GOD HATH SPOKEN

Hebrews One

Sermon of the Week #200734 – August 26, 2007

God hath spoken twice to the human race; once in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament. When God spoke to the human race, He did not unload the whole load at one time; He spake at different times, and different ways. He gave a little bit here, and a little bit there. When God appeared to Adam in the Garden of Eden, did He hand him a Bible and say, “Adam, I have a present for you; here is a copy of My Bible; you will notice that it has two Testaments, an Old and a New; this Bible has sixty-six books; it has one thousand, one hundred and eighty-nine chapters, and thirty-one thousand, one hundred and seventy-one verses”?

That is not the way it happened. God did not unload the whole load on Adam at one time. He spoke unto the fathers in different times and in different ways; a little here, and a little there.

After the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God began the account of the coming of the Redeemer. In Genesis the third chapter, God announced to the Devil, “I will put enmity between thy seed, and the seed of the woman. He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Then after almost two thousand years, God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 22, after trying his faith in the offering up of Isaac as a burnt offering, “And in thy seed shall all the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Then about two hundred years later, God spoke on this matter again when Jacob gave his dying blessing to his twelve sons.

Concerning Judah he said in Genesis 49, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Then in about two hundred years after this in Deuteronomy 16, God told Moses, “I will raise up a prophet from among their brethren like unto you. And it shall come to pass whosoever shall not hearken to that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.” Then it was about a thousand years later that David said in Psalms 110, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies the foot stool of thy feet.” Three hundred years later in Isaiah 7 He said, “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Immanuel.” This was fulfilled in Matthew and Luke. A short time after this, the prophet Micah said in chapter 5, “And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not least in the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come forth a Governor, who shall rule my people Israel.” It was about three hundred years later, in the ninth chapter of Zechariah, the prophet said, “Behold thy king cometh unto thee, meek and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” A short one hundred years later Malachi, the last of the Old Testament books, reveals the arrival of the forerunner of Jesus in Malachi chapter 3, “Behold, I will send forth my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before thee.” This was fulfilled in John chapter one, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.”

At long last the Redeemer had arrived, and Peter reminds us in Acts chapter two, how He identified Himself with signs and wonders: was rejected by lawless men, crucified, and arose from the dead. Then after His ascension to Heaven, on the Day of Pentecost, that gospel was proclaimed, and those who believed were told to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a long way from Genesis 3:15 to Acts chapter 2:38 when the Redeemer had arrived.

But God also spoke in different ways. One time He spoke through the handwriting on the wall. At this point, Daniel the prophet came in and preached a sermon that was really right off the wall.

On another occasion the Lord spoke through a dream to young Samuel. He said to him in that dream, “Samuel, Samuel.”  Samuel did not understand it was the Lord. The Lord said again, “Samuel, Samuel,” and again he did not understand. The third time God said, “Samuel, Samuel.” Samuel said, “Speak Lord, thy servant heareth.” If some today heard the voice of God they would say, “Listen Lord, our preacher speaketh.” Times have changed!

Then there was one time when God spake to a man by the voice of a donkey. Balaam was riding his donkey, going on a mission where he had no business. An angel stood in the way with a drawn sword. Balaam did not see him, but the donkey did. The donkey ran off into the field. Balaam whacked him one good, and got him back on track. The next time the donkey ducked the avenging sword of the angel, and ran into a wall and crushed Balaam’s foot. Again Balaam whacked him one real good, and got him back on the track. The third time the donkey just hunched down, and after the third whack the donkey looked back over his shoulder and asked Balaam why he had been hit three times? He told him he had always done a good job before; he could not understand such behavior from his master. At this moment Balaam saw the angel, too.

Some folk don’t believe a donkey could talk. I don’t know why not. A donkey has a tongue, teeth, mouth and lungs. A greater miracle is the fact that you are listening to me right now from a thin metal disc a few inches wide. So what is the big deal about a donkey talking? I have heard the braying of a donkey many times. Every time I hear some liberal preacher contradict some part of God’s plan of salvation, I hear the braying of a donkey, “Hee-Haw-Hee-Haw-Hee-Haw!”

In the book of First Kings, God spoke to Elijah in a still small voice. But when He gave the Ten Commandments there was the sound of the trumpet, and His voice shook the mountain.

It wasn’t until Jesus died on the cross, arose from the dead and ascended to Heaven that the Apostle Paul could say that all scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God might be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. The Word of God is now complete. God has no further revelation for the human race. Peter tells us that His divine grace hath granted unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can be added to the revealed will of God for fallen man. God hath spoken.

Actually the Bible is the only Holy Spirit-inspired revelation of God on earth. Paul said in Galatians one, “If any man, preach any other gospel, than that which we have proclaimed, let him be accursed.” He said, not only any man, but even if an angel preach any other message he would be damned also. God has made it plain; there is no other revelation from God. Now what did God have to say in Hebrews chapter one? For one thing He talked about the origin of the human race.

