← Back to sermon library

Good evening to everyone welcome 
back to free grace Baptist Church or a fresh welcome for those 
who weren't with us this morning It's good to be in the house 
of the Lord again You can turn in your Bibles with me to the 
book of Hebrews Hebrews chapter 1 It's a passage that has been preached 
from from this pulpit many times before Hebrews 1 1 to 4 and it's 
a It's not unnecessary repetition 
to return to passages like this, well, to any passage in the Word 
of God, generally speaking, but because it is such a passage 
rich with the doctrine of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and though we may not have the same allurements before our eyes 
as first century Jews prior to the destruction of the the temple 
in Jerusalem and the city of Jerusalem, nevertheless, we still 
have things that assail us. And the greatest help that we 
have before us as Christians is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 
who took on humanity for our salvation. And so it's a wonderful 
passage to rehearse as often as it is wholesome to do so. 
So Hebrews 1, beginning at verse 1, this is the Word of God. and 
we're going to read until chapter 2 at verse 4. The Word of God. 
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time 
past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken 
to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, 
through whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness 
of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding 
all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself 
purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty 
on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He 
has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For 
to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son, today 
I have begotten you? And again, I will be to him a 
father, and he shall be to me a son. But when he again brings 
the firstborn into the world, he says, let all the angels of 
God worship him. And of the angels, he says, who 
makes his angel spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. But 
to the son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is 
the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness 
and hated lawlessness. Therefore, your God has anointed 
you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. And 
you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth. 
And the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, 
but you remain. And they will all grow old like 
a garment. Like a cloak you will fold them 
up, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your 
years will not fail. But to which of the angels has 
he ever said, Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies 
your footstool? Are they not all ministering 
spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Therefore we must give the more 
earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 
For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and 
every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, How shall 
we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first 
began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those 
who heard Him, God also bearing witness, both with signs and 
wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, 
according to His own will? Amen. Well, let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for this time that we have now in worship. We rejoice once again in your 
goodness to us. We pray that you would help us 
once again to hallow your most precious name. We pray that as 
we have gathered together as the saints of Christ in this 
place, that you would help us to be stirred up by your spirit 
in the inner man, that we might behold the riches of our God, 
that we might lay hold of the word here as the The truth is 
brought forth. We do pray, Lord God, that you 
would help both preacher and hearer in this exercise of worship, 
that you would be honored, that you would be glorified, and that, 
Lord God, once again, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, would 
be exalted upon the praises of His gathered assembly. Do be 
with us now, we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. 
Amen. Well, the book of Hebrews was 
written most likely 30 years after the crucifixion and resurrection 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, around the year 63-64 AD, and it comes 
to an audience that has been affected by apostasy. The issue 
at hand with the book of Hebrews is that the Hebrew Christians 
were being tempted to go back to Judaic worship. They were 
being tempted to go back to temple worship. And throughout the epistle, 
the apostle, if I can boldly say, and Pastor Butler would 
agree with me, the apostle Paul, is writing to his audience in 
order to draw their hearts, in order to draw their minds to 
the Lord Jesus Christ. holding forth Jesus Christ, Him 
crucified, Him resurrected, and Him ascended, as that which is 
to be looked to over and against the alluring articles of Old 
Covenant religion. The temple, temple worship, the 
priesthood, all of those articles of Old Covenant religion were 
drawing the eyes of Hebrew Christians possibly away from resting upon 
Jesus Christ and him alone. And we see a twofold flavor, 
if you will, to the book of Hebrews. That is that there is theological 
content and exhortative content. And in fact, that's with every 
epistle that we have in the New Testament. But what the Apostle 
Paul is doing is he has the theological content of the supreme excellency 
of Jesus Christ over all that had come before him. He is the 
one to whom all things in the Old Covenant pointed forward 
to. And we have exhortative content that, based upon that blessed 
theology of Jesus Christ, what are these Christians to do? Well, 
we have a great summary before we move to our actual content. 
In Hebrews 4 at verse 14, we have a one-verse summary of the 
entire book of Hebrews. As we launch into looking upon 
verses 1 to 4, Hebrews 4.14, we have a summary of the entire 
book. Seeing then that we have a great 
high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of 
God, let us hold fast our confession. We have both the theological 
content and the exhortative content of the book of Hebrews set forth 
there. Jesus, the great high priest, Jesus, the son of God, 
and then let us hold fast our confession. So as we come now 
to Hebrews 1, 1 to 4, we should have that in our background, 
that the apostle is holding up the supreme excellency, the super-abounding 
excellence of Christ, over all that had come before him, in 
order that the Hebrew Christians would not apostatize, but would 
rather hold fast their Christ. And of course, as we know, no 
true Christian can properly apostatize. So, we're going to look at the 
book of Hebrews, not at the whole book, but Hebrews 1, 1-4, under 
three considerations. Three simple, yet hopefully glorious 
considerations as we rehearse this passage. First, the singular 
greatness of His revelation, that is Christ's revelation. 
Secondly, the infinite excellency of His person. And thirdly, the 
perfection of His redemptive regency. So first off then, the 
singular greatness of his revelation. Notice Hebrews 1 at verse 1. 
