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The historian Herodotus classified the seven wonders of the ancient world and made a list, and these were the seven. The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, a mausoleum, Heraconarsus, Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
In the Middle Ages, they also had some of their wonders of the world, Stonehenge, Colosseum, Great Wall of China, Leaning Tower of Pisa. They have seven natural wonders of the world, including the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, Mount Everest, Victoria Falls.
They have underwater wonders of the world, but if you'll turn your Bible to the book of Hebrews, towering over them all is this epistle we have from the hand of God extolling the supremacy of Jesus Christ.
I don't know if you've seen the Grand Canyon. I don't know if you've been to Niagara Falls or one of these other places, but when you look at them, maybe it's Mont Blanc, and you say to yourself, how awesome these things are, how wonderful they are, and they're only general revelations.
They're just showing you the hand of God generally in creation, and how much more precise and wonderful and detailed is the word of the living God in the book of Hebrews. So we are embarking on a new journey here at Bethlehem Bible Church, the book of Hebrews.
I hope you love the book of Hebrews because we're going to be in it for maybe two years to 20 years. I don't really know the number. I'm going to come every Sunday just to see how far we get in the book.
I'll be in no rush to get through these 13 chapters, because every chapter basically says this, Jesus Christ is superior. He's the one to be worshipped. He's the one to be adored. When I was at Grace Community Church, we would meet other folks there, and we'd say, well, how long have you been coming to the church?
And instead of saying six years or 10 years or 20 years or six months, we would always respond, and nobody told us to do this, but everybody would do that, oh, we've been coming since 1 Thessalonians.
We've been here since Ephesians. And so if you're new to Bethlehem Bible Church, you'll be able to mark this day. We've been coming since the book of Hebrews. I was told in seminary that if your Bible naturally opens, for those of you that are actually biblical to bring a real Bible versus any kind of digital electronic thing, there's pagans everywhere.
When you open your Bible naturally, I was told it should go to Romans 5 for the chapter. But for the book of the Bible, I hope you'll see in the next couple years that your Bible will gladly just open naturally, because you've just parked there not only on Sunday morning, but for private devotions to this letter to the Hebrews.
It will encourage you. It will convict you. It will be good for our soul. And I believe the Holy Spirit, He is alive and He's active and He is working and He is so worked in our church and the leadership that I know it's God's will as we do this now for you to hear and understand and love and embrace the book of Hebrews.
My purpose this morning as we have an introduction to the book is for you to be excited to study. Sometimes when I introduce a new epistle in the New Testament, I'll give you a jet tour on the first day, because then you can kind of see everything before we start going verse by verse in particular precision and study.
But today I want to do something a little bit different, because people get intimidated by the book of Hebrews and they're afraid of the book of Hebrews. People even said to me last week, oh, you know, this is, are you nervous?
It's the book of Hebrews and it's so difficult and it's so lofty and it's hard to understand and I don't want you to be intimidated. So I want to introduce you to the book this morning. I want you to have an excitement for it and I want you not to be intimidated.
That's my goal as we survey much of the book today. One writer said, when we come to read the letter to the Hebrews, we come to read what is, for the person of today, the most difficult book in the whole New Testament.
And see, if you think something's that hard, this is the hardest book, what's your natural reaction? To just not want to study it, to just not look at it. When Spurgeon was young, he said as a teenager, with a little humorous Spurgeon-like comment, said, I have a very lively or rather deadly recollection of a certain series of discourses on Hebrews, which made a deep impression on my mind of the most undesirable kind.
I wish frequently that the Hebrews had kept the epistle to himself, for it sadly bored a poor Gentile lad like me. Now, that was the younger version of Spurgeon. So, this morning, if you'd like an outline, I'm going to give you some reasons you should be excited to study the book of Hebrews, and we're going to dive into a bunch of passages so you get a good taste of what this book is saying.
Number one, you should be excited to study the book of Hebrews and not intimidated, because it was originally meant to encourage people. The purpose of the book of Hebrews is to encourage, not to intimidate.
Please turn to Hebrews 13 .22. If you think it's a scholastic seminary level only, I've got to know a Septuagint Greek, I've got to know Hebrew, I need to know classical Hebrew and Greek and all these other things, you might not want to study it as much.
