Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
one, if you would. You know, it doesn't seem that
long since I was standing here last, a little over four months
ago, I think, just before I left for New Guinea. But it's a privilege,
as always. It's just a privilege for me
to preach the gospel and it's a privilege for me particularly
to preach the gospel to you folk here. It's just, it just is such
a blessing to me. And I trust that the Lord will
show us something from these first few verses of Hebrews chapter
one. And you know, as always, whenever
I read these verses, These first three verses of this first chapter
of Hebrews are some of the most magnificent verses in the Bible. They're full of Christ. They're
full of the gospel. They're full of glory. They're
full of grace. And you know, if you've heard
me preach a number of times, you may be thinking, You know,
he says that about every passage he preaches on. That it's remarkable,
that it's glorious, that it's wonderful. Well, I'm not the
only one. Wednesday night, David preached from 1 John, the first
three verses of that chapter three. And he said, these are
some of the most wonderful verses in the word of God. But it's
true, isn't it? It's true. It's true. All the
word of God is wonderful. Why? Because it's his word spoken
to us. What a wonder that the word of
the almighty God in heaven, God who is spirit, dwelling in unapproachable
light, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, full
of wisdom, and power and holiness and justice that he would speak to us. Isn't
it a wonder that he would speak to sinners
upon earth, miserable, rebellious sinners like you and me. What
a wonder, what grace this word. is the living and eternal word
of God. I'm sure if we could understand
fully all the riches that are found in this God-inspired word,
we could turn to anywhere in the scriptures, any three verses,
and we would find wonderful truths, truths of life. We surely would. Well, read with me these first
three verses here in Hebrews. God, who at various times and
in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has
appointed heir of all things, through 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 at
the right hand of the majesty on high." Now this epistle by
its name we know is written to Hebrews, the Jewish believers
who had heard the gospel and believed in Jesus as the promised
Messiah. But as we read through this epistle,
we find that They were facing numerous difficulties, numerous
trials, false teaching, and as time went on, it appears that
many were falling back into that old covenant worship of the Jews. Some had even turned aside, rejecting
Jesus as the Messiah. So anxious is the writer who
I take to be the Apostle Paul, but we don't know. There's no
formal introduction like there is in every other epistle. And
why is that? I think it's to impress upon
these Hebrew believers and impress upon us the urgency of the matter,
the dire situation that they're finding themselves in. And why
is that? Because these Hebrew people are
turning away from the only way of salvation. You know, particularly
in this day and age, there's many, many people in churches
all over this country and the world for that matter, that don't
think it matters that much what's taught. Oh, believe me, it matters. It matters. because your eternal
life rests upon that. What are you hearing? What are
you receiving? Are you receiving the truth as God spoke it? Well, this is the concern. This
is the concern of this writer for these Hebrew people. And
the entire epistle to the Hebrews is addressing this, addressing
this. And in essence, it's saying,
All of that Old Testament economy, all those forms of worship, the nation, the laws, all of
these things were just types and shadows of the true. And once the true has come, there's
no further need for any of these things. Let them go. and hold
on to that which is the substance. In Him is life, in this Son. Now, the purpose of the writer
of Hebrews in doing that, of course, is to extol and magnify
the Lord Jesus Christ as the full, final, and complete revelation
of God Himself, fulfilling all prophecy. All promises, all the
types and shadows of worship given by God to the people of
Israel. All complete in this one man. He's so anxious to communicate
these glorious truths about the Lord Jesus Christ that it's almost
as if he wants to pack everything into these first three verses.
