We're looking at Hebrews, the
second chapter for our evening service, and beginning in verse
14 and reading through verse 18, as I had said. Now, remember, we're breaking
in. We're breaking in the middle
of a long argument or discourse of the apostle, and so we have
to pick the other up. But verse 14 through 18, far
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, and deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject unto bondage. For verily he took not
on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining unto God
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that
he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor
them that are tempted." Now, the part of that that we want
to give the highest emphasis, and come to give the emphasis,
is verse 16. He took not on angels, but he
took on the seed of Abraham. Now, we read the Scripture, think
of Christ who came into this world. We realize that it is
the purpose of our God in sending Christ into this world to bring
many sons unto glory. That's in chapter 2 and verse
10 of this chapter. And to do that, to bring many
sons unto glory, to win them away and take them away, and
free them from the bondage of sin in this world, and to bring
them unto glory. There are two things that were
indisputably essential to that great work. Number one, the Son
of God must become incarnate. The Lamb of God, the Son of God,
the eternally generated Son of God must become incarnate. He must be made like unto his
brethren. He must become a partaker of
flesh and blood. And to that end, God has prepared
him a body. Hebrews 10 and verse 5. Now, the second thing that is
necessary, it was necessary that having come, having put on flesh,
having been born of a woman, that our Lord die. It is incumbent
upon him that he die to make reconciliation for the sin of
the people, that he might destroy the work of the devil, and that
he might deliver them who through all of their lifetime were subject
to death and the fear of bondage. And these things our Lord has
done and accomplished. But we ought to draw back. a
bit from our special text and get a better view of the overall
or of the larger context in which our special text today does lie. I thought it interesting that
John Brown one of my favorite expositors that I like to read
a lot, he considered, he said, verse 5 to verse 18 of this chapter,
one of the most difficult of interpretations in the whole
inspired volume of the Scripture. But some things do seem certain,
such as a carryover from chapter 1. that Christ is the very image
of God, He is the very likeness of God, and when He had purged
our sin, He sat down then on the right hand of God exalted. And the first argument for His
excellency is that He is more excellent than any and all that
had anything to do with the Old Testament economy. Whatever was
prominent in the Old Testament economy, our Lord is more excellent
than that. And he starts in chapter 1 and
verse 4 with a comparison between Christ and the angels of God,
that he is better than they as he hath by inheritance given a more excellent name than
they. And we will for a bit dwell upon
this aspect of the angel because our text makes a very clear and
oft-repeated distinction between the angels and the seed of Abraham
down in verse 16. Perhaps the apostle dwells at
such length on proving the angels are inferior unto Christ because
of the prominence of angels under the Old Testament economy. They were, no doubt, with the
exception of God Himself, the most glorious being that had
anything to do with the Old or First Covenant, the angels of
God. These holy ones sent from heaven
who were in some way instrumental even in the giving of the Law,
Acts 7 and verse 53, who received the Law by the disposition of
angels. Now, it's no secret that the
Jews ascribed unto the angels great glory and great prominence
as celestial beings. Thus, it is incumbent upon the
author of Hebrews that he might show that Christ has a great
preeminence even over the angel. This he does by showing that
God never honored the angels in the way that He has honored
His blessed Son. Such as chapter 1 and verse 5. He never said at any time to
any angel, Thou art my Son. Chapter 1 and verse 6. The angels
worshiped the incarnate Son when He was brought into the world.
Chapter 1 and verse 13, never at any time did God ever say
unto any angel, sit thou on my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool. But all of these were honors
that went to our Lord and our Savior. Now, not only that, but
in chapter 1 and verse 8, he called the Son God. O thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever, referring unto the Lord. Now, I agree with those
who consider that chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, are a parenthetical
exhortation that the apostle stops to give unto them. that
since God has spoken unto us, He has spoken unto us in His
Son, and that Son has purged our sin and sat down at the very
right hand of God, and He hath a more excellent name than any
angel, that since God has done that, we ought to give the more
earnest heed to that which was spoken by our Lord concerning
the so great salvation. Then in chapter 2 and verse 5,
he returns again to discuss the comparison between Christ and
the angels. And here is a new argument not
yet moved. And here, brethren, we are mowing
in high grass. that the world to come is not
made subject unto angel. As Owen notes, it is never written,
it is never recorded in scripture. One can never find it. There
is no scripture testimony unto that effect. God is nowhere said
to have done it to put the age to come under the subjection
of angel. However, in chapter 2, verse
6 through verse 8, the author shows that it is written that
man, whether in unfallen Adam or even in fallen man, or in
the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ, It's too hard for
me to say which one of them is in view. But in Genesis chapter
1 and verse 28, the man wants to have dominion over the world
and the earth. And let me read chapter 2 and
verse 7, Thou madest him a little lower than the angel, thou hast
crowned him with glory and with honor, and did set him over the
works of thy hand." Now, notice that my margin in the King James
has it like this, a little while inferior to, for a little while
made inferior to. Now, the little there does not
seem to refer to degree, but to duration. for a time or for
a season. And that when we read verse 8,
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, he that is 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. Then we look at the last part.
