The angels of God are this day,
as they were in the ancient Jews' times, highly venerated to the
point of worship by many. Some even pray to the angels
in utter idolatry. And because the angels are so
highly venerated by many, there are many superstitious, silly,
and even idolatrous ideas abounding concerning them. therefore God
gave us in Hebrews chapters 1 and 2, these opening passages in
the book of Hebrews, the declaration that Jesus Christ is indescribably
greater than and superior to the angels of God. He who is
the angel of God's presence is the creator of the angels, these
heavenly creatures. They, like us, are his creatures,
his servants. The angels, we are told in chapter
1 and verse 14, are ministering spirits sent forth to minister
for them who shall be the heirs of salvation. It never was God's
intention, it never was God's purpose at all to make man subject
to angels and to put the angels in charge of the world to come. And therefore we read in verse
5 of chapter 2, for unto the angels hath he not put in subjection
the world to come whereof we speak. That is to say, God never
intended to make the angels rulers over men, not in this world,
nor in the world to come. Then in verse 6, the inspired
writer quotes from Psalm 8 and raises the question, what is
man? That will be my subject tonight.
What is man? that God should be so gracious
to him? What is man that the angels of
God should be ministering spirits sent forth to minister to him
to serve his everlasting good? What is man that the world to
come should be put in subjection and under the dominion of his
feet? Look at it with me. Hebrews chapter
2 verse 6. 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, and 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." What a statement! God has put all things in subjection
under the feet of man? For in that he put all in subjection
under him." Now look at it. He left nothing that is not put
under him. But now we see not yet all things
put under him. It doesn't look like much is
under your feet to me. It doesn't appear to me that much is under
my feet. It doesn't appear to me that God has put everything
under the feet of any man except one man and in him under the
feet of all who are in him. The apostle says we see not yet
all things put under him but that doesn't mean God hasn't
done it just because we don't see it. But we see Jesus who
was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death for a little while. He who made the angels was made
a little lower than the angels, so that he might suffer death,
and now we see this man crowned with glory and honor. He was
made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory
and honor, but he was made a little lower than the angels, that he,
by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. That is, for every man whom he
came here to redeem, as we will see in a few weeks, Lord And
whenever we read about, hear about, or think about God's goodness
to sinful man, his mercy, his love, his grace to such things
as we are, we ought to simply be overwhelmed. We ought to ask
ourselves, but what is man? What is man? Job was astounded
at this. He said, what is man that thou
shouldest magnify him, and that thou shouldest set thine heart
upon him? Now the world around us makes
everything to center in man. The world around us would have
everybody to believe that all God's purpose and God's grace
and everything is that which is deserving by man. But nothing
of the kind is true. The Scriptures speak constantly
with astonishment that God should be gracious to you, that God
should be good to me. Folks said in judgment as if
they had the authority to say the judgment of God and question
when God sends judgment and how could God do this? How could
God be gracious to you? How could God be good to you?
In the light of who he is and what you and I are, what is man? The psalmist said again in Psalm
144, Lord, what is man that thou takest knowledge of him, that
you should even take knowledge of him? Now turn back to Psalm
8. Here's where the text is taken
from in Hebrews chapter 2. Here the psalmist is quoting,
or the inspired writer is quoting from the psalmist David in Psalm
8. Let's begin in verse 1, though
the quotation actually only begins in verse 4. David says, O Lord our Lord,
how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy
glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies
that thou mightest steal the enemy and the avenger. When I
consider thy heavens, I love that language, thy heavens, they're
and the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which
thou hast ordained. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? And the son of man that thou
visitest him, for thou madest him a little lower than the angels,
and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him, man,
to have dominion over the works of thy hands, and thou hast put
all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, the beast
of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,
and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea. O Lord,
our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth." Now there
are two things that are obvious as you read this psalm. The first
is the greatness of God. Oh, the greatness of God. Be sure you don't miss the backdrop
against which the question that is being raised this evening
is asked, what is man? The psalmist asked this question
against the backdrop of his description of God's greatness. And in Hebrews
chapter 2, it's asked against the description given in verses
1, 2, and 3 of chapter 1 of the greatness and the supremacy and
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the fact is, we cannot
understand, we cannot see, we cannot properly conceive of anything
until we understand something of the greatness of our God.
