The word of the Lord that we consider this morning congregation is taken from the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one, you can find that in the Pew Bibles on page 1001. And we'll be looking in particular at the first four verses, verses one through four of chapter one. Hebrews chapter one, let us listen now to this word that the Lord speaks to us. 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, whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And 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 theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Or again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. Of the angels, he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed, but you are the same and your years will have no end. And to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Now let me read again the first four verses, our text. 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, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And if 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 theirs. May the Lord bless this reading and our hearing of his word this morning. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, I've entitled my message from God's Word this morning, God's Last and God's Best Sermon. And you might say to yourself, well what are you talking about Dr. Venema, what sermon Has God preached? What word has God spoken? It's interesting to me that in the prologue, the first chapter of the Gospel of John, in the Latin translation of Jerome, the word used for the word who became flesh is sermo. God's word, the word he has spoken to us in these last days in the Lord Jesus Christ, is a word that God speaks to us. And particularly in this Christmas season, but always for God's people, it's new every morning to hear about what it is God has said to us in this sermon that he has spoken. And I'm going to note this morning that in terms of the sermon that God preaches to us, when He comes to us in the fullness of time in the person of His own Son, the Word become flesh, the author of Hebrews takes note of three things regarding this sermon. First of all, notice the moment, the time when God has spoken in these last days. Notice secondly, through whom? The messenger who conveys the word that God speaks, the sermon that God declares to us. And then lastly, we note not the moment in these last days, not the person in his own son or the messenger, but what word has God spoken? After he had made purification for sins, says the author of Hebrews, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. I want to tell you a few things about the book of Hebrews before we look at that particular set of points. the moment, the messenger, the message. The author of Hebrews who goes unidentified by tradition thought to be the apostle Paul, but we don't know who authored the book. God's authored it through his servant who writes what he writes. He tells us in the last chapter, this is an exhortation, which is another word for a sermon. It's not a short sermon, it's 13 chapters, even though he says, I've written briefly. Obviously, this is a different age and place than the world in which we live, where you get these five-word tweets or Twitters or email messages or TikTok, whatever it might be. This is a 13-chapter sermon. And it's the kind of sermon that reminds me of a quip, he's always good for a quip, of Charles Spurgeon. Sermonettes, said Spurgeon, are for Christianettes, little Christians. This is not a sermonette. It's full of very copious references to the Old Testament and the burden of the exhortation of the author of Hebrews is to impress the congregation of Jewish Hebrew Christians probably in the vicinity of Rome of the superiority, the grandeur, and the surpassing glory of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. You could entitle the burden of chapter 1, he's no angel because he's vastly superior to the angels who are but ministering spirits. To what angel did God ever say, you are God, you are Lord, you are the creator of all things? The new covenant word God has spoken in Jesus Christ is not mediated by angels, it's mediated by God the Father in the person of His own Son. And one of the reasons he's not preaching to the choir, he wants to impress upon them what they have in Christ, because as Jewish Christians, the Hebrew congregation to whom this letter, this book of Hebrews was first written, were coming to a point in their history where they were saying to themselves, what's the use? What good is it? to carry on in the profession that we first made concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. We have known trouble, affliction, persecution from the very beginning. Now the author of Hebrews reminds them in his sermon that they had not yet suffered to the point of the shedding of blood. Though many of their number had been cast into prison, And many of this Hebrew congregation to whom the author of Hebrews is writing had been dispossessed of their worldly possessions, we're told in chapter 10, that they received that dispossession gladly because they knew they had in Jesus Christ something more worthy and precious. This was a beleaguered congregation, so much so that he also tells us in chapter 10 that some of their number were falling away, no longer assembling with God's people on the Lord's day. Others were tempted to go back into Judaism, to go back to the Old Testament economy, to abandon Christ and what was theirs in Christ. And so the book is full of warnings that they not neglect so great a salvation. Now I mention all of that, brothers and sisters, because it reminds us that this opening section, these first four verses, are intended to remind the church of the glorious word God has spoken to us in Jesus Christ, that they not let go their grip upon the gospel. Now what about that first thing? He says this at the outset of chapter 1, long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. Now that's a broad stroke summary of what you, if you've gone to your Sunday school and catechism classes and heard the Word of God preached in the course of your life, know very well. Our God is a God who has been speaking. He spoke the world into existence. Read the account in Genesis 1. Let there be light. And the whole of the creation as the psalmist tells us in Psalm 19 is a splendid theater that displays and dazzles the eyes of all creatures with the glory of God's majestic power and wisdom. It's written all over the tapestry of creation. The heavens are declaring God's glory. The firmament is showing forth his handiwork day unto day God utters a word through the world which is his handiwork. But not only that, God again and again came to his Old Testament servants, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, spoke to Moses at Sinai with signs and wonders. It was so terrifying that the people said, Moses, you go up to the mountain and mediate between us and then you come back and you tell us what God has spoken. Because we dare not go into the presence of God in all of his majesty and glory. will be struck down dead. In fact, the author of Hebrews tells us later in the book that if they touch the mountain, they would immediately be struck down. And through all of his servants, the prophets, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, Moses, the former prophets, the latter prophets, the writing prophets. For centuries, from the very beginning in his dealings with his people and all creatures, God has been speaking. But, says the author of Hebrews, even though God has spoken in fragments, in bits and pieces, in a diversity of ways throughout the course of history to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. Now think with me a little bit about what the author of Hebrews is saying. That little phrase, in these last days, is reminiscent of Paul's language in his epistles. God comes to us in the person of his Son, when? In the fullness of time. In these last days, or as the Apostle John says to his recipients of his letters, my little children, it is the last, the final, the ultimate hour. You could put it this way. The word God has spoken in these last days is his last word. It's his preeminent word. It's a word that transcends and surpasses in its significance any word God ever spoke at any time or place or will ever speak until he speaks again at the coming of the Lord Jesus at the end of this present age. Now if I could use a little bit of an analogy, it's actually one that the author of Hebrews uses. The blood of the new covenant shed by the Son of God through whom God has spoken is like a last will and testament that goes into effect by the death of the testator. That's fancy language for your father or your mother has died. and you gather together as a family upon their death for the reading of what at least used to be called their last will and testament. One of my favorite reformed theologians of the 16th century, theologian by the name of Henry Bullinger in Switzerland, Zurich, His last will and testament to the church in Switzerland was what is known as the Second Helvetic Confession. That's quite a testimony and bequeathal to your spiritual children, a confession. But the thing about a last will and testament is it's definitive. It's final. It's done. and you have to be quite an unlikely recipient of the last will and testament to treat it with contempt. I may change the analogy. It's one thing for someone to say as they're dickering with you, perhaps over the price of something they're selling in the market, well, I'll give it to you for X number of dollars, and then after a little wrangling, the seller of the product in question with a note of exasperation says, this is my last bottom line, take it or leave it. I'm not interested in any further discussion. Or it might be, if I may use even another analogy, like an ambassador speaking for his country who comes with a word that is not penultimate. Maybe you can negotiate something a little more suitable to your fancy. But no, it's called an ultimatum. It's not penultimate. It's not subordinate to perhaps a better word that will follow. Now the whole point of this is, brothers and sisters, you will never hear from God a word that is more ultimate that will ever be superseded or surpassed in its wonder than the word God has spoken to us in these last days through Jesus Christ. So the question becomes, what are you doing with that word? Hebrew Christians, why would you contemplate abandoning it or listening for a word other than the word God has spoken. In our culture and society and world, which is pluralistic, there are all kinds of words being spoken by politicians, by people of significance, in business, whatever the arena or sphere. I have news for you this morning, congregation. No one, but no one, will ever speak a word of greater significance than that which God has spoken in this last word in these last days in his own son. And that brings me to the second thing, which is this. Who has spoken this word? Was it merely an ambassador representing a stand-in, an agent for someone greater than himself? Was it a mere preacher? Prophet, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, through whom has God spoken to us? But in these last days, says the author of Hebrews, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. And not only that, he that is his son is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. Now if that were not enough, who upholds the universe by the word of his power? No, of what speaker? or word bearer who speaks a word to us, could it be said, what is said about this messenger, one through whom God has spoken? He's the creator, the sustainer, the Lord of all creation in history. He's the one in whom all things cohere. He is the one through whom God called all things into existence, including you and me. And he's not only the creator, but the heir of all creation. It all belongs to him and all of us. will ultimately answer to him. And he's not just a stand-in for God. Notice the language there. It's very precise. The radiance of the glory of God. Older translations render it the effulgence, the overflow, the display, which is marvelous in our eyes, of God's glory. It's a little bit like the difference between the sun, S-U-N, and the moon. The moon is not the source of light. The moon is not itself the generator of light. It's merely a reflector of the light which has its source in the sun. But of the sun, when we are told he is the radiance of the glory of God, he's not like the moon, simply a reflector of the light which is God himself. As the Nicene Creed puts it so beautifully, he's God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, of one substance. That's why the language is used, upholds