Thank you. The Psalmist writes, It's a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High, and to show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night. Let's join together to sing praise to our God with hymn number 25. Stand up and bless the Lord, ye people of his choice. Hymn 25. ♪ People of His joys ♪ ♪ Stand up and bless the Lord your God ♪ ♪ With heart and song and voice ♪ ♪ Oh high above all praise ♪ ♪ Above all blessings ♪ words of fear, his holy name, and love, and magnify. To touch our lips, our minds inspire, and we to them long for. His love, strength, and song, and His salvation our host, may we His love in Christ proclaim with all our hearts. Bless the Lord. The Lord your God adored. Stand up and bless His glorious name. Henceforth forever. We invite you to turn with me in the word of God to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 1. Let us hear the word of God together. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, having these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, who make of his angel spirits and his ministers a flame of fire? But unto the son he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is a scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens on the work of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest. They shall all wax old as duffer garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation? May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. Again, we take our handbook and we sing to God's praise. 253, the head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now. Hymn 253. When at once was crowned with thorns, is crowned with glory now, The royal diadem adorns the mighty Winston crown. The highest praise, the death of force, is his by sovereign right. The king of kings, and lord of lords, at death's eternal fight. The child of old will evermore The child of old belong To whom he manifests his worth And crafts his name to know To hand the cross with all its shape, with all its grace, its gift, then a man ever lost in faith will join the joy of faith. They suffer with their Lord below, they reign within the law. Their prophet and their joy to know, the mystery of his love. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for these glorious hymns which speak of your sovereignty and of your cross, your love, your work, your mercy and compassion towards men and women and boys and girls. We thank you that you are God who is great and glorious, one who's high and majestic, who is glorious in all his attributes, a God who is gracious and kind and long-suffering. We thank you for your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for that great salvation he purchased upon Calvary's cross. And as we just sung that hymn, Lord, be reminded that he was once crowned with thorns. And they spat in his face, they plucked his cheeks and they slapped him in the face and said, prophesy now who's attacked you. We thank you that he now wears a royal diadem. He sits at the father's right hand and he's victorious and all glorious and majestic in the work of salvation for his people. We thank you that he is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our service. And we, as it were, would cast down our crowns before his throne tonight, lost in wonder, love, and praise at such a Redeemer. And we thank you, Lord, that we don't worship a God who is made of wood or stone, but a God who is alive, ever-present, who understands our situations, a God who has compassion, has feelings, a God who is kind and merciful, a God who has reached out from heaven itself with the blessings of salvation. We pray again, Lord, tonight for any that were with us this morning who are strangers to grace, that you speak to their hearts and to their minds, any Lord who'd be listening, who are strangers that may come to realize the worth of the Lord Jesus Christ and to be their Savior and to be their Redeemer. We thank you, Lord, that you are willing to accept all who call upon your name. So we pray, Lord, that you would draw sinners to yourself, that irresistible redeeming grace, that it may be manifest in our midst, in our church, in its congregation amongst your people. We thank you, Father, that you are saving a people, you have redeemed a people, and the elect are being drawn in from the four corners of this world, even this day. And so, Lord, we pray for the preaching of the gospel in churches locally and nationally and around the world, that only souls will respond to the gospel call. Lord, we pray that you bring glory to your name. with sinners crying out for repentance, and they would walk in faith and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Lord, that, as you said, you would build your church. And we live in days, Lord, where in our own land, in our own vicinity, we feel that the church has been rejected, it's been marginalized. But Lord, we call upon you to build your church, for it is your church, It's your possession, purchased with blood. And we pray, Lord, that you would bring honor to your name and glory to your name through the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ here in Helsham. We pray, Lord, that you would bless your people richly. Those, Lord, who feel cast down due to their concerns of health, of anxieties of fear in this present day and age. We pray, Lord, that you would encourage your people to press on and to be faithful and to endure, Lord, the times in which we live in. We