to open your Bibles now to the
book of Hebrews, chapter one. And the book begins in this fashion, God, God. Now, unlike our books on theology, The Bible does not begin by explaining
or proving the existence of God. It just says, God. In the beginning,
God. You can pick up most any book
on theology or systematic doctrine, and they'll spend the first two
or three or four chapters trying to explain God or prove the existence
of God, but the Bible just says God, in the beginning God. I don't know who the old black
preacher was. It might have been the great
preacher John Jasper. But a man tells about going to
hear him preach one time, and he was preaching a message on
the glory of God, the glory of God. And you know how used to,
I don't know whether now they do or not, but the black churches
used to participate with their pastor. John Jasper's church
did. He'd make a statement and they'd
make a reply to it. But this great old man preaching
on the glory of God, white, eloquent, and he said, where was God before
man walked the fields of Egypt? And the people said, where was
he? And he said, where was God before he caused the water and
the land to separate and the dry land to appear? Where was
he? Where was God before he said,
let there be light? And there was light. Where was
he? Where was God before he created
the heavens and the earth? Where was He? Where was God before
He made the angels and the chair beds? Where was He? Where was God before the morning
stars sang together? And all the people leaned forward
in their seats and said, Where was He? And the old man drew
himself up to his full height, and he exclaimed, and set forth
the best answer to any of these questions. He said, he was in
his glory. That's where he was. And oh,
my brethren, this is sufficient answer for faith. He was in his
glory. You can spend your time, if you
would like, measuring the distance to the sun. And you can spend
your time trying to decide what makes the sun to shine, and where
it came from, and what it's made from. But I know it's there,
and I'm going to bask in its warmth and enjoy its benefits. You can measure the depth of
the well, and you can try to find out who dug it, in what
year, and why he dug it. and for whom the well was dug,
but I'm thirsty, and I'm just going to drink from the wells
of living water. There's one thing that I don't
need, and I'm convinced of this. I don't need a God that can be
understood by the natural mind. And if you can in your book and
in your sermons and in your writings explain God, I'd just as soon
not know Him. I don't need Him. I don't need
a God that can be explained or understood or proven for the
satisfaction of a natural man. And I don't need a way of life
that seems logical to human beings. I know the Scripture says, there's
a way that seemeth right to men, and the end is destruction. So
I don't need a way of life that seems right to you. This is what
seems right to me. Well, I don't want it. Well,
this is the way I see it. Well, I'm not interested. I need
a way of life that comes by revelation. I need a way of life that comes
by revelation from a sovereign Lord. I don't need, there's one
thing I don't need, and that's a Savior who can only do what
weak, finite, fallible flesh allows him to do. I don't want
anything to do with that Savior. That Savior whose will can be
frustrated, whose purposes and plans can be thwarted, that Savior
who sits about in weakness, discouragement, and defeat, and wants to do,
and wills to do, and purposes to do, but men will not let him
perform that which he wills to do, I want nothing to do with
him. That's an idol. And God says, your idols are
like you. They have eyes, but they can't see. They have ears,
but they can't hear. They have tongues, but they can't
speak. They have feet, but they can't walk. If one thing I don't
need is a salvation that rests on my merit, I don't need a salvation
that rests on my righteousness and the strength of my faith.
I don't need it. It can't help me. It cannot lift
me, it cannot keep me, it cannot raise me, and it cannot glorify
me. When I looked at this passage
of Scripture and selected it for our message this morning,
the first word, God. God, in all of His infinity,
in all of His majesty, in all of His sovereignty, in all of
His glory, God! He says, I am that I am. Moses
said, well, when I go down and tell the people, I've come to
lead you out of Egypt, whom shall I say has sent me? Tell them
I am. That's enough. But you know, Moses took all
of his books on theology down there, you know, and he spread
them out for those Jews in captivity, and he says he began to explain
and to prove the existence of God. He just went down there,
and Pharaoh said, well, who is the Lord that I should obey Him?
