Honing in on Hebrews

Thank you, Brad. Thank you, Kristen. If you have your Bible, turn me to the book of Hebrews. That's right, we're back, baby. We're right back in where we left off, Hebrews chapter 6. Yeah, it's been since the end of May. Since we stopped our study and broke off a little mini-series called Hopology. It took us a little over 16 weeks to cover that. It took us into the Christmas season, and then the last couple of weeks we've been looking at missions and the opportunity for outreach and the challenges that God's placed before us.

But it's been a long time. Since we have gone verse by verse through the book of Hebrews, but we're back. And so we are going to explore this great book that deals with the sufficiency and the supremacy of Jesus Christ our Lord. When we left off, we left off in Hebrews chapter 6, and we began the study of hope, looking at what the Bible says concerning that, because the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 6.

These great words, it says, So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope. That's set before us. And the question is, what is that hope? And so we spent time looking at what the Bible says concerning hope.

Hope is living in anticipation of all that God has promised. And so, because we live in a world where there is no hope, and even people in the church struggle with hope, some of you were hoping that I'd finished the study on hope sooner than I did. Others of you wish that I would continue longer in the study of hope than I did, but that was all wishful thinking. That wasn't really true hope. And so we help you understand what true hope really is by looking at the scriptures, helping you understand what the Bible says concerning biblical, living h.

So now we want to begin once again our study of the book of Hebrews. But before we do, we need to understand what we're doing. Because I'm sure you've probably already forgotten. You know, it's been eight months since we have gone verse by verse to the book of Hebrews, and so quickly we forget. So let me give you six words this morning.

That's it. Simple outline, six words that will help you understand what we're doing in the book of Hebrews. So that you are caught back up to speed, so that next week when we go back into Hebrews 6, you are brought to speed, you know exactly where we're at and what it is we're doing. The book of Hebrews leads us to certain elements in our lives. It leads us, first of all, to exaltation.

That's where the book begins in Hebrews chapter 1. Remember this? Hebrews chapter 1, verse number 1. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers, In 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, or the shining forth of His attributes. And the exact representation of his nature. In other words, Jesus Christ is a replica of the nature of God the Father.

And it says, Who upholds all things by the word of his power? When he made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty. on high, having become as much a better or as much excuse me better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. The book of Hebrews begins with exalting Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It talks about how Christ is better than, and of course, the key word in the book of Hebrews is the word better because he is better than the angels. He is better better.

better than the priesthood. He is better than the prophets. He is better than the old covenant because he is the fulfillment of that. He is the bringing forth of the new covenant. Everything about the Lord Jesus Christ is that he is better than Anything that's come before him or anything that comes after him because he's the best. And so the emphasis is on the exaltation of Jesus Christ our Lord, which is very important because You see, if you're into exalting yourself, you're going to be bored with the book of Hebrews.

If you're into looking at your life and how your life can be better, Then you're going to be bored with the book of Hebrews because the book of Hebrews is not about your life, it's about the life of Christ. It's about his sufficiency. It's about his supremacy. It's about who he is and what he's done. It's about the identity of the Messiah and the ministry of the Messiah. Therefore, our responsibility. to that identity and that ministry that determines our destiny. And so we must understand the book of Hebrews emphasizes the supremacy of the Messiah.

It emphasizes the sufficiency of the Messiah. And in emphasizing the sufficiency of the Messiah, it emphasizes the sufficiency of his word because it says that. In verse number two of Hebrews chapter one, in these last days has spoken to us in his son, or in the last days.

In which the Lord was speaking, He spoke to us in His Son. We went into great detail. In fact, I think we spent eight weeks on the first three verses helping you understand how it is that the Word of the Lord is absolutely sufficient.

For everything. And so the book of Hebrews is about exaltation, exalting Christ as the pre one. And then, on top of that, the book of Hebrews is not just about exaltation, it's about expect. You can call this the X factor in the book of Hebrews. It's about exaltation. It's about expect. In other words, everything about the book of Hebrews leads you to expect something to happen with the arrival of the Messiah. Because it says in Hebrews chapter 1, verse number 5: For to which of the angels did he ever say, You are my son, today I have begotten you, and again I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.

And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, in other words, he's coming again. It leads you to expectation. We know that Christ came. We know about the incarnation, the infleshment of the Messiah, but The right of Hebrews tells us he's going to bring him again. He's going to bring his firstborn again. And the word there is prot, which has nothing to do with order or time. Has everything to do with position and preeminence. That's very important to understand that because Christ is called in the book of Colossians the firstborn of all creation.

