Bible Study - October 28, 2020

Well, we are going to start the book of Hebrews today, which is quite an interesting book. I think all of us have read through the book of Hebrews probably a number of times in our lives, and we turn to several of the scriptures, you know, in services. But I don't think I have ever been through a detailed Bible study as part of a group of the book of Hebrews. And as we go through this book, I think we're going to find just how important the book it is and how relevant it is to today, today and in us.

You know, if you go back, and it's always good to look at the background of when a book was written so that we can understand the people to whom it was written and how they would have received it based on what they were going through. When we look at the book of Hebrews, there's a lot of unanswered questions.

No one knows exactly who the author is. No one knows exactly the day that the book was written. No one knows the exact audience because there's no no greeting in the book that says, I'm writing to you in Jerusalem or you in whatever area that might be like all the other epistles are. All those things are kind of mystery. But, you know, as you go through the book and as scholars go through the book, they are able to piece some things together that give us a picture of what was going on at the time this book was written.

And it's very interesting when you look and see how scholars do it. Looking at facts and not looking at scriptural meaning or anything like that. I think sometimes people get confused when we mention commentaries that we might be looking at commentaries to help us understand the spiritual principles of the Bible. And that's not at all the case. We look at them to maybe understand what the meaning of the word or the phrase was in that time to understand the background and how people would have received the words that are written.

But God gives us a spiritual understanding of what a book is. We're not looking to outside commentators for that. It just helps us understand the language at that time, much as if the world was to go on another hundred years, you know, someone would look at some of our writings and say, what did they mean when they used that phrase or that phrase or what was like back in the 21st century, just so that they could understand the context from which these things are stated.

So when you look at the book of Hebrews, there's things that come up. It appears to be written to Hebrews, and that's why it is called Hebrews, because as you read through, you know, read through, and I'll use the word epistle, although there are many who say it's not really an epistle, as in the order of Paul's other epistles, or Peter's epistles, or, you know, the epistles of John, it's more of a sermon that was given, just by the way the whole thing is presented and written. But as you read through the book of Hebrews, it's obvious that he is speaking to a group that is very familiar with the Old Testament, because the Old Testament is referred to many times, and as a matter of fact, as opposed to, I'm educating a Gentile audience on what it meant, this Old Testament custom.

He's talking, you know, as he goes through the scriptures in the middle, you know, talking about how the Old Testament has done away with, and Jesus Christ is the better sacrifice. That's written to a Jewish audience who has become Christians who may still be struggling with, you know, Judaism.

How do we come out of Judaism and do this? So as we read through the book of Hebrews, we'll see that that, you know, that's... it presupposes that there are people who understand what those Old Testament scriptures are, and they don't have to be educated in all the details of it. You know, they are...

some of the commentators say that it seems likely that it was written to Christian Jews in Jerusalem, and that, you know, because at a time frame before the temple was destroyed, because as it discusses the temple in Hebrews, it never makes a mention that the temple has already been destroyed, which certainly would be a natural thing for the writer to say if that had already happened. So when they place the date for the the sermon or epistle or whatever we want to call it, it's likely to be somewhere in the 64, 65, 68 AD period. And if you look at what was happening back at that time frame in Jerusalem, you see a society that's similar to what we are here in in the 21st century.

The Jews... it's been 30 years since Jesus Christ, you know, has... was crucified and resurrected.

There have been a number of Jews who have become Christians. They are still not... they're still not well accepted in Jerusalem, but Jerusalem itself is on the verge of having a new leader who is going to change totally their life in Jerusalem. Nero comes to power in 64 AD, and we all know, you know, what Nero's history is. He was against Judaism. He was against Christianity. He was an awful, awful, awful dictator. And this came upon them at a time where they had experienced a little bit of other persecution, but nothing like Nero at that time. And so you have this situation where at the end of 70 AD, the temple is totally destroyed. Everything about Jerusalem changes during this time period, probably leading up to the time that Hebrews is written. And as persecution begins to develop, you see in the book of Hebrews where there's exhortations to the people to not go back to their old way of life. The thought of some of the commentators is that they may have been going back to Judaism to escape some of the persecution that was coming on Christians, and that life was becoming tough, and they thought of this as a way out. You see exhortations in Hebrews that the people were becoming a little lax in their faith, and so they're exhorted to go back to the basic principles. In Hebrews 6 it says, you should be being mature Christians right now, but here we are talking about the basic things again. And so you look at a time frame that could be very similar to ours, where we're on the verge of our society totally possibly changing from everything we've ever known, and could be in for a dramatic change of events here in the coming years, where religious freedoms, freedoms of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of thought, could all be in the play. Who knows what's going to happen in the next one, two, three, four, five, ten years, or however long God has before this society ends. So when we look at the book of Hebrews, it really is timely for us today, and as we read through it, we shouldn't be thinking, those Christians back then, and those Hebrews back then, they needed that because you know what? We need that. Let me just read to you. I thought the open Bible had a pretty good commentary on some of the things pertaining to Hebrews. Just let me read to you one paragraph from their opening statements and the introduction to the book of Hebrews that'll kind of sum up this part of it.

Then we'll talk about who wrote Hebrews, because that can be a subject of discussion as well.

They say the recipients of this letter were believers, and they do give scriptural references in here. The recipients of this letter were believers, and they referenced Hebrews 3 verse 1, who had come to faith through the testimony of eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ as references in chapter 2 verse 3. They were not novices. Remember in chapter 5 and 6, he says you should be spiritually mature, but now we're having to go back to the basic principles, and talk about those again. They were not novices, and they had successfully endured hardships because of their stand for the gospel. Unfortunately, they had become dull of hearing, as it says in chapter 5 verse 11, and they were in danger of drifting away, as it says in chapter 2 verse 1 and chapter 3 verse 12. This made them particularly susceptible to the renewed persecutions that were coming upon them, as discussed in chapters 12, chapter 12 verses 4 through 12, and the author found it necessary to check the downward spiral with the word of exhortation, chapter 13 verse 22. While there is disagreement over the specific danger involved, the classic position that the reader read that the readers were on the verge of lapsing into Judaism to avoid persecution, directed at Christians, seems to be supported by the whole tenor of the book. Hebrews repeated emphasis on the superiority of Christianity over Judaism would have been pointless if the readers were about to return to Gnosticism or heathenism or gentile religions. So I thought that was a pretty good summation, looking at the words in the book, to why we have the title that it was directed to the Hebrews. I want to throw up a slide here on the history of the true church.

