Would you turn back to Hebrews
chapter 2? Lord willing, tonight I'm going
to be speaking on speckled, spotted, and brown. It's that story of Jacob and
how he got the sheep of Laban. I've entitled this message, The Son. Could I possibly be speaking
on anything more important than that? The Son. The writer of the Hebrew says
in verse 3, how shall we escape if we neglect? And that same word neglect is
translated in Matthew chapter 22, make light of. You remember when the King had
a marriage for a son and he sent out the summons to come and they
all began to make light of it and went their way. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? And the reason it's so great
is because of the greatness of the Son. May the Lord enable
us to enter into this, the greatness of the Son. Now, I'm going to attempt to
preach on the greatness of the Son. What I'm preaching on this morning,
I do not fully understand, nor do you, nor can I fully explain. But I believe with all my heart,
the greatness of the Son. I cannot explain it as I would,
nor make it understandable to you. I can only state what's
being said and pray that God will reveal it. Somebody may think, if you don't
understand it, nor can you explain it well, why, pray tell, are
you preaching on it in the first place? Because that is the way preaching
works. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 7, We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. It's mysterious. It's not so
much understood but believed. That's what a mystery is. You
believe a mystery. One God in three persons, do
I understand that mystery? Of course I don't. Do I believe
it with all my heart? One God in three persons, that's
a mystery the gospel has revealed. And the gospel indeed is a mystery
and we preach it as such. We speak the wisdom of God in
the ministry, even the hidden wisdom. You know, God could hide
this wisdom from me. God could hide this wisdom from
you. I think of that passage of scripture where the last thing
said of the Lord during His public ministry was He departed and
did hide Himself from them. Oh, I don't want Him to hide
Himself from me. The Lord said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you've hid these
things. God did this. You have hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. Lord, reveal
your truth to us. We're totally shut up to revelation. As I said, I can't make this
so you understand that only God can do that. God must be the
teacher. One of the reasons I despise
so many of these translations of the scriptures is because
they're trying to make the Bible understandable. Well, so they
could understand this. No, God the Holy Spirit makes
the Bible understandable, not your ability to make it simple. So I realize that this is mysterious
what I'm going to be preaching. And I can't explain it the way
I'd want to, but I'm trusting God to take care of His Word
and cause us to not neglect so great a salvation. Now you'll
notice in verse two of chapter, or verse one of chapter two,
it begins with therefore. Therefore. Now everything I'm
saying is based upon what I previously said. Therefore. Now let's go
back to this First chapter, this is the greatness of the Son,
the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days, are we in the last days? Yes. All the days between the
first and second advent of Christ are the last days. There's all
kinds of things that happen, different cycles, different,
it's still the last days. I hope it's the last of the last
days. Matter of fact, wouldn't you be thrilled if the Lord would
come back today? But the last days have been around ever since
the second, or since the first advent of Christ, and they will
continue into the second advent of Christ when he returns. He
hath in these last days spoken to us by his son. This is my beloved son. Oh, how God loves his son. This is the son of my love, the
well beloved. Hear ye him. Jesus of Nazareth, is the Son
of God. Verse 2, Whom he hath appointed
heir of all things. This one who is his son is the
one that he has appointed heir of all things. Now what is this
thing of Christ being the Son of God? God is one God in three
distinct persons. God the Son, God the Father,
and God the Holy Spirit. Christ is the second person of
the Trinity. All three of the persons of the
one God are, and when I'm saying this, I know I don't know what
I'm talking about, but I know it's so. They're co-equal, co-eternal,
of one substance. Whatever the Holy Spirit substance
is, the Father substance is. Whatever the Son substance is,
is the substance of the Father and the Spirit, they're of one
substance. Do I understand that? No. Do
I believe it with all my heart? These three, John said in 1 John
5, 7, are one. There are many sons, but there
are only one son, the son of God. As I said, I want to attempt
to talk about the greatness of the son. The reason this salvation
is so great, the reason why it's such a crime to neglect it is
because of the greatness of the son himself. This is my beloved
son. I love that scripture in Isaiah
9, 6, unto us a child is born. Speaking of the birth of Christ.
