I'm going to endeavor to continue
on in the book of Hebrews. In this introduction and overview, I said, well, was it two weeks ago? I
guess now. The main emphasis I want to put
on this introduction, this orientation overview is the word better. And it starts off in Hebrews
one, we started off with Jesus Christ is better than the angels. Now also, I'll throw this in
for free. In the verse three verses, it says that he's better
than the prophets. He's better than the angels.
And it goes on, it says he's better than Moses. It says he's
better than Joshua. And he's better than Aaron. Because
in Moses, Joshua, and Aaron, you have the deliverer, the law,
and then the one who brought him into the promised land, Joshua,
and you have Aaron, the high priest. Well, all three of those
were a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's better than all
three of them put together. He's better than all. Then we
went on and talked about we were persuaded better things of you
and things that accompany salvation. For the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing of a better hope did, and he's our better
hope. And by so much Jesus was made
the surety of a better testament. And also by how much the mediator
of a better covenant, because it was established on better
promises. So the next thing I wanna get
into is in Hebrews chapter nine and verse 23. Hebrews nine and 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 better sacrifices than these. Now what he's talking
to, alluding to here, starts in verse 19. which says, for
when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people, according
to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water
and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all
the people saying, this is the blood of the Testament, which
God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood,
both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And
here's the point, in almost all things, are by the law perched
with blood and without, here's the thing, without shedding of
blood, there is no remission. And that remains true to this
day and on infinitum. The Old Testament pieces, the
tabernacle, the vessels, the bowls, the table, the altars,
everything was sprinkled with blood. What, for purification. Because without the blood, there
is no remission. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. The Old Testament tabernacle
and all the vessels were sprinkled with blood, and those were the
pattern pointing toward the reality. Types and shadows of the true. But now we come to the real.
The purification of the real takes the better sacrifice. Now I realize, and this is something
we talked a little bit about the other day, it does say here
with better sacrifices than these, and it is in the plural. But there's only one sacrifice
that's better. There's only one offering that
is better. Now, the results, the sacrifice, is singular, but
the results of that sacrifice are plural. What are some of the results
of the shedding of this blood? Our Lord's blood, the blood of
God. Justification. We are justified
by his blood. Redemption. He has purchased
us. by his own blood, by his own
blood. And we have received forgiveness
of sins and forgiveness of sin through his blood. There's only one sacrifice. Now
that sacrifice was offered Calvary's Hill. He shed his blood there. Now that offering Proof of that
offering, when he resurrected, he took to the Father and he
entered into the heavenly places, not made with hands. But that
just showed the acceptance of the offering to the Father. Jesus Christ is the better sacrifice. He offered himself to God, body
and blood. He offered himself to God, his
life, and his death, and his works. He is the better sacrifice. He is the true and living burnt
offering, where all of it, all of that burnt offering goes to
God. You get none of it. I get none
of it. The high priest didn't get anything
of it. It all went up to God for a sweet savor, why? because
it was showing forth the complete sacrifice of the Son of God in
type. And that was an, yes, it's an
atonement for you, it says that. Yes, it's an atonement for you,
but you don't get nothing out of it. Not that offering, not
that sacrifice. It all goes to God. Why? Because he's the offended party. That's the one whom we have sinned
against That's the one in whose eyes we are sin. And he is the
one, our Lord, Jesus Christ, the true burnt offering, offered
himself without spot to God, not to man. Everything clean has been cleaned
by this sacrifice, this better sacrifice. The blood of the New
Testament. What's it say about the blood? Look in the Old Testament, the
life is in the blood. So if the blood's separate from
the body, the only way to do that is death. Jesus Christ came
down, God became man in order to shed his perfect blood, in
order to die for the sins of his people. The life is in the
blood, his precious blood. The better sacrifice, everything
that's going to be cleansed is going to be cleansed by his blood. Everything that is cleansed now
is cleansed by his blood, but everything that's going to be
cleansed is because of his blood. The new heaven and the new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness is only going to happen because
of this better sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The only way this universe
can be clean is if he cleanses it. And he's promised to do so. It's a better sacrifice. Next
look at Hebrews 10 and verse 34, please. For ye had compassion of me and
my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing
in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring
substance. This is one of them passages
that makes me think maybe Paul wrote this book. Because he was always thanking
people for the things they did for him while he was in bondage,
while he was in jail. Now maybe somebody else wrote
it for him. There are people who talk about, well, his grammar's
a little different in the Greek. I have no idea. I really don't. I do know that the doctrine in
here goes exactly in line with the doctrine of the Apostle Paul.
