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1:08There's a reason. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 22. But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will... Will see you. Greet all of your leaders and all of the saints. Those from Italy greet you. Grace to you all. So, what I want to do this morning is I want to keep introducing Hebrews to you. And at the same token, I want to prepare you for the Lord's table this morning. But we can learn a lot about a book by the way it ends. And so that's what I want to do. I want to introduce you to the book of Hebrews by the way it ends. You think about this mountain that we're going to hike over. Usually there's a trailhead where you start the hike, and there's an end to the hike where you can kind of survey where you've been. Well, what I want to do this morning is start at that trail end, look back over the book of Hebrews, and then I want to jump in a helicopter metaphorically and fly over so that we can get a sense of what the book is about. And then we'll start at the trailhead, maybe even next week.

2:39That's my hope. But look at verse 22. What is Hebrews? What is this book? Well, it tells us what it is. I urge you, brother, verse 22, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. I urge you, I am exhorting you, I am strengthening you. Strongly appealing to you. I am encouraging, it's even the word, I am summoning you to this exhortation. And here is what he's summoning. I am summoning you to be enduring patiently, to bear with this word of exhortation, to be listening carefully to what's being said with the intention to hear and obey and heed. I am urging you, brethren, bear with, be enduring, keep up. Because there's a time when people aren't going to endure sound doctrine. Be keeping up with this.

3:43What is it? A word of exhortation. I'm exhorting you. I'm exhorting you all to obey this exhortation. I'm exhorting you to this exhortation. Same language. I'm stressing a teaching, an admonition, an encouragement, an exhortation. Pay attention to what I'm saying and the intensity with which I am saying, so that you will not forget it, so you will carefully obey it and carry it out. Notice what he says, I have written. And there's a long, there's a strong linguistic connection here to Acts 13:15. You remember way back. At Galatia, when Paul and Barnabas show up into the synagogue, and after verse 15 of Acts 13, 15 says, This, after reading of the law and the prophets, the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation, say it. And so, what does Paul do? He goes on and he preaches this sermon in the synagogue. And we have a record of it through Luke. Somehow got the information, recorded it for us. And so we see this word of exhortation preached there in the synagogue. But here, this word of exhortation is written. But it's the same thing. It's a word of exhortation and encouragement. You know what this is? It's a sermon. It's a written sermon. There's texts. There's expositions, great expositions of texts. Very precisely taking a text, explaining what it means, and then exhorting people to obey. It's a sermon. It's a written sermon. And so, what I want to do this morning is just observe several details about this word of exhortation so that we'll be careful to obey it. First thing, it's important to... Pay attention when you're reading any letter is author, audience, and date. Author, audience, and date. And so notice what it says in verse 23. Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes, I will see you soon. Greet all of your leaders and all of the saints, those from Italy, greet you. Some of the most basic questions we need to ask about a book that helps us get our mind around it is who wrote it, to whom it was written, and when? What were the circumstances? Well, who wrote the book of Hebrews? Well, that's one of the great mysteries of the New Testament. And I mean a great mystery among conservative scholarship, not among liberal scholarship, if you can call it that. But it's like if you could throw it like the idea of those who would agree with a high view of Scripture, they don't know. There's no consensus of who wrote Hebrews. In fact, its authorship has been debated since the early days of the church. And the suggestions are many. There's Paul, Luke, Clement of Rome. There's Barnabas that Teuturlean came up with or suggested. Then there's Apollos. That was Luther's conversation. Contribution, and many people since then have really gone down the road of Apollos. And then there's Priscilla. It's a woman who wrote this. That's why it's secret.

