Introducing Hebrews AM

00:02 Well, we greet you this morning in the name of Jesus. Let the church say, Amen. It's good to be in the house of the Lord again today. I want to invite you this morning to turn in your copies of the Scriptures to the book of Hebrews. I'm excited about this series that we are embarking on to find our way and make our way through the book of Hebrews. 00:23 And Hebrews is not about men making coffee, although there's a joke about that, that the men should make the coffee and it's biblical because the Bible says, "He brews." But it's not about that at all. It is about the message to the Hebrew believers. 00:42 And we're going to make our way through this book section by section, verse by verse, expository preaching. And I want to just give you just a bit of a word about expository listening. And I encourage people, bring your copies of the Scriptures along to church with you. 01:03 Have it open. Check us out. Look at the Scriptures. Follow along. And actively listen and participate. Some people have the idea when you go to church, it's like, "Feed me. Feed me." You know, others better than you have tried and failed, and I dare you to do it. Feed me. And that's not the way we should be listening to the Word of God. 01:23 We should have our Bibles open. We should be following along. We should be looking up the text. We should be interacting with the Scriptures as we hear the message coming forth. And I encourage you to think about listening in that way and following with us. And of course, 01:42 we have been of late using more overheads, and that's to help us engage and putting primarily Scriptures up there. Not a lot of cute gimmicks and this and that, but just the Scriptures so that we can see those visually and connect with them as they're quoted as well. So actively listen. And when we come to the book of Hebrews, 02:02 we're going to have to pay special attention because the book of Hebrews is a deep book. And when we come to the book of Hebrews, we come to a unique book in the New Testament of our Lord. It is unique in many of its features. 02:18 And I would say that without the book of Hebrews, we would be greatly weakened in our understanding of the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament and the transition between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. It tells us in very special ways the unique, 02:38 incredible superiority of Christ, that Christ is superior. In fact, we've titled this series "The Better Way." The Better Way. You could call it "The Best Way." You could call it "The Only Way." Jesus did say it is "The Only Way." But "The Better Way" is because it's comparing two things, 02:58 whereas "The Best Way" would be comparing more than two things. And the two things it's comparing are the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, the Old Testament sacrificial system and the New Testament sacrifice, the Old Testament priesthood and the New Testament priesthood, the Old Testament blood of bulls and goats and the New Testament blood of Christ. 03:16 And so the superiority of Christ and of the New Covenant, it is incredible in its fulfillment of the types and shadows of the Old Testament. 03:26 And we see in the Old Testament many things that were pointing to Jesus Christ and that the New Testament believers needed to understand that this is the fulfillment of that which was in the Old Covenant. It is also incredible in its warnings to us as believers, 03:48 warnings to continue in the faith of Jesus Christ, warning to not neglect our salvation, warning to not reject our salvation, warning to enter into the rest of Christ, 04:00 warning to not be guilty of unbelief and disobedience as they were in the Old Testament and thus fall from grace and fall from our standing in Jesus Christ. And it is incredible in that what we have in Christ is greater than anything and anyone in the Old Testament. 04:22 Now, the Old Testament was great. It was great. It was given by God. It was delivered by angels. It was delivered by the presence of God on the Mount Sinai. It was a great testament. It was a great covenant. Nothing wrong with the Old Covenant. But the New Covenant is a better covenant. The New Testament is a better testament. 04:41 The New in Christ is superior because Christ is superior. Christ is superior to the law. Christ is superior to the prophets. Christ is superior to the kings. He is the great one. He is the greatest one. And we'll see that as we go through the book of Hebrews. 05:00 We'll also see it this morning in the message as we paint the picture of Jesus Christ and who He is and what He has done and how He ministers to His saints. So we'll not be looking specifically at a particular text. And I preach in two weeks. We'll be looking at chapter 1:1-4. 05:21 But we're doing an overview and an introduction to the book this morning. The theme. The theme of the book of Hebrews. By the way, were you able to receive those? Yes, you got those outlines from the book that you can take with you and put in your Bibles as you bring your Bible week after week and follow along that outline. 05:41 Even encourage you to read before you come the text of each message. And so what we have here is the theme that Christ is greater than the angels, greater than the priests, greater than the Old Covenant institutions. 