And Moses says, I am! That's who He is. Before the
day was, I am. I am the Lord, there's none else.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hast formed
the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God. God. Look at that line, that
verse again. God. God. He is. God. He always has been. God. He always will be. God,
he's majestic and almighty and sovereign. God, he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of this earth, and he giveth it to whomsoever he will. God
formed the light, created darkness, created good and evil. God, who
holds the keys of hell and death. God! who created the worlds by
the word of His power, who upholds the worlds, who sustains them
in whom they exist, God, in sundry times, that is, at various times,
and in different ways or matters spake in times past unto the
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto
us by His Son. Underscore three words for me,
will you? God. God. Verse 2, hath. Verse 2,
spoken. God hath spoken. I am hath spoken. The eternal
majesty of glory hath spoken. God Almighty in His glory hath
spoken! God who owes me nothing hath
spoken! God, who holds the nations as
a drop in the bucket, and considereth the inhabitants thereof as grasshoppers,
hath spoken. God, who sitteth upon the circle
of the earth, hath spoken. God, who owns all things, hath
spoken. The cattle on a thousand hills,
the silver and gold, the stars, and all creatures hath spoken.
God hath spoken. At various times and in different
ways, God has spoken. He spoke to Adam. He made this
world according to his own plan and purpose, and he put a man
here and a woman, and God spoke. He said, Adam, you're king of
the earth. Multiply and replenish the earth.
Subdue the earth. You have control and power over
all the earth, over all the animals and fowls of the air and creeping
things. You're the king. Adam, there's a tree. There's a token of your dependence
upon me. Adam, you're powerful, but not
all powerful. Adam, you're wise, but you're
not all wise. Adam, you're in control, but not in total control.
Adam, you're independent, but not totally independent. There's
still God. And to show your dependence upon
me and your submission to me and your subjection to me, there's
a trick. And Satan's done everything in his power to change this whole
thing, but God has spoken. There's a trick. Don't eat up
it. There's just one place and one
mark and one token. And one evidence in this garden
that I'm still God and you're my creature. And I still reign
even over you. Don't eat it or you die. God has spoken. And God spoke
to the serpent. When Adam in his rebellion, willful
rebellion, fell, took of the tree, ate of it, his whole race
died in him. In that day of darkness, God
spoke in light. In that day of death, God spoke
of life. In that day of despair, God spoke
of hope. He said to the serpent, God hath
spoke. Lucifer, you knew something about
glory. Lucifer, you knew something about
power. But you were proud and you were
ambitious. And you would set your throne
above the stars of God. You would be like God. You would
even lead man. The creature created my own image. You would lead him in rebellion
as you did the angels of glory. Lucifer, I'm going to put enmity
between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. Her seed is Christ. Her seed
is the virgin son, for woman has no seed. All men are the
seed of men except one. He was the son of God who was
the seed of woman. And God has spoken, I'll put
enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her
seed, and you'll bruise his heel, he'll be crucified, he'll be
tested, he'll be tried, he'll be tempted, his lower nature,
the human nature, will be bruised, but he'll crush your head. That's
the government, that's the power, the head. He'll crush your power,
he'll put you out of business. He'll judge the prince of the
swirl, and the hour cometh and the day cometh. When you're in,
we'll totally look back to that cross when He crushed your power. I'll put it, God had spoken.
God spoke to Noah. God looked upon the earth and
He saw that every imagination of man's heart was evil continually. It grieved the Lord that He made
man. And he said, my spirit shall
not always strive with man. His days shall be 120 years. Noah, you found grace in my sight. Build an ark, you and your boys.
