Alrighty, we're in Hebrews. We began this study just a few
weeks back. This morning we're going to consider
what I call practical godliness, but let us always remember what
we just sang. The song we just sang was, He
Who Goes Before Us. We march, yes, I don't just sit
back in my chair and say, oh, it's all in God's hands. I just
sit here and do nothing. That's not what the Lord tells
us to do, is it? He gives us instructions of things
to do. But that's not... all of the
things that He instructs us to do are not things to accomplish
our salvation. They are things that we are to
do and that we love to do because of our salvation. because of
what He has done for us. Don't you go about trying not
to sin now where you never did before? Don't you try to turn
away from the things of this world that drew you into them
at one time before? Why do you not do that anymore?
Because He who loved us, He who first loved us, gave Himself
for us. If God gave Himself for you,
If God gave Himself for me, I'll take that back, not you, me. If God gave Himself for me, how
can I not go about giving everything I have, even though it's nothing
to Him? This first chapter of Hebrews
has been declaring the better things. Christ, though made of
a woman, is still better than His creation. including the ministering
spirits and angels. And these last verses of chapter
1 tells us plainly what the angelic beings were created for. Look
at verse 14. And they, are they not, speaking
of those angels, are they not all ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Actually, you know what? I want
to start over there again. I want to go back and read 9-14. Thou hast loved righteousness,
speaking of Christ, our better hope, our better than angels,
our better everything. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Folks, don't forget, Christ was one of... He's brethren with
you and I. He was made of the flesh. He
was 100% flesh. He had to eat. He had to eat
or his body would grow weary. Verse 10, And thou, Lord, in
the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are the works of thine hands. We read that over in John chapter
1, huh? In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with the God, and the Word was God. Verse 11,
we continue. They shall perish, speaking of
the world. Speaking of the heavens and the
works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest,
and thou shalt wax old as doth a garment. And they shall wax
old as a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and
they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail. But to which of the angels, saith
unto him at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstools, are they not all ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of salvation?
And now we come to the meat. Now we come to the meat, the
deep stuff. People say, John, you're just
flapping around on top of the pool, speaking about Jesus Christ
and Him crucified all the time. What about the meat of the Gospel?
Here comes the meat of the Gospel. Listen to these words in verse
1 of chapter 2. Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest
heed You see our responsibility? You see the Lord inspiring His
prophet to show us our responsibility, to give more earnest heed. Because of what we just read,
because Christ is better than everything, because Christ is
who He is, because as it says there in verse 3, who being the
brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person,
and upholding all things by His word, By the word of His power,
when He had by Himself purged our sins, speaking of Christ,
that's back in chapter 1 verse 3, therefore we ought to give
the most heed to the things we have heard. Well, what were those
things? Those things we just read in verse 3. Lest at any
time we should let them slip. So let's consider that first
word. Therefore. Because of what we just read,
we ought. Therefore, here the Holy Spirit calls you and I,
He calls us to consider over in our minds the excellency,
the glory, and the superiority of Christ and the gospel of His
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus. With this word, therefore,
the writer and the Spirit is telling us to recall, to gather
up our thoughts and to focus our attention upon what was just
told to us in chapter 1. The word, therefore, might be
translated, since. Since what we just read,
since what we just read in verse 1, since God has spoken to us
by His holy prophets and His Son. You can read it that way.
Therefore, Therefore, since God has spoken to us by His holy
prophets and His Son, or you can read the next part, since
the Lord Jesus Christ is appointed heir of all things, we read that
back in chapter 1, since He who is our Savior is also the creator
of everything, doesn't that give us our peace? When we read things
like all things are for our good in Romans chapter 8 verse 28,
when we read things like that, or in Romans 8 chapter 1, or
chapter 1 verse, I'm going to get it right here, Romans 8 chapter
1 verse 1. I'm going to get that wrong again. Romans chapter 8 verse 1, there
we go. Took me a bit to get that, didn't
it? When you get to be my age, Pauli Mary, when you get to be
as old as I am, you'll understand that. When we read things like there
is no condemnation to those who are in Christ, how do you know that's true? Because
our God created everything. He's the master of everything. How do you know everything is
for your good, Pauli Mary? Because our God rules all things. Can our God do anything wrong?
No. If he could, he wouldn't be God.
If anything, if the word might, or if the word, to the sense
of what that word means, possibility, possible. If there was ever a
might or a possibility with God, According to the way you and
I see those words. Then what a small God that would
be. Our God is sure. He's sure. His works are sure. That's why He only has to do
them one time. Our Lord doesn't do something twice. Once He does
it, it's done. He says, it is finished, it is
finished. And that includes our salvation. How do we have peace?
It's because we know Him as the sovereign God of all creation.
That's our only peace, that what He says is true because it can't
be wrong. Since Christ the God-man is the
brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His
person, we know that what He did on the cross is successful. We know that what He did on the
cross accomplished what He purposed it to do. There's no might Well,
maybe God saved you, maybe God saved some people. If you'll
make a decision, He saved you. Hogwash. Since, therefore, or
since, He upholds all things by the word of His power. This
is speaking of our Savior. We read these things back in
chapter 1. Since He upholds all these things by the Word of His
power, is there anything that can thwart His power, thwart
His Word, turn Him? Is there anything that can come
between God and the people that He loves? And then it says that by Himself, He by Himself purged our sins. He sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty on high. Since He by Himself has purged
our sins, shouldn't we rest in what He's done? Since He who
is our Savior is exalted, reigning over all things, monarch over
all the universe, should we not go to Him for our needs? Should
we not expect from Him to give us what we need? Should we not
count and trust that He will give us all that we need? Since
our great Savior is so much better and superior to even the angels,
it says we ought, in our verse there, doesn't it? Therefore,
since, because of all those things, we ought. Notice that the Apostle
Paul who many believe wrote this, whoever did write it, notice
that they did not say, you ought. I corrected myself a moment ago
when I said you ought, huh? And I said, I ought. That's what
the Apostle Paul is saying here. We ought. If all of these things
be true to your heart, if all of those things we just read
about the Lord Jesus being so much better than the angels,
being at the glory of God the Father, the express image, upholding
all things by the word of his power, purging our sins by himself,
sitting at the right hand of the majesty on high, shouldn't
we ought? I opt. What the writer is saying is
that this message he has is a message for all of us. It's a message for you and it's
a message for me. Folks, I'm in the same boat as
you are. I know those who mistakenly put my dear brother Pastor Gene
Harmon on a pedestal so high that when they found out he was
nothing more than a sinner saved by grace, they walked away from
God's gospel never to see or hear of it again. I'm not saying anybody's putting
me on a pedestal, but I know some of us have put some on a
pedestal. How many people have put Don Fortner on a pedestal
too high for him to sit on? God's ministers are in the same
boat you are. We have the same struggles as
you have. Many a time in these last few weeks, I have had to
deal with struggles in my own life, family, friends, struggles inside of this flesh,
just as you have each and every day. I face the same dangers,
I have the same responsibilities as you have. It's just as much
my responsibility to walk according to God's word as it is for you. God's preachers are men just
like you and I. Even the apostles and the prophets
of old were nothing more than men just like us. All of us believers
are sinners saved by grace alone. We're sinners in the midst of
a great conflict. We're sinners with great trials. We're sinners with constant needs
of grace. We're sinners of unceasing assault
from hell. even worse, assault of our own
flesh. Therefore we must ever watch
and pray. We must ever be vigilant. We
must constantly press towards the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It says, therefore
we ought to give the more earnest heed We must each one personally
and diligently apply to ourselves and faithfully lay to our hearts
the things which we have heard. It is our duty and responsibility
to bow to the Word of God. Is this Word of God that we hold
in our hands true to you? We must constantly bow and bend
the knees, bend our wills to God's will. Do you look to God's
will in what you do? You know, our Lord tells us not
to buy and sell without asking the Lord willingly. I say, we're going to come to
the table of remembrance here at the end of the services today. Pastor Gene was always very loyal in stating, Lord will it. Lord, thy divine will be done. Our minds, we want to bend to
God's revelation. Lord, are you showing me something
here? and our thoughts to His gospel. What is the gospel? Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
We must set our affliction, our affections upon Christ. We must
do so constantly. We must bring our whole man,
our whole body, our whole soul, every thought, every imagination,
every faculty of our being into the willing captivity and the
subjection of our Savior. Lord, is this what you have for
me? I'll tell you something, if you're God's child, everything
He has for you is right before your face. Including our trials. As well as our blessings. As well as our blessings. We
must bring our whole body and soul into subjection of our Lord's
will. It's not enough that we have
heard and do hear the gospel, we must apply it to ourselves.
We must set our hearts upon the things which we have heard. The
things which we have heard are the glorious truths of the gospel
set forth in Holy Scripture. Why? It says next in the last
part of our verse there, lest at any time we should let them
slip. Brother Don Fortner wrote these
next words, he said, this is a very unusual expression. This
expression we just read here, lest at any time we should let
them slip. That's our Lord's word speaking
to us. We say we can never fall, God's children can never, ever
fall out of the love of Christ, and that's true. So why would
God inspire one of his prophets to say this very thing to us?
This is a very unusual expression he writes. It is used nowhere
else in the Word of God. It's an expression of real danger.
The danger of apostasy. The danger of losing the benefit
of the Gospel. The danger of eternal ruin. If
it is impossible to overstate the seriousness of this matter,
it is absolutely vital that we persevere in the faith, that
we continue in the Word. Folks, are there not many who
once seemed to have a real interest in the things of God, who have
made a shipwreck of faith, who have made a shipwreck of their
immortal souls. Leave Hebrews for a moment there.
Turn to the left just a couple of pages to 1 Timothy. These are words that we cannot
ignore. We dare not ignore any of God's
Word. And our Lord here says in this
book of Hebrews, he says, therefore we ought We ought to give the more earnest
heed. That means to watch over, to
be careful of the things which we have heard lest at any time
we should let them slip. Now I want to remind you, what
happened to Israel? Israel was God's chosen people, a picture
of all of God's chosen people. But we know that Israel wasn't
all Israel, don't we? We know that all of those who
sit under the preaching of the truth today and all around the
world, not all, are Israel, don't we? Do not the weak grow up with
the tares, isn't that what the scripture tells us? In 1 Timothy chapter 1, look
at verse 19, what does it tell us to do here? Holding faith
and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning
faith, have made shipwreck. Lord, is that me? Have you ever stopped to ask
yourself, Lord, Lord, am I a Judas? Have you ever asked that? I have. I wonder. You know how Bill Silva knows
he's not a Judas? Because God kept him to the end. I'm going to be asking myself
if I'm a Judas until God takes me out of this world. Then I'll
know. You know how Don Forger knew
he wasn't a Judas? Or when he found out he wasn't
a Judas is when the Lord took him out of this world and brought
him into His presence. Until God takes us out of this
world, we need to examine ourselves. Am I in the faith? Am I taking
heed? Am I giving earnest heed to what
I've heard? Am I one of those who just show
up on Sunday for an hour and say, okay, I'm good. I'm going
to go back out into the world now and do whatever I want. I'm
going to run crazy and just do whatever feels good. I want to show you several more
verses. We're running a little bit long on Bible study this
morning, but I want to show you a couple more verses. Look over
John chapter 8. Look over John chapter 8. In John chapter 8, look at verse
31. Then Jesus, so we see right off
the bat, it's our Lord Jesus, God Almighty, the Sovereign One,
He said to those Jews which believed on Him. If ye continue in my word, then
are ye my disciples indeed. Now, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Go back to the other side of
Acts and Romans to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 we
begin reading in verse 1, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you
the gospel which I preached unto you, that also ye have received,
and wherein ye stand. Now see how Paul is writing here?
He's saying the exact same words that we see over here. Take heed,
take earnest heed to what? To the things which ye have heard. What is Paul saying here? I preached
unto you which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, verse 2,
by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached
unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto
you first of all that which I received, how that Christ died for our
sins. according to the Scriptures. People tell me, John, you don't
go deep enough into the Word. There's more in God's Word than
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Is that right? Is that right? What did we just read right here?
What was important? What was Paul putting the emphasis
on? Stand fast in the Gospel! Stand fast in Christ! Take heed to the things we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. One more if you
would. Turn back over to Hebrews. Actually,
let's look at Colossians. Keep going to the right past
Corinthians there. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Colossians chapter 1 verse 23. If ye continue in the faith,
grounded, firm, may God grab a hold of us. May He anchor us
to Him, firm. settled and be not moved away
from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven whereof I Paul am a minister. The admonition that we see here
in Hebrews turn over to Proverbs chapter 6 The admonition that
we see, and I'll bring this to a close here, the admonition
that we see over here in Hebrews 2 verse 1 is this. If we would
be saved, if we would continue in the faith, if we would avoid
making a shipwreck of our souls, we must bind the gospel to our
hearts. I'm going to read that again.
We must bind the gospel, the good news, to our hearts. We're
going to get to it over in Preview, Proverbs chapter 6. And we must bind our hearts to
the gospel, both ways. Look at Proverbs chapter 6, verses
20. My son, keep thy father's commandment. and forsake not the law of thy
mother, bind them continually upon thine heart." Do you ever sit there, your mind
is going about, and the world and things about is going around
you, and all of a sudden you remember
something? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. Oh, folks, bind yourselves to
the gospel. But even better, bind the gospel
to you. When thou goest, it says in verse
2, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall
keep thee, and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. Folks,
a true child of God can never fall away from eternal death. Our Lord and Savior has taken
our eternal death upon himself and conquered it. We are kept
by the power of God, as it says in 1 Peter 1, verse 5, but that
does not delete our Lord's warnings to you and I. We look to all
of God's Word for our counseling. So as we read in our verse there
this morning, therefore, therefore, because of what God has told
us about His Son in the first chapter of Hebrews 1, Therefore,
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Amen.