We've referenced this, you know, several times. Let me go back. I need to share this screen, not just pull it up on my screen. Yeah, this document is helpful as we go through the Bible and look at the time periods that we're in. Again, this is, you know, the handout we gave as we went through the seven churches in Revelation. But there in 31 AD, of course, we have Pentecost.

You know, the first Pentecost after Jesus Christ was resurrected. You know, 50 to 52, Paul began to write many of his epistles. He mentioned the door open to me in 50 to 52 AD. And then in 64 AD, we have Nero. He's in power and he blames the fire of Rome on Christians, and the torturous persecution begins. So when you're looking at where this where this Hebrews is written and the fact that the temple is never discussed as destroyed in Hebrews, but still as standing, you know, still the symbol there, but God's about to tear that tear that down. That's why most scholars will put this into 62 to 68 AD timeframe. Nero blames the fires and then 68 to 69 AD, you begin to see the martyrdom of some of the apostles there. Now it's interesting, you know, in 69 AD there, I mean, we were leading up to the 70 AD when the temple is destroyed and all of Judaism is just kind of thrown into a state of flux. Everything they've known has just been destroyed. So they're kind of in new territory. It says there, you know, this is from Josephus. The Christians left Jerusalem and they fled to Pella. Josephus says, pull my thing over here, moreover, at the at that face, which we called Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner court of the temple, they said that in the first place they felt a quaking and heard a great noise. And after that they heard a sound as of a multitude saying, let us remove hence. And that comes from the wars of the Jews. And they did, you know, they did. The church then did flee from Jerusalem to Pella. Now it's mentioned. And of course, this is from secular books and, you know, it's not in the Bible the specific history of this, but I thought it was interesting that it says down there in one of the notes that Jerusalem Church was moved to Pella. Rome was never the parent or headquarters church, but that none of the people, you know, they had been expelled from the city, but none of the true Christians died in Jerusalem. They actually fled when they were told to flee. So it's like God warned them of a time and pending time in Jerusalem, and they did leave. So most scholars, only God knows exactly when the book was written, you know, will say that this book was likely written during that time period leading up to that. And as that time was coming, God was exhorting the Christians to return, you know, return, I guess, as it says in Jude, to the faith once delivered to them.

Makes sense. Makes sense. And, you know, certainly the text supports that. You know, as we go through the book of Hebrews, one thing we are going to note, and even in the first chapters we go through today, we're going to see the emphasis of the book of Hebrews is that Jesus Christ is superior to everything else on earth. Superior are in the universe, really. Superior to everything.

Only God the Father is superior to Him. And we see that played over and over in the book. In chapters 1 and 2, you know, it tells us He's better than the prophets of the Old Testament.

He's better than the angels. He's superior to them. And as the author writes in the book of Hebrews, we're given this sense of we better be aware of what our calling is. There is nothing more important on earth. There is no greater message on earth, no greater calling on earth than what you and I have been given the privilege to live in today. Let me stop there if there's any questions or any comments or observations. Then let's talk a little bit about the author and who may have been the author of the book of Hebrews.

Okay, and again, remember, you don't have to wait for me to ask. If someone's got a thought, feel free to just open your microphone and start talking and I will hear you. So, okay, so go ahead. Someone has something to say. It's me. It's Jeannie. I just, in the book of Hebrews, I guess some time ago, I have written something for myself and I'm wondering how close this even is to what Hebrews is about. Okay. It's about four sentences and maybe you can just give me some input. Okay. I have written that this book helped the church to see how the Old Covenant, with all its rituals and symbols, looked forward to the fulfillment of Jesus Christ.

I'm just wondering, I don't know why I wrote it, when I wrote it.

It's a good comment. It does that. It does that among many other things.

So I just got to figure out again why I read it and what it means.

No, it does. Yeah. The book of Hebrews is full of instruction and a lot of things that are written in it really do bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament and help us to understand what the message is today and how it all fits together.

So now that's a very good comment that you have written in that. We'll be talking about some of that as we go through the book. Thank you. Yes. Yes. Why, Noma? Yes. I know this is a silly question, but can you explain to me what's the difference between Israelite Jews and Hebrews? Are they all the same? Okay. No, they're not all the same. Hebrews and Jews, I would say, are the same. Okay. Israelites, remember, include all 12 tribes of Israel. Jews are the two tribes that remained with Riah Belem after the split. Remember that back in Kings, and we had 12 tribes. Nine and a half went with Jorabellom, and two and a half stayed with King Riah Belem at that time, and the nation was divided in two. So we have Jews, and we have Hebrews. The other 10 tribes we just rounded up are the lost tribes of Israel, and we see some of the epistles that are directed to those scattered tribes of Israel. But this book of Hebrews is directed to the Jews, it appears to be, probably in Jerusalem, but any of the Jews anywhere in that ancient land of Palestine. That make sense? Yeah, it does. Okay. Okay. Let's talk a little bit about the author, about Paul, because you are the author of Hebrews. You know, it's interesting as you look at the commentaries, some people believe Paul is the author. Others say adamantly he was not. And, you know, to wrap it up, all in summary, the book does not say, and there are arguments, I guess, if you will, for either side of that, you know, speculation, if you will. You know, the book doesn't say, and there's a good quote by a third-century theologian by the name of Arigin, and he says, this controversy, you know, I guess was raging back in the third and fourth century too, who wrote the book of Hebrews, you know, he said that the truth, I'm paraphrasing, truth be told, no one knows who the author of Hebrews is except God. And he's right, you know, we can speculate either way. Let me just run through, and I will open this up, because I'm sure there are people here who believe it was Paul, there are people here who believe it wasn't Paul.

I, you know, I have my opinion on it, and I'd be happy to share that, but let me just give you some of the things that I was able to cull out of the commentaries and scholarly writings on why some people believe it was Paul who wrote it. They say that the style of writing was similar, and they reference specifically the end of the book of Hebrews, and when you look at the last two verses of the book of Hebrews there, it does sound like Paul's writing. Many of his epistles, he would close with grace be with you all. Amen. And that's exactly how Hebrews ends. He does make mention of Timothy in there and kind of ends it with a similar thing to what Paul would do.

Doesn't mean it was him, but that style of writing is similar. He mentions Timothy. We know that Paul wrote a couple of epistles to Timothy, and so he was a friend of Paul. Since he's mentioned in there, they say it was evident that Paul wrote it. They say Paul was familiar with the Jews, and that he may have written it to them as a warning, as he could since he was the apostle to the Gentiles, but also understood the Jewish thought, and perhaps he was the one who God used in order to bring the Hebrews back to realization of who they are and what they should be doing.

