Would you turn back to Hebrews
chapter two? Tonight, we're going to look
at the prayer of Jacob in Genesis chapter 32, and it's the first
time in the Bible we have a prayer recorded. And we can truly learn
something about prayer from Jacob's prayer. And also, next week we're
gonna have a baptism, and anybody that wants to be baptized, let
me know. I've entitled the message, We
See Jesus. We See Jesus. When I use the Lord's name, I
generally don't feel comfortable using his name conversationally,
and you don't find the apostles ever coming up to Christ and
saying, Jesus, I call him Lord. He said, you call me Master and
Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. And it bothers me when
people use his name flippantly and conversationally. He is the
Son of God. He is God the Son. He is the
creator of the universe. He's the absolute sovereign. And I want to be careful how
I use his name. But here the writer to the Hebrews
says, we see Jesus. Now, he had never seen him physically. Look in chapter 2 verse 3, How shall we escape
if we neglect so great a salvation which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by them that heard him? Now, the writer to the Hebrews
had never physically seen the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet he says,
we see Jesus. Who is meant by the pronoun we? We see Jesus. Every believer without exception. And this is not a physical sight.
It's a spiritual sight that is even more real than a physical
sight. We see Jesus. He's acting as the spokesman
of all of God's elect when he makes this statement, we see
Jesus. The same we that Paul spoke of
when he said, we know. that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. The same we that we know. We, every believer, sees the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, an unbeliever has not seen
Him, but salvation begins insofar as our experience goes when we're
like Zacchaeus He sought to see Jesus who he was. Oh, what a blessing when that
comes in someone's heart, when they seek to see Jesus, who he
is. I think of the words of the Gentiles
to Andrew or Philip or whoever it was in John chapter 12, When
he said, sirs, we would see Jesus. That's our desire. We would see
who he really is. Well, the writer to the Hebrew
says, we see Jesus. And you know, we're given a promise
in this thing concerning seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
said, this is the will of Him that sent me. Now remember, Christ
Jesus is the one God the Father sent. He's the sent one. This is the will of Him that
sent me that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have
everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the
last day. Now this thing of seeing Christ,
if you see, you will believe. If you do not believe, it's because
you have never seen. And let me say this also. It
takes the new birth to see him. You have to be born again to
see Him. You have to be birthed from above. The Lord said, except
a man be born again, he cannot see. You and I cannot see, except
the Lord give us eyes to see and a heart to see. to receive
a new nature. We must be born again, born of
the spirit to see, as the writer to the Hebrews said, we see Jesus. Now, let me repeat, we don't
see him physically. I don't have any idea what he
looks like physically. I'm looking forward to seeing
him, aren't you? Seeing that dear face, seeing his glory. But this is a spiritual sight
and this sight is identified in the context of this passage
of scripture here in Hebrews chapter two. And if I see him
spiritually, if God gives me this sight, it's as he is presented
in this passage of scripture. And let's begin in verse 5 of
Hebrews chapter 2. For unto the angels, those creatures that are greater in
power and might than we are, I know very little about angels.
The Bible doesn't let us know much about angels, but we know
they are. And we know they're God's creatures serving God. And I have no doubt that the
presence of angels are here this morning. Whenever the gospel
is preached, it's not just us. The angels are here as well. But look what he says with regard
to the angels. Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection
the world to come. And my dear friends, there is
a world to come. Everything you see now is going
to be burned up. It's temporary and it will be
burned up. And there is a world to come. And one of the things I thought
about this thing of the world to come and the world to come,
If you saw a million dollars laying at your feet, it wouldn't
be worth your time to bend over and pick it up. Think of that. Think of what you could do with
a million dollars right now. A lot of value to a million dollars.
But in the world to come, there will be no value to anything
like that. The world to come, when time
will be no more, There won't be yesterdays and tomorrows. Eternity. And how you die in
time, how I die in time, is how we will spend eternity in the
world to come. Hold your finger there in Hebrews
2 and turn to Revelation 22, the last chapter of the last
book in the Bible. Revelation chapter 22 verse 11. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. That is how he will spend eternity
if he dies in that state. He which is filthy, let him be
filthy still. He will spend eternity in that
state. And he that's righteous, let
him be righteous still. He will spend eternity in that
state. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. He will spend eternity in that
state, in the world to come. Go back to our text. For unto the angels, verse 5,
hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we
speak? But one in a certain place testified,
and he quotes Psalm 8, 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 did set him over the works of thy hands. Thou has put all things in subjection
under his feet. Now that's Psalm eight. Would
you turn there for a moment? written by King David, and most
people think that David probably wrote this when he was a teenager.
