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thank you foreign well welcome back everybody for a call to worship we'll be in Psalm 15. so if you have your Rivals with you that's again psalm 15. a Psalm of David Lord who may abide in your Tabernacle who may dwell in your holy hell He Who Walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart he who does not backbite with his tongue nor does evil to his neighbor nor does he take up a reproach against his friend in whose eyes a vile person is despised but he honors those who fear the lord he who swears to his own hurt and does not change he who does not put out his money as usury nor does he take a bribe against innocent He Who does these things shall never be moved amen uh if you could turn in your hymn book to Psalm 145 see a 145 C and stand and sing with me if you're able it'll be to a familiar tune [Music] Jesus Christ that's me and all the greatness foreign [Music] okay we will turn to our Lord in prayer and beseech him to be among us here today we know this act of worship is one that we are to do to his glory and we just ask that his spirit will be among us that we might do it in a way that he be glorified so if you bow our heads with me we'll turn to our great God here dear heavenly father we come before you today with very thankful Hearts thankful for this day this day where we can come out of our our normal ordinary routines of work and labor and and remember Lord God that everything that we do ultimately it is to glorify you that for all for all of those who call upon your name and and have faith in you that we can come before you that that you have blessed us with the great privilege to bring our prayers and our petitions to you we just ask that this act of worship this meeting together as a congregation from people of every Walk of Life that you might draw us together continually in the bonds of unity and that this this time this act of worship here it might be to your praise and your glory we think of this day for this congregation for those who who come in from from this week and with various trials and temptations and inferiorities and sickness says Lord God we we see in your word that you are the great physician we see in the person of Christ his his compassion on those who are sick and ill and that that our relationship with you that although the we have these trials although we have these infirmities that you can make as well that you can give our souls peace and that you can so work in us to rejoice in all circumstances so we pray for this we pray for those who are specifically in need I think of Corey Niels in Ottawa we just pray for this brother that he might have success in this treatment that you might use the Providence of this situation for his care and for all those two that we do not know Lord we just asked that you might be with them this day that you might draw close to them we know again that you are a compassionate father and we're so thankful for this privilege to be before you and Lord God we also pray for for the churches that we are familiar with for those in our local congregation our local community and and our local area for all those who are preaching according to your word Lord God we just pray for Siri for pastor Kirkpatrick for Armstrong and pastor maljars we also think of the blessing that is that Pastor Butler can be in Honduras with the Brethren there well we just look at this situation and we give you thanks Lord God we know that you you have people all over the globe and what a beautiful thing that that we can go anywhere in the world with any with any group of people and we can find a Unity that is more intimate than even our familial ones and we thank you for this family of of Christian Believers that you have that you have pulled out of the world and called to yourself we also think about globally Lord God we just pray that your spirit work among the Nations that are the governments might seek your face that more people would call upon your name and would willingly bow their need to your holy rule we just pray for your outpouring of your spirit not only in this place but in all the nations Lord God and and also we think Lord that that the Nations as we survey the world many are in opposition to you and this Grieves us many since the dawn of time have done terrible things such as sacrificing their children for for their own wants or desires and we think about this Abomination we know that this land is is right for your Justice we just ask for Mercy we ask that if our leadership would allow such wicked things to go on in this land that you might first and foremost redeem their souls from out of the darkness and into your Marvelous Light and if not we just ask you to cast them aside that we might be led by those who are are worthy to be in such leadership leadership positions and Lord God with that we just ask that you be with us in the remainder of this remainder of the service that you might Empower pastor Pastor cam to be up here in spirit and new truth and to reveal your word unto us and that it might be as of Christ teaching his disciples that we might get a glimpse of the scriptures and we might see you and you and all your glory and so we pray this in Christ's name amen and now if you will stand if you are able and turn in your hymn books to 403 and sing with me that again is him 403. foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] outrageous [Music] remember always [Music] foreign foreign foreign foreign [Music] so we're carrying on in our Old Testament reading and we have found ourselves in numbers 20 here today so again if you have your Bibles with you to prove that I am not lying please turn to numbers 20 and follow along with me then the children of Israel the whole congregation came unto came into the Wilderness of Zinn in the first month and the people stayed in Kadesh and Miriam died there and was buried there now there was no water for the congregation so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and the people contended with Moses Moses and spoke saying if only we had died when our Brethren died before the Lord why have you brought up the Assembly of the Lord Into the Wilderness that we and our animals should die here and why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place it is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates nor is there any water to drink so Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tabernacle meeting and they fell on their faces and the glory of the Lord appeared to them then the Lord spoke to Moses saying take the rod you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together speak to their Rock before their eyes and it will yield its water thus you shall bring water for them out of the Rock and give them drink to the congregation and their animals so Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the Rock and he said to them here now you rebels must we bring water for you out of this rock then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod and water came out abundantly and the congregation and their animals drank then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron because you did not believe me to hallow me in the in the eyes of the children of Israel therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them this was the water of Maribel because the children of Israel contended with the Lord and he was hallowed among them now Moses sent Messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom thus says your brother Israel you know all the hardship that has befallen us how our fathers went down to Egypt and we dwelt in Egypt a long time and the Egyptians Afflicted us and our fathers when we cried out to the Lord he heard our voice and sent the angel and brought us up