Christ is God's final and complete revelation to humanity, surpassing all previous communications through prophets. The sermon highlights Christ's appointment as heir of all things, his role as the creator of the ages, and his identity as the radiance and exact representation of God's glory. It emphasizes that Christ's sacrificial work on the cross is the sole and sufficient purgation of sin, a finished work that allows him to sit at the right hand of God. Therefore, believers are urged to heed God's ultimate message in his Son, recognizing his superiority and the eternal salvation he offers.
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Now I invite you again to turn to the book of Hebrews chapter one. We shall begin our reading at verse one. Hebrews chapter one, verse one, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us in his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world. who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
Being made so much better than the angel, as he hath by inheritance, obtained a more excellent name than they. Now may the Lord bless the reading of his word. Again let us just look to the Lord. Father, We've read thy precious words. Help us, O God, to magnify thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Deliver us, we pray, from anything that would detract and calm our hearts in thy holy presence. And may we know the blessing of fellowship with thyself for Jesus' sake. Amen. The person of Christ is God's final revelation to man.
And this is our second message on this subject, God's final revelation to man. God has finally spoken in his son. Under the Old Testament economy, he spoke in various ways and at various times to the prophets. So we read in verse one. And last week I quoted Marcus Stodd. He said, God's ministry through the prophets. in various times and in various ways was like listening to a clock striking the quarter hour. But never knowing, always getting nearer, but you were obliged to wait until the hour struck.
And the time came and the hour struck. The Lord Jesus could say, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son. Let thy son also may glorify thee. So God has spoken in time past by the prophets, but God has finally spoken in his son. And Hebrews twelve, verse twenty-five gives us a warning. And the warning is very simple. The same Lord who is used by God to bring his final message to man, it is written, See that ye refuse, not him that speaketh. Don't refuse him who speaks.
For the one who spoke in his first advent is coming again. Now, today we want to notice from this passage that we read the greatness of the revelation that was given to us. And the greatness of this revelation is made in four clauses and in seven statements. And if you examine these, you will notice, first of all, his appointment as heir of all things. And you have that in the middle of verse two. Whom he hath appointed heir of all things. This appointment as heir of all things is by virtue of his eternal sonship. His eternal sonship.
And our word expressed this in the great parable that he gave us in Matthew chapter twenty one and verse thirty eight. As the keepers of the vineyard said, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him. For the more. as he appointed heir of all things. The second psalm, which speaks of the relationship of God's king, of the king of Zion, of Zion king, of Zion's king, in his filial relationship to God. God the Father says to him in verse eight, ask of me, and I will give you the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Here we have the universal reign of the Son of God. His dominion is going to be given to him as an inheritance. And our text here says, whom ye have appointed heir of all things. The Word of God teaches that all things are eternally his. We have that in the opening verses of John's Gospel. All things are eternally his. But the entrance upon this inheritance The Empress upon it is still future. It is that great principle, the now and the not yet.
In chapter two of Hebrews and verse eight, we read, Now has put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he has put all in subjection under him. He left nothing that he has not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. When you get to the book of the Revelation, chapter eleven, verse fifteen, we read the kingdoms of this world or become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. We have the great principle of the non and not yet. He is the appointed heir of all things. But the second thing we have here is this, by whom also he made the world. That word world usually refers to all that exists in the world under the conditions of time.
The word Aeon is the word in the Greek. It is not the word cosmos that we usually think of when we think of the world. And therefore, the time element is injected in the original in this passage. In other words, we have him as the one here who made the world. Therefore, he who made the ages, as it is in some translations, By whom also he made the ages. That is, our Lord is the Lord of history. All the ages have been planned by God.
We think of ages past. And those of us who are saved, we rejoice that by grace we have the blessed hope of ages to come. That in the ages to come, Ephesians two verse seven, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace. and His kindness poured us through Christ Jesus. By Him also He made the agent. And we're talking this morning of God's final revelation to man. His final revelation is Christ. And these statements declare who He is and the greatness of His person. He's the appointed heir of all things. He also made the world. But notice the third expression, who being the brightness of God's glory.
Or, to put it another way, the sun is the radiance of God's glory. Our Lord Jesus Christ. And you see, this is both an active and a passage sense. When you think of it, active, there is an appalgence of radiance. And passive, there is a reflection of that radiance. You see, they took notice of the disciples that they had been with Jesus. and that's a reflection of it and that's a passage side of it but there's that effulgence of it and you see the active is what we're thinking of here in this passage the active is better here for the sun flashes forth or radiates the glory of the Father as you have in Colossians one and verse fifteen he is the image of the invisible God for the more in John one and fourteen we read The word became flesh and tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory.
