Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / Hebrews 2:1

Transcript

Hebrews 2:1 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
It's possible this morning for you and I to feel beaten down by this unbalanced error.
0:07
So as we've thought about alternate plans for this Lord's Day, I just want to encourage you by helping us walk the tightrope well.
0:18
Again, the tightrope is right. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
0:23
But if saved, we are going to be pursuing holiness. Our works are going to evidence the fact that we're saved.
0:30
Not saved by them, but giving evidence of our salvation.
0:36
So I err often, acting as if, now that I've been saved, I need to continue to earn that status with God.
0:47
And this is not the case.
0:48
In Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 3, it's prophesied of the Christ.
0:54
A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.
1:02
You may feel like the flame of your faith is barely lit.
1:06
So be comforted by joining me in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1.
1:12
Before I read it, let me remind you as I do each Lord's Day.
1:15
Beloved, this is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good.
1:19
And so we would all do well to listen to it, in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
1:26
And it reads,
1:27
Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
1:36
There is one exhortation or encouragement in today's text,
1:41
and it is the ruling or overarching exhortation of the entire letter of Hebrews.
1:49
The original audience of this book is a church of Hellenistic Jewish Christians,
1:53
or Greek-speaking Jews, that had not seen Jesus, but had heard the gospel and believed.
2:00
They had endured much suffering to this point, and the author is anticipating that they will suffer further.
2:08
So there exists among them the temptation to forsake their faith in Jesus Christ and return to Judaism.
2:16
You see, Jews practicing Judaism had long been accepted in the Roman Empire,
2:22
and this remained true in the days that this letter was written.
2:26
So there's this very real temptation ahead of them.
2:28
If we just go back, it's the same God, correct?
2:31
Like, if we just go back to that, we'll no longer experience this type of persecution.
2:38
We find in this verse one exhortation accompanied by a warning.
2:44
Must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
2:51
The exhortation begins with a therefore,
2:54
And you may be thinking, how is this text meant to encourage me this morning?
3:01
Well, here it is.
3:03
Everything contained within that therefore,
3:07
which is going to take us back in the book a bit.
3:12
Therefore refers back to all that the author has said of Jesus Christ in chapter one.
3:19
So we're going to look together this morning, especially at Hebrews chapter one, verses two through three.
3:24
But I'll begin reading in verse one of chapter one.
3:29
There he says,
3:30
Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.
3:37
But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son,
3:40
whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3:45
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.
3:51
And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
3:55
After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
4:02
Now, he has other things to say about Christ in chapter one.
4:06
But for our time this morning, I want to think together in these two verses about the supremacy and finality of Jesus Christ.
4:18
Kent Hughes, who is a contemporary pastor, wrote of this text, quote,
4:22
The grand theme of these verses is the supremacy of Christ as God's final word.
4:27
Christ is held up like a great jewel to the sunlight of God's revelation.
4:31
And as the light courses through it, seven facets flash with gleaming brilliance.
4:38
I had a conversation this past week with a brother, a member of our church,
4:43
about people who always want to go deeper past the gospel.
4:47
They want to go deeper.
4:49
And we were just musing first about what that term even means sometimes.
4:54
We're not really sure what's being asked in that case.
4:57
But also about how people want to want to go past the gospel as if it's the simple thing about the Christian faith.
5:03
And they want to go mine the depths as if there's anything deeper than God's love shown to sinners in a personal work of Jesus Christ.
5:13
And so you see here Christ's supremacy and finality refracted for us to consider.
5:19
We get to roll it around, which is the great work, the great theological effort of every faithful Christian mind.
5:29
So let's give these seven refractions some titles to help us in our study of them.
5:37
First, Christ is the inheritor.
5:41
Second, the creator.
5:43
Third, the sustainer.
5:44
Fourth, the radiator.
5:46
Fifth, the representer.
5:48
Sixth, the purifier.
5:51
And seventh, the ruler.
5:54
First, Christ is inheritor.
5:57
We see at the last part of verse 2,
5:59
Whom he appointed the heir of all things.
6:05
It follows that because Jesus is the Son of God, then he is also the heir of God.
6:10
The writer of Hebrews identifies for us Jesus Christ as the anointed and son of Psalm 2 when he cites Psalm 2, verse 7 in Hebrews 1, verse 5.
6:24
There he writes,
6:24
You are my son.
6:26
Today I have begotten you.
6:28
In Psalm 2, verse 8, the psalmist writes,
6:32
Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.
