Let's open our Bibles to Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2. Words often lose their meaning when they are used too often. There's a word in our text this morning that I'm certain I use far, far too often. to describe things that this word, in its context this morning, I can only describe.

It's the word great. Yeah, I might say to Tricia, dinner was great. Might say to you, that's a great idea, or that was a great event. When God used the word great, I asked Ryan if he would read Psalm 48. Great is the Lord. Great is the Lord. And greatly to be praised. Psalm 145 verse 3 says, His greatness is unsearchable. Unsearchable. For all eternity will be will be swimming in the ocean of His greatness and never, never be able to find out what it really is.

Is there anything more great than what the Lord tells us about Himself and about salvation? Is there anything else in comparison to that worthy of the word great. Now it'd be great if we could just reserve that word for that one thing, wouldn't it? The Lord uses it. Look at Hebrews chapter 2.

How shall we escape? How shall we be delivered? That's what that word escape means. Delivered from what? Delivered from the wrath of God. Delivered from death. delivered from judgment, delivered from the curse of the law. How shall we escape if we neglect? Now notice the word neglect. It doesn't mean you have to be against the gospel. It doesn't mean that you have, you know, that you have bad feelings toward the things of God. It just means that you're indifferent to them. It just means that they're not important to you.

You have neglected them. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? So great salvation. Now, when that word great is put before salvation, when that word great is put before the Lord, It raises it to a level, well, as we've said, it's unsearchable. What is it that makes salvation so great?

Well, it's great in that it reveals the greatness of our God. Now, the scripture says that the heavens declare his glory and the earth is his handiwork. And the stronger our telescopes and microscopes become, we see more and more the grandeur of the power of God, the greatness of God that would create such things that we are able to see. And yet the greatness of creation can never reveal to our hearts the greatness of his salvation.

We can acknowledge that there is a God. We know that there is. All men know in their hearts that there's a God. Conscience tells us so. Interesting that even the atheist or the professing atheist, at least the ones that I have met, have a code of honor. I've heard men say, well, you know, if you don't acknowledge that there's a God, then you don't have any standards to determine right from wrong. You just make up for yourself what's right or what's wrong. But I haven't found that to be true with those that I've met who profess that there is a God. In a lot of ways, concerning the things that are right and wrong, they are in agreement with me. Where'd they get that from?

The law of God's written on their hearts too. Yeah. The law of God is written on the hearts of all men. And so all men, even if they profess to be atheist, have a moral code about them because it's imprinted in their conscience. But just like creation, conscience is not sufficient to reveal the greatness of God or his salvation. Providence. We see the hand of God at work in Providence.

The scripture says that the children of Israel saw the acts of God. They saw what God was doing. They walked across dry ground on the Red Sea. They saw the ten plagues, they saw the manifold from heaven every day, they saw the water come from the rock. The children of Israel saw his ways, his acts, but Moses knew his ways.

God revealed through the gospel what was really behind all of these acts. So men might see the acts of God, they might have in their conscience a moral code, they might see in creation the power of God, but none of these things will be sufficient to save them, to lead them to a saving knowledge of God Almighty. That can only come through the gospel. Moses knew his ways. Men know what God's doing, but they don't know why he's doing it. This day, when the whole world is meeting for the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, this truth applies. Men know what God did.

They believe what God did, but they don't know why he did it. They don't know why he did it. Turn with me, if you will, to Romans chapter 4. Look at verse 21, and being fully persuaded, we believe him with all of our hearts. Say, well, the heart is deceitful and wicked and no man can know it, now that's the flesh. But the new heart that God gives, the mind of Christ, every part of that heart, is persuaded. Being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was also able to perform.

God had promised to redeem his people. God had promised that all Israel would be saved. Not those who were born after the flesh, according to the the line of Abraham but those who are born of the spiritual Israel spiritual Israel God promised he made a promise to spiritual Israel to save them and Abraham Paul speaking of Abraham here Abraham believed that God was able to perform that which he promised. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. He believed the promises of God and he believed that God would perform, that he would accomplish, that he would fulfill all of his promises.

Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. This matter of the resurrection has something to do with the imputation of righteousness. If God doesn't, this word impute means to impart or to to credit, to credit, to charge, not to impart, but to charge or to credit. And that's what God does.