That doesn't mean that he was the first one. Ever born that was created. No, it means of all those ever created, he is the pre one. He is pos. The most powerful one because he is the first begotten son of the living God.

And he's going to again bring him into the world. In other words, he's going to come again. And then, if you go down to verse number five of chapter two, it says, For he did not subject to angels the world to come. In other words, there's another world coming. This is not all there is. There's going to be a new heaven and a new earth, according to the book of Revelation. When Christ comes again, there's going be a restoration of this world, but there's going to be a new world, a new heavens. So the book of Hebrews causes us to live in expectation.

What about this world? And what about this coming one? And then it says over in the book of Hebrews chapter 11. Go back there if you would, just for a moment, please. Hebrews chapter 11. It says these words. Verse number 8: By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise.

For he was looking for the city which has found whose architect and build is God. Abraham was looking for another city. Abraham saw himself as a sojourner. He saw himself as a stranger in this land. And then it goes on to say in verse number 13, summing up the first 12 verses of Hebrews 11: 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. As 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.

In other words, there's another city. There's another world. So the writer of Hebrews takes this Jewish audience and moves them to a place of expectation. So, here's another tidbit for you. If you live in expect of anything other than the world to come, you'll be bored with the book of Hebrews. It won't mean that much to you. Because you're expecting something less supreme, less sufficient, less significant than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And whenever you get your eyes off of Jesus, you're always going to be disappointed.

And so the write of Hebrews leads us to expectation. What are we expecting? We're expecting another city. We're expecting a city whose architect and builder is God Himself. We are expecting another world. We are looking for the firstborn to return again. We are anticipating what God's going to do in the f. Future, therefore, we live in expectation, and that's why the book of Hebrews is so rich and so pure and so true because it moves us beyond ourselves to expect what God has for His people. So the book of Hebrews leads us to exaltation, to exalt the pre one.

It leads us to expectation. Anticipating the arrival of the Messiah, the city to come, the world that he him will make. Number three, the book of Hebrews leads us to exhortation.

Not just exaltation, not just expect. But it leads us to ex at the very end of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. It says this in verse number 22. But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exh. The write of Hebrews concludes with this word, meaning this letter, Hebrews 13, 22. I want you to understand this word of exhortation. And that word, exhortation, is translated in Romans 15, verse number 4, as comfort. It could be translated encouragement. Remember in 2 Timothy 4, verse number 2, Paul tells Timothy: Preach the word, reprove, rebuke, exhort.

After people have been reproved because of their sin, rebuked because of their sin, someone needs to come alongside of them and exhort them or encourage them and comfort them. What the writer of Hebrews wants us to understand is that he has given this book to this Jewish audience that they might be comforted, encouraged, exhorted. By the Spirit of God. Paul would use the same word in 1 Thessalonians 2, verses 11 and 12. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse number 16. And there it's translated encouragement and comfort.

He would use the same phrase in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, where it talks about how the God of all comfort The one called alongside of us encourages us, comforts us during our tribulation, that we in turn might come alongside someone else and encourage them and comfort them when they experience like tribulations. For the writer of Hebrews says, listen, I want you to bear with this word of exhortation. I want you to understand what it is we're trying to say. Because in the long run, the only way you're going to be encouraged and the only way you're ever going to be comforted Is through the identity and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's it. There is no other way. And everybody wants to be comforted. Everybody wants somebody to come alongside of them and say, hey, you know what? Put their arm around you and say, How are you doing? How can I help you? But the greatest encourager of all is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why he said to his men on the eve of the crucifixion: Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. Why? Because I've prepared a place for you. And I will come again. And I will receive you into myself, that where I am, there you may be also, because I am your all-in-.

I want you to expect me. Look for me, long for me, anticipate me, because I'm going to come again and receive you into myself. Because I want you to be with me forever. It's a word of exhort. And so we study this book because it leads us to exalt Christ, the Son of God. It leads us to expect Christ, the Son of God. It leads us to be exhorted by Christ, who is the Son of God. But fourthly, it leads us to exam. Remember, this is the X factor in the book of Hebrews: ex, expectation, exhortation. But it leads us to examination.

You know, one thing about the scriptures is that it always challenges us in terms of our relationship with the living God. The greatest exam you'll ever take is not the one you take tomorrow morning in your high school class or your college class or your Masters of education, whatever it is. That's not your greatest exam. Your greatest exam is by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When you look into the perfect law of liberty, And you see the standard that God has set. Because his standard is to be as holy as I am holy.

But all throughout the book of the Bible, there is a plethora amount of words of exam. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 13, verse number 5, Paul says: test yourself, prove yourself, exam yourself to see if Jesus is even in you. What a wonderful exam that is. He's talking to a church, the church of Corinth. He says, you know, you need to examine yourself. Because you need to see whether or not Jesus really lives in you, because maybe he's not. So match yourself with the pages of scripture and see if Jesus truly lives in you.