And in a way, he's giving us a summary. of the entire epistle
in those first three verses. These are the things that he's
gonna deal with. This is the theme. And if I could
put it like this, the theme is Christ is better. Christ is greater in everything. Simply that. And if we could
grab hold of that and understand that, oh, what a rich blessing
that would be to us. Look at this man. How could we
possibly mistake the authority and the surpassing excellence
of this person? In those first three verses,
what do we have? He's the prophet. He's the final
prophet. He is the son of the eternal
invisible God who dwells in transcendent glory. He's the very brightness. He, this son is the brightness
of his father's glory, the express image of his person. And he too
is the heir of all things, all things. He's the creator of the
worlds, not just this world, but all worlds, everything in
the universe, which we see and don't see. We can't even comprehend that
he's the creator of the worlds. Not only that, it's by the word
of his power that he sustains all things, all things, all the
time. He is the great high priest who
by himself purged our sins. And he's the everlasting king
seated upon the throne of eternity at the right hand of the majesty
on high. He is better, isn't he? He's
better. Now, a couple of years ago, if
I remember right, I preached a message. here focusing on Christ
as the final prophet and emphasizing that as this glorious prophet,
how important it was that we hear him, that we hear him, particularly
in the preaching. It's not important that you hear
the preacher's voice. It's not important that you hear
my voice. It's important that you hear his voice. And we look for that. We look
for that, don't we? That's what we want. Well, I'd like to remind you
of some of those things and also consider what the word of God
has to say when we read that he has, in these last days, spoken
to us by his son. And that's probably about all
we'll get to today. And let's read that first verse
again. God, who at various times and
in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by his son. Now God spoke in time past, and
he's spoken to these Hebrews in this time, says he spoke in
time past, and he has spoken in these last days. God spoke. God spoke. All his word, the
Old and the New Testaments, divinely inspired and revealed by the
Holy Spirit. God breathed, as the Apostle
Peter says. God spoke in time past to the
fathers of these Hebrews. And it's clear that the writer
is a Hebrew himself. He says us, us. In these last
days, he's spoken to us, those In times past, he spoke to the
fathers. In these last days, he's spoken
to us. The period spoken of here as
in time past is the time period beginning with Moses. The constitution
of the people of Israel as a nation state through all the prophets
that God sent to this nation of Israel up until Micah. Malachi. This word too, we're told here,
he spoke at various times and in various ways by all of these
different prophets. The word was given in parts.
The historical books of Moses, those five books at the beginning
of the Bible, we have the Psalms, the Song of Solomon, the various
books of the different prophets. All of this revelation of God
given at different times, in different ways, in times past,
in parts. And given to in many different
ways. You read the Word of God, and that's one of the unique
things about it, isn't it? Some of it is narrative history.
It tells us the history of, well, beginning with the creation of
the world, in the beginning. And then it tells us of that
history of how God brought this world, created this world, and
brought everything into existence. Then you have, later, the history
of Noah, the history of Abraham, the history of the people of
Israel, the constitution of them as a nation state, but then,
too, You have allegorical books. Don't you like this Song of Solomon,
which was referred to this morning? Or you have songs, all those
wonderful psalms that we read. Songs, this is all part of the
revelation of God. How different. Some was prophecy,
visions, types, and figures, and all of this was given through
many different prophets over a period of about a thousand
years. You know, when we look at the beautiful unity of the
Word of God, that's sufficient to tell us that this is God-inspired,
isn't it? It's incredible. It's incredible. But two, what was this indicating? That it was given in parts over
many, in many different times through many different men in
many different ways? that it wasn't complete. It wasn't
complete. The revelation of God was not
yet full. And the writer too wants these
Hebrews to understand that the revelation spoken by God to the
fathers by the prophets, their fathers, is the same message
that God has spoken to them through his son. God has one message. One message he always has, and
this message is his son. We read in 1st John that there
is a witness of men, but the witness of God is greater. And
what's the witness of God? Who is God witnessed of? He's
testified of his son. This is his message. It's always
been his message. It's the message from the beginning
of Revelation until the end of Revelation. The message that
they'd received from the fathers was no different than the message
that they received from the son. The writer, look there. In verse
five, we won't read through these, but beginning in verse five through
to the end of chapter two, the writer quotes 10 10 Old Testament Scriptures which
speak of his son. Why would he do this? He's driving
that point alone. There isn't a different message
in the Old Testament Scriptures in the revelation God gave to
the prophets. There's one message, and it's
about this person. The 45th Psalm. is a prophetic
Psalm of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why it's quoted in
verse, what is it, eight and nine. Look there, look there,
verse eight and nine. What do we read? This is one
that he does quote. He says, but to the son he says,
this is quoting from Psalm 45, but to the son he says, your
throne, oh God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness
and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has
anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. Here in this Psalm 45, this Psalm
begins in this way. Listen. The Psalm begins, my
heart is overflowing with a good theme. I recite my composition
concerning the king. My tongue is the pen of a skillful
writer. Well, who is this whose words
are like words which flow from the pen of a skillful writer? Who is the composer of this masterpiece? It's the Spirit of God, isn't
it? The writer is the Spirit of God. He's the author of all
scripture. He's the skillful writer who's
composed this glorious composition over a time period spanning,
as I said, more than a thousand years. A masterpiece unlike any
other. Incomparable in its nature because
this is the word of God. Breathed out by the Holy Spirits
into the minds and into the hearts of these prophets. Well, who
is this composition about? Who did he speak about? Well,
the verses quoted here tells us that his composition is concerning
the King. His composition is concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder the heart of the psalmist
is overflowing with a good theme. Your throne, oh God, is forever
and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of your kingdom. This is the theme of all the
scriptures. And this is the work of the Holy
Spirit, isn't it? The great work of the Holy Spirit
is to reveal Christ. Reveal Christ. such that we behold
his glory. You remember what Jesus told
the disciples speaking about the promise of the Holy Spirit.
This is what he said, he will glorify me for he will take of
what is mine and declare it to you. Isn't that true? You know, again, we see so So much religion taken up with
glorifying the spirit. Does the spirit glorify himself?
No. No, he doesn't. The spirit glorifies
Christ. How important that is for us
to understand. This is the theme of all the
scriptures, the old and the new. There's no greater theme and
there's no greater subject. God spoke to the fathers, now
he speaks to these Hebrews. God who spoke in times past has
now spoken in these last days. God who spoke to the prophets
has now spoken by his son. Well, look there, he says, God
has spoken by his son in these last days. The words of the Holy Spirit
could have been God who at various times and in various ways spoke
in time past to the fathers by the prophets has now spoken to
us by his son. He doesn't say that. He says
in these last days he's spoken to us by his son. So when we
read in these last days, what time period is this in reference
to? It's obviously important, otherwise
the Holy Spirit wouldn't have put it there. What is this in
reference to and what is the significance to of this reference? What is it to teach us? What
is it to teach those Hebrews in particular at that point in
time? Well, the first thing to notice that the words in the
context tell us that the writer and the Jewish believers that
he's writing to are living in those last days. Hear that? He says he has in these last
days spoken to us, spoken to you, spoken to me. in these last
days he has spoken to us. They're living in those last
days. The second thing is that the
revelation of God through his son has already been given. He
has spoken. He's not still speaking. Now that too has significant meaning in terms of so much that's
being propagated today, doesn't it? If he has spoken, the final revelation
has been complete through his son. Well, what is this all about? New prophets and new revelation. We'll see more of that significance
as we go on. According to the word spoken
by God, that is the word delivered to Moses and to the people of
Israel through the prophets. According to this word spoken
by God to the fathers, the people of Israel lived in one age, which
would continue until the coming of the Messiah. And the coming
of the Messiah would occur in the last days. the last days
of the age. And in that day, the Messiah
would usher in a whole new age, a whole new kingdom, a whole
new world. The first age would end and a
new age would begin that wouldn't have no end. That's what the
Word taught. And that's what they were looking
for. God had chosen them as a people. children of Abraham. He chosen
them as a people out of all the peoples of the world. And it
was to this people alone, as Paul writes, to whom pertain
the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the
law, the service of God, and the promises. It was to this
nation alone that God sent his word, sent his prophets, constituted
them a nation. on that Mount Sinai and a kingdom and gave them all
the ordinance for the worship of God under the old covenant. But one of the greatest failures
of the nation of Israel as a whole is that they never believe the
word and promises of God in a spiritual sense. They looked upon all these
things in a wholly temporal sense. They were looking and so here
they are. They're looking for a messiah
to come to be a king like his father, David. A warrior king
who would defeat all their enemies. In this time that the writer's
writing, they're under the oppression of the Romans. They're looking
for a warrior king like David to come in and defeat all their
enemies and usher in a glorious prosperity and dominion, which
would never end. This son of David, not only would
be a great warrior king, but he would have wisdom like the
wisdom of Solomon. And he would rebuild the temple
to surpass even the glorious temple built by Solomon. This
is what they were looking for in a temporal sense. This is one of the chief reasons
they rejected Christ. Is this the Messiah that they
were looking for? No, no, no, not at all. This despised individual born
in a manger of parents of insignificant birth, is this what they were
looking for? No, not at all. Not at all. It's one of the chief reasons
that they rejected Jesus as the Christ, as the Messiah. But how
different How different were the fathers of the faith? Turn
over, let's look at just one of those in Hebrews 11. Turn
over a few pages to Hebrews chapter 11. What were they looking for?
Hebrews chapter 11. Let's just look at Abraham, their
father that they put so much stock in as being children of
Abraham. Look in verse, let's begin there
in verse eight. By faith, Abraham obeyed when
he was called to go out to the place which he would receive
as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was
going. By faith, he dwelt in the land
of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac
and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. Now here
he is, Abraham, he's come out, he's been promised this land,
he's been promised this posterity, Did he receive it naturally,
himself? No, he dwelt in this land, this
land in tents with Isaac and Jacob. They too never received
that land. Yes, they did receive it through
their posterity, but they dwelt in this land of promise that
God had given to them, owning nothing. owning nothing. And what? Look, were they concerned?
Were they disturbed about that? Were they? No, continue. For
he waited for the city, which has foundations, whose builder
and maker is God. Look further down. Speaking of
of these fathers of the faith. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say
such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly,
if they'd called to mind the country from which they'd come
out, that is, the temporal country, they would have had opportunity
to return. But now they desire a better. That is a heavenly
country. Therefore, God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. See, the fathers of the faith
never looked at these temporal promises given by God as the
end of all things. They understood that these were
all types and shadows. They were looking for something
entirely different, weren't they? And they always did, it didn't
matter who it was. Moses, the prophets, all of the
faithful, Joshua, you name them, Job, they were all looking, not
for these temporal things that these Hebrews were concerned
with. They believed and looked for those spiritual promises
to be fulfilled. The nation, the state, the temple,
the sacrifices and the service of God were all designed, set
apart and set up by God for one purpose and one purpose alone. It was to bring forth the Savior. To bring forth the Savior. Look,
consider the foundation and existence of the nation was built upon
the temple and temple worship. Think of the nation of Israel,
I'm talking about the nation of Israel as constituted by God. What was the center and focal
point of that nation? It was the temple of God, wasn't
it? Everything emanated out of there, all the laws, everything
which governed that nation came from God and the temple pictured
the dwelling of God in the midst of his people. He was the ruler. He was the lawgiver. There was
no parliament, no Congress. God ruled. This was the center
of that nation. And not only that, the temple
pictured Christ. We know that, don't we? The word
of God tells us that. Because in him dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. And this is what the temple pictured.
The worship and service of the temple. What did that picture?
It pictured the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the great high
priest. And it pictured him as a great
sacrifice for the sins of his people. That's what the, nation
was for, that's what the temple was for, that was what the worship
and service of God was for. And once Christ had accomplished
the great work of atonement for the sins of his people on the
cross, was there any more need for all of this? No. All of this
in its entirety had no further purpose and was to cease. I understand that for the Hebrews
of that time, this would have been one of the greatest trials,
wouldn't it? For them to recognize this, for
them to understand this, because after all, who had delivered
all of these things to them? God. This wasn't a false religion. These were all things delivered
to them by God. But the scriptures, I think for
that reason, the scriptures give, give a very dramatic demonstration
of the exact time and place in which the purposes of God with
respect to the old covenant, the law, the sacrifices, the
nation as constituted by God at Mount Sinai came to an end
in a spiritual sense. Now think, when Christ is on
the cross and all things have been fulfilled and he's come
to that point of death and he cries, He cries and Jesus cried
out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Then behold, the
veil of the temple was torn into from top to bottom. It was finished. It was finished. Why? Because
the real, the true had entered into the most holy place to make
atonement for sin. Turn over to Hebrews 9. Let's
just read a few verses there and see the significance of this. Hebrews 9, look in verse 11. You know, we could look at the
writer in the beginning of Hebrews 9 starts to go into detail of
all of the aspects of the temple, worship, and so forth. And he
says, of these things, we can't speak in detail. And we can't
do that now. But you could take anything with
respect to the worship of the temple and find that it's all
fulfilled in Christ. Anything, anything. It's all
fulfilled in Christ. But here, let's just look at
this. Look at verse 11. But Christ came, but Christ came
as high priest of the good things to come with the greater and
more perfect tabernacle not made with hands. You see, he's not
speaking about that temple in Jerusalem, is he? Here is this
perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation,
and not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own
blood, he entered the most holy place, once for all, once for
all, having obtained eternal redemption. You see, the work
was finished, wasn't it? Picture him. Here he is. Here
he is. He goes in. Well, what is he? Well, he's the temple. He's the high priest. He's the
sacrifice. He goes in with not the blood
of bulls and goats, but his own blood. And he goes in, and by
one offering for sin, he perfected forever those who are sanctified.
Well what need then is of all these types and shadows? None!
None! It's finished! It's finished. He entered the most holy place
once for all having obtained eternal redemption. From that
time forward all the types and shadows were fulfilled in this
one person. fulfilled in Christ and therefore
they ceased to have any further function. Now this spiritual
reality didn't become visible until the destruction of Jerusalem
in 70 A.D. which we've been hearing about.
Numerous Old Testament prophecies foretold this. And on several
occasions too, Jesus in his ministry referred to that coming event.
Just one of those is when he laments over Jerusalem. Listen,
here he says, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets
and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to
gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under
her wings, but you were not willing. How tragic. You are not willing. See, your house is left to you
desolate, for I say to you, you shall see me no more until you
say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Then
Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples
came up to show him the buildings of the temple. See, at this time,
the disciples too didn't understand this, did they? And they're so
impressed, and they think, They want to show Jesus the temple
and talk about it. Talk about the worship and service
of God and listen to what Jesus says. And Jesus said to them,
do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not
one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown
down. Finished. Finished. You know, in the parable of the
wicked vinedressers, we have Christ bringing this forth powerfully
to the Pharisees. You remember that. And he makes
a startling statement at the end of that parable. Turn there,
turn there to Matthew 21. And I wasn't going to read through
this, but let's do that because I think it brings, it's a historical
parable. And if you want to understand
it, It's really a parable of the message brought by Stephen.
I don't know if you've ever thought of that. Stephen essentially
preaches the message just before he's stoned, which is saying
all the same things, just not a parable. But here in verse
33, is it? 33, Matthew 21, verse 33. And
Christ is speaking to the Jews and he says, hear another parable. There was a certain landowner
who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a wine
press in it, and built a tower, and he leased it to vinedressers
and went into a far country. Now, when the vintage time drew
near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers that they may
receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his
servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another." This is
in reference to the prophets. This is what they did to the
prophets. And the vinedressers took his, and again he sent other
servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.
Then last of all, he sent his son to them saying, they will
respect my son. But when the vinedressers saw
the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us
kill him and seize his inheritance. So they took him and cast him
out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, Jesus asked,
when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to these
vinedressers? And they said to him, he will
destroy those wicked men miserably and lease his vineyard to other
vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their season. And Jesus said to them, have
you never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders
rejected has become the chief cornerstone? This was the Lord's
doing, and it was marvelous in our eyes. Now, he says right
there, we know immediately that this parable has reference to
him. They rejected him. They rejected the prophets. They
rejected his word. And when the father sent the
son, they took him and killed him. He was the stone which the
builders rejected. But what, he's become the chief
cornerstone. And it was the Lord's doing and
it is marvelous in our eyes. Now, listen, look at the next
verse. Listen to what he says to these
Jews. Therefore, I say to you, the
kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation
bearing the fruits of it. The kingdom of God. How startling
that must have been to them. But that's what Christ, this
is what Christ is referring to. Look, taken from them and given
to a nation bearing the fruits of it. What is that nation? Well,
turn over to 1 Peter. I didn't intend to spend all
this time, but let's look at that. 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter two, and look there
in verse four. Here in this passage, we find
this new nation, a chosen people, a holy nation, the people of
God, a spiritual house made up of a holy priesthood offering
up spiritual sacrifices to God. Look, 1 Peter 2, verse 4, coming
to him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by
God and precious. You also, as living stones, are
being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also
contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone. Elect precious, and he who believes
on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who
believe, he is precious. He is precious. But to those
who are disobedient, The stone which the builders rejected has
become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and
a rock of offense. They stumble being disobedient
to the word to which they were also appointed. But listen, but
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises
of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Here is this new nation, a spiritual
nation, a nation of priests serving God with spiritual worship built
upon this stone, this stone chosen, precious of God, which the builders
rejected. Well, turn back to Hebrews chapter
one. God has spoken to us by his son. In the past age, in the Jewish
period of revelation, as we've been saying, God spoke through
many different prophets. But the message here is that
in these last days of the Jewish economy, all revelation for now
and for eternity is fulfilled and complete in this one person,
his son. Now, all of you know, all of you understand
that the words of God are so important. They're stressed so
often in his revealed word to us. And why is that? Because words reveal God to us. Aside from everything else, that's
the most important thing. Words reveal God to us. Now Jesus is the full and complete
revelation of God. And so it's no surprise that
he's called, what? The Word. The Word. That's how
John begins his gospel, doesn't he? The very first verse of the
very first chapter, he says, in the beginning was the Word,
and the word was with God and the word was God. Who can reveal the eternal, immortal,
invisible God who dwells in unapproachable light? Who can tell us about
him? Only one who's seen God. Only
one who knows God. Only one who has been with God. from eternity. Only one who knows the mind and
will of God. Well, who can that be? It can
only be God in the person of his son. This is why John further down
in that chapter says no one has seen God at any time. The only
begotten son. who is in the bosom of the father,
he has declared him. Only one could bring to earth
the complete revelation of God in heaven. The son of God who
is in the embrace of the father from all eternity. Think of the prophets. The prophets
knew only what was revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. This
was all they knew, and that's all they could speak. You think
as the word of God was delivered to these prophets in parts, these
prophets received it, but they had nothing more in themselves. Have you thought about that?
All they had was the word which God delivered to them, and then
they delivered to the people of Israel. And so this is why
we read that the prophets searched diligently, searching and inquiring
diligently, searching what manner of time the spirit of Christ
who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
You see, the prophets read The other prophets, the word of God
that was delivered that came before them searching because
that's all they had. And they were. And that's a it shows. How greatly they longed for a
revelation of God, doesn't it? That they did this. They searched
diligently. for the Christ and what all this
meant and when he would come. But the son, but the son who
was sent from God was given the spirit without measure. We read
that further down in John also. For he whom God has sent speaks
the words of God, for God does not give the spirit by measure
to this one. He speaks the words of God. There
is no prophet like this prophet. In this prophet, in him, dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And John says there in
that first chapter, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, full
of truth, full of truth of God, all the mind, all the will, all
the purposes of God, all the counsels of God, known to the
Son from eternity, from eternity. For in Him are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He alone has come down to heaven
to testify of the Father. Well, we read later too in John
that the Father shows all things, all things to the Son. How important it is for us to
know God. Where is the knowledge of God
to be found? in his son, in his son. Turn to John 17 and we'll finish
there. John 17. And as you know, this is the
prayer of Christ as he's coming to that great day of atonement
for the sin of his people and In verse three he says, and this
is eternal life, that they may know you, the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. There's no greater knowledge,
is there, than to know God and his son. And who is the one who
reveals him? It's the Son. It's the Son. Look
down in verse six. This is what Jesus says. He's
praying and he says, I have manifested your name to the men whom you
have given me out of the world. They were yours. You gave them
to me and they have kept your word. Now they have known that
all things which you have given me are from you. For I have given
to them the words which you have given me. And they have received
them and have known surely that I came forth from you and they
have believed that you sent me. Consider in your heart the rich
blessing and the abundant grace of God. in sending this son to
reveal himself to sinners like you and me. What marvelous grace that God
has spoken to us through his son. Amen. David, if you'd come. Thank you,
Lance.