7:42And there's many others, but there's no, and I've just named a few, some of the more substantial ones. And there's no, and there's still, to this day, there is no certain answer because the letter does not explicitly say who wrote it. But we can make some observations. I mean, I could just cut half the sermon out and many, many hours of study and just say, we don't know who it is, it's the Holy Spirit, and we're going to go forward with that. And ultimately, that's what we're going to do. But I feel like I owe you more than that. And I feel like to get a greater appreciation of what's going on here, I want to take you through the observations of what we can say about the audience, author, and date based on the internal evidence. What I mean internally, what does the Bible have to say about this issue? Before you jump onto the podcast or hear what somebody else has to say about the book, or before you jump into the commentaries and listen to whatever anyone else's thoughts are about who wrote it, first pay attention to the details that the scripture says. One of the best interpreters. Of Scripture is the Scripture. Pay attention. So that's what we mean by internal evidence. Pay attention to what it says about itself. Then there's the external evidence. That would look in church history going way back, extra biblical sources way back then at the time. What would they say? And then, so external evidence. What would that? So we want to answer those questions. And so I first want to start with the internal evidence based on the text we have before us this morning. If you will notice, well, how many of y'all like a good mystery? You know, the old murder mysteries, the whodunits, or the, what was the young lady's name that always wrote the sleuth? What was her name? Nancy Drew. Yes. You love the sleuthing. Figure out the mystery and solving it. Whodone it? Who wrote the book? That's what we want to figure out this morning. Whodone it? Well, we'll start looking at the details just from what we read this morning. Okay, first of all, I want you to notice that there is some pronouns. Pronouns are important, aren't they? Singular and plural. We'll look at the masculine and feminine a little bit later in this talk. But singular and plural pronouns. Singular, look at what, notice I have written. I urge. You, I wrote, I have written, I shall see you soon. So there's an I, there's an individual, it's not we, and notice the you. The you is plural, y'all. I have written to y'all. So it's a specific individual who was known to a very specific church. So this isn't some broadband circular, like, okay, just to all the Jews, to all the Hebrews, that's what the title comes to us today, which was added later, to the Hebrews. It's not like 1 Peter just said, to the elect scattered in all this areas. No, that's not. It's, I have written to y'all, and I'm going to see you soon. So that's important. Second, notice the proximity to Timothy. The proximity to Timothy. Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released. So this tells us this letter has to happen in Timothy's time. And it also tells us that this is somebody who was closely associated with Timothy, whom also the church was closely associated with. You see that? They both know who Timothy is, and Timothy's very important to both of them. Now, it also speaks that, third, of Timothy's imprisonment, he has been released. Yes, this is speaking of prison release. And there is no details. There are no details of this imprisonment in the biblical record. So it's a good possibility that Timothy's imprisonment took place sometime after Paul's second letter to Timothy. And you remember what Paul was doing in 2 Timothy?

12:18Timothy, don't buckle under pressure. Endure hardship with me. Preach the word, Timothy. They're not going to be enduring this any longer. But you, Timothy, preach the word. Endure hardship. So Paul knew that Timothy was facing pressures, and he exhorted him to stay firm. Also, just from what we just read, notice there's some geography and some travel plans. Notice the geography. Well, first of all, look, it's obvious that with whom, verse 23, if he comes through Timothy, I will see you. It's clear that the writer is closer to Timothy than the audience. Do you see that? So Timothy has been released, and if he comes to me soon, he and I are going to connect, and we're both going to come to you.

13:21So there is, so that we can make this assumption about the writer, he's free to travel, which doesn't seem like that would include Paul. This writer is free to travel, and he's there waiting for Timothy, after he's gotten out of prison, come up, go over. Fifth, look at this connection to Italy. Those from Italy greet you. This should, this can and should be taken to mean those in Italy with me greet you. Very clean and clear. If Paul is wanting, or whoever, no, don't go there just yet.

14:08But whoever is writing is making it clear that he's in Italy. Clean and clear. All who are with me. In fact, he says a very similar thing to Titus 3:15, all who are with me greet you. So now there are some who would like to go down a road and say, Well, all he's really saying is, all my Italian friends are with me. That's true. It could mean that. But it's very unlikely. You wouldn't go there unless you're really wanting to remove the place of this writing from Italy.

14:55But it's clear. What we can say certainly about this so far is that it's From someone who is in close association with Timothy to a church who is also close association with Timothy. Timothy's the connecting point. Now, let me jump out a little more from the internal evidence and look at the larger context here of the New Testament, and specifically 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4. What do we know about 2 Timothy 4? Well, he is in prison. Listen to what he said. Paul is in prison in Rome when he wrote for 2 Timothy, and he summons Timothy to come to him soon. Why? Because only Luke is left with him. Only Luke. Luke's the only one left.

15:49And in Timothy 4, 6, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. Paul knows he's at the end of his life, and he's like, My time is come. And he says in 2 Timothy 4, 9, make every effort to come to me soon, Timothy. I'm at the very end of it all. I want you, Timothy, to come to me soon. And then look at what he says in verse 11 of 2 Timothy 4:9. Only Luke is with me. And then he says this in verse 13.

