Hebrews chapter 2 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. For 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 neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him. God also bearing them witness,
both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and
gifts of the Holy Ghost according to His own will, For unto the
angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we
speak. But one in a certain place testified,
saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son
of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower
than the angels, thou crownest him with glory and honor, and
didst set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all
things in subjection under his feet, for in that he left nothing
that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things
put under him, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man, or that he should taste the death that every man
tastes. For it became him for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings, For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are
sanctified, are all of one. For which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto
my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise
unto thee. And again I will put my trust
in him, and again behold I and the children which God hath given
me. 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, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
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 to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that
he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor
them that are tempted." Now, as the writer here sets forth
the message that was given from the Lord to the nation of Israel,
because this book is written to the Hebrews, those who were
the natural descendants of Jacob, and is specifically written for
them in the sense that he would call to mind their historical
understanding of how God had dealt with them in times past.
But the purpose of it is not to set up a Hebrew church. Now, this is a thing that is
kind of popular in our day, is to have a Jewish church. And it's the same exact thing that Paul speaks about to the
Galatians, it's the same exact thing. Whereas the Jews say,
well, because we're Jews after the flesh, then we have a special
place and we're going to do things a little different. We're going
to do things like they should be done. I mean, if you like
what you should know, then you'd be doing what we're doing, because
we're keeping the law or whatever they would say that they're doing.
And so we understand that the purpose of the writing of this
book is not to separate those who were born naturally from
Jacob, from the Gentiles, but it is to show that there's one
message that's been given to Jew and Gentile alike. And the
purpose of writing to the Hebrews is to show them that, yes, you
have this descent, but God, who at sundry times in divers manner
spake in time past by the prophets to the fathers, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by His Son. And this is a completely
different ballgame now. It's not the same thing. because
God used the nation of Israel as a type and foreshadowed that
he might show what his true people in the earth are, which of course
he touches on here as he says down here, it pleased the Lord
in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect. So the sons that He is bringing
to glory are not those that have their line of descent from some
natural tribe, but they are those who are all of one, is what the
Scripture says. What He says here, they all sprang
from the same place, those who are the children of God. And
we will talk about that in a minute. Now, just as a kind of a side
note here, now I believe that The epistle to the Hebrews was
written by the apostle Paul, but that cannot be proved, and
a lot of people believe that it is, and some people believe
that it isn't. Now, if there was one argument
that in this particular book that sets forth what I think
would be a good position to take that would prove that perhaps
Paul didn't write it, is what he says down here in verse 3. He said, How shall we escape
if we neglect so great a salvation? Which it first began to be spoken
by the Lord as the Lord came and gave the Word unto His disciples. And then it says, And was confirmed
unto us by them that heard them. Now this doesn't necessarily
rule out Paul as being the author of the book, and this really
doesn't make any difference one way or the other, but yet Paul
was very plain in setting forth in his epistles that he was behind
none of the chief apostles, because he was throughout his ministry,
his apostleship was always brought into question. It's unfortunately
by some who were apostles and who walked with the Lord and
they said, well, Paul wasn't there. We were there. But here, he kind of defers to
that. Now this could be just simply
an act of humility on his part. But you know, many times he said,
I didn't receive this from men. He said, I received it directly
from the Lord. But here in this particular verse,
the writer says, "...at first, and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard him." And so that kind of causes me to have
a question in my mind, or at least it causes me to consider
that it is possible that Paul was not the author of it, but
in any event, It is much like the writings of Paul and could
have been written, of course, by Timothy who was Paul's understudy
in the Gospel. He was that one whom the Lord
gave to Paul as a helper and whom Paul conferred much wisdom
and the Lord used him in Timothy's life. So the point that he is
making here about He's proving, and when we say he's proving,
now the gospel doesn't have to be proved in the sense that this
is a courtroom and we're proving these particular issues before
men. Because if you can convince a
man that the gospel is true, then some other man can come
along with a strong argument and convince him it's not true.
So we're not trying to prove the gospel from that standpoint.
We're seeking to prove it from the standpoint of the fact that
it is true and that the proof of it is very much of a comfort
to the people of God as it is set forth and reiterated to us
even as he said there, this was confirmed. And so what he's doing
here is confirming the truth unto those to whom He has written. And so He said He did not say
to any of the angels, this day have I begotten thee. But He
said that to His Son. Jesus Christ is the only begotten
Son of God. And He is above the angels. He said to none of them, we have
put all things under your feet. But he did say that to his son.
