The book of Hebrews, the first
chapter. I'd like to go ahead and read the chapter. Our text
will be the first three verses of it. The book of Hebrews, the
first chapter. The Bible says, God, who at sundered
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, and by whom also
he made the worlds. who been in the brightness of
his glory, and to express image of his person, and the upholding
of 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, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance attained a more excellent name than they. For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a
father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth
in the first begotten unto the world, he said, And let all the
angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he said, who
make of his angel spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. Listen to verse 8, I love it.
But unto the Son, God the Father said, Thou throne, O God, is
forever and ever a scepter of righteousness as a scepter of
thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And thou, Lord, in the beginning
hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
works of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest,
and they shall wax old, as doeth a garment. And as a vexer shalt
thou fold them up, and they shall be changed. But thou art the
same, and thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels
said he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thy eminence
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
of spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? The message of Hebrews is as
important today as it was in the early church, in the first
century of the church. As believers, we need to be constantly
reminded of the many blessings and promises that God gives us
each and every day of our lives. And we also need encouragement
each and every day of our lives. As we see the world that we live
in, we have to always remember that God is absolutely sovereign
in providence. And that causes us to get through
the hard things that comes into our lives because we know that
He is the one that is in control. And God does all things well.
He always has and He always will. It's for His glory and it's for
the good of the people that He chose to place in Christ before
the foundation of the world. As believers, we need to remember
that. We need to know that the great
design and the purpose of the book of Hebrews is to set forth
the person and the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. to show his
superiority over all things, all things, visible and invisible,
all creatures, to show his superiority over the prophets, the angels,
Moses. He is the one, and he is one
whose priesthood is superior to that of the Old Testament,
but he has absolute authority over all things. One who serves
a better covenant, he's got a covenant of grace and mercy, and I thank
the Lord for that. A word used a lot in Hebrew,
if you read the whole book, a word that is used a whole lot is the
word better. And it always describes the person, the work, the sacrifice,
and the blood of our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His sacrifices were one to which
all the other pointed to. for which they were purposed,
for which they were given. They're all appointed to Christ. Here in verse one, it says, God
who has a hundred times and in diverse manners spoken times
past unto the fathers of the prophets. Long ago, at many times,
and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.
Who are the prophets? Well, we see them in the Holy
Bible. We read Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jerold,
Amos, and many others. How did he speak to them? He
spoke to them in graves. Sometimes it was in graves. Sometimes
it was in visions. Sometimes it was by angels. What
did he speak to them about? Christ Jesus, our Lord. That's
what he spoke to them about. He says right over here, says
here in Numbers 12, six through eight. And he said, the Lord
said, Hear now my words. If there be a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, will make myself known unto him in a vision and
will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who
is faithful in all my house. With him will I speak mouth to
mouth. It's precious, isn't it? But,
you know, as we look at the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi,
it's all about our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. You know,
the precious saints of the Old Testament, they was looking forward
to the coming of the Messiah. And over a period of, I think
over a period of around 1,500 years, you know, they didn't
get the full revelation that we have now. You know, the Lord
spoke to, through the prophet, a prophet was someone that God
spoke to, to speak to people, to tell the people what he had
to say to them, you know. But he spoke to them. Like in
Genesis, he said that the Messiah would come from a seed of a woman.
