Bibles to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 1. Here in our text it begins by
cementing the fact that Christ Jesus is better than angels. He's different than angels. He
created the angels. It also cements the fact that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one that had the right to
redeem. He had the ability to redeem. He had the sovereignty
to accomplish salvation. And then I would remind us what
it says. You can look in verse three, Hebrews one, who being
the brightness of his glory, the father 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. Not only is he the only
one that was able, the only one is able, the only one that's
ever gonna be able, but he by himself purged our sin. It wasn't
just that he was able and did nothing, he actually accomplished
salvation. He sat down, his work was finished. Now, as it's been
established here, these words are set forth to affirm that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the standard of God. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the standard of God. Not only is he the judge of all,
but his holiness is by wherewith all will be judged. He's going
to judge everyone by this standard. Meaning, you and I must be equal
to the Lord Jesus Christ to be accepted into the beloved. You
and I must be equal to perfect righteousness to be viewed as
good in the Lord's eyes. You and I must be as holy as
God is in order to be accepted. Now, without being righteous
as he is, we're lost. But here in our text, we have
good news. If you and I have ever seen ourselves
as sinners, we begin to think, how can I be as holy as God is? How can I be as righteous as
God is righteous? How can I, a sinner, born a sinner,
not just a sinner because of what I do, but because of what
we are by our father, Adam, having his blood. How can I be the very
righteousness of God? Well, the answer is very simple.
We must be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read our
text, Hebrews chapter one, verse 13. 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? I've titled this message Heirs
of Salvation. Now, The very purpose of angels is
to serve the Lord. And I've mentioned angels in
the last couple of weeks, several times and elaborated on them.
So I'm not going to do that this morning, but I want to focus
on this last phrase that's given here. This last phrase said,
them who shall be heirs of salvation. Some people have been made heirs
of salvation. Now to the angels, I will say
this, what do the angels minister to those heirs? Well, Christ
is the message. Christ is the message that they
minister. He's all in all. Interesting,
this communication is by the writer of Hebrews, he calls to
attention in saying, those who shall be heirs, those are a particular
people. This means not everyone is an
heir of salvation. There's only those who are heirs
of salvation. This begs me to question, well,
who's an heir? I need to know. Am I an heir
of salvation? If I'm not an heir of salvation,
I have no hope. I've got to be an heir, an heir of salvation. How do I become an heir if I'm
not? What does the scripture say?
Well, I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit. Let me give you
the definition of an heir, first of all. A person, an heir is
a person legally entitled to the property or rank of another
on that person's death. An heir is a person legally entitled
to the property or rank of another person upon their death. How
can I legally be entitled to salvation? Is there something
I must do? Yes, I must be born again. I must be born again. That's
the only way I'm gonna be entitled. That's the only way I can be
an heir is to be born again. When Nicodemus heard this information,
he said unto the Lord, how can a man, when he is old, enter
the second time into his mother's womb and be born? See, the issue
is you and I are looking for something to do. You and I are
thinking, well, there must be something I can do to set myself
apart from my peers or from others, and therefore the Lord would
make me an heir. But only those who the Lord calls us to be born
again are the heirs. The Lord told Nicodemus, the
wind bloweth where it lifts us, and thou canst not tell from
whether it come or whether it goeth, so is everyone that is
born of the Spirit. He said, that which is flesh
is flesh, Nicodemus, that which is spirit is spirit. You must
be born again. An heir is one born. Think about
a king having a son. You see throughout, Abraham didn't
have a son, and he needed an heir, didn't he? We see David's
need of a son, and many men that are kings. We don't really understand
heirship the way that it's given forth in the scripture, because
you and I, we don't have kingdoms and castles. You understand what
I'm saying. We're just commoners, if you
want to put it that way. You understand. So my heir would
be my children, it's your children. But understand something, the
sonship to the king would have been a certainty of the king's
continuance after his death. It would have been, his legacy
would have continue on, whatever his will would have continued
on, his name, his name would have continued on. And without
the heir being born, there is no continuance thereof. This
is who an heir is. To be an heir, I have to be,
to be an heir of salvation means I have to be the very son of
God. I have to be, in order to be
the heir of salvation, I have to be a child of God. Did you
know that that is exactly what the blood of Jesus Christ accomplished
on the cross of Calvary? That's exactly what it accomplished
on the cross of Calvary. Look in Galatians chapter four. For every person that Christ
shed his blood for, every person that he died for, every person
that he purposed to save, this is what it says about his work
in Galatians 4 verse 1. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be
Lord of all. but is under tutors and governors
until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were
children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But
when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his
son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit in
his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father, wherefore thou art
no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then what? An heir of God through Christ. An heir of God. This is what he accomplished
on the cross of Calvary. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished an heir of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this
is not earned by us. This is not based upon our doing. This is not something that we
have merited because we chose to do something. This is what
God accomplished. This is what he has done. Did
you choose to be born to a king? No. No, what if you could have chose
your earthly parents? What would you have chose the
one you had? Well, if you're older, you probably appreciate
them a little more. But when we're younger, I think a lot
of people would say, I wish I had a different mom and dad. I wish
I'd have had this. I wish I'd have had the older you get, the
more you appreciate what your parents actually put up with
you, not that you had to put up with them. Am I wrong? If
we could have chose our earthly parents, we may have chose different,
but we couldn't, could we? We didn't have that power. What
makes us think that we can choose our Heavenly Father to make Him
our Lord or our God? Or, Lord, I'm gonna make you
my Father. That sounds really silly, doesn't
it? No, no, no, it doesn't work that way. He's already God and
He's already sovereign. He's already Lord of all. Lord,
you're gonna have to make me an heir. You're gonna have to
make me an heir. I can't choose to become something. No, you're gonna have to do it. How can it be that it would be
based upon us? God demands absolute perfection,
nothing short of his holiness, as I've already said, nothing
short of perfection. You and I don't know anything
that's perfect, do we? Name one thing in your life that's
absolutely perfect. There's nothing in this earth
that's perfect. It's all tainted by sin, isn't
it? But the Lord's perfect. The Lord Jesus Christ is perfect.
He's the only one that's walked on the face of the earth, living
a perfect life, completely holy, set apart from sinners. And the
Lord's exalted him. He's higher than the heavens.
God demands absolute perfection. Nothing short of his holiness
pleases him in his highest court. I understand he's the judge.
He's the judge. He's seated on the throne. He
is the judge of the world in every way. He is the determinant
counsel. He doesn't confer with you and
I when he created the heavens and the earth that he asked your
opinion or my opinion. You think I should do this or
do you think I should do that? That's silly, isn't it? Neither
did he confer with flesh and blood when he chose to redeem
his people. Understand in his court, there's
no pardon for good behavior. I was reading about a man that
was sentenced to death, but they got the sentence changed to life
in prison because of his crimes. And now he's been released on
parole after he served 50 years or whatever. None of those are
justice. You understand what I'm saying?
None of that's justice. But in God's court, justice will
be served. There is no excuse for good behavior. There is no shortening of the
sentence. He is sovereign. He is holy. He is truth. He demands
perfection and justice must be satisfied. Well, what does he,
what does he have us charged with exactly? What does he have
us charged with exactly? Well, number one, we've broken
every one of his laws, every single one of them. There's not
just the Ten Commandments that's broken, but every ordinance given
in the Old Testament was given in order to show, man, you can't
keep God's law perfectly. If you've ever broken them once,
there's no hope of fixing that in and of yourself. Without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Furthermore,
if we are the Lord's, what did he say in Acts 2 through 23?
You have taken and with wicked hands crucified and slain the
King of glory. The crucifixion of the Lord.
He has men charged with the death of his son. Who's going to acquit
that guilt? He will not acquit the guilty.
