Would you turn back to Hebrews
chapter 12? I've entitled this message from
this verse of scripture I just read. Look at the last phrase,
much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that
speaketh from heaven. I've entitled this message, Him
That Speaks from Heaven. I'm so thankful that God speaks. He's not like the deist God who
starts things, winds up the clock and sits back and waits to see
what will happen. He is the God who speaks. And since he does speak, how
foolish is that person who does not listen to what he has to
say? God speaks. And it's my prayer that God is
speaking right now through his word. He speaks. In several ways, he speaks by
creation. The scripture says the heavens
declare the glory of God. All you got to do is look up
in the heavens and you see what the heavens have to say. I love
the scripture in Romans chapter one, verse 20, where it says
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen. being understood by the things
that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they
are without excuse. Creation renders all men without
excuse, if they don't seek the living God. Creation itself tells
me I ought to seek the creator. He is the eternal God. God speaks past providence. Turn
with me for a moment to Acts chapter seven or Acts chapter
14, Acts chapter 14. Paul is stopping some people
from offering sacrifice to him. These were heathen. They were,
the priest of Jupiter came out of their city in verse 13 and
brought oxen and garlands into the gates and would have done
sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostle Barnabas
and Paul heard of that, they rent their clothes and ran among
the people crying out and saying, sirs, why do you do these things? We also are men of like passions
with you. and preach unto you that you
should turn from these vanities unto the living God, the God
which made heaven and earth and the sea and all things that are
therein, who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their
own ways. Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness,
and that he did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful
seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. Now the goodness
of God in his providence, he speaks. Look in Acts chapter
17, verse 22. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars
Hill and said, you men of Athens, I perceive that in all things
you are too superstitious. And that word superstitious is
religious. Here's what your problem is. You're too religious. For I passed by and beheld your
devotions and I found an altar with this inscription to the
unknown God. And what they're saying is just
in case we miss one, we'll make a altar to him too. We're gonna
cover all of our bases. So this is to the unknown God,
the one we don't know anything about. Whom therefore ye ignorantly
worship, him I declare unto you, God that made the world. See
this thing of creation? God that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that he's Lord of heaven and earth, he
dwells not in temples made with hands. Neither is worship with
men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to
all life and breath and all things. And he hath made of one blood
all nations of men. There's no such thing as races. We're all from Adam, the human
race. He is made of one blood. All men, all nations of men for
to dwell on the face of the earth and determine, look at this.
He has determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their
habitation. God has put you where you are
right now. He's determined the day you're
going to die and he's put you in the place you're at right
now. Is there any, did God know you'd be here tonight? Is there any way you wouldn't
have been? Absolutely not. He's determined all things. Don't
you love being in God's world? I do. Verse 27, here's why I
did this, that they should seek the Lord. If happily they might
feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every
one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being.
As certain also of your own prophets have said, we're all his offspring. For as much sinners were the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is
likened to gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's
devices. There's no excuse for that. He
speaks by his providence. He's been so good to you. That
speaks. Is there anybody that can say,
no, he hadn't? Yeah, he has. The fact that you're not in hell
right now is a testimony. The fact that I'm not in hell
right now is a testimony. God's good. He speaks by his word. This book is actually written
by God. All scripture, 2 Timothy 3 16,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God, literally God breathed. And he speaks from this book. I'm so thankful for the Bible.
