Well, for some time, I have wanted to come to the book of Hebrews and to begin a series. And finally, I was able to get there this week. So we're going to begin the book of Hebrews today. And you'll find that in the New Testament on page 1187, 1187 in the Bibles that are in front of you. We'll read the first four verses. I'm going to focus on the first three as verse 4 introduces something important addressing angels. And I want to look at that next time. Beginning at verse 1 of Hebrews, we read the word of the Lord. Long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature. And He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, Having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. And there we'll end the reading of God's word this morning. Well, I think that we see that one of the great desires of people in this life is that they want to hear from God. Wouldn't it be so much easier today if God would simply audibly and verbally just talk to us, right? It seems so at times distant. And I'm sure some of you feel that not only distant, but at times that he created all of this. We don't doubt and believe that God created all of this, but kind of has left us alone to figure this all out. Especially in difficulties and hardships. That's one of the great struggles of Israel in the Old Testament. They always were somewhat dissatisfied with the way God was handling them. More of communication they wanted from Him, directly from Him. More a sense of His presence and His nearness. And it's not that these things were absent when you look at the Old Testament, but that they were never quite satisfied with the way that God gave Himself to them. they struggled with that and that's sort of the context of the book i'm going to come back to that initial presentation there of the desire to hear from god but i want to begin let's start this morning with a few important questions you have to set the context a little bit and that's really what this sermon is going to develop the context of the book of hebrews to help you appreciate what we're looking at and why it is so important for the church today and the first question that of course anyone would ask when they're looking at this particular book is who wrote the book and why was it written and when was it written those are important questions and there are there has been more ink spilled on the question of who wrote this book i'm not totally interested in that you could spend your time reading that the reality is god didn't inspire and uh telling us directly who wrote the book. I think we can say confidently that this was not the Apostle Paul for many reasons of which I won't all rehearse here. If you really want to know that, come talk to me after. But I would say that probably the most received tradition on this is correct that when we look at the New Testament, the two most probable figures that were probably the author one of them being the author of this book was either apollos or barnabas and that is the generally received tradition of that especially in our day we have some evidence of that in the early church father speaking this way both are strong possibilities whoever wrote it was had a brilliant knowledge of the old testament and understood things and you just can feel when you read this book it's different isn't it it's different than the other books as for the who to this this book was addressed and written the general consensus is that it was written to jews living in rome jews living in rome who had a really good understanding as you work through the book a good understanding of the old testament and that too is documented by some of the early church fathers. It's important when you look to and move to the question, which is what I really want to develop today, as to the why of this particular book. What does this book evidence that was happening to these early Christians in Rome? That I think we can have a lot of certainty about. The book shows us that, especially as you begin to get your head into the book and you see the things that the author is working with and the warnings that he gives and the direction that he goes what's clear is that they knew the old testament they had a good understanding of the sacrificial system they had a good understanding of temple worship and so a jewish jewish audience of those who had become christians here in rome is most plausible and i think we see this concern of the author who is really concerned to help these early Christians. This is not, by the way, a theological treatise. This is universally known to be a sermon. That just makes me happy, you know. Because if you had to preach this long sermon, you'd be here till late tonight. So if I go a little longer today, don't be mad at me, okay? What's happening with these early Christians? What's he dealing with? What's going on? That's why this book is so important for today. What was happening in Rome, assuming that's correct, what was happening to these early Jewish Christians is the same thing today that is happening in the Christian church. That's my plan to unravel that and help you with this morning. The same thing. All sorts of pressures were on these early Christians from the culture. We've been dealing with that somewhat in Philippians, but this is a different take. Early Christians were said to have a