Let's read our text, Hebrews
chapter one. God, who at sundry times and in diverse 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."
Here, we're given simple truths. Simple truths not in their power,
not in their how glorious they are. They're past finding out
for us, but it's simple. It's about him. It's all about
what he has done. It's all about what he has done.
It's about who God is and about what he accomplished for his
people. Now, my thought this evening is accept or accept Jesus,
ACC, E-P-T or E-X-C-E-P-T, Jesus. Accept or accept? What is our hope this evening
is the question I want to ask. That God chose us or that we
chose God. That our will enabled us to make
a decision or that his will made a decision. Is our hope that
God speaks to us first or that we spoke to him first? Is it
that we called out unto him and then he spoke or did he say live
and then we cried out unto him? Religion has this backwards,
doesn't it? They say, accept Jesus into your heart, accept
him, make him Lord of your life. But the message I have for us
tonight is, accept the Lord, leave a remnant. There'll be
no remnant left. Accept the Lord of hosts, do
the things that he has done for his people. There would be no
hope in salvation. It's the same word pronunciation,
but accept and accept are two totally different things, aren't
they? Now our hope is not that we accepted Jesus, but our hope
is that God have made us accepted in the beloved. God made us acceptable
in his sight. You'll never read in the scripture,
you'll never read in the scripture where the Lord made an offer
of acceptance to someone. It's always about him saying,
accept the Lord, do this. I'm going to make you acceptable
in my sight. Remember David wrote, he didn't
say, Lord, I accept you. He said, let the meditation of
my heart, let the words of my mouth be acceptable in your sight. Men and women by nature have
the idea that they make a choice when in all reality the mercy
beggar is made to know we've got to come to him begging that
he would wash the very best prayer we've ever prayed in his blood
so that it would be acceptable in his sight. That he would bless
our efforts right now by washing it in his blood or we're meeting
in vain if he doesn't send his spirit. It's a constant life
of the believer to beg, Lord, make me acceptable in your side.
And how does he do that? Does he do it by teaching us
how to clean our lives up or teaching us how to live better
or teaching us how to work harder? No, he puts us in Christ. That's
how we're accepted in the beloved. The beloved is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's placed his people in the Lord. Accept the Lord.
Do this. We have no hope. We have no hope. The one that
he's speaking of right here, the one that he speaks by, his
son, whom he appointed heir of all things, by whom he made the
worlds, he's the one that's going to have to do something. You
and I, if we are honest with ourself, and it's by grace if
we are, we don't have any confidence in our choices, do we? I don't
have any confidence in my choices. Especially spiritually, considering
that we're spiritually dead, we're born dead in trespasses
and sin, we have no confidence in this flesh when it comes to
spiritual things. Because by grace, the Lord showed
us, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. So the message
isn't, do I accept the Lord as he is, as sovereign, as seated?
It's irrelevant whether I accept or reject him. It's up to him
to make me acceptable in his sight. He's got to do all the
cleaning up. He's got to do all the washing. He's got to do all
the work. He does it by his darling son,
doesn't he? Look what he says in verse three. Christ Jesus
being the brightness of his glory, 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. Unless the Lord purged our sin, there would be
no hope for us, would there? It doesn't matter whether we
accept the fact that he's sovereign or not. It's by grace that we
believe, by faith. That's how we believe. The Lord
has to give us that gift. But whether I believe in something
or whether you believe in something or not doesn't make it true.
And it doesn't make it untrue if we don't believe in something.
The truth is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way we believe him,
except the Lord causes us to, we never would. We never would. Our hope is not except I let
God have his way. And it's it's that's not it. It's except the Lord of hosts
left to us a very small remnant. We should be a Sodom and we should
have been likened to Gomorrah. Is that your cry? You know that
that's true. Lord, I'd have been just like Sodom and Gomorrah
had you not done something? Had you not chose to save? Had you not chose to redeem?
Had you not chose to call? And had you not chosen to keep
those whom you elected? I have no hope. I would be Sodom
and Gomorrah. We would, wouldn't we? We know
that to be true. No, except he chooses to redeem, we have no
hope. Matter of fact, Let's each use this to say live. We know
we remain dead, don't we? I'm going to remain dead. Lord,
you're going to have to make me alive first. Then you have to give
me breath to breathe. That's what faith is. You have
to give me grace. It's got to be all of grace because
if that's one thing that we do. It's no longer grace it's works.
