Chapter 1, the title of the message, Christ
is better. You name it, Christ is better. Whatever you can think of, Jesus
Christ is better. He's better. Look in verse 4
chapter 1, being made so much better than
the angels. No angel can be compared to the
Lord Jesus Christ, none of them. Look over in chapter 7 of Hebrews verse 19, FOR THE LAW MADE NOTHING PERFECT,
BUT THE BRINGING IN OF A BETTER HOPE DID. What is that better
hope? What is it? It's not what is
it, it's who is it. Paul wrote to Timothy and he
wrote in the first verse, Jesus Christ, our hope, the better
hope is Christ. He's the better hope. Look in
verse 22. BY SO MUCH WAS JESUS MADE A SURETY
OF A BETTER TESTAMENT, A BETTER COVENANT, A COVENANT OF GRACE. IT'S NOT A COVENANT OF WORKS,
IT'S A COVENANT OF GRACE. IT'S BETTER. A COVENANT OF GRACE
IS BETTER. Look into chapter 8 verse 6,
But now hath CHRIST OBTAINED A MORE EXCELLENT MINISTRY BY
HOW MUCH ALSO HE IS THE MEDIATOR OF A BETTER COVENANT. HE'S THE
MEDIATOR OF A BETTER COVENANT. Look over in chapter 9. In chapter
9 look in verse 23. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with
these, but the heavenly things themselves with with a better
sacrifice than these. Who's the better sacrifice? The
Lord Jesus Christ. And look at this, it was therefore
necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should
be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves. Who
are the heavenly things themselves? That's you, that's me who believe,
that's all God's children. It's necessary that they have
a better sacrifice than that of bulls and goats and calves.
And then look in chapter 11. In chapter 11, verse 16, But
now they desire a better country. Oh, Christ is better, we have
a better hope, we have a better covenant, and now we have a better
country. heaven today shalt thou be with me in paradise i like
i love i love this country of the united states it is in no
way shape or form compared to this better country we're going
to abraham looked for a better country a better city whose builder
and maker is god and then look in verse 35 women received their
dead raised to life again and others were tortured NOT ACCEPTING
DELIVERANCE THAT THEY MIGHT OBTAIN A BETTER RESURRECTION. THAT FIRST RESURRECTION, THE
RESURRECTION WE HAVE IN CHRIST, IT'S BETTER, IT'S BETTER. Martha said, I know my brother
will rise in the resurrection. Christ said, Martha, you're looking
at the resurrection. I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE
LIFE. WE HAVE A BETTER RESURRECTION. CHRIST IS IT. JESUS CHRIST IS
IT. Now the Hebrews, they counted
the law and all its ceremonies to be the most excellent thing
ever, and they possessed it. They even counted the law to
be above the prophets, and they had it. And then Paul comes along
and now I don't know and no one else knows who wrote the book
of Hebrews. I'm not gonna get in any argument
over who wrote the book of Hebrews but I'm gonna say Paul. You can
say whoever you think it is but I'm gonna say Paul. So Paul comes
along and he says to these Hebrews, this is written to the Hebrews,
the Jews. who had the Law and the Ceremony
for 2,000 years. There was 2,000 years from Moses
to Christ. Then God sends His man along
preaching the Gospel, which is BETTER! It's a BETTER, BETTER
MESSAGE than that of the Covenant of Works. It's a MESSAGE OF GRACE
to SINNERS! A MESSAGE OF GRACE to the GUILTY!
If you're guilty, if you're really a sinner, I've got good news
for you! I ve got better news for you than anybody else can
give you. Paul comes along and his Christ
is better, and the rest of the book of Hebrews is dedicated
to the EXCELLENCY of the Lord Jesus Christ over all the pictures
and all the types that they held so closely to for 2,000 years.