But unto us a Son is given. The Son is eternal. God the Son. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 5. I think that this passage tells
us of the union of God the Father, God the Son, and it's God the
Spirit who tells us this. John chapter 5 verse 17. But Jesus answered them, my father
worketh hitherto and I work. When he's working, I'm working.
What he's doing, I'm doing. Therefore the Jews sought the
more to kill him because he not only had broken the Sabbath,
but he said also that God was his father making himself equal
with God. Jesus Christ is not like God.
Jesus Christ is God. The only one who is equal to
God is God. Jesus Christ is God the Son. Verse 19, Then answered Jesus
and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that the Son
can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. Oh, he sees what the Father does. He's beholding him face to face
as the Son. For what thing soever he doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise. No difference. For the Father
loveth the Son. and showeth him all things that
himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these
that you may marvel. For as the father raises up the
dead and quickens them, giving them life, even so the son quickens
whom he will." He ascribes absolute sovereignty to himself in giving
salvation. If you're quickened, it's because
he willed you to be quickened. Verse 22, for the Father judges
no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son, that all
men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son,
honoreth not the Father which is sent him. Now this is the
greatness of the Son. And in our text, in Hebrews chapter
two, It says, He has appointed Him heir of all things. You know what that means? My dear friend, you and I belong
to Him. Whether you acknowledge it or
not, you belong to Him. I belong to Him. And you and
I will glorify Him. That's your purpose. to glorify
him. Now, if he sends me to hell and
gives me what I deserve, it will glorify his justice. He'll be
seen as glorious in doing that. And if he sends you to hell and
does not give you mercy, it'll be to the praise of the glory
of his justice. And my dear friend, if he saves
you, It'll be for His glory. It'll be to the praise of the
glory of His grace. You will be a trophy of His grace. You will be an example of just
how much salvation is by grace. But He's the heir, and you and
I belong to Him. And then it says, by whom also
He made the worlds. Jesus Christ is the creator. He's no created being. He is
the eternal son of God, the creator. This is his greatness. He's the
creator. Verse three, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person. He is the glory of God. He's
no reflected glory. He is the glory of God. So much so that he said, he that
has seen me, hath seen the Father. That's his own testimony. He's
the express image of his person. Let me say this, in heaven, all
we will see of God is the man Christ Jesus. That's how glorious
this one is. Oh, the greatness of the son. And look what it says next. It
says he's upholding all things by the word of his power. You know what that means? That
means all things that take place in space and in time are caused
by Him. Everything. I can't take that
too far and I'm not worried about taking it too far. He is the
cause. He's the first cause of all. This is who He is. He's
God. He's the cause of all things.
There is such a thing as divine providence and it covers everything. I hear people say all the time,
well, there must be a reason for this. And they don't, you
know, there is Him, His will being done. He upholds all things
by the word of His power, simply by a nod. He's omnipotent and
He controls everything and everybody. And then it says next, when He,
in verse three, when He had by Himself purged, Our sins? He sat down. Now notice the language. He by himself purged our sins. Now, I touched on this last week. We got to understand who our
is referring to. He purged our sins. This is a
reference to the elect of God. Very important for us to understand
that. This religious generation we live in teaches that Jesus
Christ died for everybody's sins. No, he didn't. If he died for
everybody's sins, everybody would be saved because of who he is.