I do know everything in here also goes in line with the doctrine
of the Apostle Peter and John and everybody else in the scripture
and all the Old Testament prophets. But here's the thing, that part
doesn't matter. He's thanking these people, whoever
they are, these Hebrews, that they took care of him while he
was in bonds. You understand, this is one of
those things where we talked last week, we are persuaded better
things of you. And what are the better things
of you? They're the things that accompany salvation. They're not the things you do
to get salvation. because you can't do anything to get salvation.
But, if God has saved you, there are things that accompany salvation,
and one of them is good works you take care of your brethren. James mentions that a time or
two in his book. If your brother comes to you,
is naked and destitute, and you say, be ye warm to be ye filled,
You don't know what's going on. It's nothing, and it means nothing.
Not in all reality, because if he's your brother, you should
take care of him. If it's your sister, you're to
take care of her. If it's a child of God, and you
know it's a child of God, and you're a child of God, that makes
you brethren, and makes Christ your elder brother. But here
he's telling them, You took joyfully the spoiling of your goods. You
got rid of your own stuff. And you know, you're gonna have
a better and an enduring substance yet to come. If in this life
only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable. Because
there's a better place to come. There's a better place to come.
There is a better and an enduring substance. Substance. We've been given all things in
Christ here now. But there's more things coming.
Thank God there's more things coming. This mortal's gonna put
on immortality. This corruption's gonna put on
incorruption. And that's something I have no
idea about. But I'm really looking forward
to it, Walter. Every time my knees start acting up, I look
more forward to it. Every time I get like I'm feeling
sick, I look more forward to it. And every day I get older,
and I do get older, you look forward to it. There's a better
and an enduring substance to this life we have here. We have more to look forward
to than we will ever have than the richest man in this world
has now. I see him on TV. They got multimillion
dollar homes now. Back when I was growing up, it
had just been a million dollar home. That was unthought of at the
time. It's nothing. It's nothing compared
to the riches which are in Christ Jesus. And that he, we are joint
heirs with him. We are heirs of God who owns
the universe. We're gonna reign on this earth
as kings and priests. That's what it says. Now you wanna fight about when
it's gonna happen? I don't care. As long as it happens. It's gonna happen when he wants
it to. And whether I'm alive or I'm dead and I come back,
either way, I win. That part doesn't matter. Don't
deny the truth of God. Don't support your theology over
the scripture. We get too much of that. I don't
wanna do it. Because I've seen way too many
people do it. We have more to look forward
to than we will ever have in this world. And what we do have,
and we've got a lot in this world, but it's nothing compared to
that better substance, that better and enduring substance. I like that. What'd he say? What did he tell his disciples?
I go. to prepare a place, wait for
it though, for you, for you. Now those words are the same
words to you if you know him. That's the way I read scripture.
He's talking to his disciples and he says it's for you. Well,
if I continue, I'm his disciple indeed, those words are to me.
And that's the good and the bad. But that's the point. There is
a better and an enduring substance. We know it. The world's got this,
and that's all. And that's all. And that's why
you see the strife, the envy, and I'm not saying we're immune
to that, but it's a different kind. And probably, hopefully,
to a different degree. You understand, I could be rich.
I think I'm smart enough for it to figure out how to play
the system. You understand, it's easier to
get rich if you're crooked. I'm just saying it the way it
is. It's also easier to get rich if you're willing to work 70
hours a week. I'm not that willing. Okay, part of that is that I'm
lazy. The other part of it is I'm not
dedicating myself to that much for nothing. other than my Lord
Jesus Christ. And I don't dedicate myself enough
to him. But you understand, I want enough to get by. That's all
I want. And maybe in three years to retire.
That's what I'm crossing my fingers for. But that's up to him too. That's up to him too. But that's not my hope. That's
not what I'm working for. That's not why I'm here. I'm
here because of him. And in him, I have a better and
a more enduring substance. I've got it now and I got more
to come. And that's for us. I go to prepare a place for you.
