1 00:00:01,155 --> 00:00:04,436 I know we're going to read through it quickly, 2 00:00:04,436 --> 00:00:05,931 so it's not going to be like 3 00:00:05,931 --> 00:00:07,776 when you're sitting with an open Bible 4 00:00:07,776 --> 00:00:09,483 and you're reading all by yourself 5 00:00:09,483 --> 00:00:14,585 and you can actually stop and think. 6 00:00:14,585 --> 00:00:17,549 But as we go through this, 7 00:00:17,549 --> 00:00:20,255 try to make sense of this. 8 00:00:20,255 --> 00:00:26,207 Try to follow the flow of thought. 9 00:00:26,207 --> 00:00:29,892 Hebrews 13:7 10 00:00:29,892 --> 00:00:32,131 "Remember your leaders, 11 00:00:32,131 --> 00:00:34,291 those who spoke to you the Word of God. 12 00:00:34,291 --> 00:00:38,384 Consider the outcome of their way of life 13 00:00:38,384 --> 00:00:41,964 and imitate their faith. 14 00:00:41,964 --> 00:00:44,329 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, 15 00:00:44,329 --> 00:00:47,715 and today, and forever. 16 00:00:47,715 --> 00:00:49,673 Do not be led away by diverse 17 00:00:49,673 --> 00:00:51,294 and strange teachings, 18 00:00:51,294 --> 00:00:52,737 for it's good for the heart 19 00:00:52,737 --> 00:00:54,857 to be strengthened by grace, 20 00:00:54,857 --> 00:00:58,499 not by foods which have not benefitted 21 00:00:58,499 --> 00:01:02,338 those devoted to them. 22 00:01:02,338 --> 00:01:04,497 We have an altar from which those who 23 00:01:04,497 --> 00:01:07,682 serve the tent have no right to eat. 24 00:01:07,682 --> 00:01:09,373 For the bodies of those animals 25 00:01:09,373 --> 00:01:13,662 whose blood is brought into the holy places 26 00:01:13,662 --> 00:01:17,038 by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin 27 00:01:17,038 --> 00:01:19,647 are burned outside the camp. 28 00:01:19,647 --> 00:01:22,457 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate 29 00:01:22,457 --> 00:01:24,010 in order to sanctify the people 30 00:01:24,010 --> 00:01:25,619 through His own blood. 31 00:01:25,619 --> 00:01:28,448 Therefore, let us go to Him outside the camp 32 00:01:28,448 --> 00:01:31,872 and bear the reproach He endured. 33 00:01:31,872 --> 00:01:36,513 For here we have no lasting city, 34 00:01:36,513 --> 00:01:43,853 but we seek the city that is to come." 35 00:01:43,853 --> 00:01:47,723 Now, in my opinion, 36 00:01:47,723 --> 00:01:51,753 this is the most difficult portion 37 00:01:51,753 --> 00:01:54,226 of the entire epistle to the Hebrews 38 00:01:54,226 --> 00:01:56,949 as far as just figuring out how it all 39 00:01:56,949 --> 00:01:58,704 fits together. 40 00:01:58,704 --> 00:02:00,500 I mean, what's the flow of thought? 41 00:02:00,500 --> 00:02:03,059 How does v. 7 fit with v. 8? 42 00:02:03,059 --> 00:02:06,188 How does v. 8 fit with v. 9? 43 00:02:06,188 --> 00:02:10,156 I was checking an online Hebrews commentary 44 00:02:10,156 --> 00:02:11,390 the other day, 45 00:02:11,390 --> 00:02:13,486 and one of the commentators - 46 00:02:13,486 --> 00:02:15,787 PreceptAustin.org - 47 00:02:15,787 --> 00:02:17,405 I recommend that to you for study 48 00:02:17,405 --> 00:02:19,327 in any book. 49 00:02:19,327 --> 00:02:21,280 It's a tremendous online resource. 50 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:22,459 But I was reading that, 51 00:02:22,459 --> 00:02:23,889 and one of the commentators 52 00:02:23,889 --> 00:02:27,941 had this to say about these very verses. 53 00:02:27,941 --> 00:02:30,163 His name is Steven Cole. 54 00:02:30,163 --> 00:02:31,523 Mr. Cole says this, 55 00:02:31,523 --> 00:02:36,475 "I confess (I'm quoting him) 56 00:02:36,475 --> 00:02:39,751 that the first twenty or so times 57 00:02:39,751 --> 00:02:41,902 that I read our text, 58 00:02:41,902 --> 00:02:44,106 it seemed to me to be a disjointed 59 00:02:44,106 --> 00:02:45,815 random bunch of verses. 60 00:02:45,815 --> 00:02:50,864 I could not see any unified theme." 61 00:02:50,864 --> 00:02:52,306 This guy's a pastor. 62 00:02:52,306 --> 00:02:55,064 He's a contemporary man. 63 00:02:55,064 --> 00:02:59,125 He is alive today. 64 00:02:59,125 --> 00:03:00,583 Twenty times through 65 00:03:00,583 --> 00:03:01,934 it was just disjointed. 66 00:03:01,934 --> 00:03:04,999 But, you have to hear in that, 67 00:03:04,999 --> 00:03:11,180 after twenty times, he began to see something. 68 00:03:11,180 --> 00:03:13,862 But you just look at the flow here. 69 00:03:13,862 --> 00:03:15,405 I mean, think with me here. 70 00:03:15,405 --> 00:03:16,823 What do we have? 71 00:03:16,823 --> 00:03:20,443 V. 7: Remember your leaders. 72 00:03:20,443 --> 00:03:23,578 These guys are speaking the Word of God. 73 00:03:23,578 --> 00:03:25,021 Imitate their faith. 74 00:03:25,021 --> 00:03:29,222 And then, bang, you get this abrupt 75 00:03:29,222 --> 00:03:31,118 doctrinal expression. 76 00:03:31,118 --> 00:03:32,977 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, 77 00:03:32,977 --> 00:03:34,513 and today, and forever. 78 00:03:34,513 --> 00:03:37,651 And then in v. 9, you get hit with this: 79 00:03:37,651 --> 00:03:39,635 Diverse and strange doctrines. 80 00:03:39,635 --> 00:03:41,841 Don't be led away by them. 81 00:03:41,841 --> 00:03:43,457 Then you get this comparison, 82 00:03:43,457 --> 00:03:48,006 this contrast of grace over against foods. 83 00:03:48,006 --> 00:03:49,282 And then in v. 10, 84 00:03:49,282 --> 00:03:52,343 you get an altar. 85 00:03:52,343 --> 00:03:56,581 Those who serve the tent? 86 00:03:56,581 --> 00:04:00,572 In v. 11, you get this idea about 87 00:04:00,572 --> 00:04:07,440 outside the camp. 88 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,237 You get these sacrifices that are burned 89 00:04:10,237 --> 00:04:11,594 outside the camp. 90 00:04:11,594 --> 00:04:14,475 V. 12: Outside the gate. 91 00:04:14,475 --> 00:04:16,592 V. 13: Outside the camp. 92 00:04:16,592 --> 00:04:20,178 In v. 14, no lasting city. 93 00:04:20,178 --> 00:04:22,139 I mean, you can see 94 00:04:22,139 --> 00:04:27,221 that we have a lot of different thoughts here; 95 00:04:27,221 --> 00:04:28,832 a lot of different ideas. 96 00:04:28,832 --> 00:04:30,378 Now here's one thing that I want 97 00:04:30,378 --> 00:04:32,226 you all to think about, 98 00:04:32,226 --> 00:04:34,475 we're wrapping up Hebrews. 99 00:04:34,475 --> 00:04:37,174 This is the last stretch 100 00:04:37,174 --> 00:04:39,237 before you get some closing remarks. 101 00:04:39,237 --> 00:04:40,770 One thing that's interesting 102 00:04:40,770 --> 00:04:44,513 about the end 103 00:04:44,513 --> 00:04:46,379 is that the author is assuming 104 00:04:46,379 --> 00:04:51,356 that you've read the first 12 chapters. 105 00:04:51,356 --> 00:04:53,309 Here's the problem. 106 00:04:53,309 --> 00:04:56,374 We started - I looked back at my notes - 107 00:04:56,374 --> 00:05:00,753 we started the first message in Hebrews 108 00:05:00,753 --> 00:05:04,324 a little more than three years ago. 109 00:05:04,324 --> 00:05:06,321 But the epistle of Hebrews was not 110 00:05:06,321 --> 00:05:08,489 meant to be read in three years, 111 00:05:08,489 --> 00:05:10,561 so that by the time you get to chapter 13, 112 00:05:10,561 --> 00:05:13,945 you totally don't remember what's going on in chapter 1. 113 00:05:13,945 --> 00:05:15,401 On Thursday, I sat down 114 00:05:15,401 --> 00:05:16,697 and I said you know what, 115 00:05:16,697 --> 00:05:18,038 these are difficult verses, 116 00:05:18,038 --> 00:05:19,758 and I feel like I need to get a feel 117 00:05:19,758 --> 00:05:21,049 for all of Hebrews again, 118 00:05:21,049 --> 00:05:21,819 so I sat down, 119 00:05:21,819 --> 00:05:26,217 I read Hebrews in about 32 1/2 minutes. 120 00:05:26,217 --> 00:05:29,445 And that's how it's meant to be. 121 00:05:29,445 --> 00:05:31,853 Not necessarily 32 1/2, 122 00:05:31,853 --> 00:05:34,077 but typically you are going to read 123 00:05:34,077 --> 00:05:35,859 chapter 1 and chapter 13 124 00:05:35,859 --> 00:05:39,176 within approximately the same hour. 125 00:05:39,176 --> 00:05:41,247 So you have an idea when you're reading 13 126 00:05:41,247 --> 00:05:42,116 what went on in 1. 127 00:05:42,116 --> 00:05:44,101 But when we preach through it at the rate 128 00:05:44,101 --> 00:05:45,690 we've been preaching through it, 129 00:05:45,690 --> 00:05:48,297 you tend to forget what's back there. 130 00:05:48,297 --> 00:05:50,059 And so I think we're going to need to 131 00:05:50,059 --> 00:05:51,345 bounce around. 132 00:05:51,345 --> 00:05:53,505 Your faces are going to need to be 133 00:05:53,505 --> 00:05:54,514 in your Bibles today. 134 00:05:54,514 --> 00:05:57,188 We're going to spend the whole time 135 00:05:57,188 --> 00:05:59,103 in the book of Hebrews, 136 00:05:59,103 --> 00:06:02,117 but what I want to do this morning is this: 137 00:06:02,117 --> 00:06:03,709 We can't cover all of this. 138 00:06:03,709 --> 00:06:05,480 There's just too many thoughts here. 139 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:07,094 What I want to try to focus on 140 00:06:07,094 --> 00:06:13,042 is v. 7,8 and 9. 141 00:06:13,042 --> 00:06:16,047 Remember your leaders. 142 00:06:16,047 --> 00:06:18,280 Those who spoke to you the Word of God. 143 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,298 Consider the outcome of their way of life 144 00:06:21,298 --> 00:06:23,129 and imitate their faith. 145 00:06:23,129 --> 00:06:24,972 And then it's right here where you get 146 00:06:24,972 --> 00:06:27,888 the real abrupt change. 147 00:06:27,888 --> 00:06:29,438 Because trying to figure out, 148 00:06:29,438 --> 00:06:30,859 well, is there anything about 149 00:06:30,859 --> 00:06:32,875 these leaders in teaching the Word of God 150 00:06:32,875 --> 00:06:34,480 and outcome of their way of life 151 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:35,857 and imitating their faith 152 00:06:35,857 --> 00:06:37,754 that would lead us into a statement 153 00:06:37,754 --> 00:06:39,762 about Jesus Christ being the same 154 00:06:39,762 --> 00:06:42,324 yesterday, and today, and forever? 155 00:06:42,324 --> 00:06:45,600 I mean, where's the transition? 156 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:47,458 Or should there be? 157 00:06:47,458 --> 00:06:51,542 Maybe when the guy who made up - 158 00:06:51,542 --> 00:06:55,142 this is not inspired where verse divisions are 159 00:06:55,142 --> 00:06:56,738 and where chapter divisions are. 160 00:06:56,738 --> 00:06:59,046 Maybe there should be a chapter division there. 161 00:06:59,046 --> 00:07:00,724 Maybe that's the end of a thought 162 00:07:00,724 --> 00:07:01,930 and now you get something 163 00:07:01,930 --> 00:07:03,855 totally new. 164 00:07:03,855 --> 00:07:07,522 That's possible. 165 00:07:07,522 --> 00:07:09,473 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, 166 00:07:09,473 --> 00:07:10,685 and today, and forever. 167 00:07:10,685 --> 00:07:16,661 And then, you get maybe not as much 168 00:07:16,661 --> 00:07:18,508 of an abrupt change, 169 00:07:18,508 --> 00:07:19,911 but do not be led away 170 00:07:19,911 --> 00:07:23,310 by diverse and strange doctrines. 171 00:07:23,310 --> 00:07:24,909 Ok, is Jesus Christ being the same 172 00:07:24,909 --> 00:07:27,055 yesterday, and today, and forever 173 00:07:27,055 --> 00:07:29,606 contrasted over against diverse 174 00:07:29,606 --> 00:07:31,030 and strange teachings? 175 00:07:31,030 --> 00:07:32,517 Perhaps. 176 00:07:32,517 --> 00:07:35,815 But you don't see immediately 177 00:07:35,815 --> 00:07:39,072 what that connection is necessarily. 178 00:07:39,072 --> 00:07:41,273 And then he goes on not to say 179 00:07:41,273 --> 00:07:44,658 because some believe that Jesus Christ 180 00:07:44,658 --> 00:07:47,084 is changing, and you don't want to 181 00:07:47,084 --> 00:07:48,068 fall into those. 182 00:07:48,068 --> 00:07:49,402 He actually goes on to say, 183 00:07:49,402 --> 00:07:51,421 it's good for the heart to be strengthened 184 00:07:51,421 --> 00:07:53,292 by grace, not by foods. 185 00:07:53,292 --> 00:07:54,378 It's like why? 186 00:07:54,378 --> 00:07:55,810 You're telling us Jesus Christ 187 00:07:55,810 --> 00:07:57,661 is the same, but then it seems like 188 00:07:57,661 --> 00:08:02,999 the thing that is confronting grace 189 00:08:02,999 --> 00:08:04,518 is food; 190 00:08:04,518 --> 00:08:09,148 not the idea that Jesus can change. 191 00:08:09,148 --> 00:08:11,329 It's good for the heart to be strengthened 192 00:08:11,329 --> 00:08:13,130 by grace, but by foods, 193 00:08:13,130 --> 00:08:14,731 which have not benefitted those 194 00:08:14,731 --> 00:08:16,081 devoted to them. 195 00:08:16,081 --> 00:08:17,858 Where does food come in? 196 00:08:17,858 --> 00:08:19,130 What's food go to do 197 00:08:19,130 --> 00:08:21,455 with diverse and strange teachings? 