They will quote chapter 2 verses 3 and 4, where it says that the author did not see Christ's work firsthand. So they say that eliminates the apostles because they did see Christ's work firsthand. Paul was not an eyewitness to Jesus Christ's work, and he was he was taught by Jesus as he explains in his epistles, but he wasn't wasn't a he didn't see it firsthand as in walking with Christ during those three and a half years.

And he also passes on readings from Italy. So those are the that's what they use to say Paul, you know, wrote it. You know, I don't know. I don't know if it's worthwhile to open it up to discussion if anyone else has anything they want to add to that. Or I can give you kind of what some of the commentaries say or the reasons not, however, however you'd like to proceed. And again, we're not going to come to the answer to this, no matter what we decide. We're not going to come to the conclusion of this and say, oh, then Paul did write or Paul didn't write it.

The answer is only God knows. And the opinion is ours. So, Mr. JB, I think that a lot of people believe that it is unknown. And in some of my studies in this previous this, it does talk about the 1611 edition of the King James Bible ends with the epistle to the Hebrews written to the Hebrews from Italy by Timothy. That's one thing that they went through, and that was from the modern times as they go into the modern times. But personally, I don't know. It's hard to say because I think it is unknown. I believe that Paul did write it, but at the same time, I don't know.

But that's interesting that they put that in there. Yeah. No, it's interesting. And again, this is not a salvation issue. So we don't want anyone to go away thinking we have to believe one or the other. Yes. Yeah, Paul. I don't see that there's any profit to be made by the discussion.

And 1 Timothy 1-4, I think, might have slighted this very thing.

And you want to tell us what 1 Timothy 1-4 says?

Probably about disputes about nothing. Right.

1 Timothy 4. About genealogies and all that kind of stuff.

Yep. I think it is important. I think it's important to know that we don't know. Yeah, don't give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes rather than godly unification, which is in faith. Yeah, I would agree. I would agree with that. So, yes. Okay, I have the Gideon, King James version of the Bible. Okay. And it says here, the first one, he says, fill him in, the epistle of Paul to fill him in. And then in Hebrew, it says the epistle of Paul, the apostle to the Hebrews. So it seems as though it's saying in the Gideon version of the King James version of the Bible, Paul wrote Hebrews. Now, a person looking at that would automatically think that Paul wrote... Yeah. I knew whatever shouldn't be doing it. Do what? Yeah. Yeah, I know. And it does reference that. Many of the King James versions will say that at the top, the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. And I guess that's why it bears... You know, because I personally... I'll have to say, nah, I think I likely don't think that Paul wrote it. I think there is mystery involved in that book because because God designed it that way. If he wanted us to know who wrote that book, he would do it. He would have made it very clear. But there are reasons that it's not. And so, just humor me a bit as I put these together. Let's just look at some of the reasons that people will say it's not because I think they're very valid too. And it might be that the healthy thing is just leave it to God. You know, the book stands as truth because it tells... teaches us truth and doesn't conflict with anything else in the Bible. They've had... they had this discussion back for centuries before. And, you know, the thing is, at the time it was written, the people didn't know who wrote it because you could read the end of chapter 13. And it's clear that the way the author is talking at that time that they knew who it came from, but that's been lost during time.

And that's not necessarily a bad time because I look at this book as something that God has certainly inspired for us today. And it stands alone in that... stands alone in that. Let me...

let me just... you know, here's what some of them... the Greek style of Hebrews is far more polished and refined than in Paul's epistles. I'm not a Greek scholar, so I... you know, can't say that.

They reference, again, chapter 2 verse 3. The fact that the book just opens, that Paul doesn't do his typical greetings as he would in the letter, it just opens. You just get right into the...

into the context of it. When Paul used the Hebrew text to quote from the Old Testament, the Hebrews author may not have known Hebrew. He only quoted from the Septuagint version. And that would take technical discussion, but that's a... that's a point of reference. And Hebrews concentrates on Christ priestly ministry, but Paul's writings have little to say about the present work of Christ. And I think as we get into the book, we'll see that. So let me just leave it at that and let you know that, you know, that if... if there is... no one knows. No one knows, and there are good reasons either way, but it really is not a salvation thing, and that shouldn't be the focus of our... shouldn't be the focus of our... looking into the book of Hebrews. We need to look at the substance of it, and that will be... that will be what... what the book tells. So any comments on that? If not, we'll just go ahead and move forward into chapter one. Okay, hold on just a minute. Okay. Yes. Bobby, hey, Bobby, yeah, you have to unmute yourself. I'm sorry. There we go. Can you hear me now? Yes, we can hear you.

I just believe 2 Timothy 3 16 that all Scripture is given for inspiration... was given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

So, though we don't know who wrote it, I still believe that it was given by inspiration of God for learning. Yep. So... And I think the thing, too, is this book applies to us today every bit as much as it did when it was written back to the first audience to whom it was directed. So, I think as we read through that, we will see that as well. Okay, anyone else?

Well, let's get into the book then. Let's get into chapter 1, Hebrews 1 and verse 1.

There's a lot. As we go through the book here, again, when you look at the detail of what in Hebrews, God tells us an awfully lot in the first 3 and 4 verses about Him, about us, about Jesus Christ. It's kind of amazing how much is packed into these first few verses when we look at it.

First of all, the book is right in. Right in, it just opens up. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets. And that verse tells us, where did the message come from? The message came from God the Father, God who in times past spoke to the fathers by the prophets. And so, we have the Old Testament writings. We have the prophets, the Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the prophets, the minor prophets that are there, Ezekiel, Daniel, you know, all of them. And God inspired them to write those words. That's how He got His message. But it was His message. And it tells us clearly that it's God the Father's message that was there because we're going to see God, as it's used in this context, used on through these verses. So God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days, these New Testament times and the days that we live in, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. So again, where does the message that we have come from today? It comes from God the Father. It shows us that God the Father is the one who is ultimately in charge, as we have always known. But as the book opens up, it shows us it is God the Father. He is the one who has the plan. He is the one who has spoken the Word in Old Testament times through the prophets. So those, as Bobby pointed out to us in 2 Timothy 3 16, those words were inspired by God. The words that Jesus Christ spoke were inspired by God. We can look at Jesus Christ's own words where He verifies and validates and says that exact same thing. He says, back to you, just keep your finger there in Hebrews. Let's go back to John 12 and see where Jesus Christ said exactly the same thing that Hebrews is telling us, you know, where He got His words and the message that He gives us in John 12 in verse 49. That's right. Yeah, John 12 verse 49. Oh, it's the whole sentence here. And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor I'm in the wrong chapter. That's what I thought.

