10 Minutes of Glory

Last Sunday, I listed everthing the book of Hebrews says about Jesus. You can read the pdf here. Or, now you can listen to the audio of just that section of the sermon here.

Jesus in Hebrews

I concluded our Hebrews sermon series with an overview sermon. You can listen to that overview here (The Unrivaled Supremacy of Jesus Christ).

In that sermon, I listed everything the book of Hebrews says about Jesus with just a few expository comments from me. You can see, print, or share that list here (pdf).

What a Savior!

Going Outside the Camp

Hebrews 13:13 calls us to go to Jesus outside the camp and bear the disgrace He endured. "Going outside the camp" is a metaphor for doing the hard thing and taking risks in identifying with Christ. We are called to follow a disgraced Savior. Here are just a few suggestions for practical ways we can obey this command in today's world:

• Don’t settle for a small, minimalistic devotional life. Be radical in your devotion to the bible and to the gospel.


• Give up your pursuit of the American Dream and embrace an all-encompassing purpose to make your life count for the gospel of Christ.


• Adopt a child.


• Get off the couch and go help someone. Get into someone's life. Spend your evenings serving others.


• Get involved in the mess of relationships.


• Get involved in a dispute and seek to be a peacemaker.


• Confront someone you see doing wrong (it is your business).


• Be the first one at church to help set up for Sunday morning and the last one to leave after its over (especially if you are part of a church plant!).


• Fund the adoption of a young family.


• Make every effort to be the most hospitable person in your church. Invite visitors out to lunch or to your house.


• Invite someone to dinner who you have nothing in common with. You may be annoyed by this person. You may feel like if you invite them, they’ll never leave and you’ll have to kick them out. They may have several young kids. They may break something in your house. They may smell bad. They might steal something.


• Chose to live in a “not as safe” neighborhood.


• Do foreign missions.


• Do evangelism. Don't worry about getting egg on your face.


• Stand up at a public event and humbly invite people to trust in Jesus.


• Cut your cable bill and use that money to fund a Bible Translation project.


• Start a work-place Bible Study.


• Organize a tutoring program for kids struggling in school.


• Give gospel tracts to cashiers and drive-through attendants.


• Visit a nursing home.

Feel free to offer more suggestions...

Hebrews Commentaries

As I have done with previous books I have preached through (John, Philippians, Psalms, Micah, James, Daniel, Ruth, Galatians, just to name a few), here are my thoughts on Hebrews commentaries:

1. Best Hebrews Commentary: Peter O'Brien's Pillar New Testament Commentary on Hebrews.

2. Very Helpful: Stuart Olyott's I Wish Someone Would Explain Hebrews to Me! and Raymond Brown's The Message of Hebrews

3. Good Homeletical Commentary: Richard Phillips' Reformed Expository Commentary.

4. Decent, but not as helpful as the others: FF Bruce's NICNT and George Guthrie's NIV Application.

5. Classics: John Owen (abridged in one volume) and AW Pink.

Sanctified by a Single Sacrifice

Hebrews 10:11-14 gives us 4 features of Christ's death that prove its absolute sufficiency.

1. Jesus' Sacrifice was a single sacrifice.
-In contrast to the multiplicity of sacrifices under the Old Covenant.

2. Jesus' Sacrifice culminated with Jesus being seated at the Father's right hand.
-In contrast to the priests who stand daily, never finished.

3. Jesus' Sacrifice was comprehensive ("for all time")
-In contrast to the limited effectiveness of the Old Covenant sacrifices.

4. Jesus' Sacrifice accomplished perfection for sinners.
-In contrast to the sacrifices that cannot make perfect (Heb. 10:1).

4 True Truths from Hebrews 9:27-28

Hebrews 27-28 gives us some basic but powerful truths:

1. People are appointed to die once.
2. After death, people will face the judgment of God.
3. Christ died once to bear the sins of many.
4. Christ will appear again to bring salvation.

Hebrews Baptism

"So few things would do the evangelical church more good than a baptism into the letter to the Hebrews!"

-Sinclair Ferguson, In Christ Alone, p. 46.

Side note: Dr. Ferguson does not mean "sprinkling."

Jesus is the Source of Eternal Salvation

Hebrews 5:9 says that Jesus is "the source of eternal salvation."

I love this title for Jesus: The word “source” means the reason for something existing. The source is the place of origin. Jesus is the supplier of eternal salvation. Hebrews 12 describes Jesus as the author or founder of our faith.