2,000 And Paul comes along and he preached
that these types and these pictures and these ceremonies are all
fulfilled in and by Jesus Christ. They pointed to Him and now they have an end. They
end in Him. He's the end of them. He's the
end of the lawful righteousness. He's the end of the ceremonies.
We don't have ceremonies here. You know what we have? The gospel.
WE HAVE THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WHO'S THE END OF
ALL THE CEREMONIES, ALL THE TYPES, ALL THOSE THINGS. HE'S THE END
OF THEM. THE LAW DEMANDS NO MORE THAN WHAT WE HAVE IN CHRIST.
YOU KNOW THAT? THE LAW CANNOT DEMAND OF ME ONE THING MORE THAN
WHAT I HAVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. I HAVE IT ALL. THAT'S
WHY PAUL WROTE TO THE COLOSSIANS, IN HIM YOU ARE COMPLETE. I NEED
NOTHING. I need nothing. I don't need
to add anything. I don't need to add a little
spice to it, my works. I don't have to spice it up.
I don't have to do anything. I'm saved by grace through the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's better. Now the first verse
starts with God, much like Genesis. That's a good place to start
because the Scripture tells us that all things are of God. And this is where we start, we
start with God. And we see in these first few
verses the excellent nature and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean He's set forth just like
the sun rising in the mornings and it sheds the light over God's
creation and we can see And the writer of Hebrews, right off
the bat, he sets forth the SON OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! That's who
he sets forth, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he tells us that
God has SPOKEN! You know, God has not left Himself
without a witness, has He? Never! Since the fall, He's always
had a witness. Throughout all the ages, God's
always had a witness to the gospel. and says God has spoken. Now,
this is more than God having a conversation with me and you.
You know, you and I will talk with each other, we'll have a
conversation. This has to do with REVELATION. You see, when
God speaks, when He speaks, God's revealing. God's revealing something
about Himself. He's revealing something about
redemption. He's revealing something about me. Now, when God speaks,
there's a revelation going on. It's not just conversation, there's
an actual revelation going on. And so it says in verse 1, God
who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets. You know, when Adam fell, God
came walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and He said,
Adam, where art thou? ADAM SAID THAT HE WAS AFRAID
AND HE HID HIMSELF BECAUSE HE WAS NAKED. GOD SAID WHO TOLD
YOU YOU WERE NAKED? Now God in speaking here, He's
going to reveal something. He's going to speak to Satan,
Adam, and Eve. You know what He's going to speak
about? THE SEED OF THE WOMAN. THE FIRST REVELATION WE HAVE
OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. GOD GIVES RIGHT BACK THERE IN
THE GARDEN AFTER ADAM FELL. HE SPEAKS OF THE SEED OF THE
WOMAN, AND THAT SEED IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THEN HE SPEAKS
TO ABRAHAM. WHAT DOES HE SPEAK TO ABRAHAM
ABOUT? HE SAID THROUGH YOUR SEED ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH
ARE GOING TO BE BLESSED. All the nations, every tribe,
every kindred, every tongue, they're going to be blessed.
God's going to save sinners out of every tribe, kindred, tongue,
and nation. And they're going to be blessed through this seed
spoken of all the way back in the Garden of Eden. And God brings
that seed up again when He speaks to Abraham. It's the promised
seed, and that seed is Jesus Christ. He's the seed called
the seed of the woman. God borrowed the womb of Mary. You know, God borrowed two things.
He borrowed the womb of Mary and the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. He only borrowed them because
He wasn't going to keep them. He wasn't going to stay around.
They were just borrowed. But God spoke to Adam and Eve
and Satan at the Garden of Eden. He spoke to Abraham. And God
and this is interesting to me, God revealed progressively one
truth after another as time went by. You know I thought about
this when I was writing these things down, I thought you know
the Lord could have created the heavens and the earth, all of
it at one time, couldn't He? But He took six days, He took
six days to do it in, and no doubt that has reference to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And when God saves a sinner,
that sinner is called a baby in Christ, a young man in Christ,
an old man in Christ. Instead of revealing everything
all at once, instead it's progressive. Job said, By the hearing of the
ear I have heard of you, but now mine eyes see nothing. We
learn here a little and there a little, don't we? That's how
God instructs us. And God took, He took all this
time, 4,000 years and all these types and pictures to show us
Christ. And here we are this morning,
6,000 years past, give or take a few years creation, and we
are learning of Christ. We go back, we're going through
the book of Exodus right now. And we get to see all these pictures.
