I'd like for you to open your
Bibles with me this morning to the book of Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. Now the title of the message
this morning is Glorious Substitution. Glorious Substitution. And I
want to mainly deal with Hebrews chapter 2 verse 17 look at verse
17 it says wherefore or for this reason in all things it behooved
him that is the Lord Jesus Christ it behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and a faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. I was in Cincinnati, Ohio last
week and I preached from this verse. I actually preached from
this passage, Hebrews chapter 2, the last part of it, both
messages on a Friday night and Saturday. at noon on the subject of the
substitutionary death of Christ. And I've been thinking about
this for a long time because there's no way that any preacher
can overemphasize the importance of God's people understanding
what we can understand by revelation from God. the issues and the
truths and the importance, the value of the death of Christ. And I'm afraid so many are confused
and so many are probably like me growing up in religion. I
didn't know much about this subject other than what I read and was
heard in John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him
should not perish but have everlasting life. And I was always told that
was the gospel in one verse, but I never really understood
the death of Christ as a substitutionary death until I heard Brother Mayhem
preach it from passages of scripture like what Brother Joe just read,
Isaiah 53 and places like that. And then I came to understand
something of it. I know Many of you remember my
father-in-law, Brother Charlie Payne, who was an elder here
at the church for a lot of years. I'll never forget when I saw
his Bible, just thumbing through it. He had the word substitution
written on the top of every page. And he understood the issues
of the death of Christ and substitution and what this is all about. And I haven't been able to get
it off my mind, so I wanted to preach several messages on it
from passages of Scripture. I like to go verse by verse through
the Scripture, so I'm not going to stop doing that, but I'm just
going to take different passages on this to show something about
glorious substitution. Now, think about this. Think
about how important it is in the Scripture. You know, I used
to think pretty much that the Bible was just a book of morals.
You know, good sayings, laws, stories, you know, things like
that, examples. But that's what this book, from Genesis to Revelation,
is a book about Christ and Him crucified. You know, Paul wrote
to the church at Corinth, he said, I strive not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And you know,
Paul wrote about a lot of things. He dealt with a lot of subjects
in the 14 epistles that he was inspired to write by the Holy
Spirit. But what he was saying there
is that the kernel truth, the basic truth, the heart of the
gospel, the heart of salvation, and the basis upon which I deal
with any subject is Christ and Him crucified. Who is Jesus Christ
and what did He accomplish on Calvary's cross? One of the old
writers said that there is a scarlet thread that runs through this
book from Genesis to Revelation. And it's the blood of Christ.
Immediately after the fall of man, when God revealed in promise
the coming of the seed of woman, he spoke of his death. He told
Satan, you'll bruise his heel, but he'll bruise your head. And
then he pictured and typified it in the killing of an animal,
a sheep, I believe, a lamb. He killed an animal and made
coats of skin for Adam and Eve, proving that without the shedding
of blood, without death, there is no forgiveness of sins, because
the wages of sin is death. The punishment must fit the crime,
in God's view of things. Now, that doesn't happen in our
view of things, I know, in our world. But in God's view, God
is just, and God is holy, and He can by no means clear the
guilty, the scripture says. He cannot justify the wicked,
and He cannot condemn the righteous. He's just. God's judgments are
always according to truth, and if the wages of sin is death,
where there is sin imputed or charged, Paul wrote, there's
got to be death for justice to be satisfied. And from then on,
when God did that in Genesis 3, 21, when he killed an animal
and made coats of skin, what he did, he instituted the only
way of, in picture and type there, he established in the eyes of
those who were there, the only way of salvation, the only way
of justification, the only way of righteousness, the only way
of forgiveness, and the only way of worship. through the sacrifice. Now all that was a picture and
a type and a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood
of bulls and goats can never take away sin, but what they
pictured, who they pictured, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why John the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world. We read there in Colossians chapter
1 about the blood of his cross. His cross. What does his cross
mean? It's not a piece of wood that
you wear around your neck or a piece of gold or something
you put up on the wall. The cross is his death. His substitutionary
death. His death in the place of his
people. He said, the good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. What Brother Joe read in Isaiah
53, he bore our iniquities by his stripes, we are healed. He
carried upon him the chastisement of our peace was upon him. In
other words, the punishment that brings peace between God and
sinners was upon Christ. That's what that means. Paul
wrote, he spoke of the preaching of the cross is foolishness.