pray, Lord, for your church worldwide, for the persecuted church. We pray for the church in Asia, particularly, Lord, tonight for the church in India undergoing great persecution and deprivation As the government seeks to shut churches and to stop the preaching of the gospel, we pray, Lord, there may be a turning of the hearts and minds of that nation to the true and to the living God. May the gods of Hinduism be cast down and ground into dust, and the true God be manifested in that nation, Bhairavindya. We pray for friends we know personally, that you would encourage them and help them and be their all at this time. May they see you, Lord, providing daily for their needs and supplying those needs with grace and mercy. We ask, Father, for your church in Sri Lanka. We pray for your people there and ask again, a light blessing upon them. Difficult days many are passing through due to economic situation and through the oppression of Buddhism and Hinduism. We pray, Lord, for faithful men to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ, to stand firm, and to be an example to the flocks that you set them over. May they see much blessing, Lord, for their ministries amongst the widow and amongst the orphan. And amongst the children, we pray, Lord, to prosper that work and bring glory to your name. For those, Lord, who are incarcerated in prison for their faith, we pray, Lord, you give them succor and help. They may know the presence of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that, Lord, as they languish in prison for the cause of truth, that you'll bless their souls even this night. be given much hope, may they be given much patience, Lord, in their persecutions. Speak to those, Lord, who persecute, those, Lord, who would seek to undermine the truth of God. May their eyes be opened, may they see Jesus in all his glory and splendor as your servants suffer for him. We do again, Lord, pray for one another in this fellowship, for those, Lord, who are going through difficult days to strengthen them, to uphold them. Those, Lord, who are facing procedures this day and through this week, Lord, we ask that they may be helped and comforted and that all their fears and anxieties may be relieved before they know that their God is with them. So, Lord, we pray for a tangible experience for your people to be helped in their sufferings, we pray. Lord, as we will shortly turn to your word, we pray that you give us eyes and light to understand it, not only to understand, but to apply it to our hearts and to our Christian walk. We pray, Lord, that the word of God may be powerful and effective. It may encourage us and build us up in our most precious and holy faith. So Lord, we look to you to come amongst us and to bless us and to encourage us that your smile may be upon us and that all we do here will be to your praise and to your glory. And we ask these things with forgiveness of every sin. In Jesus' precious name, amen. Third praise, please, is 321. God has spoken by his prophets, spoken his unchanging word. 321. ♪ By his prophets open, his unchanging word ♪ ♪ Each from age to age proclaiming ♪ ♪ God the Lord, the righteous Lord ♪ ♪ With the wise system and truth and faith ♪ on their ankle, holding fast. How his arm is round his arrow, he alone, the first man. Lord, that's spoken by Christ Jesus, Christ, the everlasting Son. Righteous, of the Father's glory, with the Father ever. so filled by the world incarnate, proud of the world where time began. Light of light to earth, descending and prevailing, God shed light. How dear to speak then by His Spirit, Speak in to the hearts of men. In the age of God declaring, Hearts of mercy now as men. When our eyes are full of nations, one sure faith can stand advance. God abides, his word unchanging, all alone the first man. I invite you again to turn to the book of Hebrews. For God's help, I would hope to have a series on the book of Hebrews through this coming year as the Lord gives help and strength. I feel it's a timely reminder for us in the days in which we live. It's a book which encourages us and exhorts us to be faithful in this evil and perverse generation. It's a book which really speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a book which should encourage the people of God, as it was designed to encourage those first readers of it. Hebrews, in a sense, is the key to the Old Testament for New Testament believers, for Gentiles like you and I. It speaks of many things which the Jews held dearly and which were their faith, their traditions, and they held dearly to their temple and to their priesthood and to all that spoke of God. So, with God's help, envisaged to go through this as fast or as slow as the Lord leads. There's no rush. There's no rush as we study God's word. It's profitable. And as this word was written to the Hebrews, it's also written for our instruction and for our learning. So the question is, first of all, who wrote the book of Hebrews? It's an old chestnut. If you're a pastor or been a pastor or know these things, there's much debate about who wrote the Book of Hebrews. Some suggest it may have even been Luke, the writer of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. We don't know. Maybe we do know. A lot of the old divines, John Owen Beeman and John Gill, And Arthur Pink would suggest, as we have in our heading here, the epistle of Paul, the apostle, to the Hebrews. And they give some explanation to their claim. The first being is, if you'd like to turn in to the first book of Peter, the first book of Peter, we read that Peter wrote Then chapter one and verse one. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elects according to the knowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace be multiplied. And the general consensus is that Peter is writing to the Jews who have been scattered. They fled Jerusalem and they've been scattered to these provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. And he's writing to encourage them because of the persecution that they have and were suffering. If you turn over to the next book of Peter, 2 Peter, And chapter three, and verse one. We read there, this second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. So again, he's still writing to those Jews who've been scattered, who fled Jerusalem during days of persecution. And then he gives an interesting note in verse 15 of the same chapter. And he says, to those who are scattered, an account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him, have written unto you. And the old divines would say that is indication. that as Peter had written to the Jews scattered, so also had Paul written to the Hebrews. Pink says, if the book of Hebrews is not what Paul had wrote, where is that manuscript? There are arguments for that argument and there are arguments for other writers. I'm going to go with the old tradition that Paul was the writer to the Hebrew church. It's important we understand the situation of the Christians there in the first church, there in Jerusalem. They faced much persecution. because they were a great church. And if you want to turn, there's gonna be a lot of turning tonight, so I hope your fingers are active and alive. If you would turn to Acts 21, and verse 20. We read these words. And this is where Paul has come to Jerusalem. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews thou which believe, and they are zealous of the law." So we may have that impression in our hearts and minds that the church in Jerusalem was small, insignificant, but here we're told there are many thousands of the Jews there. which believe, and they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. They accepted that he was the Messiah, the chosen one of God. And many, many thousands believed that Jesus was the expected Christ. But they were also zealous of the law. They had mixed Christianity with Judaism. There was that mixture. And we know that the Jews, particularly the Pharisees, insisted that any Christian children born to a family should be circumcised. And Paul, the apostle, stood against that. And it caused a great division in the church. And back in Axia, even to the point there was a riot in the temple precincts, and Paul was thrown out from the temple with four of his companions. So there were many who believed. but they were zealous of the law, and verse 21 says, and they are informed of thee that thou teachest all the Jews, which are among the Gentiles, to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the custom. In other words, they were zealous for the law, particularly the ceremonial law. That's what they wanted to uphold. We must enter into their dilemma because these Jews have been taught for generations that Jerusalem was the center of worship. This is God's throne. This is where God had appointed that worship should be given to the true and living God. The Jews had this sense of the glory of God. Unlike the Gentiles around them, who were pagans, they worshipped idols made of wood and stone, and the Jews worshipped the true God. And for them to be told that this has been superseded by Christian belief was difficult for them. It's hard for them to understand and to accept. So there were those, particularly of the Pharisee sect, who persisted that the law should be maintained. And the writer to the Hebrews wants to encourage these Christians with this great dilemma. All that we've held dear, we're now being asked to set to one side. All that our fathers have taught us. All that the prophets have taught us. Of Moses and Aaron and Joshua. All the great events of the history of Israel. We've been told that these things are set to one side with the coming of Christ. And so they were in a great dilemma. We know this book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 1870. We know that they suffered much for their faith. Many had lost their belongings, their possessions. Many had lost family members, had been sown asunder, had been martyred for the cause of truth. But to put away the actual worship of God in the temple was so difficult and hard for them to comprehend. And so, God in his mercy appoints his apostle to write this epistle to the Hebrews, to the Jews. And we know that because he says in verse one, God who at sundry times in diverse manners spake in times past unto our fathers, the fathers being the prophets, and the scribes, and the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, and all the other prophets we know of the Old Testament. God has spoken to them in times past. But in his last days has spoken unto us by his son, whom we have appointed the heir of all things. by whom also he made the worlds. The letter is addressed to the Jews, addressed to encourage them for better things, because their hearts were set on things which were earthly, of time and of sense. The writer to the Hebrews wants them to consider those things which are heavenly and glorious