Turn with me this morning, if you will, to Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one. And we'll begin to read at verse one when we get there. But while you're turning, let me say that I have been praying since the fall about a new series for our Sunday morning worship services. I kept feeling a tug toward the Old Testament. But every time I looked at a specific Old Testament book, it just didn't seem to fit what I had been thinking and impressed about. But then the Lord brought the book of Hebrews to mind. There's so much reference in this book of Hebrews to the Old Testament. In fact, one of its chief purposes is to show to Jewish believers, Jewish Christians, that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New. to show the superiority of the new covenant to the old. And so it's obvious that the author assumed his audience knew the Old Testament very well. So it's a book that we can't understand well, unless we actually stop to examine what it is referring to in the Old Testament. So to study the book of Hebrews is a course. Really, in the whole of the background. And that's something that I want you to see right from the very beginning, is that every single thing in the Old Testament, it all had meaning. But all that meaning pointed forward. It all found its fulfillment in the New Testament, in the coming of Christ, in His person, and in His finished work. So in this book, the Holy Spirit teaches us much of the Old Testament straight out of the New Testament with New Testament eyes, which is an important thing for us. He shows us how new covenant Christians are to read and to understand the Old Testament. But this book does a whole lot more than that. It must do all that I've just said because it's written to Jewish believers. So that's their background. That's going to be important. But as we're going to see throughout this book, it is also a book that is written to struggling, doubting, Christians whose faith is decidedly under attack. And I think as such, it's gonna resonate with many things that we face as believers today. They were halting between two opinions. They were really struggling. You'll see many evidences of it as we go through. And yet there was a word for them in this book. Now, there's one more feature of this book that makes it most important for us to hear and believe. Because it involves a tactic that the devil wants to employ anytime and every time he possibly can. You see, these Jewish believers were used to a religion that had become dominated by doctrines and practices. What you believed, what you did. rather than by a person. And so the Holy Spirit is seeking to accomplish in the readers of this book of Hebrews a significant change of viewpoint, a paradigm shift, if you will. He is seeking to take their quote unquote religion and keep it from being external and make it internal. To keep it from being focused on what can be written on paper, what you carry on the card, to a real living relationship with Jesus Christ. And so he wanted to deliver them from a Christianity that was merely a set of doctrines that we believe and practices we follow, things we do and don't do, into a living, transforming, life-shaping relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, having said all that, the title for this series is not hard to come up with because it is the great theme of this amazing book. And the title is this. Jesus is better. He is better. He and all his work in the New Covenant involves, it's better than the Old Covenant. He is better than a dead Christianity of mere doctrines and practices because the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. And then when you're under attack, when you're in temptation, and the devil is telling you of many other things that you really need that will change your life, The Holy Spirit says in this book that Jesus is better than anything. Jesus is better than everything. So this book focuses on this great theme. Whether it's new covenant to old covenant or the things that we're dealing with in our lives, our need is Jesus Christ. Jesus is better. So to me this is a book that just, there's so much here. So much that is gonna speak to us where we are. And so much that's gonna exalt the Lord Jesus and change us from inside out. As they say, it's good stuff. And so let's begin it today. So let's go ahead and read. We're gonna read chapter one and to the first verse of chapter two. So Hebrews chapter one beginning at verse one. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son. whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son? Today I have begotten you, and again I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. But when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he says, who makes his angel spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. But to the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. And they will all grow old like a garment, like the cloak you will fold them up, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will not fail. But to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. So we'll end our reading there at verse one of chapter two. And now let's ask the Lord, especially not just to bless and to enter into our study of this book today, but all through this series. So let's bow in prayer. Oh, gracious God, oh, blessed Father, we come now into your presence. And Father, even what we read in the first three verses, Lord, is just this astounding cascading of phrases that describe the Lord Jesus as... as God come in the flesh, as God the creator, as God the sustainer of all things, and as our great redeemer. And so, Father, we pray today, since you have intended him to be our nearest and dearest friend, since you have made him the bridegroom of his dear bride, the church, since, oh God, you have made him the shepherd of we the sheep, Oh, Lord, today we thank you that he is so great on the one hand and so near and dear and personal on the other. So, Father, we ask you that we will not miss any