to those who are perishing. And he said, but to those who
are being saved or in the process of being saved by the power of
God's grace, he said, it's the power of God and the wisdom of
God. And I'll tell you why. I mean,
you know what that verse says very simply. He said, how you react
to the preaching of the cross tells you a lot about yourself,
tells me a lot about myself. If I see it as foolishness, unnecessary,
something, a sideline, something that we can agree to disagree
on, then what does that say? That means I'm perishing. But
if it's the very power and wisdom and grace of God to me, that's
what it is. Paul wrote this in Galatians
6, 14. He said, God forbid that I should glory, that I should
place my confidence in anything except, say, the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's his death. The person
and work of Christ. And then there are so many today
who are so confused about this issue. Listen to what he says
here. I want to give you several things
about this substitutionary death of Christ. The glorious substitution. And it is a glorious substitution.
The first thing we see that his death was a matter of obligation. He had to die. Look at verse
17. It says wherefore now now all
this he's saying This is the reason for everything and he
said before and I'm going to deal with some of these these
things But what he's talking about is salvation the salvation
of his people the salvation of his church the salvation of God's
elect the salvation of his sheep all one in the same and And he
says, for this reason, for the salvation of his people, in all
things, that is, everything that was required, everything God
required for a sinner to be saved, in all things, it behooved him. Now, we don't use that word too
much today, behooved. But you know what that is? You
know what that word is? It's the Greek word for debt. Now,
we know about debt, don't we? We use the word debt a lot today,
so we can understand that. In all things it behooved him. He was indebted. That's what
that means. It was necessary. He was under
an obligation of debt. Alright? To do what? To be made
like unto his brethren. That's his incarnation. Now this
speaks of something of who our Savior is. He is God in human
flesh. He is the Word made flesh dwelling
among us. He is the God-man. Great is the
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21,
His name shall be called Jesus for He shall save His people
from their sins. And then Matthew 123, his name
shall be called Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with
us. So the reason this is such a
glorious substitution, it was the God-man, it's God in human
flesh, who substituted himself in the place of his people under
the debt. What debt? The debt that he owed
to God's law and justice based on their sins charged to him. He took their debt. He took the
debt of all his people. He said, it's my debt. And he
was obligated by the nature of God. He was obligated by covenant
promise. And he was obligated by the requirement
of law. The wages of sin is death. Somebody's got to pay the debt.
And either you'll pay it or either we'll pay it in eternal damnation
or we must have a substitute to step in and say like Paul
did to Philemon when he was talking about the runaway slave Onesimus
in the little book of Philemon. What a beautiful picture of substitution
that book is. Remember Onesimus was the runaway
slave. And in the process, God, in Providence,
moved that guy to Rome, where Paul was in prison, and he heard
Paul preach the gospel, and God saved that runaway slave, that
wicked, thieving, runaway slave. God saved him. And Paul wrote
a letter back to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, telling him
what happened. And here's what Paul said. He
said, now, Philemon was a rich man. He was a believer who was
blessed materially. And Paul said, now Philemon,
if he owes you anything, put it on my account. I'll pay it. That's what he did. That's the
doctrine of imputation that I speak of so often. That's imputed sin,
imputed debt. And that's what Christ did in
the everlasting covenant of grace. God chose a people and gave them
to him. Who were they? Sinners who owed
a debt. And Christ became our surety.
He said, if they owe you anything, Father, put it on my account.
Put their debt on. I'll pay the debt. It's not their
debt anymore. It's mine. It behooved Him. His death was a matter of obligation.