We're talking about the greatness of the son. He by himself purged
our sins. Every believer, all of the elect,
everybody for whom he died, what did he do? He purged. He purged. You know what that
means? If Jesus Christ died for you,
you don't have any sin. Chew on that for a moment. If
Jesus Christ died for you right now, you have no sin. When he had by himself, with
no help, no contributions from me or you, when he by himself
purged our sins. He sat down. You see, he left
nothing undone. The reason he sat down was because
the sins were purged. And he sat down, having finished
his work. Just like the Lord said in Psalm
110, 1, the Lord said, this is David speaking, the Lord said
to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. until I make thy enemies
thy footstool. Oh, the greatness of the sun. Verse four, being made so much
better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they. Now he's better than the angels
because he, as God, created the angels. They're just his creatures. These mighty beings, greater
in might and power than me and you, they're just his creatures. And he has by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they. As the son, as the heir of all
things, as the one who obtained eternal salvation, there's given
to him a more excellent name, different in kind, surpassing
in excellence, a more excellent name. Paul put it this way in
Philippians 2, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. and giving him a name which is
above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every
knee is gonna bow. You will bow. I will bow. Either now or later. And I don't
wanna be somebody that bows later because then it's too late. I'll
just be forced to bow at that time. I wanna bow now in my heart. bow down at the name of Jesus. Every knee will bow and every
tongue will confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Oh, the greatness of the Son. Now look in verse 5. He quotes two passages of scripture
in this verse from Psalm 2, 7 and from 2 Samuel 7, 14. For unto
which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this
day have I begotten thee. And again, I'll be to him a father. and he shall be to me a son."
Now, these are two Old Testament scriptures he quotes. The first
out of Psalm 2, verse 7, and the other out of 2 Samuel 7,
verse 14. The first, this day have I begotten
thee. The second, thou shalt, he'll
be to me, I'll be to him a father and he'll be to me a son. Now,
in Psalm 2, verse 7, I'd like you to look at that with me.
Psalm 2, verse 7. Verse 7, Psalm 2, verse 7. I will declare the decree. Now this is God's eternal decree.
You see, everything that happens, happens according to His decree,
and this is His chief decree of which everything else comes
from. This is God, I will declare the decree, that which God decreed
before time began and must be. Oh, when God speaks, it's decree. It must be. I will declare the
decree. The Lord has said unto me, thou
art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Now, this begetting, he's called
the only begotten Son of God, the only begotten and well-beloved
Son of God. What is this begetting all about? Well, Revelation 1.5 calls him
the firstborn from the dead. The only begotten is called the
firstborn from the dead. This is talking about Christ's
resurrection. Turn with me to Acts chapter 13. This will nail
this down. Revelation 1.5, he's called the
first begotten from the dead. Acts chapter 13 verse 32 and we declare unto
you glad tidings how that the promise which was made unto the
fathers God had fulfilled the same unto us their children and
that he raised up Jesus again as it's also written in the second
Psalm what we just looked at Thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee." Now this is talking about the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now when David wrote this, it
was a thousand years before it ever took place. Yet he says, this day have I
begotten thee. Now what that lets us know, this
is mysterious, but it's nonetheless true, This is not an event of
time, although it took place in time. There was an exact second
when He was raised from the dead. It took place in time, but this
is not an event of time. This is the eternal decree of
God. You see, God decreed that Christ
die before time began. That's why this world was created
in the first place, for Him to come and die. But not only is
He the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, He's the Lamb raised
from the foundation of the world. And my standing before God eternally
is in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. God has never viewed any believer
independent of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why did He choose me? I can answer
that question in Christ. There is no other reason. Well,
he chose me because he foresaw I'd believe. That's foolishness. Don't think anything like that.
That's so contrary to God. That's so contrary to the gospel.
That's so contrary to his character. He chose me in Christ according
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Oh, you know, when I think that,
tension leaves my body. I've always been viewed in Christ,
and he is my salvation. And he says, I will be to him
a father. Look back in our text in Hebrews chapter two. Remember,
we're trying to talk about the greatness of the son. And like
I said, we're trying. This is something that I'm sure
to fail at. There's no way I can speak of
him as highly as he is. There's no way you can believe
as highly as he is, because he's, he's beyond, but the greatness
of the son. Hebrews two verse, let me get
back there. And again, I will be to him a
father. and he shall be to me a son. Father, the hour has come. This is the Lord speaking in
John 17 one in his great high priestly prayer for his people.
Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
might also glorify thee. I have glorified thee on the
earth, I finished the work thou gavest to me to do, and now,
O Father, glorify me with thyself, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. The Father and the Son. Verse six, and again, when he
bringeth the first begotten into the world. Look at that, when
he's brought into the world, he was already the first begotten.
He was already raised from the dead. When he bringeth the first
begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels of God
Worship him and that's talking about his birth when he brought
don't you love to think of that heavenly host? After they heard
the announcement of the heavenly host praising God saying glory
to God in the highest and on earth peace Goodwill toward men
that was going on then this is when he was born the angels of
God were praising him verse 7 No, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Verse six, and again, when he bringeth the first begotten into
the world, he saith, let all the angels of God worship him.
And to the angels, he saith, who make his angels spirits,
and his ministers a flame of fire. That's a high position
for the angels. But unto the son, he saith, thy
throne, O God. And this is God the father speaking
to God the son. And He says, Thy throne, O God,
Thy throne represents His reign, His absolute sovereignty over
all things. Thy throne, O God, is forever. It's eternal. It never had a
beginning. It'll never have an end. Jesus Christ is Lord. always has been Lord, always
will be Lord. His throne, His sphere of sovereignty,
His absolute reign and control of everything is eternal. That's
how great He is. Oh, the greatness of the Son
of God. He says in verse 8, a scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Now listen to
this. Everything God does, by way of grace, by way of mercy,
by way of His love, by way of forgiveness, is absolutely righteous. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein in the
gospel is the righteousness of God revealed. I am painfully aware, painfully
aware of the fact that I am a sinner. I'm painfully aware of that. And I'm also aware of this, the
very absolute righteousness of God demands my salvation because
of what Christ accomplished on Calvary's tree. while I'm aware
of my sinfulness, to some extent, not to the full extent. I don't
want to know the full extent. You don't either. You don't either.
But I know this. When Christ said it is finished,
my sin was put away. And now the law of God and the
justice of God and the righteousness of God demands my salvation. Now that's the greatness of the
Son. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of his kingdom. Verse nine, thou has loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. What a beautiful description
of Christ, isn't it? Thou has loved righteousness, loved it. And you've hated iniquity. You can't love righteousness
and not hate iniquity. You can't hate iniquity and not
love righteousness. Oh, this is what a beautiful description
of the Redeemer. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Now, the joy of Jesus Christ. He's been anointed with the oil
of gladness above his fellows. I love to think of it. I wanna say this with proper
reverence and even with fear, but the Lord Jesus Christ is
happy. He's full of joy. At thy right hand, the scripture
says, are pleasures evermore. And I love that scripture in
Hebrews chapter 12, verse two, looking into Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him, entered the cross. What was the joy? Well, first,
the joy of obeying His Father. He said, my meat and my drink
is to do the will of Him that sent me. Oh, the excellency of
Christ. The joy of saving His people. He received joy from saving me. because he loved me from the
foundation of the world. And what joy he received has
in saving his people from their sins. Oh, the greatness of Jesus
Christ, the son of God. Verse 10, and thou Lord, This
is speaking of the Christ, the Son of God. Let me remind you,
He's not like God, He is God. Look what it says concerning
Him here, verse 10. And thou, Lord, in the beginning
hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are
the work of thine hands. Creatorship, He created all this. Verse 11, they shall perish,
but thou remainest. Now everything that you see is
gonna perish. This world is gonna be burned
up. It's gonna perish. Melt like
fervent heat when the Lord brings in a new heaven and a new earth. That doesn't just mean the annihilation.
No, there's gonna be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. But this visible creation is
going to perish, but thou remainest. Now here, immutability is ascribed
to Christ. You remain. They also wax old as doth a garment,
and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed. The illusion is the Lord taking
an old garment and wrapping it up and putting it away to be
used no more. But thou art the same. Jesus Christ the same. Yesterday, today, and forever. I'm the Lord. I changed on. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Verse 13, but to which of the
angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand. I love to think
of the Lord saying that to him, don't you? He said to his son,
sit down at my right hand because nothing has been left undone.
