R664 Presenting the Son Pt.3

We all could use some encouragement, and we'll find it together today in the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton, here on The Encouraging Word. As we study the Word together, continuing in the book of Hebrews, know that we're available for you both online and on the phone.

Our phone number is 866-899-WORD, and we're online at www.tewonline.org. Let's connect! And now, Dr. Don Wilton. Join me as we pray. Father, as we open the bread of life this morning, hide this preacher behind the cross. May we see the Lord Jesus Christ, for it's in His name that we pray.

Amen. Please take your Bibles and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1. And may I present to you the Son, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in Him that we live and we move, and we have our being. Hebrews chapter 1. I'm going to read to you just the first three verses. In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets.

How did He do this? At many times and in various ways. But in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has appointed, heir of all things, and through whom God made the universe. The Son, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, is the radiance of God's glory. He is the exact representation of His being. He is sustaining all things by His powerful Word.

Now watch this. After Jesus Christ had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. We've already discovered five incredible things concerning Jesus Christ. Number one, that He is the heir of all things. Number two, that He is the maker of all things. Number three, that He is the radiance of God's glory. Number four, that He is the image of God.

In other words, He is the exact portrait of God and He is the exact reproduction of God. And number five, that He is the sustainer of all things. And as the sustainer of all things, it means that Jesus Christ has God's authority to guarantee the continuance and the constancy of all that God has created.

I was talking to one of my friends this week about Hebrews and he was telling me how much God had spoken to his heart and I was telling him how much God had spoken to my heart. And I said to him, my brother, I just cannot get over the fact that the whole earth hangs on the arm of Jesus. He is the sustainer of all things.

Now there's something that I didn't mention last week and I must do that today. I really believe that God by His Spirit compels me to do that. Because that's an incomplete statement that He is the sustainer of all things.

Why incomplete? Because here the Bible says most clearly that He is the sustainer of all things by what? His powerful word.

Did you see that right there? He sustains all things by His powerful word. How does Jesus Christ do what He does? Now we've already talked about the sun and I'm no expert on these things but I do know that if the sun moved just a fraction of an inch closer to the earth that we'd all burn up in just a second.

If the sun moved just a fraction away from the earth we'd all freeze to death. So if you just consider the sun and the moon and the earth and you're right to ask yourself the question, how does the sun, the moon and the earth stay where they are meant to be? I don't know, excepting that the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the sustainer of all things by His powerful word. And so the question that we must ask ourselves is this, how does He do this by His powerful word?

What does that mean? Now boys and girls I want you all to listen very carefully today because you're going to hear some interesting things in the classroom as you're growing up. You're going to hear people tell you all sorts of things about how we got this world the way it is. Well evidently here Jesus Christ and God by His Spirit through His word is telling us something and what He's telling us is just this, that all the universe, everything that we know that is, is there by the hand of God. Jesus Christ has been given God's authority because of His relationship to the Father to sustain all things by His powerful word. Well what does that mean? What is His powerful word?

Three meanings, you need to write these down. You can use these, you can debate with them, you can present that to people. I'm going to give them to you on the authority of God's word. Number one, it is His spoken word. And God's word tells us that Jesus Christ sustains all things by His powerful word.

He's talking first of all about His spoken word. Now I've heard many different kinds of interesting theories in this world by many very bright and brilliant people. I've heard about big bang theories. I remember one time a number of years ago I read an article where someone was talking about how the world came into being. And I'm not trying to oversimplify but what they said was that evidently there is some kind of being out there.

You'll always notice that people who do not believe that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will always speak in generic terminology. This person said that this being, whoever he or she might be, and wherever he or she might find him or herself, decided one day to go into the playroom and there in the playroom were bits and pieces of the world. There were trees and there was water. There were mountains and earth and dust and all these other things and this being went in and said well I'll just take some water and I'll put it down there.

That will be the sea and I'll take some earth and I'll build a mountain and I'm just going to design this. Folks let me just make an announcement to you today. You know how this world came into being? God spoke. God said it is and it became. God said be and it was done.

And if there are any people in this world who would wonder by what authority the spoken word was spoken, I'm going to submit to you today that what God does as he looks down from the portals of heaven, he said you want to know by what authority this word was spoken? Well I am. Well what do you mean you are? Well I am. And I said it is.

And when I am says it is. It becomes. It is made. It is done because of who I am. I am who I am. And when God tells us by his spirit that Jesus Christ has all the authority of God the Father in sustaining this world, upholding this world by the power of his word. What he is doing is he is taking mere mortal man and he is transporting us all the way back through the eons of time into the pre-time before the foundation of the world and he makes an announcement. He says I am who I am and it is because I said so because I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am there before you've got there and I left before you left.

I am who I am. Jesus Christ sustains this world, number one, by virtue of his spoken word. Number two, by virtue of his written word. That's what I love about this book called the Bible. I love the fact that we say that we are a Bible believing church. You might say to me, pastor, there's no need to announce that.