You know, I believe the Bible is the word of God. I read it
and I don't have to have it proven to me. Somebody says, I don't
believe the Bible is the word of God, but that's okay. I do. I know
it is. Men could not have written this
book. And he speaks from his word. And in the context of this
passage of scripture, where he makes this statement, he speaks
by the blood of sprinkling. Look in verse, back to our text
in Hebrews chapter 12. We considered this last week
and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood
of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Now the blood of sprinkling has
something to say. Now you remember what Abel's
You know the story of Cain and Abel. Cain murdered his brother. I don't know how he did it, but
there was blood shedding, blood falling onto the ground. And
I suppose he probably hid the body. I don't think he just left
it laying there. I would say he hid the body. He didn't understand all the
ramifications behind this, but he knew it was bad. And he hid
the body because he knew he was the one who killed him. He wanted
to make sure nobody else found out. Somebody knew. God knew. God saw. And he sees everything
that's going on in my heart and your heart right now. God saw. And he said to Cain, where's
your brother? And that's when Cain arrogantly
said, how should I know? Am I my brother's keeper? And
God said, your brother's blood cries to me from the ground. What's it cry? Vengeance. Justice. Condemnation. And that's what that blood cried.
But the blood of Christ has something else to say. What it says is
infinitely better than what Abel's blood says. The blood of Christ
says, forgiving. Justifying. Make him to be completely
without guilt. Perfect in my sight. That's better,
isn't it? The blood of Christ speaks better
things than that of April. Now the blood of sprinkling,
look in Hebrews chapter nine for just a moment. What does
the blood of sprinkling say? Hebrews chapter nine. I want to begin reading in verse
19. For when Moses had spoken every
precept to all the people according to the law, the context was after he told
them what the law was and what God commanded, you know what
they said? They said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will
do. We're going to keep every one of those commandments. Now,
What does Moses do? He takes blood and he sprinkles
it on the people. You know why he did that? He
knew they were liars and he knew they wouldn't keep one commandment.
And the only way they could be clean is through the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He took the blood, a sprinkling.
Now let's go on reading. For Moses, after he'd spoken
the precept to all the people, according to the law, he took
the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and
hyssop and sprinkled both the book, the word that he had brought
down, the book of the law. He sprinkled it with blood saying, this is the blood of
the Testament, which God hath enjoined unto you. Now don't
miss that. Who is it that applied this blood?
I know Moses did it physically, but who caused Moses to do it
and apply this blood to you? He enjoined this blood to you,
this blood of sprinkling. Verse 21, moreover, he sprinkled
with blood both the tabernacle and the vessels of the ministry,
and almost all things are by the law purged with blood and
without shedding of blood is. no remission of sins. Now the blood of sprinkling speaks
of the application of the blood to every believer by God himself
through the death of Christ. The blood of sprinkling, who
died? It's Christ that died. That's
what gives saving efficacy to what he did. It's Christ that
died. What if it said it's Todd that died? What good would that
do you or me? Nothing. It's Christ that died. Why did
he die? What was his purpose for dying?
We just sung about it. He took my sins and my sorrows
and made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. The reason he was dying is he
took my sins to himself. And what did he accomplish by
that death? Those sins that he died for are actually put away. They've been expunged from the
universe. They are no more. If you're a
believer, all the sin that might even be on your heart right now,
it's gone. You don't have it. You don't
bear it. You stand before God without
guilt. Now that's what the blood of
Christ has accomplished. I love the scripture, Revelation
13, 8. I don't suppose there's, you
know, I hope, I hope every time I preach, I bring up this scripture.
Somebody says, I'll get tired of it. I don't. Christ is the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's God's eternal
purpose. And he came. to fulfill God's
eternal purpose of being the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. What is so thrilling about that
is before I ever committed a sin, I had my savior and he represented
me before time began and put away my sin in the mind purpose
of God, it was done. His blood satisfied God's justice. God satisfied with me. His blood
accomplished the complete glory of God. His blood manifested
the love of God. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be a propitiation
for our sin. Now the sprinkling of the blood
is God's application of the blood to us. This is what God does
with his blood. He applies it. message of works
religion, free will religion, Arminianism, whatever you want
to call it, works religion, is that you've got to apply the
blood. Christ died for you. He paid for your sins, but you
might wind up in hell anyway because you've got to apply that
blood. I've even heard people say, well,
you had to put the blood over the door. Well, there's a lot of
people in the houses where they never saw the blood put over
the door. They were just in the house. And of course, somebody, humanly
speaking, had to be used to put the blood over the door. It didn't
just happen, but it could have if God would have been pleased
for that to happen. But the point is, you don't apply
the blood, God does. And through his application of
the blood, you stand before God absolutely just because that
blood has been sprinkled upon you. Holy, unblameable, unreprovable, absolutely pure,
sanctified. You have access to God right
now. Hebrews 10, 19 says, having boldness to enter the holiest
by the blood of Jesus. If I'm ever going to make any
apology for preaching on the blood, it's that I don't preach
on it enough. The blood of Christ. That is to be in every message. I don't care what the text is.