Earlier in 1 Corinthians 11, the first letter he penned to them, he said, Before you partake of the Lord's table, before you eat of the bread and drink of the cup, exam yourself.

Examine yourself so that you don't eat and drink in an unworthy manner. Read the book of 1 John. It's all a series of tests and examinations to see whether or not Jesus Christ truly is your Lord and Savior. The book of James, same thing. It's all about whether or not you have a true religion that's undefiled before the living God. You can go and you can read Psalm 17, Psalm 26, Psalm 139, the book of Haggai, chapter 1. Another examination. The Bible is filled with the exhortation to examine yourself to see whether or not Jesus really is in you.

Are you really a person of faith? Do you really believe in who the Messiah is? Do you understand who the Messiah is, right? That's very, very important. Because so many times we don't. And therefore, we're called to examination. And the Write of Hebrews does it in such a unique and special way, unlike any other writer in the scriptures. The Write of Hebrew gives five different warning passages. So that you can examine yourself. Remember, he's writing to a Jewish audience, right? There are no Gentiles in the audience.

That's why it's called Hebrews, right? It's written to Hebrew people, the Jewish people. And the unique thing about the Write of Hebrews is that he writes in such a way as if he was preaching to a congregation. Much like. In our churches today. And mark this down. There are three types of people in every church. Three. And you're going to be one of the three. There are. Possessors, professors, and protesters. That is, there are those who possess Christ as Lord and Savior. They're true believers. There are those who profess Christ.

That is, by way of verbal commitment, they can tell you a lot about Jesus. They can verbalize maybe a doctrinal statement. They can verbalize to you about who Jesus is and Where he was born and when he was born, and all kinds of theological facts, but they don't possess the Christ. They don't know him, and he doesn't know them in the true biblical sense of the word. They're professors. And then there are protesters. Those who protest belief in Christ. They are against the Christ. They might not be vehemently against the Christ.

They just have denied the Christ and want nothing to do with the Christ. But those three kinds of people are in every congregation. And I don't know where you're at today. I have no idea. Only the Lord knows that. And you have a good idea of that. Either you possess the Christ or you profess that you know about the Christ but don't live that way. O you protest everything that the Christ stands for. The right of Hebrews is writing to a Jewish audience. Some of them were possessors of the Messiah. They believed in the Messiah.

He calls them holy brethren. He calls them the bel. When he calls the listeners brethren, he just calls them brethren because they're Jewish brethren. Doesn't mean they're holy brethren. They're just Jewish brethren. But he knows that when he writes, he's writing to people who have been, some of them, intellectually convinced about who Jesus is. But they are not intimately committed to who Jesus is. He knows that when he writes, there are some in the Jewish audience that are curious. About who Jesus is and what he's done, but they've never committed themselves to him.

So, what's he do? He very strategically writes through the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Warning passages to let them understand that today is the day of salvation. Do not wait any longer. And the first one is in chapter 2.

Got your Bible? Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2, verse number 1. For this reason, what reason is that? Because Jesus is all-sufficient, because he is all-supreme in chapter 1. We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard. Pay very close attention to what you just heard so that we do not drift away from it. And we told you that that was a nautical term that talks about boats who just kind of drift right on by the dock without ever laying anchor. Which, by the way, will tie into Hebrews chapter 6 about the anchor of hope, who is Christ him.

But they were in danger of drifting away. They were in danger of hearing the gospel, hearing about Christ. But making no decision about the Christ and just drifting on by without making any real commitment. So he says. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedient received a just penalty, and when the law of God was given, there was a penalty that was a just penalty for every law that was broken. How should we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who. Heard. God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. How shall we escape if you neglect so great a salvation? If you understand the supremacy and the sufficiency of Jesus the Messiah, and you don't make a decision, if you don't commit yourself to Him, You're in danger of drifting by the opportunity before you and drifting on by to such an extent that you never make that decision.

It's a very dangerous place to be. So he gives them the very first warning. And then when he gives the second warning in Hebrews 3, he intensifies the warning because he knows that time is short.

It's like the preacher in any congregation, right? To any congregation. He preaches the gospel because he wants them to understand it. He wants them to grasp it. He wants them to know it. And so, with urgency, he pleads with them: you must be born again. You must give your life to Christ today, for today is the day of salvation. Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. No one knows when they're going to pass off into eternity. The writer of Hebrews knows that. So, what does he do? He increases the intensity of the warning.