Until you see who God is, you'll never understand anything about
who you are. Until you understand who God is, you'll never understand
anything about what's going on in God's creation. We must begin
with the greatness of God if we would understand anything
in this book. The fact is, the root of all sin, the cause of
all unbelief, the source of all heresy in the world can be found
in this one thing. All men by nature have low views
of God. That's just fact. Everybody,
everybody by nature has a low view of God. Satan could never
have persuaded Eve to take the forbidden fruit until he convinced
her that God is not near as great as she presumed he was. We would
never doubt God's word, never. We would never question that
which is written in this book. We would never question God's
promise. We would never question his faithfulness
if we didn't question his greatness. Men would never pervert the gospel,
never, if they didn't have low views of God. The root of all
heresy, the root of all perversion, the root of all sin is man's
low view of God. Therefore, we begin this evening
by considering something of the greatness of our God. The first
message of every prophet, the first message of every apostle,
the first message of every preacher who is sent of God is that which
is described in Isaiah 40, verse 10, Behold your God. Turn back
there, if you will. Isaiah chapter 40. Only when we see the greatness
of God will we worship him, trust him, love him, trust him, and
honor him as God. David was utterly overwhelmed
with the realization of God's greatness. He talked about the
excellency of his name. He said, Oh Lord, our Lord, Jehovah,
our Jehovah. Not just God, God, yes indeed,
but our God. How excellent is thy name. He
spoke of God's greatness, describing the purpose of his glorious being,
saying the heavens, the heavens, these things that you have made
great as they are, they're far below your great glory. And he
speaks of God's purpose of grace, saying out of the mouth of babes
and sucklings, you've ordained praise. God has ordained his
praise to be found in such things as you and I are. He says these
heavens, these heavens that stand as a constant marvel to man,
why they're the works of your fingers. Finger work, isn't that
amazing? Finger work is easy work, it
just requires a lot of detail. And all the heavens are the works
of God's fingers. And then he speaks of the rule
of God's providence over all things, the heavens, the angels,
the man on earth, the beasts, the creeping things, the fish
of the sea, everything under the rule of God Almighty. Ever
then entertain great thoughts of God. Anything that lowers
God's character, anything that lessens his greatness in your
mind is a satanic lie. Don't tolerate it. Let no doctrine
be believed, let no sermon be heard, let no song be sung, let
no thought be entertained that would bring God down in any way,
but ever that which exalts and magnifies him. Look here in Isaiah
40. Behold your God. You see it in
verse 10? Behold the Lord will come with
strong hands, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward
is with him and his work before him. He shall feed his flock
like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead
those that are with young. Who hath measured the waters
in the hollow of his hand?" What a description. I can't even hold a little, just
a little drip of water in my hands very long. But here he
describes God saying God measured all the waters of the universe
in the hollow of his hand. But what is it? Who had measured
the waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out heaven with
a span, measured the heavens with a yardstick, and comprehended
the dust of the earth, all of it, in a balance? Who had directed
the Spirit of the Lord? Or who, being his counselor,
has taught him? God never learned anything. God
never forgot anything. He's God. Read on. With whom
took he counsel? Who was it that God sat down
and said, now what should I do next? With whom took he counsel? Who instructed him and taught
him in the path of judgment, righteousness? Who taught God
knowledge and showed God the way of understanding? Verse 15. Behold the nation. All of them. All of them. The nations. What
are they? There is a drop of a bucket.
They're counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold,
God takes up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is
not sufficient to burn, nor the beast thereof sufficient for
a burnt offering. That is, he offered God everything
there is in this world. There's not enough in this world
to satisfy his justice, to satisfy his demands of righteousness.
All the nations before him are nothing, and are counted to him
less than nothing in vanity. To whom then were you liking
God, or what likeness were you comparing to him? The workman
melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with
gold, and casteth silver chains on it. Now if you're a rich man
and you need a God, you go down and get you an artisan and you
have him to get you some gold and you make a fine, golden,
golden God with silver and jewels and chains all about it and you
look it up, set it up in your house and you say, there's my
God. You worship like a rich man. And if you're not so rich,
you get your stuff and a pocket knife and you whittle you out
of God. Anything rather than worshiping
God. Read what he said. Verse 20, he that is so impoverished
that he hath no oblation, why, he chooses a tree, a tree that
will not rot, he gets him a cedar. He gets him a good tree, but
a tree, and seeketh a cunning workman to prepare a graven image
that it shall not be moved. Have you not known? Have you
not heard? Has it not been told you from
the beginning? Have you not understood from
the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers,
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them
out as a tent to dwell in, that bringeth the princes to nothing.
He maketh the judges of the earth vanity. Yea, they shall not be
planted. Yea, they shall not be sown.
Yea, their stocks shall not take root in the earth. And he shall
also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind
shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will you liken me? Or shall I be equal, saith the
Holy One? Lift up your eyes, lift up your
eyes on high, and behold, who hath created these things, that
bringeth out their host by number? He calleth them all by names,
by the greatness of his might. for that he is strong in power,
not one failure. Why sayest thou, O Jacob?" Why
do you fret and worry? Why do you pace the floor by
your fingernails? Why do you pull your hair out
because of things going on around you? That's what he's saying.
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, thy ways
hid from the Lord? My judgments passed over from
God. God didn't know. God didn't see. God's not paying any attention.
Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the
everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his
understanding He giveth power to the faint and to them that
have no bite. He increases strength. Even the
youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly
fall. But they that wait on the Lord,
they shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint."
