I’ve got to learn that one. Wow.
As we come again to look at God’s precious Word, I remind my own heart, and I remind all of you brothers, of that indispensable principle of Bible study: total reliance upon God’s Holy Spirit.
Our Bible is like our Lord Jesus. There is a human side, and there is a divine side. Certainly, we do not glorify ignorance. Even though I said I think some Christians are happier than smart Christians, we do not glorify ignorance. We’ve got to do the human side. We’ve got to have the academics. We’ve got to study this precious Book.
But at the end of the day, we’ve got to come as little babies before the Lord, and we’ve got to say, “Now, Lord, as far as I know, these are the facts. You show me Christ.”
It’s a great privilege I have to stand before you, brothers hungry for the Lord, and I can’t give you anything you haven’t heard before. There is not a possibility of that. I know that. I’ve given up trying a long time ago, trying to give something new.
But I’m going to pray with you, and I pray you’ll pray. Isaiah 30:20 says:
“He, your Teacher, will no longer hide Himself,
but your eyes will behold your Teacher.”
I’m going to give the teaching, and you’ve heard it before. But I can’t show you the Teacher. I can give the teaching, but if your hearts are going to be thrilled, you’ve got to see the Teacher.
And He has promised that if your hearts are hungry, He so delights to take you beyond the teaching and show you the Teacher. So let’s just pray that our eyes would behold the Teacher. Then old things will become new.
Our heavenly Father, thank You again for Your precious Word and our little opportunity to look at it. We trust Your Holy Spirit now, the very One who inspired this Word.
We ask You, Lord, to breathe again. Breathe on us that we might have the revelation of the revelation, that we might hear Your voice and not harden our hearts.
Take us, we pray, beyond the teaching. Unveil the Teacher. Thank You in advance. We pray in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
All right, brothers, I’ll ask you to open, please, in your Bibles to Hebrews 1.
By God’s assistance, now we finally come to Hebrews 1 and 2. I pray that God has begun to prepare our hearts. These chapters are so full, so comprehensive, so profound.
So far in our preparation, we’ve had two lessons. I’ve said many things, but really I haven’t said many things. I’ve really only said two things. If you listened very carefully, you were able to pick up those two things.
First, I said Jesus is our High Priest, and He’s representing us. Listen, please, as I read Hebrews 9:24:
“Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”
That was the first truth, the first introduction lesson. He is our High Priest, and He appears for us. He bears us on His shoulders. He bears us over His heart. He presents us as holy before the Lord. He offers us His perfect life, and He invites us to listen in as He ministers on our behalf.
And He stands before us with His arms stretched out in priestly benediction. By the nail prints, we know that His present ministry is based on His finished ministry. That was lesson one: there is such a High Priest.
Lesson two: we have Him. We have such a High Priest. Listen again as I read the main point, Hebrews 8:1-2:
“Now the main point in what has been said is this:
We have such a High Priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
a Minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”
And so that’s what we’ve looked at so far. If you haven’t come in until now, that’s what you’ve missed. He is a Priest, and we have Him. All right, now you’re all caught up.
We may not seek Him as we ought to seek Him, and I’m sure we don’t. But we have Him. We have Him.
And we may not understand all that we should understand by this time. We might still be on milk when we should be on meat. It doesn’t change the fact: we have Him. Every brother here has Him.
You might not obey the Lord as you ought to obey the Lord, but you have Him. You have Him. We just sang about honoring the Lord and loving the Lord. You might not love the Lord and honor the Lord as you ought to love the Lord and honor the Lord, but you have Him.
He’s called us to trust Him, to fix our eyes on Jesus. You might not be doing that as you ought to be doing that. I might not be doing that as I ought to be doing that. But I have Him. I have Him.
There is such a High Priest, and we have such a High Priest. Brothers, we are multi-billionaires in our union with Jesus Christ. We have Him.
Now, I hope those two realities have prepared our hearts for these great chapters. Hebrews 1 and 2: chapter 1, He is God; chapter 2, He is man. Chapters 1 and 2: He is the God-man, and He is our High Priest. We have Him.
Let me give an overview of those two chapters. Even though I’m going to be repeating what I just now said, and have said in the past, almost all Bible commentators—I have many commentaries, probably forty commentaries on Hebrews—agree that Hebrews 1 is one of the greatest chapters in the Bible on the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is God.
