This is our text today, verses one through four. And as we read, let's remember, this is God's word. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. This is God's word.
And, lord, I pray you, give us ears to hear what your word is saying to us today. In Jesus name, amen.
Well, I am tired, because last weekend I was at the sovereign grace church's west youth camp, and it was an amazing time. Three days of games and hanging out and listening to the word and great times of worship and stand up. Way too late. Way too late for me. When I saw that there was something on the schedule for that began at 09:00 p.m. i was like, no, nothing begins at 09:00 p.m. and indeed, something did begin at 09:00 p.m. multiple times every night, in fact. And so I am tired, and it was a wonderful time, a great time. Ask any of the youth. Hopefully we'll hear a little bit about that next week.
During the weekend we were up there, something unusual happened. Now, one of the things we did wisely, I think, in fact, those leading the youth camp took all the cell phones of the kids and basically were like, all right, this is just a retreat. We're spending time with Jesus. Give us your cell phones. We'll give them back to you at the end of camp. And so wisely, they're focusing on the Lord. But a big piece of news broke during the weekend, the attempted assassination of former President Trump. And we thought, well, because none of the teens have cell phones, nobody will know what's going on. We'll be able to kind of walk them through this as we're coming back into real life. That's not what happened. Cell phones did not stop rumors from spreading throughout the camp, which we discovered very quickly when we heard a kid saying the president was assassinated and telling the other kids, and we're like, nope, that's not, yeah, President Biden, he's gone. He was not assassinated. And then I heard different wild rumors begin spreading throughout the camp. And one kid was probably saying something like, Trump raised his fist and he hit the attacker. And I saw a picture of it and you're like, that's not what happened either. And then other people, it was terrible people. They were waving at the shooter. They were waving at him. Why would you do that? And they're like, I don't think that's okay. So eventually we kind of instructed the youth leaders, okay, as much as possible, try to talk to your groups, try to explain what's happening. We're going to pray for them, and then we're going to still believe it's in God's providence that we are where we are, trusting the lord for the moment that he has us where he wants us. And we continued with the camp.
Now, here's what I realized, though. That kind of swirl of rumors and misinformation and craziness that ensued for just a second at the camp, that's more like normal life in America today than we want to admit. There are rumors flying everywhere. Nobody seems to have the final word of what happened and why. If you watch five different news organizations, they have five different headlines about what's going on, each with their own slant, it feels. I've heard lots of people wondering about who's really in charge of the world today. Is it this person? Is it that person? Is it corporations? Is it this person behind the president? Who are the good guys today? Who are the bad guys today? And no one seems to have the final word in the sea of information and misinformation, do they? We're more like those teenagers spreading rumors around than we want to admit.
That's why we're going to spend a few minutes in Hebrews chapter one this morning. I want to prepare us for the particular season we are in and we will find ourselves in as we move toward November in America. Because this passage arrives in our lives with a thunderous claim. That's the way I think it would say, thunderous claim. The claim of the text is that there is one and only one true and final word on all things, on all matters, on all history, on all divisions, on all interpretations of events. And the final word is not an it, it's a he. The final word of our lives and of the universe is Jesus Christ. So the question is, this is the final word of all creation. The final word in your life is the final word in all the universe, the thing that has the final word on your life now.
6 · The pastor signals the sermon's three-part structure (prophet, priest, king) with a light-hearted aside to children about an assigned drawing task, humanizing the exposition while clarifying the organizational framework
And some of our six to twelve year olds are going to draw a picture of this here's. I don't know how to help you guys, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to draw a prophet, priest, king. Because the final word is revealed in our passage as a prophet. The final word is prophet. The final word is king. And the final word is priest. So whatever you think a prophet, priest, king, looks like or a king, prophet, priestley, that's what you got to draw. I don't make the rules. That's what's in the Bible.
7 · The pastor begins the first major section by quoting and introducing Hebrews 1:1, identifying God's historical pattern of speaking through prophets as the passage's opening frame
So first section, the final word as prophet, verse one. Long ago, at many times, in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. That's how it introduces itself to us, this text and this book.
