Hebrews chapter 2. The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration
of the Spirit of God, had set forth In verse 11 of this second
chapter, he said, 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. And then in the next two verses,
he says something. We're going to look at in just
a minute what he said. He that sanctified. He that sanctifies. Now, sanctification
is, scripturally speaking, it is a setting apart. It's a distinguishing,
is what it is. It's a distinguishing, a setting
apart for holy purposes. And the Scripture sets forth
that in sanctification, the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit is involved
in this sanctification. The Scripture says in Jude, the
first verse, Jude the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of
James to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved
in Jesus Christ and called." Now, the Father, the Scripture
sets forth, sanctified His people. And the way that He sanctified
is set them apart show distinguishing mercy to them was in election. Only God's sheep, only the beloved
of the Father are set apart in election. They're
sanctified. They're shown distinguishing
grace. So we're sanctified by the Father
In election, the Scripture sets forth that
we are sanctified by the Son, Ephesians 5, 25-27. Husbands,
love your wives, even as 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, that He might present it to Himself,
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish." The Lord Jesus
Christ is said to sanctify His church in redemption. He only died for the sheep. They
were set apart. They were shown special mercy. grace in redemption. So the Father sanctified them
in choosing them. Only they, only they are the
elect of God. The Lord Jesus Christ sanctified
them in redemption. He died only for His sheep. And then the Scripture sets forth
that we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit, 2 Thessalonians
2, 3, but we are bound to give thanks All the way to God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth." We are sanctified by the Spirit
of God in regeneration. He regenerates those that the
Father chose and those that the Son redeemed and only The elect
of God, the sheep that were redeemed, only they are effectually called
out in regeneration. So they are set apart. So He
that sanctified God Almighty, Father, Son, and
Spirit, and they that are sanctified, they are all of one. And because
they are all of one, because they are sanctified, set apart
in electing grace, redeeming grace, regenerating grace, He
is not ashamed, the Scripture says, to call them brethren,
saying, verse 12 says, this is what He says, not ashamed. He says, first of all, I will
declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. Now here is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking to the Father on the behalf of His elect. I'm not ashamed to call them
brethren. They've everlastingly been loved
by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father chose them. The Son redeemed them. The Holy
Spirit will surely in time call all that the Father has given
the Son. He'll call them out of darkness. All that the Father
has given Me, they will, they shall come to Me. And He that
cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. I'm not ashamed to
call them brethren. This is what I'm going to do.
I will declare, the Lord Jesus Christ says to the Father, I
will declare thy name unto my brethren. That's a quote out
of Psalm 22. You know, if you're ashamed of
someone, you don't want to speak of them. You're ashamed of them. You just
don't talk about that. But he said, I'm not ashamed
to call them brethren. Father, I will declare Thy name
unto my brethren. He's the Apostle. He is the Apostle. He is from the Father to His
people. I am not ashamed of these that
You have given Me. I am going to declare Your name
unto them, and faithfully." That is what the second chapter of
the third verse, it was faithful to Him that appointed Him. Faithful. I will declare Thy name. Now
here is the Lord Jesus Christ standing on resurrected ground
speaking of the assuredness that the elect will surely know."
The mind, the will, the purpose of the Father. Only by the declaration
of the Lord Jesus Christ would the sheep ever know the name,
the character, the will, the purpose, the counsel of the Father. How would we have known except
the Apostle himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Apostle?
How would we know except He told us? I'm not ashamed to call them
brethren. I'm going to tell them, Father,
who You are. I'm going to declare Thy name
unto my brethren. Notice the distinguishing word
there. I'm going to teach them. I'm
going to allow them by my Spirit to hear my voice. And they'll
come to me. And all that hear will hear because
I've given them ears to hear. All the glorious truths of the
Father. Matthew 11. 25 and 26 says that not all hear. Now, some hear with ears. Natural
ears. Many hear with natural ears.
But they don't all hear. Listen to this. At that time,
Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in Thy sight. It was the Father's will
that the Lord Jesus Christ come into this world as the Apostle,
as the Prophet, and that He Himself would declare unto His people
the Father. The words that I speak, I speak
what I have heard Him say. The great Prophet. I am not ashamed. They are going to hear. They
are going to hear the proclamation of the Father Himself. And where
does he proclaim this? I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto
thee. Now I don't doubt for one second,
here we are, we're assembled together and we're meeting and
we've come this evening to hear, to hear from the Lord. We want
some comfort. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. How many times do you think that
we'll hear a Scripture expounded on, you'll read a Scripture in
the Bible, and the Spirit of God will speak to you, and you'll
believe it, you'll rest on it, you'll wait on it, He trusted
you. Your faith is built on His Word. Faith cometh by hearing with
ears made to hear, and this hearing is by the Word of God. That which
we know, we've heard it from Him. Because He's declared it
in the midst of the church. So we're here this evening. We're
here. We're hearing. But there's many
times in the midst of the church that we're not assembled together.