If you brothers ever desire to make a study on that wonderful theme that Jesus is God, there are three chapters that you’ve got to include in that study. I remember it because they’re all chapter ones, and you probably already know what they are: John 1, Hebrews 1, and Colossians 1. I know you guys know everything.
Those three chapters show how our Lord Jesus is God. Then chapter 2 is one of the greatest chapters on the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s not only the mighty God; He is the merciful man. He’s the God-man, and He’s praying for us.
God is praying to God for you right now. And man is praying to God for you right now. God knows all about you as God because He’s omniscient. God knows all about you as man because of His human experience. And we have such a High Priest.
I like that word such. We have such a High Priest. He’s God, He’s man, and He belongs to us.
Now, although Hebrews 1 states that Jesus is God, that theme—the deity of Christ—runs all through the Book. It is not just in chapter 1. He sets us up in chapter 1. He prepares us for that.
The more we are lost in the wonder that our High Priest is God, the more the whole Book—the message of His present ministry, that He ever lives to make intercession for us—the more meaningful that will be.
The fact that He’s presented right at the start as God is sort of the key to the entire Book.
All who have studied the Book of Hebrews have noticed that the human author uses certain words over and over again, and certain phrases over and over again. Many of those repeated words and phrases call attention to the fact that He is God.
One of those words is the word better. The word better. Now remember, the Holy Spirit never needlessly repeats Himself. When He repeats Himself, He always repeats Himself with intention, and He intends that we pay attention.
If He says it once, you ought to listen. If He says it twice, you ought to really listen. If He keeps saying it and saying it, He’s saying, “Hey, focus here and pay attention. I’ve got something to tell you.”
Now, that word better is used so much in Hebrews that most of my commentators have outlined the Book based on that word. In other words, they come to chapter 1 and say, “He’s better than the prophets, and He’s better than the angels.”
Then they come to chapter 2 and say the message there is that He’s better than the angels. And He’s better than Moses. Then they come to chapters 3 and 4 and say He’s better than Joshua, better than Moses. Then they come to chapters 5 and 6 and say He’s better than the Levitical priesthood.
Then they come to chapter 7 and say He’s better than Melchizedek. They come to chapter 8 and say He’s better than the old covenant. Then they come to chapters 9 and 10 and say He’s better than the temple, and He’s better than all the ceremonies connected with the temple. Then they come to chapters 11 through 13 and say there are better privileges that we have as new-covenant Christians.
I’m not going to read these passages, but I’ll spit out the verses, and you can either take down the reference or get it later. In addition to showing that He’s better than the prophets and better than the angels and Moses and Joshua and high priests and all of that, He uses that word better.
In Hebrews 7:19, He talks of a better hope; in Hebrews 7:22, of a better covenant; in Hebrews 8:6, of better promises; in Hebrews 9:23, of better sacrifices; in Hebrews 10:34, of a better possession; in Hebrews 11:16, of a better country; and in Hebrews 11:35, a better resurrection.
Better, better, better, better, all the way through the Book. The word better is used more in Hebrews than in the whole New Testament added together. If you add up all the other times, it’s more in the Book of Hebrews.
But it is not how many times He says it that’s important. It is the usus loquendi. That’s my fifty-cent word for the weekend. It’s how it’s used. It’s how it’s used.
You’ve got to see not only what the word means, but how it is used. When John uses the word brother, does he mean brother-man or brother-Christian? And when the apostle Paul uses the expression natural man, is he talking about an unsaved person, or any person, even a Christian, who lives in a natural way? You’ve got to see how the words are used.
Listen to Hebrews 1:3-4 and tell me how the word better is being used here:
“He is the radiance of His glory
and the exact representation of His nature,
and upholds all things by the word of His power.
When He had made purification of sins,
He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
having become as much better than the angels
as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”
He not only says better there, but He says much better. How is that word used? Better than the angels—much better than the angels?
Let me ask you a series of questions. Is Jesus ten times better than the angels? You say, “No, more than that.” Is Jesus twenty times better than the angels? Is Jesus a hundred times better than the angels? Is Jesus a million times better than the angels?
See, I could stand up here tonight and throw out numbers, and your heart would always have to say, “No, more than that, more than that, more than that,” because that’s how the word is used.
Infinitely better than the angels. Infinitely better than Moses and Joshua and the old system and the old covenant and so on. He’s infinitely better.
If you took heaven’s highest angel—let’s say you took a cherub—and you multiplied that cherub by itself an infinite number of times, what would you have? You’d have a super cherub. That’s all you’d have, a big cherub. You’d never have God.
No matter how many times you multiplied the highest creation of God, you’re not going to have God. That’s why our salvation is called so great a salvation. In my notes, I’ve got about ten zeros after the words so great: so great a salvation.
That’s why there is no escape if you neglect so great a salvation. There is an infinite distance between God and His highest creation. Jesus is God.
Better than the angels—not a million times better, not a billion times better—infinitely better than the angels. You see, they were actually in danger of clinging to an earthly high priest and laying aside a Priest that was infinitely better than the angels and all of those pictures.
Now, along the same line, the Book of Hebrews uses the word eternal over and over again in order to underscore His divinity. The word eternal, and kindred expressions like forever, forever and ever, and the word same, just illustrate the same thing. Twenty-two times in this letter, God calls attention to that.
The way God uses it, once again—how is that word used? It is set over against that which is temporal: eternal, not temporal.
I told you this morning that, as I understand, the best scholarship puts this very late in the sixties, maybe as late as AD 68. This letter was written, and in just two years everything was going to be swept away. And they were looking to those things.
I tell you, it makes your heart weep when you realize—I don’t know if you’ve ever studied the actual invasion and what happened when Titus went in and destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70—but it was a very, very sad time for God’s people.
Now, as you know, there is a great deal in the Book of Hebrews about Melchizedek. I’m sure many of you have studied Melchizedek. As you go through, the writer of Hebrews, the human writer, makes many points as he compares Melchizedek’s priesthood to the priesthood of our Lord Jesus.
Though he makes many points, he makes one chief point. I’ve noticed that many who speak about Melchizedek actually miss the main point, his chief point. What’s the main thing about Melchizedek? Well, listen as I read these verses, and I’m sure you’ll pick it up.
Hebrews 5:6:
“Thou art a priest for ever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 5:9-10:
“And having been made perfect,
He became unto all them that obey Him the Author of eternal salvation;
named of God a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 6:19-20:
“Which we have as an anchor of the soul,
a hope both sure and stedfast
and entering into that which is within the veil;
whither as a Forerunner Jesus entered for us,
having become a High Priest for ever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 7:15-17:
“And what we say is yet more abundantly evident:
for after the likeness of Melchizedek there ariseth another Priest,
who hath been made, not after the law of a carnal commandment,
but after the power of an endless life:
for it is witnessed of Him,
Thou art a priest for ever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 7:21:
“The Lord sware and will not repent Himself,
Thou art a priest for ever.”
You’re getting the main point: forever, forever, after the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7:24-25:
“But He, because He abideth for ever,
hath His priesthood unchangeable.
Wherefore also He is able to save to the uttermost
them that draw near unto God through Him.”
The chief point of the Melchizedek priesthood: it’s forever. It’s forever. On and on and on. The source of eternal salvation, the power of an indestructible life, ever lives to make intercession.
Jesus is God, and He’s infinitely better than all pictures. Jesus is God, and He’s our Priest. And it’s forever, forever and forever. It never ends. It’ll never be swept away. See, they were tempted to trust in that which was going to be swept away.
In this connection, the Holy Spirit through the human author also uses the word same in order to illustrate the same point. He’s God. He is the same, the same forever.
Of course, you know the great verse, Hebrews 13:8:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and for ever.”
He’s the same. I’m going to ask you to look at the end, please, of chapter 1. Hebrews 1:10-12. I’ll show you what a powerful illustration God gives in this first chapter:
“Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the works of Thy hands:
they shall perish; but Thou continuest:
and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
and as a mantle shalt Thou roll them up,
as a garment, and they shall be changed:
but Thou art the same,
and Thy years shall not fail.”
The Holy Spirit is contrasting the immutable Christ—He’s unchanging—with mutable creation. It’s all changing.
I don’t know if you’re familiar with Henry Lyte’s wonderful hymn, “Abide with Me.” Have you heard that or sung that song? Verse two:
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
You see, that’s true everywhere you look. Just look in the mirror if you don’t believe it. Changes, changes every day. More wrinkles, more gray, and less hair and everything. Your eyes are getting dimmer, your memory is getting dimmer, and your bones are getting slower. I’m feeling it, you know, as this time goes on. Everything’s changing.
But there’s one thing—I know it’s changing, but it doesn’t seem to change. Some years ago, I went back to my boyhood town after about thirty-five or forty years: Wolcott, Connecticut. That’s where I grew up, in Wolcott, Connecticut.
