Hebrews 2: Jesus Christ - Captain of Our Salvation

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus as our Captain of salvation?

The Bible refers to Jesus as the 'Captain of our salvation', highlighting His unique role in securing our redemption. Hebrews 2 emphasizes that Jesus Christ is the Captain of our salvation, who suffered and died to bring many sons to glory. This title denotes His leadership and authority in the salvation process. According to Hebrews 2:10, it was fitting for God, who created all things, to bring many sons to glory by making Christ perfect through suffering. This perfection refers to His qualifications as our high priest and Savior, fully representing humanity in all aspects while also embodying divine nature. His work has established Him as the surety of our salvation, ensuring that He not only initiates but also completes our redemption.

Q: How do we know salvation is great?

Salvation is considered great because it is authored by Christ, purchased at a great cost, and transforms lives. The greatness of salvation stems from several key aspects: first, its author, Jesus Christ, who is described as the very source of our salvation. Second, the cost of salvation is immense as it required the shedding of His precious blood for our sins. The wisdom of this salvation displays how God can remain just while justifying the ungodly. Furthermore, salvation is powerful enough to transform the lives of the most wretched sinners. The freeness of this salvation, which is offered to all who would believe, makes it a magnificent gift from God, showcasing His mercy and grace.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to heed the Gospel?

Heeding the Gospel is crucial for Christians as neglecting it can lead to spiritual loss and judgment. In Hebrews 2, there's a strong warning about the importance of giving earnest heed to the things we've heard in the Gospel. If we neglect or allow the message to slip away, we do so at our peril, as the author argues that God's judgment will be stricter for those who have heard the truth and failed to respond. This underscores the gravity and responsibility that comes with the revelation of the Gospel. It is vital for believers to remain steadfast in faith and attentive to the Word, as neglect can lead to spiritual apathy and separation from the blessings that come through Christ. Hence, the urgency of maintaining a close connection with the truth of the Gospel is emphasized throughout the sermon.

