This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to our look at the book of Hebrews. This is week four,
day four of our look through the New Testament, a book a day. Hebrews is a book
for all who need encouragement to keep on trusting, to keep on growing.

It's a book that was written to those who were missing the old ways of life, the
traditions. Those who felt that what they had given up may not really be worth
this new life that they had found. They had, one person said, gotten home from
the honeymoon and they were facing some of the difficulties in the Christian
life.

And they thought, well, what was it like, as the Jews would have said in the
book of Exodus, what was it like back in Egypt? Maybe we should go back there to
those days 'cause these are tough days. It's a book that's filled with the
encouragement to not drift back, but to keep running with endurance.

It's easy to drift back into the old ways. It's easy to drift back into a lack
of growth in your life. You gotta keep running with endurance.

Now, the focus of Hebrews is on Jesus. If you want to get to know who Jesus really
is, this is the book for you. If you love Jesus for who he really is, this is
the book for you.

And when you love Jesus for who he really is, you become more and more who he
made you to be. That's how you live out the life that he's given us to live. So
Hebrews one, one and two says this.

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. So this
book, Hebrews, it's called Hebrews 'cause it was first written to Hebrew
Christians, Jewish Christians.

It's a group of people that have been persecuted, we see in the book. It's a
group of people that the writer knew personally. He was hoping to visit them, we
see in chapter 13.

They may have lived in Rome. The greetings from the Italian Christians in
chapter 13 say this. That's what we know about who this book was written to.

Now the author of this book is a mystery. Well, we do have a few clues, and out
of that a few suspects about who might have been the author of this book. One
clue is that this person speaks of Timothy as a brother in chapter 13, verse 33.

Another clue is it has some of the style of the book of Luke and Acts. Another
clue, Barnabas was a Levite, that partner of Paul in ministry, and there's much
about the sacrificial system in this book. Another clue, Apollos, another
partner of Paul, knew Timothy well.

He was well-versed in scripture. Chapter 13 tells us that this person may have
been in prison. He had a Hebrew background very clearly, but he also wrote with
an understanding of Greek thought.

All these clues add up to some suspects. Who might have written the book? Maybe
the apostle Paul, maybe Luke, maybe Barnabas.

Some people think maybe Apollos or Silas or Philip or Priscilla. All of those
are suggested. Bottom line is nobody knows for sure who wrote the book of
Hebrews.

Well, actually we do know for sure. God is the author of the book of Hebrews. He
inspired some person who we don't know.

God has chosen to not let us know the person through whom he wrote Hebrews. When
we get to heaven, maybe we'll get the answer to that, or maybe we won't care, I
don't know. I will say as you look at the book of Hebrews that the key word in
Hebrews is better.

That word better is used 13 times. Angels are good, Jesus is better. Moses is
good, Jesus is better.

In the last chapter, this book is called a word of exhortation, a word of
encouragement. It's obvious as you read the book that we need a lot of different
types of encouragement 'cause this book is filled with stern warnings, with
clear challenges, with clearly explained truth, with personal encouragement, and
all of that can bring genuine encouragement into your life. It's a book.

Hebrews is a book about taking the dare to follow Jesus. In a day where people
dare themselves to drink a gallon of milk or douse themselves with freezing
water, this is a dare that's worth your life, that's worth everything. So when
you look at the book of Hebrews, there's two major sections.

You dare to compare and then you dare to mature. That's what you do, Paul says.
Well, I just tipped who I think might have written Hebrews, but who knows who
wrote Hebrews?

That's what you do as you look at this book. You dare to compare and then you
dare to mature. You dare to compare.

You compare Jesus to anyone or anything else and you'll see that he is worth
your faith, he is worth your time, he's worth your life. To this group of people
who'd begun to drift back for them the old ways of religion, he writes. And for
you and I, we might be drifting back to the old ways of selfishness or the old
ways of counting on money or the old ways of longing for some kind of personal
comfort in our lives.

And we want to go back to those things, thinking that's where the real life is
found. And the author of Hebrews says, no, Jesus is better. And he goes through
this list.

He's better than the prophets. Chapter one, verses one to three talk about that.
Their message, the prophet's message was in former times.

Now the message is found in his son, he says. Jesus is better than the angels,
chapter one, verse four through chapter two. They, the angels, were ministering
servants.

Jesus is the son. Better than Moses, chapter three. Moses was a servant in God's
household.

Jesus is a son in God's household. Better than Joshua, chapter four, one through
13. The promised land was only a temporary rest.

Now we look forward to the eternal promise that Jesus can give us. Better than
the high priest, chapter four, 14, all the way through chapter seven. Jesus is a
priest for all people.

Jesus is a priest forever. Better than even the high priest. Better than the old
covenant in chapter eight.

