Well, I thank you for that very
much. Look at Hebrews 1 again this
evening. Hebrews chapter 1. Well, amongst all the things
that I brought from Michigan with me was my stock watch. I forgot it this morning, and
I have no idea how long I preached because I can't tell time. Not back there anyway. I don't
pay much attention to that, but I'll try to pay attention to
this if I remember to look down. But anyway, so I won't go over
it because I don't want to get on Brother Trabant's bad side
or Brother Kuhn's bad side either. Alright, Hebrews chapter 1. You
know, in this first chapter, the Spirit of God really sets
the stage for the rest of the book of Hebrews. And I expect
you've noticed this, there is no introduction to the book of
Hebrews like there is to all of the other epistles. and it makes it unusual. In fact,
in most books, and we're just not talking about books of the
Bible now, but in most books, secular books that you would
read, the writers usually unfold their dramas rather slowly, kind
of deliberately, so as to sort of ease into the subject. But that's not the case with
the book of Hebrews. There is no introduction. There
is no salutation. In fact, it's the only one of
the epistles that's like that. Look back, just look at Philemon. There's only one chapter. Look
at Philemon verse 1. Let me show you this. Look at
this introduction where we read of Paul, a prisoner of Jesus
Christ, and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved
and fellow laborer." Now, I hear pages turning. It's just right
across the page. Philemon. It's just right close. It's a nearby neighbor. It's
next door neighbor to Hebrew. But there's an introduction to
it. You can see there's a salutation. Well, then look at James. So
we're looking at the bookends of the book of Hebrews. Look
at James chapter 1. And you will have to turn a few
pages for this. James chapter 1. James, a servant
of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes which
are scattered abroad, greeting. So those men, even in scripture,
they're led of the Spirit of God to sort of ease their way
into their epistle. They introduce themselves and
introduce their subject, and then they go on into the book
to deal with the things that the Spirit of God would have
them deal with. But that's not the way it is in the book of
Hebrews. In the book of Hebrews, the Spirit of God leads the writer
to get right to the point. right to the point. And that is the glory of Jesus
Christ. He sets forth here His supremacy,
and His superiority, and His sufficiency, as we talked about
this morning. In the first chapter, He sets
forth the glories of our Savior's wonderful person. And that's
very important. Because you see, everything that
he did as the prophet, as the priest, and as the king, everything
that he did has got to be and is connected to who he is. It's the glorious person of our
Savior that gives value to his work. the work of redemption, the work
of reconciliation. When he died for our sins according
to the scripture, why is that work effectual to the saving
of our souls? Why was it that his blood had
power to put our sins away? Other men died. There were martyrs
for the cause of God in truth. Well, why was this man's death
so vital and so necessary, and why was it so successful? Why was it that this man's death
actually put away the sins of those for whom he died? Why was it when this man hung
his head and gave up the ghost, why was it that he had such power
in his death that many were raised upon his resurrection? Why was
it that when he died, death received a fatal blow? Why was it that when he died,
he brought in everlasting righteousness for all of his people? This is
the answer. Because of who he is. Because
of who he is. That gives value and power and
efficacy to all that he did. So in the first chapter, we're
introduced to this wonderful person in whom all the fullness
of the Godhead dwells bodily. He is the prophet greater than
Moses. He is that high priest after
the order of Melchizedek. And he is that king of whom we
read a greater than Solomon is here. So the human writer gets
right to the point. The Spirit of God leads him to
introduce us to Christ Jesus immediately. He doesn't hesitate
to get to the very heart of his subject, because in chapter 1,
the writer identifies the Savior as being the eternal God. That
One who washed our sins away by the sacrifice of Himself and
upon the basis of His life laid down, God has exalted Him over
all, even over all of the angels. God commands the angels to render
glory and honor and worship to the Son of God. Let me give you
an overview of chapter 1. Look at verse 1. God. What a way to begin. God. That's where all true doctrine
begins. That's where theology begins.
It begins with God. You know, we are sovereign grace
people and we talk about TULIP. T-U-L-I-P. And I agree with all of that,
but here's the problem. It doesn't start with God. It
doesn't start with God. All true doctrine, all true theology
begins and ends with God. For the Lord is the beginning
of all things. He is the ending of all things.
Everything originates with Him. Everything is consummated by
Him. And everything is for His glory.