I tell you, I got bit by the nostalgia bug. I never thought I would. I couldn’t leave. I was driving around. Lillian said, “Let’s go, let’s go.” I said, “No, no, let’s just go down this street once more.”
Everything had shrunk. When I went back, everything was smaller. I used to have a million-mile paper route—that’s what it seemed like—but this time it was like a couple of blocks. Everything was so small. Everything was different.
Except one thing. One thing was not different. It hadn’t changed over forty years. I could look up into the sky. I saw the moon.
I remember because I was standing where I stood as a little boy looking at the moon. That was impressive to me. And there it was. It didn’t change.
My neighbors had all gone. They died or moved away or something like that. The house that I lived in, they tore that down, and they had some beautiful house there now. We lived in sort of a little shack.
My mother used to point out to me—I didn’t know much about astronomy at all—but I knew where the moon was. I could find the North Star, the Little Dipper, and the Big Dipper. And there they were. They were still there. They were still there.
And I suppose they were there when my mother was a little girl, and when her mother was a little girl, and they didn’t seem to change. In fact, those same stars—Columbus sailed the ocean blue by those same stars. It looks like they didn’t change.
You see what Hebrews 1:10-11 is doing? It seems like the heavens missed out on—what do they call it?—the second law of thermodynamics or something like that. This increasing entropy, that everything comes in and gets worse and worse and decays and disassembles. “Change and decay in all around I see.”
On the level of earth, I speak as a fool, it doesn’t look like it applies to the moon and to the Big Dipper and to the Little Dipper. They seem to be the same.
Go to Job 38, the oldest book not only in the Bible but in existence. He speaks about the Pleiades and the seven stars and the constellation of Taurus, and he talks about Orion. He talks about the constellation, the Bear. It doesn’t seem to change.
Why can scientists predict, sometimes hundreds of years in advance, that we’re going to have an eclipse on such-and-such a day, and a comet is going to come by in seventy-five years? “Don’t miss it, because you won’t see it again for another hundred and thirty years,” or something like that. How could they predict that? It doesn’t seem like that’s changing.
The Holy Spirit takes the most unchangeable part of creation. He doesn’t compare Jesus to that; He contrasts Jesus to that.
Listen again, Hebrews 1:10-12:
“Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the works of Thy hands:
they shall perish; but Thou continuest:
they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
and as a mantle shalt Thou roll them up;
they shall be changed:
but Thou art the same,
and Thy years shall never come to an end.”
Isn’t that awesome? What’s He saying? He’s saying Jesus is God. He’s infinitely better than all pictures. Jesus is God. He’s forever and forever and forever and forever. He’s the same immutable God, and you have Him. He’s your High Priest. He’s the One you have.
Brothers, if there’s any place in your life where you are changing and vacillating and have need for a rock, I recommend Hebrews 1.
Everything natural is passing away, and the most unchanging part of nature is going to fold up and rot like an old garment, and yet our Lord is the same.
Before we actually look at the chapter, Hebrews 1 is inviting us to look away from pictures—not that Jesus is ten or twenty or fifty billion times greater—to One who is infinitely better than everything. And you have Him.
Look away from things that are being swept away, that won’t be here tomorrow or next week or next month or next year. He’s eternal. He never stops. He’s your Priest.
The same Priest, whether you were saved thirty minutes ago or thirty years ago, He’s the same. He doesn’t change, and He’ll never change.
Your foolishness won’t make Him change either. Your backsliding won’t make Him change either. Your sin won’t make Him change either. Your laziness won’t make Him change either. Your rebellion won’t make Him change.
I’m not encouraging you to be lazy and rebellious and backsliding and all the rest. I’m just trying to say He ever lives to make intercession for you.
Oh, you’ve come a thousand times. The throne of grace is open again. Come on again. He’s still there forever and forever. It’ll never change.
You say, “I messed up too many times. I promised Him I’d never mess up again.” He’s the same. Come on. Come on back.
Such is your High Priest. Such is my High Priest, forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Look again now, if you would, at chapter 1. This chapter, and the whole Book, presents Him as almighty God—infinitely better than all pictures, and forever and forever the same.
He’s presented to us in the opening passage as God’s final Word for these last days. Hebrews 1:1-3:
“God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners,
hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things,
through whom also He made the worlds;
who being the effulgence of His glory,
and the very image of His substance,
and upholding all things by the word of His power,
when He had made purification of sins,
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Now, I don’t have to show you how those three verses state in clear words that cannot be denied that our Lord Jesus is one hundred percent God. Home in, if you would, on verse 2: “In these last days He has spoken unto us in Son.”