Now, thou madest him a little lower than the angels, thou crownedst
him with glory. Now, he is specifically speaking
here about men in general, but this is prophetically, of course,
as the Scripture was written, speaking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the point that he is making
here is that Jesus Christ came into the world as a man. Now it is vitally important that
we understand two things about the Lord Jesus Christ. One is
that He is indeed true God. And He said He didn't make Him,
He didn't say to any of the angels. He is the One who is above the
angels. He is that One who created all
things. He is the heir of all things.
He is the Son and not a sermon. It is important that we understand
that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, but it is equally as important
because He is equally in the same sense. Amen. It is important that we have
that understanding. And that is exactly what he is
coming down to say here, that I have put all things in subjection
under his feet. For in that he put in subjection
all under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. Now
he is speaking about men in general, keeping in mind that it is also
speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. But it said, we see not
yet all things put under him. Now what is that which is in
this world that is not put under the control of man. Now we know
there are a lot of things, but I mean in general man is in control
of the things that he does in this world in the sense in which
men can do that. But there is one event that happens
to all men without exception that man has no control whatsoever
over. It doesn't matter what he eats.
It doesn't matter what safety precautions he takes. It doesn't
matter what he does. Every man born of a woman is
appointed unto death. Now that's just a reality. You
don't have to have any great schooling to know that. All you
have got to do is live long enough and you will see people around
you of every social status, of every type of learning, every type
of ignorance, every color. It does not make any difference.
One thing, one event happens to all men and that is they are
going to die. As Brother Al, in his study this
morning, reminded us of how that came to be. The curse of death. It is a real
curse. And it is not put under our feet. Now, we do know this, that the
Lord Jesus Christ has conquered death. We understand that in
the Scripture, but yet, in the natural sense, we see this not
put on us, we're still facing death, are we not? These mortal
bodies must perish. Now thankfully, the perishing
of the mortal body to those who are found in Christ is not a
triumph for the one who has the power of death. For it is the
purpose of the devil to destroy the sons of men. And the purpose
in his mind of destroying the sons of men is that he would
destroy the Son of Man who is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why his enmity is against man is because his enmity is against
Christ as it has always been. As he said, I will lift myself
up to heaven. You see, he would be the one.
He would be the one in his own mind who would have glory. And he would not have Christ
to rule over him. And so he is. He's passed that
on. And the death that men... are faced with is the result
of that. That's the outworking of that
death. He says here, but now we see
not yet all things put under him, but we see this. What does he say? But we see Jesus. That's a glorious few words there. You could just spend a lot of
time on that. But we see Jesus. We don't see
death, not a reality. You know, I used to look around
the community and I saw all these old people out here in the community. And I saw them all, you know,
going along through their life and they were doing things. And now I look around that community,
I don't see a bunch of old people. But I look in the mirror and
I say, well, wait a minute. The old people's not over there.
The old people's here. You see, if you're blessed with
life long enough, you'll come to the place where you'll realize
that you're the old people. You're the one that all the young
people are laughing at. You know all the head shakings
going on about and the aggravation and what not. So we know that
that's a fact, you see, but we see all of that, but that's not,
you see, for the children of God, you see, that is but a passing thing because
we see Jesus. who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death. Now, the One who is
higher than the angels, the One who made the angels, the One
to whom the angels bow down and worship, the One whom the angels
receive their marching orders from, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Scripture says, was made a little lower than the angels.
He took upon Himself the likeness of sinful flesh, and He walked
among men. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death. You
see, the angels haven't suffered death. They don't know what death
is. The demons, they kind of see it in the future,
but they don't know what it is. Remember when the Lord came and
they cried out, they said, Well, have you come to torment us before
the time? It's not time yet. We're not
ready yet. This isn't right. And He put them into the swine
and the swine ran off the cliff. He was made a little lower than
the angel of the suffering of death and crowned with glory
and honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man. Now some have tried to take that
passage of Scripture. The universalists would try to
take that passage of Scripture and say, see there, it says that
Christ died for every man. That's not what it says at all.