And so the Spirit of God begins the book of Hebrews by saying,
God. God. It's the way the Bible begins. In the beginning, God. This book
is about God. And I know we learn of ourselves
in the book, indeed we do. We learn of our sinfulness, we
learn of our fall as was set forth in the Bible class this
morning. We learn of our frailties, of our feebleness, of our corruption,
of our wickedness. But listen, in the Bible we learn
about God. God has spoken, God has revealed
Himself in His Word. This is the Word of God, isn't
it? It's the Word of God. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets. God spake. Here's the title of
my message. God has spoken. God has spoken. Now listen, brethren
and sisters, a silent God is an unknowable God. And yet this
is eternal life. To know God and Jesus Christ
whom He had sent. That is eternal life. That is
salvation. But if God doesn't speak, He
won't be known. He won't be known. Oh, I know
that the heavens declare the glory of God? And the firmament
shows His handiwork? And you can walk through the
valley, you can walk through blooming flowers, this time of
year you can ride around and look at the wonderful autumn
colors? And you'll learn something about
the power of God and the beauties of God and the wisdom of God
in creation. But listen, walking through a
field or taking a stroll by Rippling Brook, you can't learn how God
can be just and justify the ungodly. You're not going to learn that
unless God speaks. You're not going to learn how
sins are put away unless God speaks. God has to reveal Himself
and He has revealed Himself in His Word. This is the Word of
God in which He set forth Himself. This is His written Word and
He speaks to us by the living Word. In the beginning was the
Word. The Word was with God. The Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. There in John chapter 1, drop
down to verse 14, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, tabernacled among us. And John said, we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth. God has made Himself known in
His Son. He has spoken. He's the Word. Christ is the Word. What is a
Word? W-O-R-D. Four letters. What is it? What is a Word? It's
a vehicle of thought. There's no way you can know what's
on my mind unless I tell you. And the only way I can tell you
is to put it in words. God has made Himself known. His
will, the mind of God, the purpose of God, the will of God is made
known in, through, and by Christ Jesus the Lord, the incarnate
Word. God has spoken. The writer tells
us God spoke in time past. And if we're to know God, He's
going to have to speak to us. What's that old saying? If the
only voice you hear is my voice, you won't be any better off spiritually. You've got to hear the voice
of Him who wakes the dead. You've got to hear the voice
of Him who said, let there be light, and there was light. You've
got to hear the voice of Him who stood before the tomb of
Lazarus and said, Lazarus! Come forth. And then He who was
bound came forth alive. Oh God speak in life giving power. That's what we pray for. For
our family members, for our friends. Oh God you must speak. Indeed
God uses preachers. But I can't speak to you the
words that will raise you from the dead. But He can. And you
know what? We are living testimonies to
the fact that He does. He does speak life. He still
raises the dead. He raised you, didn't He? You
as a dead dog corpse. Dead in trespasses and sins. Smelly, foul in our sinfulness. Just like Lazarus. They said,
oh, you don't want to uncover the tomb. He's been dead four
days. By this time, he stinks. The
Lord said, roll that stone away. Here comes an act of grace. Here
comes an act of omnipotence. God spoke. God spoke. Oh, God, speak to me. Oh, God,
speak to you. We pray for God to speak, not
audibly, through his word. And that's the only way God speaks. He's not telling anybody any
secrets, whispering in anybody's ear, and if you ever hear any
preacher say, you know, God told me to tell you, you just walk
out immediately. God has no new revelations. God has spoken through His Son. Thank God He's speaking. He's
speaking to people. Let me show you a passage. I
was looking at this this afternoon. 1 Samuel. Look at 1 Samuel chapter
3. 1 Samuel chapter 3. And you will recognize this passage.
You know, Samuel has been taken by Hannah to the temple of the
Lord, to the tabernacle. Look at chapter 3, verse 1. And the child Samuel ministered
unto the Lord before Eli. The Word of God was precious
in those days. There was no open vision. The Word of God was rare. I was
reading an old writer this afternoon and he said, This is what this
means. God wasn't speaking to too many
people. Just a few. He doesn't have to speak to any
of us, does He? Except according to His eternal
purpose. But I mean, we're not deserving
of God speaking a word to us. The Word of God was rare. Listen,
He sends His Word to whom He will. And He doesn't have to
send it to you and He doesn't have to send it to me. He doesn't
have to send it to people in my family. He doesn't have to
send it to people in your family. Because He said, I'll be merciful
to whom I'll be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. What are you going to do about
that? You can't force His hand. You can't make Him speak to you. The Word of God was rare. Rare. Oh, God, speak to me. You don't
have to. All I've got coming to me by
nature is death and judgment and hell. But if you will, you
can show me mercy. Show me mercy through the sacrifice.
