Hello Hebrews

What a great song to lead us back into our study of the book of Hebrews. So if you got your Bible, Hebrews chapter one. We spent 12 weeks in Hebrews way back in March, April, May in the first part of June in 2017.

And we've been out of it since then. And so today is hello Hebrews, we're back. And we're back with tenacity. We're back with excitement and joy to be able to understand the beauty and the glory of the Christ. So, you know, all scripture is great to study. No matter which passage you're studying, there are some that sometimes are more exciting than others. The book of Hebrews is one of those books that really accentuates the superiority, the sufficiency and the supremacy of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And so we're going to get back into this. And so I'm going to review for you the first 12 weeks. I'm going to do it in 45 minutes. Okay. And you're going to ask the question, why didn't you spend 45 minutes on the first three verses and get through them so we can move on?

It just doesn't work that way. Because once you begin to study the text, as you will see, as we will continue our study of Hebrews, there is so much to grasp. There's so much to deal with. And it was in those first three verses, because it was all about how God speaks today.

Is God still speaking today? And how does God speak today if he is speaking? And there was so much to deal with that whole issue, because there are people who believe that God speaks to them audibly. And is that true or not true? And so you need to go and go back and listen to the CDs and understand exactly what we were talking about. Way back, we spent 12 weeks on the first three verses of the book of Hebrews.

This is how it goes. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. And he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Now, when we began this study, we told you that Hebrews will lead you to do six things.

Number one, it will lead you primarily to exaltation. It will lead you to exalting Jesus Christ above all else. Now, if you are into self-exaltation, the book of Hebrews will be boring to you. If you love to lift yourself up on high, the book of Hebrews will be just another book of the Bible. But if you're into accentuating the Christ, putting him on display and exalting him, this book will only enhance that. It's a book of exaltation. It's a book that deals with the supremacy of Christ, the superiority of Christ.

And what we learned through the study of Hebrews is that Jesus Christ is lifted up higher than anything or anyone else and needs to be lifted and exalted in your life and in mine. So many times, the book of Hebrews or the Bible just becomes another theological discussion that builds my library or my informational aspect of my brain instead of really realizing that what I'm studying is the glory and the beauty of Christ who needs to be exalted in my life. So when we study the book of Hebrews, you will see, if you haven't already, but we're going to bring it back to that, that you're going to live a life of exaltation.

Number two, you're going to live a life of expectation. This is the X factor in the book of Hebrews. Not only is there exaltation, there's going to be expectation. What are you going to be expecting? Well, chapter two, verse number five tells us you're going to expect the world to come. In chapter nine, verse number 15, you're going to expect the promise of your eternal inheritance. In the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter, it says this about those in the hall of faith. Hebrews 11, verse number 16 reads as follows, or verse 13, all these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, for those who say such things, make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country. That is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Do you know that Hebrews leads you to expectation? It leads you to expect the heavenly city. It leads you to expect the return of Christ. That's why the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 10, do not forsake the assuming of your together.

Why? Because as the day draws near, you need to be in the assembly of the righteous. What's the day that's drawing near? The day of the coming of the king. And so you learn to live a life of expectation. Those who come to church and worship the Christ to exalt him only want to live expectantly, looking, longing for his return. And that's exactly what the book of Hebrews does for those who engage in studying this marvelous, marvelous book. And so that's what we're hoping you understand and see as we begin to study this book.

Once again, it leads you to exaltation. It leads you to expectation. And then number three, it leads you to exhortation.

Exhortation, that is encouragement or comfort. That's how it's translated in Hebrews chapter 13, verse number 22. When the writer says these words, Hebrews 13, verse number 22, excuse me, but I urge you brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, this word of encouragement, this word of comfort for I've written to you briefly. Listen, bear with this word of encouragement. That's why the right of Hebrews or the right of Romans, Paul says in Romans 15, verse number four, for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement or comfort or exhortation of scriptures, we might have hope.

In other words, this exhortation is going to encourage you. It's going to comfort you. You see, our God is the God of all comfort, right? So how does he comfort his people? Well, the savior is the comforter. That's what he is. That's why Israel longed for the comfort of their nation. He was called the consolation of Israel because he's a comforter. When the savior comes, there's comfort, but the spirit of God is also a comforter and the people of God, the saints are also comforters, but the scripture itself is the ultimate comforter because it is the word of the living God.