He had to die. Now let me tell you something. This is the only way it could
have happened. There's no other way that sinners
could be justified and forgiven and given eternal life. No other
way. I've heard people say that God
could have done it in another way. Oh, no. God is just. God is righteous. God is holy. He must be just when he justifies
a sinner. The debt... Listen, God cannot
forgive my sins without the payment being paid. You say, well, you can't pay
that debt, preacher. You're right. I can't. But I know one who can. I know one who did pay it in
full. It was a matter of obligation.
It behooved him. His substitution was a matter
of obligation. He said, he told his disciples
all the way through, they tried to stop him from going into Jerusalem.
They knew, he said, this is the reason I came into the world.
And you know that was taught in the Old Testament and it's
taught in the Gospels, it's taught all the way through up to Revelation.
It speaks of the blood of the Lamb. That's the payment. The
blood of the Lamb is the payment of the debt. That's it. You say, well, what am I supposed
to do? Nothing as to the payment of
the debt. Nothing as to the payment of
the debt. Because He paid the debt. His blood. That perfect
satisfaction to God's justice is His blood. That blood is enough.
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 14, for by one offering,
that's the offering of Himself, the God-man, the shedding of
His blood, by one offering He hath perfected. That means He
finished the work. He completed it. He paid the
debt in full. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, them whom God gave to Him and set apart. Let me give you another thing
about his substitutionary death. Not only was it a matter of obligation,
but it was a matter of justice. Now look over at verse 10. Here
it talks about his death, and it says, for it, Hebrews 2 and
verse 10, for it became him. It was becoming to him. It was
fitting to him. Who's the him here? That's God
the Father. Joe read it in Isaiah 53 and
verse 10. It says, it pleased God to bruise
him. It pleased the Father to bruise
him. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, I believe it's verse
19, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing,
not charging their trespasses unto them. It became him. This
is fitting unto the Father. Now, we've already talked about
it. God is just. He's holy. He's righteous. Yes,
He's a God of mercy. Yes, He's a God of love. Yes,
He's a God of grace and compassion. But He cannot show love, grace,
mercy, and compassion apart from justice being satisfied. Whatever
this substitutionary death is, it has to be fitting to Him.
It has to meet up to His standard, not your standard now. That's
why it took the blood of the Son of God incarnate. You see,
my suffering will not put away my sins. We're studying the book
of Job in our evening services now. Job's finding that out even
more. He knew it. Nobody suffered like
Job other than our Lord who suffered more. But man's suffering, sinful
man's sufferings, no matter how intense they are, will not put
away sin. It took the suffering of the
Son of God incarnate. My tears won't wash away my sins.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. You believe that? I know you've
sung it before. You believe it? I do. You do. Nothing but the
blood of Jesus. Baptism cannot wash away my sins. No, sir. Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. Joining the church cannot wash
away my sins. You see, that's not fitting to
God. That's not becoming to him. He
would have to lower himself, his standard, in order to save
you or justify you based on such things, and he will not do it.
He's not going to stop being God to save me or to save you. He's going to be God regardless.
Well, it's a matter of justice. Look at verse 10, for it became
him for whom are all things and by whom are all things. Everything's
for his glory. It's not for your glory. Listen,
let me tell you something. The ultimate goal of salvation
is not just our salvation. It's God's glory. Think about
that. And he says, in bringing many
sons unto glory. Now, whoever these many sons
are, and it says to make the captain of their salvation, that's
Christ, Perfect through sufferings. Now what does that mean? It means
his death was a matter of justice. He had to complete a work. That
word perfect there, whenever we think of perfect in our modern
day language, we think of something that is morally perfect and without
flaw. And sometimes it means that in
the scripture. And certainly Christ himself is and was morally
perfect and without flaw. He knew no sin. He is the absolute
personification of perfection. Speaking like Tim James there.