16:31When you come, Timothy, bring the cloak, which I left in Troas, and the books, especially the parchments. That's his instruction to Timothy. And then he says this at the end in 2 Timothy 4, 21, make every effort to come before winter. Okay, so think about this. Think about what's happening. Now, what is Paul's intention while he's in prison here? Think about it. Why would he want a cloak? Why does he want a cloak? It's getting cold. Winter is coming. Timothy, bring my cloak to me. Which is interesting because he still has some friends there in Italy. Why in the world couldn't he just get a cloak from them? Oh, and by the way, Timothy, pick up the books. The books. What are the books? The books probably are Old Testament books, scrolls written. And especially the parchments. Now, what could possibly the parchments be? Well, pergamum. A material for writing. Especially the parchments. They could be letters that he's already written, but typically with letters you've already written, you've sent. And then a letter that's been written and scrolled up, it's a book. So it's very possible. That he's talking about unwritten vellum. Animal vellum, that's made from animal hides. So, where is he? He's there. Paul is in Rome.

18:18He's had his first defense. In 2 Timothy 4, 16, he says, At my first defense, no one supported me, but all deserted me. But the Lord stood with me. So there he is in Rome. He's had his first hearing. There's going to be a second. Usually the first is the indicator, okay, they're going to charge you with guilt, and the sentencing is going to come. So between that first and the second, there's a little bit of time. A winter.

18:47I mean, Paul's thinking, do you think he's going to die? Do you think Paul is going to die the next day? He may. But in Paul's mind, get here before winter. So let's just look at that. So what do we know about Paul's death? Well, persecution under Nero, 67 A.D. There's a picture of Nero and a bird that kind of shows what the rest of the world thinks of him ever since. He was executed by order of the imperial court.

19:21So we have that by reliable tradition and historical record, 66, 67 AD, in Nero's person. Persecution, just as Peter died in the same. And now he's wanting a cloak before winter. So we're talking about before winter, we're talking about this time of year, some 1,960 years ago. That would take us back to 65 AD. He wants the cloak before the winter of 65, 66 AD. And that accords with Paul's death. Now, let's look at some other details within the internal evidence within Hebrews itself.

20:07A greater picture, not just the text that we were just reading, but let's look at some of the details from the larger expanse of Hebrews. So, can we rule anybody out by what the author says about himself? You can write this down, or you can turn there. This is important. Hebrews 2:3 says this: How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard.

20:51So, this is written by a disciple, not an apostle. This guy who's writing. Is saying, I got my information by those who heard. Now, this seems to rule out Paul. Because in Galatians 1:11, do you remember, Paul went to great lengths to say, For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached to me, preached by me, is not according to man, for I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

21:32Paul made it clear that he received the gospel from a personal encounter of Jesus Christ. So it's unlikely, or it's seemingly reasonable, to think that this isn't Paul. Because why would he now say, well, I received it from those who heard? No, this seems to be a second-generation disciple, not an apostle. Now, there's another person, Priscilla, that in chapter 11, verse 32, the writer of Hebrews says this. He's been talking about all these great people of the faith, and then he says, This, and what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson. He's using a masculine pronoun there. If I should be telling, masculine, if I am going on telling you these things in a masculine, Masculine way, then he's a man. This isn't Priscilla. This is a man that's writing this. Who else can we rule out?

22:42Really, no one from Hebrews. Now, another detail. The temple is still standing. The temple is still standing. And this is evident by the verbs used to describe the temple and its activities. It's talked about in the present tense. And I mean, this is pervasive throughout. He's talking about, let me just listen to a few of them. Hebrews 8:5, speaking about the priests, who are serving a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. They are serving, not they served a copy, they are serving, continuous. Hebrews 8, 13 says this, but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. Speaking of the temple and temple worship, he says, it's growing obsolete and it's ready, it's on the verge of disappearing if the temple had already been destroyed. It would have bolstered his argument and said, look, sacrifices aren't even happening anymore. His language throughout, what he says, like in Hebrews 9, 6, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing, this is that present tense. Hebrews 9, 25, as the high priest is entering the holy place year after year. All this is ongoing.