of this, that the power of it, the life transforming nature of it, Father, would not be lost on any of us, that your spirit would take up this truth today and just powerfully bless our hearts with a sight of Jesus Christ like we've never seen. Father, we thank you, oh God, that all this book is yours. We're not to add anything to it or take anything away from it. You told us again and again. And so Father, we ask you today, since it is the complete book that you will, through this book of Hebrews, enable us to see how the New Testament completes and fulfills the old, the great place that the Old Testament had in leading up to the new, and that we will be able to see the Lord Jesus Christ in all the fullness of his glory, but also of his mercy and grace to each of us. So Father, send your spirit now, quicken us, we pray. Pour out that grace on each of us, we ask in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Well, the epistle to the Hebrews begins with a really simple, but very powerful thought. And that is this, God has spoken. He has spoken. And he doesn't just speak into the air to whom it may concern. He speaks to you and he speaks to me. So God has a word for this world. He has a word for sinners. He has a word for his people. He has a word for you and for me. And it is always a word for today. It is always right now. Now, this book of Hebrews is really a unique epistle in a number of ways. And, you know, earlier we looked at Colossians, we looked at Galatians. And it begins with the Apostle Paul identifying himself and also identifying the people to whom he is speaking. And many of those epistles also will then give some explanation as to why he is writing. So you get the occasion of it. None of that in Hebrews. None of it. Not, it is, this is a book that is unique in its form and in its style. The author is not identified. We'll talk about that in just a minute. The audience is not identified other than the fact that it says the title is literally to the Hebrews. Other than that, and you know there are Hebrews all over the world at this point. Hebrews in Israel, in the Palestine area, but then Hebrews that were called the Hellenistic Hebrews because they were scattered all across the Roman Empire at this particular point. And so, the audience particularly, specifically is not identified and the purpose behind it, in other words some particular occasion for writing is also not identified. Now, So though this is an epistle and a letter, it is more formal than most of the other letters of the New Testament. It's like a treatise that God wrote to make some very important matters clear to our souls. Now at the end of the day, we can't speak from silence. So we can't explain why exactly God didn't tell us who wrote it, didn't tell us who he wrote it to, didn't tell us what this specific purpose was. But I think there are some things along the way that we're gonna get hints that God did all that on purpose because he did not want us distracted from the central message of this particular book. And that message, it transcends times and places and peoples. It is a message where God says, you gotta understand this because your soul has to live somewhere forever. And the choices are only two, either heaven or hell. This is a word for your life. This is a word for your eternity. And so in a sense, all the things we don't have here underscore the power of all that. So it's a key New Testament book because it gives this big picture. It explains the relationship of the Old Testament to the New. And in doing so, it just paints this glorious picture of Christ in his person and then in his past work, his present work, his future work. All of that is gonna come into play. And it includes some very specific warnings and exhortations. So as we're gonna see, this is a book that speaks to where we live. It is very much straight into the lives of those who hear it. Now, as we begin today to study it, I think we especially ought to ask the Lord to meet us in this book and just to, in a personal way, powerfully seal its truth to our hearts. And I would encourage you, and I don't mean the whole of the book every week, but I mean in a way that especially is paying attention to where we are in this book, that you would meditate on it, that you would just give some time to soaking in it before the Lord. We're not going to go at breakneck speed here, so we're talking about a small number of verses. to just stop and just say, okay, for this week, I'll write these verses down, and I'm going to spend some time just asking God to open these verses to my soul and my soul to these verses, and to what particular they say, because again, the Holy Spirit here is just painting a tremendous picture that's to be a paradigm shift for us, that is to shape how we think. And I don't know about you, but I mean, I turned 60 a couple of weeks ago, and every chapter of my life, not just every decade, but it seems like every few months, you know, the Lord is opening something new that I didn't see before. You know, in this last year, I've seen how, you know, while talking about all kinds of other things, there are these fears that I'm not even acknowledging that just drag me down and mar many, many days. We're always in this course, we're always learning. The Lord is always conforming us to his image. And so as we come to this book, there is powerful truth that really will shape our hearts. And so we want, by just spending time in it, to give the Holy Spirit every opportunity to make this a powerful word to our souls. Well today, And I know I've spent a good bit of time already, but what we're going to do is just an introductory study. This is to kind of fill in some background so that you have the big picture as we start this book. And so what we're going to do is just survey some of the leading features about the book and in the book, and then examine the introduction, which is just the first three verses. Now, a minute ago I said this book begins by telling us that God has spoken. Well, the