No, it has to be put away. Sin must be punished. The debt
must be paid. And there is nothing that you
and I can do to make our sin disappear. Not one thing. Not
one good work. Not a certain prayer to pray. Not taking the Lord's table. Not baptism. There's nothing
we can do to make our sin go away. Why? Because everything
we do to try to make it go away is called iniquity. And God hates
the workers of iniquity. God is the one who must put away
the sin. God is the one who must make
us heirs of salvation. And the good news is this, because
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is and what he has done, we
have hope. Back to our text in Hebrews chapter
one, let's look at that hope. You and I can't put away our
sin, but here's our hope. Hebrews 1 verse 1, God who at
sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the
fathers by the prophets, hath in these days spoken unto us
by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also
he made the world, who being the brightness of his glory and
the express image of his person and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the majesty on high. The one that
has been appointed of the father, heir of all things, purged the
Lord's people's sin on the cross of Calvary. This is what he's
done. Christ is the heir of all things,
his birthright. He by inheritance, he obtained
a better name than the angels, And all the men that's ever going
to live by anything and everything, he obtained a better name. What's
his name? The Lord Jesus Christ. It's God with us, Emmanuel. It's Jehovah sit, can you, the
Lord, our righteousness. This is his name. You and I by
birthright. What was our name that we inherited?
It was Adam, wasn't it? It was the name of Adam. It was
his blood. What, what was our birthright
in Adam? Death. The wages of sin is death. He's
not just talking about what we do. He's talking about what we
are. A dog doesn't bark to become a dog, neither does a cat meow
to become a cat. They bark because they're a dog
and meow because they're a cat. What is the nature of a dog?
Is it not to bark, scratch, and you understand what I'm saying?
And I said this the first hour, no matter how much training you
give to a dog, it's still a dog. Dog can stand upright and walk,
it can sit, roll over, play dead, still a dog. That's our nature. Human. That's our nature. Sin. That's our nature. And we can't
fix it in and of ourself. But he can. But he can. The Lord Jesus Christ can. Because
he is the heir of all things. He's born from above. He doesn't
have Adam's seed. He wasn't born of Adam's seed.
He's born of the Father's seed. He's holy. He's holy and he's
just and he's true. He's born in righteousness and
true holiness. In order for you and I to be made heirs, we must
be born of the same seed. We must be. In order for you
and I to be born, in order for you and I to be made heirs, we
must be born of the same seed of holiness and righteousness,
born from above. That's what the Lord was telling
Nicodemus. You can't choose to be born of the spirit. The wind
blows wherever it listeth. You and I can't control the wind,
can we? I mentioned the first hour, it would, It would be more
believable for you and I to stand at midnight in the darkest time
and say unto the sun arise son and Believe that that's gonna
happen Then believe that we can make God do anything or to let
God do anything No, you and I don't have that power. We can't control
the wind We can't will away a cold you and I next time you get a
cold just say okay cold be gone That's silly, isn't it? And yet
these are human things. These are fleshly things. We're
talking about spiritual things is the issue. No, I need a substitute
spiritually. I have to be made alive. I was
born dead and trespasses it in sin. This is what the scripture
teaches. In order for us to be made heirs, we have to be born
of the Lord, his will, by his spirit. The question would be, what did
we have to do with our first birth? Were you, do you remember
your first birth? No. Did you choose to be born
that day? Did you decide I'm going to be
born, I had a birthday Friday, February the 23rd, 1988. Told
you how young I am now. Did I choose that day? Did I
choose my parents? Did I choose the state I was
born in? Did I choose to be born in America? Did I choose to be
born in this century? What did I have to do with any
of it? And what did you have to do with yours? Nothing. Nothing
but God in mercy chose for me to be born that day at that time
under the parents that I had in the place I was born. That
is exactly what he does in salvation. He chooses to cause you to be
born again by the preaching of the gospel. He says, let there
be light. The Spirit of God moves upon
the face of the deep and there's light given forth. John said 1 John 1 11. He came
into his own and his own received him not. But as many as received
him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to
them that believe on his name which were born. Not of blood. Nor of the will of the flesh.
