Huh? Yeah. I tell you, I told him, I said,
you know, you shouldn't have did me this way. You know, I
could have been here when I was here, but I won't get to see
him. In Hebrews chapter 2, and I want
us to begin reading in verse 5. Verse 5 through verse 10. 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? Are the son of man, that thou
visiteth him? Thou makest him a little lower
than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor, and didst set him over the works of thine hands.
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. 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, 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. 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
suffering." Paul had been speaking here in chapter 1 of the superiority
of Jesus Christ in His humanity over the angels. He tells us
that in chapter 1 in verse 4, being made so much better, He
is superior to the angels. And he gave us several reasons
for that there in chapter 1. And then he comes here to chapter
2 in verses 1-4, and he got sort of sidetracked. And he took chapter
1 and he wanted to exhort those he was writing to. He exhorted
them to don't let these things slip. Give the more earnest heed,
he says there in verse 1, to the things You've heard of the
things that we've heard of Christ and all these wonderful things
we've heard about Him. And there was a danger. The reason
He exhorted them to do that, there was a danger, He said,
lest at any time we should let them slip. So He exhorted them
to take heed that they hear it carefully. And then again, He
gave a warning. And I don't know, maybe this
warning was mainly to those Jews who still rejected Jesus Christ
and who said, we're Moses' disciples. And he said, how shall we escape
if we neglect so great a salvation? And the obvious answer to that
is, we cannot and they cannot. And the Jewish nation as a whole
did not. And then in verse 5, now he returns to this subject
again of Christ being superior to the angels. And he's going
to show us here An honor and glory has been bestowed upon
the Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity that was never bestowed
upon the angels and never will be bestowed upon the angels.
And he tells us there in verse 5 that he said, God hath not
put in subjection the world to come to the angels. He just makes
a statement there. The angels aren't going to have
dominion over the world that's to come. Now, when the Bible
talks about the world, it talks about three worlds. I want you
to look at that before we pass this. Here he talks about the
world to come. But the Bible talks about the
world that was. I want you to take your Bibles
and turn to 2 Peter 3. chapter 3. And look what he says
here, beginning in verse 3. He is talking about a world that
was, not an old world. Knowing this first, there shall
come in the last day scoffers, mockers, walking after their
own lust, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For
since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant
of, that by the word of the Lord the heavens were of old, He made
them, they were, and the earth standing out of the water and
in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed
with water perished. There was a world that was called
the world that then was. And he seems to hint that, boy,
there was a difference in that world as opposed to the world
after the flood. And you and I have imagined that
many times, haven't we? How things changed at the flood.
It changed so drastically, he called it a world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished. In verse 7, "...but
the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same Word are
kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment
and the perdition of ungodly men." So that's the world that
then was. And look in 2 Timothy, back over
to your left, in 2 Timothy chapter 4, and look in verse 10. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse
10. The Bible's got a lot to say
about this present world. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse
10. For Demas hath forsaken me, having
loved this present world. This present world. That's the
world that you and I live in now, isn't it? This present world.
And you know the Bible's got a lot to say about this present
world. And most of it's not good. Christ
gave Himself to deliver us from this present evil world. And the grace of God that brings
salvation teaches us denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. We should live soberly and righteously
and godly in this present world. So we have the old world that
is gone in some sense or another. It was then this present world,
but there is a world to come. There is another world besides
these two worlds. And look over here in Luke chapter
18. All the way over in Luke 18,
verse 28. Luke 18, verse 28. This is a world that's to come. Verse 28, Luke 18, Then Peter
said, Lo, we have left all and followed thee. And he said unto
them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left
house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the
kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in
this present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting."