If the blood of Christ is not in the message, the gospel is
not in the message. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give us grace to always
preach the blood of Christ. Remember Paul's words, I determine
not to know anything among you. Say Jesus Christ and him crucified. Now, the writer to the Hebrews
says in verse 25 of Hebrews chapter 12, after
he makes this statement with regard to the blood that speaks
better things than that of Abel, he says, see that you refuse
not him that speaketh, that speaketh of the blood, that speaks in
his creation, that speaks in his providence, that speaks in
his word, that speaks in gospel preaching. See that you refuse
not him that speaketh. Now beware of this. Beware of
this. I can do it. You can do it. He's
giving us a warning. See that you refuse not him that
speaketh. And this is very interesting.
That word refuse, it doesn't mean when you hear it, you say
no. I won't have that. I won't believe
it. It doesn't mean that at all. It means to make excuse, to beg
off, to turn your back, to not listen. I think of that scripture,
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Now, the first time this word
is used is in Luke chapter 14. I want you to just turn with
me there now. Luke chapter 14, as a matter
of fact, we're going to bring the, uh, spend the rest of our
time in this passage of scripture in Luke chapter 14, because to
say this is the first time that word refuse not is used. Look with me in verse 16, Luke
chapter 14. Then said he unto them, a certain
man made a great supper and bade many and sent his servant at
supper time to say to them that were bidden, come for all things
are now ready. And they all with one consent
began to, what's those next two words? Make excuse. Now that is the same word translated
refuse. Make excuse. They didn't say no. They made
excuses to try to find a reason not to come. He said, come and
they all made excuses. Look how ridiculous these excuses
they made are. Verse 18, and they all. with
one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I bought
a piece of ground and I must need to go and see it. I pray
thee have me excused. Would you buy a piece of ground
you've never seen? They did. Another said, I bought five yoke
of oxen and I go to prove them. I'm gonna see if they're any
good. Well, he should have done that before he bought them, shouldn't
he? He said, I pray thee have me excused. And another said,
I've married a wife and therefore I cannot come. These all with
one consent, unified consent began to make excuse. Now look at verse 15. This is
what set this up, our Lord saying this. And when one of them that
sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, blessed
is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Now that's
true, isn't it? I'd say blessed is anybody who eats bread in
the kingdom of God, but what's that got to do with the gospel?
He was making this general statement that I would agree with it, but
a sinner's not safe from hearing that statement. Just talking
about how blessed is that person who eats bread in the kingdom
of God. Look back to Luke 11. Here's
something very similar. Luke 11. Verse 27, and it came to pass
as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up
her voice and said unto him, blessed is the wound that bare
thee and the paps which thou hast sucked. He's talking about,
she's talking about Mary. Was she blessed? Of course she
was. She was highly favored, much
graced. Of course she was blessed. But look the way our Lord answers
this statement. But he said, yea, rather. Blessed are they that hear the
word of God. What's going on right now. And
blessed are they that keep it. Here's the blessed person. You
know, Mary could have bore the Lord. in her womb. She was a
believer, there's no question about that, but the Lord could
have used an unbeliever to bear his precious son in a womb. But I'll tell you the person
who's blessed is the person who hears the word of God, who hears
the gospel and believes it. And go back to Luke chapter 14.