Salvation from sin and an eternal relationship with God is found only in Jesus (He is the sole source). Eternal salvation is found in no other place in the entire universe. Jesus is the source, the supplier, the origin, the place where salvation is found.

And the idea of this phrase is not just that Jesus gives salvation and then goes on about His business as if salvation were a possession to be traded. Salvation is not essentially something that we possess. Salvation is essentially a person that we treasure. That Jesus is the source of eternal salvation means that we must have Him to have eternal salvation.

No one goes to Jesus for salvation and then turns away from Jesus to something else. You don’t stick salvation in a drawer and then live life any way you please. Only those who have Jesus have eternal salvation because Jesus is the source of salvation. At every point in God’s work of drawing us to Himself (justification, sanctification, and glorification), it is Jesus who is our salvation.

And don’t gloss over the word “eternal” in this title for Jesus. Jesus is not just the source of temporary salvation. Jesus is the source of everlasting salvation. For all eternity, Jesus will be the fountain of righteousness that we will drink from. If you have eternal salvation through Jesus, 50,000 years from now, you will need Jesus to be your source of salvation just as much as you need Him today.

It will always be through Jesus’ mediation that we will draw near to the throne of grace.

Who cares about temporary salvation? What good is momentary atonement? Give me eternal salvation! Give me a High Priest who is the source of salvation that will never end. Jesus is in every way a superior High Priest.

Jesus is Superior to Angels

From Hebrews 1:5-14, here are 4 reasons Jesus is superior to angels:

• Because of His unique relationship to the Father (v. 5).
• Because angels worship Him (v. 6).
• Because He is God (v. 7-12).
• Because of His unique position (v. 13-14).

You can hear my sermon from Sunday at the Christ Baptist website.

The Supremacy of the Savior

I started a series on Hebrews Sunday morning. Hebrews 1:1-4 is a majestic passage. Here are the 7 proofs of Jesus' supremacy I meditated on:

1. Jesus is God's Ultimate Word.
2. Jesus is the Heir of All Things.
3. Jesus is the Creator of the Universe.
4. Jesus Displays the Glory of God.
5. Jesus Sustains All Things.
6. Jesus Made Complete Purification for Sins.
7. Jesus is Better than Angels.

Hebrews

We're starting a series through Hebrews on Sunday morning at Christ Baptist Church. If you live in the area, come join us!

My Hebrews Introduction

If I were writing a commentary on Hebrews, here would be my introduction:

1. We don't know who wrote Hebrews.
2. We don't know who Hebrews was written to.
3. We don't know when Hebrews was written.

So, let's get into the text and find out what Hebrews is about.

FYI - This is meant to be something of a joke for those who have ever read the introductory material in Hebrews commentaries. They go on for pages and pages of speculation and then make the conclusions I've listed above.

Advance 09: Day 3

Danny Akin did a fantastic job expositing Hebrews 13 this morning. He drew out 9 marks of healthy churches (He should have made a joke about "9 Marks of a Healthy Church" but he passed up the opportunity).

1. Healthy churches consistently love each other (v. 1).
2. Healthy churches care for those in need (v. 2-3).
3. Healthy churches honor the divine institution of marriage and family (v. 4).
4. Healthy churches have unshakeable faith in the providence of God (v. 5-6).
5. Healthy churches respect those who teach the word and shepherd their souls (v. 7, 17, 24).
6. Healthy churches are not moved from a Christ-centered theology (v. 8-9).
7. Healthy churches are characterized by sacrifices of praise (v. 15).
8. Healthy churches are characterized by a ministry of prayer for its leaders (v. 18).
9. Healthy churches look to the Lord Jesus who will perfect them in good works (v. 20-21).

It is well worth listening to if you have time. He did some ranting on the racial segregation of our churches and the importance of the family. He concluded by making a strong point about the centrality of Christ in our theology.

Obedience as a Gift

It is not enough to merely know what to do; we must also have the power to do it. Left to our own strength, we would never be able to obey God.

Thats why at the end of the book of Hebrews, the author prays for God to work in his readers what is pleasing in His sight (Hebrews 13:20-21). The author knew that all the exhortations of chapters 1-13 were insufficient without the enabling power of God.

We (I) must begin to learn that everything we do for God is a gift from God.

If you want to chew on this more, you can listen to my Easter Sunday sermon.