And if you read the context of the passage and go further down,
it couldn't possibly mean what they say that it means. Because
what it actually means here is that he tasted the death that
every man tastes. He is as fully man as any man
that has ever lived upon the face of the earth, and he is
that one who has tasted the same death that every man tastes. It wasn't a different death,
it was the same death. For it became him. It behooved him. It was fitting
to His purpose. You see, this was the thing that
He came into the world to do. For it became Him for whom are
all things. Why does the world exist? For
Him. Why do the things that happen
in the world happen? For Him. Now, men often try to
think that there's a bunch of stuff happening out here in the
world that God doesn't have any control over. But He could. If He could, He would stamp out
all these problems here, but He can't. He's just got to go
along with the flow. Brethren, that's no God at all.
The God with whom we have to do is the One who made all things,
the Scripture says, for Himself. You see, He's an absolute God.
He's a ruler. He's a king. And there's nothing
going on in the world that does not go on according to the purpose
of Almighty God. Now, I can't explain everything,
and I can't figure it all out, and sometimes some of it aggravates
me to no end. But nonetheless, we must bow
down and worship Him. Because you see, His way is right. His way is good. And it belongs
to Him. And He made it for Himself. And
it became Him for whom are all things by, and by whom are all
things. You see, they are for Him and
by Him. He made them. You want to know
why something happens? Because it pleased God. Now, that's not a good answer,
you see, for the humanist. He don't like that at all. Well,
you tell me why God, why these people are suffering over here
and all that, because God pleased it to be that way. Now, we don't
have a problem. I don't have a problem with that.
Now, is that, humanly speaking, like I might think it ought to
be? Maybe not. But by what He reveals
to us in the Scriptures, He is world. He can do it however He
wants to do it. And what can I say about it?
All I can do is put my hand over my mouth and fall down and worship
Him because He is right. Shall the thing formed say to
Him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? It is the
only thing in the world we can say. Now you see men say, oh,
well, I wouldn't want to serve a God like that. Well, that's
okay. A lot of people don't want to serve a God like that. But
you're going to be serving a God that's not a God at all. Because,
you see, the God with whom we have to do in the Scripture is
the one that is in control of all things. And if I didn't believe
that He was, I'd be afraid to step foot out of this building. Dear brethren, Job said, though
He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. You see, our confidence
is in Him. It's not in what we can figure
out, how we see things going. It's just we fall upon Him. We cast ourselves upon His mercy. We rejoice in what He has revealed
to us in His Word. For it became Him, pleased Him. for whom are all things, and
by whom are all things." Now look at this. Here's his purpose. It pleased the Lord in bringing
many sons to glory. What's his purpose in bringing
many sons to glory? Now, it doesn't say he's just
bringing many people to glory. They say He's giving everybody
a fair chance and a square deal. Some say, oh, well, God's got
to give everybody a chance. Well, I never have read that.
Why has God got to do anything? He doesn't have to do anything.
He does things because He pleases to do things. Now tell me that you like that. You don't really like it. It's
in your flesh. You don't like it. A natural
man can't like that. Adam didn't like it. God said,
don't eat it. He said, well, I don't know about
that. What happened to him? Dear brethren, God's God, for
whom are all things, by whom are all things, and bringing
many sons to glory. Many sons. Who can number the host of the
redeemed? John couldn't. He said a host which no man could
number. He said thousands and thousands.
Now, brethren, the family of God, it's not four or five people. It's a multitude that no man
can number, a great multitude. And that's what he said, him
bringing many sons to glory. It pleased the Lord in bringing
many sons to glory to taste death just like every man has tasted
death. It pleased Him to fulfill His
purpose to die, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings. Now most of the time, the depictions
of the sufferings of Christ that you will see are focused on the
physical aspects of the suffering. And that is indeed, as we read
right here, a true element of the sufferings of Christ. But
you see, the sufferings of Christ are not primarily physical, although
they are physical. The sufferings of Christ are
as the sufferings of every man. Now, the sufferings of every
man are not all physical in nature, are they? There are many things
that trouble us in mind and spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ, He was
troubled in mind and spirit. In the same way, you see, He
tasted death. You see, when the Lord said to Adam in the day
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die, He said that dying you shall
die. You see, death is a process.