introduction emphasizes that there is really an amazing culmination in God speaking when his son Jesus Christ appears on the scene. And so today, let us consider this as we begin this book of Hebrews. Jesus has the floor. Jesus has the floor, that will make sense as we get to these first three verses. So three considerations today, a perplexing silence, a powerful emphasis, and then finally a very pointed introduction. So let's begin with this perplexing silence. Now I've already referred to the fact that we know so much less about this book than all the other epistles. I said the original title is To the Hebrews. Author is not stated, direct audience, left out. Nothing really of the circumstances or the occasion of writing. And so, and again, as we go through the book, I think it becomes more and more apparent that God ordered that, ordained that, because it was good in his sight to keep us from distractions. Of course, I'm filling in that reason. I think that's part of it, but I'm sure it's not all of it. However, all the succeeding generations of men have been trying to figure it out. And I'm saying that in case, I know some people like to, my father was kind of like this. If they were studying a book, he'd go buy a commentary on it and he'd read about it. If anybody does that, you're gonna find just tons of ink spilt on trying to figure out who actually did write it. Who was it written to? And all of these things which God on purpose has left out. And we cannot possibly or fully know. So since the Bible doesn't say and nobody really knows, we have to at least, and I think this issue we can think about for just a minute because there are some clues here. The early widespread tradition was that the author was the Apostle Paul. And I remember having a professor who was very convinced that the author of Hebrews was the Apostle Paul, and he would say, in Paul's anonymous epistle to the Hebrews. So he was absolutely convinced it was the Apostle Paul, and for some reason, it was anonymous. So Paul's anonymous epistle to the Hebrews. But actually, that was an early and a pretty widespread tradition that the author was Paul. And at the end of the epistle, He writes as if they all know him. And you will see that as we get to those last chapters. You know, I'm going to be coming to you, he says. And doesn't sound like the first time. Sounds like these people will know who he is. And then some sections kind of really do sound like it was Paul. Turn to chapter 10 for a second here in Hebrews and verse 34. And listen to these words, Paul says, for you had compassion upon me in my chains, okay? Now, sure, some others happen to be imprisoned, I imagine, but this sounds like Paul. For you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. It just sounds like Paul, sounds like the circumstances we know of Paul. Then turn to chapter 13. Chapter 13 and verses 18 and 19, Paul says this. Well, no, I'm assuming. The author says this. So don't let me do that. Call me on that. Stand up and say, hey you, you don't know that. All right, we're speculating here. But so chapter 13 verse 18, pray for us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience in all things desiring to live honorably. But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now I can point you to places in Acts and his epistles that sound just like this. where he talks this very way about his circumstances. And then one other verse, verse 23, he says, Now of course we know that Paul and Timothy united their ministries on a number of occasions, so it could be. So we don't know for sure, but those things are clues. And then Peter, in 2 Peter 3.15, notes actually that Paul wrote to the Hebrew Christians, okay? And then many feel like the doctrinal thoughts are very much like Paul. And then I guess the last thing would be this, it's argued that a tradition so widespread was likely true unless there were powerful internal arguments right here in Hebrews against it. And we really don't have those. There are those who say, well, the style is not particularly Paul's, it's not like the other epistles, but we've already shown it's not intended to be like the other epistles. It's different in character, so that may not be that big an issue. But the bottom line is, God left it anonymous, and so we need to leave it there. So I'm gonna talk about, all through this series, the author of Hebrews, And you can think what you will about who that is. But we cannot know for sure. But then, who is it written to? Well, there are a lot of people who believe it was written to Jewish Christians actually in Rome. But again, nobody really knows. But in this case, we do know this much. It is Jewish Christians. Because it's to the Hebrews 1 and as we're going to see throughout it is definitely Paul addresses professing believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we know that much. Well, again, we don't know anything specific except that we can say it was before AD 70. AD 70 is significant because that's when the Romans just made rubble out of Jerusalem, just overthrew Jerusalem. And in the course of this book, The author says there are sacrifices still going on in Jerusalem, but from A.D. 70 on, that never happened. Okay, so that helps us see that it's before A.D. 70. So that much we can know, but specifically, nothing. And then the final question, why? Why was it written? We don't know, but we do know this much, that all across Christendom, the Jewish church, and remember the early church is mostly Jewish, and then it began to expand, we read that story in Acts, into Gentile regions and Gentile peoples. But the Jewish church was under attack, they were being persecuted from every direction. And meanwhile, Jewish worship is still going on in the temple in Jerusalem. And according to Romans there was kind of a God-given judicial blindness to those Jews and they were just carrying on as if nothing had happened. And God said that was blindness that He put upon them because they rejected the Savior He sent to