And in that ark, I'll save you and your wife and your sons and
their wives. Eight souls shall be saved by
water. God has spoken. God spoke to Abraham. Abraham,
his father, was an idolater. Abraham probably followed the
ways and the idolatry and the practices and rituals of his
father, but he found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and God
had spoken, Abraham, get out! Get out of your father's house
and get away from your kindred and from your country, and I'll
make you a great nation. And through your seed, Jesus
Christ, he'll become a man. He'll be born of Abraham's race,
and of Jesse's family, and of Judah's tribe, and of David's
kingship. And I'll bring forth a son, a
child. And I'll bless you, and all nations
shall rise up and call you blessed. And I'll make your people as
the stars of the sky, the sands of the seashore. Abraham, get
out! God's spoken. When God spoke
to Moses, bring my people out of Egypt, their cry has come
up to me. If God spoke to Israel in Exodus
chapter 20, I shall have no other God before me. Thou shalt not
make unto thee any graven images and pictures of things in heaven
and things on the earth and things under the earth. God is a spirit,
and they that worship God worship Him in spirit, not worshiping
idols and statues and pictures and graven images of godlike
things. They worship God. And thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. If you use God's name, let it
be in praise. If you use God's name, let it
be for His glory. If you use God's name, let it
be in thanksgiving and worship and prayer, because I won't hold
you guiltless that take my name in vain. There's a day of rest. There's a Sabbath. That's the
seventh day. Somebody said, you keep the Sabbath.
I said, no, sir. That's the seventh day. Sunday's
not the Sabbath. It is not now, never has been,
never will be. Saturday's the Sabbath. Christ Jesus fulfilled
that just like He fulfilled all the other types. He is our Sabbath.
Yes, I keep a Sabbath. It's Christ. My rest is Christ. I cease from my labor and cease
from my works and enter into God's rest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the Sabbath day. Remember
the Sabbath sun and keep it holy. Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not covet,
thou shalt not bear false witness, and honor your parents. This is the first commandment
with promise. God hath spoken. God spoke. God hath spoken. And He spoke to our fathers,
not only to Abraham and Noah and Adam and these men personally,
but He spoke to the fathers by the prophets. You see that there?
God at various times and in different ways spoke to our fathers, not
only from Himself openly, like to these men, but He spoke with
the prophets. Who were the prophets? Moses
was a prophet. And when they heard Moses, they
heard God. Isaiah was a prophet. When they heard Isaiah, they
heard God. Jeremiah was a prophet. And when they heard Jeremiah,
they heard God. Malachi was a prophet. When they heard Malachi, they
heard God. For the Lord said, go unto the people and say, thus
saith the Lord. What was the message of the prophets?
Turn to Acts chapter 10. Let's see what the prophets talked
about. The prophets didn't just run
around predicting rain. The prophets didn't just run
around predicting a famine. That's what astounds people.
That's what interests people. That's what amazes people. They
like to hear a prophet talk about what's going to happen. California's
going to have an earthquake, and I become famous overnight.
He's a prophet. No, he's a fool. That's what
he is. Jeanne Dixon, she warned President
Kennedy not to go to Dallas. She must be a prophet. No, she's
a witch. That's what people think prophets
are, some silly person that foretells the future. Prophets speak for
God. And prophets speak about important
things. And prophets speak about heavenly
things. And prophets speak about redemption. That's what they speak about.
Acts 10, 43, want to look at it? To Him, to Him, to Him give
all the prophets witness. Who's the Him? Christ the Lord. To Him give all the prophets
witness that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall
receive remission of sins. All a fellow's got to do is get
up in front of a crowd and by some hook or cook tell somebody
out there have Alice to stand or Jennifer to stand and tell
her what her social security number is. And so I said, he's
a prophet. Oh, my friends, we're so blind,
we're so dumb. Turn to Luke chapter 24. It doesn't
take much to amaze us or amuse us or confuse us, does it? When
I was a child, I played with children's toys. When I became
a man, I put away the childish things, started looking into
things that were important. Huh? I was still children. I was still fascinated by these
foolish things. To him, give all the prophets
witness. Then in Luke 24, verse 44, our Lord said, Verse 44,
He said to them, These are the words which I have spoken to
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, in
the Psalms, concerning me, concerning me, concerning me. Then opened
he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures."
What are the Scriptures all about? What are the Scriptures He's
talking about here, the Old Testament? What are they about? They're
concerning Christ. That's what they're all about.