And so the right of Hebrews says, I urge you brethren to bear with this word of encouragement, this word of comfort, this word of exhortation. So what happens when you study this book, all of a sudden, because Christ is so supreme, so authoritative, so beautiful, it brings great comfort to your soul. Those who study the book of Hebrews and understand the superiority and supremacy of Christ live a life of supreme comfort. It doesn't mean they don't have problems, they do. But in the midst of those problems, there's supreme comfort and encouragement because that's what God's word does.

So when we study the book of Hebrews, it leads us to exaltation, it leads us to expectation, it leads us to exhortation, and then fourthly, it leads us to examination, examination, examination. And this is where the word of God begins to bear deep into your soul because it's the word of God and God's word divides even to the depths of the person's individual soul as Hebrews 4 tells us. The word of God is sharp, it's powerful, it's sharper than any two-edged sword, and it cuts to the depths of a man, the depths of a woman.

That's what God's word does. It divides everything on the inside. It begins to open you up, right? The word of God is like a surgeon's instrument, and the spirit of God is that surgeon, and that word of God, the sword of God is that instrument. And as it's preached and proclaimed, as it's read and memorized, all of a sudden it begins to slowly slice and dice the inner part of a man. And so it's a word of examination because there are five warning passages in the book of Hebrews, five. And we'll pick up the first one in Hebrews chapter 2, the second one in Hebrews chapter 3, the third one in Hebrews chapter 5 that leads us into chapter 6, then we're going to go to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 12, and in all those portions of scriptures there are warnings given.

Because the book of Hebrews was written to three groups of people, all Jewish people, right? Every one of them were Jews. That's what's called Hebrews. It's written to Hebrew people. It's not necessarily a book, although it applies to you and me. It was written to Jewish people. The believers who were Jews are called holy brethren. So when Paul is addressing the Hebrews, he calls them the holy brethren. He's talking to those who are true believers. They are the ones who are intimately committed to Christ.

That's why he calls them holy brethren. But when he talks to Jewish people who are not born again, he calls them brethren. Very important to understand that. Very important to decipher who the writer's talking to. The brethren are Jewish people. So a Hebrew writer writes to Hebrew people. But the holy brethren are those who are intimately committed. Now of the brethren, there were two classes of people. There were those who were inspirationally curious, and there were those who are intellectually convinced.

Okay? So you have the intimately committed. Those are the holy brethren. And then you have the brethren, and some of them were inspirationally curious. They truly were inspired by the Christ. They were curious about the Christ. They just weren't committed to the Christ. And then there were those who were intellectually convinced that Christ lived, that Christ died, and Christ was buried and rose again. And they were convinced intellectually, but they just did not commit themselves to following Christ as Lord and Savior.

That's why they're called brethren. And in that, the word of examination, you have five warning passages to warn them that if they continue to live in sin and don't commit to Christ, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. If you are brought near to Christ, and you are intellectually convinced that He existed, and all the things He did, and you come to taste of the heavenly gift and become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, and yet do not commit to Christ, you're in danger of coming to a place, it's impossible to renew you to repentance.

That's why they're called warning passage. Hebrews 3, today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the day of provocation in the wilderness. Don't do that. Don't become dull of hearing. Don't harden your heart. Why? Because how will you escape so great salvation? It is the greatest thing ever. And so the writer of Hebrews gives warnings, which is the right thing to do. Because in any church, there are people that are intimately committed to Christ, right? There are those of you today who are intimately committed to Christ.

You are the holy brethren. But there are those of you who are curious about the Christ, inspirationally. There are those of you who are convinced about the Christ, intellectually, but you're not born again. And so the warning passages are passages of examination, to warn you of impending judgment, that if you are like Israel and you harden your heart and do not listen to what the Word of the Lord says, then you're in danger of coming to a place where it's impossible to renew you to repentance. That's why the book of Hebrews is so scrutinizing.

Remember what the writer said. The writer said these words in Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, that God has spoken. In the last days, He has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. And then when you go back to chapter 13, verse number 22, the writer of Hebrews says what? He says, I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. Hear this word that has been spoken to you. You see, Israel's problem was that they did not listen to the Lord God of Israel when He spoke.

