Stop Looking

There comes a time to stop looking

When I was very young, our favorite game to play in the summer time was hide and go seek.

After dark.

Our moms didn’t let us play it very often, but every now and again the mom network would give in.

And as the sun was going down, the games began.

One person was “it.”

They’d put their head against a tree and start counting to one hundred

While the rest of us would take off around the neighborhood to hide.

When the person who was “it” hit one hundred, they’d yell out, “Ready or not, here I come.”

And the search was on.

The goal was to sneak back to base before the one who was “it” caught you.

We’d play for hours.

But there always came a time to stop looking.

And it came in one of two forms.

Either everyone who was playing was either found or made it back to base.

Or someone’s mom started yelling for them to come home.

Either way, the game was over.

There comes a time to stop looking.

That’s the message of the book of Hebrews.

Go ahead and open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 1.

The message of this book is simple:

You’ve found what you need - there is no need to look any more.

I’ve titled our study “Hebrews - For Those Who Doubt.”

That appears to be who the author of Hebrews had in mind as he wrote.

So let’s answer some basic questions right quick.

First, who wrote the book of Hebrews?

No one knows.

Down through the ages a lot of people thought that the Apostle Paul wrote it

But there again, a lot of people didn’t think that.

We know the person was very studied in Greek.

Hebrews is written in almost an academic class of Greek.

The person was very well versed in the Old Testament.

There are between 29 - 40 direct Old Testament quotes or allusions used throughout the 13 chapters of Hebrews.

Most people believe it was written by a man but there is a small school of thought that says it was written by a woman.

But again, no one knows.

I’ve heard people say from the pulpit they knew exactly who wrote Hebrews.

But they don’t.

No one does except the Lord.

We don’t know who and we really don’t know when it was written either.

We have a range of dates - somewhere between 60 and 90 A.D.

And here is why that is important.

Remember our timeline - Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven around 30 AD.

Everyone expected Jesus to return very soon

But it appears soon is a relative term.

For someone who only lives to be on average 40 - 50 years - soon is a lot quicker

Than Someone Who was and is and is to come.

10 years could be 25% of their life span.

20 is half

60 years - the time from 30 AD to the latest possible date of Hebrews is a life time.

People who were old enough to remember seeing Jesus were dying off.

First a few “went to sleep” as Paul called it.

But then over time, lots of the old school died.

And they were replaced by their children - who had never seen Jesus.

They had only heard the stories and read the Old Testament.

Add to that the state of the world.

We think the world is the worst it’s ever been now

But I do believe that’s the watchword of every generation.

We simply have more creative sins now than they did then.

We can know about sin quicker than they could.

But they still had greedy rulers.

And power hungry rulers.

And rulers that hated Christians.

The rich kept getting richer

The poor kept getting poorer

The bad guys always seemed to get off while the good guys seemed to get in trouble for every little thing they did.

They started thinking - the Messiah was supposed to fix all of this.

We - the Hebrews - were supposed to see the Messiah fulfil the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and King David.

Did we miss something here?

Some started de-constructing.

They went back to the old ways of worship.

Forget this Jesus stuff.

Some folks simply walked away.

And the ones left going to their house churches week after week had to ask themselves,

“Did we miss something?”

Hebrews is written to people who doubt.

And let me say this about that real quickly - everyone doubts.

If doubting sent you to hell, we’re all going there because everyone doubts.

Don’t feel guilty about it.

Don’t tell the preacher, “I know I’m not supposed to doubt but...”

Because you know what, even the preachers doubt from time to time.

Everyone has questions.

Everyone doubts.

Hebrews is written to all of us who have ever doubted.

Kids, the three words you are listening for your worship guide are Jesus, Hebrews and Old.

Hebrews is written to everyone one who had ever doubted.

The writer’s message is, “You’ve found what you are looking for - it’s time to quit looking.”

“Now,” he says, “Let me tell you why.”

Hear now the Word of the Lord from the book of Hebrews 1:1-4

Hebrews 1:1–4 ESV

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Let’s ask the Holy Spirit’s help.

Dear Holy Spirit,

In the book of John, Jesus tells us that you will glorify Him by taking what is His and declaring it to us.