But when you realize the purpose for which the writer writes is to encourage you and exhort you, wouldn't you like to have a little encouragement in life? Wouldn't you like to be exhorted? Well, wouldn't you like to have a book of hope to read?
That's exactly what it is. Do you notice in chapter 13, verse 22, letting the writer define his own terms, I appeal to you, I urge you, do you notice the pastoral tone, brothers, he loves these people, he has a deep care for these people, I urge you brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, he calls the entire epistle, an epistle, a word of exhortation.
And of course he says there at the end, for I have written to you briefly, this is a word of exhortation, it is a message prepared for oral delivery, put in written form, and that word exhortation could also be used as we would say to encourage someone, let me just show you, go to Hebrews 6, you could translate it encourage, exhort, Hebrews chapter 6 uses the same word and you'll see that it's translated encourage, Hebrews 6 .17, so God or when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise, the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong and here's the exact word from chapter 13 .22, strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
This book is meant to encourage people and so don't be intimidated by it, you say, I don't know a lot of the Old Testament, I'm afraid of Melchizedek, you need to be encouraged as you read it and it will encourage you.
He in chapter 12 says in verse 5 and 6, you can turn there or just listen to me, and have you forgotten the exhortation or encouragement that addresses you as sons? His exhorting and encouraging the listeners to even accept the discipline of God, everything about this book strikes encouragement, consolation, exhortation.
Don't be intimidated from this book's lofty Greek because it is meant to be a book of encouragement. Number 2, why should you be excited to study Hebrews? I have to tell you, I'm excited and I've been reading Hebrews in the morning almost every morning, reading the book of Hebrews and I've been feeling like I want to get down in a three-point stance.
When I was younger, I actually would get down in a three-point stance when I would teach this idea, but now I'm not sure I could get back up. But the idea is ready for action. When I read Hebrews, I think that's exactly what I need is the book of Hebrews.
It's meant to encourage and exhort, and number 2, the outline and overall flow is easy. You don't need to be intimidated about this book because the outline is really simple. Don't you like when there's a simple outline?
Even when a pastor gives a sermon, it's a simple outline. I could follow it. Let's look at the outline of the book of Hebrews because when we start next week with 1 -1, you'll see how 1 -1 fits perfectly into that outline.
So like Pauline Epistles, the writer starts off with doctrine and then moves to duty. He starts off with orthodoxy and moves to orthopraxy. He starts off with creed and then talks about conduct. And the exact same thing happens here.
Chapters 1 through 1018 give you the theological doctrinal basis that Jesus is superior. Then the rest of the book is the overflow, the practical outworking of said doctrine. So here's who Jesus is, and this is why it matters.
Who is Jesus? What does it mean in my life? And so we've got 10 chapters, almost 10 chapters, theology and then the rest of the book is practical. If Jesus is superior, third class conditional, since he is, how does this affect my marriage?
How does this affect fellowship? How does this affect complaining? How does this affect visiting prisoners? All those things there are in chapter 10 verse 19 and following. Now if I wanted to give you a little more detail about the outline, let me do that now.
You don't have to take notes or you can just probably even see it maybe in the titles to the chapters in your Bible, our study Bible in the English. Christ is superior to the prophets, chapter 1 verses 1 to 4.
Everything in this first section of the 10 chapters that start, Jesus is superior. And so that's the beginning of every outline point. Jesus is superior to, and the first one is the prophets. Secondly, he's superior to the angels, chapter 1 verses 5 through 218.
Everything about Jesus is great. The prophets were great, but Jesus is greater. Angels are great, but Jesus is greater. Christ is superior to Moses, chapter 3 verse 1 through chapter 4 verse 13. So we've got 1, 1 to 4, he's superior to prophets.
1 to 5 to 218, superior to angels. 3, 1 to 4, 13, he's superior to Moses. After all, a builder or the building is greater. The son or the servant is greater. And that's what Jesus will talk about or that's what the Spirit of God will talk about regarding Moses and Jesus.
Then when you come to chapter 4 verse 14, Christ is superior to whom? Aaron. So prophets, angels, Moses, Aaron. And you can almost begin to memorize that outline right now. Matter of fact, I'd encourage you to do that.
What's the outline of the book of Hebrews? Jesus is superior to the prophets, to the angels, to Moses, and now chapter 4 verse 14 to 728, he's superior to Aaron. His priesthood is superior. And then finally for that section of doctrine, Christ's ministry is superior to the Old Covenant ministry.
