Dark the stain that soiled man's
nature Long the distance that he fell Far removed from hope
and heaven Into deep despair and hell But there was a fountain
open And the blood of God's own Son Purifies the soul and reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone Praise the Lord for full salvation
God still reigns upon his throne And I know the blood still reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone Conscious of the deep pollution,
sinners wander in the night. Though they hear the shepherd
calling, they still fear to face the light. It's the blessed consolation
that can melt the heart of stone. That sweet balm of Gilead reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone Praise the Lord for full salvation
God still reigns upon His throne And I know the blood still reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone. All unworthy we who've wandered
And our eyes are wet with tears As we think of love that sought
us Through the weary, wasted years Yet we walk the holy highway
Walking by God's grace alone ? Glowing Calvary's fountain
reaches ? ? Deeper than the stake has gone ? ? Praise the Lord for full salvation
? ? God still reigns upon his throne ? ? And I know the blood
still reaches ? Deeper than the snake has gone. When with holy choirs we're standing
In the presence of the King And our souls are lost in wonder
While the wide-robed choirs sing Then we'll praise the name of
Jesus With the millions round the throne Praise Him for the
power that reaches Deeper than the stain has gone Praise the Lord for full salvation
God still reigns upon His throne And I know the blood still reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. Would you turn to Hebrews chapter
1. I've entitled this message, The
Question That Answers All Others. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1. God, who at sundry times and diverse
manners spake. in times passed into the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds. who, being the brightness of
his glory and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when
he had by himself purged Our sins sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. The question that answers all
others, who is Jesus Christ? If I know The answer to that
question, I know the answer to every other question. Who is Jesus Christ? You see,
if you know who he is, you will believe. There is no one who
knows who he is that does not believe the gospel. This is eternal life, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent. The thief on the cross went to
the cross not knowing who he was. And sometime during that time
while he was on the cross, it was revealed to him who Jesus
Christ is. If I know who he is, I do believe. And if I do not believe, it's
because I really do not know who he is. Who is Jesus Christ? Now, probably everyone believes
that Jesus Christ to be a historical figure and he died on the cross,
but who is he? Our answer to that question will
answer every other question. Who is Jesus Christ? Now, I love the way the book
of Hebrews begins And actually no other book in the Bible begins
with this word, God. No attempt to prove his existence. No need to prove his existence. Creation says he is. Somebody made all this and nobody
made him. Creation demonstrates His eternal
power and Godhead. And thank God, He is the God
who speaks. I pray that He speaks to us this
morning. He is the God who speaks. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake and times passed into the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his
son. Thank God he is the God who speaks." And there's something very different
from his speech and my speech and your speech My words, unfortunately, may
not correspond with my actions. And my actions may indeed make
my words meaningless. But when he speaks, it's done. There's no difference between
his speech and his action. Light be. Light was. That's how supreme his word is. When he speaks, it's already
done. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners, spake in times past to the fathers by
the prophets, sometimes in dreams and visions, sometimes in pre-incarnate
appearances of the Lord himself. He spoke in parables. He spoke
through the law. He spoke through the sacrifices
and ceremonies. He spoke through the tabernacle,
the Old Testament scriptures. God spake in times past to our
fathers by the prophets. But he hath in these last days,
and the last days are all the days between the first and second
advent of Christ. Many predictions have been made
with regard to when the last day will be. No one knows. I
hope it's today. But it might be thousands of
years, I don't know. But it's still the last days.
All the days since the first coming of Christ and when he
returns are the last days. But I love the way he says this.