nor of the will of man, but of God. I love that word received. It says then that received him,
to them gave he the power. Men say, okay, all I have to
do is receive him. Well, the man that's standing there blind to
the Lord, and the Lord, he says to the Lord, Lord, if thou wilt,
thou can makes me whole. Lord, if you will, you can cause
me to see. And what does the Lord say? I will receive thy
sight. Did that man say, no, I don't
think I'm gonna receive the sight. No, it's, the Lord said, let
there be light. The Lord spoke all things into
existence. This is what he does in the heart
of his sinners, the ones that he's chosen unto salvation. He
says, live, and we live. God's people are born of his
will, and we receive grace by him. What does that sight reveal? Well, it reveals he made us heirs
by the sacrifice of himself. By the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross, he made his people heirs of God. born of his will, born of his
incorruptible seed, literally birthed into the family of God.
Turn with me to First Peter. We got a couple more places to
turn to. First Peter chapter one. First Peter 1.18. For as much as you know that
you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by traditions from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
who by him, do you believe? Do we see what he's saying there? Who by him, It's by Him we believe,
otherwise we wouldn't believe. By Him do believe in God that
raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory, that your faith
and hope might be in God. Seeing that you've purified your
souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure
heart fervently, being born again. not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. For all flesh is as grass, and
the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
the flower thereof fadeth away, but the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you." been born again of the incorruptible seed, not of
the seed of corruption anymore. This is what was accomplished
on Calvary's cross for the Lord's people. This is why the Lord
Jesus endured the wrath of God. See, in the garden, it wasn't
just a way that the Lord was making. Christ Jesus is the way.
He entered into a covenant of grace before time ever began.
That's what he's talking about here, was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. To do what? To be made sin for
his people on the cross. He drank that cup in the garden.
You remember whenever he prayed, Father, let this cup pass from
me? He drank every bit of the sorrow that was in that cup.
He owned it as his own. He drank all the damnation due
you and I. This is what had to happen for
us to be made heirs of salvation. He drank it dry completely. And
he who knew no sin became sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God. in him. This is what was accomplished
on Calvary for God's chosen heirs by the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. He, from the penalty of sin, saved us and put all
our sin away. I mean, Tom, by his gospel, that's
what he's talking about here, by the gospel preached unto you,
he births his people by his spirit. He births them. He just lets
us in on it's what happens. He says, live. And you can probably
memorize this by now, but on our bulletin it says, God who
has saved us and called us. He saved us first, and then he
calls us. That's the birthing. We experience
life, don't we? We didn't know it when we were
born. We weren't present, but we know we're alive now, don't
we? One of these days, we're gonna really get to experience
glorification. I love that. It's already happened. I can't see it, you can't see
it, but we really get to experience it. We've already been born again.
We've already been glorified in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
made us heirs of salvation. This isn't a confusing message.
The answer is simple. He did it all. It's a simple
message. What is my responsibility and
obligation? Well, if I was to say, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, we must say, how is one supposed to believe who is dead?
If I'm born dead and trespasses in sin, how can I believe? I
can't. You're gonna have to save me, Lord. Then you're gonna have
to call me. You're gonna have to make me believe. Make me believe. We've been made heirs. elected,
adopted, purchased sons and daughters. Turn with me in closing to Romans
chapter eight. This is what it is to be heirs
of salvation, Romans 8, 14. For as much as are led by the
spirit of God, they are the sons of God. That does not say that
you are the sons of God because you choose to let the Spirit
lead you, does it? That is not what that says. For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God.
That means God's going to have to do the leading by His Spirit,
and He does. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again unto fear. No, we don't run back to the
law to try to obtain salvation, but we've received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, if so be that
we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. What's that glory? Christ in you. It's Him. It's all Him. This is what it
is to be heirs of salvation, to have the very glory of God
in you. He made us heirs of God, joined heirs with Jesus Christ
by his own blood, purchased, redeemed. We'll continue reading
in just a moment. But he purchased, he redeemed,
he bought us. This is what his blood accomplished,
all by the sacrifice of himself. His spirit, he bears witness
by his spirit that he's made us his children, his children. Not just part of the family.