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time 
past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken 
to us by his Son." Here we see something of what the Apostle 
Paul does throughout the letter, is he moves from the lesser to 
the greater when arguing for the greatness of Jesus Christ. 
We see that he moves from various times in time past, and various 
ways, and he moves to the Son. He starts with the prophets, 
and he moves to the Son. And so here we have the Apostle 
Paul setting forth the greatness, the singular greatness, of the 
revelation of Jesus Christ. And we want to notice a couple 
things at this point. First, the epistle's theme of 
latter things being greater than former things. If we were to 
wrap up, if we were just to summarize the book of Hebrews in one simple 
sentence, it is better things in Christ. The apostle Paul uses 
this language of better throughout the epistle when he's talking 
about the superabounding excellence of Jesus. We have in Christ a 
better hope, chapter 7, verse 19. We have in Christ a better 
covenant. chapter 7 verse 22 we have in 
chapter 8 and verse 6 better covenant established on better 
promises 9 23 better sacrifices and 12 24 a nice summary better 
things and these are all connected to our savior the lord jesus 
christ better things in him and so Throughout the Epistle, you 
have these comparisons where the Apostle Paul moves from lesser 
things to greater things. The lesser things that pointed 
forward to Jesus, and the better things that are in Jesus himself. And here we have this with the 
movement of verse 1 into verse 2. So, the Epistle's theme of 
latter things being greater than former things. Secondly under 
the singular greatness of his revelation. We want to see here 
the comparison of the two ages There's a comparison going on 
here between time past and these last days There there is a number 
of these comparisons going on in just the first in just the 
first verse verses one and two to be to be more to be more sure 
so The times past compared to these last days notice the language 
God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time 
past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days Spoken 
to us by his son. This isn't just the passage of 
time. I So, when we're talking about this comparison that the 
Apostle Paul is making, it's not just that he's saying that 
God spoke in times past and now he's speaking in these last days. But it is the manner of speaking 
that he is trying to emphasize. But nevertheless, we have here 
that in these last days, the revelation being made is greater 
than in those former days. And when we say that, we're not 
saying that there is something deficient. to the revelation 
that is being made in times past. Remember that God is bringing 
along the nation of Israel progressively in the revelation of the coming 
Redeemer, Jesus Christ. God, as it were, doesn't open 
the fire hydrant of revelation to blast them with all of the 
articles and all of the propositions concerning Christ, but rather 
he carries them on, he carries them along like a school tutor 
to that point where Jesus Christ does come, and we have the fullness 
of revelation being made. But on this language of times 
past and these last days, we want to put us into the proper 
frame of what these last days means, and this is John Gill. 
It is best to understand this of the last days of the Mosaic 
economy. Now, when he says Mosaic economy, 
or when anybody says that, that simply means the Old Covenant, 
the manner in which God dealt with the people of God, with 
the nation of Israel in the Old Covenant. It is best to understand 
this of the last days of the Mosaic economy or Jewish dispensation. Don't let that word throw you 
off. For the Messiah was to come before the Jewish civil and church 
states were dissolved, before the scepter departed from Judah, 
and before the second temple was destroyed. And he was to 
come at the end or toward the close of both these states, and 
which is called the end or ends of the world. And quickly after 
Jesus, the true Messiah was come, an end was put to both these. 
From whence it may be observed that the Messiah must come, that 
the Mosaic economy and Jewish worship will never be restored 
again, that the Gospel revelation being made in these last days 
ought to be regarded the more, it being the last revelation 
God will ever make. You see, so there's a movement 
that is happening here in the Apostle Paul writing these last 
days as compared to those times past. It's because with Christ 
comes the perfection of the fullness of the final revelation being 
made to man. And this is an argument for, 
this is a text that cessationists often come to in 
order to argue for the cessation of tongues, prophecy, and knowledge. 
Not only verses 1 and 2, but also chapter 2, verses 1 through 
4. And so, we see in Christ, with 
his first coming, with his first advent, we have the perfection, 
the fullness of revelation coming. Thirdly, we want to notice that 
the greatness of Christ's revelation is seen in the manner of the 
revealing. Again, it's not so much time 
as it is the manner of divine speaking. In the time's past, 
the revelation came in a piecemeal nature, as John Owen notes, by 
several parts or at several times. But with the coming of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, it comes, if you were at once, with truth incarnate 
himself. In the old covenant, there are 
many ways in which revelation comes. We see a summary in the 
Old Testament by Moses himself, or God speaking through Moses, 
visions, dark sayings, and dreams, and those sorts of things. With 
the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, truth incarnate, Emmanuel, 
God with us comes, and he gives the revelation to the sons of 
men and after his ascension through the apostles of Christ and so 
we have the manner of revelation is the emphasis here that in 
times past it came through the prophets at various times and 
in many ways and In these last days, it comes through His Son, 
the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's parts of Revelation versus 
the fullness of Revelation. And then lastly, under the singular 
greatness of His Revelation, we want to note here, the greatness 
of Christ's Revelation is seen in the one revealing. Previously, 
it is by the prophets, as the text says, and it is now, in 
these last days, by the Son of God. I think this is the, not 
that we should cast the other points aside, but this is the 
chief point or the most important point being emphasized here, 
that the greatness of this revelation is seen in the one who is doing 
the revealing. In former times it was the prophets, 
but in these latter days it is the prophet of prophets, the 
son of God himself who assumed man's nature for our recovery. 