In these last days, he has spoken by his son. Would you turn with me for a
moment to John chapter five? What is the significance of Christ
being the son? Verse 17, John chapter five. But Jesus answered them, my father
worketh hitherto and I work. When my father works, I work. Therefore, the Jews sought the
more to kill him because he not only had broken the Sabbath,
but said also that God was his father. Look at that next line,
making himself equal with God. Now, the only one who's equal
with God is God. Verse 19, then answered Jesus
and said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, the son can do
nothing of himself, but what he seeth the father do. For whatsoever things he doeth,
these also doeth the son likewise. One action. What the father does,
the son does. For the father loveth the son. and showeth him all things that
himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these
that you may marvel. For as the father raises up the
dead and quickens them in the precise same manner, even so
the son quickeneth whom he will. For the father judges no man,
but have committed all judgment under the son, that all men should
honor the son, even as they honor the father. He that honoreth
not the son, honoreth not the father which has sent him. Barely,
barely I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Now, the
father's works are the son's works. The father's words are
the son's words. I love saying this, Jesus Christ
is God. He's God the son, equal to the
father. He said, or John said of him
in John 1,1, in the beginning was the word. Back whenever the beginning was,
the word already was. And the Word was with God as
a distinct person. And the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. He is God the Son. Do you know that all you and
I will ever see of the living God is Jesus Christ? He said,
He that has seen me seen the Father. I love that. He hath in these last days spoken
to us by Son. Now how can you know what's in
my mind? The only way you can know what's
in my mind is if I truthfully tell you by words that come out. I can lie, God can't. And when he speaks his mind,
what is the word that comes out? Christ Jesus, the son. Verse two, in these last days,
who is Jesus Christ? He is the eternal son of God. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the
one that God, his father, has appointed heir of what? All things. You know, you're sitting in his
space. You're breathing his air. And
the only reason you're alive right now is because he wills
it. The same is true of me and every other man. You see, he
owns everything. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. The world and they that dwell
therein, all things are for the glory of the heir of all things. That is the purpose of everything. Space, time, whatever takes place,
he's the heir of. It all belongs to him. All things are for his glory,
and that's the purpose of everything. Who is Jesus Christ? Look in
verse two. He hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom also he made the worlds. Who is Jesus Christ? He's the
creator. From the vastness of the universe,
the galaxies to the minutia of an atom, he is the creator. It was Him who said, let us make
man in our own image. All things were made by Him and
for Him. And He is before all things. Whatever it is, He's before it. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. If our concept of Christ begins
in a manger and ends on a cross, we're clueless. He is the eternal
Son of God. Look in verse 3. Who is Jesus
Christ? Who? Being. the brightness of
His glory, and the express image of His person. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the very brightness, the
shining forth, the effulgence, the glory of God. He's not effect of glory. reflected
glory. He is the glory of God, the express
image, the transcript, the true character of God. He's not like
God. He is God. Jesus Christ is God. The brightness of his glory and
the express image of his person. Listen to this in Colossians
chapter two, verse nine, it says in him, dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body." Who is Jesus Christ? He is the brightness,
literally, of God's glory. The express image, all you'll
ever see, all I'll ever see of God is Jesus Christ, the man,
Christ Jesus. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
Let's go on reading. Who is Jesus Christ? Who, being
the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person
and upholding all things, By the word of His power. Who is Jesus Christ? He's the
one who upholds all things. By the word of His omnipotence. Everything in time and space
are held together by his omnipotence. He's absolutely sovereign in
everything. Do you know the very thoughts that are going through
your mind freely and uncoerced? He's in absolute control of them.
Somebody says, I don't believe that. He's in control of that
too. He's in absolute control of all. He upholds all things
by the word of his power. There's nothing that is independent
of that, nothing. He's the first cause of all things. Aren't you glad it's that way?
He upholds all things. By the word of His power, there's
no event, there's no creature that is not under His absolute
control. Can I not do what I will with
my own? He can and He does. He's completely
sovereign, upholding all things by the word of His power. Now, now this Next thing is meaningless
if he isn't everything who he said he is. Who is Jesus Christ? The one
who when he had by himself purged our sins. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the
one who by himself purged our sins. Now for us to understand
the meaning of that statement, we're going to have to understand
who is meant by our when it says he purged our sins. Who is included in the hour of
our text. The reason I have to ask that
is most people, most religious people would say, well, he means
everybody. Our is all of us. He purged the sins of all men. He died for all men. He shed his blood for all men. Now, if that is what is meant
by our, one of two things are true. Number one, there's no
such thing as hell. Everybody's saved. If he died for the sins of all
men, all men will be saved. The other option of that kind
of thinking is his blood is not sufficient to save. If there
is somebody in hell that he shed his precious blood for, his blood
doesn't save. His blood in reality is worthless. It's not his blood that saves.
It's what you do with his blood that saves you. That puts the
burden of salvation upon the sinner and not upon the savior. So who is meant by our, when
it says when he had by himself purged our sins? The elect of God. The sheep, the Christ said, I
laid down my life for the sheep. Not everybody's a sheep. He said
to the Pharisees, you believe not because you're not my sheep.