Chapter 12 verse 49. Okay, Jesus Christ speaking. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak. And so Jesus Christ made it crystal clear to us. John is the one who delivers the message. You know, we were back in Revelation. Remember the chain that we had when we were in Revelation 1? The message that was revealed by God the Father. He gave it to Jesus Christ, who gave it to an angel, who gave it to John. John recorded it. God the Father's message.

He is the one ultimately in charge, and He is the one who directs the words, and He is the one who gives us the words and the understanding of His Bible. And so we go back to the Bible. We look at the Bible, and God the Father is the one to inspire us to what His message is, what His understanding is, and He is the one who directs our understanding. And we shouldn't forget that. No, Jesus Christ, we're going to see it in verse 3. It says, He is the express image of God the Father. They are one and the same. So we know that what Jesus Christ spoke was exactly what the God the Father gave Him, and He was completely submitted to God and completely in tune with His plan and complete agreement. And so, you know, we see that. If we go back to John 8, just a few chapters, saying Jesus Christ, again saying this, and He said that, and we have to remember that in our lives too. God is the one who gives us the understanding. God is the one whose message it is, and we need to be speaking what God said as recorded in His Word here in the Bible, and as He gives us the knowledge of the understanding, never speaking our words, but speaking His words.

John 8 43 says, you know, here He is speaking to the Pharisees, and He makes this comment to Him, He goes, why do you not understand my speech? Because you are not able to listen to my Word, you know, He tells them. And if we drop down, you know, He kind of tries the Pharisees and says, you know, you can't understand me because you're not of me. You're of your Father, the devil.

And down in verse 47, He says, He who is of God hears God's words. Therefore, you don't hear because you are not of God. So He doesn't say, listen to me. He says, you're not hearing God's words because you're not of God. And we know that from the things that we have experienced in our lives, we're all bound together because we have God's Spirit, and we can understand the things of the Spirit as it tells us in 1 Corinthians 2. And so it's kind of an illuminating thing and kind of an encouraging thing when you go into Hebrews and you begin to look at how this book is opened up, the encouragement of it, that what we know, and when we understand this book and we go through it, it is God the Father speaking to us. We're going to see, you know, in these books, there is no more superior message that you can find anywhere, for lack of a better word, anywhere in the universe.

And the universe is like everything that God knows and everything that God has created. There is no more superior message anywhere except what God the Father gives. You cannot have a more superior message. And the book of Hebrews lets us know that. In the Old Testament times, it went to the prophets.

Now it's given to us through Jesus Christ. And we have his words that God gave him to speak, and that he dutifully and perfectly, perfectly spoke. So, let's, we were in verse two.

Verse two, if we're back in Hebrews, let me read again. Keep the context going here.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time, passed to the fathers by the prophets as he's speaking to his people. The Old Testament is still valid. It's still God's word. That's how we got it to the Old Testament, people. But in these last days, he's spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed heir of all things. God, you know, appointed Jesus Christ heir of all things.

Tells us something about us, and he's beginning to let us know just how important our calling is.

When you start thinking about who Jesus Christ is, and we understand where the rest of verse chapter one is going to, and just how important it is, Jesus Christ, he appointed, God the Father appointed him heir of all things. Now, we can, we will go back and we will look at some things where God has said, you're co-heir with Jesus Christ. That's an amazing thing for us to contemplate.

Jesus Christ is heir of all things. Now, you know what? I'm ahead of myself, but let's look at Romans 8, 29. Romans 8 and verse 29. Nope, I didn't want to. First, 29. I want that later.

Let's look at verse 17, I guess. Yeah, verse 16. The Spirit itself, you know, we know that Romans 8 is the Holy Spirit chapter. You know, verse 8 says, those who are in the flesh cannot please God, but you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. And if anyone doesn't have the Spirit of Christ, which is the Spirit of God, he is none of his. Verse 16.

The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, then we may also be glorified together. So we know the magnitude and the importance of Jesus Christ.

We know that he was resurrected. I mean, he purged our sins. He died for our sins. He was resurrected, the first of the first fruits, the first of the first born, if you will. He sits at God's right hand. God has appointed him heir of all things. As we go through the chapter, we see then, and we know from our the other writings we have, God has told us your co-heirs with him, mankind, and those of you who might have called. Look what he's saying in these introductory verses. Do you get the magnitude of your calling? There is nothing better anywhere in the universe than what God has given you in me. Jesus Christ, there's nothing better than him, I guess, if we're going to say better and use the word better that's used in Hebrews, than God the Father. I mean, he's superior by Jesus Christ's own submission to him. Not that he's better, but Jesus Christ has submitted to him. He's the one who gives the message. He's the one who spoke to the prophets of old time.

He's the one who speaks to you through Jesus Christ. He's the one who speaks as we read his words today and as his spirit is in us. He gives us the understanding of what it is. He said, just like Jesus Christ, your co-heirs with him. He's setting the stage for what he's going to talk about here in Hebrews 1 because we have this theme that goes throughout the books, reminding people Jesus Christ and what comes through him is better than anything else you can come up with. Better than angels, better than Judaism, better than the prophets of old, better, better, better, we will see. And he's reminding us, don't take your calling for granted. Don't neglect it. Don't become casual with it and let it escape. Always remember how important it is. So, go back to Hebrews 1.

It says, God has spoken in times past by the fathers to the fathers by the prophets. These last days he's spoken to us by his son, whom he, God the Father, has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. So we can ask, who is the architect of the worlds?

Well, we're told here God the Father. Through him he also made the worlds. Jesus Christ was the one who created them. Jesus Christ carried out the orders. God gave him that responsibility and he did it perfectly, exactly to the plan that he and God the Father had. Exactly perfect. And when we look at the world around us and the creation, we can see despite mankind's abuse of it, it is still a perfect creation. It still works, you know, so, so well. Let's go back to collagions for a second because that's validated here in collagions that we read of Jesus Christ through him. All things were created. That has been his, if I can use loosely, the word job. God the Father gave him, you know, God the Father had the plan. God the Father directed him to create the worlds, and he did. If we look at collagions 9, and let's pick it up in, um, well, let's pick it up in verse 13 because I'm going to reference a couple of these verses later on anyway and I'll just refer back to them. Collagions 1 13. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Who did that?

God has delivered us from the power of darkness. For some reason, he looked down at you and me and said, this, this one, I will choose this one. I will open his mind and deliver him from this world of darkness and open his mind to the light that is, you know, his truth. In whom, the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, Christ shed bless for us the forgiveness of sins. He, Christ, is the image, okay? He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.

