The book of Hebrews shows us that a superior Savior brought a superior covenant resulting in a superior life. Throughout the letter, the author constantly argues for the supremacy of Christ over all things. This concept is present in every chapter and it is summarized in a very clear statement in Hebrews 8:1: “This is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.”

God gives us tremendous help in understanding the intended purpose of the book of Hebrews. Specifically, Hebrews ends with the words, “bear with the word of exhortation” (Hebrews 13:22) . Hebrews is an exhortation for teaching and correction and for encouragement and comfort.

Okay, well welcome. Welcome to the book of Hebrews. So open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews and let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this testimony of your Son, Jesus, and his beauty, his superiority. And His beauty, His superiority.

Lord, we pray that you would use the minutes ahead to help us to exalt Him in our own hearts so that we might be found worshiping in a way that pleases you and bowing before him, setting him as the highest of all things in our hearts and in our lives. Amen. Okay, the book of Hebrews. The message of Hebrews could be summed up in a pretty simple phrase. A superior Savior brought a superior covenant resulting in a superior life.

And the writer of Hebrews is calling the church to its center, and the center of the attentions of a church is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And so throughout this letter, the author is constantly arguing for the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all things. And this concept runs in every single chapter, and it is summarized in chapter 8 verse 1 which says, This is the main point of the things we are saying. Isn't that nice? A really clear statement.

This is the main point. You know, you're sitting with someone and they say, okay, look at me. This is the main point. Well, that's exactly what the author of Hebrews says. This is the main point.

We are saying we have a high priest in heaven. So Hebrews is about that high priest, and Hebrews encapsulates the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the author is making it really clear that the Lord Jesus Christ is superior to everything, and so He ought to be superior to everything in our own hearts and in our own lives, that we should seek to allow nothing to distract us from our attentions toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a word of exhortation, and this exhortation is to regard Jesus Christ as central to everything. Now the book begins with the declaration of the radical supremacy of Jesus Christ. In chapter 1 verse 1 we read this, that 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 he also made the worlds, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, end up holding all things by the word of his power, when He had by Himself purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." That's the beginning of this letter.

The end of the letter features a very famous prayer, a very beautiful prayer in chapter 13 verse 20 and 21. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work, to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever amen." And then the writer pens these last words to give us an idea of what the author is trying to do. He says this, "...and I appeal to you brethren, bear with the word of exhortation for I have written to you in few words." Now Hebrews is a word of exhortation And one commentator states the primary message of Hebrews like this, Hebrews tells us that Christ Jesus is better than anything mere religion has to offer. All the pomp and circumstance of religion pales in comparison to the person, work, and ministry of Christ Jesus. It is the superiority of our Lord Jesus then that remains the theme of this eloquently written letter.

And this letter, as Hebrews 13 22 says, is a word of exhortation, and you know, it's a word of exhortation in the fullest sense of the word exhortation in the Bible. And that word encapsulates not just teaching and correction, but it also includes encouragement and comfort. The word exhortation includes all those things. This is an exhortation to make the Lord Jesus Christ the supreme feature of all of your thinking and of all of your living, to actually make Jesus Christ the center of your life. And of course this is a book that is written to the Hebrews, written to people who have been converted out of Judaism.

The late Walter Martin, who was a Christian apologist, wrote this, Hebrews is a book written by Hebrews to Hebrews to appeal to Hebrews to stop acting like Hebrews. Okay? I think Walter Martin captured it because there was a tendency for some of these Jewish converts to slip back under the law of Moses. Another thing that was happening that the writers addressing is persecution. They had turned to Christ, having departed from Judaism, either in reality they departed from Judaism or maybe some of them just outwardly, and the pressures to conform to their old religion only increased.

And some of them wanted to turn back. The price for their faith caused them to want to shrink back and to revert back to their old ways. They could fit in more easily if they shrunk back. They would not be seen as such radicals if they went back to the old ways, and so they were in danger of drifting away and shrinking away and losing the rest that God had provided for them. And some of them were drawing away from the assembly meetings, and some of them had stalled their growth, and they were still babies.

