In this life, believers are commanded
to obey God. And when hearing a statement
like that, the carnal mind flies off to these unattainable ideas
that somehow we can please God through our works or through
our obedience to His law. And almost all religious people
speak of walking in the will of God, but few know what it
is, what that really is. The Lord said, Not everyone that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
The Lord said, For whosoever shall do the will of my Father
which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and
mother. And then the Lord told us plainly
what is the will of His Father. He said, this is the will of
Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, sees Him
exalted, see Him as He is, the Lord, high and lifted up, and
believeth on Him, trusts Him, may have everlasting life, and
I'll raise Him up at the last day. Seeing Christ exalted and
believing Him is the obedience to which we are commanded. That's
the will of God. Listen to what John said. This
is His commandment. It can't be any more clear than
that. This is God's commandment. This is the Lord Jesus Christ's
commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus
Christ, and love one another as He gave us commandment. That's
His will. Now, as far as His will and providence
and what He's doing on a day-to-day basis, I can't tell you what
He's... I know He's doing whatsoever
He's pleased to do. But as far as His will and what's
revealed in the Word of God, this is His will to believe on
His Son and to love one another. That's His will. Now there's
a problem. When we're faced with the awful
weakness of this flesh and these bodies of death that we inhabit,
how are we possibly going to believe on Christ and continue
trusting Christ alone? Well, there's an answer to that.
It's because our Savior willfully submitted himself as a servant
to suffer as a man for men before God Almighty. And we have the
promise of comfort and strength and compassion from our great,
merciful, and faithful high priest, Christ the Lord. That's what
we see here clearly revealed. Believers can be confident that
Christ will never leave us nor forsake us. We can be confident
of that because the same suffering that you experience and that
I experience due to the weakness of this flesh, that total inability
of our flesh. Our great high priest suffered
in the days when he walked this earth with the same, he was touched
with the feelings of our infirmities. Sorrow, death, bereavement, being forsaken,
being abandoned of his people, all those things. We'll look
at those a little later. But he was touched with those things,
and he knows our frame. He remembers we're dust. He knows
it, and he knows it by experience because he came to where we are.
Now, Christ Jesus is preeminently the Son of God. We know that. Verse 8 says, Though he were
a son, he is preeminently the Son of God. Now all who are chosen
by God the Father, and all those whom He redeemed, Christ redeemed,
and all that are born of the Holy Spirit, believers, are sons. We are sons by adoption and by
grace. Galatians says, Because you are sons, God sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. He didn't say, When He
sent forth the Spirit of your Son into your heart, you became
a son. He said because you are sons,
because you are children, He sent forth the Spirit of His
Son. We were children because He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
preeminently the Son of God, more so than what we are. He's
the preeminent Son of God. He's the only begotten Son of
the Father in the Holy Trinity. He's one. God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Spirit. He's the only begotten Son of
God in that He's the only virgin-born Son. He's the only Son of God
born into this world. Not born under Adam. Not born
under Adam. He was born holy. Remember what
the angel spoke unto Mary? That thing that should be formed
in you He should be holy. That's Christ. And then the Lord
Jesus Christ is preeminently the only begotten Son because
God the Father exalted Him publicly and appointed Him to be the High
Priest. And He's been exalted in resurrection
glory to sit at His right hand. So He's preeminently the Son
of God. But, though Christ Jesus is preeminently
the Son of God, He wasn't exempt from suffering. He was not exempt
from suffering. And He had to suffer as a man.
I want to just go over one point with you on why He had to suffer
as a man. We may camp here for a little
while in these verses because there are some deep things here
that we need to look at. But first of all, if He would
fulfill the work of a high priest, He had to suffer. He had to suffer. If He would redeem us from our
sins and from the wrath He must suffer all that we deserve as
sinners to the full satisfaction of divine justice. And if He
would be able to comfort us in all our times of need, He must
be compassed about with our infirmities and our sufferings. We can't
comfort somebody unless we've been where they are. And He,
as a man, has been where we are so He can comfort us. What was
the twofold responsibilities of a high priest? Look back at
the beginning of chapter five. Every high priest taken from
among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God.
