Well, it is a joy to be today looking together in the precious Word of God. I do trust and pray that some of the words that we have been singing and hearing as we have been singing the praises of our Saviour will become blessedly true as we gather together around the blessed Word for the moments that we are privileged to hear the voice of our Lord. that last hymn that we sang together, one of the most precious ones in the memory of my Christian experience, the desire of the heart to be drawn nearer, still nearer to the Lord Jesus Christ. Many times we may have sung that hymn, but may we raise the question lovingly and earnestly Are we being drawn nearer to the Lord Jesus Christ as we should be? May I turn with you to the Word of God in the book of Hebrews chapter one, where in the opening verses we have God's own description of His beloved and blessed Son. Now when we think of what we were singing, nearer, still nearer, close to thine heart, draw me, my Saviour, so precious thou art. Can we not raise the question, is it not God himself who can tell us better than any other one the glory and the blessedness of his Son, his only begotten Son? And in the opening words of chapter one in the book of Hebrews, God has thus spoken. And we would like to read just only verses one, two and three. And may I encourage your heart and your mind and your soul to fix upon the fact. The first word in the chapter, God, pause for a moment. There's none like him. the greatest person in the universe. And these words are written, not as though they came from the writing of an apostle, but from God himself. And in these first three verses, listen to what he has to say. God who at sundry times or various times and in diverse manners, Faking time passed unto the fathers by the prophets. Having these last days, the closing days of the Old Testament, spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world, whom be the brightness or the effulgence, the radiance of his glory, and the express or the characteristic image of his blessed 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. May I pointedly sing and empathically declare, These words concerning the person of the Son of God, they come from the heart of God Himself. They're written by Him as being the author and the revealer of the blessed Son of His love. I would like to bring to your attention and to mine own also a question that was asked by the Lord Jesus. You need not turn to it. You find it in Matthew chapter twenty-two in verse forty-two. The Lord Jesus raised the question. He raised it significantly of so-called religious leaders of that day, whose question him regarding his authority and his person. They had been asking many questions which he answered, which they could not rebut. At the end of those questionings that they'd made of him, he raised the question. Personally, I believe it is the greatest question that can ever be raised. And that should be asked of every man, of every woman, every boy and every girl. He raised the question before them. What think ye of Christ? Note it again. What think ye of Christ? They needed that question. Their thoughts were wrong about him. But how about you and me today? Listen to the question again. What Think he of Christ? Note the question carefully for a moment. What? Think he of Christ. It is a pertinent question. I'm sure the Lord would even raise it today. I'm sure he deserves to raise it in my own heart and to my own soul. John, what do you think of Christ? Pertinent? He wants to know what you think. Now what others think? Well, notice next. It's a penetrating question. What think? It penetrates. He wants to know what you think. Look, I tell you very frankly, one of the deepest and hardest things, perhaps, is to set your heart and mind on what God is saying. when we're together before the Word of God but Christ raises the question it's not only pertinent he said it's penetrating I'm anxious to know exactly what you think of me what's your answer and then as you notice when he raised the question is very personal not only pertinent what you think not only penetrating He wants to know what you think. But it's just you personally. He wants to know what you and what I think. My beloved, may I say the question? To him, it's very personal. He's not interested what you may say or what others think of him. I want to know what you think of me. Pertinent. penetrating, personal and preeminent. The greatest person in the universe, Christ. Humbly but faithfully. He's the greatest person in the universe. But may I ask again what he asked? What? Think ye of Christ. When the Lord raised that question, he added another one. Whose son is he? Whose son is he? Now go to our scripture in Hebrews, if you please. Meditate by the help of the Holy Spirit. on the description that God writes himself concerning his son. And raise the question into your own heart and into my own. Is this what I think of him? Is this what I think of him? I'm sure, God willing, as the Spirit leads us, I hope you will realize his greatness surpassing the greatness of all others now may I emphasize as you go to the scripture in Hebrews chapter one note very carefully the opening words of verses one and the opening words of verse two God who had sundry time meaning at various times in the past in different manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophet. Now please note something carefully. In times past in the Old Testament by the prophets, through the prophets God was speaking. Don't minimize it. It was