And then in John fourteen and verse nine, where the Lord Jesus speaks to Philip, and he says to him, He that has seen me has seen the Father. He is the radiance of the glory of God. Now there never was a time when God was without wisdom. Never a time like that. And there never was a time when light was without radiance. Therefore, you can't have a son in the heavens apart from its radiance. And you can't have a father without the son. And the son is the radiance of the father's glory.
That very word father denotes a son. And just as you can't have a son in the heavens without the radiance of that son being felt, so you cannot have a father apart from the son. That's why our Lord Jesus could say, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. And our text says, he is the outshining, the radiance, of the Father's glory, who being the brightness of His glory, and is speaking of the radiance of the Son.
So when we think of the Father, and we think of the Son in our blessed relationship, and when we think of the Son of God as His final revelation of God the Father to man, what do we learn? We learn in this text, what you learn in that song we used to sing. as we were coming along you can't have one without the other they go together they cannot be separated and then we also read that grand expression here and the express image of his person or the exact representation of his being now this expresses the personality of the Son of God The NIV puts it the exact representation.
It was used, that word was used, first of all, and it's derived from the tool that is used for engraving. And later it came to refer to the mark or the impression that was made by the tool. And when you think of an engraving, The image and the superscription on a coin is exactly, correspond exactly to the device that was on the die. I'm an electrician by trade and I did a lot of work in a machine shop.
I did a lot of circuitry on machinery and we set up some dies at the Lebanon tool company. And this dye was, they put a piece of stainless steel with oil on it. They put a black piece of steel in the machine. Push a button. And the dye would come down. And in that dye was the exact replica of what you eat many times. Because it had to name Hershey's. on it. And you could see our Hershey candy bar in that piece of steel.
It was the exact representation of the die. And beloved, our Lord is the exact representation of the Father. You see, the image and the superscriptions are there. And that's the thought here in the passage. In Matthew chapter eight, our Lord is with the disciples on the sea of Galilee. They're crossing. And you know the story. The wind is contrary. And the boat is filling with water. And the disciples, our Lord is asleep on the pillow in the boat. And it shows the blessed humanity of our Lord.
He got tired just like you do. Just like I do. And he was asleep on the boat. And the disciples woke him up, you remember. And he rebuked the wind and the waves. And there was a great calm. And the disciples marveled and said, what manner of man is this? That even the wind and the waves obey him. But in verse twenty-five of chapter eight of Matthew, he says, oh, yield with a faith. Why are you so afraid? You see, the storm didn't bother him. He slept through that. but there's something that did awaken the appeal of his people.
And it still does. It still does. For the eyes of the Lord, Peter tells us, are over the righteous. First Peter, three twelve. And his ears are open to their cry. Whenever I think of this, I think of the story that my friend Dr. S. Lewis Johnson from Texas Dallas Texas told when he was with us at Greenwood Hills when he and his wife moved to Dallas so he could attend seminary and he later became the professor of New Testament the theological professor professor of theology really he said when we first moved to Dallas we moved near a railroad track Some of us had the joy in our lives of living near a railroad.
And anyone who ever did, when you moved there, see, I grew up near a railroad. My wife and I would be married. I moved away and I got used to living without trains. I never knew that trains were going in the middle of the night when I was a child. Well, the time came when we moved back near the railroad. Boy, I got awake every time the train went during the night. But you know, it's amazing how if you live there a while, you go to sleep. And Dr. Johnson said, you know, it's an amazing thing. Those trains would go up and down the track and sometimes move the house and we'd sleep through it. She said, but it's always amazing that whenever a train could be going with all the noise.
One of the children... would make a sound in my wife Mary would sit in bed. She could sleep through the noise of the train, but the appeal of the child woke her up. My friend, you're children of God. And this blessed one is the exact representation of the Father. So when Peter wrote, the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry, we can cry to God for help. And he's always ready to listen. No wonder the disciples said, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the waves obey him?
You know, we have an adage among ourselves, but we say, we all talk about the weather, but we can't do anything about it. He did. There's a great calm. Are we appealing to the Savior? My what a privilege. We have an open heaven. We have a king of the universe to appeal to them. And his ears are open to our crowd. More than this, our text says he holds all things by the word of his power. That word upholding there means sustaining. And in the subjugant, it is the same word that's translated upholding here that Moses used When he complained to the Lord.
