Amen and let's take the word then and open up
to the New Testament book of Hebrews Hebrews
chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 Really really what we're
gonna look at is chapter 1 in the first half
of verse 2 if you're looking for Hebrews, it's
in the New Testament following the letters of
Paul. And so as you're turning, you'll probably
see 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus and Philemon.
If you see James or 1st and 2nd Peter or the
Johns, you've gone too far. Hebrews chapter 1
verse 1 and the first half of verse 2. And this
is the beginning of our new sermon series through
this wonderful book. Would you follow along with
me? 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. The grass withers and the flower fades,
but God's Word stands forever. Let's pray together.
Oh Lord, as we now open up Your Word, we pray
that the eyes of our hearts would be illumined
so that we may be able to comprehend with all
the saints what is the breadth and the length
and the height and the depth, and to know the
love of Christ which surpasses all. It surpasses
all knowledge. So Lord, would You be our guide
through this book. We pray for Christ's sake.
Amen. If you could ask God one question, and
indeed you can in prayer, but if you could ask
God one question specifically related to the
faith, related to something in scripture, related
to some doctrine, maybe you might ask, well,
Lord, really, who are the Nephilim? Or maybe
you would ask, Lord, Truly, what's going on at
the end of the book of Daniel? Or maybe you might
ask God, when is Jesus coming back? I know that
we have questions that we want to see answered.
But if you could just ask God one question and
be assured of the answer, I wonder what it would
be. R .C. Sproul had a question that he wanted
to ask God in glory. And his question was this.
Who wrote the book of Hebrews? That might be
your question as well. Who wrote the book of
Hebrews? Throughout church history many have
sought to answer this question and many have
landed upon the Apostle Paul. Indeed the 1611
King James Version says the title of the book
the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews.
Many fine theologians and pastors and just disciples
of Christ have said the Apostle Paul wrote this
book. To me that's a little bit like when I ask
my children where do you want to go to dinner
tonight and they just Shout out, we want Mexican
food. Because what we do is we gravitate towards
the things that we know. And we've got all of
these letters from Paul that precede this. And
so we might be inclined to say, well, I think
the apostle Paul wrote this book. And indeed,
there might be some good reasons to think that.
After all, the end of this book is very Pauline.
Certainly the author of Hebrews knew his Old
Testament Bible very well. It was written, it
appears, by someone who was Jewish. And so for
these reasons, we might say, yes, it was the
Apostle Paul. But at the same time, there are
other just elements of this letter that don't
sound like the Apostle Paul. For one thing, he
doesn't say that he wrote it. Meanwhile, the
letters of Paul he does. assign himself as the
author. Additionally, there's not really an introduction
to this book like you find in the other letters
from Paul. It just jumps right into this kind
of action going on, right? And maybe even more
convincing is that I think it's in chapter two
where it seems that the author of the book of
Hebrews is a second generation Christian. He
says that he learned of Christ through the Apostles.
Now we know this about Paul. He didn't learn
of it firstly from the Apostles, did he? No,
the Apostle Paul had a direct encounter with
the Lord Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. You
remember that he is blinded by this light. He
falls to the ground and he hears these words
from Jesus, Saul, Saul. Why are you persecuting
me? And thus, Saul becomes Paul, just like I
said last Sunday. Saul becomes Paul. The persecutor
becomes the preacher. And with that encounter
with the Lord Jesus Christ, he lays claim to
being an apostle. So it doesn't come through
other believers. It comes through Jesus. And
so for these reasons many have said it's got
to be somebody else. And so other people have
suggested throughout history the following names
as authors of Hebrews. Luke, Apollos maybe, Barnabas,
Clement of Rome, Apaphras, Silas, Philip. But
I think ultimately where I land on the authorship
of Hebrews is with the Church Father origin who
ultimately said, but who wrote the epistle? In
truth, God knows. God knows who wrote this, even
if we're not entirely sure. But isn't it interesting
that in a book, that has drawn so much curiosity
about authorship, the beginning of the book is
all about divine authorship, isn't it? The beginning
of this book is all about how God speaks. And
so here's what I want you to see today. The author
of Hebrews contrasts the time, the recipients
and the means by which God speaks. that we would
look unto Jesus as the Son of God and know of
His preeminence. And so that's kind of the theme
of this book. But some other themes that people
have suggested, we're going to see this as we
go along through this book. But ultimately all
of the themes center around the second person
of the Trinity. The big theme of this book is
Jesus Christ Himself. The way this is written
is to connect Jesus to the Old Testament to show
that he is the fulfillment of the promises and
the events of the Old Testament that Jesus is
the yes and the Amen to all of the promises of
God But who needed to hear this Certainly we
need to hear this but let's think of the original
audience here The original audience was likely
a mixed bag of Jewish Christians and Gentile
Christians. But but where this letter is going
to what church we are not entirely sure on that.
