Turn with me to the book of Hebrews. My calculus teacher used to say,
about the sixth time over, almost everything gets clear. And for
me, it's about the hundredth time, or the thousandth time,
and I keep needing to hear it. The old, old story never loses
its freshness when you see it from God's word yourself. And
may God give us that grace. Let's pray. Thank you, dear Father,
for this wonderful gift that you've given to us, a message
of the Lord Jesus Christ and his redeeming work. and our salvation
in Him. Help us, dear Lord, to lay hold
on this eternal life in Christ our Savior. Thank you for all
the gifts of your word. Throughout scripture, we pray,
Lord, that you would explode this word unto our hearts and
minds that we would be enthralled with our Savior and we would
relish his salvation and joy in it and have great peace and
look with hope undeterred and unquenchable to the Lord Jesus
Christ in all of our life and through every trial and even
in death we would have victory because of his victory over death
and our sin. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I want to read the first chapter
with you together. God starts out. The book of Hebrews
doesn't waste words. It jumps right in with both feet
into the topic. And that subject is the Lord
Jesus Christ and him crucified and what he accomplished for
his people. So he says, God, who at sundry times And in diverse
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, being made so much better
than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained 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 into the world, he saith, and let all
the angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he saith,
who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of
fire? But unto the sun, he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
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 thine hands. They shall
perish, but thou remainest, and they all shall wax old, as doth
a garment, and as a vesture 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 thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? In the opening words, the writer
to the Hebrews, which I believe is the Apostle Paul, says, God
spoke at different times and in various ways by the prophets
to the fathers in times past. And so we wonder, perhaps, is
this message, is this book have anything to do with me? Since
it seems like it has to do with these other people called the
Hebrews. Who were these people? Well, they were the people God
spoke to by the prophets, their fathers. Therefore, they were
the children, the physical children of Abraham. But he narrows it
further by telling us they were also holy brethren. In chapter
3, verse 1, he says, wherefore, holy brethren. So not only were
they physical descendants of Abraham, but they were the spiritual
seed of Abraham by the Lord Jesus Christ as well. People who are
the spiritual seed of Abraham are those who, like Abraham,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, whether they be Jew or Gentile,
whether they be circumcised or uncircumcised, whether they be
male or female, whether they be servants or kings. It doesn't
matter. Throughout all the world, whoever
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is called by, in Scripture, the
seed of Abraham. In fact, God says that's the
only true children of Abraham. So the letter to the Hebrews
was written to the elect of God, the redeemed of the Lord, those
given the spirit of God to believe, to see and believe Christ just
as God did to Abraham. In John 8, verse 56, Jesus said,
Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Every child of God rejoices to
see Christ's day, and we see it, and we are glad, just like
Abraham. And that's why we're called the
children of Abraham. But the letters of the New Testament,
and this one included, are all scripture. They're all the word
of God. God cannot lie. All that God
thinks, all that he has spoken is truth. In John 17, 17, Jesus
said, thy word is truth, speaking to his father in prayer. And
it says in Psalm 31, 5, Lord God of truth, And furthermore, in Psalm 119,
160, it says, thy word is true from the beginning, and every
one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. Therefore,
scripture is God speaking. In Galatians 3, verse 8, it says,
the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham. But it was God who
spoke when he said, in thee and in thy seed shall all nations
of the earth be blessed. So scripture is God speaking
and it wasn't written for just those people to whom it was written
in that century or that physical time. The Apostle Paul speaks
to Timothy and said, from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus. Scripture is given to us to make
us wise unto salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith comes by hearing the Word
of God, and it is in hearing the truth, the only truth in
all of this universe that there is, what God thinks and what
God says, especially the truth concerning His Son. That is our
salvation. So God narrows it down to that. And that's what the book of Hebrews
is about. It's a narrower application of
truth than just knowing things. We know that God made the world.
That's true, because God said it. And by God-given faith, we
believe it. Therefore, we know things that
scientists and the greatest intellects on Earth deny. A child can know
them in believing what God has said, because God's word is true.