Aren't you glad you understand these pictures? Are you not glad
you can look at the tabernacle and see Christ as the tabernacle?
You know that tabernacle, it was covered over with badger
skin, but inside was the Shekinah glory of God. Christ came into
this world and took upon Him flesh, but in Him is the fullness
of God. In Christ, it says, dwells all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. But when they saw Him, they looked
upon Him, there was no beauty that they should desire Him.
What they saw was a man like me and you. They saw a human
being, but some saw God when He revealed Himself to them. You see God in Christ, don't
you? You see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
So God revealed these things progressively over time to the
fathers and He used prophets. God sent prophets along to speak
the truth, to preach the gospel. Look, Isaiah, Jeremiah, all these
prophets God sent to speak to the fathers and they spoke of
Christ. Christ was their message just
as He is our message. Read Isaiah 53. Philip took that
same scripture and preached to that unique Jesus, it says. Christ says search the scriptures.
I know you searched the scripture. For in them you think you have
eternal life, but there they which testify of me. This whole
book is a testimony of Christ, a testimony. The prophets were
the mouthpiece of God, just like I'm a mouthpiece of God this
morning. I don't count myself a prophet. Christ is that prophet. John the Baptist was the last
prophet and Christ is that prophet that Moses said should come.
I'm a pastor, I'm a preacher, that's what I am. But I'm also a mouthpiece of
God this morning, an ambassador of Christ. I'm like John the
Baptist who said, I'm just a voice crying in the wilderness, crying
out the message of grace, free grace, free grace. That's my
message. AND I PREACH IN PART AND I KNOW
IN PART. BUT JESUS CHRIST DID NOT PREACH IN PART AND HE DID
NOT KNOW IN PART. HE KNEW IT ALL PERFECTLY. BECAUSE
AS A MAN HE LEARNED BUT AS GOD HE KNEW EVERYTHING. YOU CAN'T
FIGURE THAT OUT. YOU'LL BLOW A GASKET TRYING TO
FIGURE THAT OUT. YOU CAN'T DO IT. BUT HE'S GOD. THAT MAN IS
GOD. GOD BECAME A MAN. AND HE MIGHT
REDEEM US FROM OUR SINS. BUT HE'S THAT PROPHET. And God
has spoken now hath in these last days, and we are in the
last days. In other words, there's no more
revelation to give. There is no more revelation. The prophets,
little by little, God gave to them more and more revelation
as time went by. This is it. There's no more revelation.
As that Mormon said to me once, you know, they've got what they
call their prophet, and he receives messages from God, and he gives
them out to the people, new messages. And that Mormon said to me, he
said, You mean to tell me that the only thing God has to say
to us is in this book? That's what he said to me. You
mean to tell me EXACTLY I mean to tell you that? Why would He
tell you any more because you don't even know what it says?
Why would God say one thing more if I don't even know what this
says? That's what I said to him. I said, That's exactly right.
There's no more to say. Jesus Christ is the end. Jesus
Christ is the full revelation of God. They spoke of God. He is God speaking. They spoke
the words God gave to them. He's God speaking. He that hath
seen me hath seen the Father. We'll see this here in a second.