I underline this part. You've heard a funny analogy,
and I have a redheaded daughter, so I can say this, I guess. People
say redheaded stepchild, and they use it in a derogatory term.
You understand what I'm talking about. He didn't just make you
a redheaded stepchild. You understand what I'm saying? He didn't make
you a misfit or a kind of, sort of, we love you, but not really.
He made us the very sons. of God because of what Christ
accomplished, the heirs of everything, everything that Christ had. What
did he say in John 17? Father, the glory that you've
given me, I give to them. I pray not for the world, but
I pray for them, which thou hast given me in the very glory that
you've given me. I've given unto them. This is
what he's done. He's made us actual sons and
daughters of the king, the creator. God himself. Well, who did he
do this for? We started out by saying, who's
an heir? Or how do I become an heir? Am I an heir? That's the
question. I've got to be an heir. Because if I'm not an heir, I
have no hope of salvation. He tells us who it's for here
in verse number 29. Look in verse 29, Romans 8. Who did he do this for? For whom
he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called. And whom He called, them He also
justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. That's all past tense, isn't
it? That's already been done. What shall we then say to these
things? What are we gonna reply to that? If God be for us, who
can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up freely for us, how shall he not with him
also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. We
said just a few minutes ago that in his court, justice is served. Here's our hope. God justified
his heirs. God justified his people. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us. I love the next line, who shall
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ? Who's
going to do that? Them he did foreknow, brethren,
he loved. That's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. Whom
he did foreknow, those that he loved. He elected unto eternal
life, ordained them to the perfection in Christ, He predestinated them.
What did He predestinate them to? What did He predestinate
them to? To be conformed to the image
of His Son. Scripture says that being justified
by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life. Now, do you see a contingency
clause in that anywhere required by you and I? Do you see an input
whereby we can prevent the Lord from doing anything there? No.
No. You remember in the book of Second
Samuel in chapter nine, I believe it is. There's a man by the name
of Mephibosheth. You don't hear a whole lot about
him prior to this account. But in this account that's given,
David said, is there any left of the house of Saul that I may
show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now understand, Jonathan
would have been King Saul's son. King Saul was the enemy of David
because Saul was king and hated David. Saul was the self-declared
enemy of David. David had fled for his life many
times. A javelin was thrown at David
multiple times, trying to kill him. Saul literally tried to
kill David on different accounts. But David had a relationship
with the son of Saul. His name was Jonathan. And it
says that their hearts were knit together. Their hearts were knit
together. They loved one another, and they entered into a covenant
together. Before Mephibosheth was even a twinkle in his daddy's
eye, they entered into a covenant together. And in that covenant,
it stated that you will do good unto my kindred, to my seed,
and I will do good unto yours. Whoever's king will take care
of each other's children. That's the covenant that was
entered into. It's a blood covenant, sealed with a promise. Well,
Saul died and Jonathan died, and David remembers his promise
unto Jonathan. And he says, is there any left
of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's
sake? And the servant spoke up who was a servant of Saul. One
of the servants, his name was Ziba. And he says, yes, there's
one. His name is Mephibosheth, but he's lame on both of his
feet. See during an invasion that had happened in Jerusalem,
Mephibosheth was dropped and therefore became lame. He no
longer could walk. But he was told that he was down
in Lodabar, down in Machar, and you can read those translated
words, and it stands for the house of no bread. It's a place
of death. That's where Mephibosheth was.
