That's good, yeah. I like that. Notice in the bulletin there's an announcement for lunch next Sunday, so I hope you can prepare and be here for that. If you would like to open your Bibles with me, we're going to be back in Hebrews chapter 2 again. Chapter 2. I was thinking as we were singing that hymn of a passage we looked at Wednesday night from Revelation chapter 12, where the church is described as a woman being cast out into the wilderness.

And that's our life here in this world. We live in a dry and thirsty land. but how the Lord prepared for her a great two-winged eagle to provide for her in that wilderness. And we just sang about it. The two wings of that eagle is the word of God and the spirit of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God. and the natural man cannot receive the things of the spirit, they are spiritually discerned. So if the Lord is pleased in our wilderness in which we live, this hour, to send his spirit in power and to enlighten the eyes of our understanding and to reveal Christ by his word, we will be a blessed, blessed people. Hebrews chapter two, verse 10. For it became him, he gets all the glory. For whom are all things? All things were made by him and all things were made for him. and by whom are all things. He created everything and he sustains all things, both physical and spiritual.

And this one in bringing many sons onto glory. to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. The picture here is of an army coming home, their commander wounded yet victorious. It reminds me of the story that we read of King David in 1 Kings chapter 30. David had his men on a military campaign against the Philistines, the enemy of Israel.

And they had left all of their supplies and their wives and their children in a little community called Ziklag. And David comes back from this battle, and before they get to Ziklag, they see smoke rising from the city. And when they approach the city, they realize that there's no one there. Everything had been taken. Everything. The wives, the children, the supplies, the animals, and they had set the city on fire, found out that it was the Amalekites.

It was the Amalekites, this perpetual enemy of Israel. They were, Amalek was the grandson of Esau. Esau is a picture of Israel. of our earthly dwelling. Amalek is called, the Amalekites were called the dwellers in the valley. We walk through the valley of the shadow of death. What enables us to fear no evil? Thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

David, the scripture says, his men wanted to kill him for they lost everything. The Amalekites had taken it all. And David comforted himself in the Lord. And then David gathers his men together and goes after the Amalekites. And he battles with the Amalekites. And the end of the story, I love it. And David recovered all. David recovered all. every woman, every wife, every child, every animal, not only the materials that the Amalekites had stolen, but the spoils of the Amalekites as well. David recovered all.

What a glorious picture. What hope we have that the one of whom are all things and by whom are all things brought many sons to glory. He became the captain of their salvation. Made perfect through suffering. God says that my word will not return unto me void. It will accomplish the purpose for which I sent it. We take great comfort in that word when we preach. knowing that God will accomplish what he wills.

But the Lord Jesus is called the living word of God. He's the word that was made flesh who dwelt among us. And when he ascended back into glory, he did not return to his father void. He took with him the names of all those for whom he lived and died. So that the Bible says that all of God's people are seated in heavenly places in Christ right now. That's where the church is. That's the truth.

We don't measure that which cannot be seen by that which can be seen. We measure that which can be seen by that which cannot be seen. That which cannot be seen is eternal. What is it that we can't see with the natural eye? We can only see through the eye of faith. We can only see it because God said so and we believe it.

That our commander was made perfect through suffering and that he led many sons to glory and that he is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high and that all for whom he died are in him right now. in heavenly places, seated, seated in union with Christ. If the Lord would enable us to believe that, how much more wise, how much more discerning, how much more careful we would be in the things that we actually see in this world. This salvation that our captain accomplished is a perfect salvation. It's perfect.

He left nothing up to chance. He left nothing up to the will or the whims of man. He did it all by himself. He knew in order for it to be perfect, which is what it had to be, he had to do it all. And that's the word that we have this morning from God, that the captain of our salvation, the perfect one, has made our salvation perfect. It is perfect in that there's nothing partial about it. It's perfect in that there is nothing conditioned by man in it. And it is perfect in that it is not temporary. It's not partial. He didn't do his part and say, now the rest is up to you. He did it all. When he bowed his head on Calvary's cross, he said, it is paid in full.

It's finished. That's the word. If you owed a debt to a credible creditor in the first century and you paid off that debt, they would stamp your documents or write on your documents, however they did it back then. That word that our Lord used when he died on Calvary's cross, it is finished.