And you're by yourself. You're in your car. You're at
home. You're waking up in the middle
of the night. And you think back. Think what
you've heard. Think what you've read. Think
the Scriptures that the Spirit of God brings back to your memory. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
by His Spirit Speaking, he said, in the midst of the church, will
I sing praise unto thee. Now, strangers to the truth,
they may go through the outward forms of religion. They may mouth the words out
of the hymnals and sing the words of the songs of Zion just like
anybody else. But I'm telling you, that there's
a song that the Spirit of God puts in the heart of God's people.
The harp is spoken of in Revelation. The harp of their heart that
sings the songs of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
this singing of praise, I will sing praise unto Thee. I mean,
there's times when we read, We sing. We speak. And our heart is just rejoicing
in the glory of what we hear, what we know. I've said before,
there's times that I think for just a moment, that maybe for
just a moment, I think I almost heard something. I think I just... And it seems like in those moments
that I'm just not able to control my emotions. And I think that
is so good. I was reading something the other
day by one of the old Puritans. And he said, you know, I think
there's times that I find myself truly believing that the Lord's
done something for me. He said, Every once in a while,
I think I truly hunger to eat of the bread of heaven." He said,
I think I do. That's the way a believer talks.
They're just beggars. They hear the words of Christ
declared in the name of the Father, and they know Him. He's real to them. They've seen Him by the eyes
of faith and they truly believe, I will see Him that has loved
me and gave Himself for me. He will forever declare that
God head to me. And I truly know that when I
do sing praise, when I have a heart to truly want to Give glory to
Him that it's the Spirit of God that sings within my heart. I
don't have the ability to be able to conjure up the ability. I need faith given to
me right now to trust Him, to sing praises to Him, to truly
long after Him. cometh, cometh. And you've heard
that that is a continual thing. It's not it's not something that
we grasp hold of and we've had for 45 years or, you know, 20
years or whatever it is. And we've just kind of built
on it, you know, we've just kind of we've always got it. No, it
cometh. It cometh. And it's not perfected, not in
this life. Lord, I believe. Help mine unbelief. Faith is that which is given
and grows. It's increasing. It's given unto
you to believe. I will sing praise unto thee. And again, Here's another thing
he said in verse 13. I will put my trust in Him. That's
a quote out of Psalm 18. The Lord is my rock and my fortress
and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust,
my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower.
Here is the immovable confidence of the Lord Jesus Christ. in
the Father as our representative, the glorious Son of Man. He who is one with His people. That's what He said back in verse
11. He that sanctifies them, they
who are sanctified are all of one. Father, You sent Me. into this
world, you appointed me." He was appointed. Appointed. Look at verse 2 of chapter 3
of this chapter, I mean of this book. Verse 1, Wherefore, holy
brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle
and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful
to Him that appointed Him. He was appointed to be the Apostle
and the High Priest. Faithful. Faithful. He came into this world, humbled
himself, made himself, the Scripture says, of no reputation, conceived by the Holy Spirit. in the womb of a virgin. Nine months. Nine months in the womb of a
virgin. Depended on her. Depended on
that woman for His sustenance. any other
man, any other woman. Came forth just like anybody
else, nourished by her during the nine
months of His growth within her womb, nursed at her. This woman that was made by Him took care of him. That's what they said. They referred
to him. This is the carpenter. Worked
by the sweat of his brow. Taught all of his human faculties. He grew in wisdom. He increased
in wisdom. He learned in time, the man,
and at the same time, God Almighty. Now, we're just not going to
grasp hold of that. We're just not going to enter
into that. Gray is the mystery of godliness. God manifests in
the flesh. He increased in wisdom, knowledge, Favor God in me." Oh, the humility of him that
says, I will put my trust in Him. He studied the Scriptures
by faith. By faith he walked. By absolute
faith. He trusted His Father. I will
put my trust in Him. Tread this world as our perfect
representative, the Man, Christ Jesus. And acted before Almighty
God in absolute obedience. My meat, my food is to do the
will of Him that sent me." And to realize that or to talk about,
just to say it, I mean, it's just beyond my comprehension
as he grew, increased in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and
man, and not one time The Scripture sets forth, and I know this,
based on His Word, I do only always those things that please
Him. And based on the Father that said at His baptism and
on the Mount of Transfiguration, this is my beloved Son whom I
am well pleased. Never, never, never deviated
in His obedience. I will put my trust in Him."
Lived a life of faith thirty years, bearing in His body, in
His soul, bearing before Almighty God the weight, the burden of
the frailty of this flesh Weighed down, a man of sorrows. That's what we just sang about.