Jesus is better than, he's greater than the Old Covenant ministry. As great as the Old Covenant was, as wonderful as it is, as beautiful as it would be, Jesus is superior, chapter 8 verse 1 through 1018.
So you come to the book of Hebrews and if you're not careful, you think, you know, there's a lot of references and allusions to the Old Testament and I'm kind of intimidated, maybe I should back off. I want you to go to the book of Hebrews and say, oh, do you know what?
I know what the outline is. The text gives the outline. First he starts off with doctrine, the first ten and a half chapters, and then he moves to the outworking of doctrine and Jesus is superior. Chapter 1 starts off with he's superior to the prophets, to the angels, to Moses, to Aaron, to the Old Covenant.
Got it? And it just falls right out. Very simple to outline. What's the outline of Philemon? See, some are maybe harder to outline, but you think a hard book like Hebrews would be hard to outline and it's not.
Number 3, why should you be excited to study Hebrews? It's meant to encourage and exhort. We need both. It's easy to outline so we can set in our minds the scaffolding. Number 3, it's easy to summarize.
How would you summarize the book of Hebrews? All these things are trying to get you to say, yes, this is going to be a book that I can get my proverbial hands around, arms around, to steal Tommy Nelson's line.
Here's what I want you to be able to do this morning so you're ready for next Sunday. I want you to be able to palm the book of Hebrews. There are some people who attempted to play basketball the last couple of days at the men's retreat.
It's easy for me to say I sat on the sidelines. But you need to have a mastery, maybe not of the whole book yet, but what the main point is. And the main point is Jesus is superior. Turn to Chapter 10 and let me show you a passage that highlights the summary of the book.
Hebrews Chapter 10 verse 11. There are complex ideas in Hebrews. There are difficult things for us to wrap our minds around as Gentiles. But the outline is easy and the main point is easy. Chapter 10 verses 11 through 14 give you a nice summary of the book.
So maybe you write in your notes, good summary of Hebrews Chapter 10 verses 11 through 14. Let's take a look at this passage. So this morning we'll go to some passages. I'll do a mini exposition of certain passages designed for you to be ready for next week.
And every priest, Hebrews 10, 11, mark this, stands, stands daily. It's from one generation to the next, to the next, father, son, grandchild. You're in the line of priest. Every single solitary priest, what does he do?
He stands. And how often does he stand? Daily. You guys are sharp. But seriously, as I've told you a hundred times, we read the Bible too fast. Okay, what's he trying to say? Jesus is superior. If you thought to yourself, in what section is this Jesus superior?
To prophets, to angels, to Moses, to Aaron, to the old covenant ministry. That's where we are in Chapter 10. Stands daily at his service, at his liturgy, if you want to use the word that stems from the Greek word.
Offering repeatedly the same sacrifices. Every single solitary priest stands and stands and stands daily, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, day in, day out, which can never take away sins. By the way, what did John the Baptist say in John Chapter 1 that I read earlier?
Behold the Lamb of God, who? And this Jesus, when he had offered for all time a single sacrifice, when this Christ, the Messiah, had offered for all time a single sacrifice, instead of standing daily, he offers one time and then he does what?
He sits down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemy should be made a footstool for his feet. All the liturgy of the old covenant, trying to get rid of sins, could never take away sins.
And Jesus offers one sacrifice, one single solitary sacrifice, and he deals with sin. Every priest, this priest, stands, sits down, offers when he had offered, again and again for all time. The same old sacrifices, one sacrifice, can't take away sins, can take away sins, remove sins because of his redemptive work.
Verse 14, this is so great. The first word in the Greek is one, by the way, for emphasis. For by a single sacrifice, by one sacrifice, one at the front, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
If you wanted to summarize the book of Hebrews, it's Jesus is superior. If you'd like a section that summarizes it, it's chapter 10 verses 11 through 14. And if you'd like John, the writer of the gospel of John, to summarize it as he records Jesus' words, it's Jesus' words that say on the cross, it is what?
Finished. That's the summary of Hebrews. It is finished. Can you imagine the furniture that would be found in the area where the priest would make his sacrifices? There's all kinds of furniture there.
Well, there was a table, there was a lamp, an altar of incense, an ark, but there was no what? No chair. Jesus doesn't have to stand up and do another sacrifice because it's once and for all and he sits down at the right hand of the Father.