There's a world to come. You know, most people don't believe
that, do they? So many people don't believe that. But there's
a world to come after this one. Wouldn't your heart break if
you didn't have a hope in a world that's to come? I remember the
Lord Jesus told the Pharisees when they were sinning against
the Holy Ghost, and He said, if you sin against the Son of
Man, I'll forgive you. But if you sin, if you blaspheme
the Holy Ghost, there's never any forgiveness, not in this
world or in that world that's to come. There's a world that's
to come, and that's everlasting in that world. everlasting life,
the Lord Jesus said. Paul had already hinted that
Jesus in His glorified humanity was supreme over this present
world. He had already hinted at that
in the first chapter of Hebrews when he said, the Father said
to the Son, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your
footstool. Now, he seems to at least imply
there that Christ is reigning right now, doesn't He? And He's
going on to teach us in chapter 2 so plainly as He teaches us
in so many other places. Not only is Christ going to reign
in the world that's to come, He's going to be over angels
there, superior over all things, but you know He is reigning now.
Jesus Christ is superior now to all things. I want you to
look at that because Paul makes mention of these two worlds together.
Look in Ephesians chapter 1. Look in verse 19. Look here what he says in verse
19 concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1.19. He was praying for these Ephesians
that they might know the exceeding greatness of God's power to us
who believe according to the working of His mighty power.
That's the way we believe. According to the working of His
mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him
from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly
places, far above all principalities and power and might and dominion
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his
feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church,
which is body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all."
Jesus and His humanity is reigning now, and Paul said not only now
does He have dominion, but he'll have dominion in that world that's
to come. And you know something? This
is never said of angels. Angels don't have dominion over
everything now. And Paul said plainly in our
text that God has not given them dominion over that world to come.
He hasn't. Peter tells us that angels are
subject to Jesus Christ. Listen to how Peter says in 1
Peter 3.22, He has gone into heaven, raised from the dead,
gone into heaven, angels and principalities being made subject
unto Him. So angels now are subject to
Christ and they'll be subject to Him in that world that's to
come. They've always been subject to Him as He is the Son of God
ever since He created them. But what He's teaching us here,
Jesus in His humanity, in His lowly humanity, He's exalted
above the angels. Now go back over to our text.
So He's teaching us here that in verse 5, that angels will
not have superiority over the world that's to come. That belongs
to somebody else. And now in verses 6 through verse
8, But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man,
that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of man, that you
visit him? You made him a little lower than
the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor. You did set
him over the work of your hands. You have put all things in subjection
under his feet. I want you to turn over to Psalms chapter 8, where he quoted
that at? He quoted from Psalms chapter
8. I want you to look at where he quoted that. It's really amazing. It's amazing, especially when
we apply it to the Lord Jesus Christ. But look here in Psalms
chapter 8. Look all the way back in verse
1. Psalms 8 verse 1. O LORD, our
Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who has set
Thy glory above the heavens! Out of the mouths of babes and
sucklings Thou hast ordained strength, praise, because of
Thine enemies, that Thou mightest steal the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the
moon and the stars which Thou hast made, which You have ordained,
What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of man, that
thou visiteth him? David seemed like he was just
caught up here with the Lord's glory, that He said, you above
the heavens, you've set your glory above the heavens. And he said, when I consider
the vastness of this universe, what you've made, the stars and
the moon and the sun, He said, what is man? What is tiny, insignificant
man compared to this universe? And what's this universe compared
to God? He's caught up with that, isn't
he? How God could be mindful of man. How God could visit a
man. I think it was in 1978, I went
with Paul Hebner up to Hammond, Indiana. He wanted
me to go up there and hear this converted astronomer. He was
preaching the Gospel, and he was a very learned man. He was
a professor at some southern university. But he preached such
a good message from this text here that I just read to you.
And he was talking about at that time in 1978, if we had the largest
telescope that was known in the world at that time, he said if
you could take it out, and set it on the nearest star and point
it back to earth, you couldn't even see earth. That's how tiny
this earth is. And when you think of man upon
this earth, we're insignificant, aren't we? We're so tiny. And
yet David is caught up with this and he said, Lord, what is man
that You, the glorious God, that created all of this should visit
him in redeeming mercy and grace and love. He just so caught up
with that. And then here in verse 5, he
quotes from where we've been quoted from over in Hebrews chapter
2. But thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and you
crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion
over the works of your hands, You put all things under his
feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beast of the field, the
fowls of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes
through the paths of the sea." So he said he has dominion over
the sea, the things that's in the sea, the things that's in
the air, and the things that's in the land, on the land. And this is the very dominion
that God gave to Adam when he created Adam in the very beginning. Listen to what he said to Adam
when he first made him. And God blessed the man and said
unto him, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over
the fowls of the air, and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth. So that's what David is saying
here. God sent Adam over the fowls of the air, the whales
that's in the sea, and all of the beasts that's on the land.