and above this world, things which are sure and steadfast. What the Jews had back in the Old Testament were types and shadows. And what the writers of Hebrews want them to understand and to know is that what they have now is substance. It's sure, it's foundational, it's immovable. We have the real thing. We don't depend on shadows. We have the reality, and that reality is Jesus Christ. God's only begotten Son. And this book wants those Hebrews, and God wants us to understand that Christ is central. He is the center of all faith, of the Word of God. He is the center. He is that which God has glorified and manifested through His Word, the only begotten Son of God. Their circumstances were hard. There was a strong temptation to go back. Maybe some of us feel, at times, a strong temptation to go back, to go back to the world, to go back to those things which we enjoyed before we were born again. And there's a strong temptation for them to abandon the faith. I don't know about you, but sometimes I ask the question, have I got this right? Am I really, am I really on the right path to heaven? Some of these things come across us quite suddenly and Satan attacks us and tempts us to abandon the faith. That comes over me at times. We need to be honest. And this book, Book of Hebrews, is designed to strengthen them and to encourage them to stand fast and to stand on Christ alone. So he writes this book and he writes to them to encourage them to build up their faith and to press on. Weary, yet pursuing. I don't know about you, but I'm weary. I am weary, but pursuing, because there is a goal, there's heaven, there's glory." Just like Gideon and his friends, they were weary from the battle, yet they still pursued. This is what the writer of Hebrews is encouraging these believers to do. This is what God is encouraging us to do, particularly in these days of small things. difficult days. There's a temptation, is there not, to maybe slip away and go somewhere else? That's a big temptation. There's more people, more going on. God wants us to stand fast and to hold the line, as it were. To hold the line for our neighbours, to see that there is still a place where God's people come to worship at Gordon Road. God has a plan. He has a purpose for us, as he had for these Jews. And he encouraged them, as I say, to stand fast and to endure as good soldiers. So the whole theme of this book is Christ-centered. He is the beginning and end of the book of Hebrews. He is the key to all the Old Testament. It's only through Him we have an understanding of what the temple and its utensils and its buildings, its fabrics represented. It's only through Him that we understand the priesthood and of all the other glorious things that the Old Testament reveals in shadow about Him. He is the fullness, He is the splendor of the Old Testament. And, just a way of introduction, the Apostle wants them to know how superior Christ is. He is superior over the prophets. We see that in our reading tonight in verses 1 to 3. God who at sundry times and diverse manner spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets." Notice this, God spoke. It wasn't a figment of their imagination. Again, that's a theme which comes through the book of Hebrews. He quotes scriptures and scripture and more scripture. God has said, God has spoken. God has broken in to men's history and he has spoken. He's spoken about judgment and condemnation. He's spoken about grace and mercy and love and compassion. He has spoken of a promised Savior. One to come. God has spoken. And we believe that. It's central to our belief. God has spoken. God has a voice. And God, friends, continues to speak through the Scriptures. That's why the Scriptures are precious to us. They are God's Word. They're God-breathed. And the Apostle says, in diverse matters, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, have in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. By His Son. Right there, right at the beginning, He's declaring the Sonship of Jesus Christ. the blessed second person of the Holy Trinity. He hath in his last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who be in the brightness of his glory, and express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he hath by himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And right there, the beginning of this book of Hebrews, we see God, the Son, atoning for the sins of his people. We're right back where we were this morning. But he had purged our sins. I like that illustration Bradley gave us a couple of months ago That purging, that mask against chemical warfare. You breathe into it and you breathe out all the air into it so that you have clean air coming in, which has been filtered. That's what Christ has done for us. He's purged them all away. He's cleansed us. There's that cleansing. That's the wonder of the Gospel, friends, is it not? When he had by himself He had no help. There was none other who could join in the work of salvation. It was a work solely achieved by Christ Himself and He purged our sins. And when He had purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. And the Apostle wants the Hebrews to know that God the Son has spoken and He's spoken words of life words of liberty, words of freedom. And he sat down at God's right hand. So we see here that the sun is greater than the prophets. Then he goes on to speak of angels. The Jews had a big thing about angels. They're always talking about