the universe by the word of his power, the exact imprint of his nature. The Word God speaks through Himself by His Son is not counterfeit, not merely a reflection. It's God Himself who is speaking through the Son. Now this is probably a silly analogy. I recognize it. We preachers are guilty of silly analogies, but I'll try it out on you. Some years ago, there was this ad campaign, in the United States at least, which had something to do with something called EF Hutton. Now you have to be a little older, young people, teenagers, maybe you don't remember the ad about EF Hutton, but it's an ad that wants to represent EF Hutton as somebody to whom people need to listen up. Because as the line in the ad puts it, when E.F. Hutton speaks, what? People listen. Well, what about when God speaks in the fullness of time? Think about that in the world in which we live, where so many know not the Christ, nor listen to the word that God has spoken to us in Christ. They make their way merrily through the Christmas season, singing jingle bells and all the rest, and they never encounter the reality of the word become flesh, even our Lord Jesus Christ. So remember that, boys and girls, young people, when Christ speaks through His servants, to be sure, you hear from one in these last days, and part of the point of this, in these last days, as the author of Hebrews puts it rather quickly already in chapter 2, if this is true, and it is, How shall you escape, we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? And he uses imagery of the Hebrew Christians, very striking. They're like a little boat on a choppy, windy day on Lake Michigan, drifting, drifting, drifting away from it. Maybe I'm speaking this morning to someone nurtured in the Christian faith, baptized in your infancy, frequent attender in the church worship services on the Lord's Day, but you've never reckoned with the reality that God has spoken in these last days to us in the person of His Son, and to neglect the word that He has spoken, to make light of it, to drift away from it, to neglect it, He'll never speak another word better than the one He has spoken. And that's my third point. What word has God spoken to us in these last days in and through his own son in the person of one who is himself God? He puts it very simply. He says, 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 theirs. Notice the phrase, after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Now I made a point in my introduction that this is a rather long and complicated sermon. It's rather striking that in that phrase, he says it all. The whole of the book of Hebrews is captured in that simple phrase, after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. What is the author of Hebrews telling them? That the word God has spoken comes to its ultimate expression in God himself. as he tells them in chapter two, not ashamed to call his people his brothers and sisters, becoming one family with them by entering into their humanity, sharing fully in their flesh and blood, becoming their brother. To what end? For the great purpose of doing what no Old Testament priest, not only the high priest, but once per year on the Day of Atonement, behind the curtain, before the altar, offering sacrifice for the sins of the people, but day and night, morning and evening, sacrifice 365 days per year by innumerable priests from the tribe of Levi, hundreds of priests from the tribe or family of Aaron, And here's a question for the boys and girls. Did any priest in the Old Testament ever sit down? No, the author of Hebrews tells us very explicitly in chapter 10. Stand, standing, standing, standing. Going before the altar again and again and again. For without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins, but the blood of bulls and goats. The sacrifices of the Old Testament economy were but types and shadows of the reality of the one and only sacrifice made once for all to purify, to perfect and sanctify God's people for fellowship with God without end. So these Hebrew Christians, steeped as they were in the Old Testament scriptures, know exactly the point of the preacher by using this phrase. Why would you go back to the Old Testament economy, to the blood of bulls and goats, to mediators and priests, and to alters in a earthly tabernacle, temple, when you have in Jesus Christ a true, faithful, and merciful high priest who at this table this morning comes to us to remind us that he has made purification for our sins. Not an altar. It's a table, not ministered by a priest, not an unbloody sacrifice. The sacrifice has been made and our high priest, our one and only high priest is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. And when he comes to us in the form and under the elements of bread and wine, he wants to remind us that he is the son of God. The word God has spoken to us in him is the best possible word that could ever be spoken to a sinner. who cannot purify for his own sins, cleanse himself of his own unrighteousness, or make himself presentable to God, or a suitable candidate for coming into God's presence. The author of Hebrews says, we have the right with confidence To enter into the very presence of God, the Holy of Holies, by what? By the blood of Jesus. And the question for us this morning, congregation, is just very simply this. Do you know, just as the author of Hebrews wanted his congregation to ask, what you have been given? in the Son and in the Word that God has spoken to us ultimately and surpassingly in His own Son. May God give us a joyful Lord's Day in His presence and at His table and throughout all our life in this good Word. that he has spoken to us in Christ. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, help us as we hear your word to be reminded that the word that you have spoken to us in your own son is not only your last but the very best word that could ever be spoken. May we cherish it May we meditate upon it. May it always keep us holding tightly to what we have in Christ, not drifting away, not neglecting, in no wise diminishing the glorious good news of the word concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that he has made full perfection and satisfaction for all our sins. Bless us as we come to the table, nourish us in our faith, and give us the joy of your salvation. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.