Here's the gospel message. This is the way the Lord responds
to this man saying, Blessed are they that shall eat bread in
the kingdom of God, verse 16. Then he said unto him, a certain
man made a great supper and bade many. Now this is very similar
to the parable of the wedding feast. The king made for his
son, but it's not the same. But what I want to point out
is every aspect of salvation is what he made. Is that what
you do? He doesn't say bring your own
food. He doesn't say I've got the meat, you all bring the vegetables
and the bread. The kingdom of heaven is what he made. That's what the scripture says.
A certain man made a great feast and bare many. Oh, think of these
scriptures that would back this up. For he hath made him to be
sin. for us who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Where are your
works in there? Where are anything you do in
there? This is all what He does. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Now a certain man made a great
feast. There's the gospel, what God's
done. And he made many. That means he called many. He
called many. A whole lot of people were called
to this. The call of the gospel is a command.
It's not an invitation. I really don't like it when preachers
start using the word invitation with regard to the gospel. Really,
there's nothing criminal about not accepting an invitation.
You've been invited places and you weren't able to make it and
nobody put you in jail for it. But the call of the gospel is
a command from God. He bade many. Many are called. Few are chosen. That's God's word. Many are called. Few are chosen. And he sent his servant at supper
time to say to them that were bidden, that were called, come
for all things are now ready. Now this is what gospel preaching
is. Come. Don't make yourself better. Y'all
get your life straightened out. Y'all wait till you experience
something. Y'all wait till you know more. Y'all wait till you
quit some particular sin and you think you can't come until
I get that taken care of. That's works. Do you understand
that? That is works. The call of Christ
is for you to come to Him right now. You don't need to be confused
as to what that means. He that cometh to me. What's the John 635 I'm not Age is getting to me. I can't
recall things as I once did, but I can remember where they're
at, so we'll read it. John 6, 35. And Jesus said unto
them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh for me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Now,
that's what it is to come to Christ. It's to believe on him.
When we think of coming to Christ, if we think of making a geographical
trip from one place to another, we've missed it. You do it in
your heart. You believe on him right now. You trust him. You
trust who he is and what he did as all that is needed to make
you perfect. That's what it is. And what is
the gospel message? Come. Don't go and do, don't
go get better. Come right now to the Lord Jesus,
the spirit and the bride say, come. Let him that hear us say
come. Let him that's a thirst come.
Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. That's
the gospel. It's not go and do. It's not
make yourself better. Come right now as you are. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's gospel preaching.
When the Lord said, come to me, All you that labor and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. That's not good advice. That's
not an invitation. That's a command for you right
now, you to come to him right now for rest. He said, come unto me and I will
give you rest. You come to him, you'll have
the rest of the gospel. He did it all. All I do is rest. The call of the gospel, Come,
don't you love the simplicity of that? Come, come to Christ
right now. I love that scripture. What shall
we do that we might work the works of God? This is the work
of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent. Now let me look at why this man
says to come. He tells a certain to come, verse
17. And he sent his servant at supper
time to come to them that were bitten or to say to them that
were bitten, come for all things are now ready. All things, all
things are now ready. You can't say I don't have anything
to bring because nothing's needed. You can't say I have nothing
to wear. He supplies the wedding garment. I have nothing to recommend me,
nothing's needed. All things are now ready because
Christ is all, nothing else is needed. Now, is Christ all in
salvation? Yes, he is. If he is, you know
what that means? There's nothing you bring. Come
right now for all things are now ready. That's when they began,
look in verse 18. And they all, with one consent,
began to make excuse. Every one of them. The first
said unto him, I bought a piece of ground, and I must need to
go see it, if I pray thee, have me excused. Another said, I have
bought five yoke of oxen, I go to prove them, I pray thee, have
me excused. And another said, I've married a wife, therefore
I cannot come. So that servant, verse 21, that servant came and
showed his Lord these things. Then the master of the house
being angry. Now, I want you to think about,
if I hear the gospel, if I hear God's word and I think of a reason
not to obey it, I make excuse. God's angry. God is angry. That's what he's speaking of