8 · The pastor unpacks the theological weight of the phrase 'God spoke,' arguing that divine speech is an act of gracious condescension—God owes humanity nothing yet chooses to reveal Himself out of love
Now it might seem normal that God, okay, God spoke. Of course we believe that as christians, but this is a phrase that is anything but normal. Remember this, if all we believe about God is true, if he is the Lord of creation, the Lord of the universe, the upholder of all things, he is under no obligation to speak to us. He's under no obligation to interrupt our world and give us a definitive and decisive revelation of who he is and what's going on. Right? We have nothing the Lord needs. We have nothing to attract him to us. And yet he interrupts us anyway because he loves us. Because as people made in his image, he desires relationship with us. So God spoke.
9 · The pastor draws attention to the modern church's casual relationship with Scripture, contrasting our easy access to Bibles with the weighty claim that Scripture is the very word of God Himself
And how does it say God speaks? Well, this is powerful. He says God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. Now that is one thing that we often lose sight of today. We have grown used to bibles like this being readily available in the back table or on the Internet. Actually, no, we're running out of them on the back table. Please return the bibles we ordered. More then you can have them all. But today bring them back. But they're readily available, aren't they? We get used to carrying these around, throwing them in a backpack or in the back of our car. But we forget what the Bible claims about itself. The Bible claims and says and announces that it is the very words of goddess himself. That's what we believe, that this book contains the very words of God.
10 · The pastor contrasts the instability of news media—constantly retracting and revising—with the absolute reliability of Scripture, establishing the Bible as the singular stable source of truth Christians possess
Now that should change the way we read our bibles, especially as compared to the environment we find ourselves in. Right? It seems like every few days almost some information will be decisively published in a newspaper only to be retracted then something else published. Right? And like, oh, this is really what happened. Never mind, just kidding. This is what really happened. We think probably maybe, okay, that's not what happened either. This is what, you know, that you just see the news cycles do this we long for. Okay, what actually happened? What is the truth? What is the final word? It's. Here we have it. It is the word of God, unlike any other word.
11 · The pastor uses a historical anecdote about Antony and Athanasius to illustrate the stunning nature of divine revelation: it is far more remarkable that God speaks to us than that any human authority would seek wisdom from God's servants
Now, there's this great note from this great story about Athanasius, one of the early church fathers, and Antony, one of the other early church fathers. Antony had such a reputation that even the emperors of Rome reached out to him asking for counsel or help. And so Athanasius recounts that the roman emperors, they would write him letters, and the monks were amazed. Oh, my gosh. I can't believe the emperor is writing to our leader Antony and asking for advice. This is what Antony said. Do not be astonished if an emperor writes to us, for he is a man, but rather wonder that God wrote the law for men and has spoken to us through his son. Meaning it shouldn't be notable that all people in the world are going to the Lord. It should be notable that the Lord of all creation would deign to speak to us.
12 · The pastor distinguishes Jesus from all previous prophetic revelation: the prophets spoke about God, but Jesus is God incarnate—the ultimate revelation not merely describing God but embodying Him
How does the Lord speak to us? Well, in many times, in many ways, in many books of the Bible. But there is one final word that is decisively different than even the Old Testament prophets. And the word is not a thing. It's not a revelation written in Isaiah. The word is Jesus Christ. Now, this is important because the prophets tell us what God is like. They speak to us with God's word. But Jesus is what God is like. Jesus is the holy creator and maker of all made flesh. That is utterly different, utterly decisive in all world history. One commentator says this. The opening statement then sets the tone and introduces the main theme of the whole letter, namely the uniqueness and supremacy of Christ in comparison with the transitory and incomplete character of all that preceded his coming meaning. Jesus is the final word.
13 · The pastor identifies the existential questions driving internet searches and cultural anxiety, then argues that Scripture—already in the congregation's possession—contains the authoritative answers they are desperately seeking elsewhere
Now, here is the reality. Our world is swirling with millions on untold millions of words, right? People with opinions. We type things into Google. Like, if you look at the top searches in Google, some of them will surprise you. Some of them are things like, why am I here? Why is the world unjust? Is God real? What does God want from me? What is God like? Is God really loving? Is there justice in the world? Is God just? Why did God let this thing happen? Wait. These are all the things in this swirl of information we're trying to find. And the writer of Hebrews is saying, it's right here. You hold the answers in your very hands. Go to them then. Go to them.
14 · The pastor uses his personal experience of poor cell reception at camp—desperately trying to get news updates while information kept cutting out—to illustrate the unreliability of modern information sources compared to Scripture's stability
Now, look, it was interesting having spotty cell signal at this camp trying to see what actually happened during the attempted assassination. Because it was like every few minutes, I would, like, the Internet would dribble out into the mountains, and I'd be like, whoa. And then it would, like, cut off, and I'd be like, okay, so. And we're all trying to get information, and all these things are happening, and we're trying to wade through misinformation. And surprisingly, not everything you see on Twitter or X or Instagram is actually true. I thought there was a rule. It had to be true. Apparently, there's nothing they can just put anything up there, apparently.
15 · The pastor synthesizes the prophetic theme, emphasizing that Christ continues to speak through Scripture to the present day, then poses the diagnostic question: do Christians actually listen to the authoritative word they possess?
And yet, here is the good news for us as Christians. There is one final authoritative word on history, on life, on governance, on justice, on love, on reality, and we hold it in our very hand. In God's kindness, he gives us the prophets, and he gives us the final word, his son. In these last days, the writer says he has spoken. The phrase there actually means he is speaking. In these final days, he is continuing to speak to us. The question for us as Christians is this. Are we listening to him?
16 · Direct pastoral question confronting the congregation's actual behavior: despite professing Christ's authority, do believers functionally prioritize fleeting cultural commentary over Scripture's final word?
Do we function as though we have access to the great and final word of God in the person of Jesus Christ? And we chase, ephemeral takes elsewhere.
17 · The pastor signals the transition to the second major section (Jesus as King), maintaining the lighthearted tone with the children's drawing assignment while clearly marking the structural shift
That's the first thing to remember, the final word as prophet. Second, the final word as king. So, kids, if you've drawn a prophet now, you have to make him into a king also.
18 · The pastor reads Hebrews 1:2-3, the text's cascade of Christological titles establishing Jesus's cosmic sovereignty, preparing for exposition of Christ's kingship
Second, verse two. But in these days, he has spoken to us by his son. Look what he says about his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world, he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
19 · The pastor uses a satirical hypothetical—Jesus as a powerless sage on a mountaintop—to expose and dismantle the popular but anemic cultural conception of Christ, preparing to reveal the Bible's portrait of Jesus as sovereign king
So not only is Jesus Christ the final revelation of God, the final word on all things, he is also the king. Now, this is important, because if Jesus were just a nice old wise man that we find on a mountaintop somewhere that we can climb and seek out, and he's got a gong or something, and then we ask him the big questions and he gives us the interpretation of the world and life and everything, but he's just a nice old man up there, not a king. Well, then he's only limited in his usefulness, isn't he? Because he might be able to comment authoritatively on the world, but he can't do anything about it. Thank you. Nice old man. Right? That's the image we often have of Jesus. He's this social do gooder who goes around in a robe who has Vidal sassoon hair somehow, all the time, this beautiful hair. And he wants us to love one another. And he talks a lot about loving one another, and he leads us in singing we are the world, and we all feel bad that he was killed, but what can you do? And he may have some wisdom for us. Isn't that lovely? That is not the Jesus of Hebrews one. That is not the Jesus of the Bible.
20 · The pastor begins unpacking the text's titles for Christ, starting with 'heir of all things,' interpreting it as a claim of total cosmic ownership—Jesus possesses the entire universe by right of inheritance
Look at what he says. We don't even have time to. Each one of these is like a pool that if you fall in, you're never going to come out of. So my message is like tiptoeing around these theological pools. I'm trying not to fall in. We might fall in. We'll see. First thing he says is he is the heir of all things, referring to his ascension and crowning his kingship. The whole universe is his. In a sense, he owns all of it. There is not, as Abraham Kuiper would say, not one square inch in the whole domain of our human existence, over which Christ, who is overall does not cry. Mine.
21 · Through interactive Q&A with children, the pastor establishes the biblical-theological connection between Genesis 1 ('God said') and Hebrews 1 (Jesus as the Word), revealing Christ as the active agent of creation
He's the heir of all things and the creator, through whom he also created the world. Now, I need a six to twelve year old person to answer a question. If you know the beginning of the Bible, any 60 to twelve year olds that have read the Bible, you guys read the Bible? Okay, there's a thing that the Bible says a lot in Genesis one and God what? And God what? And let there be light. God said, what was that? Somebody over here, would you agree? Remember that, okay? And God said, let there be light. And God said, let there be stars. And God said, let the earth teem with creatures. And God said, let there be this. God said, let there be that. Do you see that? Repetitive nature that is meant to draw our attention to a particular way in which God created the world through his word? And what does this passage say? Is the word Jesus Christ? So if you read Genesis one and you're like, I don't see Jesus. Jesus is not in the beginning of the Bible. Nope, he's there. He's there every time God says and something, is this Jesus?
