Hebrews 1 with Jonathan Griffiths

we'll trust that we have sufficient energy for a bit more engagement tonight we're a little bit behind where we thought we might be that's okay but I won't prolong proceedings by adding anything else this evening we'll talk about Timothy trust maybe tomorrow um but on the schedule for tonight we have something that was put down as model Exposition I feel a little bit awkward about that um we could say attempted Exposition um or Exposition for uh reflection and feedback or something like that we thought we'd do something epistle I'd I'd been thinking of taking something a little bit further out of the memory banks and doing a pole line epistle but I've just embarked on Hebrews and it's the freshest thing in my mind so I'm with apologies to those who attend the Met [Music] um I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna do a couple of Hebrews expositions over um today and tomorrow and what I really want to do is I want to give the exposition I hope that'll just be encouraging for us to spend some time in the word and I hope you can sit back and relax you guys are usually preaching rather than being preached to many um and I trust that that just might be encouraging but I also want to just have an opportunity at least to open it up for a bit of discussion about some choices that I made and and things maybe I could have done better and I'll share with you at least some of the issues that I had to Grapple with heading into this text I'll just mention them at the beginning and then what I'd like to do is at the end give some time just for you to kind of come at me with questions or comments or criticisms and I kind of we can engage with that and I hope that might then just be a learning exercise for all of us um and a kind of object lesson um Hebrews is not easy preaching I'll just say that I've I've done more work on Hebrews than any other book in the Bible and I've I've found it to be some of the hardest preaching I've I've sort of Bitten into I'm just three weeks in um it's immensely challenging and I will say um you'll notice this I do try and grapple with some of the some of the authority issues or some of the challenging issues um as I'm expounding the text I I'm I'm in my I just passed the three year mark into my fourth year at the med in Ottawa and I'm this is really the first season that I would have felt able at the church to Grapple with something quite as challenging as this I wouldn't have felt brave enough to do it last year or the year before it's partly me being new to the church I think that's partly some um just the congregation um as a whole many new people getting used to hearing this kind of preaching and feeling able to engage with it three years ago I couldn't have done it um but it I will say um this is probably the most ambitious Exposition in terms of grappling and depth um that I that I probably would try on a normal Sunday morning but I'll tell you some just some of the things before we turn to the text in Hebrews one I'll just tell you some of the things I had to Grapple with and then you can be thinking about how I grappled with them and we can um just talk about it I I had to Grapple with the question of length of series when I designed the series and tied to that length of Passage and we've just there's been some discussion around that today and I I know I I've had some one-to-one discussion about that you know how how do you choose with Hebrews chapter one I could have done a mini preaching series on this chapter I think I probably could have what I feel is to get something of the overall shape of the argument of the letter it's helpful to keep some Pace going um and I decided that I would roughly work at about a chapter a week that's with Hebrews one that's really Hebrews one and two and three the later chapters are actually a bit easier to do more quickly but that's quite ambitious I'm also wanting to be sensitive to what I perceive to be the attention span of the congregation now there are some saints in the congregation who would who would be happy with a 30-week series and they just would you know anything if it's Bible they're happy uh but on average I think that's not true I think anything more than about a 15-week series um I'm pushing it for attention span and I would have to at least break it and come back but I ended up feeling like I'd go ambitious and do about a about a chapter a week I felt like I really needed to work hard at the situation of the original hearers and the issue that's being grappled with and this is Christopher is going back to Corinth point it's going back to wherever the Hebrews were we don't know um but it's going back there which trying to figure out why these things were being said to them I felt I really had to Grapple with that it's not there are certain things that are obvious in Hebrews and certain things that are less obvious but I felt that to have any hope of applying chapters one and two well I had to I had to do some real work and some deep thinking about that that felt sort of urgently important in the way that it it feels less you know immediately important in some books but here I really felt it um and I needed to to work at it speaking of the question of relevance and the the the the sense of need to be relevant in preaching which we all feel and it's not wrong but I I was glad Christopher mentioned that earlier I feel I I continue to feel and I did feel right from the first sermon that in order to be faithful to the text I really had to try and resist the urge to find points of relevance quickly because I think Hebrews is bringing before us some issues that we wouldn't necessarily think about I mean it is relevant I mean as you get into it you see how it hits home but I think it's it's giving us it's very clear in the way it gives us its own applications actually I think but they're not the ones we would choose and there will be people in our congregations and I know for certain there are in mine who are hungry for the quick you know seven ways to reduce stress in my life five ways to make my marriage all these things and and find it a bit tiresome to be doing things that aren't the those Quick Fix relevance things and you really have to re and I found I really had to be careful about that urge to go to relevance as quickly as possible the other thing I felt I needed to work really hard at and think carefully about is structure structure really try and figure out what is the structure of this letter sometimes I mean I feel with Paul you know where we were in second I mean there are some broad units but in some ways with Paul it's it's not a life or death thing exactly where you carve up the units I mean there's a there's a progressive flow of the argument but you can make some choices and it probably won't impact things too much with Hebrews and we'll engage over this question I've ended up feeling like where you where you draw the boundaries for units is very important and will shape what you where you go with application so anyway we can discuss that but those were some of the issues I was really grappling with heading into the series and heading into this passage um and I'd love to I'd love to turn to Hebrews one I'm I'm I'm going to do chapter one verse 1 through to chapter 2 and verse 4. I'll read it um I'll read it for us and then I'll I'll pray but let me let me read it Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1. and I should say I'm going to preach this essentially as as I preached it at the Met um and I'm gonna in a sense pretend most of the time um that I'm I'm just speaking to a a general audience on Sunday mornings I I want it to be for us here but I'll I'll give it as I gave it just to give a sense of of how that went and then you can you can reflect on that and feedback on it Hebrews 1 1. 