05:57 Therefore, every reader, each and every reader is admonished to hold on to the true faith and to not let it slip, to not neglect it, to not let it slip away, to not reject it, to not move away from it. 06:10 In fact, in the New Testament, that early generation of Christians, there was a tendency and a temptation to go back to the Old Testament and to go back to the law and to go back and not make that full transition. In fact, in the book of Galatians, which we'll be reading through on Sunday mornings as we started this morning, 06:29 you'll see that the tendency of the Judaizers, they were called, was to have Christ plus or maybe have the law plus Christ, have the Old Testament plus Christ. And we know in the book of Hebrews that Christ is all, 06:49 that He is all in all. In fact, the Old Testament is like a copy of us moving into the genuine. You see that as we come into a section in chapter 9 and 10 about the Old Testament tabernacle. It was a copy of the heavenlies. And now we have moved into the heavenlies. 07:08 It's a little bit like the difference between looking at a blueprint and looking at the house that's being built. That's another analogy. You have the blueprint, the Old Testament. You have the blueprint of Christ and of the economy of God, God's economy. And then we have the house that has been built by Jesus Christ. 07:28 It's much like moving from theory to reality, from moving from idea to substance and moving, here's the one, from distance to access. In fact, they were distant in the Old Testament. They had to keep their distance away from God. And so they put up barriers. 07:47 They put up a curtain in the tabernacle. They put up barriers around the mountain lest the people charge through into places they did not belong. And now in the New Testament, we find out that we belong. We belong in those places. We belong in the presence of God. We belong in the Holy of Holies because of Jesus Christ, 08:07 our High Priest, who has gone before us and has opened up the way for us to enter into the presence of God in a more meaningful and fuller way than it had ever been experienced in the Old Testament. Now, when it comes to this book, it's not addressed necessarily to any group of people. 08:29 Now, the Apostle Paul, when he wrote, he would address his writings to the people he was writing to: Paul to the church at Colossae, Paul to the church at Thessalonica, Paul to the church at Philippi, Paul to the church, or Peter to the scattered believers. This just jumps right in. It just jumps right in. 08:47 There's not even a greeting. In fact, this is less like a letter and more like a lecture, more like a sermon that's being preached here. But it's written, being written down. And it is addressing those probably Jewish or Hebrew Christians. That's why it's called Hebrews, 09:07 is because it's probably addressing the Hebrew believers, the Jewish believers. Although it is meaningful to all of us, particularly the Jewish believers had that particular bent and that particular persuasion to want to continue to go back, to go back, to go back, to go back into the Old Testament things. 09:28 And so this is written to Jewish Christians probably, although you have to read many of these things from the text and glean them from the text. Probably experienced, this group of people is probably experiencing some persecutions, some troubles and trials based on chapter 12, which he talks about, 09:47 "You have not yet resisted unto death." He talks about the discipline of God. He talks about enduring and despising not the discipline of the Lord. And so they're probably experiencing a certain amount of discipline and trials and troubles. So he says to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, 10:09 despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He also identifies this group as a rather immature group. In chapter 6, chapter 5 specifically and into 6, he addresses them when he says, "I ought to be able to address you as teachers. 10:29 But instead, I have to readdress you as immature. You ought to be eating more solid meat. 10:37 But I have to continue to address you as immature." And so chapter 5 and 6 tells us about that immature characteristic that they needed to become mature. In chapter 13, verse about 24, 10:57 we find out that he says, "Greet all those who rule over you and all the saints. 11:03 Those from Italy greet you." Now, there's a lot of disagreement as to whether or not Paul, I almost said Paul, but the writer is writing from Italy or particularly Rome and saying that the ones from the church there greet those out there that he's writing to. 11:23 Or is it where he's writing out there, he is involved with a group of Italians or Romans that are writing back to Rome? So really, there's a lot of unanswered questions about the audience. 11:37 One commentator believes that this is a letter or more like a talk or a lecture probably written to a little group of people, not the whole church, but a little group of people in Rome whom he was training to be teachers in the Christian church by their own teacher who could not be with them. 11:57 So all kinds of ideas about the audience. But the audience that we're looking for today is not first century, but 21st century, 2022 Living Water Church. What does it say to us? And to help us to do that, we look at some of these particulars by way of introduction to the book. 12:18 Probably this book was written around the year 64 to 68, somewhere likely before 70 AD. The reason we think it was before 70 AD is because in 70 AD, the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem. This makes no mention of the temple's destruction. 12:38 And it makes it, it appears that the temple and all of the sacrificial system was still functioning in the Jewish economy in Jerusalem. 12:49 So likely, we're looking at first century, 64 to 68. And that again is less important than the content. But we share it by way of helping us understand the content. And then we have the urgency. There is a certain urgency coming forth from the book of Hebrews. 