Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church AM Service, 9/28/08

The year the King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord locked and lifted up, sitting upon his throne.

The cherubim and the seraphim surrounded the throne, and they called out to one another, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

So we have the opportunity of entering somewhat into that kind of praise, that first hymn this morning.

Hymn number one. Hymn number 87, Holy, Holy, Holy. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.

So Father, as we open Your Word this day, we would ask that You would give us of Your Spirit to understand, that You would cause us to recognize that we handle the very

Word of God, that You would increase our faith and our understanding, that we would recognize that You are meeting with us, that Your Word remains alive and powering.

May we rejoice in our possession of it. If we have grown apathetic about it, may

You rekindle that fire within our hearts, so we may bring proper honor and glory to You.

And so protect us, Father, during this hour from distraction. May Your Word go forth with clarity.

May You be honored in all that is done in this place. We pray these things in the name of our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. As we continue in our worship, please take your candles and turn to pin number 269.

Pin number 269, let us sing the glorious things of the

Archbishop. 269. Stand together.

Glorious things of Thee are spoken, Zion, city of our

God, He whose work cannot be broken, formed before His own abode.

On the rock of ages founded, what can shake

Thy sure repose? With salvation's walls surrounded,

Thou mayst dwell at the light of day.

See the streets of living waters, streaming from eternal love.

Well supply Thy sons and daughters, and all fear of one

Who can paint well such a river. Their thirst will quench, grace will spark the

Lord. From each habitation the great, see the twilight fire appear

For a glory and a covering, showing that the

Lord is near. Thus derive slavery from Zion's city, by through grace a never -end.

Painting is the worldliest pleasure, all

His loaves in love have shown. Solid joys and lasting treasure, one by Zion's children known.

Amen. You may be seated. Chairman, if you may please, in your scriptures to the books of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 1.

Hebrews chapter 1. Let's once again ask the

Lord's blessing upon us. Indeed, our Heavenly Father, we do ask that now you would, by your

Spirit, grant us understanding and insight into your Word. May we have an obedient spirit, and may we be desirous, as obedient children, to hear from you.

May we be pleased by your Spirit to enlighten and guide us at this time. In Christ's name.

It was my intention, even in arriving here today, to seek to cover all of Hebrews chapter 1 in the two sermons today.

But as I reviewed the text, as I considered some of the necessity of providing some background,

I decided I'm just not going to hurry myself. So if we don't get through the first chapter today, that's perfectly fine.

I'm just not going to rush. There is, in this book, such tremendous wisdom.

And indeed, I was, in my reading, was excited to consider some of the words of one of the commentators.

He pointed out that the words of Hebrews were well known by Clement of Rome.

Now, Clement of Rome is considered, it's the name of an epistle. Clement was one of the multiple elders in the city of Rome, somewhere toward the end of the first century.

And some even say that Clement is even earlier than that. And this epistle is quite familiar with the book we look at today, the book of Hebrews.

Now, why is that relevant? Well, obviously, it shows us that the book of Hebrews is an early writing.

We seem, in looking at it, to even come to the conclusion that the temple sacrifices were still ongoing at this time.

Which would mean that it's written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 7.

And so we have here an epistle written within the lifetime of the eyewitnesses of the ministry of our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But you will notice, there is no name attached to the epistle to the

Hebrews. It does not say, I, Paul, an apostle of the

Lord Jesus Christ. There is no name, and as many of you are probably aware, there has been much speculation down through history, some of it almost humorous, as to who the writer to the epistle of Hebrews is.

The early church seemed to believe that it was Paul. The earliest collection we have of Paul's writings, around the year

AD 200, contains Hebrews along with the rest of Paul's writings.

And so many in the early church believed that Paul was the one who wrote Hebrews. Well, why might anyone even question that?

Well, if you look at the language of the text, and you can, I think, probably discern this in English translations, it is clearly discernible in the original language.

Whoever wrote Hebrews did not write like Paul. In fact, if you were to put the difficulty level of the language on a chart of, say, 1 to 10,

Hebrews and Luke and Acts would be at the very top of that chart. It is the most difficult, most classical type of Greek in the

New Testament. And Paul wouldn't be there. Now, Ephesians is a little more formal.

