Now, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. We're looking at verse 25 through verse
29 this morning. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 25
to 29. The title of the message is,
Refuse not Christ. Refuse not Christ. The Scripture says in verse 25,
See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escape
not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not
we escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven. See that you refuse not Christ. There are two things that I want
us to see this morning. First of all, I want us to see
that salvation in the fullness, completeness, and revelation
is completely and utterly the work of Almighty God. Salvation
is the work of God. And secondly, I also want us
to see That salvation, that belief of the truth is the responsibility
of every man. That belief of the truth is the
responsibility of every man. Men are confused by these two
things, the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man.
And in their confusion, they tried to reconcile the two. They tried to link them together
in some way that men can understand instead of just believing the
truth. God is absolutely responsible and you are absolutely responsible.
God is absolutely sovereign and you are absolutely responsible.
God never tells me to try to explain that to you. He just
tells me to preach the gospel. And this is the gospel. This
is the message. See that ye refuse not Him that
speaketh. First of all, that salvation
of sinners is completely a work of God. Now, this work of salvation
is the work of God's eternal, effectual, sovereign grace and
love. Salvation is the work of God
and is a result of the love of God. God says, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. And with loving kindness have
I drawn thee. The act of God's election is
one of free grace, free love, of which the objects were not
worthy. The objects of God's love and
grace, there was nothing worthy of them. There was nothing desirable
in the objects of God's affection. This is clearly seen by the example
that God gives us concerning Jacob and Esau. Flip over to
Romans 9. Flip over to Romans 9. Now, the promise of God to Abraham
was that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Now, Abraham had one
son. He had two sons. One was rejected
because he was the son of works. He was the product of a natural
birth. But Isaac was the son of promise
because he was a product of a miraculous birth. And so it was Isaac that
the promise was to come. But yet Isaac had two sons at
the same time. So in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. Now which one? Which one was
Christ to come? Well, He was to come by Jacob
because Jacob was the chosen before these two were born. Jacob was the chosen one before
they had done any good or evil. Look at this. It says in verse
11, For the children not yet being born, neither having done
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. He saith
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Jacob have I loved. Why did God love Jacob? was not
because of any good or evil that Jacob had done, it's that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand. Jacob
have I loved. When did he love Jacob? He said,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Jacob was always loved
of God from eternity. There was nothing special about
Jacob other than he was a greater sinner than Esau. Why do you
suppose his dad liked him better? His dad liked Esau better because
Esau was a good fellow. Jacob was always a trickster. According to the same sovereign
right of God to love Jacob, God hated Esau. The Apostle in verse 14 of Romans
9, he anticipates the rejection of this. He anticipates man's
question. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair? Is God unrighteous
to do this? Is God unrighteous to hate one
and to love the other? To save the one and to let the
other go on in sin? No. God forbid. God forbid. There is no unrighteousness with
God. Do we not realize that if God were to allow the entire
race of Adam to die and go to hell, that he would still be
righteous? He would still be holy. He did
that to the fallen angels. He showed no mercy to them. And
yet God maintained His deity, His holiness, His righteousness. If God were to allow Adam's race
to fall off into hell for all eternity, He still would be holy. He still would be good. He still
would be gracious. He still would be kind. God did
not change because Adam sinned. God would have been right to
save none. But the joy of election is this, that God has purpose
to save some. This is the joy of God's salvation. That God would have mercy. He said, I will have mercy. Isn't
that wonderful? Men love to maybe even hear that.
A lot of men like to hear that. But they don't like to hear this.
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. They don't like that
part. But what is mercy? Isn't mercy free? If mercy is
not free, it's not mercy. If mercy is owed, it's works
and not mercy. God said, I'll have mercy. This
is the joy of God's salvation, that he chose some, that he would
show mercy to whomsoever he will. We all, by nature, are rebels
against God. I like this psalm of this one
believer. It said, Against the God who
ruled the skies, I fought with hand uplifted high. Madly I ran
the sinful race, secure without a hiding place. Is that not our
condition by nature? Is that not our confession if
we are believers in Christ now? Is that not our confession? Yes,
we madly ran against God and hated God. We know our nature. We were surrounded by all the
wonders of God's creation and still would have God to be made
in our image. Men hate the sovereignty of God
because they themselves want to be sovereign. That's the only
reason to hate the sovereignty of God. It's because men desire
to be sovereign themselves. We are all sinners and worthy
of eternal hell. But behold, the hope for man
is this. The grace of God. The only hope
for you. The only hope for me. is the
free, unmerited favor of God. It's the only hope. It's the
only hope. And in this free grace, the Lord
God and Father of us all gave us to Jesus, His Son. He gave all the elect to His
Son. for the purpose of saving them from their sins. When Jesus came into this world,
His first message that was recorded over in Luke chapter 4, Luke chapter 4, verse 18, He
took the book of Isaiah He read this, he said, The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. They closed the book, and their
eyes were fastened on him. And he said, This day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ears. Who did Jesus came to preach
the gospel to? The poor, the blind, the captive. All of these are spiritual, spiritually
blind, spiritually captive, spiritually broken hearted over their sins. These are the ones Jesus came
to preach the gospel of God's grace to. Jesus came to preach
the gospel and to be the high priest of the gospel. To be the
high priest. To fulfill what we could not
do. God knowing, I love that scripture,
He knoweth our frame that we are but dust. Sometimes I think
God forgets that. Don't you? He doesn't. He knows my frame. He knows that
I am but dust. Jesus came to fulfill all that
this dust could not do. Righteousness. Holiness. He came to fulfill the law that
I had broken. He fulfilled it all. And by His
blood, He would atone for my sins. The sins of all those that
God gave Him. And that He would lose nothing.
This is security right here. John chapter 6. John chapter
6 and verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this
is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which He
hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again the last
day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day." We don't have to guess what the will of the Father is.
We don't have to guess. All that the Father gave Christ,
He would lose none of them. And every one of them would come
to Him. And He would in no wise cast
them out. Because He died for their sins. Jesus Christ did not die for
all the sins of all men. He died for all of the sins of
those that the Father gave him. All that the Father gave him.
Flip over to John 10. John 10, verse 11. Jesus said,
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for who? Who? The sheep. Jesus just told these guys, He
said, you're not of my sheep. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The hiring fleeth, because he
is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. And other sheep have I which
are not of this fold, them also I might bring. Maybe. Perhaps. No, I must bring. I'll tell you what, if there
is a must and God says, I must do something, that's altogether
important. I must bring. And they shall
notice that definite article, they shall hear my voice. And
there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore, doth the
Father love me. Because I lay down my life that
I might take it again. No man taketh my life from me. But I lay it down of myself.
I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father." There's no guesswork
in this. There's nothing for man in this. This is completely
the work of God. This was the will of the Father.
This was the work of the Son. to redeem God's people. The Father
gave them to Christ that He should lose nothing. And He is the Good
Shepherd. He's bought us. We are His sheep. He owns us. And all His sheep
will come at the sound of His voice. When He calls them. When
He calls them. I was a lost sheep. I was never
a goat. I was always a sheep. I was lost! But one day the shepherd called
me by name. I heard his voice and I followed
him." Completely the work of God. Completely the work of God. And Jesus is King over all His
elect. This man, after he had fulfilled
all the law and Scriptures, after he had laid down his life, As
an offering for sins, Jesus rose from the dead and God gave Him
authority over all flesh. What was the purpose of Jesus
Christ having authority as a man over all flesh? As God, He always
had authority. Now then, as the God-man, He
was given authority. John chapter 17. I like this. God doesn't leave
anything for us to guess. That's good. Because if we're
guessing at anything, we're wrong. God has it all right here. It's
very simply laid out. The reason that Jesus Christ
is glorified, He said, Father, the hour has come, glorify Thy
Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee, as Thou hast given Him
power over all flesh. Why? That He should give eternal
life to as many as Thou hast given Him. There it is. No guesswork. It's the work of God. As many
as the father gave him, he is going to give them eternal life. Well, how then do we know if
we are the elect of God? How can we know if we are the
chosen of the father, redeemed of the son? It's altogether important
to know. If there's anything in this world
that, is there anything more valuable than this understanding?
Is there anything of more worth to know than to know that your
name is written in heaven? There's nothing more valuable. How do we know if we are the
elect? Have you come to believe on Jesus Christ? Have you believed on the Son
of God? This is the evidence of the work of grace. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. This is not an act of the will
This is not just saying to believe or give assent. This is nothing less than an
act of God. My faith is nothing less than
an act of God. Faith is a gift of grace. It's not something man possesses. It's not something I had always
in me to do. I had none of that ability to
believe on Jesus Christ. Now, I had the ability to assent.
I had the ability to learn academically the death, burial, and resurrection
of Christ. I have been raised in the Gospel.
God has been gracious to me. That I have been raised since
I was a child under the sound of the gospel. Now, I've not
always believed the gospel. But I knew more by the time I
was 16. Man, you couldn't tell me anything
about the gospel I didn't already know. You couldn't tell me about
election and the five points of Calvinism. I knew all that. To believe is an act of grace. God must give us life and faith. He must give us spiritual life
and faith. Does the election of God offend
you? Does salvation by the grace and
will of God alone offend you? If so, it's because you've never
been made to see the greatness of your sin. It's because you think too highly
of yourself. I need absolute and free, complete
mercy. I don't need to add anything. If I add one thing to the work
and blood of Christ, I'm defiled because all I can do is sin.
That's all I can do. I can't do anything else. You remember the prayer of the
Pharisee? And the public, the prayer of the Pharisee is, I
thank you, Lord, that I'm not like other men. I thank you, Lord, that I am the
elect of God. I thank you that I understand
all the doctrines of grace. I thank you, Father, that I am
so enlightened. If that's our thoughts, then
we have no understanding of grace. We are like this self-righteous
Pharisee and pray thus to ourselves. It's not our knowledge that saves
us. It is the free act of God's sovereign
grace. Men today think that they need
to help in this matter of salvation. They need to help and give their
assistance, that Jesus has done His part in saving them, but
they must sanctify themselves. They must set themselves apart
by obedience to the law. This is heresy and nothing less. This is never how the elect come
to Christ. We come like the publican saying,
Lord, be merciful to me, thee sinner. Be propitious to me. In other words, Lord, I need
you to make reconciliation for me. I need God to make reconciliation
for me. And you know what? This prayer
has not changed. I've not changed the way that
I pray because I pray like this still. And you know what? I pray more like this because
I have more understanding of my sin and the work of Jesus
Christ. Lord, be propitious to me. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit by the preaching of the gospel that applies it in the
new birth. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. We declare to sinners
that Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost,
which is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Jesus
said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. You see, all of his elect people
are sinners. All of his elect are poor. They're
blind. They're captive. They can't free
themselves. They can't heal themselves. They
must have the grace of God to do this. And it's by the Spirit
through the preaching of the gospel that this occurs. The
elect believe. All of his elect will believe
on Christ alone, and they will continue to believe on Christ
alone. We are not saved by grace and
then finished by works. No. We are saved by grace, kept
by grace, and will arrive safe on Canaan shore by But it will always be through
faith, which is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast." The second part of this is the
responsibility of men to believe. Salvation is completely a work
of God's grace. From beginning in eternity to
the end in eternity and all that's in the middle, it is the work
of God Almighty. And yet, the Scriptures are plainly
very crystal clear that it is the responsibility of every man
to believe. Go back to your text. See it
for yourselves. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. I like, I tell you this often,
I like the King James Version because of the words, the language
is very descriptive. When we say the word you, we
could mean you individually, we could mean you in a general
assembly, we could mean youse guys, as they say in the north. We can remember y'all, you know,
as kind of a general or a specific. I don't know. But in this language,
ye is personal, singular. It is to you individually, see
that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. God, the Holy Spirit, speaks
by the gospel that I preach to you. See that you refuse not
His voice. This is a command. This is not
an invitation. See that you refuse not the gospel. This is a word concerning his
son. whose blood speaks better things than that of Abel. Think
of the gospel and what the blood of Christ speaks. It speaks of
forgiveness of sin. It speaks of the grace and mercy
of God. It speaks of pardon, reconciliation,
justification, sanctification, wisdom, all heaven, the kingdom
of God, eternal life. This is what the gospel speaks.
See that you refuse not that. Wouldn't it be insane to refuse
such a thing? For God's people, it would be. The gospel speaks wonderful things. This is not an invitation, though
it is a command. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and forsake all your works, all your religion, all your thoughts,
all your self-righteousness, and cleave to Him. See that you
refuse not to do that. You that have believed, believe. And you that just believe, believe.
And you that just believe right now, believe again. Believe right
now. And see that you never refuse
to believe the gospel. All who refuse this message shall
not escape God's justice. There will be not one person
in hell able to blame God's election for their eternal damnation. They will suffer eternal hell
because they refuse to believe. God will not be blamed for their
sin. Well, how do you reconcile that?
I don't. I believe it. I believe it. See that you refuse not the blood of Christ
that speaks better things. Refuse not the righteousness
of Christ. Refuse not the blood of Christ. Because to refuse this is to
spit in the face of God's great gift of salvation. It's to spit
in the face of the Son of God and to count His blood as not
enough. Isn't that what works religion
does? It says, well, Jesus' blood is good enough to a certain point,
and then I have to fill out the rest. That is counting the blood
of Christ an unholy thing. I count the grace of God sufficient.
I count the blood of Christ sufficient. I count the faith of Christ sufficient. And we who are the elect of God,
the redeemed of God, we give all the glory to God. See that you refuse not to give
glory to God. See that you take no glory for
yourself. But all glory belongs to God. Then you know you've not refused
Him that speaks. I pray that God blesses to our
hearts.