Just like we don't know the author, we don't
know exactly where this letter was meant to go.
Some have said Rome. Some have said Jerusalem
and others have. sought to explain other places,
right? But we can also say this, that the individuals
receiving this were undergoing persecution. And
we're gonna see that as we go along through this
book. The recipients of this letter, some of
them were being tempted to depart the faith.
Some of them were being tempted to deny Christ
as the Messiah. Some of them were being tempted
to return to the old covenant system amidst this
persecution. maybe that persecution is a help
to us in understanding the dating of this book.
So as we look at this book and we want to know
when it was written, there is no mention of the
destruction of the temple in AD 70. We might
expect that in a book that has to do at least
on some level with persecution, but there's no
mention of the temple's destruction. There's
also no mention of the Apostle Paul and yet there
is mention of Timothy. And so in light of these
things, I think we can say that this is before
AD 70, but this is after the time of Paul's death.
And so some have said early into maybe the mid
60s here. Let's dive a little bit further though
into the time. Because this is one of my main
points. Look at the first words of this text
I'm reading from the ESV. You might be reading
from something else But I think they're all gonna
say about the same thing mine begins long ago
Right the first words long ago. And so what this
what this is doing is contrasting what happened
long ago with the present time of this letter,
right And all of the action that's happening
in just this verse and a half, all of it has
to do with God speaking. And so let's understand
how God spoke long ago. Many of the most pivotal
moments in scripture are when God speaks. Indeed,
all of scripture is God speaking. God spoke the
world into existence, didn't he? Or think about
how God speaks when he cuts a covenant with his
people. We can look at this through the covenant
of grace, the administration of the covenant
of grace, to see how God structures things, the
speaking of his word to his people in this covenant
of grace. We'll start with Adam and Eve. You
remember that after Adam ate the fruit, Adam
and Eve disobeyed and they plunged all of the
world into sin in Genesis chapter three. We also
know what else happens in Genesis chapter three.
God speaks and he speaks sharing the promise
of the Son. He speaks of the promise of the Redeemer
to come. And so this is the first administration
of the covenant of grace. the promise of Christ.
But what else happens within the covenant of
grace? The promise spoken to Noah. You remember
the flood. You remember what happens after the
flood, right? There is the promise of common
grace, never to destroy the world again by a
flood. God speaks that, and then he shows it
in the rainbow in the sky. What about Abraham?
This is the promise of offspring too numerous
to count, right? You can read of this in Genesis
12 and 15 and 17. And if you'll let the New Testament
interpret the Old Testament, you'll see that
those who truly are the offspring of Abraham,
these are the ones who are truly the offspring
of God, right? What's next in the covenant of
grace? You've got Moses. You've got the giving
of the law, right? God chooses a people for himself
and then he gives them rules, laws, by how they
should live, right? But they must live it in
faith, again, part of the covenant of grace.
And then finally, to David, the promise that
exists in 2 Samuel 7 of a king. to be enthroned
forever, a greater king beyond David, King Jesus.
And that's actually a very important point, friends,
because as you read the book of Hebrews, we might
say it like this. Hebrews is kind of a commentary
on Psalm 110. Psalm 110 begins like this. The
Lord. And that in your Bibles probably in all
caps meaning Yahweh says to my Lord to David's
Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies
my footstool. Again Hebrews acts like a commentary
on that because you see that passage quoted four
times and alluded to five other times all referring
to Psalm. 110. Now, again, we're talking about
timing here. And so the contrast is long ago.
But look in verse two, long ago. And then here
we have in these last days, in these last days.
So we need to think, how would the original audience
have understood these last days? How do you interpret
it? How do you understand this? Well, a Jewish
audience, at least if not the Gentile Christians,
would have understood that this is talking about
the present age. And I can prove that to you
if you'll allow me to. Consider Acts chapter
2 verse 17. It's a very important moment in Scripture
because Acts 2 17 is quoting Joel 2 when it says,
In the last days it shall be, God declares, that
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Did you
catch that? The last days. It was predicted in
the past, in the time of Joel, and it comes to
fruition at Pentecost. Also, here's another one.
Second Timothy three, verse one. Understand this,
that in the last days, there will come times
of difficulty. Paul is writing to Timothy, and
is he saying, Timothy, there's something that's
going to happen way off in the future, or is
he saying there is something that you are in
the midst of right now? Friends, the last days
began when Jesus ascended up into heaven and
the church began at Pentecost. But also notice,
if we can go just a tad bit deeper, how it words
this in verse two, in these last days. Again,
you may have a different translation, but this
is going back to the Greek, and I believe this
is an accurate translation, in these last days.