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 for to which of the Angels did God ever say you are my son today I have begotten you or again I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son and again when he brings the firstborn into the world he says let all God's angels worship Him of the Angels he says he makes his angels wins and his ministers a flame of fire but of the son he says your throne oh God is forever and ever the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions and you Lord laid the foundation of the Earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands they will perish but you remain they will all wear out like a garment like a robe you will roll them up like a garment they will be changed but you are the same and your years will have no end and to which of the angels has he ever said sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet are they not all ministering Spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it for since the message declared By Angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or Disobedience received to just retribution how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation it was declared at first by the Lord and it was attested To Us by those who heard while God also bore Witness by signs and wonders in various Miracles and by gifts of the holy spirit distributed according according to his will pray together Our Father we thank you once again for your Living Word and for the privilege of spending time together as brothers around your word and indeed under your word we pray that now as we hear your voice in Hebrews 1 you would give a soft and responsive Hearts we pray that we would be nourished and fed by Your Word this evening and we pray also that you would help us to reflect well on the task of preaching your word and we pray that it might be an edifying Time For Us in that way as well and we pray it in Jesus name Amen in the world of mining it's often said that the deepest Minds in the most challenging places yield the richest treasure and sometimes I think it is like that with the word of God I guess we've all felt that and seen that and experienced it sometimes the places where we've got to do the most digging and some of the hardest work to get at the treasure will actually yield us the the greatest spiritual reward and I think I tend to think that Hebrews is a lot like that it is full of treasure that's my experience of Hebrews that's what I've discovered and that's what I feel every time I turn to it but I also find that you really have to do some digging some real digging some intensive digging to get at the treasure so we're going to need to kind of roll up our sleeves a little bit and do some real work together if we're going to get to grips with this part of the word of God God and to understand it and then be transformed by it Hebrews is a stretching book to study there's no question about it but I'd like to say that Hebrews is also worth every ounce of effort that we put into studying it and as we set out on a new series I'd like to suggest at least two reasons why that is the case why it's worth the investment of our time and energy to study Hebrews here's reason number one Hebrews helps us to stick with Jesus for all its theological richness and depth the basic message the basic purpose of Hebrews is very simple it is written to keep us from drifting away from Jesus from doubting his power to save from allowing our hearts to seek truth and meaning and fulfillment anywhere else Hebrews was first written to a group of Jewish believers who had come to believe that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah but over time it seems they were beginning to doubt and they were beginning to drift they were beginning to wonder if Jesus actually was able to save them from their sin to give them access to the god of Heaven they were beginning to ask they were beginning to wonder whether actually they'd be safer to return with their friends and family members to the synagogue to the temple to go back to what they knew before now for most of us here today our Temptation will not be to turn back to traditional Judaism I take it for many the Temptation will be to drift from Jesus to seek truth in the gurus of our society in the great cultural influencers of our day our Temptation will be to seek spiritual Security in a form of religion or ritual that you grew up with or maybe the Temptation will be to succumb to the constant pressure that is all around us simply to doubt that Jesus is the sure and true way to go God over the Labor Day weekend we took a little boat trip as a family out on the Rideau River and at the end of the time on the water we we returned to the dock we returned to the boat launch but being a holiday weekend it was really busy busier than I'd ever ever seen it there was a little queue building up a line in the river of boats just waiting to get to the dock waiting to use the ramp and a guy on the boat next to us he kind of commented you know this is like trying to park at Costco on a Saturday I thought that was probably true but I replied that I would take this over the Costco parking lot any day of the week twice on Sunday anyway we had to wait quite a long time there and the thing about trying to linger in one place on a river is that you're naturally drifting all the time that's what's going on all the way all the time you're being pulled down the river by the current and so you're constantly kind of backing up and going forward and spinning around just to try and keep your place not to lose your place not to drift down street now the Christian life is just a little bit like that isn't it if we're not actively holding on to our place looking to Jesus remembering Jesus remembering his word calling to mind his promises if we're not doing that actively each day we are actually going to drift that's what's going to be taking place and that's a challenge for each one of us wherever we are in our walk with Christ and Hebrews is here Hebrews is written to help us keep fixed in place holding to Jesus it is written to Anchor our souls to Jesus now that's the first reason that Hebrews is worth our attention it's worth our effort it's worth the investment and the second reason is this Hebrews teaches us how our Bibles fit together throughout the letter the writer works really hard to show these Jewish Believers how the Old Testament points to Jesus and finds fulfillment in Jesus and as he does that as he works through that as he builds an argument based on that he actually teaches us how to read our Old Testament properly how to see it pointing to Jesus pointing to the gospel and finding fulfillment in him and