He charges the righteousness of God. Men go about trying to establish their own righteousness. Why? Because they're ignorant of the righteousness of God. Christ is the righteousness of God. He's the end of the law for righteousness. He's the one that fulfilled all the demands of God's holy law. Christ Jesus the Lord is our righteousness before God.

If we're to be able to stand in the presence of a holy God and be worthy, counted, righteous, holy in his sight, we must be found in Christ. And this matter of the resurrection has a lot to do with what it means to be found in Christ. Who raised up the Lord from the dead. Why did God raise his son from the dead? Why?

Because the Lord Jesus Christ had performed what he had promised. He finished the work of redemption. He didn't leave any part of it undone for us to to make our contribution. When he hung his mighty head on Calvary's cross, he said, it is finished. Abraham believed that God himself would perform what he had promised, that he would not leave any of it up to Abraham to do, that God would do all the saving and that God would get all the glory. And God raised his son from the dead because the Lord Jesus had performed what he promised to do. He promised in the covenant of grace to redeem his people. And that's exactly what he did. He did not make an offer of redemption. He actually accomplished redemption. He placed his shed blood on the mercy seat in heaven.

And God said, here, I will meet with you. When I see the blood, I will pass by you. Isn't that what God told Moses in Egypt? Put the blood of the lamb on the doorpost. When I see the blood, we are redeemed by the blood of the lamb. By the way, just a little side note.

Acts chapter 13, I think around verse three or four, and maybe further, maybe six, is the only place in the Bible you find the word Easter. And it's only translated that word that way in the English language. In all of the major languages of the world, it's not called Easter, it's called Passover. 27 times in the New Testament, the word that's translated Easter in Acts chapter 12 is translated Passover in the rest of the New Testament. But in the early 1600s, when the Bible was translated into English, the word Easter was being used to describe this day. And so the translators, I guess, thought they had to put it in there somewhere. So they took the word Passover in that one place, and they use the word Easter. And it has become part of the English language ever since. But it's the word Passover. I will pass over you.

You will escape if you neglect not this great salvation, this salvation that was accomplished by the shed blood of my son. And I raised him from the dead because he did what he promised he would do. He redeemed his people. He didn't offer redemption to the world. He didn't hope that you would receive his redemption. He actually redeemed his people. I, the father speaking, In Isaiah 53, I saw the travail of his soul and I was satisfied.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the proof that God the Father is satisfied with what the Lord Jesus accomplished when he died, which was the redemption of his people, the justification. To be justified in the sight of God means that you are without sin. without sin in the presence of a holy God. How can that be? Only by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only by what he performed.

He promised to do it, he performed it. Abraham believed that what he had promised he would perform and it was imputed to Abraham for righteousness. And the only way that it would be imputed to us for righteousness is if we neglect not this great salvation But like Abraham, who is the father of the faithful, we believe that what God promised, the Lord Jesus performed. And God raised him from the dead because the father was satisfied that everything that the father required for the salvation of his people was performed. It was accomplished. It was finished by the work of Christ on Calvary's cross. Nothing more to do. We rest in Christ. We believe on Christ. We worship Christ. We follow after Christ. We neglect, no, we neglect not so great a salvation, lest we not be able to escape.

Now, the word for, F-O-R, can be a preposition, most often is, or it can be a conjunction. And you have to discern from the context of what's being said, that's true in the English language, it's also true in the Greek language. It's also true in the original language that the New Testament was written in. The word for, the little preposition for can also be a conjunction.

If I said to you that, or if you read a poster that said Jesse James is wanted for robbery. Well, if that four was a preposition, then you would have to say that Jesse James is wanted for the purpose of committed a robbery. But if it was a conjunction, then you would read that as we do read it, Jesse James is wanted because he committed a robbery, for robbery.

I didn't come here for an English lesson or for a language lesson. Well, it's very important. Look at our next verse. Because it's a conjunction here. It's not a preposition. Who, speaking of the Lord Jesus, was delivered by who? By God. He was delivered up for our offenses. Because of our offenses. conjunction and raised again, raised again because of our justification. To be justified is to be without sin. We're not justified by the resurrection of Christ, we're justified by the death of Christ.

When God saw his blood, God said, all for whom my son has laid down his life. He laid down his life for the sheep. All for whom he has laid down his life in the sight of God are without sin. He hath put away their sin by the sacrifice of himself once and for all. And because they were justified, therefore God raised him from the dead.