Set Him over. And yet Paul in our text, here in verse 8, he
said, but now we see not yet all things but under Him. Everything's
not put under man right now. And I'll explain what he means
there in just a minute. But in general, man rules all
the creatures, doesn't he? Man, in general, has always ruled
over all the creatures. James even said that all creatures,
things in the sea, have been tamed of man. The beasts have
been tamed of man. We see men riding huge elephants. A little old tiny fellow up on
an elephant riding an elephant and working. Men ride whales. They get out and play with whales
and train them. Tigers and lions. James said all the beasts have
been tamed, haven't they? Everything has been tamed. The
fowls of the air, man's tamed them. The beasts of the field,
fishes in the sea. Everything, he said, has been
tamed by man. There's only one thing that ain't
been tamed by man. You know what it is? It's tongue. Ain't that what he said? Man
has tamed everything, but it's tongue. That's an unruly evil
which no man can tame. But no man, listen to this now,
here is what Paul's meaning is, no man has ever exercised dominion
over every creature. There has never been one man
that exercised complete dominion over every creature. Adam had
that because God gave it to him. But he lost it and no man has
ever regained that dominion. You don't have dominion. Not
one man. We've had some great men in this world. We've had
some great kings. There were some great pharaohs
way back there. Not a one of them had dominion
over every creature in this world. You take the Caesars in the New
Testament, not one of them. You take the great Solomon, as
wise as he was. Cyrus. Nebuchadnezzar. Nobody, no one man has ever had
dominion over all the creatures. of the sea and the land and the
earth. But in verse 9, he said this, but we see Jesus. We see
Jesus incarnate who was made a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death. He is crowned with glory and
honor. Now look back over at our text
again. That's what he's going to tell us. He's going to tell
us that Adam lost that dominion. He lost the dominion that he
had in this present world, and no one man ever gained that back
except one man who died upon the cross of Calvary. He has
been crowned. He now has universal dominion. What the first man, Adam, lost,
dominion, the second man, Jesus, reclaimed. Dominion. The first
man lost it, but the second man regained it. never to lose it
again. The reason the first man lost
it? He was a mere man. The second man is the Lord from
heaven, isn't he? He'll never lose dominion that
he has gained. The first man is earthly. He's
of this earth. But the second man is the Lord
from heaven. And that's the difference. And
this is why Jesus has superiority even now. over all flesh, dominions
in the heavens, in the sea, and upon this land. And He'll have
that dominion in the world to come. I imagine when the Jews
read this, they probably had an objection something like this
when they thought about the apostles saying that Jesus is better than
the angels, He's superior to the angels, that an honor and
glory has been bestowed upon Him. dominion that was never
given to the angels? And they probably objected something
like this. They probably said, we've studied
the history of the angels. We've got an Old Testament that
tells us about what glorious creatures they were. And no mere
man could stand before those glorious creatures. And you know
that would be right. We'd have to agree with them.
There was times that angels This one of them went out and slew
70,000 Jews in just a few hours. They killed 185,000 Assyrians
in one night. No mere man can stand before
these creatures. And the Jews might say this,
look at Jesus of Nazareth. Look what a low state He was
burned into. Look how He lived. And look what
a sad, dreadful death that he died. And you're telling us that
this man is superior to the angels? Can't you hear them objecting
to that? And Paul answers this objection this way. Yes, Jesus
was made a little lower than the angels in His humanity. He suffered. He tempted. He was
crucified. He died in weakness. But consider
why he had to do this. Consider why it had to be this
way. He had to taste death in order
to deliver man from death. And this he could not do in heaven
as God. Sin and death had entered by
man, and sin and death must be put away by man. Therefore, the
Son of God in our humanity must taste the bitter agonies of that
shameful and painful and cursed, that cursed death of the cross. It is why He did it. It is why
He had to do it. But listen, this was not a stigma
or a reproach on the Lord Jesus, but this was His chief glory
for nobody else could do this but Him. Nobody else could die
and raise again from such a dreadful death like he did. And nobody
by his taste in death could deliver others from this awful death.