Let the blood, let the blood be ever in your eyes, oh God.
That righteousness established by the death of your Son. Look
on Him and show mercy on me. That's what we pray. And the Word of God was rare.
Precious. Verse 2, it came to pass at that
time when Eli was laid down in his place, his eyes began to
wax dim and he couldn't see. It was dark. He was weary. Watch it. Verse 3, and ere the
lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, it wasn't much light
there. Those lamps were beginning to
flicker. Lord, keep the light here. Isn't
that what we pray? God, keep the light here. Keep
the light on. Where the ark of God was. The ark of God. With the law
inside. Covered by the blood. Covered
by the blood. Samuel was laid down to sleep.
Watch it. Samuel was laid down to sleep.
Isn't that the condition of every sinner by nature? In the sleep
of death. Dead in trespasses and sins.
And in that condition we will remain, unless guess what? God speaks. We'll remain asleep. In the sleep of spiritual death. Ignorant of the things of God,
ignorant of the gospel of grace, ignorant of Jesus Christ and
His work of redemption will remain in the sleep of death unless
God speaks. You see, Samuel was an object
of sovereign love and grace. And this is the appointed time
for the love of God to be brought in his heart. This is a time
marked out from old eternity when the Lord would confront
Samuel with His Word. Word of grace, the Word of truth. God chose him unto salvation. Messiah would come hundreds of
years later and redeem him. Justify him by His grace. Justify him freely by His grace
without a cause in Samuel. But Samuel didn't know anything
about that. Because he's asleep. Isn't that you and me? Fast asleep. By nature. Watch it. Verse 4. The Lord called to Samuel. Now watch and listen. Samuel
didn't call to the Lord. The Lord called to Samuel. He said, well, you know the sinner
has got to take the first step in salvation. Some old preacher
said if he can take the first step he can go all the way. All
the way in the sleep of death. Ain't no taking a step here.
Excuse my southern English. Ain't no. I say that for emphasis. I know what correct grammar is.
I just rarely use it. Dead. Dead in sins. The Lord called Samuel. And I tell you, when He called, Samuel answered, here am I. Here
am I. This is the appointed time for
effectual grace to work in his heart. This is the time for the
regenerating power of the Spirit of God. This is the time for
revelation of God's Word to the heart of Samuel. He said, here
am I. Look at verse 5. And he ran to
Eli. And he said, here am I. Eli is an old man. Samuel is
just sleeping right down the hall and Samuel thinks he's in
trouble. I'm running to help him. So he
did. He says, here am I for thou callest
me. And Eli said, I didn't call you. Leave me alone. I've got to have
my sleep. I'm tired. He says, go lie down again. And
he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again,
Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to
Eli and said, here am I. But thou didst call me, and he
answered, I called you not, my son, lie down again. Now look
at verse 7. Now Samuel did not yet know the
Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. Not yet. It will be, but not
yet. That which Samuel is in need
of is a revelation of the Lord. He needs the Word of God to be
spoken to his heart. That's what a sinner needs. It's
for God Himself to take His Word, the Word of the Gospel, the Word
of free grace, the Word of life, the Word of pardoning mercy,
and drive it to the heart of a sinner. That's what's got to
happen. It's not about you doing something
for God. You can't do anything for God.
What are you going to do for God? He owns everything. He has
all power over all things. What are you going to do for
God? You can't do anything for God. He's got to do something
for you. And bless His name, He does.
He does miracles. He seeks and saves the lost. That's why He came, Ron. He came. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost. It's seeking and saving time
here. But the word of the Lord wasn't
revealed to him yet. Verse 18, the Lord called Samuel
again the third time, and he arose and went to Eli and said,
Here am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord
had called the child. Hey, this is more than a general
call. I know the Lord sends forth the
general call. You're called by His Word. You're
called by the preacher. This is an effectual call. This
is a call that gets the job done. This is a call in which God drives
His Word home deep within us. And you won't get away from this
call. This don't wear off. Religion wears off a lot of times. The call of the preacher, obeying
the call of the preacher, that'll wear out. But if God calls you,
if God calls you, you'll come and you'll never get over it.