And God spake to our fathers by the prophets, and the prophets
spake of Christ. When the Ethiopian eunuch was
riding down that desert trail from Jerusalem to Ethiopia and
Philip joined him, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And he was
reading, he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, by
his stripes we're healed. And the prophet said, do you
understand what you're reading? Philip did. And he said, well,
of whom does the prophet speak? Is he talking about himself or
some other man? And Philip climbed up in that
chariot and said he's talking about Christ. He's talking about
Christ. That's all they talked about.
Oh, I know that some of them talked about rain, but that was
a side issue, Jay. That was to illustrate the power
of God. Everything these men did, the
miracles they performed, and the feeding of people which they
performed, and the famines which they brought, and the rain which
they brought, are all types and pictures of Christ and His dealings
with men. And the power of God and the
majesty of God and the wisdom of God and the will of God, they
weren't just showing off. God had spoken. Turn back to
Hebrews 1. God had spoken. He spoke before
the days of Moses. He spoke in special revelation
at special times to Abraham and Noah He spoke to them. That's before the days of Moses.
God spake to men in special revelation, in special time, from the days
of Moses to Christ. God spoke by the prophets. Now watch this line, verse 2. Half in these last days. Now, my friends, this is a common
New Testament term, the last days. referring to the days from
the coming of Christ to the end of the world, to his second coming. That's the last days. The last
days are not the 20th century or the 21st century. The last
days are not the days since the Reformation. The last days are
not the last hours of the last days. The last days in the scripture,
every time it's mentioned in the New Testament, is talking
about the days from Christ to his second coming. That's the
last day. Paul lived in the last day. And
here, he's writing here to the Hebrews, and he says, God hath
spoken at various times and in different ways to our fathers,
and he spake for the prophets, but he hath in these last days. Sure, there are dispensations.
I get a little upset when I hear a preacher stand in the pulpit
and talk about with a snarl on his face, the dispensationalist.
Brethren, let me tell you something. There are dispensations of revelation. Back from Adam to Moses, God
spoke. But He spoke to those men like
He spoke to Abraham. He didn't send a messenger to
Abraham. He came to Abraham. He didn't send a messenger to
Noah. He came to Noah. He didn't send a messenger to
Adam. He came to Adam. He didn't send a messenger to
Cain. He said, Cain, where's your brother? God spoke. God doesn't speak that way now.
Don't look for it. Don't. If you're lying in bed
at night dreaming and you have a dream and you hear a voice,
don't blame it on God. Please don't. Blame it on anything
you want to, but don't blame it on God has spoken through
His Word. And the Word's finished and sealed, and nobody's going
to add to it. Don't you come around to me with a special revelation. I'll listen to Abraham, and I'll
listen to Noah and Moses, but I ain't going to listen to you.
No, sir. God appeared to these men at
various times in special ways. But from Moses to Christ, He
spoke through the prophets. When old Ahab wanted to hear
anybody hear from God, he heard the prophet of God. If the people
of Israel wanted to hear from God, they heard from the prophet
of God. They had to hear from Samuel. They had to hear from
Isaiah, or they didn't hear from God. And in these last days,
bless your heart, look at it, he hath spoken to us by the prophet
of all prophets, his son. Who is this Son? Well, it says
here, verse 2, that He hath appointed Him heir of all things. It says
here that the Son by whom He is spoken is the one by whom
He made the world. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by Him. He says this Son, verse 3, is
the brightness of His glory. You want to see God? See Christ.
You want to see God's glory? See Christ's glory. You want
to know God? Know Christ. You want to worship
God? Worship Christ. He is the brightness of His glory. He is the express, the exact
image of His person. The apostle said, show us the
Father. And Christ said, he that hath seen thee hath seen the
Father. I and my Father are one. They began to grab rocks, you
know, and he said, now wait a minute. Many good works have I done among
you, for which of these do you stone me?" And they said, we're
not stoning you for good works. We got no objection to good work.