As I said unto you, you see, there are goats and there are
sheep. A sheep never becomes a goat. A goat never becomes
a sheep. Husbands, love your wives as
Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Those that he
purged are the elect, his people, those the father gave to him. Now, All of these people have
this in common. If you want to know if you're
one of those people, all of these people without exception have
this in common. They need their sins to be purged. They are filthy inside and out. defiled by their sin and there's
nothing they can do to remove that sin. They need Him to do
something about their sin because they cannot do anything about
their own sin. I need Him. I need Him to do
something about my sin. Isn't that what David said? Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my sin. Wash me from
my iniquities. Hide your face from my sin. Make
them not to be. Cleanse me. And this is what
all of these people have in common. They're all dirty and defiled
by their sin. and they need him to purge their
sin. Now the text says, when he had
by himself purged our sin, washed them away so that they
are no more. You see, when he drank that cup,
the contents of that cup in Gethsemane's garden, He was taking into himself
the sins of his people. You'll remember he said, Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. At that time in
his humanity, the thought of taking on sin. You see, sin doesn't
really bother us. Oh, it does somewhat, but not
much. But the holy, harmless, spotless
Son of God, drinking in the sins of his people, being made to
be sin to where, what sins? There it is on the cross. There
it is. He was made to be sin. 1 Peter 2, 24 says when he had
bare our sins in his own body on the tree. Now, when he was
purging our sins, bearing them, putting them away, suffering
all of God's wrath in the room instead of his people. What were
his final words? It is finished. You know what that means? All sin
purged, paid for, put away, made not to be. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. Romans 4 25. He was delivered for our offenses.
That's a good title name for our sin offenses, offensive to
God. What grace, what mercy, what
love that he would deliver up his son for our offenses. And
when our Lord was raised from the dead, he was raised because
of our justification. You see, the moment he died,
he didn't go through the process of decay the way you and I will,
because he did something by his death. Sin was purged. Sin was put away. Sin was made
not to be. And every believer, has no sin
before God, because he purged it, were called holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in his sight. That describes you. That's what God says of you.
Holy, unblameable, unreprovable in the very sight of God, who
sees as it is. And I don't want us to miss this.
When he had by himself purged our sins. Now on the cross, he was by himself. I wish I could speak on this
the way it ought to be spoken on. But he was by himself. He didn't have the father helping
him. He was all alone. He cried out, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping
me? And the words of my Lord, he
had no help from his father. He was by himself. He had no angels helping him
the way they minister to him in Gethsemane's garden no more.
He's now on Calvary's tree by himself bearing the awful load. He didn't have any of his disciples
at his feet saying, we know you're doing this for us and we love
you for it. No, he was by himself, utterly
forsaken by his Father. Now, in this great work of the
purging of our sins, he did this by himself. No contributions from anyone.
He did this by himself. This great work was accomplished
not by enabling me and you to do something. that would make
what he did work for us and to activate it by himself means
forget doing. Do you hear that? When he had
by himself purged our sins, forget doing. It's finished. When we read Revelation 21 a
moment ago, those words came to me. The former things of past,
behold, I make all things new. Do you know I have a new history?
You can't change history either. Historical fact, but I have a
new history. So does every other believer.
And it's a history of nothing but perfection because he said,
behold, I make all things new. Now, if any part of my salvation
is dependent upon me doing something and you listen real carefully,
I want you to hear what's being said. If any part of my salvation
is dependent upon me doing something, if my salvation If the purging
of my sins is dependent upon my faith, or my repentance, or
my holy living, or my ability to stop committing some particular
sin, if my salvation is dependent upon me doing anything, I have
no hope. But thank God, when he had by
himself purged our sins. At a point in time, in a particular
place on Golgotha's hill, he by himself purged our sins, made them not to be, so that
I stand before God without sin. Who is Jesus Christ? He's the one who by himself purged
our sins. And what did he do upon purging
our sins? He sat down. He sat down. At the right hand of the majesty
on high, the place of favor, the place of power, sitting. His work finished. Sins purged,
sitting, not pacing back and forth in frustration because
his will's not being done. Sitting, undisturbed by opposition. Sitting in absolute, complete
control, having finished his work. The sitting Savior. I like to say that. The sitting
Savior. You know, the only time we read
of him standing up from his throne is when Stephen was stoned. And
he stands up to greet all of his people. But he is the sitting
Savior. Now, in the tabernacle, you had
the brazen altar, you had the laver, you had the candlesticks.