in this passage of scripture. The king was angry at this response. The master of the house being
angry said to his servant, now listen to this, go out quickly
into the streets and lanes of the city and invite in hither
the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind. No, he didn't
say that, did he? He said, bring them in. bring them in, you go
out wherever you need to go, you find a cripple or a blind
man or somebody that's poverty stricken, you go and bring them
in. And that's what's going on in true
gospel preaching. God, the Holy Spirit, is bringing people in. This is not us forcing people
to come in, but I love the way this is said. He doesn't say,
ask them to come. He doesn't say, invite them to
come. He says, bring them in. And I love the description of
the people that he's called on to bring in. What people? The
poor. Those who have nothing to recommend
them to God. The maimed. the disabled, those
who are not able to come. I thought of King David from
the position of power, every nation, the fear of David fell
on every nation. He's the most powerful man in
the world. And then he says, is there any
of the house of Saul that I can show kindness to for Jonathan's
sake? And you remember the servant
said, yeah, there's one. He's not worth anything. He's
lame on both of his feet. He can't do anything for you.
He can't work for you. He can't fight for you. You'd have to
carry him. Well, go invite him. No, go fetch him. Fetch him and
bring him in. And he brought in Mephibosheth.
You call in. The halt, and that means literally
deprived of a foot, is the literal meaning. You don't have what
it takes to come, so you gotta be brought in. The blind, those
who cannot see why God would have anything to do with them,
bring them in. Verse 22, and the servant said,
Lord, it's done as thou has commanded. And yet there is room. It finished. Yet there is room. There's room for me. There's
room for you. Yet there is room. Good news. Verse 23. And the Lord said unto the servant, go out. If there's room, I'm
going to make sure my house is full and My supper's eaten. Go out into the highways and
hedges, the farthest off places. And what? Compel them. It doesn't mean gently persuade
them. It means go out and force them
in. That's what the word means. Go
out and force them in that my house might be full. Compel them to come in. Urge
them to come in. Show them what's necessary that
they come in. Now, I want everybody to listen
to this very carefully. Let me tell you some compelling
reasons for you to come to Christ right now. And remember, don't
get confused about this. Well, how do I get there? It
means you believe on him. You trust Him to save you. Now, let me give you some compelling
reasons to do this. Number one, He commands you to. When He says, come to me, that's
in the imperative. It's a command. You don't need to say, well,
what if I'm not invited? Well, you're commanded. You're commanded.
Everybody in this room, you're commanded. Here's a second reason. We will be received if we come.
The Lord said, him that cometh in me, I will in no wise cast
out. If you come, you will be received. Here's a third reason. You'll go to hell if you don't.
That's a compelling reason, isn't it? I don't want to go to hell. I want him to save me. I want
to be saved. Fourth, it's insane not to. You know the only thing
that prevents you from coming is you. Do you hear that? The only reason you don't come
is because of your own wicked will. And fifth, what joy we will have
in coming. He said, compel them to come
to me that my house might be full. Now, in obedience to God's
command, I want to compel everyone in
this room By his grace, just like he told his servants, you
go out and compel them to come in. I want to compel everybody
in this room by his grace to come to the Lord Jesus Christ
and get rid of all of our excuses. If you haven't come to Christ
right now, you're making some kind of excuse as why you do
not come. Somebody says, I fear I'm not
one of the elect. Election's true. and only the
elect will be saved. Jesus Christ died only for the
elect. I don't care to say that to the
whole world. You're not called to figure out
whether or not you're one of the elect. You're called upon to
come to Christ as a poor needy sinner. Saying you don't know if I'm
one of the elect is no excuse. You're called upon. I'm called upon
to come to Christ as a needy sinner and trust him. Somebody else says, well, I've
tried to believe I've tried to come, but I can't. You don't try to believe you
believe. You choose not to believe, but
you believe because you have no choice. You believe something
because it's the truth. One plus one equals two. Well, I'm trying
to believe that. No, you just believe it because
it's the truth. That's the way you believe that
which is. Is the gospel true? Is Jesus
Christ the son of God? You believe something because
it is true. Somebody says, well, there are
just so many hypocrites. Well, you'll fit right in then. How could that hinder you? Well,
I'm just too sinful to come. Paul already said, Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief. So you
can't play that card. You can be too good to come,
but you can't be too bad to come. You can't be too sinful to come.