Now this is Isaiah's message, and it is the message of every
man who speaks for God. Behold your God. He's greater
than all the works he has created, greater than all the nations
he's made, greater than all the gods men have invented, greater
than the world around you, greater than the greatest men in the
world, greater than all the heavens above, and greater than all the
troubles you face. Great beyond description, great
beyond imagination, great beyond our loftiest praise is the Lord
our God. Now in the light of God's greatness
and glory, Is it an astonishing thing that God should be mindful
of man? Indeed it is, especially when
we see the answer given in the scriptures concerning who man
is. What is man? Man is set before us in the Word
of God as the peculiar, distinct object of God's mercy, love,
and grace. But what is he? We read it in
Isaiah, he's nothing. He's nothing. You and I, you and I are utterly
insignificant. I know that doesn't sound well,
folks. I know it doesn't set well. But the fact is, what's
good for you, what's good for me, what we want or don't want,
what we desire or don't desire, what we do or don't do, does
not reach to God. We're utterly insignificant.
David said, my righteousness extendeth not to thee, O God.
What you do doesn't touch him. What you do doesn't affect him.
What you want doesn't affect him. He's God. The only reason
you and I ever become of significance is because God sets his heart
on us and declares us to be his own. I guarantee you this, anyone
who knows and acknowledges anything about the greatness of God will
also acknowledge freely the utter insignificance of man. As soon
as David looked up to heaven and spoke to God, he said, Oh
Lord our God, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. all around him and in him, and
he said, what's man? That thou shouldest be mindful
of him. The Son of Man, that thou shouldest visit him. You
see, it is impossible for anyone to have both great views of God
and great views of man. Those who imagine that man is
great think that God's insignificant. Those who know that God is great
know also that man's insignificant. For it is man that thou art mindful
of him. Here is the greatness of God
and the littleness of man, grandeur and nothingness, excellence and
corruption, majesty and meanness, God and man. What is man? The Word of God gives us many,
many answers. Listen to these. What does Isaiah
say? God's thought. What is man? Rich man, mighty man, intelligent
man, learned, Powerful man. Political man. What is man? Poor, drunk, adulterous, thieving,
murdering, lying, cheating man. What is man? All flesh is grass. Just grass. Just grass. And the goodliness of man, why
it's like the flower of the grass. If you let your grass grow too
long, get a little bloom on it. You know, I never saw anybody
in my life go out and pick one of those things, put it in a
vase and say, look here, look here at the bloom I got off my
grass today. The best of man, just the flower of the grass.
The grass withereth, the flower faded, and every man is just
grass. You and me. If preachers ever
learned that, they'd quit bowing and scrape them before men like
politicians trying to get somebody to vote them into office. God's
everything, Larry. Man's nothing. Just grass. Ask
David. What is man? David says in Psalm
39, 5, barely every man at his best is saved. I mean his best
is saved. He gets on his finest suit, shines
his shoes, combs his hair, gets his finest smelling sauce off,
and he's still Vanity. Just Vanity. A puff of wind. As the psalmist, he said, men
are a lie. Every one of us. Every one of
us. What is man? Don't ask the philosophers
what they imagine. Don't ask the educators what
they read in their books. Don't ask the scientists what
they see in their microscopes. Don't ask the psychologists what
they find in asylums. Don't ask the sociologists what
they learn from their tests. But ask God. And this is what
God declares in his word. Man is fallen, depraved, sinning,
sinful, cursed, condemned, helpless, dying flesh. That's all man is,
just flesh. What is man? All men are grasshoppers
before God. Men are just dust, the dust of
the earth, no more. Man's a lump of clay, a puff
of smoke, a mist of vapor, the small dust of the balance, a
drop in the bucket. What's man? Lindsay Campbell,
man's insignificant. Insignificant, you and me, all
of us together. Man is nothing Man has nothing. Man can do nothing. All the nations
of men and all the world are less than nothing before the
great, glorious, infinite God. You're nothing and I'm nothing.
No matter how many of us nothings you put together, you still add
up to nothing, just nothing. God teach us to know our nothingness,
that we may look to Christ for everything. And when you find
out you're nothing, and you have nothing, and you can do nothing,
and you've got nothing at all for God, you'll be shut up to
Christ for everything. For of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Jesus Christ is
alone our redemption. Jesus Christ is alone our righteousness. Jesus Christ is alone our resurrection. All that we have, we have in
him, by him, and for him. Outside of him, we're nothing.
Just nothing. Altogether, vanity. Just vanity, vanity, vanity. This, then, is God's description
of man. all flesh as grass, all the goodliness
thereof is as the flower of the field. Verily, every man at his
best estates is altogether vanity, vanity. Lord God, teach us to
know our utter nothingness. We are nothing but sin, Corruption
and depravity make us to recognize and understand
something of your greatness, your majesty, your glory. And we pray, our Father, that
you will teach us throughout the days of our sojourn here
to look to you, our God, for all things. to seek your glory
in all things, and to trust your Son for all things. These things I ask for Christ's
sake. Amen. All right, you can listen
to him, please. Thank you.