All things were created through him and for him. That's all things in heaven and earth. Angels, elders, heavenly beings, earth, everything that ever was created. God the Father is there, but he appointed Jesus Christ, heir of all things, but also had him be the creator. All things were created through him and he, Christ, is before all things and in him all things consist. And then it discusses that he is the head of the body of the church today, which we would expect as a natural conclusion, as God is working his plan with the people that he has called out and appointed Jesus Christ, you know, as our Savior, as our Messiah, that he of course would be the head of the church because he's very interested in God's plan being born out and completed in the way God, you know, intended it to be and that Jesus Christ died that it might be, that you and I would be delivered into that kingdom as we as we yield to him. So, you know, there's other places we can look at too, but as we look at Hebrews 1, you know, again we see God the Father has the message, God the Father appointed Christ heir over all things. We read Romans 817 that if we follow, if we suffer together with Christ, if we follow him, if we're led by his Holy Spirit, if we sacrifice self, if we deny self, if we overcome, as we read in the book of Revelation so many times, if we overcome, we are joint heirs with him. That tells us something as we get into the rest of the chapter of just about exactly what God has called us to in the magnitude of our calling that sometimes we may just lose sight of. Now, what he's going to say here is there is nothing, absolutely nothing in any of our lives that could supersede, you know, what this is and what God has called us to.

So, we're through, you know, verse 2. I hope you already see how much is into those things as God leads us into this book. It's full of instruction and full of understanding and, you know, that we can understand how everything fits together. And warnings, you know, we're going to see four or five warnings in this book, you know, to people that was written to them that apply to us today as well.

Okay, again, getting ahead of myself. Okay, so, whom he has appointed, heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. Hebrews 1 verse 3. Who, being the brightness of his glory, or being the brightness of glory, that word his there is in italics, who, Jesus Christ, being the brightness of glory and the express image of his person. You know, if you look up the Greek that's translated express image, there's a reason it says express. He is an exact duplicate of God. He, when Jesus Christ said, the Father and I are one, he meant it. We are in absolute unison. We are in absolute harmony. We are absolutely dedicated to the same purpose, the same plan. This is what we are doing.

Jesus Christ is the express image of God the Father. You know, and I'll harken back. We can turn back there if you want me to, but in John 14, you remember as Jesus Christ, after he left that last Passover supper where he instituted the New Ordinances, he went out and started preaching to the Apostles. And as he mentioned about going to the Father, and you remember Thomas asked the question somewhere around somewhere in the middle of chapter 14, and he said, you know, tell us what you mean. Tell us what you mean about this, Father. We don't even know what you're talking about. You remember Jesus Christ's response? He said, Thomas, have you been with me so little?

Don't you know that if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. We are one and the same. You know, he made the comments. We've already read his comments. I only speak what the Father gives me to speak. In other places, you know, we can look there, too. In John 5, let's go back.

I mean, he only spoke, he says, what, God the Father gave him to speak. And in John 5, verse 9, he says, I just do what the Father tells me to do. I am completely directed and completely submissive and completely in surrender to him. He's directing me as a human on earth, and I'm following him explicitly. John 5, verse 19. Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do.

For whatever he does, the Son also does like manner. I do what the Father tells me to do.

I do what I see the Father doing. I am at one with him. I am an express image of him.

Down in verse 30, the same chapter, he says, I can of myself do nothing. You know, Jesus Christ, when we hear him say that, how much more, you know, would I say that? I can of myself do nothing.

Nothing that God calls us to. I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous because I don't seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. You know, and as we look at what God has called us to, as we look at what God has called us to, you know, well, let's look at the verse, 1 Peter, 1 Peter 4.

And verse 11, because we go to the Bible and let him teach us these things and draw all the, draw all the, you know, how it all works and what his plan for us is. In chapter 4, verse 11 of 1 Peter, you know, he writes, if anyone speaks, right, Jesus Christ spoke, Jesus Christ spoke, Jesus Christ did things. He said, I did them exactly what the God the Father showed me to do, or his will. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. You know, make, he's saying, if you're going to do it, seek God's will, speak, seek, speak his words. Don't speak your own words.

Don't speak your own speculation. If it's going to be speculation, make it known. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, that would be served. If anyone ministers, let him do it, as with the ability that God supplies, that in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.

So Peter tells us, when we speak, you know, we should be learning in the course of our lifetimes.

Speak as God gives us utterance to speak. When we speak things, don't mix it with our speculation.

Don't mix it with our opinion. Mix it with the word of God. Let him direct it and ask him to direct our minds and our hearts. And his Holy Spirit will lead us into all understanding.

Jesus Christ said that back when he was telling the apostles about it after that Passover.

It will lead you into all understanding. It will help you understand the things of the Spirit, God's Spirit in us. And he says, when you serve, do it with the ability God gives you.

He'll lead us to what we need to do. He'll open our eyes to do that. He'll give us the ability to do it. We will become the body that he wants us to become. We will become servants of each other. We will have the bond that God wants us to. As we let him lead us, and don't put our own definitions or our own limits on it, but let him lead us and direct us. Now, let me pause here for a moment because we've talked a lot about, and maybe we don't even really understand what what we've talked about when we talk about Jesus Christ being the express image of his person. He spoke the words that God gave him. The things that he did were the things that God gave him to do.

That's life, right? I mean, Jesus Christ was saying of my own self, I can do nothing. I will take have God. We've talked about, you know, asking God to order our steps, direct our steps each day, tell us, show us what he wants us to do, how we live our lives, you know, the things that we do.

And that there are no coincidences in life. God puts us through a training program. The things, you know, we learn from things that we walk into. We make mistakes, we repent, we learn how to do better, we go forward from there. Always looking to God and always giving him the glory. But how did Jesus Christ become exactly like God the Father? How, I mean, they have been in eternity together, right? I mean, we, our minds can't even conceive of the fact that there was no beginning to either God the Father or no beginning to Jesus Christ. We were told that in Hebrews, that there was the priesthood of Melchizedek, there was no beginning and there was no end of it. They've been together for eternity. How are they in perfect unity? What do they have that maybe we haven't had yet, that they would become perfectly united in purpose, in plan, in word, in deed?

Mr. Chevi? Yes, sir. I mean, that's a great question. I guess the way I think sometimes about it is that the word at that time before he was born, he was the word. He submitted voluntarily to the other being, and that's how basically they achieved that relationship, that oneness, is because one voluntarily submitted to the other. Yep. I think that's a very good point, Degardo. Somewhere along the line, Jesus Christ willingly submitted to God, and he, you know, he chose that. He has no issues with it. He doesn't look at himself as an, oh, superior, I got wronged in it. He willingly submitted to God. You know, I don't know what else we can say, but they also spent eternity together, didn't they? So as they worked together, they discussed, they understood. I have no idea. This is 100% speculation. Where they from? And there is no day one with Jesus Christ and God the Father. There was no day one with the word. They were always together. So over the course, they were in perfect, they've been in perfect unity. They spent time with one another. They've talked about things. They've planned things. As God the Father, you know, if I can use some business, you know, business analogy, excuse me, you know, Jesus Christ, or God the Father, would be like the CEO, right? He's the Supreme. He's the head. He's the head.