He told Abraham that he would come from his loins. He told
Jacob that he would be of the tribe of Judah. He told David
that he would be of his house. He told Micah that he would be
born in Bethlehem. And a verse that I would like
to read that it really sums up all of it, really, whenever you
really think about it. And we're talking about Jesus
Christ, his son here. And it's Acts 10.43. You don't
have to turn to it. I want to read it. But in Acts
10.43, It says, to him give all the prophets witness, talking
about Jesus Christ our Lord, that through his name, whosoever
believeth in him shall receive the remission of sins. And I
thank God for that. And he also, he brought, you
know, he spoke through many prophecies in Isaiah 7, 14. He prophesied
a lot through his prophets. He said, as I said, he said in
Isaiah 7, 14, and these were hundreds of years before the
Lord was born of the seed of the woman in Bethlehem. He said,
therefore, The Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is God with us. And then I like what
he said over in Job. And some people say that Job
was the first Bible, the first book that was ever written of
the Bible. But one thing that Job said, he said, for I know
that my redeemer liveth. He's talking about Jesus Christ
our Lord. He said, I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and go after my
skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God. That's wonderful. And then Moses
spoke of Jesus in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 18. In verses 18 and 19, he's talking
about the coming Messiah here. He's talking about Jesus. He
said, I will raise them up a prophet. The Lord is saying this. I will
raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto
thee, and will put my words in his mouth, And he shall speak
unto them all that I shall command him. You know, Jesus told the
Pharisees, you know, he said, I don't speak my word, I speak
the words of him that sent me. He spoke his father's words.
And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall not hearken unto
my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require of
him. Whenever he talks about, in verse
2 right here, it says, half in these last days spoken unto his
son. What are the last days? The last days are the time of
his first coming, whenever he was born of a virgin Mary. until His time comes again. You
know, in the Old Testament, all the saints, you know, they look
forward to His coming. Well, you know, we take a little
wine and we take a little bread because we do that in remembrance
of Him where He come over 2,000 years ago. But we're blessed
because we're looking for Him to come again, and He will come
again. But anyway, the Old Testament's
purpose was to prepare for the coming of Christ, whether by
prophecy or by type or principle or commandment. It was made in
preparation for Him. Jesus said in Matthew 5, 17,
Think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets
I am not come to destroy, but I have come to fulfill. The Lord Jesus Christ is himself
the final and full revelation of God to man. In John 1.18,
the Bible says, no man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared
him. And then in verse two here again,
it says, half in these last days spoken unto his son, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. He's spoken to us by his son,
and his son, his son was God manifested in the flesh. What
does the Bible say in first John, first verse? In the beginning,
the Word was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. But Christ, He not only speaks
for God, but He is God, whom He hath appointed heir of all
things. If you will look at Psalms 8, verses 3 through 9. Psalms
8, verses 3 through 9. He has appointed him heir of
all things. He says here beginning in the
third verse, when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy
fingers, the moon, and the stars which thou hast ordained, what
is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that
thou visited him? For thou hath made him a little
lower than the angels, and hath crowned him with glory and honor.
Thou mayest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands.
Thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen,
yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the
fish of the sea, and whatsoever pass through the paths of the
seas. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is the name of all thou art.
In Psalms 2, verse 6-8, he says, Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill. The Lord hath said unto me, Thou
art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possessions. Then he says here in verse two
again, he says, he hath in his last days spoken unto his son,
who he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the world. You know, whenever we think about
Christ, he has been given heir of all things as his people,
We are joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8 and 16 and 17 says,
the spirit is self-birth witness with our spirit. We are the children
of God and the children then heirs, heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together with him. By whom also
he made the worlds. It says in Psalms 145.3, great
is the Lord and greatly to be praised. And His greatness is
unsearchable. And then I love what he says
in 1st Colossians 16 through 18. And this is the Lord God,
our Lord and Savior. It said, for by Him were all
things created that are in heaven and earth. Visible and invisible,
wherever he be, thrones or dominions, principalities or powers, all
things were created by him and for him. And he is a head of
all things. And I thank God for that right
there. And he is the head of the body, the church, the firstborn
from the dead. In all things, he may have what?
The preeminent in all things. And I thank the Lord for that.
And then it says in Isaiah 46, 9 and 10, just speaking of our
Lord, it says, remember the former things of old. He has authority
over all things. He's absolute sovereign in all
things. That's something that I like to think about every day,
my God. He is sovereign. He's sovereign in salvation.
