What I would like for you to
do this morning is take your Bible and open it to the book
of Hebrews. I'm going to read a passage of
scripture from Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1 and bring you a message
on these things we ought to do. What we ought to do. Now I know
most people won't do this and perhaps some of you are not in
a place where you can do this. But I'd like very much for you
to take your Bible and follow along with me, verse by verse,
through this message. I'm going to do a little preaching
this morning, and a little teaching. After all, the preacher is supposed
to be both pastor and teacher. It's said, when our Lord ascended
to heaven, he gave gifts to men. And he gave some to be prophets,
and some to be apostles, and some to be evangelists, and some
to be pastors and teachers. And really and truly, if we're
not teaching men, we're certainly not doing much preaching. You
know, when the Lord sent his disciples out, he said, go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them, teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. So if you
will, and if you're really interested, I want you to take your Bibles
and open them now to Hebrews Chapter 2. Now here's the text,
Hebrews 2.1. It says, therefore, therefore
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Now I've had people
say to me so often, and perhaps you've said it, don't preach
to me, don't preach to me. Perhaps you said that yourself
to somebody, don't preach to me. And what we mean by that
is this, and I realize it gets a little tiresome to have someone
always reminding you of what you should do and what you shouldn't
do. What you ought to do and what you ought not to do. But
this scripture here, which says we ought to do what we ought
to do, this is special. Because this is the voice of
the Lord God Himself speaking to you and me. And He says, therefore,
therefore we ought, we ought to give the more earnest heed
to the things which we've heard. God said that. This is not some
preacher, this is God speaking in His Word. And He says, therefore,
we ought to do this. We ought to give heed to the
things we've heard. Now, I want to put in practice
what I've often instructed you to do in reference to any single
passage of Scripture, any single verse of Scripture. And that
is, when you're reading a verse of Scripture, go back and read
what's written before that verse and what's written after that
verse. This is so important, especially when you see the word,
therefore. Therefore. And that's the way
our text starts this morning. It starts with, therefore. Therefore. We ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we've heard. Now, in order to understand
that verse, you've got to go back to chapter 1. So will you
do that? Just turn the page in your Bible
and go back to chapter 1 of Hebrews. And in chapter 1 of Hebrews,
verse 1, it tells us that God spoke to our fathers. You see
it there? It says, in different ways. In
different manners, at different times, God spoke to our fathers
in Old Testament days by the prophets. That's the way God
spoke to them. He appeared to the prophets,
the angel of the Lord. He spoke to them in visions and
dreams. He spoke to our fathers by these
prophets. Moses was a prophet of God. Elijah
was a prophet of God. Elisha, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah,
there's just so many of these prophets, and God spake in various
ways at different times to our fathers back down in the Old
Testament days. He spoke to them by His prophets. The prophets came preaching,
thus saith the Lord. Now then, He not only spoke to
our fathers by the prophets, but He always spoke to them about
redemption in Christ. This was the subject of the apostles
and the prophets. Our Lord Jesus Christ was speaking
to the Jewish people in his day, and he said, now, if you had
believed Moses, you would have believed me, because Moses wrote
of me. And Moses is recognized as the
first great prophet of Israel. And our Lord said, if you'd have
believed Moses, you'd have believed me. He wrote of me. In Acts 10.43,
the scripture says, To Christ give all the prophets witness.
Now Hebrews 1.1 said, At different times, in different ways, God
spoke to our fathers by the prophets. What did He speak about? He spoke
about Christ. Another thing the Lord said to
those people of Israel when He was here on the earth, He said,
You say Abraham is your father? If you believed Abraham, you'd
believe me. Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He rejoiced to
see my day. He saw it and was glad. Abraham
saw my day. To Christ give all the prophets
witness. Another thing our Lord said to
those Pharisees and Jewish leaders, He said, you search the Scriptures. You're busy reading the Scriptures.
And when He says the Scriptures, He's talking about Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, so forth, the Old Testament books. He said,
you search the scriptures, in them you think you have life,
but they are they which testify of me. Everything written in
the Old Testament, all the redemptive work of God, all these promises
and prophecies and pictures are about Christ. So God spoke to
our fathers in different ways at different times by the prophets
and he spoke to them of Christ. You know, when Paul was preaching
to the Corinthian church, he said in 1 Corinthians 15, I declare
unto you the gospel which you have heard, and wherein you stand,
and by which you are saved. And that gospel is that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. that he was buried
and rose again according to the scriptures. Now that's what the
scriptures is all about. That's what the prophets spoke
about. That was the theme of the prophets.