And by the way, that's all of our problems, right? We're just not very good listeners. Sometimes we come to church and we listen superficially, okay? We look like we're paying attention, but in reality, we're not. We listen superficially, we listen sparingly, we listen selectively, right? Certain things you want to hear, certain things you don't want to hear, but very few of us come and listen wholeheartedly, right? Sometimes our ears perk up because of what is being spoken of or what is being addressed, but sometimes we just come and we just sit and look like we're listening, but we're not because we're thinking about lunch or we're thinking about the meeting we have after church or what we're going to do this week or what work is going to be like or my kids got to go back to school and all the work I got to do.

So we come to church, but we're not really listening. We're kind of listening with one ear and not the other, or maybe it's going in one ear and out the other, and we're not really truly listening to what God's Word says. That's most of us, isn't it? Now, I have your attention because now you're thinking, I better start listening. The bottom line is that the writer of Hebrews says, if you've got ears to hear, listen, listen.

That's why the Lord told Martha. He said, oh Martha, you're worried about so many things, but Mary has chosen the best part. What's that? She has chosen to sit at my feet and listen to my words. What you did, Martha, was good because you were preoccupied with the work of the Lord, but you need to be preoccupied with the Lord of the work. Mary is, you're not. See, she's willing to listen, you're not. She's chosen the one thing that's needful. What is it we need to do? We need to listen.

We need to listen to what the Word of the Lord says. My wife has told me many times, and she's absolutely correct, I don't listen.

Did your wife ever tell you that? You know, you don't listen to me. Well, you can kind of get away without listening to your wife wholeheartedly, but you can't get away from the Lord by not listening to him wholeheartedly. There's a big difference, because when the Word of the Lord speaks, we need to hear and obey. And this is what the writer of Hebrews is trying to do through the whole process of examination. You need to be like James and let everyone be quick to the hearing of the Word, quick to hear it.

That's why the writer of Ecclesiastes, Solomon says, hey, when you draw near to the house of God, draw near to what? Listen.

Draw near to listen. Draw near, be quiet. Do all your talking in the parking lot. But when you come into the house of God, you need to listen.

Listen, because God is going to speak to you through his Word. And when you hear what he says, because it applies to every avenue of your life, because he's going to tell you about the Christ. He's going to tell you about who he is and what he's done, which is going to cause you to exalt him, to cause you to expect him, to cause you to be exhorted by him and examined by him. And that's what the holy brethren want to see happen. Oh, by the way, this is also a book that leads you to excitation. That's a great word, excitation.

It's going to lead you to live an exciting life. Most of us live dull, boring lives, vanilla lives, right? But the book of Hebrews leads you to excitation. Why? Remember, we just come off the Christmas season and the Messiah is called the desire of the nations, right? We sing about that in several of our Christmas hymns, because that was a title given to the Messiah. In the book of Haggai, the second chapter, he is the desire of the nations.

That's why he was called the redemption of Israel. That's why he was called the consolation of Israel, because when the desire comes that every nation longs for, he brings comfort, he brings joy, he brings peace. So when we begin to study this Messiah, this Christ, this one who came and lived and died for us and rose again, this Christ who is supreme, who is sufficient, who is sovereign over all things, wow, it leads you to a life of excitation, great excitement. That's what the psalmist would say over in Psalm 73, these words, verse 25, whom have I in heaven but you?

And besides you, I desire nothing on earth. Wow. How many of us can say that? And besides you, I desire nothing. There's nothing on earth I desire. No car, no person, no house, no job. I desire you. Then he says, my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. As for me, the nearness of God is my good. It's my good. I have made the Lord my refuge that I might tell of all your works. That's what the book of Hebrews leads you to. See that? It leads you to excitation.

And then lastly, it leads you to explanation. Again, this is the X factor in the book of Hebrews. It leads you to explanation. That is, it leads you to be able to explain to others who Christ really is. Wow. What's better than that? What's better than that? Explaining to Christ. On May 21st, 1882, Charles Spurgeon in preaching to his congregation said, I have nothing to do but to preach Jesus Christ. That's it. And then, then he went on to show how he was in line of following the most hallowed train, the train of those who have gone before him and preached nothing but Jesus Christ.