It's paid in full. Now, someone pays off your debt at the bank, and you go to the bank to pay on that debt. And the bank is honest, trustworthy banker. They would say to you, we cannot take your money and put it on that debt. That debt's paid in full. It wasn't partially paid. It didn't leave. It's not like, you know, you go to dinner with someone and they insist on paying and you say, well, can I just pay the tip? Can I do something? Nope, got that too. No, you don't have anything to pay.

This is not a partial salvation. David said, this covenant of grace that was established in time eternal was ordered in all things and sure. It's not a partial dead. It's not a partial salvation. The Lord Jesus did not leave anything left to the will or the whims of man. He did it all. and he did it all by himself and he gets all the glory. And God's people love it that way. Lord, if you left any part of my salvation up to me, I wouldn't get it right.

When Judah went before his father, Jacob, you remember, Joseph's down in Egypt and Joseph said, bring Benjamin and I'll give you more food. And now Judah and all of his brothers back home with their father have run out of food. And Judah goes to Benjamin, goes to his father, Jacob and says, we can't go back without Benjamin. But he says to his father, I will be surety for him. of my hand thou shalt require him. And if I bring him not unto thee and set thee before thee, then let me bear the blame forever.

The Lord Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. These words are prophetic. Benjamin is the church, the sons of God, the people of God. Benjamin's name, the son of my right hand. And our Judah says to his father, I'll be surety for them. Of my hand, you can require them. And if I fail to bring them back and set them before thee, then you charge it to my account. Would there be any way the Lord Jesus would fail to bring his people back to glory? Let's read our verse again. The last part of it, in bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.

John wept. when he saw that there was a book in the hand of him that sat upon the throne, and that no man on earth and no man in heaven was worthy to open the book. But the book had to be opened. It was the Lamb's book of life. It was the book of God's decrees. It was the scriptures themselves. It was the revelation of what God would do in saving his people. And John said, if the book's not open, it's sealed with seven seals. If the book's not open, then none of us have any hope. Weep not, John. Weep not.

The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed, and he is worthy to open the book. The captain of our salvation, has made the salvation of his people perfect. In that there is nothing about it partial. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14 says, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. What a savior. The captain of our salvation has brought many sons to glory, and he has set them down on the very throne of God. He has prevailed. He's gotten the victory.

Hebrews chapter one, verse three says, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The Lord tells us in the book of Colossians, in him is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. If you've seen me, you've seen the father. And the rest of that verse says, and we are complete in him.

Complete. Nothing left. He did it all. Nothing partial. Men make salvation partial when they say, well, God's done his part. Now you have to do your part. Suppose with me for a moment that you had a river that you must cross in order to survive. You must cross this river. And at the crossing of the river, there's one bridge that's wide and sturdy, but it only goes halfway. And there's another bridge that's very narrow, but it goes all the way across. Which bridge are you going to choose? You got to get across the river. Those who say that God's done his part, but you have to do your part, have a bridge that goes halfway across the river. And those that get to the top of that bridge will find themselves off that bridge. Remember what years ago when that The barge ran into the bridge over there in Tampa and people actually drove off the bridge, just all of a sudden. That's a bridge halfway across.

The Lord Jesus did not make a bridge halfway across. He didn't leave anything left for me and you to do. He built it all the way. Nothing partial about it. If he leaves any part of it up to us, We know we can't. We can't cross that river. If Joshua doesn't divide the water, enable us to walk across, if that ark of the covenant doesn't go before us, make the way, we can't enter into the promised land. The Lord Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation, made our salvation perfect by his suffering.

A lot of people think that if you suffer enough in this life, that will secure you a place in heaven. How many times have you heard a play, heard someone say that had a very difficult time in life? And I know there are people, that have chronic illnesses and situations that are a lot worse than mine. But don't think for a moment that that sort of life of suffering is going to earn you a place in heaven.

You hear people say, well, you know, they're not suffering anymore, or they're gone to a better place. Not because of their suffering are they not suffering anymore. If they're not suffering anymore and they're going to a better place, it had nothing to do with their suffering. It had everything to do with his suffering. His suffering. No amount of suffering.

That's why hell is eternal. As horrible as the suffering of hell will be, eternity will not be sufficient to satisfy the justice of God. No one can suffer in hell long enough for God to be able to say, okay, you paid your debt. No, the Lord Jesus paid the debt.