of the eighth verse, that now, not yet, not at this present
time, writes the apostle, we now, not yet, see all things
being subjected unto him that is unto man. It has been centuries
since the creation of man, more centuries since the promise was
made there in the eighth psalm, which is what he refers to here.
And still, as one put it, all things are not yet at this time
brought to their complete subjection under the feet of man, as the
psalmist had declared. Verse 9, what we do see, however,
we do not yet see all things put in subjection under him,
but what we do see is Jesus. for a time, being a true man,
taking a true kinship with us men, and applying the passage
from the Eighth Psalm to the Lord Jesus Christ. Originally,
in order or dignity, man stood a little lower than the angel. And his virgin wrote on that
eighth psalm, in the Lord Jesus this was accomplished, for he
was made a little lower than the angel for the suffering of
death. Now is he crowned with glory
and with honor, highly exalted. He has been made Lord and Christ,
Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, as a reward for his suffering. He is exalted with a name above
every name. Isaiah 53 and Philippians the
second chapter. Now since this is a favorite
proof text of the Arminian, we should point out, as did John
Gill and of course others have along the way, that as Gill said,
the word man is not in the original text and might be rendered for
That he might taste death for every man or everything. In the light of the context,
it refers to verse 10, many sons. Verse 11, the children. Verse
12, my brethren. Verse 13, the children which
God has given me. Verse 14, again the children. In verse 16, the seed of Abraham. In verse 17, his brethren. So, in bringing many sons unto
glory and tasting death for them. Now, coming to verse 14 and following,
let's recall now the two premises stated in the beginning. And
they are again, number one, the Son must become incarnate. He must put on flesh. He must
assume human nature. He must be made like unto his
brethren. He must become a man and assume
real human nature, however, completely without any depravity. So he
partook of flesh and blood. He took then a real kinship unto
his brethren. He became to us a near kinsman,
as was required of Boaz in the book of Ruth to redeem. He did
that. He has been made like unto his
brethren. The second thing, again, is it
was necessary that he die. It was necessary, as the prophet
puts it, to taste death for his brethren, for by this means only
could he bring many sons out of their bondage and underglory. Before we consider these two
things further, let's give some attention to verse 11 as we move
closer and see how it trails our flows to verse 12 and verse
13, which shows why and it shows how his death and his sacrifice
could be such a profit to the children of God which have been
given to him. I'm reading verse 11. For both
he that sanctifieth and they which are sanctified are all
of one. for which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren." Now, notice what it said. Maybe this
escaped us before. That the one who sanctifies,
this is Christ, this is God, or the Holy Spirit, a divine
person. And the ones who are sanctified,
this would be the sons, the children, the brethren, the elect of God,
are one. They are both The word sanctify usually means
to set apart, or those that are set apart to a special use, those
that are holy, some special purpose. Never could an unsanctified person
be brought unto glory in heaven. Christ is the great sanctifier. He that sanctifies, they that
are sanctified are one. Now listen to Hebrews 10 and
verse 10. We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Then again in Hebrews 10, this
time verse 14, by one offering he has perfected forever them
that are sanctified. What is he saying here in Hebrews
2? That there is a union. There is a relationship. He assumed human nature, but
he assumed human nature without any depravity. He has, therefore,
participated in the nature of his brethren, and this made it
possible for them to be saved by the death that he died. He partook, the Bible said, of
flesh and blood. And because of that oneness,
looking at verse 11 and the last part again, he is not ashamed
to call them brethren. whereby, in verse 12, he will
declare the name of God in the midst of the church unto my brethren. This is from Psalm 22 and 22,
and from Isaiah 8 and verse 17. I will put my trust in him, saith
the Holy One. In verse 16, there is a far,
F-O-R at the opening of this verse. And this, therefore, makes
it a part of the overall context and is drawing a proper conclusion
or inference for what has been said in the previous verse here. Now, number one, that it is not
angels but men that he takes hold of. We get that. Number
two, not angels but men, and that not all men, but particular