They should have been mature. They should have been teachers, but they were still immature. And so there's this warning that the author is delivering about the consequences for withdrawing from Christian fellowship and disowning Jesus and abandoning the hope that they once had in Him. On the other hand, it functions as an encouragement for us to endure in the faith, and that regardless of the difficulties that we face, that we turn to Him even more. And how do you do that?

Well, you turn to Him even more. You fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. So the author is urging us on to perfection, So it says, go on to perfection is what the author says in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 1, and to lay aside everything that hinders. And another thing about Hebrews is that it's a marvelous commentary on the Pentateuch and an explanation of the ceremonial law. It really is a commentary on the ceremonial law, And one of the great values of Hebrews is that it teaches you how to interpret the Old Testament law for the New Testament Christian.

And he explains the person and work of Jesus Christ and how Christ fulfilled the Old Testament sacrificial system. And so there are many quotations from the Old Testament. For example, Psalm 8, 4 through 6. For example, Psalm 95, 7 through 11. There are many, many Old Testament references that are interpreted, and you can see what is a proper use of the law for the Christian.

And it's really a call to pursue Christ, to hear from Christ, and to find all of your hope in Him. Now one of the things that is easy to do after reading the book of Hebrews is ask yourself, why is it that I'm a part of this church? What do I do when I come to this church? Do I come to meet with God? Am I coming to meet with Jesus Christ or am I just coming to hear a sermon about God and to meet people?

And the writer of Hebrews is going to make it clear that God has brought his people together so that they would see Jesus Christ. They would hear from God. They're not just participating in a fellowship and hearing sermons and that type of thing. They are there to meet with their God as He's expressed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's a big overview of Hebrews.

Now let me tell you about the genre of this literature. You know, you have prophecy and history and poetry. Well, this is a personal letter. This is one of the letters that's in the New Testament. How do we know it's a letter?

Well, if you go to chapter 13, verses 18 through 25, It's really very clear. It's a personal letter. So in chapter 13 verse 18, the writer says, Pray for us. So he's written to someone and he's asking for them to pray. In verse 19, the author says, but I especially urge you.

In verse 20 he says, may the God of peace, and then 21, make you complete. He's writing a letter to people for their improvement, their sanctification. In verse 22 in chapter 13 he says, and I appeal to you brethren, bear with the word of the exhortation." So it's a personal letter to people who are struggling in different ways to urge them to turn their eyes on Jesus. Let's talk about the authorship of the book, who wrote it? The name of the author is never stated in the book of Hebrews, and this makes it difficult.

So there have been various possibilities that have been presented. For example, the Apostle Paul is one who is thought to be the author of Hebrews. Barnabas, Luke, the early Church Father, Clement. The 1611 version of the King James Bible calls this book the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. But did Paul write it?

The style seems to be a little bit different than his other letters. So here's my conclusion. We don't know. When I talk about the book of Hebrews, I typically say the author of the book of Hebrews. Others say the Apostle Paul said in Hebrews chapter 13 too, but I'm not sure.

And I think Christian scholarship and its jury is out on that, so we don't know who wrote it. Time of writing? Well, we know from 1323 that Timothy is still alive when it was written. That we also know that some of the original followers of Jesus have died in 13 verse 7. We know that a portion of Hebrews is quoted in a letter that was written by Clement of Rome around 96 AD.

So most likely it was written before 96 AD and there doesn't seem to be much understanding or knowledge of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the wiping out of the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant, but images of Old Testament worship are taken from the tabernacle. So when was it written? We're not entirely sure. There's not a definitive testimony for exactly when it was written. So let's talk about the book itself.

So there's an outline in front of you, and I've broken this outline down into four sections, chapters 1 through 6, declaring that our Lord Jesus Christ is superior. He's superior to everything. In chapters 7 through 8, that the Old Covenant is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and then in chapters 9 and 10, the New Covenant is a complete replacement to the Old Covenant, and in chapters 11 through 13, the life of faith and really the power and the beauty and the reality of a life of faith. Now another way to outline this is by what some have called the announcement of themes. And so there are various places where these themes are announced, and you can structure the book in that way as well.

In chapter 1, 1 through 4, there's the theme that God spoke through Jesus in these last times. That's the first theme. The second is in chapter 2 verse 17 that Jesus is a merciful and a faithful high priest. And the author writes this, therefore in all things he had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. And then in chapter 5 verses 9 and 10 there's this announcement of Jesus as the perfect High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek and he also talks about in that section that some of his hearers were unwilling to grow up.