13:10 There is an urgency of warning interspersed between the dissertations of this book and the instructions and the information given in this book. Interspersed are five different sections of warning. And we'll look at those briefly this morning and more in depth as we go through. 13:32 And basically, the warning was this: You have been saved by the person and finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Now continue in the person and finished work of Christ on the cross. Do not go back to the law. Do not go back to the Old Testament priesthood. 13:54 Yes, we go back to the Old Testament to look at the ways that the Old Testament points to Christ. And it also gives us many, many good illustrations. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians, it talks about these are given as examples for how to live, examples for what is true in the New Testament. But you don't go back. 14:14 Don't revert back because once you leave Christ, there's nothing else available, nothing, nothing else. And so Christ is all. And if you turn your back on Christ, there's no more sacrifice for sin. There's nothing else that you can appeal to. 14:34 There's salvation in none other. 14:37 And so one of the characteristics, the urgency of this book is Christ and continuance, warning that they not let these things slip. 14:54 Now, one of the things as we do an introduction to the book, again, it doesn't change the message. But it is interesting to help us to understand. And so we're teaching this morning is the authorship of the book. 15:08 Now, it's interesting that several months ago, we had Brother Daniel Yoder here who was helping us understand the canon of Scripture. The canon was the collection, the collection and the criteria for what books were included in the Scriptures and particularly in the New Testament Scriptures. 15:28 This book was disputed for quite some years, not as to, well, because it does not identify who wrote it. And so they did not know if this was written by an apostle. They did not know if this was written by a phony. They didn't know who wrote it. 15:45 So if you get a letter or a lecture from somebody and you don't know who they are, it kind of makes you wonder, well, is this credible? And so there's been a lot of speculation. In fact, almost every commentary you can look at on the book of Hebrews, it will spend a couple pages probably talking about the authorship of the book. 16:07 Of course, the author we know is the Holy Spirit. But who wrote the book? There is no agreement during the first four centuries. And thus, it led it to be disputed whether or not it should be included in the New Testament canon because it was unsigned. Now, there are some who believe that Paul wrote it. There are others who believe that Paul didn't write it. 16:28 The reason for not believing that Paul, for believing that Paul didn't write it, was because it is contrary to his other epistles. In the other epistles, Paul signs his name. Says, "I, Paul, am writing to you." This is unsigned. 16:45 It's not held; non-Pauline authorship is held by most current scholars. Very few current scholars believe that the Apostle Paul penned this book because the style and the language differs from Paul's other writings. This is much more Hebrew. 17:06 And Paul's writings were much more Greek. In fact, someone thinks, well, maybe Paul wrote this in Hebrew and somebody else translated it into Greek. And Paul quotes the Hebrew text. This reader, a writer, quotes the Greek Septuagint. 17:23 This writer says that he received his message from others in chapter 2, verse 3. He says that this message that began to be spoken by the Lord was confirmed to us by those who heard him. So probably this is a second generation, possibly a second generation writer, was not one of the 12. 17:44 That may cause problems when it comes to canonicity. But Paul did not receive his message from somebody else. He received his message directly from Christ. And so people will look at that verse and say, well, this would argue against Pauline authorship. 18:01 Paul's favorite term in referring to Jesus Christ is not used in this book. It is, he refers to Christ in other ways. And so they look at some of those internal evidences and say it's doubtful that Paul wrote the book. Others would look at this and say, 18:21 well, there's others that say that Paul, they think, did write the book. Paul knew the Jews hated him, some would say. And so that's why he didn't use his name because they would just write him off as a Jew hater. And he was writing to Hebrew Christians. Timothy is close to the writer. 18:40 In chapter 13, verse 23, it says, "Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, of whom I shall see you if he comes, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly." And so they would say, well, Paul was a close associate of Timothy. And so Timothy refers to Timothy that it could be Paul writing the book. 19:00 Around 50 different words are in the book which are peculiar to Paul's writings. And so there's some books, some words that are used here that Paul generally uses in his writings. So the people say, well, that would be evidence that possibly Paul did write it. Other epistles are written to the Gentiles, 19:20 which may account to some of the differences in writing style. This was written to the Jewish population. And those who argue for Paul's authorship, writership of this book would say that it follows a similar format than Paul uses, the first section being doctrinal, second section being practical. 