But God's word isn't just to fill our heads with truth about
physical creation. It has a specific and unique
purpose and intent, which is to make us wise unto salvation. And that salvation is found in
Christ, so it says, wise unto salvation through faith, which
is in Christ Jesus. And so we see the title of this
book, Hebrews, really carries a double meaning. Not only was
it written to those who were physical descendants of Abraham,
but it was written to the spiritual descendants, which means it was
written to the church. to the church, those for whom
Christ died and because of his death were given the Spirit of
God to know that he died for them. And this is what it says
throughout scripture. In the book of 2 Peter chapter
3, the apostle Peter wrote to the church there about the end
of the world. And he tells them, when he wrote
to them at that time about the end of the world, he says that
there were many who scoffed at the promise of his coming, of
Christ's coming, and he said, nevertheless, We, according to
his promise," this is 2 Peter 3, verse 13, nevertheless, we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found
of him in peace without spot and blameless, and account that
the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved
brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him has
written unto you." And there's no doubt when you look at 1 Peter
1, verse 1, and 2 Peter 3, verse 1, that Peter wrote to the Jews. He was an apostle to the circumcision,
Paul says in Galatians. And he wrote to the Jews who
were scattered, dispersed abroad because of the persecution after
Christ's resurrection and the preaching of the gospel. Peter
says that Paul wrote to them. the Jews who believed on Christ.
And he also goes on as also in all of his epistles, Paul's epistles,
speaking in them of these things, of the same things Peter spoke
to them of, the end of the world, Christ coming again, in which
are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned
and unstable rest. as they do also the other scriptures. So what Paul wrote was scripture.
What Paul wrote by the inspiration of God, the Holy Spirit, was
scripture and it spoke of the same things that Peter spoke
of about Christ, about his work, about his eternal achievements
and attainments for sinners, where he is, how he rules now
over heaven and earth, even now over heaven and earth. As he
said in Matthew 28, 18, all power is given to me in heaven and
in earth. And Peter says that Paul wrote to these to whom Peter
also wrote. And what would that be? What
epistle would that be in all the New Testament? It would be
this one in Hebrews, you see. So that's why I think that the
Apostle Paul wrote this book to the Hebrews. Now in this book,
I want you to look at verses one and two. He says, God who
at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets. Why does he open up this book
in this way? Because the prophets of old spoke
God's word. Their words from God are scripture. So whatever God said then has
to be the same truth that the Apostle here is about to unfold. This is very significant. To
understand that the Apostle writing to the Hebrews is taking all
of the canon of Old Testament scripture and bringing it to
bear on the tendency of these people now to depart from the
faith, he's bringing back to them what their own scriptures
given by God to them through their own prophets spoke. He's
about to unfold the full revelation in the gospel of what God revealed
then only in part by the prophets to the fathers. And this is significant. The message is the same. The
Old Testament prophets were mere men. The New Testament prophet
is the Son of God. The Old Testament prophets spoke
here and there, bits and pieces, in fragments, in dark things
that were hard to understand. The New Testament prophet, the
Son of God, conveys the entire message. of God. All of the revelation
of God in all of the Old Testament is unloaded in explanation and
revelation in the New Testament. And Christ is the messenger.
He's the message of the Old Testament and the message of the New. And
so this has to be brought to bear on these people in the book
of Hebrews because they were brought up under the prophets,
under the law. And so God spoke in times past
by the prophets. If you divide history into two
parts, in the past, before Christ came, God spoke through prophets.
Sometimes he spoke to them by angels. And sometimes he spoke
to them in visions and dreams. He spoke to them in signs and
wonders. And he spoke to them in the priesthood
and the sacrifices and all the elements of the tabernacle and
the tabernacle itself as a figure and a type. In all these things
God spoke. But in these last days, God has
spoken to us in and by his Son. It's the same message, but now
it's clear. Abraham clearly embraced Christ. He rejoiced to see his day, and
he saw it with clarity and was glad. We, by the Gospel, now
see that same message and we also are glad when we see and
by faith believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So you can see
here why the Apostle opens up this way. It's in order to convey
to us That the God who spoke by the prophets is the God who
now speaks by His Son and in His Son. The message then was
the same, but it was not clearly revealed. Now it's clear and
it's fully revealed in Christ. And this is the final message.