Absolute personification of perfection. He was. He is perfect. But this
perfect here is not speaking of that. It's talking about the
work that he accomplished. How was he made perfect through
suffering? Well, through his sufferings,
he perfected the work. He completed the work. It is
finished, he said, in John 19 and verse 30. It is finished. By one offering, he hath perfected. And that's what it's talking
about. Christ finished the work. What did he finish? What did
he do? Well, look over Matthew chapter 3 with me. I want to
show you something here. Now here's John the Baptist preaching
and baptizing. And look down at verse 13. He, the captain of our salvation,
was made perfect through suffering. What is he talking about? Through
his suffering, he completed the work. He finished redemption. He satisfied the justice of God. He put away sin. He brought in
everlasting righteousness by His suffering unto death. All right? Now look here in verse
13 of Matthew 3. Here's John the Baptist preaching,
and it says, Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John
to be baptized of him. And John, it says in verse 14,
But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of
thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto
him, Suffer it, or allow it to be so now, for thus it becometh
us. Now, you remember over there
in Hebrews 2 and verse 10 it says, It became him, it was fitting
unto the Father. Well, here he says, Suffer it
to be so now, for thus it becometh us. It is fitting to us. Who's
the us there? That's the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. He speaks of himself in the plural
there. He's talking about the Trinity. One God in three persons. It's fitting to the Godhead.
All right? To fulfill, look at it. It becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness. And then John suffered him. John
allowed him. All right? John baptized him.
Now why was he baptized? Well, was his baptism the fulfilling
of all righteousness? His baptism itself? No. He had
to die. He said that when on the Mount
of Transfiguration, remember that? The Mount of Transfiguration. Here's Peter and I think James
and John. He took them up there and he
appeared in his glory. And there were two appearances
there, one of Moses, one of Elijah. Moses represented the law, Elijah
represented the prophets. Remember what it said they talked
about? They spoke of his death, his decease, which he should
accomplish at Jerusalem. That was their subject. You know
why it was their subject? Because that was what Moses talked
about in the law. And that's what the prophets
talked about. The death of Christ. The cross
of Christ. The substitutionary, that glorious
substitutionary death. Now it didn't say they spoke
of his baptism of John, did it? No, it spoke of his death. Well,
why does he say in his baptism here in Matthew 3, he says, allowed
to be so for us to fulfill all righteousness. It's fitting.
It's fitting to us. Well, why was he baptized? If you were baptized properly,
why were you baptized? You went down into the water
and you came up out of the water. That's the only scriptural baptism
there is. You were doing that confessing
something. I hope you weren't doing it to be saved, because
if you were doing it to be saved, you weren't baptized, you were
just dunked in water. You just went swimming. But if
you were baptized properly, you were confessing something, weren't
you? You were confessing publicly your identification with Christ
in His death, in His burial, and in His resurrection. That's
why He was baptized. He was setting forth in picture
His own death, His burial, and His resurrection to do what?
To fulfill all righteousness. He was showing in His baptism
the people there what He had to go through in order to fulfill
all righteousness, to satisfy justice. It was a matter of justice.
And what did He have to do? He had to die. He had to die
as a substitute. He who knew no sin was made sin. That means the sins of his people,
all the demerit, all of the sins of his people were made to meet
on him as our sin bearer and our substitute, and he died to
put away sin. That's what he's talking about
over here. Look at Matthew 3 and verse 16. Now listen to this.
He says, And Jesus went when he was baptized, Matthew 3 and
verse 16, He went up straightway out of the water, and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting upon it. There's the testimony
of the Spirit concerning the Son. And then it says in, lo,
verse 17, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. There's the testimony of the
Father in Him. And He's speaking of in light
of the finished work of Christ. It was a matter of justice. Turn to Hebrews chapter 5. Look
at this one. And I'll tell you what, you read
the language of these verses and sometimes
it does just boggle your mind. I mean, you know, it's amazing
to me, there are mysteries that surround the glorious person
and the substitutionary death of Christ. And the reason there
are mysteries is because our finite minds just can't handle
it all. I mean, you think of God and
man in one person. That's amazing. We know it's
so because God says it. But how to explain it, how to
think about it, how to analyze it, I can't tell you that. And
then there are mysteries about his death, his life and his death. All we can know is what the scripture
says. Whatever this book says, we can
know that, but there's still mind-boggling things here. But
look here in verse 8 of Hebrews 5. It says, Though he were a
son, meaning the son of God, yet learned he obedience by the
things which he suffered. He learned. Who learned? God in human flesh. I can't explain
that to you. I know God in himself is omniscient. That means he knows everything.