And so the greatness of the revelation is seen in the fact that the 
Son of God is the one revealing. John Owen says, there is a difference 
between the Son of God revealing the will of God in His divine 
person to the prophets, of which we have spoken, and the Son of 
God as incarnate revealing the will of God immediately to the 
church. So this is the distinction that 
we have. And I want us to recognize something absolutely blessed 
with the revelation of Christ in the New Covenant, in the New 
Testament, or Christ as the manner by which God is speaking in comparison 
to the prophets of old. In Christ Jesus the Lord, we 
have not simply the messenger, but also the content of the message 
preached. Unlike any prophet that came 
before him, because remember Christ serves in the office of 
a prophet, but unlike any prophet that came before Christ, Christ 
is both the messenger and the content of the message preached. 
What a glorious thing. He comes to preach Jesus Christ. He comes to disclose himself. 
He comes to reveal the father He comes to reveal the will of 
god father son and holy spirit He comes to disclose the glories 
of the gospel And he is the center of that gospel truth and that 
gospel revelation The greatness of his revelation is seen in 
the fact of the one revealing um, not only Do we have the reality 
of Christ being both the messenger and the content of the message 
preached? But think about it here for a 
moment as far as this various times and in various ways language, 
and then the singular greatness of Christ. In the Old Covenant, 
we had a multitude of prophets. We had a multitude of priests. 
We had a multitude of kings. but the Lord Jesus Christ is 
singularly Prophet, Priest, and King. The greatness of His office, 
as all of those offices, if you will, are merged into one glorious 
Redeemer, Prophet, Priest, and King, we have the fullness of 
Old Covenant revelation, all of those blessed streams of Old 
Covenant revelation, prophet, priest, and king, the sacrifices, 
the shadows, the types, the copies of the true, all confluencing 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And here, the Apostle Paul sets 
him forth as the great revelator. And in Jesus Christ, we have 
that. So, the singular greatness of 
his revelation. We want to note that what a blessing 
it is that God has spoken to us at all. I think perhaps we 
don't often reflect upon that enough, that God has chosen to 
reveal himself to us. Under no obligation to do so, 
God reveals himself to the sons of men. And we have the blessed 
reality that He has revealed His will for the sons of men, 
that we might look to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and find 
in Him our all in all. Jesus Christ alone, the Savior 
of men, that we might close with Him, that we might own Him as 
our Savior. God, our blessed God, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit, has spoken to us, and He has shown us that 
the way of salvation is through Jesus Christ, His Savior. What 
a colossal folly it is then to reject the revelation that God 
has given to us. Madness. To take upon or to fill 
our minds with everything else other than the Word of God, it's 
okay for us to lawfully and wholesomely think about and read and talk 
about other things. It's okay if you have a hobby 
making model aircrafts, you're okay to like that and to talk 
about it. If you like to bake, it's okay 
to like that and to talk about it. Whatever your hobbies, whatever 
your fancies are, lawfully speaking, those are great things to have, 
and God has blessed us with kindnesses like that. But to take into our 
minds and to take upon our hearts and to fill ourselves with everything 
other than the Word of God is the madness of the hearts of 
the sons of men who are fighters against God and not owners of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the Word of God revealed 
to us, and we are to avail ourselves of the Word of God, to rejoice 
in Him, and to see our Savior blessedly set forth. to cast 
our eyes of faith upon Him, and see in Him our all in all. Secondly, then, we want to look 
at the infinite excellency of His person. So, in verses 1 and 
2a, we see the singular greatness of His revelation, and now we 
have the infinite excellency of His person in verse 2b to 
verse 3b. Notice the language of the text 
here. "...has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom 
he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he 
made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the 
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the 
word of his power." Hopefully your hearts your Christian hearts 
are cheered by just reading those those couple verses to see our 
Savior who he is Who is our Christ? We see the blessed language of 
the Apostle Paul setting forth the infinite excellency of his 
person and we want to note first that the infinite excellency 
of his person is seen as the one designated to be the inheritor 
of of heaven and earth. Notice the language of the text, 
whom he has appointed heir of all things. Now, obviously, we 
must remark that as God, according to his divine nature, the Lord 
Jesus Christ is obviously the sovereign owner of all things. 
He owns all things. He is God Most High. He is the 
Creator. The Creator of all is the owner 
of all, and so all things are the possession of Jesus, the 
Son of God. The language of the text here 
is touching upon His mediatorship according to His human nature. This is with this language of 
whom he has appointed heir of all things, it is with respect 
to him as mediator according to his humanity." Let's think 
about this for a second. Isn't it a wonderful thing that 
Christ now is the heir of all things? What I mean by that is 
this particular passage here, as I said, was written just three 
decades after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
imagine the generation of people who Many of which, some of which, 
would have been an audience to the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. They can recall back, as they're 
reading this epistle from the Apostle Paul, they can recall 
back to this beaten, this bruised, and this bloody man upon that 
Roman gibbet of execution. They can think back to the absolute 
horror and shame and the ignominy of the cross. And they can remember 
the sweat, and the blood, and the heat, and the sound of the 
nails pounding into the arms and the feet of the Savior. The 
cry of dereliction, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 
Can reflect back upon the pains and the sorrows, not only of 
the Lord Jesus Christ enduring physical pain in Himself, but 
the greater suffering of enduring the wrath of God in the stead 
of all His people. And yet these same people can 
read the words that Jesus Christ is the heir of all things. What 
a blessed contrast to think about our Lord Jesus Christ to the 
Christian, To the Christian, he's our blessed savior, our 
blessed redeeming king, whether he is bearing a crown of thorns 
and holding a reed scepter as a mockery before the gathered 
kangaroo court, before his crucifixion, or whether he has that crown 
of, that diadem of jewels, and he's holding that scepter of 
righteousness, and he is the heir of all things, he is, to 
our hearts, to our cheer, to our blessed recollections and 
our sweet contemplations, such a blessed Christ. And here he 
is seen as the one who is the heir of all things. According 
to his humanity as mediator, upon the heels of the perfection 
of his saving work, he is coronated, if you will, as king, as king 
of kings and lord of lords by virtue of the perfection of that 
saving work. He is the heir of all things. Adam, So we noted this morning, 
failed and did not become or was not the heir of all things. 
The nation of Israel were promised an inheritance. They failed in 
the wilderness wanderings and they failed in their covenantal 
disobedience. And so they, of course, were 
not the heirs of all things, but the Lord Jesus Christ was 
and is the heir of all things. And that was always the divine 
intention. It's not as if The Lord God Almighty 
had a plan with Adam, and that failed, so He moved to plan B, 
and plan B failed with the nation of Israel, so He moved to plan 
C with the Lord Jesus Christ. But much rather, before the foundation 
of the world, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit determined to save 
a multitude which no man can number by the perfection of the 
saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this one now, by 
virtue of that perfection, is the heir of all things. Secondly, 
the infinite excellency of his person is seen in the identity 
of Christ as the one who has undiminished essential likeness 
to the Father. Undiminished essential likeness 
to the Father. Notice the language of the text 
here. whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also 
he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and 
the express image of his person. We're just skipping over only 
for a moment, through whom also he made the worlds, to focus 
in on this. We'll come back to it later, 
but verse three, who being the brightness of his glory and the 
express image of his person. That is amazing language. We 
all know as Christians, we confess that Jesus Christ is the Son 
of God. But you know, as our minds go 
about thinking about other things, and as our minds come from lunch 
and our between-service nap, or whatever you guys do between 
the morning and evening services, our minds are it we we do move 
about and focus upon other things in our Going about this life 
on this in this lower world And so our minds can bounce from 
subject to subject subject from object to object and from thing 
to thing But as we collect our thoughts as this gathered assembly 
in this gathered assembly and we think about the Lord Jesus 
Christ Let's come back to this ABC of Christianity that Jesus 
Christ is truly God and glory in that You know it is the the 
the haters of God the opponents of the word of truth Come to 
this passage those who reject those who deny the deity of the 
Lord Jesus Christ the undiminished Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ 
they come to passages like this and they are dashed to pieces 
They aren't their arguments are and their positions are kids. 
They're not literally dashed to pieces, but their arguments 
are are dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel, because the 
text clearly sets forth the undiminished deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
that He is very God of very God, God from God, light from light, 
true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the 
Father. And in fact, that language of the Nicene Creed is taken 
from Hebrews 1, 1-4, who being the brightness of His glory, 
He is light of light. This passage, Hebrews 1, in specifically 
verse 3 here, was a passage that, it is a passage that you'll find 
repeated over and over again by the heroes of the Christian 
faith in the first five centuries of the church. They go back to 
this passage as the Arians, those haters of God, want to bring 
the Son of God down from the pinnacle of glory to a place 
as a creature, where there was a time where the Son was not. 
where he is a created being, less than God. And the Apostle 
Paul here clearly upholds the reality that Jesus Christ is, 
has, undiminished divinity and likeness to the Father. He is 
the brightness of His glory. Think about this for a moment. 
Natural illustrations fail us. The heroes of the early church 
the heroes throughout church history acknowledge this that 
analogies drawn to try and explain the Trinity They they fall apart 
at every turn and yet sometimes there is something that we can 
capture from them that help us to try and grasp to apprehend 
in a sense the glory that is father son and Holy Spirit being 
of one substance power and Eternity this language of the brightness 
of of his glory if we think about the Sun and this was an image 
often drawn or a flame The flame is never without its brightness 
and the brightness is never without the flame The Sun is never without 
its brightness and the brightness of the Sun is never without the 
Sun And so, the language being brought forth here is similar 
to that, though there is another connection that we'll look at 
in a moment. But the brightness of His glory, as much as there 
is eternality to the glory, there is eternality to the brightness. 