6:38
So Psalm 2 teaches us that the inheritance of Jesus Christ is the earth and its peoples.
6:47
But also Colossians 1, verse 6 teaches us that all things, so the cosmos themselves, everything in the universe were created for him.
6:57
But not only that, beloved, if you are in Christ Jesus, then you, specifically you, are his inheritance.
7:07
Through the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross, he has purchased you and he treasures you as his inheritance.
7:15
In Ephesians chapter 1, in verse 18, Paul tells the Ephesian believers that he always prays that they may know
7:22
what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.
7:29
What an astounding truth.
7:30
Christ is inheritor and we are part of that inheritance.
7:35
But not only are we Christ's inheritance, we are also his co-heirs.
7:42
In Romans 8 and verse 17, Paul calls us heirs.
7:46
Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
7:50
Christ is the heir of all things.
7:54
He is the heir of God.
7:55
But as followers of Christ, we are found in him.
7:59
So we are also heirs.
8:02
What a thing to think about.
8:04
What a thing to fully realize and understand.
8:08
Someday, come Lord Jesus.
8:10
1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 21 and following.
8:14
Paul writes,
8:14
What an amazing thing to be said of us who have Christ only by grace through faith in him.
8:40
Secondly, we see that Christ is creator.
8:46
Verse 2 again,
8:47
Through whom also he created the world.
8:51
Not only does Christ inherit all things, but he also created all things.
8:58
The Greek word here translated world could be more literally translated ages.
9:04
It's a wonderful word because it includes all things.
9:09
Not only space, but also time.
9:14
Brooke Voss Westcott, a 19th century British theologian, defines this Greek word,
9:18
which I'm intentionally not trying to pronounce for you, this way.
9:22
The sum of the periods of time, including all that has manifested in and through them,
9:30
an order which exists through time developed in successive stages.
9:36
Everything.
9:37
All of it was made by Christ.
9:40
Our galaxy is an average sized spiral galaxy over 100,000 light years across.
9:50
600 trillion miles.
9:53
That is not a number we can even fathom.
9:56
Our medium sized average spiral galaxy, 600 trillion miles across.
10:04
We can see with modern telescopes about 100,000 million galaxies.
10:12
Each galaxy contains 100,000 million stars.
10:17
The average distance between these galaxies is 3 million light years.
10:23
It's just absolutely astounding.
10:27
In this scientific age, I will just say, matter of factly,
10:30
we ought to have more reason to believe in a creator God than people did in the past.
10:36
What an astounding thing this universe is.
10:40
And it was created by and for Christ.
10:46
John chapter 1 verse 3.
10:48
All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
10:53
1 Corinthians 8 and verse 6.
10:55
Yet for us there is one God the Father, for whom are all things and for whom we exist,
10:59
and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
11:06
Colossians chapter 1 and verse 16.
11:08
For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
11:12
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities,
11:15
all things were created through him and for him.
11:20
And Romans 11 and verse 36.
11:22
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
11:26
To him be glory forever.
11:29
Amen.
11:31
The cosmos were created that we might praise Christ.
11:36
We are a new creation, right?
11:39
Found in him for the praise of Christ.
11:45
2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17.
11:48
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
11:51
The old has passed away.
11:53
Behold, the new has come.
11:57
So Christ is creator.
11:58
The creator of all things.
12:00
The creator of us and the new us.
12:03
That we might worship him.
12:07
Thirdly, Christ is sustainer.
12:11
Verse 3 says,
12:12
He upholds the universe by the word of his power.
12:16
Jesus Christ created all things and he sustains all things.
12:23
He is not now passive once having created.
12:27
He actively sustains by the word of his power.
12:32
This means that Jesus says to the world,
12:35
Move like this.
12:37
Behave like that.
12:39
Rain here.
12:40
Snow there.
12:42
Weirdly mixed.
12:43
Rain and snow into terrible ice.
12:45
Here.
12:47
Just a little aside.
12:48
I was just so anticipating the worst ice storm.
12:51
It just seemed like the recipe for that was going to happen.
12:55
This is totally off topic.
12:56
But this is another God's providence to us.
12:59
The place that we're currently living while we're working on this house,
13:03
there's a tree that really needs to come down.
13:06
And one way felling it would hit the edge of a roof.
13:08
The other way felling it would hit a power line.
13:10
And I've been anticipating having to climb halfway up this tree and top it and then bring it down the rest of the way.