There's more of a range to his writings, but it's not his style. Some have theorized, well, the reason for that is it was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic by Paul, and then

Luke translated it into Greek. That's why it sounds like Luke's style and form.

All sorts of other possibilities have been suggested. Apollos has been suggested because he was mighty in the scriptures and things like that.

Whoever it was, they were clearly familiar with Paul. There are all sorts of parallels and similarities between what this epistle says and that which we read elsewhere in Paul.

But, once again, it is not the author that makes scripture scripture.

I mentioned Wednesday evening in the study that, as Paul himself said, scripture is theanoustos, it is

God breathed, and it comes forth from the mouth of God. It is the Spirit of God that makes something scripture, not who wrote it.

And even though Peter says that men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, yes, men spoke.

Someday we're going to find out. Maybe the Lord will have a big meeting, the first day in heaven, and he's going to gather us all together and say, alright, everybody who thought it was

Paul over here, and everybody who thought it was Apollos over here, and everybody who didn't have a clue in the middle, and we'll see who's right.

And then a curtain will be drawn back and out will walk, well, I don't know either.

So we'll find out, maybe someday in heaven, and we'll find out who the writer to the

Hebrews was. But that doesn't matter, because it's not the person that makes the scripture, it is the

Spirit of God and the consistency of that revelation with what has come before.

And that, I think, is one of the reasons why this book seems to be such a closed book to many. Some of you who have been here for many years remember that many years ago,

I preached a series where I went through Hebrews 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. And in doing that,

I once again was drawn to this tremendous book. And you'll recall I made the comment that I think one of the reasons that for many modern day

Christians it seems like such a difficult book, it seems so difficult for us to follow, is because of its tremendous dependence upon the

Old Testament. I have a Greek text in front of me, and this particular Greek text uses bold font to show you when the

Old Testament is being cited. And if you have an English translation that in some way indicates that the

Old Testament is being quoted, maybe puts it in italics or sets it off in some way, thumb through the book of Hebrews, and you will see that every single chapter has quote after quote after quote from the

Old Testament. And the writer does not stop each time to give you a context.

The writer assumes, because it's being written to the Hebrews, and hence this would have been their upbringing.

This would have been what they were taught from the time they were young. It would have been even more than in our own nation back in the 1700s, 1800s, how people were taught to read from the

Bible. In the school system, you would know the Bible. And so the literature back then, people could make just passing references to Bible stories, and everybody understood it because it was the common possession of everyone.

Biblical literature, biblical understanding, that's not the case anymore. Not even in the Christian church.

But certainly among the Jews, even more so was the case. To know the

Tanakh, the Torah, the Nevi 'im, and Pentateuch, the law, the writings, and the prophets.

And so the writer, writing to the Hebrews, doesn't have to stop every time and say, now remember in a certain book of Scripture, remember what the context was, and this is what happened.

No. The writer can just simply quote even little snippets, especially from the

Psalter, assuming that his audience will automatically understand what it is he's saying because they are familiar, so intimately familiar, with the biblical text.

So he doesn't have to give references, he doesn't have to give backgrounds, and that's why so many

Christians today just look at the book and they have no idea why this would be relevant to their lives today.

They have no concept whatsoever. And as such, we miss out on a book that I think contains some of the clearest teaching on the deity of Christ, the clearest teaching on the purpose and function of the cross, the clearest teaching on atonement, the clearest teaching on intercession, all to be found in these words.

And so I really do believe that one of the reasons that we have such a shaky, sentimental, emotional view of the cross today is because Hebrews is a closed book to most evangelicals.

Most evangelicals simply look at that book and they just move on, I'd rather read John. But indeed, as I have been just seeking to be prepared to open up this first chapter,

I have been challenged. As I'm about to read it to you, you will notice that I'll be reading it fairly slowly.

Most of you know that I seek to try to read only from the original language text, I do not have an

English text in front of me right now. So I'll be translating as I'm going along, and it's not easy.