198 00:08:21,455 --> 00:08:22,904 And so these are the things 199 00:08:22,904 --> 00:08:25,958 I want to try to unpack this morning. 200 00:08:25,958 --> 00:08:29,352 First, let's check out v. 7. 201 00:08:29,352 --> 00:08:31,375 You see there at the beginning, 202 00:08:31,375 --> 00:08:33,533 remember your leaders. 203 00:08:33,533 --> 00:08:35,814 Now, if you let your eyeball sort of drift 204 00:08:35,814 --> 00:08:39,212 down the page to v. 17, 205 00:08:39,212 --> 00:08:42,260 you find the same word again. 206 00:08:42,260 --> 00:08:45,536 Obey your leaders 207 00:08:45,536 --> 00:08:50,714 and submit to them. 208 00:08:50,714 --> 00:08:54,436 Now, we're going to deal with that text later. 209 00:08:54,436 --> 00:08:56,415 Obviously, the leaders in the church 210 00:08:56,415 --> 00:08:57,841 don't have authority outside 211 00:08:57,841 --> 00:08:59,931 of the Word of God. 212 00:08:59,931 --> 00:09:02,372 Our authority has been handed us 213 00:09:02,372 --> 00:09:03,924 by He Who has authority over us, 214 00:09:03,924 --> 00:09:05,511 and that authority comes through 215 00:09:05,511 --> 00:09:07,315 the Word of God. 216 00:09:07,315 --> 00:09:09,407 It's not for us to make up our own rules 217 00:09:09,407 --> 00:09:13,256 as far as the church goes. 218 00:09:13,256 --> 00:09:14,550 Obey your leaders. 219 00:09:14,550 --> 00:09:16,272 And then you see this word again 220 00:09:16,272 --> 00:09:18,494 down in v. 24. 221 00:09:18,494 --> 00:09:20,923 Greet all your leaders. 222 00:09:20,923 --> 00:09:23,449 Now, I think that's probably obvious to everybody 223 00:09:23,449 --> 00:09:26,099 that the leaders spoken of in v. 17 224 00:09:26,099 --> 00:09:29,177 and those spoken of again in v. 24, 225 00:09:29,177 --> 00:09:31,351 they're living leaders, right? 226 00:09:31,351 --> 00:09:35,022 I mean, if you need to be submitting to them; 227 00:09:35,022 --> 00:09:37,483 if they're keeping watch over your souls, 228 00:09:37,483 --> 00:09:39,267 they're alive to do that. 229 00:09:39,267 --> 00:09:40,890 If you're going to greet them, 230 00:09:40,890 --> 00:09:41,604 they're alive. 231 00:09:41,604 --> 00:09:43,636 It's not walking out to their tombstone 232 00:09:43,636 --> 00:09:45,294 and saying something to them. 233 00:09:45,294 --> 00:09:47,216 These are living leaders. 234 00:09:47,216 --> 00:09:49,886 But, it's not so obvious that the leaders 235 00:09:49,886 --> 00:09:52,580 spoken of in v. 7 are living. 236 00:09:52,580 --> 00:09:54,355 And I think if we look at the text, 237 00:09:54,355 --> 00:09:55,743 we can see that. 238 00:09:55,743 --> 00:09:58,316 Do you see in v. 7 where it says, 239 00:09:58,316 --> 00:10:00,103 "outcome?" 240 00:10:00,103 --> 00:10:03,619 Some of your Bibles may say "the end," 241 00:10:03,619 --> 00:10:05,549 or "the result." 242 00:10:05,549 --> 00:10:07,928 The NAS says result. 243 00:10:07,928 --> 00:10:10,331 The King James says the end of their conversation. 244 00:10:10,331 --> 00:10:12,333 Conversation doesn't mean what they speak 245 00:10:12,333 --> 00:10:13,187 with their mouth. 246 00:10:13,187 --> 00:10:14,848 It's their whole life. 247 00:10:14,848 --> 00:10:17,816 The ESV says, "Consider the outcome 248 00:10:17,816 --> 00:10:19,164 of their way of life." 249 00:10:19,164 --> 00:10:20,840 It's the outcome. 250 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:22,111 It's the end. 251 00:10:22,111 --> 00:10:24,955 It's the completion of the way of life 252 00:10:24,955 --> 00:10:27,976 of these leader-teachers 253 00:10:27,976 --> 00:10:30,021 that we're called upon to consider. 254 00:10:30,021 --> 00:10:31,737 Now, listen to this. 255 00:10:31,737 --> 00:10:34,256 Thayer's Greek Lexicon - 256 00:10:34,256 --> 00:10:36,499 it's just a Greek dictionary - 257 00:10:36,499 --> 00:10:39,316 says this about this word for completion 258 00:10:39,316 --> 00:10:41,318 or end: 259 00:10:41,318 --> 00:10:46,039 Thayer says, "it is used of the end of life, 260 00:10:46,039 --> 00:10:49,410 and it's not merely just the end 261 00:10:49,410 --> 00:10:52,036 of their physical life, 262 00:10:52,036 --> 00:10:53,833 but it has that idea of the manner 263 00:10:53,833 --> 00:10:58,719 in which they closed their life. 264 00:10:58,719 --> 00:11:00,345 The manner of which they closed 265 00:11:00,345 --> 00:11:02,089 a well-spent life 266 00:11:02,089 --> 00:11:06,376 as exhibited by their spirit in dying. 267 00:11:06,376 --> 00:11:08,651 And you know, obviously, 268 00:11:08,651 --> 00:11:10,588 if we're called to imitate them, 269 00:11:10,588 --> 00:11:12,344 the author is assuming what 270 00:11:12,344 --> 00:11:13,966 about the outcome of their life? 271 00:11:13,966 --> 00:11:15,457 That it was good! 272 00:11:15,457 --> 00:11:16,663 Not that it was bad. 273 00:11:16,663 --> 00:11:18,126 He's not wanting us to imitate 274 00:11:18,126 --> 00:11:19,172 bad examples. 275 00:11:19,172 --> 00:11:22,606 He's calling us to imitate that which is good. 276 00:11:22,606 --> 00:11:24,520 Our author is assuming that the outcome 277 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:26,877 of these guys' lives was victorious, 278 00:11:26,877 --> 00:11:28,055 it was successful. 279 00:11:28,055 --> 00:11:31,541 The idea is that they held firm 280 00:11:31,541 --> 00:11:33,980 to the faith until the end. 281 00:11:33,980 --> 00:11:35,772 Now, look, that is not a new idea 282 00:11:35,772 --> 00:11:37,652 in Hebrews. 283 00:11:37,652 --> 00:11:38,662 Right? 284 00:11:38,662 --> 00:11:40,357 Remember with me. 285 00:11:40,357 --> 00:11:41,892 Here's where I want you to do 286 00:11:41,892 --> 00:11:43,727 a quick survey. 287 00:11:43,727 --> 00:11:46,685 Go back to Hebrews 3. 288 00:11:46,685 --> 00:11:48,818 This is not a new idea. 289 00:11:48,818 --> 00:11:52,460 The idea that we should look at somebody 290 00:11:52,460 --> 00:11:54,056 and consider the outcome 291 00:11:54,056 --> 00:11:57,327 of a whole life. 292 00:11:57,327 --> 00:12:00,486 This idea of looking at those 293 00:12:00,486 --> 00:12:01,807 who made it to the end. 294 00:12:01,807 --> 00:12:03,896 Well, the idea of Hebrews of making it 295 00:12:03,896 --> 00:12:05,945 to the end - firm to the end. 296 00:12:05,945 --> 00:12:07,701 Holding our confidence to the end. 297 00:12:07,701 --> 00:12:10,431 Being one who endures 298 00:12:10,431 --> 00:12:11,814 all the way. 299 00:12:11,814 --> 00:12:13,585 One that makes it. 300 00:12:13,585 --> 00:12:15,015 That is a theme. 301 00:12:15,015 --> 00:12:17,109 Running well, but running all the way 302 00:12:17,109 --> 00:12:18,322 to the finish line. 303 00:12:18,322 --> 00:12:21,499 That is an emphasis in Hebrews 304 00:12:21,499 --> 00:12:24,536 that just hits us again and again. 305 00:12:24,536 --> 00:12:26,709 And I'm just going to hit on a few of these. 306 00:12:26,709 --> 00:12:28,666 Hebrews 3:6 307 00:12:28,666 --> 00:12:30,611 Christ is faithful over God's house 308 00:12:30,611 --> 00:12:35,307 as a Son, and we are His house 309 00:12:35,307 --> 00:12:37,182 if what? 310 00:12:37,182 --> 00:12:39,868 We are His house. 311 00:12:39,868 --> 00:12:42,489 A house is a place you live. 312 00:12:42,489 --> 00:12:45,241 We are the dwelling place of God. 313 00:12:45,241 --> 00:12:46,899 If what? 314 00:12:46,899 --> 00:12:49,127 If we hold fast our confidence 315 00:12:49,127 --> 00:12:51,156 and our boasting in hope. 316 00:12:51,156 --> 00:12:52,440 Our hope is in Him. 317 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:53,684 We boast in Him. 318 00:12:53,684 --> 00:12:55,174 Our confidence in Him. 319 00:12:55,174 --> 00:12:56,727 We have to hold fast to it 320 00:12:56,727 --> 00:12:59,803 all the way to the end. 321 00:12:59,803 --> 00:13:02,945 How about Hebrews 3:14? 322 00:13:02,945 --> 00:13:05,948 Hebrews 3:14 says we have come to share in Christ. 323 00:13:05,951 --> 00:13:07,258 Sharing in Christ means 324 00:13:07,258 --> 00:13:10,409 we share in what He did. 325 00:13:10,409 --> 00:13:13,252 The salvation He wrought. 326 00:13:13,252 --> 00:13:15,012 The death He died. 327 00:13:15,012 --> 00:13:17,854 We share in the victory that Christ has. 328 00:13:17,854 --> 00:13:20,345 We share in His salvation 329 00:13:20,345 --> 00:13:24,035 only if what? 330 00:13:24,035 --> 00:13:26,045 We hold our original confidence. 331 00:13:26,045 --> 00:13:28,172 Just for a week? 332 00:13:28,172 --> 00:13:30,548 Firm to the end. 333 00:13:30,548 --> 00:13:32,758 That's what this book is about. 334 00:13:32,758 --> 00:13:34,609 Remember how it starts? 335 00:13:34,609 --> 00:13:37,154 That we need to pay much closer attention 336 00:13:37,154 --> 00:13:38,769 to the things we have heard, 337 00:13:38,769 --> 00:13:40,618 lest what? 338 00:13:40,618 --> 00:13:43,022 Lest what? 339 00:13:43,022 --> 00:13:46,232 Lest we drift from them. 340 00:13:46,232 --> 00:13:48,708 Drifting from Christ is perilous. 341 00:13:48,708 --> 00:13:52,491 That is the danger that these Hebrews were in. 342 00:13:52,491 --> 00:13:54,278 Drifting from Christ 343 00:13:54,278 --> 00:13:56,008 for anything else. 344 00:13:56,008 --> 00:13:57,815 That's why food shows up there. 345 00:13:57,815 --> 00:14:00,502 Food has to do with false religion. 346 00:14:00,502 --> 00:14:02,437 Food has to do with religions 347 00:14:02,437 --> 00:14:03,986 that are just lists of rules. 348 00:14:03,986 --> 00:14:05,467 What you eat; what you don't; 349 00:14:05,467 --> 00:14:06,463 what you celebrate; 350 00:14:06,463 --> 00:14:09,597 the liturgy - everything that's just mechanical. 351 00:14:09,597 --> 00:14:11,789 You do this and you don't do that. 352 00:14:11,789 --> 00:14:13,699 It's a set of rules. 353 00:14:13,699 --> 00:14:16,423 That's not what true religion is all about. 354 00:14:16,423 --> 00:14:18,415 True religion is found in Christ, 355 00:14:18,415 --> 00:14:19,957 and hope in Christ, 356 00:14:19,957 --> 00:14:22,204 and hoping in what He has done. 357 00:14:22,204 --> 00:14:24,059 And that's got to be firm to the end. 358 00:14:24,059 --> 00:14:25,650 You don't want to let go of that. 359 00:14:25,650 --> 00:14:26,439 And as we see, 360 00:14:26,439 --> 00:14:28,544 if there's ever a book in the New Testament 361 00:14:28,544 --> 00:14:29,735 that is full of warning, 362 00:14:29,735 --> 00:14:32,215 that if you let go of Christ, 363 00:14:32,215 --> 00:14:35,618 it will end most miserably. 364 00:14:35,618 --> 00:14:37,359 Fearful destruction. 365 00:14:37,359 --> 00:14:42,374 Fearful fury of God. 366 00:14:42,374 --> 00:14:44,236 Beware, Hebrews says. 367 00:14:44,236 --> 00:14:46,703 Our God is a consuming fire. 368 00:14:46,703 --> 00:14:50,212 God and in His hands is the safest place to be 369 00:14:50,212 --> 00:14:51,755 if you're trusting Christ, 370 00:14:51,755 --> 00:14:53,596 but His hands are terrible 371 00:14:53,596 --> 00:14:55,406 if you are outside of Christ 372 00:14:55,406 --> 00:14:57,679 and you put your hope in anything else. 373 00:14:57,679 --> 00:15:01,145 Look again at Hebrews 4:14. 374 00:15:01,145 --> 00:15:06,136 Since then, we have a great high priest 375 00:15:06,136 --> 00:15:07,928 Who has passed through the heavens. 376 00:15:07,928 --> 00:15:10,334 Oh, don't you love that imagery? 377 00:15:10,334 --> 00:15:11,529 Can you see Him? 378 00:15:11,529 --> 00:15:12,768 A great high priest. 379 00:15:12,768 --> 00:15:13,927 He is victorious! 380 00:15:13,927 --> 00:15:15,487 Passing through the heavens. 381 00:15:15,487 --> 00:15:17,701 That is a picture of Him ascending 382 00:15:17,701 --> 00:15:20,225 up to the right hand of Majesty on High. 383 00:15:20,225 --> 00:15:21,945 Can you see Him? 384 00:15:21,945 --> 00:15:24,467 I mean, He goes forth triumphant; 385 00:15:24,467 --> 00:15:26,406 scepter in hand to sit down, 386 00:15:26,406 --> 00:15:29,036 after having made purification for sins, 387 00:15:29,036 --> 00:15:31,871 at the right hand of the Majesty on High. 388 00:15:31,871 --> 00:15:33,047 That's the picture. 389 00:15:33,047 --> 00:15:34,564 Passing through the heavens. 390 00:15:34,564 --> 00:15:37,377 He's ascending to take His throne. 391 00:15:37,377 --> 00:15:38,692 He's victorious. 392 00:15:38,692 --> 00:15:40,045 He has conquered sin. 393 00:15:40,045 --> 00:15:41,768 He has conquered death. 394 00:15:41,768 --> 00:15:43,356 But here's the thing, 395 00:15:43,356 --> 00:15:44,809 we have a great high priest 396 00:15:44,809 --> 00:15:46,943 Who has passed through the heavens - 397 00:15:46,943 --> 00:15:49,653 Jesus, the Son of God. 398 00:15:49,653 --> 00:15:51,060 Because that's true, 399 00:15:51,060 --> 00:15:53,672 let us hold fast our confession. 400 00:15:53,672 --> 00:15:54,980 There it is again. 401 00:15:54,980 --> 00:15:57,394 Hold fast. Hold fast. Hold fast. 402 00:15:57,394 --> 00:16:02,864 How about turn over to Hebrews 6:11? 