Dear Lord, we need you to do this now.

You inspired someone to write this to help us when we doubt.

Speak to us Holy Spirit so we will know that we can quit looking.

In Jesus’ name - Amen.

The writer starts out with a gigantic faith statement:

God speaks

You do realize when you say that the Lord spoke to you that you are making a faith statement, right?

Can you prove that God spoke to you?

Did you capture him with your voice recorder?

But see, the writer to the Hebrews believes, he has faith, that God spoke.

Hebrews 1:1 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,”

What is the Old Testament?

It’s a collection of 39 documents where each one says “God speaks.”

God spoke to Adam.

God spoke to Noah.

God spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

God spoke to Moses.

God spoke to King David.

At many times he spoke

And in many ways.

You remember the burning bush

The fire on the mountain

Elijah’s still small voice

Mary and Joseph’s angels.

God spoke and His message has a common theme: Jeremiah 30:22

Jeremiah 30:22 ESV

And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

God spoke to our fathers by the prophets

God told us how to live like Him

He told us how to get along with one another.

He defined greatness for us

He told us how to live.

We’ve heard it so many times we are almost immune

But what other god does this?

Allah, Buddha, one of the 33 million Hindu gods and goddesses?

No other god has come to people with compassion and concern

Understanding our weakness and our impatience.

We KNOW the truth, yet how many times do we doubt?

So instead of burning us forever

He gives us the book of Hebrews.

It’s time to quit looking.

Here’s why.

Hebrews 1:2 “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

It is the Last Days

Why is it the last days?

Because there will be no more prophets.

It’s time to quit looking - the final prophet has arrived.

Remember we said there were a lot of allusions to the Old Testament in Hebrews?

Why would that be?

It’s the same reason we preach from the Bible.

It’s God’s Word - and the writer to the Hebrews believes the Old Testament is God’s word.

So in verse 2, he pulls a fact from Psalm 2:7

Psalm 2:7 ESV

I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

Now, we have to talk.

If you read Psalm 2, you’re probably going to say it’s about King David and you would be correct.

However, the writer to the Hebrews interprets the Old Testament text in two ways.

He sees it as the already and the not yet.

The New Testament writers looked back at the Old Testament and started to see that it was written for a specific time and place.

But it was also written for a future time and place.

Follow me:

You might remember this form Exodus 4:22 “Then you [Moses] shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,”

But now in Psalm 2, David is God’s son.

But then we hear the Lord in Jeremiah 33:17 ““For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,”

We have a nation.

Then we have a lineage - a blood line.

And then we have Jesus - Matthew 1:1

Matthew 1:1 ESV

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

We have a nation, we have a bloodline, we have a Son.

There will be no more.

This is the end of times.

God’s Son is here.

What does this mean?

There will be no more prophets.

This Son will not only show us the things of God

He will show us God because He is God.

Yahweh appointed Jesus the heir of all things.

He’s in charge.

He’s the new King - He is the last King.

There will be no one to replace Him, overthrow Him or supersede Him.

Jesus is the King over all things.

And remember Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

When God created the universe, He did it through Jesus.

John 1:1–3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Jesus is the last because Jesus is God in the flesh.

But what does that mean to us? Why does it matter?

In parts of the world there are people referred to as MBB’s.

Muslim Born Believers.

In their parts of the world, they live in danger daily.

Believing in Jesus is blasphemy of Mohammed the Muslims believe.

If they are lucky, they’ll just lose their family.

If they are not lucky, they will lose their lives.

A theologian was spirited into one of their villages.

He was taken to a secret meeting place to teach

And in that meeting place, he was accosted by a woman demanding he give her $8000 immediately.

He was floored.

Why would she ask that?

Why would she even begin to think he would have that much money on him?

TBN.

The Trinity Broadcasting Network has worked hard to be broadcast all over the world.

Some of the preachers on TBN are prosperity teachers.

If you are a child of God, God wants you to be healthy and wealthy.

This theologian was from America where, she believed because of these preachers, every Christian in America was rich.

That’s not Jesus.

Jesus is the final revelation of God.

