[0:00] Hebrews chapter 1. Reading again the first three verses. Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 to 3. God who at sundry times and in diverse manner spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he has 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 has by himself heard our sins sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
[1:03] We're going to look at the first three verses. The first two and part of the third. God who has spoken who at sundry times in diverse manners spake in the time past unto our fathers by the prophets and so on.
[1:29] I think much has to be said for the King James Version. I think we will see the value of a translation especially in a passage like this.
[1:45] When you compare and contrast other translations and the way that this particular passage has been translated you see that the King James Version is translated. You see that the King James by far excels all other translations in the way that it translates this.
[2:05] God who has who at sundry times and in diverse manners in many ways spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets by the prophets has in these last days spoken unto us by his son.
[2:26] I'm sure we are all arrested. I hope you are arrested when you begin to read the letter of Hebrews and the first verse first couple of verses begin like this. God who at sundry times and in diverse manners speak.
[2:45] And we are confronted like the original receivers of this letter verse God who is the Lord Jesus Christ. God who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
[3:06] Who is he? What is he? Where has he come from? God who has come from?
[3:20] God who at sundry times in diverse manners speak in the time past unto our fathers has in these last days spoken unto us by his son.
[3:39] It is this, isn't it? God who has spoken. That God has been speaking. That God has spoken.
[3:55] Our nation has forgotten that. The church at large has forgotten that too. There are many people in the church at large who will deny this very fact.
[4:13] Who will seek to diminish the person of Christ, who he is. What is he? What has he done? Why did he come here? Where did he come from?
[4:27] Why did he come from? Why did he come from? Why did he come from? Why did he come from? Why did he come from? Why did he come from? But we are confronted here once again this morning about the reality of who Christ is.
[4:41] He is the son. And God has spoken to us through his son. That was his last words to you and to me.
[5:20] There was nothing more that he was going to say and speak about himself. Apart from this.
[5:32] Apart from his son. And it is in the Lord Jesus Christ that we find the full, the complete and the final revelation of God.
[5:47] All that you want to know about God. That I want to know about God. And this whole world of our wants to know about God. It is here that we are to come.
[5:59] It is here that we must sit under the feet of his son. We live in an age which is truly remarkable.
[6:16] A church man who is not worthy to be mentioned by name went to India several years ago. And he saw those Hindus bowing down before images that were carved out of wood and out of stone.
[6:38] And he saw them pouring garlands over these things and praying to them and pouring water over them which was supposed to be holy.
[6:48] And he looked at it and said, wonderful he said. He said, I thought that all that we wanted to know about Christ was here, about God was here.
[7:03] What a fool I have been. Here I see, he said, the complete picture of God. The complete picture of Christ. But that is not what scripture tells us this morning.
[7:20] The scripture confronts us with this, that God has spoken. There is no doubt about that. That God has been speaking.
[7:32] The writer introduces to us this concept by comparing and contrasting. Let us take verse 1 to begin with.
[7:49] God who at sundry times, many times, and in many ways, spake in the time past, long ago.
[8:02] God has been speaking. Unto the fathers by the prophets. What was it like? Our Old Testament is with us today to give us an understanding of this scripture.
[8:21] God has been speaking. God spoke to Adam. After he created him. About what was right and what was wrong.
[8:37] About his duty to his creator, to obey him, to love him, to worship him. Adam was unable to continue that.
[8:49] He disobeyed, he fell, he sinned against God. God spoke. God spoke. He revealed to Adam and to Eve, his plan, his purpose.
[9:05] What he was going to do, the seed of the woman, was going to bruise the head of the serpent. God spoke to Adam and Eve.
[9:21] God spoke to Cain and Abel. God spoke to our fathers. God spoke to our fathers. He spoke to Moses. He spoke to Moses in a way that he perhaps never did to anyone else.
[9:36] God spoke to Moses. God spoke to Moses face to face. God spoke to Moses face to face. As a man speaketh unto his friend.
[9:48] God spoke to him. God spoke to Moses about his law, about his commandments, about the obligations of his creatures to him.
[10:01] God spoke to him. And how all of us are unable to meet those obligations. How we sin and how we fall from his perfections. God spoke.
[10:14] God spoke. But it was in many ways. Sometimes they received a vision. Sometimes it was a dream that came to the prophet of the Lord.
[10:31] Sometimes there was a theophany. Lord Jesus Christ came before his incarnation and he spoke. Abraham met him.
[10:44] Gideon met him. But it was in fragments. In many portions.
[10:57] It was not the complete picture about God. There was a bit here and there was a bit here. But all the time it was like a house without windows.
[11:07] Have you ever thought of the Old Testament like that? The Old Testament is a house. It has bricks and mortars.