13:17
Well, the only tree that snapped in the yard was that tree in half, right where I would have cut it,
13:22
landed it on the ground, and now I just get to go out there and take care of it.
13:25
So wonderful.
13:26
Right?
13:26
Jesus said that tree should snap right there in the middle and I can just take care of it very safely now.
13:33
Right?
13:34
Whatever he says, right, the world obeys.
13:38
He's absolutely sovereign over everything that happens.
13:42
This means that nothing will cease to do exactly as it is told until Jesus says to do otherwise.
13:51
Right?
13:51
If he says go to the world, it goes until he says stop.
13:57
Jonathan Edwards, who is the most brilliant theological mind this country has ever produced,
14:03
and some, even secular people, argue that he's the most brilliant mind we've ever produced of any variety in the States.
14:10
He had this theory of continuous creation, that is, that Jesus is constantly speaking the world into existence.
14:17
And it's really fascinating, and I want to read you a couple quick quotes from him,
14:20
just to marvel, to think for a moment about how it is that all of it is sustained by Christ.
14:27
He says this, quote,
14:28
It is plain.
14:31
Nothing can exert itself or operate when and where it is not existing,
14:36
because what is past entirely ceases when present exists in the moment that had ceased 20 years ago.
14:43
Which is to say, my previous self has no power over my present self because my previous self stopped existing when the past went past.
14:53
The past does not have the power to sustain that which is in the present or in the future.
14:59
It can't do it.
15:00
I can't make the future me exist.
15:03
He goes on.
15:04
God's upholding created substance or causing its existence in each successive moment is altogether equivalent to an immediate production out of nothing.
15:15
At each moment, because its existence at this moment is not merely in part from God, but wholly from him,
15:20
and not in any part or degree from its antecedent existence.
15:25
That is to say, right, I have no power to sustain my future existence, which means God must do it.
15:30
Right?
15:30
He is constantly creating Nathan Rayner.
15:34
I keep being created in the future.
15:37
And if your brain is breaking over that thing, join the party.
15:41
Edwards was brilliant.
15:42
But the point is that we should marvel.
15:45
Right?
15:45
That we are together the way it holds together.
15:48
And I know that there's science about covalent bonds and things of that nature,
15:52
but all of that happens because Christ said it should happen.
15:56
Right?
15:56
He says, exist like this.
15:58
And until he says stop, right, it will continue to be like that.
16:03
If Jesus Christ has the power to sustain the world,
16:07
then he most certainly has the power to sustain our faith.
16:10
This is why Paul was able to say with such confidence to the Philippian believers in Philippians 1 and verse 6,
16:18
I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ,
16:26
creator and sustainer.
16:28
Fourth, Christ is radiator.
16:32
Verse 3 says he is the radiance of the glory of God.
16:37
Radiance here, I think, is a better translation than the oft-used reflection.
16:43
The moon reflects the light of the sun.
16:47
The sun radiates that light.
16:50
Jesus is not glory.
16:51
He's the radiance that comes off of God's glory.
16:57
John chapter 1 verse 18 says,
17:00
No one has ever seen God, the only God, referring to Christ,
17:05
who is at the Father's side.
17:07
He, Christ, has made him known.
17:11
We get to see God in the person and the work of Jesus Christ.
17:17
The Nicene Creed, which was made in 325 A.D.,
17:21
says we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
17:24
the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages,
17:27
God from God, light from light, true God from true God,
17:32
begotten, not made of the same essence as the Father.
17:37
Jesus is God.
17:40
So when we see Jesus, we see God.
17:45
We have to behold him in the Scripture.
17:48
That's a significant thing that we are able to do.
17:52
Colossians chapter 1 verse 15, Paul there says,
17:55
He, Christ, is the image.
17:58
Fifthly, Christ is representer.
18:01
Verse 3 says he's the exact imprint of his nature.
18:05
This phrase balances out the previous phrase.
18:08
Jesus as God's radiance speaks to his oneness with the Father.
18:12
Jesus as God's representer or imprint speaks to his distinctness as the Son.
18:17
So the author of Hebrews gives us a taste of the mystery
18:21
that is the Trinitarian nature of God
18:25
and the hypostatic union of Christ.
18:28
Truly God and truly man.
18:31
Beloved, this should move us to odd speculation.
18:35
A God who is one, but three in one.
18:38
An incarnate God.
18:39
A mystery that I look forward to having unraveled in glory.