them. So, but for these Jews who were being persecuted, they're asking the question, and folks, you would ask it too. They're asking the question, Did we get this right? Did we get this right? And if I'm supposed to be saved in the Lord Jesus and God is supposed to be my loving father, why in the world am I going through all this? How come so much trouble, how come so much difficulty and persecution? This cost doesn't make sense. And folks, you know that, right? The devil never stops using that argument, does he? He likes to undermine our confidence by saying, wow, you know, is it worth committing yourself to be a Christian and taking a whole lot of hits in the process? Because things are tough. And yet we read all across the New Testament, oh yes they are, many of the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. The Lord takes those afflictions, takes those difficulties, uses us to wean us from ourselves and show us how great and good he is, to enable us and move us to trust him and not ourselves. It burns away the dross of a whole lot of distractions and a whole lot of idols out of our lives. Folks, I think it's only in glory that we're gonna see how much good God did us through the trials that came our way again and again. But he says that specifically, so we have to believe it. Even when we can't put the two and two together, even when we can't see how this particular difficulty I'm going through is doing me any good, we have a book to tell us it is. Nothing happens but for the reason God sent it, always out of love, always in mercy, always because he's faithful, and always with infinite wisdom behind it for your good and his glory. That's the reality. And so, oh, how we have to trust him when the devil is using that same line of argument that he was using with these Hebrew Christians. undermining their confidence in God, making them say, did I get this right? Should I still be in Jerusalem sacrificing? And so we're going to see how the Holy Spirit deals with all of this. So it's written to teach us the truth, them the truth, but us as well, of the superiority of Christianity, because it is completed, perfected, So to these Hebrew Christians, a lot of Old Testament here to say, don't you see? All that stuff always pointed to Jesus. It was always leading to him. Not a bit of it was complete or had any full meaning except in Jesus Christ and his finished work. So it's emphasizing that, but far more. Far more, it is emphasizing the superiority of Jesus himself. That's the message here. In all your life, all your circumstances, he's the answer. You need him. That's what's being stressed. Well, that establishes kind of the basic structure of the book, if that's the purpose. So in this book, by the way, does just what we saw in the other books we've studied and said is always the calling card for Paul. Doctrine, and then practice based on the doctrine. Doctrine, then application of it to how we live. And this book is set up the same way, which, again, would be similar to Paul. So the doctrine, the superiority of Jesus Christ and of Christianity. But then, this first part of the book is just colored by that. So chapters, it's the superiority of a Christ who is worthy of your faith. That's how one commentator put it. The superiority of a Christ who's worthy of your faith. So chapters one and two, as a revealer, he is greater than the prophets and greater than the angels. Chapter three, as a mediator, he's greater than Moses. Chapter four, as a rest provider, he's greater than Joshua. The very end of chapter four, all the way to chapter 10, as a high priest, he's greater than Aaron and all his order of priesthood. So one after another, he's better, he's better, he's greater, he's greater. And then chapter 10 verse 19 through the end of the book is the practical, the application section. And it's basic message is if he's so much better, then fix your eyes on him, fix your heart on him, have faith in him, and don't give up, don't give up, don't fall away. He's worth it, every last part of it. So that's the big picture. So now let's come to the second thought, and that is that it is a book with powerful emphasis. And I've just mentioned the overall theme, the superiority idea, but it leads to some sub-themes throughout the book, and they're pretty important. One of those, and if we're talking about Jesus Christ being better, superior, then we would expect the word better to appear there. Now, somebody was telling me they remembered years and years ago where I did a series on the better things of Hebrews. And what I want to do is I've got a paragraph where I've just put together all those betters in the book of Hebrews, each one of them, there are 13 in all. and just try to condense that. So this will give you kind of like a bird's eye view of the better of Jesus Christ and the better of the new covenant than the old. So while you hear this, listen for the word better and the word that follows better, because that's going to tell you what each of these verses gives us. The man Christ Jesus, God the Son, God come in the flesh, has been ordained and appointed by God to be the only mediator between God and men, for he is the better person. Chapter 1. As that better person, he undertakes to be for us the better priest, chapter 7, who offers himself as the better sacrifice, chapter 9, the blood of which speaks the better testimony than the blood of Abel. That's chapter 12. Speaks in God's presence a better word. Abel's blood cried out for condemnation. Christ's blood cries out for justification. Then this better person fulfills his work according to the terms of a better covenant, chapter seven and eight, established upon better promises, chapter eight, and the grace which he bestows in this better covenant brings ruined sinners into a better state, granting them better privileges, yielding for them a better hope. And the climax of this better hope for all believers is a better resurrection, chapter 11, bringing them into a better inheritance in that blessed and glorious