The last study of this was some weeks ago, and by way of reminding and refreshing our minds, we looked at the first few verses. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, having in his last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. As you know that God spoke in sundry times and in diverse manners to the fathers and to the prophets. He spoke by dream and by vision and by revelation. He spoke to Abraham, the father of the faithful. even though on two occasions he proved to be unfaithful over small matters in many ways. But in the main, he was a man of faith, a man who believed and trusted in God and walked in God's ways. He also spoke to Moses, and as we know, he spoke to Moses in a strange way in the midst of a burning bush and revealed his purpose to Moses. And Moses spoke to the people of God. God also spoke to Moses by writing on the tablets of stone those Ten Commandments. And alas, as we know that as Moses returned from Mount Sinai that the children of Israel were dancing and worshipping other gods. And Moses threw those tablets of stone down to the ground which God had written with his own finger. God spoke to the judges in diverse ways, and the prophets, and Isaiah had a vision of the Lord high and lifted up, and he saw the Lord's glory, and declared, oh, woe is me, I'm a man of unclean lips. We know that, continuing through the Old Testament, that God spoke to ungodly kings, and to pagan kings, again, with writing on the wall, again with the finger of God. So God, over a period of time, slowly revealed his will and his purpose to the people of God. But he didn't give them a full and complete revelation of his ways and of his heart and mind. What we see here is that the writer to the Hebrews wants to remind the people of God of their high and lifted position. Because as you may remember, they were excluded from the rites of the temple. And to them, this was a great travesty. They were the people of God. They had been obedient to the word of God. They understood by the Spirit of God that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah. And as they believed rightly, But Jesus was the Messiah. The authorities excluded them from temple worship and from synagogue. And there was this temptation for them to go back to Judaism and to go back to the old ways. They felt they were being cheated in some sense. And so the writer of the Hebrews wants to remind them of their position in Christ. that He is the Son of God, and that they have greater privileges, they have a greater salvation. That's one of the key expressions in the book of Hebrews, great salvation, a great high priest. He wants to remind the faithful to press on, and to be faithful, and to withstand that temptation to go back. With the New Testament, we have that full and complete revelation of the heart and mind of God. And for the writer, to the Hebrews, you cannot get no higher than what he proclaims in verse two, have in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. Many years ago, we were on a holiday in the Lake District and we with some friends, decided we were going to climb that peak, Skiddaw. Beautiful landscape, and we were told by the people in the guest house, once you get there, there's this fantastic view. It's awesome, you can see all around, in all directions. So we started to walk on a very warm day, and as we got higher and higher, the cloud descended. We never saw that view. quite disappointed, to be honest. All that anticipation being built up, and we never did see it. Last year, we was walking with our grandchildren on the Downs. We went through Eastbourne, down there at the bottom of the Downs, and we walked down through the gap by the school, and then they played in the field, which was quite nice. Then we started to walk up the other incline, And as you walk higher and higher, you get to the point where Eastbourne opens up before you. And you can see into the Weald, you can see Hurston Zoo, you can see the windmill. And one of my granddaughters said, wow. Wow. And it was wow. It was a beautiful, clear day. And we pointed out different landmarks up on the horizon. And wow. That's what we have here, in a sense. You cannot get any higher in our understanding, of our vision. This is the pinnacle of the Apostle's declaration here, having these last days spoken unto us by his Son. He cannot get any higher than the Son. The Son is the pinnacle. Just as Moses looked out over the land, the promised land, which he never did enter, apart from on the day of transfiguration. He looked, and the Lord said, this is the land which I promised to you. He saw it, but he didn't enter into it. But here, my friends, we enter into the mysteries and the glories of the Son of God. Half in these last days, spoken unto us. God is speaking to us. Tonight, He's speaking to you through His Word. And he uses strange means, he uses men to stand in a pulpit like this to declare the unsearchable riches of Christ. This is the appointed way, the foolishness of preaching is the way that God has declared that the Son should be revealed. What a privilege for us as believers that in these last days, God has spoken unto us by his Son. Now we're used to the Apostle taking us to high and dizzy heights in his writings. In the book of Ephesians he writes in verse free of chapter one, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein we have been made accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood and forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. They are high and lofty thoughts. They're deep, they're profound. And men have studied these words for many years, and you cannot plumb the depths of them. That's what we have here. Having these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things. By him also he made the worlds. God has spoken. Did he have to speak? Did he have to reveal himself? No, he didn't. but purely of His grace, love and mercy, God has spoken unto us by His Son. This is a mystery, is it not? God has spoken unto us. Nothing else to be said, nothing else to be added. Here, my friends, we have that complete and final revelation of the heart and mind of God the Father. In a sense, this should blow our minds. It should excite us. But alas, we've become too familiar with these truths. Do they really affect our soul? that God Almighty, in the person of Jesus Christ, has spoken unto us by His Son. It's a wonder, it's a mystery. And God has revealed these things to babes. Not that we were any better or wiser than any other, but by his pure grace, love, and mercy, as he predestined us before the foundation of the world, to come into a knowledge of these truths. And the longer you live the Christian life, I trust you're like a sponge and you just suck all these things up. And as you imbibe and as you live by these truths, God reveals more revelation of himself in the face of Jesus Christ. Or maybe you're like an old sponge which is dry and unreceptive. In that case, God brings judgment upon us. He doesn't reveal those things to us anymore, and those things which He did reveal to us are taken away. So again, we need to emphasize the importance of coming to the Word of God daily, and to be freshed, and to be cleansed, and to be fed by this precious Word. As we know in our own county, many men, women, and children lay down their lives for this book in their own blood. What a wondrous thing that is, that God has spoken unto us by his Son. He could have spoken to us through an angel. He could have spoken to us through the prophets, but no, He's chosen to speak to us that full revelation by His Son. I want you to notice some things with me tonight. His divine sovereignty. Who have these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things. This Son, is a divine sovereign. He's been appointed heir of all things. Jesus is the heir of all things in heaven and in earth. All things, nothing exempt. Creation is His. He created. He sustains it. It's His. The church, He's purchased the church with His own blood. We are blood-brought people. The church is His church. He's been given the church. He's heir of all things. He's heir of heaven and earth, of hell itself. Nothing exempt. He has power over death. He has power over sin. He has power over Satan. He has power over the flesh. He has power over hell itself. There's nowhere where his sovereign will and purpose is not fulfilled. For he is heir of all things. and all will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord in that great and terrible day when he shall return again. He is divine in creation, in 2 part B, by whom also he made the worlds. He made the worlds. He said, let there be light, and there was light. He called forth the fish of the sea, and every creature in the sea, every plant, every herb, every flower, every beast, every insect, he called forth, he created. He created it for his glory and for his pleasure. He is the divine creator. He makes all things. He creates and sustains all things. He sustains the orbit of our planet. the orbit of the spheres in the heavens. He has been appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds. He made, just with the Word, the spoken Word of God, and all comes to fruition. We see here also His divine glory, who being the brightness of His glory and the expressed image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who be in the brightness of his glory. Whose glory? God's glory. We see here the God-man, Jesus Christ. He's the brightness of God's glory. He's God coming in human flesh to visit men and women. He comes and reveals the glory of God the Father, who be in the brightness of his glory. If you look at the sun, It will blind you. If you look at all the stars, if you take all the cosmoses in the world together, they would be a fraction of the glory that radiates from the Father God and our Lord Jesus, who be in the brightness of His glory and express image of His person. In the face of Jesus Christ, when we look at Him, we see God Himself. We see His attributes and His character. we see this weighty glory. He is the brightness of God's glory. In a sense, we see here the likeness of the invisible God. There's a mystery there, I can't unwrap that for you, but in Jesus we see the invisible God. We see him with the eye of faith. We see him as he ministers through the New Testament to his people, to the poor and to the needy. We see him in his suffering, in his shame and humiliation. It's all reflecting the brightness of God's glory. So this is our glorious king, the creator of heaven and earth, who reflects the glory of his father. He's a divine person. that babe who was born in Bethlehem shall be called the Son of the Most High. And we think of him, hopeless and helpless, like any child needing to be cared for, the eternal God, hopeless and helpless, needing to be fed, trained to walk, et cetera, all the things that a child needs, their parents provided for him. And this is the God. And he is the likeness of the invisible Father in heaven, who be in the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power. He made himself purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He has divine power. just spoken word. He says to the leper, be cleansed. To the blind man, receive your sight. To Lazarus, rise up. To the paralytic, rise up and walk. He has all things by the word, upholding all things by the word of his power. The Savior is glorious. He's like no other God. He's altogether different for he is the true and living God. All things by the word of his power. Then we see this divine high priest when he had by himself purged our sins. He purged our sins. As you know in the Old Testament, the priest had to sacrifice to cover his own sin. He sacrificed the blood of another of a guiltless beast, but our great high priest purges our sin by himself, by himself, no other. You know full well that the priest had to bring that perfect sacrifice, no spot or blemish. It had to be pure, spotless. And this is what we see in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. No fault could be found in Him. Pilate says, I find no fault in this man. They bring false witnesses, yet Pilate says, I find no fault. The Declaration of His sinless character. We see Him there as the Great High Priest, He being the High Priest, offering Himself. He is the priest, He is the offering, He offers His own body, and as His blood is shed on the altar, He is the altar of God. We see that sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God. And when by Himself No priests, no other, no other took part in this purging. He purged our sins by himself. He is unique. He is the spotless Lamb of God. And not only that, when he had achieved that divine work of our sins being forgiven, we find that he sat down. Verse three, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Our priest now sits, we have a divine advocate with the father who sits down, sat down on God's right