24:29So all that points to the fact that the temple is still standing. It would have bolstered his argument if it had already been destroyed. And then there's a need for exhortation, a need. At this time, persecution is mounting. It's very clear. Which is a strong motive to encourage people, isn't it? In fact, Hebrews 10, 32. Listen to what he says. But remember the former days when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly because made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly because you became sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting life. He's like, remember how you endured once before? The time is now again for you to endure. And this is what he says in Hebrews 12:3. For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. In other words, this congregation hasn't gotten to the point of martyrdom yet, which churches all across the empire are going to experience in a very short while during Nero's reign. And so here, endure the St. Call. And this is the very same thing that Paul encouraged Timothy. You're buckling under pressure. Timothy, stay the course. And now it seems we have a letter to a congregation with the very same, about the same time, with the very same message. Don't buckle, endure, keep enduring. And Paul's saying, that's what I'm doing. I'm finishing my race. You do the same.

26:47So, who done it? The mystery hypothesis. You know, there has to be a means and a motion. Motive and an opportunity. That's what you're looking for in the mystery. Someone who could do it, somebody who would do it, and somebody who had the opportunity to do it. So, what do we have so far just based on the internal evidence? Well, we have Paul is in prison, only one companion with him, Luke. Luke likes to research and write things down, doesn't he?

27:24He's written more than the New Testament than anybody else. Expert, theologian, and excellent historian. Paul asked Timothy to bring books and especially parchment to him in Rome. So, who done it? Well, whoever has the means, the motive, and the opportunity. Well, the means, Paul, an Old Testament scholar, you're going to need, as it's polished, the book of Hebrews, and why a lot of people don't think Paul wrote it is because it's so polished. It's so good. It's so exact. It's precise.

28:02But you think about it. If you're sitting down writing Galatians, this is very different. This is a very different set of circumstances. If you're in Galatians, you foolish Galatians, I just heard about this. That's very different than bring the books. Let me organize a sermon and let me teach you. That's a little different. So, yes, it is precise. The way he recites the excellent expositor. So there's a means. You have an Old Testament scholar, Paul. You have an incredible historian and somebody who wants to write these things down. That's Luke. And you possibly have books and paper all written there. Motive. Now, who has the motive to write this thing? Well, Paul, his heart is breaking for the Jewish nation. He has been in the synagogues. He has spent so much of his time articulating these same truths over and over again. So much of his life, as we looked at last time, was spent in those synagogues. So he has a motive. He said, I wish I was cut off for my people. So we know he has a motive. We got Luke. Luke, excellent theologian, excellent historian. He wants to write it down. He's been part of the team for a long, long time. He knows Timothy. He knows the church. He knows all these people. So you've got motive. Both of them have a motive. Opportunity. Now, do they have an opportunity to write? Well, he's got to get a cloak. Winter's setting in. His second trial is a little off in the future. Doesn't know when.

29:44Time. And Luke's finally got the apostle locked up in a cage where he can't go anywhere. Now, let's write this thing down. By the way, he's going to pick up Mark. It's another detail. So, if I'm just looking at all of this based on what the Bible says internally about itself, I see a strong connection between Paul and Luke and Timothy. And remember where Timothy was left? He was left in Ephesus. He was left in Ephesus in 1 Timothy 1, you can see that, to teach people, not to teach strange doctrines. So we know, Timothy has a strong connection with Ephesus. And by the way, we also can look at this and say, this seems to be a big church because it's in verse 24 of Hebrews 13 it says, greet all of your leaders. Seems to be a plurality quite a bit.

30:50So let's look at, that's my operating hypotheses. There's this strong Paul and Luke connection. There's the means, the motive, and the opportunity. Yes, that doesn't prove it, for sure. But what I've come to believe is that if you come up with another one like Priscilla or Apollos, yes, you can come up with means, motive, and opportunity, but you have a lot less pieces to the puzzle. Boy, this Paul-Luke connection is strong, occasion, all of it, you have a lot more pieces of the puzzle that fit well together. So what is the external evidence? Now we're going to go outside the Bible and look at what history says who this author is. Well, I'll just not go through a lot of the tedious details because of time, but let me just say this: the Eastern churches, they all saw it was Paul. From the very beginning, Paul wrote the book.