And right now you're in the place that he wants you. And you'll
be going to the place that he wants you to go. Guaranteed. All right, next one is Hebrews
chapter 11 and verse 16. This is a good one too. I go
to prepare a place for you. But now they desire a better
country, that is an heavenly, an heavenly. Wherefore God is
not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for
them A city, a city. You know, there's a city whose
builder and maker is God. A better and more enduring substance. I like that, I do. There is that
better place. A better place. Right here in this one, it says
the word country's added in, and then it does talk about a
city. But in a couple verses behind, it talks about a country.
How can it be heavenly? Well, the way it can be heavenly
is you look at the builder and the maker. Talking about Abraham
in verse eight, by faith Abraham when he was called to go out
into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance
obeyed and he went out not knowing whither he went. By faith he
sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling
in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise. For, verse 10, for he looked
for a city which had foundation. Oh, now, yeah. Christ told that parable about
the gods that built. If you didn't build on a foundation,
you didn't have nothing. But if you built on the foundation,
and it's his foundation, you got it all. Whose builder and
maker is God. That's what he was looking for.
That's what he was looking for. He lived in tents all his life.
Abraham didn't build a house. They built houses later, others
did, but Abraham didn't. He was looking for a city whose
builder and maker is God. Now, please see this. In this chapter 11, they call
the hall of heroes, the book of heroes, the chapter of heroes.
By faith, by faith, by faith, right? All that writing is in
the past tense. Speaking of what Abel had done,
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, all had done, now they did it by faith.
But it's all stuff in the past, all stuff that was done. But
in verse 16, deliberately, deliberately, the writer of Hebrews, Paul or
whoever, but now, who? These dead people. They ain't
dead. They're not dead. They're not
dead. But now, they desire a better
country. And that is all in the present
tense. That's the way he wrote it. While this man was writing,
however many years ago that was, couple thousand, give or take
a few, Abraham, Abel, Abraham, Noah, still alive. And they still desired this better
country. Present tense. They're still
looking for it. It's coming, it's coming. They desire a better country
that is, and heavenly, whose builder and maker is God. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. And they desire this better place
now, and so do I. And you better, you better. If you don't know there's a better
place somewhere, you don't know Christ. You understand? Just forget about the city who's
builder and maker is God. By his side is a better place. At his feet is a better place. And he's coming again. And I'm
gonna tell you something, if he come and leave this world
the way it is, that's still better. Because he's here. And he's gonna gather his saints
together. And you can go pre, post, all, whatever you wanna
do, I don't care. So shall we ever be with the
Lord. That's scripture too. And I'll believe that for I'll
believe you. That's the way it is. I believe
the scripture before I believe a man. Yeah, I don't know what's wrong
with you and me. I was coming up this morning, because I thought
about this where I said it, that people don't let scripture get
in the way of their theology. They don't. And I was coming
up this morning, I was listening to Henry Mann on my phone through
the speakers in my car. I have technology. And I can
use it most of the time, correctly. But then Henry read this verse
and said, call no man upon this earth your father. And it hit
me, you know. And I've seen this before and
I've said it before. But it hit me right there. Catholics don't
let scripture get in the way of their theology. Because what
is their title for their priests? You call them Father John. I
had Father Harry, Father Charlie when I was growing up. Call no
man father upon this earth. And I'm talking to myself, driving
up the road. Yeah, they don't let theology,
you know, let scripture get in the way of their theology ever.
And it shows in a lot of other places too, but that's okay. Even in heaven with the Lord
Jesus Christ, Abel, Noah, Abraham, and I'm gonna
go ahead and include Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Rahab, the
harlot? The harlot, Rahab. They desire
this better place. That's amazing to me, that's
amazing to me. Those who died in faith are also
waiting for the fulfillment of those better promises which were
secured by our better hope. who's the better sacrifice. And he's the surety of a better
testament. They and will, and they will,
we will see this, this better place. In the fullness of time. because God has prepared it.
There is a better place. There is a better place. Same
chapter, chapter 11, verse 35. Women received their dead, raised
to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance,
that they might obtain a better resurrection. There's a better
resurrection. There's a better resurrection.