[11:20] But there is something missing in the Old Testament all the time. It is the windows. The windows are not there. It's just empty. There's no glass there. There's no frame there.
[11:31] But it is when we come to read verse 2 that we find that God has put the windows in the house.
[11:46] He has made the picture complete. Nothing is missing now. Everything is there. The house is complete.
[11:58] You and I can see it. You and I can go inside. Let us compare and contrast.
[12:12] How unique and how wonderful that God has spoken to us through His Son. There were many prophets.
[12:25] But of none of them it could be said that they or any of them were His Son. Can it be?
[12:37] They were prophets. They were great men. They were godly men. They heard Him speak to them. But of none of them it could be said that they were His Son.
[12:48] Now God has spoken to us through His Son. God spoke many times to them.
[12:59] And in many different ways. But now He has spoken to us and He has given us the complete picture. Here it is His Son, Jesus Christ. Isn't that amazing?
[13:15] What are the last days? According to the New Testament, the last days are these. They are the period between the first coming of Christ and His return.
[13:41] The last days began from the moment there was the incarnation, when He came the first time. Have in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.
[13:59] The Lord said, This is my beloved Son. He hasn't said that about me.
[14:13] He has not said that about any of you or any other man that has come into this world. He has not said that about His Son. He has not said that about His Son. This is my beloved Son.
[14:30] Hear ye Him. Have you been listening to His Son? Have you heard Him speak? The amazing thing about God speaking to us by His Son is this.
[14:49] The moment we start listening to His Son, His Son is the moment of the Son, He is the moment of the Son, He is the moment of the Son. That is what He tells us about.
[15:05] The moment we consider Christ, His purity, His nature, His person, His uniqueness, we see how sinful we are. We see how full of pride we are. We see the folly of all our good works. We see how incapable we are to achieve our salvation by ourselves. How poor we are. How corrupt our minds are. How defiled and wicked our heart is. That is why the world is ignoring him today, you see. That is why there are people who are not listening to his son, who are not listening to his son, who is speaking to us today through his word. We don't want to listen to him.
[15:56] First thing because it shows them they are sinners. People don't like being told that. There are many people who will say to us, oh well, I am a good man, I am a good woman. I have not done anything wrong to anybody. Have you spoken like that? Maybe there's somebody here who has spoken like that. I have not done anything wrong to my neighbor. I'm a good person. I try to help people. I try to give money to the poor. I help them. I make sure they are nice. They are comforted.
[16:33] They are looked after. Is that really true? God has spoken by his son. What did Jesus say? He said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man can come to the Father but by me. He said, I am the light of the world. He that followeth after me shall not walk in darkness. Are you in darkness this morning? Listen to his son.
[17:33] Listen to his son. Confess your sins. Turn from your sins. Call upon his son. He said, I am the light of the world. He that follows after me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. He said, I am the good shepherd. Are you lost?
[17:58] Do you realize? Do you realize your lostness? Do you realize that you are like a sheep? Scripture says, we all are we like sheep have gone astray.
[18:17] Do you realize that you are like sheep? Do you realize that you are like sheep? Do you realize that you are lost? You are lost? You have lost your way? You have lost your way in this life. You have never really discovered the purpose of your life. What are you? Who are you? What are you doing here? Listen to his son. He said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
[18:31] He said, I am the door. He said, I am the door. If any man comes to the door. If any man comes to the door, he says, I am the door. That's why I am the door. Why is he coming to the door. Will he be an Probleme, shall come with me?
[18:48] Do you guys know how to spend some time away? What are you looking for son? You are God the children of the world. He said, What are you? What are you and who? What are you? What are you doing here?
[18:59] Listened to his son. He said, I am the good shepherd. Wh squatezing. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Have you listened to his son?
[19:14] There is something else in these verses.
[19:28] God has been speaking all the time. There has never been a moment when he has not spoken to man who has alienated from himself.
[19:41] He has spoken through the prophets and he has spoken through his son. Have you noticed something? That God has been speaking all the time.
[19:59] Moreover, the Son is God himself.
[20:12] The Son of God is nothing, none other than God himself. Here, listen to these words.
[20:24] Who being the brightness of his glory. What is this phrase? What does this mean? That Jesus Christ is the brightness of his glory.
[20:38] The radiance of God's glory. It refers to the time.
[20:49] Remember what happened to Moses. Remember what happened in Exodus. In Exodus chapter 24.
[21:00] Remember when the glory cloud came down. And the Lord spoke in verse 12 to Moses, Come up to me in the mount and be there.
[21:13] And I will give thee tables of stone and a law and commandments which I have written that thou mayest teach them. Moses rose up and his minister Joshua and then they went up into the mount of God.