A sacrifice of Christ is unique and it brings holiness to the believer. Jesus is superior. No wonder the writer of Hebrews says there's a better expectation through Jesus. He's a better priest. There's a better hope, better testament, better covenant, better sacrifice, better possessions, better country, better resurrection, better things promised.
So if you had to summarize Hebrews, Jesus is superior. Number four, why am I excited and why should you be excited to study Hebrews? It's meant to encourage and exhort you. The outline is simple. Summary is easy and this is a devotional book.
It's devotional. Now, people come to the book of Hebrews and they say things if they're not thinking properly. It's dry. It's technical. It's stuffy. It's dated. May I try to tell you what I think could be coming through those words?
You know, the words are it's stuffy and it's dated and the cloud above their mind is really saying this. It's just a possibility. You know, I'm not a guy who gives much hyperbole or anything like that from the pulpit.
Here's what they could be saying. I hope they're not saying it. This book isn't about me enough. It's not about me. I want to know about me. And you know, here's the thing. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and half of 10 aren't about you.
You can play where's Waldo all you want. Where am I in this chapter? You know what? You're not in chapter 1. Not in chapter 2. You're not in chapter 3. You're not in chapter 4. And the list goes on. Well, where am I?
Here's the good news. I pretty much have had enough about me and I've had enough about you. Wouldn't we want to talk about Jesus instead? You look at my life and you think to yourself, when I see Mike, I just think of devotional.
He just makes me want to be a devotional person. And I look at other people's lives at the church and I just think, oh, you know, Charlie and who else can I pick on today? Scott. Makarovsky. And I just think, man, I just kind of have this warm feeling of devotions in my heart.
Friends, if in fact this book is about the superiority of Jesus, could there be a more devotional book? Isn't that the essence of devotion? To know Jesus, to appreciate Him, to worship Him, to adore Him, to say He is my Savior and my Lord and I'm thankful for what He's done.
If Jesus doesn't give you a desire to be devoted to Him, I've got nothing for you. In my younger days, I would say, if Jesus doesn't give you a sense of a desire to worship Him in Hebrews, you need to go to a different church where everything revolves around you.
I need ten things to do today or it's not a good sermon. And I need me to stroke and I need to have my felt needs met. Friends, for the next three years, you won't get any of that. Welcome to Bethlehem Bible Church.
And although I want that, I like to be stroked. Although we want it, we desire it, it's because of our flesh. The Lord knows it's not good for us. We have an object of our faith. It's the Lord Jesus. And while elders may let you down, pastor will certainly let you down if he hasn't already.
Your friends will let you down. There's a superior priest and his name, Jesus. And if you focus on Him, your heart will well up with, I want to be devoted to Him all the more. It's all about Jesus, staring and gazing at the person of Christ.
Wal-Mart writes, the theological epicenter of the epistle to the Hebrews may be summed up in one word, Christology. No biblical document outside of the four gospels focuses as totally and as forcefully on the person and redemptive achievement of Jesus.
Now, in one sense, I say to myself, this is a building that's not conducive for 350 people. Almost everything works against us. We don't have a place to talk. We don't have a place to walk. We don't have a parking lot.
But I can tell you this, especially if you're a visitor, while we might not be the most friendly church or the best parking lot church or, do we have good coffee here? By the grace given to me by God, what did you just say?
Now, everybody used to be respectful. My son comes back for one week. Now everybody's talking back to me. I will show you from the text the person and work of Jesus. And so will the elders. And here's what's going to happen.
Sunday school teachers, VBS teachers, junior church teachers, Awana teachers, you're going to see who the person and work of Jesus is and you're going to say, that's who I need to tell my students about.
If I did the who, what, when, where, why and how, let me pick a few of those. Who is Jesus? The text answers that. Turn to chapter 2. Who is Jesus? Everything about this book is it's about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Kim and I regularly say, if Jesus is enough, you'll love Bethlehem Bible Church. Well, I go to church because I want to be the pastor's friend and I go to church because of the children's program. I go to the church because of the hymns or whatever it might be.
Think, you pick a church because they handle the text correctly and in the text from Genesis to Revelation is the person and work of Christ highlighted at Hebrews chapter 2 verse 5. Who is Jesus? He's the eternal Son who became a man for us.