And so this language is language that argues for the undiminished 
deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. This language of brightness has 
also been translated splendor. It has also been translated radiance 
or the shining forth of glory. The NAS reads, and he is the 
radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature. The ESV, he is the radiance of 
the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. ASV, who 
being the effulgence of his glory and the very image of his substance. This text establishes that the 
Father and the Son, while distinct subsistences or persons, are 
of one substance, power and eternity. This is Cyril of Alexandria writing 
on this particular passage. For when, as God, he speaks about 
himself, he who hath seen me hath seen the Father, and I and 
my Father are one, we consider his ineffable divine nature, 
according to which he is one with his Father, through the 
identity of essence, the image and impress and brightness of 
his glory. Athanasius For in this again 
the generation of the Sun now just just for a moment for those 
who don't know who Athanasius is He was a fourth century Secretary 
at first to Alexander of Alexandria at the Nicene Council. So in 
325 Athanasius was had not yet advanced to his bishoprook in 
Alexandria. He was a helper to Alexander 
of Alexandria, but he's at the Nicene Council and he's used 
as a something of a an errand to Moses if Alexander of Alexandria 
is Moses Athanasius is Aaron and the chief object or the chief 
the chief the chief, the word escapes me, the chief design 
of the Nicene Council was to oppose the Arians. The Arians 
were arguing that there was a time where the Son was not. He's not 
eternal. He's not of one substance with the Father, but rather is 
a created higher being. Yes, higher than the angels and 
men, but created nonetheless. And so, the Nicene Christians, 
Alexander and Athanasius among their fellows, are arguing for 
the the full, undiminished deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and 
his likeness to the Father. And so, Hebrews 1, 1-3 comes 
up in the Nicene Council, and it serves as part of the ground 
for the language, Light of Light, God of God. And Athanasius writes, 
after the Nicene Council, For in this again the generation 
of the Son exceeds and transcends the thoughts of man. that we 
become fathers of our own children in time, since we ourselves first 
were not and then came into being. But God, in that he ever is, 
is ever father of the Son, and the origination of mankind is 
brought home to us from things that are parallel. But since 
no one knoweth the Son but the Father, and no one knoweth the 
Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal 
him, Therefore, the sacred writers to whom the Son has revealed 
Him have given us a certain image from things visible, saying, 
Who is the brightness of His glory and the express image of 
His person? Who does not see that the brightness 
cannot be separated from the light, and that it is by nature 
proper to it, and co-existent with it, and is not produced 
after it? And so we have the blessed deity 
of our Lord Jesus Christ set forth here. And we want to note 
something interesting here. Remember that the Apostle Paul, 
throughout his letter, is trying to argue from old covenant articles 
of religion that, by divine design, had an obsolescence in them. That is, they were to expire, 
they were to end, because they were to issue forth and make 
way for the Lord Jesus Christ. They were the types, they were 
the shadows, they were the copies of the true, and the blessed 
Lord Jesus Christ is the one to whom they all pointed. And 
so, one of the things that we have in the brightness of His 
glory is probably a reference to the Ark of the Covenant as 
the brightness of the glory of God. You see, the Ark of the 
Covenant had that reality to it, a twofold but interconnected 
reality that it spoke of, or it signaled, it was an emblem 
for the presence of God, and truly God showed forth and manifested 
His presence with the Ark of the Covenant. And it is such 
that that Ark of the Covenant was spoken of by the Jews as 
the splendor of His glory. And so the Apostle Paul is using 
a twofold argument here, bringing that old covenant reality together 
with the nature of the Son of God to argue for his deity, to 
argue for his glory before those who were being tempted to reject 
him. What he's saying is you were instructed in these things. 
You were instructed in the Ark of the Covenant, so why would 
you cast off the one to whom that Ark of the Covenant pointed, 
the Lord Jesus Christ? We move on then. We want to note 
not only the brightness of His glory, but also the express image 
of His person, because the language of the text continues, who being 
the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. This language of... We ought 
to note, just going back for a moment to the brightness of 
His glory, that word being used there is only used here in the 
entirety of the Bible. the word that's translated brightness 
of his glory. The word that's used here for 
express image is used only once in the New Testament. So these 
are choice words chosen by the Apostle Paul to use concerning 
the Lord Jesus Christ. So the express image of his person, 
what does this mean? The word express image is actually 
the word that we've transliterated character in English. So if you 
were to read the Greek, it looks similar to character, but it 
says character. We transliterate it and we use a C and an H. The 
Greeks didn't have a CH sort of letter, so it's what we would 
call a K. But anyway, We use the word character, 
and the word character is often used among many of its applications. 