Jesus Christ is the final revelation from God. We have no more new
revelations. He's the end. It starts with the Lord Jesus
Christ, the seed of the woman, and it ends with the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lamb upon His throne. All things were made by Him and
for Him. God didn't make this for me,
He made it for Himself. He made it for His Son. His Son
made it and He gets it as an inheritance. All the prophets
were men at best, saved by grace, sinful men, used of God, saved
by the grace of God, but Jesus Christ is God who knew no sin. He knew no sin. That's what the
Word of God says. You see, Christ is put into a
different category than the prophets. He's the Son. He's the Son. God never called any angel a
son, that's what He said. God never called an angel a son.
Now, I know they're called collectively the sons of God, but not in the
sense Jesus Christ is called the Son. He's equal with the
Father. HE SAYS OVER IN PROVERBS 8, I
WAS WITH HIM AS ONE BROUGHT UP WITH HIM FROM THE BEGINNING. HE'S ALWAYS BEEN. YOU SEE THIS
TIME IT'S A REVELATION GIVEN NOT THROUGH WORDS BUT THROUGH
A PERSON. THROUGH A PERSON. HE THAT'S SEEN
ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER. And this is where we see the
superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ over all the prophets.
No prophet can be compared to Him. All the prophets were sinful
men used of God. But Christ FAR exceeds any prophet. He's the prophet that came from
the bosom of the Father. No other prophet could claim
that. He came from the bosom of the Father. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things." He's the appointed heir, no prophet could claim
that. No prophet could claim that.
He's the heir of all things seen and unseen. Everything goes to
Him, everything. He will inherit that new earth
and He will reign forever and ever and ever. THERE IS NO END
TO HIS REIGN. He is the HEIR OF ALL THINGS,
and as the HEIR OF ALL THINGS, HE ALSO IS THE CREATOR OF ALL
THINGS. This ONE MAN HERE, HE CREATED
IT, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS, THE GOD-MAN, MEDIATOR. The only mediator between God
and men is the MAN CHRIST JESUS. Mary is not a mediator. Priest
in Catholicism, they're not mediators. The Bible says there's only one
mediator between God and man and the man Christ Jesus. God
set him up as mediator before the heavens and earth were made
and God through His Son created everything. Everything was created
through Jesus Christ and everything. Now listen, everything is mediated
through the Lord Jesus Christ. NO MAN COMES TO THE FATHER BUT
BY ME. He's the mediator between us
and God, there is no other. He's going to inherit everything,
and listen, the elect of God, which is a number of sinners
chosen by Him that no man can number, they are a part of HIS
INHERITANCE. You know, everyone of you who
believes, and everyone who's believed, ever believed, and
shall believe, are His inheritance. God said, ask me for the heathen
for thine inheritance. Can you imagine him asking for
you? Can you imagine him asking by name? He didn't just say,
well this one, by name! Give me Jane. Give me Doug. Give me Judy. By name! He asked for you! Give me Florence. And he did. God did, He gave
him, He gave you to Him as His inheritor, isn't that something?
I am an inheritance and we inherit all things in Christ, all things
that belong to Him, all glory, that new earth, things that we
can't even begin to imagine is given to us freely in the Lord
Jesus Christ who is appointed heir of all things. and He's
the One who made all things. Listen, He's not just an instrument
by which God created all things, He's the AGENT! He's the AGENT by which all things
are made. And all the LAWS and PURPOSES
that GUIDE CREATION, all these LAWS, you know, you hear the
weathermen speak of Mother Nature, there's no Mother to Nature.
