Faith is…?

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11. As you’re doing so, I want you to be sure to look at the last verse of Hebrews 10. You’ll remember last week, as we looked at Hebrews 10:26-39, we encountered a chilling warning passage, the main point of which is – if you turn your back on Jesus (because the whole theme of the book has been that Jesus is better; Jesus is the only Savior; Jesus is superior to anything offered anywhere else) if you turn your back on the only Savior, Jesus, there are dire eternal consequences. And you may be asking yourself the question, “How do you get from that kind of a warning in Hebrews 10:26-39, to a chapter on faith, in which the heroes of the Scriptures, Old Testament and New, who trusted God, are…

If We Go on Sinning Wilfully

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10; we’re going to be looking at verse 26 and all the way to the end of the chapter. This is a hard, sobering, but important passage of Scripture. You may remember when we looked at Hebrews 6 together that I commented that Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, the pastor of the Westminster Chapter in London, had remarked a couple of years ago that in his pastoral experience that misunderstandings of Hebrews 6 and 10 were very often accompanied by struggles with assurance in members of his congregation and those of other congregations where he preached. He said, not that these are the two most difficult passages in Scripture, but that the misunderstanding of them often unsettles the hearts of believers. And so before…

Draw Near, Hold Fast, Consider How

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10. We’re going to be looking at verses 19 to 25 this morning as we continue our way through this glorious book. This is one of those turning point passages that you encounter in books of the New Testament. I know you’re familiar with them in the writings of the apostle Paul, for instance, in Romans. When you get to Romans 12 verses 1 and 2, you know you’ve turned a corner in that book. The first eleven chapters have majored on a glorious exposition of the Gospel of God’s grace. And then from chapters 12 to 15 especially, but even on into 16 and the final greetings, Paul begins to apply those words of truth. So he takes the doctrine and he applies it to your life. He takes the theology and…

Once for All

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10 as we continue our way through this letter. The theme has echoed throughout the book that Jesus is a better Savior. He’s a better priest. He’s a better sacrifice. He’s the better mediator of a better covenant. And especially as we’ve looked at Hebrews 8, 9, and 10, the explanation of why Jesus is a better sacrifice has been very much on the author’s mind. And in this culminating part of that section, we…

For This Reason He Is the Mediator of the New Covenant

If you’ll turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 9, we will return after a one week break – it’s been two weeks since we’ve been in this passage – to the argument of the author of Hebrews. And I’d invite you, even as you’re turning to Hebrews 9, to look at verses 15 to 28. Go ahead and allow your eyes to scan the first part of the chapter and let me remind you where we’ve been. The last time we were together in this book two weeks ago we looked…

The Holy Spirit is Signifying This

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 9. We continue to make our way through this epistle together. The argument has been made already in this book that Jesus is a better High Priest and is a mediator of a better covenant. One of the ways that the author of Hebrews argues that Jesus is a better priest is to say that He is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. That is, unlike the Old Testament Levitical priesthood that descended from Aaron…

The Mediator of a Better Covenant

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 8. We’re beginning a new section of the book of Hebrews together, but I want to remind you where we’ve been already. In Hebrews 6:20, the author has reminded us again – he mentioned it twice in chapter 5 but it’s in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 20 – he picks up on the theme of Jesus as a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. And he continues and expands on that theme all chapter 7 long. And…

The Guarantee of a Better Covenant

The Lord's Day Morning May 19, 2013 Better“The Guarantee of a Better Covenant”Hebrews 7:11-28 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 7 as we continue to work our way through this book together.В I'd remind you, we're going to be looking at verses 11 to 28 today, but I'd remind you where we've been.В In Hebrews chapter 6, the author of Hebrews is desirous of explaining to Christians where we…

Jesus and Melchizedek

The Lord's Day Morning May 12, 2013 Better“Jesus and Melchizedek”Hebrews 7:1-10 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 7.В We’re going to be looking at verses 1 to 10 this morning as we continue to make our way through this great letter.В As you’re turning there, make sure and allow your eyes to fall on the last two verses of chapter 6 as well, because there you will see the reasons why the author of…

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