22 · The pastor contrasts the powerless sage caricature with the revealed truth: Jesus is not a well-meaning human teacher but the cosmic Creator who spoke the universe into being
No. Nice man up in the mountains. This old wise hermit does the best he can. No, this is the creator. The speaker of the universe has arrived on the scene.
23 · The pastor unpacks 'radiance of the glory of God' through analogy: all created glory is reflected light, like a mirror catching sunlight, but Jesus is the sun itself—the blazing center and source of all glory
And then he not only is the creator, he is the radiance of the glory of God. Look, every glimpse we get of glory in creation is like using a hand mirror to reflect the light of a glorious sun or light in your home, right? All creation is glorious. It has glimpses of glory because they reflect these things. Sunsets and skies and mountains and paintings, they reflected just a glimmer of the glory of God. But what this text says is that Jesus Christ is the blazing center of glory in the universe.
24 · The pastor explains 'upholds the universe' by pointing to Christ's present-tense sustaining work—holding atoms together, maintaining physical laws, and actively directing creation toward its appointed end
He is the heir of all things, the creator of all things, the radiance of God's glory, and the upholder of the universe. Now, do you realize the universe is being upheld as we speak? Someone is keeping the atoms in your hand as you write a note together, right? Someone is keeping the sun burning so that we don't devolve into a cold, black, icy existence as a planet. Someone is keeping the laws of gravity functioning so that we don't float and out of our seats and into the air, into space, never to be seen again. Right. Someone is actively upholding the universe. And in fact, the phrasing he upholds the universe is actually an active word meaning he is actively upholding. And if you could, the picture in the text is he is pushing the universe forward to a glorious and final conclusion.
25 · The pastor synthesizes the exposition of Hebrews 1:2-3, identifying the cumulative effect of the text's titles: they establish Jesus's absolute, uncontested kingship—He rules without consultation or limitation
So what does this text reveal? It reveals that he owns all things, that he created all things, that he upholds all things, that he is a blazing center of glory. What's the text saying over and over and over and over? He rules. He is the king. He has the final word. Jesus is checking with no one before he makes a press release, right? There's no team of writers helping him. He is the great and final word in all the universe as king.
26 · The pastor circles back to the youth camp illustration, identifying the universal human questions triggered by crisis—questions of safety, control, and whether anyone is governing events—and notes that adults ask these same questions in more sophisticated language
Now, here's the reality. I think all the kids that were on the youth camp, as they, as the misinformation spread about what happened, they're all asking the same questions we all ask whenever there's a big event. What will happen next? Will we be okay? Who are the bad guys? Are we safe from them? We're just the same as we were at 15. We're just more sophisticated about it. We dress our worries up in better language. But we all want to know, is someone actually in charge? Is this out of control? What's going to happen next?
27 · The pastor declares the gospel implication of Christ's kingship: the universe is not careening into chaos but being actively guided by a sovereign Creator toward a purposeful, glorious end—offering relief from existential anxiety
That is why Jesus, as the final word, as king, is such good news. Because it means that the universe is not spinning out of control into chaotic existence. It is being corrupted, over corralled, and shaped and pushed forward to a great and glorious conclusion by the creator, sustainer, and king of all. Isn't that good news? It is good news that the Lord reigns. It is good news that he is on the throne.
28 · The pastor contrasts competing claimants to authority—dictators, terrorists, media figures, politicians—with the singular reality that Jesus alone possesses final authority as cosmic King
There is only one final word in the universe. It's not the word of a dictator. It's not the word of a terrorist. It's not the word of a pundit on CNN. It's not even the word of a president or a press secretary. The final word in the universe is Jesus as king.