We can't work it. It's not that I'm accepting or
I'm choosing or I'm deciding it's that except the Lord leave
the remnant a very small remnant unto himself washes them in his
blood. We would be a Sodom and Gomorrah.
That remnant saved all by grace, called by grace, kept by his
power, by his grace. It's all about him, isn't it?
That's who Paul's introducing us to here, if I could put it
that way. The one that upheld all things by the word of his
power. The one that purged his people's
sin. This is, except the Lord doeth all these things, we would
have had no hope. We would have had no hope. We would be utterly
destroyed. but what hope we have because
of who Jesus Christ is. Look at all of his titles here
that he gives us. Look in verse one, God, who at sundry time
and diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by 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 upholdeth 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. He's the Son of God. He is the Word of God. These
are all his titles that he's given us here. This is the promise
kept. That's who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. This is the promise of God kept in physical form. God became
a man. The Word became flesh. What does
that mean? That means everything he promised
came to pass because of who Jesus Christ is. These are all of his
offices. He's the only one that could
have redeemed. He's the only one that could have could have
saved his people, all by his power. He had the power to do
so. You and I don't have the power
to accept or reject. And the only thing that the Lord
accepts is his darling son. Aren't you glad to know that
he chose to put you in his son? He chose to do that, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. Accept the Lord,
do that. We have no hope, do we? We have
no hope. He doesn't speak by any other
means, no prophecies, no signs, no wonders, but by His Spirit
alone, by His gospel alone. And what does the gospel do?
It glorifies the Son. It gives all glory to the Lord
and His finished work, not to us. Without it, we're lost. Remember
the Lord spoke to Nicodemus and said, you must be born again. And Nicodemus said, how can a
man be born when he is old? Can't enter the second time into
his mother's womb and be born? Didn't understand, did he? The
Lord said, everyone They said, the wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou canst tell whether it come or whether it goeth. So
is everyone that is born of the Spirit. See, that is the point
of what we're trying to say this evening, is except the Lord births
us, we won't be born. Except the Spirit blows upon
us, we won't be made alive. Except the Lord of hosts do wonder
us, we won't have any hope. We will not have any hope, but
the spirit does blow upon the Lord's people, doesn't he? The
spirit does come and say, live. He chooses in mercy to blow upon
his sheep, gives the breath of life, gives ears to hear his
voice. You know, in John 10, I quote
this pretty often, but the Lord said, my sheep hear my voice. Sometimes I, I think that I preach
too fast. We could just stop right there
for a second and really let that sink in. My sheep hear my voice. Well, how is that possible? Well, first of all, you have
to be a sheep. Second of all, or I guess first
of all, you have to be alive. Second of all, you have to be
a sheep. And lastly, he's got to give ears. See, except the
Lord does this. There is no us accepting anything
or rejecting anything. There is no choice that we're
making except the Lord make us a sheep. Never read in the scripture
about a goat becoming a sheep or a sheep becoming a goat. The
sheep have always been the shepherds. The sheep has always been the
sheep of his pasture. Never once will you find in the
scripture where the Lord's people have been outside of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the only way God could
have loved us everlastingly is to be in Christ. That's what
he did is he put us in Christ. He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. This is what he's done. My sheep
hear my voice because they're made to, and I know them, and
they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life. Lord said,
my sheep hear my voice because I'm the shepherd, and another
they will not follow. You and I can't follow a false
gospel, can we? We can't follow a false preacher
that says do, that says accept, that says work. No, that doesn't
taste right. I was talking, I think, Can't
remember if it was Al or Steve. We were talking about how that
you, when you hear the gospel, it's like a, a symphony of harmony
in your heart. The Lord gives you the ears to
hear you're rejoicing and it's peaceful and it's restful. But
as soon as you throw a work into it, it's like nails on the chalkboard,
isn't it? And everybody, you can relate
to that. It's, it's repulsive. It's offensive. It's offensive
to the Lord's sheep. Oh, I've got to have his green
pasture. I've got to have his still water. That's the only
thing that satiates the soul is the Lord's water, the fountain
of living water, his precious blood. That's our hope. Except
the Lord give it to us, we'll never have it. I want you to notice verse two
with me just a moment. The Lord hath in these last days spoken
to us by his son. I want you to look what the father
says about his son. He appointed him heir of all
things, by whom also he made the worlds. Now, the scripture
says in John chapter one, that everything that was made was
made by the Lord Jesus Christ. And without him, there was not
anything made that was made. The most glorious part is, is
that the Lord came and He redeemed that which was lost. He redeemed
His people. Although He created and He owns
everything, yet He chose to become a man and to redeem according
to His purpose, according to His will. And now the Lord hath
been appointed heir of all things. But you know what it says about
you and I? that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ. You're an heir of grace because
it's found in Christ. You're an heir of love and of
mercy and all of the good things that come from the Lord. That's
what the scripture says. All good things come down from the
father of lights. Everything good comes from him.