so actually if we pay careful attention to the way in which Hebrews handles the Old Testament if we give attention to that and observe that carefully we're actually going to become much better Bible readers as a result of it we're going to become better students of the scriptures and of course each one of us needs that there's none of us that that doesn't need that after all seeing how the Old Testament and the new fit together and relate to one another that can be very very hard I sometimes find it immensely challenging to see the interrelationships and Hebrews is going to help us if we listen carefully okay well now to the text and to Hebrews chapter one and I think the presenting question at the opening of the chapter and running throughout the chapter really is this what is truth how do we ultimately discern between competing truth claims in a world of many voices vying for Supremacy where is true truth actual truth ultimate truth to be found and who is the final Authority the final Arbiter that's the that's the fundamental issue I think with which Hebrews opens and on unsurprisingly the answer that the writer gives us is very very simple Jesus Jesus Is The Answer Jesus is God's message of Truth and Jesus is the supreme authority in matters of Truth in all the universe that's really the burden of chapter one that's a driving concern and it's there as we move into the start of chapter two the implication of all this we're going to see is very simple we must therefore listen to Jesus that's where the writer is taking us by the opening of chapter two that's where we're going but we mustn't get too far ahead of ourselves here at the opening of chapter one the writer Begins by teaching us that God has spoken his Supreme word in Jesus God has spoken his Supreme word in Jesus if you're in school or college or university you're engaging with the issue of Truth and Authority every day and you know that you need to be able to deal with it in a thoughtful and intelligent kind of way you can't simply ignore the question of Truth and Authority for many in your workplace issues of Truth what is truth the foundation of your worldview your ethic your outlook those issues are ever present only barely beneath the surface at any given point in time and in any interaction with a colleague parents in the home raising children we know that this is the main matter actually the central matter that we need to help our kids navigate the core issue we need to address as we send them out into the world engaging with leaving friends and family here's the big question we need to seek to be able to answer with conviction and with coherence what is truth who's the final Arbiter of what is true the writer reminds us that God has been in the business of revealing Truth for a very long time God is a specialist in this he has done so verse 1 at many times and in various ways through the prophets little by little piece by piece but God has been doing it but now at the final stage of Salvation history what the writer calls here these last days the days ushered in by the first coming of Jesus Christ and that will last until the return of Christ in these last days God has given his Supreme his complete his final message to the world he has sent his son who is as we know the word made flesh the embodiment of the truth the one who radiates the very glory of God and reveals the father to us he sent him into the world one one thing that's not captured so well by the English here but which stands out I think in the original is that verses one through four are actually one long sentence one idea expressed as a fluid single thought there are two main action words that drive the whole sentence in its original structure the the word spoken there in verse 2 and the word sat in verse 3. God has spoken and the rest of the thought flows from that and relates to it God has spoken by his son whom he appointed the air of all things through whom also he created the world being the radiance of the glory of God having made purification for sins so it's all his speech and then comes the kind of punch line at the end the Pinnacle of all this action which reveals God he sat down the point is that all the activity related here is um or all the ACT to be spoken of here is related to the idea of God speaking it's all part of his speech all part of his Revelation so you ask the question how has God spoken to us by Jesus it's a good question answer by all that Jesus is by all that Jesus said and by all that Jesus did by all the things mentioned here in verses two and three by his very being radiating the glory of God by his saving work at The Cross by his resurrection and in a very special way by his Ascension to the father's right hand and his sitting down at that place is supreme Authority okay so what's the writer saying he's saying if you want to know what God is like well look at Jesus if you want to see the Unseen Eternal God look at his son look at him as he walks the face of the Earth as he heals the sick and causes the blind to see and the mute to speak look at the Sun as he shows kindness to the lost and to the broken the outcast and The Sinner look at the Sun as he takes up a Roman cross as he carries it to Calvary as he dies a death that he does not deserve as he pays the price of my wrongdoing and your wrongdoing who is God what is he like well look at the Sun and what is God's message to the world what is his word of Truth for us it is Jesus it is all that he is all that he does it is all that he says but now we must ask and it's important to ask this question and many will be asking it how do we know I mean so much of this just sounds like a very Grand assertion is there anything of this anything I've just said anything the text says here which constitutes real proof you know for those who already believe yes we might follow all of this and accept all of this but is there anything here that is at all compelling for the skeptic for the undecided well for the writer of Hebrews the proof beyond all proof is tied up in that little statement in verse three that after making purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high it's one thing for Jesus to have lived and to have taught and even to have died but for him to have conquered death for him to be raised again to life and even brought to the father's right hand in heaven for Hebrews that right there is the compelling proof of all that he's claimed and it is of course a matter of history that these things happened it is a matter of history that the tomb was empty that the Risen Jesus was seen by many that he was visibly exalted to heaven and that the world was turned upside down and the course of Western history was radically changed by these events if God the Father mother has taken this healer and this teacher and has lifted him from the grave itself and put him in the place of supreme authority in all the universe whatever else anyone might say that right there for the writer of Hebrews that right there tells us that Jesus is fully Vindicated as the highest Authority in all the universe the final Arbiter of Truth itself God has spoken his Supreme word in Jesus next God has given the Supreme name to Jesus we live in a pretty casual Society but I think we still understand