Let's pick it up in verse 14. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers. This is incarnation. This is why we celebrate Christmas. In every respect.
Why? For what purpose? So that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation, satisfaction for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Who is Jesus? What did he come to do? Go to chapter 9 verse 15. You say, Lord, thank you for becoming a man so you could die in my place. Thank you that you take away sins. Your death is so great it takes away my sin.
You want a reason for the death of Jesus? The book of Hebrews tells us. Chapter 9 verse 15. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
God can't forgive believers because of Christ's death. You say, well, what else does the book of Hebrews tell me about Jesus? It tells us what Jesus is doing now in heaven. You say, he's seated at the right hand, but what is he doing?
Look at chapter 7 verse 25. Everything about this book is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Remember the old spiritual? You can have all this world but give me what? Jesus. What is Jesus doing now? Chapter 7 verse 25.
Consequently he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. Christian, hearken back to John 17 where Jesus in the true Lord's prayer is praying for his disciples and praying for you.
He lives to do that. He's alive to do that. Many times there have been, I think only ladies in my life who've said it to me at least, and they tended to be older and they would say to me, Mike, we pray for you every day.
And I just think, what kind of gift is that? That is the most wonderful gift. You pray for me every day. And many of those people like Grandma Evie and Iva, remember Iva, said I pray for you every day.
They've died and they don't pray for me every day. But can you imagine the Lord makes intercession for you? I wonder if the Father answers those prayers. I wonder if he hears those prayers. I wonder if they're biblical prayers.
Ever hear anybody pray an unbiblical prayer? Well, you won't hear that from the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe it was Robert Murray McShane who said, if I could hear Jesus in the other room praying for me, I could withstand any trial, temptation, or trouble.
And to think that the Lord Jesus is praying for me and praying for you. Where is he? He's seated at the right hand of God the Father. Go to chapter 12, please. Here's something kind of neat. The writer of Hebrews tells his readers to do what he in fact does.
Focus on the person and work of Jesus. The writer needs to do it as well. He's a man after all, a sinful man redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And the writer of Hebrews does in fact do what he tells his readers to do.
Therefore, chapter 12 verse 1, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, chapter 11 saints, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured for us sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Those people in chapter 11, they're not in a big stadium cheering you on, go Mike, go. That's not what the cloud of witnesses is. But they are godly examples. They are frail, sinful people that God has saved and redeemed and has given them faith.
And they have finished well by the grace of God. There's a blessing for living by faith. There's a value for living by faith. Concentrate on Christ like Stephen in the hour of his death. Martin Luther said, Jesus is the beginner and completer of faith.
Christ starts your faith and leads it to its consummation. So what you're going to learn in this book, it's all about Jesus. And what's probably going to happen as time goes on, if you're not a Christian, two things will happen.
You're going to get very bored hearing about Jesus. Or what we want to have happen is, you too will see the brilliance of Christ's work and say, I know I'm a sinner and there's only one way to get rid of my sin and Lord, have mercy on me.
I'm a sinner. I'm wondering if in evangelical churches across the country and across the world, if you take away preaching of Jesus, would the work still go on? Go to chapter 1 please and let me show you that even the way the book starts, it starts off by extolling Jesus.
It's so devotional because when you read about what Jesus has done on behalf of sinners, so you think, okay, I'm sinful and Jesus loves me. I was an enemy and he set his affection on me. I was ungodly to use Roman chapter 5 language and he still sent his son to die in my place.
Everywhere you go in the book of Hebrews, it's about how great is Jesus. Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son.
And then off he goes, whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom he also created the world. He, Jesus, is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. He upholds the universe by the word of his power.
After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than yours, excuse me, than theirs.
Now, Jesus is called many things in this book, but the two main names are son and priest, the exalted son and the high priest. Sometime if you'd like to just type in your search engine son and look at all those, you'll see him in almost every chapter.
Priest, you'll see almost in every chapter. But to put the two together, would you turn with me to chapter 5. Two key theological concepts, the son of God and the priest of God are contained here in Hebrews 5, 8 to 10.
Oh, Jesus has other titles in this book including Jesus, but these two concepts are crucial to understanding the book, son and high priest. And it says right there in the middle of the book, chapter 5, verse 8, although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Right there, son and priest. Priest and victim, offerer and offering.
