WEBVTT

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We now turn to God's word, specifically. The

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New Testament Book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter

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one. We began our sermon series in this book

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last Sunday and we just looked at the first verse

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and a half or so. Today we're going to recover

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that verse and a half, but also take it through

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the end of verse. three and I would ask you to

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give careful and close attention then for this

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is God's word Hebrews one one through three long

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ago at many times and in many ways God spoke

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to our fathers by the prophets but in these last

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days he has spoken to us by his son Whom he appointed

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the heir of all things Through whom also he created

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the world He is the radiance of the glory of

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God and the exact imprint of his nature and He

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upholds the universe by the word of his power

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After making purification for sins he sat down

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at the right hand of the majesty on high This

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is God's word. Let's pray. Father, we bless you

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and we thank you for this word that sets the

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foundation for all that is to come in Hebrews.

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As we desire to understand this book, help us

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to understand this marvelous introduction. Would

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you guide us through it by your spirit? We pray

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in Christ's name, amen. How many of you have

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bucket list items that you long to see in this

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life? Maybe you long to see the Grand Canyon

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in all of its grandness. Maybe you long to see

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the Northern Lights to watch those lights dance

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across the sky. Maybe you long to see some special

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kind of animal in its own habitat, like a safari

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in Africa or something. Maybe you long to see

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maybe your favorite band play in some famous

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venue. Maybe you long to see your favorite baseball

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team play in Wrigley Stadium. Been there, done

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that. What is it that you just long to see that

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would really be something special for you. One

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of you even mentioned the pyramids of Egypt to

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me last week. And so what is it? Well, friends,

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as great as those things may be, there is one

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thing that we should all long to see. And it's

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not a thing. It's our God. We should all long

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to see God Matthew 5 8 says blessed are the pure

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in heart For they shall see God But at the same

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time as we hear that we also may be thinking

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of scripture like Exodus 33 where God says to

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Moses no one can see me and live or Paul writing

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to Timothy who said he who is the blessed and

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only Sovereign the King of Kings and the Lord

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of Lords who alone has immortality who dwells

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in unapproachable light whom no one has ever

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seen or can see to him be honor and eternal dominion.

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And so what gives? Can we see God or not? Well,

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aside from the discussion on how God does not

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have a body like men, let's really think about

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this. And let's think about this from the top

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of a mountain. You'll remember that in Matthew

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17 and in Mark chapter nine and Luke chapter

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nine, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John

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up on a mountain. And as Jesus began to pray,

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his face began to change, shining like the sun,

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and his clothes became dazzling white, and suddenly

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there was Moses, and there was Elijah, and then

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this voice came from heaven, this is my beloved

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son. with whom I am well pleased, listen to him."

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Those three disciples saw, even if just for a

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few moments, the glory of Christ. Or from our

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text here, we might say the radiance of the glory

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of God. John Calvin said, the radiance in the

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substance of God is so mighty that it hurts our

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eyes until it shines on us in Christ. You see

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the only way to understand, to experience, to

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see the glory of God is to know Christ Jesus,

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to look on him in faith and know that one day

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your faith will be turned to sight. Jesus said

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it best for us. If you have seen me, you have

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seen the father. And so here's what I want us

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to see today. This passage shows us the relationship

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of the father to the son and that the son is

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our prophet, our priest and our king. Let's start

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with prophet. What comes to mind when I say the

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word prophet? And no, I'm not talking about money.

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I'm talking about prophets as people who speak

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what God would have them to speak and so who

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comes to mind when I say the word prophet is

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It Isaiah Is it Daniel? Is it Obadiah is it Zephaniah?

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Is it Alexander Payton the prophet? You can read

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about him in the historical building. Side note,

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one time some teaching and ruling elders from

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the presbytery were here and they wanted to go

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into the historical building so I took them and

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they were quite amazed to see that Fairview has

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its very own prophet. That's a story for another

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day though. You can come back on September 26th

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and maybe hear a little more about it. But what

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this text shows us is that Christ is our better

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prophet. What a prophet does is to reveal God

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through a message delivered. What a prophet does

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is to act as God's mouthpiece. But friends, whoever

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you're thinking about, be it Jeremiah or Ezekiel

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or Elijah, Elisha, whoever it is, Christ does

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it better. Christ reveals God. Shorter catechism

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says Christ executes the office of a prophet

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in revealing to us by His word and spirit the

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will of God for our salvation. Jesus is able

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to do this because of what verse three says.