When he by himself purged our sins, he sat down. Sit on my
right hand. until I make thine enemies thy
footstool." Now, he has enemies, and we see what their end is. Then he says, regarding angels,
are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister
for them who shall be the heirs of salvation? What is the purpose of angels?
I don't know much about them. I know they're greater in power
and might than we are. And I know their purpose is to
be ministers of them who are the heirs of salvation. Salvation. You know, one, when
I hear somebody say I got saved or so and so got saved, I just,
I cringe. That is not salvation. He is salvation. Salvation's
by His grace, by His righteousness. And if you're saved, you know
what that means? You've been saved from your sins. That's what I
need saved from. I need to be saved from my sins.
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins. That's what I need. I need Him
to do something for me because I can't do anything for myself.
I need Him to do something about my sin. Thank God he shall save
his people from their sins. Salvation. Now what is included
in being saved from my sins? That means I don't have to pay
for the penalty of them. That means I've saved from the
power of them. What do you mean you're saved from the power of
them? Sin still seems mighty powerful in me. Just what do
you mean when you say something like that? There was a time when I couldn't
believe any more than I could create a world. I believe now.
I've been saved from the power of my sin. That's what that means. There was a time when I had no
love to God at all. Matter of fact, I hated him.
I love him now. Why? I've been saved from the
power of my sin. That's salvation from sin. One
of these days, I'm gonna be saved from the very presence of sin
where I won't even remember what it's like to be a sinner anymore.
Now what that is going to be like, I can't describe, but it's
so. Salvation. And angels are sent
to be ministers to them who shall be heirs of salvation. Therefore, because of the incomparable
greatness of the Son and the immenseness of His salvation,
therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed. to the things
which we've heard. Now, what you've heard this morning,
by the grace of God, what I've heard this morning from his word,
we ought to give more earnest heed to this, lest at any time
we should let them slip, leak out. I've seen people who seem to
believe the gospel, but it appears they don't anymore. Now I know
one of God's elect cannot fall away. I'm sure of that. They will continue in the faith.
But also know this, if he doesn't keep me, I will fall. It's not
if, it's I will, if he doesn't keep me. And I'll let him slip
out. And they'll leak out, and I don't
want that to happen to me, and I don't want that to happen to
you. It's that person who perseveres to the end that believes. Therefore we ought to give them
more earnest heed to the things which we've heard, less than
any time we should let them slip, leak out. For if the word spoken
by angels was steadfast, and that's talking about angels mediating
the law to Moses. Galatians 3 says that, angels
delivering the law. And that word that they spoke,
the law was steadfast, and there was no mercy in that law. Only
judgment, if you disobey. That's all the law does is condemn
and punish. There was no mercy in that law.
Look what he says, how shall we escape if we neglect? Make light of. So great a salvation. There's mercy in this. To make
light of this? To neglect it? To be negligent
of this, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? It's great because of the greatness
of the Savior. Amen? This is a great salvation because
of the greatness of the Savior. And this salvation is great because
of the cost of it. It costs the life of the Son
of God to save you. His precious blood had to be
shed for you to be saved. And it's great because of the
freeness of it. Don't dare think there's anything
that you can do to appease God. That's the greatest insult you
can give him. He had the blood of his son and you pay something?
No, it's free. Being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. It's great because of the end
of it. I'm gonna be perfectly conformed
to his image. And it's great because of the
width of it. Now what do I mean by the width of it? It's this wide. Whosoever will. Whosoever will. What if I'm not
elect? Forget that, you don't need to
worry about that. Listen to this. Whosoever will. Let him take
the water of life freely. Hold on to that. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise,
for no reason at all, cast off. You will be received in coming
to Christ. Now, if I do neglect this, I
will not escape. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? Let's pray. Lord, we ask in the high holy
name of thy dear son that we might be enabled to come to him,
to believe on him, to rest in him, to trust him, to cling to
him, Lord, let us, everyone, by your grace, be like Jacob
and say, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. Lord,
we need your blessing. We need you to do something for
us. Do that for Christ's sake. Bless
your word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.