Hey listen, I haven't gotten over His grace, have you? Have
you ever gotten over hearing Jesus Christ and Him crucified?
Has it ever got old to you? The gospel of free grace, of
forgiveness, of pardon, of righteousness? Oh my soul, I hadn't got over
that. I'm more excited about it today
than I've ever been in my life. Aren't you? Oh my. He called us. The Apostle Paul said, when it
pleased God, He called me by His grace. He revealed the truth. He revealed Christ in me when
it pleases God. Oh, may it please God to speak
to you tonight. Take that Word of life and make
you alive. Those who are dead in trespasses
and sin. You'll have to do it. Verse 9, therefore Eli said to
Samuel, go lie down. And it shall be if he call thee.
If he call thee. He doesn't have to. But if he
does, you say this, speak Lord. For thy servant heareth. You're
the master. You're the master. You're the
sovereign. You're the governor. You're the
king. You're the Almighty One. You've
got all power over all flesh. Speak, Lord, if you will. I'm
ready to hear. I'm ready to hear. So Samuel
went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood.
The Lord came. Blessed day when the Lord comes
to you. When the Lord comes to me, day
of grace, day of mercy. He stood. He's not going to leave
him. He just stood. Didn't pass him by. He stood
right where he was. Called as it was at the time,
Samuel, Samuel. And then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth. My ears
have been opened. I'm ready to hear. Speak and
keep on speaking. Keep on speaking. Let me show you another passage.
Look in Acts 22. Acts 22. This is the Apostle Paul and
he's rehearsing what God did for him, what the sovereign Christ
did for him. You know, here's Saul of Tarsus
and he was on his way to Damascus to arrest anybody who believed
in the way. Well, he didn't know he was going
to get arrested. He got arrested by Almighty Grace. That's what happened. The sovereign
Lord arrested him. And now he's telling about it.
He's telling what the Lord did for him. Look in Acts 22. And I'm not going to read all
this. Look at verse 12. And one Ananias, Acts 22, 12. A devout man according to the
law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
he came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive
thy sight. You go back earlier in the book
of Acts, you know, when the Lord said, go preach to Saul of Tarsus,
he was real hesitant to go, wasn't he? I've heard many things about
that man. I mean, Lord, he's throwing people
in prison. He's the enemy of the gospel.
And the Lord said to Ananias, not anymore he's not. Not anymore. He was an enemy, but now he's
a friend. Now he's ready to hear. And he
needs a preacher. He needs a preacher. And you're
the man, Ananias. And I just, this is my own thinking
here. When Ananias went to see him
and he said, Brother Saul, I bet you Ananias said that kind of
hesitatingly. Brother Saul? Just a little on the shy side
here. Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same
hour, I looked upon him. Now listen to what Ann and I
said to him. Verse 14. And he said, the God of our fathers
hath chosen thee. Wait a minute. You're not supposed
to preach election to unsaved people. or to new converts. That's deep doctrine for those
who have been in the gospel for years and years. Well, that's
not true. We love the glorious doctrine
of God's electing grace. You wouldn't be here tonight
with an interest in Christ Jesus and Him crucified, the gospel
of substitution and satisfaction were it not for the fact that
God chose you unto salvation. Whenever I hear somebody bad
mouth God's electing grace, I know they know nothing about the gospel.
They know nothing about the gospel. There's nobody on the top side
of God's green earth that's running around fussing about divine election
who knows the God of the Bible. Here's our testimony. By the
grace of God, I am what I am. He chose me. He chose me. He redeemed me. He called me. We're all the time talking about
what the Lord did. Salvations of the Lord. That's our message. That's the message of the Bible.
The God of our fathers hath chosen thee. Watch this. Three things.
Number one. That thou shouldest know His
will. What will? You can't know all the will of
God. That's not what this is. You know His redemptive will.