29 · The pastor confesses his own news addiction, citing an article that diagnoses the psychological mechanism: people consume news seeking control but end up more anxious, like consulting WebMD and spiraling into catastrophic diagnoses
Now, the reason this is important as it relates to our current political moment is I recently ran across an article about why people like me are obsessed with the news. I love the news. I'm a news junkie sometimes when things get out of control. And I read an article that was basically asking the question, why are people obsessed with the news? I thought, huh, I wonder why? Why do I do this? And so I read the article, and here's what the article said. Essentially, two things. One, people read news. A lot of people, not a real people, but a lot of people read news because they, deep down, believe the more they know, the more in control the world feels. Okay? The more we know, the more in control we feel, right? But the article pointed out something about people that read a ton of news because you think, well, if that's true, if it works, we should feel better after we read a lot of news, right? Has anyone read a ton of news and felt better, I'd love to meet you after the service. Right? No, usually we read a ton of news, and then at the end, we feel more worried because we find all these rabbit holes. Right? It's that I. The effect of going onto WebMD. If you have a mild symptom, right? You're like, I have a runny nose and a weird lump on my left arm. Is that anything? And Webmd, you go to it. So WebMD or whoever can tell you, no, you're fine, you're good. Instead, you go to WebMD, and they're like, oh, that's not good. That's not good. And then you're just looking at, like. You go from, you know, this is fine, right? To how long do I have? You know, you're making a will, I got this bump on my arm. And, honey, I love you. You know, you're like, honey, have you been on WebMD again? Like, why do you ask? Like, that's. That is our world.
30 · The pastor diagnoses the two dominant American responses to chaos—rage (frantic control-seeking through information consumption or political allegiance) and resignation (apathetic despair)—noting that most people default to one of these postures
We live in this swirl of information, but none of it helps us feel better. Why? Because when we encounter all of this, we only have three options as it relates to the chaotic universe. We can rage against it, we can resign ourselves to it, or we can rejoice. Here's what I mean. We can rage against it where we go. No, I will figure this out. I will read all the articles. I will assert my control. I will figure this out. I will be in control. I can grasp the chaotic universe and wrangle it back into some kind of shape, or we pick somebody that we're like, okay, I can't do it. But he can. This politician can, this party can, this group can, this blogger, can I follow them? They're going to beat the universe up and wrangle it back into existence for me. You see them, everything, and you start sending articles, all your friends and family, you know, and you're like, oh, boy, you found a new person. Like, that happens with all of us. We're raging against the universe, or we resign ourselves. We're just like, what's the point? It's apathy. It's resignation. It's everything's the worst. Nothing good, got no hope. And those are the two default moods in America right now. Have you noticed that everybody's either angry or apathetic? And you're probably on one of those teams. You're like, I think that's my team. Right?
31 · The pastor offers the Christian alternative to rage and resignation: rejoicing—a response grounded in the truth that Christ sovereignly governs the universe toward believers' good and His glory
But there is a third team for the Christian. Don't rage. Don't resign yourself. Rejoice. Rejoice. Because if Hebrews one is true, it means that the universe is being bent to the will of the son of God who has a plan for your good and for his glory. And that is good news.
32 · Direct personal question to the congregation: do you functionally receive and live under Jesus's kingship, or do you merely affirm it theoretically?
So here is the question. Do you receive the good news of Jesus as the final word and king in your life?
33 · The pastor names the reason Christians resist rejoicing: it requires total submission—bowing the knee to Jesus's absolute kingship—rather than negotiating partial sovereignty or shared control
Now, here's the problem. You might think, well, why don't we all just rejoice? Why don't we all just do it? Because it means bowing the knee. Because it means saying, okay, Jesus, I'm not in charge, you are. I'm gonna give my whole life over to you. I'm gonna. I'm gonna bow the knee and rejoice that you are the king and you are what I cannot be. I'm gonna rejoice that you're a good king. But we don't love that sometimes, do we? We're like, no, no, no. Can I just do 90% king Jesus, 10% King Ricky. Is that a thing? Can we split it? Can I give him a part, a share? Nope. We bow the knee, and that is good, good news.
34 · The pastor signals transition to the third major section (Jesus as Priest), acknowledging time pressure while maintaining the children's drawing framework to mark the structural shift
Oh, man. So much more I could say. Ah, I'm gonna keep moving. All right. Jesus is our prophet. Jesus is our king. So, kids, if you've got a prophet king, great. Now make him a priest. The final word as priest.
35 · The pastor reads Hebrews 1:3b, the text's climactic statement about Christ's finished priestly work, framing it as the passage's most important phrase
This last phrase is important. It says this in verse three. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
36 · The pastor anticipates the objection that sin is irrelevant to modern culture, then counters by citing Kevin DeYoung's observation: contemporary culture has not abandoned the concept of sin but has repackaged it as obsession with guilt and moral positioning
Now, you might think, okay, what does that have to do with anything? And our current moment in politics and in America and in the world? Why talk about sin? Nobody even believes in sin anymore. Well, I'm gonna post this this week, but I recently ran across a lecture from Pastor Kevin Deyoung where he points out that even though our culture doesn't say it believes in sin anymore, even though we don't care about concepts like righteousness and unrighteousness anymore, we as a culture are obsessed with guilt and proving ourselves on the right side of history.
