This broadcaster has 547 podcast archives available on-demand.
Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.
September 15, 2019 7:00 pm
1521 firm land Magellan in an attempted voyage to sail around the world did something I found quite intriguing. He determined that he was going to measure the depth of the Pacific Ocean. He had these long ropes that he tied together and on the end of the rope. He tied a cannonball and he lorded over his vessel 42 fathoms in length, which is 2400 feet not quite 1/2 of a mile. He hadn't even scratched the surface, but he made this determination.
Magellan concluded that the ocean was immeasurably deep. It was in found in unfathomable how deep is a Pacific Ocean. By the way, the some say feet ahead 50 times as much rope he might've got to the bottom of it 25 miles deep in many places of Pacific Ocean went when we come to the infinite richness of the gospel. We are like sailors in a rowboat in the vast ocean of God's unfathomable grace. What are we doing pulling string out of our pocket and tying them together and lowering something into that deep ocean trying to find the bottom of this rich ocean of grace. I couldn't have picked a better choir number to lead our service. How deep the father's love for us.
How deep is it, how deep is it definite immeasurable.
Paul must've felt something like Magellan. The book of Romans. After writing for 11 chapters of the deepest and richest description of the gospel found anywhere in the Scriptures which is he right with wonder and amazement at what God had revealed through him. He says this all the deaths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
How on searchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. Paul is marveling over the doctrinal depths of the gospel and he states that we can never exhaust its riches or fully plum its depths.
Despite our best and most arduous efforts in this life being like finding ourselves in a rowboat searching for the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, with a pocketful of rope. The effort is worth it and are searching to understand. To the degree we can the depths of the riches that we have in Christ. God rewards such pursuit with glimpses that through the soul. And as we rejoice in what God reveals in allows us to experience in this life. At the same time we know that Anna has not seen and ear has not heard, and neither has an air into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love him. What awaits us is mind-boggling. Some 71 verse 15 you will turn there for a moment. Psalm 7115 a verse that speaks to the infinite nature of the gospel. The psalmist is writing in this and what he says my mouth shall tell of your righteousness and your salvation all the day for I do not know their limits.
I do not know their limits. This think about this verse for minute psalmist is speaking of one singular activity and what is it in the verse my mouth shall tell what is that activity. It is a telling fourth. It is a speaking fourth of a message. That's the one activity that the psalmist is speaking of, he's got two subjects that he's going to proclaim and speak of and what are they, they are righteousness and they are salvation notice with me that there are two well one pronoun mentioned twice what is that pronoun tied to both the two subjects that he's going to be telling of and speaking of in proclaiming not just righteousness but your righteousness, not just salvation but your salvation cause me to think of, particularly that emphasis on your salvation.
What Paul had to say in Philippians chapter 3 don't turn or just listen. Recounting his pedigree and he says what things were gain to me, these I've counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that is from God by faith folks. The only righteousness were talking about is an alien righteousness of righteousness that God is provided in his son Jesus Christ that gives us a right standing with him and that's why the psalmist is provoked and motivated in challenge to speak of God's righteousness, and of God's salvation is one phrase that's there that speaks of the length of time that he is compelled to speak and what is that my mouth shall tell of your righteousness in your salvation. All the day all day every day and never tire because you never can get to the end.
You can never exhaust the topic that is talking about.
And then there's one word that describes the nature of the subject and what is that he says for I do not know their antecedent righteousness and salvation. I do not know their limits your translation may so make may say measure do not know their measure. We we have a message that is an infinite message is inexhaustible. You can talk about it every day, any day from now until the God calls us away and never get to the end of it.
There's no limits to this, the full measure of all God has done to work.
Salvation in one individual around the world is beyond calculation. Although we may never fully know the limits of the saving work of God.
Yet it is richly beneficial and essential to our ongoing sanctification that is to pursue the subject to never tire of it to constantly be yearning for to know more of it to learn more aspects of it to go deeper. May God keep us from an attitude when when the subject of salvation comes up, keep us from the thought already know that this move on to something else. This is what we ought to be concerned with. This should be the heart and soul of our preoccupation both, we come together as a church and when were pursuing God through other means. Outside the context of the church in Hebrews chapter 2 I read earlier are salvation is called great.
Let's turn now to Hebrews chapter 2, where the writer of Hebrews is how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation. That's verse three.
The author here of Hebrews is writing to professing Jewish people and they were in danger of wavering in their commitment to Christ. These professing believers were being warned against the danger of number one drifting away. Notice verse one of chapter 2 therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard why. Last we drift away. There's a warning warning concerning drifting away not only a warning here in Hebrews of drifting away, but also warning in Hebrews concerning turning away listen to Hebrews chapter 3 in verse 12.
See to it, brothers and sisters that none of you as a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God, and then 1/3 warning in Hebrews chapter 6, a warning against falling away. The writer says it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who, having fallen away to be brought back to repentance.
Threefold warning that seems to have a digression in it. It begins with drifting away, followed by a turning away and ultimately that leads to a falling away with no possibility of repentance. The entire letter here epistle of Hebrews has been characterized by an epistle of warning and epistle of warning. These professing believers were being warned not to drift away. Not to turn away nor to follow away and I don't know what comes to your mind when you think about drifting away, but an image comes to my mind of a boat near a dock with its mooring line with its mooring line laying on top of the dock and the gentle ebb and flow of the basically placid water does not present any immediate threat to that boat but if you come back 24 hours later, will you find you find that boat is nowhere to be found. The changing of the tides in the wakes of other boats with no mooring tied to that vessel, it's gone, it's gone and the warning about drifting away doesn't arrest us, I think, to the degree it should because we think will drifting away such a gradual thing.