I love thinking about that. When he was a shepherd, he hadn't
faced all the trials as of yet that he was going to face, probably
a teenager. He looked up into the heavens,
maybe while he was tending a sheep, and look what he said. Oh Lord,
our Lord, Once again, David is speaking
as the spokesman to every believer. Oh 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 has thou ordained strength. because of thine enemies. Do
you remember when the Lord quoted this when the Pharisees said,
Master, shut your disciples up. They're crying, Hosanna, Hosanna
in the highest. And he said, I tell you, if these
hold their peace, even the stones will cry out. And then he quoted
this passage of scripture, have you never read? I love the way
he always said that to the Pharisees. Of course they'd read it, but
they didn't know what it meant. But he said, have you never read? Out
of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained praise. The
Lord quoted this at that time. Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies,
that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. Now David
says, and this is what the writer to the Hebrews quotes, when I
consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars which thou hast ordained. What is man? What a question. What is man? In light of this
glorious universe, men with all their high thoughts of themselves, it's amazing how proud and arrogant
man is. And that's including me and you
too. Yet David asks this question, what is man that you even think
of him? What is man that thou art mindful
of him? And the son of man that thou
visitest him? For thou has made him a little
lower than the angels and has crowned him with glory honor
thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands thou
has put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen yea and
the beasts of the field the fowl of the air and the fish of the
sea and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas oh lord
our lord how excellent is thy name now All things are put under
him. And you'll remember when the
Lord said in the creation story, you're going to have dominion
over all the animals and all the fish. Now in Psalm 8, is
he talking about man and his dominion? Well, Man is God's
creation created in his own image. That's why man is special in
that sense. Every man is of value. Every
man's special because it's God's creation. But turn back to Hebrews
chapter two and look how the writer of the Hebrews uses this. Verse six, but one in a certain
place. Testified saying what is man that thou art mindful
of him and the son of man that thou visits him Thou madest him
a little lower than the angels thou crownest him With glory
and honor and did set him over the works of thy hands thou has
put all things in subjection under his feet and For in that
he 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. Now we see from this that the
writer is now talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't see
yet all things put under him. There's still rebellion. There
is still hatred of him. There is still sin. We don't
see everything put under his feet just yet. It will be. You
see, every knee shall bow to him. And every tongue shall confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
That's gonna happen. You can write that down. This
is God's will, this is God's purpose. We haven't seen everything
put under his feet just yet, but here's what we do see. We
see Jesus. we see Jesus. And he is the one
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death. How low did Christ become when
he was dying on Calvary's tree? When he was made sin. and suffered God's wrath. He was made lower than the angels.
I like to try to, in my thoughts, imagine what the angels were
thinking when they saw their creator nailed to a cross. Do
you think that they were just ready to smite? Give us the word,
we'll kill all these people doing your... Yet the Lord was made
lower than the angels for the suffering of death." Now why
did Christ die? This is one of the most mysterious
things, the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died. I mean,
his heart quit beating. pumping. He quit breathing. His
flesh became cold. He died. How could the Son of
God die? Why did he die? There's one reason
for death. You know what that is? Sin. There
is no other reason. You know why you're gonna die?
Because you're a sinner. You know, it's funny, funny is
not the right word for it. I remember doing a funeral here. I don't remember who it was that
died, but I was preaching a funeral. I said, the reason, and it was
one of our members that I loved and that I esteemed highly. I
said, the reason this person died is because they were sinners.
And do you know that the funeral home director came up to me and
said, I've never heard anybody say that before. Well, it's true. It's true. He died for this one reason.