In Numbers chapter eleven. Let's turn to that passage. In Numbers chapter eleven. Numbers eleven is a very interesting chapter. And I don't have time to develop it this morning. But in Numbers eleven. And verse fourteen. We read this. Moses says to God. Look at verse thirteen. for the people are asking for flesh to eat. And you remember the Seventy-eighth Psalm where we read, He gave them their desire, but He sent leanness to their souls. Well, here's what happened in the wilderness.
Verse thirteen says, When should I have flesh to give unto all this people? For they weep unto me saying, Give us flesh that we may eat. I am not able to bear all these people alone. because it is too heavy for me it is that word bear our is that strip the Greek word in the Septuagint the Greek translation of the Old Testament scriptures is a word that is translated here upholding all things by the word of his power you see the same thought is carried over to our blessed Lord he carries the universe to its divinely appointed course on the course of the universe.
He carries it all, not as an atlas. And you have the picture of that mythological God atlas as he stands there holding up a world. That's not the thought. Our Lord, the course of the ages. He bears it all. He directs it all. And as he does, He is directing it to its desired end. God has not lost control. And we're using the language here of the book of Colossians chapter one in verse seventeen where we read, And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And that word consists by him.
All things are held together, upholding all things by the word of his power. And then we read. And when he had by himself purged our sins. By himself he purged our sins. In other words, we mean that he provided full satisfaction. The word purge is translated by many purifications. And it's a priestly word. And it introduces us to the priestly aspect of our Lord's ministry. The priestly aspect. Notice. It is described in a threefold way.
It is substitutionary. His work of Calvary. For the more it's penal. By that we mean a penalty was paid. And therefore the thought of justice. A judicial action was made. And more than that it was sacrificial. And we could add a force to that. It was particular. That is, it was accomplished. for the people of God. It was a particular work. And the Day of Atonement is in view, and it's in view throughout the epistle to the Hebrews. The Day of Atonement in Israel, known as Yom Kippur, when Israel's high priest entered into the holiest about one day of the year with a blood that he sprinkled upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.
And three points are made in the ninth chapter of Hebrews. We read once at the end of the age, he hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice. So we find his purging was a sacrifice. What a more. There was a shedding of blood. Not by the blood of bulls and goats. But by his own blood he entered in once. It was by the shedding of blood. and therefore that speaks of a penal work the Lord demanded the blood when I see the blood I will pass over you where the blood was not applied there was death in the house in Egypt Exodus chapter twelve and more than that it was substitutionary Hebrews nine and Hebrews twenty six where we read once in the end of the age you have to put a appear to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself so that they I'm not quoting it right I'm sorry I'm missing a verse in my mind this morning Hebrews nine in verse twenty six and verse twenty seven verse
twenty seven is what I wanted and as it is appointed unto man wants to die but after this the judgment so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many Here is substitution. It's a substitutionary work. And when we think of this expression, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down in the right hand of the Majesty and High. My favorite preacher of all times was Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse. He's now with the Lord. And he was speaking once at the English Keswick. And he was working with this word, purged.
And he stated this. He said, the work of our great high priest, Jesus Christ, constituted the only purgatory you'll find in the Bible. Now, you know what we mean by that word, purgatory. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that when a person dies, they don't go to heaven. They go to a place called purgatory, where they have to be purged from some sorts of sin that is still there and then they go to heaven later if the priest if you pay enough money to the priest and have enough masses said that takes care of but the Roman Catholic Church teaches and you'll find this that this was adopted at the Council of Trent and they teach that original sin is removed in the waters of baptism daily sin is removed by the sacrifice of the mass.
Venial sins are removed by the oil of extreme unction. And finally, other sins are removed by purgatory. Dr. Barnhart asked the question, where does the cross of Christ come in? Where does the cross of Christ come in? If water and bread of the mass and oil of extreme ocean and purgatory do the work, what does Christ's blood do? You see, friends, when we go wrong on the doctrine concerning the person and work of Christ, The wrongness of it all is an eternal wrongness.
Eternal souls of men have been deceived, thinking that this, this, this, and this will take care of my sins. And the person of Christ is bypassed. When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down. Calvary friends, is the true purgatory of the Word of God. And of course, when coupled with the purging of our sins, we read, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. That's something that no Old Testament priest ever did.
You see, there was only one place to sit in the tabernacle or the temple. Only one seat there. And not a priest could sit on it. God sat on it. It was a mercy seat. Oh, the mercy of Calvary's cross has provided what? A finished work. It's a finished work. You see, if you turn over, please, the Hebrews. A few verses that our brother, he with Jones, ministered upon last week at the Lord's Supper. When we read verse eleven, we're taken back into the Old Testament offices that these Hebrews were longing to go back to.