ones, the seed of Abraham. Now, why does the apostle mention
angels in this place in verse 16? Who beside a few discredited
heretics ever contended that there was saving benefit unto
the fallen angels by the death of Christ? Whoever posited, whoever
assumed, whoever set forth this to be the case? Again, he thinks
that it has to do with a contrast that the apostle has been carrying. He has been carrying it, A, between
the Lord Jesus and the holy angel, and now, B, between the angels
and men as to which shall have dominion over the world that
is to come. Again, the idea is not in any
place. Is there ever taught, not in
any place could one ever find that Christ takes hold of the
angels to advance them or to help them in any way? Not to
save them. His incarnation and His death. gave no help, gave no relief,
brought no advancement to the angelic family at all. Then should the question be raised,
does the apostle have in his mind what sort of angel, what
class of angel? Is he talking about the fallen
angel who left their first estate and were cast down to hell, the
apostate angel, or is he speaking of the unfallen holy angels of
God? Or is that a useless question
that we ought to ignore? Does he refer to angelic nature? rather than individual angels. Now, here's something that we're
going to have to admit from the overall context. Starting in
chapter 1 and verse 4 and 5, we're going to have to admit
this, that in this entire discussion concerning angels, beginning
there in chapter 1, the apostle has in mind the unfallen angels,
the holy angels of God. As for the fallen angels, to
save them, he must have assumed their nature, which he did not
do. And the apostle's meaning is
this. Christ assumed human nature,
not angelic nature. For he is to bring the sons of
God unto glory. He is the Savior of men. He is not the Savior of angels. And notice the expression used
that teaches us, for the sinning nature to be delivered from sin
by Christ, it was necessary for Christ to assume that nature. For the sinning nature to be
saved, it was necessary that Christ assume that nature. Say it another way, sin must
be punished in the nature in which it has been committed. By the nature in which sin was
committed, must it be punished to be put away. And that's why
the death and atonement of Christ has neither effect nor benefit
unto the angels, since Christ did nothing to their nature to
aid or advance them, whether fallen or unfallen, in His death. For Christ was made flesh and
blood He was not made spirit like the angels are. He assumed
human nature, and he assumed that human nature not in the
original form as it once was in Adam, nor did he assume it
as it shall be in glorification to come. Rather, in Romans 8
and verse 3, let's be very careful here, God sent his own Son, in
the likeness of sinful flesh. Not in sinful flesh, but in the
likeness of sinful flesh. In him was no sin. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. But let's look more closely at
the expression in verse 16, the word took. Now, let's let that
have our attention. First, it said, He took not angels,
but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. It is not the same word
now that you have back in verse 14 of this same chapter when
it said, He took part of the same. For there the meaning is
to partake. He partook of flesh and of blood. to share. The Word took, in verse
16, twice, once negative, He took not, and the other positive,
He took. Now, what has the meaning? To
lay hold on, to seize for a specific purpose or act. It means to catch. It means to take. We see how
the word is used in other places. It helps us here. Matthew 14,
31, where the same word is translated caught. Where Jesus caught Peter
and brought him into the boat out of the angry sea. He laid
hold upon Peter and delivered him out of the angry sea. We
see that word again in Luke 23 and verse 26, that when they
were taken the Lord to be crucified, they laid hold upon a man named
Simon, whom they required to carry the cross." Same word that
we have here. We have it both positively, negatively,
again in Luke chapter 20, in verse 20, that they might take
hold of his words. That is, for the purpose that
they might catch him in something that he said, something that
they could use against him. In verse 26 it turns around and
says, they could not take hold on his word. They could not catch
them. They could not take hold upon
them. Again in Acts 21 and verse 30,
they took Paul, same word that we have here, drew him out of
the temple, and made plans to kill him. In all of these places,
it is the same word that we have in Hebrews 2 and verse 16. And Paul uses interesting words
in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 12 concerning himself and
Christ as he expresses there that great desire, quote, that
I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Jesus Christ."