And so the recipients of this letter would have
understood they were in the last days. And these
last days are everything in between the first
advent of Christ and the second advent of Christ.
Theologians have called this the church age.
And friends, what that means is that as this
book was written to people in the last days,
so it is written to you in the last days. You
are in it right now. And as the recipients of
this letter now, let's understand it again, contrasting
the former recipients of God's word and the recipients
here and the recipients now. And so look here
as it says, God spoke to our fathers. God spoke.
To our fathers, our ancestors, our predecessors,
we are reminded that God took a people for himself.
Even before they were a people, God made a people
out of them. But then the contrast is this. Something
new has happened in these last days. Now, God
speaks to us. Now, God speaks to us. He is reminding
them, they, these people here, they're sending
us a letter, are God's people, but they're not
a God's people simply because they're Jewish,
they're God's people because of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you remember 1 Peter chapter 2, verses
9 and 10, and it reads, but you are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
for his own possession, that you may proclaim
the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were
not a people, but now you are God's people. Once
you had not received mercy, but now you have
received mercy. How are they God's people? Because
they have been adopted into God's family. by
Jesus Christ. How have they received mercy? It's
in Jesus Christ, isn't it? And so we see this
word of Christ is for all who would believe in
Him. The word of Christ isn't simply for the
smartest people or the best -looking people or
the most talented people. The word of Christ
isn't for just a people over there or a people
over there. It's not for just one type of people.
It is for all who would believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who would repent of sin and trust Him.
And ultimately, when I see these words to us,
I can't help but think of the promise of the
incarnation in Isaiah chapter nine. To us a child
is born and to us a son is given To us is everyone
who believes in Jesus That is for you and that
is for them But also let's look at the means
by which God speaks Okay, it says long ago at
many times and in many ways The King James Version,
I like how it puts it. It says, at sundry times
and in diverse manners. Talking about how God
speaks, what are these diverse manners? Well,
you'll remember how God spoke to Moses through
a burning bush. You might remember how God spoke
to the prophet Elijah through a whisper that
came after a storm. You might remember how God
spoke to the prophet Ezekiel through visions,
or how God spoke to Daniel through dreams. These
are the ways in which God used to speak, but
also secondly, look at this, God spoke to our
fathers by what? By the prophets. God spoke through
the prophets as they delivered oracles or by
his spirit as his word is recorded. And this
is where we return to this discussion of authorship.
We don't know who humanly penned Hebrews, but
we do know this. The primary author of all of
Scripture is God Himself. For evidence of this,
if you want to, flip ahead. To Hebrews 3 Hebrews
3 7 through 11 For it reads Therefore as the
Holy Spirit says Today if you hear his voice
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion
on the day of testing in the wilderness where
your fathers put me to the test and saw my works
for 40 years Therefore, I was provoked with that
generation and said, they always go astray in
their hearts. They have not known my ways. As
I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my
rest. Friends, this is citing Psalm 95. But who
is the primary author of it? Did you catch verse
seven? As the Holy Spirit says. And so, yes.
Yes, this is all written by God Himself, and
this should give us great encouragement to press
on, trusting Scripture, knowing that it is literally
God breathed. Many of you know that before I
went into pastoral ministry, I used to work for
different newspapers in the area as a reporter.
And one time I was in the newsroom of one of
these newspapers and we are all talking about
the authority and the authenticity of scripture.
And so it was the writers, it was the photographers,
it was the page layout people, we're all having
this big great discussion on the Bible. But some
of the staff were having trouble understanding
how God could speak through people to deliver
His Word. I reminded them of the unity of God's
Word. That even though we've got 66 books by
like 40 authors or so across a myriad of years,
authors who differed in all sorts of ways and
yet at the same time there is this unity, this
consent of all of the parts of Scripture that
as you read Genesis, or as you read Esther, or
as you read Zephaniah, or Matthew, or Titus,
or Jude, there is this unity that exists all
throughout as God is telling us the story of
redemption in Christ alone. The Westminster Confession
of Faith says it beautifully. We may be moved
and induced by the testimony of the Church to
an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture,
the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy
of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the
consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole,
which is to give glory to God, the full discovery
it makes of the only way of man's salvation.
and the many other incomparable excellencies
of the entire perfection thereof are arguments
whereby it does abundantly evidence itself to
be the word of God. There's an excellency about
it. There's a majesty. There's that unity that
I was talking about that runs all throughout.
But friends, it's incomplete. without the Son.
The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the complete
and final word. Sadly, though, there are many
who call themselves Christians who intentionally
ignore parts of the Bible. There are what are
called New Testament Christians who completely
disregard the Old Testament. They scrap it and
they only read the new. It's not a new heresy.