And it says in the book of Acts, the fifth chapter, the Christians kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. In Acts 8, Philip went to Samaria, proclaiming Christ Jesus. Later in Acts 8, with the Ethiopian eunuch, he explained the book of Isaiah was about Jesus Christ. Acts 9, Paul, after his commission, immediately began to proclaim Christ in the synagogues. And then the first Corinthians chapter 2, Paul says, I desire to know nothing among you, but Jesus Christ and him crucified.

I preach nothing but Jesus Christ. Spurgeon says, I'm just in the line of the hallowed train of those who have gone before to preach Christ. The question is, will we get on board that train and just preach Christ? Well, the book of Hebrews explains him to you in such a way that now you can explain Jesus Christ to other people. What better topic of conversation could you ever have than the topic of the most supreme person who ever lived, the most sublime person to ever live, the most significant person to ever live, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And that's where the book of Hebrews leads us. That's where we're going. That's what's going to happen. So if none of that interests you, you're going to be bored for the next year or two. You will. You probably won't even come back. But if that interests you, if that's what you're about, if you're about exalting the Christ, if you're about expecting and longing him to return, if you're about exhortation, receiving the comfort from what God has to give you, if you're all about examination so that your life is examined to know for certain that Jesus Christ is your Lord and that you're following him explicitly, if you're about excitation, living an exciting life, if you're about explanation, explaining Christ to others, well, you're going to love this study.

You're going to go to bed Saturday night unable to sleep because of what's going to happen the next day. You just can't wait to get to church. But isn't that the way we should always be? I mean, we go to bed on Sunday night. We've been out all day Saturday. We've been doing this. We've been doing that. We finally go to bed.

Oh, I got to go to church tomorrow. Oh, geez. I had to go to the first service because I got to go to work afterwards.

So I had to get up extra early. Oh, geez. A lot of people like that. But they're in the second service, not the first service.

I understand that. So you guys get a pass on that. But see, that's what happens. But the book of Hebrews, great book. He was one. Let's review. That was just all introduction to my review. Here's a review. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days, has spoken to us in his son who will be appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world. Verse number one is about the promise and the preparation for the Christ.

God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, what did he speak to them about? We just came out of the Christmas season. And the book that we hold in our hands, the Bible, is a Christmas book. Why? It's all about the promise and preparation of the coming Messiah. That's what people long for. That's what they had anticipated. That the Messiah, the long-awaited Messiah, the promised seed, way back in Genesis 3, is coming. It's throughout all the Old Testament.

It's all about that promise that God gave to Abraham, that he began with the promise to Adam and Eve when they found the sin, and then began to give that promise to David and the prophets, all about the preparation for the coming of the Messiah. But Israel wouldn't listen.

They wouldn't listen. And so those 400 silent years between the Old Testament and the New Testament, God never spoke because Israel stopped listening. But the Messiah was still going to come because everything in the Old Testament, that's verse 1, is all about the Old Testament, that God had spoken long ago to the prophets in many ways, in many portions, about what? Messiah's coming. He's coming. That's why we tell you the book of the Bible is about the Christ. The Bible is not about your marriage.

I know you think it is. It's not about your marriage, although the Bible talks about marriage. The Bible is not about raising your kids, although you know how to raise your kids by reading the Bible, okay? The Bible is not your workplace, although you know how to behave in the workplace and live in the workplace by what the Bible says.

The Bible is not about your physical well-being, although the Bible talks about your physical well-being in your glorified body in the future. The Bible is about Jesus Christ, our Lord, and the redemption that he brings to all souls. And everything in the Bible is about that. So the Old Testament was about the preparation and the promise that the Messiah is coming, and you live in anticipation of that. So the Old Testament, verse 1, is all about anticipation. It's all about announcement, right? So verse 1 is all about the promise and preparation of the coming Messiah.

Now, again, this is all just review. If you want to know more details about this, you can go back to the archives and begin to listen to what we said a year ago, okay? Verse 2, verse 2 is about the presentation and the presence of the Christ. Verse 1 is about the announcement of the coming Christ. Verse 2 is about the arrival of the Christ. He is here. Verse 1 is about promise and preparation. Verse 2 is about presentation and presence. In other words, he was presented to the people, and he was present among the people.