better country where they will be blissfully united to their beloved Savior, the better person for all eternity. So that's a whirlwind tour, but you see, just from every vantage point, the Holy Spirit through this author of Hebrews is saying, see it, get it, see him. This isn't a bunch of tenants, it's a savior. and everything is better in and with that Savior. But then it's also a book that deals with living and walking by faith. Now, a lot of you will have heard Hebrews 11 called the Hall of Fame of Faith, and you have the Holy Spirit there going through various people who by faith did this, by faith did that. And it's a powerful chapter, but as we're gonna see, it's the entire book. The entire book keeps coming back to look at Him and believe Him. Trust Him. Don't carry any weight in this world. You don't have to. It's meant for His shoulders, not yours. Then it's also a book that because of the truth that it's dealing with, saying, look, here's the truth. So here's my encouragement. Here's my application. I also did a series many, many years ago before the Better Things series. And we joked about this, it was called the let us, the let us, the let us, like in a salad, no, the let us of Hebrews, because again, all through the book, you get this, based on this truth, let us do this, let us believe that, let us go here, be this. So let me give you some examples of this as well. Hebrews 4.1, therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it. Hebrews 4.11, let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. Hebrews 4.14, Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Two verses later, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Chapter six, therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on unto perfection. And then after all this stuff about the high priest, you come to chapter 10. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. Hebrews 10, 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he's faithful who promised. Verse 24, let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. Then chapter 12, therefore we also since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Three more, end of chapter 12. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Chapter 13. Therefore, let us go forth to him, outside the camp, bearing his reproach." And verse 15, Therefore, by him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. So all through this book, you have this emphasis on faith, you have these better things, you have these exhortations to let us do this. But there's one other thing that marks this book, and that is some really telling warnings. Where basically the Holy Spirit is saying to us, and the author of Hebrews is saying, look, I can't love you if I don't warn you. that there's danger, that there's something you have to avoid. Look at chapter two, verse one. We read just that verse, but let's add to it the next two. Chapter two, verse one. Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape? if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him. How shall we escape? Solemn warning. And then chapter 4, verse 1, the first couple of verses. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed, the gospel was preached to us as well to them. But the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. So there's a beware element of this book that is a great mercy to our souls. So here the Christ Jesus is better, but all these sub themes, his superiority and then these warnings and exhortations and the emphasis on faith. Well that brings us finally as we come to a close to the pointed introduction. Because the first three verses of this epistle, and as I say, you know, in its place we could be reading Paul the apostle to this, to this, to this, but man, this thing starts with a thunderclap. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets. Some of the whole Old Testament, go back and look, various times, various ways, God spoke. Verse two, has in these last days spoken to us by his son. That's why I say Jesus has the floor. It's as if the father has taken the mic from all the prophets and given it to the son. He now is the final word, the full word. Has in these last days spoken to us by his son. And now you can't go over this. It's a verse and a half left, but you can't skip over this. You want to hear him. You wanna listen to what he has to say, because let me tell you who he is. He has in these last days spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed heir of all things. Now what does God possess? Everything. Who's the heir to receive all of that? Jesus Christ. And by the way, according to scripture, those in him, those his people, those who believe in him, all of that is theirs. So he has appointed him heir of everything he possesses. Notice what else? Through whom also he made the worlds. It's rightly his, he made it. Everything is his. Verse three. who being the brightness of God's glory, the express image of his person, you wanna see God, look at Jesus, and upholding all things, excuse me, by the word of his power. Job tells us he holds our soul in life. It speaks and says, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. The watch care of this particular creating shepherd is personal, perfect, perpetual. It's constant. He who keeps Israel never slumbers nor sleeps. He's always at it. He upholds all things by the word of his power. He has the floor. He has the mic. and everything is upheld by the word of his power. Now, it's gonna come to the most recent, all that is eternal. when he had by himself purged our sins. Now, if you were listening when we were reading the better things, you will find out this book is gonna tell us he's the better priest. All those high priests, you know, all of them were just types that pointed to Jesus, the greatest high priest. Okay, the Lord Jesus is the greatest high priest, but then it also says he's the better sacrifice. So he's the better priest on the one hand and he's the better sacrifice on the other. And what does this