You and I know everything bad comes from us, doesn't it? Men
want to blame the devil. We don't need any help with our
sin. We're utterly sinful as it is,
aren't we? That's just the truth. No, the
good things come from God, and except he gives us the good thing,
we'll be lost. We'll be in darkness. We'll be
in darkness. But aren't you glad he promised?
He promised, and he cannot lie. Without him, there was not anything
made. He owns everything, and by him all things consist. I
want to show us that in Colossians chapter one. Let's just back
a few pages. Colossians 115. talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, and let's read verse 13, I'm sorry. Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom
of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood
and even the forgiveness of sins. Who is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature? For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And having
made peace, Through the blood of his cross,
by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven. The Lord, and we can't
understand this, but the Lord Jesus Christ is the image of
the invisible God. What does that mean? Well, first
of all, we cannot see God. God is a spirit, and they that
worship must worship in spirit and in truth. You and I could
not have seen God because he is invisible. And yet God became
a man. He manifested himself in the
flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who I'm speaking of. If
he had not accept the Lord do that, we would have never known
God. We would have never seen God.
He, the Lord Jesus Christ is the one that appeared unto Abraham
of old. He's the one that appeared in the burning bush to Moses.
He's the one that appeared all the way back to the garden of
Eden. Whenever he came down, it was the word of God walking
in the garden. in the cool of the evening after Adam and Eve
had sinned. It was the Lord Jesus Christ is who it was. This is
who we must approach. This is the only way to approach
God is through and by him. There's no other way. There's
no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. He's
the only one where righteousness is found. He's the only one where
hope is found except the Lord. Do the work by grace in our heart. We have no hope. We have no hope. Understand, unless God reveals
his son in mercy, unless you and I are made to see God in
Christ, we're lost. We're lost. But seeing the Lord
Jesus Christ as God, seeing him as the fullness of the Godhead
bodily and all that that means that he's our salvation, isn't
he? He's our salvation. God is a spirit and cannot be
found out, can't be discovered, but by grace he manifests his
presence and makes known his glory in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross of Calvary
for his people. He alone made peace with God for his people.
Now, after reading all of this, how that he has made all things,
whether it be dominion, power, thrones, principalities, everything
that he created, whether in heaven, earth, visible, invisible, would
we dare ask a question, do you accept him? Do you accept him
as God? That's kind of an irrelevant
question, isn't it? Whether you accept him or not is completely
irrelevant. Lord, I see you. I heard with the hearing of ear,
but now mine eyes have seen the king. Lord, the only way I'm
going to be able to approach you is if you make me accepted
in the beloved, and the only way that you do that is by the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're gonna have to
do it all. You're gonna have to do it all. Now, we like David
say, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
What's acceptable words? What's the acceptable words that
we say? Christ is all. That's the acceptable words,
isn't it? Christ is all. Christ is all. What's the acceptable
meditation? Christ is all. See, it's all
about Him. It's His story. It's all about
Him. You know the word history? It's
His story. It's everything He's purposed.
Everything He's ordained for the salvation of His people.
He made everything for His glory. He owns it all. The most amazing,
mind-blowing, baffling thing is that He chose to save a bunch
of sinners, that He would do that. He would condescend and
become what they are in order to save them, to redeem them
back to Him. No, we don't accept Him. It's
except Lord Jesus Christ makes us acceptable in His sight, by
His blood, we will justly die. We will justly die in our sins.
All we'll do is glory in self, but Paul said this after he heard
the truth, I will glory in nothing but Christ, His cross, Him crucified. There's the glory that the Lord's
people glory in, just the Lord. We don't brag to the Lord, we
beg for the Lord. We don't brag to him about what
we've done. We beg for what Christ has done.
We beg for what Christ has done. Lord, cause me to be found in
you. Except you do that, I have no
hope. Except you do that, I have no
hope. We don't preach self. We preach Christ crucified. Our
message is not a proposition dependent upon our cooperation.
Our message is not a proposition dependent upon our cooperation.