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Look there, the beginning of verse three. He

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is the radiance of the glory of God. He is the

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exact imprint of his nature. You see, Jesus is

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not merely a likeness of God. Jesus is not a

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caricature of God. Colossians 1 .15 says he is

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the image of the invisible God. He is one with

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the Father. He is of the same substance or the

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same essence, or we might say Jesus is of the

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same stuff as God. We've kind of already seen

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this in the Nicene Creed that we read as our

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affirmation of faith part of it reads again begotten

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of his father before all worlds God of God light

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of light very God of very God Begotten not made

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being of one substance with the father by whom

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all things were made Yes, Jesus is one with the

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Father. And the Father instructed those disciples

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on the Mount of Transfiguration. He said, this

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is my son. Listen to him. And that's exactly

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what the people were to do with the prophets.

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To ignore a God -appointed prophet was to ignore

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God Himself. Be it Ezekiel or be it Joel. And

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if these prophets were to be listened to, how

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much more should we listen to the one who is

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the exact imprint of God's nature? God spoke

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through those prophets as their words were his

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words, but the final word is Christ. And therefore

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we do not expect ongoing prophecy. For the scriptures

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are sufficient to do what they were intended

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to do, which is to point us to Christ, to speak

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of Christ. Or as Christ speaks through them,

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we must recognize, friends, that what we have

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in Jesus Christ as the one who is called the

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word, that he is sufficient for us. I wonder

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if I can illustrate this for you. Do you remember?

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Do you remember Jesus on the road to Emmaus after

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His crucifixion, after His resurrection? He joins

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these two disciples on the road and they are

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prevented from recognizing Him. And they begin

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to tell Him all the events that have happened

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over the last few days. It's actually pretty

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funny when you think about it because it's all

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about Christ. He knows. And then Luke 24 says

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this. That Jesus beginning with Moses and all

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the prophets Interpreted to them in all the scriptures

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the things concerning himself The scriptures

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all the way from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 are

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speaking of Christ Yes, it's true then friends

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Christ is our better prophet But Christ is also

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our priest This is a big theme a prevalent theme

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in the book of Hebrews with within the Protestant

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tradition and the reformed Protestant tradition.

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We don't have priests and Actually, I think our

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knowledge of the priesthood is pretty limited

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Old Testament priesthood Because I've had very

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few of you actually only two that I can think

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of ever say to me You know what? I really want

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to study Leviticus But we should because in order

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to understand Christ as our priest we should

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understand what the priest did and so I'm gonna

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take you to Leviticus just for a minute Leviticus

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chapter 1 verses 3 & 5 as we see the primary

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responsibility of the priests Leviticus 1, 3

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to 5. If his offering is a burnt offering from

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the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish.

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He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent

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of meeting that he may be accepted before the

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Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the

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burnt offering and it shall be accepted for him

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to make atonement for him. Then he shall kill

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the bull before the Lord and Aaron's sons the

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priests shall bring the blood and Throw the blood

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against the sides of the altar that is at the

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entrance of the tent of meeting and on and on

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we could go through Leviticus to see this but

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I want you to understand the primary responsibility

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of these Old Testament priests Was to make sacrifices

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on behalf of the people God. Now, why don't we

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have these sacrifices anymore? Why don't we do

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these things now? Go back to Hebrews 1 and look

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at verse 3. We don't do these things now because

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we don't have to. About the middle of verse 3,

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after making purification for sin, There is no

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need for these ongoing sacrifices because Jesus

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has done it. He has made purification or your

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text, your translation may say that he has purged

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us of our sin. It's all communicating the idea

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of how we were terribly unclean in our sin, that

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we are polluted, that we were dirty in our hearts,

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in our minds, in our bodies. We are in the most

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desperate need of cleansing. But Christ is pure.