It's the last days. Look at Genesis chapter 49. I
want to show you what the last days mean in scripture in this
context. God spoke in these last days. Jacob, the father of the children
of Israel, he is Israel in scripture, he was the physical father of
them. He's speaking in prophecy in Genesis 49 in the hearing
of his sons. He says in verse 1, And Jacob
called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, that
I may tell you what tell you that which shall befall you in
the last days." The last days. Look at verse 10 of the same
chapter. He said, the scepter, and the
scepter is a symbol of the rule, the scepter shall not depart
from Judah, that tribe, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
is just another word for the Lord Jesus Christ. Shiloh means
peace. quietness. The Lord Jesus Christ,
in Hebrews 7, verse 3, is the King of Peace. Isaiah 9, 6, he's
the Prince of Peace. Colossians 1, 21 and 22, peace
between God's people and God was made in the blood of his
own Son. So he is the King of Peace, the
Prince of Peace, the one whose blood made peace in reconciling
his people to God. And so here he says that the
lawgiver, there will be a rule in this tribe, Judah, until Shiloh
come, until Christ come. There's going to be a period
of time in history under which the people of Israel will be
ruled by the king in Judah. But at this time when Shiloh
comes, that tribe and that ruler, that authoritative rule over
the people of God, as it was in the Old Testament, will cease.
And then a new king will come. And unto him, Christ, shall the
gathering of the people be. This is what will happen in the
last time. Look at the book of Numbers in
chapter 24. and see the same thing there.
Balaam, who was a false prophet, yet was used to speak in prophecy
by God when he spoke to Balak and blessed Israel. If you remember
that account, Balak, the king of Beor, I mean, I think so,
he hired Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam couldn't do it because
God prevented him. But his wicked heart wanted to.
Verse 15 of Numbers 24. And Balaam took up his parable
and said, Balaam, the son of Beor, hath said, and the man
whose eyes are open hath said, He hath said, which heard the
words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the
vision of the Almighty falling into a trance, but having his
eyes open. Listen to verse 17. This is what
Balaam said in prophecy. I shall see him. but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh,
or not near. There shall come a star out of
Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and smite the
corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And
Edom shall be a possession, and Seir also shall be a possession
for his enemies, and Israel shall do valiantly." Here the Lord
is speaking through Balaam about Christ. He's the scepter. He's the star that's going to
rise out of Jacob. But it was typified in David.
Because in David, God's people in the land of Canaan subdued
the Moabites, subdued the Edomites. But they were just a picture
of what Christ would do for his people spiritually. Their sins,
their iniquities. Satan and this world would be
subdued by the redemptive blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. and
is spoken here in prophecy. This is what Balaam is speaking
about, the Lord Jesus in the final days. That's why he says
here, not now, not near, but he shall rise. It shall happen
in the latter days. Look at one more text in Isaiah
chapter two. Isaiah chapter 2, it also speaks
of the last days as the days when Christ would come. He says
in Isaiah 2 verse 1, the word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Verse two, it shall come to pass
in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted
above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it. The mountain
of the Lord's house will be established in the last days. This is Mount
Zion. This is the church. because it's
a kingdom above all other kingdoms. The mountain refers to a kingdom,
a place of rule. God's kingdom, Christ's kingdom,
in this world would be established through the preaching of the
gospel, and all nations would flow into it. This describes
the last days. So in Hebrews, the apostle which
I believe is the Apostle Paul writing to the Hebrews says,
in the last days God has spoken to us by his Son. The Israelites,
the Hebrews understood the last days to be referring to Christ
the Messiah. God had not spoken these things
for the first time in the book of Hebrews. He had given a covenant
to Abraham, and in that covenant had spoken of Christ. Even before,
at the very fall of man, God had promised the seed of the
woman would bruise the head of the serpent. And He also promised
that A substitute that God would provide and that God would slay
would be used to clothe the nakedness of his people when he clothed
Adam and Eve with the skins of that animal. And he also taught,
as he says in Hebrews 11 verse 4, that Abel was accepted because
of the sacrifice. He was justified because of Christ's
blood shed. for his people. And then he's
taught how Enoch, who was a believer, walked with God because we walk
as justified people looking to Christ. He taught how Noah believed
God and escaped judgment. The warning of judgment came
and he and his family fled for refuge to the ark, which represented
Christ. And they were saved from the
judgment of God that came upon the world of the ungodly. And
Abraham was told about the coming Christ and he told of the seed
and the promises that God would give and that he understood,
Abraham understood, that it wasn't the present land of Canaan, but
it was the world that he was going to be inheriting, and his
people would be the children of Christ by faith, and they
also would be given that land, that eternal land of salvation.