Our message is simple and it is clear. The message is, it
is finished. That message clearly declares
that everything God required, he provided in his son. Everything
in order to make you and I the righteousness of God, is in the
Lord Jesus Christ alone. It is finished, is our greatest
hope, because the Lord cannot lie. Every person that he died
for on the cross has been made the righteousness of God in Christ.
They've been sanctified. God did all the choosing, God
did all the saving, the calling, and the keeping. Because of this,
we have peace with God in Christ. Except the Lord give us peace
in Christ, we have no peace. Except the Lord gives us righteousness
that's found in Christ, we have no righteousness. Unless the
Lord justifies us freely by his grace, according to his blood,
we have no justification. Whether we accept him or not
is irrelevant, completely irrelevant. When you see the Lord, you'll
come begging. We come begging to him, don't we? It's not about
me accepting or rejecting anymore. I'm not God, he's God, he's seated. He's got to do the work or I'll
never be acceptable in his sight. Go back to our text in Hebrews
chapter one. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in times 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, the majesty on
high. Because of who he is, because
of who the Lord Jesus Christ is, because He is the God-man.
He was the only one qualified to purge our sin. He was the
only one qualified to make us the righteousness of God in Him.
He was the only one qualified to save His people. That's why
the Lord gave Him the name Jesus. Call Him Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sin. Because of His name, because
of His character, because of His power, because of His authority,
Because of all of his offices as God, he was qualified to redeem,
whether we have an input about it or not. I can't mess it up. You can't either. That's the
glorious truth about who God is. He can do whatever he wants
to. It's amazing that he chose to save. He chose to redeem. In the Lord Jesus Christ, he
chose to redeem his people. Our Lord was the only one able
to save and he chose to do it. No, it's not that I accept him
as my personal Lord and Savior. That's not the prayer, is it?
No, it's except Jesus Christ took our sin away according to
the determinate counsel of God, except he elected a people, except
he died for those people, except the Spirit makes those people
alive and keeps those people, we have no hope. It's except
Jesus Christ does. Except the Lord said, it is finished.
We have no hope. We have no hope. Now I said this earlier, but
I wanna go back to this real quick. The other word accept
is A-C-C-E-P-T, and it's never used in scripture as an offer
to man. I couldn't, I looked at every single time, A-C-C-E-P-T
was written, and it's never God saying, do you accept me? You won't find it in the scripture.
You won't find it in the scripture. Men act like salvation is like
a marriage, where you are standing there at the altar with the Lord,
and you have to answer the vows in order to enter into the bonds
of holy matrimony. And the question is, do you take
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, as your husband? That's
the question men propose. You won't find that in the scripture.
It's not in there. It's not in there. No, the marriage,
this is glorious, that the marriage whereby you and I are united
unto the Lord, we're just awoken to it. It's made known unto us. It's revealed unto us that we
have union with God in Christ Jesus. We're one with him. We're
married to him. You and I in our flesh, if he
was to say, do you take? We would say, no, away with this
man. Let his blood be on us and on our children. By the grace
of God and the faith that he gives towards the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have hope. We have hope because according
to the determinate counsel of God. He left a remnant. He united his people unto him
and his father. He said, all that the father
giveth me shall come to me, and I will in no wise cast them out.
He goes on in John 17, the glory with where he had been glorified
with, he gives unto them. This is all about the union of
the Lord. And you know, the scripture mentions
about the marriage supper of the lamb. That hasn't happened
yet as far as you and I are concerned, but everything's eternal in glory,
and I don't understand that. But one day the scripture says
the Lord's gonna gird himself, and he's gonna serve you and
I. Now that is just unfathomable to me. I'm like Peter, Lord,
now let me serve you. Remember, the Lord came around
to all the disciples and was washing their feet, and Peter
said, you're not washing my feet. And he said, if I don't wash your
feet, you have no part with me. And he said, well, in that case,
not just my feet, but my hands and my head to them. One day,
the Lord's going to guard himself, he says, and serve us. This is
an irresistible grace that he gives this is irresistible love
that he displays because no greater love at any man than this. That
a man laid down his life for his friends. The Lord Jesus Christ
laid down his life for his people. The Lord makes us alive unto
that knowledge. The Lord makes us alive unto
the love that he has shed abroad in our heart. He makes us alive
unto the glory that's going to be revealed when we see him face
to face. He just lets us in on it. He
saved us first and then he calls us. Except the Lord do these
things, we would never choose him. He gives us the heart that
says, Lord, let the meditation of my heart and the words of
my mouth be acceptable in your sight. Lord, cause Christ to
be on my tongue and everything that I say and do his praise,
not that I would glory in myself, but called me to glory and nothing
but Christ, except you do this. Lord, I won't say anything that's
glorifying unto you. Except God chooses to create
the need that only he can feel, we'll be left to ourself. Except
God does that. He's the only one qualified.