We're stoning you because you're a man and you claim to be God,
and that's not possible. Well, it's not. It's not. Not in man's scheme or plan or
purpose or religion, but it is in God's. God became a man. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. Thy throne, O God, is forever. I and my Father are one. He's
the exact image of his person. Look at the next line. By whom
he made the worlds, who's the brightness of his glory, the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power. In other words, by whom all things
are upheld and exist. and watch it, when He had Himself
in person by His death, by His blood, by His sacrifice, purged
our sins, He sat down. That mean anything to you? Sat
down. When anybody sits down, that
means their work's done. Their work's done. The high priest
never sat down. The priest of the temple never
sat down. Christ sat down. That mean anything to you? At
the right hand of God. You know what the right hand
is? You know who the right hand for whom it's reserved? The beloved. You know for whom it's reserved?
The accepted. For whom it's reserved? The one
equal in power. Grant that my son shall sit one
on your right hand! Huh? That woman knew what she
was asking. She really didn't, but she did.
Christ just sat down. And let me tell you something.
All who were chosen in Him, and all who were in Him by God's
purpose and grace, and all who were crucified in Him and risen
in Christ are seated in Christ. That's where we... Mother of
John, Mother of James, if your sons are in Christ, they are
at God's right hand. That's where they're seated,
with Him in the heavenlies. He has spoken. God has spoken
unto us. How does God speak? By His Son. By His Son. And He's better than
the angels. Look at verse 4. He's made so
much better than the angels, you say, boy, if I could just
hear an angel pray, I'd rather hear the Lord Jesus. He's better
than the angels. He's better than the angel. You
say, those shepherds on that Judean hillside, you're sick.
They hurt the angels. Oh, you just think, I've hurt
the Lord. I've hurt His Word. He's spoken
to us. Read it. Oh, I know a lot of
folks aren't much interested. They buy these Bibles. They've
got these little keys back here. It says, if you're despondent,
read Psalm 23. If you're blue, read Psalm something
else. If you're discouraged, read this. If you're lost, read
this. If you're that, brethren, listen
to the Lord Jesus speak. God told us. He said, this is
my son. Hear him! Hear him! Read his word. Bathe yourself
in his word. Find out what he says. You're
going to hell listening to a preacher when you ought to be listening
to Christ. You're going to hell listening to your mom and daddy.
They're Baptists because their grandma was Baptist, and because
that one before him was a Baptist, and that one before him, they
don't know what they believe, and your folks don't either.
But you're what they are because that's what you are. You haven't
taken the trouble to buy you a Bible and find out for yourself
what God says. And I'll tell you this, they're
not going to stand for you before God at the judgment, they're
not going to stand for you before the great white throne, and they're
not going to burn for you in hell. Yeah, my son! I'm a Catholic. Why? Well, I
just am. Well, I'm a Methodist. Well, why? Because that's the
way I was raised. Well, I'm this. I'm a missionary Baptist. Why?
Because I believe that's the only church. Poor, poor people. Looks like to me that we'd have
sense enough not to follow men. Men have been following men so
long they're blind leaders or they're blind. They're all falling
in the ditch. I'm impressed with his personality. I'm impressed
with his entertainment. I'm impressed with his jokes.
I'm impressed with this, that, and the other. I'm not. I put
no confidence in the flesh. There's none good, no, not one.
Your preacher, ours, or anybody else's. They're just men. Dying
men preaching to dying men. Men of like passions as anybody
else. Men who can err and make mistakes
just like anybody else. You better read the Word. I warn
you. You don't accept anything because
some man says it so. You get the Word of God and find
out what Christ said. God has spoken unto us by His
Son! He's greater than the angels.
Look at chapter 3, verse 3. He's better than Moses. Well,
I'd sure followed Moses. Moses sinned against God, and
God killed him. Wouldn't even let him go into
Promised Land, because he lost his temper. Act it up. Destroy the tithe. It won't do
to follow any man all the way, except one. That's the man Christ
Jesus. It won't do. It just won't do. This man, verse
3, was counted worthy of more glory than Moses inasmuch as
he who built the house has more honor than the house. That's
how important Christ is. Hebrews 4, turn over there a
minute. Verse 8. I believe in keeping a Sabbath.