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Christ is spotless. And in this way, he is our

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priest. However, he is also the sacrifice. Jesus

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is our priest, but he's also the sacrificial

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lamb. Larger Catechism 44 says Christ executes

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the office of a priest. and is once offering

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himself a sacrifice without spot to God to be

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a reconciliation for the sins of his people and

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in making continual intercession for us. Friends,

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this is why we don't have priests. We've got

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pastors who are to shepherd people towards the

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good shepherd, but we don't have priests. We

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don't need them. Because Jesus is our great high

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priest and he has made purification once and

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for all on the cross This is why if you happen

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to read the confession or the catechisms of Westminster

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Regarding the Lord's Supper, you'll see that

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these documents go out of their way to explain

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that when we come for the Lord's Supper We do

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not come to repeat the sacrifice of Christ. That's

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what the Catholics teach. We don't do that. Why?

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Again, because we don't have to. Jesus has done

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it once and for all who would trust in him. And

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yet if you can remember the people when Jesus

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was crucified, what do they say? Oh, he can save

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others, but he can't save himself. And so why

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didn't Jesus just call upon the angels to swoop

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down and take him off of that cross? He did it

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for you. He did it to reconcile you to holy God.

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And in that way, we must recognize this, then

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they, the people, did not take his life from

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him. He laid it down. He laid it down voluntarily

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for all of you. What that should do in our hearts,

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right? How that should manifest itself in our

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lives that we ought to be just forever grateful

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and thankful. We ought to be here. We ought to

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be worshiping because we realize what Jesus went

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through for us. that Jesus was the sacrifice.

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Not to get ahead of ourselves, but I do this

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a lot with Hebrews. You can almost illustrate

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the entirety of Hebrews as you just go through

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the first few verses. But Hebrews 9 22 says this.

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Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified

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with blood. And without the shedding of blood,

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there is no forgiveness. of sins. So those Old

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Testament sacrifices that involve the blood,

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they're pointing ahead to the true sacrifice,

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to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It's through

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His stripes, His wounds that you are healed.

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Real atonement was made there. Not temporary

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atonement, not like those Old Testament priests

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who had to keep sacrificing again. and again,

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but forever atonement. And you can see this forever

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idea in verse three, because what does he do

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after he makes purification for sin? He sat down

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at the right hand of the majesty on high. Did

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you know that there were no seats in the temple?

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Why not? Rick Phillips at Second Pres explains,

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His atoning sacrifice was the one to which all

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the others had merely pointed. He sat down because

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there was no more sacrifice to be made. In other

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words, Jesus did something that no other priest

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had ever done. Jesus finished his work and then

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he sat down. For the work of the sacrifice was

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complete. Can you imagine being one of these

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Old Testament priests continually offering sacrifices

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day in and day out, night in and night out? As

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long as there was sin, these Old Testament priests

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had job security. Because they were going to

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have to keep doing it on and on until Christ

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came. This work. must have been incredibly taxing.

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But you don't really have to wonder about how

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taxing it is, because if you have not come to

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Christ, you're kind of doing the same thing.

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By your own efforts, you are saying to God, look

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at me, look what I'm doing. This is enough, isn't

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it? Friends, if you have not come to Christ,

00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:36.319
you are trying to save yourself. You're trying

00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:38.460
to make atonement based upon your own works,

00:20:38.460 --> 00:20:41.440
and it'll never be enough. Those works are not

00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:45.059
sufficient. It's like you are being your own

00:20:45.059 --> 00:20:48.619
personal priest. To use the words of Ecclesiastes,

00:20:48.740 --> 00:20:52.220
you are striving after wind. You are doing something

00:20:52.220 --> 00:20:54.519
that you ought not do. You're doing something

00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:58.579
you cannot do. So instead, if you have not placed

00:20:58.579 --> 00:21:01.420
your faith in Jesus Christ, consider his words

00:21:01.420 --> 00:21:06.519
on this. come to me all who labor and are heavy

00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:10.579
laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke

00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:14.619
upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and

00:21:14.619 --> 00:21:17.519
lowly in heart and you will find rest for your

00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:24.140
souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

00:21:24.140 --> 00:21:29.700
And so yes, Christ is our better priest. But

00:21:29.700 --> 00:21:34.150
finally, thirdly, Christ is also our King. Look

00:21:34.150 --> 00:21:40.869
at verse two. He is the appointed heir of all

00:21:40.869 --> 00:21:44.450
things. Perhaps the author of Hebrews has Psalm

00:21:44.450 --> 00:21:49.109
2 -8 in mind that says, ask of me and I will

00:21:49.109 --> 00:21:52.269
make your nations your heritage and the ends

00:21:52.269 --> 00:21:54.789
of the earth your possession. We should remember

00:21:54.789 --> 00:21:57.589
that Adam and Eve were essentially these heirs.