And that was a portion and part of his glory. Because I live,
you shall live also. No angel could accomplish that,
could he? Nowhere is the grace of God and
the mercy of God and the love of God more manifested than Jesus
stooping down from His high throne to hang in agony upon the cross
to taste death for man, to taste death for you, and to taste death
for me. Truly, what is man? What is man
that thou aren't mindful of Him. We know what we are, don't we?
We have learned that by sad experience. But who is He? Who is He? He tells us here in verse 10.
Look at it in verse 10. For it became Him for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
suffering. Who is He? Well, He says here,
all things are for Him. The One that died upon the cross.
Everything that is. Everything will ever be. This
world and the world to come. Time and eternity and all matter. Everything is for His glory. Old Barnard used to say, there's
not a worm that wiggles his little body up out of the hole, but
it's for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is for
Him. And notice this, everything is
by Him. It simply means He created everything. Without Him, nothing was made
that was made. Who is this? God, isn't it? It's God. When we see Jesus suffering
in our humanity, it doesn't mean that He's inferior to those holy
angels, those mighty angels. Far from it. It means that He
had stooped to do the most God-like thing between the eternities. To die. That poor sinners, hell-deserving
sinners, might not die. Ain't that a God-like thing?
That's the most God-like thing. The cross of Calvary is the most
God-like thing that God has ever did. I love how the Amplified reads. It says here, For it became Him. And the Amplified has it like
this, For it was an act worthy of God. The cross was an act
worthy of God. Just like God to do it. That's
the kind of love He has. That's the kind of mercy He has.
To stoop all the way from heaven to take our humanity and to die
an agonizing death. To take death and chew on it
and swallow it and digest it that we might not die for all
eternity. What a God-like thing. It was
an act worthy of God. The cross of Calvary is an act
worthy. Where do we see more of the glory
of God revealed than at the cross? Where do you see such love and
devotion manifested? Where else does all the eternal
attributes of God shine in all their splendor? The angels don't
look upon the cross as a stigma. Do you know that? The angels
look upon the cross as the greatest wonder between the eternities. There they see their God and
their Creator stooping as a substitute for poor, perishing sinners,
to be their representative and charity, to become the captain
of their salvation by His suffering unto death. And it is out of
this humanity that He is exalted on high. It's out of this humility,
rather, that He is exalted on high. And He rules there now. And you know something? If you
and I believe on Him this night, this is the hope we have, that
we're going to be there with Him. We're going to be there
with Him where He is now, ruling. This is what He prayed for in
John 17. I will that they whom Thou hast
given Me be with Me where I am. They may behold My glory. I go
to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for
you, I'll come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I
am, there you may be also." What was the purpose in the death
of Jesus Christ? What was the goal in His dying? Some people said, well, He didn't
really have any. He didn't really have any for sure. He just left
up to man to see what man would do with Him. Well, he tells us
here in verse 10, here was the goal in bringing many sons into
glory. Why did he stoop lower than the
angels? Why did he taste death? Why did
he suffer and die? To bring many sons into glory. That's a wonderful thought. You
take that home and chew on that. Sons. Sons. You know, if God has begotten
us, then we're sons. We're sons of God. You may be
a lady, but He calls you a son of God. Of His own will begot
He us by the Word of Truth. We're sons of God. We're sons
of God by new birth, aren't we? And we're sons of God by faith.
He that believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. He's going to bring sons. His
sons. Nobody else is going to heaven
but sons. You've got to be born again.