A man of sorrows. What a name for the Son of God
who came. Bore all the infirmities of His
people. And in absolute obedience, never
deviated in that obedience. I will put
my trust in Him. Oh, that right there would be charged
to me. And that the union that I have
with Him is such that that what He says that I in Him can say
to Him. His righteousness imputes to
me. In Christ, I say, I will put my trust in Him. I can rest in Him. As the living Father hath sent
me, the Lord said in John 6.57, and I live by the Father. So
He that eateth me, even He shall live in me. I live of the Father
and He that eats of me. He that believes Me, He of whom
I am His bread, He lives. As He walked, we walk. The fellowship with the Lord
Jesus Christ is to walk by faith, believing that He is my representative. What's all your hope? David,
this is all my hope right here. He made an everlasting covenant
with me, ordered and all things ensured. He's not afraid to call
us brethren. Not ashamed. Made a little lower
than the angels that He might be the captain
of our salvation and that He would be made perfect, shown
to be qualified in that He suffered. So this is what He said. He said,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the
church while I sing praise unto thee. I will praise thee. The praises of His people initiated,
prompted by, moved by Him, Christ in you. Where do you think we
get the heart? to praise Him for what He's done
for us. He said, I will sing unto thee. I will praise thee. The Lord's people sanctified
by the Father in election, sanctified by the Son in redemption, sanctified
by the Spirit of God in regeneration. I'm telling you, there's a new
man inside. I'll give them a new heart. I'll
give them a new spirit. And that sanctification and regeneration,
that don't grow. Progressive sanctification? No. No. No, we grow in grace. And
that is to grow in the knowledge of what He's done. But you don't
grow in holiness. How does perfection grow? We are perfect in Him. Oh, we
are still bound to this old flesh. This flesh right here. This is an amazing thing. We
are in a body that is absolutely going to be the body in which
you are going to spend eternity. It's going to be sown in corruption,
but it's going to be raised in incorruption. It's going to be
changed. It's going to be changed, Paul
said. But I'm telling you, you look, as I said before, you look
at the Lord Jesus Christ. When He went into the ground,
what body did He come out in? We're going to be like Him. Sown
in weakness, raised in power. but it's the same body. He'll
go through eternity. And we will be with Him who came
out of the grave in the same body that the Apostle saw Him
on the seashore and He called to Him and He had Him some fish
and He ate that fish. This body is going to be renewed. It's
going to be changed. It's going to be a new one. But
there's a spirit, a heart that is given that does not grow.
It doesn't change. That new man, it won't change. That's the life. Paul said, O
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? But not the body of that new
man. that which is flesh is flesh,
that which is spirit is spirit. Neither one of them change. And
then he said lastly, and again, Behold, I and the children which
God hath given me. Here he is speaking to the Father. He says to the Father, I'm going
to declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while
I sing praise unto thee. I'm going to put my trust in
him. And then he who is not ashamed to call us brethren says, Behold,
I and the children which God hath given me." You know, that has such a sweet
sound to it. Father, all that You gave me in everlasting, eternal election. Those that were betrothed to
me in that eternal marriage. He is our husband. He had to have always had a bride. He has everlastingly loved his
people. I mean, marriage as we know it,
it was a great mystery. After Adam fell in the garden,
the Father revealed to Adam and Eve this
thing of marriage. And it was a picture of what
had everlastingly been established by the Lord Jesus Christ and
His Bride. Marriage didn't come into being
for no reason. Paul says this is a great mystery,
but I speak of Christ and His church. It was always declared
by the Father it's not good that the man should be alone. Gave Him a bride. In the indescribable wisdom of
Almighty God, the Father gave the Son a bride in electing
grace. And eternally, the Lord Jesus
Christ in the eternal purpose and will of Almighty God, before
He ever actually came in time into union with humanity, the Messiah was ever before the
Father. I was ever before His face. He
was daily my delight. I was daily His delight. And He said our thoughts, our
speakings, our rejoicing was with the sons of men. Always
speaking of the joy and the redemption of those The Father had given
the Son, the union, their eternally being with Him. And now here
He is, coming to the Father, and He says unto him, Behold,
I, the One you everlastingly trusted, He who trusted in Christ
first, who first trusted in Christ, your servant. I, the prophet
you sent. I, the apostle. I, the great high priest of all
that you everlastingly loved and gave me to redeem. Here they are. And I've not lost one. that the Father giveth me shall
come to me. And he that comes to me, I will
in no wise cast him out." In that day, that great day, to
stand and to hear the words of our
blessed Savior, But to say that, I and the children
that You gave Me, here they are, holy, without spot, without blemish,
robed in His righteousness. Oh, what a day! May the Lord bless these words
to our heart. May we understand and be taught
something. Faith cometh by this. Faith cometh
by hearing. Hearing the Word of God. This
is what faith believes. It believes God. It believes
Christ. It believes God's Word. You that believe. You believe
this. We don't want to make an idol
in our mind, but I'm telling you in our eye of faith, if I
can say it like that, You've seen this tonight. You've seen
it. And you rejoice in it for Christ's
sake. Amen.