[21:27] And in verse 15 we read this, And Moses went up into the mount and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days.
[21:47] This is the same glory. This is the radiance of God's glory. The radiance which Moses experienced on this mount.
[21:58] And God's people when the law was given. This is the glory that Christ has. This is the radiance of God's glory.
[22:09] The presence of God. In Christ says the apostle Paul. In the body of Christ, in the physical body of Christ, there dwells something.
[22:25] There dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. God is present in Jesus Christ.
[22:35] For he is God. Everything about God, his power, his glory, all his attributes, his characteristics are there in his Son.
[22:50] He is there himself. Do you realize that?
[23:01] When no wonder God is glorified. Jesus Christ, his Son is glorified.
[23:12] When his creatures, when you and I worship him, when you and I praise him, when you and I lift our hearts up to him and adore him, he is glorified.
[23:26] Have you heard the angels in Isaiah chapter 6? Who do you think is sitting there on the throne? It's none other than the Son of God.
[23:40] The prophet said, I saw also the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up. This is the radiance of God's glory.
[23:52] And his train fills the temple, his robe. And above it stood the seraphims. Each had six wings.
[24:04] What were they saying? And one cried to another. And they were worshipping him. And they were praising the Son of God as his glory was highlighted.
[24:14] Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And the whole earth is full of his glory. This is the Son.
[24:30] The writer goes on to say something else. He is not only the radiance of God's glory, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person.
[24:43] Christ is the exact representation of the Father. This is remarkable.
[24:56] I hope your minds are being stretched. We should stretch our minds.
[25:06] We should give ourselves to the study of God's word. Until our minds are stretched. Until we come and stand in awe before who he is, before his Son.
[25:24] Here we read that Jesus Christ is the exact representation of the Father. That he is not just a copy.
[25:34] He is not just a reflection of his Father. But he says, I am in the Father.
[25:45] And the Father is in me. I can't explain that. I don't think there is anybody here who can explain that.
[25:59] Can you understand the mystery of these words? That Christ is the exact representation of his Father. When he says that he that has seen me has seen the Father.
[26:13] In other words, my dear friends, when God speaks, he speaks through his Son. When God reveals himself, ultimately he reveals himself in his Son.
[26:23] When God expresses himself, he expresses himself in his Son. If you may ask a question this morning, my dear friends, what is God like?
[26:40] When God asks that question, young people ask that question. You and I have asked that question. The whole world now and then asks this question. What is God like?
[26:54] Jesus is what God is like. Do you want to know what God is like? It is here. Jesus, Jesus Christ is what God is like.
[27:09] Here, my dear friends, is our Christianity. This is where you and I stand. If we are Bible-believing Christians, if we have put our faith in the person and the work of Lord Jesus Christ, this is what we cherish, this is where we stand, this is the rock under our feet.
[27:37] Jesus Christ, the complete, the final revelation of God. Do you want anything else?
[27:49] God has not given us anything else.
[28:01] God has not spoken to us any other thing, any more thing than this. This is my beloved Son.
[28:13] Father, how shall we apply this to ourselves?
[28:24] What is the application of this? To us here this morning, the writer of the Hebrews says this, therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard.
[28:47] Do you find this service boring? Maybe you do. I tell you the truth.
[29:01] Do you find Christianity boring then? Do you find Christ boring?
[29:12] He shouldn't be. We should be excited. My dear friends, we should be hungering, we should be thirsting.
[29:24] When we consider our privileges, God long ago was speaking through his prophets. It was in bits, here and there.
[29:35] The picture was never complete. Now the picture is complete. God has taken the curtain away. He has revealed everything to us about himself in Jesus Christ.
[29:48] And if after that you and I should find worship boring, Christianity boring, then there is something the matter with us. Then there is something wrong with me.
[29:58] Then there is something wrong with us. Our hearts are not right then. Therefore, we ought to take the more earnest heed to the things we have heard.
[30:11] How careful we must be now. God has given us his last word. His son. There he is. There he is.
[30:29] What about people who are not Christians this morning? We are sitting here. My dear friend, listen to the writer of Hebrews.
[30:48] He says, how shall we escape? He says, how shall we escape? Have you ever thought of that?
[31:02] I can hear the clock ticking. One day this clock will stop ticking. It will stop ticking for you.
[31:13] You will be dead one day. That is the truth, the plain truth, if you want to hear it today. One day your coffin will be here.
[31:28] But where will you be if you have not listened to his son? If you have not paid attention to his son?
[31:39] If you are going to carry on ignoring his son? If you are going to carry ignoring Jesus Christ and what he has said about himself? And his all-sufficient work on behalf of sinners that are lost?