You see, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, though it's being celebrated all around the world this morning, and men rest in the fact that they believe that it happened, but they don't know why it happened. They, like the children of Israel, have seen the acts of God, but unlike Moses, they don't know his ways. They see what he did, but they don't know why he did it. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ has a very powerful message concerning the gospel. It's essential concerning the gospel. It's the father saying to his people, I'm satisfied with my son. Are you? Are you satisfied with him? Are you satisfied with him being all of your salvation? Or do you want to go about and try to add to what he's done?

This great salvation is dependent upon the resurrection of Christ. It's dependent upon The Pharisees wanted a sign. They wanted some outward miracle for the Lord to perform. We came here to see you. We heard you were a miracle maker and we've heard some fantastic stories. We'd like to see one. And the Lord looked at them and said, a wicked and perverse generation seeketh after a sign.

No sign is going to be given unto you except for the sign of Jonah. who was cast into the sea as the Lord Jesus was cast into the sea of our sin. He was swallowed by death, by the whale as the Lord Jesus was swallowed up by the grave and swallowed by death. And three days later, he was vomited out onto dry ground.

That's your sign. That's your sign. Your only sign that I'm going to give you is the sign of the resurrection. Everybody's looking at the sign this morning, but they don't know what its point is. What does a sign do? It points us to something. The resurrection is a sign that points us to the Father.

It points us to a satisfied God who has received his Son back into glory. and giving him his rightful place. What a great salvation. It is great because it declares the glory of Christ. It is great because it accomplished the purpose of God. It is great because there's nothing we can do to add to it or take away from it. We see in this great salvation A greater love hath no man than this, than he lay down his life for his friends.

No longer do I call you my servants, for a servant doesn't know what his master's doing. No, I call you my friends. Why am I a friend of God? Able to talk with God face to face as with a friend. Because all that the Father has given unto me, I have told you. I have revealed to you the truth of salvation.

Not just some historical events that men hang their hopes on because they believe that there was a man that was born of a virgin, died on a cross and raised from the dead. And they call him Lord, but they don't really believe he's Lord. They believe he is dependent upon them for something which would diminish his being Lord. No. The Lord said, I've revealed to my friends what I'm doing. I've revealed to you why I'm doing it, what I've accomplished, who I am. Greater love hath no man than this. Herein is love. Herein is love. Here's the definition of love.

Not that we love God, we do, but our love is so fickle, it's so inconsistent, but that he loved us and gave his life as a propitiation for our sins. Now that word propitiation means that he put away the wrath of God He absorbed the fire of God's justice and he quenched that fire once and for all. He has become the propitiation for our sins. There's the definition of love. What manner of love, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we of all people should be called the sons of God, that he would reveal this glorious gospel, this great salvation to me, how great this is.

It's greater than anything. Great as we use it doesn't seem to be sufficient, but it's the word that God uses. Oh, what great love. Ephesians chapter two says that we are dead by nature. We come into this world spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, quickened us together with Christ. What great love.

The poet wrote, could we with ink the ocean feel? And were the skies a parchment made? Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade to write The love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. The greatness, it's unsearchable. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? the greatness of God and all of his attributes being on full display at Calvary's cross. His love, his mercy, his justice, his righteousness, his holiness.

We see them in so many places, but the full revelation of them is made in the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus. proven, authenticated, signed by the resurrection. Resurrection, that's what God's saying in the resurrection. It's all done. The Bible says that the father could not allow his holy one to see corruption. God Almighty raised his son from the dead.

What a great, what a great savior. We have a great high priest. Hebrews chapter four tells us a great shepherd of the sheep, one who intercedes for us, one who provides for us. When David said in Psalm 23, the Lord The Lord, who himself is great, is my shepherd.

I shall not be in want of anything. All that I need in this life and in the life to come, he will provide. He's promised to never leave me, nor forsake me. He's promised to provide for me a righteousness that I cannot provide for myself. He's promised to put away my sin. And I'm fully persuaded that what he promised, he's able also to perform. That's faith.

Great is the mystery of godliness. A mystery is something that's hid from the natural man. A mystery is something that God has to reveal. Great is the mystery of godliness. And the first thing that Paul says to Timothy, God was manifested in the flesh. He was justified by the angels. Justified at his birth, justified when he ascended back into glory.

Great is the mystery. It's a mystery because it's hid to man. It's hid from the natural man because the natural man thinks that there's something that he has to do. And he will go about trying to establish his own righteousness and rob Christ of his glory in salvation. What is so great about this salvation?

Well, the scope of it. The scope of this salvation, the Bible says that this salvation raises the poor from the dust and it lifts the beggar from the dunghill. It causes the blind to see, it causes the lame to walk, it causes the deaf to hear, it causes the dead to be raised to life. There is no depth. that this salvation cannot plumb to.

The scope of it goes all the way down into the grave and into the pits of evil and causes them to have hope. It gives hope to the hopeless. It takes those who are far off and brings them nigh unto God. It takes them who are by nature at enmity with God and causes them to love him and to sit at his feet and to worship him and to hear him and to follow him. What a great salvation. It doesn't just get us into heaven. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. All things are passed away, yea, all things become new. What a great salvation.

It takes the Mary Magdalenes, possessed with seven demons, and causes them to be the first one at the tomb, the first one to hear the voice of the risen Savior to say, Mary. It causes the demoniacs of the Gadarenes, who are possessed with a legion of demons, to be loosed from their chains and to be in their right mind and to be followers of Christ and faithful witnesses of him. As it causes the proud Nebuchadnezzars who thought that he had established his own kingdom and was turned into a beast in the field, it causes them to come to themselves, to look up, causes the prodigal who has wasted his inheritance on riotous living and found himself in the pigpen to say oh the servants in my father's house have it better than me I'll go back to my father only to find the father waiting embraced him lavished him with kisses said put put shoes on his feet ring on his finger put the robe of righteousness around him This my son who was lost is now found. How great is this salvation? It's great in its scope, not only in how far down it goes, but it's great in its scope in how far up it reaches. This is no mere escape from death. This is not saved by the skin of your teeth.

This is being. made a child of God. This is having fellowship with the living God. This is knowing the one who created you, loving him, walking hand in hand with him. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 35 says, What great recompense of reward we have. To see him as he is and to be made like him. To have a sinless, resurrected, glorified body. Oh, what a day. takes those who are worthy of wrath and judgment and exalts them to a place of honor, makes them sons and daughters of the King, takes those who are marred beyond recognition with the ugliness of sin and beautifies them as the bride of Christ, A trophy of his grace that he will parade about all of creation to show how beautiful she is. Oh, the scope of this salvation. How far down it reaches and how far up it goes. It is a great salvation. And it's great in its perfection. It's great in its completeness by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

Now this goes back to that verse we looked at in Romans chapter four. He was offered up for our offenses and raised again, raised again because of our justification, because we've been sanctified. That's what the Lord accomplished. We look to the death, burial, resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we look to him alone. We rest all our hope on him. The law with all of its sacrifices can never make us perfect. Perfect is what God requires and perfect is what God provided. I wanna close with one passage of scripture.

If you'll look back with me to Leviticus. Leviticus chapter 16. All the glorious pictures of Christ given in the Old Testament types and shadows of the law given to Israel. In Leviticus chapter 16, we have the story of the scapegoat. Look at verse 20.

And when he had made an end of reconciling the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat." Everything had been sprinkled with water. Everything had been set apart. It had been sanctified. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting upon the head of the goat and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness." Now, Aaron is Christ. The scapegoat is Christ. The fit man is Christ. This is God saying to us, that our high priest, the Lord Jesus, has placed on himself, he has taken to himself all the sins of all of God's people.

God made him who knew no sin, sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And only a fit man could take this goat out into the wilderness where it could never be found. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities, verse 22, onto a land not inhabited. And he shall let the goat go in the wilderness. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished taking all the sins of all of his people into the wilderness of forgetfulness. I have separated your sins from you as far as the East is from the West, and I will remember them no more. I buried them in the depths of the sea. They're gone. They're gone.

What's the evidence of that? What's the proof of that? What's our confidence that the Lord Jesus actually did that? The resurrection. The resurrection. That's why God raised him from the dead. How shall we escape if we neglect, if we become indifferent, if we don't give our wholehearted attention to this great salvation? For the time? 103. 103 in the hardback temple. Let's stand together. Number 103.