Hebrews 3, verse number 7. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by testing me, and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore, I was angry with this generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter. My rest. Verse 12. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, un heart.

That falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. You see, sin is so deceiving, isn it? It's so deceiving. So deceiving in such a way that it hardens the heart. He takes a Jewish audience back to their Jewish roots. He takes them back to the Old Testament, back to the book of Numbers in the book of Exodus to help them understand how their forefathers hardened their hearts in the midst of overwhelming evidence.

Of the Lord God providing for his people in the wilderness wanderings, taking care of them day by day, opening up the Red Sea that they might pass through on dry land and Pharaoh's army destroyed. Making sure that when they needed water, water came forth, that they were always taken care of. All they had to do was believe in him. All they had to do was trust in him. That's all they had to do. Yet they hardened their hearts. They tested the Lord God. They tried the Lord God. And the Lord says, I'm angry with this generation every day.

Because of their unbelief, in the midst of overwhelming evidence, they would not believe. In my sufficiency and in my supremacy. So he warns the Hebrew people today if you hear his voice. Do not harden your heart, as in the day of provocation in the wilderness. Don't do that. Because if you do, you're in danger of never embracing the Messiah. So he increases the warning. He wants them to understand the importance of this. So he goes from chapter 2 to chapter 3. And then when you get to chapter 4, he intensifies the warning even more.

There's this ever-increasing intensity as he moves toward the end of the book to make sure that the warning is revved up. So they know that today's the day. Don't wait any longer. If you do, you're in danger of drifting away. Right on by the opportunity. You're in danger of hardening your heart. Becoming cold and callous toward the things of God. See, how does that happen? It's when you hear the gospel, right? You've heard the gospel presented. Someone presents to you Jesus Christ, and you decide on that day to let it pass right on by.

When you do that, a layer of hardness envelops your heart. And then you might hear the gospel the next day, or you might go to church the next week, and someone presents the gospel to you, and you drift right on by again, and you're in danger of hardening your heart once again. And the deceitfulness of sin causes you to become more callous toward the things of Christ. When that happens, you're in danger. You're in danger of not responding and dying in a criseless eternity. So when you come to chapter 5, he increases the warning all the more.

So go to Hebrews chapter 5. Verse 11. Concerning him, we have much to say. That is Melchizedek. Boy, that's going to be a great study. Hebrews chapter 7. Who is Melchizedek? Is Melchizedek the pre-incarnate Christ? Or is Melchizedek a high priest, a king, who is not the inc Christ? Oh, wow. You're not going to want to miss that. Because we want to answer that question for you. A lot of debate over who Melchizedek is. So the writer of Hebrews says, listen, concerning him that is Melchizedek, we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become.

Dull of hearing, Nathras, sluggish. Okay, it's a phrase quoted from Isaiah chapter six. Remember, this is a Hebrew. Writer writing to Hebrew people who know the book of Isaiah. And Christ him would quote Isaiah six in Matthew chapter thirteen. Paul would refer to it in Acts 26, speaking of the Jewish nation who became sluggish, sl. Ad the truth, so much so that they reject the truth. He says, I don want you to become this way. I don't want you to become like your forefathers. He says, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God.

and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness. In other words, you're not skilled in the word of righteousness. In other words, you don't know what righteousness is. So he says, for he is a babe, he is In infant. Nep. In Jewish custom, it referred to those who did not know God. So therefore, he's referring to those who are dull of hearing, who are unskilled in righteousness, of not knowing who God is. And so he says in verse 14, but solid food is for the mature, and because of practice have their senses trained to discern between good and evil.

Therefore, Leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity. Not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and a faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying out of hands. And the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened. And have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible.

Not probable, impossible to renew them again to repentant s they again crucified themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame. In other words, they affirm the verdict of the crucifiers. They say the Son of God is not the Messiah. He's an imposter. He deserves to be crucified. It says, for ground that drinks the rain, which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation, useful to those whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God. But if it yields thorns and thistles. It is worthless and close to being cursed and ends up being burned.

In other words, listen, hear the gospel, hear the word about the Messiah. Why? Because if you let it pass by, And you don't respond today, but instead harden your heart, you come to a place where you're in danger of falling away. And never being able to be renewed to the place of repentance again. Now, none of us knows where that place is, only God knows that. That's why the warning's given. That's why we preach the gospel, right? We don't know who's in that category, but the warning's there. And so you give the warning to your assembly, to your congregation, to your church, these Hebrew people.