He came to give us a new covenant, a new promise. Better than the tabernacle in
chapter nine. The principle there is that those things in that tabernacle,
they're just a shadow of the reality that's in Jesus.

He's better than the sacrifice, chapter 10, verses one to 18, because Jesus is
the once and for all sacrifice. Hebrews 10, 14. For by one sacrifice, he has
made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Jesus is better. So if you want to live out the dare of the Christian life,
sometimes you have to dare to compare what you think is giving you life with
Jesus Christ and realize I was wrong. I was wrong.

I'm looking to the wrong things to give me life and that's why I'm missing out
on the life that God has for me. I might have found what I think are easier
things, simpler things, but they're not the things that are going to really give me
life. Now as you look through the book of Hebrews, all that we've just talked
about, the old covenant, the sacrificial system, the tabernacle.

Hebrews is an example that we cannot understand the New Testament without the
Old Testament or the Old Testament without the New Testament. The Testaments are
tied together. You dare to compare and Jesus always comes out on top.

And then you dare to mature. There's these two outline points to the book of
Hebrews. Dare to compare, dare to mature.

He warns them about immaturity all throughout this book. And then he challenges
them to maturity in the last chapters of the book. He warns and he encourages.

He warns about what mars are maturity. He encourages about what marks are
maturity. In fact, let me just walk through how you see in this book a
comparison between what can hurt your maturity, your growth in Christ, and what
will help your maturity, your growth in Christ.

What mars are maturity? Drifting, chapter two verses one to four. He says that
mars are maturity.

If you just let yourself just float along in your faith, you're going to float
downstream, not upstream. If you just stand where you are, we're actually
standing on a down escalator. You're going to find yourself going down and not up.

So he says drifting, mars are maturity. What should mark our maturity is
confidence. Confidence in God, because Hebrews 10, 19 to 22.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy
place by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and
with the full assurance that faith brings. That's how you keep growing. That's
how you dare to mature.

He says what hurts our maturity is doubting. What strengthens our maturity is
faith. He talks about doubting in chapter three verses seven to chapter four
verse two.

And chapter 11, we know, is the faith chapter. Hebrews 11, one. Now faith is the
confidence in what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not see.

So if you want to grow in faith, yeah, you gotta look at your doubts. You gotta be
honest about your doubts. But you also have to look at your faith and be honest
about your faith and grow in faith.

That's the only way to grow. You don't grow just by being honest about your
doubts. The value of that is that it drives you to be honest about your faith
where your life is found.

As you continue through the book, what mars our faith, what marks our maturity.
What mars our maturity is disobedience, chapter four verses 11 to 13. What marks
it is endurance, chapter 12 verses one to four.

So you just look at your life and say, am I daring to mature? Am I living a
disobedient life? Is there an area of my life where I go, I know God told me not
to do that, I'm still doing it.

Are my living instead with endurance, even through the toughest of times? What
keeps me from growing is stagnation. What enables me to keep growing is
discipline.

Chapter five to six talk about stagnation, just staying right where I am. If I'm
going to grow, I need discipline. Now, sometimes that discipline comes in the form
of tough times.

Sometimes that discipline comes in the form of doing what I don't feel like
doing that day. But it's the key, it's the encouragement that he gives towards
continuing to grow. What keeps me from growing in chapter 10 verses 19 to 39 is
rejection, rejection of what God has said he wants to do in my life.

What causes me to grow in chapters 12, 14 to 29 is holiness, his holiness. Now,
it's not my holiness, it's his holiness given to me. It's living out what he's
done for me on the cross.

What mars my discipleship is refusal, 12, 25 to 29. What marks my discipleship
is worship, chapter 12, verse 28. Again, is there an area of life where you're
saying no to God?

Take that no and turn it into a yes through worship, through worshiping him,
Hebrews 12, 28. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be
shaken, let us be thankful. And so worship God acceptably with reverence and
awe.

There's a lot here, I've gone through it so quickly. I know it's hard maybe to
keep all in our brain. As you walk through this book, let me just make it simple
as we end.

This book says, Jesus is better, so don't look back. And Jesus is Lord, so keep
looking ahead. That's how you dare to live the life of faith.

Jesus is better, so don't look back. And Jesus is Lord, so keep looking ahead.
For our prayer today, I'd like to use the closing prayer of Hebrews 13, verses
20 to 21.

Let's just pray this prayer together. Would you pray with me? And now may the
God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, equip you with all
that you need for doing his will.

May he who became the great shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting agreement
between God and you, signed with his blood, produce in you through the power of
Christ, all that is pleasing to him, to him be the glory forever and ever, amen.
Well, tomorrow we're going to look at the book of James and how faith works.