That gives me a peace of mind. That gives me peace. It gives
me His peace, knowing that He is the one that is in control.
It's not what I do or I don't do. He did it all. He did it
all on the cross. But He's sovereign in salvation.
He's sovereign in creation. And something brings His people
great peace if they truly fill it in their heart and really,
really get to understand it and to know it. And then to enter
into it, as our pastor says, he is sovereign in providence.
That brings peace, knowing that nothing happens without his permissive
or directive will. And it's always for our good.
It's always for our good, always. He says here in Isaiah 46, 9
and 10, remember, perform things of old, for I am God. and there is none else. I am
God, and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things which are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. And that
reminds me of that verse over in the fourth chapter of the
book of Daniel. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.
and I will do according to my will in the army of heaven and
the money and the happiness of the earth, and none can stain
my hand whereon what say doest thou. And it says here in verse
three, we read verse three back, if you go back to Hebrews, it
says, who been in the brightness of his glory and expressed the
image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his
power, whom he hath by himself purged our sins, set down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. Who been in the brightness
of his glory. He is the outshining of God's
glory. All of the perfections that are
found in God the Father is found in Jesus Christ our Lord. And
all the moral and the spiritual glories of God are seen in him.
If you see God, you see Christ. You see God's glory, you see
Christ's glory. If you know God, you know Christ.
If you think little of Christ, you think little of God. But this does not refer to his
physical likeness because we know that God is a spirit. They
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. But
Christ is exactly, he represents the Father. The Son, being God,
reveals to man by his words and ways exactly what God the Father
is like. Then it says in verse three,
upholding all things by the word of his power. If you have your
Bibles, if you don't care, turn over just a few pages to 2 Peter. This is actually talking about
the second coming, chapter three, verses five through 13. But it
says that he upholds all things by the word of his power. It says here in verse five, for
this they willingly are ignorant of that by the Word of God, the
heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and
in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed
with water perished. But the heavens and the earth,
which are now by the same word are Captain Store. Everything
is held by him. Everything is held by him, held
up by him. And they are Captain Store and
reserved under fire against the day of judgment and prediction
of ungodly man. But beloved, be not eager. Now,
listen to that. What did he say? But be loved.
Who does that tell you he's talking to? He's talking to his people.
He's talking to the elect. Okay, he's not talking to the
whole world. He's talking to his people. He said, but be loved,
be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is... with the Lord
as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day and here he's
talking to his elect as I said but Lord is not slack concerning
his promise as some men count slackness but is long suffering
to us word not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance but the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night and in which the heavens shall pass away in a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
and the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burnt
up, saying that all these things shall be dissolved. What manner
of persons are ye to be in a holy conversation and goodness, looking
for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God? When the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt in
firm heat, nevertheless we, according to his promise, shall look for
a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. And then he says right here,
when he had by himself, in verse three, when he had by himself
purged our sins. You know, the creator and the
sustainer became the sender. In order to create the universe,
he only had to speak. In order to uphold the world,
he only had to speak. But to save the world, to save
man, to save those that he had placed in Christ Jesus, he had
to die. because it was a moral issue,
where there was sin and rebellion. There is no remission of sins
without the blood. But in order to put away, as
I said, in order to put away the sin of his people, he had
chosen before the foundation of the world and placed them
in Christ, a sacrificial lamb. A sacrificial lamb was needed. And the Lord Jesus Christ, by
himself alone, placed the raft of God. I can imagine we think
about the physical part of it, but imagine the mental part of
it. In Mark 15 verse 34, he hollered
and he said, my God, my God, why hath thou forsaken me? As children of God, as God's
elect, and having a faith of Christ in us. And you know, one
thing, you know, we're in the flesh and we say things and we
think things that we shouldn't, but there's sometimes, you know,
we'll think about, can you imagine what it would be to be separated
from God forever and ever? To be separated from the Lord
Jesus Christ. It scares me to death when that
even crosses my mind, because it would be terrible. You know,
we have so much to look forward to. And that's the flesh. You
know, we battle the flesh. We have two natures, you know.