19:40 And that was characteristic of many of Paul's writings. The book uses the term, the phrase that Paul uses and loves and delights in is the "just shall live by faith." And that would be a Pauline phrase. From the year AD 70 to 730, a little over, 20:00 under 700 years, over 100 early Latin and Greek writers attributed the book to him. And nothing says that he didn't write it. So that would leave open the possibility that he did write it. Well, others would say that maybe Paul wrote it, somebody else translated it. 20:19 Then there's the question that maybe Aquila and Priscilla wrote it. And since Priscilla was a woman and there's no women writers of the New Testament, they left their names off. Well, that theory doesn't have too much support. And so we leave that one go, even though they were teachers in the Roman church, 20:39 they were leaders in the Roman church, Aquila and Priscilla. Then there are those who think that Apollos may have written it. Martin Luther believed that. And it's supported by many modern scholars. You remember Apollos. He had a great knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. He was a great Bible teacher. 20:58 And Aquila and Priscilla pulled him aside after he'd come to know the Lord and started preaching, pulled him aside and taught to him the way of Christ more excellently. And this would make sense because whoever wrote this book had an incredible knowledge of the Old Testament and an incredible understanding of the Old Testament. 21:20 And that would fit with Apollos. But then probably the one that gives me the most satisfaction in believing, I would have at one point argued for a Pauline writership. But I would probably now tend to lean that possibly Barnabas wrote the book. 21:41 Barnabas would say in chapter 2, verse 3 that he received this from those who heard the Lord. And that would, some would indicate that that indicates a second generation believer. Barnabas was a companion of Paul. He was a companion of Paul on that first missionary journey. 22:00 You're aware of that. His heart beat with the Apostle Paul. They beat with the same message. And when Paul and Barnabas separated, it was not because of a difference of message. It was because of a different surrounding whether or not to take John, Mark. And we understand that from the book of Acts. 22:17 And so it would bear Paul's markings by the fact that Barnabas was a companion of Paul and their hearts beat together. Tertullian, one of the early church fathers, believed that Barnabas wrote the book. He was a Levite. And so hence, he would have particular knowledge of the Old Testament Levitical system and priesthood. 22:38 And Barnabas was accepted by both Jew and Gentile. He could bridge the gap between the Jew and the Gentile and appeal to both alike. And also in chapter 13, verse 22, it refers to this. 22:54 It says, "I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation or encouragement. For I have written to you in few words, the word of exhortation, the word of encouragement." And Barnabas was referred to in the early church as the son of consolation or encouragement. 23:13 And so here he may be appealing to himself as the writer. At any rate, while some try to figure this out, only God knows for sure who wrote the book. But we know who authored the book. And that is the Holy Spirit. While its writership is debatable, its inspiration is not. 23:34 Neither is its message debatable. Now, I want to have us look at a few things this morning by way of some characteristics of this book. One of the characteristics of this book is it talks about better things. That's why we're calling this series A Better Way. In fact, 23:54 the word better and greater is used 25 times in the book of Hebrews. Better, better, better, better. A better hope. For the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand, there is the bringing of a better hope. There is a better promises. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is the mediator of a better covenant, 24:15 which is established on better promises. 24:21 A better covenant, same verse. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry as he is also mediator of a better covenant. And again, a better testament by so much more. Jesus has become surety of a better covenant or a better testament, 24:40 a better 24:44 will and testament of himself, a better sacrifice. Hebrews 9:23, "Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in heaven should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these and better substance. 25:03 For you had compassion on me in my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven, better substance." And then there's a better country. But now they desire a better, 25:21 that is a heavenly country, a better country. And then a better resurrection. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. There are other better things that are referred to in the book, 25:42 better than the angels. Chapter 1, verse 4, "Having become so much better than the angels, as he by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." He has a better name. 25:56 "But beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, better things." There is a better blessing and better blessor. Now, beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. So Christ is our blesser. He is a better blesser and has a better blessing. 26:18 And he is better things for us. Hebrews 11:40, "God having provided something better for us." And so better things than Abel to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and of the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel or of the blood of Abel. 26:37 And so we see that as a primary word that's used in the book, better, better, better, better, better. You get the point that the New Testament is better than the old. So then we can look at some things about Christ. 26:52 Now, we're going to go through this rather quickly for the sake of time and so as not to be too tedious and lose you in the process. But I want to just go through here. And you could take this if you wanted a copy of the notes. 