He didn't learn anything. If you know anything about the
scriptures and how it defines God and describes God and declares
God, God doesn't learn things. He's not like you and me. You
see, that's the problem with people. They think God's like
them. God's not in this process of learning anything. Yet God
in human flesh, he learned, he obedience by the things which
he suffered. And verse 9 says, look at it,
and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him. Now, how did he learn? Well,
here's what I believe this is talking about. It means that
he experienced things that he never experienced before. He
felt things that he never felt before. Think about him in the
garden, the garden of Gethsemane. under the burden of the sins
of his people upon him. Suffering in the infirmities
of the flesh, the sorrow and the pain, the soul suffering,
the mental anguish that he went through. I believe it's described
in Psalms 22 and Psalm 40 and Psalm 69, how low he went in
his being. All of that. He was experiencing
that stuff for the first time. Not that he didn't experience
sorrow before that, he wept before that, but I'm talking about his
suffering unto death, and in that he was made perfect. That
is, he finished the work that God gave him to do. He completed
it. He went through it. And he satisfied
the justice of God. Now look back at Hebrews chapter
2. Look at verse 17 again. His death was a matter of obligation. He had to pay the debt as our
substitute. His debt was a matter of justice.
He had to satisfy justice and bring forth a righteousness that
would enable God to be just, to justify sinners. Mercy and
truth had to meet together. You see, God had to be both a
just God and a Savior. How can he do that? through Christ
based on his blood. Here's the third thing. His death
was a matter of particular redemption. Particular redemption. Look at
verse 17. He says, Wherefore in all things
it behooved him to be made like unto who? His brethren. That he might be a merciful and
a faithful high priest. Merciful. He is the seed of all
mercy. Faithful. He had to do what was
obligated. He had to do what was given him
to do. He had to be faithful to himself,
to his father. And a high priest. Who was the
high priest? That goes back to Israel of old
in the tabernacle in the temple. The high priest was the representative
of Israel. He had twelve names on his breastplate.
The tribes of Israel. And six on his amulet and another
six on the other amulet. He went in there for the people
of God. And it said, in things pertaining
to God. In other words, this death was
a sacrifice to the Father. It wasn't to you or to me. It wasn't to the devil. I've
even heard people say that, but it wasn't. God had to be just. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. And then it says to make reconciliation.
Now, you know what reconciliation means. That means bringing two
parties who are at odds together. But that word reconciliation,
you know what the word literally is? It's propitiation. You ever
heard that term? Used about three or four times
in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the equivalent
word would be mercy seat. Do you remember in the tabernacle,
the high priest went in with the blood of the animal, and
he had the Ark of the Covenant there, and there was a lid on
it. It was made of Shittim wood and covered with gold, and it
was called the Mercy Seat. And the blood was sprinkled on
the Mercy Seat. And it was a propitiation. What is a propitiation? It's
a satisfaction. That's what it means. It's a sin-bearing offering that
brings satisfaction through death. And so to make propitiation for
the sins of the people. What people? Well, look over
at verse 9. Now listen to this. He says here, but we see Jesus.
Now what he's talking about there is the fact that all things are
under the control of Christ because of what he accomplished in his
death. Christ himself told the disciples
that. He said, the Great Commission, before he sent them out, he said,
all power is given unto me. All authority is given unto me.
He has been made both Lord and Christ. As God, He already had
that power. But as God-man, He earned it.
And so all things are put under, He's in control of all things.
But the problem is, if you look around our world today, and you
watch the evening news and read the newspaper, it just doesn't
look to me and you like He's in control, does it? I mean,
it looks to us, when we look at things, It looks like things
are out of control, doesn't it? Looks like things are in utter
chaos. But that's only the eye. That's the natural eye. That's
not the reality. The reality is that He's in control
of all things. All things are put under His
feet. It just hadn't been realized yet, but it will be one day.
But here's how we know that's so. Verse 9, we see Jesus. We see God, Jehovah, our Savior. We see Him. who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death. That's why
he was born. Unto us a child is born. Unto
us a son is given. Why? The government was upon
his shoulder. What government? The government
of the covenant of grace. The government of the church.
The salvation of his people. All upon his shoulder. It's the
reason he came to this world. Why? To die. Now he didn't stay
dead. Why? Because the captain of our
salvation was made perfect through suffering, he finished the work.
He didn't stay dead. He arose again. So he said, for
the suffering and death, crowned with glory and honor. It may
look to people like things are out of control, but they're not.
He's crowned with glory and honor. He's on the throne. He's working
all things after the counsel of his own will. That by the
grace of God, that he by the grace of God should taste death
for every man. Every man. Now, you know what
people do with that verse. They take that verse and they preach
the ungodly doctrine of universal redemption. And it's not so.
That's not what this verse is teaching. First of all, that's
not even really the word man there. It's not even in the original
language. It would, if you did it, if you brought it out in
the original language, it would probably better read something
like this, that he should for each one taste death. Each one. Now, who is this each one? Or,
if you stay with the King James translation, who is the everyman?
Well, let's look at it. Look at verse 10. Here they are. He identifies
them. He says, "...for it became Him, for whom are all things,
and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory."
That's the first identification. Who is the everyman here? They
are the many sons. Sons of who? Sons of God. Who are the sons of God? That's
talking about, generically, children of God. He's talking about children
by redemption. How do you know? He says, bringing
many sons where? Unto glory. What is that? That's glory. That's salvation. He didn't do this to make you
savable. He didn't do it to make me savable.
His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins. If you know anything about glorious
substitution, you know those for whom He died must enter glory,
the many sons. Why? Because His blood demands
it. Justice is satisfied. His righteousness
demands it. Who are these sons? Let me read
you some scripture. Galatians 4 and verse 4. Listen
to this. It says in Galatians 4 and verse
4, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
his son, made of a woman, made under the law, what this verse
here is talking about, to redeem them that were under the law
that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are
sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. What's that? That's the new birth.
Because your son's adopted into the family, redeemed by the blood
of Christ, what does that mean? You're going to be born again
by the Spirit of God. And he says, Wherefore thou art
no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. Let me read you one more on that
issue. Romans 8 and verse 14. Listen to this. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." That's
the many sons. For you've not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear. What's that spirit of bondage
again to fear? That's legalism. That's what bondage is in the
scripture. What's legalism? Trying to be saved based on your
works. Trying to be saved by establishing a righteousness
of your own. He says, but you've received the spirit of adoption
whereby we cry, Abba, Father." One translator said that's like
saying, Papa, Papa. You see, I'm not, I'm no longer
a legal slave trying to work my way into God's favor. I'm
a son of God. Who made me a son of God? Christ
said it in John chapter 8, if the Son therefore make you free,
you're free indeed. And we could go on. But look
back here at Hebrews 2, look at verse, and he said, many sons,
that's the first one. He says, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Verse 11, for both
he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one. Here's the second identification
of the every man, the each one. They who are sanctified. What
does sanctified mean? It means set apart. Set apart. How were we set apart? Here's what the Bible teaches
now. Before the foundation of the world, we were set apart
in electing grace, the election, the remnant according to the
election of grace. At the cross, we were set apart
in redeeming grace. I quoted this earlier, Hebrews
10 and verse 14. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And then, When the Holy Spirit
brings us under the preaching of the gospel, we're set apart
in regenerating grace. 2 Thessalonians 2, listen to
this, verse 13, But we're 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, Whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Sanctified. Look at verse 11 again. For both
he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all one. For which cause? He's not ashamed
to call them brethren. Here's the third identification.