BUT THERE ARE LAWS. THERE ARE LAWS. AND LISTEN, ALL
THESE LAWS THAT GUIDE ALL THESE THINGS RESIDE IN JESUS CHRIST. THEY RESIDE IN THAT MAN, IS WHAT
THEY DO. ALL THE AGES THROUGH TIME ARE
ARRANGED AND BROUGHT TO PASS BY JESUS CHRIST. ALL THE AGES
THIS WORLD IS NOT GOING TO END UNTIL HE ENDS IT. I'M NOT WORRIED
ABOUT ANYTHING TAKING US ALL OUT. THE LORD IS GOING TO TAKE
US OUT WHEN OUR TIME COMES. AND UNTIL THEN WE ARE AS SAFE
AS SAFE COULD BE. WE ARE AS SAFE HERE AS WE ARE
IN HEAVEN. YOU BELIEVE THAT? I'M JUST AS
SAFE STANDING HERE. I'LL BE JUST AS SAFE ON A BATTLEFIELD. BULLETS FLYING OVER MY HEAD. as I am standing right here in
this pulpit. Now brethren, that's either so
or well, there's no God at all. And then listen to this in verse
3, I'll wind this up here in a minute. Christ is the express
image of God. You know, if you want to know
who God is, study Jesus Christ. Study Jesus Christ. TAKE MY YOKE
UPON YOU AND LEARN OF ME, HE SAID. LEARN OF ME, HE'S BOTH
LESSON AND TEACHER. WHO BEING THE BRIGHTNESS, THE
OLD WRITERS CALL THIS EFFULGENCE, THAT MEANS THE OUTSHINING, JUST
LIKE WE HAVE THE SUN AND ALL THE RAYS COMING FROM THE SUN.
THEY'RE NOT DIFFERENT FROM THE SUN, THEY'RE COMING FROM THE
SUN. Jesus Christ said, I come from
the Father. I'm from above, you're from beneath. Who been the brightness, the
outshining, His glory and the express image of his person that
expressed. It's just like the stamp He looks
You know when I was with my dad at a funeral one time and and
the lady walked up said you are the spitting image of your dad
He can't deny you He might want to but he can't Jesus Christ is the exact image
of God You're looking at God when you look at Jesus Christ
God has revealed Himself in His creation as God, as Creator,
Power, but nowhere is the full character of God seen except
in Christ. That's where we see the full
character of God. All the attributes of God are seen in the Lord Jesus
Christ, You know Moses covered his face when he came down from
the mountain and spoke to the people. You know his face shone
and he put a veil over his face. They would have never heard anything
he had to say if he hadn't. They would have been so shocked
by his face. They wouldn't listen. But there's
no veil on the face of Jesus Christ. There's no veil on his
face. Not at all. IN THE UNVEILED FACE
OF JESUS CHRIST, WE SEE THE GLORY OF GOD. We see it in His character. It
says in Colossians 115, WHO THAT IS JESUS CHRIST IS THE IMAGE
OF THE INVISIBLE GOD, THE FIRSTBORN OF EVERY CREATURE. He's the image
of the invisible God. He's the exact stamp. That's
what that means. If you want to know God, as I
said, study the Lord Jesus Christ. JESUS CHRIST IS THE FULL EXPRESSION
OF GOD. HE'S THE FULL EXPRESSION OF GOD.
YOU WOULD THINK WE WOULD STUDY HIM AND KNOW HIM IN EVERY WAY
WE CAN, BUT HOW DULL WE ARE. IT'S LIKE JOB SAID, I'VE SPOKEN
IN IGNORANCE, I'VE SPOKEN ABOUT THINGS TOO WONDERFUL FOR ME. Then we see the Deity of Christ
by His power and upholding all things. This is comforting to
God's children that the one who created all things, the Mediator,
the Lord Jesus Christ, He's also right now upholding all things
by the word of His power. He commanded this world to be
where it is, to turn upon its axis as it does. You know, winter,
fall, summer, spring, all those, they've never failed to come
around, have they? They come around as the old saying would
be, like clockwork. They're always, ALWAYS right
on time. And you know why? He COMMANDED
them to. They do what they do by the Word
of His POWER. And nothing's going to break
that Word. satan can't break that word you know i've said
this before he's nothing more than a pit bull on a chain he can't do anything unless god
lets him he has to get permission and our lord said this remember
this he said all power is given to me in heaven and earth it's
all in my all in my hands all power all the power that
exists i have it I HAVE THE POWER TO SAVE, I HAVE
THE POWER TO FORGIVE SINS, I HAVE THE POWER TO CONDEMN. He has that power. But HERE IS HIS CHIEF GLORY. I mean, you could ask a lot of
people, What's the chief glory of God? And they would say, Creation. They'd say a lot of things. GOD'S CHIEF GLORY IS RIGHT HERE,
WHEN HE HAD BY HIMSELF PURGED, past tense, PURGED OUR SINS. Purged means to clear of guilt,
to free from moral or ceremonial defilement. Purged means to get
rid of JESUS CHRIST ON CALVARY'S TREE GOT RID OF MY SINS AND YOUR
SINS, WHO BLEED. HE GOT RID OF THEM ALL. I'M JUSTIFIED IN GOD'S SIGHT.
