There are times when I seem to come to a vital, just straight-up awareness of the seriousness of standing
in this pulpit. It seems like there's times when
it's more evident to me than others. I wish it wasn't that
way. I wish it was always. But I do pray that the Lord keep
me from dishonoring Him. I don't want to. I don't want
to say anything. dishonoring. I don't want to
say anything that's not respectful. And this scripture tonight, I'd
like to deal with Hebrews 1 verses 2 and 3, the second half of verse
2 and then verse 3. And it just seems as though to
me that the more I read over it and looked over it and prayed
over it and considered it, the more I became aware of the
seriousness of it. The Scripture says, Paul the
Apostle said, when I'm weak, then I'm strong. I can only believe
that by faith, because I can definitely feel my weakness. Who's sufficient for these things? The Scripture set forth in that
first verse that God at one time spoke to the fathers by the prophets. And verse 2,
said He hath in these last days, that is the days since the incarnation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's the last days, He has spoken
unto us by His Son. Now here's the commandment
I was reading over in Proverbs the other day preparing a passage
of Scripture. And it says, forsake not the
commandment of the Father. And I got to thinking about that.
What is the commandment of the Father? Think of all the things
that's been What would you come right down
to the commandment of the Father? I think it would be this. This
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You hear Him. So this evening, God who has
spoken unto us in these last days, has spoken unto us by His Son. Let's hear Him. Now concerning his son, this scripture you're going to
look at is going to set forth him in whom the father is well
pleased. This is the one that the father
has ever beheld. has the surety of the sheep.
He's ever, ever looked on Him. The Lord said, speaking of Himself
as wisdom, I was ever before Him. I was one. I came up with
Him. This is the One in whom man was made. Let us make man in our image. As I said a while back, you know,
when we start talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, which is right,
what I'm about to say is right. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh. No sin in Him, but He was made
flesh. The Word was made flesh. But that's not where the similarity
started. God said back in Genesis 1, let
us make man in our image. It was in the image of Him that
we were made. I began to think on that and
I thought about that Scripture. For God so loved the world. God
so loved the arrangement, God so loved the order of man. You know why God so loved the
order of man? God was pleased to manifest Himself. And in the wisdom of God Almighty
to manifest Himself, God who is invisible, God who is spirit,
No man had seen God, the Lord Jesus said, at any time. The
only begotten Son hath revealed Him, declared Him, unveiled Him. God so loved the arrangement.
God so loved the world. God so loved the order of man,
humanity. That was the way, Neil, that
He was going to manifest Himself. And God loved that order. Now
this is amazing. But this is so. You think about
this. God made man in His image. Almighty God, whoever saw Him,
ever beheld Him as the surety, ever saw Him and loved that order
to manifest Himself in that order. God loved that order. and made man in that order, made
man in His image, the express image of His blessed Son. He made man that way. And when
He came, the Word made flesh, He didn't come into being then.
He was manifested. He was made. He was unveiled.
But God Almighty ever saw Him. He said, I was ever before His
face. One with Him has always been
the husband of the bride. There's always been a surety.
There's always been. Always been the substitute. And mankind was made in that
image and made them. He considered them. He appointed
them. That's what it means. Let us
make man in our image. And He appointed all mankind
before the foundation of the world, some vessels of honor
and some vessels of dishonor. But they were all made, considered,
appointed in their relationship to the One that Father loved.
He loved that order. And He made them all in His image,
considered them so created The Scripture says He then made them. He considered them and created
them. This is the one that we're talking
about. Here's the one that we consider
tonight. The latter part of verse 2 says,
"...whom He hath appointed heir of all things." as God. He's not appointed anything. There He is by right. But God Almighty has appointed
His Son, the Messiah, the God-Man. He appointed Him heir of all
things, Almighty God, Triune God, Father, Son, Spirit, and in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, bodily, Bob,
invisible God, manifested bodily and gave Him all things, appointed
Him heir of all things." All things are yours. All are yours. Everything, all things, this
earth is His, all souls are mine, the soul that's in it is going
to die. They're His. They are His by appointment.
God Almighty gave them to Him because in Him the Father trusted
that all of the fullness of God Almighty would be manifested
in Him. So everything is given to Him.
To do with it whatsoever, it hath pleased His Father. It made this world. He's going to destroy this world.
Why? Because it's His. He's a potter. Does a potter
have the right out of one lump to make one way and one the other? Does he have the right? Yes,
it's His. He's the appointed heir as the obedient servant He has the predestined reward
of all things. He's the heir. And the marvelous thought of
that is that in Him we're joint heirs with Him. Oh, eye hath not seen, ear hath
not heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man that which
God hath prepared. for those that love Him. Psalm 2.8 says, Ask of Me and
I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possessions. The enemies
of Christ are His. I tell you what's going to be
known in the enemies of Christ is justice. They're His. He has the right. Everything's going to give glory
to Him who is the appointed heir. He's the heir. No one is going to possess anything
of themselves. It's all His. I like that. I like that. Because by the grace of God,
if all things are His, and they are, and we have Him, we have
all things. I'll tell you, I said a moment
ago, I stand here, and if you could check my pulse right now,
you'd know what I'm talking about. My heart rate's probably up pretty
good right now because I'm just right on the edge, Gene. I don't
want to say the wrong thing, but I know this is right. I know
this is right. Don't apologize for it. Everything
is His. He's the pointed heir of all
things. There's nothing that can be said,
nothing can be thought of, nothing can be considered that's not
His. And all things Work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose, all things. By whom, the Scripture says,
also He made the worlds. Only God can create. The Scripture says, John 1, 3,
all things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. Here's an amazing, amazing, amazing
passage of Scripture. Listen to this Scripture I'm
about to read. This hit me. I looked at that.
You know, about the time you think you've got something figured
out, when we say, Jesus Christ, unto
you, this day that is born in the city of David, a Savior. I shall call His name Jesus. Call His name Jesus. This day
is born unto you a Savior. That's what Jesus means. That's
what the name Jesus, the Savior. Christ means the anointed, the
sent. Savior, anointed. Savior, sent. Savior. Unto you is born this
day. Call His name Jesus. Okay? Now you listen to this Scripture.
Ephesians 3.9. and to make all men see what
is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the
world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." I know this. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was
with God and the Word was God. And verse 14 says of John 1,
the Word was made flesh. But I'll tell you this, I know
in time He was actually manifested. But He did not come into being
as I said before in His incarnation. He was ever before the Father.
When he prayed in the garden, he said, Father, and this is
the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the man, Christ Jesus, the Lord,
glorify Thou me with the glory that I had with Thee before the
world was. You see what I'm saying? What
I'm saying is this. He came into this world. Made
flesh, manifested in the flesh. But the Scripture says, by whom
also He made the worlds. Who being, verse 3, the brightness
of His glory. The brightness of the sun is
the S-U-N. The brightness of the S-U-N is the glory of the S-U-N. The brightness of it, the essence
of it, and the brightness of God Almighty is the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son is the revelation or the brightness of the triune God. He's one in essence. He said, you see me, you've seen
the Father. John said, we looked on Him.
Our hands have handled of the Word of life. He is, the Scripture says, the
express image, the impress of his substance is what that means.
You take up a seal and you take a seal and put it in wet wax. You press it and give a second
let it harden and take it out. And that's an exact impression
of this right here. There's a blemish in this, there's
a blemish in that. It's an exact image, the impress
of His substance. And that glory, that express
image of His person, it was veiled in human flesh. But there were
times that His deity shined forth. He was in the back of a boat.
The waves were just rolling. And His disciples called to Him
and said, Lord, save us or let us perish. They were looking at Him. They
saw Him. They could touch Him. They felt
Him touch His hand, touch His back, put their arm around Him. And He stood up and He said,
Peace, be still. And the disciples said, What
manner of man is this that even the waves and the wind obeys
Him? Lord, we've got 5,000 men plus
the women and children here. And all we've got is five loaves and two little
old fish. And He said, cause them to sit
down. And He blessed those five little
loaves and two fish. And he fed 5,000 men plus the
women and children. They went around and picked up
12 baskets of fragments. He said, don't leave any of it
on the ground. Pick it up. One day, he came to him at a
wedding at Canaan of Galilee. He said they were out of wine. He told him to take the water. Water containers there. He turned water into wine. The
master of the wedding tasted it and said, this is the best.
Usually you drink the better part of it first. Men are well
drunk, then they get the lesser stuff. Stuff's not as good. This is the best. Mount of Transfiguration. They're standing there. His face, the Scripture set forth,
did shine brighter than the noonday sun. He was veiled. He was veiled in human flesh,
His glory. But it did shine forth according
to His purpose and will. He was the express image of His
person. There is Almighty God. The Creator
of all things. He spoke and it was. They saw
Him. Watched Him. Here the Eternal
One became an infant of days. The self-sufficient God who humbled
Himself found in fashion as a man, God Almighty, united with human flesh, touched
in all parts, all points, tempted as we are, like as we are, yet
without sin. United Himself to exactly what
we are, we who have been made in His image. And he hungered and he thirsted
and he felt pain and he sweat and he slept. He expressed the image of his person. And upholding all things, the
Scripture says, by the Word of His power. His power. All power has been
given to the Son. That power that was given to
Him that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father
had given Him. Before the foundation of the
world, the Father who looked upon Him, God's elect,
He was God's elect. And God chose a people in Him
and gave them to Him. He gave Him, according to that
everlasting covenant, He gave Him His will. I come to do Thy will, O God. All that the Father gave Him,
He was to redeem. He was to save. He was to purchase. He was to be there. their atonement, their propitiation,
their satisfaction. All things were laid upon Him. This was the Father's will. The
Father was pleased to have a people and have a people brought to
Himself. His Son's pride. All things being given Him to
do. The responsibility of the Son So the Son made all things. He created all things according
to His will and purpose. And He opposed all things by
the word of His power, accomplishing exactly what His Father had given
Him to do and which was His will to. He who has the power to do exactly what He's ever purposed to do.
This thing ain't out of control. What's He doing? He made everything
just exactly the way He purposed to do it. To accomplish the will
of God Almighty in having and redeeming and saving a people. He made everything for Himself.
He opposed everything by His own power. Why? Because His will
is going to be done. My counsel shall stand This thing
is not out of control. I'm like you, Brother Scott.
I heard somebody say one time, he said, I tell you, if this
United States doesn't turn around, God's going to have to apologize
to Sodom and Gomorrah. That's the silliest thing I've
ever heard in my life. The United States is in a mess.
And we're getting just exactly what we deserve. He's upholding all things by
the Word of His power. Ephesians 1.10 says that in the
dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth, even in Him. This is He. This is the one that
the nations abhor. This is the one that fallen man
in his nature will not have to rule over him, but for all that he's everlastingly
loved, for all that the Spirit of God has called out of spiritual
darkness in regenerating power, they know, being taught. This
is the one that's upholding all things by the Word of His power.
And I'm so glad. The Scripture says when He had
by Himself purged our sins, by Himself. He's the priest. He's the altar. And He's the sacrifice. And He
alone has pleased God. when He had by Himself purged
our sins. The salvation of His people.
That's the reason He came into this world. The bringing of glory
to Himself. Let me say it like this. Bringing
glory to Himself and the salvation of His people. That's the reason
He came. Let me show you. I'll make good.
John 12. Turn to John 12. John 12, 23. John 12, 23, And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto
life eternally. If any man serve Me, let him
follow Me. And where I am, there shall also
My servant be. If any man serve Me, him will
My Father honor. Now is My soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour?
But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy
name." Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both
glorified it and will glorify it again. The Father gave the
Son. The Son gave Himself. Acts 20, 28. Just turn over there
and look at that. Acts 20, 28. Here's a blessing. Revelation of Truth, Acts 20,
28, Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed
the church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood."
You know, you begin to stop and read
Scriptures like that which God purchased with His own blood. When He had by Himself purged
our sin, how did He do that? He was made what we are. That's
how He purged it. He hath made Him sin who knew
no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. How did He purge it? Those sins
were made His. Psalm 40 says, My sins, mine
iniquities have taken hold upon Me. Mine. He who knew no sin. Mine. They've taken hold on Me. And this wasn't just a legal
thing either. You understand that. It just
wasn't a legal issue. He was made sin. I don't enter into the depth
of it either. I just know it so. When He had by Himself purged
our sin, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Having fulfilled that which the
Father gave Him to do, He returned to heaven. All the demands of law and justice
were satisfied for God's elect. I lay down my life for the sheep.
For the sheep, just for the sheep. Who did He die for? He died for
the sheep. And everybody that He died for,
He is going to have. You know why? Because He's always
at them. And no man is able to pluck them
out of my hand. No man is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand. Scott, isn't it comforting to
know this? This body failing. Yours is and mine is too. But
not out of His hand. When He had by Himself He purged our sin. He sat down
on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God. Ever standing as their surety. Romans 4.25 says, He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. And by faith, we know this. He
is sitting, according to this Scripture right here, He is sitting
on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Sitting. Sit thou, as I said
last Sunday, sit thou at my right hand until. I make all your enemies. There's coming a day when He's
going to stand up. And this day of grace, this day of grace is
going to be over. This is what I mean by the day
of grace. There's two kinds of people in
this world. There's believers and there's non-believers. There's
two kinds of people. There's sheep and goats. Let
me say it like this. There may be sheep that are still unbelievers,
but they're still sheep. There's two kinds of people.
Right now, during this day of grace, Almighty God is long-suffering. God's not slack, as some men
count slackness. Some men are saying, you know,
where's the promise of His coming? Everything's just like it was,
and I'll tell you, it's going to be just like it's tomorrow.
That's what they say. One of these days it won't be.
But God is not slack, as some men count slackness, but He is
long-suffering to us-ward. Who? His elect, not willing that
any of His elect should perish. And right now there are men and
women in this world who are walking in absolute rebellion against
Almighty God. And he, as the purger of the
sins of his people, is seated right now, the scripture says,
on the right hand of the majesty on high, seated until all God's
enemies are made his footstool. And when God Almighty says it's
over, when God Almighty has saved the last one he's going to save,
all of the elect, and he returns in power, and the day of grace
is over. Right now, some walking in rebellion
against God, and they go to bed just like everybody else does,
and they get up just like everybody else does, and they spit in the
face of God just like men have done from the beginning. But
one day, they won't anymore. And when he stands up as the
judge, there won't be any more walking around in absolute rebellion
against God. The goats will be on his left
hand, the sheep on his right hand, and he will say unto those
on his left hand, Depart from me. Bind them hand and foot. Cast them out. There will be
weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Boy, I've thought about
that. You know, a little pain right
now, you know, I'd hurt. Eternal. He's seated. Seated right now
with dignity. Seated in rest. And though He
will not be seated forever, right now, right now, He's seated.
But though He may not be seated forever, He'll be seated until
all of his enemies are made his footstool. But I tell you, the
dignity of him who sits right now will be forever and ever. May Almighty God add His blessing
to our heart upon this portion of Scripture that this frail
piece of dust tried to set forth with some kind of honor. Gary,
would you come?