It's a little bit more difficult than what I'm used to trying to work through, and that is reflected in the

English text as well. But as I have been seeking to do this, every phrase, especially in this opening section, has stopped me in my tracks and has caused me to go, my, what a treasure this work is.

I really would hope that even this brief amount of time that we have together would encourage you to spend some time in this work.

It is so beautiful, and it is so deep, and as I read it,

I run across difficulties. I think one other reason that we're so afraid of it is because, well, isn't

Hebrews that one with Hebrews 6 in it? And isn't Hebrews 10, you know, trampling underfoot the blood of the

Son of God, and no forgiveness of sins? I've heard a lot of controversy about stuff in Hebrews, and so I'm going back to jogging again.

And it is in working through those difficulties, if we avoid those difficulties, not only does it cripple us in giving an answer for our faith, but it's in working through them that we begin to see the depth of the harmony and consistency of the

Word of God. As most of you know, I work as an apologist. I deal with a lot of people who question the

Scriptures and question the Word of God. And a lot of times, Christians will come up to me, and maybe they have gotten into some apologetic conversations they shouldn't have gotten into.

Maybe they have been doing some reading in liberal theologians, and their faith is teetering.

And they will ask, how is it that you know these things?

You know about this problem and that problem, and yet you remain firm in your faith in the inspiration of the text of Scripture.

How is that? And it's difficult to give an answer, because the answer has come from experience.

The answer has come from 25 years now of being hit with these things, going back to the

Word of God, seeing how these things are to be answered, and seeing this consistency over time in the text of Scripture.

And seeing how often there is a temptation for me to puff myself up as a creature, and sit in judgment of God, but if I would just remain in some sense humble before the

Word of God, I could see, I could find a way of seeing the consistency.

It didn't always happen at one time. Sometimes it would take some time, there had to be some patience.

A lot of people get very impatient, I want to answer right now. But it was in working through it, and struggling through these things, and doing this over and over again, not just in response to one group, but to so many different attacks, that over that time period,

I can testify to you, I can't communicate this to you, but I can testify to you, that I have seen such a beautiful consistency.

Think about this book that lies in your lap. Forty different authors, fifteen hundred years, spread all across the known world at that time.

Authors with different interests, and different backgrounds, different political situations, different languages.

The world changed a lot in fifteen hundred years. Think of all the empires that rose and fell.

The political situation changed, technology changed, warfare changed.

Forty authors, fifteen hundred years. See in our day, what most people do is they say, oh well, because of all that, that's why you can't trust the

Bible. But it's in that that I see the Bible's greatest beauty. To see men who speak with different tongues, and with different words, and different styles, and yet there is superintending over all of that, the purpose of God.

Bring about this harmony. Is it a harmony that just lies on the surface?

No. But it's a harmony that you find when with an obedient heart, and humility before God, you're willing to listen to what the

Word of God says. That's when you find this beautiful harmony of the

Word of God. Like I said, I wish there was some way

I could open your heart up, and just pour that experience of mine into you. I can't.

It's something you have to experience. Every Christian, I believe, is called to be a student of this

Word throughout their life. There are so many things that we give so much of our time to, that it will be worth nothing in eternity, in comparison to knowing the

Word of God. And it's interesting that as we look at this first chapter, that's sort of where we start, is with the reality of God's revelation.

Now keep in mind, I know that not everyone has heard sermons preached five, or six, or ten years ago.

Everyone was now. And they're still on the website. I believe

Brother Royals has kept them up there. The series on Hebrews is there. At least Hebrews 6 -10.

But remember the key to understanding this book. The key to understanding this book is remembering to whom it is written.

The context in which it is written. The apostle, or whoever it is who's writing, is writing to Hebrew believers who are in danger of going back to Judaism.

We know historically, that great pressure was placed upon those early believers to go back to Judaism.

To go back to the temple. To go back and offer sacrifice upon the altar.