When we read in verses 1 and 2 that the Holy Spirit says in times past He spoke in many portions and in many ways, I don’t believe His point is that in the past God used dictation, and God used dreams, and God used visions, and God used thunder.
God spoke through a still, small voice, and God used impressions, and God used types, and God used prophecy, and God used poetry, and God used history—and that’s how He used to do it, but He won’t do it that way anymore. I don’t think He’s saying that.
I don’t think He’s saying that God’s not going to do that. That may be true, but I don’t think that’s the point here.
I think His point is that in the past God spoke in portions, many portions—in fragments, in pieces, a little here and a little there. You didn’t have all the eggs in one basket. You didn’t have the full message. You only had a little piece of it, a little seed. It was not mature.
He spoke in pieces, in parts, in fragments. But now, in these last days—
Remember how the Bible uses last days. That expression, last days, spans the time from the cross until His second coming. In other words, the apostle Paul lived in the last days, and the apostle Peter lived in the last days.
Luther lived in the last days, and Calvin lived in the last days, and Knox lived in the last days, and Darby lived in the last days, and Watchman Nee lived in the last days, and you live in the last days, and I live in the last days.
Usually, when a Christian comes and asks you the question, “Do you think we’re in the last days?” what they mean is, “Do you think we’re in the last days of the last days?” That’s what they mean.
You can answer, “Yeah, we’re in the last days.” And I’ll tell you, I’m not into the prophecy thing, but you’ve got to be blind not to see what’s happening to the fig tree, really. You’ve got to be blind. It’s getting easier and easier to answer the question, “Do you think we’re in the last days of the last days?”
But in these last days, He has spoken unto us finally. He has given us a final revelation—not a piece, not a picture, not a part, not a fragment. That’s how He used to do it.
But in these last days, He has given us the whole revelation in His Son. He has given us His Son. And since His Son is God, He has nothing else to say. That’s complete.
How could you say it? If I came here tonight and I said to you, “Jesus is God—and not only that—” you would say, “Where are you going from there? Where are you going to go?” He’s God. Where are you going to go?
Once He says that, He has said everything. There is nothing else to say.
You know how in the translations the translator tries to help us, and every now and then you’ll see a word in italics? You know what that means. That means that it is not in the original Greek, but the translator thought that would help with the flow and you’d find out what he meant.
When you see a word in italics, sometime just drop it out and read the verse as it is without that.
In many of the translations, I notice my newer New American Standard left out the italics. I have to write to them about that. They should have put it. It is not in the Greek.
“In these last days, He has spoken unto us in”—the word His is not there—“Son.” In these last days, He’s spoken unto us in Son. That’s what it says.
You say, “What does that mean, He’s spoken unto us in Son?” All right, let me try to help you. If I said to you, “He spoke unto us in German,” would you know what that meant? “He spoke unto us in French. He spoke unto us in Chinese. He spoke unto us in some other language.” You’d know what it meant.
He has spoken unto us in Son. That’s a language. That’s all He has to say.
That’s why I always start with the indispensable principle, because that’s a language. I need an interpreter. I need a divine Interpreter to explain the language of Son.
He has spoken unto us not partially, not in pieces. He’s given us the Lord Jesus, His all-inclusive Word. Because Jesus is God, He has nothing else to say.
Everything God has to say to you, brother, is Jesus. It is Christ. That’s it. Now, there’s infinite variety in that, but that’s all that He has to say. That’s God’s final Word.
You know why so many Christians lack finality? Because they haven’t embraced His final Word. They haven’t embraced His final Word, and they have no finality in their lives.
In our introduction lesson, I called attention to Hebrews 12:2, that the Lord Jesus is the Author and the Finisher of faith. Let me back off from Hebrews for a moment and just bring together many of those titles. He illustrates it all through the Scriptures.
Revelation 22:13:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.”
It’s all the same thing. You know, alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and omega is the last letter. It’s like saying A to Z. You say, “What’s the message?” Jesus from A to Z. That’s it. No matter how you combine it, it’s Jesus. Jesus is the message.
Then from letters, He goes to words. In 1 John 1, He’s called the Word. He has another title, called the Amen. Then from words, He goes to books: “In the volume of the Book it is written of Me.”
