This transcript was generated by whisper.ai. Welcome to day five of Hebrews chapter 13. This is the last day of our study of the book of Hebrews together, and so I want to say congratulations for studying Hebrews together. That's a great fellowship together, to study God's Word together, to listen to His Word together and to let it impact our hearts together. Today we're going to look sort of back at the book and how it has impacted our lives, but to bring that to light, I'd like to begin by reading the last few verses in the book of Hebrews, the closing verses, 22 to 25. Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I've written you only a short letter, and I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. Greet all your leaders and all God's people. Those from Italy send you their greetings. Grace be with you all. Now, just before I say anything else, these few verses tell you why many people think Paul may have written the book of Hebrews. Timothy's a friend and has the same feel as the apostle Paul, but he never says that he's the writer, and so we don't know who the writer is. And whoever it was, whoever it is, we know that the true writer is the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit has given us this book so that you and I can grow to be more like Jesus. As we come to the end of our study of the book of Hebrews, let me just remind you of the start of our study. We talked about the fact that the key word in Hebrews is the word "better. " It's used 13 times. It's the good life versus the better life, and the only way to live the better life is to realize that Jesus is better. Jesus is better than anything. The key verses in the book of Hebrews--in fact, what I'd like to do is read four key verses in the book of Hebrews, from chapter 1, chapter 4, chapter 10, and chapter 12. And as I read these verses, or these couple of verses in some cases, they really sum up the whole message of Hebrews. I guess we could have just read these verses at the beginning, and you and I would have gotten it. What does the book of Hebrews tell us to do? Let me read these verses for you. "In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. " End of chapter 4. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. " To chapter 10. Because by one sacrifice, He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Then to chapter 12. "Therefore, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning at shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. " That's the message of the book of Hebrews in those four key verses. Because Jesus is on His throne, and we know we can approach that throne. We know that He has made us perfect forever in Jesus. You and I are to live the life that Jesus made us to live, trusting in Him and living by faith. I hope you noticed as I read in verses 22 to 25 that this book is described as a book of exhortation or encouragement. The whole meaning of the book is in that phrase. It's meant to encourage your faith. I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation. Bear with encouragement. We think encouragement always has to be so positive that it's never difficult. But sometimes encouragement can be something difficult to hear. You know that. If you play on any kind of a sports team, somebody has to encourage you. You have to bear with their encouragement. Bear up to get out there and get back in it again. It's also interesting. He notes here, this is only a short letter. You have the idea that the book of Hebrews could have been 26 or 28 or 56 chapters. But he's just written this short letter and he's written it to encourage you. Encouragement comes in different ways. Where you've been warned, you've been encouraged in the book of Hebrews. Where you've been challenged, you've been encouraged in the book of Hebrews. Where you've learned a new truth, you've been encouraged in the book of Hebrews. In fact, as you look back over the book, just a couple of questions towards encouragement in your life. First, how has the book of Hebrews encouraged you in your belief, in your trust in Jesus and who he is? How has the book encouraged a deeper trust in Jesus by a deeper understanding of who he is? Remember, Jesus is better. And we've gone through the book, we've realized Jesus is better than the prophets in chapter 1, 1 to 3. He's better than the angels. They were ministering servants. He's a son. He's better than Moses. Moses was a servant in God's household. Jesus is a son in God's household. He's better than Joshua. Joshua entered a promised land of temporary rest. Jesus promises us eternal rest. He's better than the high priest. Jesus is a priest from a better order, with a better covenant, in a better tabernacle, with a better sacrifice. He's better. Now, that's what they needed to realize, because that's what they were struggling with. They thought the prophets were better, or the angels were better, or the high priest was better. How about you? Over who or what do you need to continue to realize that Jesus is better? Maybe it's good things in your life. Maybe it's material things in your life. Maybe it's chasing after some happiness in your life. Maybe it's after needing some emotional high in your life. Or maybe it's some success in your life. Maybe it's what other people think of you in your life. Over who or what do you need to realize that Jesus is better? Whatever failures you've had, Jesus is better. Whatever successes you've had, Jesus is better. Whatever good things people have said about you, Jesus is better. And when I realize that, it gives a new freedom to live my faith. Jesus is better. The key to living the better life is realizing that Jesus is better. Now, another question that we see throughout this book that leads to encouragement is, how has this book encouraged you to grow in your faith? As the writer of Hebrews talks about Jesus being better throughout the book, we've seen him again and