They should have been teachers by now. And then in chapter 10 verses 36 through 39 there's this declaration that Jesus is the source of salvation. And then in chapter 12 verses 12 through 13 there is this picture of walking by faith and removing all obstacles to make level paths for your feet to seek to honor God in everything and be a person of faith. Now the central section of this letter is in chapter 9 verse 1 to chapter 10 verse 18 And in this section there is a very clear description of how the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament Law. Let me just give you a couple of quick examples from this section.

In verse 9 in chapter 9 we read this, It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed them, performed the service perfect in regard to conscience, concerned only with foods and drinks and various washings and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not this creation. Not with the blood of bulls, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." So it's the blood of Jesus Christ, His work on the cross, His sacrifice, which has fulfilled the Old Testament ceremonial law. That's what that section is declaring. And so, you know, with that as kind of a backdrop, I'd like to walk through some of the practical matters that the book of Hebrews presents to us.

And I've already stated the first one, and I'll state it again, and that is that the writer of Hebrews is calling the church to its center, to Jesus Christ Himself, to behold Him. It's really the heart of every good thing that comes from our lives. If you're struggling with anything, if you have questions about anything, if you're discouraged about anything, the primary solution is to turn your eyes on Jesus Christ, to feed upon him, to learn of him, to fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. That's the first and I think most critical application that you'll find in the book of Hebrews. The second is this.

The author is very concerned with the proper doctrine of Christ. Whether you're turning to the true Lord and Savior Jesus Christ or some false God is really critical. So the writer of Hebrews is explaining who Jesus Christ is, and I'm gonna walk through every chapter very quickly and give you a sense of this. In chapter 1, He's the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, 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. Jesus Christ is the brightness of the glory of God.

That's who He is. In chapter 2, Christ, by the grace of God, tastes death for everyone. That's in chapter 2 verse 9. He tastes death for everyone. In chapter 3, Christ is a son over his own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end." That's in chapter 3 verse 6.

In chapter 4 verse 12 and 13 we read this, "...the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight. But all things are naked and open before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account." The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God, and He is the Diserner of the thoughts of your heart. If you ever want to understand the thoughts and the meditations of your heart, remember that Jesus Christ is the one who discerns the thoughts and the intents of the heart. He is the one to turn to.

And then in that same chapter, in chapter 4, he is a great high priest. That's in chapter 4 verse 14. And we also learn that this great high priest, he passed through the heavens and came to earth. In chapter 5 verse 9, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. And then in chapter 6 verses 18 and 19, He gives the soul who believes in Him strong consolation, refuge, and anchor for the soul.

In chapter 7 verse 22, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. And then in chapter 8 we learn that we have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens." That's 8 verse 1. And in the same chapter we hear that Christ brought a better ministry and a better covenant and better promises. That's in chapter 8 verse 6. In chapter 9 verse 14 we learn that, quote, the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God cleans your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

We learn that He cleanses the conscience from dead works. Everybody has dead works, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ through His Spirit that cleanses your conscience. In chapter 10 verse 14 we learn that, quote, "...for by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." A once-and-for-all offering. Christ is not crucified over and over again as the Roman Catholics contend. He is a once-and-for-all offering for your sins.

In chapter 11, there's a beautiful explanation of why Moses loved God, And it tells us about the nature of God and the nature of Jesus Christ in chapter 11 verse 6. Moses loved God. Why? Because quote, he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Moses loved God because what he believed about God, that God was good, that God was the great designer of all blessing and he would reward you if you sought him.

And that's the view of God of a true Christian. They see God as so good that they wouldn't want to offend him in any way. In chapter 12, We're comforted by the knowledge that, quote, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? So God does chasten his sons in chapter 12 verse 8.

In chapter 13 we get an even more comfort in the knowledge that, quote, "...for he himself has said, I will never leave here forsake you. So he may boldly say, The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?" That's chapter 13, verses 5 through 6. What can man do with me?