Down through history, you have seen how seriously the

Jewish community has responded to this idea of this false messiah, Jesus. Even the

Gospels tell us that those who were confessing Jesus were put out of the synagogue at that time.

We don't want you here. And we know that in many situations a person who was

Jewish, who was of the faith of Israel, who confessed

Jesus Christ to be the messiah, would be considered dead to that community.

Not only were they excluded from the worship, but they would be considered dead to their family.

No communication. Cut off. And so those who were embracing

Jesus as the messiah, great pressure was put upon them. If you would but come back.

And if you would but go to the temple and offer the sacrifice, why would that be so important?

Well, obviously it would be a statement that you continue to believe the ways of Moses, but most importantly, to offer that sacrifice would be to say that Jesus wasn't a sacrifice for sinners.

Jesus wasn't the one who gave himself so that God's people might have salvation.

This is that great act of apostasy referred to later in the book. And so what is the writer's purpose?

Well, he is seeking to encourage. He is seeking to reason with those who are experiencing this pressure to leave the

Christian faith, to go back to the old ways. And in essence, his argument is this. There's nothing to go back to.

And so he ransacks the Old Testament. The scriptures of the people of God.

He goes through all these scriptures and he says, alright, let's look at Jesus and let's look at what you have to offer.

Let's look at Jesus in comparison to angels. The Jews spoke much about angels.

Michael and Gabriel and others. And especially during the intertestamental period, a whole bunch of literature had grown up about these angels and about their roles in the world.

You want to talk about angels? First chapter. Jesus is superior to all the angels.

But we have the priesthood. Jesus is superior to the priesthood.

We have the high priest. We have the sacrifices. We have the tabernacle given by God. Now seen in the temple.

We have Moses and we have Abraham and we have Melchizedek. Jesus is superior to everyone.

In fact, he is the completion of everything Judaism has done to us.

Those were but shadows fulfilled in Christ. It's an argument.

It's an argument in the form of a letter, not a classical letter. You notice there's no, this is written to whom, from whom, etc.

Nothing like that. It just starts off, boom. At various times, in sundry manners in the past,

God spoke to us by the prophets. It starts at a common starting place, the existence of God's revelation and then begins immediately to demonstrate what?

The supremacy of Christ. That is his purpose all the way through the letter, all the way to the point where you get the hall of fame of faith and then those exhortations to godly living that so often come after the deep theology.

Same thing in the book of Romans. It's another reason why some people see a connection, these parallels between Romans and Hebrews in their form.

But this is an argument. It's meant to be a convincing argument. And when that is ignored, the results have always been rather ugly.

And so I want to look, as a part of our looking at the deity of Christ, we've been looking at the deity of Christ, we've looked at most of the main passages.

But I've mentioned to you a number of times. Hebrews chapter 1 is a wealth of references to the deity of Christ.

But I don't want to skip over the rest of what's there because I see so much of it as being so very important to us today.

So I want to go slowly. I want to dig deep into this text. And I say to those of you who are members of this church,

I know that you are accustomed to doing this kind of thing. I know it's counter -cultural. I know it's why we are the size we are.

That we consider this to be so important. But you have a treasure in your hands. You're going to take this treasure out through that door or that door, whichever way you're going today.

You're going to take this treasure and I want you to see it as a greater treasure than you ever have before.

I want you to be as excited about this book as I am. Some of you are going, well maybe not as excited as you get about things. But I want you to be excited about what is in this text.

Because I think it speaks to us today. There are a tremendous amount, a number of forces coming against us today seeking to cause us to abandon our confession.

To make us either leave the Christian faith completely or to be satisfied with an apathetic faith.

A faith that does not impact the way we think. A faith that does not impact the way we live. And so I think as we see how

God encouraged believers, then we ourselves can be encouraged.

So let's dig into the text. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1. Right off the bat.

In various ways and by various means at various times of old,

God spoke to the fathers in or by the prophets.

But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.

Whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also

He made the ages or the world, the created order. Who being the radiance, the reflection, the effulgence of His glory, and the character, the exact representation, the stamp of His very being,

His person. Bearing along all things by the word of His power when

He had made purification of our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the

Majesty on high. Having become so much greater the angels because He inherited so much better a name than they.

