0:01 Welcome to Words of Life. We've been studying through the Bible and we have reached the book of Hebrews. My own conviction is Hebrews is one of 0:19 the finest books of the New Testament. If Romans is the book that explains the gospel, Hebrews is the book that explains the new covenant. And the practical application 0:43 of the fact that Jesus became a man like us. We could give a number of titles to this book. Consider Jesus could be a good title. 1:07 Like we read in chapter 3 verse 1. Looking unto Jesus like it says in Hebrews 12. Or entering into the holiest most holy place. Like it says in chapter 10. 1:31 Or pressing on to perfection like it says in chapter 6 verse 1. There's one word that occurs 13 times in this book. And that is the word better. Hebrews is telling us that the new 1:54 covenant is much better than the old covenant. And it shows us how Jesus is our example to lead a victorious life. Many people don't read the book of 2:13 Hebrews as much as they read Romans, Philippians, Ephesians. And they miss such a lot. Because knowing Jesus is the secret of spiritual strength. There are a number of words used 2:34 frequently in this book. Words like perfect. Perfection. Forever. Eternal. Once. Heavenly. 2:54 These are some of the words found in this book frequently. In chapter 1 the deity of Christ is emphasized. Nobody knows who wrote the letter to the 3:13 Hebrews. This is one book where the author does not even mention his name. In that sense it's very unusual among all New Testament books. And the other thing is there is no 3:39 that this book is written to the Hebrews. Who are the Hebrew people? in this book anyway that it is written to a particular group of in this book anywhere that 3:56 particular group of people. Unlike almost all the episodes. So here is a book where we don't know the author. We don't know to whom it is written. Somebody has given the title Hebrews 4:17 because there are so many references to the Old Testament here. They must have assumed it was written for Hebrew Christians. But it doesn't say that anywhere in the 4:38 book. So therefore I conclude that for us forget that to the Hebrews. This is the Epistle to us. And there is no human author mentioned 4:56 here. So we can say that God has written this word to us. So when Paul wrote his letters he'd begin with the word Paul. Almost always. 5:12 Hebrews begins with the word God. So that's a good way to take it. This is the word of God to us especially. Especially to Christians. 5:33 Who have been born again. But you are defeated. Who are living under old covenant rules. There is a better way. That is the message here. Press on. That is the message. We got to 5:51 press on to perfection. And the way is by looking unto Jesus. So, when a book is going to emphasize the humanity of Christ, the author realizes it's very important 6:09 that people don't think that I doubt his deity. So, he spends a whole chapter emphasizing the deity of Christ. More than any other book in the Bible. 6:32 And you find a number of expressions here proving his deity. Let's Right from the first verse. is telling us the new covenant is better than the old covenant. In the old covenant, he spoke through 6:52 the prophets in many ways. How much better that is than old covenant? And this son of God is the one through whom he made the whole world. And who made the whole world? God In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. So, is 7:12 the son of God, the second person of the Trinity. Who made the whole world? He is the radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his nature. And upholds all things by the word of his power. These are all words that can 7:29 all power. These are all words that can only be used of God. And concerning him, the Father says 7:57 verse six When he brings you see first of all he is the begotten Son of God, verse five. Then he is called the firstborn in verse six. Because 8:14 he's got God has got many more sons now. And what does God say? All the angels of God worship him. Now worship is something which no one can receive except God himself. You read in Revelation that the angel 8:39 told uh John in Revelation 22:9, "Don't worship me, worship God." Jesus said to the devil, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve." No human being, no created being, no 9:01 angel can receive worship. Jesus received worship when he was on earth. I Here the Father says, "Let all the 9:19 angels of God worship him." Clear proof of his deity. And then the Father speaks to the Son in verse eight. And what does he call him? 9:39 He call him? He calls the son, "Oh God, your throne is forever." Here the father is calling the son God. Of the son he says, "Thy throne, oh God, is forever and ever." But yet he was also a man. 10:04 So, in the next verse it refers to his humanity. "Thou has loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy companions." It 10:28 As God, he didn't need to be anointed when he was in heaven. But when he came to earth, he had to be anointed. Because all human beings have to be anointed if they are to serve God and live for God. And why was he anointed more than 10:45 anybody else? Because of any partiality. There is no partiality with God. He was anointed because he loved righteousness and hated lawlessness more than anybody else. And it was an oil of gladness with which 11:06 he was anointed. The anointing of Jesus Christ was an anointing that made him full of joy. See, the anointing that came upon Elijah did not make him full of joy always. He was discouraged and depressed always. But if we receive the anointing which 11:29 came upon Christ, it will make us full of joy all the time. And that is why the Bible says, "Rejoice in the Lord always." And the reason for this is because he loved righteousness. 11:51 Now, there's a lot of difference between doing righteousness and loving righteousness. You know, a man may give money to God not be happy to give money to God. I think a lot of lot of people in the Old Testament paid their tithe 12:06 reluctantly. So, there's a lot of differences difference between doing righteousness and loving righteousness. It says about Jesus, he loved righteousness. In the same way, there's a lot of difference between avoiding iniquity and 12:24 hating iniquity. There there may be a lot of people who avoid iniquity because they don't want to get caught. But hating iniquity is a bigger thing. Jesus loved righteousness and hated 12:44 iniquity. He loved righteousness so much and hated iniquity so much that he was anointed more than everybody else. So, that teaches us 13:02 that the the measure of anointing we have in our life is dependent on how much we love righteousness and hate iniquity. 10 brothers may be anointed with the Holy Spirit, yet the degree of anointing 13:19 may be tremendously different. Here are 10 preachers all anointed to preach by God. And yet there's 10 times more anointing on one of those preachers than on the other. The anointing is not equal. 13:45 There are degrees of anointing. And it depends on how much each person loves righteousness Many people say, "I'm baptized in the Holy Spirit." That's great. But then it may be a very small degree. 14:03 And that's why God is not able to accomplish much through you. But if you start loving righteousness and hating iniquity the degree of anointing in you will increase. And that's why the devil doesn't want 14:22 you to think about loving righteousness. He wants you to think more about how to make more money. Or how to get more property on this earth. You may be anointed. 14:41 But it's like a drop. The other person, it may be like rivers. Both are water. You got one drop of water and he's got rivers. Difference. So don't just glory in the fact that you're baptized in the Holy Spirit. And then again, what does God say to 15:03 Jesus? He calls him Lord. First he called him God, verse eight. And then he calls him Lord in verse 10. Thou Lord in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth. 15:21 The heavens are the works of thy hands. So to emphasize the deity of God. At the same time again he says he's a man. Meaning my uh uh uh Because he's more he tells them verse 13, "Sit at my right hand until my I make your enemies a footstool." Now 15:40 I'm going to say something. He shows that Christ is so much greater than all created beings. Greater than any angels. Angels are only verse 14, ministering spirits sent out to serve us who have inherited salvation. In chapter two the main teaching here is 16:03 that Jesus Christ has become like us. That's the subject of this chapter. He says in verse "Because of this we must pay greater heed to all that we have heard." I mean I'm going to say something. He doesn't say in verse three, "How 16:21 shall we escape if we reject this salvation?" No, you may not have rejected it. You have accepted this salvation. But you may have neglected it. You know, you may buy something in your house and neglect it. You buy something and then you neglect 16:42 it. It all rusts and gets spoiled. So, You have received But you have neglected it. This is talking about believers. We have received Christ. But to neglect 17:01 experiencing all that Christ. but to neglect experiencing all that the salvation that 17:20 Christ brought for bought for them. Jesus was the first person who preached this gospel. And God bore witness to this gospel through the apostles with miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit. According to God's own will, verse four. 17:46 Teaching us that we can't have miracles whenever we like. Can't even have the gifts of the Holy Spirit when what we like. It is according to his will. And then he speaks about how the whole 18:05 