All right, now let's turn back
in our Bibles to the passage which Brother Gunderson read,
Hebrews chapter 2. And it begins with therefore. And I've said so many times,
when we find a verse of scripture or a chapter which begins with
the word therefore, We need to read what is before to see what
it's there for. And we did that this morning,
and I'm not going to repeat it again tonight. But he said, these
things being so, in chapter 1, these things being so, what things?
Well, God who in sundry times and in divers manners spake to
our fathers by the prophets, hath, glory to God, spoken to
us in these last days by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir
of all things, by whom he made the world, who is the brightness
of his glory and the exact image of his person. And that Son has
fulfilled every promise, every prophecy, every picture, every
pattern, every type of the Old Testament, has set aside that
old covenant and brought in the new covenant. And that son by
himself, by himself, by the sacrifice of himself, by the work which
himself performed, by himself had purged our sins, and he did
it by himself, he did it alone, and put away all our transgressions.
And that son, through whom the Father had spoken to us such
good news and glad tidings, is now seated at God's right hand,
and oh, what a favored people we are." He had the understanding
that we have, through the Word, the completed Word. He wanted
to build three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and
one for the Lord, and stay up there. But then Moses and Elijah
left and they saw none but Christ only. And Peter said, I was there
in the mountain with him. I saw all that. His clothes glistened. the glory of God was upon him.
But he turned right around and said, but we now in these days
have a more sure word of prophecy that you do well to take heed,
for all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable
for doctrine and so forth. Scripture. So we have been so
favored the things that have been revealed, the things that
have been fulfilled, the things that have been set before us
here in the Word of God. Therefore, these things being
so, we ought, we should, we must give the more earnest heed. We must give the more earnest
attention, diligent attention, to the things which we've heard.
lest at any time we let them run out as a leaking vessel.
We let them run through our fingers. You know, you can pour water
in this glass and it'll stay, but you pour water into my hand
and I'll try to hold it here, but it'll slip through like a
leaking vessel, slip away from me. These things being so, we're
so favored and blessed, and we're blessed here. I preached here
all these years. I've brought in men from everywhere
who know the gospel, who love the gospel, brought them from
overseas, brought them here to teach the word, to preach the
word. We've had literally hundreds of preachers come through this
place and preach to you, and I've preached. We've tried to
be true to God, but we're favored. And we've been spoken to by the
Lord himself through his word. These saints fulfilled. And we
ought to certainly give the most undivided attention to these
things, lest we let them slip away. I wonder if, I want you
to turn to Matthew 11. I wonder if this scripture does
not apply, and it does not fit in right here. Matthew chapter
11. Listen, the responsibility, responsibility for what we've
heard, for what we've seen, for what God has given us right here.
In Matthew 11, verse 20, listen, "...then Christ began to upbraid
the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done." There
have been some mighty works done right here. God has revealed the gospel to
this congregation, the gospel. You know, right now, from this
congregation, there are about ten men out pastoring, that have
heard the gospel here out Besides the ones around there, Bob's
preaching in Lexington, Tom's preaching in Rocky Mount, John
Chapman's preaching up in Cottageville, we've got missionaries around
the world. God's made this a center, God's made this a place, and
he's done some mighty works. He's saved some people, he's
transformed some lives, he's done some mighty works. And he said to these places where
his mighty works were done, Because they didn't repent, verse 21,
he said, Woe unto thee, Carazin, woe unto thee, Baxata, if the
mighty works had been done, which are done in you, if the gospel
which you've heard, and the things you've seen, the things you've
experienced, had been done in Tyre and Sidon. Now that's a
couple of wicked cities. They would have repented. They
didn't have the gospel you have. They didn't hear what you've
heard. They didn't see what you've seen. They didn't have the presence
of God like you've had it. They would have repented long
ago and sacked off in action. But I surrender you, it'll be
more tolerable, it'll be easier for Tyre and Sidon in the day
of judgment than for you. That's responsibility. That's
degree of punishment. To whom much is given, much is
required. He that knoweth not the Master's
will, and does it not, shall be beaten with few strikes. He
that knows to do the Master's will, and does it not, shall
be beaten with many strikes. That's what he said. And listen
to this, verse 23, And you, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven, shall be brought down to hell,
if the mighty works which are done in thee had been done in
Sodom, a city for which the most abominable actions had been named,
that city of Sodom. If they had heard what you heard
and seen what you've seen, that city would still be standing.
It'd still be standing. But I say unto you, and boy this
will rock you, it'll be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
in the day of judgment than for you. You say, oh those awful