We're born to get into this world. We have to be born again to get
out of it to heaven. It's the sons of God that's going
to heaven. And notice this, He's bringing many, many. He's going to bring many sons
to glory. You and I don't believe for a
minute, that old Jehovah Witness heresy, There is just going to
be 144,000 go to heaven. The rest of them are going to
be confined to the earth. There is not going to be enough
room up there for all of them. There is going to be many, many. A number that no man can number.
And where are they going? Well, He tells us right here,
doesn't He? What is their final destination? Glory. And bringing
many sons to glory. You know they can't define this
word. If you look this word up, they try to define it. They call
it shining, things like that. You know, shining and honor and
praise and worship. You know they can't define the
word glory. In the Old Testament, the Jews didn't even try. They
said, how do you define the glory of God? We have seen the glory
of God. Moses said, show me your glory.
And you know the definition they put on glory. This is the old
Jewish definition. Heavy. They said it's heavy. The glory is heavy. Heaven is
not just a wonderful, beautiful place that's indescribably beautiful. But you know it's a state. It's
a state of glory. It's a condition of glory. He's
bringing many sons to glory. What is that? Who can tell that? It's heavy, isn't it? They said
that the sun wasn't needed there to light that whole city. Because the glory of God did
lighten it. And the Lamb is the light thereof.
John saw the bride, the Lamb's wife, coming down out of heaven
with the glory of God upon her. What does that mean? I don't
know. It's heavy. In bringing many sons to glory. And how are we going to get there?
Well, He says here, He's going to bring them. He's going to
bring them. Clarence told us Sunday we were sought out. That's
our name, sought out. Well, here He's bringing us.
In bringing many sons to glory. That's how you're going to get
there. If He don't bring us, we can't get there, can we? We
don't know the way. We don't have the power or the
ability to go up to heaven. But He's going to bring. He's
going to bring us. And who's going to bring us?
He says, you're the captain of our salvation. I don't know if
it was in the service, but I think they've got some kind of thing
in battle clearance to leave no man behind. Something like
that. Well, this captain is going to leave no man behind. I don't
care you may be wounded in the battle here below. You may be
sickly and weak. But listen, He is the captain
of your salvation and He won't leave you behind. When they left
out of Egypt, what did He sell them? Don't you leave a hoof!
You got an old dog, don't you leave him! Everything you've
got is coming out of Egypt. Everything Israel owned came
out of Egypt. Nothing was left. And Jesus Christ
is the captain of His people, His sons. And not a one of them
is going to be left. He is going to bring them all
up to glory. That's why He tasted death. It
wasn't a stigma attached to Him. It didn't mean He was weak and
below the angels. That's what He had to do to rescue
us from so great a death. And only He can do it. And He says here lastly that
He was made perfect through sufferings. This is one of the reasons He
had to be tried. And I'll say this with all reverence.
He wouldn't have been a fit sacrifice for us unless He can identify
with us. That's why they didn't offer
Him as an infant. He had to be tried. He had to suffer. We're men of sorrows. We're people
of sorrows. He had to identify with that.
We're tempted. He had to be tempted. To be our
representative, He had to live and know this life like you and
I do. And from the cradle to the grave,
He was tempted. He was tried. But you know, every
step of the way, you look at Him and you say, perfection.
He come out of His mother's womb and you held that holy thing
in your arms. He is baptized and go off into
the wilderness to be tempted 40 days and 40 nights. And He
come out of that wilderness. And you could look at Him and
you could say, Perfection! Perfection! God tried Him. Satan tried Him. Man tried Him.
He came out of the judgment hall bloody with His hair mingled
with blood and sweat up on the cross of Calvary. And He says,
It's finished! And what do we say? every step of the way in all
His suffering, all His trials, perfection. Perfection. He had
to be tried. He had to be proved. He had to
become the Captain of our salvation. And to be that, He had to earn
that. He had to earn that. Before He
could bring you, before He could bring me to glory. No, He's not
beneath the angels. And they know it. And we know
it. He's superior to them. Even when
He was here, they worshiped Him. And they'll worship Him yonder. God bless His Word. Clarence,
would you dismiss us?