angels. You read some Jewish writings. Angels were a big thing in their belief system. And so the apostle again says that Christ is greater than the angels. And that goes from verse four down to chapter two in verse 18. It speaks of the angels and that Christ is much better, being much better, verse four, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath in inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Christ is greater than the angels. He's greater in every respect. In chapter 3, verse 1 to 19, he speaks of Moses and of Moses being subordinate to Christ. Christ is greater than Moses. And it goes on to Joshua, goes through to Aaron, goes through into the rituals in chapter 7, 19 to 10 and 30 plus. He goes on to speak about Old Testament saints, that Christ is greater than all these. He wants them to know that Christ is the reality of all that's gone before, all that was in shadow, in type. They now have the reality. He speaks in many exhorting ways to the Hebrews. He tells them that they have better things. Hebrews 1.4, he says, being made so much better than the angels. Christ is better than the angels. He's better. He's glorious. And 7.19, he speaks there of a better hope. For the Lord made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope, that by which we drew nigh unto God." We have a better hope than the Jews, friends. And the sad thing is, there are Jews who still hold on to their traditions and their ceremonies. But we have a better hope. We have a better prospect. These things are truly, truly wonderful. Not only that, he says in chapter 7, by so much was Jesus made assured to you of a better testament, better hope, better testament. If you turn to 8, chapter 8, verse 6, we have a better covenant, greater promises through the eternal Son of God. And then in chapter 9, in verse 23, it was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with a better sacrifice. A better sacrifice, friends. We have a sacrifice who purges away our sins. Jews, their sacrifice just covered their sin. We have a sacrifice which purged them and cleanses us. A once for all sacrifice. The Jews, day and night, sacrificed. Beast upon the altar. Just a type and a shadow of a better sacrifice. Christ Jesus is that better sacrifice. We read also, In chapter 10, verse 34, for ye had compassion on me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. They've been dispossessed of their homes and of their goods. There was a political uncertainty. At the time of the writing of the Hebrews, come to say that there were gangs of soldiers robbing good and just people. And that was all through the nation of Israel. And they were dispossessed, they were spoiled of all their goods. And yet, he reminds them that these things are nothing. Why? Because we have a better Enduring substance, where? In heaven. Friend, where is your treasure tonight? Is it on earth? Or is it in heaven? The Jews were very concerned, were they not, as they still are, about their homeland. It was precious to them, it was God-given. And in 11 and 16 we read, but now they desire a better country that is unheavenly, heavenly. All we see around us will turn to dust, but that heavenly country will endure. And they longed for it. We longed for that. Not only that, he speaks of a better resurrection. The women received their dead, raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. You see what he's doing for these people. He's bringing their focus upon those things in Christ which are better and are sustainable. And again, in 1140, he says, God having provided some better things for us, God has better things for us. We may not see it, we may not feel it at the present moment, but he has better things for us that they, without us, should not be made perfect. You see what he's doing? You see what he's doing to us tonight? He wants us to focus on those better things that we have in Christ Jesus. He speaks of these better things. You know these things already. I'm just bringing these to your remembrance. Seven times he mentions great, great things. What does he say in Hebrews 2 and chapter 3? How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Salvation is great. It's glorious in the eyes of God. It's God-planned, it's God-breathed. And how shall we escape? This is what he's saying to them. How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? There's no other salvation to be found in any other scheme or religious system. It's only through Christ. And it's a great salvation. If I was to ask you tonight to speak of your salvation, surely you would say, it's great. because we have a great Savior. Again, in Hebrews 4.14, he says, seeing that we have a great High Priest, a great High Priest. It appears at the time when the book of Hebrews was written, there had been a change of the High Priest. The High Priest at the time was a Sadducee. He didn't believe in the Resurrection. He was corrupt. as most of them seem to have been. They were greedy for power, for wealth, and prestige, and honor. But not this great High Priest. See that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our profession. That's what he's saying to us. Hold fast, be steadfast, immovable. For we have a great High Priest who cannot be corrupted. These things are wonderful. They're glorious, and the apostle wants the people of God to know this for themselves. This priest, look what he says there in 5.6. As he saith also in another place, thou art a priest