something of the importance of rank and title I remember when living over in the UK I first got to know someone who had been knighted by the queen and had the title sir so and so and it was a bit of an adjustment actually just to figure out how to relate to him and then a man joined our church in London who had um who sat in the House of Lords and it was Lord so and so and again you kind of just need to figure out how to greet this person what are the rules you know do you need to sort of stand up or bow or something when he comes into the room well probably not but the title means something I was chatting with our neighbor actually just the other day and she was giving me a bit of neighborhood history uh down in manitake where we live and she was she was telling me that the man in charge of the Canadian Army uh used to live in the house just across the street from us General so and so and and I was just kind of trying to imagine that and trying to think what that would have been like you know when taking out the trash in the morning first thing when I'm half awake not yet showered looking disheveled would I need to kind of stop and salute him or something if he happened to come by anyway you get the point rank matters titles mean a little something and here the writer of Hebrews wants to show us that the Lord Jesus Christ carries the most senior Rank and has the most exalted name in all the universe in particular he wants to show us that the name given to Jesus sets him above the angels He seems very concerned to demonstrate that to us he highlights the issue in verse 5 and then it becomes the focus really of the rest of the chapter as it goes just notice with me verse 5 he sat down having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs sorry verse 4 there isn't it verse 4 as we read through the text and as we have done indeed a few moments ago you you may have noticed that the writer does focus in quite a lot on angels He Compares Jesus quite a lot to the angels and that's an intriguing feature of this text I think if we're going to have any sense of what's going on we need to try and puzzle that out and have some kind of an answer why he's concerned about that now we could take some time doing a little bit of a bible study on that we could dig into it together and do some work but I I think the answer is found when we discover this when we make this rather simple observation in a few places in the Bible we are told that the Angels were involved in some way in the delivery of the Old Testament law at Mount Sinai you don't necessarily need to turn to these but let me just mention a couple of verses that help us with this Galatians 3 in verse 19 Paul says this why then the law it was added because of transgressions until The Offspring should come to whom the promise had been made and it was put in place through Angels by an intermediary very interesting statement that's Galatians 3 and verse 19. or Acts chapter 7 and verse 53 at Stephen there speaking to the people of Israel and you may be familiar with the passage but he says this you who received the law as delivered by Angels again very very fascinating acts 7 53 and then here in Hebrews itself chapter 2 and verse 2 in our passage I read it speaking of the law it's Sinai for since the message declared By Angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or Disobedience received a just retribution and so on and so on and so on but the message was declared By Angels people of Israel evidently knew that the Angels were divine intermediaries messengers of authority Sent From Heaven above involved even in the delivery of the law at Sanya it seems pretty likely that these Believers here in Hebrews that they were coming under some pressure some pressure from folks within the religious community of Israel and pressure over this very issue their friends were saying something like this the law of Moses the old Covenant you know it came to us through the Angels themselves this was an Angelic message to us now why would you step away from the Priestly offerings at the temple why would you take that kind of spiritual risk the Angelic message the law itself it told us to do these things you see that's where spiritual safety is going to be found not with any would-be Messiah stick with the law stick with the Angelic word and in response to all those pressures to help these Believers stand firm the writer says this and he is at pains to prove this point Jesus is higher than the Angels yes God spoke at former times verse 1 through the Angels but in these last days he has spoken by his son God the father has declared that Jesus is not merely Prophet or messenger but he is son now that's the name that he has inherited that was confirmed in a special way when the father raised Jesus to his right hand and so the sun is higher he is exalted Above All Else listen to him now the name son that is I think the name that the writer is talking about there in verse 4 and just notice how he continues verse 5 for to which of the Angels did God ever say you are my son today I have begotten you now I'm pretty sure that the Jewish Believers to whom the writer was uh sending this letter I'm pretty sure that they weren't denying that Jesus was rightly called son I don't think they were outrightly denying that but the big question I think is this what does the name Sun actually mean what is signified by that name for Jesus you see the same word the same title it can be used to mean a variety of different things it can be used with different levels of meaning think of perhaps the title secretary in the world of work it may be a little bit less common in the office now but a secretary can be an administrative assistant someone who who answers the phone and manages emails and books appointments and that kind of thing or think for instance of the secretary of state in the United States of America one of the most powerful influential people in the country one of the highest offices in the nation you see a title needs to be put in context for us to know what it means you and I when we hear Jesus referred to as Sun we immediately think Son of God second person of the Trinity Eternal Divine son that's immediately where we go and we are right to go there the New Testament has taught us that truth about Jesus and it has taken us there but for people in the first century from a Jewish background to call Jesus God's son it may have to them just meant that he was God's promised Messiah the promised and coming King who would defeat the nation's enemies and fulfill the promises of God in verse 5 the writer quotes two very very important Old Testament passages that are both about the king of Israel that both point forward to the Savior King the Messiah who would come there in verse 5 we've got you are my son today I have begotten you you may recognize that it comes from Psalm 2 which is a Psalm to be sung on the occasion of the king's enthronement in Zion the next verse there is from second Samuel chapter 7. and that's God's promise again you'll recognize it to King David that he will establish David's son as a great king with a never-ending Kingdom and of this Royal descendant this king who is to be born God says I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son