It's used with regards to the imprint of something, with regards 
to, for example, within the context of the Bible, a signet that would 
imprint a mark of something upon something else. What's probably 
in view is the old covenant high priestly garb, where the forehead 
plate of gold was imprinted with the mark, holiness to the Lord, 
or that means holiness to the Lord. And so what's in view with 
the language, just like we had with the brightness of his glory, 
it's twofold. It's the deity of the Lord Jesus 
Christ arguing that the son is the express image of the person 
of the father. Whatever the Father is, as much 
as the Father is God, so too is the Son, and by virtue of 
that, so too is the Spirit. There is nothing that the Father 
has, as far as divine perfections, that the Son also doesn't have, 
because they are of one substance, power and eternity. And the Lord 
Jesus Christ is the express image of His person, the character, 
the imprint of His very nature. Blessed language that we have 
here in the text John Owen on this says and this must needs 
be of weight With them that is the Jews the audience here of 
the Apostle Paul being Instructed that he who had revealed the 
will of God unto them was none other but he who had dwelt among 
them from the beginning representing in all things the person of the 
father being typically revealed unto them as the brightness of 
his glory and the express imprint of his nature The ark was the 
most signal representation, this is Owen Still, of the presence 
of God amongst them, and called his glory. So the wife of Phineas, 
upon the taking of the ark, affirmed that the glory was departed. 
1 Samuel 4.22. The glory is departed from Israel, 
for the ark of God is taken. And the psalmist, mentioning 
the same thing, calls it his glory. Psalm 78.61. He delivered 
his glory into the enemy's hand, that is the ark. Now on the filling 
of the tabernacle with the signs of God's presence in cloud and 
fire, the Jews affirm that there was a constant majestic shining 
glory resting on the ark, which was the splendor of the glory 
of God in that typical representation of his presence. And he brings 
together the reality of the brightness of his glory and the express 
image of his person as being instruments that in the old covenant 
instructed the people in the knowledge of Jesus Christ by 
writing, and this with submission to better judgments do I conceive 
to be the design of the apostle, in this the description of the 
person of Jesus Christ. It pleased the Holy Ghost herein 
to use these terms and expressions to mind the Hebrews how they 
were of old instructed, though obscurely in the things now actually 
exhibited unto them, and that nothing was now preached or declared 
but what in their typical institutions they had before given their assent 
unto. All of that means kids, and all 
of that means adults, is that the Apostle Paul is simply arguing 
that in the Old Covenant, God, through the Holy Spirit, instructed 
the people of God in Christ. in bits and in pieces, here and 
there, in elements, in symbols, in emblems, in shadows, in copies 
of the true, they were instructed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have the one designated 
to be inheritor of the heavens and the earth. We have the identity 
of Christ as the one who has undiminished essential likeness 
to the Father. And then thirdly, under the infinite 
excellency of his person, the identity of Christ as the one 
who has sovereign majesty and control of the created universe. Notice the language here. whom 
he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he 
made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and 
the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the 
word of his power." Isn't this wonderful language to go back 
to our previous point, where this generation, there would 
have been some who could have been present at the crucifixion 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. to read of the one who was bloody 
on Calvary's cross as the one who is the creator of all things 
and the one who by the word of his power upholds all things 
created. You know, I think it is John 
Owen who argues that it is a greater thing to consider the upholding 
all things compared to the creation of all things. If we can do so 
in our human minds, those are the only minds that we have, 
but in our human minds, if we can conceive of the absolute 
greatness of one who upholds all created things by the word 
of his power, That if we could say he stopped doing that, all 
things would collapse upon themselves and be utterly destroyed. The 
Lord Jesus Christ, a bloody massacre upon Calvary's cross, was at 
the time of his crucifixion, upholding all things by the word 
of his power. That's something that's very 
important for us to understand because there is a flavor of 
quote-unquote Christianity in our midst these days that is 
trying to argue that Jesus Christ for a time essentially de-godded 
himself while he was in during the the time of his earthly sojourn 
in the incarnation that he cast off his deity and in the course 
of his incarnate work went about the earth doing good and all 
of those sorts of things without the exercise of divinity, that 
he was diminished in divinity for a time and then regained 
it at the Ascension. That is madness. Jesus Christ 
upholds all things by the word of His power. When He was, as 
we'll see in the next proposition, purgating our sins upon Calvary's 
cross, He was upholding all things by the word of His power. James 
Dolezal writes, Dr. James Dolezal, Actually, he doesn't 
write. This was something that I recorded 
from a podcast of his. James Dolezal said, What's happening 
with Christ's divine nature at the moment he is crying out, 
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The very person 
who suffers in the moment that he suffers is autemporally, eternally, 
simply, omnipotently upholding the world by the word of his 
power and dwelling in mutual and perfect love with the Father 
and with the Spirit. We have to confess this as Christians. We reject the notion that the 
Lord Jesus Christ, for a time, cast off His deity. The ancients 
of the church would repeatedly say, they had a lot of different 