37 · The pastor unpacks DeYoung's analysis through the cultural phenomenon of public moral condemnation on social media—people rush to condemn evil to distance themselves from it, revealing an underlying guilt they attempt to manage through comparative righteousness
Now, here's one example he gives. I thought, this is so good. He goes, okay, so sometimes something bad will happen in the world. Okay, what is our response when something bad happens in the world? We all have to post about it, right? We all have to go, you see this bad thing? This is a bad thing. These are bad people, right? You know? Those are bad people. And what are we saying deep down? We're saying, I'm one of the good people. And when that happens, we have something that wells up in us. And Deyoung is like, I think it's guilt. I think we realize we're not actually good people, and we see more of ourselves in them than we want to admit. But anytime some politician falls or even some pastor falls or some, you know, person is exposed, we're like, can you believe them? Unbelievable. Suddenly we're saying they're not good. Like me, I'm one of the good people, right? And so we all stand around in a crowd going, we're good, right? I mean, we're pretty good. I mean, I didn't do that. I didn't, like, murder three people, you know, I didn't have three separate families that were secret, you know? So, I mean, doing pretty good, right? Why do we feel the need to do that? Because deep down, we're, like, we feel something inside of us, our conscience going, you're not good. And so we have to do something with it.
38 · The pastor identifies two self-righteous strategies for managing guilt: self-improvement (moral striving through religious activity) and comparative righteousness (defining oneself as good by contrast with worse sinners)
And this, look, this is one of the things that has led America, and I think even too many christians down the path of self righteousness, because either. Either we're going to go, okay, I feel guilty, and I'm going to take care of that myself. And that's when you start going to church. You start trying to clean your life up. You start telling your kids, we're going to pray before meals. I'm going to start doing this and this and this. I'm going to clean my life up so I don't feel guilty anymore. Or we do it by comparison. We go, okay, well, maybe I'm not that good, but at least I'm over here, and those are the bad people, and I'm the good people. And we hope that one of those two methods will assuage our guilt. One of those two methods will keep the dark thoughts that we have when we're looking in front of the mirror and going, that that guy did something that wasn't great today. That girl did something. That kid didn't deserve to be yelled at today. And I feel bad about that. And so what do we do? We post see that politician? I'm not like them.
39 · The pastor presents the gospel alternative to the two failed strategies: neither self-righteousness nor despair, but running to Jesus as the final authority who speaks forgiveness over sinners
That's our impulse. And this is why Hebrews one is such good news. There is a different way to deal with our guilt. That is not the path of self righteousness, and it's not the path of despair. It is running to Jesus as the final word of forgiveness.
40 · The pastor unpacks the Old Testament purity system, explaining that its myriad laws functioned as a mirror showing humanity their fundamental problem: they are impure and therefore cannot dwell in God's presence without purification
Look at this. Look at this language. After making purification for sins, now, so much we could cover here. But in the Old Testament, purification was required for sinful people to be purified so they could dwell in the presence of God. So if you read the Old Testament, if you've ever read through it and thought, what is up with all these laws, all these weird laws? Don't wear these kinds of clothes and don't eat these kinds of fish and don't, if you have a disease and if you have blood, you have to do this and this and this. Why are all these laws there? And then there's even a whole other group of laws with priests. So when priests are gonna offer a sacrifice, so they're gonna approach the holy of holies, they had to purify themselves, which took time, which took effort, which was constant. It was just this constant purification. The priests essentially lived under what is the point of all that? The Lord is holding a mirror up to us as humanity, saying, you have a problem, you have a problem, you're guilty, you are impure. You cannot dwell near the Lord. You cannot enter into the presence of God. You are impure. And what happens to impurity? It must be cast away from God.
41 · The pastor traces the redemptive-historical arc from the Old Testament purity system to Christ: Jesus came as the perfectly pure High Priest who had the right to enter God's presence immediately but instead stopped to offer His life as the purifying sacrifice for His people
So then what's the point? What is our, what is, what is the Lord doing in showing us you're impure, you're impure, you're impure. You know what the Lord is doing? He's preparing us for the final word over our purity. And that word is Jesus. Christ, because it says here, after making purification for sins, what that means is that Jesus came as a high priest, the only one, by the way, who was perfectly pure, the only one without spot or blemish, the only one who didn't need to purify himself. And he could go right into the presence of God. But instead of doing what was his right, just ushered right into the presence of God, he stops at the altar, in a sense, and offers his life to purify his people.