403 00:16:02,864 --> 00:16:05,166 Hebrews 6:11 - you jump in right there. 404 00:16:05,166 --> 00:16:08,375 "Show the same earnestness 405 00:16:08,375 --> 00:16:10,866 to have the full assurance of hope 406 00:16:10,866 --> 00:16:13,179 until the end." 407 00:16:13,179 --> 00:16:14,357 There you have it again. 408 00:16:14,357 --> 00:16:15,852 Until the end. 409 00:16:15,852 --> 00:16:17,045 Before in Hebrews 3:14, 410 00:16:17,045 --> 00:16:20,271 firm to the end. 411 00:16:20,271 --> 00:16:24,257 You have this "hold fast our confidence." 412 00:16:24,257 --> 00:16:25,820 Hold our original confidence 413 00:16:25,820 --> 00:16:26,864 firm to the end. 414 00:16:26,864 --> 00:16:29,005 Let us hold fast our confession. 415 00:16:29,005 --> 00:16:31,356 We are to have the same earnestness, 416 00:16:31,356 --> 00:16:32,982 to have the full assurance of hope 417 00:16:32,982 --> 00:16:33,905 until the end. 418 00:16:33,905 --> 00:16:35,820 How about Hebrews 10:23? 419 00:16:35,820 --> 00:16:37,467 Again, you get this idea again 420 00:16:37,467 --> 00:16:39,276 about holding, holding, holding fast; 421 00:16:39,276 --> 00:16:40,697 let us hold fast. 422 00:16:40,697 --> 00:16:42,968 Hebrews 10:23, Let us hold fast 423 00:16:42,968 --> 00:16:44,441 the confession of our hope 424 00:16:44,441 --> 00:16:45,681 without wavering; 425 00:16:45,681 --> 00:16:48,723 for He Who promised is faithful. 426 00:16:48,723 --> 00:16:49,995 I'll give you one more. 427 00:16:49,995 --> 00:16:53,039 Hebrews 12:1 428 00:16:53,039 --> 00:16:55,204 Right there towards the end of the verse. 429 00:16:55,204 --> 00:16:57,449 "Let us run with endurance 430 00:16:57,449 --> 00:16:59,587 the race that is set before us." 431 00:16:59,587 --> 00:17:00,910 Here the word is endurance. 432 00:17:00,910 --> 00:17:02,240 But that's the same thing: 433 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:03,851 hold fast, keep enduring, 434 00:17:03,851 --> 00:17:04,979 keep going. 435 00:17:04,979 --> 00:17:06,660 So when it comes to those 436 00:17:06,660 --> 00:17:07,873 who taught us the Word - 437 00:17:07,873 --> 00:17:10,025 here's what the author of Hebrews is doing. 438 00:17:10,025 --> 00:17:13,438 He's saying those who taught us 439 00:17:13,438 --> 00:17:15,194 the Word of God - 440 00:17:15,194 --> 00:17:17,051 think about what the Word of God is. 441 00:17:17,051 --> 00:17:20,351 The Word of God is the Gospel. 442 00:17:20,351 --> 00:17:23,876 This is the message that Christ is set forth in. 443 00:17:23,876 --> 00:17:25,691 The very message of Christ. 444 00:17:25,691 --> 00:17:27,670 The message that we are to continue 445 00:17:27,670 --> 00:17:29,606 holding on to by faith 446 00:17:29,606 --> 00:17:31,100 until the end. 447 00:17:31,100 --> 00:17:32,269 We ask ourselves, 448 00:17:32,269 --> 00:17:34,539 how did those who taught us run? 449 00:17:34,539 --> 00:17:36,215 Did they hold fast? 450 00:17:36,215 --> 00:17:38,296 Did they continue themselves? 451 00:17:38,296 --> 00:17:39,792 Convinced of what they taught? 452 00:17:39,792 --> 00:17:42,559 Did they hold their original confidence firm to the end? 453 00:17:42,559 --> 00:17:44,273 You see, this is a picture of those 454 00:17:44,273 --> 00:17:46,078 who have gone before us. 455 00:17:46,078 --> 00:17:49,162 Now, we're a young church. 456 00:17:49,162 --> 00:17:53,566 You guys don't have elders who 457 00:17:53,566 --> 00:17:56,139 aren't here anymore. 458 00:17:56,139 --> 00:17:57,583 But there are people - 459 00:17:57,583 --> 00:17:59,687 you sit under the teaching of Spurgeon, 460 00:17:59,687 --> 00:18:00,638 many of you. 461 00:18:00,638 --> 00:18:02,552 Yeah, he died over a hundred years ago, 462 00:18:02,552 --> 00:18:03,717 but you sat under him. 463 00:18:03,717 --> 00:18:05,008 Read his autobiography. 464 00:18:05,008 --> 00:18:06,423 Read what was said about him. 465 00:18:06,423 --> 00:18:08,094 Read how he died. 466 00:18:08,094 --> 00:18:10,548 I just this morning and yesterday, 467 00:18:10,548 --> 00:18:12,497 I pulled up that message. 468 00:18:12,497 --> 00:18:15,149 It wasn't long ago when Bob Jennings 469 00:18:15,149 --> 00:18:18,569 stood right here and gave the last message 470 00:18:18,569 --> 00:18:22,299 to our church that he would ever give. 471 00:18:22,299 --> 00:18:23,924 And I went back and I listened 472 00:18:23,924 --> 00:18:25,899 to his preaching. 473 00:18:25,899 --> 00:18:28,120 You know what the problem is with those 474 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:31,050 who are living? 475 00:18:31,050 --> 00:18:35,023 What's the problem with those who are living? 476 00:18:35,023 --> 00:18:37,383 They haven't made it all the way to the end yet. 477 00:18:37,383 --> 00:18:39,603 You don't know if they're going to fall out. 478 00:18:39,603 --> 00:18:43,027 David mentioned Bill Gothard. 479 00:18:43,027 --> 00:18:44,509 How about Doug Phillips? 480 00:18:44,509 --> 00:18:47,250 I mean, we see guys fall out of the race. 481 00:18:47,250 --> 00:18:49,122 We see guys fall into sin. 482 00:18:49,122 --> 00:18:51,768 We see guys that don't make it to the end 483 00:18:51,768 --> 00:18:52,689 all the time. 484 00:18:52,689 --> 00:18:54,535 And sometimes they have big names. 485 00:18:54,535 --> 00:18:56,659 Sometimes they're at the high end 486 00:18:56,659 --> 00:18:59,497 of circles where you think the doctrine is good 487 00:18:59,497 --> 00:19:00,713 and it looks orthodox. 488 00:19:00,713 --> 00:19:03,586 And these guys make shipwreck. 489 00:19:03,586 --> 00:19:05,091 It happens. 490 00:19:05,091 --> 00:19:06,687 You know what? 491 00:19:06,687 --> 00:19:08,990 There are lots of things you can imitate 492 00:19:08,990 --> 00:19:10,672 in those who are living. 493 00:19:10,672 --> 00:19:12,374 But there's something that those 494 00:19:12,374 --> 00:19:14,185 who made it successfully to the end 495 00:19:14,185 --> 00:19:17,027 have that the living don't have. 496 00:19:17,027 --> 00:19:19,646 They have a testimony all the way to the end. 497 00:19:19,646 --> 00:19:20,877 They made it. 498 00:19:20,877 --> 00:19:22,221 They did well. 499 00:19:22,221 --> 00:19:26,299 They got through. 500 00:19:26,299 --> 00:19:29,750 The thing about men like Bob Jennings, 501 00:19:29,750 --> 00:19:31,548 they shined right to the end. 502 00:19:31,548 --> 00:19:33,353 Was he perfect? No. 503 00:19:33,353 --> 00:19:34,839 But his hope was in Christ. 504 00:19:34,839 --> 00:19:36,256 I pulled up that message. 505 00:19:36,256 --> 00:19:37,945 As he was closing the message, 506 00:19:37,945 --> 00:19:39,613 do you know what Bob was saying? 507 00:19:39,613 --> 00:19:43,350 This was just two months before he died. 508 00:19:43,350 --> 00:19:46,353 He says, "I'm going to keep on with Christ. 509 00:19:46,353 --> 00:19:48,462 I'm going to stay away from sin. 510 00:19:48,462 --> 00:19:50,398 I'm going to abhor the world. 511 00:19:50,398 --> 00:19:51,859 I'm going to live for Christ 512 00:19:51,859 --> 00:19:52,928 and for eternity. 513 00:19:52,928 --> 00:19:55,340 I'm putting my eggs in one basket. 514 00:19:55,340 --> 00:19:56,803 I want to do all for Him. 515 00:19:56,803 --> 00:19:58,264 I want to finish well. 516 00:19:58,264 --> 00:20:00,587 Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. 517 00:20:00,587 --> 00:20:02,986 That's it. That's the ultimate." 518 00:20:02,986 --> 00:20:04,891 Here's a man. He's at the end. 519 00:20:04,891 --> 00:20:06,619 He's run his race. 520 00:20:06,619 --> 00:20:08,425 And that's his testimony. 521 00:20:08,425 --> 00:20:11,434 He believed what he taught all those years. 522 00:20:11,434 --> 00:20:13,778 And that's what we're being told to imitate. 523 00:20:13,778 --> 00:20:15,433 Now, here's the thing that we need 524 00:20:15,433 --> 00:20:17,484 to understand about making it to the end; 525 00:20:17,484 --> 00:20:19,649 persevering; keeping on in the race. 526 00:20:19,649 --> 00:20:23,493 The perseverance itself is not what saves us. 527 00:20:23,493 --> 00:20:24,935 It's not like we're being told 528 00:20:24,935 --> 00:20:27,157 persevere because persevering saves you. 529 00:20:27,157 --> 00:20:30,944 Jesus said that if you make it to the end; 530 00:20:30,944 --> 00:20:32,251 you persevere to the end; 531 00:20:32,251 --> 00:20:33,563 you keep going to the end, 532 00:20:33,563 --> 00:20:34,557 you'll be saved. 533 00:20:34,557 --> 00:20:36,937 But the merit in our salvation 534 00:20:36,937 --> 00:20:38,946 is never in the perseverance. 535 00:20:38,946 --> 00:20:40,087 It's never there. 536 00:20:40,087 --> 00:20:41,484 The warrant for our salvation 537 00:20:41,484 --> 00:20:42,963 is found in Christ alone. 538 00:20:42,963 --> 00:20:46,126 The perseverance doesn't earn salvation for us. 539 00:20:46,126 --> 00:20:48,396 It doesn't earn forgiveness for our sins. 540 00:20:48,396 --> 00:20:49,922 Christ alone saves. 541 00:20:49,922 --> 00:20:50,908 But listen, 542 00:20:50,908 --> 00:20:52,727 those He saves, 543 00:20:52,727 --> 00:20:54,692 He saves well. 544 00:20:54,692 --> 00:20:56,647 And He pours His grace 545 00:20:56,647 --> 00:21:00,076 that their faith might maintain to the end. 546 00:21:00,076 --> 00:21:03,099 The proof that you have truly been saved 547 00:21:03,099 --> 00:21:06,273 by this God Who saves well 548 00:21:06,273 --> 00:21:08,882 is that you make it to the end. 549 00:21:08,882 --> 00:21:10,532 The fact is that if you fall out, 550 00:21:10,532 --> 00:21:12,237 you're showing that your salvation 551 00:21:12,237 --> 00:21:14,223 is not of God's making. 552 00:21:14,223 --> 00:21:16,158 It's something of man's making. 553 00:21:16,158 --> 00:21:19,896 It's some religion that you've dreamt up. 554 00:21:19,896 --> 00:21:22,852 God puts power in His people 555 00:21:22,852 --> 00:21:25,030 that their faith might make it to the end. 556 00:21:25,030 --> 00:21:27,875 He saves people. 557 00:21:27,875 --> 00:21:28,856 And you know what? 558 00:21:28,856 --> 00:21:31,180 Perseverance proves that the saving power of God 559 00:21:31,180 --> 00:21:32,990 is behind a person's being a Christian 560 00:21:32,990 --> 00:21:34,229 so that they finish well. 561 00:21:34,229 --> 00:21:35,279 That's the question. 562 00:21:35,279 --> 00:21:38,188 That's the question on the table. 563 00:21:38,188 --> 00:21:41,341 The one who endures to the end will be saved. 564 00:21:41,341 --> 00:21:43,081 And look, this isn't the first time 565 00:21:43,081 --> 00:21:44,827 this idea of imitating those - 566 00:21:44,827 --> 00:21:48,203 just jump back to Hebrews 6 very quickly. 567 00:21:48,203 --> 00:21:50,430 V. 11 - you see this sort of language 568 00:21:50,430 --> 00:21:53,342 found there as well. 569 00:21:53,342 --> 00:21:57,826 This idea about imitating. 570 00:21:57,826 --> 00:22:00,024 Hebrews 6:11 571 00:22:00,024 --> 00:22:04,693 "We desire each one of you 572 00:22:04,693 --> 00:22:08,099 to show the same earnestness, 573 00:22:08,099 --> 00:22:10,562 to have the same assurance of hope until the end." 574 00:22:10,562 --> 00:22:13,256 Now, I know we just looked at that a few moments ago, 575 00:22:13,256 --> 00:22:14,875 but keep reading. 576 00:22:14,875 --> 00:22:16,386 We need to have full assurance 577 00:22:16,386 --> 00:22:17,916 of hope until the end, 578 00:22:17,916 --> 00:22:20,899 so that you may not be sluggish, 579 00:22:20,899 --> 00:22:23,713 but imitators of those who 580 00:22:23,713 --> 00:22:25,280 through faith and patience 581 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:26,936 inherit the promises. 582 00:22:26,936 --> 00:22:28,460 So here's that idea again. 583 00:22:28,460 --> 00:22:31,856 Imitate. You have faith. 584 00:22:31,856 --> 00:22:34,305 Until the end. 585 00:22:34,305 --> 00:22:36,801 That's the idea. 586 00:22:36,801 --> 00:22:38,047 Until the end. 587 00:22:38,047 --> 00:22:39,694 Imitiate those who through faith 588 00:22:39,694 --> 00:22:42,441 gain the fulfillment of the promises. 589 00:22:42,441 --> 00:22:44,381 They make it. 590 00:22:44,381 --> 00:22:50,101 So that's the idea there in 13:7. 591 00:22:50,101 --> 00:22:51,431 Now, let's transition. 592 00:22:51,431 --> 00:22:57,598 Go back to chapter 13. 593 00:22:57,598 --> 00:23:01,102 Look at v. 8. 594 00:23:01,102 --> 00:23:05,024 This just seems abrupt. 595 00:23:05,024 --> 00:23:07,671 Now look, I don't think - 596 00:23:07,671 --> 00:23:09,149 you tell me. 597 00:23:09,149 --> 00:23:14,384 If I was talking to you and I told you 598 00:23:14,384 --> 00:23:17,199 that you were to imitate 599 00:23:17,199 --> 00:23:19,196 the outcome of the life. 600 00:23:19,196 --> 00:23:21,441 You were to look and study and remember 601 00:23:21,441 --> 00:23:23,168 the outcome of men's life 602 00:23:23,168 --> 00:23:25,377 and imitate their faith - 603 00:23:25,377 --> 00:23:26,852 men who made it to the end. 604 00:23:26,852 --> 00:23:32,026 For me to go right in to what that faith is, 605 00:23:32,026 --> 00:23:33,627 wouldn't be unusual. 