31:49And this is the Eastern churches headquartered in Byzantium, later Constantinople, today Istanbul. They believed Paul, and they believed that the reason it's anonymous is because Paul was despised. In the Western churches, the early thought, and especially espoused by Clement of Alexandria, thought Paul wrote it in Hebrew, Luke translated it in Greek. So early church sees this Paul-Luke connection. But then a little later, Origen in the Western church, Alexandria, he was skilled in Hebrew and Greek, and he says, he looks at it and he says, there is no sign that this thing has been translated from Hebrew into Greek. And so that caused him to say, well, I don't know if Paul has written it. But then he says this, and I'll quote him, Eusebius, the historian, quotes him. This is Origen saying, I say that the thoughts are the apostles, the apostle Paul, but that the style and composition are the words. Work of someone who called to mind the apostles' teaching. If any church, this question of the day, he says, if any church then regards this epistle as Paul's, let it be commended on this score. In other words, he says, if anybody thinks it's Paul that wrote it, let it be commended on this. It was not for nothing that the men of old have handed it down to us as Paul's. But as to who actually wrote the epistle, God knows the truth of the matter. According to the account which has reached us, some say the epistle was written by Clement, who became bishop of Romans. Others say it was written by Luke, the writer of the gospel in Acts. So Origen is saying, Look, the only ones that I'm aware of that are even in candidate are Clement of Rome, who also would have had a close association with Paul and Luke.

33:57And it wasn't until the late 300s that the Western church, through Jerome and Augustine, agreed that it was Paul. So they looked at the canonicity, you look at where it shows up in your book, the book of the Bible, it shows up in the Pauline literature. That's how it was brought in. And the Western church and the Eastern church agreed from 300 on that it was written by Paul. And certainly. the Paul-Luke combination. So all suggestions, I'll say this, what is certain from all this is that all the suggestions you notice have a very strong connection to Paul. I don't intend to, if you still think it may be somebody, whoever you may be, that's fine, but I can assure you that there's a connection to Paul. that is being made. The written sermon of Hebrews reflects the mind and ministry of Paul, and that's been, that's what the scriptures point to, and that is certainly what the church and even throughout history have seen. So there's nothing suggesting from the outside that we need to overturn. There's a strong Paul-Luke connection. I see nothing in that to did Paul actually write it down? Did Luke actually write it down? I certainly see they had the means, the motive, and the opportunity. But let me tell you what the academically correct position is. You know, there's politically correct positions, and then there's the academically correct position. The academically correct position is to simply take the book as anonymous. Because ultimately, the Holy Spirit is the author. Author, and he did not expressly say who the human author was. That's not the detail being emphasized. It's the scripture that is being used, and the exposition upon that scripture, and the exhortation of the scripture, that is being stressed.

36:24So at the end of it, it's a message independent of the specifics. What is specific are the texts, the expositions, and the exhortations. And so, what do we have? We have an exhortation motivated by grace, inspired by God. An exhortation that is universal and reaches us today. Look at verse 25, back in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 25. Grace be with you all. The grace, literally, the grace with all y'all. The grace be with y'all. No, the grace be with all y'all.

37:22It's a wish for grace. It's an expression of grace. It's an instruction and motivation for them to come under grace and continue. Under grace and to endure it. In fact, there's a linguistic connection to Titus 3:5, verbatim. Paul at the end of it says to Titus, Grace be with all y'all. Paul entered a lot of his letters that way, similarly. But what is the exhortation? And that becomes the thing we want to prepare our hearts for. The instruction in the exhortation, this exhortation of grace, is for you and I to embrace Christ's person and work, to embrace Him, His work, and really to embrace the life that He gives. That's the exhortation. Come under grace. Come to Christ. Come under Him and live the better life.

38:30Here, Brian, we live the good life here, right? That's their slogan here. The better life. This is the major theme, a major theme. It's an invitation to a better life, a better life. Just look at this. It's an invitation to a better hope. Hebrews 7:19 speaks of a better hope. For the law made nothing perfect, and on the other hand, there is a better. Bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God, a better hope for a relationship with God. It's an invitation to a better covenant with better promises. Hebrews 8:6, but now he, Jesus, has obtained a more excellent ministry by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises. It's built upon better possessions. Hebrews 10:34 speaks about the possession of this world and the seizing of property. He says, But you know, you have a better possession, a lasting one.

