Dr. Mark Dever opened today’s session by lamenting the proliferation of choice in today’s culture. We have choice in everything from salad dressing to rental cars. Under government regulation, we come to believe that every choice that is available to us is safe, because those things that are somehow unsafe are not open to choice, we are protected from those. In turn, we begin to feel that every choice is not only safe, but equal. With all things being equal, we sink into a sea of cynicism. With so many equal and unimportant choices, we begin to feel as though nothing is worth dying for. But if nothing is worth dying for, is anything worth living for?

In response to this, Dever took us to the book of Hebrews. The entire book. Dever has become known for his “overview” approach, looking at the arguments of entire books of the Bible. While it is good that we might read John Piper, J.I. Packer and others, are we as well versed with the book of Joel and James?

The book of Hebrews forces us to examine two fundamental questions: 1) Who is Jesus, and 2) What has He done? There were other leaders the Hebrew believers were tempted to follow. These other leaders were not necessarily false teachers, but they did represent “choice,” but we must focus, not on teachers but on Christ. These other teachers were servants. Jesus, however, is not a servant, but the Son of God (Hebrews 1:2, etc.). Therefore, Jesus stands over and above our choice of teachers. Our teachers must point us to Him, for He is superior, He is supreme, He is sufficient; He alone. While these other servants, these other teachers were passing, temporal and sinful, Jesus alone is the Eternal, Sinless Son of God. He over-rides our “choice” for He alone is God. It was the ministry of these other servants to point to Him. We must not believe that our “freedom of choice” somehow applies to Christ.

The Person and Work of Christ are of supreme consideration. We cannot divorce Christ from Christianity, yet that’s exactly what so many of our pursuits of choice strive to do, perhaps subconsciously, but as we pursue choice, we will invariably purse choices that please us, made in our own likeness. Christ’s supremacy forces to lay aside our choice because He alone is the Christ. He continues to intercede while the servants are passing. I wonder how many of us are satisfied to lay aside our self-pursuits in order to pursue Christ as our supreme choice? How many of us are truly convinced, to the core of our being, of the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ, especially in such a pluralistic, “choice-based” age as ours? Are we content to be constrained, controlled by the love of Christ (both His love for us and our love for Him as we saw last night)?

Jesus alone was tempted and yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). We must find comfort here because Jesus alone has experienced temptation to the fullest because He alone resisted. We give in where Christ persevered. Jesus experienced temptation beyond what we will ever face. Oh, what comfort to know that our High Priest not only relates but offers victory where we only find defeat.

This brings us from Who Jesus Is to What Jesus Did. These other leaders were often quite impressive. They offered sacrifices required by the Law, well-ordered ceremonies. The early Christians were regarded as Atheists, we had no idols like the Romans or temples like the Jews, but these priests had their well-ordered ceremonies. But the writer to the Hebrews forces us to consider what these sacrifices were: repeated offerings of bulls and goats. Repeated because these imperfect leaders offered imperfect sacrifices. Yet it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (10:4), but Jesus was the perfect sacrifice (7:26ff). Christ Himself is not only sufficient, but so is His sacrifice. He is perfect forever, so this is the hope that we have in Christ.

It is our sin which separates us from God. This separation is only brought together, repaired in and through Christ. This is what Christ did and any approach to any problem that neglects the centrality of Christ and His Cross will fall short, leaving only more problems, though they may have been band-aided over for the short-term.

The sacrifice of Jesus is perfect in itself, unlike the Old Covenant offerings and is perfect in its effect. His sacrifice is complete because it is effective. He is making the faithful people that were predicted in the Old Testament (8:7ff).  Again we see that one of the fundamental aspects of counseling, indeed of all the Christian life, is pointing people to Christ alone. While this seems like such a fundamental truth, we so easily and quickly forget it. Jesus is the New and Unbreakable covenant and He is our surety and security. Christ’s sacrifice makes His people clean (Hebrews 9:13)! Only the sacrifice of Christ! All other approaches leave us still unclean before a Perfect, Just and Holy God.

The Old Testament sacrifices were not a mistake. No, they did what they were meant to do, point to Christ (10:1, etc.). We must not replace Christ with the things that were meant merely to point us to Him. Christ alone can make us truly clean and holy (10:12). Never take your eyes, your heart , its affects and obedience away from Christ! Christ is indeed the cornerstone and on His foundation alone can we ever truly stand.

Dever closed by pointing out seven dangers pointed out in the book of Hebrews: Ignorance (2:1), having heard, there is still the danger of unbelief (3:12), having believed there is still the danger of stopping (5:12; 6:1, 11-12), having stopped growing, almost inevitably you will not persevere in holiness (10:22, 26, 35-36), there is, then, in the midst of all of this, the danger of losing faith: persevering means having faith (11:1), there is also the danger of rejecting God’s discipline when we do stop: persevering means accepting discipline (12:10-11), finally, there is the danger of refusing this warning (12:25, 28-29). The book of Hebrews, in part, convinces us of the true severity of sin.

Along with Adams, Dever pointed us to the central role of Christ in the Christian life and in counseling. While this was not a practical, “here’s how you answer this problem,” this was a fundamental lecture pointing us to the fundamentals. It is true that ministry can often be its own worst enemy, but it is not only ministers who are in danger. In our age of choice, it is easy to come to believe that this applies to Christ as well. We must lovingly but boldly first believe and then preach (and practice) devotion and obedience to Christ alone and this will not come until we have first come to see who Christ is and what He has done.

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