There are folks right now, they're out working today and they closed
up yesterday. Why are they doing that? They're
doing it to be religious. You say, preacher, don't be critical.
I've got a right to be. I've got to find out what God
says for my soul's salvation. If they're right, I've got to
join them. If they're wrong, I've got to shun them. But it
says here in Hebrews 4, look at it, verse 8 through 10. Now
that word Jesus there got a little word, a little figure about number
four in my Bible. It's got something in yours.
That word is Joshua. You see, Jesus is the New Testament name
of Joshua. Joshua in the Old Testament is
Jesus. That word Jesus. My God is my God, the Savior.
The Savior is my God. Jesus in the Old Testament was
Joshua. Now if Joshua had given them
rest, If he'd given them rest, the rest they looked for, the
rest they searched for, then would he not afterward have spoken
of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God, a spiritual rest. We're not talking about
heaven here now, we're talking about a spiritual rest. Watch
it. For he that is entered into his
rest, he seethes from his own works as God did from his. Go on back and pick up the first
Sabbath. God labored six days in making
the world. The seventh day rested from all
his labors. He gave Israel a day of rest,
a picture type, just like everything else. The Sabbath day is the
seventh day. It's Saturday. And those people
who keep the Sabbath day on Saturday are the only ones right. The
people who talk about the Christian Sabbath being Sunday are wrong.
Christ is the Christian Sabbath. My Sabbath is not a day, my rest
is not a day, my hope is not a day, my worship is not a day,
it's a person. On the first day of the week
we meet together to break bread, to worship God. Every man needs
a day of rest out of seven, that makes sense. Even the crops need
that, God showed us that. But God didn't make man for a
day, He made a day for man. And we know there's a time to
come apart and rest. There's a time to rest the body
like you do the soil, like you do the animals. Any man that
plows his mule seven days a week is a fool. The mule needs to
rest. God said that. He showed that.
He needs to rest. But my friend, every day is the
Lord's day. Every hour is the Lord's hour. Pray without ceasing. You just worship God on Sunday,
you've missed Christ. You just come apart on Sunday
and keep a day and go through your little ritual, you've missed
Christ. The believer walks with God and talks with God and lives
with God. And Sunday may be the day when
he gathers with other believers and worships God and prays and
breaks bread and does these things and rests his body to begin another
week. But there is no spiritual rest
to be found in a day or in a ritual. or in a ceremony, or burning
a candle, or being baptized, or doing anything else. Christ
is our rest. We've entered His rest. He's
my Sabbath. He's greater than a day. He's
greater than the priest. I must be brief. He's greater
than the temple. He's greater than the sacrifices.
He's greater than all. God has spoken by His Son. You'd sure like to hear Him.
Here's His Word. It can't be improved on. What
do you know about it? Well, I know a few scriptures
I memorized when I was in Sunday school. You going to rest on
that? You going to take the one immortal
soul that you have and rest it on that? I feel sorry for you. I certainly do. And I mean that,
sympathetic. I'm not trying to make a Baptist
out of you. There'll be Baptists in hell, lots of them. I'm not
trying to make a Calvinist out of you. We follow no man. I'd
sure like for you to be a Christian. I'd sure like for you to meet
Christ. I'd love for you to fall in love with this book. I'd love
for you to fall in love with His Word. I'd love for you to
fall in love with Him and bury your traditions and bury your
prejudices. Saul of Tarsus had to. You talk
about your tradition, he had more than you. It cost him more
than it'll ever cost you. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, he
was a Pharisee, he was above many his equals, he was a leader,
a ruler, a teacher of Israel. He had all of these traditions
and rituals and denominational prejudices. And he met Christ,
and he said, I count these things but rubbish, that I may know
him, that I may know him. God has spoken unto us by his
Son. You know what I'd do if I was
you? I'd buy me a Bible. And I'd bury myself in it. I
wouldn't believe anything anybody said until I proved it by God's
Word. I mean that. I don't care who it is. I'd dig
into the Word and I'd pray, I'd pray, Lord God of heaven and
earth, You spake to Abraham and You spake to Moses and Noah and
Lord, You spoke to our fathers by the prophets, God. You said
You've spoken to us by Your Son. Speak to my heart! Lord Jesus,
speak to my heart, I pray. Show me the way of life. Show
me myself. Show me my sins. Show me Thy
glory. Show me! Show me Thy way! I see people, and none are any
better than the rest. They're all groping and searching
and in competition, and they're all trying to reach a goal. What
is the goal? To know Christ? No, it's to have
more than anybody else in the Sunday school. If a preacher can get another
tither and raise his budget, he's thrilled to death. Best
thing that could happen to some of our churches is to lose some.