again return to, now, this is what it means for your growth. This is how you should grow in your faith. This is what it means for your growth. This is how you should live. This is how you should have faith. Remember, we talked in the first week of our study about some things that mar our maturity and some things that mark our maturity. And he warns us about those things that mar our maturity—drifting, doubting, disobedience, stagnation, rejection, refusal—and he turns us towards those things in life that mark our maturity, that encourage our growth. Live with confidence. Live with faith. Live with endurance. Live with discipline. Live with holiness. Live with love. That's how you and I are to live the kind of life that God's given us to live. So my question to you is, how has God encouraged your faith as we've looked through the book of Hebrews, and how are you going to take that on? What has God done in your life? We've talked in the book of Hebrews about confidence to enter into the holy place, to talk to God with a greater sense of boldness, to have more sense that you're living in God's presence. And maybe you've done some things, as we've studied through this book, in your prayer life and spending time with God. How will you continue those things so that it marks your growth for the rest of your life? We've talked in this book about living a life of faith, that you and I can live not by sight but by faith, that faith is what pleases God. How can you make steps of faith in your life, encouraged by this great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us? How can this book be a continuing encouragement to your faith? How can it be a continuing encouragement to your endurance, to run the race that's set before you by fixing your eyes on Jesus? How can what we've read in this book, maybe even some verses you've memorized in this book, come into your life in an everyday way so that they become a part of your growth, they mark your life from here on out? That's why I want to study God's word, so that something in his word stamps my life, it needs to mark that day, no doubt about it. But as you study through an entire book, there are going to be one or two things that need to mark your life from this point forward. It can only happen a day at a time, but you become a different person, you pray in a different way, you step out in faith in a brand new way, you understand God's discipline in a way that you never have before, you love people, you're kind to strangers, you're loving towards Christians, brothers and sisters in a way that you never have before because you realize that kindness, that love isn't just based on some feeling, some emotion that you have, it's based on who Jesus is, that Jesus is better. How has this book encouraged you in your growth? How has this book encouraged you in your belief? Now those key verses that we talked about before, I talked yesterday about the value of praying verses, I can't think of a better way to end our study of the book of Hebrews than by praying those verses for us. So let's pray them together. And I just encourage you to pray with me, just pray this prayer, and just say, Father, I thank you. I thank you that in the past, you spoke to our forefathers through the prophets. And I thank you that in these last days, you have spoken to us by your Son, by Jesus. I thank you for who Jesus is. He is the radiance of your glory, Father. He's the exact representation of your being. He sustains all things by the power of your Word. I thank you that after he had provided purification for my sins on the cross, that Jesus went and he sat down. He is sitting right now at the right hand of your throne. And so Lord, because of that, I want to be the kind of person who can approach that throne of grace with confidence. The confidence is born not out of who I am, but because I know Jesus is sitting there and I know I know Jesus and I know that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Trinity, I can express a great and deep confidence in my relationship with you. And as I come to you, I know that I will find mercy. I know that I'll find grace to help me in the need that I have for that day. Because you've changed me by one sacrifice. What happened on the cross, you have made perfect forever. All of us who are being made holy through Jesus. So Lord, I want to live. I want to live for you. I want to throw off everything that hinders. I want to throw off the sin that so easily entangles. I want to run with perseverance the race that you have marked out for me. I want to fix my eyes on Jesus, the author, the perfecter of my faith, Jesus who for the joy set before him endured the cross, who scorned the shame of the cross, who is sitting right now at the right hand of the throne of God. I look to that throne right now. As I look to that throne, I ask with confidence that you would do this. I ask with confidence because it's your word. It's what you've expressed that you want to do. So do this in my life, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. I want to thank you. Thank you for joining us for the study of the book of Hebrews. Studying through a book of the scripture always does more for my life than I think anybody that's listening. So I am grateful for us to go through this together for what God's word does for our lives. Thank you for being a learner in God's word. And I encourage you to keep on with us in drive time devotions by joining us right back here for the continuing stream of drive time devotions this next week. Or I encourage you to go to drivetimedevotions. com where you can find the books of the New Testament, many of the books of the Old Testament, and you can listen through books that you want to listen through next. You can stay with us in order or you can go to whatever book you want to, whatever way you do it. I'm just glad you're studying God's word. I'm grateful for who you are in Christ.