The eternal son is the eternal high priest. Number five, why should you be excited to study the book of Hebrews? It's meant to encourage and exhort. The outline is easy. It's easy to summarize. Since it's all about Jesus, it's very devotional.
And now number five, I think you'll even notice that the style is exhilarating. Far from a boring book, even the style. You know, it's one thing if you say to yourself, the content's good but the style's dry.
My doctor's got a bad bedside manner but he's a good doctor. I remember what they said of Paul. They said of Paul, you know what, he's ugly and he can't speak. And to quote MacArthur, you know, if he looked good but couldn't speak, you could at least appreciate that the guy's handsome.
Or if you could speak well and you were not so handsome, I almost said ugly, then you'd say, well, he speaks well. But you know, they said of Paul, he's ugly and he can't preach. When you look at this book, the content is excellent but the way the divine author, the Holy Spirit moved along like wind in the sail of the man who wrote it, the content is matched by the genre and style and the way it's written.
303 verses by one English count. And it's going to be not monotonous at all. Okay, let's think about this way. If I was going to teach junior high kids, Hebrews is an exciting book. It's all about Jesus, the great high priest.
And the first 10 chapters is all about how Jesus is superior. Like, okay, monotony, same thing. Jesus is great. I mean, seriously, for the next two years, that's what I'm going to tell you. Jesus is great.
You think, man, that's irksome, tired, monotonous. That reminds me of James Russell Lowell who wrote this sentence about monotony. There is nothing so desperately monotonous as the sea. Yeah, the sea is uninteresting.
The sea is boring. The sea is full of monotony. In this book, you're going to see transitions are tight, segues are tight, how He moved from one topic to the next just draws you right in. It's originally, we think, designed as a sermon.
So you can imagine if you read a dry letter, have you ever read a commentary or read a sermon? So you get Spurgeon sermons and you read one versus a dry commentary. And you think the sermon is written with a lot of plurals and a lot of you, you all should do this.
And the commentary is the text says this, the text means that. Even the style of Hebrews, since it's a sermon in written form, draws you in. It uses key terms with repetition. It uses exposition, admonition.
It has linking words. It has inclusios. The style is exciting. And here's probably the thing I want to stress now. Reading the book of Hebrews will help you understand all the Bible because it is a classic illustration of what we call biblical theology.
What is biblical theology? And you say, it's a theology that's biblical. And I say, technically, you're wrong. Now people are looking. Systematic theology is a study and it categorizes doctrine according to topics.
What does the Bible teach from Genesis to Revelation about sin? And every time sin's message, I mentioned, it's cataloged and put in different categories and systematic theology. Berkhoff, for instance.
If you want to read systematic theology, you ought to read Berkhoff. But biblical theology as a structure in theology doesn't categorize doctrine. It shows how God's revelation is progressing and coming to fulfillment in the person and work of Christ Jesus.
It traces redemption, fall, then through the Old Testament to the New Testament, pointing to fulfillment in the person and work of Christ. Biblical theology could be understood if we know Luke 24, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus explained to the disciples what was said in all the scriptures concerning Him.
The history of special revelation goes along and it's moving and all the types and shadows and sacrifices in the Old Testament are helping point us to the person and work of Christ. And now on this side of the cross, we look back to the Old Testament and we see how obvious that is.
That's biblical theology. Not dealing with a single topic, but to see the redemptive flow, to see the redemptive narrative. And what happens is so many Old Testament quotes are found in Hebrews. You'll see how they're quoted and put together so you can understand who Jesus is.
It's amazing how He does it. It makes the Bible really come alive as you learn the Old Testament. You'll love the Old Testament more after you're in the book of Hebrews. There are 35 at least direct quotations of the Old Testament, but lots of allusions.
And you'll have the Old Testament in mind and how the author of Hebrews is going to argue that these things that were happening in the Old Testament with Aaron's priesthood and the Old Covenant and with Moses are all pointing and driving to the sacrifice that actually can take away sins.
And the more you understand that, the less complicated everything will be for you. Schreiner said, quote, the storyline rehearsed here reminds us of one of the most important themes in Hebrews. The Old Testament should be read in light of the fulfillment of Jesus.