He has the ideas and He directs the whole process. And Jesus Christ is there. He's the president. He's the doer. He carries out the plans. We're told that. God, you know, God does the calling. God gives the Holy Spirit. God created the world. Jesus Christ was set forth. He created. All things were created through Him. He did those things and they worked in unison and they had eternity to talk about things. So every nuance they were in agreement with. And they are today and will be for eternity. They've gotten there. They're at that level. Perhaps they were at that level from day one and there is no day one with them. So what does God call us to be?

What does God call us to be? When we look at what our calling is and He says, I'm calling you imperfect, base, weak, human beings. Here's what your goal is. What is our goal when God calls us? One thing is to be Christlike. Be Christlike, right? To be like Christ.

So, okay, come back. I'm sorry? To become perfect. You become perfect. To become blameless.

So if we look at Romans 8 verse 29 where we were in Romans 8 a few times ago, we see Jesus Christ is the express image of God the Father. You know, here's what Romans 8, the Holy Spirit chapter, if we want to call it that, says about us. For whom he foreknew. Okay. God, it appears, knew you and me. You know, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. He conformed, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son that he might be the firstborn among any brethren. So we are called, we are called to become the image of Christ. First John 3 says when we see him, we'll recognize him because we will be like him. You know, Ephesians 4 tells us that our goal is to grow into the fullness and the fullness of the the stature and maturity of Jesus Christ, to become like him. And through the course of our physical lives, that's what the goal is as God's Spirit is in us and as it permeates as we allow it, our minds to weed out little by little our false concepts, our pride, our own ideas, and to let God direct everything we do so that we become like Jesus Christ, who is like God the Father. So when we, I don't know, to me anyway, when we put all that in context, it's kind of an encouraging and exciting thing that God has called us to. And as Hebrews, this book is written to the Hebrews, the author. God is ultimately the author. It's his words, you know, whether it was Paul who penned them or someone else that's unknown to us. It is God who is the author of these words. It's his words that were inspired and put down on paper for us, that he's telling us, you know Jesus Christ, you know where he sits in the universe, you know he sits at my right hand, you know he is the one through whom salvation comes and there is no other.

And I called you. I foreknew you, and my purpose for you is that you would become like him, just as he is like me. Exactly the words yours that Jesus Christ said after that Passover when he said my will father is, is that they will become one with each other, that they will become with one with you and me as you and I are one. It's the same thing that we see here in Hebrews in a different way of of positioning it or a different way of saying it, but it's the same message, what God's will is for you and me. That we become like Christ. Now what he's going to say here is there is nothing more important or superior or not a better calling anywhere in the universe than what God has given you and me. Stay here in the rest of chapter one, better than the angels. They have eternal life or spirit life. They have their God given responsibilities that they carry out very well, but what you have been called to joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Your mission during the time that you when you're baptized and you receive the Holy Spirit is to become like him so that you can inherit what God wants us to inherit and what his purpose for calling us is. That you, we are to become the image of Jesus Christ just as Jesus Christ is the express image God the Father. Kind of an amazing thing if you allow yourself to just contemplate that.

As the author here, as God, is wanting to remind us, you know, who we are, what he's called us to, and that all these other things in life where we have to go through the activities of daily living and do all the things and exactly the way he said to the best of our abilities following his way of life physically as well as spiritually, but always remembering who we are and what our calling and what our calling is. There is nothing greater than that. Mr. Shady. Yes, yes, ma'am. Okay, okay, I'm a bit confused here. Okay. I believe I understood you to say that Jesus didn't have a beginning. Jesus Christ, yeah. Right. And what does it say in John 1.1 it says in the beginning, what's the word, what's God over, what's with God. Okay, and also in Revelation 1a, he says, I'm Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. Wouldn't beginning mean that you got to start somewhere you... I know God is from everlasting to everlasting. I know he has no beginning at all.

Right. But I always thought that Jesus had a beginning. He was the beginning of the spiritual creation of God, and he is made in the image of God, and they are in unity with each other, and the Son doesn't do anything without God. So I'm just a bit confused not trying to say that, you know, what has been said is wrong. I understand. I understand because it is...

eternity is a concept and infinity is a concept that we can't really understand as humans because we all have beginnings, you know, but let's look at Hebrews 7. Right here, you know, a lot of these, as we learned, we can read about these things right in the very book that we're in and see the answer to this. Hebrews 7 is talking about Melchizedek, you know, and the priest of the most high God, who met Abraham, and as we go back, if we were to go back into Genesis and read that, you know, it's the one who became Jesus Christ who was there with him. But notice what it says in...

well, let's just read chapter 7 verses 1 through 6. It's the word, this Melchizedek. Speaking of Jesus Christ, well, verse 20 of chapter 6, the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high praise forever according to the order of Melchizedek, for this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, we give our tithes to God, to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, meaning king of peace, one of those titles that Christ has, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the son of God, remains a priest continually. So that shows us that Jesus Christ, he also does not have beginning of days or end. You know, when you read John 1, I mean, we've got to use the word beginning, and when John 1 once says, in the beginning, right? Because it's talking about the beginning of the earth, the beginning of the world that we know of. In the beginning there was God. He was there. Jesus Christ was with him. You reference what? Revelation 1 verse 8 as well? Yes. Okay.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. But notice what he says, continuing in verse 8, okay? He is our beginning, and he is our end, right? We want to put it that way. He is the beginning and the end of this earth. He created the earth, and it will continue until the time it's burnt up and replaced with the new heavens and earth. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come the Almighty.

He always does. He always was, he still is, and he always will be. He has no beginning or end.

He is co-eternal, just like I the Father is eternal. The Bible doesn't give us any other reason to believe anything but that. Mr. Shaby? Yes, sir. Dennis? Dr. Ward, in one of his Bible studies, was talking a few years ago at the feast, and he was talking about living for eternity and living in eternity, and there was a difference. And that's what Jesus Christ and God is doing in perfect harmony. They are living in eternity. There's no time there. It's always. There's no end between. Very good. That's a very good point. Did you hear that, Wynoma? They live in eternity.

We would live for eternity if we follow God and he gives us eternal life. We'll live for eternity, but they're living in eternity. They've always been and always will be. Good. Very good.