That was the theme of Isaiah. Isaiah describes Christ in Isaiah
chapter 53 as the sheep going before her slaughterers And Shearer
is dumb, not opening his mouth, he pictures Christ as the Lamb
slain, and all the way through the Old Testament they speak
of Christ. Now, look at verse 2 of Hebrews 1. He said in verse
1, God spake to our fathers by the prophets. Verse 2 says, He
hath in these last days Now you say, what does that mean, pastor,
these last days? Well, the apostles frequently
used the term, the last days, in the New Testament. And they
mean by that, they mean by that the days since Christ was here
on the earth, since Christ died on the cross. We've been in the
last days for over 1900 years. They divided, these apostles
seemed to divide time, the first 2000 years from Adam to Moses,
The second 2,000 years from Moses to the incarnation of Christ
our Lord. And these last days are the days
we're living in now. And the New Testament always
refers to the last days being the time from our Lord's death
until this present time. And we've lived in those last
days for 1,900 years. So God, in these last days, since
the incarnation of His Son, has spoken to us. God has spoken
to us. by His beloved Son. He sent His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this world, and He is God's messenger. He is God's final messenger. He's really God's only messenger,
and all the other messengers point to Him. He's God's only
Redeemer, and all the messengers point to Him. And He has spoken
to us through His Son. Now, I want you to see something
here. In these next few verses, when it says, God, back down
in Old Testament days, spoke to our fathers with the prophets,
spoke about redemption in Christ, He hath in these last days spoken
to us by His Son, and then He begins to tell us who this Son
is, what this Son did, and where He is now. You want to see that
right there in those verses you're looking at. Alright, look if
you will at verse 2. Who is He? This One by whom God
the Father speaks, this One who's called the Word of God, the Messenger
of the Covenant. Who is this one? Alright, he
says first of all in verse 2, he's the appointed heir of all
things. Now Bregman, I'm on a solemn
note here. I'm on the most solemn note you'll
ever hear or subject you'll deal with. Who is Jesus Christ? Who
is Jesus Christ? And the first thing the Father
says by the writer of the book of Hebrews, he's the heir of
all things. Do you know what that means?
That means that God Almighty has put everything in heaven
and earth in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's put everything
in the hands of Christ. Everything. God has put everything
in the hands of Christ. All blessings, all benefits,
all graces, all mercy, all things have been committed to the Son,
even judgment. God had committed all judgment
to the Son. Now, this, over in the Old Testament, when God brought
Joseph to Egypt, and Pharaoh made Joseph king of Egypt, he
put everything in Joseph's hands. The crops, the storage of the
crops, all the silos and storehouses, and when anybody came to Pharaoh
to ask a favor, or anybody came to Pharaoh seeking grain, corn,
whatever, wheat, whatever, You know what he always said? Go
to Joseph. Go to Joseph. Everything has been committed
into the hands of Joseph. And that's exactly what the Father
is saying here. That the Lord Jesus Christ is
the heir and the owner of all things. In Him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. We're complete in Him. Alright?
Notice verse 2 again. It says, By whom he made the
worlds. Jesus Christ is not only the
heir, appointed heir of all things, but He's the creator of all things,
by whom He hath made the world. Colossians 1 says, By Him, for
Him, through Him, for His glory, all things were made. John 1
says, In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God,
the Word was God, all things were made by Him. Everything,
by whom God made the world. All right, notice the third thing
there in verse 3. Who is this man, Jesus Christ,
by whom the Father speaks? To us. Well, it says in verse
3, he's the brightness of God's glory. He's the very brightness
of God's glory. You know what the major planet
in our universe is? The sun. The sun. The sun is the center of the
universe. From the sun is the light, from the sun is life for
plants and all these things. The sun, that's the glory of
the universe. Jesus Christ is the son of Almighty
God's revelation of his glory. He is the brightness, the brightness,
the brilliance of the Father's glory. He prayed in John 17,
glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was. The glory of God is seen in the
face of Jesus Christ. All of His glory, all of His
glory is seen in Christ. And Isaiah, it says, when Isaiah
saw His glory, he spake of Him. All right? Look, if you will,
at verse 3 again. Not only is He the heir of all
things, and the creator of all things, and the very brilliance
and brightness and substance and essence of God's glory, but
he is the exact image of God's person. Express image is exact
image. He summed it up, I and my Father
are one. I and my Father are one. That's
what Christ said. They took up stones to stone
him. He said, many good works have I done, for which of these
do you stone me? They said, we're not stoning you for good works,
but you're a man. And you say you're God. He is
God. He is God. That's what Scripture
says. Show us the Father, they said.