Now, get this. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. And there's a better resurrection. How can that be? How can that be? Well, 1 Corinthians 15 verse
42 says, so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised, not dishonor, in
glory. In glory. That's a better resurrection. It's sown in weakness. It's raised
on strength and power. Power. It's sown a natural body,
it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there
is a spiritual body. And guess which one is the better
resurrection? It ain't the natural, it's the spiritual body. In corruption,
that's the better resurrection. The resurrection is better than
what preceded it. Because we had to die. We're
gonna die. Unless he comes first, we're
gonna die. Most of y'all are around my age,
you're getting over. The older you get, the closer
you come. That's what it says. Earl used to say it, the old
must die, the young may. but there's a better resurrection
for those who know the better sacrifice. That's the whole point. There you go. There's a better
resurrection. There's a resurrection of the
dead you don't want no part of. I'll get to it, I'll get to it.
But thank you for the reminder, it never hurts. There's a resurrection
of the dead you don't want to be a part of. One of the great
white throne of judgment you don't want any part of. You already
wanna be there ahead of time. There's a better resurrection.
There's a better resurrection. Yeah, I like this stuff. And it's based on better promises. It's by a better testament, secured,
our surety, a better sacrifice, a better testator, Jesus Christ
is better. Jesus Christ is better. There's
a resurrection of the dead, and then there's gonna be the second
death. That's what it says. And from that second death, there
is no resurrection spoken of anywhere in the scriptures. Lots
of people can speculate on it. Lots of people have speculated
on it. There are prophecy conferences about it. I can tell you the difference.
between the better resurrection and that other resurrection.
It's Jesus Christ. He maketh thee to differ or you
don't differ. That's just the way it is. That's
just the way it is. Who maketh thee to differ? If
it's not God, it's not anybody. Because you are no different.
Naturally, we are no different. Thankfully, this is not a natural
resurrection. This is a better resurrection. Ladies and gentlemen, brothers
and sisters in Christ, here and those who have gone on before,
there is a better resurrection. That's part of that better substance.
as part of that enduring substance. Because if it's raised in corruption,
there ain't gonna be no more corruption. If it's raised in glory, there's
not gonna be no disharmony. If it's raised in power, there
is going to be no more weakness. And if it's raised a spiritual
body, you don't have to worry about the natural man anymore.
Amen. You don't have to. Right now
we got both. Now the world's only got one.
They just got the natural man. We've got the old man and the
new man. And just because of that, we
get the battle. You know, I mean, I don't want
to go back to what it was before, but I know what I am. on both sides. I find therefore in my body,
what? Warfare. Warfare. The flesh against
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Oh wretched man that I am. Not talking about the one I was.
That was wretched too. But oh wretched man that I am
who shall deliver me from the body of this death. I thank Christ
who is better that there's a better resurrection. Verse 40, same chapter. 11 verse 40. Wait a minute, that ain't right.
There it is, I'm sorry, yeah it is. God having provided some better
thing for us, for us. that they without us should not
be made perfect. Hey, those that died in faith,
those who obtained a good report through faith received not this
promise yet. They desire it. They desire it. They're desiring it now, just
as we are desiring it now. Guess what? We are all going
to get it together. Together. Guess what? There's
one fold and there's one shepherd. There's one fold and there's
one shepherd. There's not a Jewish fold and
a Gentile fold. He's taken away that middle wall
of partition. There's one fold and one shepherd
and guess what? God has provided some better
thing for us also. Whose tree are we grafted into
as Gentiles? There's only one tree. There's
only one tree. There's only one fold. Read the
parable, there's only one vine. There's branches, but there's
only one vine. And read the Bible, there's only
one Christ, and he's better. and he is going to have a complete
body over which he is the head. There's not gonna be one piece
missing. It's not gonna be a schism between them. It's better for us that we have
the gospel of Jesus Christ. the one who fulfilled the Old
Testament prophecies, the one who obtained eternal redemption
for us. Who's the us there? Old Testament
and New Testament. What? By faith Abel offered a
more excellent circumstance. Faith in who? Faith in who? Christ. Christ. What did he know about Christ?
