states and
of kings and of rulers. When the scripture says that
the heart of the king is in the hand of God, it's the hand of
the Lord Jesus Christ that the heart of the king is. He is sovereign
over all things. He's sovereign over salvation.
They say, these preachers, they say God has done everything he
can, now it's up to you. Will you let him save you? God
is sovereign. Our God is sovereign. You want
a demonstration of that? I've already mentioned it. The
Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, breathing out threatenings and
murders against the people of God with letters to Damascus
to bind them and it didn't matter whether they were just men or
men and women, you know, there was no regard for delicacies at all. He was going to bind them and
kill them. He had authority to go and do
that. You can't imagine a man more
disinclined to accept the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't imagine
a man less inclined to say, okay, I'll let you save me. Ever. Can you? Read the account again.
You can't imagine it. Impossible. But God shone from
heaven. This one, his son, spoke from
heaven. Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus,
whom you are persecuting. It's hard for you to kick against
the pricks. It's hard for you to fight. You can't fight against
me. Lord, what would you have me to do? In a moment, breathing
threatenings and murders against the people of God, Lord, what
would you have me to do? And what did he do? Within days,
he was preaching Jesus, that he is the Christ. within days. Sovereign grace. He is heir of
all things. Our Lord Jesus Christ is heir
of all things. He's sovereign over everything.
Don't doubt it. Don't ever doubt it. We get frustrated
in the flesh. Things don't go the way that
we think they should. And we get frustrated about that.
But don't ever doubt. This is weakness of the flesh.
Don't ever doubt. He's sovereign over everything.
And He's the creator. He's the creator, look, there
it is, just at the end of verse two. By whom he made the worlds. He is God the creator. All things
were made by him and without him was not anything made that
was made. In Colossians 1 we read about all things being created
by him and for him, our Lord Jesus Christ. That in all things
he might have the preeminence. God has given him a name which
is above every name. What's that name? It's the name
of God. How can there be any name which
is above every name if it's not the name of God? That's quoting
Isaiah 45 where he says, look unto me and be ye saved all the
ends of the earth for I am God and there is none other and it
talks about every knee bowing and Paul quotes it in Philippians
2. He's given him a name above every name that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow for he is supreme, he's God the creator. This is not another prophet among
many. This is God Supreme revealed
to man. He uniquely, He alone displays
the brightness of God's glory. He alone is the express image. Show us the Father. Have I been
so long with you and you have not known me? He who has seen
me has seen the Father. Not only that, but He actively
upholds all things by the word of His power. The chair you're
sitting on now doesn't collapse because the atoms are all held
in place by the laws of physics, the laws of nature, the strong
nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, the gravitational force,
the electromagnetic force, whatever they are if we ever discover
that they're all basically the same thing. but He upholds them
all by the word of His power. It's He that does it. He's the
one that does it. If you believe that you don't
have the slightest problem believing in the accounts of miracles.
You don't expect miracles to be an everyday occurrence at
all because God has ordained things the way they are but you
don't have the slightest trouble believing when God says He caused
the sun to stop in the sky for so many hours to accomplish His
purposes in the Old Testament that He did it because He upholds
all things by the word of His power. actively actively, it's
that same word that in the beginning said let there be light and there
was light that same word he is before all things Paul tells
us in Colossians 1 and in him all things consist he is the
image of the invisible God again in Colossians 1 and in him the
fullness dwells all the fullness dwells and in chapter 2 of Colossians
verse 9 all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the Lord Jesus
Christ bodily, in a body, in a body, the fullness of the Godhead. God says from heaven, in an audible
voice that the disciples heard when he, the man, was there,
several places, at his baptism on the Mount of Transfiguration,
this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. God has in these last days spoken
to us by his Son. Ought you not to listen? To whom
has he spoken then? To whom has he spoken? Verse
2, has spoken unto us by his son. Look in verse 3, by himself
purged our sins. Not all men without exception
but to those he has given ears to hear. Do you remember earlier
I mentioned Noah who found grace in the sight of God? And God
spoke to Abram out of all of his idolatrous family it's the
many sons, look at chapter 2 and verse 10 chapter 2 for it became
him of whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing
many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through sufferings many sons to glory this is the us this
is the our that he's speaking of in these three verses. To
whom has he spoken? To his people, to the many sons
that he'll bring to glory. No man knows the son but the
father, Jesus says in Matthew 11, 27. Neither any man the father
but the son. You're right, can't know. The
Father, only the Son does, and He to Whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him. Who does He speak to? To those
that are the objects of His sovereign grace. He speaks. God's sovereign
grace. in revelation of the mystery
of the gospel of his grace to his sheep. That's who he speaks
to. Jesus said, my sheep hear my
voice. He said to the unbelieving Pharisees
who opposed him, he said, you don't believe because you are
not of my sheep. He didn't say the other way around.