THE ORIGIN OF THE HUMAN RACE

In the fifth verse God the Father said of Jesus, “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee.” In the next chapter speaking of the birth of Jesus, it is said, “Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, and crowned with glory, and honor.” Jesus was not made a little lower than the human race; if He had, He would have been an animal. Jesus was not an animal, and I am not an animal either. People are concerned about life in outer space. While I do not know anything about who, or what, is out there, I know that it is not superior to us, because we are just a little lower than the angels, and you don’t get any higher on the creation hog than that. We are it! Man is the biggest thing in the cosmos. I have not come to debate it; I am here to announce it. God hath spoken.

Sometimes through the years my faith has been shaken. I saw a beautiful Buick convertible back in the fifties on a downtown street of Cincinnati, Ohio. The top was down, and as I came up from behind I saw a young couple with their backs to me, and they seemed to be talking to what appeared to be an infant on a car seat between them. I heard the man say something like, “Itchy kitchy Koo, papa’s little baby”, and then the woman said, “Itchy kitchy Koo, mama’s little baby.” As I passed by, I turned around to see this marvelous sight, and there hanging between them on the car seat was a monkey. I thought to myself, “Maybe there is something to this evolution thing!” We have come this far, and now we are starting back in the opposite direction. Some may think today they are descended from a blue-blooded baboon, but I am a direct descendant of ole daddy Adam, who never had a belly button, unless God put one on him for style.

God hath spoken unto us in these last days. What else did God have to say in Hebrews chapter one? He had something to say about His hatred of sin.

GOD HATES SIN

Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity. God hates sin, and He has good reason for it, because of the Big game going on in your life. The Big game is not the winner of the two teams in the Super Bowl. The Big game is not the winner of the two teams in the World Series. The Big game is not the winner of the next heavy weight fight. The Big game is the winner of the game that many are playing at this moment. Jesus tells us about that game in Matthew 6:24 in the Sermon on the Mount, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” There is no such thing as a tie score. You cannot have it both ways. You either win or lose, and the choice is yours. No wonder God says He loves righteousness and hates iniquity. God hath spoken unto us in these last days. What else did God have to say in Hebrews chapter one?

THE FINAL WINDUP

He speaks of the windup of human affairs. Speaking of the universe God says, “The heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish, but thou continuest, they shall wax old as doth a garment, they shall be rolled up as a mantle and changed as a garment.” The message of God in Hebrews chapter one informs us this world is on its way to an end. Peter in the third chapter of his second epistle tells how it will happen when he says, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are within be burned up.”

From these words of the inspired apostle of Jesus it appears that we are sitting on a powder keg that could blow at any time. Personally I am not concerned about that day, because I know where I will be when she blows. I have the hope of meeting Jesus in the air. There have been a lot of great meetings in the history of the Lord’s work. It would have been great to be present at that great meeting on the Day of Pentecost when the Church was born, and the terms of pardon were sounded out like a trumpet, and 3,000 were added that day. It is always a great meeting when millions of the body of Christ assembles for the Lord’s Supper on the Lord’s Day. But the greatest meeting of all will be that day when the Lord comes again, and what a meeting that will be! Those who miss that meeting will miss it all.

Peter continues his message in that third chapter when he says, “Seeing that these things are thus to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”

Since Peter said, “Desire the coming of the day of the Lord,”  and Paul said, “Look for it,” and John said, “Pray for it,” should we not also feel the same about this powder keg? Oh Lord, let ’er blow! The hope of the Christian is to say, “See you later, here, there, or in the air.”

And what else did the Lord have to say in Hebrews chapter one? He had something to say about ministering angels.

MINISTERING ANGELS

Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to do service for the sake of them that inherit eternal salvation? These ministering angels were all created. Paul tells us in Colossians 1:16, “In Him were all things created, in heavens and upon the earth, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.”

The angelic population of Heaven must be greater than the population of humans on earth. In Hebrews 12 they are referred to as an innumerable host of angels.

Angels minister to God’s people today. We cannot see them at this time, because we walk by faith and not by sight. They are ministering spirits. You cannot see a spirit. How many ways they have worked in our lives we will not know until we reach the other side of the mystic river. There are some ways that we are told where they ministered to us many times and we knew not their presence.

One way is at the time of the death of a Christian. Jesus told the story of a man named Lazarus who at death was carried away by the angels into Paradise; and what a great thought! Those glorious creatures surrounding the deathbed of the Christian, at the ready to escort him safely through the air filled with demons, to the Father’s House. The gospel song says it for us, “O precious cross, O glorious crown, O resurrection Day, Ye angels from the stars come down and bear my soul away.”

It is hard to understand some people. In 1988, I was in the airport at Norfolk, Virginia. As I walked through the concourse, I saw a display on outer space, and a sign proclaimed the message, “Mankind must go to Mars before the year 2030”. A lady called to me, “Sir, are you interested in outer space?” I said, “Yes ma’am.” She said, “Take some of these books, and learn all about it.” I said, “Your books don’t have the answer; you are not going far enough; you are only going as far as Mars, and I want to go all the way to Heaven.” I took out my New Testament and said, “I have all the information here in this book. Do you want to go?” She laughed and said, “No.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, I don’t get it! She wanted me to go to Mars, but she was not interested in going to Heaven. When I go to Heaven, I have a straight-through flight; earth to Heaven. I have made no plans to stop off on Mars first, on the way through. ALL ABOARD!