Well, if I beg your pardon and you beg mine, I want to announce it. We are a Bible believing church. We don't believe that this word contains the word of God. We believe that this is the word of God.

We believe that we have nothing to say outside of this word. We believe that this written word of God is the complete revelation of the Godhead. Everything that we need to know about who God is, is right here in the pages of this word and when God speaks throughout the eons of time, he transports us back into the heart of his majesty and he announces to us that I want you to know that Jesus Christ is my beloved son and he sustains all things. Number one, by his word which is spoken and by his word which has been written and number three, he sustains all things by the fact of the word.

Now watch this with me today. Not just the spoken word, not just the written word, but the word. I love John chapter 1 and verse 1. In the beginning was the word. Alright, let's just think about it for 30 seconds. First of all, when is the beginning? It's in the beginning. Now we've talked about this.

It would take me 100 years to explain it to you. I'll never get there because I'm talking about God. He's in the beginning. The Bible says in the beginning was the word. Well, who is the word? The word is Jesus Christ. The word is God.

Now watch what John says. He says in the beginning was the word. The word, Jesus Christ, was with God. And the word was God, is God. What is God telling us here today? God is telling us here today, my friends, that God has revealed himself to us through his son. When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.

Who is that? That's the word. Who is the word? That is God. When Jesus Christ died upon the cross. Who died on the cross? God loved us so much. He, in Christ Jesus, was reconciling the world unto himself. What happened when we beheld him? We beheld the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. I want you to think about this. God's word tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ sustains all things by the power of his word.

Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message with Dr. Wilton in just a moment. But if you haven't been by our website, you haven't seen Is This the End? That's the message along with the book The King is Coming that is creating such a stir about, well, the world in which we live. Is this the end of times?

Again, that's the question. Is this the end? The audio and video series as well as the book The King is Coming is on our website and available right now at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. Now if you understand that, just get ready for what we're told next. Because what we are told next, my friends, is that this one who is the Son of God provided purification for our sin.

And that word they're provided for is literally the word made. He deliberately did something on our behalf. Jesus Christ did that. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not die but shall have eternal life. And so it should be no surprise that when we present the Son that there is a sixth attribute. He's not just the sustainer of all things by His powerful Word, but number six, He is the ultimate sacrifice. Now folks, if Jesus Christ is the ultimate sacrifice according to the Word of God, what does that require of us? Now I want you to really hold on here today. And by the way, we're not going to get through all of this.

It's too much. As I began to get on my knees, I began to speak to the Lord about what He was trying to tell this old preacher's heart about making purification for sin. I said, Lord, what in the world is this? God began to speak to my heart.

He said, listen to me. If you want to understand the ultimate sacrifice of the Son, you must understand a couple of things before you even get to that point. Number one, it demands of us a fresh understanding of the reality of sin. Never going to understand what this involves that Jesus Christ made or provided purification for sin if we don't understand the reality of sin. And what is the reality of sin? The reality of sin is twofold. Number one, it is conceived sinfulness. Now watch this, ladies and gentlemen.

Listen carefully. The reality of sin is conceived sinfulness. You want to understand the reality of sin? You want to understand conceived sinfulness? Just take a look at a baby. We usually get them when they smell good and they've had a good sleep and a good burp and all the other things that go with babies. But I'll tell you, go and ask the mothers. They'll tell you, you want to understand conceived sinfulness, just look at a baby. Babies are very selfish. They're inward looking. They can get mad.

Oh yes. They can cry and scream and perform. Do you know what the Bible tells us about you and me? The Bible says that we are conceived in sin.

Did you know that? Did you know the Bible says all of us have sinned, come short of the glory of God? There's not a thing in the Bible that says we are born in this world and then we learn how to sin. We don't have to learn how to sin, folks. Sin is not learned.

It's not acquired. We are sinners. We are sinners how?

By nature. We're sinners by choice. We're going to understand the reality of sin. We've got to understand conceived sinfulness. Number two, we've got to understand exceeding wickedness. Did you know the Bible tells us something about ourselves that we already know? The heart of man is exceedingly wicked. Folks, just take a look around at us and you'll discover that.

Just look around and see what happens. I tell you, when my boys were just little fellas, we had them playing in city leagues. Baseball. And I tell you, it didn't take long for my wife and I in Spartanburg to become absolutely disgusted. Not with the kids who were playing baseball.

You know what disgusted us? The parents who sat in the stands. Folks, have you ever been to a city league, little league game and just listened to the parents?

It'll break your heart. Boy, am I glad we've got some devoted coaches and parents in our city leagues who are trying to do everything they can to do what is right. But I don't mind telling you folks, I jerked my boys out of that, let them play for one season.

After that final game, we were out in Duncan Park. I said, are you crazy? I'm not going to, you lost your mind? You think I'm going to sponsor my kids to go every week, two or three times a week to watch behavior like that coming from parents? That I'm going to say, sons, let me tell you what I'm going to do. Just every week so you can hit a ball to get in the major leagues, I'm going to take you and just let you watch moms and dads behave like they do. Are you crazy?