And he says, And every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But here's the contrast with our blessed Lord. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever he sat down four times in the epistle to the Hebrews we read the expression he sat down he sat down why the work is finished what can we say to all this all we can say concerning the fact that he's sitting there Christ is a prophet through whom God has spoken finally and God has spoken completely what a more we can say he is a priest who has offered the last and sufficient sacrifice for sin.
There isn't another. Baltimore, we can say, he is the king who sits in the authority of enthroned omnipotence. He can say, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. You see, beloved, it was a privilege of the Davidic kings to sit before God. That's what David did. In second Samuel seven, then God makes that glorious covenant with David concerning kingship. And it's a truth expressed in the hundred and tenth Psalm in verse one. The Lord said unto my Lord sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.
And when you consider that Psalm in the light of what he's revealed concerning it in the New Testament. We hear David as if we're listening in to God the Father and God the Son speaking to each other. The Lord said unto my Lord. Who is David's Lord? Well, the Gospel by Matthew and Luke teaches us that my Lord is the Lord Jesus. And who is the other Lord? God the Father. Jehovah said unto my Lord, sit on my right hand. Until I make on enemies, I put stool.
Oh, beloved, it was a privilege of the good of kings to sit and to listen. Now, very quickly, there are two words in the epistle to the Hebrews that occur again and again. And they have a genuine expression for us as we think of God's final revelation. They are the words better and better. eternal. You see, we read in verse four this morning that the author of salvation is better than the angels. There that word appears. In seven nineteen we find that that work of Christ has given us a better hope.
In chapter seven verse twenty two we find that the work of Christ is the guarantee of a better covenant. And in chapter eight verse six We find that that better covenant is founded on better promises. When you come to chapter nine and verse twenty-three, we find that these better promises are grounded by better sacrifices. And when we come to chapter twelve and verse twenty-four, we find that all is accomplished by the blood sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel. God has spoken and he has spoken in his son but then there's that word eternal the glorious word you see in chapter five verse nine there's eternal salvation for all who obey him chapter nine verse twelve there's eternal redemption that is obtained by the blood of Christ he has obtained eternal redemption for us chapter nine verse fifteen believers have obtained an eternal inheritance.
And when we come to the close of the epistle, we read, Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, through the blood of the everlasting, the eternal covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will. Now let's apply this very quickly. Application number one this morning, speech is the vehicle of human fellowship. How do we fellowship with each other? We talk with each other. And if we don't talk, there's no fellowship. God has spoken.
And he has spoken. Ah, in his son. God has spoken. And God has spoken to us. Who are saved? Why? Because he believes that we are capable of fellowship with him. All the privilege, beloved, of fellowship with God. And God wants to enjoy that fellowship with us. So whom has God spoken? He has spoken unto us. in his son. And speech, friends, is the vehicle of human fellowship.
Think of it. Our Lord in Matthew twelve says, Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaker. And out of the abundance of the heart of God, God has spoken. And God has spoken in the language, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. is the vehicle of human fellowship. But application number two. Now we measure the worth of words by our opinion and regard for the person who uses them. You see, I love books.
I like to read books. When certain men make statements, I'm ready to listen. When John Owen speaks, I listen. When Hodge speaks, I listen. I have respect. When B.D. Warfield speaks, I listen. I have great respect for these men. When Calvin speaks, I listen. When Luther speaks, I listen. But God has spoken. He's greater than all.
And God has spoken in his Son. And we have the warning. See that he refused. Not him. That's Jesus. You pay attention to God. You pay attention to him. See that you refuse, not him. That's the beginning. All belong. We have a wondrous revelation. It's in Christ. And it's ours.
Simply by saying thank you to him for the word of Calvary. Realizing that it was for us that it was not. You've never said thank you to the Savior. You can easily do it. And I'll tell you this. You'll never get so much for simply saying thanks. He's worthy. God has spoken. See that he refused not him. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you this morning.
for the riches of divine grace we thank you that you have spoken completely and finally in thy beloved son we thank you for this time together and we pray all god that no one here will refuse him who speaks all our children early in life that they may adorn the doctrine of grace from their youth. If there are any of us who are older and who are still outside the Ark of Safety, sweetly call them to yourself.
And may they not refuse. Father, we just want to thank you again that we can say to these, thank you. for this grand and glorious revelation you've given us of your dear son. And we can say, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, a great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you, that which is well pleasing in his sight. through Jesus Christ, to whom he gloried for ever and ever.