Let's turn in our Bibles this
evening to Hebrews chapter 2. It's a beautiful, beautiful hymn we
just finished singing, wasn't it? Pretty tune and wonderful
words, wonderful truth. Hebrews chapter 2. The last time
we looked at the first four verses, And we said that in those four
verses, we have a warning. The apostle, the writer, sounds
a warning for those who might be guilty of neglecting so great
a salvation. If the word of angels was steadfast
and sure, the word spoken by angels, then how much greater
the word spoken unto us in his son. Let's read verses five through
13. For unto the angels hath he not
put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified,
saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son
of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower
than the angels, thou crownest him with glory and honor, and
didst set him over the works of thy hands. thou hast put all
things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all
in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under
him. But now we see not yet all things
put under him, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man. For it became him for whom are
all things and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons
unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause he
is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. I want to begin tonight by calling
your attention to the first few words in verse, or the last few
words in verse five, the world to come, the world to come. What did the writer mean by that,
the world to come? Well, the majority of the writers
are all in agreement that this refers to this present gospel
dispensation. In the verses that we looked
at last time, we saw a contrast between the word spoken by angels
and the gospel, which at the first began to be spoken by the
Lord. And I pointed out that when we
read here, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
those words are in in the verses we looked at last time, it doesn't
mean that the gospel was not preached until the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world. What that means is simply this,
that the gospel was fully revealed. All those promises, those prophecies,
and those shadows and types were made manifest by the appearing
of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But now when he speaks
of the world to come, in Hebrews 9 and verse 26, we read, for
now, once in the end of the world, once in the end of the world,
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,
once in the end of the world. Well, that was 2,000 years ago,
plus since the Lord Jesus Christ appeared. What world was he speaking
of? He was speaking of the Jewish
world, once in the end of the world, the end of the Jewish
world. With its worldly sanctuary, its
worldly ordinances had come to an end. The types which were
shadows of good things to come were all fulfilled by the coming
of Jesus Christ. John Gill commented, the gospel
state, the gospel state is very properly the world to come with
respect to the Old Testament saints who were looking for it
and in which all things are passed away. Those old things of that
old covenant, that old sanctuary, the tabernacle, the temple, those
offerings, those sacrifices, they've all passed away. They've
all been fulfilled. through the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So the world to come in this
text is what I like to refer to as this gospel dispensation. And the apostle says that God
has not put in subjection to angels this world to come, this
gospel dispensation. It was not put into subjection
to the angels, but to the captain of our salvation. Now, if it
is as I believe the world to come refers to this gospel dispensation,
or it is the world to come, that is the new heavens and the new
earth. But this statement is true of both. Neither one did
God put in subjection the world now or the world to come if it's
a future state to the angels. He did not, as that verse tells
us, for unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the
world to come, whereof we speak. So whether it's this gospel dispensation
or the eternal state, it was not, God did not put either of
them in subjection to the angels. That's the point that we want
to make. Now we have a title given to
the Lord Jesus Christ in these verses that we do not see anywhere
else in the New Testament, and that title is in verse 10, the
captain of their salvation. The word captain, according to
Strong's Concordance, means the chief leader, author, captain,
or prince. It's only used one other time,
the Greek word, it's only used one other time in the letter
of Hebrews. And that's in chapter 12, in
verse 2, which says, looking unto the author and finisher
of our faith. So the translator shows here,
rather than translate it, the author of their faith and the
captain of their faith. You know the word captain, it's
a military term, isn't it? It's a military term. When we
hear the word captain, we think of a the captain in the army
or something like that. In Exodus chapter 15 in verse
3, after the Lord Jesus, after the Lord delivered the nation
of Israel, first by blood, Passover lamb, then by power, as he brought
them through the Red Sea, and as they are on the other side
and see all of their enemies destroyed in the Red Sea, they
sing a hymn of praise unto God. And one of the lines in that
hymn is, the Lord is a man of war. He's a man of war. The Lord is his name. He came
into this world and he defeated our enemies. He is a man of war. And our great enemy, Satan, was
dealt a death blow at the cross. And death was dealt a death blow. He conquered death by his death. And we know that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the captain of our salvation. Now, tonight what
I want to do, I want to look at four things in these verses
that we read here, verses five through 13. Four things which
are true of the captain of our salvation. Four things that are
true, that are stated in these verses that are true of the captain
of our salvation. First, the captain of our salvation
has all things in subjection to him. The captain of our salvation,
the Lord Jesus Christ, he has all things in subjection to him. There's nothing that is not under
his dominion, under his rule. Notice those words again, or
those verses again, beginning with verse six. But one in a
certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful
of him? Or the son of man, that thou
visitest him? Now the writer knew, when we
read here one in a certain place, he knew who he was quoting. This
is just a figure of speech that was common among the Jews. We
see it in other places. We know that he's referring to
Psalm chapter eight. If you'd turn back there with
me, in Psalm chapter eight, just a moment. Psalm chapter eight. Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is thy name in all the earth. who has set thy glory above the
heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies,
that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I
consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon, and
the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful
of him? And the son of man, that thou
visitest him. For thou has made him a little
lower than the angels and has crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion,
dominion, rule, authority over the works of thy hands. Thou
has put all things under his feet. Now, some people say, well,
he's speaking about Adam. No, he's not speaking about Adam.
And the way we know that is because the word man, in verse four,
what is man? That word means a frail, a weak,
a frail, mortal man. That's not the word that is used
in Genesis chapter one, which tells us, so God created man
in his own image. Adam, as he came from the hands
of his creator, he was not a frail, mortal man. He really wasn't. And he certainly could not have
been called the son of man. He was the first man. What is
man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that
thou visitest him? This is not speaking of Adam,
but it is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And everything
here fits him. You say frail and mortal? Remember
what Isaiah, in his prophecy, said, a tender plant, a tender
plant. You know, when we plant our gardens,
we set out some plants, they're very tender, aren't they? And
after a few days, if you can protect them from the insects
and things, then they get stronger. But the Lord Jesus Christ, when
he came into this world, was as a tender plant. and as a root
out of a dry ground, the scripture says, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. And this term, what is man that
they aren't mindful of him and the son of man. Now that's the
term, son of man. We read it just a few minutes
ago when he was speaking to Nicodemus. He called, he referred to himself
as the son of man. And you read through the Gospels,
and that's the term the Lord Jesus Christ used when referring
to himself more than any other term. The Son of Man. The Son of Man. So this psalm
here is speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, and the apostle,
the writer of Hebrews, quotes it. And you notice what he said,
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast
crowned him with glory and honor. thou madest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands, thou hast put all things under
his feet. The word was made flesh. John chapter 1. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh.
He was made a little lower than the angels. Man, I should say, is lower than
the angels. And so Christ was made, the Son
of God, rather, was made a little lower than the angels. You know, a good commentary,
turn back, if you will, to Hebrews 2. Verse 6, the writer said, But
one in a certain place testified, we saw who that one was, it was
David, and it was in Psalm 8. And he testified, saying, What
is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that
thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower
than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands.
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He
put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put
under Him. But now we see not yet all things
put under Him, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for
every man." A good commentary on these verses. quoted from
Psalm 8, is Philippians chapter 2. Very familiar passage of scripture
to all of us here. If you want to turn back to Philippians
chapter 2, beginning with verse 6, the verse begins with who,
and it has reference to Christ Jesus in verse 5. Christ Jesus
who, being in the form of God, the
eternal Son of God, of the same essence as the Father and the
Holy Spirit, who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He is in every
way one with the Father, equal with the Father, equal with the
Holy Spirit, but made himself We see him condescending, don't
we, to come into this world, the eternal son of God, the son
of glory. He made himself of no reputation,
but took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of man. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Now notice, wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him, given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father. the same glory that He had with
the Father, that is, as the Eternal Son, now the God-man is crowned
with glory and honor. All things, all things, get that
in your mind, hold on to that, all things are in subjection
to the Captain of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not
some weak wannabe savior, my friends. He is the captain of
our salvation. He is the one who's been crowned
with all authority. He said to his disciples, all
power, all authority is given unto me both in heaven. Think
about that. In heaven he has all authority,
both in heaven and on earth. All things are put in subjection
to him. All things, the captain of our
salvation, all things. In 1 Corinthians 15, in verse
27, the apostle said, for he hath put all things under his
feet. And there in that passage, of
course, he reminds us that God is excluded. God is not under
him, but all things are put under the Lord Jesus Christ. The writer
here says we do not see all things but under Him. Many times we
wonder how it can be, how that everything is under His control,
under His rule, under His authority, and yet things happen. But my
friends, we walk by faith and not by sight. And when we take
our eyes off of Him and place them on circumstances and happenstances
and things like that, we're going to be discouraged and nonplussed
by the things that we experience as we go through this life. We see him with the eye of faith.