In Ephesians 3:10, He’s the sum of everything. He’s everything. From books He goes to persons: He’s the first and the last, His first revelation, the last revelation. He’s everything. Then He goes to things: the beginning and the end. It’s all the same thing.
God has spoken unto us the final Word. It’s Jesus. He is eternal. He is infinitely better than everything. He’s the same. He never changes. He is the Author and the Finisher. He’s the Alpha and the Omega. He’s the start and He’s the end. He’s the first and He’s the last. He’s the beginning and He’s the end. He’s the Author and the Finisher. He’s just everything.
Let me tell you what that means practically to my heart. What that means practically is, since Christ is God’s complete revelation, if my heart is open to Jesus, I am open automatically to every revelation in the Word of God.
I tell you that because there are some books in the Bible and some messages in the Bible that are absolute midnight to my soul. I have prayed for many years for God to open certain books. Recently, God gave a breakthrough.
After many years, when I had my heart attack in 2000, I thought I bought the farm, really. I thought, the way everything was going, I was going to heaven. It disappointed me because there were certain books that had not opened to my heart.
When I went into the recovery room, the first thing I did was ask for a Bible. I thought God spared me to open up a particular book, and so I read that book. Well, nothing. Not at that time. He still didn’t give me that book. But later—later He did.
But my point is, even though I don’t understand the revelation of Christ in Jeremiah yet—I haven’t seen that. I’ve been blessed in Jeremiah, but I haven’t seen the revelation of Christ in Jeremiah.
I haven’t seen the distinctive revelation of Christ in the Book of Jude, for example. There are many books where I would just say, “I haven’t seen it yet.” Even though I don’t know what it is, I’m not missing a thing if I’m open to Jesus. I’m open to that message even if I don’t know what it is.
Because He is God’s all-inclusive truth, I don’t even need to know it, because I’m open to that message. I long to go forward in unfamiliar parts of the Scriptures.
You know, sometimes this verse suggests this, and that verse suggests that, and I don’t really have time to follow all those trails. But I will not miss a thing if my eyes are on Jesus.
There’s a negative application to the same thing. Since Christ is God’s all-inclusive Word, if my heart is open to Christ, I will not automatically only be open to all truth; conversely, I’ll be closed to all error.
If my heart’s open to Jesus, I don’t have to study error. You don’t have to study error. He said, “Shun these things.” He didn’t say, “Investigate these things.” He said to shun them.
I would never encourage a child of God to study the cults. When I was at Bible school, I was forced to take that course. I had to study the cults. Oh, I thought that was a dangerous thing.
You don’t need to study error. Walk in the light. Walk in the Lord, and He’ll protect you. Jesus is God’s final Word.
Now that I’ve established that, and I hope you get that idea that Jesus is God, Jesus is infinitely greater than all pictures, Jesus is forever, Jesus is the same, Jesus is almighty God—now let’s come to this:
God is praying to God for me. God is praying to God for you.
Let me look at chapter 1 and show you several things that that should mean to your heart, because you have Him, and He’s almighty God, and He’s praying.
Many commentators look at chapter 1 and outline it this way: chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, Jesus is better than the prophets. Chapter 1, verses 4 through 13—actually through chapter 2, verse 18—Jesus is better than the angels. Infinitely better.
Now I speak as a fool, as always, but let me give this illustration to try to get this before your heart. Let’s say that every day you had a different prophet praying for you.
Let’s say that on Monday you could get Isaiah. He’s going to pray for you in the morning, he’ll pray for you at noon, and he’ll pray for you at night. Then on Tuesday, Daniel is going to pray for you.
Then on Wednesday, Elijah and Elisha are going to pray for you. On Thursday, Jonah is going to pray for you. On Friday, Hosea the prophet will pray for you. On Saturday, Ezekiel will pray for you. On Sunday, John the Baptist will pray for you.
You know, some people actually think that if you get certain people to pray for you, you’re on more solid ground. I’ve had uninstructed saints come to me and actually think that I had some kind of hotline to heaven.
“No, you know, I really want you to pray for me because you’ve got some kind of a monopoly with the Lord,” and all that kind of foolishness. They say, “I don’t trust my prayers, but if I can get Christian A to pray for me, or I can get Christian B to pray for me.”
But just think: if you could get those prophets to pray, what a wonderful thing that would be.