hand and pleads and perfects our poor and weedy prayers. He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. He's entered into the holy of holies and he sat down. That's where he resides tonight, friends. Sitting at God's right hand. This is our blessed high priest. Another priest. could achieve this. Every other priest from Melchizedek to Aaron and through the line, they died and sacrificed for their own sins. But our Savior, this great high priest, purged our sins and now is sat down at the right hand of God, praying for you." Does that not blow your mind? Does that not bring the expression Amazing love, amazing mercy, amazing grace. He has the power to forgive. He has the means to forgive the sins of his people. And he sat down, he sat down at God's right hand. In verse four, we see here, he has a better name, a divine name, being made so much better than the angels. as he have by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. The Jews put a lot of weights upon angels, a lot of debates about angels and their work, how many angels you could sit on a pinhead, all sorts of weird stuff they debated. But when we think of our Lord Jesus being made so much better than the angels, the angels were big in Judaism. was a big thing for them to consider. So, the Apostle wants these Jews to understand that being made so much better than the angels, so much better than the angels, how can that be? They're ministering spirits of God. But he declares it quite clearly, that he's much better than angels, as he by inheritance, obtained a more excellent name than they. This divine name. We sing that hymn, don't we? Oh, how I love the name of Jesus. We think of that name, Emmanuel, God with us. We think of him, the mighty counselor, the mighty God, Jesus. These things should stir our hearts, brethren. This name, every time we hear it, should make our hearts skip for joy and rejoice and sing praises as we were considering this morning. For this name is glorious above heaven and earth. It's a name which is high and lifted up. But Satan is cunning. He wants to undermine this name. He wants this name to be mocked. wants this name to be blasphemed. And dear friends, as the people of God, we have that duty and that joy to uphold the name, for it is a better name than the angels, as he by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. In verse eight, we see here that he is a divine king. But unto a son he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is a scepter of thy kingdom. This is where he sits, upon the divine throne. Again, in the book of Psalms, we've been considering this kingship of our God. And the kings sat on a throne. And if you look at hieroglyphs in Egypt, you'll find the Pharaoh sitting on a throne and it's high, it's lifted up, it's elevated. The throne that our Savior sits on is a throne of righteousness and of judgment. It's a righteous and a just throne. It's not a throne made by human hands. It's a throne that is set in the glory of heaven itself. And God says unto him, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. It's an everlasting throne. Our Queen, bless her, will pass away one day, and she will no longer sit upon her throne, but our God, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. What a glorious vision that is of the Lord Jesus before our eyes tonight. This one who is divine, the sovereign king, king of creation, the king of glory, this divine person, with divine power, this great high priest, this great advocate with the Father, this wondrous, glorious name is our King. Tonight, encourage your hearts that he is your King. And as he's King, and as he has all these attributes, let's not be puny as we approach him in prayer. Let's bring large petitions to our God. He is able to answer our large petitions. Yes, we pray for the sick and for those who sorrow, but let's pray for the kingdom of God, that it may come, that He may be glorified, that He may visit the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's bring these petitions. He's able. He has the resources. He has the power. We are encouraged to bring large petitions to awake our God, to hear our prayers. He is a divine king. He has all the resources of heaven and earth at his disposal for his poor, impoverished children. But unto the Son, he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. He's also a divine comforter. We didn't read this, but in chapter two, verse 18, for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he's able to succour them that are tempted. We have one who has walked the way of all flesh, yet without sin. He knows what it is to be rejected. He knows sorrow and grief. He knows pain and agony. He knows the joy of life, the celebration of a wedding. He knows these things because he's walked in our shoes, so to speak, and he is a divine comforter. He has sympathy, he has empathy with us. Do we have empathy for one another? Do we show that compassion and love one for another? Thankfully, we do here, and that's a real blessing. But there are others out there who need to be comforted, and he is able. should bring that comfort that never-dying souls need. So this One, this Divine Person whom the Apostle seeks to exhort to his Jewish believers, is our God. He's the heir of all things. He's the end of all history. He is the beginning of all history. He was before all history, and he will be throughout all history, for his throne is forever and ever. This is our God, and we worship him tonight. Let's sing our closing hymn, please, and we'll sing 253. 253. The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now. 2-5-3. The heaven and earth are full of his glory. For I, O Dyer, never lost the mighty winters of love. The highest place I've ever fought, this is my sovereign right. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and Heaven's saviour Lord. of her joy of holy love, to whom he manifests his love and trusts ♪ With all its graces give ♪ ♪ Where they are ever last impacted ♪ ♪ Join them, joy of men ♪ ♪ They suffer with them, Lord, give the way ♪ and the joy to love the mystery of his love. The cause he wears is like mantle, though she Father, we thank you for such a great Savior, such a glorious Lord. We thank you, Lord, that he himself has purged our sin, He has revealed the Father's heart. He has empathy and sympathy with his people. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Now the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.