When I think of the Lord Jesus Christ, I don't want to picture
his face or anything like that, but when I think of the Lord
Jesus Christ, I think of him seated on the throne of God.
We see Jesus, don't we? By faith, we see him. We see
him on the very throne of God at the right hand of God. The
scepter is in his hand and all things are under his feet. Now
the second thing we see here in this passage concerning the
captain of our salvation, the captain of our salvation by the
grace of God tasted death for every man. You see that in the
last part of verse nine. who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man. Now, it could have been nothing
other, think about this, he tasted death, he died. It could have
been nothing other than God's grace God's wonderful grace,
God's amazing grace. It could have been nothing other
than God's amazing grace that moved him to deliver his son
up to death. His love moved him. His grace moved him. It couldn't
have been anything else. It was not because of any anger.
It was not because of any anger that God had concerning his son. In fact, he said many times,
or two times, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. But it was God's love, his grace
that moved him to provide him to be the ransom. We're so thankful tonight, right? That verse in Job. where God
speaking, deliver him. Think of that. This is what he
said about you if you're one of his children tonight. Deliver
him. Deliver her from going down to
the pit, to hell. Why? I have found a ransom. And he is the ransom. He provided
the ransom. God rejoices in himself in making
that statement, doesn't he? I have found a ransom. One that
is sufficient and efficient, a ransom for my people. Now,
some have used this verse here as proof that he died for all
men without exception. Well, let me explain this now. The truth is that the word man,
and you can check this with the commentators, but the word man
is not in the text at all. The translators have added the
word man. If it was just a literal translation,
it would be that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every. There's no man in the text. But
if there were, it has to be understood in the light of the context. He tasted death for the many
sons that He brings to glory. Notice that in verse 10. In bringing many sons unto glory. For whom did He taste death?
For the many sons that He's going to bring to glory. And then in
verses 11 and 12, He tasted death for those He calls His brethren.
Notice that in verses 11 and 12. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. He tasted death for those that
he refers to as his brethren. And not only that, but he tasted
death for those that are called his children in verse 13. And
again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and
the children which God hath given me. He tasted death for each
and every one of his elect, those who were given to him as his
children. Remember, one of his titles is
the Everlasting Father. And he's called the Everlasting
Father because he has a seed, a spiritual seed, his children. And he tasted death for his children,
for the many sons that he brings to glory. Now the third thing
that we're told here about the captain of our salvation. In
verse 11, we read that the captain of our salvation is not ashamed
to call the sanctified his brethren. Look at that in verse 11, for
both he that sanctifies and they who are Sanctified are all of
one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Let me ask this question. How
is anyone sanctified? Well, no one sanctifies himself.
That's for sure. None is sanctified by himself.