I'M CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES. THEY'RE OFF THE BOOKS. OFF THE
BOOKS. IT ALSO MEANS THIS, HE CARRIED
OUT A CLEANSING. THAT'S WHAT HE DID. When He shed
His blood, He carried out a cleansing. He cleansed us from all unrighteousness. And listen, when He had by Himself
purged our sins, I wasn't even born then, but even then He purged
me from all my sins. He purged me. He carried out
a cleansing. He made purification. That's
what He did. And He did it by Himself. WHEN
HE BY HIMSELF, BY HIMSELF, HE TREAD THE WINEPRESS OF GOD'S
WRATH ALONE. Nobody was there with him, nobody
was helping him. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why have you forsaken me? He died alone, and He purged
and put away our sins by Himself. He's the only one that could
do it. And after He did that, and the PROOF that He DID do
that, first is His Resurrection from the dead. He's RISEN! Jesus
Christ is RISEN! I believe that. I believe that. And not only is He RISEN, it
says He is SAT DOWN ON THE RIGHT HAND OF THE MAJESTY ON HIGH. you know when the high priest
went into the tabernacle when he went into the temple and he
did the service there's two things about him the reason he couldn't
sit down number one he wasn't going to stay very long he went
in put the blood of atonement on the altar and he left and
then he had to do it again he couldn't say it's finished no
high priest throughout the Old Testament could say it's finished
because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin
they just kept pointing to the one whose blood puts away sin
but this man this man after he offered one sacrifice for sin
forever sat down on the right hand of God that's the right
hand of power and authority And He sits there right now ruling
and reigning over EVERYTHING that exists, everything. Our great high priest sat down
as the king priest, royalty. No other priest ever did that. He sits up on His royal throne
consecrated for us evermore. THERE HE SITS AND HE MAKES INTERCESSIONS
FOR THE TRANSGRESSORS. THAT'S GOOD NEWS! When he cried, IT'S FINISHED,
the REDEMPTION OF GOD'S PEOPLE WAS ACCOMPLISHED. He did what
he came to do. And when he sat down on the right
hand of God on high, he sat down accepted, and us
accepted in him. we are accepted in him and if
you'll notice he sat down on high not on this earth he rules
and he reigns from heaven you know in the military they say
whoever controls the sky controls the war guess who controls the sky he
controls it all the lord jesus christ ALL POWER AND ALL AUTHORITY IS
GIVEN TO THE SON. He said, ALL JUDGMENT HAS BEEN
TURNED OVER TO ME. And this is why we are told in
Psalm 212, KISS THE SON LEST HE BE ANGRY AND YOU PERISH FROM
THE WAY WHEN HIS WRATH IS KINDLED BUT A LITTLE. BLESSED ARE ALL
THEY THAT PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM. Put your trust in Him this
morning. He's the only one God has accepted
to sit at His right hand. He never said it to an angel.
He said to which of the angels said God at any time sit at my
right hand? He never said it to an angel. He never said it
to an angel. But He did say it to His Son.
Look to Him. Oh, look to Him. Who's able to
say to the uttermost THEM THAT COME UNTO GOD BY HIM, SEEING
HE EVER LIVETH TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM.