Hebrews chapter one, and we'll
read from verse one. My verse is going to be taken
from chapter two, verse three, but just for context, and because
it's a small chapter, we'll read right from the top of the book. Hebrews chapter one, verse one.
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. Being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they, For unto which of the angels said he at any time,
Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I
will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And
again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world,
he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. and of the
angels, he saith, who maketh his angels' spirits and his ministers
aflame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And thou, Lord, in the beginning
hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest,
and they all shall wax old as doth 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 said he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make
thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? 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 the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? Amen. May God bless to us this reading
from his word. There's a little verse in John
chapter one, verse 17, which says this, the law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The law was given by Moses, and
we know a little bit about that, and that's the reference there
to the angels that brought the law in the early part of chapter
two. The law was given by Moses, even
though angels brought this law, it was given to Moses who revealed
it, and it's called in scripture the law of Moses. And that law brought condemnation
and guilt. to men and women, because no
man or woman in their natural state has ever been able to live
up to that perfect law of God. It gives us no righteousness,
but it only exposes our guilt It shows how far short we have
transgressed that line of perfect holiness that God demands, and
it brings condemnation upon us. But on the other hand, says John,
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And while Moses brought
condemnation and guilt, Mercy and salvation comes through the
Lord Jesus Christ. What a suitable focus for our
attention this morning. The mercy of God, the salvation
of God that comes through our Lord Jesus Christ. I have the great privilege this
morning, this afternoon for some of you, to speak to you about
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I regard that as a privilege. I am thrilled that you come and
you have come here this morning to listen to what I have to say. You could be anywhere else right
now. You could be listening to anything
else right now. And yet you've come here to hear
me speak. I count that to be a great privilege. But make no mistake, you too
are highly privileged to hear what I have to say. Because the
reality of this message is that it is bigger than both of us.
The glory is in the message. The wonder is in the person who
brought that message originally. This one of whom Hebrews speaks. This one who is the excellent
saviour. This one Jesus Christ who brought
grace and truth. And it is our privilege this
morning both to speak of and hear about the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the wonder of the message. It is the wonder of the origin
of this message, of the content of this message. And as Paul
could say to the Romans, the power of this message. There is a marvellous, miraculous
power in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why
the Bible calls this message, So Great Salvation. It is salvation, but it's a great
salvation. But it is a so great salvation. It is a wonderful message. It
is a wonderful gospel. And we both have the privilege
this morning of sitting around the Word of God and contemplating
His grace and truth. The message of the gospel, so
great salvation. And I want to try this morning
to convey to you something of the honour that is granted to
us to hear this gospel preached. This message, this gospel, this
gospel is so important. And I want you to just dwell
on this. I want you to think on this for
a moment. This message is so important. More important than anything
else you will hear today. More important than anything
else you have ever heard in your whole life. More important than
any other message in this whole world. because this is the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me be quite stark, if
I may. This gospel is the difference
between your soul's salvation or your eternal damnation. This is the difference between
everlasting life and everlasting death. It is the difference between
heaven and hell. It is the difference between
glory and shame. It is the difference between
happiness and sorrow. And maybe you say, to me this
morning, oh, you take too much to yourself and you take too
much to your message. And maybe you say to me, you
know, salvation is a gift. Salvation is through faith in
the Lord. Salvation is by grace and it's
nothing to do with our works. And I agree with you. I agree
with you. I hold to the glory of the gospel
and the sovereign power of God to give and bestow that gospel
unto whomsoever he will. But I say nevertheless, the question
today, the question of this hour, the question for you and for
me right now, is what will you do with Christ? Do you believe
the gospel or not? Will you bend your knee to the
Lord Jesus Christ or will you harden your heart? I'm not offering
you salvation here and I'm not asking you to accept or to reject. I know enough. of God's power. I know enough of God's glory.
I know enough of His grace and truth not to be so foolish as
to imagine that it is within the will of the individual to
change their place in this world, in the overview of God's eternal
purpose and translate themselves from death into life, from hell
into heaven. But I know enough of the salvation
of the Lord to know that while this grace is free, this gift
comes from God, that nevertheless, no one who comes to the Lord
Jesus Christ will be cast out, and all who believe on him will
be saved. So let me tell you a little bit
about this salvation that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to his
people. Let me tell you a little bit
about God's so great salvation as it is here described in Hebrews
chapter 2, because this is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God's salvation for sinners
like you and like me, revealed to us on the pages of Holy Scripture. This is the great salvation of
God. It's God's gospel. It's God's
good news and it's God's great gospel to sinners like you and
like me. So let us think for a moment
or two as to why this gospel is so great salvation. And the first thing I want to
point your attention to is this. This gospel is so great because
its origin is great. It originates with our great
God. It originates in the love of
God and in the wisdom of God. The love of God is like God himself,
everlasting and unchanging. You cannot have an unchanging
God, an unchangeable God. whose love ebbs and flows, comes
and goes, exists at some point and doesn't exist at another.
This God of ours who is the eternal God who changes not, does not
change in his love or his affection for his people. And we find that
the salvation of the church, the salvation of God's people
originates in the love of God towards them. We often feel, do we not, that
in matters of personal conduct, in personal faith, and in personal
religion, that these matters begin with us. We make a choice,
we make a decision. We're going to read our Bible,
or we're going to pray, or we're going to look for God, or we're
going to try and do something that will ingratiate ourselves
with God. Maybe we need to pray more, or
read our Bible more, or do some good work. No, that's not where
salvation begins. Salvation does not begin with
man or anything that man can do. Salvation begins with God
and salvation originates in the love of God. And we will never
have begun to understand God or the Lord Jesus Christ or the
gospel that he has revealed or this great salvation until we
trace grace back to its divine source. For us to know anything
of the greatness of this salvation that the apostle speaks about
here in Hebrews chapter 2. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? For us to know anything about
that great salvation, we need to know where it begins. And
salvation begins in the love and the wisdom of God. In the
love of God for his people, that he has set that love upon the
people of his foreknowledge, the people of his love, the people
of his choice, and upon the settled will and purpose of God. You know, God has a plan in this
world. a plan and a purpose which originates
in eternity where God dwells. And God's plan and purpose is
to call out a people for himself and to honour that people and
to bless that people and to glorify that people in his Son, Jesus
Christ, and ultimately to take that people with him to glory,
there to dwell with him in eternal life as the bride of the Son
of God. And that great plan and purpose
was established in what we call the covenant of peace. It's like
an agreement, it's like a contract that the persons of the Godhead
had amongst themselves, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
And a covenant was entered into, an arrangement by which particular
individuals in this world, men and women, sinners, yes, Sinners
like you and me, yes, but particular individuals were chosen by the
eternal God, committed into the care and charge of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and promised everlasting life. on the basis of the covenant
obligations of the Lord Jesus Christ on their behalf. I just
want to pause and think about that for a moment with you. Do
you realize what I have just said? that the obligations of
fulfilling every requirement of the covenant of grace, the
covenant of peace that the Godhead entered into falls upon the Lord
Jesus Christ, not upon you or me. We are the beneficiaries
of that covenant. We are the beneficiaries of that
work, but we are not the instigators of it. The honour of the Lord
Jesus Christ hinges upon his success in fulfilling the obligations
of the covenant. And that is why we find free
will and the free will teaching and the free will doctrine as
if it's all up to men to choose God or not choose God. Or it's
up to men to choose to follow Jesus or not choose to follow
Jesus. Or that men and women can make
those decisions for themselves. So offensive. Because it makes
the Lord Jesus Christ's honour to be contingent upon the actions
and the will of sinful men and women. The reason why this is
so great salvation is because it has a great origin. The love
and wisdom of our God in the covenant of peace. And the reason
why God's salvation is so great salvation, secondly, is because
it has a great purpose. And the purpose of this salvation
is to unite chosen individuals in this world, the loved ones
of God, the elect of God. to unite them together with God. That's the end of salvation. That's the purpose and the object
of this great salvation, is the union together of men and women
with God himself. Union with God in the Lord Jesus
Christ, in the God-man. And that union was not an afterthought
of the covenant, but it's the very purpose of the covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ took our
humanity, entered into our humanity with the purpose of uniting us
forever together with Him. Ephesians 5, verse 30 says, we
are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Now we all know something, I
guess, about marriage. And marriage is a picture of
two people. Scripture gives it as a man and
a woman coming together and being united, joining together. And the issue that flows from
that marriage, the child that is born from that marriage is
a mix of those two who come together. And so the two have become one
flesh in that child. And that picture, that earthly
picture of marriage is a picture of what God has done. in the
Lord Jesus Christ with those who will share in what's called
the consummation or the marriage supper of the Lamb that is set
before us in the book of Revelation. The great purpose of this salvation
is to join God and man in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ
as Christ and his bride become one to all eternity. This is
why it is so great a salvation. It has a great origin in the
love and wisdom of God, and it is for a great purpose, the joining
together of sinners with God through the work of Jesus Christ,
our Saviour. And thirdly, the salvation of
God is a great salvation because The mediator of the covenant,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one upon whom all the covenant obligations
were incumbent, is a great mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ, our covenant
keeper, is the Son of God. He is King of kings. He is Lord
of lords. He is more excellent than the
holy angels that fly before the face of God. And that's the lesson
in the message of Hebrews chapter one. His excellence is unrivaled. His glory is unequaled. His majesty
is unsurpassed. And this excellent God, this
excellent saviour, this great mediator, this eternal God became
flesh, became our flesh, stooped to bear our burden, entered into
this world to serve in a role no man in nature as a fallen
creature could fulfil. He came as our surety, he came
as our substitute, and he came as the saviour of his people. This is our great mediator, Christ
Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. I wonder, I wonder personally,
I wonder, perhaps for you also, if a major part of our spiritual
coldness, our spiritual ingratitude, stems from our inability to grasp
how offensive our sin is to the holy God. That sin which is in
my heart, that sin which is in my thoughts, that sin which is
in my nature is a stench in the nostrils of the Holy God. I'm a rebel against God and I
deserve to be punished by the Holy God. But this is another
aspect of why this salvation is so great a salvation. Because God's salvation overcomes
great difficulties. The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal
God, became a servant. That seems like a great difficulty
overcome. God, the eternal God in his divine
majesty, worshipped by angels, humbled himself. and became a
man. That seems like a great difficulty
overcome. But the eternal God, the essence
of life, died on the cross. And that is a great difficulty
overcome. The hymn writer Wesley says,
"'Tis mystery all, the immortal dies. Who can explain his strange
design?' in vain the firstborn serif tries. Yet I fear even
these great difficulties only begin to suggest the extent of
the burden that the Lord Jesus Christ withstood as a man. Can you begin to conceive with
me of what it must be like to be able to look into an individual's
heart and know the motive for each word that that person speaks? To be able to see beyond the
sham that is our outward, way of dealing with this world. To
be able, as it were, to taste the hatred of your enemies. To
see the frailty of your friends. And to be able to experience
the heart of demonic activity in this world. Hebrews chapter
12, just a few chapters over from where we're reading this
morning, gives us a little insight into the great difficulties which
the Lord Jesus Christ overcame for our salvation. It says there
in chapter 12, verse 3, Consider him. Consider him. Consider Christ. Consider the Lord Jesus Christ.
Consider the God-man. Consider that one who lived for
those 30 years in Nazareth and then three years in his ministry
and went to the cross. And consider him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself. That's what
Hebrews chapter 12 tells us. Consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself. That's why these Psalms
that we read together at the beginning of our service are
so meaningful. That's why these Psalms talk
about the highs and the lows and the hurts and the tears of
the Lord's people, because they're not just talking about the Lord's
people, they're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That word that fell from David's
lips and from David's pen actually speaks of Christ when it says,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And that's the power
of the Psalms. They take us into the emotions
of the Lord. They take us into the mind of
the Lord. They give us insights into the
very soul of Jesus Christ and the great difficulties that he
overcame to bring us so great a salvation. The physical life
of the Saviour was a great trial to him. The emotional and mental
strain that was upon his mind was a great trial to him. These
things that bore in upon his soul were a great trial to him. And can you imagine what it must
have been like for those 30 and three years to wait, knowing
the coming death, and all of the pouring into his precious
holy soul of all that sin must have been like. This is God's
great salvation. And it's such a great salvation,
fifthly, because the accomplishments were great. Despite those difficulties,
Despite that removing of sin from the shoulders and account
of his people and the bearing it upon his own shoulders and
his own soul, the Lord Jesus Christ reconciled his people
to God under the terms of that everlasting covenant. The Lord
Jesus Christ redeemed the elect from under the curse of the law. The Lord Jesus Christ, in His
cross work, in His work upon the cross, in His obedience to
death, achieved and accomplished every demand, and from that death
flowed the full The free, the complete satisfaction of every
divine requirement in that contract, in that covenant. Every covenant
obligation satisfied by Jesus Christ. Such are the accomplishments
of our Saviour upon the cross. We return often, and rightly
we return often, to the Lord's words upon the cross when he
declared, it is finished. We have good reason to go there
frequently. That little phrase means so much
to a believer in Jesus Christ because we understand by it that
he finished the work which was given him to do. He accomplished
all the demands that were upon Him for the salvation and deliverance
of His people. Everything that was needful,
hear me, everything that was needful was accomplished by the
Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. It is finished. That is the basis
of our faith. Those three words are the basis
of our faith. Those three words are the ground
of our hope. The foundation of our peace with
God is that he finished the work that he was given to do and he
secured, he accomplished the salvation of his people. It is complete. It is a total
accomplishment. It is a total cancellation of
every debt, every duty, every demand that was upon us as sinners. And we use words like justification
and reconciliation and sanctification and propitiation, but they all
trace back to the cross. They all trace back to those
three words, it is finished. And our Saviour bore our sins
and carried our sorrows and fulfilled the Father's will for the salvation
of His people. That's why it's called so great
salvation. And God's salvation is a great
salvation because the price that was paid for that salvation was
so great. Do you have any idea how much
salvation costs? Do you have any notion what it
cost to save your soul? You who trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I tell you this, it's more than
you can pay. And it's more than I can pay.
It's more than your good works or your best efforts. It's more
than gold. It's more than tears. Ye are
bought with a price, says the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians.
And just in case you missed that, he repeated himself. Ye are bought
with a price. And that price was paid by our
kinsman Redeemer. That One who came in the flesh
and joined Himself to us for our salvation and deliverance,
that One has become our Redeemer, the One who bought us. And the
price that He paid was the price of his blood, was the price of
his life, was the price of him interposing himself under the
wrath of God against my sin and bearing it all away. He paid in blood. Joseph Hart,
the hymn writer, says, dearly we are bought, highly esteemed,
Redeemed with Jesus' blood, redeemed. And finally, let me say this.
The seventh point that I have here about the great salvation
that we have is this. God's salvation is great salvation
because the promises secured by that salvation are great and
precious promises. Salvation is more than a present
possession. A blessed possession it is. but
it is an eternal promise. It is a promise as to what God
is going to continue doing with us. That was the covenant, remember
what we said? That he would join himself to
man, to redeem man, to save man, to bring men into union with
himself, to bring human beings, men and women, though sinners,
though fallen, though corrupt, though iniquitous. into a holiness
that was acceptable, into a purity that was perfect, and to unite
us to Himself. And Christ fulfilled and satisfied
every demand, satisfied and fulfilled every term of that contract.
So the fulfillment of that contract is absolute and certain. And the promises secured by that
contract, that covenant, are great and precious to the souls
of his people. Another question. What are you
looking forward to? What are you looking forward
to Sunday morning? Sunday morning, what are you
looking forward to? A new working week? Another week
in isolation? Hoping to see your friends and
your families somewhere down the line? Hoping that you don't
get sick? Hoping that you'll stay healthy?
Hoping that you'll earn a lot of money. Hoping that you'll
be able to move to a bigger house. Hoping that you can enjoy your
retirement fishing. What are you looking forward
to? What are you hoping for? What good hope have you in your
life this morning, right now? Let me tell you, everything that
this world has to offer pales into insignificance. when set beside the great and
precious promises that God has given his people in Christ, in
the covenant of peace and grace. These are what makes this salvation
so great salvation. 2 Peter 1 verse 4 says, whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. given
unto us. It's not that we've earned them,
it's not that we've bought them, it's not that we've done anything
to deserve them. These great and precious promises
are given unto us because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has
done at the cross for sinners like you and me. given unto us. What are those exceeding great
and precious promises? That by these, these things that
the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, ye might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust. We spoke to the children
about Peter escaping out of the prison. That's it. That's the
gospel, that we have escaped the corruption that is in this
world through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have escaped. And that escape is entirely due
to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great salvation,
so great a salvation that he has effected for his people. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? That's exactly the words that
the apostle uses here in verse 3 of chapter 2 of Hebrews. How
shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? I want to
say one more thing. I said at the start, concerning
this great salvation, that this message, this gospel message,
this message of so great salvation was the difference between your
soul's salvation or damnation. I said that it was either everlasting
life or everlasting death, heaven, glory, happiness, or hell, shame,
and sorrow. And I tell you this, upon the
authority of the Word of God this morning, neglect this great
salvation. Neglect it at your peril. Neglect
it and you shall have death, hell, shame, and sorrow, because
that is your lot. Neglect it and you are condemned
already. I believe totally in sovereign
electing grace. And I understand God has chosen
a people to whom he gives grace and goodness and mercy freely
upon the merits of Christ's sacrifice. I call that electing grace. Electing grace. Do you know what
the opposite of elect is? The opposite of elect. Have you
ever thought about that? Opposites, up, down, in, out,
high, low, cold, hot. What's the opposite of elect?
Well, I'll tell you what the opposite of elect is. It's neglect. Elect means to choose. Neglect
is to pass over. Think about the word neglect
and you will see that it is the opposite of elect. And that is
the very word used here in this verse to speak about those who
will go to hell. They have neglected the great
salvation that God has freely accomplished. Yes, God has his
people. Yes, we believe in electing grace,
but there is a neglecting of grace also. And how shall we
escape if we neglect so great salvation? Let me put this in
the stark terms and wrap up this message in just one single sentence,
if I may. Electing grace brings life heaven,
glory, happiness from God. Neglecting grace means death,
hell, shame, sorrow. Do not neglect this gospel, for
how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Amen. May God bless these thoughts
to us and continue with us in these truths. Amen.