Then add to this: let’s say they were also joined by the angels. Let’s say, for example, that Michael the archangel, who explained the seventy weeks to Daniel, would pray that you would understand the Word of God. Michael’s praying for you, the archangel.
What if that angel who rolled away the stone from the tomb of the Lord Jesus began to pray that you would enter into the risen life? What would it be like if Gabriel prayed for you two or three or four times a day?
What if the seraphim who are worshiping before the Lord, who cover their faces before the Lord, were praying that you would enter into worship and know what it meant to worship?
What if that angel that ministered unto our Lord Jesus in Gethsemane prayed for you, that you would be comforted when you’re going through some trial? Or what if the angels that ministered to Him in the wilderness when He was tempted began to pray for you in the hour of temptation?
What if the cherubim that were around the throne of God were praying for you and bidding you, since they do the will of God like lightning, that you would enter into the full will of God?
That would be wonderful. And that’s what Hebrews says: He is better than the prophets. Praise God, let Isaiah pray for me, but you know who I have praying for me? Somebody infinitely better than Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and Hosea and a whole lot of them.
And He’s infinitely greater than the angels.
Do you ever do the math on this? Ten thousand times ten thousand—that’s a hundred million. A hundred million. We read about the angels: a hundred million, ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands and myriads of myriads.
Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane, in Matthew 26, Jesus said, “I could call twelve legions of angels.” Daniel saw the thousands and the myriads. In Hebrews 12, they’re called an innumerable host. You can’t even number them.
Look at Hebrews 1:6, please:
“And when He again bringeth in the firstborn into the world He saith,
And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
Who is that firstborn? Who’s He talking about? Say it. Exactly.
A hundred million times thousands and thousands and myriads—and what are they doing? They’re all down on their faces before that little Babe in a manger, because He is infinitely greater.
You say, “I want Gabriel to pray for me.” No, I’ve got the Lord Jesus. He is my High Priest, infinitely better than the angels, infinitely better than the prophets, and He is praying for me.
On Monday, and on Tuesday, and on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday and Sunday. Not only all around the calendar, but all around the clock.
Every moment you have His undivided attention. At every moment, I have His undivided attention. God is praying to God for me.
Now let me give you the rest of the chapter in terms of the background of the Hebrews who received this. I’ll just drop the principles and trust the Holy Spirit to apply them to your heart.
You know, at that time the persecution had already begun. Christians were being thrown to the lions and stretched on the rack and crucified. Real Christians were really paying a price.
They were ostracized. If you were a Jew and became a Christian, you wouldn’t be allowed to enter into the temple or come to the annual festivals or anything like that. They were being killed violently, and they were afraid because they were facing martyrdom every day.
They don’t have what it takes, and you don’t have what it takes, and I don’t have what it takes.
Hebrews 1:2 begins by telling us that the Lord Jesus is God, and He made the world. To save time, let me just tie it in to 1 Peter 4:19:
“Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God
commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator.”
A faithful Creator in doing what’s right. Wouldn’t you think He would say, when you’re suffering, when you’re facing persecution, “Commit your soul unto a faithful Father, a faithful Comforter, a faithful High Priest, a faithful Friend”?
But He said, no: when you’re going through trouble, you need a Creator. And that’s why Hebrews begins: He created everything.
Why, when I’m suffering, do I need a Creator? Because I don’t have what it takes to suffer, and you don’t have what it takes. But you have Him who can create what it takes, and I have Him who can create what it takes.
That’s what He’s saying. He’s saying God is the Creator, and when you don’t have what it takes, remember: God is praying for you, and He can create what it takes.
Not only that, but the Hebrew Christians were also losing all of their worldly possessions. It says they joyfully took the spoiling of their possessions. They were about to lose the temple, about to lose the priesthood, and about to lose all of their privileges and their genealogical records—everything they were going to lose.
I told you that a million Jews were crucified when Titus came in and destroyed Jerusalem. They didn’t have the glue to hold things together. Everything was falling apart in their lives.
Hebrews 1:3:
“He upholds all things by the word of His power.”
By Him all things consist. By Him all things hold together. They were losing control. They did not have control over their situation.
So Hebrews begins: Jesus is God, and when you don’t have what it takes, you have Him who can create what it takes. Jesus is God, and when things start falling apart, you have Him who is holding all things together. And He’s praying for you.
The One in whom is the glue for everything, He doesn’t change.
Moment by moment, things were changing for them. There was no stability anywhere. Everything was sliding into the sea. Their economy was failing, their justice system was failing, and their security was failing.