homosexuals, going to be cast into hell. My Lord said it would be easier
for them in the judgment than for the man who has seen his
hand, and heard his words, and observed his mighty works, and
would not repent, though clean and honest and wholesome in his
outward living." That's what he's saying here in Hebrews 2.
Therefore we, he's spoken to us by his Son. We, then, ought
to give the more earnest heed. to these things we've heard,
heed, attention, diligent attention, I will not let them go, I will
not let them slip away, I will not let them slip away, lest
at any time we let them slip away, run out like a leaking
vessel. How does the gospel, I sat down
while I was thinking on this phrase right here, lest at any
time we let them slip. How do people, in my own experience,
through the years I've preached to a lot of folks, I've seen
some come and some stay and some go. What happens? How do they let them slip away?
They all hear the same thing. They all hear the same message. Four or five things. Number one,
they let them slip away by not hearing them and receiving them
when they're Now that's the time to hear them when they're preaching.
I've discussed this with a lot of preachers and a lot of people. I've asked
this question. Do you find many people sit and
listen to the gospel and go away and come back and listen and
go away and come back and are converted and almost to the man? Usually, usually, like the eunuch,
like the jailer, like Lydia, like Cornelius, usually a person
who hears the gospel clearly proclaimed, clearly enunciated,
clearly stated from the word of God, is either saved then
or not at all. Go through the scripture and
see if that's not so. You see, the command to repent
and believe the gospel is not when you have a convenient season,
it's right now, when you hear it. I know a man can be in religion,
he can be in a profession of religion, he can be in a false
refuge, he may pull that around him for a long time. But when
he hears that gospel, that gospel preached in the fire of God's
Spirit, that light turned on by the Spirit of God. You'll
believe it then, or you'll never believe it. And that's how men
let it slip. Another way is this, by being
taken up with other things. Taken up with other things. I'm
right now taken up with making a living, taken up with my family,
taken up with my position in the community, taken up with
my job, my business. I'm just busy. I'm a busy man.
Any man is too busy to worship God. And to obey God and to be
identified with the things of God is too busy. It is too busy. This is what
our Lord said about when the sower went forth to sow. He said,
The sower is the son of man, the seed is the word of God.
And he sowed it. Oh, some fell on fallow ground,
unprepared, hard, along the wayside. Well, it hadn't been prepared,
so it wouldn't grow, and the birds were there, picked it up,
took it away. But some fell, some fell among the thorns and
the briars. And it sprang up, but it was
there. It was obvious and evident that
they had some interest and some concern because it was there.
He said as time went on, the thorns and the briars crowded
out the plant, and it died. And that's what happens. I've
seen it happen. I've seen men promoted into perdition. I certainly have. I've seen men and women, I've
seen young people become interested in the material, in the in the
things of this world, in its vanities. And those briars and
thorns become more important than that seed of the Word of
God. The Word of God, it crowds it
out, it chokes it out. And that's how they let them
slip. That's right. They let them slip. When their
life was simple, when life was sort of simple. It wasn't so
complicated. It wasn't so involved. I wasn't
so important. I wasn't so big. I didn't have
as much. When I was in the simplicity
of just things convenient, having things convenient, having food
and rain to bear with to be content, when I was in that place, I had
an interest in the gospel. But then these other things came
in. That's letting them slip, isn't
it? Well, you know what it is, and I do too. Thirdly, by removing
ourselves from where they're preached, for whatever reason, for whatever
reason, by removing ourselves, it doesn't matter the reason,
it doesn't matter the reason. Now, I've said this so often,
Almighty God has never left himself without a witness. that God of heaven and earth
is saying something in our day as he has in every day, in our
generation as he has in every generation. There are some men
who are bearing witness to the truth of God. There are some
men who are bearing witness to the word of God. Now, it's my
business, if I'm interested in God, if I'm interested in the
things pertaining to God, if I'm interested in knowing God,
if I'm interested in hearing from God, I'm going to have to
somehow put myself under the ministry of those men who are
speaking for God. Just any preacher won't do. Just any ministry won't
do. And when we remove ourselves
for whatever reason, personality or some difference here and there
and yonder, we remove ourselves from the clear presentation of
the gospel, the simplicity of Christ. When we remove ourselves,
whether We're looking for more emotionalism, we're looking for
more excitement, we're looking for our children. I hear people
say this, well, our children need activities, and this church
has activities, and this one has social activities, and this
one has connections, and this one has that, and this one has
something else. I don't care what the reason
is. I had a man sit in my study one
day, and he's from another state. He said, I missed the gospel.
I said, how come you're not under the gospel? He said, I was promoted
by my company and transferred away from where the gospel is
preached. I said, well, quit your job and go back. That's