18:45
Just what an incredible thing, this nature of our God.
18:51
Exact imprint refers to the image on a coin made by a die.
18:57
Once again, when we see Jesus, we see God.
19:00
We know how he thinks.
19:02
We know how he speaks.
19:03
We know how he feels.
19:06
We know how he relates to mankind.
19:08
God has spoken to us in his Son.
19:14
I said to you, my intention was to be an encouragement to you this morning.
19:19
All these things about who Christ is and who we are in him.
19:22
Let me just be more pointed for a moment.
19:25
Again, we know how he relates to mankind.
19:29
God has spoken to us in his Son.
19:32
Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28 and 29.
19:36
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
19:44
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
19:53
Christ is a representer.
19:55
Christ is a purifier.
19:56
Christ is a purifier, verse 3 says, after making purification for sins.
20:03
Jesus Christ is the supreme priest.
20:07
He was the agent of the purification for our sins and the sacrifice necessary for that purification.
20:14
He fulfills all that's necessary.
20:17
He is the supreme priest and the final priest.
20:22
The author of Hebrews will go on to expand on both realities in his letter later in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11 and following.
20:31
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
20:40
But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
20:47
waiting from that time until his enemy should be made a footstool for his feet.
20:51
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
20:59
Right?
20:59
Justification and sanctification carried together there.
21:05
In John chapter 19 and verse 30, Christ hangs on the cross and just before he gives his final breath, he says,
21:13
It is finished.
21:16
Everything necessary for our salvation.
21:19
That the beginning, the intermediate part, and the end was accomplished by Christ on the cross.
21:27
Done.
21:28
Once for all.
21:30
Accomplished.
21:31
Romans 6.10 says,
21:32
For the death he died, he died to sin once for all.
21:37
But the life he lives, he lives to God.
21:41
So Christ is our purifier.
21:44
Not works done by us to purify us, but Christ himself.
21:46
Seventh gives us the purification for sins.
21:52
Seventh, Christ is ruler.
21:55
It says he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
21:59
Jesus Christ does not have to work as the Levitical priests works.
22:03
They never sat.
22:05
They were continually making sacrifice for the sins of Israel.
22:10
The writer of Hebrews' words are astonishing here.
22:13
Don't let it be lost on you.
22:15
His original listeners would have taken such courage from this phrase.
22:20
He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
22:25
Not only is he seated, but his location is significant.
22:30
His session is at the right hand of God the Father.
22:33
They would have remembered that Jesus' sacrificial work is final.
22:40
Paul wrote in Romans 3, verse 21 and 22,
22:42
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.
22:46
Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it,
22:48
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
22:54
It's so significant that Jesus is at the right hand of the majesty on high.
23:00
The right hand was the place of highest honor and power in the court of a king.
23:08
In Ephesians 4, in verse 10, there Paul says,
23:11
In Jesus' session or his reign, Paul tells us something that he is doing specifically for those who believe in him.
23:30
In Romans chapter 8, verse 31 and following,
23:33
Just after a grand explanation of God's elective purpose,
23:38
Paul writes,
23:38
He sits at the right hand of the Father,
24:08
He lays claim over his people,
24:11
and he prays on our behalf.
24:16
So Christ is the inheritor, the creator, the sustainer, the radiator, the representer,
24:21
the purifier, and the ruler.
24:25
And all of that is packed into the therefore of Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1.
24:31
Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.
24:38
Because of Jesus' supremacy and finality, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.
24:46
The author of Hebrews is referring to all they knew of Jesus, his person and his work.
24:53
Which she refers back to in the therefore of 2.1.
24:57
And forward to, in 2.3, as such a great salvation.
25:03
Pay attention.
25:04
It's a present verb tense, which means that the author does not have in mind the completion of the task in any given amount of time.
25:12
This suggests that one can pay attention, but that we must all continue paying attention.
25:19
You could translate it, pay attention, pay attention, pay attention.
25:24
The work of paying much closer attention is not a work that will be completed on this side of glory.
25:33
Note with me the emphasis.
25:34
Not pay much closer attention to yourself.
25:39
Our faith cannot be sustained if the focus of it is on ourselves.
25:45
Our faith is sustained by focusing on what we have heard.
25:51
All that is true of Jesus Christ, his person and his work.
25:56
Saving and sustaining faith must find its focus on Christ.
26:02
He is the object of that faith.
26:06
So we're given this encouragement to pay much closer attention.