He's the go-to. He's the one that goes to God
on our behalf, that he may, one, offer both gifts and sacrifices
for sins. He made atonement by his one
offering for us, and any time we pray Anytime we thank God,
that prayer goes to God through our high priest. We can't approach
God outside of him. Even in prayer, it goes through
him. And then secondly, the job of the high priest was he could
have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the
way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
He too was compassed with infirmity. In order for Christ to fulfill
this responsibility as the high priest, He had to become a man
and He had to suffer. That's what we've been taught
all through Hebrews. Hebrews 2.9, remember? Look back
there with me. Hebrews 2.9. It says, But we
see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death. For the suffering of death. Verse
11 says, For both he that sanctify, that's Christ, and they who are
sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren. Hebrews 2.14 For as much then
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same. Our text says here in verse 8,
Though he were a son, Yet learned he obedience by the things which
he suffered." Let me say a few words on this. We're going to
look at this more in depth in another study. Let me give you
a few things. First of all, this is not learning
obedience in the sense that he needed to be corrected in the
manner that you and I need to be corrected. We learn obedience
because we're disobedient, and we're corrected to be taught
obedience. That's not the case with him.
That's not what this means. He did not have to be chastened.
He was never disobedient to his father. There was no sin in him
in thought, word, or deed. None. Obedience is voluntary
subjection to the will of another. That's what it is. Voluntary
subjection to the will of another. Obedience to God is owning His
absolute authority. It's owning Him as being the
absolute authority. It's performing all His pleasure. Obedience to God is faithfully
trusting Him. This is the only sacrifice with
which God is pleased. That's it. So while He volunteered,
Christ volunteered to become obedient. He actually entered
into the experience of being obedient. of obeying God, and
he suffered as a man. All the infirmities that we have,
he had. And he learned obedience by the
things he suffered. He denied himself. He did not
please himself. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Now, I want to compare these
two Scriptures. Look at Hebrews 5a. Though he were a son, yet
learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. Philippians
chapter 2. This will give us a good commentary
on this verse. Verse 5 of Philippians chapter
2 says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. He is God, God the Son, but made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion
as a man." Here's what obedience is. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. That's a
good commentary on Hebrews 5 verse 8. His learning obedience was
him actually entering into experiencing, as a man, voluntary subjection
to God. And particularly when compassed
about with our infirmities, so that he can have compassion on
his people. He knows first hand, as a man, as the servant of God. He's the son of God. It's hard
to get your mind around this. He's the son of God. And as the
son of God, he knows all things. But as a man, servant, as the
servant of Jehovah, he came to where we are and he had to not
only be passively obedient, but he had to be actively obedient.
He had to completely obey and honor God's law and fulfill it
completely. Even when the sins of his people
was laid upon him, he had to offer a perfect obedience to
God. perfect obedience to God, thought,
word, and deed. And this he did. Now, in Hebrews
5, 7, it says, Who in the days of his flesh, that means when
he walked where we walked, when he was on this earth as a man,
as the servant of God, when he had offered up, he's the high
priest and he's offering up, he's offering up You remember
when the Levitical priest, when he would go in with the sacrifice,
the first thing he did when he went in with the sacrifice is
he took the fat thereof and he burned it. He burned it. Have
you ever been outside, fellas, and you're grilling, as y'all
say, barbecuing, and you drop some fat off of a steak into
the coals? It smells really, really good.
Because that's the good part, you know. Well, they burn the
fat of the sacrifice and it says it went up to God as a sweet
smelling savor. In the midst of the most severe
affliction, in the midst of the most severe suffering, in the
flesh, in the weakness of the flesh, with the infirmities that
sin brought about, He didn't have any sin, but with the same
infirmities that our own sin brought about, he had those infirmities. And when suffering the severest
affliction, he offered up nothing but a sweet-smelling savor to
God, perfect obedience, perfect faithfulness to God. And it says,
prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. That strong crying and tears
shows us that It wasn't a minor thing that he suffered. He really
suffered. He suffered. And he offered up
prayers and supplications. I'm kind of getting into my study
for next week, but prayers and supplications signify, a prayer
signifies that you trust somebody, that you submit to somebody,
that you're dependent upon somebody. He prayed to God because he trusted
him. He trusted His faithfulness.