If the message preached

or taught

or in your favorite book

doesn’t elevate Jesus above all else, it might be a problem.

Jesus is the final prophet.

It is the last days.

There will be no new revelation from God.

Everything from this moment forward is measured in terms of Jesus and Jesus alone.

If the message deviates from the life and teaching of Jesus, it is wrong.

So what about this Son?

Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God

When we see a beautiful sunset, we think of the glory of God.

When we see the sun rise over the ocean

Or see the setting sun making the Blue Ridge Mountains turn blue, we think of the glory of God.

But when we see Jesus, we see the glory of God.

He doesn’t make us think about the glory - He is the glory.

When we see Jesus, listen to me, all you who are weak and heavy laden

When you see Jesus, you are seeing the God that loves you.

He is “the exact imprint of his nature”

Jesus is exactly like the Father because He and the father are one.

So when we see Jesus stop men from stoning a woman to death, that’s how God operates.

When we see Jesus feeding the hungry, that’s how God operates.

When we see Jesus weeping because one of His best friends died, that’s how God operates.

All of the Jesus stories in the Bible that you have read, those are how God operates.

That’s how God operates for us.

Jesus is the exact imprint of His nature.

Don’t believe anything else.

...”he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

I have said and I will always say, science is humanity trying to understand how God works.

We’ve worked hard to replace God with science to the point that we believe things as truth that are simply hypothesis.

How old is the earth, really?

How did the dinosaurs become extinct, really?

Define the nature of gravity - not the effects of gravity - but the actual thing, gravity.

Define the nature of dark matter - not the effects of dark matter - but what exactly is dark matter?

Jesus holds it all together.

See, the creation of the universe by God presupposes the fact that He wants to universe to continue on it’s course.

And it continues on it’s course by the power of Jesus’ word.

“After making purification for sins”

The Greek word for purification is katharismos.

I used the Greek word so you could hear the English word hidden in it.

Catharsis.

The dictionary definition is “a purification or purging that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension.

Jesus made catharsis for sins.

He - single handedly - the last one who would ever do it

Jesus made purification for sins

He made it possible for you and me to be released from the tension of living under the wrath of God for our sinfulness.

So that we could be made new.

Because that’s what God wants.

Jeremiah 30:22 ESV

And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

Jesus made that possible.

And then

...”he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

When do you sit down and lean back?

When you finish your work.

That’s the image.

It is finished.

Again, the writer looks back to the Old Testament:

Psalm 110:1 ESV

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Rest Jesus, until it is time to make all things new.

Hebrews 1:4 “having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

I’ve always wondered about this verse.

I’ve studied it - translated it in seminary - but somehow I missed the Old Testament connection.

How did the prophets get their messages in the Old Testament?

Acts 7:53 ESV

you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

It was delivered by angels.

Some people were under such stress and were doubting Jesus so much

That they were reverting back to their Jewish roots.

Making sacrifices and following the Law like they were raised to do.

Doing things that were....delivered by angels.

But these are the last days.

And the final prophet has come.

Not an angel with a message.

But the very Son of God Himself.

Hebrews 1:1–4 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

I don’t know about you, but when I hear those words they burn in my heart.

It’s not possible to keep that Jesus at arm’s length.

It’s not possible to know that Jesus and hold grudges forever.

It’s not possible to know that Jesus and not care about justice

Or the poor, or the broken-hearted

Or to feel compassion for those who reject Him.

It’s not possible to know that Jesus and not welcome home the sinner

Because the radiance of God in Jesus is light

That brings our sinfulness out of the shadows.

It makes us say amen to Paul when he lists a long list of sins and then says, 1 Corinthians 6:11

1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Brother and sister in Christ,

This is what Jesus has done for us.

We need not look further.

Once you know Jesus, what else is there to search for.

And dear friend,

If you aren’t a Christ follower

Don’t keep looking for something better.

The God of the universe is inviting you right now to be his person.

We’ll pray and sing.

I’ll be on the front row if you’d like to talk to me about Jesus.

If that’s too much, tell your friend, the person sitting beside you, someone.

We all want you to know Jesus like we do.

Let us pray.