out of Egypt now here we are in Kadesh a city on the edge of your border please let us pass through your country we will not pass through fields or Vineyards nor will we will drink Waters from Wells we will go along the King's Highway we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory then Edom said to him you shall not pass through my land lest I come out against you with the sword so the children of Israel said to him we will go by the highway and if I or my livestock drink any of your water then I will pay for it let me only pass through on foot nothing more then he said You shall not pass through so Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand thus Edom refused to give Israel Passage through his territory so Israel turned away from him now the children of Israel the whole congregation journeyed from kadish and came to mount hore and the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount War by the border of the land of Edom saying Aaron shall be gathered to his people for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel because you rebelled against my word at the water of meribah take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them to mount hor and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there so Moses did just as the Lord commanded and they went up to mount war in the sight of all the congregation but Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Elias or his son and Aaron died there on top of the mountain then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron 30 days amen well for the final uh before the final hymn we'll just say a word of prayer and then we'll sing the hymn and and especially when we come to a verse like this a passage there's a lot of commentators that are very very apt to putting beautiful ways of how we see Christ in the Old Testament how how the people of Israel rebelling once more come before Aaron and Moses and Aaron and Moses speaking to the Lord himself this picture of them hitting the rock striking the Rock and pouring out blessing among the Israel people is a sort of type of Christ that he afflicted for are our Rebellion he took again our punishment leading to the outpouring of blessing towards us and there's much to be looked into these passages they are very rich and I'm sure Pastor cam would have many resources if it'd be worth your time to look into so let's turn to the final hymn here him 446 before the preaching of God's word [Music] foreign [Music] the Lord [Music] God always alive foreign [Music] foreign [Music] good evening to everyone and 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 um it's it's not unnecessary repetition to return to passages like this well to any passage in the word of God um uh 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 in 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 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 God 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 he 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 they are 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 uh most likely 30 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ around the year 63 64 A.D and it comes to an audience that has been affected by apostasy the 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 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 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 two-fold flavor if you will to the book of Hebrews that is that there is a 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 we move to our actual content in Hebrews 4 at verse 14 we have a one verse summary of the entire book of Hebrews so we launch into looking at 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 apostasize 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 to 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 the 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 and time past and various ways and he moves to the sun 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 Epistles 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 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 super abounding 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 1224 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 two so the Epistles 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 uh in just the first verse verses one and two to be uh to be more uh to be more sure so the the times passed 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 so when when we're when we're talking about this comparison that the Apostle Paul is making it's not 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 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 dispense station 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 this 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 one one uh verse 1 and 2 but also chapter 2 verses one through four 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 there the 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 times 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 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 true 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 the chief point or the most important point being emphasized here that uh 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 in the New Covenant in the New Testament or Christ as the the manner by which God is speaking in compare 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 as 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 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 ways and in many uh the 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 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 man 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 what a colossal Folly it is then to reject the Revelation that God has given to us Madness to to to take upon or to fill our minds with uh with everything uh else other than the word of God it's okay for us to lawfully and wholesomely uh think about and read and and talk about other things uh it's okay if you know if you have a a hobby um making model aircrafts you're okay to to like that and to talk about it if you like to to bake it's okay to like that and to talk about it um whatever your hobbies whatever your fancies are lawfully speaking those are 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 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 a faith upon him and see in him are 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 uh 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 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 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 in 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 with 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 the generation of 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 this beaten this bruised and this bloody man upon that Roman jibbet of execution they can they can think back to the the absolute horror and shame and the ignominy of the cross and they can remember the sweat and the the blood and the Heat and the the sound of the nails pounding into the the the arms and the the feet of the savior the The Cry of dereliction my God my God why hast Thou forsaken me can reflect back upon the 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 and the stead of all his people and yet these same people can read the words that Jesus Christ is the heir of all things but what a blessed contrast to think about our Lord Jesus Christ to the to the Christian you know to the Christian he's 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 uh the the gathered kangaroo court before his crucifixion or whether he has that crown of diet 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 