To revert to Old Testament sacrifices would be to march backward in salvation history. It would in effect deny that Jesus has come. It would say that Moses and Joshua were greater than Jesus, that animal sacrifices were worth more than Jesus' sacrifice.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 7 please. We need to wrap up, but I want to go to 7 and then we'll close. The style is wonderful. The substance is wonderful. It's exhilarating. And let me just go to the most difficult part of all of Hebrews.
And once you understand it, you'll go, it's not that hard. If I had to say to you kind of a reflex action, a knee-jerk action, the most difficult concept in the book of Hebrews to understand is the person and work of Melchizedek.
I mean, we don't even know how to say his name half the time. That's the way I'm going to say it, Melchizedek. Did they teach you a different way in Israel, Luke? Melchizedek. And once you see what he's trying to say with Melchizedek, you think, listen, the hardest part is for me easy to understand.
What was Jesus' last name? Christ? Cohen? What tribe did he come from? Judah. Could you be a priest if you came from the tribe of Judah? How can he be the high priest? He's supposed to be this eternal high priest.
Now remember, this is a letter written to the Hebrews. And the Hebrews know, you can't be from Judah and be a priest. You've got to come from Aaron. You've got to be a Levite. And in the middle of talking about how the Levites are not adequate, something greater than Levites are going to have to come, he says in chapter 7, verse 11, now if perfection, reconciliation, salvation had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, he's going to show it's temporary, for under it, if the people receive the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than the one named after the order of Aaron?
It's got to be a change of systems. For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. They're linked together, Levitical priesthood and Mosaic law. Remove one, you have to remove the other.
For the one of whom, verse 13, these things are spoken belong to another tribe from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah and in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests.
I'll go farther than that. What happened to a person who wasn't from Levi when they tried to inject themselves into the priesthood? Remember Saul from Benjamin, barging in, offering a sacrifice and the kingdom is forfeited and given over to David.
Remember Uzziah, the king of Judah? He goes into the Solomonic temple to burn incense and what does he get? Leprosy. How can Jesus be a priest if he's not from the Levitical tribe? Verse 15, this becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, another of a different kind, another heteros who has become a priest not on the basis of the legal requirement concerning bodily descent.
Melchizedek came before Moses but of the power of an indestructible life for it is witnessed of him, you are a priest forever after the order not of Levi but of Melchizedek. So here's the great thing, how can Jesus be a priest?
Well, he's not from Levi, he is in the line and the order of Melchizedek. There is another priest, Jewish readers, another priest and his name was Melchizedek and Jesus like Melchizedek, his priesthood cannot end.
Levitical priesthood is going to go away, Jesus is going to stay. So even the most complicated thing, Melchizedek in all of the book of Hebrews, if you understand the reason the author brings it in is so you can rest assured that while Jesus might not be from the tribe of Levi, he is a priest according to a different system, the Melchizedek system.
I have some other exhortations and other reasons why I think you'll love the book of Hebrews. I'm not going to give them to you so let me give you a personal one, one of homework. You should be excited to study the book of Hebrews because when you read it this week, you'll be motivated to keep reading it.
Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this wonderful book, the letter to the Hebrews. If we had to earn our own salvation, if we had to be priests, we never could be. Everything we do is tainted by sin and yet to think the founder of our salvation, the God-man that you put everything under his feet, everything is in subjection to him, nothing left outside of his control.
He of his own free will, of his own good pleasure because of the eternal love found in you and him and the Holy Spirit came to rescue us. You made him a little lower than the angels for a while. Yet you've crowned him with glory and honor.
So Father, I pray that in the weeks and months and years to come, you'd help us to understand this book so we can give Jesus honor with our lives, that we would see him as Lord and Savior, Son, High Priest, Author, Perfecter.
Father, I know for me and I'm sure for these dear people as well, we are narcissistic, we are prideful, we are arrogant and we want things to be about us. What a refreshment it will be to see Jesus every week and in a real application so we'll think differently about ourselves and then about Jesus.
So I pray for our church. I pray that those who are here that aren't Christians, that through this preaching of this book, you would be pleased to open their hearts just like you did with Lydia. And Father, whether Jew or Gentile here, I pray that that would happen.
I pray for the young people here. They grew up in church. They've been here since 1 Corinthians and I pray that you'd open their hearts as well and their eyes. And I pray for the seasoned saints and the maturing saints that as they keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, as the trials come and go, that you would undergird them with strength.
I pray this in Jesus' name.