39:42It's a call, it's an invitation to a better country, a heavenly one. One where God is not ashamed to be their God, for he has prepared a city for them. It's an invitation to a better resurrection in Hebrews 11:35. So, this invitation, what is Hebrews about? It's this over and over, it's a call to a better hope, a better covenant, with the better possessions, a better country, and a better resurrection. All of this, it's better, and all of this is due to the better sacrifices, the better sacrifices. In Hebrews 9:23, the writer says this: Therefore, it was necessary. For the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but if the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. Certain things happening in the temple, certainly things. So, what is this exhortation of grace? Well, this exhortation of grace is to embrace the better, to come to God in a better way, really the only way, and then walk with God in a better life. That's what Hebrews is calling everyone to.

41:05First audience to us. This better way is what I want to focus on this morning as we prepare our hearts for this Lord's table. It comes through a better priest and through a better sacrifice, a perfect priest and a perfect sacrifice. And this is really symbolized in the blood, the cup, and the bread, the body. And that's what we sell. God, the bread symbolizes what God has given us in the person of Christ. The cup symbolizes what Christ did for us.

41:49And there's this great connection throughout this great contrast throughout the book of Hebrews. The contrasts. Jesus' continuing ministry that goes on forever versus the temporary ministry of the priests. In Hebrews 7:23, he speaks about these priests, they come in mass and mass and over and over and for a long time. Why? Because they're all prevented from death to continue. But Jesus is not continued, it is not going to be discontinued because he's never going to die again.

42:30But then Jesus is also sinless. There's this contrast. Jesus is sinless, but the priests are needing sacrifices for their sin. So even then, as the temple is standing, it's indicating that the way hasn't been known, that the perfect priest hasn't been revealed, because even the priests need a priest, and even the priests need a sacrifice. But now, Jesus, the perfect priest, who doesn't, he's going to continue forever because he's not going to be disqualified because of his own sin. Have you ever had a job where you had a great position in a company because you had great relationships with some of the supervisors, and all of a sudden, they moved on, and then all of a sudden you don't have that endearing connection in your company anymore? That's because you had a regime change, and now you're kind of left in a different regime. And what the writer is saying, that isn't ever going to happen. For those who are in Christ, he is forever our high priest. The promises that he made are always good and forever will be good. We can live eternally knowing that that is true because he is not going to be replaced by death and he is not going to be disqualified because of sin. He's a superior and perfect priest. But he also, this way, is granted through a perfect sacrifice. And throughout the book of Hebrews, there's this contrast between the sacrifice and the perfect sacrifice and the imperfect ones. There's the human versus the animal sacrifice. I don't know if I wrote all this stuff down. No, I didn't. Okay. Hebrews 10, 4 says, For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. We needed something better than an animal sacrifice. There's a contrast between a willingness of our Lord's sacrifice and the unwillingness and cluelessness of the animals. They didn't, they're like, no way, I don't want to, I wouldn't do that. I don't want to lay down my life for these people. But Christ does, and that's what he says: Hebrews 9:14, he offered himself. And then the depth of cleansing. It's like the Hebrews 9 makes it very clear that the sacrifices, 9, 8, 9 makes it very clear that the sacrifices of the Old Testament can only make the worshiper perfect. In conscience, all they could do is really ceremonially remove the barrier.

45:08But they were powerless to cleanse the conscience. Yeah, they could cleanse the flesh so that you could come in ceremonially and go through the motions of what really needs to happen. The Old Testament sacrifices were a reminder of sins. Hebrews 10:3, but those in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. But in Hebrews 9:26, He, Jesus, has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Hebrews 10, 11. But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. He's there in the presence, never to be superseded.

45:56Would the people handing out the elements? Would you please come forward? I'm going to pass the elements, but really, here in just a moment, just for instructions, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are welcome to take with us this morning. The elements are for believers. Don't insult the Spirit of grace if you are an imposter here. Don't just go through the motion of this. Don't insult the Spirit of grace by not recognizing the body of Christ. If you have aught, Against your brother or sister, forgive it, let it go.

46:34Recognize the body of Christ. But we are delighted. This is what we have in common together. Bread, what God has given us, Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice for us. So let me pray, and then we'll pass out the elements, and then hold them all and we'll take them together. Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks for what we see in the bread and the cup. We thank you for the body that you gave us, that perfect Son of yours. We thank you for his willing sacrifice. We thank you for a perfect priest. We thank you for a perfect sacrifice. For it's in these that we can come and draw near to you, confessing our sins, knowing that we will receive grace because of his great priesthood and his great sacrifice and your great gift to us. And it's in that knowledge we bow our hearts this morning. Please pass the element.