Can we go back to Hebrews? You want to contemplate that a while, Wynoma? Yes, I want to contemplate that. Okay. Let's see.

Okay. What I wanted to talk about. So, when we talk about how Jesus Christ, I mean, they've had eternity together to discuss these things, and Jesus Christ is the express image of God the Father. And we're called to become, in essence, the express image or the image of Jesus Christ. What? You know, what do we need to do to become the image of Christ?

We absolutely need God's Holy Spirit. We need his calling. We need to repent. We need to acknowledge and do away with our past life and realize God's called us to a new life.

When we receive God's Holy Spirit, what do we need to do if we're going to become like Christ?

What do we need? And I'll give you a hint. It's something that the apostles did have with Jesus Christ. For three and a half years, they had with Jesus Christ.

So, when they received the Holy Spirit, they understood the things that Jesus Christ said.

They were with him, you know, basically every day it appears. They were walking with him. They were talking with him. They were asking questions. They were seeing how he gave. What did they have that we need if they were going to become like Jesus Christ? If Peter and Paul and James and John and all of them became like Jesus Christ and they went out after they received the Holy Spirit and they preached the gospel and boldness and they did what God had them do and they were willing to sacrifice their lives as Jesus Christ did. What did they have that we must have too?

Yes, Jeannie? I feel we have to have the absolute living faith and the total belief that what we're doing following Jesus is our whole life. We can't doubt anything that he's got us doing.

Yep. That, yeah, that's good and that doesn't come overnight, right? We learned that. We learned that as we work with God and we see him in what we're doing and, you know, just like we talked about Gideon last week, as God was with him and God kind of encouraged him through it all. Yes, I'm with you.

Yes, I will never leave you. Yes, keep doing what you're doing and you can see Gideon having more faith in God. He'll do the same with us. He'll do the same with us as he grows us and he develops us into who he wants us to be. But there's time, right? The apostles, Jesus Christ and God the Father for eternity and what are the apostles? They walked and talked with Jesus Christ every day.

They had those three and a half years that they saw him as he was. They saw how he was with people.

They saw his compassion. They were able to ask questions, more questions than we read about in the gospels, but they had the opportunity to just say, well, what about this and what about that?

And they would learn lessons from him and he would rebuke them. They would go, oh, that's not. That can't be the way our life anymore. And they followed him and they had the time with them.

You know, we don't have the physical, we don't have the physical Jesus Christ that's with us every day. But Jesus Christ, when he was going to be taken up into heaven, when he was going to be crucified, remember what he said to the apostles? It's good. It's good that I go away because when I go, God will send the comforter to you and he will be with you day and night. And Jesus Christ himself, right here in this book of Hebrews, Hebrews 13.5 says, I will never leave you or forsake you. I will be with you every day. So our job as Christians, if we want to become like Jesus Christ, we have to spend time with him. We have to make sure that we are with our heads and our minds in his word. We have to be sure that we are praying to him and talking to him, not just filling up time and not just running through, paying repetitions of the same thing we pray every day and just going through the thing almost from memory. I want this or I need this or I ask you for this. But the words have meaning so that God sees, I do, you do want what I have to offer. You do want to become like me. We have to spend time. And we see these words that appear in the Bible that are kind of like, you know, they make sense to us when we see them. There's some right here in Hebrews. Let's look at Hebrews 4 verse 16 that where we need to be continually with God, right? Paul says, for instance, in verse Thessalonians 5, he says, pray without ceasing.

You think, well, we can't pray 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have jobs to do. We have daily activities that have to go on in our lives. But it's like you're in contact with God. Hebrews 4 16, you know, says, let us therefore come boldly, thrown in grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. You know, in time of need, when we find ourselves in a situation, do we know that we can immediately go to God's throne, that he's given us access, that Jesus Christ's life, when that veil was split in two, that we can go right to God's throne? Wow! What a tremendous opportunity that is to go to God the Father whenever we need and ask Him, what do I do here? How do I handle this situation? Lead me to your word where I, you know, how does this work out?

What am I doing wrong? How do I change? What do I do? We can come boldly to His throne, just like the apostles, just like the apostles were able to go to Jesus Christ every day during those three and a half years. We can do that all the time. In Hebrews, find my notes here. Hold on. Hebrews 4 16 and Hebrews 13.

Hebrews 13 verse uh verse 15. You know, there in verse 5, I reference in where Jesus Christ says, I'll never leave you or forsake you, but in verse 15 it says, therefore, by Him let us continually, you know, continually. I mean, the Greek word there is constantly, you know, just be, therefore, by Him, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name, living in a state of thankfulness. You know, Paul says, in everything, let your prayer, your supplication be made to know and to God with thanks. Always being in that, always mindful of what God has done to us, that even when times are tough and we're faced with unpleasant situations, we're always thankful to God for what He has called and what He is teaching us, so what He has called us to, and not allow ourselves, as we learn as we go through the book of Hebrews, to kind of give up, you know, kind of want to go back to the old way, this is too hard and I don't want to do this anymore and it would be easier to do the other thing. You know, we can't, we can't do that. Let me, I'm already here, 214. Let me give you some verses here that you can kind of write down. Romans, well, let's at least turn to the Romans one and I'll give you two others besides that. Romans 12 and verse 12.

Now, I'll begin in verse 10 as it's talking about the gifts that God gives us. He says, be kindly, these are kind of instructions to us, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor, giving preference to one another. You know, Jesus Christ is an example of that. As, as Agardo pointed out, he willingly submitted to God the Father in honor, giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, knowing that through it, God strengthens us and gives us what we need, continuing steadfastly in prayer. Always making that part of our lives because we need that time with God. If we're going to become like Jesus Christ, we cannot neglect. We cannot neglect prayer. We cannot neglect. We need to be in contact with God. We need to allow, we need to talk to Him and allow His Holy Spirit, you know, to be in our minds and to direct us as well. You can also mark 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 16 through 18 and Colossians 4 verse 2 down there as, as, as verses that support that same context. We need, we need the time with God. And if we neglect the time with God, if we allow the busyness of life and our everyday cares and concerns to crowd out that time, then we are doing ourselves, you know, we're doing ourselves a real, a real disservice. So I could also mention there Colossians 1 verses 9 through 19. You might read through all of that.

That's a good summation of verses 1 through 4. We'll really try to get through at least verse 4 here. I anticipated getting through the whole chapter here, but that's okay. We'll, you know, I kind of want to really stress to us what the, what the book is about, as we go through it, what God is laying the ground, what the groundwork is for us here. Mr. Chayby? Yes, ma'am. Yes.