It is finished. He paid it. There's nothing partial about the salvation that he earned. It was made perfect through his suffering. It wasn't made partial by and left up with something for us to do. It's perfect in that there's nothing conditional on man's part. There's not a condition.

For by grace are you saved. For by grace are you saved. Someone said, well, don't stop there, preacher. You know the rest of that verse. Through faith, there's the condition, right? I said there's not a condition, the Lord Jesus did not leave a condition for salvation up to man. Up to man. For by grace are you saved through faith and not of works. I'm sorry, I didn't even quote that properly. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."

God met the conditions. Justice had to be satisfied. The law had to be fulfilled. Faith has to be given. But everyone who has saving faith knows that that faith that they have was not a decision that they made. It was not something that they came up with. It was not It was not a commitment that they made. It had nothing to do with a resolve that they determined to do. It was a work of grace in the heart.

God gave them faith. They cannot not believe. They try every day not believing. Their unbelief manifests itself far, far too often in their own sin. But they cannot not believe. Why? because God has given them saving faith. There's not a condition that God left for man to meet.

He met them all. Turn with me to 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1. Verse nine. the captain of our salvation, the perfect captain who has come back from battle, wounded, yet he has recovered all. He recovered all. Verse nine of 2 Timothy chapter one, this captain, this victorious, commander saved us, who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

The fulfillment of the condition of faith was already determined, decreed, purposed of God before the world ever began. God put his elect people in Christ. This salvation is not conditioned. It's not conditioned by man. God knew that if he left any condition up to us, that we wouldn't get it right.

And if we hear a message of salvation that counts on us to do something, if we hear a message of salvation that counts on us to prove that we're saved, ah, love is substituted by fear, isn't it? It's substituted by fear. Turn over just a couple of pages to the book of Titus, Titus chapter three.

Verse five, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. joint heirs with Christ, brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is not ashamed to call them his brethren. He has made us one with him. The gospel is not conditioned by something we do. The gospel is conditioned by something God does. If we're thirsty, he made us thirsty. If we're here, He made us here. If we're willing, He made us willing. He meets the condition.

It is called a covenant of grace. A marriage between a man and a woman in this world is a covenant. It's a promise. But it's not a covenant of grace, it's a covenant of works. It's a covenant of works between a man and a woman. I will, if you will. And we see those covenants dissolve because one party doesn't keep their side of the promise.

God says, I will, and you shall. and you shall. Yes, do you have to be thirsty to come to the water and drink? Yep, and you shall be thirsty. I'm gonna make you thirsty. Well, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You can feed him salt. And the salt of God's word is what makes God's people thirsty. Only God can do that.

A condition, well, it's the evidence of our salvation, not the cause of it, but yes, we must believe. But if we're believing, it's because God gave us faith to believe. It's not a condition that we met. I will and you shall. This covenant. is a covenant of grace. It's not a covenant of works. It's not a covenant whereby God is depending upon us to meet a condition in order for him to be able to save us. It's a covenant whereby he took the full responsibility for the whole thing. And he said, I'm going to do this. And you will follow me. And you will believe on me. Turn with me.

Old Testament Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. Just before that, you'll find the book of Zechariah. Zechariah, the end of the Old Testament. Turn with me to Zechariah chapter four. Now, Zechariah is prophesying of the return of the children of Israel from Babylonian captivity. And it's a picture of us being brought out of this land of Babylon. Babel means confusion.

So much about this world is confusing. You listen to the talking heads and the politicians and the media, and that's confusing enough. But then when we have to consider the conflict between our own flesh and spirit, that's where confusion really becomes personal. Relationships are confusing. Everything in this world is confusing. Religion particularly is confusing.

One says you gotta do this, another says you gotta do that. And the only difference between what, there's only two religions in the world, it's works and grace. Only two religions. And the only difference between all the works religion of the world is which works they emphasize. One religion will say we need to do this and abstain from that. Another will say we need to do this and abstain from the other. This is a gospel of grace. It is not conditioned on man. God does it all.