novel religion, you know. And in Rome, anything of antiquity was greatly valued. It was treated, Christianity was treated as a new sect. And so it was widely hated by many and in time would be persecuted. Christians were facing this they were facing opposition they were facing persecution from the culture and the book was probably written around AD 64, 65 when the world all around them was hostile to their faith they had become Christians and who said that the entire sacrificial system of the Old Covenant was over with the coming of Jesus, the types and the shadows, the ceremonial laws, that Jesus had made one final sacrifice for sins. I want you to think from a Jewish perspective of the challenge of this. Old Testament was type and shadow, anticipation of everything that would come with Jesus in fulfillment when he would arrive and make atonement for sins as our high priest. Big theme in the book of Hebrews. But in Judaism, it was well accepted in the Roman Empire. It was an old religion. Rome, of course, I said, prided itself on antiquity and they could see things. Such an important point. They could see things. With Christianity, it was worship in the Spirit and drawing near to God without seeing, touching, and handling the way they used to or what they had had before with all of the seeing, touching, and handling. It just seemed to leave open the question that this religion, this Christianity really had no power. No power to it. Christianity made big claims in fulfillment of what the Old Testament taught. But where was Jesus? Where was his power? Where was his presence? Living by faith is tough business, isn't it? Especially when you're teaching that faith, as we'll look at and unpack, is living in the conviction of things not seen not seen and then you're going to be hated for it all combine all of a sudden a culture that turns on you and hates you for it Christianity is easy when there's no opposition Christianity is easy when there's no tribulation because of the word Christianity is easy when everyone's making money well that's what we think but it's generally true but once tribulation and suffering and difficulty comes. Well, that's why I read the parable of the sower this morning and I used it. Those sown on rocky ground are the ones who hear the word of God. They immediately receive it with joy, yet they have no root. He has no root in himself, but he endures. This is a crucial word for Hebrews. Endures for a while and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. Hebrews is going after this. We are not of those who shrink back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. That's what's happening. This is one discouraged bunch. Many are beginning to abandon the faith. Many are beginning to walk away from it all. They're being tempted. They're looking at us and there's no power in this. There's nothing to see. So they wanted to abandon it as a great farce. A powerless religion that has not made good on the promise of power. No help. Nothing that visibly affirms the power of what it promises. So as Jews, they were saying, you know, this can't be right. This just can't be right. Here we are believing that the Messiah has come. I mean, that sounds nothing like what we just sung out from Psalm 110. Come on. Where's the strength in this? Is this it? Is this it? Where is the visible coming of the kingdom? Where is our Messiah? And why is God not talking to us like He used to talk to us? Of what our fathers experienced. They had direct revelation from Him. This is not nearly as exciting. This is not nearly as exciting as what we came out of. This worship in spirit. This is not working in a world that hates us. That's it. It's the context of the book. Now I think you can see why I said this book is immensely important for us today. It's immensely important for us today. What are we experiencing in Christianity in our times? We are experiencing a great apostasy. We are experiencing a great falling away. All Pew research says that the decline of Christianity in the West is happening at a rapid rate right now. Just think of COVID for a minute, what it did. One in three, here's for an article, practicing Christians dropped out of the church completely from COVID-19. Last June, the AP, I read, broke a story about many houses of worship in the U.S. were shut forever due to the pandemic. Is that all it took? Is that all it took? One pastor said he's just concerned about the wear and tear on people's emotions. Okay. But here I think we've come to the heart of an important issue. Do we believe we have a religion of power? Do we believe that Christ is king? People are giving up. What are they giving up on? Thousands are abandoning the church every year. We're all concerned, we say, about young people. Persecution is impending. Look at the discouragement right now everywhere. And we claim Jesus is the one who rules over everything. Give me a break. People feel no power right now. They see nothing. And the religion in the world is one of immediate gratification. That's our culture. Everything has to be immediate gratification. When I come to worship, I've got to experience something immediate. And if you're going to combine what I think is powerless with now added hostility from the world, no way, I'm done. I'm done. I think COVID has exposed a lot about the