And that's what the gospel, the New Testament, is all about. What was promised arrived exactly as it was promised. Those who anticipated and announced the coming of the Messiah, we now witness the arrival of the Messiah. Now, God, in these last days, has spoken to us, or in the last of these days in which God was speaking, he spoke to us through his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so now he has arrived. He is here. See that? So, verse 1 is about the announcement of the Messiah. Verse 2 is about the arrival of the Messiah.

And verse 3 is about the authority of the Messiah. Verse 1 is about the promise and preparation of the Messiah. Verse 2 is about the presentation and presence of the Messiah. And verse 3 is about the preeminence and primacy of that Messiah. He is all authoritative. He is the authoritative one. And this is how authoritative he is. Because verses 1 to 3 are a summation of the entire book of Hebrews. It says, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also made the world. And he is a radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his nature, who upholds all things by the word of his power, with whom he made purification of sins.

He sat down at the right hand of the majesty and high. He describes the seven aspects of the authority of the Messiah. You with me so far? Still with me? He describes him, number one, as the inheritor, the inheritor.

He is, has been appointed heir of all things. He is the rightful heir to the throne. In Revelation 5, John sees one, a lamb that looks as if he's been slain, the Messiah, who gets up and takes the scroll from his father, which is the title deed to the earth. He begins to break the seal because he's the only one worthy to break the seal, because the scroll is the title deed to the earth, the one who has the rightful heir to the earth. Psalm 2, that messianic psalm, ask of me and I will give you the nations of the world.

And so when you come to Revelation chapter 11, it says in verse number 15, when the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. The kingdoms of this world have become now the kingdoms of the Lord. He will ascend the throne. He will rule and reign forever. He is the all authoritative one because he is the inheritor. Number two, he is the creator.

It says that he made the world. This is very important because yes, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God, right? And John tells us that he was a creator of the world. Revelation chapter one, verse number one tells us that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

We know from Colossians chapter one that he truly is the creator of all things, but this is the creator of the ages. This goes beyond just the physical creation of this universe and of this world. He is a creator of time and events. He is the creator of all things, not just the physical universe. He is a creator of all things. He is as Isaiah nine six described him, the everlasting father or better translation, the originator of eternity. So this son given this child born is the everlasting father.

He's not the father. He's a son, but he is the originator of eternity. He is the creator of all things. So therefore, when you study the book of Hebrews, you realize the superior, the superiority and the supremacy of Christ himself, because he is the one listen carefully who has created every time and event that you encounter everything. He is actively involved in everything. That's how authoritative he is. The Bible says he is the author of calamity.

The Bible says he's the creator of darkness. Darkness is not the absence of light. Darkness is a creation by the almighty God. We'll say, well, if there's not light, it must be dark. Who said, who said that? You don't read that anywhere in scripture. If there's no light, there's nothing. But God is a creator, the author of light. He's also the creator and author of darkness. He creates everything. There's nothing that he did not create. And so what the writer of Hebrews is telling us is that not only is he the inheritor of all things, and by the way, we are joint heirs with Christ.

So whatever he inherits, we inherit. That's why the book of Hebrews is so cool, right? But on top of that, he is the creator. He can inherit it all because he created it all. It's all his anyway. And so he creates everything. So whatever is happening in your life right now could be the consequences of sin. But God has allowed all that to take place because he is sovereign over all. He rules over all. And so he not just is the inheritor, he is a creator. Oh, on top of that, not only is he the creator, he is the sustainer.

That's why it says in verse number two, that he upholds all things by the word of his power. Not just creates it and then lets it go and say, okay, good luck. Hope it all works out for you. No, he creates it and then he sustains it by the word of his power. That is so amazing because at the end, right? Second Peter chapter three, everything is destroyed.

Why? Because he upholds all things by the word of his power. The law of gravity, okay, is in place because God upholds it by the word of his power. Why don't you float into the universe? Because the Lord upholds all things by the word of his power. So when he stops speaking the word, the universe disintegrates, incinerates, it's gone. He'll recreate a new heaven, a new earth. Okay. Book of Revelation, second Peter chapter three, but he sustains everything.

So this is why he's so authoritative. The thing that the person that everybody anticipated that now has arrived, who was crucified, dead, buried and rose again, is the inheritor, the creator and sustainer of the world. On top of that, he is the radiator. He is the beauty, the brightness of his glory. It says he is the radiance of his glory. He is the brightness of his glory. He is the radiator. He radiates the beauty, the glory of his father. He is the brightness that shines. You had the sun and the sun shines out brightness.

