Good morning to you. Let me read a verse from Psalm chapter
5, verse number 7. But as for me, I will come into
thy house in the multitude of thy mercy, and in thy fear will
I worship toward thy holy temple. I pray that we will I have that
same prayer as David. I ask the Lord to bless this
gathering this morning. Our most gracious and merciful
Heavenly Father, we do pray that you be with us this day. Send
your Holy Spirit. Lord, give us hearing ears and
an understanding heart. Make us to see you in everything
that's said. Be with our brother this morning
as he proclaims thy true gospel. Give him the words to make it
plain that we will understand. Thank you, Lord, for thy wonderful
mercies toward us. Pray that you'll continue to
shed them upon us, all of the benefits that you give. Lord,
we know that it is all from you. Make us every day, in every instant,
to give thee thanks. Pray for our pastor, Lord, as
he's traveling. Give he and Mindy traveling mercies. Give them
comfort in this time. Lord, forgive us of our sins. In the holy name we pray, amen. Our pastor is in Louisiana this
morning attending a funeral, a family member. And in his absence,
we have with us Brother Walter Pendleton from Sovereign Chapel,
Sovereign Grace Chapel. at Beaver or Crow, West Virginia. Walter's been here many times,
and he's a dear friend of this church. I'm sure that, just like
myself, you're all going to be very pleased with what he has
to say. Walter, thank you for being here. Thank you again for
coming. Good morning, everyone. For our Bible lesson this morning,
we'll be turning to The book of Hebrews. Hebrews
chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. For our lesson I will just read
the first three verses of Hebrews chapter 1 and then we will try
to examine these verses and see the glory of God manifest in
the face of Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 1, beginning
in verse 1, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir
of all things, by 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 on the right hand of the
majesty on high. Of course, the truth then continues
here, but we'll stop and deal with just these three verses
this morning. My subject for this lesson is
this. God the Son has spoken. Now that's very important because
this is How the writer begins here, God the Son hath spoken. I point out, it does not say
in this text that God the Son is speaking. He says, He hath
spoken. So anyway, concerning verse 1,
here are some clear declarations. So again, the first part of verse
1, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets." First thing, the prophets
spoke at sundry times. What the prophets spoke was absolute
truth, but it was piecemeal. A little here, a little there. And it was often on various occasions. Early on, God's people were aware
of one another, but they did not gather as we gather today
on a regular basis. So the prophets spoke at sundry
times. That simply means they spoke
absolute truth, but they spoke piecemeal at times, at varying
times. Then it goes on and says the
prophets spoke in diverse manners. This means that God's methods
varied. Let me be clear when I say that.
God's methods vary. That is, there was times when
God spoke directly to certain individuals and told those individuals
what to tell other individuals. Then, as time went on, of course,
then Moses came on the scene, the Scriptures began to be written. And then they began to be, over
the years, compiled. book with another book and book
with another book. So we see the writer says the
prophet spoke at sundry times and in diverse manners. The Old
Testament scriptures are very direct, but they also have shadows
and types and symbols. Things that only by divine revelation
could a man and woman understand what they meant, especially when
The gospel was as but a seed, as it were, when there was very
little, if any, written word of God. So again, the prophets
spoke at sundry times and in diverse manners. Here's the third
thing. When the prophets spoke, though they spoke at sundry times
and in diverse manners, yet when the prophets spoke, God was speaking
by them. Let us never forget that. The
Old Testament Scriptures are not inferior to the New Testament
Scriptures. The prophets and their message
is not inferior to the apostles and their message, because the
message was always the same person, Jesus Christ the Lord. So when
the prophets spoke, God was speaking by them. You remember the account
our Lord gave of it. of the rich man who died. And
it says, in hell he lifted up his eyes. And one thing the rich
man asked Father Abraham was, send someone back to tell my
brothers, to warn them that they not come to this place. And Father
Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear
them. So never think that the book
of Hebrews is pushing the Old Testament scriptures to the side.
When the prophets spoke, God was speaking by them. Here's
the fourth thing concerning verse one. That way of speaking is
past. That way of speaking is past. If any man, sadly nowadays we
can even say women because that seems to be a very common thing
today, women so-called pastors, which is not scriptural, But
I don't want to get off on that. That way of speaking is past.
If any person says, God spoke directly to me, God told me this
to tell you, if it doesn't come from this book, they are a liar. That includes me and anyone else. You see, now the writer says, That way
of speaking is past, but now God hath spoken, and he hath
spoken unto us. Isn't that an amazing thing? Henry Mahan, God, has spoken
to us sinners, wretched sinners. Spoken unto us, but no, now it
is absolutely, finally declared it's all centralized. Look at
it one more time. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son."
Consider the actual words there. Consider the actual words. Hath
spoken. Now, when I first began to look at this in some detail,
I thought, well, but doesn't Christ still speak to His people
today? Yes, He does still speak to His
people today. But again, He only does it through
this Word. When any man stands forth and
teaches and preaches, claiming to be sent from God, if he does
not preach God's book, he is a false teacher. Now, consider
these four things here about having these last days spoken
unto us by His Son. First of all, last days demand
the last word. You know, usually if someone
is dying and has time to I was going to say, it's time to die.
That's not what I really meant. When a person is dying and you
know they're about ready to go, people usually gather around.
And what do they want to hear? Their last words. Well, that's
what in these last days has spoken to us by his son. But note that
it's word, not words. It's word, singular. not words. Now compare that with
what is said in chapter 2. And look at what it says. And
hopefully I can tie this together here in a moment. Therefore,
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things, that's plural,
that would be words, correct? To the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we should let them slip. But then look at the
next phrase, and this is why the writer means it. For if the
word You see, not words, although certainly that's true, but the
word. Why? Because every set of words
that a man uses must again be the word. This Bible is not full
of truths. Did you know that? This Bible
is not full of truths. This Bible is the truth. It all
is a harmonious Whole. It's not little bits and pieces
of truth here and there. It is absolute truth. That struck me when I began to
look at this again. Last days demand what? A last
word. Now think about this. Here's
number two. Christ's word is the final word. Christ's Word is the final Word. All of those prophets who spoke at sundry times and in divers
manners, they were speaking about this One who was coming. All
of it pointed to Him. And when He came, He spoke the
final Word. He spoke the final Word. You see, He did not just speak
absolute truth. They spoke, the prophets spoke
absolute truth. He did not just speak absolute
truth. He spoke absolute truth, but he spoke full, absolute truth. The book even God, the New Testament
says, we know how much in part. God, the son knew it all. He's the one who gave the word
to the prophets and then to the apostles. Here's number three.
The clear implication is this. Now here it is. Unless Christ
said it, it ain't so. I don't guess ain't is a word
in that. Well, maybe it is now. I don't know. Things have changed
so much since I went to school. Think about it. Unless Christ
said it. Don't let somebody come to you
and say, well Christ is telling me this now. No, He's told us
everything we need to know right here. Now we may come up with
words that help define things, but it must be in line with this
word or it's not so. That's what the writer is. So
the clear implication again is unless Christ said it, it ain't
so. So then you look back again to chapter 2, excuse me, back
to chapter 2 and let's read it again. 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. For if the word spoken
by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if
we neglect so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken
by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by Them that heard Him. So you see, unless the Word came
from Christ, it ain't God's Word. That's the whole point. Even
all of these epistles and letters that were written were directly
communicated by Jesus Christ to individuals to write down
exactly what God the Son intended for us to hear. In all the words,
He has declared His Word. His Word. So number four, Holy
Scripture, God Almighty's Word. Holy Scripture is Christ's final,
full, absolute Word. Commentaries are great, but they
are not inspired. God-sent preachers today are
good. They're God-ordained, but they
are not inspired. This word is. But that means this. If a man
stands in a place like this, then it doesn't have to be standing.
If a man is proclaiming this word, that means Jesus Christ
is speaking to you. Isn't that amazing? If a man
is preaching this book, this word, then Jesus Christ is speaking
to me. That's an awesome gift. And with it comes awesome responsibility. You know something? I'm going
to give you something. I'll give you a word conundrum
and you can figure it out later. Men talk about, is man responsible
or not? I say yes, man is responsible
before God. But I'll tell you this, man is
irresponsible before God. Now think about that for a while.
Okay, let's move on. Here's, the Apostle John sums
it up far better than I ever could. Look at what John said,
or wrote, in 1 John chapter 4. And I just want to give you one
phrase, and maybe this, if God is pleased, it will help. 1 John
chapter 4 and verse 6. And what it's actually, just
look at the first part of the verse, and I want to give it to you,
and not, I don't want to convolute it with my words. 1 John 4, verse
6. Are you there? Look at what it
says. We, so this is John writing, and to whoever else this message
was intended, even if it's people today. This is what it says.
We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
who? Us. You see it? Now look. Now we can say, well, isn't that
great? That's nice. But we're not left
with an open-ended idea here. Okay? Because look at what it
says. We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that is not of God, heareth not us. You see that? You see, if you don't hear the
Word that has already been spoken, you are not hearing God. And you don't know God. That's how serious this matter
is. So let's move on. Why is this
so vital? Why is it so vital that God,
who at sundry times, in diverse manners, spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son? But why is it that important? Look at the next few words. Whom,
now he's talking about this person, is he not? Whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also he made the world, who being
the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, So
far this has declared the absolute majesty of Jesus Christ, God
manifest in the flesh. But then this majesty has a purpose
that benefits somebody like me and somebody like you. Look at
it. He, that is this whom, that is
this one who is What? Appointed heir of all things,
by whom he made the worlds, the brightness of his glory, the
expressed image of his person, the one who upholds all things
by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged this
being, and I do not say that to be disrespectful, this being
that's described here, cared enough to purge sinners of sins. Do you see that? When he had
by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high. And I heard a man say it many
years ago, and it may have been this man sitting right over here.
He said, why did Christ sit down? He said, not because he was tired,
but because he was done. He was done. Let me just move
through these things real quickly. I'll give you five things. Remember,
the son is appointed heir. That means he owns and thus he
can dispose of everything according to his will. You see, when my earthly dad, my daddy
as I call him, when he dies, If he left everything to me,
if he did, and the courts ruled that this was right, it's proper,
and they give everything to me, you know what that means? I can
do with it what I want. Because now it's mine. That's
what an heir is. It's mine. He appointed God the
Father, appointed the Son, heir of all things. Secondly, this
Son is the Creator. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. You know who that God is? Jesus
of Nazareth. That's mind-blowing. Third, this Son is deity manifest
in resplendent glory in human flesh. That's profound. This Son is absolute deity manifest
in resplendent glory. That's what the writers say to
him here. Number four is this. The Son is deity manifest in
exact stamp of God as God is. You remember what our Lord told
the disciples one time. He said, He that's seen me. And
He's talking, you're looking at a flesh Bone and blood man. That's what was taking place
there. A flesh, bone, and blood man just like this man here standing
before you this morning. With one exception. He had no
sin. And he said, he that's seen me
has seen the Father. And number five. The Son holds
absolute rule. And I just want to read that
one again. And upholding all things by the,
what does it say? Word. This is not going to be the best
way to describe it. He doesn't even have to do anything
with his hands. He just has to say it and think
it in his mind. And that's not a good way. That
doesn't totally explain it here. If you come to me later and say,
Pastor, that was a really faulty explanation, I will say, Amen.
But I'm trying to... Jesus Christ is the absolute
sovereign of everything. And He doesn't have to exert
physical effort to do it. If He thinks it, it was done. is done and shall forever be
done. So then, when he spoke, that is when Jesus
Christ spoke, when he was here, he spoke the word and at the
same time was doing the work that the words spoke of. And
then he relayed all of this to men who wrote it down and by
his sovereign providence He has spared that word and preserved
that word, and we can actually pick it up and read it in our
English language. That ought to make us bow on
our faces before God. Aren't you glad you don't have
to learn Greek to be saved? Aren't you glad that He can save
the illiterate? Because you don't have to be
able to read it, you just have to have it spoken to you. Spoken
to you. Amazing. Let me sum it up. The Son alone did this work. You see what I mean? The Son
alone. He don't need your help or my help. He don't need anybody
else's help. This is the work here. When He
had by Himself purged our sins, then He sat down. Now listen,
if my sins are purged, if your sins were purged, They were purged
some odd 2,000 years ago. They are not being purged. There's
nothing you can do to help God to purge them, because if they
are purged, they were purged way back yonder. So the Son did
the work alone. The Son's one work, which He
spoke by His Word, was to purge. And that means just to wash it
off. It's gone. Again, another probably not best
illustration, but my truck out here that I drove up here with
my wife is dirty. If I go out here and wash all
that dirt off of it, and here it is brand spanking looking
new and shiny, why? Because the dirt's not on it
anymore. You see, when Christ purged our
sins, he got rid of them. Now, I still see them. But he
got rid of them. We could go into the Greek and
look at the word purge, but you know what that means. It means
to wash completely. The dirt's gone. The dirt's gone. The son then did what? He rested. That's what he did. He rested.
He sat down. He sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. The end of my lesson is this. What
else do I need? If I have this, what else do
I really need? What else do I really need? What
about you? What else do you really need? We often think, I've got
to have this or that. No, I've got to have this. Because if I have everything
else in this world and I don't have this, I've got nothing. I got nothing. Now here's the
question for me and for you. Do I believe the Son did this
or not? You see, those who preach the
truth are not asking you to let God save you. We're saying the
Son did the work. It's over and it's done. Do you
believe it or not? It's that simple. But yet, by ourselves, it is
absolutely impossible to do. Father, bless us as we continue. May this pot of clay, may I have
been used to speak your word. And we know, God, you will honor
your word. In Christ's name, amen. All right, let's take a
break. I wasn't supposed to have to
turn anything on or anything, was I? I didn't think it was.