If you turn back to the passage
of scripture I was just reading, I am sure that you have heard
that salvation is a person. You've heard that, haven't you?
And I dare say you believe that. Salvation is a person. What does that mean? Now, it's my prayer that by the
end of this message, you and I will have a clearer understanding
of what that means. Salvation is a person. The son is the one who saves. Salvation is a person. and the
son is the salvation. In Exodus chapter 15 verse two,
Moses said, the Lord is my strength and my song and become my salvation. In second Samuel 22 verse 51,
David said, he is the tower of salvation. In Job chapter
13 verse 16, Job said, he also shall be my salvation. Psalm 35 three, and this is a
frequent prayer of mine for me and for you. Say unto my soul,
I am thy salvation. Psalm 62, two, he only is my
rock and my salvation. Isaiah 12, two, God is my salvation. Now we know from those scriptures
Salvation is not an experience. Now salvation is with experience.
There's no question about that. But salvation is not an experience.
Salvation is a person. Turn with me to Luke chapter
two for just a moment. Luke chapter two. This is Simeon
in the temple. Verse 25. And behold, there was
a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The same man was
just and devout. You know what that means? He was
saved. He was just before God, and he was a devout man. That
describes every believer. He was a just man and devout
waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was
upon him, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that
he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought in the child, Jesus. He was only eight days old at
this time. He was there for circumcision after the manner of the law. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought in the child, Jesus,
to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he, Simeon
took the Lord Jesus up in his arms and blessed God and said,
Lord, now let us now, thy servant, depart in peace according to
thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. That one in his hands that was
only eight days old, this person, he says, I'm ready to depart
and die in peace because mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Now we're going to look at Hebrews
1, but I d like to look at the first three verses of Hebrews
2 as an introduction, and I suppose that Hebrews 1 could be called
one of those high points of the Scripture. Now, I hesitate in
some ways to call one passage of scripture, a high point over
another because it's all God's word. But this is so filled with
the excellency and the glory of Christ that I do count this
a high point in scripture. I hope we'll see that in a few
moments, but look in chapter two of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter two, the writer
to the Hebrew says, therefore we ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we have heard, talking about everything
he said in Hebrews chapter one. That's what he's talking about.
The excellency and the glory of the person of Jesus Christ,
the majesty, the deity, the glory, the creatorship, the absolute
sovereign control. The one who purged our sins.
Oh, the glorious things. He says concerning Christ, then
he says, we ought to give the more earnest heed to these things,
lest at any time we should let them slip, leak out, drift away,
slip away, glide away. I've seen it happen and it'll
happen to me apart from God's grace, it'll happen to you apart
from God's grace. You'll hear the truth and you'll grasp it
and it'll slip away. That's what he's warning us about. Look what he says in chapter
three, verse six. Christ is a son over his house, whose house are
we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope
firm unto the end, that we don't let slip out. Look in verse 14,
for we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast unto the end, that we don't let these
things slip, that we don't drift away from what is being said. Now look what he says in verse
two, for if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of
reward. Now what he's talking about is
the fall of the angels. There was a fall of the angels. And do you know there was no
savior for them? Every sin committed received
an absolutely just recompense of reward. No mercy for angels,
no grace for angels that fail. Now that being the
case, how shall we escape if we, what's that word? Neglect, be negligent in. So great salvation. Now this great salvation is who
is described in Hebrews chapter one, as we're going to see. How
shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Make light of, give no regard
to, be negligent of, so great the person and glory of Christ. So great a salvation. Now, what do we have to do to
neglect something? Nothing. Nothing. That's all it takes. The Lord said in Lamentations
1, is it nothing to you? All ye that pass by, behold and
see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow. where with the Lord
hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger, there will
be no escape. And you can write this down.
There will be no escape for that one who neglects God's salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ, his excellency
and his glory. Now let's go back to Hebrews
chapter one. I wanna read this chapter and make some comments
on it. And I love the way this book begins. And it's the only
book in the Bible, all 66 books, that begins like this. God. The only reality. The only reality. All this stuff is a dream. All
this stuff is temporary. All this stuff is gonna be burned
up. God. The living God. The God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The glorious God. The only true God. The Creator. The Cause. The Sovereign Savior. The Eternal
God. The One who never began and will
never end. God. This God has spoken. Aren't you thankful for that?