There's time to catch yourself in and move back but not not here. They drifted away, they turned away, and ultimately they fell away.
Oh how we need reminded of the danger here so here's this warning here in Hebrews chapter 2 of warning of drifting away. But notice with me that there's not just a warning but included in the warning is a remedy. A remedy. Therefore, we must give more earnest heed to the things we have heard last we drift away.
What is the things that we have heard what is he referring to therein verse one we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard it's obviously the gospel. The gospel message and giving more earnest heed means the were to study it were to give our hearts fully to it. Some of your translations may say pay more careful attention.
Why so that we can understand it better so that we can ensure our perseverance in the faith, so that we can guard ourselves from drifting away. The writer says there in verse three asked the question, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, how shall we escape escape what is the question escape in the context drifting away and making shipwreck of our profession.
The point of the verse is that we want escape if we neglect so great a salvation. The word neglect carries the meaning of ignoring or making light of that is to treat this great salvation lightly as though our very lives do not depend upon in order to avoid gradually drifting away from Christ. What we need what he's telling us here.
We need to give the more earnest heed to the things we've heard.
We need to study the greatness of the salvation God has provided for us. We need to study it carefully. We need to study it diligently.
Listen there will never be a time on this earth that we will graduate from needing to believe the gospel. We will be setting under its greatness. The rest of our lives so let's not treated lightly. Let's not neglected. Let's not ignore it.
Let's be honest in our seeking to understand it more.
Let me bring this meditation to a close by enumerating some reason some incentives to keep studying to keep attending to keep giving our hearts fully to this pursuit.
The first is in the obvious one is the reason the incentive to keep pursuing this is because whenever get to the end of it. It's an inexhaustible subject to explore it's infinite because the author of it is infinite God is the author and finisher of our faith.
So obviously will will never come to the end of it. That's incentive enough.
Listen to this incentive we don't perfectly understand how sinful we were still our and will continue to be until were glorified, but may be hard for some of us to hear, but it's true we don't perfectly understand how sinful we were still are and will continue to be until were glorified. Reason number two we don't perfectly understand how holy God is and how offensive were our sins against him, how hot and righteous was his wrath against us.
And how great was our danger, we don't perfectly know that we don't perfectly understand that number three.
We don't perfectly understand the price that was paid on our behalf, the infinite value of the blood of Jesus Christ and of the immense suffering he absorbed to propitiate turn away God's wrath from us. We don't we don't perfectly understand that. But the more we give ourselves to study and consider the gospel message.
I think that's one of the major preoccupations were going to have in heaven to know more than we could ever have known on this earth. I think will know far more.
There about our sinfulness in his holiness than we ever be able to on this earth. Another incentive to to give ourselves to pursue this because right now we don't perfectly understand the infinite power that is at work in us and around us to guarantee our final perfection in Christ. The completion of our salvation think we fully understand if it took the same power that raised Christ from the dead to regenerate our dead souls. It takes the same power to keep us in the faith.
Number six.
We don't perfectly understand the human sacrifices that were made along the way. In 2000 years of church history to ensure that we would at some point here is a true and pure gospel we don't fully appreciate what others who have gone before us have done to preserve this message that allowed us to hear it in our own lifetime. We don't fully understand that the number seven. We don't perfectly understand how much of all of the same things God is doing to a countless multitude from every tribe and language and people and nation around the world.
We await we can personalize this in weeks. I will try and understand what God is done for me what he's done for you. He is done for Marriott's multitude are multiplied millions of others the same thing that we might have this incredible blessing of knowing Christ and being adopted into his family and having our sins forgiven and having their names written in the Lamb's book of life and having a justified standing before God and having access into his very presence. He's done that, not just for us but a myriad of others to his praise into his glory, we say amen.
Shall we pray our father, we marvel at your grace. It is immense. It is never ending its large enough to encompass all of us in many millions of others.
We rejoice in the grace that has saved our hell deserving souls. We bless you our father for this drama of redemption that you planned in eternity past and holy son of God. We we bless you and we thank you for your willingness to come and offer yourself as the purchase price to secure the salvation of all your elect people, and Holy Spirit of God, we thank you for your part in this great drama of redemption that has included us in that you have taken that work of Jesus Christ on the cross that he finished and you have applied it to the lives of all for whom the father gave to him. We thank you for this great Trinitarian work the father the son and the Holy Spirit. And we rejoice that we been made. Recipients of such wonderful and marvelous grace cause us to take seriously these warnings that we have considered in the letter to the Hebrews. The warning of drifting away, warning of turning away in the warning of falling away Lord. These are real warnings.
We are grateful for the grace of God that keeps us, and yet there is a responsibility upon us to persevere in the faith, so helpless in these measures to never tire of our study consideration of these wonderful things in the rejoice in the illuminating work of the spirit of God as he opens our minds and our hearts to understand things too wonderful for mortal man to consider not just to consider and understand.
But to be active participants in what a great and wonderful salvation.
We have helpless not to be guilty of neglecting such a great message here us, for Jesus sake seal this word to our hearts cause it to bear fruit in our lives for our good, for the good of others, and for the honor and glory of him who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen