Hebrews chapter 2. The book of Hebrews, as with all of God's Word, is
a book about Jesus Christ. This book is about who he is
and what he did and where he is now, from beginning to end. This book is subject. Christ is the subject. This is
his book. He wrote it, and it's all about
him. It's for his glory. It tells
of his power, his glory, his work, and what that means to
us. And it does mean something to
every one of us. either life or death. In the
first chapter of Hebrews, he begins to tell us who this was
that walked this planet. He wasn't no mere ordinary man.
He tells us in the first chapter that the one who came and walked
here and spoke here was none other than, in verse 2 of chapter
1, the Son of God Himself. manifest in the flesh, God's
only begotten well-beloved Son. And he says here that he has
spoken unto us by his Son. God hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son. And he talks about angels in
chapter 1. He talks about them again in
chapter 2. He talks about angels which are
glorious and powerful creatures themselves. God used angels throughout the Old Testament and the New
to do great things, and Revelation talks about him using the angels,
seven of them, to destroy the universe. And he said one of
those angels could destroy a fourth of the earth. And then he says
when these angels spoke, he says God spoke through prophets, and
then he spoke through angels, and in his last days spoke unto
us by his Son. And now look down at chapter
2, verse 1. And because of who this was that
spoke, who this was that came, and what he said. In chapter
2, verse 1, he says, Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should
let them slip or let it slide in our modern language. He says, Because of who this
was that came and what he said, we ought to listen very carefully,
earnest heed. is what he calls it here, serious
attention, serious consideration. We ought to hear it as though
our very lives depended upon it. And they do. They do. So we ought to give
the more earnest heed because of who it was that spoke. Now,
we ought to listen to anybody who speaks out of mere kindness
and courtesy, shouldn't we? We ought to listen to anybody
that speaks. talking to us. We ought to listen
to them. A little child is speaking to
us. We ought to listen to them. Right? We just read that psalm
that says that he's ordained strength. God can teach us something
from a little child, can't he? I've learned. We ought to listen
to young people. We ought to listen to our parents.
Young people ought to listen to their parents. That's commanded. It would be well with them if
they do. We ought to listen to civil authorities who are ordained
of God, all authorities of God, right on up the line. No matter
what we may think of who it is in office, we ought to listen
to them, whether it be just in city, county, government, all
up to the governor, the president and so forth. We ought to listen,
shouldn't we? God is speaking. God's Son is speaking. And he said he speaks through men
in situations like this this morning. It's up to him, and
it remains to be seen or heard. But God is speaking right here. Regardless of what I say, we're
reading these verses, and he said this. And so he says, therefore,
we ought to give the more earnest heed, serious consideration,
our undivided attention to the things which we have heard, lest
at any time we let them slip. Now, that let them slip means
unless they just kind of run out, kind of slip away on us. traveling, one of the tires on
the car we were riding in had a slow leak in it. We didn't
know it. We parked for the night and woke up the next morning
and it was flat. That's what it means to slip
or slide away. One minute it's full, the next
minute it's gone. Our Lord talked of the Word as a seed. Remember, he gave that parable
of the sower that went forth to sow, and he sowed the seed
everywhere, and it fell on different types of ground. He said the
seed fell by the wayside. A wayside, and the fowls came
and took the seed away. And he said that that wayside
here, that seed, is the Word of God. And he said that wayside
here is one who hears the Word. It goes in these ears, having
ears to hear. It goes in these ears. But then he said the evil
one comes and steals away the word, even while it's being heard,
like right this minute. It happens to every one of us.
We're all wayside hearers at one point or another. This is
God's Word we're looking at here. We ought to give more earnest
heed when we sit down and this word is open before us. We ought
to, with undivided attention, as if our lives depended upon
it, give earnest heed to the things we are, lest at any time
something come and take it away. He talked about thorny ground.
Our Lord said the seed sometimes fell among thorns, and he said
that's the cares of this world. Choke it out, and surely someone
in here right this very moment, as I even tell this parable,
is thinking about something else. Our Lord says we ought to give
earnest heed because of who is speaking and what he is talking
about, what he is saying. All right? We ought to. Well,
I tell you this, it gives more grace. If we'd ask at this very
moment, Lord, whatever it is, it's choking out the Word. I'm
having a hard time here. I'm praying that even as I speak.
If things hinder me, that's what it means to pray
without ceasing, because this thing is flesh lusts against
the Spirit, so that we cannot do the things that we would.
And this is the thing necessary right now, needful. bring into captivity every thought
and imagination into the captivity of Christ. All right? So he says
we ought to give more earnest heed lest at any time we let
them slip. Verse 2. 4, he says, If the word spoken
by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape,
if we in neglect so great So great salvation. What we're talking
about here and what I'm speaking of and attempting, pitiful as
it may seem to you, to proclaim, to preach, is this great salvation that we ought to give more earnest
heed to. There's nobody in here, the preacher
included, who's got this down pat. Paul said, I haven't arrived
yet, but this one thing I do, I press. I press. with this high calling. The word,
he says, spoken by angels. Now, he's talking about when
God gave the law from Mount Sinai. When God gave the law to Moses,
the Scripture says in the Psalms that it was attended by ten thousand
of his saints. In other words, when Moses went
up to get those tablets of stone, just tablets of stone, but on
it were God wrote with his very finger the law of God. And it
says that 10,000 angels came and attended that, or all around. And the children of Israel, Moses
came down and presented this to them and said, God wrote this
with his very finger. This is the Word of God. I stood right there as God wrote
it with his finger. and ten thousand angels were
all around me. Here it is, the word of God.
Let's keep it, will you say?" And they said, That's good, that's
good, and then after a while they just kind of let it slip. That's what he said. And it says
that every one of them received a just recompense of reward. In other words, for forgetting
the word, for disregarding it. for going after other things, for being ungrateful, for not
being devoted and committed. Scripture says they sat down
to eat and drink and rose up to play. It says they received a just
recompense. Isn't it just of God? Put away those ungrateful people.
So it will be with us if we hear so great a salvation and neglect
it and let it slip and say it's not important and go after other
things. This salvation, this gospel we're
talking about, he calls it a great salvation. Great salvation. He's talking about the gospel
here. Why does he call it a great salvation? declare this right now, why does
he call it so great salvation? I wish I could declare it, but
these eyes haven't seen it, and these ears haven't heard it.
Paul could. He came down after hearing it,
and he said, Oh, I heard things, and therefore he could really
preach. But I hadn't seen, the ear hadn't heard, and neither
have any in our hearts the things that God had prepared for them
that love him. Scripture says this is so great salvation. It's
great because this great gospel, this great salvation, this so
great thing that God did is great because of who did it? Because God did it. And the great
mercy and the great grace that He's shown to men and women in
doing such a thing, saving men and women. I'm not talking about
A few, we're talking about a number which no man can number. It would be great and infinite
mercy if God saved one of this human race, just one. Nobody
deserves this salvation. And if God, in his purpose before
the world began, determined to save just one person, he said,
there's just one person I'm going to save, it would have been great
mercy, wouldn't it? If God had determined to choose
just one person before the world began, said, I'm going to elect
one person to salvation, just one, and send the rest of them
to hell, it would have been great mercy. And that person would
have to sing throughout eternity, one voice at the top of his lungs
throughout eternity, great is thy faithfulness, great is thy
grace, great is thy mercy, great salvation to me, this undeserving
sinner. It's a great thing that God has
done. It's great because God did it. It's great because we
don't deserve it. It's great because of what it
took to do it, the cost of it, the blood and the sweat and tears
of Christ, the infinite cost of it. But God has not chosen
just one. He's chosen a number which no
man can number. It's great salvation. He says, how shall we escape
if we neglect it? Neglect so great a salvation.
How shall we escape? Read on. Which at the first began
to be spoken by the Lord. See there, he's talking about
Christ. He says he's the one that began to tell us about it. And it was confirmed unto us
by them that heard him. I believe the writer here is
the Apostle Paul. And he says this gospel was was
told by Christ himself, God himself in human flesh. He began to speak
this gospel, and it was confirmed unto us by his apostles that
heard him. These God-called men, these men
whom Christ equipped and sent out with the gospel, these men
whom Christ said, If they hear you, they'll hear me, whom God
spoke through. Read on, it says, God bearing
witness with them, God also bearing them witness both with signs
and wonder and with different miracles and gifts of the Holy
Ghost according to his will, according to his own will. The
apostles had gifts of the Holy Spirit which men have not had
since then, nor ever will have. These signs and these wonders. And so it's evident that God
was speaking through them. So what did the apostle say in here?
He's saying we ought to listen. We ought to give careful consideration,
earnest heed to the things we've heard, because God gave this
by the angel in the beginning, and those who did not hear were were struck down, not one adult
went into the Promised Land. Not one. Out of hundreds of thousands,
millions even. And he said, God sent his Son
down to this earth and spoke unto us by his Son, and men heard
him and saw him and touched him and handled him and witnessed
him. And then God, without a doubt,
equipped these men, spoke through these men. It was evident that
God was with these men. Nobody could do the things that
they did except God be with them. And this word that we've heard
right here is written by the finger of God that we've seen
and looked into ourselves. Signs and wonders God has shown
in our very midst. Now look at verse 5. It says,
Under the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to
come, whereof we speak. It goes back to the angels again.
to tell us just how powerful a creature and how great these
creatures are, but yet he says God has not put things in their
power. If one angel could destroy the
whole earth, yet God has not put all things in their power.
The world is not under the authority of angels. Look at verse 6, but
one in a certain place, now he's talking about David. where we
read over there in Psalm 8, that one man, one prophet, David,
in a certain place, Psalm 8, testified saying. Now, just a
moment. People didn't have a copy of
Psalm 8 back then. That's the reason he said one
in a certain place. That's the reason he didn't name it, and
that's the reason he didn't say turn to it. They didn't have
a copy of it. And so he has to quote it to
them. Boy, we do. How much more accountable are
we than them? That's what he's saying. How shall we escape?
We're more accountable than these people here. We just read Psalm
8 with our very own eyes. So he says we ought to give earnest
heed. All right, verse 6, he says, But David said in a certain
place, testifying, saying, What is man that thou art mindful
of him? Or the son of man that thou visitest
him? And that's what we were just
trying to say, how it's amazing that God would have anything
to do with any creature on this planet. You may say at times with me
how you'd wish that God would just in this whole thing, don't
you? I have. I've said that many times.
I look at the newspaper and the television and see what all is
going on around me, and I feel like the apostles. I want to
call down fire from heaven in this thing, in this thing, this
wicked world, in this thing. Hurry, come quickly. Come quickly. What is man? But God is merciful,
a lot more merciful than we are. God is gracious. But David's
saying, what is man that God even take notice of him? If I
were God, I wouldn't have saved Adam or Eve, let alone millions and billions
and trillions. Would you? If I were God, I wouldn't
have saved me. And I'm talking about you, yourself.
Can you say that? Knowing your own sinfulness,
you would. You say, what is this man that thou art mindful of
him? Now, read on. He says, or the son
of man that thou visitest him. Let alone that God would speak
to and have dealings with and send angels. It ought to just
not have anything to do with me. But yet the Scripture says that
God took upon himself a form of a woman, or a form of a man,
made of a woman. God took upon himself human flesh
and came down here, made of a woman, made under the law. God took
upon this and walked in this, as the old Puritans would say,
a cesspool of iniquity. That's the reason the Scriptures
That's the reason Christ says in the Psalms, I'm a worm, no
man. I'm a worm. Man hasn't resembled man since
Adam. He's more like a worm to God. Maggots to work. And he says here, but you visited
and you came down and you became a worm. You became one of these
maggots. Do you remember that story I told about the ants?
messed up my lunch. Remember that? My wife had given
me a lunch to take with me, and I came back to eat it, and it
was covered with ants. And I took that lunch, plate
and all, and dumped it in a trash can outside and set it on fire.
