I am reading this morning from
Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1 says,
We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. The things we
have heard, what God's word says, for if the word spoken by angels
was and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompensive reward, how shall we escape if we neglect or disregard
so great a salvation which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? We ought to give earnest or serious
heed to the things we have heard, what God's word Now what I say,
or what any man or woman says, is of no eternal consequence.
And you may accept it or reject it, but not God's Word, which
we call the Bible. And the Bible primarily speaks
of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. From Genesis to Revelation, the
Son of God is the subject of God's Word, because Jesus Christ
is the way. He said this in the Gospel of
John, I am the way, the only way to get to God, the truth,
the truth of who God is, of what He is like, the truth of salvation. I am the life, Christ said. Eternal
life is in the Son, who He is and what He did and what He does
and where He is now. Life is to be in Him and like
Him. Let's look at what the Word of
God says in Hebrews 1 about the Son of God. Chapter 1, before
He said we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things
we've heard, before that He said in verse 1 of chapter 1, God,
who at sundry times and in different manners spake in time past unto
the Father by the prophet. God used to speak to men by men,
which were called prophets. Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah,
Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and on and on. Men spoke, but it
was God speaking through them. And what they said, basically,
was this. They said God is holy. God is just. God is righteous. God is to be feared. Repent. bow. We must have a sacrifice,
they said. We must have a blood atonement. We must have a mediator to come
to God. We must have someone to speak
for us to God and speak to us for God. And that is the Christ. The Christ is all of those things. The Lamb of God, the mediator
between God and men. And the prophets bore witness
of Christ. That's what Christ said. He said,
Moses wrote of me. He said the prophets bear witness
of me. The whole Old Testament basically
says this. Someone is coming. Someone we
need. Someone we must heed what he
says. Someone we must listen to. Someone
from God himself, expressly from the presence of God, someone
we must listen to, believe, trust. Verse 2 says, So God hath in
these last days spoken unto us by his Son. All God has to say to sinful
man now is what Jesus Christ said and what Jesus Christ gave
his apostles to say. All that the apostles said is
what Christ said. told them to say. Now, I heard
a false prophet the other day on TV say this. He said, God still speaks in
dreams and visions. No, He doesn't. No, He does not. The book is finished. God's Word
is finished. There is no need for dreams and
visions. We have the first and last Word
on every subject. We had the completed revelation
of God's Word. This is why there are no more
prophets today, because Jesus Christ was the last prophet. He is that prophet. All that
God says or has to say was completely said when Jesus Christ said it.
And now all we need to do is hear the Word of God, the written
Word of God preached. So God has spoken unto us by
His Son. And when Jesus Christ spoke,
it was God speaking, not a mere man. And that's why the apostles
said in chapter 2, we'd better give them more earnest heed because
of who it was that spoke and who it is really that is speaking.
I hear people speak of Jesus and quote Jesus as if he were
just another good man, a wise man perhaps, but just a man. I hear them speak of him and
of things he did and things he said as if he were just a man
like Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, that we can take or leave what
he said or we can we can say what he said and refer to what
he said as if it was just a man that was speaking. No, verse
2 here of Hebrews 1 says, God has spoken unto us by his Son
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, or that is, the owner,
the Lord, the master, the judge. And he goes on to say, by whom
also God made the world. Wait a minute now. He's talking
about this One, this Jesus Christ, as if He were the Creator, as
if He made the world like God. He did. Read the book of Colossians
chapter 1 and 2 for yourself. Read John's Gospel chapter 1,
the first few verses for yourself. You'll see. You'll read how that
Jesus Christ made everything. as God. Verse 3 goes on to say,
Who, or that is Christ, being the brightness of His or God's
glory, and the express image of His person, the invisible
God, listen, God, whom no man hath seen nor can see. Men have
seen His name was Jesus Christ. The invisible God took on an
image. That's what this says here, verse
3. The express image of God's person. The only image God ever
took or ever will take was the image of Jesus Christ. The only
bodily appearance of God to mankind is Jesus Christ. That's the reason
that Colossians says that in him, in Christ, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And it says here in verse 3 that
he upholds all things by the word of his power. This passage
of Scripture leaves no doubt who Jesus Christ is. And in verse
3 it goes on to say, when he had by himself purged our sin,
that is, Jesus Christ by himself, without man's help, without the
cooperation or help of man, without anyone's help, without man's
help, without Mary's help, by himself, salvation is of the
Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. a work between God and men. Oh, no. When he had by himself
purged our sins, or that is, the sins of God's people, he
sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. And verse
4 says, being made so much better than the angels, that word made
means declared, ordained, set up as so much better than even
angels, angels which were high and lofty creatures, angelic
creatures. He says here in verse 4 that
he hath a more excellent name than an angel. Verse 5 declares
his name. Under which of the angels did
he say at any time, Thou art my son? Oh, that's what he said
to Jesus Christ. This is my son, the Son of God. But wait a minute now. Not just
the Son, like we may be called the Son of our Father, or like
we as believers may be called the Son of God. Oh no now, He's
much more than that. Verse 6 says this, read on with
me. Verse 6 says again, when He bringeth
in the first begotten into the world, Jesus Christ, the first
begotten, it says, let the angels of God worship Him. God tells
the angels to worship this man. My, my, he must be more than
a man. In verse 7, of the angels, he
says, who make his angels spirits, his ministers a flame of fire.
In verse 8, he says, Unto the Son thy throne, O God, is for
ever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom."
God says to the Son, Thy throne, O God, and He calls it His kingdom. Oh, my! Jesus Christ must be
more than a mere man. He is. He is God Almighty. He is God manifest in the flesh. The Son is also the Father. That's what the prophets said.
Isaiah said, A child is born yet, but the Son is given, and
the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall
be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Now, most do not believe that
Jesus Christ is God because they cannot understand how a man can
be God or God become a man, how the Son can be the Father and
still be the Son. But it is so. You just heard
me quote Isaiah 9-6, and Christ said so Himself. He said, He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father. He said, If you believe
not that I am, you shall die in your sins. That's John 8,
24. And so all who claim to worship
God, worship Jehovah, they better worship the son as they do the
father. They better honor the son as
they do the father. They better worship Jesus Christ
as if he were God, because he is. And if they do not, they
will be damned. And yet, there are three distinct
persons in the Godhead. Father, the Son, or the Word,
and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. They
are equal and the same. They are all God. Now, we are
not required to understand this, but to believe it. Believe Him,
the Son of God, because He is the only manifestation or Word
or spoken and fleshly Word of God, Jesus Christ, of whom God
says in verse 9 here of Hebrews 1 that He has been anointed or
appointed with the oil of gladness above all his fellows." There
is a man on the throne of God, the God-man, Jesus Christ. Verse
10 says, "...who laid the foundation of the earth, the heavens are
the work of his hand." Jesus Christ made the world. And it
says He is going to fold them up like a used vesture or garment,
verses 11 and 12. But Christ lives forever. And he says he's on the throne
right now. And so, he said, this is the
one of whom the Scriptures speak, and this is the one who spoke.
And this is why we ought to give the more earnest heed to the
things we've heard, because of who it was that came and what
he said. We'd better listen. We'd better
not let it slide, because God walked this planet and said some
things. Well, if you would like this
message on cassette tape, write to us. We'll send it to you free
of charge until next Sunday. Good day.