He submitted Himself to Him. He depended upon Him as a man
to strengthen Him, to strengthen Him. And supplications, the best
way to describe it was, it used to, they would take an olive
bow, and there's somebody who needs peace from somebody that's
of greater authority. They would take an olive branch
and they would wrap it in white wool and wave it before Him,
kind of like It reminds me of putting a white flag and waving
it. Well, they would do it with an olive branch. And they were
supplicating the person in greater authority for peace. They were
saying, we want peace from you. And that's what it says. He offered
up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.
And it says, and he did it to him that was able to save him
from death. He trusted God. He did it to
him that was able to say. He trusted that he's able. He's
able to say. And was heard. That's the title
of our lesson. He was heard. That tells us that
God looked upon him as perfectly righteous. God heard his prayer
because there was no sin mingled with it. He approached God on
his own. He approached God not with a
mediator between him and God. He as a man approached God and
God received him. He heard him. He heard his prayers
and his supplications. That tells us that he was perfect. He was faithful. He was righteous. He is our righteousness. And
it says, he was heard and that he feared. Now though he were
a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.
Now let me give you a quick three things here. First of all, let's
turn over to Matthew 26, 38. And I want you to read with me
when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane. When it says, in
the days of his flesh, that takes in from the cradle to the grave.
He didn't only suffer in the Garden of Gethsemane and at the
cross. His whole life was a life of suffering. He's a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. We read when he came to Lazarus'
tomb and he heard Martha saying, The thing she was saying, if
you'd have been here, he wouldn't have died. And he said, Martha,
if a man believes on me, he's not going to die. And she said,
oh, we know he'll be raised at the resurrection. He said, I
am the resurrection, Martha. And when he saw him there at
the tomb, it says he wept. He was a man acquainted with
sorrows, acquainted with grief. But he prayed. How often do we
find him praying? And it's not the prayer of Let
me say this. Yep, you probably notice when
I'm out eating somewhere You probably don't see me pray over
my food. It doesn't mean I haven't prayed
over my food I pray driving down the road a lot And if I bowed
my head and closed my eyes when I was doing it I'd run off the
road or run into somebody and kill him It don't change the
fact I'm praying to God and that he hears me But I don't make
a show of it when I'm in public Our Lord very seldom prayed in
public. And when He did, He was walking along in the midst
of the people and said, Father, I'm thankful that you hid these
things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes.
They didn't know what He did. They didn't know what He was
talking about. He didn't bow and get down on His hands and
knees in some posture. And most often you find He went
to the Mount of Olives and He separated Himself from the people
and there poured out His heart to God. Isn't that right? That's
what he did. The Pharisees were the ones,
he said, you stand in front of people and for a pretense and
to make a show, you make these long prayers to be seen of men.
Let's be careful we don't pray to be seen of men. Our prayer
is between us and God. Now here we find it says in verse
38, Then saith he unto them, to his disciples, My soul, now
listen, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, tarry
ye here and watch with me. And he went a little further
and fell on his face. He separated himself from his
disciples even here in the Mount of Olives. And he went on ahead
and he fell down and he prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be
possible Let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt." Now, you know he's not praying to be delivered
from the cross. He said, he said, should I pray
to be delivered from this hour? I came into the world for this
hour. That's why he came, was for this. He's having some soul
agony here. He's representing his people
as the great high priest. And he has soul agonies with
the sin of his people laid upon him. And he's got the cross in
front of him. And everything that is entailed
there is separation from God under the wrath of God. And he's
in an agony, suffering. And he prays, if it be possible,
you see the faithfulness in that? If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me, not the cross, But this agony, this burden I'm
under right now, because He's a man. He's in flesh. And listen, He says, let this
cup pass from me nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou. Not my will, but thou wilt be
done. So often we pray, and it sounds
like we're just commanding God to do stuff. It's, Lord, as thou
wilt, if you're pleased to do so, And it says, And he cometh
unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep. He asked them to
watch and pray with him. And there they are asleep. And
he said unto Peter, What, could you not watch with me one hour?
Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit
indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And he went away again
the second time, and prayed, saying, O my father, if this
cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, Thy will be
done. It's a little different prayer,
isn't it? If this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink
it, I must need suffer. He had to suffer. Thy will be
done. And he came and found them asleep
again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them. And he went
away again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Now Luke tells us There appeared
an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. The Lord didn't
remove him from this suffering, but the Lord strengthened him
in it. Now look, verse 45, Then cometh he to his disciples, and
saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the
hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed unto the hands
of sinners. Rise, let us be going. Behold,
he is at hand that doth betray me. Now let me give you these
three things, and we'll understand that from the perspective of
his people, this is what our high priest learned by his obedience,
by willfully submitting himself, subjecting himself voluntarily
to God. First of all, as he obediently
experienced the exceeding sorrow of the soul, even unto death,
as he was in an agony in the garden, he could from first-hand
experience as a man say to Peter, the spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. He found out experimentally that the flesh
is weak. Remember now, there is no sin
in him, but he is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. And he can say, the flesh is
weak, Peter. And then he obediently, faithfully
prayed three times to be delivered from this soul agony, to be raised
from death, as it were. And his father, he prayed his
father's will to do this. But instead of delivering him
from this agony, the father sent an angel and strengthened him.
And as a man, willfully subjecting himself, submitting himself to
the authority of God, he could from first-hand experience as
a man with infirmities say, God's grace is sufficient. God's grace
is sufficient. We see that in verse 46 there,
when after being strengthened with calmness and strength, he
goes back now and he says, Rise, let us be going. Behold, he is
at hand that doth betray me. He's not bowed down. He's not
sweating, as it were, great drops of blood. He comes with some
boldness now, and he says, rise, let's go. He's at hand, which
doth betray me. He's going to the cross. So when
Paul prayed three times for the thorn in his flesh to be removed,
our great high priest could tell Paul and teach Paul something
that he knew. As a man, he knew. And what did
Paul learn? He said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
If we ever saw that, we see it in the garden of Gethsemane and
at the cross. My strength is made perfect.
It is perfectly manifest and displayed in weakness. And Paul said, Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. You see that? And then thirdly,
because he experienced our infirmities during his perfect obedience
as a man, he could return to his disobedient sleeping disciples
and say to them with compassion, sleep on now, take your rest. He didn't come back and whip
them. He said, just sleep on. I know. I know without the Spirit
of God's grace, you can't do anything. Sleep on. Take your rest. Here's the lesson. The Son of
God was not exempt from suffering. If He's going to fulfill the
work of a high priest, He had to suffer. If He's going to redeem
us from our sins and from the wrath, He must suffer everything
that we deserve as sinners to the full satisfaction of divine
justice. We're going to see that more
as we go in these studies through this particular passage. And
if He's going to comfort us in all our times of need, He must
be compassed about with our infirmities and suffering. Here's what Isaiah
11 says about Him. And the Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon Him the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit
of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear
of the Lord. And here's the result, and shall
make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. That's
Isaiah 11, verse 2 and 3. And verse 5 says, and righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of
his reins. So when we read that he learned
obedience, When he came into suffering, the hotter that suffering
became, the more his faithfulness was manifest, the more his obedience
was manifest. We're going to see in Jonah a
little later, when he goes down to the depths, Jonah continually
cries. He says, I'm going to look to
thy throne. I'm going to turn and look, even
though I'm compassed about the moss and go down to the depths
of the seas and the mountains in the seas, I'm still going
to turn to your throne of grace. That's the picture of Christ.
In all of His suffering, He suffered perfectly. That's the second
point. That's what we're going to look
at next time. Not only did He suffer to experience what we
experience, but He suffered perfectly. He suffered perfectly. And the
third thing we'll see in this lesson is He suffered. He suffered perfectly. And we
must suffer. We must suffer. Let's read through
this one more time. And then it says, Who in the
days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplication
with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save
Him from death, was heard in that He feared. Though He were
a son, Yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered,
and being made perfect, that is, being found to be perfect,
being proven to be perfect, righteous through and through, he became
the author of eternal salvation. He became a fit sacrifice, without
spot and without blemish. He was proven to be without spot
and without blemish. And he became the author of eternal
salvation unto whom? all them that obey Him. Remember
what we started saying was that we're commanded to trust Christ? How are we going to trust Christ?
Through Christ. Through Him being where we've
been. We're going to trust Him because He's going to uphold
us and keep us and strengthen us so that we continue to trust
Him. Alright. We'll take a short break
here.