He was hiding out. See, Mephibosheth would have been afraid that he
could have been killed because he rightfully could challenge
King David for the throne. He was the heir of Saul. This
is what we were talking about, the heirs. No one can challenge
your heirship. If you're born to the king, it's
your right to become king. Mephibosheth would have been
hiding out, afraid David would have come after him. But David
says, go fetch him. Go fetch him. And I'm uncertain
of what caravan they would have sent down, but I guarantee you
it would have been David's best chariot. Why? Because love was
the motivating factor in this fetching. Wasn't that Mephibosheth
was any count. He was lame. He was, as a matter
of fact, he was enemy of David. Remember, he was the enemy, the
very enemy of David. He said, go fetch him. Bring
him. Mephibosheth enters the throne
room of David. He enters the throne room of
David. And he falls down on his face and did reference. And David
says the most precious words that you and I can ever hear
when we stand before the king of glory. Fear not. For I will surely show thee kindness. Why? David said, for Jonathan's
sake. What is our hope? I will show
thee kindness for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. That's our hope,
isn't it? That's our hope. It wasn't that
Mephibosheth had done anything that deserved to be there. Matter
of fact, he says these words next. What is thy servant that
thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? David said,
bring the ring and put it on him. Put the robe on his back.
Put him at the king's table. The end of the story says that
he ate bread from the king's table all the days of his life.
You know, nobody could see the infirmity of Mephibosheth as
long as he was seated at the king's table. I guarantee you
that was a scarlet tablecloth that was over top of his legs.
That's the blood of Christ that covers our infirmity. It's what
the covenant of grace is what this is a picture of before time
ever began. The Lord was ordained to take
away the sin of his people. We had no claim on the throne.
We couldn't even walk to the throne without worrying about
dying because we're guilty of being the very enemy of God.
But the Lord says in mercy, go fetch him, bring him to me, for
I will surely show him kindness. I will surely show her kindness
for the Lord Jesus Christ and what he accomplished on Calvary's
cross. Why was Mephibosheth saved? The same reason you and I are
saved because he was heir of a promise. He was heir of a promise
of a covenant of grace that he had nothing whatsoever to do
with. Is that not a picture of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit before time, the Father
electing a people in the Lamb's book of life, the Son declaring,
I will redeem them and coming to this earth, as we have already
read, being born of a woman, being born of a woman under the
law to redeem them that were under the law that could not
save themselves, who are the very enemy of God, the very enemy
of God, I will redeem them. And he put away that enmity that
we are, that sin that we are by his own sacrifice on Calvary's
cross, washing them away by his own blood. And the spirit said,
I will regenerate them in time, I will birth them in time because
they have been made the heirs of salvation, the heirs of salvation. Every time that David looked
at Mephibosheth, he did not see Mephibosheth. Do you not believe
that Mephibosheth had the very likeness of his father? How many
people do you know that their son, I have a daughter that looks
just like my wife, that's right here. People say all the time,
are you sisters? But this likeness is far better
than just kind of like. When the father, when David saw
Mephibosheth, he saw Jonathan. But when the father sees his
people, when the father looks on me, he sees the blood of Christ.
He doesn't just see a likeness. He sees the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees perfect holiness. He
sees perfect righteousness. And he declares, come, take up
the water of life freely. Enter in thou good and faithful
servant. This is what he says to his people. Every time the
father looks at his children, the heirs of salvation, he sees
the Lord Jesus Christ. He by himself made it certain.
He by himself purged our sin. He by himself made us the heirs
of salvation. Who shall prevent him? Who shall
challenge him? from calling his people. What
does he say here? You're still in, you're still in Romans chapter
eight. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Verse 36, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the
day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved
us. It was love that designed salvation's plan. It was love
that enacted it. It was love that purchased our
redemption on the cross of Calvary. And love will bring us all the
way through, but not a love like you and ours, you and mine. This
is an everlasting love. And because of that, He says
in verse 38, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. If Jesus loves everybody, then
everybody is an heir of salvation. But he does not. He loves his
people and he put away their sin on the cross of Calvary and
made them heirs of salvation. who shall prevent him from freely
giving his people all things in Christ. It is God that justified
his heirs of salvation. Let's pray. Father, we believe
and rejoice that you have done it all. Thank you for your wonderful
salvation. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.