And I went around that place where I was, burning up every
ant I could see. I was angry. They defiled it,
messed up these We've got ants right now, don't we, in our house,
and she wishes I'd do something about it. And I went around burning
up these creatures. What if I became one of those
ants? Out of mercy and grace, I just
condescended to become one of those ants. That's less condescension
than God becoming a human being. What if I became one of those
ants and talked to him and said, listen, he's angry. You've messed up
his lunch. And he's going to burn up every
ant he sees. I tell you what, there's a rock.
If you get in this rock, you'll be safe. You're an ant just like
the rest. He's going to burn up ants. There's a rock. Better
get to it quick. And they took me. I'm just telling
the truth. bear witness of the truth. And
they took me, all these aunts, took me and killed me. That's
what man's done. God became a man and said, listen,
and bore witness of the truth and said, I'm the rock. I'm salvation. Come unto me. God's going to
destroy this place. He's angry with the wicked every
day. But in me there's acceptance. In me there's salvation. In me
there's love. There's grace. There's mercy.
Come unto me, they say, we will not. And they killed her. And
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? And so
it says Christ was made, read on, verse 7. He's talking about
Christ here. Christ was made a little lower
than the angel. My margin says a little while
inferior to. He had a flesh and blood body,
that is. humanly speaking, bound somewhat
to a body, right? He took upon himself. He himself,
it says over in the latter part of this chapter, that he himself
was compassed with infirmity. Christ made a little lower than
the angel. Yet now, he said, but wait, not anymore. He's not Jesus anymore. He's
not just a man anymore, he says, verse 7, but you've crowned him
with glory and honor and have sent him over the works of thy
hands. And he says in verse 8, he's
put all things in subjection under his feet. Everything is
under his feet. Remember over there in Psalm
110, he's made the world and everything his footstool, under
his feet? And he goes on to say that there
is nothing that is not under him, nothing. So what does that
mean to us? What does that mean to everyone
in here, young and old alike? That means we are under the feet
of Jesus Christ. Brother Todd Nyberg preached
a message on the King. And he said, you know, you've
heard these people talk about make Jesus your Lord and so on
and so forth. He said, you can't do that. You
don't do that. God did it a long time ago. And
he said, I'll tell you what, he said, he's your Lord whether
you acknowledge him or not. Always has been, always will
be. Scripture says he's King of kings and Lord of lords. Scripture
says all things are under his feet at this very moment. Scripture says every knee will
bow and every tongue confess that he's Lord. All things are
under subjection to him. He's King of kings. But look,
read on. Look at verse 8 again. But, he
says, now we see not yet all things put unto him, but we see
Jesus. Are you reading that with me?
He says, right now we don't see all things put unto him, but
we see Jesus who is made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death. You see, the natural man only
believes what he sees. The natural man only believes
what he sees. People say, show me and I'll
believe, don't they? But when God gives a man eye
of faith, God gives a person the eye of faith. He sees the
invisible. He sees the things that are invisible
and eternal. The temporal things, things which
are seen, are temporal, Scripture says. But things which are eternal,
they're invisible. And we see God. You say, you see God with the
eye of faith? I see who he is. I see his hand
and everything. I see God's hand. You say, I've
never seen God's hand. We see God's hand, the heavens,
the work of his fingers, Scripture says. The moon and the earth,
the whole thing. We see the invisible. We see
God. We see Christ. Read on. He says, we see him now. Read
verse Right now, he's crowned with
glory and honor. He said this twice, didn't he?
He's crowned with glory and honor. All right, let me see if I can tell you what he's saying right
here. He's saying, now, God spoke unto us before by the prophets,
men, powerfully. And even at times he sent angels
to bear witness of that, like Moses and the angels with Moses. And he said that people didn't
listen to Moses. They didn't listen to angels.
So they received a just recompense of the war. And he said God spoke
by the prophets, kept speaking by men, and God honored what
they said. Men like Elijah, who said to
the very heavens, Let the rain stop. And it didn't rain for seven
years. It's obvious God spoke through
that man. And on and on, prophets. And it says it happened in these
last days. Now, men should have listened to them. It said it
happened in these last days. God came down to this earth in
the form of a man. And he spoke. And we've seen
him with our eyes. That's what Peter said. We've
seen him. He said, We're not devising any
cunningly devised fables. This is not some fairy tale or
fable that men have made up, some wild fable. Peter said,
We saw him. John said, We felt him. We touched
him. Life. Peter said, Well, we saw
him transfigured. to a being of light. And so that's why he says we
ought to listen to what's being said. He says we see Jesus now who
was made a little lower than the angels. Why? Why was he a
man? Read on. For the suffering of
death. Verse 9. For the suffering of death. Most
people still see Jesus as a man. This is what's wrong with religion
today. Most still see or think about the One who came, the Son
of God who came as Jesus, as a man. That's why they refer
to Him all the time, as Jesus. That's how they see Him. That's
how they think of Him. We see Jesus, but Paul said he
was only Jesus so he could die. He was only Jesus, or a man,
so he could die for the suffering of death. You see, God can't
die. God can't die. Even God as a
man in the body of Jesus. He said, the old man takes my
life from me. They couldn't kill him. They
tried and tried and tried, didn't they, to kill him, but they couldn't.
Why? He hadn't decided so yet. You can't kill God. He's life. Till one day, when he was hanging
on that cross, he said, all right, now I'm going to die. And the only man who ever said
this, who could do this, give up the ghost, just die, willingly,
sovereignly. Why? He's God. You see, God can't die. But God
became a man. Man can die, right? But man can't live. He's got
to die. What are you trying to say, Pritchard? God says, the soul that sinneth
must surely die. The wages of sin is Death, blood. Every human being is going to
die physically. And he said they're all dead
in trespasses and sin, dead before God, and will be judged by him.
Man can't live like God demands of him. Man can't satisfy God's
law like God who's holy demands of him. He can't do it. Man can't
do it. God can. Man can't do it. All men have
failed miserably. There's none that do it good.
No, not one. So God said, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it's
written of me. To do thy will. How? What? As a man. And Christ
became a man. But this was God. No ordinary
man. God manifests with us. God in the flesh. See, man can't
satisfy God. God can. So God became a man.
And he satisfied God's law. He lived perfectly in thought
even. That's what God demands. Perfect
thoughts, perfect words, perfect speech, clean hand, pure heart.
And this one man that lived on this planet did just that. The
God man. All right? But God can't die. The scripture says we're going
to die for our sin. Jesus can. The manhood of Christ
can die. That's why he became a man. That's
why God came to satisfy the law, to do what man can't do, and
that's why he was made a man, to suffer death, to suffer the
penalty for breaking that law. Right? Why is hell eternal? Why is hell eternal? Scripture
says it is. Because our sins are against
a holy God. Our sins are eternal sin. We can never pay for them. You'll
never pay for them. The God-man did. Hanging on that
cross. In six hours, he went through
an eternity of hell for his chosen people. And he put them away
by the sacrifice of his hands. And I'm getting way ahead of
myself. This is all the way through the book of Hebrews. That's what
this book is about. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me, Lo, I come. We see Jesus made a little lower
than the angels. Why? He had to be a man to suffer,
to live as a man, and to suffer death as a man, because that's
what I deserve. All right? But he's not a man anymore. Read it, he's crowned with glory
and honor. The Scripture says that since
he lowered himself, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, the Scripture says in Philippians,
therefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name. What's the name? Well, let's
call him Jesus. That's not the name which is
above every name, because there's millions in Mexico that have
that. There's millions in Brazil that have that name, Jesus. It's
a very common name. Don't call him Jesus. He's not
just a man anymore. He's seated on the throne. Well,
what's the name then that's above every name? Lord. And that's
what he said in Psalm 8, didn't he? Oh, Lord, our Lord. How excellent is thy name! And he goes on to say, you've
crowned him since you made him a little lower than the angel,
since he willingly and voluntarily took on this form of a man and
died that ignominious death that he did because of our sins. Therefore, God has got him on
a throne now, seated there. Don't call him Jesus. Call him
Lord. And do it carefully. Do it reverentially, respectfully,
fearfully. Bow down while you do it. Do
it on your knees. Do it while you're kissing his
feet. Lest he be angry. You see that? We see Jesus, yeah. He was made a little lower for
the suffering of death. But boy, now he's crowned with
glory and honor. He should taste death for every
one of his elect every man that God gave to him. And that's what
the next verse says. It became him. Look at verse
10. It became him. It's just like him. That's what
became him, there. It's becoming to him. When you
see something somebody's wearing and say, that looks good on you,
that's very becoming on you. That's what he means here. It
became him. It's just like him. It's fitting
that he ought to do this. For whom are all things. and
by whom are all things, it became him in bringing many sons unto
glory. It doesn't say all, does it?
That's the reason that word man and sons here are the same thing
in verses 9 and 10. Many sons unto not all, but some,
thank God. Many, yes, many sons unto glory. Making them like unto the Son
of God Himself. It became just like him to do
this, for whom are all things. Since he created all things,
he ought to be the one to recreate them, shouldn't he? That's what he's saying, for
whom or by whom. Since all things are for his
glory, salvation ought to be too, shouldn't it? Since he created the world and
everything in it for his glory, salvation ought to be all to
his glory too, shouldn't it? Since he did all the creating,
and we have to ascribe all glory and that to him, he's going to
do all the saving, too. And we'll ascribe all glory and
that to him, too, won't we? It's becoming to him. And bring
him many sons. I love that verse. Again, I'm
quoting Hebrews, where he said, Here they are, all the children
that you've given them. bringing many sons to glory.
Many have already gone there and are with him now, trophies
of his grace. And look at this last line, and
I quit with it. This could take up a whole message.
It's so becoming of him by whom, for whom are all things, and
by whom are all things, and bringing many sons unto glory. It's becoming
to God, becoming to Christ to make. the captain of their salvation,
perfect through suffering. In other words, make him God
sent Christ and did all that he did in Christ so that you'll
see he's just, he's perfect. He's perfect. And not only is
he holy and perfect, but he's just the one I need. He's perfect.
Perfect man for the job. Perfect want. perfect sacrifice,
perfect high priest, and he's going to go on to tell about
that, that he's touched with the feeling of our impermanence,
perfect high priest, make him the captain of our salvation. I like to read, see things about
ocean-going vessels and all. I always have, ever since I was
a boy. I read these stories of men out to sea, and all the dangers
and so forth of the men to sea. And it's no coincidence that
the Lord spent a great deal of his time around the sea. That's what he's talking about
here. He's talking about a sea captain. Christ is our sea captain. In
many of those stories I read as a boy, and even now. It would
tell of a captain who would hazard his life for his ship. As a matter of fact, if he was
a good captain, he would never leave that ship. Never. Even
when the ship was broken up or in peril, sometimes a captain
in such a strong wind or storm, he would absolutely, literally,
lash himself to the helm of that boat. So he'd never, never lose
hold of that ship. Some stories told of men lashing
themselves to the mast when there's no way of steering, yet they
were not going to, they were going to go down with the ship,
trying to save their crew. And those were just men, and
many of them perished, didn't they? Captains, not outranged. Oh, he died all right. The ship didn't sink. The ship didn't sink. He laid
down his life for us. He went before us, captain of
our salvation. He did all this through suffering.
Suffering. Death. Suffering. The penalty
of the law on our behalf. But he's not Jesus anymore. Don't call him that. If you're
going to use that name, put his title in front of it. Lord Jesus
Christ, sir. Captain. Captain. You want to call him something?
Call him Captain. Captain. That's what Lord means.
Supreme Commander of the ship. He's at the helm, under control. All right, Brother Joe, you got
something picked out for you? Two hundred and fifty-twos. Stand with me and let's sing
the first and the second stanza. First and the second. Two-fifty-two. Can't believe the joy He gives
you if by trusting in His Word. Only trust Him, only trust Him,
only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save
you, He will save you now. Our Jesus, with His praise and
blood He's pledging to bestow, Comes now into the critical and
wants His brightest glow. Don't we trust Him, don't we
trust Him, don't we trust Him now? He will save you, He will
save you, He will save you now. Thank you and your displeasure. you