[31:53] My dear friend, how will you escape? Where will you be? Let me tell you. You will be in hell.
[32:07] You will be in hell. You will be in that place where the fire burns for endless ages.
[32:23] If you die without Christ, there is no escape for you. Have you listened?
[32:34] Have you listened to his son? Listen to these words.
[32:45] This is what Christ said. And if any man hears my words. You know, you have been listening to the words of Christ this morning.
[32:58] The scriptures. God is still speaking. God is still addressing me.
[33:14] He is still addressing you. Through the scriptures. God is still speaking to us through his final and through his complete revelation in his son.
[33:26] In the scriptures that speak about his son. God is just Yours.
[33:43] for many, many years, and they are still nowhere.
[33:55] They are still not professing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for a bomb to drop on you and then you will believe?
[34:12] Doesn't happen, does it? Are you waiting to see something? Are you waiting for a great experience? Oh, I will believe if something like this, that and the other happens to me.
[34:25] It will not happen to you and it will be too late, very soon. You have been listening to the words of Christ being preached from this pulpit, Sabbath by Sabbath.
[34:45] Listen this morning to what God says, how shall you escape? Have you got an answer this morning? Have you got an answer to this question? How shall you escape?
[34:57] What chances have you got? What hope have you got this morning if you do not have Christ? If all you are relying here is being an adherent of this congregation, my dear friend, there is nothing for you. You have no hope because you do not have the Son of God as your Savior, as your Lord and as your God. How shall you escape? If any man, he said, hears my words and believe not.
[35:32] Do you realize every time you hear the gospel and you leave this place in the condition that you came in, what you are doing is you are believing not. This is the truth. Let us, everyone who has face it.
[35:52] If we hear the words of Christ and we go out from here to say, we believe not. We are not believing Him. We are not trusting Him. We are not putting our faith in Him. He said, I judge Him not.
[36:12] For I came not to judge the world but to save the world. He that rejected me, this is what you do. Every time you ignore the gospel, every time you say, oh well, I will wait till tomorrow morning, you are rejecting the gospel. You are rejecting Son, the Son of God and you are rejecting God.
[36:33] He is God. And when you do not believe in the Son of God, you do not believe in God. You may say, oh yes, I believe in God, this, that and the other. But no, my dear friend, God has spoken to us in His Son. If you don't listen to His Son, you are not listening to God.
[36:59] If any man hears my words and believe not, I judge him not. For I came not to judge the world but to save the world. He that rejected me, rejected not my words. But there is one that judges him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. These words are very terrific.
[37:25] The gospel is not a game that we can play. None of us can do that. This is a serious business. I hope you realize that attending the church Sunday by Sunday is very serious. Because you are committing yourself to listening to the word of God. God is speaking, God is addressing you. And if your life does not change, if you do not respond, if you carry unbelief in your heart, my dear friend, there is one that judges you. It is the word that you are hearing.
[37:57] God is saying, these scriptures, these scriptures will testify against you in that last day. How shall we escape?
[38:15] If we neglect so great salvation. Let's finish with these words. To encourage you not to carry on in unbelief, but to believe.
[38:37] But to believe even this morning. Because these things, when we come to think about Christ, his person, his work, it is matters that are so great salvation.
[38:56] This is unique. This is the greatest thing that God has ever done. The most glorious. In his son.
[39:09] Through Jesus Christ. The incarnation of Christ. God has come. He has stooped down. He humbled himself.
[39:20] He came here to this earth. He took upon himself, our humanity. He lived an ordinary life, a humble life. He gave himself in the end.
[39:31] He died. He was nailed to the tree. For the sins of many. It is. The sins of many. These things are so great salvation.
[39:45] This is God's way of saving sinners. My way and your way is simply very pathetic. If we are relying upon our good works and upon our goodness and upon our mere feeble, faint efforts.
[40:00] nothing. But look at the wonderful way in the way that God has provided for us through His Son. He is urging you to listen to His Son, to confess His name, to call upon Him for salvation.
[40:24] There is hope for anyone this morning who does that. God has spoken to us. He has spoken to us this morning.
[40:40] Have you been listening? Have you been listening to the Son of God? He that believeth in me hath life.
[41:00] Let us pray. Lord, we pray Thee that none of us may be in any doubt where we stand.
[41:18] Should any of us face death, Lord, we may not leave this world with uncertainties, but we may leave this world with a certain hope, with a sure hope, with confidence, knowing that our names have been written in the Lamb's book of life.
[41:54] Lord, we pray that Thou would bless Thy Word, we pray Thee. O if there be any seeking soul here this morning, be Thou tender unto them, be Thou gracious unto them in revealing Thyself unto them as Saviour and God.
[42:19] We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[42:31] Amen.