The altar of incense, the table of showbread, the veil separating
the holy place and the holy of holies where the Ark of the Covenant
and the mercy seat was. But there was a piece of furniture
that was conspicuously absent. You know what that was? A chair. No chairs in the tabernacle. Why? Turn to Hebrews chapter
10. Verse 11, and every priest standeth, daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices. How many
animals were sacrificed? How much blood was shed? Thousands,
millions over the years, over the centuries. And there they
stand, not sitting, standing, Daily ministering, offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering, He hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. Everybody he set
apart for this. Both he that sanctifyeth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. For the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. Question. How satisfied is the father with
what his son did? He's infinitely satisfied. He's
not looking for anything else. Do you hear that? He's infinitely
satisfied with what his son did. How satisfied is the son with
what he accomplished? Well, the scripture tells us
in Isaiah 53, he shall see of the travail of his soul and be
satisfied. The Lord Jesus Christ is completely
satisfied with what he did in the purging of sins. He's not
looking for anything else. He left nothing undone. He left
nothing incomplete. Nothing left for me or you to
do. The complete purging of sins. Just as after the creation was
finished and everything was done, he rested. Why? The work was
finished. Nothing left to do. It was very
good. After having purged our sins,
he sat down in complete satisfaction that he had finished the work. The Holy Spirit is satisfied
with this. As a matter of fact, this is
the message he gives testimony to. Look in verse 15 of chapter
10. Where of the Holy Ghost also
is a witness to us. This is what he bears witness
to. Now, if you're hearing gospel preaching
that the Holy Spirit is inspiring, this is what he bears witness
to. We have this in words written down. Where of the Holy Ghost
also is a witness to us. For after he said before, this
is the covenant that I'll make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my laws into their hearts, in their minds
while I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. Now, how is it he can't remember? There's nothing there to remember.
That's what he accomplished in the purging of our sins. Now,
verse 18. Where remission of these is,
there's no more offering for sin. Don't you try to bring one.
Don't you try to bring your good intentions and your tears and
your efforts. There's no more offering for
sin. God the Father is satisfied.
God the Son is satisfied. God the Holy Spirit is satisfied. Are you? Are you satisfied with what he
did by himself with no help from you? He did it all, and he did
it all by himself. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the
one who by himself purged our sins and sat down. The work being finished. Now somebody is thinking, what am I to do? I see what he's
done. What am I to do? Right now, give
me some clear direction. What am I to do? Hebrews chapter four, verse nine
says there remaineth a rest for the people of God, for he that
has entered into his rest hath ceased from his own works as
God did from his. What am I to do? Cease from my
own works as God did from his and rest. Don't make resolutions of how
you'll change and do better. Don't think of doing. What am I to do? What must we
do that we might work the works of God? This is the work of God,
that you believe on him whom he hath sent. You know what comes
after that? A period. Who is Jesus Christ? He's the
Son, God the Son, the heir, the creator of the worlds, the universe, the one who is the brightness
of the Father's glory, the one who is the express image of his
person, the one who upholds all things by the word of his power,
the one who by himself purged our sins and sat down at the
right hand of the majesty on high. Do you know who he is? If you do, you do trust him only
as salvation. I'm not asking you if you know
you're elect. I'm not asking you if you know
that you're saved. I'm not asking you if you know
that Jesus Christ paid for your sins. I am asking you this, do
you know who he is? Do you believe this describes
him? If you do, you rest your soul's
salvation in him. May God give us all the grace
to do so. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that you would take
your word and bless it to our hearts and give us the grace, every
one of us, Lord, we're asking for each person here according
to your will, give every single one of us the grace to cease
from our own works and to rest in what thy son has accomplished. Lord, your son, is altogether glorious,
altogether lovely. We ask for the grace to trust
him. And Lord, indeed we do trust
him who by himself purged our sins. Bless this message for
Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. Okay. 351. 351. Stand. Number 351. If you'll notice
in the chorus, it says, in the cross, in the cross. We're going
to change that to in the Christ of the cross.