maxims, and one of the things they would often say is that 
he took upon him, without casting off that which he was, he took 
upon himself that which he was not. I'll say that again. Without 
casting off that which he was, his deity, he took upon himself 
that which he was not. So he didn't cast off his divinity 
in the taking off of humanity, but was very God and very man, 
yet one Christ is very God, and very man, yet one Christ, the 
only mediator between God and man." We close then now lastly 
with the perfection of His redemptive regency. The perfection of His 
redemptive regency. Notice the language that we have 
here in the text at the end. when he had by himself purged 
our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 
having become so much better than the angels, as he has by 
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." So what do we 
mean then by the perfection of his redemptive regency? Maybe, 
kids, regency, that simply means kingship or royalty. So, Christ 
is a King. He is King of Kings and Lord 
of Lords. And so, when we say the perfection of His redemptive 
regency, we mean, as prophet, priest, and as King, He carries 
out the work of mediation, the perfection of the work of salvation 
for all of His people. And we have this wonderful language 
first, the character of His redemption, given fourth year, when He had, 
by Himself, purged our sins. What a blessed clause that is. When He had by Himself purged 
our sins. You know, this is the boon to 
the Christian heart, the forgiveness of sins, that Christ bore in 
Himself the wrath due us, that He took upon Himself the wrath 
of God, that He bore the guilt that was... He bore our legal 
culpability upon the cross, and bore the wrath of God in our 
stead. This language, when He had by Himself purged our sins, 
speaks strongly to the reality of expiation. You've heard that 
word before if you've been in this church for any period of 
time. That simply means that the Lord Jesus Christ bore our 
guilt upon Calvary's cross. Propitiation, He bore the wrath 
of God. Expiation, He bore our guilt, 
the legal culpability for the violation of the law of God in 
our stead. Now let's just stop. Let's try 
and not Not use all those words for a moment. We've broken God's 
law. We've sinned against Him. We 
have not thought as we should have thought. We have not done 
as we should have done. We have not spoken as we should 
have spoken. We have spoken as we should not. We have thought as we should 
not. And we have done as we should not have done. We have sinned 
against God. We have violated His law. The 
Lord Jesus Christ, by Himself, purged our sins. That legal culpability 
that was against us, rightly by the majesty of heaven and 
earth, is taken away by the Lord Jesus Christ, when He had, by 
Himself, purged our sins. Notice it is exclusively the 
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He had, by Himself, purged 
our sins. There is no helper, the Lord 
Jesus Christ. We saw that this morning, didn't 
we? Jesus Christ went alone into the wilderness. There was no 
helper with Him. There was no assistant. Why? 
So that unto Him might be all the praise. So that unto Him 
might be all the glory. And it is He alone that saves 
His people from their sins. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He 
had by Himself purged our sins. The madness of the doctrine of 
purgatory then, We can take a little bit of a segue the Roman Catholic 
Church and the doctrine of purgatory using the same language here 
purgation purged our sins that after our death we have to go 
into an intermediate state where we ourselves through suffering 
pay for our own sins and What a madness and what an offense 
to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He had by 
Himself purged our sins. The language of purged here is 
the same language that's used by John the Baptist in the evangelist 
accounts, where he talks about the Lord Jesus Christ, the One 
Coming, who will thoroughly cleanse the threshing floor. It's a blessed 
thing, isn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ thoroughly 
cleanses the threshing floor of our sin. He cleanses us. He takes away the guilt that 
was due us. It is an expiatory sacrifice, 
a guilt-removing sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ removes 
the guilt of sin. We've said this before, it's 
been observed before, that when we talk about the guilt of sin, 
being taken away, being purged, it's not the psychological weight 
for having broken the law of God that's in view, though Christ 
does deal with that. What's in view primarily is the 
moral culpability. You know, when a criminal is 
guilty, it's not just that he has the psychological weight 
of having broken the law of the civil magistrate, it's that he's 
broken the law of the civil magistrate, and he's guilty insofar as it 
is a lawful law. Here with sin, we do have the 
psychological weight of having violated the law of God, and 
Christ does deal with that, but first and foremost, and more 
gloriously what's in view, is that he removes the moral culpability 
for us having violated the law of God. We deserve punishment. 
We deserve hell and damnation. We deserve that punishment for 
the breaking of the law of God, not only in this world, but in 
the world that is to come. And Christ takes that away. He 
thoroughly cleanses the threshing floor. And he does deal with 
that other sort of guilt as well, doesn't he? We ought not to to 
grovel in our sin. We ought not to have seasons 
where we figuratively flagellate ourselves like the Roman Catholics 
of old trying to atone for our own sins, go off on seasons of 
misery and, you know, throw tires in a mesh bag and strap them 
to our back and climb Mount Sham to try and atone for our own 
sins. Jesus Christ atone for our own 
sins. We might have the psychological 
weight of guilt, and it is true that we are, as Spurgeon said, 
to peruse the diaries of our memories, for there the witnesses 
of our guilt have faithfully recorded their names, but we 
are to immediately fly to the Lord Jesus Christ, with eyes 
of faith looking to Him and resting upon Him as the advocate with 
our Father who is the righteous one who has taken away our sins. 