27:07 You could take this and look up every scripture as to who this book is referring to and how it refers to Christ. In chapter 1, verse 2, "He is the Son. He is the Heir. He is the Creator. He is the reflection of God's light. 27:26 He is the very expression of God. He is the sustainer of all." And that's just in the first three verses. "The perjure of sins, better than the angels." That's just in the first four verses. See, this is going to be tremendous in its proclamation of the superiority of Christ. 27:47 "He is the preeminent being, the preeminent being." I missed that one, verse 6 of chapter 1. "He is referred to as God in chapter 1, verse 8. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever." He is saying to the Son. "He is the King. 28:07 A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. He is a lover of righteousness. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. He is a hater of iniquity. 28:20 He is eternal." Chapter 1, verse 11, "They will perish, but you remain." He is the mediator of an eternal covenant. "He is immutable," means unchangeable. "Like a cloak, you will fold them up and they will be changed. But you are the same and your years will not fail." And of course, 28:40 we find in the book of Hebrews it says, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, unchangeable." "He is the giver of God's word," is a word that is spoken by the Lord. "He is the taster of death for us." Chapter 2, verse 9, "He is the one who tasted death for every man. 29:01 He is the author of our salvation, the captain of our salvation. He is the sanctifier. He is our sanctifier. He sanctifies the brethren that he calls brothers. He is our brother in chapter 2, verse 11 and 12. "I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly. 29:21 I will sing to you. I will sing praise." Did you know that Jesus is a singer? He is a singer. Chapter 2, verse 12, "In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you." This is speaking of the Christ and not necessarily of us singing praise to the Father. "He is a Father in chapter 13, in verse 13. 29:42 Here am I and the children whom God has given me. He is a human. He partook of human flesh, human nature, partaken of flesh and blood. 29:54 He is the destroyer of death, that through death he might destroy those who all their lifetime were subject to bondage through the fear of death and destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. He is the deliverer from bondage, release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 30:13 He is the merciful and faithful high priest." Chapter 2, verse 17, "He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. He is the payment for sin. He is a suffering savior. He is the sufferer. 30:29 He also has suffered being tempted, that he might help those who are being tempted. He was temptable." So all these things just in the first two chapters of the book of Hebrews. It's incredible in its proclamation of Christ. "He is an apostle." Chapter 3, verse 1, "A sent one. 30:51 He is the builder of his own house. Having much more honor than the house is the builder of the house. He is the son of God." Chapter 4, verse 14, "Jesus, the son of God. He is sinless." Chapter 4, verse 15, "For we cannot have a high priest. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, 31:11 but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He is the one who knows how to pray." Chapter 5, verse 7, "He offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear. He is a student, 31:31 though he were a son, yet learned he obedience." So he learned something. He learned obedience. "He is a forerunner for us." Chapter 6, verse 20, "Where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus having become high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. 31:49 He is the king of righteousness as after the order of Melchizedek. He is the king of peace." Chapter 7, verse 1 and 2. "He is Lord." Chapter 7, verse 14, "Our Lord arose from Judah. He is our guarantee." Chapter 7, 32:11 verse 22, "He has become surety of a better covenant." The word surety, meaning a guarantee. "He is our intercessor." Verse 25, "He's able to save those to the uttermost, those who come to God through him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 32:30 He is holy. He is innocent, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens, undefiled. Nothing in him that would be a speck, a blemish, or that would disqualify him from being the perfect sacrifice. He is separate from sinners. While he came to save sinners, while he ate with them, 32:50 drank with them, he did so without sin to lead them to God, not to associate with their sin. He is higher than the heavens." Chapter 7, verse 26, "Higher than the heavens. Who does not need daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifices for himself? 33:06 He is the minister of the new tabernacle, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle." Chapter 8, verse 2, "He is mediator of a new and better covenant. He is obtainer of eternal redemption. He is the victor over sin." Chapter 9, verse 26, 33:26 "Now, once at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He is a bearer of sins. Christ also once to bear, suffered once, offered once to bear the sins of many. He is a returning savior." Chapter 9, 33:45 verse 28, "He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation. He is our perfector." Chapter 10, verse 14, "He is the new and living way." Chapter 10, verse 20, "He is our focus." 12:2, "Let us look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. 34:06 He is the author of our faith. He is the finisher of our faith. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is our model in overcoming sin. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself. He is our model in bearing reproach." Chapter 13, verse 13, 34:26 "Let us therefore go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. He bore our reproach so that we can bear his reproach. He is the good shepherd. 34:37 He is the great shepherd." 13, verse 20, "He is the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant." And so there you have those better things and you have the name of Jesus Christ and who this book is saturated. It is saturated with Christ, 34:56 with Christ, Christ, Christ in every page, every chapter, let us even say every verse. We mentioned to you that this book has a sense of urgency. It has a sense of urgency. In chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, it talks of warning against drifting. 35:17 Look at it. Chapter 2, verse 1, "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest we drift away." Or the King James says, "Lest we let them slip." It is the peril of neglect. "He is a warning against unbelief." Chapter 3, 35:36 verse 12, Chapter 3, verse 12, "Beware, brethren, beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, the peril of unbelief. He is a warning against falling away." Chapter 5, verse 11, 35:57 "Of whom we have much to say and hard to explain, but since you have become dull of hearing." And then he talks about us why it's a danger to be dull of hearing and danger to be spiritually immature. And in chapter 6, verse 4, it says, "It is impossible," and then there's a whole bunch of words in between, 36:17 verse 7, "if they fall away," or 6, "if they fall away to renew them again, repentance. It is impossible to renew them if they reject Christ." That's a warning and a warning against willfully sinning. Chapter 10, verse 26, we're talking about the warnings here in the book of Hebrews. 36:37 Chapter 10, verse 26, "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there is no longer remains a sacrifice for sins," as willful sinning, and then a warning against defying the work of God, a peril of refusal, 36:55 of refusing to enter into God's rest by our unbelief and disobedience. Chapter 10, verse 25, excuse me, that's not 10, verse 25. It is 12:25. 12, verse 25, "See then, you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused him, 37:15 who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven." So we have warnings sprinkled throughout the book. Now, one of the most, to close on a positive note this morning, one of the most beautiful things about this book are the lettuce passages. In fact, you could call it a lettuce patch. 37:37 Lettuce patch. It's got lettuce all the way through it. Let us, let us, let us, let us. Number one, let us fear. In chapter 4, verse 1, "Let us fear, for our God is a consuming fire. We need to fear the Lord. Let us fear lest you seem to have come short of the glory of God. Let us give diligence to enter." Chapter 4, 37:59 verse 11, "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest. Let us hold fast." Verse 14, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession." Verse 16 of chapter 4, 38:20 "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. Let us press on to perfection, therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ. Let us go on to perfection and let us draw near." Chapter 10, verse 22, "Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, 38:41 having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." And then we come to let us hold fast the confession of our faith. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he is who promised is faithful. Let us consider one another. 39:02 Chapter 10, verse 24, "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works." We've been doing that this morning, even in our introduction to the Sunday school hour, to stir one of us up, one another up to holiness. "And let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us, 39:21 and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Let us run with patience. "Let us have grace. Let us run the race." The Hebrews 12:1 again, "Let us have grace. 39:32 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." And something happened. All right. I'll just tell you what they are. "Let us therefore go forth unto him." Chapter 13, 39:53 verse 13, "And let us offer up the sacrifice of praise." Let us, let us, let us, let us. The positional, the practical, the doctrinal, the application, the theological, the practical. 40:14 Let us. Let us move forward. Let us go on. Let us overcome. And so I hope this morning that this message has wetted your appetite for the book of Hebrews. More than that, I hope this morning that you have seen in a better way, 40:35 a better way, who Christ is, that he is all in all. Let's pray. Lord, thank you. We would be so depraved. We would be so weakened were it not for the book of Hebrews. 40:56 Our faith would have a gap, a learning gap. It would have an experiential gap were it not for the inspired book of the Hebrews in the New Testament from the heart of God through the Holy Spirit and the pen of someone sometimes somewhere, 41:16 but that the early church recognized as being authoritative, inspired, and having the weight of truth behind it. 41:26 And so, Lord, as we embark on this very exciting and tremendous journey through Hebrews, we pray that you will show us our Savior in ways we've never seen him before. 41:39 You will show us the better things of the new covenant and that you will increase our desire and our urgency and the imperativeness of us moving forward in faith from grace to grace, from faith to faith, 41:59 from strength to strength, from glory to glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.