that's the promise so here are two very very important Old Testament passages about the king and in both passages the king is called son God's son now in Old Testament times I don't think the ancient people of Israel read those passages and immediately thought that the current king or indeed a coming king would literally be God's Divine Eternal son second person of the Trinity you see it was possible for an Israelite to Imagine David or Solomon being referred to as God's son simply meaning that the King has a very very special relation ship with God chosen by God ruling as God's representative it's kind of exalted language a kind of acceptable hyperbole or exaggeration it's a little bit like an older man maybe a teacher or a boss saying to a young student or a trainee with whom he has a good relationship a strong mentoring relationship saying look son you're doing a great job good work son they're not saying that the student or the trainee is their biological son they're speaking to them affectionately as a mentor and the people of Israel Old Testament people of Israel could have imagined the Messiah being like that with God God's very special representative in some sense you could call him God's son the prophecies do but that surely doesn't mean he's God's actual son the Divine son of the father of course the writer doesn't want to allow these Believers to be drawn into that kind of thinking that limits Sun language in that way he wants to show them that when God's Messiah is called Son of God it actually means when applied to Jesus that he is the Supreme Being in all the universe the second person of the trinity God himself and to do that to make the point to drive the idea home he proves it from the Old Testament itself he shows them he shows us that the Old Testament expected a king who was God's true son even God himself now we can't look at all the Old Testament quotations here in chapter one you'll be very relieved that we're not going to try that would be a sermon series on its own but I I want us to see how Hebrews makes his case from the Old Testament and I'd like to look at just one of these quotations in a little bit more detail in verses 8 and 9 there the writer quotes from Psalm 45 and I'd love to turn there together if we could just for a moment Psalm 45 maybe you could turn to that and find it in your Bible this is another kingly Psalm a Psalm all about Israel's King the one to whom Psalm 2 refers as God's son a particular Psalm here Psalm 45 is written for the occasion of a royal wedding and what I'd like to do is read through the psalm and if you could just follow with me as I read for a moment and as we read through as we follow the the psalm and its progression could I ask you to look out for the moment when the psalm stops making sense look out for that moment look for the moment when the psalm stops making sense if it refers just to any ordinary King in Jerusalem David or Solomon or someone else just look for that moment with me Psalm 45 and verse 1. my heart overflows with a pleasing theme I address my verses to the king my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe you are the most handsome of the sons of men Grace is support upon your lips therefore God has blessed you forever gird your sword on your thigh o mighty one in your Splendor and Majesty all okay so far we comfortable with the Psalms so far it makes sense verse 4 in your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of Truth and meekness and righteousness let your right hand teach you awesome Deeds your arrows are sharp in the heart of a king's enemies the peoples fall under you still okay your throne oh God is forever and ever uh-oh uh oh that's a little bit confusing you see the psalmist just called the king God your throne oh God is forever and ever the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness now that is confusing we ought to stumble over that just a little bit but but maybe there's an answer maybe the psalmist in verse 6 has just stopped talking to the king and has pivoted and started talking to God for a moment maybe that's the answer but no look at the middle of verse seven he's still talking to the king therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions so here is a king whom the psalmist addressed in verse 6 as God but this king called God is Anointed by God middle of verse 7 with the oil of gladness we've got here two persons both referred to as God one of whom is the king what is going on here how can this make any sense at all now Hebrews loves to pick up on Old Testament passages that stretch beyond their historical reality and point to a greater reality yet to come he he loves to pick up Old Testament passages that only make sense in an ultimate sense when they find their fulfillment in Jesus and the point here is that this Psalm points to the coming of a king who is not only kind of close to God who's not only special to God a son like figure to God but a king who actually is God a king who when you call him God's son it actually means he is the very Son of God the true son of the father and so now back back to Hebrews 1 when the writer quote Psalm 45 there in verses 8 and 9 but of the son he says your throne of God is forever and ever when the writer draws our eye to Psalm 45 he's telling us that the promised king in Israel he is the true son the very son the Divine Son of God exalted above all others exalted above above all other kings exalted even above the angels seated now at the right hand of the Majesty on high God has spoken his Supreme word in Jesus he has given the Supreme name to Jesus and the implication of all this is simply this we must listen to Jesus chapter 2 and verse 1. therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it for since the message declared By Angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or Disobedience received a just retribution how should we escape if we neglect such a great salvation the people of Israel they had to listen to the law as mediated by the Angels through Moses to ignore the old Covenant law it brought retribution it brought punishment but now the very Son of God has come to Earth to deliver not a law but a message of Salvation a message that we can be reconciled to our maker because the perfect Son of God has made purification for our sin has brought cleansing through his blood the message middle of verse 3 was declared at first by the Lord Jesus himself it was then attested to these early converts by the apostles those who heard Jesus themselves and God himself bore witness to the truth of the message by the Wonders and miracles performed both by Jesus in his Earthly Ministry and then by the apostles in the book of Acts the message has been declared the Son of God himself has given it but imagine then ignoring the message imagined failing to pay attention imagine understanding the truth but not allowing your heart to be gripped by it so that over time you drift away from it I remember this is this isn't a message about a big sale a Canadian Tire a new product line offered at Walmart this isn't the kind of news that comes in those annoying flyers in our mailbox all the time a message to be picked up and put immediately in the recycling bin no this is verse 3 the message