The word apprehend here means to eagerly seize. or to take hold or possess. The
NIV has it, I press on to take hold of that for which Christ
Jesus took hold of me. This is a bit of an off-the-subject,
I guess, observation, but think of Paul's conversion. And what
a seizure it was of him by the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the
way, the word apprehended in Philippians 3 and verse 12 is
the same word that is used in John chapter 8, verse 3 and 4. The woman taken in adultery was
taken, she was caught, she was seized, and she was brought unto
the Lord. Thus, when our text says Jesus
took hold of the seed of Abraham. It is the same word that we have
in Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 9, when God took them by the
hand and led them out of Egyptian bondage. That is, the Israelites,
A, to deliver them from Egypt, and B, to bring them to the land
of Canaan. Thus like that is, to deliver
us from sin, to bring many sons unto glory. So with the seed
of Abraham, to deliver them from bondage, to bring many sons unto
glory, let us ask ourselves the question, what are the seed of
Abraham to be understood in a way that is consistent with this
passage of the Scripture? Clearly, the seed of Abraham
are the descendants, the offspring of Abraham, those who can trace
their lineage back to Abraham. And the Jews boasted, as in John
chapter 8, verse 33, we be Abraham's seed, they said to the Lord. They said again in John chapter
8, verse 39, Abraham is our Father. They said again in John 8 and
53, our Father Abraham. Or Matthew 3 and verse 9, don't
say we have Abraham to our Father, John the Baptist said unto them. Now in this sense, the seed of
Abraham refers to the Jews, the physical, natural seed of the
friend of God. But Scripture teaches us and
that in both the Old and the New Testament that Abraham hath
both a physical, natural, and a spiritual seed. Now if the seed of Abraham in
Hebrews 2 and 16 refer only to the natural, or the physical
seed of Abraham that is only to the Jew or Israel, then is
the Lord's salvation only for them and not to spread among
the Gentiles. Paul settles the question for
us as to who are the true spiritual seed of Abraham. He's the father
of them that believe. Romans 4 and 11. That they that
are Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs
according to the promise. Galatians 3 and verse 29. And it is also called a Jew,
a Jew after the flesh, that tells us in Romans 2, 28 and 29, that
a true Jew, one who is a true Jew, is one who is inwardly a Jew,
true circumcision is that of the heart and not of the flesh. So that in the context, the seed
of Abraham are the elect. They are the ones that Christ
has taken hold of to help them, to deliver them, to rescue them,
to save them and bring them into glory. In other words, in verse
17, Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren." Now, the word behooved is interesting. It means ought. It means it had
to be. It means something that he was
under obligation. It was something that was bound
to be done. To show the strength of this
word, we see how the same word is translated and is used in
other places in the Scripture. You'll find this word at least
three dozen times searching out the New Testament. And it is
rendered by these words. I'm going to give you just a
few. It is rendered ode, O-W-E-D, in Matthew 18.24. The same word
is rendered debt. in chapter 18, verse 30 of Matthew. And again, detar in Matthew 26
and verse 13. Indebted is how it is translated
in Luke 11 and 4. Ought, O-U-G-H-T, in John 19
and 7. duty in Romans 15, 27, due in
1 Corinthians 7, 3, should in 1 Corinthians 9, 10, and bound
in 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 3. It behooved him. It was an
obligation. He should, he must become flesh
and blood and partake of the nature of his brethren. So we
ask then the words. It behooved him to be made like
to his brethren. Do they look behind at what has
been said, or do they look ahead to what is next in the Scripture? Since he took hold of Abraham's
seed, wherefore it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren.
To be fair, it has already been said in verse fourteen, though
it is true, having taken hold of them in election, he must
become incarnate and die because he took hold of them. Or does
this look ahead to what we find in verse 17? It behooved him
to be made like unto his brethren, so that, or in order that, he
might be a merciful and faithful high priest in their behalf,
in regard, or before God. The foremost duty of a priest
is to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. and to
intercede with God, the foremost duty of a priest. So the Lord
Jesus Christ has taken hold of the seed of Abraham. It behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be for
them a faithful high priest. Now, the conclusion of our study
today. Christ took hold of the elect. They are in his hands. and can
never be pried out. He will never cast them out.
They will never perish so firmly as He has taken hold of them.
They will never come into condemnation. He took their sins in His own
body and carried them under the tree. He took their sins with
Him, and He took their persons with Him under the cross. And
not only that, but He ever lives to intercede for them. He will lose none. that the Father
has given Him. He has taken hold of them. He
will present them thoughtless and spotless before God. He will save them to the uttermost,
for He has taken hold of the seed of Abraham. Now, He took
hold of us in sovereign election before the foundation of the
world, Christ took hold of us. And in due time, he took hold
of us by his grace. as He apprehended Paul on Damascus
Road. He apprehended us according to
a fixed purpose, and He will never, ever lose His grip or
lose His hold upon the seed of Abraham, the elect of God, those
given to Him by God before the foundation of the world to save. And so the text said, He taketh
not, He hath not the angels, but he taketh hold of the seed
of Abraham and is a merciful and faithful high priest for
their good and for their relief and for their health. We have
a great high priest.