So Zechariah chapter four, Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel, he's the man that led the children of Israel out of Babylon back to Israel. But he's a picture of Christ. And his name means born in Babylon. And the Lord Jesus Christ was born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who are cursed by the law. The Lord Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and died a vicarious death on Calvary's cross for all the sins of his people.

He is the captain of their perfect salvation. Verse six, Zechariah chapter four. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. The Lord Jesus, as the anointed one, as the Christ, came in the full power of the spirit of God to accomplish the salvation of his people. He could not fail. He's the Christ, the Messiah. And we don't come by power and we don't come by might, by determination, but by his spirit. Nicodemus, except you be born of the spirit, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Who art thou, O great mountain? How you gonna keep a mountain is that which creates a barrier between us and God. What is the greatest barrier between us and God? It's our sin. And the Lord Jesus said, if you had faith of a mustard seed, you could say unto this mountain, be ye cast into the sea and it would be removed. Is he talking about taking, talking to a physical mountain and moving? No, he's talking about that barrier of sin that exists between us and God. And what is faith? It's looking to Christ as the one who took all the sins of all of God's people and buried them in the depths of the sea. Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel?

Thou shalt become a plain, and thou shalt bring forth the headstone thereof with shouting, crying, grace, grace unto it. It's free, it's unconditioned by man. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house and his hands shall also finish it. He which began a good work in you will perform it until the day of his coming. I will and you shall. You shall. I'm going to finish the work I started.

That's why John said, if they went out from us, it's because they were never of us. For had they been of us, they would have remained. Why? Because of their determination? Because of their commitment? No, because of the work of grace in their heart. They cannot leave. They cannot depart.

I'm going to see to it. The rest of verse nine, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. God did it. It's not partial. It's not conditional. And it's not temporary. It's called eternal life. And when God gives eternal life, it's just that, it's eternal. You didn't do anything to earn it and you can't lose it. It's forever.

The captain of our salvation has made it so. He has made it perfect through suffering. I will give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them unto me, who is greater than all, no man can pluck them out of his hand either." Oh, it's forever?

Romans chapter eight, them whom he did foreknow. Now this word foreknowledge doesn't just mean that he was cognizant of their existence. He looked down through the quarters of time and he saw who would believe and who wouldn't. No, this word foreknowledge means that he loved them. The first incident we have of this word in the Old Testament is Adam knew his wife and she conceived and brought forth a son. It's an intimate knowledge. them whom he did foreknow, them who he also did predestinate. And we looked at this in the previous hour.

Not to be conformed, but he did predestinate, conform to the image of his son. And them that he predestinated, he called, them that he called, he justified, and then that he justified, he glorified. From predestination, from election, that's for knowledge, election, the cause of elections for knowledge, predestination, redemption, calling, justification, all the way to glorification, all that is in the past tense. That's why when we began, we said we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus right now, our union with him.

By his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. We close with one passage in Ecclesiastes, if you'll turn there with me. Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, chapter three of Ecclesiastes, verse 14. Chapter three, verse 14.

This is glorious. I know. Do you know this? I know this. There's a lot of things I don't know, a whole lot of things I don't know. And what I think I know sometimes gets changed, but I know this. And this hasn't changed since the Lord was pleased to reveal himself to me. I know whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it nor anything taken from it. God doeth it that men should fear before him. What is the fear of God? There it is. My God is omnipotent. My God is sovereign. My God is successful. And whatever he does, it's forever.

I can't add to it. I can't take anything from it. This very book concludes with that warning, does it not? If any man add to the words that are in this book, the curses in this book will be added unto him. And if any man take away from what God has done, take away from the finished work of Christ, take away from the captain of their salvation who is perfect and who has made salvation perfect and who has carried many sons into glory to rob him of that glory is to rob yourself of any hope of salvation it's not partial it's not conditioned on man and it's not temporary it's eternal It's finished, it's all of grace, and it's life eternal.

Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, what a glorious captain we have. What hope the Spirit of God puts in our hearts to cry, Abba, Father, to know that the Lord Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brethren, that we can come before the throne of grace, knowing that we have union with him, knowing that he completed a perfect salvation, and knowing that in the day of judgment, we shall have boldness, confidence before thee, because as he is, so are we. Lord, we pray for your spirit to remind us often of this glorious truth and that you would grow us in your grace and the knowledge of Christ and that you would increase our love. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. 1 25. Let's stand together.