For to which of the angels did He ever say, You are my son.

Today I have begotten you. Psalm 27. And again,

I will be to you as a father and you will be to me as a son. 2 Samuel 7.

And when He again brings the firstborn into the inhabited world, He says,

Let all the angels of God worship Him. Psalm 97.

And indeed, to which of the angels has He ever said, The one making

His angels spirits and His ministers flames of fire. Psalm 104.

But to the Son, He says, Your throne,

O God, is forever and ever. And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. And for this reason,

God has anointed you. Your God has anointed you with the oil of rejoicing or gladness above your compatriots, your companions.

Isaiah 61, 1 and 3. And still to the

Son, this is said, You at the beginning, O Lord, laid the foundation of the earth.

And the heavens are the work of your hands. They shall perish, but you abide or remain.

They shall all as a garment grow old. And as an outer cloak, you shall roll them up.

And as a garment, they shall be changed. But you remain the same and your years will never fail or will never be exhausted.

Direct quotation, Psalm 102, 25 and 27. To which of the angels did

He ever say, Sit here at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

The great messianic psalm, Psalm 110. One Jesus even used it himself.

Are they not all ministering spirits sent to serve or minister to those who will inherit salvation?

Here is the first chapter of the book of Hebrews. Now just in passing,

I hope you saw the tremendous dependence upon the Old Testament.

The use of it and the first argument. Jesus is superior to the angels.

That's the overarching argument, but how He argues that and how He gets there hopefully will be very, very encouraging to us.

Going back to verse 1. God has spoken. God has spoken.

And verse 1 tells us that He spoke to the fathers,

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, by the prophets. Here is a clear, open assertion of the inspiration and validity of the

Old Testament text. You might say, yeah, everybody believes that, don't they?

No. No. One of the greatest battles in the early church was with Gnosticism.

Remember a few weeks ago we went through Colossians. I mentioned Gnosticism to you. Gnosticism is the great ancient religious movement that never really did have a whole lot of people in it.

And yet it has been dug up out of the sands of Egypt over the past hundred years.

The Nag Hammadi library and various other manuscripts that have been found. And now today it has become yet again the great rival of Christianity.

Not that people are necessarily embracing it. There are a few oddballs out there.

But it is the general means by which unbelievers use.

It's the means they use to disprove Christianity. See? These people were

Christians too. If Christians could believe all the stuff the Gnostics believed and now you believe what you believe.

There was just this mishmash. And just so happens your group eventually won out basically.

Well actually it was the Catholics but you came along later. No transcendent truth. No real meaning here.

That's what Gnosticism is functioning as today. And the Gnostics didn't like the Old Testament.

In general they rejected the Old Testament. Because it spoke of a creator god.

And for them the one who created the material world was an evil god. So many of them would identify

Yahweh of the Old Testament as a lesser deity than the high deity that they themselves worshipped.

And so it isn't without reason that you have here an affirmation.

God spoke by the prophets. Pastor Fry preaches through Micah.

Let's face it. Sometimes you sit there and you go I'm not really certain that I'm overly concerned about what happened in those days.

But you see the conviction of the Christian is God spoke by those prophets.

God was concerned that his people know his truth. He spoke and he has preserved for us his word.

Should that not be enough even of itself to cause us to be students thereof and to hear with reverence.

God spoke of old to the fathers by the prophets. But notice the very first two words in the

Greek language anyways are sometimes translated as in sundry manners and ways in diverse fashion.

And it could mean that well, you know, the prophets ministered at different times.

Sometimes they overlapped. Sometimes they didn't. Sometimes one was in Israel. Sometimes one was in Judah.

And so maybe it was that fragmentary means by which God spoke.

A little here, a little there. But I think as we see the contrast that is laid out here in comparison to the son by whom

God has spoken in these last days that there is an incompleteness in how

God spoke by the prophets. Yes, he spoke by the prophets but that wasn't his final word.