of a great salvation this is the news that a hurricane is coming and the rescue helicopter is sitting outside waiting to take you to safety this is the message that the boat is sinking and there is a place on the Lifeboat for you this is the message that you are alienated from your maker dead in your sins facing the prospect of a terrible future apart from the blessings of God but the message that Jesus has come to rescue you from the Judgment that he's come to bring you into the joy of Friendship with your maker chapter one of Hebrews is I think one of the most theologically rich chapters in all the Bible in some ways we've only just scratched the surface of it together here we've scratched the surface of all it says about Jesus and about his Majestic name but having laid out all that rich theology chapter 2 and verse 1 is the big take home therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we've heard that's the punch line that the writer has for us and in some ways that might seem to us like a little bit of a letdown after all that build up Mr Hebrews don't you have something more impressive for us something a little bit more dramatic to take home is this really the best you can do but actually chapter 2 verse 1 is just what you and I need to hear and it's just what we need to do you see we need to learn and we need to learn again to pay attention to what Jesus says we need to learn to pay closer attention to what Jesus says in fact we need to learn to pay much closer attention to what Jesus says because it is by listening to the voice of Jesus in Scripture it is by paying very close attention to what he has said in his word it's by doing that that our hearts are going to be guarded from drifting away from Jesus friends I wonder how it is going for you at the moment in listening to the voice of Jesus in his word I wonder how it's going in your own daily reading of the word of God I ask that of our congregation but I think we as pastors and Ministry workers it's a good question for us too how's it going I wonder if you have that habit I wonder if it's still going and I wonder if it's a time in which you're really feeding on the word of God or just ticking off a box on the to-do list because we feel we must maybe you've had the habit but in recent months or years The Habit has dropped away or it's grown very very stale you have kids at home and I know many do I wonder how it's going helping them to hear the voice of Jesus in his word I wonder if the word of God has that part that place in the rhythm of family life I don't know again speaking as a pastor I I sometimes reach the end of the day and I am so tired generally and tired from Ministry that opening up the word of God with the kids is the last thing I feel like doing do you ever feel like that it's a real challenge isn't it we give the word to everyone else and sometimes we get home and we think I just don't have it in me I wonder how it's going making time to hear the word of God on Sundays I challenge the congregation with this it's great to be together on this particular Sunday but for many being here is a sporadic thing it's the thing that happens when nothing else is happening um it's it's it's what happens on the weekends that aren't busy when there isn't a sporting commitment when the weather isn't so nice that you're drawn outside or so bad that you're tempted to stay home in the warm and maybe the challenge for many and for many in our church is to resolve to be here each week not to let a week go by without hearing the word of Jesus someone once described Sunday Gatherings at church like each each Sunday being like a utility pole in a in a long power line and between each pole you know what it looks like the line kind of sags and then it goes up again it sags and it goes up again and if you miss a couple of pulls in the row it sags quite dangerously and then pretty soon it's just hanging it's lying down on the pavement it's down on the road and to cover the distance well we need to be under the word of Jesus hearing the word of Jesus each week we need to be together as the people of God that we might be lifted up and propped up and unable to keep going I wonder how it's going for us in in Ministry listening to the voice of Jesus in his word it is a Temptation isn't it to come to the word of God merely as the tool for our work you know I need to I need to get through this next chapter of Hebrews here's what I'm thinking this week I've got a very full week and I've got to get through this chapter of Hebrews I need something to say for Sunday that is that's what's in the back of my mind all day today and it becomes very perfunctory doesn't it I need to get through that I might have something to say but as I'm going through am I listening am I actually listening to the voice of Jesus or am I simply trying to discern something to say to others am I listening that I Don't Drift it's a scary thing to be the people who speak the word of Jesus but who are ourselves drifting because we're not listening to his voice and how easily that happens we must pay attention for the one who speaks is himself the final the Supreme word from God the Royal the Eternal son exalted seated now on high can I invite us just have a moment of quiet just to reflect upon the word of God and I'm going to lead us in a prayer before we chat together father we're just aware of the danger that we could be those who speak your word but who fail to listen and whose Hearts drift by your grace we pray that you would arrest Us by your voice in your word and guard us and keep us and we pray it in Jesus name amen well that is Hebrews one of my attempts at Hebrews 1 and of course you get to the end of something and you're just aware of all the limitations of it and all the things you should have said that you didn't say and the things you might have said and the things you said but you shouldn't have said and all that kind of thing um but I I'd be glad of some interaction um just questions about why I did what I did or queries about the text queries about strategy in terms of what I took on and didn't take on anything like that at all exegetical questions feel free to fire yeah Joe go for it brother well I I don't know what it would have looked like and I think I I ended up feeling like the own the only line I could take in terms of application that was as a main line that was really faithful to the text was listen to Jesus listen to the voice of Jesus and I think I was just aware that that doesn't sound like a very exciting application you know if you're the person who's coming looking for the how do I deal with stress in my life how do I you know how do I make my marriage better and and the primary application of the sermon is listen to the voice of Jesus in his word and listen more carefully to his voice that could sound unexciting so so I I think I was aware that I I wasn't I wasn't going to find a way of packaging this in a really consumer-friendly format and I could have skewed the text to do that I I wasn't gonna go I wasn't gonna go there but what I what I did feel as I Was preparing it was oh boy I wonder if people are going to want to listen to this you know that and that I wasn't I wasn't going to do something different but I I had to wrestle with that fear a little bit yeah I mean that was a tricky thing because part of me thinks I like tidiness I like complete completeness and part of me thinks oh I love to really work through this but I think for me I recognize that to have any hope of doing that it would have been a it would have been three or four weeks in chapter one and so I then had to figure out how do I do chapter one if I'm gonna do it in one week how am I going to do it or giving some sense of the logic of the text not just ignoring what it's doing I mean you can't ignore Old Testament engagement if you're doing Hebrews one you've got to do something and I thought I I thought if I can give a representative sample of the kind of strategy of the writer in looking at Old Testament texts I won't get all the detail but I I think I can still serve the main point um so rightly or wrongly I chose I chose one and went with it um it there are weaknesses in that though no I no no no it wasn't no it wasn't I think it would have made it much stronger if I'd if I'd gone back to just in at the at the application at the end I could have had two sentences that would have done that and I think it would have been strengthening I think that's really good the I mean the danger is of course I mean we're always in a rush aren't we and the danger is that you know a line of thought I have at the beginning I've forgotten by the end a little bit I mean honestly I you know I think it boils down to that um and sometimes we don't see obvious things in our own preparation that you know a friend listening will immediately spot that I think you know but it hadn't occurred to me at the end that I should have gone back to it no I would say um I was a little bit less explicit in signaling them verbally here but but the the guys in the tech Booth will have my full script and there will be slides that go with it so people will be seeing it as they and people have a printed outline as well if they want it but it's available so I I lean on that a little bit but actually as I was doing this here I was quite conscious I didn't have PowerPoint behind me yeah so that we use PowerPoint and it that saves me a little bit you can say a little bit less and they time it so it comes up right at the right moment and all that kind of thing but my verbal cues I was conscious of that say and I I tried to emphasize it I slowed down and tried to emphasize what were my points because I realized that my verbal cues were weaker in this one and it was is complicated is complicated because I was doing some series introduction stuff here are a couple of reasons here so I kind of had like two before I got into the exposition really so that complicated a bit but it raised it you know at the start of a series I think there is a case to be made for doing something first a little bit series introduction sometimes I don't always do that I felt like for Hebrews I might I might save myself a little bit of work down the road by just just doing a bit of that and the Jewish Believers and the drifting and the you know some of that might save me some work down the line I it could have been much longer so this sermon I mean I know I know how long is long enough in terms of my time that I've got and we're pretty military about our timings at church we kind of need to be um and my first draft to this was like way too long way way and I had to do some major urgent Saturday night Sunday morning cutting to get it down into my time and I had a longer section on the series introduction actually the authorship thing yeah it's interesting it's it's it's often the conversation starter for everyone with Hebrews so I did some graduate study on Hebrews and when people heard I was working on Hebrews the first question was always well who wrote it and you know I have a little chat about it and eventually get the answer I don't know you know that's where it's going um because no one knows um and I I'm aware that people get interested in that issue I'm not sure it it's in terms of hard application or edification that it gets us anywhere having the discussion I could do an hour lecture on authorship issues in Hebrews but I'm not I don't think it actually impacts the application at all actually so I chose completely to ignore because we just don't know you know I've got my own little theories and stuff but um but I that one I felt like I mean you have to cut out so much potential stuff you have to make hard choices all the time don't you and that one I mean for me it wasn't a hard choice but it was a kind of yeah we're just not going to go there um I think if I was doing you know if I was doing like a full you know 40 minutes of series introduction I I would give a nod to it I'd say I'd make comment but um rightly or wrongly I just I decided to set it set it completely aside brother yeah uh so with reading I mean um I think Montgomery I think I think it was 40 40 minutes when I did it on the Sunday I think I was right I was just in just in there or just over me there's there's a there's there's a now I'll give a little bit of background when when I came before I even started the map but one of the times I visited and preached I did Hebrews 1 1-4 as a sermon and that would have been three and a half years ago or four years ago so it was it was recent enough that I think if I'd done those four verses I probably would have ended up preaching it in a very similar way so that was partly informed my but when I was designing the series I I thought seriously about just doing the first four verses than the rest of chapter one right um so that was that it was partly informed by that experience of having done it within living memory at the Met but actually I think if you know what if I were recommending a totally fresh series I would probably reckon so I'll just mention that just on the structure thing I ended up I mean I spent some time in Hebrews and I I kind of came to this view a while ago I really feel like the chapter divisions and the NIV ESV English divisions don't help us in Hebrews I really I mean it as in English in Greek the therefore is really do draw out implications from what's been said before and the fact that the chapters all begin in the early childhood you know I'll begin with the therefore as a new unit I think it's just incorrect I really do and I think that therefore you know at the end of The Logical units do give us the application and then you start a new unit I mean we could there's a longer discussion here but I think the word gar for in the Greek that starts the sentences after therefore actually that's the transitional word to the new unit of thought so I think the new unit of thought you know um in chapter two probably comes well I think it probably comes at verse five um and then you know the therefore thing happens again at the beginning of chapter three and it happens again at the beginning of chapter four and I think those actually belong with the unit right before but it totally changes what you do in terms of implication application like completely so if you start with the therefore we must pay closer attention and then do all of the information in in the rest of chapter two it just doesn't make a lot of sense actually yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah so but that's really important in Hebrews but you need to do some pretty hard work on structure and I I not a lot of commentaries have gone that way I think that's being a little bit more recognized maybe now but you have to be a little bit of an independent thinker on it um yeah Jonathan it's interesting it's very interesting isn't it I mean I would say I'm you know from what we can tell it's hard to discern exactly all that was going on with respect to Angels I mean there are some theories that there was sort of Angel worship and all that kind of thing going I I don't necessarily think we see evidence of that here it seems to me that it's more it's a it's it's more straightforward than some of the fan this fanciful stuff in the the Angels were simply associated with the giving of the law and were seen as very highly exalted beings so I don't think it's going I don't think they're getting into Angel worship or anything like that some have suggested I don't quite see that here but but simply the exalted standing of the angels as deliverers of the old Covenant um that that's where the issue who do you listen to who's the final word but it is it is fascinating I agree yeah oh yes brother go go on please well yeah I I I I won't I won't take tons of time you know to try and uh I've got some some thoughts on that it is it is where it gets challenging you're absolutely right um in the in the opening chapters that therefore has come pretty regularly and it's very easy to structure preaching around that once you get into five six seven eight nine you you you get into the main teaching block of the letter where the writer's doing the priesthood of Jesus in the order of Melchizedek and how that fulfills the whole the whole Temple system and so on and that's quite it it's it's a tight argument very sustained and all of that builds up to the then the really long section of exhortation in 10 19 to 25 or whatever it is which is the long the longest chunk the central exhortation of the book um and what I I I still think and this may be completely wrong but I still think the writer is working in those kinds of units doing teaching building up to exhortation but you can't preach five chapters in a go but here's what I I think does work if you even preach one a chapter at a time with those but you think you know chapter 5 Jesus is priest high priest in the order of Melchizedek or chapter seven preaching and you know this then the sacrifice and offering and Sanctuary stuff if with each of those you jump forward and say how does this truth lay the foundation for that great exhortation in 10 19 to 25. what what I think you discover is each of those chapters provides a distinctive contribution or or lays a distinctive piece of the groundwork for that huge exhortation that's coming and and so what I would do what I plan to do when I preach those chapters is each week go head forward to exhortation this truth is going to help me draw near and encourage one another daily and all this kind of maybe one final one here yeah um well I mean it gets you know those that's a great question it's a very perceptive perceptive question um I mean it get it gets fundamentally I mean it takes us to a little bit of a kind of systematics biblical theology question it also a Hebrews question I think there's some answer in Hebrews you know how do we hear Jesus today where do we hear his voice where do we encounter the person of Jesus and the work of Jesus you know where does that encounter happen and I you know I I I think my my broader framework and I want to just be downloading a framework as we were taught not to but we'll we'll say you know in the word of God I encounter the living Christ and I hear I hear his voice um so that it's a it's you know it is tied to that but I think I think in the way in which Hebrews functions so just the letter itself it seems to me that the writer is saying that as we listen to his exposition of the scriptures in Light of Christ so a christ-centered exposition of the scriptures we are actually hearing the living voice you know um so so even in the refrain you know that comes in three and four you know today if you hear his voice do not Harden your hearts it's not just that he's quoting Psalm 95. I think he's saying to them today if you hear his voice and the implications you are hearing his voice don't Harden your hearts though you're hearing the living voice not just the Old Testament voice of the of of of of God the Father you're hearing you're hearing the Lord himself Proclaim salvation and call you toward the Heavenly Homeland um and I think we probably get something of that sense in chapter 12 as well so I I I think I would want to argue from Hebrews that actually inex the writer himself believes that in expounding the scriptures in a christ-centered way though he's hearing the Lord's voice and and so I'm happy going I think I'm happy going that way in in application but I think but the question you raise is is valid because and I'm just thinking aloud now just in light of your your observation you know when I made the application I kind of said you know listen to preaching read your Bible and all those things are true but I think it could have gone gone further and say you know as you see the Lord Jesus in his word and you hear his voice are you listening you know rather than speaking about the activity talking about Jesus speaking you know as we're gathered here this morning under the proclamation of the word and Jesus is speaking to you are you you know as he is as he is reminding you that he died for you and rose again and is ascended on how are you listening to him you know I could have made it much more direct I think but still tied it to script to scripture it's really interesting and I mean we must stop with this because it's getting late but you know we've just as a staff team we've been reflecting on Hebrews and you know it's it requires a whole lot of Old Testament background even just the storyline of Israel and we can't retell that story every time we can't do all the you know this is one this is one place where if you're a little bit if you're more kind of Seeker sensitive I mean if you but you know if if that's your kind of outlook on how Sunday mornings work it's Hebrews is a tough one to expound you know and we're aware that this series is particularly hard for those with no background either unbelievers or new Believers just without the background and we're we're thinking how do we mitigate you know but it's really tough really tough friends that's great let me say a word of prayer just as we end our evening we can chat personally but I I want to give people freedom to go to bed or whatever if you want to but let's say a word of prayer Our Father we thank you just for this time together and the richness of the day we've had we pray now uh for our families at home and friends at home Lord for your upholding and encouragement for them and protection for them we pray for ourselves for a restful and restorative night and new Strength tomorrow and a fruitful day tomorrow in Jesus name amen

Channel: The Timothy Trust

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Id: eLtM532GrBw

Length: 64min 16sec (3856 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 06 2023