minimized when they were speaking. You hardly can find an occasion when in the history of Israel they minimized the voice of the prophets. But the prophets said, Doth set the Lord. And it was God speaking. From Moses down to the end of the Old Testament. Yea, even unto John the Baptist, who was the last of the great prophets. He spoke. But now know verse two. He's not going to speak again. For he has spoken at last. He hath in these last things spoken unto us. Now take the words in. He has spoken unto us by or in the person of his Son. May I say frankly, firmly, Christ is God's last spoken word to this world. He'll never speak again as he has through his Son. He could never, and He will never, speak in a greater way than He has spoken in and through and by, the person of His Son. Look, please, lay aside the greatness of the Old Testament prophets. Here's the last of them all. Even Moses, long ago in the book of Deuteronomy, prophesied he would come. a prophet like unto him an even greater now he's God's last voice to the world the next time God will ever speak to the world may I humbly but faithfully state he's not going to speak in love he's not going to speak in grace he's not going to speak in mercy as he has done through his son but he's going to speak in judgment. Take it into your heart. It's according to the Word of God. But in these last days of the testimony, he has spoken through his Son, the life of his Son upon the earth, and all that is followed and all that will follow. But please go with me. I want you to visualize with me if you can and will. How God says He's so great. Greater than the Moses. Greater than all the prophets. Greater than any of all the prophets. And the first thing He declares about His Son. Noted it in verse two. Whom He hath appointed heir. Of all things. God hath appointed him. air of all things. I don't know how well you know your Bible, but I trust you know it well enough that you have read carefully and clearly that God is appointed in to be the ruler, the future ruler of the universe. He not only will have a coming kingdom upon the earth, over which he will rule for a thousand years. But he is to have an everlasting kingdom in a new creation of glory where sin will never reign. And he, the heir of the universe. Beloved, drink it in. In fact, can you drink it in? Have you acknowledged him as your Savior? Look, You've acknowledged he's the heir of the universe. God has gratefully given to him the glory of the whole universe. And may I be reminded with you, as you may reading Galatians as well as in the Roman Epistle, you and I who are saved have been made joint heirs with Christ. And we shall reign with him. How great he is. Is he that great to you? Well, let's read on further quickly. Second, by whom also he made the world, or the ages of the worlds. He takes us from the future, eternal future, to the eternal past, as it were, and the beginning of creation. And he ascribes to his son, The glory of being the creator. Let me quote the words of John. You have them in John chapter one. Read them for yourself in the opening of the book. In the beginning was the word. And that means Christ. And the word was with God. And the word was God. Without him there was not anything made that was made. All things were made by him. The creator of the world. My beloved, let me re-emphasize again. Look at him in any direction you wish and can, through the word of God, describing him. But he also described as the past creator of the world. All things were made by him. And by him, all things hold together. My beloved, that's the Son. What do you think of him? or the greatness of his person the one the future ruler of the universe the one who is the past creator of the world but go further please next who being the brightness or the radiance of his glory God's glory read Isaiah chapter six at some time if never you have Read of the prophet of Isaiah, seeing the glory of God in a temple as it shook to the foundation. And he cried, woe is me, woe is me, for I have looked upon that holy one and seen him in his glory. My beloved, listen. Christ is the radiant glory of the Lord. Let me call the words of John again. You have him in John one, verse thirteen, as he writes again of that blessed one. Who, though he was the word, the word became flesh and dwelt among us? And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. the radiance of God's glory all the glory of God was resonant in the person of the Son of God he came to the earth please let me try to explain it can I explain it here is the Son of God eternal spirit in his being takes upon him a body like you and mine without sin and in that body he reveals the glory of God no perhaps they never saw him in all the brightness of their glory but listen by his words by his deeds and by his life we beheld his glory says John the glory is the only begotten of the Father the only begotten meaning this, he's the Father's eternal Son. Did you ever know the words that John writes later in the fourteen chapter when the disciples were asking him, Lord, show us the Father and will be satisfied. And Jesus answered, Philip, how said so unto me, show us the Father. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. My beloved, are you a Christian? The moment you took Christ as your Savior, Christ brought you to his Father. He's the revelation of the Father and of his eternal glory he will ever be. but he revealed to you the Father. Let me quote these words of Jesus. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father. He shall reveal him. And in Matthew chapter eleven, in verse twenty-seven, Jesus said, No man knows the Son but the Father. And no man knows the Father. But the Son and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. My beloved, let me please humbly, gratefully, firmly say, when you know the Son, you know the Father. I think of the words of the servant of God, Paul particularly, Romans chapter eight, and likewise you have it in chapter four of Galatians verse six. refers to the fact that God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into the world that you may say into your heart that you may say Abba Father. He's the Father's glory. Did you ever notice John writing again and again our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son? And here you have the one who is the radiance of the Father's glory. In him all the glory of God does shine. And he's called in the New Testament the Lord of glory unto whom you and I are saved have been brought. That's whom God says it. But not only that, not the next glory as you have it. As you have it here, the fourth one. He is the express image or the character of God's substance. He is the express or the characteristic image of God in His substance and qualities. You see, all the character of God is in the person of His Son. You name it. God is love, God is light, God is holy, God is good, God is mercy. Name everything. All the characteristic qualities of God. They're in the sun. They're in the sun. My beloved, what do you think of him? What do I think of him? The qualities and the characteristics of God. But read further on. Look the next expression. When he had by him, no, before that, and upholding all things by the word of his power. He's not only the future ruler of the universe, he is the present sustainer of the universe, upholding all things by the word of his power. Reading in Colossians chapter one, you read these words, By him, all things in the universe hold together. You can name all the scientific laws that you may, regarding the universe, the literal universe. But the one who holds them together is Christ, by the word of its power. The word of its power? Job wrote one time, one of the writers in Job. He stretches out the north over the empty place, and He hangeth the earth upon nothing. What's nothing? You and I may call it gravity. He calls it nothing. By the word of His power. Read II Peter chapter three, and you'll find what is going to happen to our present universe. In dissolution it will be scattered forever. All he has to do, let go his hand, his hold upon it, and it will disintegrate. As you may read in second Peter three in verse thirteen and on. This is Christ. This is Christ. This is the Son of God. the upholder of the universe. And very frankly, you can't even breathe without him. The God in whose thy breath is. And he's the upholder of all things. Oh, what power. Every neck. the greatest thing that perhaps you and I could take in? When he had by himself purged our sin. May I read it from the original text? When by himself he made purification of sins. My beloved, here he is, the eternal son of God. the future ruler of the universe the past creator of the world the radiant glory of God's divine person in all of his divine glory as well the very substance of his character in perfection fully and this is the one who had to save your soul my beloved it took a great person to save your soul did it not and to save mine who was it that died on Calvary God's eternal Son the one of whom we have been reading and seeing his great description by God himself written by himself. As the writer here puts it, he purged or he made purification for our sins. My beloved, did you ever stop? Did I ever stop properly to realize who died on the cross to save me? It certainly took a great Savior, didn't it? Well, did the poet write in one hymn? There was none other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate of heaven, let us in. Dearly, dearly, as he loved, we should love him too. Trust in his redeeming blood, then seek his will to do. My beloved, the great sin-furcher, I'm sure you would love your mother, your father, your husband, your wife, your sister, your brother, or any dear relative who would be able to take away your sin. But they could never do it. But may I raise the question? What? Think ye of Christ. what a great Savior and the only one please note the emphasis on the word himself himself and all by himself on the cross of Calvary no wonder the Apostle Paul wrote what you and I should surely say the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Can I stop for a moment? I hope I can repeat it properly. Who died on the cross of Calvary to save my soul? The eternal Son of God. Second, the future ruler of the universe. Third, the past creator of the world. Fourth, the one who is the brightness of God's glory and who is the express, the image or character of his substance in all the qualities of his being. And the one who holds up the universe by the word of his mouth. Who died for you? Who died for me? God's telling us. It was my son. I told you all that he is and all that he was and all that he's going to be. What do you think of him? And the Savior would ask, what think he of Christ? But then no. Following the purification of our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Not on an earthly throne. He was taken to heavenly glory. Listen, the world is already fed when he died and before he died away with him. We will not have this man to reign over us. And God said, all right, I'll show you what I'll do with him. I'll sit him on my right hand on my throne on high. Who sat down on the right hand? The right hand of power, the right hand of glory. on the right hand of the throne of God. You read it in Psalm one hundred and ten. David prophesied it. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy foothill. And my beloved, what did God do with it? He took him to his own right hand. They gave him a cross down here. He said, I'll give him a throne up here. They crucified Him. God glorified Him. And my beloved, may I stay very firmly and kindly. You and I should indeed have many sacred thoughts about Him. It's just a few. Let me repeat them again. He's the eternal Son of God through whom He spoke. He is the future ruler of the universe. He is the past creator of all the world and ages. He is the brightness, the outshining and radiant of God's glory within him. As well, all the characteristics of his substance and being here. And death, the upholder of the universe. And yet, He was the one that took away our sins. My beloved Lord, I'm sure that you and I who are saved rejoice. He took our sins away. But is there one person here who's never had their sins away? Please let me state. The Blessed One who died upon the cross, whom we preach, Christ, and him crucified died and he alone was able by himself to make purification of sin be purged then where purged means he took him away obliterated them as David said as far as the east is removed from the west so far had he removed our transgressions from us as Micah in chapter seven verse nineteen wrote he put them in the depths of the sea and as you may read in Jeremiah thirty one thirty four and in the Hebrew book their sins and iniquities will I remember no more a Savior who could take your sins away and take them out of eternal memory forgiven that's a great Savior but he's a great person and now glorify him at the right hand of God. And you well know he's coming again in power and great glory as we stated, not to save the world, but to judge the world and separate the godly from the ungodly forever. But he's so great. And this is what God says of him. My beloved, take the words of God in and make them your thoughts. Long ago the psalmist wrote, How precious also have I thought unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them if I should count them there are more in number than the sand! And my beloved here in just a few moments, less than half an hour, we've been looking at God's thoughts concerning his son. Now let me ask you a question. Can you give him some time and think about him? Are not these words sufficient to give you and to give me precious thoughts of Christ? And answer his question, what think ye of Christ? And to be able to say, Oh, blessed Savior, I believe you are the eternal Son of God. I believe you are the future ruler of the universe. I believe you're the past creator of the world. I believe you're the embodiment of the glory of God in the radiance of his glory. And I believe every divine character of God is in you. And Lord Jesus, happy to say, I believe you died for me. To take myself. That's your Savior. You've got a lot to think about when it's done. Look, you've got more to think about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, than you have in all the history of the world. And anyone else in the world. Oh, may God help us indeed be able to say, This is what I think of Christ. He's the Son of God. He's the future ruler of the universe. He's the past creator of the world. heat the radiance of God's glory divine in all of its outshining glory and he the exact character of God's image and the upholder of the universe best of all is my savior he took my sins away if you can't say that the rest don't mean a thing for you Well, you've got to begin with that. For he revealed himself to you and to me as our Saviour. And best of all, he's living. Glorified at the right hand of God. Forever. And may I give you one thought in closing. Paul writes in the Philippians said, God has highly glorified him. and given him a name that is above every name, and under the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, of things on earth, of things under the earth, and at every tongue, whether in heaven, earth, or hell, shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Savior. You know what? How great he is. Shall we pray? Oh, blessed Father. driven home in the power of the Holy Spirit alone these precious truths of what God says and has said about his own dearly beloved son and may every one of us say a heartache amen Lord we believe it but oh grand Lord we have many things on our minds But we're neglecting the most important, Christ. And we pray as we depart from this service, by the Holy Spirit we shall be part, rejoicing, if I'm not saved, I now will trust the Savior. He's the one who died to save my soul. What a redemption. I am so unworthy of such love. But may that love penetrate and save some dear sinner, Lord, right now. But to us who are saved, Lord. Oh, hallelujah, we should be singing. Hallelujah, what a Savior. We ask thy blessing as we separate. And we pray the question of our Lord will remain as we separate. What think ye of Christ? And may every one of us, Lord, start doing some thinking. We ask it for thy glory and in thy precious name. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of our Father God, the fellowship or the conviction of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen. Thank you indeed.