priest do when we get to Hebrews chapter 12? We're gonna say when the Bible says he ever lives to intercede for us, it doesn't just mean that he's got us on his prayer list. He prays for us when he goes to the father in prayer. Intercession is a formal part of the sacrificial system. So those prayers don't come until the blood. Jesus Christ is the greatest high priest. The infinite one takes his blood, the lamb of God. God, who was given for the world. He takes his blood into the Father and he makes formal intercession. On the basis of that blood, he says, you will find the life behind that blood fulfilled all righteousness. It obeyed every command. I perfectly fulfilled all you required of my people. And then you will find that blood says, they had a boatload of outstanding debt on them. And I paid it all. I went to the cross and I took the wrath of man, but far more I took the wrath of God. I quenched it for all my people. And so here's my blood. It speaks better things than that of Abel. It speaks for the justification of all my people. It speaks for their eternity. So you see, this tremendous picture, who when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down. Now that, you know, at first blush, sat down, his work's over. That doesn't sound like there's that much encouragement in there, but I tell you, there is all the encouragement in the world in those words, sat down. Because you see, he didn't sit down to see what you could do. He sat down because all you needed was already done. Because he left nothing for you to do but just to take and receive his finished work and himself, just to say he has already done it. And I am to receive it by faith. I am to accept it in all its fullness, all its power, all its life transforming, all its shaping, but also keeping presence that will bring me safe to glory. That's what my Lord Jesus has done for me. He did it. It's over. As he cried from the cross, it is finished. And you and I have nothing we can add to it and nothing we need add to it. So I tell you, those words sat down are powerfully glorious words for you and me, because he left nothing we have to do. What does it go on to say? When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. at the right hand of God, and if you'll just, it's going to a climax, so let's cheat and just look at the climax for a second, look at verse 13. But to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool. As our catechism puts it, Jesus Christ in his great kingly office, he conquers all his and our enemies. If you have an enemy, it's an enemy of his. If he has an enemy, it's an enemy of yours. And he is expecting till all his enemies are made his footstool. There's only one outcome you see for this contest. And that is utter, complete, total and eternal victory in Jesus Christ. That's who he is. So you see these three verses, like I say, they begin with a thunderclap. They say with all the weight and gravity possible that Jesus Christ is the superior one, the better one. You have all this in him, all of it. So what a start, you know, what a start. Those three verses to begin to say Jesus is better than anything and Jesus is better than everything. So the conclusion here, the conclusion at the beginning is this. God has spoken through Jesus Christ and his theme is this. I have come to love you, redeem you, and to be to you everything you need. Which boils down to this for us. And may you and I believe it with all our hearts. Jesus is the final word. He is the object of our faith, the only one we're called upon to believe. And he is in himself all that we need. So thank God Jesus has the floor. Thank God the focus is on him. and thank the Lord all that is needed for everything we will ever need in this life and the next. He's already done. He's fulfilled. And he's sitting at the right hand of God with a lot of joy because he knows where all this is gonna end. All of us will be brought safe to glory. All of us will be kept in this life. All of our difficulties and trials will be sanctified and shaped to do us good in time and good for eternity. That's what he's at work doing. So thank God for all of that. And so I trust that the Lord will enable us as we go through this book to go through it with our hearts wide open and again asking God to make the most of this. That by the time we, you and I know, I can get the answer right on a test if you ask me, is Jesus the most important thing to you? I'll answer yes every single time. But practically, every day, yeah, fortunately, there are times when I put something ahead of him, when I make an idol out of some small thing, when my life answers, no, there's something more important to me right now than the Lord Jesus Christ. So what I am asking God to do as we study this book is bring us to the end of this book where not only do we say it on the test, but our life gives the amen to it and says Jesus is everything to us. May the Lord make that so. Let's bow in prayer. Let's all pray. Oh, Father, we do bless you today. We praise you. Oh, God, that you have given us the greatest thing you had to give. You've given us your son. Father, we thank you that in giving us him, you gave us all things and that he is the heir of all you possess. and we also in him. So Father, thank you for your goodness and your grace. But Lord, we cry to you that just like this group that was struggling because their Christianity, so to speak, their Judaism into their Christianity had always been things to know and things to do. Father, we ask you that you will replace all that with a living life in Jesus Christ, where the doctrines we believe are Him and lead us to Him, where the things that we do are the things that the Spirit of God in Jesus' name and for Jesus' sake is leading us to do and not do. So gracious God, we pray that you will pour out your spirit upon us, that you will work in a glorious way. And again, we've asked it before, but we ask it humbly, simply, and urgently now. Make Jesus everything to us, we pray in his precious name. Amen.