42 · The pastor contrasts the Old Testament priests who stood perpetually offering sacrifices (because sin never ceased) with Christ who sat down after offering one sacrifice—signaling completion
And one of the things about the Old Testament sacrifices, Hebrews will later point out, is that every priest is constantly standing and offering sacrifices. The fire, in a sense, never goes out because the sin of God's people never runs out. We're constantly impure, we're constantly guilty. And so we're constantly offering sacrifice after sacrifice. You know what's different about this priest? He sits down. After making purification for sins, he sat down. What that means is this. It's done. What that means is this, that if Christ is our sacrifice, the final word over us is not impure, but pure. It's not guilty. It is not guilty. It is not cast away. It is brought near.
43 · The pastor catalogs the soteriological terms believers receive in Christ—forgiven, bought, cleansed, sanctified, justified, reconciled—all flowing from Christ's completed purifying work
All of salvation rests on what Jesus has done, that he, in him, those in Christ are called forgiven, and bought and cleansed and sanctified and justified and reconciled over and over and over. This cascade of salvation words comes to us because Jesus purified his people.
44 · The pastor applies the doctrine of Christ's priestly work to the current cultural moment: Christians must resist the pull toward self-righteousness, posturing instead as forgiven sinners rather than as morally superior judges
Now, why is that important for our current moment? Well, as I said, our impulses right now are too often towards self righteousness. Even as Christians, we too often are like, yeah, see those people? Unbelievable. Those unbelievers. Now, listen, I'm not saying, I'm not saying we shouldn't call out evil, saying we shouldn't call out injustice, but I am saying there's a very different way of posturing ourselves as forgiven sinners reconciled through Jesus Christ. That's a real different posture than self righteous, angry, judgmental people who think that they're actually good enough to tell other people that they're not. That's a very different posture.
45 · The pastor issues a call to cling to the gospel rather than pursuing self-justification through cultural performance markers (hashtags, diets, parenting methods, etc
And so what we're called to do, I think, in this moment more than ever, as Christians, is to cling to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we're all sinners, that we've all failed, that we're all impure. But we know a way to be made clean. And it's not by posting the right hashtags. And it's not by, I mean, there's a thousand versions of this deyoung points out, eating the right foods, doing the right workouts, parenting the right methods, reading the right blogs, doing the right business principles. All of these things to say, we're right, we're right. We're right. And DeYoung says, no, no, no. Jesus offers something better. Rest. Sit down. Jesus has done it.
46 · Transition statement signaling the shift to the sermon's concluding applications, framing them as encouragements for both the political season and personal Christian life
And so the word of forgiveness spoken over us. Now, very quickly, I'm gonna wrap this up. A few brief thoughts to kind of bring all this together as we end. And I wanna these are my encouragements to us for this season and for the next number of months, whatever they may entail for us in the american electoral process, but even more importantly, for whatever life entails for you, because these three truths are not just important for you as a citizen of America, they're important for you as a Christian.
47 · First concluding charge: Christians must prioritize Christian identity above national or political identity
So what are we called to from this passage? First, we're called to be christian more than anything else. Now, it is not wrong to love your country. It's good thing. It's not wrong to advocate for justice. That's a good thing. It's not wrong to be part of a political party. That can be a good thing. But we must be very clear in this current moment as Christians, that our first allegiance is not to a party or to a politician. It is to a king. And the king speaks and we obey. The king weighs in and we listen. The king purifies and we are grateful. That is what we need more than ever. And the greatest need in our world today is that we, the greatest. Let me say it this way. The greatest need of America today, for all of us, is that we be Christians. That's the thing our country needs more than anything else. So may we be faithful in it and live like Jesus is the final word in our lives.
48 · Second concluding charge: reverse the ratio of Scripture consumption to news consumption
2nd, may we spend more time in the word of God than in the news again. Look, man, news is good. I keep up with the news. I was on my phone, okay? During the youth retreat, the kids weren't allowed to, but I was checking news and it was the one time it worked out. And we should probably be generally aware of what's going on. But this, friends, so often we take one look at this for 100 looks at whatever news outlet we follow that must be corrected. May every breaking news event find us with our noses in the pages of scripture where the authoritative interpretation of history and humanity and sin, justice and righteousness will be found, because it's not going to be found on any news website. Spend more time in the word than in the news.