right. You say, preacher, that's just,
you know, you're just saying things. I'm not just saying things
either. My soul is worth more than my body. I've got to hear
God's word. Get under the gospel. And to
leave the gospel, to turn my back on the gospel, I don't care
what the reason is, I don't care what the reason is, that's letting
it slip. And I'm a little bit weary of
people writing me and saying, we don't have a gospel preacher
where we live, we don't have any place to go to church. Then find one. I'll tell you another
way, too, that people let these things slip. And our Lord is
warning us here, therefore we ought to give them more earnest
heed to the things which we've heard, lest we let them slip,
for if they slip, if they run out like water, you don't gather
water up again. That's in the Word too, you don't
gather it up again. And I'll tell you this, if he
passes my way, he may not pass this way again. That's what disturbed
Bartimaeus. They tried to quiet him. He wasn't
going to be quiet because he knew Christ may not come that
way again. Men who trifle with holy things
usually wind up in trouble. And here's another way, just
by indifference. Indifference. I've got plenty
of time. That's what old Phoenix told Paul. He sat there and listened
to Paul. When Paul got through, he said,
that's impressive. And it is impressive. It's the
Word of God. And he said, I'll tell you what,
you go your way, I'm going to get on the business on this thing.
When I have a more convenient season, I'll send for you. But
he never had it. Never did. Indifferent. Indifferent. Somebody said, well, Mahan's
just another man. You're right about that. You're
right about that. Paul said, I'm nothing. He said,
who is Peter? Who is Apollos? Who is Cephas?
Nothing. Just mouthpieces, just messing
your boys. Sure, he's nothing, but my God's
something, and my gospel's something, and my gospel's the gospel, because
it's the gospel of God. And that's the reason I demand
a hearing, not because of who I am, but because of who he is.
And I'm preaching Christ. And I'm holding men's feet to
the fire of the gospel. And indifference is a deadly,
deadly game. I'll tell you another way that
men let it slip. They let it slip. And that is
by being enamored with other religious projects and religious
nonessentials. You say they are religious nonessentials?
Yes, sir. One of our members left Ashland
and moved to Florida, and they had been going to a church down
there in Florida, and I don't know the name of it, to have
a young pastor, and they decided to So this young pastor wrote
me a letter and he named the man and his wife. He said, I
understand you baptized the man. Before we can receive him into
our church, we've got to know how your church was organized. Now you write and tell me how
your church was organized so we can receive him. Well, I just
dropped it in the waste can. I don't have time to answer foolish
letters from foolish people. I put it in the wastebasket.
Well, a few days passed and he called me. He wouldn't be still,
the fact that he didn't hear from me, but he called me and
he said, did you get my letter? I said, yes, sir. He said, well,
I need to know this. I said, in other words, whether
you receive this man into your fellowship does not rest on the
fact whether he knows Christ or we preach the gospel. But
how our church got started, he said, yes, I've got to know what
church you were a mission of." I said, we weren't a mission
of anybody. I told them, I said, I don't recognize any authority
but God Almighty and Jesus Christ, the head of the church, no human
authority. Now, if you want to receive those
people, receive them. If you don't, leave me alone,
and I hung up. That's one thing about a telephone,
you don't have to talk to people. Somebody said, well, I got a
call the other day and they swore me out. Hang up! Isn't that right? This young
man is wrapped up in landmarkism, church perpetuity, and Baptist
bride, and he's going to miss the gospel. And you can get hung
up like we were talking in this charismatic mess. You can get
hung up with the gifts and miss the giver. I'm not captivated by tongues.
I'm not using the tongue. I've got enough to preach the
gospel. If I don't need two or three more, I need to preach
the gospel in this one. Spurgeon said one time, let's
quit singing that song, O for a thousand tongues to sing the
praise of my God. We're not praising him with one.
What do we need a thousand for? But you get enamored with these
things, the flesh, the emotionalism, all this charismatic joke. And
I know people get wrapped up in the millennium. Not only do
the pre-millennialists get wrapped up in it, but the all-millennialists
get wrapped up in it. They get wrapped up in trying
to prove there ain't going to be one. And they preach on that more
than they preach Christ. Now listen, you can get hold. And
Satan is a deceiver. He's a tricky devil. And I'll
tell you, he's been in the human soul people's deceiving business
a long time. He knows more about human nature
than anybody but God. And he'll give you a play pretty
to play with, and you'll miss Christ. And that play pretty
will even be the law. I know some preachers that are
just wrapped up in the law. They preach on the law every
Sunday. One man over in England, over at that place where Paul
preached, what's the name of that town, Darcy? You can speak
in church right now. You don't know either. Over there on the coast. What? That's it, Liverpool. Their pastor
preached 56 consecutive sermons on sanctification. One elder
said he just killed them. Just literally killed them. Just
drove them away. 56 sermons. How sanctified can you be? That's how we let them slip and
tell them the truth. Oh, we ought to give the more
earnest heed to the things we've heard, lest some way, in some