This God hath spoken. But what it says, God, who at
sundry times and in diverse manners, in many ways and in many times,
he spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets. Oh,
aren't you thankful for that, saith the Lord? Every Old Testament
book, as far as that goes, every New Testament book is, Thus saith
the Lord, except when the Lord speaks. He never says, Thus saith
the Lord. He says, I say it to you. But
thank God he speaks. And look what it says with regard
to his speaking. He hath in these last days. Now
the last days are every day between the first and second advent of
Christ. We've been living in the last
days for 2,000 years. And somebody says, that's a long
time. Not really. One day with the Lord is 1,000 years, and
1,000 years is a day. I mean, two days. That's not
that long. And we could be in the last of
the last days. I hope we are. When the Lord
said, I come behold, I come quickly. I love what John said, even so
come Lord Jesus. Wouldn't that be wonderful if
he came back tonight? The last days are all the days between
the first and second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. But look
at the way this is stated. He hath in these last days spoken
unto us by, and notice, his is in italics. I wouldn't fight
against that. I mean, it was put there by the
translators, but it's not in the original. I'm thankful for
the King James in the sense that they are honest enough to when
the word is not in the actual text, they go ahead and put it
in italics so you can see. That's why we love the King James
Version. But here's what's being said. God hath spoken by the
prophets, but now he speaks. Here's his word, the Son. The Son of God. Now listen real carefully. God,
all he has to say is his Son. Now do you understand that? All he has to say. is his son. He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. That's his command
to us. Hear ye him. You see, he's given
all honor to the son that all men should honor the son, even
as they honor the father. God will not speak to you, nor
will he allow you to speak to him apart from His Son. God, who in various manners at
different times, spake in times past to our fathers by the prophets,
thus saith the Lord, hath in these last days spoken to us
by His Son. And then we're given this beautiful
identification of who the Son is. Now remember, He is salvation. He is salvation, we're gonna
see why. Look how the writer to the Hebrews identifies the
son. The son is the one, in verse
two, whom he, the father, hath appointed heir of all things. He is the heir. You know what
that means? That means all things are his.
All things are for Him. God created the world for this
purpose, to glorify His Son. He didn't create me and you because
He's lonely. God is completely satisfied in
the fellowship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
He made man for the glory and the honor of His Son, to glorify
Him. You see, He's the heir of all
things. This isn't about you. This isn't
about me. This is about the heir, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the purpose of God. Everything is for his glory. If he saves you, if he saves
me, oh, how he'll be glorified in my salvation. I'll be saved
in a way where he'll get all the glory, none go to me, none. If he condemns me, It'll be for
his glory, to the praise of the glory of his justice. You know,
we can't understand this now, but if he sends me to hell, all
the world will applaud God for ridding the world of somebody
like me. He is absolutely just. The damnation of a sinner will
bring glory to him. The salvation of a sinner will
glorify and honor and exalt him. He is the one appointed heir
of all things. Look what it says next. By whom
also he made the world. This one who is salvation, he's
the creator. It was he who said, let us make
man in our own image. It was he who spake the world
into existence. Jesus Christ is the creator. I love saying that. I love saying
he's God. I love saying he is the creator. All things were made by him and
for him. He's before all things and by
him all things consist, whether they be thrown, for by him were
all things created that are in heaven and earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, or
powers, all things were created by him and for him. Now he's
the creator. He's the creator. And look what
it says in verse three concerning this one who is salvation, who
being the brightness of his glory, the effulgence of God's glory. He's the radiation. He's the
shining of deity. He is the glory of God. He's the substance. He's the
essence of God. What's that mean? You know, I
don't know. I know enough to know that whatever
God is, it's who Jesus Christ is. Colossians 2, 9 says, in
Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. That's
who He is. He's the brightness of His glory,
the express image of His person. If you put a blow and said, this
is God, you know what it would be? Jesus Christ. He's the express
image, the divine imprint of the glorious, infinite being
of God. Now look what it says about this
one. who is appointed heir of all things, the creator who made
the worlds, the one who is the brightness of God's glory, and
the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word
of His power. You know the reason you breathed
just now? Because He willed it. You know the reason your heart
pumped just now? Because He willed it. You know the reason you're
here right now? Because He willed it. He is in
control. Everything consists by Him. He's not a God of far
off, he's a God of near. In him we live and move and have
our being. And what does it say about this
one who by him all things consist? I don't know of a passage of
scripture that's more precious to me than this at the end of
verse three. When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down, on
the right hand of the majesty on high. When he had by himself
with no help, when he by himself purged our
sins. Now it's absolutely requisite
that we have some understanding of who this hour is. Who is this hour whose sins are
purged? Is there a place called hell?