00:21:57.869 --> 00:22:00.509
The Adam and Eve were appointed to rule on the

00:22:00.509 --> 00:22:04.089
earth. Genesis 128 says to them, be fruitful

00:22:04.089 --> 00:22:07.490
and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it

00:22:07.490 --> 00:22:10.869
and have dominion over the fish of the sea and

00:22:10.869 --> 00:22:13.049
over the birds of the heavens and over every

00:22:13.049 --> 00:22:17.029
living thing that moves on the earth. Adam and

00:22:17.029 --> 00:22:19.910
Eve should have been thought of as the king and

00:22:19.910 --> 00:22:23.509
the queen of the earth, but through their sin,

00:22:23.710 --> 00:22:26.490
they lost that authority and they were kicked

00:22:26.490 --> 00:22:33.180
out of the garden. But Christ comes and the authority

00:22:33.180 --> 00:22:36.640
is now his one commentator says the dominion

00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:41.440
Originally promised to Adam was gained by Christ

00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:44.559
because Christ is now the king of all and not

00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:49.140
only is he the king but this text also says That

00:22:49.140 --> 00:22:52.420
he's the one who created all of it, isn't he?

00:22:53.339 --> 00:22:56.480
How often do you think of God the Father is the

00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:01.880
creator? We should right And how often do we

00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:05.480
think of the Holy Spirit being involved in creation?

00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:10.339
He was, right? But do we really think that much

00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:15.099
about the Son and His creative efforts? Where

00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:18.980
does the Son fit in? He's right there. This text

00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:22.809
very literally says the Son is the one. through

00:23:22.809 --> 00:23:27.109
whom God made the ages. Combine this with John

00:23:27.109 --> 00:23:30.410
chapter one, which makes the point that all things

00:23:30.410 --> 00:23:33.650
were made through him and without him, not a

00:23:33.650 --> 00:23:37.529
thing was made that was made. So you see this

00:23:37.529 --> 00:23:43.089
King that we have, this Jesus is also our maker.

00:23:44.170 --> 00:23:49.339
God made all things through him. But we're not

00:23:49.339 --> 00:23:51.980
done, for look at the middle to about the end

00:23:51.980 --> 00:23:56.180
of verse three. After he makes this purification

00:23:56.180 --> 00:23:59.160
for sins, he sits down at the right hand of the

00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:04.619
majesty on high. What does he sit down to do?

00:24:05.880 --> 00:24:10.079
Does Jesus now say, I get to relax here? Does

00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:12.059
Jesus sit at the right hand of the father to

00:24:12.059 --> 00:24:17.039
watch Netflix? Of course not. What does Jesus

00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:21.680
sit down to do? He sits down according to verse

00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:26.460
3 to uphold the universe by the word of his power.

00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:31.559
Jesus sits down to uphold and he continues to

00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:38.519
uphold. Shorter catechism again. Christ executes

00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:42.599
the office of a king in subduing us to himself.

00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:46.279
in ruling and defending us and in restraining

00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:52.099
and conquering all his and our enemies. What

00:24:52.099 --> 00:24:55.779
other king could ever rule like that? The answer

00:24:55.779 --> 00:24:58.440
is obvious. There is no other king who could

00:24:58.440 --> 00:25:02.259
rule like that. 1 Corinthians 15, 25 says, God

00:25:02.259 --> 00:25:08.259
has put all things in subjection under his feet.