He's the only one able. Except God creates the need that
only he can feel, we will be left to ourself. Isaiah 53 tells
us that there's no beauty in him that we should desire him. No beauty. Not according to the
flesh. But if we see him, we see his
eyes of mercy, and we see his eyes of grace, and we see the
love that was displayed upon the cross of Calvary for his
people, he's the most beautiful being ever, isn't he? He's fairer
than 10,000 to my soul. That's what the scripture says. Our hope is not that we accept
him, that's silly. Our hope is found in verse three,
isn't it? When he had by himself purged our sin, he sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. Imagine, and I'll use
an example if the Lord would enable me. If you were on death
row and somebody came in and they offered to take your place,
they offered to take, I'll die for you, you can go free. How
stupid would that be for the man or woman to say, no, I think
I'll just go ahead and die, I'm good. and maybe somebody would,
but the Lord never offered that. We were on death row, oh yes,
but he didn't offer you and I to be set free. He didn't say, I'll
take your place if you let me. I'll die in your stead if you
let me. No, we hear the gospel. And the
gospel says, he by himself purged our sin. So now not only has
the law been satisfied, has justice been satisfied, you and I have
not just dodged death. We have not just dodged the punishment,
but there is no punishment remaining. He took it all. He took every
bit of it. There's nothing to charge us
with anymore. If a murderer is on death row,
they're still guilty of the murder, even though somebody takes their
place. That's not how the gospel works. We're innocent. That's
what the scripture calls us, the righteousness of God and
the Lord Jesus Christ. By his own blood, he purged our
sin. They're gone, cast far as the
east is from the west, into the depths of the sea, never to be
remembered again. Every time our adversary brings up our sin
before the Father, every time he accuses us, the Lord looks
at his son. Lord looks at his son, he says,
no, they're perfectly righteous. That blood has not lost its power.
That blood didn't need me and you to help it. Not one bit.
That blood purged his people's sin. Every one of them. We've
now been made accepted in the beloved. Everything he promised,
he upheld. Everything written here is past
tense. Did you notice that? Everything's past tense. I like
the way the Lord writes, wrote his word, he says here, he upheld
by his power, he purged our sin, he sat down. This is all, it's
already done. It's already finished. He's already
seated. He's not pacing the floor, hoping
that we'll accept him. No, he's making us realize, accept
the Lord, build the house. They that labor in vain that
build it. Accept the Lord, do the work. The work won't get
done. Accept the Lord, purge our sin. The sin will remain.
That's what he teaches his people. He hath by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than all of the angels. He is our savior.
He is our redeemer. He's our Lord. He is our salvation,
isn't he? He's our salvation. No, it's
not, do you accept Jesus? It's accept Jesus bought us,
accept Jesus washed us, redeemed us, died for his own, paid the
price that we could not pay by his own blood, begat us. We would
have never been saved. But what did he say in, was it
Isaiah chapter 43? He says, Israel, mine elect,
whom I upheld, said, fear not, I have bought thee, I have redeemed
thee, thou art mine. I bought you with a price. This is what the gospel reveals
is it's already finished. There is no accept or reject
to be done. Lord Jesus Christ only offered
himself one time, it's never been to a man, it was to his
father. And when the father saw the travail of his soul, he was
satisfied. Now our Lord is seated as the
successful redeemer of his people. Except Jesus Christ paid the
price by his own blood, we would have no hope, but he did. But
he did, because the father being eternally pleased with his son,
he says, sit thou here at my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool. Sit thou here, the work's finished.
The work's finished. All those who are in Christ Jesus
are seated in him. Except the Lord did it, it wouldn't
have gotten done, but he did it. He did it, and because of
who he is and what he's done, because of his offices as God,
he said with authority, it is finished, and he cannot lie.
Except the Lord said it is finished, we'd have to wonder, wouldn't
we? If it was up to me and you, we would always be in wonder.
Have I done enough? Have I done enough? In my life,
have I worked enough? Have I gave enough? No, never
can. But he said it is finished. Rest.
Rest, let's pray. Father, thank you. That you chose
to redeem. Calls us to rest in your redemption
in Christ's name, amen.