forever. Who? Jesus. Thou art a priest forever. forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Prince of Salem, that priest who appears from nowhere and he seems to disappear as well as quickly as he comes and goes. No one knows his lineage, where he comes from, and he's our Christ. He's of the same order as Melchizedek. A great high priest, a priest full of grace, love and mercy. Again, he's called in verse 10, called of God, a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Called of God, not appointed by men. He has the ultimate authority. He's called and appointed by God, the high priest forever. Again, he repeats this three times. How many times have we said that from his pulpit? When God says something once, we should listen. Twice, we should prick our ears up. When he mentions it three times, it's important. And here he is again, verse 26. Even Jesus, made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He's glorious. He's glorious in his appearance and in his apparel. And the Jews of the day, they were reluctant to give up the ceremonial and the glory of the temple worship. And because they followed the Christ, There was a time when they were accepted within the temple, but it appeared when this priesthood changed, their circumstances changed, and they were ejected from the tabernacle, from the temple, and from the synagogues. They were seen as outcasts. They were seen as heathen, unfit for the courts of God. And yet, the Apostle wants to encourage them But this high priest is greater than all the priests that have been in the past. And so the apostle encourages their heart to press on and to be faithful. Great things God has done for his people. He's great in His promises, great in His providential workings with us. And Christ is our great High Priest. And where does our High Priest reside now? Again, we've already read it. In 1, chapter 1, verse 3. Who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." His work is accomplished. His work is finished. The work of the tabernacle and of the temple was never finished. We see no seat for the priest to rest. They labored a sacrifice day and night. But our great High Priest purged our sins and is now sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. This is our Saviour. This is our God. Again, he underlines that fact in verse 13 of chapter 1. But to which of the angels said he at any time, sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool? He never did. He never did. It's only his beloved son who has that privilege to sit at God's right hand. And again, he underlines it. Now the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. That's where he is tonight, interceding for you and for your situation and your circumstances and for your family. and for your neighbours. As we bring our prayers, he perfects them. And he sat at the right hand, the place of power and authority, of kingship. And he is sat. In 8, we see this. In 9-11, we see this also. But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle. This is our Savior. He's that great high priest. He's greater than all that's gone before and he's encouraging the Hebrews not to give up hope, but to press and pursue. That's what we're called to. Despite how we feel, what we think, God has better things for us. He calls us in these days of small things to be faithful and to persevere. These are hard days. They're difficult days. But God is with us. And if God is for us, friends, who can be against us? We need to be knitted stronger to one another. And it's through the scriptures which bind us together It's not our social programs or events, it's the Word of God. As we come under the authority of the Word of God, as we come together to pray, these are the things which bind the people of God together. We have better things. We have glorious things to look forward to. So he encourages these Christians and he would encourage us be faithful in this day and in this generation. May the Lord help us in the coming days to expand upon this glorious book by his grace and favor. Let's sing our closing hymn, please, which is number 258, 258. Before the throne of God, I have a strong and perfect plea. Hymn 258. Perfectly, a great high priesthood's name is known in Maryland, San Diego. for me. My name is written in his hands. My name is written on his arms. I know that while in he stands, no doubt that in defense, he guards, no doubt that in defense, he to despair, and tells me of the guilt within. Upward I look and see him there, who pained and endured all my sin. ♪ Because the sinless Savior died ♪ ♪ My sinful soul is counted free ♪ ♪ For God with justice satisfied ♪ ♪ To look on Him that God can be ♪ ♪ To look on Him that God can be ♪ My perfect spotless righteousness, the great and changer whom I am, the King of glory and of grace. ♪ One with himself and cannot die ♪ ♪ My soul is purchased by his blood ♪ ♪ My life is filled with Christ on high ♪ ♪ With Christ my Savior and my God ♪ ♪ With Christ my Savior and my God ♪ Father, it is a glorious truth to comprehend that before the throne of God, I have a strong and a perfect plea. We thank you that we have a great high priest whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me. We bless you, our Saviour. We thank you for this Lord's Day. We thank you for one another. We pray, Lord, that you'll send us from this place by the power of your spirit to live and to work to your praise and to your glory, for now and evermore. Amen.