And the heartaches and troubles and struggles in this life are
just a process of dying. They're not a process of living. Their process is bringing us
closer to death, stress. That's bringing us to an early
grave, as man would say. You know, these things, these
troubles and all of this. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ,
to fulfill His purpose in tasting the same death that every man
tastes, in order that He might bring many sons to glory, made
the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. We
talked about this a little bit last week. How can Christ be
made perfect when He is perfect? Well, it simply means that He
underwent those things. He actually tasted these things.
He actually did that. See, we're not talking about
a theory. We're talking about the fact
of seeing someone come in flesh and blood and walk among men
and actually suffer in the flesh in a visible and real way. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ did to make the captain of their salvation perfect. That
is, to fulfill His perfect purpose. in Jesus Christ through sufferings. Now listen to this, for both
he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are one. Now we know who it is that sanctifies,
don't we? The Lord Jesus Christ. He sanctifies
His people. Now how does the Lord sanctify
His people? Well, He sanctifies His people,
number one, in the decree of election. when He chose the people
in Christ from before the foundation of the world. To sanctify means
to set apart. He set apart a people. They are
sanctified in Christ. But He sanctified them also when
He came into the world and He paid the purchase price for their
redemption on Calvary's cross, of which these symbols here that
we have before us this morning represent. So we know what Christ
did. He came, He tasted death, the
same death that every man tastes, for the purpose of bringing many
sons to glory. And He said, those who are the
many sons are the ones who are sanctified. And then He says,
the one who does the sanctifying and the one who is sanctified
are all one. He said, they are My people.
When did the people of God become the people of God? All we can
say about that is before and before the foundation of the
world. Now, the Lord didn't line mankind up and go eeny, meeny,
miny, moe. See, a lot of people think that's
how the selection of the elect took place. No, God created the
elect unto salvation. There He is before creation ever
took place. And those who are the many sons
that He is bringing to glory are those who are included in
that number. Now He also, as He purchased
them by sanctifying them, as He sanctified them by setting
them apart, He has also sanctified them in the calling, which is
the operation of the Spirit of God that causes them to hear
the Word of God. It is that work which calls them
out by the awakening power of the Spirit of the living God
to give them ears to hear the things of God. That's why He
said to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, except a man be born again. He
cannot see the kingdom of heaven. Now how can a man cause himself
to be born again? Can you call yourself to be conceived
in your mother's womb? No. But you see, everyone who is
born of woman is conceived in the womb. And everyone that is
born of the Spirit of God is conceived by Almighty God. according to the good pleasure
of His will, that's what he says here, 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." Now that's one of the most amazing
statements in the Word of God. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. He should be. Have you ever done
anything that would cause you to be ashamed of yourself. I
bet you have on more than one occasion. But the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
not ashamed of His people. He loves His people with an everlasting
love. And He said, I am going to bring
all of them to glory. Though they be a multitude that
no man can number, I'm going to bring them. Because they who
are the sanctified and they who are the healers, the sanctifier,
are all one. That's what he prayed, did he
not? He said, Father, that they may be one even as we are. Now
his prayer was primarily that we might have brotherhood one
with the other, but he said even as I am in you and they are in
me. See, a vine cannot bear fruit,
or the branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine.
We are those who are the branches of the vine. You see, the vine
is the strength. We are those who are sprouted
out from the vine. Now, did we cause ourselves to
sprout? No. But you see, we sprouted
because it pleased Him in bringing many sons to glory. for which
cause he is not ashamed. And he says, I will declare thy
name unto my brethren. He said, I will declare my truth
to my brethren. Dear brethren, there is not one
of God's people on the face of the earth that is not sanctified
and set apart at some point in time by the calling of God through
the work of the new birth. For they shall all know me from
the least to the greatest, he said. I'll call them. I'll give them love for me, though
they don't know who I am. And I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and what
the children which God hath given me, For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that he through death he might destroy him that
hath the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage." Loving the man who is without Christ is indeed subject
to bondage. But those who are sanctified
in Christ have been set free from bondage. For if the Son
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Now what is our
freedom? It is that we know that our standing
with God does not depend on what we are, what we do. But our salvation and our standing
with God depends on what Christ did. And that's exactly why we
come to this table this morning, to remember His death till He
comes again. Remember His death. Why do we
remember His death? Because it's in His death that
He underwent exactly what every one of those whom He would bring
to glory underwent. And He said, as often as you
do this, You do show my death until I come again. May the Lord
give us a mind and a heart today to take of these things in the
fashion in which they are given.