what 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 3 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 as our minds go about thinking about other things and as our you know as our minds uh you know come from from lunch in our between service nap or whatever you guys do between the morning and evening services are you know our minds are are we we do move about and focus upon other things in our uh going about this life uh on this uh 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 um 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 they're arguments 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 Hebrews 1 and 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 Aryans those haters of God want to bring the Son of God down from the Pinnacle of Glory uh to a place as a creature where there was a time where the sun was not where he was a he is a created being less than God and the Apostle Paul here clearly upholds the reality that Jesus Christ is has on diminished undiminished Divinity and likeness to the father he is the brightness of his glory think about this for a moment and you know natural illustrations fail us and and uh the the the heroes of the early church the heroes throughout church history acknowledge this that analogy is 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 son and this was an image often drawn uh or a flame the 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 um he was a fourth Century uh secretary at first to Alexander of Alexandria at the Nicene Council so in 325 athanasius was had not yet Advanced to his Bishop rook in Alexandria he was a helper to Alexander of Alexandria but he's at the Nicene Council and he's used as something of a an Aaron to Moses if Alexander of Alexandria is Moses athanasius is Aaron and the chief object or the chief uh the the chief um uh the chief the word escapes me the the the the the chief design of the Nicene Council was to oppose the Aryans the Aryans were arguing that there was a time where the sun 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 uh 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 sun 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 on 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 coexistent 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 uh had that reality to it a two-fold but interconnected reality that it it spoke of or it signaled it 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 two-fold 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 that 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 the word that's translated brightness of his glory the word that's used here to uh 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 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 translate it literate it and we use a c and an H uh the um the Greeks didn't have a CH uh sort of sort of letter so it's a it's a 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 the imprint of something with regards to for example within the context of uh of the Bible a Signet that would imprint a uh 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 first 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 affirmed 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 bring as being instruments that in the old Covenant instructed the people in the knowledge of Jesus Christ by writing in 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 Ascent unto all of that means kids and 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 with in bits and in pieces here and there in in elements in symbols and 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 magistrate 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 send this isn't this wonderful language to go back to our previous point where the this generation uh 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 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 in our human Minds those are the only minds that we have but in our um 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 in on upon themselves and be utterly destroyed the Lord Jesus Christ a bloody massacre upon calvary's cross was at the time of his crew 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 a flavor of quote unquote Christianity in our midst these days that is trying to argue that Jesus Christ for a Time essentially de-guided himself while he was in during the the time of his Earthly sojour and 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 uh 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 so this 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 all temporally 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 the Ancients of the church would repeatedly say they had a lot of different a lot of different maxims and one of the things they would often say is that he took upon him he 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 closed 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 we had by when he had by himself purged our sins what what a blessed Clause that is when he had by himself purged our sins you know this is this is uh the Boon to the Christian heart the Forgiveness of sins that Christ bore in himself the Wrath do us that he took upon himself the wrath of God that he bore the guilt that was uh that was um he bore our legal culpability upon the cross and bore the wrath of God in our state this language when he had by himself purged our sins uh speaks strongly to the the 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 we've we've broken God's law we've sinned against him we have not thought as we have 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 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 The Madness of the doctrine of purgatory then if if 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 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 of the the uh 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 you know the psychological weight of Heaven broke broken the law of the civil magistrate it's that he's broken the law of the civil magistrate and he is guilty insofar as it is a uh a lawful law um 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 uh 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 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 in a mesh bag and strap them to our back and climb Mount sham to try on its own for our own sins Jesus Christ atoned 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 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 by 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 nieme bow and that every tongue may confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father with 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 an unbeliever beware the rejection of his Revelation if you're here this evening and you're outside of Christ in unbelief but where 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 tongue singing aloud the the righteousness of God is that does that Mark our activity in 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 Mirey 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 an unbeliever why reject so great a Salvation why reject so so great a Salvation we know the doctrine of sin we know the doctrine of of total depravity we know uh 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 jibbet 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 uh 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 for for the 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 the 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 says 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 to him in that case let's go for a time of meditation in prayer there's no doxology on the uh 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