The brightness has the same nature as the sun, but the brightness isn't the sun. The father shines in all of his beauty. The son is the radiance, the beauty of the father. The son's not the father, but the son is God as the father is God. Because not only is he the radiator, he also is the representor, the express image, the exact representation of his nature. So not only is he the radiator of his father, but he is the representor, the exact representative of the nature of his father because he's God in the flesh.

And not only is he representor, he is the purifier because it says this one, when he made purification of sins, how did he do that? This is the one who created everything, who sustains everything, who is the beauty and the radiance of his father in heaven. He is the one who in nature is God in the flesh. This is the one who purifies you from your sins. Yes. This is why he was so anticipated. Because what the blood of goats and bulls could not accomplish, the blood of Jesus Christ did. That's why John says in 1 John 1, 7, that the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all our sin.

This one who is the only one who is the one who purges, who purifies all your sins. That's why he's so magnificent. He is the purifier. Not only that, he's the ruler for it says he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He sat down. In the tabernacle, in the temple, there were no chairs because the priest never sat down. Why did the priest never sit down? Because the work was never finished. The work was never finished. But Christ, the ultimate priest, we will see is greater than the priesthood of Aaron.

This one could sit down because the work of purifying was finally complete. It was over. That's why he's the ruler. Because he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, which speaks of his authority. We remember way back in the book of Genesis, the 35th chapter, when Rachel was dying, she'd asked for a son, another son. So God gave her another son, right? And as she died, she said to her husband, we will name him Ben-Oni, the son of my sorrow. Her husband said, no, you're not. You're going to name him Ben-Hamin, the son of my strength, the son of my right hand.

In other words, the birth of Benjamin was a type of Christ because where did he die? He died in Bethlehem, Ephrathah. That's why today when you go to Bethlehem, those of you who go into Israel, you'll pass Rachel's tomb in Bethlehem. Why? Because the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and the Messiah would be the son of his father's strength, the son of his father's right hand. That's where the Messiah would be born in the city of Kings, the city of David in Bethlehem. So now the writer of Hebrews is going to draw all that together by way of implication and say, he sat down because he purified us of our sins at his father's right hand, because he is the son of authority.

He is the son of strength. He is a son of ultimate strength. The one prophesied way back in the book of beginnings, the book of Bereshish, book of Genesis is here and died. And all the blood of all those lambs beforehand could not purify you of your sins, but the lamb of God, oh, he can take away the sins of the world. That's exactly what he did. That's why he is the purifier. That's why he is the ruler, because he is the only one who could do that. And he was the one, he is the one who now intercedes for us.

And the writer of Hebrews tells us that at the right hand of God, he is our advocate. He intercedes for us daily, regularly, moment by moment. He is the one who stands in defense of you and me all the time. Why? Because where is Satan? Satan is in heaven, right? How do you know that? Revelation 12, verse number 10, he accuses a brethren day and night. If you thought that Satan was in hell, you're wrong. He's not there yet. He's going to go to hell. He's going to go there, but he's not there yet. He has access to the throne of God in heaven because he accuses a brethren day and night.

And we had this great intercessor, this one who intercedes on our behalf, who is a great defense attorney, who stands as our advocate whenever Satan says, see what he did? He stands and says, I've died for that sin. I've purified that sin. I've cleansed him from that sin. That's who we have. We have Christ as our ultimate lawyer in heaven who defends us explicitly and implicitly and totally because that's the way our God is. Oh, my friends, you are about to embark on the wildest ride in the word.

When I talk about wild, I'm talking about the ultimate ride because it's all about the Christ. It's all about his exaltation. And you're going to learn more about the Christ than you have ever learned before. In all the history of your time in church, you will learn more about the Christ in this study of Hebrews than you have ever learned before. And you will live a life of supreme excitation. Guaranteed. And pray with you. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for what you've done. Thank you for the book of Hebrews.

Thank you, Lord, for helping us see how supreme, how sublime you really are. Our prayer is that, Lord, you go before us this day. Prepare us for what we're about to learn. Prepare us for what we're about to hear. Prepare us to apply all those things to our heart and life that we might see the glory of the Christ in all of his beauty and live in great expectation of your coming again. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.