No one's sanctified by his own efforts. No one's sanctified
by his works. Men are sanctified as we are
in union with Christ, one with Him. This is what the verse says. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, one body. He's the head. We are all of
one body. It is being one with Him, or
Him being one with us. He is made unto us, as Paul says
in 1 Corinthians 1, to believers, He's made unto us wisdom. In
Him we see how it is that God may be just and justify fallen
men and women. He is the wisdom of God. But He's also made unto us righteousness. He's our justification. And He's made unto us sanctification. And He's made unto us redemption. And that refers to the day when
He will come again with a shout, with a voice of the archangel
and the bodies of those saints that have turned back to the
dust shall be redeemed from the grave and those who are alive
shall be changed in a moment to be caught up in the air to
forever be with Him. When the Roman soldier, we read
about this in the Gospel of John, the Roman soldier, after the
Lord Jesus Christ had already bowed his head and dismissed
his spirit, in control, in control of his life, he said, I've received
this commandment from my father. I have both power to lay my life
down and I have power to take it again. No man taketh it from
me. When he saw and said, it is finished,
everything that God required, the work which the Father gave
him to do, when it was finished, it was then that he cried with
a loud voice, it is finished. And he commended his spirit into
the hand of God. But then that Roman soldier,
you remember, They came, they were going to break his legs.
They broke the legs of those two others who were crucified
that day. And they did that to speed up
their death because the crucifixion hanging there on the cross, the
feet could somehow support the body some. And so they would
break their legs and then the body would fall down so that
the lungs would be crushed and the person would die. But you
remember they came to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was already
dead, but they didn't break his bones, did they? Why? Because the scripture said, not
a bone of his body shall be broken. You remember the Passover lamb?
How they fixed it, and they roasted it, and ate it, but they didn't
break any bones. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us. But then, that Roman soldier
came, and he had a spear, and he plunged that into the side
of the Savior. And John tells us, and he was
an eyewitness there, he tells us, being, Well, I'm looking for the verse. Forthwith, when he plunged that
spear into his side, forthwith came thereout blood and water. They always go together, always,
blood and water. Blood represents justification. as the apostle Paul wrote in
Romans 3, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption,
the blood, the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The water
represents sanctification. Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word. Everyone who is
justified is sanctified. They're Siamese twins. They always
go together, always. Christ is our righteousness and
Christ is our sanctification. And notice it says, the captain
of our salvation is not ashamed to call them brethren, those
that are sanctified. For both he that sanctifies and
they who are sanctified are all one, for which cause he is not
ashamed to call them The Lord Jesus called his disciples, his
brethren, several times in the Gospels. Once, when he was in
a home teaching, and someone came to him and got word to him
and told him, your mother and your brethren, that is his siblings,
those other sons of Mary and Joseph. He was not a son of Joseph,
he was a son of Mary, right? She had other children. And they
told him, your mother and your brethren are outside. And he
said, who is my mother and my brothers? But he that heareth
the word and doeth it. He's not ashamed to call us his
brethren. After his resurrection, when
we might think, if at any time he had cause to
be ashamed to call them brethren, It was after his resurrection.
They all had forsook him. Peter, one of them, had denied
with curses that he even knew him. But what did the Lord tell
Mary? He said, go tell my brethren,
go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee and there they
shall see me. And the fourth and last thing
we see here about, now there's more here about the captain of
our salvation, but the fourth thing I want to point out is
the captain of our salvation, trusted in God. Notice that in
verse 13. And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold I and the children
which God hath given me. Why is that important? Why is
it important to point out that the captain of our salvation
trusted in God? It's important because it shows
us that he was a man. Yes, he's God, but he's also
man. And as man, he trusted in God. Even when he cried on the cross,
being forsaken of God, he still trusted, my God, my God. He still trusted in him. He quotes from Psalm 18, a Psalm
of David, but it spoke also of David's greater son, the Lord.
It is as the everlasting father that he has given his spiritual
seed, that is his children. And as many, verse 10 says, they
are many, verse 10, for it became him for whom are all things and
by whom are all things and bringing many. I like that word many. Don't you? You know, sometimes
people accuse us because the Bible teaches, and we declare
it, that God chose a people, and God's saving His people.
But sometimes people say, well, you just believe only a few are
going to be saved. I don't believe that. I believe
many are going to be saved. I believe as many as the Father
gave unto the Son, there's not one of them that's going to be
lost. Why? Because He died for them. I can't imagine anyone for whom
Christ is dying not being saved. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. Not one shall be lost. Not one. I trust the Lord would bless
these thoughts to all of us here this evening. We're going to
sing another hymn. Bill, if you will, come.