way, you're not going to gather them up again. Now watch this, listen to this.
In these verses Paul gives several reasons why we should take heed
and not lose this word. Don't let it get away from you.
Yet the word spoken by prophets and angels was steadfast. And
every transgression and disobedience under that limited revelation,
under that limited manifestation, under that limited types and
patterns, when God sent a man to speak, and a man to warn,
and a man to exhort, and they didn't obey him, they received
a just recompense. God dealt with them harshly.
Now, if he did that with just a man, what's he going to do
with us that have heard the Son? What in the world? That's what
he's saying. How are we going to escape, verse 3, how are we
going to escape if we neglect? This is what I'm saying, and
it's pure neglect to hear something and not pursue it, to become taken up with other
things. and not seek Christ by removing
ourselves from the gospel, that's neglect, that's pure neglect,
indifference. By becoming enamored with prophecy
or charismatic or law or even the old reformers and the old
Puritans. I've known some preachers get
so wrapped up in the Puritans, they begin to talk like them.
They become intellectual like them and so deep So deep, nobody
knows what they're talking about. They don't either. But it sounds
good. That's neglect. Trying to be
clever instead of preaching Christ. How are we going to escape if
we neglect? So great salvation. It's a great
salvation because of its author. That's what you read a while
ago, the author, Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation,
the author of our salvation. That's why it's so great, because
he purposed it and he purchased it. It's great because of the
wisdom of it, oh, the wisdom of this salvation. It enables
God to be just and justified, the wisdom of this great salvation. Oh, the cost of it! It's great
because of the cost of it. of some valuable stone here,
and somebody says, what's so valuable about that? It costs
three million dollars. Oh, boy, that's something. Be careful with it. This salvation
costs the life of God's Son. Great because of the power of
it. It's able to transform the chief
of sinners. Great because of the freeness
of it. Ah, this great salvation. Here's
another reason. It at first began to be spoken
by our Lord. That's right, it's spoken by
our Lord. This great salvation is spoken
by our Lord. Come unto me, I'll give you rest,
he said. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come to me. Out of your bellies shall flow
rivers of living water. I'm come to seek and to save
the lost. Spoken by our Lord, and was confirmed by those men
that heard him, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Nathanael,
confirmed. And confirmed by his miracles,
by his death and resurrection, by the scriptures, by God's forerunner, John the
Baptist, And then confirmed here, listen, verse 4, God also bearing
even these apostles witness with signs and wonders and different
miracles. You see, my friends, I don't know why preachers today,
these preachers keep talking about it's just necessary for
them to have the different gifts. speaking in tongues and healing.
John did no miracle. John the Baptist did no miracle.
And Christ said, Of all born of women, ever risen one greater
than John, forerunner of Christ the Lord. But signs are not for
believers. Believers don't need signs. Signs
are for unbelievers. That's right, that's what Scripture
says. Tongues are a sign, not for believers, but unbelievers. And God gave Peter, James, and
John, and Paul, these other men, he gave them these credentials,
these proofs, these evidences, that they spoke for him, because
the scriptures were not complete then. These apostles went forth
and these early New Testament preachers went forth among a
hostile people. They went forth among religious
people. They went forth among heathen
people, without a New Testament. They had the Old Testament Scripture. And they went forth declaring
that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of these Old Testament prophecies
and patterns and pictures. And God gave them these miracles
and wonders and signs as proof and evidence that they spoke
for him. Now, I don't need that proof.
I don't need to heal anybody tonight to prove to you I'm telling
the truth. I'll tell you to turn to Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians. Actually, now you know this is
true. If I had the power tonight, or
if God would do it And God heals, but mainly he does it secretly,
because we're such fools, we get taken up with the demonstration rather than
the Lord. If God were to give me the power
to heal somebody here tonight in a, somebody, I'm not talking
about this mind over matter, psychosomatic junk, I'm talking
about a real blind man, to make a real dead man to raise him.
My name would be in every paper in America tomorrow. I'd be the
most popular man on earth. I'd go wherever I went and preach
to tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people. They'd
be lined up to be healed. The gospel would be lost. The gospel will take second fiddle.
The gospel will be put under the ash heap. Nobody's coming
to hear what I'm saying about God. They come in to get these
bodies straightened out. That's right. And that's what
most of these meetings are. But the Lord gave these early
disciples those powers to speak in other tongues. Are these not
Galileans? Yes. Well, how is it we're hearing
the gospel in our own tongue? They must be speaking for God.
When Paul reached out to move the wood from the fire, and the
snake, evidently one of those powerful coral snakes bit him,
he just shook it off his hand, and they stood back waiting on
him to die. And he didn't die, and they said, there's something