earth God made the whole earth to be subject to man, not to angels. In verse five onwards. And he quotes this from the Old Testament. From Psalm eight. What is man, verse six, that thou would 18:25 remember him or son of man that thou was concerned about him? Made him a little lower than the angels. And has appointed him over the work of your hands. But you put everything under his feet. 18:44 He says when we look around the world, we don't see everything put under man's feet. Animals are not under our feet. Many things are not under our feet. We see Jesus. Jesus back home. Who for a short time was made a little lower than 19:03 the angels. That is amazing that God almighty became lower than the angels he created. See here. How he become lower than the angels. Because he 19:21 because he died and angels don't die. That's what made him lower than the angels. It says because of the suffering of death, verse 9. But now we see him crowned with glory and honor. That by the grace of God he might taste 19:43 death for everyone. The first person about whom it is written that he grace was upon him. Is about Jesus. In Luke chapter 2 verse 40. And here we read 20:00 that Jesus died also by the help of God's grace. Grace is not unmerited favor. Because then it doesn't go to Jesus. He merits everything. 20:19 Everybody in the world gets unmerited favor, even the unbelievers. But grace is God's help. But God helped Jesus to die for us. And he made him perfect, verse 10, through suffering. And made him and us have God as our 20:44 father, verse 11. And he is not now ashamed to call us brothers. So here he's speaking about the humanity of Jesus. Now Jesus has become our elder brother. He who is so high 21:06 so many millions of miles above us. He calls us a brother. Why is it so difficult for us to call somebody who is just maybe this much below us a brother? Some believers find it difficult to call 21:26 somebody a brother. Somebody in another denomination. They haven't seen that Jesus called him a brother. Here we are reading verse 12 that Jesus is the one who leads the praise of in the church. Do you know that Jesus is the praise 21:48 leader in the church? In the midst of the church, I will sing your praise. And I will put my trust in him, verse 13. And I will proclaim your name to my 22:07 brethren. Jesus is the preacher and the song leader in the church. He lived by faith. And then he says, since verse 14, since the children took part in flesh and 22:25 blood, he also took part in that. That's the only way he could defeat Satan. That through death, verse 14, he made the one who had power of death powerless, that is the devil. Do you know that Satan had the power of 22:46 death right through Old Testament times? From the Garden of Eden. But Jesus took it away from him on the cross. He died and rose again and conquered death. This Satan was had the power of death. 23:09 He's made him powerless. That's why Jesus told John in the Isle of Patmos, I have the keys of death now. So that we believers, me verse 15, need never be afraid of death anymore. We can be totally free from the fear of 23:31 death, which is the greatest fear. Then we can be delivered from all smaller fears, also. So we can be completely free from fear. Then he says in verse 16, When the angel sinned, God did not send 23:51 his son to go and help them. He comes to help the seed of Abraham. Here is a verse which says he was made like his brothers in all things. We are his brothers. 24:11 We are the younger brothers of Jesus according to Romans 8:29. And he has become our elder brother. And he was made like us in everything. Every way. Of course, he didn't have a sinful nature like we have. That is impossible 24:29 for God to to give that to him. But in every other way, he was exactly like us. Apart from our sinful flesh. He was like us in everything. Because only then he could be a merciful 24:48 high priest. He had to be tempted like us, verse 18. He had to suffer like us. So that when we are tempted, he can understand what we are going through. Run to help us when we are being 25:09 tempted. When he was in heaven as God, he had no experience of temptation. But now having gone through it, he understands our situation and he's able to come to help. What a wonderful savior. 25:31 Praise the Lord that we have such a savior. Amen. Amen. Welcome once again to Words of Life. In our study through the Bible, we have now reached Hebrews chapter 3. This book we saw was emphasizing the 25:55 humanity of Christ. Chapter 1 emphasizes his deity. And chapter 2, his humanity. Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. All Christians accept him as God 100%. 26:19 Our new society and all that and all that stuff and all that stuff. But they don't accept him 100% as man and therefore they don't have faith that they can follow him. Because he is God, we worship him and pray to him. Because he is man, he is our example 26:41 whom we can follow. As a man, God has put everything under his feet. Chapter 2, verse 8 and 9. 