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Have I been so long
time with you and you don't know me? The words that I speak are
not my words, they are His that sent me. Unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. His name shall be called Wonderful,
the Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father. That's who He is. The Father
said to Him, Thy throne, O God, is forever." So you see, and
then it says here, He upholds the world by His power. Who is
that? That's God. But it's talking
about Christ. So God spake to our fathers by
the prophets He hath in these last days, since the Incarnation,
spoken to us by His Son. whom he has appointed heir of
all things, by whom he made the world, who is the brilliance,
the brightness of his glory, who is the exact image of his
person. All right, what did he do? All
right, watch this, verse 3. When he, the one whom the Father
has sent and by whom the Father has spoken, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of God. There's
an entire sermon in this one statement here. When he had by
himself purged our sins. What did he do? Purged our sins. Purged them. What does purging
mean? Put them away. Paid for them. Effectually paid
for them. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. The blood of Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. He totally satisfied the law
and justice on our behalf. God said, I'll remember your
sins no more. I'll separate them as far from
you as the east is from the west. I'll catch them into the depths
of the sea. I'll cast them behind my back. I'll remember them no
more. He purged. There's no purgatory. No such
thing in the Word of God. Here's the believers purging
right here. Here's where our sins were purged.
He purged our sins. He purged all of them. He, by
Himself, purged our sins, past, present, and future. All of them.
All of them. And He did it by Himself. You
see, there's a whole, our whole system of theology is right there
in that one statement. All of salvation is right there.
When He, who God, had by Himself, all alone, walked the winepress
of God's wrath alone, The royal bath in which black souls are
washed white was drawn from the blood of Christ. The royal banquet
of mercy served up by one host, the Lord. He is the Redeemer
by himself, without you, me, the church, or anybody else.
He by himself had purged our sins. Who can lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? God has justified. Who is he
that condemneth Christ as died? The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, is effectual for an atonement, for a sin offering, for a sacrifice,
and for cleansing. All right, where is he now? All
right, look there at that same verse. When he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down, on the right hand of the majesty
in heaven on high. He sat down. What does all this
mean? Well, in Romans 8, 34, it says
Paul is challenging heaven, earth, and hell. He said, who can condemn
us? And he gave four reasons why
we cannot be condemned. He said, number one, he said,
Christ died. Christ died. And then he rises
higher and he says, yea, rather. is risen again. You see, by the
resurrection of Christ, Almighty God is saying all that he did
is accepted, all that he did is sufficient, all that he did
is quite effectual to the redemption of his people, and I receive
it, I accept it. And he says, yea, rather is risen
again who is also, or even, at the right hand of God. In other
words, God not only raised Christ our substitute and scapegoat
from the dead, but He took Him to glory, who is sat down at
the right hand of God, who also, more than that, or in addition
to that, makes intercession for us. I can't explain the Trinity. I wouldn't even attempt it. I
just know there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Spirit. I know when the Lord Jesus was
baptized, the Father said, This is my Son, in whom I am well
pleased, and the Spirit of God came upon Him without measure.
I do know He told His disciples, I go to my Father, and I'll not
leave you comfortless. I'll pray the Father, and He'll
send you the Holy Spirit. But it says here that our Lord,
positionally, is on the right hand of the Majesty on high. There's a man in glory. And that
man is at God's right hand. And that's the position of acceptance. That's the position of power.
And that man, now watch this. is seated. You know what it means
when it says he's seated? Well it means he finished his
work, that's true. It means God accepted his work,
that's true. But it means also that he's permanently
installed. He sat down at the right hand
of God, and God who never changes. I'm the Lord, I change not. This
is a permanent installation of the man, Christ Jesus, our representative
and federal head, on the right hand of power, authority and
acceptance, and we're in him, seated on the right hand of God.
That's who speaks to us. This is no ordinary ambassador
or messenger. And then these other verses tell
us about him. It says in verse 4, he's greater
than the angels. To which of the angels did the
Father ever say, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
Thee? The next verse says He has a name above every name.
And then verse 5 says the Father called Him His only begotten
Son. And then verse 6 says He's the
firstborn of every creature. And verse 6 says, Let the angels
of God worship Him. If Jesus Christ is not God, the
Father would never instruct anyone to worship Him. You only worship
God. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God. Him only shalt thou worship.