hearts of people. For some, their connection to this is just not real. They have played the game for a long time, so this is the opportunity. Let me ask you an important question. If you could, if you could get away from all of this with no consequence, no consequence of anything, family, money, anything, life, would you? Would you? This pastor said in this article, we believe worship is worth the risk. That's an important thing. For some, the problem is that Christianity has not made good on enough experience for people. Where's the power? So what do we do when things get hard? We search for something else. We search for something better. We search for something in our past that gave us more. See how important the book is? The author is saying something important to us right from the get-go. Jesus Christ is God's revelation to you. He is the Messiah. so you must give yourselves to listen to Him. I mean, wasn't this the problem of the disciples in the Gospels? They were walking with Jesus, but they weren't listening to Him. This is my beloved Son, said the Father. Hear Him. Hear Him. For if, the whole thesis here as we're working in the book of Hebrews, if we turn away from Him, we're in big trouble. judgment's real. You're not going to escape it. And there's no other name given under heaven by which people may be saved. So are we listening? Are we hearing him? Oh, says Hebrews, I got a lot to tell you about him. And that's where the book begins. It begins with this great question to whether we have understood who is speaking to us and whether we've heard him. The book is so pastoral. It really is. You're going to see that as we go. It's a pastoral concern for defecting people. It's a pastoral concern for drifting people. A pastoral concern for those who are tempted to fall away. And he's about perseverance. He's about helping them with endurance. And he wants you to know something very important today. God is very much talking to you. Well, you hear God's beloved Son. So that's where we begin. The simple message in the introduction to this book is to recognize the Son of God for who He is and to respect His redemptive word to you. That's the beginning point of the introduction to the book, to recognize God's Son for who He is and respect that redemptive word that has been spoken to you. there's three things i briefly will emphasize this morning i know that time has gone fast here don't worry they're short points first that the author addresses how god's speaking to us and then the author is addressing who is speaking to us with this intention that you would persevere in the difficulties of this present age Let's begin real quick with this. How is God speaking to us? In verse 1, notice how the book begins. Long ago, at many times, in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. He breaks down history. He's thinking in terms of what we call eschatology here. He's thinking of two sort of epochs, if you will, ages, of how God has spoken to us. the time before the coming of Jesus, and the last days that we are living in. It's really a remarkable thing that challenges us. Long ago, God spoke, he says. And he's always spoken to his people. He did it at various times and in different ways is how God spoke. We think of the Old Testament, and we think that God was just constantly speaking in these amazing ways that would be great to hear. and that people had the exciting experience of directly hearing from God, so it must have been a much more real experience to their faith. It's true that God spoke in various ways, different kinds of ways. He spoke in dreams, and He spoke in visions. God spoke in all kinds of various ways at different times. So it would be a time here, and then a long time would pass, and then a time here and then a long time would pass and a time here. At one point he spoke through a donkey. You know, I would be really cool today to put a donkey up here, right? I just said cool. One of my kids, the young people said, that word is so 90s, Pastor. Stop saying that. If we put a donkey up here and the donkey spoke, you'd be glued to it. But Pastor Gordon, no, you know, come on. That's just not that exciting, you know. But a donkey? Are you kidding me? The author of Hebrews is addressing a great misunderstanding. It was not perfect as we think it was. That speech was, we think, continuous and exciting. Sometimes people didn't hear from God for hundreds of years. Think of the period between the Old and the New Testament. That speech was in fragments. It was dangerous. As a matter of fact, when Sinai happened and God spoke, remember what the people said? No, no, no, no, don't let him speak. Moses, you speak. We'll die if we hear that voice. I think the first point the author wants to make and address is that you live in the best time ever. It's not even close in comparison. You live at the end of the age. And what's remarkable about that, beloved, is the apostle would never have dreamed we'd still be here in 2022. Never have dreamed it. You're in the last days. You are close. And what he's saying to us is, we have a final, decisive word in fulfillment from God. He has spoken to us in these last days through his Son. He is the Word. And he gave us the inspired Word. The word that gives us everything that we need to know for life and godliness. Everything. It's a complete word to us. And he closed the canon until he comes again. Remember in John's gospel how much he was saying this. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine, but the fathers who sent me. If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. John 8. I think when you look carefully at the context, the heart of what Hebrews is dealing with is a people who were not satisfied, number one, with the way God was speaking to them. This preaching thing's cumbersome, we think. You guys sat and listened to a lot of sermons, and we try to do the best we can to be effective in delivering it and not boring. I know that's a challenge. But do we have the respect for what's happening? God in the Old Testament, we think, spoke in this exciting, powerful way. And the author is saying, don't you know that in these last days, Jesus himself is speaking to you through the word? And you have all you need? I think that's why he's about to say, See that you do not refuse him who's speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from where? Heaven. Where is he now? Heaven. And he's still speaking. This was the great conviction in Protestant churches from the beginning that the word was given back to the people. And in the ministry of the word, that's why they used to use the old phrase, and I know it's been abused, but say the Vox Dei, the voice of God was in the man speaking the word whom was sent. How will he hear without a preacher and how will they preach unless they're sent? There was something very important to that and that the preacher was speaking the heavenly word of Christ in the word that was revealed to us. That's been my huge battle as a pastor for many years now. A great dissatisfaction with this. What battle have I fought my entire ministry? A constant battle of Christians who have tried to go back to dreams and visions and direct revelation from God as a way of speech before the time that Jesus came. And the great push on God has been in our present age. I want more from you outside of your word. We think, is that really a big deal when a pastor or teacher claims that God spoke to them personally? Or someone who is a teacher who says I got direct revelation from God or children, you can get direct revelation. Is that really that big of a deal? Is the canon closed? When Hebrews says that God has spoken to us through His Son, He's saying you have a complete word and you have a word in fulfillment until He comes again. And it's serious enough that if you add to this word, end of revelation, I will plague you. i will plague you when we go outside of the revelation of the word you're attempting to go back to a way of speaking that sets aside the living voice of jesus in his word that's what hebrews is saying in exchange for something you think is more fulfilling and that's why peter would write we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you would do well to pay attention to see how hard that is for us pay attention to this It's the lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 1 Peter 1.19 I would suggest that one of the reasons the church is emptying today that a pandemic could so easily make us more worried about holding on to our lives than receiving the living word of eternal life and how easily people can drop it is because we've lost confidence in hardship in the ministry of the word that Jesus himself is speaking to us. Think about that. That Jesus himself is speaking to us, the king. Hebrews is saying, if you can so easily set that aside for something you think is more, that is one of the most dangerous things you could do because you're not listening to Jesus. That's why you have pastors to minister the word to you. So what does the author do at this point? He raises a few major themes in the book to make a strong point. Why should you give yourself to listen carefully to the word of Jesus? Because do you know who is speaking to you? That's what he's doing. He breaks into what was known as an early creedal like him to celebrate the awesomeness of who's speaking. This one who speaks to you, notice what he says, God the Father appointed heir of everything. That's a direct play off Psalm 2. You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. So kiss the son lest you perish in the way. The one who is speaking to you from heaven through his living word that he's handed to you is saying everything is His. Your lives, the heartbeats, the whole vast creation around you, all of it belongs to Him. COVID, your life, the days appointed for you to live, it's all His, under His feet. now do you see the problem if you look over to hebrews 2 9 you see it it's a big verse if you want to write it down i'll read it in putting everything in subjection under his feet now notice that now in putting everything in subjection to him he left nothing outside of his control what a verse for our days by the way he left absolutely nothing outside of his control nothing do you believe that at present we do not yet see everything in subjection to him that's our problem that's what he's worried about you don't see it so you think there's no power in it that's why people become so discouraged because we don't see this as we want i don't see it as i want i mean i think this has been the challenge with worship that we want more glory to