He didn't say, if only you would believe you could become my sheep.
No, he said, you're not of my sheep, therefore you don't believe.
You say, oh gosh that's harsh, we don't say that to anybody.
God says it in his word. God says it in his word. God
is a God of sovereign grace. To whom has he spoken? To his
elect. I know we've run out of time but let me just finish with
this. About what has he spoken? About
what has he spoken? There it is in verse three. When
he had by himself purged our sins. This is what he's spoken
about. This book is about how he has purged the sins of his
people. That's what it's about. How he
has purged the sins of his people. His glorious finished work. How
do I know it's finished? He sat down. Isn't that a clear
picture? What do you do when you've finished
your work? You sit down. He sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high Our God has completed His work. He cried
on the cross, it is finished. He's removed, He's purged. Purged? Get the strongest cleaner you
can and the strongest scrubbing brush and scouring pad you can
and you scour it out. He's purged it. He's cleaned
it. He's removed it. He made Him who knew no sin to
be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
in his word, by the word made flesh, which is his son, through
the regenerating power of his Holy Spirit, he tells his elect
about their justification, about how he's purged their sins, about
how he's remained perfectly just. There's not a solitary sin that
will ever escape the justice of God. But for his elect, that
justice has fallen. That sword has plunged, as Zechariah
says, into the heart of the Son of God, the one the shepherd,
the one who is his companion. The sword has risen against him
for he stood as the substitute in their place and he paid the
price to ransom them and to bring them to glory, to their eternal
destination. This is what he's spoken about.
Where you going? How he's getting you there? This
is what God has spoken about and this is who he's spoken to,
his elect, about how he's dealt with sin. and he tells you as
you read his word and as you listen to it being preached faithfully
as the under-shepherds speak they speak with the shepherd's
voice and the sheep hear it and follow him when they hear about
election about the covenant of grace about redemption about
substitution about effectual salvation about what he calls
in chapter seven of Hebrews salvation to the uttermost so in this epistle
we'll see the glorious superiority of our Lord Jesus Christ. How
he provides everything that our souls need for eternity. Everything. Everything. Absolutely. Oh, I
must have a church building. God will grant us somewhere to
meet in his own time. But what we must have is Christ.
We must have him. How he's better than any other
supposed way to spiritual enlightenment. He's better than the prophets,
we thank God for those prophets and the word but they were just
the picture. I don't know whether to take any time to tell you
but Don Faulkner has a very good illustration of when he was at
college he was away from Shelby for the majority of the year
and he just had a photograph and he loved that photograph.
He says how perverse would it be today if he sits in his office
with the photo on his desk, and there's Shelby just there, and
he's cuddling the photograph, and he's bowing down to the photo.
But she's there! The reality's there! He doesn't
need to bow down to the photograph. He doesn't need to adore the
photograph anymore. She's there. These are all pictures.
They're glorious pictures. but we don't enact them we learn
from them but we don't enact them anymore because we have
the reality which is Christ he's better than that he's better
than any of the prophets because he has spoken by his son clearly
He's better than the angels, ministering spirits. These people
had a reverence for the angels, as we'll see next week, and they
were really raising angels to a certain height, but Christ
is so much better than the angels. He's better than Moses. for which
the Hebrews had such a reverence, oh the law of Moses, the books
of Moses, yes again they teach us gospel things, these are they
which speak of him, but Christ is better, he's better than Joshua,
the saviour that took them into the promised land, but with so
many problems and so many difficulties, but he is the saviour who saves
to the uttermost, he's better than the Sabbath rest You know
the Sabbath rest of the Saturday, the seventh day and then of the
Jubilee years and all of those rests and liberties, all of those
things were good pictures but the rest which is Christ, our
Sabbath is the Lord Jesus Christ and he's better, he's a better
priest than Aaron. with all of his frailty dressed
in all of his robes with all of that gold and all of that
wonderful adornment our Lord Jesus Christ is better than Aaron
his is a better covenant the new covenant in his blood is
a better covenant than that old covenant of works for it's completed
his is a better tabernacle for in him we enter the holy of holies
not by a high priest once a year with the blood of an animal sacrifice
but with Christ by his own blood He is a better sacrifice for
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. He's a better object
of the believer's faith and a better motive to continue in God's grace. What a blessing it is to hear,
to understand, to trust and to rest in him.