You know, I received a letter from a person today whose company had just hired a chief equality officer in order to promote the LGBT agenda in his company, which is a pretty scary thing for Christians and companies like that. And when I received that, the first thing I thought was, well, we know this for sure, that no one can touch you unless the Lord would be glorified by it. And that's why the writer of Hebrews says, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me? And then in the very last paragraph of the book, we're told that he is that great Shepherd of the sheep.

That great Shepherd of the sheep. We know in John 10 he's called the Good Shepherd. Here he's called that great Shepherd of the sheep. What a beautiful image. You have this marvelous shepherd who is the greatest of all.

He's your Savior, He's your shepherd. He's your great high priest. And that's what you get. So the writer of Hebrews is explaining dozens of ways to understand the nature of God in the Lord Jesus Christ and his works, what he is doing. So the author is concerned with the doctrine of Christ.

Now the third thing that the author is concerned about is our corporate life together. He addresses why we do what we do when we come together, and we come together to see Jesus Christ. Everything we do points to Him and, you know, everything that we do when we gather together concerning the reading of Scripture, concerning the singing of songs, the preaching of the Word of God, the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Everything that we do, the performing of baptisms, these things all point to Jesus Christ. When we gather together, this should be our overwhelming focus.

Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And the church is hardly a church at all unless it makes Jesus Christ the center of everything. And there's really no hope for a healthy church or irrelevant church without the Lord Jesus Christ being the center of all things. And it means that when we gather together, we talk of him, we sing of him, we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. So this is an exhortation for the centrality of the gospel and talk of the Lord Jesus Christ in the church.

And then the fourth practical consideration here is that the book of Hebrews is a challenge to know what it means to be saved. And what the writer of Hebrews is making really clear is it's not enough to start, it's not enough to profess, but to finish. Those are the ones who are saved. Salvation begins with an event, It begins with a repentance and a washing. But then salvation is a process.

We are being saved. We are saved. We are born again. We are cleansed. We transfer from death to life.

We come alive. But at the same time, once we're saved there's a process. And that's what Hebrews 3, 13, and 14 says, For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end." Now, there are many warnings in Hebrews to be steadfast at Christ, to stay the course, because there were people among them who'd made professions of faith, but they weren't true believers. And So there are these exhortations for self-examination. Now the Bible makes it clear that you cannot lose your salvation.

You can never lose what was eternally founded in eternity past. But the question is, did you ever have it? And Paul is appealing to this group of Jewish Christians in different ways. He's urging them not to drift away. He's urging them to exalt Christ because there was a tendency for them to drift back into the Old Testament law.

So the author is concerned about their corporate life in the church, and then the book of Hebrews also presents commands to people who are experiencing difficulties. He speaks to those who'd made a profession of faith and some of them were not believers. They had aligned themselves with Christ, but there was some variation. There were some who were just professors of Christ who did not really belong to Christ. And now these people are facing persecution.

You can read about that in chapter 10 verses 32 through 39. But he tells us what these people were going through. It was a severe persecution, but yet no one was losing their lives yet. They were losing their property, it was being confiscated, they're being ridiculed, their homes were being plundered, they were being thrown into prison, but they weren't being killed. In Hebrews chapter 10 particularly, verse 32 speaks of it, and he says, you know, in chapter 12 verse 4, he says, you have not resisted.

You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. So they haven't experienced the most extreme forms of persecution, but they are being persecuted, and some of them want to flee. And the writer is trying to assure them that persecution is a normal thing. Paul spoke this very same thing in 2 Timothy 3.12, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And Peter said the very same thing in 1 Peter 4, 12, and 13.

He said, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you also may rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed." So there was real persecution and there was fear among those being persecuted. So the apostles addressing that. The next practical matter that he brings up is really an extension of what of the previous point of persecution. Now Hebrews was written to a people who are tempted to give up, and They wanted to go back to the old things.

They wanted to revert because their devotion to Jesus Christ was getting them in trouble socially. And this happens to true Christians. They often lose their social acceptability. And it's a mark of Christianity to find yourself losing some of your social acceptability because of Christ. Now there are at least seven warnings that all contain the word away, and I'm going to tell you what they are.