Because this writer knows that there are some in the audience who are just letting the gospel pass them by. And because of the deceitfulness of sin, their hearts will be hardened until they move on from their old Judaistic customs and realize that they need to embrace the Messiah him who has come and died for their sins. They're in danger of falling away and never being able to be renewed to repentance ever again. Wow. That's why we told how many times have we told you this over the years? That the most dangerous place in all the world to be is right in your seat right now.

Because once you've heard the gospel, guess what? You're accountable. Once you've heard the truth, you're accountable. If you don't respond, You're in danger of becoming cold and callous to the truth. So make sure today, if you hear his voice, you don't harden his hearts, as in the day of provocation in the wilderness. But he's not done. Because if you go to Hebrews chapter 10, this is all part of the examination. Hebrews chapter 10, he says these words. He 10, verse number 26, for if we go on sinning will after receiving the knowledge of the truth, in other words, you've heard the truth.

And yet, you want to continue in your sin, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve? Who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, V is mine, I will repay, and again the Lord will judge his people as a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. He again warns them. To respond after Hebrews 7, 8, 9, and 10, he goes from Melchizedek and the fulfillment of the great new covenant and the priesthood of the Messiah. He says, listen, how can you forego that if you go on sinning will in spite of overwhelming evidence of who the Messiah is? Oh, there's a terrifying expectation of judgment that awaits you.

And the last one is Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, verse number 25. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused, Who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven? And he goes on and talks about how our Lord God is a consuming f. The writer of Hebrews is so magnificent in terms of how he presents the truth. Yes, it's under the inspiration of the Spirit of God because God would use His Spirit to inspire this man to write the truth.

But he gives these warnings all for examination purposes. And every one of us in the room needs to go through these. We've gone through Hebrews 2:1 to 4. We've gone through Hebrews chapter 3, verses 7 and following. We've gone through Hebrews 5 into chapter 6 to look at that warning.

And we will one day get to Hebrews 10, Lord willing, Hebrews 12. We'll go through those warnings as well, but they are given because we need to respond. The writer of Hebrews leads us to exaltation, leads us to expectation, exhortation, exam. It leads us, number five, to explanation. Hebrews 3, verse number 1 says this. There, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, cons Jesus. A word used five times in the New Testament. It's a word that means to think deeply about. It's not like it says, you, someone wants to invite you out to lunch, you say, well, I'll consider that.

No, that's not the same thing. It's about consider thinking deeply about who Jesus is. He says, cons Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him as Moses also was in his house, and goes on to talk about this great Jesus. People ask, does someone have to believe that Jesus is the Messiah in order to be saved? And the answer is yes. Absolutely. Why? John 20, 30 and 31. These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah. And that believing in him, you might have life through his name.

John says, I wrote to you that you would believe that Jesus not just is the Son of God, but the Son of God is the Messiah of Israel. You must believe that Jesus is the Messiah. That's why the Bible says he who comes to To God, Hebrews 11:6, must believe that He is, and that He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

He is what? He is everything the Bible says He is. That's why faith cometh by hearing and hearing concerning a word about the Messiah, the Christ. We must believe that Jesus is God's Messiah. Because the Messiah is the Son of God, and the Messiah is God in the flesh. So important. It's a word of explanation. So, the right of Hebrews explains to us Jesus. Wow. What greater study is there than the study of Jesus? Who is Jesus? What did he do? What is our now response? Because our response determines our eternal destiny.

And lastly, the writer of Hebrews leads us not just to exaltation. Not just to expect, not just to exhort, exam, and explanation. It leads us to excitation. Excitation. Because it gets you excited about Christ, what He's done, and that He's coming again. And that's why the Bible says in 1 Peter 2, verse number 6: He who believes in him will never ever be disappointed.

Why? Because Jesus has never disappointed anyone. He is everything. And that's why we preach Jesus, Him crucified. Because that's all there is. And that's what the book of Hebrews is all about. I had to bring you up to speed because as we get to Hebrews chapter 6 and we talk about God, our anchor of hope, we are anchored in Christ. He is our hope. And without him, there is no hope, right? And so we must always understand what the writer of Hebrews is doing as we continue to embark on this beautiful study.

Of the sufficiency and supremacy of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for today. What a great day. We are grateful, Lord, that we can gather together, look once again. At what the Spirit of God has penned for us, that we might know the truth about the Christ, about who He is and what He's done. That he came to fulfill the law, not to abolish the law. He embodies the law. He is the great. the great Saviour of man, the Redeemer of our souls. We thank you, Lord. And we pray that we take these words of the Lord from you today, from the book of Hebrews, and that Lord, we would hold them dear to our hearts and live in the light of your soon return, knowing that you are coming again.

Because you promised. And we live in anticipation of that promise. Because you are our living hope. In Jesus' name. Amen.