606 00:23:33,627 --> 00:23:34,840 There'd be a connection. 607 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:36,810 There'd be a flow there. 608 00:23:36,810 --> 00:23:40,280 Because faith isn't just some obscure thing. 609 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,214 Faith is my eyes set on Jesus Christ 610 00:23:43,214 --> 00:23:46,198 and my full hope is set right there. 611 00:23:46,198 --> 00:23:49,884 So to have something about the object 612 00:23:49,884 --> 00:23:52,692 of our faith to follow immediately after 613 00:23:52,692 --> 00:23:54,917 is not strange. 614 00:23:54,917 --> 00:23:56,436 To me, what's strange about it 615 00:23:56,436 --> 00:23:59,487 is not that something is said about Christ. 616 00:23:59,487 --> 00:24:02,150 It's what is said about Christ. 617 00:24:02,150 --> 00:24:04,265 Christ is the same 618 00:24:04,265 --> 00:24:07,701 yesterday and today and forever. 619 00:24:07,701 --> 00:24:09,578 How does that fit? 620 00:24:09,578 --> 00:24:11,365 What does the sameness of Christ 621 00:24:11,365 --> 00:24:13,168 have to do with what he just said? 622 00:24:13,168 --> 00:24:16,248 Perhaps these guys have died; 623 00:24:16,248 --> 00:24:18,389 these leaders, these guys that have 624 00:24:18,389 --> 00:24:19,874 taught you the Word of God, 625 00:24:19,874 --> 00:24:22,785 they've died. Jesus doesn't die. 626 00:24:22,785 --> 00:24:25,394 Perhaps that's the connection. 627 00:24:25,394 --> 00:24:29,033 Let's look at it. 628 00:24:29,033 --> 00:24:32,749 As far as flow goes, 629 00:24:32,749 --> 00:24:36,703 if you look at the next verse - v. 9, 630 00:24:36,703 --> 00:24:39,737 it starts out with not being led away 631 00:24:39,737 --> 00:24:41,868 by diverse and strange teachings. 632 00:24:41,868 --> 00:24:43,713 It doesn't seem strange to me either 633 00:24:43,713 --> 00:24:46,682 that you would get the author 634 00:24:46,682 --> 00:24:51,447 giving us that which is not strange, 635 00:24:51,447 --> 00:24:52,976 and then constrasting it 636 00:24:52,976 --> 00:24:55,334 with that which is. 637 00:24:55,334 --> 00:24:57,176 But again, what's unusual to me 638 00:24:57,176 --> 00:25:01,700 is what is said about Christ. 639 00:25:01,700 --> 00:25:05,571 Jesus Christ is the same 640 00:25:05,571 --> 00:25:08,868 yesterday and today and forever. 641 00:25:08,868 --> 00:25:10,119 I mean think about this. 642 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:11,462 The author is really wanting 643 00:25:11,462 --> 00:25:14,685 to encourage us to hold fast to Christ 644 00:25:14,685 --> 00:25:18,724 the way that our teachers held fast to Christ. 645 00:25:18,724 --> 00:25:22,367 But how does this statement help us do that? 646 00:25:22,367 --> 00:25:23,761 I mean, when you hear that, 647 00:25:23,761 --> 00:25:24,773 does that really... 648 00:25:24,773 --> 00:25:26,449 Oh yeah, that makes me 649 00:25:26,449 --> 00:25:31,341 really want to trust Him more! 650 00:25:31,341 --> 00:25:36,049 He's the same. 651 00:25:36,049 --> 00:25:38,607 How does knowing that Christ is the same 652 00:25:38,607 --> 00:25:39,785 help me not be led away 653 00:25:39,785 --> 00:25:42,406 by diverse and strange teachings? 654 00:25:42,406 --> 00:25:43,610 I mean, think about this, 655 00:25:43,610 --> 00:25:45,646 was there a prevalent error? 656 00:25:45,646 --> 00:25:47,255 Anywhere in the New Testament, 657 00:25:47,255 --> 00:25:49,507 do you come across a prevalent error 658 00:25:49,507 --> 00:25:51,845 in that day in the early church 659 00:25:51,845 --> 00:25:56,138 that said that Jesus Christ changes? 660 00:25:56,138 --> 00:25:58,912 I mean how does that statement help us? 661 00:25:58,912 --> 00:26:01,090 Where is that statement coming from? 662 00:26:01,090 --> 00:26:04,486 Jesus Christ is the same. 663 00:26:04,486 --> 00:26:06,655 Well, the same as what? 664 00:26:06,655 --> 00:26:09,371 What is He the same as? 665 00:26:09,371 --> 00:26:11,828 I mean, clear, the text tells us 666 00:26:11,828 --> 00:26:14,358 He's the same today as He was yesterday, 667 00:26:14,358 --> 00:26:15,732 and He's the same yesterday 668 00:26:15,732 --> 00:26:17,032 as He is today, 669 00:26:17,032 --> 00:26:18,646 and that the way He was yesterday 670 00:26:18,646 --> 00:26:19,784 and the way He is today 671 00:26:19,784 --> 00:26:21,138 is the way He's going to be 672 00:26:21,138 --> 00:26:22,883 through all the ages. 673 00:26:22,883 --> 00:26:24,345 It literally reads: 674 00:26:24,345 --> 00:26:30,201 Jesus Christ yesterday and today the same 675 00:26:30,201 --> 00:26:32,350 and through the ages. 676 00:26:32,350 --> 00:26:36,205 That's literally how it reads. 677 00:26:36,205 --> 00:26:37,664 But how is it applicable 678 00:26:37,664 --> 00:26:39,601 to imitating the faith of our teachers? 679 00:26:39,601 --> 00:26:41,200 How is it applicable to not being 680 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,196 led away by diverse and strange teachings? 681 00:26:43,196 --> 00:26:44,633 Do we know of any error 682 00:26:44,633 --> 00:26:46,466 that said that Jesus Christ changes? 683 00:26:46,466 --> 00:26:48,093 When we're told that Jesus Christ 684 00:26:48,093 --> 00:26:50,589 is the same - the same as what? 685 00:26:50,589 --> 00:26:52,276 I know He's the same 686 00:26:52,276 --> 00:26:53,818 yesterday, today, and forever, 687 00:26:53,818 --> 00:26:57,343 but what does the sameness apply to? 688 00:26:57,343 --> 00:26:58,883 Sameness. 689 00:26:58,883 --> 00:27:00,861 (Incomplete thought) 690 00:27:00,861 --> 00:27:04,224 In an of itself, if you think about it, 691 00:27:04,224 --> 00:27:07,978 if you tell me that something is the same, 692 00:27:07,978 --> 00:27:11,814 it isn't necessarily good news to me. 693 00:27:11,814 --> 00:27:14,172 I mean, you think about it. 694 00:27:14,172 --> 00:27:15,966 The devil was the devil yesterday. 695 00:27:15,966 --> 00:27:17,583 And the devil is the devil today. 696 00:27:17,583 --> 00:27:20,308 And the devil is going to be the devil forever. 697 00:27:20,308 --> 00:27:23,280 Just because there's an aspect 698 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,557 about somebody that doesn't change, 699 00:27:25,557 --> 00:27:30,348 doesn't necessarily make it good news to us. 700 00:27:30,348 --> 00:27:33,826 What is it in this book of Hebrews 701 00:27:33,826 --> 00:27:36,290 that is really prompting the author 702 00:27:36,290 --> 00:27:37,541 to want to go here as he's 703 00:27:37,541 --> 00:27:41,472 shutting down this letter? 704 00:27:41,472 --> 00:27:43,153 And you know what the thing is? 705 00:27:43,153 --> 00:27:44,685 I can actually think of ways 706 00:27:44,685 --> 00:27:50,392 that Jesus Christ has changed. 707 00:27:50,392 --> 00:27:52,562 I mean, let's be honest about it. 708 00:27:52,562 --> 00:27:55,720 Yes, if we're talking about His deity, 709 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:57,056 He doesn't change. 710 00:27:57,056 --> 00:27:58,475 He's the eternal Word of God. 711 00:27:58,475 --> 00:28:01,265 In the beginning, He was with God. 712 00:28:01,265 --> 00:28:03,460 In the beginning, He was God. 713 00:28:03,460 --> 00:28:05,538 That's how He was in the beginning. 714 00:28:05,538 --> 00:28:06,859 We know that as God, 715 00:28:06,859 --> 00:28:08,420 He has equality with the Father. 716 00:28:08,420 --> 00:28:12,248 We know that as divine, 717 00:28:12,248 --> 00:28:14,105 He doesn't change. 718 00:28:14,105 --> 00:28:14,938 But the truth is, 719 00:28:14,938 --> 00:28:18,217 there are a lot of things about Jesus that do change. 720 00:28:18,217 --> 00:28:19,291 Right? 721 00:28:19,291 --> 00:28:22,841 The Word became flesh. 722 00:28:22,841 --> 00:28:24,823 Think about that word "became." 723 00:28:24,823 --> 00:28:27,034 He became something 724 00:28:27,034 --> 00:28:28,499 that He wasn't before. 725 00:28:28,499 --> 00:28:30,170 That's what became means. 726 00:28:30,170 --> 00:28:31,377 He became flesh. 727 00:28:31,377 --> 00:28:34,045 He took on Himself 728 00:28:34,045 --> 00:28:36,579 the likeness of sinful flesh. 729 00:28:36,579 --> 00:28:38,004 He didn't have that before. 730 00:28:38,004 --> 00:28:39,676 I mean, that's one of the things 731 00:28:39,676 --> 00:28:43,192 in Hebrews that we find out about Christ 732 00:28:43,192 --> 00:28:45,361 is that for Him to become 733 00:28:45,361 --> 00:28:47,305 the perfect high priest, 734 00:28:47,305 --> 00:28:50,651 He had to become like His brethren 735 00:28:50,651 --> 00:28:52,916 in every respect. 736 00:28:52,916 --> 00:28:54,366 He had to become something 737 00:28:54,366 --> 00:28:55,762 He wasn't before, 738 00:28:55,762 --> 00:29:00,075 in order to become that perfect high priest. 739 00:29:00,075 --> 00:29:01,909 There was a time before which 740 00:29:01,909 --> 00:29:03,036 He rose from the dead. 741 00:29:03,036 --> 00:29:04,647 There was a time before which 742 00:29:04,647 --> 00:29:06,269 He made atonement for sin. 743 00:29:06,269 --> 00:29:07,978 There was a time before which 744 00:29:07,978 --> 00:29:10,827 He ascended to His Father. 745 00:29:10,827 --> 00:29:12,859 You see, there is a work Christ did 746 00:29:12,859 --> 00:29:14,693 that at one time wasn't done. 747 00:29:14,693 --> 00:29:16,376 A change took place 748 00:29:16,376 --> 00:29:19,138 in that it was accomplished. 749 00:29:19,138 --> 00:29:22,559 He became man when He was not man. 750 00:29:22,559 --> 00:29:24,972 He took upon Himself humanity 751 00:29:24,972 --> 00:29:28,429 and He will be humanity forever more. 752 00:29:28,429 --> 00:29:29,994 You understand this. 753 00:29:29,994 --> 00:29:32,634 His nature as man at one time 754 00:29:32,634 --> 00:29:34,129 did not exist. 755 00:29:34,129 --> 00:29:35,738 Now, I know in the mind of God, 756 00:29:35,738 --> 00:29:37,369 God might count certain things 757 00:29:37,369 --> 00:29:39,605 true about Him before they happened, 758 00:29:39,605 --> 00:29:41,305 but the truth is, in time, 759 00:29:41,305 --> 00:29:42,885 many things happened. 760 00:29:42,885 --> 00:29:43,996 And one of them is 761 00:29:43,996 --> 00:29:45,394 He took upon Himself 762 00:29:45,394 --> 00:29:47,164 the nature of mankind. 763 00:29:47,164 --> 00:29:49,162 That's a change. 764 00:29:49,162 --> 00:29:51,358 I mean, we're not being honest 765 00:29:51,358 --> 00:29:53,858 with ourselves if we say it isn't. 766 00:29:53,858 --> 00:29:54,935 It is. 767 00:29:54,935 --> 00:29:57,029 And Scripture everywhere tells us 768 00:29:57,029 --> 00:30:00,546 He became something He wasn't before. 769 00:30:00,546 --> 00:30:02,257 He became... 770 00:30:02,257 --> 00:30:06,976 The Word became flesh. 771 00:30:06,976 --> 00:30:09,675 I'm just wanting to be honest with Scripture. 772 00:30:09,675 --> 00:30:11,229 These are questions we have. 773 00:30:11,229 --> 00:30:12,218 When we come across: 774 00:30:12,218 --> 00:30:13,474 Jesus Christ is the same 775 00:30:13,474 --> 00:30:15,010 yesterday, today, and forever, 776 00:30:15,010 --> 00:30:16,448 we need to be thinking about 777 00:30:16,448 --> 00:30:18,641 what this really means. 778 00:30:18,641 --> 00:30:22,575 Well, let me tell you what I believe this means. 779 00:30:22,575 --> 00:30:24,283 I think this has everything to do 780 00:30:24,283 --> 00:30:25,885 with what he's been talking about 781 00:30:25,885 --> 00:30:27,215 in the book of Hebrews. 782 00:30:27,215 --> 00:30:28,609 I'll tell you this right off. 783 00:30:28,609 --> 00:30:30,220 When it says the same yesterday, 784 00:30:30,220 --> 00:30:31,281 today and forever, 785 00:30:31,281 --> 00:30:32,864 a lot of people like to reach in 786 00:30:32,864 --> 00:30:34,375 and pull it out. 787 00:30:34,375 --> 00:30:37,332 They give you no context in Hebrews. 788 00:30:37,332 --> 00:30:38,630 They just pull it out. 789 00:30:38,630 --> 00:30:41,556 And they typically apply it to His deity. 790 00:30:41,556 --> 00:30:43,297 And I don't believe that's right. 791 00:30:43,297 --> 00:30:45,718 I don't believe that yesterday 792 00:30:45,718 --> 00:30:47,934 means eternity past. 793 00:30:47,934 --> 00:30:49,442 I don't believe that. 794 00:30:49,442 --> 00:30:51,407 Because I don't believe that's a message 795 00:30:51,407 --> 00:30:52,947 we've been getting in Hebrews, 796 00:30:52,947 --> 00:30:54,999 and I want to show you this. 797 00:30:54,999 --> 00:30:57,109 Listen. 798 00:30:57,109 --> 00:31:02,600 Hebrews is all about what changes 799 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,466 and what does not change. 800 00:31:05,466 --> 00:31:06,941 And I want to show you this. 801 00:31:06,941 --> 00:31:08,500 Go back to chapter 7. 802 00:31:08,500 --> 00:31:10,709 I think you'll get a feel for this. 803 00:31:10,709 --> 00:31:13,023 If you want to interpret Scripture, 804 00:31:13,023 --> 00:31:16,110 we interpret Scripture with Scripture. 805 00:31:16,110 --> 00:31:18,199 And if you want to interpret Scripture, 806 00:31:18,199 --> 00:31:19,647 the best way to interpret it 807 00:31:19,647 --> 00:31:21,196 is to look at the same author 808 00:31:21,196 --> 00:31:22,409 in other places 809 00:31:22,409 --> 00:31:25,820 and preferably in the same book. 810 00:31:25,820 --> 00:31:29,545 Listen, Hebrews is a package. 811 00:31:29,545 --> 00:31:32,846 Hebrews has a message. 812 00:31:32,846 --> 00:31:35,240 Hebrews flows. 813 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:36,883 The author starts somewhere 814 00:31:36,883 --> 00:31:38,439 and he's going somewhere. 815 00:31:38,439 --> 00:31:39,955 It's not just disjointed. 816 00:31:39,955 --> 00:31:41,999 It's not just random. 817 00:31:41,999 --> 00:31:45,255 There is a cohesiveness about Hebrews. 818 00:31:45,255 --> 00:31:47,566 And so when we get to a statement like this 819 00:31:47,566 --> 00:31:49,231 at the end of a book, 820 00:31:49,231 --> 00:31:51,170 you really want to go back and look 821 00:31:51,170 --> 00:31:53,306 throughout the book to see 822 00:31:53,306 --> 00:31:55,763 is there anything that leads us 823 00:31:55,763 --> 00:31:59,831 to be able to determine and define, 824 00:31:59,831 --> 00:32:03,620 to discern where this is coming from. 825 00:32:03,620 --> 00:32:05,312 So if you go back to Hebrews 7. 826 00:32:05,312 --> 00:32:06,675 Look at this. 827 00:32:06,675 --> 00:32:09,128 V. 11 828 00:32:09,128 --> 00:32:10,214 I'm going to tell you, 829 00:32:10,214 --> 00:32:13,265 I don't believe this statement has to do with Christ's deity. 830 00:32:13,265 --> 00:32:14,843 I believe it has to do 831 00:32:14,843 --> 00:32:20,506 with His priesthood, 832 00:32:20,506 --> 00:32:23,961 and with His sacrifice, 833 00:32:23,961 --> 00:32:28,363 and what was accomplished by it. 834 00:32:28,363 --> 00:32:35,086 The high priestly capacity 835 00:32:35,086 --> 00:32:37,667 of our Lord Jesus Christ 836 00:32:37,667 --> 00:32:39,972 is certainly a prominent message 837 00:32:39,972 --> 00:32:41,117 throughout Hebrews. 838 00:32:41,117 --> 00:32:43,312 Here we are right in the heart of it. 839 00:32:43,312 --> 00:32:45,431 But, watch this, Hebrews 7:11. 840 00:32:45,431 --> 00:32:47,648 "Now, if perfection had been attainable 841 00:32:47,648 --> 00:32:50,032 through the Levitical priesthood..." 842 00:32:50,032 --> 00:32:51,034 Now think about that. 843 00:32:51,034 --> 00:32:53,207 The Levitical priesthood was the priesthood 844 00:32:53,207 --> 00:32:56,779 you found in the Old Testament. 845 00:32:56,779 --> 00:32:59,496 Was perfection available through it? 846 00:32:59,496 --> 00:33:02,966 Was anybody perfected through that priesthood? 847 00:33:02,966 --> 00:33:05,212 No. 848 00:33:05,212 --> 00:33:07,438 And because of it, 849 00:33:07,438 --> 00:33:08,795 it was changeable. 850 00:33:08,795 --> 00:33:10,743 It needed to be replaced. 851 00:33:10,743 --> 00:33:14,641 It changed. 852 00:33:14,641 --> 00:33:20,081 "For under it, the people received the law." 853 00:33:20,081 --> 00:33:22,289 The whole idea here 854 00:33:22,289 --> 00:33:24,818 is if under that priesthood 855 00:33:24,818 --> 00:33:26,675 people would have been made perfect, 856 00:33:26,675 --> 00:33:28,575 what further need would there have been 857 00:33:28,575 --> 00:33:31,759 for another priest - that's Christ - 858 00:33:31,759 --> 00:33:35,770 to arise after the order of Melchizedek? 859 00:33:35,770 --> 00:33:38,060 Who's Melchizedek? 860 00:33:38,060 --> 00:33:41,099 Well, he's this really mystical, 861 00:33:41,099 --> 00:33:43,524 strange guy that shows up, 862 00:33:43,524 --> 00:33:46,098 just fleeting. 863 00:33:46,098 --> 00:33:48,852 Has this run-in with Abraham. 864 00:33:48,852 --> 00:33:50,735 But the thing about him 865 00:33:50,735 --> 00:33:53,950 that our author of Hebrews is gleaning 866 00:33:53,950 --> 00:34:00,191 is you never even know where he comes from. 867 00:34:00,191 --> 00:34:01,949 And he comes and he goes. 868 00:34:01,949 --> 00:34:04,053 And there's no indication of genealogy. 869 00:34:04,053 --> 00:34:06,363 There's no indication of who he's related to. 870 00:34:06,363 --> 00:34:09,874 There's no indication that he ever died. 871 00:34:09,874 --> 00:34:12,129 And the author of Hebrews picks up on that. 872 00:34:12,129 --> 00:34:14,736 In fact, God brought him 873 00:34:14,736 --> 00:34:16,366 into the biblical record, 874 00:34:16,366 --> 00:34:18,802 and took him out on purpose, 875 00:34:18,802 --> 00:34:20,917 so that later he could say 876 00:34:20,917 --> 00:34:23,464 about His own Son: 877 00:34:23,464 --> 00:34:26,794 You are a priest forever. 878 00:34:26,794 --> 00:34:29,755 Forever! 879 00:34:29,755 --> 00:34:35,559 Not after the order of Levi, 880 00:34:35,559 --> 00:34:38,002 but after the order of Melchizedek. 881 00:34:38,002 --> 00:34:40,620 And what was it about Melchizedek? 882 00:34:40,620 --> 00:34:42,195 There's no record of a death. 883 00:34:42,195 --> 00:34:44,398 He lives forever. 884 00:34:44,398 --> 00:34:46,172 And that's where he's headed here. 885 00:34:46,172 --> 00:34:49,437 "What further need would there have been for another priest to arise 886 00:34:49,437 --> 00:34:51,468 after the order of Melchizedek, 887 00:34:51,468 --> 00:34:52,795 rather than one named after 888 00:34:52,795 --> 00:34:54,083 the order of Aaron?" 889 00:34:54,083 --> 00:34:56,351 And by the way, Aaron and Levi - 890 00:34:56,351 --> 00:35:01,206 they're the same family. 891 00:35:01,206 --> 00:35:04,926 Aaron was the high priest. 892 00:35:04,926 --> 00:35:10,342 The Levites were the underling priests. 893 00:35:10,342 --> 00:35:13,217 They were priests - they were not the high priest. 894 00:35:13,217 --> 00:35:16,594 They could not enter the holy of holies. 895 00:35:16,594 --> 00:35:18,004 Now watch this, 896 00:35:18,004 --> 00:35:19,670 "when there is a change..." 897 00:35:19,670 --> 00:35:21,389 now think with me there. 898 00:35:21,389 --> 00:35:25,502 Jesus Christ is the same. 899 00:35:25,502 --> 00:35:29,167 Here there is a change. 900 00:35:29,167 --> 00:35:30,860 We don't have time to do this, 901 00:35:30,860 --> 00:35:33,318 but if you meticulously walk through Hebrews 902 00:35:33,318 --> 00:35:34,763 and look for every place 903 00:35:34,763 --> 00:35:37,104 where change over against 904 00:35:37,104 --> 00:35:39,657 what's being said about Christ. 905 00:35:39,657 --> 00:35:44,134 He doesn't change. 906 00:35:44,134 --> 00:35:46,531 His ministry is permanent. 907 00:35:46,531 --> 00:35:49,616 His sacrifice is once for all. 908 00:35:49,616 --> 00:35:53,539 His priesthood is forever. 909 00:35:53,539 --> 00:35:54,945 But there's a change. 910 00:35:54,945 --> 00:35:58,259 "Where there is a change in the priesthood, 911 00:35:58,259 --> 00:36:01,605 there is necessarily a change in the law." 912 00:36:01,605 --> 00:36:02,709 And you remember, 913 00:36:02,709 --> 00:36:05,041 there was a change in the old covenant. 914 00:36:05,041 --> 00:36:06,629 It was weak. 915 00:36:06,629 --> 00:36:09,306 It was imperfect. 916 00:36:09,306 --> 00:36:11,785 It's replaced. 917 00:36:11,785 --> 00:36:14,256 But what's the New Testament called 918 00:36:14,256 --> 00:36:15,866 in Hebrews 13? 919 00:36:15,866 --> 00:36:17,429 We haven't gotten to it yet, 920 00:36:17,429 --> 00:36:19,408 but what's it called? 921 00:36:19,408 --> 00:36:21,921 It's an eternal covenant. 922 00:36:21,921 --> 00:36:26,266 You find in Hebrews eternal salvation, 923 00:36:26,266 --> 00:36:29,245 eternal redemption. 924 00:36:29,245 --> 00:36:34,165 But here, you see things being replaced. 925 00:36:34,165 --> 00:36:37,059 "For the one of whom these things are spoken, 926 00:36:37,059 --> 00:36:39,276 (Christ) 927 00:36:39,276 --> 00:36:41,478 belong to another tribe 928 00:36:41,478 --> 00:36:44,010 from which no one ever served at the altar. 929 00:36:44,010 --> 00:36:45,361 Not under Moses. 930 00:36:45,361 --> 00:36:47,375 They were all from the Levitical line. 931 00:36:47,375 --> 00:36:50,269 Never from the line of Judah. 932 00:36:50,269 --> 00:36:51,961 "For it is evident that our Lord 933 00:36:51,961 --> 00:36:54,218 was descended from Judah, 934 00:36:54,218 --> 00:36:55,911 and in connection with that tribe, 935 00:36:55,911 --> 00:36:57,954 Moses said nothing about priests." 936 00:36:57,954 --> 00:36:58,814 In other words, 937 00:36:58,814 --> 00:37:00,151 Jesus Christ does not have 938 00:37:00,151 --> 00:37:01,759 His authority to be a priest 939 00:37:01,759 --> 00:37:03,618 coming from Moses. 940 00:37:03,618 --> 00:37:05,668 It came directly from God Himself 941 00:37:05,668 --> 00:37:07,469 Who pronounced Him a priest 942 00:37:07,469 --> 00:37:08,954 after the order of Melchizedek. 943 00:37:08,954 --> 00:37:10,720 And we'll see that. 944 00:37:10,720 --> 00:37:12,981 V. 15 "This becomes even more evident 945 00:37:12,981 --> 00:37:14,613 when another priest arises 946 00:37:14,613 --> 00:37:16,478 in the likeness of Melchizedek." 947 00:37:16,478 --> 00:37:18,149 And what was Melchizedek like? 948 00:37:18,149 --> 00:37:20,661 Well, we see it earlier in Hebrews 7. 949 00:37:20,661 --> 00:37:23,392 No genealogy. 950 00:37:23,392 --> 00:37:26,087 No death. 951 00:37:26,087 --> 00:37:28,508 V. 16 "Who has become a priest, 952 00:37:28,508 --> 00:37:31,352 not on the basis of a legal requirement 953 00:37:31,352 --> 00:37:32,885 concerning bodily descent." 954 00:37:32,885 --> 00:37:37,538 He's not a priest because He was descended from Levi. 955 00:37:37,538 --> 00:37:41,462 "But by the power of an indestructible life." 956 00:37:41,462 --> 00:37:43,070 Do you see that? 957 00:37:43,070 --> 00:37:45,496 The other priesthood changes. 958 00:37:45,496 --> 00:37:46,564 It's law changes. 959 00:37:46,564 --> 00:37:48,182 It's covenant changes. 960 00:37:48,182 --> 00:37:50,599 But here, it doesn't change. 961 00:37:50,599 --> 00:37:51,726 Why? Because it's built 962 00:37:51,726 --> 00:37:53,074 on an indestructible life. 963 00:37:53,074 --> 00:37:54,865 Was the old priesthood built 964 00:37:54,865 --> 00:37:57,143 on an indestructible life? 965 00:37:57,143 --> 00:37:58,029 No. 966 00:37:58,029 --> 00:38:00,881 They died all the time. 967 00:38:00,881 --> 00:38:02,185 You'll see that. 968 00:38:02,185 --> 00:38:05,965 V. 17 "For it's witnessed of Him, 969 00:38:05,965 --> 00:38:09,389 'You're a priest forever.'" 970 00:38:09,389 --> 00:38:10,991 When you think of Jesus Christ 971 00:38:10,991 --> 00:38:14,531 the same yesterday, and today, and forever, 972 00:38:14,531 --> 00:38:15,750 think here. 973 00:38:15,750 --> 00:38:17,514 He is a priest forever 974 00:38:17,514 --> 00:38:20,433 after the order of Melichizedek. 975 00:38:20,433 --> 00:38:22,213 "For on the one hand, 976 00:38:22,213 --> 00:38:24,333 a former commandment is set aside." 977 00:38:24,333 --> 00:38:25,748 Again, change. 978 00:38:25,748 --> 00:38:29,498 That which was former is set aside. 979 00:38:29,498 --> 00:38:32,632 "Because of its weakness and uselessness. 980 00:38:32,632 --> 00:38:35,209 For the law made nothing perfect. 981 00:38:35,209 --> 00:38:36,522 But on the other hand, 982 00:38:36,522 --> 00:38:38,581 a better hope." 983 00:38:38,581 --> 00:38:39,539 Wow. 984 00:38:39,539 --> 00:38:40,427 Why is it better? 985 00:38:40,427 --> 00:38:42,589 Because it's based on an indestructible life. 986 00:38:42,589 --> 00:38:44,580 Because it's forever. He doesn't change. 987 00:38:44,580 --> 00:38:46,678 He's the same. 988 00:38:46,678 --> 00:38:47,848 When it says yesterday, 989 00:38:47,848 --> 00:38:49,037 I believe what he means 990 00:38:49,037 --> 00:38:52,516 is not necessarily looking into eternity past. 991 00:38:52,516 --> 00:38:53,993 I think he means yesterday 992 00:38:53,993 --> 00:38:55,781 in the days that those who have gone 993 00:38:55,781 --> 00:38:57,932 before us that taught you the Word of God; 994 00:38:57,932 --> 00:38:59,662 the One they put their trust in. 995 00:38:59,662 --> 00:39:01,533 They put their trust in Christ 996 00:39:01,533 --> 00:39:03,669 and yesterday that was good enough for them, 997 00:39:03,669 --> 00:39:05,280 and today, He is no different. 998 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:07,757 And right out into eternity, 999 00:39:07,757 --> 00:39:09,652 He is going to be the same. 1000 00:39:09,652 --> 00:39:12,355 Because His priesthood is indestructible. 1001 00:39:12,355 --> 00:39:13,972 But remember, His priesthood 1002 00:39:13,972 --> 00:39:17,742 was not from eternity past. 1003 00:39:17,742 --> 00:39:20,246 His priesthood is based on the fact 1004 00:39:20,246 --> 00:39:22,879 that He had to become like His brethren 1005 00:39:22,879 --> 00:39:26,584 in every respect - and He had to suffer - 1006 00:39:26,584 --> 00:39:28,382 in order to be this merciful 1007 00:39:28,382 --> 00:39:29,820 and faithful high priest. 1008 00:39:29,820 --> 00:39:32,202 He had to become like us in every respect. 1009 00:39:32,202 --> 00:39:35,824 And He had to suffer like us. 1010 00:39:35,824 --> 00:39:38,748 That's what the teaching of Hebrews says. 1011 00:39:38,748 --> 00:39:43,250 Go back to the text. 1012 00:39:43,250 --> 00:39:46,279 V. 19 Again, "(for the law 1013 00:39:46,279 --> 00:39:47,635 made nothing perfect,) 1014 00:39:47,635 --> 00:39:48,685 but on the other hand 1015 00:39:48,685 --> 00:39:49,895 a better hope." 1016 00:39:49,895 --> 00:39:51,835 Oh, brethren, have you ever 1017 00:39:51,835 --> 00:39:55,070 thought about Hebrews here too? 1018 00:39:55,070 --> 00:39:57,622 Christ is better than the prophets. 1019 00:39:57,622 --> 00:40:01,814 Christ is superior to the angels. 1020 00:40:01,814 --> 00:40:03,952 Christ is beyond His companions. 1021 00:40:03,952 --> 00:40:06,939 Christ is worthy of more glory than Moses. 1022 00:40:06,939 --> 00:40:09,448 He's greater than Levi. 1023 00:40:09,448 --> 00:40:11,378 He's greater than Aaron. 1024 00:40:11,378 --> 00:40:14,296 His altar is greater 1025 00:40:14,296 --> 00:40:16,849 than the one that those guys eat from. 1026 00:40:16,849 --> 00:40:19,696 His blood is greater - it's superior 1027 00:40:19,696 --> 00:40:24,645 to the blood of Abel. 1028 00:40:24,645 --> 00:40:26,340 It's a greater sacrifice. 1029 00:40:26,340 --> 00:40:27,687 It's a greater covenant. 1030 00:40:27,687 --> 00:40:30,784 Is He not the guarantor of a better covenant? 1031 00:40:30,784 --> 00:40:32,273 It's built on better promises. 1032 00:40:32,273 --> 00:40:33,989 He has a ministry that's better. 1033 00:40:33,989 --> 00:40:35,299 All throughout this book: 1034 00:40:35,299 --> 00:40:36,630 better, better, better. 1035 00:40:36,630 --> 00:40:38,546 Here it is: a better hope. 1036 00:40:38,546 --> 00:40:39,604 Why? 1037 00:40:39,604 --> 00:40:41,554 Why is it a better hope? 1038 00:40:41,554 --> 00:40:47,154 Because it's based on an indestructible life. 1039 00:40:47,154 --> 00:40:49,095 And you'll see it. 1040 00:40:49,095 --> 00:40:51,674 "Through which we draw near to God. 1041 00:40:51,674 --> 00:40:53,873 And it was not without an oath." 1042 00:40:53,873 --> 00:40:54,803 God made an oath. 1043 00:40:54,803 --> 00:40:56,614 "For those who formerly became priests 1044 00:40:56,614 --> 00:40:58,555 were made such without an oath." 1045 00:40:58,555 --> 00:41:00,989 They were made priests according to 1046 00:41:00,989 --> 00:41:03,287 bodily descent. 1047 00:41:03,287 --> 00:41:04,715 They were descended from Levi. 1048 00:41:04,715 --> 00:41:06,457 Not with an oath. 1049 00:41:06,457 --> 00:41:10,896 But this one was made a priest with an oath, 1050 00:41:10,896 --> 00:41:12,775 by the One, His Father, 1051 00:41:12,775 --> 00:41:14,068 Who said to Him, 1052 00:41:14,068 --> 00:41:18,671 'The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind. 1053 00:41:18,671 --> 00:41:22,860 You are a priest forever.' 1054 00:41:22,860 --> 00:41:24,626 This makes Jesus the gaurantor 1055 00:41:24,626 --> 00:41:26,413 of a better covenant. 1056 00:41:26,413 --> 00:41:28,425 The former priests were many in number. 1057 00:41:28,425 --> 00:41:29,486 Here's the thing, 1058 00:41:29,486 --> 00:41:31,912 their's was changeable. 1059 00:41:31,912 --> 00:41:32,851 Why? 1060 00:41:32,851 --> 00:41:35,189 Because those high priests were many in number. 1061 00:41:35,189 --> 00:41:36,248 Why? Because they were 1062 00:41:36,248 --> 00:41:37,979 prevented by death. 1063 00:41:37,979 --> 00:41:39,169 There's change again. 1064 00:41:39,169 --> 00:41:40,336 They came. They went. 1065 00:41:40,336 --> 00:41:41,517 There was a high priest. 1066 00:41:41,517 --> 00:41:43,598 Yeah, but he was only going to live so long 1067 00:41:43,598 --> 00:41:44,528 and then he died. 1068 00:41:44,528 --> 00:41:46,987 He was prevented from continuing in office. 1069 00:41:46,987 --> 00:41:52,824 But, He (Christ) holds His priesthood permanently. 1070 00:41:52,824 --> 00:41:55,640 Because He continues forever. 1071 00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:58,713 You see, here is the sameness of Hebrews. 1072 00:41:58,713 --> 00:42:00,538 Here is that upon which 1073 00:42:00,538 --> 00:42:02,690 the author of Hebrews wants our minds 1074 00:42:02,690 --> 00:42:03,729 locked in. 1075 00:42:03,729 --> 00:42:05,560 Can you imagine? 1076 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:08,751 Remember when the Hebrews lived. 1077 00:42:08,751 --> 00:42:10,294 They're living at a time 1078 00:42:10,294 --> 00:42:13,468 when the Passover's going away. 1079 00:42:13,468 --> 00:42:14,988 They're living at a time when 1080 00:42:14,988 --> 00:42:16,856 the Day of Atonement is going away. 1081 00:42:16,856 --> 00:42:18,043 They're living at a time 1082 00:42:18,043 --> 00:42:20,819 when the temple is going to go away. 1083 00:42:20,819 --> 00:42:23,154 All the Old Testament system - 1084 00:42:23,154 --> 00:42:24,302 they're living at a time 1085 00:42:24,302 --> 00:42:25,804 when there's all this change, 1086 00:42:25,804 --> 00:42:26,973 change, change... 1087 00:42:26,973 --> 00:42:29,551 Well, how do we know if that's all changing? 1088 00:42:29,551 --> 00:42:33,652 The Jews put their confidence 1089 00:42:33,652 --> 00:42:35,676 in that Old Testament system. 1090 00:42:35,676 --> 00:42:36,948 And now, you're telling us 1091 00:42:36,948 --> 00:42:38,018 it's going away? 1092 00:42:38,018 --> 00:42:40,526 I mean, what if this thing with Christ 1093 00:42:40,526 --> 00:42:41,831 is going away? 1094 00:42:41,831 --> 00:42:44,759 We put our trust there that one day 1095 00:42:44,759 --> 00:42:46,680 and our forefathers did? 1096 00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:48,315 And you're telling us it's gone? 1097 00:42:48,315 --> 00:42:50,024 You're telling us it's obsolete? 1098 00:42:50,024 --> 00:42:51,938 You're telling us that it's incomplete? 1099 00:42:51,938 --> 00:42:54,549 You're telling us that there's some weakness about it? 1100 00:42:54,549 --> 00:42:55,916 Something isn't good? 1101 00:42:55,916 --> 00:42:56,893 It's useless? 1102 00:42:56,893 --> 00:42:58,168 You're telling us that? 1103 00:42:58,168 --> 00:42:59,421 Well, what makes us think 1104 00:42:59,421 --> 00:43:02,524 that this priesthood of Christ is any better? 1105 00:43:02,524 --> 00:43:05,150 Because you yourselves know 1106 00:43:05,150 --> 00:43:06,738 that that Levitcal priesthood - 1107 00:43:06,738 --> 00:43:10,113 they couldn't continue in office because they were dying all the time. 1108 00:43:10,113 --> 00:43:11,685 And if you remember your Bibles, 1109 00:43:11,685 --> 00:43:13,488 you know about who Melchizedek was. 1110 00:43:13,488 --> 00:43:15,262 And he didn't have an end of days. 1111 00:43:15,262 --> 00:43:18,060 And you know that the psalm says 1112 00:43:18,060 --> 00:43:20,779 that God swore to His Son, 1113 00:43:20,779 --> 00:43:21,977 to the Messiah, 1114 00:43:21,977 --> 00:43:23,799 that He was going to be a priest. 1115 00:43:23,799 --> 00:43:25,421 What do we need a priest for? 1116 00:43:25,421 --> 00:43:28,684 One Who is going to bring an offering 1117 00:43:28,684 --> 00:43:32,626 to His Father on our behalf. 1118 00:43:32,626 --> 00:43:35,712 That offering was one sacrifice. 1119 00:43:35,712 --> 00:43:37,260 He is the priest 1120 00:43:37,260 --> 00:43:40,435 and He is the Lamb. 1121 00:43:40,435 --> 00:43:43,278 He is in His own hands. 1122 00:43:43,278 --> 00:43:48,098 He offers Himself on that cross. 1123 00:43:48,098 --> 00:43:49,829 Once for all. 1124 00:43:49,829 --> 00:43:52,244 And the thing about the permanence here 1125 00:43:52,244 --> 00:43:53,923 is it's done. 1126 00:43:53,923 --> 00:43:55,418 It's complete. 1127 00:43:55,418 --> 00:43:57,562 Who He is - victorious, 1128 00:43:57,562 --> 00:43:59,004 passing through the heavens 1129 00:43:59,004 --> 00:44:00,591 to the right hand of the Father, 1130 00:44:00,591 --> 00:44:01,628 triumphant. 1131 00:44:01,628 --> 00:44:02,702 It's done. 1132 00:44:02,702 --> 00:44:04,109 And He doesn't change. 1133 00:44:04,109 --> 00:44:05,775 This priesthood is solid. 1134 00:44:05,775 --> 00:44:07,437 It's indestructible. 1135 00:44:07,437 --> 00:44:08,757 It's there. 1136 00:44:08,757 --> 00:44:10,417 And watch. 1137 00:44:10,417 --> 00:44:12,888 You'll see where he's going with this. 1138 00:44:12,888 --> 00:44:14,677 You are a priest forever. 1139 00:44:14,677 --> 00:44:15,600 V. 22 1140 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:17,519 This makes Jesus the guarantor 1141 00:44:17,519 --> 00:44:18,808 of a better covenant. 1142 00:44:18,808 --> 00:44:20,793 Why? Because it's sealed in His blood 1143 00:44:20,793 --> 00:44:22,341 and it's never going to change. 1144 00:44:22,341 --> 00:44:24,027 The former priests, many in number, 1145 00:44:24,027 --> 00:44:25,457 they were prevented by death 1146 00:44:25,457 --> 00:44:27,038 from continuing in office. 1147 00:44:27,038 --> 00:44:29,876 He holds His priesthood permanently. 1148 00:44:29,876 --> 00:44:31,593 Because He continues forever. 1149 00:44:31,593 --> 00:44:35,182 Consquently, here's why it is so glorious. 1150 00:44:35,182 --> 00:44:39,250 Look, if you were reading this book 1151 00:44:39,250 --> 00:44:40,745 straight through, 1152 00:44:40,745 --> 00:44:42,669 you would have read this fifteen minutes 1153 00:44:42,669 --> 00:44:50,139 before you got to chapter 13. 1154 00:44:50,139 --> 00:44:51,940 This is what he wants our faith 1155 00:44:51,940 --> 00:44:53,742 to lock into: 1156 00:44:53,742 --> 00:44:55,537 The sameness of Christ. 1157 00:44:55,537 --> 00:44:58,315 Consequently, He is able to save. 1158 00:44:58,315 --> 00:44:59,133 Why? 1159 00:44:59,133 --> 00:45:01,167 Consequently. Consequent on what? 1160 00:45:01,167 --> 00:45:03,210 That He is a priest forever. 1161 00:45:03,210 --> 00:45:05,124 Because He is a priest forever. 1162 00:45:05,124 --> 00:45:07,077 And because His priesthood is permanent. 1163 00:45:07,077 --> 00:45:09,111 And because it continues forever. 1164 00:45:09,111 --> 00:45:11,340 And it's based on this: 1165 00:45:11,340 --> 00:45:16,517 Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost. 1166 00:45:16,517 --> 00:45:18,839 You see, whatever the Old Testament priests did, 1167 00:45:18,839 --> 00:45:20,749 they couldn't save you to the uttermost 1168 00:45:20,749 --> 00:45:23,407 because their time came to an end. 1169 00:45:23,407 --> 00:45:28,138 Whatever they could do, it ran out. 1170 00:45:28,138 --> 00:45:30,184 But "He is able to save to the uttermost 1171 00:45:30,184 --> 00:45:32,410 those who draw near to God through Him 1172 00:45:32,410 --> 00:45:35,658 since..." 1173 00:45:35,658 --> 00:45:36,719 This is so important. 1174 00:45:36,719 --> 00:45:39,271 I don't think we grasp this. 1175 00:45:39,271 --> 00:45:43,380 "Since He always lives to make intercession." 1176 00:45:43,380 --> 00:45:44,321 This is why. 1177 00:45:44,321 --> 00:45:46,410 This is why it's so important that He doesn't change. 1178 00:45:46,410 --> 00:45:47,345 You know why? 1179 00:45:47,345 --> 00:45:49,346 If He once sets His love on you... 1180 00:45:49,346 --> 00:45:53,573 Remember what happened right before this? 1181 00:45:53,573 --> 00:45:56,666 In Hebrews 13? 1182 00:45:56,666 --> 00:46:00,517 "I will never leave you or forsake you." 1183 00:46:00,517 --> 00:46:02,465 Therefore, we can confidently say, 1184 00:46:02,465 --> 00:46:04,930 "the Lord is my helper." 1185 00:46:04,930 --> 00:46:07,666 You see, once He sets His love on you, 1186 00:46:07,666 --> 00:46:10,022 it's rock solid. 1187 00:46:10,022 --> 00:46:12,193 It's permanent. 1188 00:46:12,193 --> 00:46:13,990 It doesn't change. 1189 00:46:13,990 --> 00:46:16,971 The basis of His priesthood - it's forever. 1190 00:46:16,971 --> 00:46:19,149 And because priests intercede 1191 00:46:19,149 --> 00:46:20,607 and He doesn't ever die, 1192 00:46:20,607 --> 00:46:24,403 He lives to make intercession for them. 1193 00:46:24,403 --> 00:46:25,951 "For it was indeed fitting 1194 00:46:25,951 --> 00:46:27,918 that we should have such a high priest - 1195 00:46:27,918 --> 00:46:29,796 holy, innocent, unstained, 1196 00:46:29,796 --> 00:46:31,245 separated from sinners, 1197 00:46:31,245 --> 00:46:34,937 exalted above the heavens." 1198 00:46:34,937 --> 00:46:38,369 He has no need like those high priests 1199 00:46:38,369 --> 00:46:39,992 of old under Moses 1200 00:46:39,992 --> 00:46:41,811 to offer sacrifices daily. 1201 00:46:41,811 --> 00:46:43,999 He doesn't have to come back and do it. 1202 00:46:43,999 --> 00:46:46,012 We don't need an offering over and over. 1203 00:46:46,012 --> 00:46:49,954 We do not need to offer Christ up 1204 00:46:49,954 --> 00:46:54,295 over and over and over and over. 1205 00:46:54,295 --> 00:46:55,916 We don't have to. 1206 00:46:55,916 --> 00:47:01,154 He's been offered once. 1207 00:47:01,154 --> 00:47:02,608 But you see, 1208 00:47:02,608 --> 00:47:05,650 we observe the Lord's Supper, right? 1209 00:47:05,650 --> 00:47:08,065 But Jesus said, "do this in remembrance of Me." 1210 00:47:08,065 --> 00:47:09,816 We remember His death. 1211 00:47:09,816 --> 00:47:11,995 But in many religious circles, 1212 00:47:11,995 --> 00:47:14,328 it is believed that the bread 1213 00:47:14,328 --> 00:47:15,669 actually become His flesh 1214 00:47:15,669 --> 00:47:17,596 and the wine actually becomes His blood, 1215 00:47:17,596 --> 00:47:19,729 and He's offered afresh again. 1216 00:47:19,729 --> 00:47:24,539 And you know why that's necessary oftentimes 1217 00:47:24,539 --> 00:47:25,866 in the mindset, 1218 00:47:25,866 --> 00:47:30,470 is because salvation is not complete 1219 00:47:30,470 --> 00:47:32,765 and resting on Christ. 1220 00:47:32,765 --> 00:47:33,927 More needs to be done. 1221 00:47:33,927 --> 00:47:36,811 More needs to be done. 1222 00:47:36,811 --> 00:47:39,185 And it comes back to the whole food thing 1223 00:47:39,185 --> 00:47:44,634 that gets compared to grace in 13:9. 1224 00:47:44,634 --> 00:47:46,647 Why the thing about food? 1225 00:47:46,647 --> 00:47:49,563 Well, because we have to keep doing things. 1226 00:47:49,563 --> 00:47:52,078 There's always something incomplete. 1227 00:47:52,078 --> 00:47:54,252 We have this sin and we just have this sense 1228 00:47:54,252 --> 00:47:56,049 that we have to keep doing something. 1229 00:47:56,049 --> 00:47:59,250 We have to keep doing something. More and more and more is needed. 1230 00:47:59,250 --> 00:48:01,503 Why? Because we're never sure if it's just right. 1231 00:48:01,503 --> 00:48:03,404 We're never sure if enough has been done. 1232 00:48:03,404 --> 00:48:05,612 They were never certain under that old covenant system. 1233 00:48:05,612 --> 00:48:06,378 Why? 1234 00:48:06,378 --> 00:48:08,455 Because they kept having to bring these, having to bring these. 1235 00:48:08,455 --> 00:48:09,598 When you get to Hebrews 10, 1236 00:48:09,598 --> 00:48:11,030 he says the very proof that 1237 00:48:11,030 --> 00:48:12,623 it didn't accomplish anything 1238 00:48:12,623 --> 00:48:14,376 was the fact that it had to be brought 1239 00:48:14,376 --> 00:48:16,918 again and again and again... 1240 00:48:16,918 --> 00:48:20,308 because if an offering was ever made 1241 00:48:20,308 --> 00:48:23,227 that truly washed away sin, 1242 00:48:23,227 --> 00:48:27,113 it would never have to be made again. 1243 00:48:27,113 --> 00:48:30,466 And that's why with Christ, it's done. 1244 00:48:30,466 --> 00:48:31,961 It's done. 1245 00:48:31,961 --> 00:48:34,766 (Incomplete thought) 1246 00:48:34,766 --> 00:48:36,596 What we have to do, 1247 00:48:36,596 --> 00:48:38,883 is all the way to the end, 1248 00:48:38,883 --> 00:48:42,693 we just hold on to Him. 1249 00:48:42,693 --> 00:48:45,179 Firm to the end. 1250 00:48:45,179 --> 00:48:46,543 We hold on to Him. 1251 00:48:46,543 --> 00:48:48,562 Why? Because all the merit is there. 1252 00:48:48,562 --> 00:48:50,671 He shed His blood. He lived His life. 1253 00:48:50,671 --> 00:48:54,377 He is that high priest. 1254 00:48:54,377 --> 00:48:57,273 Not just a priest - He's a King. 1255 00:48:57,273 --> 00:48:59,681 He is the Priest-King. 1256 00:48:59,681 --> 00:49:03,938 He came from the lineage of David. 1257 00:49:03,938 --> 00:49:08,307 Melchizedek was a king and a priest. 1258 00:49:08,307 --> 00:49:11,200 And He is of the order of Melchizedek. 1259 00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:13,833 And He sits there triumphant. 1260 00:49:13,833 --> 00:49:15,619 He made purification. 1261 00:49:15,619 --> 00:49:16,665 Did you hear that? 1262 00:49:16,665 --> 00:49:19,360 In Hebrews 1, He made - 1263 00:49:19,360 --> 00:49:22,269 having made purification for sins. 1264 00:49:22,269 --> 00:49:25,274 He sat down. 1265 00:49:25,274 --> 00:49:26,817 The priests in the Old Testament 1266 00:49:26,817 --> 00:49:30,217 never were allowed to sit down 1267 00:49:30,217 --> 00:49:31,851 while they were at work. 1268 00:49:31,851 --> 00:49:34,690 They had no chairs in the temple. 1269 00:49:34,690 --> 00:49:37,421 They had no chairs in the tent. 1270 00:49:37,421 --> 00:49:40,228 They had no chairs in the tabernacle. 1271 00:49:40,228 --> 00:49:41,475 Why? 1272 00:49:41,475 --> 00:49:43,760 Because their work was never done. 1273 00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:45,546 But what the author of Hebrews says 1274 00:49:45,546 --> 00:49:51,261 is Christ offered Himself and sat down. 1275 00:49:51,261 --> 00:49:52,510 Done. 1276 00:49:52,510 --> 00:49:54,055 It's finished. 1277 00:49:54,055 --> 00:49:57,061 The work is complete. 1278 00:49:57,061 --> 00:49:58,933 And it doesn't change. 1279 00:49:58,933 --> 00:50:01,179 He is forevermore the same. 1280 00:50:01,179 --> 00:50:03,936 The victorious Priest-King. 1281 00:50:03,936 --> 00:50:08,288 His work is done. 1282 00:50:08,288 --> 00:50:11,034 But you can see the changes with everything else. 1283 00:50:11,034 --> 00:50:13,125 The old priesthood - it just changes. 1284 00:50:13,125 --> 00:50:14,237 Everything changes. 1285 00:50:14,237 --> 00:50:16,202 Even at the beginning of this book, 1286 00:50:16,202 --> 00:50:18,211 it's like the heaven and the earth 1287 00:50:18,211 --> 00:50:19,255 are going to change. 1288 00:50:19,255 --> 00:50:20,722 They're going to be rolled up. 1289 00:50:20,722 --> 00:50:22,744 But You - You don't change. 1290 00:50:22,744 --> 00:50:24,514 There's so much change. 1291 00:50:24,514 --> 00:50:26,268 Change throughout this book. 1292 00:50:26,268 --> 00:50:29,713 Their leaders in 13:7 - there was change. 1293 00:50:29,713 --> 00:50:32,065 They used to preach to us and they're gone now. 1294 00:50:32,065 --> 00:50:33,600 Bob stood in this pulpit before, 1295 00:50:33,600 --> 00:50:34,897 and he's gone now. 1296 00:50:34,897 --> 00:50:36,684 Men come and they go 1297 00:50:36,684 --> 00:50:38,350 and circumstances change. 1298 00:50:38,350 --> 00:50:41,487 But what we have is this rock solid confidence. 1299 00:50:41,487 --> 00:50:44,271 "I will never leave you or forsake you." 1300 00:50:44,271 --> 00:50:46,011 It's unchangeable. 1301 00:50:46,011 --> 00:50:49,465 We have a priest Who has a priesthood 1302 00:50:49,465 --> 00:50:50,795 and He always lives 1303 00:50:50,795 --> 00:50:53,531 to make intercession for them. 1304 00:50:53,531 --> 00:50:57,180 And it goes on to say, 1305 00:50:57,180 --> 00:50:59,218 v. 28 "The law appoints men 1306 00:50:59,218 --> 00:51:00,794 in their weakness as high priest, 1307 00:51:00,794 --> 00:51:02,094 but the word of the oath 1308 00:51:02,094 --> 00:51:03,894 which came later than the law 1309 00:51:03,894 --> 00:51:09,185 appoints a Son Who has been made perfect 1310 00:51:09,185 --> 00:51:11,664 forever. 1311 00:51:11,664 --> 00:51:18,858 Forever. 1312 00:51:18,858 --> 00:51:22,047 What this is saying 1313 00:51:22,047 --> 00:51:26,035 is He is the same, perfect Savior 1314 00:51:26,035 --> 00:51:28,445 yesterday, 1315 00:51:28,445 --> 00:51:32,152 and He is the same perfect Savior today, 1316 00:51:32,152 --> 00:51:35,453 and He will be forevermore. 1317 00:51:35,453 --> 00:51:38,332 And I know that before He actually came 1318 00:51:38,332 --> 00:51:41,353 and poured out His blood 1319 00:51:41,353 --> 00:51:43,867 and poured out His life, 1320 00:51:43,867 --> 00:51:45,776 God looked forward 1321 00:51:45,776 --> 00:51:48,389 and applied that work backward 1322 00:51:48,389 --> 00:51:52,284 to men like Samuel and Moses 1323 00:51:52,284 --> 00:51:55,159 and Abel. I know that. 1324 00:51:55,159 --> 00:51:56,979 But Jesus Christ had to come 1325 00:51:56,979 --> 00:52:00,559 and be made like His brethren in time 1326 00:52:00,559 --> 00:52:03,271 to become this perfect high priest 1327 00:52:03,271 --> 00:52:05,281 that He might be superior - 1328 00:52:05,281 --> 00:52:07,444 Oh, His covenant is superior. 1329 00:52:07,444 --> 00:52:08,633 His covenant. 1330 00:52:08,633 --> 00:52:11,928 What a glorious better covenant it is! 1331 00:52:11,928 --> 00:52:14,323 Why? Because it's not based on performance. 1332 00:52:14,323 --> 00:52:16,786 It's not based on whether I eat the bread 1333 00:52:16,786 --> 00:52:18,011 or don't eat the bread. 1334 00:52:18,011 --> 00:52:20,785 It's not based on what festivals I observe 1335 00:52:20,785 --> 00:52:22,238 or holy days I observe. 1336 00:52:22,238 --> 00:52:24,754 It's not based on that. 1337 00:52:24,754 --> 00:52:27,415 It's based on the merits; 1338 00:52:27,415 --> 00:52:29,318 it's based on Him. 1339 00:52:29,318 --> 00:52:30,401 It's superior. 1340 00:52:30,401 --> 00:52:32,898 You know that old covenant 1341 00:52:32,898 --> 00:52:35,870 said if you do this, 1342 00:52:35,870 --> 00:52:39,746 then I will treat you accordingly. 1343 00:52:39,746 --> 00:52:42,882 If you do good, I will treat you well. 1344 00:52:42,882 --> 00:52:45,584 If you do bad, I will treat you bad. 1345 00:52:45,584 --> 00:52:46,731 That's the old covenant. 1346 00:52:46,731 --> 00:52:50,770 You know how much of the world lives on the old covenant still today? 1347 00:52:50,770 --> 00:52:52,878 That covenant is death. 1348 00:52:52,878 --> 00:52:53,805 You know why? 1349 00:52:53,805 --> 00:52:55,726 Because none of us has kept it perfectly 1350 00:52:55,726 --> 00:52:57,623 and that's what that covenant demanded. 1351 00:52:57,623 --> 00:53:00,578 If you don't keep everything written in the book of the law and do it, 1352 00:53:00,578 --> 00:53:02,043 you are under a curse. 1353 00:53:02,043 --> 00:53:04,074 And yet, people come along and they say, 1354 00:53:04,074 --> 00:53:06,402 oh, well, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying to be good. 1355 00:53:06,402 --> 00:53:08,501 Yeah, but that law said, 1356 00:53:08,501 --> 00:53:12,871 do me and live; break me and die. 1357 00:53:12,871 --> 00:53:15,064 The wage of sin is death. 1358 00:53:15,064 --> 00:53:16,497 That doesn't mean ten. 1359 00:53:16,497 --> 00:53:18,518 It's like Ray Comfort says. 1360 00:53:18,518 --> 00:53:20,931 It's not like you tell a hundred lies 1361 00:53:20,931 --> 00:53:22,080 and a bell goes off. 1362 00:53:22,080 --> 00:53:23,826 Bing! 1363 00:53:23,826 --> 00:53:28,642 One sin and Adam and Eve fell. 1364 00:53:28,642 --> 00:53:32,649 One sin destroyed mankind. 1365 00:53:32,649 --> 00:53:35,147 One sin will put you in hell. 1366 00:53:35,147 --> 00:53:38,180 One unforgiven sin. 1367 00:53:38,180 --> 00:53:42,282 Jesus Christ came with a superior covenant 1368 00:53:42,282 --> 00:53:46,691 that's guaranteed by His blood. 1369 00:53:46,691 --> 00:53:48,726 And you see, it's a promise not made 1370 00:53:48,726 --> 00:53:50,759 between us and God; 1371 00:53:50,759 --> 00:53:51,835 it's a promise made 1372 00:53:51,835 --> 00:53:54,112 between the Father and the Son. 1373 00:53:54,112 --> 00:53:56,253 Where the Son says I will die for them. 1374 00:53:56,253 --> 00:53:57,770 I will pour out my blood 1375 00:53:57,770 --> 00:54:00,828 to unleash the power of the Spirit of God 1376 00:54:00,828 --> 00:54:04,515 into their life and to allow them to be forgiven 1377 00:54:04,515 --> 00:54:06,444 for the sins that they've committed 1378 00:54:06,444 --> 00:54:09,050 against God. 1379 00:54:09,050 --> 00:54:11,035 And Christ says, I will come. 1380 00:54:11,035 --> 00:54:12,926 I will be their sin-bearer. 1381 00:54:12,926 --> 00:54:14,584 I will be their priest. 1382 00:54:14,584 --> 00:54:16,656 I will be their sacrifice. 1383 00:54:16,656 --> 00:54:19,586 I will purchase for them redemption. 1384 00:54:19,586 --> 00:54:21,690 I will purchase eternal life. 1385 00:54:21,690 --> 00:54:24,633 I will be crushed under the wrath of God. 1386 00:54:24,633 --> 00:54:26,960 I will drink the cup of punishment 1387 00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:28,514 that they deserve to drink. 1388 00:54:28,514 --> 00:54:30,552 I will take it on Myself. 1389 00:54:30,552 --> 00:54:32,288 And I will come under the law. 1390 00:54:32,288 --> 00:54:35,500 And I will keep that law in their place 1391 00:54:35,500 --> 00:54:37,381 so that they can be blameless 1392 00:54:37,381 --> 00:54:39,908 when their sin is charged to Me 1393 00:54:39,908 --> 00:54:41,473 and I suffer under it 1394 00:54:41,473 --> 00:54:43,189 and My righteous law-keeping 1395 00:54:43,189 --> 00:54:45,268 is given to them, 1396 00:54:45,268 --> 00:54:47,201 so that they might be counted righteous 1397 00:54:47,201 --> 00:54:48,625 in the courtroom of God. 1398 00:54:48,625 --> 00:54:49,922 That's what happened. 1399 00:54:49,922 --> 00:54:53,522 And Jesus said, I will give Myself. 1400 00:54:53,522 --> 00:54:55,847 A body You have prepared for Me. 1401 00:54:55,847 --> 00:54:57,951 And I need to become a man. 1402 00:54:57,951 --> 00:54:59,985 And though I am equal with God, 1403 00:54:59,985 --> 00:55:02,642 I count it not robbery at all 1404 00:55:02,642 --> 00:55:04,657 being counted equal with Him, 1405 00:55:04,657 --> 00:55:07,048 but He set His glory aside 1406 00:55:07,048 --> 00:55:08,494 and He came down 1407 00:55:08,494 --> 00:55:10,336 and He came down as a servant 1408 00:55:10,336 --> 00:55:11,662 and down as a man, 1409 00:55:11,662 --> 00:55:13,319 and He poured out His life 1410 00:55:13,319 --> 00:55:15,716 all the way to that obedience to the cross 1411 00:55:15,716 --> 00:55:17,742 and God crushed Him there. 1412 00:55:17,742 --> 00:55:21,442 And thereby He is a high priest now 1413 00:55:21,442 --> 00:55:23,921 that has done a work. 1414 00:55:23,921 --> 00:55:25,527 And we rest. 1415 00:55:25,527 --> 00:55:27,170 And we can rest. 1416 00:55:27,170 --> 00:55:29,124 Because this covenant says 1417 00:55:29,124 --> 00:55:31,253 that by faith in Him - 1418 00:55:31,253 --> 00:55:34,169 just Lord, 1419 00:55:34,169 --> 00:55:40,971 I trust that You have kept the law for me. 1420 00:55:40,971 --> 00:55:44,173 And You have paid what my sins deserve. 1421 00:55:44,173 --> 00:55:47,349 And I trust that You will give me Your Spirit; 1422 00:55:47,349 --> 00:55:48,995 You will transform me; 1423 00:55:48,995 --> 00:55:51,530 You will give me a new heart. 1424 00:55:51,530 --> 00:55:52,996 My trust is all in Him 1425 00:55:52,996 --> 00:55:54,880 and what His blood has done. 1426 00:55:54,880 --> 00:55:56,498 And you see, I can rest on that. 1427 00:55:56,498 --> 00:55:59,778 And that's where this is coming from. 1428 00:55:59,778 --> 00:56:01,389 And I'll tell you this, 1429 00:56:01,389 --> 00:56:03,586 when our author moves into v. 9, 1430 00:56:03,586 --> 00:56:05,483 and he says you don't be taken away; 1431 00:56:05,483 --> 00:56:06,792 you don't be carried away. 1432 00:56:06,792 --> 00:56:09,565 You remember back in the beginning of this verse, 1433 00:56:09,565 --> 00:56:11,828 we need to pay much closer attention 1434 00:56:11,828 --> 00:56:15,315 to these things, lest we drift. 1435 00:56:15,315 --> 00:56:17,671 You know why people drift? 1436 00:56:17,671 --> 00:56:23,099 Because other things attract them. 1437 00:56:23,099 --> 00:56:26,980 This whole book is about the glory of Christ. 1438 00:56:26,980 --> 00:56:29,284 You know why people walk away? 1439 00:56:29,284 --> 00:56:32,059 They stop seeing Christ as beautiful. 1440 00:56:32,059 --> 00:56:34,077 They stop seeing Him as precious. 1441 00:56:34,077 --> 00:56:37,108 They see the Spurs are better; 1442 00:56:37,108 --> 00:56:39,354 my money's better; 1443 00:56:39,354 --> 00:56:42,057 the world's better; food is better. 1444 00:56:42,057 --> 00:56:44,270 Yeah, I'll have my religion, 1445 00:56:44,270 --> 00:56:46,540 but they begin to drift away from Christ. 1446 00:56:46,540 --> 00:56:49,957 And it says don't be carried away 1447 00:56:49,957 --> 00:56:52,896 by diverse and strange teachings. 1448 00:56:52,896 --> 00:56:55,629 It's good for the heart to be strengthened by grace 1449 00:56:55,629 --> 00:56:57,075 rather than foods. 1450 00:56:57,075 --> 00:56:58,527 The food doesn't profit. 1451 00:56:58,527 --> 00:57:00,258 Grace profits. What's grace? 1452 00:57:00,258 --> 00:57:02,199 It means all that Christ has done, 1453 00:57:02,199 --> 00:57:05,305 I receive as a gift. 1454 00:57:05,305 --> 00:57:06,825 That's grace. 1455 00:57:06,825 --> 00:57:08,184 I don't deserve it. 1456 00:57:08,184 --> 00:57:12,248 I'm not being good enough to get to heaven. 1457 00:57:12,248 --> 00:57:13,861 See, that's not grace. 1458 00:57:13,861 --> 00:57:15,743 That's falling in with the food. 1459 00:57:15,743 --> 00:57:18,036 Well, I'm trying to do the right things. 1460 00:57:18,036 --> 00:57:19,545 What about this food? 1461 00:57:19,545 --> 00:57:21,561 Yeah, it comes up all over the place. 1462 00:57:21,561 --> 00:57:23,867 Colossians: Therefore let no one pass judgment on you 1463 00:57:23,867 --> 00:57:25,456 in questions of food and drink. 1464 00:57:25,456 --> 00:57:29,069 Why? Food is one of the basic elements 1465 00:57:29,069 --> 00:57:31,340 of this world that people get hung up on 1466 00:57:31,340 --> 00:57:33,389 and think they have to do certain things 1467 00:57:33,389 --> 00:57:35,870 with food in order to merit 1468 00:57:35,870 --> 00:57:38,291 some kind of look from God. 1469 00:57:38,291 --> 00:57:39,938 It's just one of the basic things. 1470 00:57:39,938 --> 00:57:42,131 It works out a thousand different ways 1471 00:57:42,131 --> 00:57:43,358 and other than food. 1472 00:57:43,358 --> 00:57:45,022 It's just things we've got to do 1473 00:57:45,022 --> 00:57:47,357 that we think that God's going to be happy with, 1474 00:57:47,357 --> 00:57:48,923 and somehow it's going to get us 1475 00:57:48,923 --> 00:57:49,751 a good place. 1476 00:57:49,751 --> 00:57:53,412 It's going to get us acceptance in the end. 1477 00:57:53,412 --> 00:57:55,900 But it's all grace. 1478 00:57:55,900 --> 00:57:57,632 Look, any other way - 1479 00:57:57,632 --> 00:57:58,930 do you notice what he says? 1480 00:57:58,930 --> 00:58:00,131 It doesn't profit them. 1481 00:58:00,131 --> 00:58:01,113 Which means what? 1482 00:58:01,113 --> 00:58:02,329 It doesn't save them. 1483 00:58:02,329 --> 00:58:04,350 It doesn't profit. 1484 00:58:04,350 --> 00:58:06,571 It doesn't bring any advantage to them 1485 00:58:06,571 --> 00:58:08,715 at all whatsoever. 1486 00:58:08,715 --> 00:58:11,924 None. 1487 00:58:11,924 --> 00:58:13,423 I mean, you don't want to trade 1488 00:58:13,423 --> 00:58:15,693 being saved by this Christ 1489 00:58:15,693 --> 00:58:18,716 freely by grace as a gift 1490 00:58:18,716 --> 00:58:21,108 for doing things that you think 1491 00:58:21,108 --> 00:58:22,971 are going to make you good 1492 00:58:22,971 --> 00:58:24,437 or clean you up. 1493 00:58:24,437 --> 00:58:26,266 That's the basic mentality 1494 00:58:26,266 --> 00:58:27,906 with the religions of this world. 1495 00:58:27,906 --> 00:58:29,502 I've got to do this little thing, 1496 00:58:29,502 --> 00:58:30,647 you know, to clean up. 1497 00:58:30,647 --> 00:58:32,257 I kind of lived out of control 1498 00:58:32,257 --> 00:58:33,222 last weekend, 1499 00:58:33,222 --> 00:58:34,324 and now I go to church 1500 00:58:34,324 --> 00:58:36,744 and it's going to set me right. 1501 00:58:36,744 --> 00:58:38,737 No. 1502 00:58:38,737 --> 00:58:44,270 No, the true religion of the Scriptures 1503 00:58:44,270 --> 00:58:46,680 is we have a high priest 1504 00:58:46,680 --> 00:58:49,321 and He doesn't change. 1505 00:58:49,321 --> 00:58:50,733 And He made an offering once 1506 00:58:50,733 --> 00:58:52,502 and it satisfied His Father. 1507 00:58:52,502 --> 00:58:55,270 Oh, it satisfied Him. 1508 00:58:55,270 --> 00:58:57,147 We'll just end by looking at this. 1509 00:58:57,147 --> 00:59:07,834 You look at Hebrews 2. 1510 00:59:07,834 --> 00:59:10,695 Hebrews 2:14 1511 00:59:10,695 --> 00:59:14,559 "Since therefore, the children share 1512 00:59:14,559 --> 00:59:15,676 in flesh and blood..." 1513 00:59:15,676 --> 00:59:17,560 He's talking about the children of God. 1514 00:59:17,560 --> 00:59:19,247 He's talking about Christians here. 1515 00:59:19,247 --> 00:59:21,906 "Since therefore, the children share in flesh and blood..." 1516 00:59:21,906 --> 00:59:24,421 That means we're men; we're women. 1517 00:59:24,421 --> 00:59:26,957 We're sons and daughters of Adam. 1518 00:59:26,957 --> 00:59:28,803 We're human. 1519 00:59:28,803 --> 00:59:31,743 Since we're that, He Himself (Christ) 1520 00:59:31,743 --> 00:59:35,735 likewise partook of the same things. 1521 00:59:35,735 --> 00:59:37,249 He had to. 1522 00:59:37,249 --> 00:59:38,962 That through death, 1523 00:59:38,962 --> 00:59:40,823 He had to become man, 1524 00:59:40,823 --> 00:59:43,442 so that He could die as a man, 1525 00:59:43,442 --> 00:59:45,682 and in so doing, destroy the one 1526 00:59:45,682 --> 00:59:47,260 who has the power of death, 1527 00:59:47,260 --> 00:59:49,345 that is the devil, 1528 00:59:49,345 --> 00:59:52,078 and deliver us - 1529 00:59:52,078 --> 00:59:53,939 all those who through fear of death 1530 00:59:53,939 --> 00:59:57,235 and we do fear death by nature. 1531 00:59:57,235 --> 01:00:00,118 We were subject to lifelong slavery. 1532 01:00:00,118 --> 01:00:03,162 For surely it's not angels that He helps. 1533 01:00:03,162 --> 01:00:05,219 He helps the offspring of Abraham. 1534 01:00:05,219 --> 01:00:06,970 Therefore, He had to be made like 1535 01:00:06,970 --> 01:00:08,559 His brothers in every respect, 1536 01:00:08,559 --> 01:00:10,025 so that He might become 1537 01:00:10,025 --> 01:00:12,164 a merciful and faithful high priest 1538 01:00:12,164 --> 01:00:14,628 in the service of God. 1539 01:00:14,628 --> 01:00:15,906 Why? 1540 01:00:15,906 --> 01:00:18,135 To make propitiation. 1541 01:00:18,135 --> 01:00:21,115 That's the removal of wrath. 1542 01:00:21,115 --> 01:00:24,242 He removes the wrath for the sins 1543 01:00:24,242 --> 01:00:27,007 of the people. 1544 01:00:27,007 --> 01:00:30,464 Because He Himself has suffered when tempted, 1545 01:00:30,464 --> 01:00:31,707 He is able to help those 1546 01:00:31,707 --> 01:00:34,620 who are being tempted. 1547 01:00:34,620 --> 01:00:35,848 And He doesn't change. 1548 01:00:35,848 --> 01:00:37,141 He is a help to those 1549 01:00:37,141 --> 01:00:38,621 who are being tempted. 1550 01:00:38,621 --> 01:00:40,386 And He is victorious. 1551 01:00:40,386 --> 01:00:41,272 He can help. 1552 01:00:41,272 --> 01:00:43,321 He's laid down His life. 1553 01:00:43,321 --> 01:00:45,135 He has help for the sinner. 1554 01:00:45,135 --> 01:00:47,128 You can be ever so vile, 1555 01:00:47,128 --> 01:00:48,335 ever so filthy, 1556 01:00:48,335 --> 01:00:50,402 have commited ever so grave of sin, 1557 01:00:50,402 --> 01:00:52,665 so many of them that you can't count 1558 01:00:52,665 --> 01:00:54,651 and they're heaped up on your shoulders, 1559 01:00:54,651 --> 01:00:57,240 and they're going to drop you into the lowest parts of hell, 1560 01:00:57,240 --> 01:01:00,033 but this work that this high priest has done 1561 01:01:00,033 --> 01:01:02,751 has made propitiation. 1562 01:01:02,751 --> 01:01:06,159 That means total removal of wrath. 1563 01:01:06,159 --> 01:01:07,398 It's all wiped away. 1564 01:01:07,398 --> 01:01:09,260 That's what forgiveness is all about. 1565 01:01:09,260 --> 01:01:10,997 All of it. All your sins. 1566 01:01:10,997 --> 01:01:12,350 Past, present, and future 1567 01:01:12,350 --> 01:01:15,169 are forgiven in their entirety. 1568 01:01:15,169 --> 01:01:17,118 Propitiation has been made. 1569 01:01:17,118 --> 01:01:20,122 But He had to become a man. 1570 01:01:20,122 --> 01:01:21,539 But having become a man, 1571 01:01:21,539 --> 01:01:24,501 His priesthood doesn't change forever. 1572 01:01:24,501 --> 01:01:25,727 You think about this. 1573 01:01:25,727 --> 01:01:31,649 He is going to wear His humanity forever. 1574 01:01:31,649 --> 01:01:34,781 He saves those who come to God 1575 01:01:34,781 --> 01:01:38,074 through Him to the uttermost 1576 01:01:38,074 --> 01:01:39,997 because He as a man 1577 01:01:39,997 --> 01:01:42,675 and as a victorious high priest 1578 01:01:42,675 --> 01:01:44,933 being made like us in every respect - 1579 01:01:44,933 --> 01:01:48,621 He's like that forevermore. 1580 01:01:48,621 --> 01:01:52,686 He has taken the nature of humanity upon Him 1581 01:01:52,686 --> 01:01:54,350 forever. 1582 01:01:54,350 --> 01:01:57,711 That He might be a high priest forever. 1583 01:01:57,711 --> 01:02:05,220 To make intercession for us forever. 1584 01:02:05,220 --> 01:02:06,766 We'll we're going to press on 1585 01:02:06,766 --> 01:02:11,767 through those verses next week. 1586 01:02:11,767 --> 01:02:13,213 Father, we pray that You would 1587 01:02:13,213 --> 01:02:15,840 just help us to see the glories of Christ 1588 01:02:15,840 --> 01:02:17,396 in all of this as we wrap up 1589 01:02:17,396 --> 01:02:19,859 these last verses in Hebrews. 1590 01:02:19,859 --> 01:02:22,995 May we leave it going out 1591 01:02:22,995 --> 01:02:26,391 reminded of how this book 1592 01:02:26,391 --> 01:02:30,243 so exalts the supremacy of Christ; 1593 01:02:30,243 --> 01:02:32,453 the preeminence of Him 1594 01:02:32,453 --> 01:02:35,865 Who bought us with His blood. 1595 01:02:35,865 --> 01:02:36,990 Thank You. 1596 01:02:36,990 --> 01:02:38,148 Amen.