The first one is in chapter 2, verse 1. Don't drift away. Don't drift away. There is this gradual drifting away from Christian people and from Christ Himself, and He's calling those back who are drifting. The second is in chapter 3 verse 12, don't turn away are those very words.

Don't turn away. You know, drifting is less intentional, turning is more intentional. And then thirdly, in chapter 6 verses 4 through 6, don't fall away. That has to do with apostasy. Now when you get to Hebrews chapter 6, there's some language that people have found difficult because it sounds on the surface that a person can lose their salvation.

We won't be able to really dissect this section here, but suffice it to say that what the writer of Hebrews is saying is that there is a way in which you can appear to have participated in true Christianity. You can taste of the good things of God. In other words, I believe he's talking about being part of the church. You experience the fellowship, you experience the love, you receive sound doctrine, you receive the blessings, you taste it, and you like it, but then you turn away. And the reason you turn away is you liked all those things, but you didn't really love Jesus Christ, and so you fell away.

You became an apostate. Justification is forever. Election is forever. In Ephesians chapter 1, the Apostle says, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish. What God has rescued cannot be wrested from His hands by the devil, and salvation cannot be taken away.

How do you evaluate the statements here? Here's how you evaluate them. Take them as a warning and check your heart. The fourth example is in chapter 10 39, don't shrink away. You're afraid, you're shrinking away, you're afraid of being rejected and scorned, your property's being confiscated, and persecution causes people to shrink away.

And then fifthly, don't stay away. That's chapter 10 verse 25. Don't stay away from Christian fellowship. It's a very serious thing if people begin to stay away from Christian fellowship when they intentionally stop attending the gatherings of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what was happening, it was just costing these people too much to be identified with the true church, and so they were staying away.

And then sixthly, chapter 10 verse 35, don't throw away. Don't throw away your confidence. Now sin is the only way to really throw away your confidence. If you're walking in sin, you're loving sin, then you might not have too much...you might not ought to have too much confidence in your salvation. And then seventh, don't be carried away.

Chapter 13 verse 9. And he's talking about being carried away by false teaching. And for them it was a turning back to the Jewish sacrificial system, and they were being carried away. So those are seven warnings that include the word away. Falling away, being carried away, shrinking away, and all that type of thing.

The next thing that I want to identify here is Hebrews teaches us a lot about angels. There's some really wonderful and marvelous things spoken about angels. If you study angelology, Hebrews is one of the places you've got to stop to understand angels. In chapter 1 verse 13 we read this, "...but to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a footstool." And then verse 14, "...are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Angels minister to people.

They minister to people who are being saved. And angels are more than we think they are. You know, I think one of the great tragedies that exists every Christmas is you have these little baby angels that are complete misrepresentations of angels. Angels are mighty and often terrifying beings in the Bible. You know, when an angel showed up before John and he wanted to worship that angel, It wasn't a fat little pink baby, and of course he was rebuked for wanting to worship this angel.

But in Isaiah chapter 6 we learn that angels worship God. We also know that angels are involved in a war, a spiritual war in the heavenly places. And you see this in Daniel chapter 12 verse 7 and in verse 18 where there's this battle among the angels in the heavens. There's an unseen war that's going on. The angels are waging that war and we are part of that.

We know that angels execute judgment. You remember in Isaiah chapter 37 the King Hezekiah was pleading with God because Sennacherib was at the gates of the city to come and destroy Jerusalem And what happened? One angel killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand of Sennacherib's troops, and he hightailed it back to his hometown. But one angel did such a thing. Angels are remarkably powerful.

Remember when Jesus was in the garden, was being arrested, and Peter pulls out his sword, lops off the ear of the servant of the high priest, Jesus says, put your sword down, and Jesus says something really interesting to him about angels. He says, don't you know that I could call down twelve legions of angels? A legion was somewhere between six and twelve thousand, and one angel slew 185, 000. I wonder what twelve legions of angels could do. Angels are mighty beings, and remember in Acts 12 it was an angel that killed Herod because he exalted himself.

One of the most remarkable incidences in the Bible to me regarding angels occurs in the temptation of Jesus Christ. He was in the desert, out in the wilderness, 40 days without food, and it says that He was being ministered to by the angels. Even the Son of God received ministry from the angels. And Hebrews chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 make it clear that angels reveal the will of God. In Acts chapter 7 verse 30 we learn that angels gave Moses the law.