There'd be some peace there, and joy and rest in Christ. We're
not always blessed by addition, sometimes by subtractions. We're
not always blessed by multiplication. Sometimes the greatest blessing
in the world is a good division. Christ said, I didn't come to
bring peace, I came to bring a sword. We ought to hear Him. Whatever
He says is all right. Eli said, it's the Lord. Let
Him do what He will. Let God speak. Let God be true
in every man a liar. That's me and you too. Let God
be true in every man a liar. That's every one of us. I'm a
liar and you are too, by nature, by birth, by practice and by
choice. God is true. And He has been
pleased to speak by His Son. Look at verse chapter 2, verse
1 quickly. Therefore, here's the word therefore,
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things we've heard.
We ought to listen. Looks like to me we'd listen.
Why? Because of who speaks. It's His Son that speaks. Because
of what He speaks about. What does He speak about? Better
things than Abel, better things than Moses, better things than
the priests, better things than the prophets. whereby we should
draw nigh to God. What are the better things he
speaks? Well, he speaks better things than Abel's blood. What does Abel's blood speak?
Vengeance, Christ's blood, forgiveness. He speaks better things than
the blood of the lambs on the mercy seat of the old tabernacle.
That blood just says there's going to be a Savior. His blood
said there is a Savior. That blood on the mercy seat
said, redemption will come. Christ's blood says, redemption
has come. Forgiveness, mercy, grace, the
law, honor, justice, satisfied, we have a mediator with God.
Why should we listen to him? Because of who speaks, because
of what he speaks, and because he's the last speaker. There's not going to be any more.
the Jews of today looking for a Messiah. My dear friends, He's
already come. He said that a certain man had
a vineyard. He lent it out to a husband,
and he sent a servant to check on him, see how it was getting
along, and they whipped him and drove him out. And he sent another
servant, and they whipped him and drove him out, and he sent
another one, and they whipped him and drove him out. He said, Jay,
I'll send my son. Surely they'll honor the son.
So he sent his son down there, and those fellas saw the son
coming, and they said, here comes the heir! Let's kill him, and
it'll be ours! The vineyard'll be ours. So they
caught his son, and killed him! And the owner of the vineyard
said, that was the last word. I'm coming in vengeance, and
you fellas are gonna feel my wrath. I sent you prophets, and
you wouldn't hear them. I sent you servants, and you
wouldn't hear them. I sent you apostles, and you
wouldn't hear them. I sent you my son, and you wouldn't
hear him. Now you get ready to meet God.
That's the size of it. He's God's last word. In chapter
2, verse 3, how shall we escape if we neglect? That's what you're
doing by your indifference. in neglecting so great salvation
which was spoken by the Lord and confirmed by them that heard
Him. Oh, my soul. It says in verse 2, if the word
spoken by angels was steadfast, and by prophets was steadfast,
and every transgression, refusal to hear it received a just recompensive
reward, How do you think we're going to escape who won't hear
his son? You better find out who is Jesus
Christ, and where he came from, and why he came, and what he
did, and where he is now, and what he had to say. You better
find out. That's God's last word.