You can't be too far off to come. Well, there's, sins I need to
take care of before I come. I need to stop some particular
sin or I can't come. Now, we ought not ever sin again.
Amen. If you coming to Christ is dependent
upon you first stopping committing some particular sin or becoming
better, you're not going to come. It's not going to happen. If
that's what the, and really all that is, is another way. I got
to make myself fit to come. I got to make myself good to
come. I need to make myself meritorious. So I deserve to come. No, no,
you come to Christ right now. What, sirs, what must I do to
be saved? Stop your sinning and believe
on Christ. That's not what he said. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Somebody
else says, well, if I come, I'm afraid I won't persevere. Well,
you'll perish if you don't. And if you do come, he'll enable
you to persevere. Sure, you'd fall away if he doesn't keep
you, but he'll keep you. The scripture says we're kept by
the power of God through faith and to salvation. But I just don't feel my need
as I know I should. The Lord didn't say he healed those
who felt their need of healing. He healed those who had need
of healing. Of course you don't feel your
need enough. I don't either. You don't feel anything enough.
But I know this, although I don't feel my need as much as I should,
I know that I have a need. He healed them that needed healing. Serves, what must I do to be
saved? We'll feel your sins as you ought to know. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Well, I'm afraid I'm not invited.
You're correct about that. You're commanded. Everybody in
here, you're commanded. Now from heaven, even now, he
speaks of the blood of sprinkling. I want to close by looking at
a passage in Romans chapter 10 that I think will make this all
come together. Romans chapter 10. Verse six, but the righteousness, which
is a faith speaketh. It's got something to say. The righteousness, which is a
faith speaketh on this wise. And it tells us what not to say. Say not in thy heart. Who shall
ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down
from above. Don't think, what can I do to get him to save me? What can I do to get him to respond
to me? What do I have to be in order
for him to do something for me? Don't say that. Don't fake it. Verse seven, or Who shall descend
into the deep, that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead?
Don't say, what can I do to make his death effectual for me? What
can I do to make his blood effectual for me? Don't think about things
you need to do. But what saith it? The word is
nigh thee. Even in thy heart, thy mouth,
and in thy heart, that is the word of faith, which we preach,
that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus. Do you believe he's Lord? Do
you believe he's the dictator? Do you believe he's an absolute
sovereign control of everybody and everything? That's what the
Lord Jesus means. That means he has absolute control. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God
hath raised him from the dead. Do you believe God raised him
from the dead? Do you know why he did it? Why
did he raise Christ from the dead? Because Christ was successful. He put away the sins of all his
people. He didn't go through the process
of decay when he died because the second he died, every believer
was justified. And God raised him from the dead,
the bodily resurrection of Christ. Do you believe that? Then thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. I won't be put to shame,
and I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I love the way he says. I love this. Verse 12, there's
no difference between the Jew and the Greek. between the moral
and the immoral, not before God. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now when I pray, I hope you're
praying with me and I hope you're calling with me. Calling on the
name of the Lord is calling on who he is. To save. You. You're calling on his justice. You're calling on his love. You're
calling on his sovereignty. You're calling on his power.
You're calling on his grace. Lord, by your grace, we're calling
upon your name. To save us. Lord, deliver us from making
excuses. and cause us right now to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.