Don't grovel, don't have seasons of misery wherein you're not 
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, but trying, as it were, to psychologically, 
physically, or physiologically deal with the transgression of 
the law of God. Look to Christ, because in Him 
we have the purgation of sins. In Him we have the forgiveness 
of sins. Secondly, in the position relative 
to the majesty on high, we see the perfection of his redemptive 
regency. Notice, sat down at the right 
hand of the majesty on high the location of christ according 
to his human nature at the right hand of god we see a position 
of prestige a precision a position of honor a position of glory 
christ having perfected salvation sits down at the right hand of 
the majesty on high and certainly in view as the as the Apostle 
Paul moves on in the book of Hebrews, is the work of the high 
priest in the Old Covenant. When they would go about the 
work of their priesthood, the high priest would go into the 
Holy of Holies, he would sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat, 
and he would immediately leave. Having removed his high priestly 
garb, he would go in, he wouldn't sit down, he would come out, 
and he wouldn't sit down. Why? Because the work of types, 
the work of shadows, the work of copies of the true, was never 
complete. It was the blood of bulls and 
goats. It wasn't the blood of the Lamb of God who takes away 
the sins of the world, but the Lamb of God, having shed His 
blood for the sins of the sons of men, He sits down at the right 
hand of the Majesty on High, because He is the perfect High 
Priest who has perfected salvation. And lastly, under this particular 
point, his position relative to angels. Notice, as he has, 
having become so much better than the angels, as he has by 
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Of course, with 
respect to his deity, he has a name which is above all names, 
but this speaks to his mediatorship. As the incarnate Son of God who 
took upon Himself man's nature for our redemption and recovery, 
by virtue of His perfect saving work, He's lifted higher than 
the angels and given a name which is above every name, that every 
knee may bow and that every tongue may confess that Jesus Christ 
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What a blessed Christ 
that we have before us. In a minute and 47 seconds, we 
want to look at three quick things with regards to conclusion. We 
ought to glory in the fact that He has revealed. Remember, we 
noted the greatness of His revelation. He has revealed. God has revealed 
himself for the believer. Rejoice that you've been made 
to hear of Christ. I think we ought to start every 
day and end every day with the reality that we've been made 
to know the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been brought 
from darkness to light. being beforehand, before that 
day when amazing grace come to us, the enemies of Christ, the 
opponents of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What a glorious 
thing it is to rejoice that we have been made to hear of our 
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And unbeliever, beware the rejection 
of His revelation. If you're here this evening, 
and you're outside of Christ in unbelief, beware the rejection 
of His revelation. Therefore, we must give the more 
earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 
For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and 
every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall 
we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? How shall you escape 
if you neglect so great a salvation? Close with Christ and own Him 
as your Savior. Cast off the madness of unbelief 
and the idolatry that you are engaged in and own the Christ. He has redeemed. Believer, rejoice 
that you've been made to know the salvation of Christ. Psalm 
51 14, deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God 
of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 
Does that mark us? Our tongues singing aloud the 
righteousness of God? Does that mark our activity in 
this lower world, even on Sunday? Does that mark us? Our tongues 
ought to sing aloud the righteousness of our God. Because He's brought 
us from out of that miry pit, He's brought us from out of the 
darkness and the deadness of sin and depravity to life and 
light in Christ. Rejoice that you've been made 
to know the salvation of Christ. And unbeliever, why reject so 
great a salvation? Why reject so great a salvation? We know the doctrine of sin. 
We know the doctrine of total depravity. We know the doctrine 
that the Bible sets forth regarding the sons of men in opposition 
to God. But in the word of God, the call 
goes forth. The clarion call of the gospel 
goes forth to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall 
be saved. This evening, don't reject so 
great a salvation, but own the Savior. Own Him as King of Kings 
and Lord of Lords. And thirdly and lastly, under 
these closing remarks, He presently reigns. Believer, remember that 
Christ is to be adored on account of His royal magnificence. That's 
the language of John Gill. What a blessed contrast. that 
we have in the biblical account regarding our Savior. A bloody 
massacre on Calvary's cross, He's perfecting the work of salvation 
as He bears the wrath of God on that Roman gibbet of execution. 
But having gone through that suffering, having perfected salvation, 
having died, having risen again, and having ascended to the right 
hand of the majesty on high, we have a Christ that is to be 
adored on account of His royal magnificence. But unbeliever, 
fear this excellent Christ. Fear this Christ. Because on 
that day of salvation where He comes to bring His people home, 
if you are outside of Christ, you will be hiding yourselves 
behind the rocks and the trees from the wrath of the Lamb. Believe 
in Him, because in Him is blessing upon blessing. In Him is every 
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Why cast off such a glorious 
champion for all of the allurements of this world, for the wickedness 
of the devil, and for the lusts of your own flesh? Own the Savior. Believe on Him. And you will, 
with all the saints on that great day, sing the praises of Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your revelation 
to us. We rejoice in our Savior, the 
Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You for His life, death, 
and resurrection, and that we can, by Your amazing grace, avail 
of it. We do pray that You would be 
with us. Help us now, Lord God, to go into this night, to go 
into this week, Singing your praises rejoicing in you resting 
upon Christ as our all in all We do pray that you'd help us 
in this lower world to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ And it's as it's in his name 
that we do pray. Amen Well, you can stand with 
me and sing a particular hymn, which one is it? I don't have 
the paper in front of me. What are we singing? We're not singing 
a hymn. In that case, let's go for a 
time of meditation and prayer. There's no doxology on the agenda, 
but let's have a time of prayer now. When the piano is finished, 
you are dismissed. Let's go in the week to love 
and serve our Lord.