You know how He saved sinners. His will of salvation. You know
how God saved sinners. If you've been saved by His grace,
you know. You may not be able to give it
out in theological terms and all of that sort of thing, but
I'll guarantee if you're an object of God's mercy and God's grace
and He's revealed Christ Jesus to you, your testimony is, God
saved me! God's sake, God did something
for me. I was lost in sin and error and
misery. I had no interest in the things
of God, but He woke me up from my sleep of death. He shook me. He gave me life. And now I live. I see Christ Jesus the Lord. I see the glory of God in the
face of Christ. Oh, salvations of the Lord. That's
our testimony. The Lord convinces us of that. He said, the Lord has chosen
thee to know His will, to know how God can be just and still
justify ungodly sinners like us. And most people in religion don't
have the foggiest idea about that, do they? Just ask them. Ask them. Ask them why Christ
died. They don't really know. They
don't know. We know why He died. He died to put away our sin.
He died to satisfy God. You see, in salvation, God's
got to do something for Himself before He can do something for
us. He had to satisfy His own justice. He had to satisfy His
own law. And that meant his son died with
all of our sins imputed to him, laid upon him, made to meet upon
him, charged with our guilt. He died under the curse of the
law. And we get off, listen to this,
scot-free. We get everything for nothing. How do you like that? Everything
for nothing. There's nowhere else in the world
you can get everything for nothing except in the Gospel. He's chosen this man and He chose
you, if you're a believer, to know His will. To know His will. Watch the second thing. And see
that just one. See Him. He's the only just one
there is. Just eternally. Righteous eternally. To see Him. To see Him with the
eyes of faith. To see Him as the glorious Redeemer. To see Him as God. To see Him
as victorious. To see Him in all of His beauties.
And in His glories. To see Him as your Savior. To
see Him. And watch the third thing. Here
it is. And He chose you that you should
hear the voice of His mouth. You think about this. You who
are the people of God. Now you think about this. Before
the world began, That's going back a long time, isn't it? Before
the world began. Before God set the clock a running. He chose you unto salvation. I just hadn't got over that,
have you? And He ordained that you would know His will
and see the just one. And He ordained that you would
hear The voice of His mouth. Let me tell you something. Here's
the Lord's voice right here. That's His voice. And He speaks,
doesn't He? I believe He's spoken today.
Don't you? I tell you, He's spoken to me. And if He hadn't spoken to you,
you're in trouble. You're in deep trouble. The cry of your heart ought to
be, if you've got any sense at all, it would be, O God, while
on others Thou art calling, don't pass me by. I know Charlotte
Edeliot's song, Just As I Am, has been sung to death in most
churches and has seen 15,000 stanzas of it throughout the
lifetime of these false churches. But there's some good words in
that. just as I am without one plea,
but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that Thou bidst me come
to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!" It shows him to hear the voice of
his mouth. Speak, Lord. Speak, Lord. Are you ready to hear? I'm ready to hear, aren't you?
I'm ready to hear. What will the Lord say? I'm ready
to hear. The Lord said. We go through
this book from one end to the other and God speaks to us and
He's always telling us the same story of salvation by grace in Christ
Jesus. And as we've heard many, many
times the message of who He is and what He did and why He did
it, and where He is now. And it doesn't get old. It doesn't
get old. God has spoken. And I'll give
you this now quick. Go back to Hebrews 1. Hebrews 1 again. Hath in these last days spoken
unto us by His Son," watch this, "...whom He hath appointed heir."
He's ordained Him to be the heir of all things. And I want you
to take this with you as well. He's the Son of God. He's the
Son of God. Naturally, He's the heir. But
you know, by God's grace, we're heirs of God and joint heirs
with Jesus Christ. That's you and me. Can you grasp
that? What grace is this? That we should
be heirs, joint heirs with Christ. Well, who is Christ? Well, He's
the one by whom He made the world. Who is He? Look at verse 3. Who
being the brightness of His glory and the express image, the exact
image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His
power when He had by Himself. What did He do? He purged our
sins. He trodden the winepress alone. Alone. And then what did He do? He sat
down. on the right hand of the majesty
on high, made higher than the angels. King of kings, Lord of
lords. What a glorious Savior this is.
What a glorious Redeemer. And the Lord has spoken today
about His Son again, hasn't He? God's always got something to
say about His Son. And I tell you, God's people are always
ready to listen to you. Yes, indeed. Alright, 40 minutes
and 30 seconds.