Because of sin. My sin, He took. And that is why He died. Sin. The suffering of death. Now let's go on reading. We see
Jesus, verse 9, and this is how we'll see Him. who was made a
little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor. Now, if I see Jesus, I see that
because of the suffering of his death, he's crowned by his father
with glory and honor. Do you see that in seeing His
death, that He glorified God and He's crowned with glory and
honor? By His death, He completely glorified
His Father. Every attribute of God was manifest
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He glorified His Father. By His death, He completely saved
everybody He died for. crowned with glory and honor. Now, if you see Jesus, though
you don't see him physically, you do see this. You see that
by his death, the most godlike thing God ever did, put his son
on the cross and he died to glorify his father, to honor every attribute
and to save his people from their sins. When he said, it is finished,
my salvation was finished and he is crowned with glory. And honor crowned him with many
crowns, the lamb upon his throne. Hark how the heavenly anthem
drowns all music but his own. He's crowned with glory and honor. And if you see Jesus, you see
that by his death and the achievements of his death, he's crowned with
glory and honor. And if you don't see him in that
light, you've not yet seen him. I pray God gives you grace to,
but this is how he has seen. We see, he's talking about every
believer. We see Jesus crowned with glory
and honor. Look what it says next that he,
and this is how you'll see him, that he, by the grace of God,
should taste death for every man." Now, before I go on reading,
what do you mean by every man? In the original, the word man
is not there. He, by the grace of God, tasted
death for the whole, for the each, for the every. That is the word. The word man
is not in the original. I'm not real sure why the translators
put it there, but it's he, by the grace of God, tasted death
for the whole. Now, if I see the Lord Jesus
Christ, by his grace, I see what his death accomplished. Do you remember 1 Corinthians
15.3 when Paul declares the gospel? It's how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures. You remember Romans 8.34, who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Do you hear what that is saying?
If he died for you, you cannot be condemned. If he died for you, your sin
is gone. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen, who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. You
see, by the grace of God, he tasted death for the whole, for
the every. and you see what his death actually
accomplished. If you see him, all you're hoping
in is who he is, and what he did, and where he is now. And if you're hoping in anything
else, you've never seen him. You're looking to yourself, you're
looking to your works, you're looking to your efforts, you're looking
to your intentions. But if you've seen him, all of
your hope, all of it, is in who he is, and what he accomplished
by his life, death, and resurrection. He, by the grace of God, tasted
death. He experienced death, and that's
one of the many things that we just believe but don't understand.
He experienced death for the every, for the whole. Verse 10, for it became him It was befitting
to Him, and this is speaking of God the Father giving His
Son, for it became Him for whom are all things and by whom are
all things. Now, don't just read over that
and not think about what it's saying. Everything is for God's glory.
And everything that happens is what He did. He's the cause of. He is the cause. It became him, it was befitting
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. Now, here's what you see when
you see Jesus. You see how it was befitting.
It became God the Father in sending his son to do what he did to
bring many sons to glory. You see what he did brought many. How many people did Christ die
for? A whole lot. Many. He gave His life for ransom for
many. And by His death, He actually brought many sons to glory. You know what? I'm in glory right
now. Somebody says, you don't look like you're in glory. I
know I don't look like I'm in glory. I agree with you right
there. But I believe what the Bible says when He says He has
made us set together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The point
is, if I'm one with Him where He is, I am. And he's going to
make a comment about that in the next verse. But if I'm one
with him, where he is, I am. And when he ascended back to
the Father, he ascended back to the Father as the Lord of
hosts with everybody in him represented by him. We're said to be seated
together with him in heaven. I love that because I don't know
how many times I've heard people say to me, I'm as sure for heaven
as if I'm already there. Mine's better. I am there. That's how sure. My surety brought
me there. Now look what he says. He makes
the captain of their salvation. That means the author. That word
captain is the author. He's the author of my salvation.
He's the finisher of my salvation. And I love it when Joshua saw
him. In Joshua chapter five, he saw
the man with the drawn sword, and he said, are you for us or
for our enemies? He said, neither. He said, Lord, that takes odds. As the captain of the Lord of
hosts, am I come. And then Joshua fell on his feet
and said, what would you have me do? He said, take your shoes
off your feet and place your standings holy ground, because
I'm here. He's the captain, the author of our salvation. And look what he did. He makes,
this is so befitting of his father to do this, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Through the suffering of the
Lord Jesus Christ, he's given glory that he would not have
had had he not gone through that. And He is the perfect Savior. He is exactly what you and I
need. He's the perfect Savior, made
perfect through His sufferings on Calvary's tree. Now look at
verse 11. This is what those who see Him
see. I repeat, it's not a physical sight, it's a spiritual sight.
And if I see Him, this is how I see Him. Now look at verse
11. Four, both he that sanctifyeth, that's the Lord, and they who
are sanctified, that's every believer, are all of one. One. I'm one with him. I'm united
to him. You know what that means? That
means when he kept the law, and lived a perfect life, I did too.
Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. When he died,
I was right there with him on the tree. I died too. My sins
were punished. I'm one with him. When he was
raised from the dead, you know who else was raised? Everybody
he died for. All of his people are one with
him. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified. You know, if we see this, all
the ridiculous notions religious men say about sanctification
will be blown out of water. He is my sanctification. He is
my holiness. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
whose God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Now if you see Him, you see that
all of your hope is being united to Him, to where you're one with
Him. That's so mysterious. Can't be
explained. ONLY BELIEVED. ONE WITH HIM. ALWAYS BEING IN HIM. Now let's go on reading. Verse
11, this is what you see. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause
he is not ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to
point to Todd Norbert and say, that's my brother. That's my brother, the brethren. What a high and heavenly calling
to be one of his little brothers. I love that scripture, for whom
he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to him and to
his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. That's a sacred title, to be
his little brother. My big brother takes care of
me. He's not ashamed. to own them as brethren, saying,
this is what you see when you see him, saying, I will declare
thy name unto my brethren. Now, his name is who he is. It's his attributes. The person
behind the name, And here's what the Lord declares to us, the
name of the Father. In the way he saved me, I see
every attribute of God displayed. I see his holiness in my salvation. I see his grace and love in my
salvation. I see his righteousness and judgment
in my salvation. I see his sovereignty in my salvation. I see his, his immutability in
my salvation. I see his purpose in my salvation. Listen to this scripture from
John chapter 17, verse six, I have manifested thy name unto the
men, which thou gavest me out of the world. Beloved, Jesus
Christ has manifested the name of his father to you. What could
be better than that? I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world, thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. We see him as the declaration
of the name of God. And that's what the cross is.
It's a declaration of his name. That is why Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all I have confidence in,
nothing else. And if you see him, You see the
manifestation of God's name. You see who God is. The Lord
said, he that has seen me has seen the father. The only way you and I will ever
see the father is by seeing him and what he accomplished on Calvary
3. We see Jesus. I will declare thy name unto
my brethren, and in the midst of the church will I sing praise
to thee. We see his relationship to the
church, his brethren. This song is only sung in the
church. Husbands love your wives as Christ
also loved the church and gave himself For it. Oh This song is heard in the
preaching of the gospel in the church Verse 13 and again, I Will put
my trust in him Now is this talking about me saying I will put my
trust in him? No, this is talking about the
son of God's trust of his father. Now understand this, what faith
I have is his gift and I believe, but I always have to cry out,
I believe, help thou mine unbelief. That's always there. Not with
him though. When he was forsaken by his father
on Calvary's cross, he never quit trusting his father. When he was separated from his
father, when he was cut off, when he felt nothing but his
father's awful frown, he continued to trust completely. Let something go wrong our way
and we're all ready to say it's over for us. Not him. He trusted his father completely. And if you see him, you know
what you're trusting? You're trusting his trust, his
faithfulness, saved by his faith. And then in verse 13, once again,
and again, behold, I and the children which God hath
given me. Now if you see him, you rejoice in election. Behold I and the children which
thou hast given me. If you read that 17th chapter
of John six times, he refers to those the Father hath given
him. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. You see, election, the God of
election, explains to us that what Christ did is successful. It says God is successful. It
says he is the cause. And I know people say, well,
they either don't believe election or they think it's not a thing
of importance. You know, there was a person
who attended here for a while that said after they left, they
said, well, I can take or leave election. Okay. Okay, I can't. He is the savior of the elect. That means he's the successful
savior. Whatever was he intended to do, he did. And he himself
says at this time, behold, I and the children which thou has given
me. And I know this, deep down, everybody
knows this is so. God is either in absolute control
or he's no God at all. That's who he is. And that is
who we see when we see the Lord Jesus Christ. We see Jesus. We haven't seen him physically. But we see the achievements of
his death. We see that he brought many sons
to glory through his perfect sufferings and that he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified by that one offering. We see
this thing of oneness with Christ. We don't understand it, but we
see it. My hope is that I'm in him, that
I'm one with him, that when the father looks at me, he sees his
son. That's my hope. We see that his
death is the declaration of the name of God. Every attribute
of God fully displayed. We see that he sings this song
in the church. We see that he is the one who
was faithful, he was the one who believed God, and we see
him as the one who, I am the children which God hath given
me, the savior of the elect. We see Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you. For this
spiritual site. Of the sun. And Lord, how we
long for that. Physical site. When he shall come. And we shall
see him. As he is. And be made like him. Bless your glorious holy word. Give everybody in this room,
according to your will, for Christ's sake, for your mercy's sake.
Enable every one of us to see thy blessed son and to believe
on him. In his name we pray, amen.