I don't know, but I do know he offered the blood of a lamb to
God as a substitute and as an offering for sin. And Abel was accepted by God
and his sacrifice. Remember that order. Abel was
accepted and his sacrifice. Cain was not accepted and his
sacrifice. Guess what? God accepted Abel before that
sacrifice. That sacrifice of the lamp did
not make God accept him. Christ did. Christ did. God the Father chose Abel before
the foundation of the world and he chose him in Christ. Yes, God chose us before the
foundation of the world because he knew what we would choose. That's
who he is. There's no difference in the
salvation of the Old Testament saints and the New Testament
saints. It's by faith in Christ. Whether you had faith that he
was coming or now we have faith that he did come, we know. We look back and we look forward. Guess what, they look back and
they look forward. And right now they're desiring
that better place. And we're all gonna get there
together. Together. The conclusion. Hebrews 12 and
verse 24. I know I'm going on a bit. And to Jesus. the mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. What does the blood of Jesus
Christ speak of? Better things. Better things. Remember I said, one sacrifice,
but there's many better things. One sacrifice, one offering,
one time for sin forever, but there are many results, many
results. Very quickly, his blood speaks
of justification. I said it earlier, we are justified
by his blood. Justified. righteous and holy
in the sight of God. What? By his blood. By his blood. His blood speaks of redemption. He purchased his people with
his own blood. God gave his blood for his church. He purchased us, and that's Old
Testament and new. This is the only sacrifice that
matters. This is the one sacrifice, and the only sacrifice that matters,
and he purchased his whole one fold with his blood. He justified his whole fold with
his blood, and by His blood, through His blood, that whole
fold has received total and complete forgiveness of sins. To where as we can stand, we
can stand in Him, but we can stand before God and not die
and be seen as holy, righteous, and good in Jesus Christ who
is better. The blood of Abel cried out unto
God, but it cried out for justice. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. The blood of Christ is of forgiveness,
reconciliation, justification, sanctification, redemption. It's much, much better things
than the blood of Abel. Where do we end up? We started
with Jesus Christ is better than the angels. We end up with the better. Jesus Christ
is better. He is the better, period. That's right. The mediator of
the new covenant and his blood of which speaketh better things. We are justified by his blood.
We have eternal redemption through his blood. We have the forgiveness
of sins and we have peace through his blood. We are sanctified
by his blood. That's in Hebrews 13, 12. And
without his blood, we have nothing. There's nothing. No promise,
better or otherwise. We have death without his blood.
We've earned it. We've earned it. And I was talking
to Walter on the phone the other day, last Saturday, when we realized
we weren't gonna make it last Sunday. And I was thinking, this
is the gospel of Hebrews right here. Jesus Christ is better. We preach
him, that's the gospel. He's the gospel. I got an answer
for you. What I wanna know is do you know
the question? You understand? Or at least to say, if you have
an interest in these things. That's what he meant. The answer's
not gonna do you any good if you don't know the question.
Sir, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And I said the Lord Jesus Christ
because I meant the Lord Jesus Christ. We've got an answer. We've got the gospel here. And
it's not us, it's him. Do you know the question? If
you know the question, rejoice a little bit. Rejoice a little
bit, because not everybody knows the problem. Most people don't think they
have a problem. I know I got a bunch of problems,
but I know the answer. Jesus Christ is better. As long
as you keep that in mind, Hebrews will open up to you a bit. It's
tough, I understand. There's some theology in here,
but it's scriptural theology. It agrees with every other epistle. If you got problems with every
other epistle, you can have problems with Hebrews too, I can guarantee
you that. Because there is no better message than the better
Christ. than Jesus Christ who is better.
There is no better gospel for sinners, Walter. And the gospel is for sinners.
And sinners alone. Because the only gospel that
saves sinners is his gospel. And the gospel is this, he saved
sinners. Hebrews 13, five. This will give you something
good on the way out. Let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content with such things as ye have. For he hath said, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. Why? He's better, he's better. How can we preach a secure salvation? He's not going anywhere. And
I'll tell you something, he's not going anywhere, you're not
going anywhere if you're in him. It'll never happen. Heavenly
Father, thank you again for this time and this place. Lord, thank
you for your son, our Lord Jesus Christ. by whom you have given
us all things, even himself. Be with Walter as he comes to
preach your word. Give your gospel the power. Give
your gospel free reign. And don't let your word return
unto you void. I know you won't. In Christ's
name we pray, amen.