Hebrews 1:10-12: they had Him who changes not. They had security.
Recently, I found this wonderful prayer. I’ve cut it out. I have plaques all over my study. I love these Bible plaques. Isaiah 38:14:
“Mine eyes fail with looking upward:
O Lord, I am oppressed, be Thou my surety.”
Isn’t that a wonderful prayer? “Be my security.” And that’s what they had.
You see, God can’t change. His character can’t change. He is what He is. He said, “I am that I am.” He can’t stop being what He is, and He can’t start being what He isn’t.
He said, “You can depend on Me. You can depend on Me.”
In that connection, I love Malachi 3:6:
“For I, the Lord, change not;
therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”
If He changed, we would be dead. I don’t know about your life, but I know my life. I can say all this wonderful stuff and speak on Christ, but in my own life, one minute I’m hot and one minute I’m cold, and one minute I’m in and one minute I’m out.
One minute I’m zealous, and the next minute I’m lazy, as lazy can be. My heart gets cold, and these things get dry, and the Word gets dry, and I’m changing all the time.
I come back to this: I have such a High Priest, and He doesn’t change. When I don’t have what it takes, I have the One that can create what it takes. When I lose control and everything falls apart, I have Him who holds everything together, and He’s praying to God for me.
When my life vacillates, and I’m up and I’m down and I’m in and I’m out and I’m hot and I’m cold and I’m there and I’m not there, He’s the same—always the same. God is praying to God for me.
Let me give one more thing, and then we’ll close chapter 1.
You know, these Christians were called to live a heavenly life, and they were so used to earth and this world. They had been brought up in this world.
In Hebrews 3:1, they are called to a heavenly calling. In Hebrews 6:4, they were given heavenly gifts. In Hebrews 8:5, they are called to heavenly things. In Hebrews 11:16, they have a heavenly country. In Hebrews 12:22, there is a heavenly Jerusalem. In Hebrews 12:23, they are the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.
They were called to live a heavenly life, and they were facing persecution. They were losing their houses, losing their families, and their friends were being killed. They were so tied to the earthly. They felt so inadequate.
And He’s saying, “Listen, I am God. Therefore, I am the Lord of hosts, the Lord of the armies of heaven and earth.”
The angels are ministering spirits, right there in Hebrews 1, flaming fires doing what I send them to do. Do you ever notice the last verse in Hebrews 1? They are sent to minister to the heirs of salvation.
I’m not going to do it now, but I encourage you to study angels in a relative way, not in an absolute way. What I mean by that is every brother in this room is worth more than all the angels added together. Every brother in this room is worth more than all the angels added together.
Hebrews 1:14:
“Are they not all ministering spirits,
sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?”
In Ephesians 3, we see that the angels are studying us, and they are learning the many-colored wisdom of God. No angel was ever created in the image of God. No angel was ever born again. No angel ever knew the joy of sins forgiven. No angel was ever indwelt by the Lord.
That’s you, brother, and that’s me. I used to think, “I can’t wait to go to heaven and see the angels.” They can’t wait to see me. They can’t wait to see you. We are the redeemed.
I don’t want a show of hands. Just think: are you among any that believe you have a guardian angel? You know, you’ve heard that growing up: “You’ve got a guardian angel.”
It’s not true. You do not have a guardian angel. It says all the angels of God are ministering to the heirs of salvation. You don’t have one; you have all of them. A hundred million guardians.
I wonder if the angel who rolled away the stone from the tomb of our Lord Jesus has ministered to you this week. Absolutely possible. All the angels are your ministers.
They’re thinking about this heavenly life: “Oh, how am I going to live the heavenly life?” He says, “I’m God. Listen, I’m God. I’m God.”
When you don’t have what it takes, I can create what it takes. When you’re losing control, I can hold it all together. When you’re vacillating, up and down and in and out, I’m the One that doesn’t change. I’m the same.
You can always come to Me and expect to find Me as I am. I’m always the same. I’ll be there over and over and over again.
When you think you’re all alone, and you have to fight this thing on your own, and all your friends have left you, you’ve got all the angels of God. He’s the Lord of hosts.
Jesus is God, and God is praying to God for you. Jesus is God, and God is praying to God for me.
I hope that helps us a little bit enter into the wonder of this chapter. Now I pray that we can see the Author. Let’s pray together.
Our Father, thank You for showing us that Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. You put it all together in Jesus’ name. Amen.