And remember, this is an argument. And might one of the arguments have been that hey, we have enough with the

Old Testament. You don't need these prophets and apostles. God stopped speaking with Malachi.

Now ironically, we know that during the intertestamental period between 400

B .C. and the time of the birth of Christ the Jews themselves recognized that the bath kol, the voice of God had ceased in Israel.

And there were many who were looking for the beginning of God speaking to his people once again.

But by this point in time, with Jesus coming along, it could have been those who were saying we don't need anything more.

And the writer tells us yes, God spoke by the prophets but it was fragmentary.

Would that be a parallel to the later terminology he will use when he refers to what's found in the

Old Covenant as a shadow? A shadow of the things to come.

Not the fullness thereof. Incomplete in the sense that since there are prophecies of the coming of the

Messiah, until you have the Messiah, there's no fulfillment. Various ways

God spoke. We need to hear that. God spoke of old. But now, verse 2, in these last days, in these last days, he has spoken to us in his

Son. By his Son. We live in the last days.

People go, a thousand years, that's a long last days. Yes, it is.

But we need to understand that that's biblical terminology. That's biblical terminology.

Notice the difference. Of old he spoke, but now in these last days. Something has happened.

We need to realize, as biblical writers, the very center of history is the cross of Christ.

The very center of history. Everything leads up to it, everything after it needs to be seen as life.

It's the center of history. Something major has happened.

I've said many times, I was speaking with someone this weekend about the Doctrine of the Trinity. And I pointed out to them, the

Doctrine of the Trinity is revealed between the Old and New Testaments. In the incarnation of the

Son, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. There you have the true revelation of the

Doctrine of the Trinity. So when you read the New Testament, these people speak so easily of Father, Son, and Spirit.

They're all these Trinitarian passages, because they've experienced this. It's the milieu, the context in which they live.

Something major happened. Between the Old and New Testaments, the New Testament becomes the record of that which had taken place before.

There in the ministry of Christ, in the incarnation, in the cross, you have the inauguration of the last days.

The last days. There's been revelation again. Just as said

God spoke of Old, now in these last days He has spoken to Us.

The writer does not allow his audience to hide, just as Jesus didn't allow his audience to hide.

From the fact that God's revelation is so clear, and so compelling, that He holds men and women responsible for what is contained there.

Remember Jesus, when He spoke to the Sadducees, who were trying to trip

Him up on the issue of the resurrection. The Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. And so they told a story about the woman who had the seven brothers.

They all married each one. Each one died. They said, whose wife will she be in the resurrection?

You can tell they had used that argument many, many times. It was their best argument. That's how they had silenced the

Pharisees for all those years. Now they use it on Jesus. Jesus' response, you're wrong.

I just love the Lord's political incorrectness. He doesn't say, oh, I think there's another way of understanding.

He says, you're wrong. You don't know the scriptures. You don't know the power of God.

And then He says, have you not read what

God spoke to you, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the

God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. You're not the God of the dead, but of the living. Now His argument was,

God's not the God of the dead, He's of the living. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive in the presence of God. There is life after death.

There is resurrection. That was His argument. But do you hear His words? Have you not read what

God spoke to you, saying, then He quotes from a book that's 1 ,400 years old. He held men accountable for what the scriptures said, as if God had spoken those words directly to them.

Here the writer reflects the very same understanding. God has spoken to us in the

Son. He has spoken to us. You can't remain neutral about Jesus.

Our society wants to be neutral about things. We don't want to offend anybody.

That's the new great societal demand. Don't offend anybody because feelings are so...

Our society thinks that we can just be neutral about all sorts of things. We don't need to make decisions about God or about Christ or about things.

We just need to all get along. Scripture leaves no place for neutrality.

That's why in the Gospel of John, when it says, you've either believed, named the only begotten

Son of God, have life in His name, or if you haven't believed, the wrath of God abides on you.

Our society goes, well, that's so narrow. Well, you've either put the key into the ignition and turned the car on or you've not turned the car on.

That's so narrow. You see, in those areas, we're okay with turning with an arrow right or wrong.