special here. And he got the ears to tell them
about Christ. And God bore them witness. Read
on, with divers, miracles, and gifts. of the Holy Ghost according
to his will, verse 5. But unto the angels hath he not
put in subjection the world to come. It's not angels and men
and prophets and preachers and great men that God's given a
name above every name, whom God hath made head and king of the
new heaven and earth, to whom God hath delivered all things.
But who is it? Christ. And we've heard from
him Oh, having heard from him, we ought
not neglect so great salvation, because we've heard from the
King himself. My, my. Look at verse 6 through
9, just a moment. This is a quotation from David,
Psalm 8. And what Paul does here I know
a lot of people apply this to man in Adam. When Adam was created,
Adam was given rule over God's creation and all this, and he
fell and so forth. But according to verse 9, Paul
appropriates these words written by David to men and women who are represented
by Christ. to those who are represented
by Christ. Every person represented by Christ,
in Christ, through Christ, is here, right here in these verses.
Now watch this. But one in a certain place, David,
testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the Son of man, that thou
visitest Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, thou hast
crowned him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the work
of thy hands." That's the God-man, Christ Jesus. That's right. Thou hast made him a little lower
than the angels. When? When he came to this earth.
And thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, and didst set
him over the work of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under
his feet, in subjection, under his feet. For in that he put
all in subjection unto him, he left nothing that's not put unto
him." That's Christ. But now we see not yet all things
put unto him. Oh, no, we don't see all things
yet put unto him. It's not evident yet, but they're
there. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels, for the suffering of death. He's a representative
man. He is the man Christ Jesus. And
you're going to see in a moment that we're so much one with him
that what's said of him is said of us, what's said of us is said
of him. For the suffering, he was made
a little lower than the angels for one purpose, for the suffering
of death, to bear our sin, to bring in a perfect righteousness.
He's crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God,
should taste death for every man, every man he's talking about
in these verses. every man in Christ. Mr. Spurgeon wrote on these verses,
this is good. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? The least grain of sand is not
so small to the whole earth as man is to heaven. Oh, when I
think of the heavens, the sun, the moon, and the stars, oh God,
what is man? Man, in the pride of his heart,
sees no wonder in God's being mindful of him. But a humble
believer is astonished that God would be mindful of him. Will
the Lord have respect to such a vile worm as I? Will the Lord
identify himself with such a wretch as I? Enough to die for me? Will the Lord of glory open his
heart to me? O God, what is man that thou
art mindful of him, or carest for him? But verse 10, watch this carefully
and I'll move quickly. There are three persons mentioned
here in this verse 10. For it became him, for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons
unto glory, to make the captain or author of their salvation
perfect through suffering. Three persons. Who are they? Him. It became him. It was an
act worthy of him. It was an act fitting to his
divine nature of love and grace. That's the Father. You just write
that right above that hymn there, that's the Father. It became,
it was an act worthy of his nature. is just like God to do this,
because he is merciful. That's what David said, he said,
oh, he said, Lord, if thou shouldest mark a niquity, who would stand?
But there's forgiveness with thee. God is plenteous in mercy. Oh,
the attributes of our God, just, merciful, righteous, gracious,
holy, And all that he's purposed in the redemption of a people
through Christ Jesus, that's worthy of him. That's worthy
of God. I wrote an article one time,
a gift, a gift to truly be worthy of the giver is determined and
considered by the ability of the giver to give it. I gave you a little story. Little League ballplayers were
out in front of the stores last Saturday collecting money for
Little League. And a man came out of the store
and he said, boys, I'd like to give you a whole lot, but he
said, my wife's in the hospital and the medicine is so high and
I just don't have much, but here's a dollar. A little while later, a man drove
up I started saying the Mercedes, damn, but I'm going to leave
that off. But he drove up in a big one, and he had a nice
suit on like this one here, well-dressed, well-heeled, or something. And
he walked by those little boys, and he said, oh, you boys collecting
for Little League. I'll be sure and give you something.
He gave him a dime. And those boys looked at each
other and laughed, even little kids. The gift was not worthy
of the man. And I'll tell you this, this
is what this writer is saying here, it's just like my God. It's worthy of him. It's worthy
of his great love to reach as far down as he did into the dunghill
and pick us up by. That's a great gift. to give
his only begotten Son, the Baptist, that's a great gift. That's worthy,
just like him. That's what he said, it became
him. It was fitting. Watch it. It was fitting, it
was worthy of him, by whom are all things. And by whom are all things, for
whom and by whom. in bringing many, how many? Oh,
a number no man can number, sons to glory. That's you and me. That's us. With sons by election