So, throughout the Old Testament, the promise had already been
made of the last days. The book of Hebrews, in chapter
11, catalogs the children of faith The children of God who
by faith looked for these things and came to God on the blood
of Jesus Christ. God promised by Moses that another
prophet would be raised up. And they would have to listen
to him. And this prophet was Christ. He promised that another
priest and a priesthood would be established. And this was
spoken of in Psalm 110. And he spoke of another king.
He told David it would be his own son and yet it would be David's
Lord. And his kingdom would be established forever. He spoke
of the new covenant. Jeremiah and Ezekiel and throughout
scripture. So these things in Hebrews were
already spoken before of the last days. They were coming,
they were coming, and so the the believers in the Old Testament
looked forward and like Abraham they saw Christ, and they rejoiced
to see His day. They knew that God's salvation
would be accomplished by Him, and that it would occur in history,
and their salvation depended upon the history of their Redeemer,
the history of their Mediator, who in history would shed His
blood, and at a time in history would accomplish their salvation.
And so, like Him, We look back to a time in history when, outside
of our own personal experience, Christ accomplished the will
of God and obtained our eternal salvation. These are the last
days, the time of Messiah. So before Christ came, all the
world was under the teaching of scripture by the prophets
But when Christ came, and it was fragmented then, and in dark
sayings, but when Christ came, the full revelation was made
known, and it was clearly made known, and it was published by
the messengers Christ sent, so that the manner in which it is
made known to us today is through the preaching of that message
of Christ. And guess who is the message?
Guess what the message is? It's Christ and Him crucified. He's not only the message, but
He's the messenger. He's the messenger. Look at John
chapter 5. A couple of scriptures in the
New Testament. The Lord Jesus Himself spoke
these things. In John chapter 5, in verse 39,
he says to the Pharisees, search the scriptures, for in them you
think you have eternal life, but they, the scriptures, the
Old Testament, the prophets had spoken, they are they which testify
of me. He's the message. of scripture,
and you will not come to me that you might have life. The law
pronounced death. The law condemned sinners, but
there's life in Christ. That was the message. The law,
the apostle Paul says in Galatians 3.12, the law is not a faith. Something else had to come. The
law could not give life. The law says that those who do
the law live, but no one can live under the law, because the
law also says, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all
things that are written in the book of the law to do them. And
the law is therefore not of faith. And so the apostle is pointing
us back to the true message of the prophets. Habakkuk 2.4, the
just shall live not by their own obedience to the law, but
by faith in Christ's obedience, in his blood. And so here, Jesus
himself says, you will not come to me that you might have life.
The message is Christ and him crucified. Look at verse 46 of
John 5. For had you believed Moses, this
is his message, you would have believed me, for he wrote of
me. The message is Christ and him
crucified. Look at Luke chapter 24. Luke
chapter 24, back in a couple pages, on verse 42. 44, Jesus teaching his disciples
after he walked with those two on the road to Emmaus, and now
he's summing it up with the rest of his disciples. He said to
them, in verse 44, these are the words which I spoke to you
while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me. You see? Then opened he their
understanding that they might understand the scriptures. And
unto them, and he said to them, thus it is written, and thus
it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the
third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should
be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem.
Preaching Christ and him crucified and the forgiveness of sins,
look at Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13, this is the
Apostle Paul preaching. He speaks to those people there,
and I believe these people were in a synagogue. It says in verse
13, they were in a synagogue. John, departing from them, returned
to Jerusalem. They departed from, let's see, on the Sabbath day,
they went into the synagogue. So they're in the synagogue.