Yes, there is. Are there people in hell? Yes,
there is. Those people's sins were not
purged. Who is the hour whose sins are purged? Now this is
very important that we understand this because if we don't understand
this, the purging of sins is meaningless. If he purged somebody's
sins who's in hell, what good did that do them? Absolutely
none. When he's talking about the hour
whose sins are purged, he's talking about the elect of God. Those the father gave him, those
he represented, those he kept the law for, those he died for. What did he do for these people?
He purged. He purged our sins. He made them not to be. He made them to where they are
not. They're not hidden somewhere.
They're not put back in some box somewhere to be brought back
up on judgment day. They're purged. They don't have
any existence in the universe. They're gone. There's no way
you can look for them and find them. God said, their sins and
iniquities, I will remember no more. And the reason he can't
remember them is there's nothing there to remember. He purged. He made purification. He put
away. Now once in the end of the world,
hath He appeared to put away sin. He is salvation, isn't He? He
is salvation. And notice it says He by Himself
purged our sins. You know what that means? That
means He didn't have any help in it. Now that tells us how
much he is salvation. Now I say this, I hope with fear
and trembling and reverence, but the Father didn't help him
in the purging of sins. You remember how he cried, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from
helping me? And the words of my roaring,
He was by himself purging our sins. He sure didn't have any
help from any of you. I mean, we had no, the only part
we had in this is our sins. We certainly didn't contribute
in any way. When he had by himself. Aren't you glad the Holy Spirit
said that? He didn't just say when he purged our sins, he said
when he by himself purged our sins. This is a reminder to us
that he is salvation. When he had by himself purged
our sins, what did he do? He sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. Why did he sit down? Because
the work was finished. That's why he sat down. I love
that scripture in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 12, and every high
priest standeth daily ministering oftentimes the same sacrifices
which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. Why was he sitting? The work was finished. The work was finished. He sat
down at the right hand of the majesty on high, verse four,
being made so much better than the angels. Now angels are mighty
beings, I don't know much about them, neither does anybody else,
we know what the scripture says. They're greater in power and
might than we are, the scripture says that. But I know this, they're
creatures and he's their creator. Being made so much better than
the angels. Now, one of the key words to
the entire book of Hebrews is the word better. He's better. He's superlatively better than
the angels. They really can't be compared
with him. We read in Hebrews 7, without all contradiction,
the less is blessed of the better. He is called the better hope.
Now, there's some folks that have a hope of being saved, and
that hope somehow is dependent upon, well, I've done my best.
Let me tell you what a better hope is, that he is salvation,
that everything God requires of me, he looks to his son for.
Oh, that's a better hope, isn't it? We read of a better testament,
the covenant of grace as opposed to covenant of works. That's
so much better. Grace is better than works. We read of Him being
the surety, the guarantee of the better testimony. We read
in Hebrews 8, verse 6, of better promises. Now, which promise
is better? I promise you salvation if you
keep the law, or I promise you salvation if Christ keeps the
law for you. Which promise is better? That's a no-brainer.
These are better promises. I love the way it speaks of,
he says, of the blood of Christ that speaks better things than
that of Abel. Now, you think of what Abel's
blood spoke. Remember when God said, it cries
to me from the ground? What did it say? Vengeance! What's the
blood of Christ cry? Forgiveness. Justification. Salvation. He's the better sacrifice. All his blood is a better sacrifice
than the sacrifice of the blood of bulls and goats. Now he hath
obtained a more excellent name than they. He's so much better.
Verse five, for which, unto which of the angels said he at any
time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Did he ever say that to an angel?
No, you know, the angels were created at a point in time, not
the son. He's the eternal begotten son
of God. And to which of the angels did
he say, I'll be to him a father and he shall be to me a son.