I think it has to be a relationship like, like what you have with your best friend or the person that you trust in your life. It has to be that. He has to be the first person you think of when you have a problem, when you're happy and you want to be stands. He has to be the first everywhere, everything you do in your life. So that would be like in a marriage, your husband, or if you have marriage yet, your parents. So he has to be that person. Yep. You're absolutely right. I'm glad you brought out marriage, right? Because that's exactly what it says in Ephesians 5. Marriage is the picture of Jesus Christ in the church. He wants the husband and wife become one by spending time with each other, learning to live with one another, ironing out the differences, and it's a picture of what God works or Jesus Christ works with the church. Very good. Okay. Well, let's go back. Let's at least get through verse 5, I think, right? So we are only in verse 3. You know, Jesus Christ, the express image of God the Father upholding all things by the word of His power. Notice how often He refers back. It's referred back to God the Father upholding all things by the word of His power when He, Jesus Christ, had by Himself, you know, through His sacrifice, purged our sins and now sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high. You know, God the Father was faithful. Jesus Christ went through the plan. He was resurrected. Jesus Christ now sits at the right hand of the majesty on high, the supreme King. And again, what the author here is painting, the author who is God, and I'm just going to kind of start saying God is painting for us the picture, that as we're going to see through here, He's given us. Look at the calling He's given us because Jesus Christ was a forerunner, the first of the firstborn, of what He has in mind for us.

So Jesus Christ, as we build on verses 1 through 3, has become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. So while people, and you know every once in a while in the church, I'll even hear, you know, someone, someone new coming in, they'll talk about us becoming angels. And, and, and, you know, I watch TV and sometimes it'll say this person has died and they're an angel in heaven. I think, no, no, no, you don't even get Hebrews 1. God hasn't called us to be angels. This is what this is telling us. And apparently, maybe some people back then had the same thought that some people today think. Our calling is to become angels. No, our calling is not. Jesus Christ has a better name. Not diminishing the angels at all. They, God created them. They're loyal to Him. They carry out perfectly in heaven the ones who have remained loyal to God what He gave them to do.

But He, Jesus Christ, has become so much better than the angels, as He by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. And then we know what our calling is, as we were to go through Hebrews 1 here, or to which of the angels, verse 5, did He ever say, you are my Son, today I have begotten you. Never said that to the angels. Has said that, has said that to us, right? I mean, we read that in Romans 8. We are children. When God, you know, in 1st Corinthians 5, 7, when we repent, well, we're baptized. When we receive the Holy Spirit, God sees us as a new creature, a new creation, a newborn babe, now being developed so that they can be fully developed to be born into the kingdom of God as Spirit beings. The process on earth being, you know, that word begotten, that's translated there begotten, is the Greek word geneo, G-e-n-n-a-o.

It's the same, same word, it's the same Greek word that's used a lot in Matthew 1 as you go through the genealogies there where it says, you know, Abraham begot, Abraham begot, Isaac, and etc., etc., you know. So again, it's showing they're begotten, and he intends for us to be born into his kingdom. We just have to make sure that we're not aborting the process by what we do. He won't abort us, but we have to make sure we don't abort the process of being begotten, and the development to where we could be born into God's kingdom. Because we can abort it by the things we do with the things we neglect. And as we look at some of the warnings in Hebrews, the author here was saying some of those Christians back then were in danger of it, so he kind of is going to give them, this is, be aware of this, don't, don't abort the best thing that could ever possibly happen to you in life. Don't let that happen. For which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son? Today I have begotten you? And again, which of the angels did he ever say? I will be to him, a father, and he will be to me a son. And yet he said that to mankind. You are my children. Jesus Christ is my son. And you will be joint heirs with him if you follow, if you develop, if you yield, if you become like Jesus Christ, who is like me.

If you dedicate your life to that and don't neglect, as it says in chapter 2 and verse 1, if you don't neglect the calling that you've been given, but you keep it in mind and you let it be at the forefront of who you are. 222. Let me go another, another few minutes here. We'll see where we go. And again, I will be to him, to a father, and let me, let me look here and, and be sure I'm not missing something that I wanted to talk about. Oh, you know what? Yeah, as we look at Hebrews 1 verse 4. Hmm.

Oh yeah, never mind. That goes back to Romans. We'll talk about that another time. Okay, verse 6. But when he again brings the firstborn into the world, okay, when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him. You know when Jesus Christ was born into the world, when he was born flesh and blood, you know, well, let's just, let's, let's just, let's, let's close there and we'll pick up, we'll pick up with verse 7 next time.

We'll be able to move through and get into chapter 2 next week. But let's, let's go back to Luke, Luke 2. Look and see what happened there with Christ's birth when he was, where he was born and the attention that God gave to it because it was, it was an important event, not one that we celebrate like the world says, says to, but it was a monumental event that God drew attention to. In Luke 2 2 and verse 8, you know, again, looking, you know, when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him. You know, Luke 2 verse 8 says, there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were greatly afraid. As you can imagine, with the right fear of God, what is happening? What is this brightness that's all around us? Something important was about to happen. And the angel said to them, don't be afraid. There's that warning we talked about last week. Don't be afraid. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior, who is Christ the Lord. He's been born. You know, we don't celebrate his day. God never set up, but he's drawing attention. The Savior has come. He's here.

He'll grow up. He will be the salvation of the world. He is the Messiah who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, and I'll read verse 14 from another translation there, but look at the angels. Look what God sent them to do when Jesus Christ was born into the world. He sent the group of angels to draw attention to it and give him the glory. Glory to God in the highest. His plan is being born out. It's important that the Messiah has now been born a physical human being, not that we celebrate it in any way, shape, or form, and that there gives any validation to the Christmas holiday. It absolutely does not. And we don't even have to discuss that, I don't think.

But look at the attention that God gave. So he says, you know, look at the attention when Christ was born into the world that was given. And I'm going to read to you, you know, it says, on earth peace, good will toward men. And there are other verses that talk about, you know, that are more appropriately reflect what God said there. For instance, the NL, the New Living Translation, the NIB, translated this way, glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to them on whom his favor rests. On earth peace to them on whom his favor rests. And we are people that God has called, called us into his race, and his favor is on us as long as we obey him, follow him, yield to him, and submit to his spirit. Okay, let me just end there. We'll pick up with verse 7 next week. But any discussion, anything at all that anyone wants to comment on?

Or anything that I say that you just agreed with or have heard something, it's okay.

It's okay to speak up if there's something, you know, that you think is different or an expansion of even what we've talked about. So, okay, I'm gonna stop the recording.