But Jesus Christ is the Lord our God. And the Father said
in verse 8, look there at Hebrews 1.8. The Father said to him,
Thy throne, O God, unto the Son, He said, Thy throne, O God, is
forever. Verse 10 through 12. The Father
said, Thou Lord, Thou Lord, made the heaven and the earth, they
shall perish, they'll be folded up and laid aside, but you're
the same yesterday, today, and forever. Sit thou on my right
hand, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy
footstool. Boy, I tell you, where could
you find a better, greater description of our Lord Jesus Christ than
those verses right there. Now, then we come into verse
1 of chapter 2. There's no chapter division there,
not by right. It ought to read right on, all
these things he said about Christ, who he is, what he did, where
he is, therefore, you see, therefore, therefore. Now in the light of
all that the Father had said concerning this person, Jesus
Christ, therefore, the writer of Hebrews says, therefore, we
ought under God, before God, In the light of this divine revelation,
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we've
heard from this man, Jesus Christ, lest we let them slip. For if
the words spoken by those Old Testament prophets were steadfast,
and every transgression and disobedience received a just, recompensive
reward, How in the name of anything plain and clear, how are we going
to escape if we neglect so great salvation which was first spoken
to us by our Lord and later confirmed by his apostles, God himself
bearing them witness with signs and wonders and diverse miracles. Rarely did the Father speak from
heaven. Rarely, but occasionally. He
spoke to Moses from the burning bush. He spoke at the baptism
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, this is my beloved Son.
Listen to Him. And then He spoke when our Lord
was transfigured on the mountain. You remember with Peter, James,
and John? And the Father spoke again. And He said, this is my
Son. The heir of all things, the creator of all things, the
brightness of God's glory, the exact image of God's person.
He says, hear him, hear ye him, we ought to give earnest heed. I don't know how to impress this
upon you. I just don't know. I tremble that I can't get men's
attention. I tremble that men can come on
with all kind of flim-flam artistry and gimmicks and get men's attention,
and I can't get their attention with the very Word of God Himself. Men can come on with all kind
of silly singing, and all kind of promotions, and all kind of
giveaway programs, and folks just get carried away. And here
God says, My son, my only begotten, my well beloved, the very express
image of my person, I've given him to you to speak to you. Hear
him, hear him. What is it our Lord speaks to
us? It says, He that heareth my word and believeth on him
that sent me hath everlasting life. We're so quick to hear
every other voice but his. What does he speak to us? I'm
going to give you five things in quick. Number one, he speaks
of his deity. He said, he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. He said, I and my Father are
one. He said, he that believeth on me believeth on him that sent
me. He speaks of his deity. Secondly,
he speaks of eternal life. Our Lord doesn't speak of flippant
things, careless things, temporary things. He speaks of eternal
life. He said, I am come that they
might have life and have it more abundantly. He said, he that
believeth on me will never die. Boy, I'm going to listen to Him.
He says, I give unto my sheep eternal life and they'll never
perish. He says, because I live, you
shall live. What a heavy thing. Our Lord
speaks of life. The law speaks of death. Christ
speaks of life. And then he speaks thirdly of
peace. Of peace and rest. He says in
Matthew 11, Come unto me, I'll give you rest. Boy, we need it,
don't we? My peace I give unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In the world you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. Be at rest. I've overcome the
world. In our world of tranquilizers
and sleeping pills and all these other things, we need some rest.
We need some peace. We need a thirst quenched and
satisfied by water that man can't find. Christ can give it. Christ
can give it. He speaks of pardon and forgiveness. I tell you, He says, Thy sins
be forgiven thee. Thy sins, all of them. He says,
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him
will never perish, never perish, but have eternal life. And then
he speaks of his return. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will return
and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may
be also. There you may be also. Will you hear him? Therefore,
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard because of the person from whom we heard them, because of
the seriousness of the subject, because of the certainty of death
and judgment and eternity, lest we let them slip. Let me make
a comment on that before I close. How do we let these things slip?
One is by the hardening of the heart, gospel hardening. We've
heard it so much, we don't hear it anymore. Another is by God
removing the messenger, taking him away, or you away from him.
And the third one is by death, God taking you away. Now, I have
this message on a cassette tape. And on the other side, I'm going
to speak next week on God's covenant, God's everlasting covenant. If
you want this tape, one tape, two messages on one tape. It
costs $2 to put these out and send them to you. You send a
donation of $2, and we'll mail you this tape. Ask for this sermon
right here, We Ought to Hear, or What We Ought to Do, Hebrews
2.1. Till next week, may God bless
you, everyone.