Hadn't happened. Verse six, again, when he bringeth
the first begotten into the world, he say, let all the angels of
God worship him. Wouldn't you have loved to heard
that heavenly host? When the angels cried out, glory to God
in the highest on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Verse seven,
of the angels, he saith, who maketh his angels spirits and
his ministers, his servants, a flame of fire. That's good
for the angels, but under the sun, he saith, and this is God
speaking to the sun. Thy throne, O God. That's the Father speaking to
the Son. In what, and I say this reverently, you know the Father
and the Son worship each other, don't they? The Father and the
Son and the Spirit worship each other. And here the Father worships
his only begotten Son. That is, now somebody says, how
can you say that? Well, the Lord said all men are
to honor me as they honor the Father, didn't he? He said, He
hath given all judgment to the Son, that all men might honor
the Son, even as they honor the Father. How the Father honored
the Son when He said, Thy throne, O God, is forever, is eternal. It never had a beginning. It'll
never end. And Thy throne, O God, is forever
a scepter of righteousness. is the scepter of thy kingdom.
Sitting on the throne, he has a scepter of righteousness, the
righteousness of God. Now, here's where all of our
joy comes from. His salvation is a righteous
salvation. I'm saved by the righteousness
of God. The righteousness of God demands
my salvation. I have the righteousness of God,
it's mine. Everything about the gospel has
something to do with the righteousness of God. I'm not ashamed of the
gospel for it's the power of God to salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein
in the gospel is the righteousness of God revealed. Look what verse nine says. Thou
has loved righteousness and hated iniquity. You know, you can't love without
hate. Now understand that. You cannot love, not real love,
you cannot love without hate. Thou has loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Those are God's words. And I realize God's hatred doesn't
have anything to do with the hatred you and I have. It's a
holy hatred. It's a perfect hatred. It's part
of his character. It's part of who he is. But this
is God's holiness. He loves righteousness and he
hates iniquity. Now you can worship that God,
can't you? You can bow down before him, that one who loves righteousness
and hates iniquity. And because of that, therefore,
God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows. And thou, Lord, verse 10, in
the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth. Now, I love that
we were saved before the foundation of the world. And he's the one
who laid the foundation of the world. Thou, Lord, in the beginning
has laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the
work of thine hands. Now look what he says with regard
to the heavens and all created things. They shall perish, but
thou remainest. And they all shall wax old as
doth a garment, a dry rotted garment. And as a vesture, a
robe, shalt thou fold them up, I'm finished with this, and put
it away. And they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail. Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. and his years shall not fail,
they shall not cease, they are eternal. Now, would you turn
back to Hebrews 12 for a moment? Everything created is going to
be destroyed. Verse 27, Verse 26, whose voice
then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, yet
once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this
word, yet once more, signify the removing of those things
that are shaken as of things that are made, created, things
that don't have an eternal existence. That those things which cannot
be shaken What's that? Christ and all of those who are
eternally united to him. Now God's gonna give everything
a shaking. And the only thing that will
remain is Christ and those in him. Now back to Hebrews 1. His years shall not fail. But
to which of the angels said he, at any time, sit on my right
hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all
ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall
be heirs of salvation? That's the purpose of angels.
They're given to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. Therefore, in light of the excellency and
the glory of Jesus Christ, he who is salvation. There's salvation in none other.
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things
which we have heard tonight, lest at any time we should let
them slip. My marginal reading says run
out as a leaking vessel. Now, somebody says, can a true
child of God let these slip? No. No, the Lord said, I give
my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. But that
doesn't create presumption. I don't wanna let these things
slip, do you? I wanna hold them tightly and
not let go. Four, verse two. If the word
spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward, there was no mercy for
angels. You know, I think it's interesting. I've never heard
anybody talk about the fairness of God with regard to angels.
I've heard people argue with God's fairness in election and
Christ's redemption for his lack, but I've never heard anybody
say, you know, it really isn't fair. God didn't provide a savior for
angels. Nobody's ever said that. But
here we have this saying, there was no savior for angels. So
he says, verse three, how shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? Now remember, all you have to
do to neglect is do nothing. That's it. That's what neglecting
is. All you have to do to neglect
this great salvation is nothing. You fail to see that he himself
is salvation. Now does this passage of scripture
set forth clearly that salvation really is a person? The person of the Lord Jesus
Christ and he is all my salvation. And I love saying this. I can say this with full conviction. He's all I have. He's all I want. And he is all
I need. He is salvation. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
glorious person of Christ. And Lord, we can't see him as
we would. We can't see him as glorious
as he is. We can't see the fullness of
the salvation that's in him the way we would. But Lord, we confess
that he is thy salvation and our one desire is that we might
be found in Him. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.