They're brethren. His brethren. Now who are his
brethren? Well you remember this is recorded
in Matthew chapter 12. Remember, he was at a home. He was preaching the gospel,
the Lord was. And they came from the outside, and some men come
in, and they said, your mother's outside, and your brethren are
outside, and they want to talk to you. He was talking about
Mary, his earthly mother, and he was talking about his half-brothers,
the ones that were born of Joseph and Mary, And they were his half-brothers. And he said, your mother and
your brothers are out here wanting to talk to you. You remember
what the Lord said? It's recorded in Matthew 12 and
verse 48. It says, He answered and said unto him that told him,
Who is my mother? And who are my brethren? And
he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said, Behold
my mother and my brethren. What's he saying? This is my
family. He said, for whosoever shall do the will of my Father
which is in heaven, the same is my brother and my sister and
mother. What is it to do the will of
his Father? It's to believe on the Son. That's who he died for, his brethren,
you see. And he's not ashamed to call
them his brethren. Look at verse 12 of Hebrews 2.
He says, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. How
does he declare his name unto his brethren? Through the preaching
of the gospel. The Bible says, Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, do you know
what it is to call upon the name of the Lord? Most people don't.
Do you know what it really is to call upon the name of the
Lord? Well, let me give you an idea. The first time that that
phrase is ever used, calling upon the name of the Lord, in
the book of Genesis chapter 12 in verse 8 And it's Abraham now
Understand that's not the first example of a man calling on the
name of the Lord, but this is the first time that phrase Call
upon the name of the Lord Is used it's in Genesis chapter
12 between God called Abraham out of the earth account ease
and made a covenant with him And it says in Genesis 12 and
verse 8, it says, and he removed, that's Abraham, he removed from
thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, which means house
of God, and there he pitched his tent, having Bethel on the
west and Hai on the east, and there, listen to this now, and
there Abraham builded an altar unto the Lord and called upon
the name of the Lord. Now it says, Abraham called upon
the name of the Lord. What did he do first? He built him an
altar. Why do you build an altar? To
bring a sacrifice. Abraham knew that you couldn't
call upon the name of the Lord without the blood. He knew that he couldn't get
mercy from God without justice being satisfied. He knew that. Now Abel knew that too. Even
though that phrase is not used, Abel called upon the name of
the Lord. He brought a lamb. He brought the blood. Cain tried
to call upon the name of the Lord without the blood. He brought
his works. Abel was accepted because of his more excellent
sacrifice, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4. Cain was rejected. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Who's going to do that? His brethren.
Look at verse 12. I will declare my name unto my
brethren in the midst of the church." There's the fifth thing,
or the fifth one, when he speaks of the church. The church is
the called out ones. The Bible says in the book of
Acts, chapter 20, that he purchased his church with his own blood.
Acts 20 and verse 28. And then look on, he says in
verse 12, he says, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in
the midst of the church while I sing praise unto thee, verse
13. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold
I and the children which God hath given me. Again, he calls
them his children, his sons. Verse 14, for as much then as
the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same that through death. He might
destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil.
That's the power of the devil to accuse and condemn. You see,
the ground of condemnation is removed by the death of Christ.
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage, trying to evade death by their
works. But now we can rest in Christ.
And then it says in verse 16, for verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, But he took on him the seed of Abraham.
There's the seventh identification. There's the seed of Abraham.
Turn to Galatians chapter 3 and I'll quit. Look at Galatians
chapter 3. Who are the seed of Abraham? Well, we don't have to... We
could go to several verses here, but we don't have to go very
far to find that out. Look at Galatians chapter 3.
Verse 26. Here's the seed of Abraham. He
says in verse 26, For you are all the children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. That word baptism
there means placed into Christ. You're one with Christ. He's
your substitute, representative. And you put him on. You believed
in him. You rest in him. There's neither Jew nor Greek.
There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female
for you're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ,
that's a possessive. If you belong to Christ, then
are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. And
what is the promise? It's the promise of salvation,
of forgiveness, of righteousness, of eternal life and glory by
the grace of God in Christ. All right.