26:12
But it is also, I told you, accompanied by a warning.
26:17
Lest we drift away from it.
26:21
The picture the author is painting here is of a ship safe at harbor.
26:25
Not having its anchor properly set, slowly moving out toward the danger of the sea.
26:32
The sea is often portrayed in the Bible as a place of tumult and of danger, unknown things.
26:41
The ship, of interesting note, was a common early symbol of the church.
26:47
In 1 Peter chapter 3, Peter makes a connection between Noah and his family being carried safely through the flood
26:53
and the church being in Jesus Christ.
26:56
In 1 Peter chapter 4, Jesus calms the storm on a sea, showing that he has power even over something felt as so unknown and evil.
27:09
When the symbol of the cross had to be hidden, it could be easily disguised in the mast of a ship.
27:14
Brothers and sisters, this picture of drifting is meant to elicit imagery of subtle movement.
27:24
Little by little.
27:27
Don't drift away.
27:29
Pay much closer attention.
27:32
Because this drifting is a movement toward danger made by degrees and increments at a time.
27:39
Later in Hebrews, the author writes, chapter 6, verse 19 and following,
27:46
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.
27:52
A hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.
28:00
Pay much closer attention, lest we drift away from it.
28:05
In Hebrews 6, verse 7 through 12, having just spoken of the apostate,
28:12
the author of Hebrews uses a different metaphor.
28:17
There he says,
28:17
For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated,
28:24
receives a blessing from God.
28:27
But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed,
28:32
and its end is to be burned, lest we drift away from what we have heard.
28:41
Paul speaks of the same concern in his first letter to Timothy.
28:45
In 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 19 and 20, Paul makes mention of Hymenaeus and Alexander,
28:50
who made shipwreck of their faith by rejecting faith and a good conscience.
28:56
And then in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 20 and 21, he writes,
29:02
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.
29:04
Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.
29:09
For by professing it, some have swerved from the faith.
29:13
Grace be with you.
29:15
So we go back to Hebrews 6 and verse 9.
29:18
Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things,
29:22
things that belong to salvation.
29:25
For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name
29:30
in serving the saints as you still do.
29:33
And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness,
29:36
to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
29:40
so that you may not be sluggish,
29:42
but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises,
29:47
sanctification that accompanies our justification.
29:51
So how do we ensure that we are not drifters?
29:57
We pay much closer attention to what we have heard,
30:01
lest we drift away from it.
30:04
We love the person and work of Jesus Christ.
30:09
Somebody has doubt of whether or not they are in Christ.
30:12
A fair question to ask is,
30:14
do you find that you love him?
30:17
Are you affectionate toward Christ,
30:20
his person and his work?
30:23
And then do you find that producing in you a desire to serve him?
30:29
You will serve what you love.
30:32
You will find that you will be inclined toward the ways of Christ if you love him.
30:40
Set your gaze on him.
30:43
Recognize that all the promises of God are confirmed in his completed work.
30:49
His work as inheritor, creator, sustainer, radiator, representer, purifier, and ruler.
30:56
In closing, I'd like to read to you a prayer from the Valley of Vision,
31:01
which is a collection of Puritan prayers.
31:04
I hope you're familiar with this work.
31:07
Note in this little prayer his great humility,
31:09
his self-awareness of how frail he is,
31:12
the attitude of his heart,
31:15
which I will assume led him to pay much closer attention.
31:21
He prays this.
31:22
May I live by you, live for you,
31:48
never be satisfied with my Christian progress,
31:51
but as I resemble Christ.
31:53
And may conformity to his principles,
31:56
temper, and conduct grow hourly in my life.
31:59
Let your unexampled love constrain me into holy obedience
32:03
and render my duty my delight.
32:07
If others deem my hope delusion,
32:09
my meekness infirmity,
32:11
my zeal madness,
32:13
my hope delusion,
32:15
my actions hypocrisy,
32:16
may I rejoice to suffer for your name.
32:21
Keep me walking steadfastly towards the country of everlasting delights,
32:26
that paradise land which is my true inheritance.
32:30
Support me by the strength of heaven
32:32
that I may never turn back
32:34
or desire false pleasures that will disappear into nothing.
32:38
As I pursue my heavenly journey by your grace,
32:41
let me be known as a man with no aim
32:43
but that of a burning desire for you
32:45
and the good and salvation of my fellow men.
32:50
Let's pray together.
32:50
Thank you.