In Galatians chapter 3 verse 19 we learn that it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator to bring the law of God. There's so many remarkable disclosures of angels. Well, in Hebrews chapter 13, too, we read a pretty remarkable verse that some have entertained angels. He says, don't neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by it some have entertained angels. So it's quite likely that you've entertained angels.

Here's a real possibility. We find ourselves in glory for all eternity. We see the, you know, the disclosure of our whole life, and we see how often it was that angels were intervening. We didn't even know it. I think we'll probably see a lot of that, more than we can even imagine, that God sends angels to render aid to those who will inherit salvation.

You know, the Lord Jesus Christ was ministered to by angels. The Lord of glory. How much more do we need their ministry? So the next practical matter is that Hebrews declares the objective of Christ for his children, and that is in chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 to bring many sons to glory. That this is His work.

He is the captain of our salvation and He's bringing many sons to glory. This is His promise. If you've trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, He's bringing you to glory. He's using all things to work together for the glory that He is working in your life. The next is that Hebrews instructs us how to approach God.

In chapter 4 verse 16, let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. There in that passage in chapter 4, 15 and 16, we learned that Jesus Christ sympathizes with our weaknesses because He was tempted in all points that we were, but without sin. You have a sympathetic high priest in your weaknesses. What are your weaknesses? Your weaknesses are your sins, and he is actually sympathetic toward you.

And then next, Hebrews calls the church to comfort in chapter 6 verse 18. He speaks of the strong consolation that we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us." Life in Christ is a life of consolation, strong consolation, so that we might have hope, so that we would have a place of refuge. We can enter into the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High and find comfort, to find grace, to help in time of need, and to be consoled by Him. This is one of the great blessings of salvation, is you always have a place of consolation whenever you are afraid. And then you also have an anchor for your soul in chapter 6 verse 19.

This hope we have is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus." We also find that the Lord Jesus Christ is a faith builder. We learn this intention of God to build our faith in chapter 11 verse 1. And one of the things that we should recognize is that Hebrews is an urgent call to see how much better the New Covenant is. And so the writer of Hebrews is calling the church to recognize that it has better things in the New Covenant than it did in the Old Covenant. In chapter 10 verse 32 it's a better country.

The word better appears 13 times and it most of the time applies to the New Covenant in relation to the Old. For example, in chapter 1 verse 4, He has been made better than the angels, and then He has a better name. In chapter 6 verse 9, there is a better end. In chapter 7 verse 7, There's a better priesthood. In chapter 7 verse 19, there's a better hope.

In chapter 7, 22, there's a better covenant. In chapter 8, 6 there's a better mediator. In Hebrews 8, 6 again there are better promises. In chapter 9, 23 there are better sacrifices. In chapter 10, 34 there's a better future.

In chapter 11 16 there's a better country. In chapter 11 35 there's a better resurrection. In chapter 11 40 there's a better thing. In chapter 12 verse 24 there's a better blood. And he's comparing Abel's blood of vengeance to Christ's blood, which speaks of redemption.

So it's a better covenant. He is a superior Savior with a superior covenant for a superior life, and that really forms the whole structure of this letter, and it's also a call to grow. The writer of Hebrews is calling the church to grow and that's why the letter ends in chapter 13 verse 20. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is pleasing in His sight." How? Through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

He wants to make you complete for every good work, to work in you, to build in you the things that are pleasing in His sight so that He would be glorified. So that's what the writer of Hebrews is driving at. So what do we do with this? Well I think first of all, Let's draw near to God. Let's come boldly before the throne of grace.

Let's fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. Like the writer says in 10 22, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful." So Hebrews is a letter that is that is calling us out of filling our minds with inferior things so that we would fill our minds with Jesus Christ who is a superior Savior who has a superior covenant and he calls us to a superior life. That's life in Jesus Christ. He's better than everything. He is the most important.

He's the sweetest. He's the most powerful. He's the wisest. He's the best. And the writer of Hebrews is calling us to seek Him with all of our hearts.

So that's the book of Hebrews. It's a word of exhortation about the superiority of Jesus Christ and the centrality of the gospel.