00:25:09.579 --> 00:25:13.140
Do you remember how last Sunday I said that the

00:25:13.140 --> 00:25:16.140
book of Hebrews kind of acts like a commentary

00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:21.859
on Psalm 110 that begins like this? The Lord

00:25:21.859 --> 00:25:26.099
says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I

00:25:26.099 --> 00:25:28.559
make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:31.019
That's a Psalm that's written by David. And so

00:25:31.019 --> 00:25:34.539
what's he saying there? The Lord, Yahweh, says

00:25:34.539 --> 00:25:38.839
to my Lord, the Christ, sit at my right hand.

00:25:39.660 --> 00:25:46.019
all things are going underneath your feet. And

00:25:46.019 --> 00:25:50.400
yet people, especially in his incarnation, have

00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:53.319
doubted. They doubted, and they still do today,

00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:57.039
his rule and his reign. He just, to some, just

00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:00.079
doesn't look like a king, does he? He certainly

00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:02.839
didn't meet the expectations of the people of

00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:06.519
his time, what they thought a king should be.

00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:10.619
He came riding in on a donkey and it didn't take

00:26:10.619 --> 00:26:13.420
long for their praises to turn into curses and

00:26:13.420 --> 00:26:16.500
then Pontius Pilate is there and he asks Jesus

00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:20.279
Are you the king of the Jews and he's looking

00:26:20.279 --> 00:26:23.059
at Jesus with skepticism saying you're not a

00:26:23.059 --> 00:26:30.539
king But Jesus stuns him when he says my kingdom

00:26:30.750 --> 00:26:35.009
is not of this world. And then he elaborates

00:26:35.009 --> 00:26:38.190
to show Pilate that he's a different kind of

00:26:38.190 --> 00:26:41.190
king, the sort of king who would allow himself

00:26:41.190 --> 00:26:48.640
to be handed over in order to be crucified. Yes,

00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:51.460
it's true. Jesus is a different kind of King

00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:54.299
than the world has ever known He is the sort

00:26:54.299 --> 00:26:57.200
of King who doesn't take his kingdom by force

00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:02.039
but takes it by laying down his life You see

00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:06.619
friends the way to the throne for Jesus is through

00:27:06.619 --> 00:27:12.059
the cross But thanks be to God He was raised

00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:19.589
and so Jesus is on the throne now But lastly

00:27:19.589 --> 00:27:24.950
as we conclude here, let's look at how he upholds

00:27:24.950 --> 00:27:28.289
How he upholds all things the text says by the

00:27:28.289 --> 00:27:32.349
word of his power. It's it is a truly remarkable

00:27:32.349 --> 00:27:40.049
thing That our God speaks Just let that sink

00:27:40.049 --> 00:27:45.829
in our God speaks He speaks in his son and the

00:27:45.829 --> 00:27:49.789
very same way that he spoke the world into existence.

00:27:50.829 --> 00:27:57.730
Now Christ upholds the world by speaking. I started

00:27:57.730 --> 00:28:02.430
thinking, what would encourage our hearts today

00:28:02.430 --> 00:28:07.589
when it comes to Christ speaking? Well, along

00:28:07.589 --> 00:28:11.390
with ruling and defending us and protecting us

00:28:11.390 --> 00:28:14.160
by the word of his power, There is another way

00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:19.339
in which Christ speaks today. He speaks prayer

00:28:19.339 --> 00:28:25.500
to the Father. Hebrews 725. Consequently, he

00:28:25.500 --> 00:28:28.480
is able to save to the utmost those who draw

00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:32.839
near to God through him, since he always lives

00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:39.000
to make intercession for them. Does it then encourage

00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:41.799
your hearts to know that the one who upholds

00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:46.420
the universe, he prays for you. That's another

00:28:46.420 --> 00:28:50.059
function of his priesthood. And so knowing that

00:28:50.059 --> 00:28:53.740
you belong to the triune God who through his

00:28:53.740 --> 00:28:57.039
son, the radiance of his glory, he has defeated

00:28:57.039 --> 00:29:00.319
sin and death on the cross, he has made purification

00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:03.500
for your sins, knowing that he is powerful enough

00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:06.519
to keep it all going by the word of his power.

00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:10.579
Would you Christian take comfort that God has

00:29:10.579 --> 00:29:15.519
you in his grasp that you are prayed for And

00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:19.000
he will not let you go No matter what you go

00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:19.339
through