It actually is an ancient one, but it's not logical
because if you don't have the Old Testament You
don't know the problem and you don't have the
promises of the Sun to come But if you don't
have the New Testament What don't you have? You
don't have the solution and so the Old Testament
is pointing us to Christ and the New Testament
is showing us Christ and promising us that Christ
will come again. Friends, we need the entirety
of Holy Scripture. We need all of God's counsel.
And now that we have Jesus, we have the final
word, and you must trust in the whole thing.
This text reminds us that God spoke through prophets
like Moses and Isaiah. and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel,
and Daniel, and the minor prophets who aren't
really minor at all. The Word of God came through
them. And if it came through them, how much more
are we to trust the fact that it came through
God's one and only begotten Son, who according
to John 1 .1 is the Word. Listen to this from
Martin Luther. If the word of the prophets is
accepted, how much more ought we to seize the
gospel of Christ, since it is not a prophet speaking
to us, but the Lord of the prophets, not a servant,
but a son, not an angel, but God. You see, formerly
God's word spoke of the son, but now God's word
speaks the Son. In the incarnation, suddenly
there was the Son, just as promised and right
on time. And since God has finally and fully
spoken in His Son, there is no need for further
revelation. You remember from last Sunday, Ecclesiastes
chapter 12, one of those verses says, of the
making of many books, there is no end. It's telling
us to trust. God and His Word. Friends, we have
the Word, and the title is Christ. Now, as Reformed
Christians, we have a high view of Scripture,
don't we? We have a very high view of Scripture.
But does our practice line up with our beliefs
here? Think about it this way. How would your
life look different if you trusted the Bible
completely as the Word of God? How would your
life look different if you trusted the Bible
completely as the Word of God? And how would
your life look different if you recognize Christ
as the final word? Friends, we can admit this
about ourselves that sometimes we don't give
ourselves fully or very much to the reading and
the studying of Holy Scripture. But what if we
did? How would our lives look different? Five
very brief points of application. One, we would
read it. And if our eyes have grown too dim to
read it, we would love to hear somebody else
read it or have somebody explain it to us. Friends,
we would hide it in our hearts in times of need
and in times of prosperity. Secondly, we would
share it. How many of you just within the last
week have read an article or seen a mean meme
or a gift or whatever they're called Online how
many of you have shared within the last week
something that you read online. I See some hands
going up and that's that's proper. Okay How much
more should we share the Word of God than those
memes or gifts that we see online? thirdly we
would trust it. Hebrews 6, 18 says, it's impossible
for God to lie. And yet if we know this about
ourselves, sometimes we're not truthful in everything,
are we? How much more should we trust God's word
that is truth at all times? For we would repent.
We would repent. For God's word shows us again
and again how how central to prayer and repentance
these things are in our lives. It shows us over
and over again that we would go to God in prayer
and say, God, I have grieved you by my actions
or my words or my thoughts. Please forgive me
and turn me back to Jesus. And so we would repent
regularly of sin. Five. Lastly, we would worship.
We would worship. If we truly gave ourselves
more and more to the study, to the reading of
God's Word, just studying it privately, but also
with others, we would be moved and induced, as
the Confession says, to worship. We have been
placed here for the glory of God, and so we would
seek more and more to do that in corporate worship
and just in our lives during the week, for He
alone It's praiseworthy. Friends, I don't give
this to us to guilt trip us. I give this to us
in order to encourage us. You all have people
in your lives that you trust. You got a brother,
a sister, a friend, maybe a grandparent, somebody
that you just love to talk to when you're in
need. God's word is even greater than those people.
And it's totally trustworthy. And so let this
be encouragement to you to read, to listen, to
study, to memorize God's word and to appreciate
because it is perfect in everything that it says.
And friends, the way that I'm framing this with
these comparisons, these contrasts, this is actually
how the entire book really kind of goes. The
way these two verses are written is a pattern
throughout the book to show us that Christ is
supreme. Christ is greater. Christ is better.
Donald Guthrie says, this is the real theme of
the letter. The past has given way to better
things. And that's why this sermon series is
called The Preeminence of Christ. Christ is before
all things. Christ is above all things. And Christ
is authoritative over all things. This book will
say that Christ is greater than the angels. Christ
is more excellent than Moses. Christ is greater
than Joshua the high priest. And Christ is a
better and final sacrifice for us. Christ is
greater. Because Christ is to take first place
in our lives for he is the image of the invisible
God John 1 1 says it best in the beginning was
the word and the word was with God and the word
was God You see not only is Christ above and
beyond all things Christ Jesus is the better
word Let's pray Father, in heaven, we give you
great thanks that you've given us this word and
that you have given us the one who has called
the word. Father, would we give ourselves more
and more to the studying of Christ by your word,
to sharing of the word? Father, to even praying
and singing of the word, we thank you for this
word. and we thank you in Christ's name. Amen.