and sons by redemption and sons by adoption, to make, he did
all this, the author of our salvation, that's Christ. You put Christ
there, that's the Father, that's you and me, and that's Christ.
It was fitting of him. and bring in such warmth, all
the way to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through suffering. He's the captain, the representative,
the surety, and he must be perfect in all ways. And he learned obedience
for the things he suffered. This is a great undertaking.
Not for this thing of salvation, not some little flippant thing
that we run down here and get it all fixed up on June 11, 1989
by saying some little silly sinner's prayer that some preacher puts
in our mind. Now you're saved. No, you're
not either. I'm telling you, it takes God to save a sinner.
It takes an act of God. It takes the power of God. It
takes the death of God. It takes the power of God's Spirit.
It takes a new heart and a new nature, and it's done by God. I tell you what, we'll find out
how great this business is when we lay down to die. Now, I tell you, it's serious
business. You've never heard me say, everybody
that's born again, put up your hand. Some of us would have to
just kind of do it this way, wouldn't we? I hope by the grace
of God. The heart's deceitful. Who can
know it? And trusting him, Spurgeon said
one time, if I go to hell, I'll go to hell looking to Christ.
But I tell you, this thing, I'm getting too close to, too close
to that day to flippantly and presumptuously look back yonder
to something that happened when I was 10, 12, 14 years old. or look back to some experience
I had, or some vision I've seen, or some commitment I made, I'm
trying my best to look to the commitment he made, and the death
he died, and the blood he shed, and the prayer he prayed, and
find myself in him. And I tell you this, you better
too. You better too. I don't care
who you are. He said, I'd be embarrassed to
admit I wasn't saved under all those professions I made. Boy,
you talk about embarrassment. What about to hear him say, depart
from me, I never knew you? Well, let's wind it up. He'll
tell you this, for both, verse 11, he that sanctifies and they
that are sanctified are one, for which cause he's not ashamed
to call them brethren, they're one, everything the Father The
Son did, he did for us, they won, they won. Verse 14, For
as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also likewise took part of the same, that through death
he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is,
the devil, and deliver them through fear of death. Do you fear death?
Have you ever feared death? Well, the only reason you have
not to fear death is that Christ has delivered you from that bondage.
by defeating Satan for you. That's right. It's a confrontation
my Lord had with the devil. Satan came and found nothing
in him. He came and found plenty in me. He can come now and find
plenty in me, but he can't find anything my representative. And
if I have no fear of death, it's not because of what I believe
or what I've done, it's because of who he is and what he did
and where he is. That takes away the fear. He
met who has the power of death, given him by God. And he delivered
us who all our lives have been in bondage to this fear of death. I tell you, men fear death. They
can get up and sing their quartets, I've got a mansion on a hilltop,
but they don't want to go there right now. You see them, they
find out they've got cancer or something and they go crazy. Death is the last thing they
want. Death is the first thing Paul wanted, because he saw Christ
the victor. Verse 16, "...for barely he didn't
take on himself the nature of angels." The angels sinned before
men, did they? They sinned before men. And they
were reserved, they were committed to everlasting chains of darkness
and reserved their actual judgment. Our Lord didn't send a Savior
for angels, didn't send a Redeemer for angels, didn't send an Emancipator
for the angels. He left them in their sin. He
took on himself purposely and willingly the seed of Abraham,
you and me. That's sovereignty, that's sovereign
mercy. He left the angels to perish. Wherefore in all things it behooves
him to be made just like his brethren, just like us, flesh
and blood, that he might be a merciful, faithful, high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
Let me ask you, am I or you, are we interested in things pertaining
to God? Things pertaining to God, not
to religion, to God. Well, if we're interested in
things pertaining to God, the old high priest was taken from
among men and set apart and ordained of God. No man took this office
on himself. To minister in things, what?
Pertaining to God. And that's what it says about
our Lord Jesus Christ, who's our great high priest. He'll
take care of everything. That concerns me in things pertaining
to God. See what I'm saying? I'm going
to turn it over to him. In things pertaining to God.
I'm going to be alright. I'm going to be alright. It's
going to be alright in those things pertaining to God. Because
he is the author and finisher of our salvation. Well, that's
subtle. All right, Mike, come lead us
in a song, please.

Hebrews 2: Jesus Christ - Captain of Our Salvation

What does the Bible say about Jesus as our Captain of salvation?

How do we know salvation is great?

Why is it important for Christians to heed the Gospel?

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Hebrews 2: Jesus Christ - Captain of Our Salvation

What does the Bible say about Jesus as our Captain of salvation?

How do we know salvation is great?

Why is it important for Christians to heed the Gospel?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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