2 verse 8 and 9. So that everything can be under our 26:58 feet because he is our head. In view of all this, chapter 3 it says, "Holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling." That's what he calls us. Consider Jesus, 27:20 the apostle and high priest of our confession. The word apostle means sent one. God sent him, so he is God's apostle. He is God's representative 27:40 towards us. And high priest means our representative to the Father. He is apostle and high priest. And as apostle and high priest, he was faithful to the Father who appointed him 28:00 just like Moses was. See, he's first showing that Jesus is greater than angels in chapter 2. Now he's showing that he's greater than Moses. He says the difference between Jesus and Moses is this, Moses 28:18 is the house and Jesus is the builder. Moses and Jesus have a difference in that Moses is a house and Jesus is the builder. Every house is built by someone. The builder of all things is God. And all the houses are built by someone. 28:36 The builder is And if the builder is Christ, he's again emphasizing that Christ is God. Now he says Moses was faithful as a But Christ was faithful, verse 5, as a son in the house. Those of you who have servants in your 28:59 home, you know there's a lot of difference between a servant and a son. And that's he says the difference between Moses and Christ. And we, verse 6, are not a part of Moses' house. We are a part of the house 29:17 of Christ. Who all are a part of the house of Christ? We, provided there's a condition here, that we hold fast our confidence and the 29:33 boast of our hope firm unto the end. This is one of the great emphasis we see again and again in Hebrews. Don't just take it for granted that you are God's house. Let's see whether you hold on until the 29:56 end. Because many people start the race and don't finish it. They turn back. They choose Christ and then they reject him. Jesus said, "No one can pluck you out of my hand." You can jump out of your his hand 30:16 yourself. Because he doesn't force you. Even if you offer you're a Christian, he doesn't force you to stay with him. He will never divorce you because he hates divorce. But you may divorce him. 30:39 You may give up on him after some time. And many Christians have. They follow Christ for a while and then they give up on him. But we are his house if we hold fast our confidence firm until the end. I have the absolute confidence I'm part 31:01 of God's house. Because I know I'm going to hold on till the end. They'll ask me, "Brother Zach, do you think you'll lose your salvation?" I say that's like asking me, "Do you think you'll divorce your Do you think 31:20 you'll divorce your wife?" That's a joke for me. I'll never divorce my wife. And if that is the case with a human being like a wife, how could I divorce Christ? Impossible. 31:44 And Christ will never divorce me. We are united forever. I am eternally secure in him. But not every Christian has chosen that type of relationship with Christ. There are Christians who divorce their 32:04 wives today. And there are Christians who divorce Jesus Christ, too. So, if we hold fast our confidence till the end, then we are his house, not otherwise. So, there are many warnings in the book 32:23 of Hebrews. So, the Holy Spirit is saying to us, "To whom is this written letter first of all?" Just like when you get a letter, if you see the line, "Dear so-and-so." And it's not your name. 32:42 Oh, you put it down. You say, "That's not a letter for me." But if it is your name there it's for you. So, all the letters you need to ask for whom it is written. Okay, let's see for whom Hebrews is written. 33:00 Chapter 3, verse 1. "Holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, who have Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest of their confession." Who is that? If you're a believer born again 33:20 a holy, set-apart brother You are not like the Israelites who had an earthly calling. You have a heavenly calling. You have a heavenly calling. Jesus is your Apostle and High Priest. 33:37 Holy brothers, listen to me. Verse 7. "Today, if you hear His voice, don't harden your heart." That's what the Holy Spirit is saying. Can holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, harden their hearts? Sure. 33:58 "And then they will not enter into My rest." It says in verse 11. Who again He says "Dear brothers dear born-again children of God verse 12. Make sure that in you there is no evil, 34:16 unbelieving heart in falling away from the living God." In view of such a clear verse, it's amazing how so many believers and theologians say that believers can't fall away from the living God. Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly 34:41 calling, fall away from the living God. You got to tear out the book of Hebrews from your Bible if you want to believe that. Take God's word exactly as it's written and get rid of your false theology. Otherwise, the devil will deceive you. 35:08 90% of theologians can be wrong in this area. God has hidden these truths from the clever and the intelligent and like Jesus said, revealed them to babes. Babes just read it exactly as it's 35:26 written. What is that? Brothers can have an evil unbelieving heart one day and fall away from the living God. So, in order not to fall away from the living God, what should they do? 35:45 They must encourage and challenge and stimulate one another every day. Otherwise, you'll be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Okay, according to that verse, 36:02 how long does it take to get hardened? 1 year? No. Today, 1 day, 24 hours. You can have a very soft heart today. Sensitive to God's voice. 36:20 Tomorrow, you may be hard as a rock. There's a commodity. The danger. So therefore, every day we need encouragement or exhortation. But you say, "What if there's nobody to encourage me?" Well, have you got a husband or wife? 36:43 Or if they don't exhort you and encourage you, why not let Peter, James, and John encourage you from the Bible? They are there with you all the time. And what better people to encourage you than the apostles themselves? 37:04 Paul is ready to encourage you. So every day we must get encouragement and challenge if we want to avoid being hardened. Easy to be discouraged. That's why we need the encouragement of 37:22 the scriptures. How do you become partakers of Christ? But in a big condition, again with a big condition, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm unto the end. Because always this word comes. Today if 37:42 you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. That's repeated three times here. Chapter 3:15. Chapter 4:7. He takes the example of the Israelites in the wilderness. He said they all came out of Egypt. 38:05 But a lot of them God is angry and they died in the wilderness. They did not enter into the rest. And he's saying, implying, the redemption from Egypt is a picture of your redemption in Christ. By the blood of the lamb they were 38:24 redeemed. So are you by the blood of the lamb of God? They were baptized in the Red Sea. You are baptized in water. 1 Corinthians 10 says they were baptized in the cloud. You are baptized in the Holy Spirit. 38:47 But yet God was angry with them. You say, "But God answers my prayers." He answered their prayers for 40 years by giving them food every day. You say, "God has done miracles for me." He did miracles for them for every day 39:05 for 40 years. That didn't prove that he was happy with them. God does miracles for many people for whom he's not happy. Miraculous healing to people with whom he's not happy. You got to hold fast. 39:28 And when the Holy Spirit speaks to you today, don't harden your heart. Every day we must respond to the Holy Spirit. That is how we enter the land of rest. So they did not enter Canaan. Even though they were redeemed by the 39:48 blood of the lamb. And he says, "We also have got a promise chapter 4 verse 1 of entering into a rest and we may not enter it." Because we also have good news preached to us just like they had. But the word did not profit them. 40:12 What is the word that did not profit them? Not, "I will take out of Egypt. That is fulfilled. The second part of it, I will take you into Canaan. That was not fulfilled. That is called in chapter 2 4 verse 2, 40:30 the good news. What is the What is the gospel? It's not just coming out of Egypt. According to verse 2 here, it is entering Canaan. That is the gospel. Coming out of Egypt is only the 40:48 foundation for entering into Canaan. How do you come out of Egypt? By faith, you put the blood. By faith. How do you enter Canaan? By faith. 41:04 Joshua and Caleb entered by faith. Lord, we believe in you. We are more powerful than the giants. Why did the others not enter? He says here, they could not enter in chapter 3:19 because of unbelief. That means they looked at the giants and 41:27 said, "No, the giants are more powerful than God." When you look at the sin in your life, anger, lust, bitterness, jealousy, love of money, pride, selfishness, idolatry, 41:45 foolishness, quarrelsome nature, whatever it is, which have ruled your life for so many years, and you say, "These are more powerful than God." I can never overcome them. You are full of unbelief, just like those 42:04 600,000 Israelites. And God says to you in verse 3, "You will never enter my rest. Even though God planned that rest for you. And then he compares this this here the rest is compared to is the land of 42:22 Canaan. But he compares it also with the Sabbath rest of God. This land of rest This life of rest This day of rest 42:40 All referring to the same thing. What Jesus said. Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart. 42:59 And you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy. My burden is light. Matthew 11:28 So, it's all referring to the same rest. A life of complete 43:18 freedom from guilt. A life of perfect peace with God and with man. A life of inward rest from all anxiety and fear. A life of overcoming sin so that there 43:39 is no agitation inside our heart. Who can take us into this land? It says that old Joshua could not take them in. Not to this spiritual rest. 43:59 Verse 8, if Joshua had given them this rest, then there wouldn't be no need to speak of another day after that. Joshua took them only into a physical land of Canaan, which is a picture of the real rest God has to give us. 44:20 There's another Joshua who takes us into this life of rest. Joshua is the same word as Jesus, savior. He's the one who takes us into this life of rest. This is the result of God's work, not 44:42 ours. And that's why he compares it in chapter 4 verse 4 to what God's Sabbath rest. See, God made or remade all the earth in 6 45:01 days. And then on the sixth day, the end of the sixth day, he made man. And immediately the day was over. That means man lived maybe or just a few seconds, man and woman at that sixth 45:20 day. Maybe 5 minutes. He put Adam to sleep, made woman, there's no all in a few minutes, and that is the end of the sixth day. And then the next day was the seventh 45:38 day. Seventh day for God. But first day for man. So, his first day was a day of rest. We can say Adam and Eve entered into the rest because God did everything for them for 6 days. And so it says here 46:04 that it is when we stop working that we can enter into this rest. See, verse 10, "The one who has entered his rest has rested from his own works just like God did from his." Just like I stop working to get 46:26 forgiveness of sins. I cannot, even a thousand years, a million years, I cannot work and get forgiveness of sin. Overcoming sin also is also not by yoga or self-control or any such thing. I have to say I cannot do it. 46:51 God, you do it. You do it and I enter into rest just like Adam entered into the seventh day. So, let us let us be diligent. I mean, now you want me to enter this rest. So, faith means dependence on God. 47:15 I He speaks about the word of God. The word of God he says is sharper than a two-edged sword. But, coming to the division of soul and spirit. See, soul and spirit are two different parts of man. There's a lot of difference between the 47:35 two. God dwells in our spirit. Our soul is our mind and our emotions. Deeper than our soul is our spirit. God dwells I mean, there God dwells in our spirit. In order to revive us 47:54 in our spirit. He doesn't dwell in our mind. He thinking or our emotion. In many meetings when people are very emotional in a time of praise, they think God is there. Many people when they 48:13 say they got baptized in the spirit, they get very emotional. That is not baptism in the spirit. That is the baptism of the soul. There is a difference between soul and spirit. We need to understand that. Otherwise, we will not be able to enter into this 48:31 rest. The word of God comes between and shows us where soul and spirit are. And it shows us, it says the thoughts and intentions of the heart, verse 12. It reveals everything. 48:50 Everything is open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. So, the word of God is meant to show us what is soulish and what is spiritual. One of the greatest needs in the church 49:10 of Jesus Christ today is to know what is soulish, what is spiritual. Jesus told the woman of Samaria, "The time has now come when people can worship God in the spirit." That means all this time people could 49:32 only worship God in the soul. Man is body, soul, and spirit. Just like the Old Testament tabernacle. Outer court, holy place, most holy 49:49 That is like body, soul, and spirit. And in the Old Testament, kept you couldn't enter the most holy place because of the curtain. Nobody could go there. Old Testament God could not come and 50:06 dwell in anybody's spirit. When Jesus died, that curtain was rent. Opening the way for God to come and dwell in man's deepest part of his being. That's what happened on the day of 50:26 Pentecost. And now we must learn to live in the spirit. Not just in emotions. In our conscience. In obedience to God. That is how we live in the spirit. We should not allow the devil to fool us 50:46 with just emotions. And that is why a lot of people don't enter into rest. They've never understood the difference between soul and spirit. So, this is a wonderful book. God wants to lead us into the deep 51:04 things of the spirit. We'll continue our study as we look into this book more.