Who would be there? The Jews would be there. Who else? Gentiles
who wanted to understand the way of salvation. But they had
come there before hearing only the Law, the Covenant, the Old
Covenant. And the Apostle Paul preaches
a message to them. I'll pick it up in verse 21. It says, afterward they desired
a king, and God gave unto them Saul the son of Sis, a man of
the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when
he had removed, when God had removed him, he raised up unto
them David to be their king, to whom also he gave testimony,
and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after
mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will, of this man's seed. Hath God, according to His promise,
raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus? Paul is announcing the
fact that at this time in history, God had raised up, in fulfillment
of His promise to David, a Savior. as he saw that David would fulfill
all his will then, Christ is the one who would fulfill all
of God's will now and had fulfilled it. And so he says, he goes on,
look at verse 32. And we declare unto you glad
tidings, how that the promise which was made to the fathers,
God has fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he
hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second
psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. So
he's the son of God. And as concerning that he raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
David. And that's the everlasting covenant
he speaks of in Isaiah 55 3. I will make with you an everlasting
covenant. And he says right here, those
are the sure mercies of David. In other words, they're the mercies
God promised to David's son and David's Lord. He gives the name
David to it because it was promised to David, just like to Abraham,
that his seed would sit on God's throne over his people. Verse
35, Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not
suffer thine holy one to see corruption. For David, after
he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep.
In other words, he died and was laid unto his fathers and saw
corruption. But he whom God raised again saw no corruption, be it
known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this
man Christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And
by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. You see how Paul
sets these two in contrast? You could not be justified by
the law of Moses. You are justified by Christ.
This is the promise God made. Now he's fulfilled it. Christ
has come. These are the latter days. God
has spoken by his son. And not only is he the message,
but he is the messenger The messenger, look at Malachi chapter three.
Who was it that came preaching the gospel? It was the one who
is the message of the gospel and the messenger of it, Malachi. The book of Malachi is the last
book of the Old Testament scriptures. And between the book of Malachi
and Matthew, there's a space of some 300 years, 300 plus years.
300 years, the nation of Israel had
no word from God. The prophets had spoken, but
their message was incomplete. The last days had not come, and
they waited and they waited. 300 years, no message from God.
No prophet sent from God. The only way we can hear from
God is if God comes to us. He has to send His word by His
messenger. And so here in Malachi 3, at
the close of the Old Testament scriptures, God promises to send
his messenger. Listen. Behold, I, this is the
Lord, Jehovah speaking, I will send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before me. Isn't that amazing? And the Lord,
whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the
messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in. Behold, he shall
come, saith the Lord of hosts." Jehovah God is promising that
he would send John the Baptist before his own coming, before
God's coming. God the Son would come. He is
Jehovah, one with the Father and with the Spirit. And he would
come, and he would be the messenger of the covenant. But before he
came, he said he would send another messenger before his face. And
what did Jesus say about John the Baptist? He said, the law
and the prophets, the law and the prophets were until John. You see, the law and the prophets
were until John. And what happened when John came?
Then the messenger of the covenant came. Then the message that he
preached came. Then the fulfillment of those
promises that a seed would come, that a sacrifice would be made,
that his people would be justified by him. and that he would be
the king, the prophet, the high priest, and this new covenant
would be established, not like the old covenant. And so all
of this is brought to bear in introduction in these first verses
in the book of Hebrews. In these last days, the days
of Messiah, just before the temple was destroyed, because the Hebrew
writer in Hebrews 8.13 refers to the fact that these things
are now about to fade away. The temple at Jerusalem, all
the sacrifices, and the priesthood ceased when that temple was destroyed
in 70 AD. There were no more kings, no
more governors in the land of Judah. In fact, the nation of
Israel ceased to be a nation at that time. They ceased. And
for 1,900 years, there was no mention of a nation called Israel
on the earth. Amazing. God put an end to the
old covenant because the new had come. The new fulfilled the
old. There was no more need for the
old covenant. It was done away. All of the
sacrifices ended, like Daniel prophesied in Daniel 9.24. The
sacrifices would cease. Christ would come. He would make
atonement for sins. He would establish everlasting
righteousness. And this is the time. God, who
at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his son. And he's the messenger. What
is the message that Christ speaks? He said, I don't speak of myself.
I speak the words of my father. But what were the words of his
father? They were about him. How did the Lord Jesus reveal
his father? He revealed himself. He preached
himself. And this was the message God
gave him to preach. Look at John chapter 14. John
chapter 14. He says the same thing. Remember,
Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it. He saw it clearly. And he was glad. And so we also
see it. And we're glad. John 14. He says,
let not your heart be troubled. Verse 1, you believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself
that where I am, there you may be also. He's referring to his
work as our high priest. He's going to go. He's going
to prepare for them, as our high priest, a place in God. And whither
I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?
Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man
cometh unto the Father but by me. What's the message? The message of God the Father,
seen in Christ the Son. The message is about Christ.