49 · Third concluding charge: Christians should be characterized by rest and rejoicing rather than anxiety
Third, spend more time resting and rejoicing than worrying. Christians in America today should be the calmest people in the country. Right? Look, my default is let's panic. Right? That's my, my wife can attest to this. Then my default is anytime something happens, my default is, what do you think we should do? My default is let's panic. Like, I think that's what I want to do. I'm like Woody in a toy story. This is the perfect time to panic all the time. But the reality is this. There's a way, as christians, we can be concerned about our country. We can graciously advocate, even forcefully at times. But the default posture of our hearts should not be set to anxiety or fear. It should be set to rest and rejoicing that every time something happens that seems out of control, we're the people that go, I'm glad I don't have to be in charge of this. I'm glad someone else is. Thank you, Lord. The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice should be our impulse.
50 · Fourth concluding charge: Christians must resist self-righteousness (a temptation across the political spectrum) by seeing themselves as sinners saved by grace, which produces humility and evangelistic urgency rather than moral superiority
Last. May we be more humbled and grateful than self righteous. And I think there is a massive temptation to self righteousness from every part of the political spectrum. But I believe as christians, we will carry ourselves differently if we see ourselves not as good people, saved through good hard work that earn their way back to God. But if we see ourselves as sinners saved by grace, who can't wait to tell other sinners where to find grace.
51 · The pastor closes with an extended analogy from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: just as that book's cover read 'Don't Panic' to guide the protagonist through chaos, the Bible serves the same function for Christians—a calming authoritative guide in a panicking world
All right, let me end with this, I think. Has anybody ever read Douglas Adams famous comedy work? A hitchhiker? A hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. Anybody ever read that? There's gotta be like three nerds in here. Anybody? Okay, hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy. Here's the thing I love about that. It's a zany, weird, bizarre Sci-Fi thing, okay? It's just crazy. It's social commentary. Some of it's great. But my favorite part is that this guy from earth gets kind of caught up in this bizarre alien world going on right around earth that he never knew existed. And I feel like in some ways, that's what's happened over the last few years in America. We were like, everything was cool, and we were just chilling. All of a sudden, it's like, ah, everything's on fire, right? That's at least the feel. It's this crazy, bizarre world that we never knew existed. And the reality is this, we're just seeing the world as crazy as it has always been. And so here's what happens. This poor earth guy, he gets caught up into the spaceship, they give him a book called the Hitchhiker's Guide of the Galaxy. And it's my favorite part of the book. It says in large, friendly letters, it doesn't have the name of the book. It has the words don't panic. And so he's like, oh, okay. You know, and he's like, I'm gonna read this. And so he reads it throughout the book. And look, that is the way. This is my plea that for us as christians, the Bible functions the same way that while the rest of the world around us is panicking, while even maybe in our personal lives, there's cause for panic, maybe there's diagnoses that are difficult, maybe there's hurts, maybe there's strain in marriage, maybe there's kids wandering from the faith. Maybe there's job loss. Maybe whatever it is, the word, the final word is right here, brothers and sisters. And on the COVID I think we would read it a little more if we found in large, friendly letters the words don't panic. Why not? Because he is the final word. He speaks, he rules, he saves. Let's bow the knee and rejoice. Amen.
52 · Closing prayer summarizing the sermon's thesis and applying it to the congregation's hearts
Let's stand and pray. Ah, heavenly Father. Lord, we. We do take a moment here and we confess. Really, the sense I have is we confess our panic to you, that too often in life we have functioned as if, and we are tempted to function as if we do not have a final word. We do not have someone to speak to us, someone to rule, someone to purify. Lord, we function as if those things are not true and it leads to rage, or it leads to resignation, or it leads to panic. And, Lord, may Hebrews one speak a better word into our turmoil, whether it's the turmoil of our nation or the turmoil of our world or the very personal turmoil of our life. May Hebrews one speak a word of rest and rejoicing into our hearts. Today, Lord, there is a place to go to find answers, and you've given it to us. There is a king who rules, and we rejoice in his reign. And there is a way to be made clean and whole, and it is found in the blood of your son. And so, Lord, all we need is found in you. You are the final word of the universe. You are the final word of salvation, and you are the final word in our lives. And so, Lord, as we end, help us not to panic. Help us rather to restore.