You see, when it comes to religion, we just need to be so much more accepting and inclusive. God has spoken.

He has spoken by His Son. There is an exclusivity here.

Exclusivity. He has not spoken in every religion.

He has not spoken by everybody who calls himself a prophet. He has spoken exclusively in the

Son. But He has spoken to us. You cannot dodge that revelation.

The Son. Who is this Son? Here is where the text begins to call us into the depths of God's revelation.

This is where I hope you realize this isn't where all the theologians can think about this.

Don't you realize these comedies are the tank? Why should we be thinking about things like this?

You know what? The comedies are the tank. We don't possess all the things we used to possess.

This will still be true. The world can never take this from us. And it is a privilege, it is an honor, when you think of all of the people who have lived upon this earth, that you would be given the opportunity of handling this kind of divine truth and understanding.

That is an honor. That is a gift of grace. There is an implicit idea amongst a lot of evangelicals that it ought to just be nice and simple.

You know, we should be able to boil it all down to a third grade level for everybody. Well, if the

Holy Spirit of God inspired these words and has preserved them for us, and by the way, just in passing,

I was just happy to know that I don't think there is a single book for the New Testament that is more textually pure, has the fewest variants in it than the book about Hebrews.

God has preserved this textbook. God inspires it and preserves it.

The Spirit in His wisdom places this into our hands. I think we should be the first ones to be ready to listen.

And be ready to roll up our sleeves, do a little work, to dive into what He has to say.

Because what we're going to get beginning here, when this Son is introduced, then we have a description.

He is described as the One who has been appointed the heir of all things.

We are told that He is the Creator. Through Him all things have been made.

He is the very radiance of His glory. We need to spend some time thinking about what that means.

Especially verse 3. The radiance of His glory and the expressed image of His person.

Those might be words that we can say in just a few seconds, but we really, really need to spend some time thinking about what they mean.

They're subject to a lot of misuse. We need to be careful in our handling these things.

But we have this description of Him. Heir of all things. Creator. Brightness and radiance of His glory.

Exact representation of His person. Then it says that He bears all things by the

Word of His power. And the word there is not just to hold something up. But it's to move something along.

It's referring to Jesus' role as the Governor of all things that happen in this world.

In this creation. So we have some incredible descriptions of our Savior.

And it should seem to me that we would want to be the first people who would want to know everything we can about Jesus.

What's the command of Peter? Grow in the grace of what? Knowledge of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Well, here's a treasure trove. Here's a treasure trove. And then we want to talk about the

Gospel? The foundation of the Gospel? Having made purification of our sins?

Sits down at the right hand of the glory on high? There is foundational, fundamental stuff here.

And that's why I don't want to rush through. And so this morning,

God has spoken. And now He has spoken unto us by the

Son. Who is the Son? Why is our revelation, the revelation given through Jesus Christ, what about all those other world religions?

Aren't you rather arrogant to think that your revelation is better? Well, if Jesus Christ is the heir of all things, if He's the creator of all things, if He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His person, and if He is the one by whom

God has spoken in these last days, there is no competition. There's no competition.

That's why we need to know these things. So this morning, God has spoken.

To know more about the One by whom He has spoken, you have to come back to me.

Because this evening I want to I want to challenge you to be here. You're a visitor.

We thank you for being here. We hope the ministry of the Word of God has been useful to you. If you're a member of this church, we meet again this evening.

And I would challenge you to be here. Because I think the

Lord has a blessing for us when we demonstrate that we want to hear what His Word has to say.

Because I look forward to seeing you this evening as we look into this tremendous description of who our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, truly is. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we are excited by Your Word.

Your Spirit has caused us to desire to know what is in Your Word. It has caused us to desire to be obedient to Your Word.

And so as we have heard the affirmation that You have spoken, You spoke of old.

You spoke in these last days by the Son. We thank

You that You have not left us without this. We thank You that You have not left us to just wander about. Thank You for communicating with us.

Showing us the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray that He has been glorified in this time.

We ask that You bring us together again this evening. That we might once again open Your Word and see glorious things from Your Word.