He's the way to the Father. He's the truth from the Father
and about the Father. And he is the life, the eternal
life we have in God. You see how he preaches himself
here? Look at the next verse. Verse seven. If you had known
me, you should have known my father also. You can't know the
father unless you know him. There's no way to the father
but through him. If you had known me, you should have known my
father also, and from henceforth you know him and have seen him.
Philip said to him, Lord, show us the father, and it sufficeth
us. Jesus said to him, have I been
so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
He that has seen me, like Abraham, has seen the Father. And how
sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. You see how the words the father
gave to him to reveal himself are the words he gave to Christ
to speak of himself as the way, the truth, and the life? And
you see that has how his message of himself was really a revelation
of his father? And so you see the words in Hebrews
chapter 1 verse 1 and 2, in these last days God has spoken to us
by his son and in his son are God the Father's words to us
about Christ and they're his words, his message to us of himself
in Christ. God the Father uttered his Son. He spoke the word of God, the
living word. How can we describe God with
words of men? God himself spoke the word, the
message when he sent his Son. In Him is life, and this is the
testimony of God's word. And so every word of God, every
word of God directs us to His living word, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we cannot know Him We can't
know Christ but through the gospel, and we can't know the Father
but through Christ. And so God has given us this.
Back to Hebrews chapter 1. So Christ, the Lord Jesus, is
the message, and he's the messenger. What did he say in Isaiah 45?
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. What
did God the Father say when Moses who gave the law, and Elijah,
who was the chief prophet, when they were both together on the
Mount of Transfiguration and Jesus was transfigured. Before
the disciples, Peter, James, and John, what did God the Father
speak from heaven then when Peter suggested, let's make three tabernacles?
No! This is my beloved son. Hear
ye him. That's the message, you see.
And it's so important, it's so authoritative, because the word
of the Father, speaking from heaven, points to Christ, his
son, in whom and by whom this message comes. Hear ye him. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord? And then was confirmed unto us
by them that heard him. You see? And so the message begins
with this. Everything those Old Testament
prophets said, all of that Mosaic covenant given at Sinai, and
all the kings and the priests and the prophets then, all come
to a point, to point us to Christ. And now the Old Testament prophets
and priests and kings have ceased. And the only message there is,
is the full message which Christ himself has delivered, which
Christ himself has accomplished. And the promises in that covenant
that God promised have been obtained by the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It points us all to him. Let's read the next two verses. The same one who has has spoken
to us in these last days, has spoken to us by his son. He tells
us who the son is. Whom he hath appointed heir of
all things. By whom also he made the worlds. So he's the creator, isn't he?
This is Hebrews 1 verse 2. The creator of the universe. Everything created was created
by him. He's the sovereign Lord, the sovereign God, who Christ,
being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His
person, there's no difference between God the Father and God
the Son, exactly the same. upholding all things by the word
of his power. This is the one he's speaking
about here. Now listen to what he says next, because this, they're
meant to be held in comparison, to underscore the significance
of what follows. When he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
Do you see the massive unspeakable, incomprehensible condescension
of God the Son, who came in our nature and took our sins and
bore them as his own and then washed us from our sins in his
own blood and sat down, having accomplished that work, in completion
and in perfection. Do you see it? You see the message
that comes to us? Unto you, Paul said in Acts 13,
is preached by this man the forgiveness of sins. Amazing, isn't it? Incredible. We cannot know God
until we hear that message, until we as sinners understand that
in Him we have been forgiven all of our sins. And I wrote
a little note about this in the bulletin today if you want to
follow up there. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we know that you
are the Lord, you are God. Scripture says so of you. Your
Father speaks in confirmation from heaven of you. We must hear
you. You yourself have spoken. You
yourself have spoken of yourself, of your eternal appointments.
of the covenant that you made with your father for your people
and of your fulfilling that covenant in your own blood to accomplish
our salvation to obtain it for us and to give it to us and from
your throne on high to ensure that everyone every heir of salvation
every heir of the promises every child of promise is given that
in full because you as a testator have died and now live to give
all that you promised and secured for us by your precious blood. Thank you, dear Lord. Help us
as we consider these things, that it would mean the world
to us. It would mean life to us. We
wouldn't neglect it. We wouldn't be indifferent to
it. We would lay hold on it with a life grip and find that you
have already laid hold on us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.