And that's why we have the full revelation of God, and it brings
us peace, and it brings us comfort, you know. But he walked away
and prayed to God's wrath alone and the redemption of our soul
and the salvation of our soul and putting away of our sins.
He did it all by himself. He needed no help from no one.
It doesn't matter what man says. You got so many different religions
out there and you got so many different denominations, but
God, the Lord Jesus Christ, his blood and his blood alone finished
the work of redemption for his people. and he needed no help
from no one. You know, in Hebrews 7, 27, it
says, who needed not daily as those high priests to offer up
sacrifices first for his own sins and for his people. For
this, he did alone when he offered up himself. You know, the priest
of old, they was sacrificing every day. They had a stack,
it was thousands over the period of years, there was thousands
and thousands of animals. Sacrificed every day for the
sins of the people. Why is that? That's because we
sin every day. Even as God's elect, being in
His flesh, we sin every day. But when Christ by Himself purged
our sins, He did it past, present, and future forevermore. There's
no judgment to them that are in Christ, and there is no condemnation
to them that are in Christ. All of the love of God is in
Christ. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus
who have given us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
I thank God for that. For his perfect obedience to
the Father is our righteousness. His blood sacrifice is our justification. We can't exalt Christ too much.
in the eyes of God, and we cannot exalt Christ too much in the
eyes of the redeemed, because that's where it's all at. 1 Peter
1, 18 and 19 says, for as much as you know that you were not
redeemed with fine compensation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without splemish and without spot. He was not only our high
priest, but he was also the perfect sacrifice. He was also the perfect
sacrifice. He said he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high. He sat down, the posture of rest.
He wasn't tall and he wasn't tired, but he had finished the
work. He had finished the work and
he sat down. And it was a rest of satisfaction in a finished
work. And his posture indicates that
the work of redemption was completed. And he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high and the majesty of God, the father
to whom. His right hand means what? Power, greatness, acceptance,
glory. Here said the man, Christ Jesus,
and all of his life is with him. And you know, there's so many
things that, you know, I hear a very wise preacher say one
time, you know, there's so many things in this book right here
in the Holy Bible. He said, there's so many things
in here that I don't understand. And I'll never forget it, but
he said, there is not anything I don't believe. And I thank
God for that, I know you, because he puts it there. But anyway,
in Glossom 3.3, it says, for you're dead and your life is
hid with Christ and God. Why does he say that you're dead?
Because in the eyes of God, you are dead. Before the foundation
of the world, we were placed in Christ Jesus. When Christ
was on that cross, his people was there with him. Whenever
he was in that tomb, his people went with him. And whenever he
arose, his people went with him. Right here in Ephesians 2, 4,
6, listen to this. I don't understand it, but I
accept it with all my heart. But it says, but God, who is
rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he saved us. Even when
we were dead in sins and we were he have quickened or made us
alive together with Christ by grace Are you saved and listen
to this and have raised us up together and made us set together
in heavenly places? In Christ Jesus and I thank him
for that. I'd like to read one more verse
one more place as if you would turn to Revelation 21 and I'll
be finished Revelations 21 And this is what God's people
has in store for them. I'm just going to read the first
five verses. It could happen today, tomorrow, next month,
next week. It could happen any time. It's
of His choosing. But He said here in verse 1 in
chapter 21 of Revelation, I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
where the first heaven was the first earth were passed away,
and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of the heaven, prepared
as a bride. And we are the bride of Christ.
adored for her husband, and Christ Jesus is her husband. And I hear
the great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle
of God is with man, and he will dwell with them, and they shall
be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their
God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed
away. Why can we put our trust in that? Listen to this. And
he that sat before the throne said, behold, I make all things
new. And he said unto me, write, for
these words are true and faithful. And that comes from God himself.
I thank him for that. And you're dismissed.