it in the present you know and we this faith thing as opposed to living by sight come on i want to live more by sight not by faith and until you understand this about christianity you will always sit in the pew dissatisfied with a hard heart you'll never be satisfied like israel with god's ways the whole experience of the christian church in america has been trying to push god to give us more to see and touch and handle and he's given you a table but that's not good enough but see the encouragement in this here's the truth of the matter. The entire world was created through him. Verse 3, he upholds, notice this, the universe by what? The word of his power. You have no idea, and I have no idea what this place would be if that were not true. All the craziness that we're experiencing right now is to shake the nation so that people would, Jesus would get people's attention. Does he have ours? This is the perspective. I said to Darcy the other day, can you imagine if Jesus and his governance decided, with all this rebellion against him and hatred, if he decided to give us another huge pandemic right after this one called the Black Plague? That would utterly make people crash and burn. The perspective of the Christian is what the psalm says. that even if the mountains were picked up and hurled in the midst of the sea, even if all the foundations are destroyed, I can be still and know that He's God and that He cares for me and that He rules over everything. It's all His. And that President Biden and any leader in this world, they're not in control of anything. I'd get stronger if I could on that. all things are subject to him. And this one has declared his love for you. What a perspective about the future. Do you know who's speaking and ruling? He's the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. In his transcendent glory, he's God. As Calvin says, his likeness is not veiled. He's the express image that represents God himself. Whatever is true of God is expressed to us in Jesus. You have got God, and He's speaking. It's overwhelming. God speaks to us. God has come to us from heaven in His Son. God upholds us. God keeps us, and He helps us. And He has just told us everything's under His feet. And here's the most overwhelming truth of the book. This one, who has spoken, who upholds all things, everything was created through him. He was at creation. He's eternal. He, after making purification for your sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. You want to talk about power. You want to talk about power. He's upholding all this. He's keeping all this. And as Hebrews 7 will say, by the power of his indestructible life, he forgave your sins. You rose from the dead. The author wants you today completely overwhelmed by the power and the supremacy of Jesus. Do you see the pastoral implications of this today? That's what I want to leave you. Do you see the pastoral implications of it? It's a word of encouragement to you in difficult times. When everything's going against you. When you're weary of it all. When you're troubled. When you're sick. When you're weak. When you've experienced death. When you're discouraged. Fix your eyes on him. That's what he's going to say. He's the author of your salvation. Hebrews 12. But he's saying something up front to us today to close. We must give the most careful attention to what we have heard lest we drift away. That's so important. You don't see everything right now as you want to see it. I get it. I don't. But he's ruling. It's all his. Everything's subject to him. listen to his voice don't refuse him who's speaking to you with a bad attitude don't go back to anything outside of the word that inspired word you have come up to his house every week with joy and confidence that he's speaking to you and that he's caring for you and that he's loving you and that he's going to fulfill his word of promise to you that's what this is going to be all about this world is crazy and hostile supplies no answers and you're going to see real soon I promise you what it means to kiss the sun lest you perish in the way get on for the ride we live by faith not by sight but soon you will see our greatest responsibility in this time beloved as the introduction of the book is to hear that word with prophet. This is my beloved son, says the father to you. Hear him. Are you hearing him? And in hearing him, believe him. Trust him. And the author of Hebrews is saying you will have the power that you are so tempted to seek in anything and in everything else. That's His Word to us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You for this marvelous book. As we open it, begin with this introduction, I pray that we would listen to the voice of Jesus today through the Word, having confidence in that. Let us not go back as these early Christians were tempted to do to move away from Jesus. Give us trust in your word, faith in your word. And let us receive the comfort that this word intends for us as we heard today. Our King lives and reigns and is seated over all. May we be believing and not unbelieving. And as the question was posed to Peter so many years ago, do you also want to go away when they were pressed with the word of God? May it be all our answer. You have the words of eternal life. Where else would we go? In Jesus' name we pray, amen.