I jerked my boys out of there like a New York second. But I'm going to tell you, you don't have to go to San Francisco to see the wickedness of the heart of man. Just look around into your and my face and you'll see it everywhere. Just listen. We must understand the reality of sin if we're going to understand the ultimate sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. But second, we must understand the penalty of sin.

Now listen carefully folks, listen carefully. We've got to have a fresh understanding of the penalty of sin. What does it mean? What is the significance of what Jesus Christ has done here? What does it mean that He's provided purification for sin? Well, we've got to understand the penalty of sin. Number one, that sin has consequences in life.

Sin has consequences in life. Folks, I tell you, sometimes my heart breaks. I remember many years ago, one of the things that I had to deal with was a man that I knew had a wife, had three beautiful children. Just had a precious home. I mean, kids this big boy, they just looked up daddy, come running when he'd drive.

I mean, just a precious home. Just one day, about eight or nine years ago, daddy just decided who cares about all of this. Start to run around on his wife and cheat and have sexual affairs. Broke everybody's heart. She said I'd forgive him, take him back.

He just withdrew more and more. I remember one day going to see him. I remember him saying these exact words to me, preacher. He said, I tell you, nothing against you personally. But I'm going to do exactly what I want to do. I'm sick and tired of this. And I don't love my wife anymore. And there's more to life than what this is all about.

And I'm going to do whatever I want to do. And folks, he went ahead and did it. I saw him about two months ago for the first time in nine, eight, nine, ten years. Hadn't laid my eyes on him. And folks, when I saw that man, I got the fright of my life. He had the marks of sin written across his face. The lights were gone. No joy. All of a sudden, all the sexual attraction seemed to have vanished. The forbidden fruit no longer had any significance.

The same man who just nine or ten years before seemingly just had all of it just laid out there, just the joy of life. Now, some ten years later, you could just see a dead man looking at you. You could just see the pain and the hurt. I'm going to say to you, my friend, if I'm going to understand that Jesus Christ has made purification for sin, I've got to understand the penalty of sin.

Sin has consequences. I will stop. Everything stop. Stop. Turn off the cameras. Stop the church.

I wish we could stop everything. Cancel lunch and everything else today just so that some of us could go to every one of the teenagers in our church. You know what I'd do if I could come up to you right now, young people?

I would beg you with everything at my disposal, don't mess up your life with sin. Some of you messing around with sex. Some of you think it's okay in a parked car. Some of you think, man, it's okay, I'll just start smoking. I'll start drinking. Doesn't matter if I just take this or do that. Don't do it, my friend. Don't do it. I'm telling you, you could parade in front of here today people from every walk of life who today would stand up and say, if I could just turn the clock back.

If I could just turn the clock back. Sin has consequences during life. Sin has consequences in death. I'm a pastor. I can't tell you the number of people on their death beds who call me over and say, pastor, I've just got to tell you something. You can feel the pain. Sin has consequences after death.

Friend, listen to me. Life is dead because of the penalty of sin. Death is dead because of the penalty of sin. God does not play games when it comes to sin. Here's what the Bible says. The wages of sin is death. So here it is, Jesus Christ is the ultimate sacrifice. God's Word puts it like this. He, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, has provided purification for our sin. Well, if we're ever going to understand this dramatic presentation, we've got to understand the reality of sin and we've got to understand the penalty of sin. But I believe that we need a fresh understanding of the death of Jesus Christ. Why?

Why? Well, number one, because His death was a deliberate act. That's why. It was a calculated act from before the foundation of the world. It was a willful act. Right throughout His ministry, Jesus kept reminding us that it had to do with the will of the Father. It was a planned act.

This purification for sin. I'm going to submit to you, my friends, it was an undeserved act. Why?

Because He took our place. You know who needed to die upon that cross? I did. You know who needs to be strung up?

I do. Because I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner by nature and I'm a sinner by choice. The heart of man is exceedingly wicked. But I'm going to tell you, beloved friends, if the death of Jesus was a deliberate act and a willful act and a planned act and an undeserved act, it was a superior act.

Because nobody else could have done it. I want to point you to Jesus Christ. That's the voice of Dr. Don Wilson. But our prayer is that you've not just heard his wonderful South African brogue, but you've heard from the Lord today. Would you open your heart not only to what you've heard him preach from the pulpit, but now as he steps in the studio to share his heart. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you've given your life to Christ, let us put resources in your hands that Dr. Don wants you to have absolutely free by calling us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Dr. Don would love for you to connect with us.

As a matter of fact, there's more that you can connect with. Here's Dr. Don about the daily encouraging word. You know, I'd love to be a part of your daily devotional. Love to be able to send you the encouraging word daily devotional and be a part of what God says to each one of us through his word every day. You can become part of that and receive one yourself from me. Just go online to TEWONLINE.ORG. That's TEWONLINE.ORG and get your copy of the encouraging word Bible devotion today. The time's gone, but we're praying together at 866-899-9673, 24 hours a day and online at TEWONLINE.ORG.