Well, we're glad to see each one here
tonight.
Good to see you all.
I hope that the Word of God will
be a blessing and encouragement to each one
of us.
I just remember the meetings that are purposed
the remaining two nights, Thursday and Friday night,
or I should say Wednesday and Thursday night.
Get my night straight, I don't want you
to come the wrong nights, there won't be
anybody here.
But Wednesday and Thursday night, God willing, we
expect to continue on through the book of
Hebrews.
And what I have in mind for tomorrow
night, if you want to consider that yourself,
is a subject of the great high priest,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's one of the great important themes of
this epistle, the epistle of the Hebrews.
And I trust that we'll be able to
appreciate something of the Lord's care for us
as his own people.
We're reading tonight in Hebrews chapter two.
We'll begin reading from verse five.
Hebrews chapter two and verse five, I would
take it that verses one through four of
chapter two are really a parenthesis.
So that when you read the end of
chapter one, you find that he says that
the angels are ministering spirits, their servants sent
forth to minister under them who are, who
are to be heirs or shall be heirs
of salvation.
So we find at the end of chapter
one, that the writer to the Hebrews tells
us that angels are only ministering servants, fulfilling
the functions that God has for them and
caring for God's people.
Now, having learned that we come to verse
five of chapter two, and we begin reading
for unto the angels, you see how that
connects with the end of chapter one or
under the angels, hath he not put in
subjection the world to come wherever we speak,
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.
Thou crowned him with glory and honor.
Thou set him over the works of thy
hands.
Thou has 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 and bringing
many sons unto glory to make the captain
of their salvation perfect or complete through sufferings
for both he that sanctified and they who
are sanctified are all of one for which
cause he is not ashamed to call them
brethren saying, I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of the church
or the assembly will I sing praise unto
thee and again I will put my trust
in him and again behold I and the
children which God hath given me for as
much then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood he also himself 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
who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage for verily he took
not on angels I think it's better to
read leave those italicized words out because they're
really not in the text and it's not
the idea of taking on the nature of
angels but he didn't take hold of angels
but he took on the seed of Abraham
wherefore in all things that behoved him to
be made like unto his brethren that he
might be a merciful and faithful high priest
in things pertaining to God to make propitiation
or as it says reconciliation and revival but
it's a better word to think of it
as propitiation because it's a work in relation
to sins and toward God to make that
work done a propitiation for the sins of
the people for in that he himself has
suffered being tempted or tested he is able
to succor to save them that are tempted
I will just stop there with that reading
I'm sure that there's more than enough to
occupy our time profitably for the entire meeting
we're looking last night in chapter one at
the glories of the eternal son of God
now seen in a glorified man that is
resurrected from the dead and who was ascended
to God's right hand in chapter one in
verse two and three we notice that there
was a seven-fold description of the glories
of the Lord Jesus culminating in the fact
that he sat himself down at the right
hand of the majesty in the heights and
then we had seven quotations from the psalms
that are used by the writer of the
hit to the hebrews to emphasize the greatness
of the Lord Jesus and his superiority to
angels no matter how high or how great
they might be so we're looking at different
aspects of the truth concerning the Lord Jesus
that is emphasized that are emphasized rather in
that passage we'll come to another section though
when you look at chapter two because in
reality it's not quite dealing so much with
the emphasis on the deity of Christ but
it's having to do with his perfect humanity
he's no longer seen here as son of
God but here in this chapter he's seen
as son of man and I want to
say that the title son of man is
not given to him because he became man
but he became man because he is son
of man the title son of man is
a messianic title it's a title that indicates
God's purposes that he would become identified with
humanity that he would be in fact I
believe the prototype when God made Adam in
the garden of Eden he made him in
his own image we read and I would
take it that God had in view the
Lord Jesus it is perfect life here upon
the earth when he began to make man
he is son of man and characteristic but
as son of man he's also the one
who will fulfill all that God had purposed
in Adam but which failed because of Adam's
sin because God's purpose is still his purpose
and he's going to put this entire universe
under the control of a man and that
man is son of man the Lord Jesus
we read in John's gospel chapter 5 that
God has entrusted all judgment to the son
because he is son of man and it
says son of man that he is going
to rule and he is going to judge
mankind one that has become identified with us
and one that has passed through this scene
in which men are experiencing all the difficulties
of life he knows all about it and
says son of man he will judge it's
a son of man that he will rule
it's the one who is coming again in
power and glory the Lord Jesus said that
hereafter he shall see the son of man
coming upon the clouds of heaven and so
the title son of man is not given
to him as something subsequent to his becoming
man but I would suggest to you that
he became man because he is son of
man and he came into this world in
that capacity now in that case we're looking
at the glory of the Lord Jesus as
God has in view the incarnation and the
reasons why he came in this world I
suggested to you last night that I see
five purposes for the incarnation in these verses
we've read and just uh at the very
beginning I'll give them to you I would
take it that in verse five through through
eight the Lord Jesus there is seen as
the sovereign of the universe the sovereign of
the universe the one who is going to
have all things put under his feet in
absolute dominion there that expression the sovereign of
the universe is seen in relation to the
purpose of God God's purpose for all eternity
that he has never deviated from and he
never will so the sovereign of the universe
is fulfilling the purpose of God in relation
to government and rule in verse nine the
Lord Jesus and his incarnation is seen as
the sufferer who is now crowned I would
take it in that order though there's some
dispute about whether the crowning with glory and
honor preceded his suffering or was subsequent to
it we probably won't settle that tonight but
nevertheless you could see that he is the
sufferer there that is now crowned with glory
and honor that is linked with the pathway
of the Lord Jesus not the purpose of
God so much but the pathway of the
Lord Jesus Christ in his life here below
so we have the sovereign of the universe
first in verses five through eight in the
purpose of God we have the sufferer who
is now crowned in the relation to the
pathway of Jesus in verse nine in verse
10 through 13 he is the sanctifier of
his people the one who he says is
one with his own he is the one
who sanctifies and they who are sanctified he
says are all of one and so a
sanctifier of his people he's seen there as
the in the perfection of the captain the
one that has gone before he is the
perfect captain in relation to his own people
so verse 10 through 13 the sanctifier of
his people in verses 14 through 16 his
incarnation is seen in relation to him being
the savior by means of death destroying him
who had the power of death that is
a devil and delivering them saving them setting
them free who all their lifetime were subject
of bondage he's the savior by means of
death and their instinct with him being a
partaker of humanity in verse 14 we read
that he took part of the same so
he's the partaker voluntarily of humanity and of
course in the last two verses 17 and
18 he is the suckerer that is the
helper the one that comes alongside and the
one that meets the need the suckerer as
the great high priest and there of course
he is the priest of his own brother
made like unto his brother so we have
five pictures five different aspects of the lord
jesus that are linked with his incarnation is
becoming man is coming to this world in
perfect manhood and fulfilling the will of god
in that way now come with me just
back to five and we'll look at the
first one and continue as we are able
he's going to make it very clear that
god never intended for angels to rule the
universe god's intent for the beginning when he
created all things was that this world to
come the habitable world the world of the
millennium the world of the coming rule the
world when christ is going to rule supreme
is intended by god to be put under
man and his control and he says that
is fulfilled that is verified when you look
back into psalm 8 i believe it's psalm
8 we have that reference here and in
psalm 8 the psalmist is looking to the
heavens and the stars skies and he's he's
wondering at all the greatness of what god
has made it ought to cause wonder in
the heart of anyone for us to think
about the expanse and the marvel of what
god has created and he looks at all
of that and he looks at the greatness
of the stars he looks at the wonder
of all the great things that god has
made and looks at himself looks at mankind
and he says in wonder and amazement what
is man in comparison with all the immensity
of all that god has made what is
man that thou art mindful of him or
the son of man that thou visit us
here now i believe really and i think
it's true that the reference primarily is to
adam in the very beginning to look at
this great expanse of the universe and yet
god has put it in his purposes under
the control of a man why would god
ever do that why would god set a
man in dominion over all the greatness of
all that he has made why not an
angel angels are far greater angels are far
more superior angels excel in wisdom and power
nobody says he's put it all in relation
to man man is the center of god's
purpose when it comes to the creation of
all the things that he has made so
he says what is man that thou art
mindful of him that is why should god
ever think about us why should he ever
look upon adam there in the garden of
eden or any one of us the descendants
of man that he would visit us he
said thou does make him a little lower
than the angels that is in terms of
his intrinsic power what he really was in
himself he had a position inferior to angels
but he says he was crowned with glory
and honor it's interesting to notice that when
it speaks about adam in that respect it's
using a word in original language of our
new testament that indicates it's a victor's crown
and oftentimes we think of that kind of
a crown as a result of one having
accomplished a victory or won a battle but
in this case it's the crown that is
given him in view of his office in
view of him functioning that position of ruling
for god and holding this all in in
his responsibility to god he says he's been
crowned with glory and honor and he says
thou has put him over the works of
thy hands and thou has put all things
into subjection under his feet that was what
god intended from the very beginning and yet
you know what happened in the garden of
eden when man sinned against god and he
really delivered rule over in a sense to
the devil as he yielded to the temptation
and he he did the will of that
enemy of god he says we do not
see yet all things put under him in
other words that purpose of god for the
beginning in that he was going to put
everything under the control of a man seems
to have failed doesn't seem very evident today
does it man can be afraid of animals
in this creation man can be afraid of
elements in the dark and in all of
his weakness he doesn't have dominance over the
world the way that god intended him at
the very beginning in fact in many ways
he's only ruined it and it's a result
of sin that has come in and evidently
to outward appearances god's purposes have failed we
do not see all things yet that word
yet carries with it the element of hope
it indicates expectancy in other words it's not
that we don't do not see all things
never or uh as if it will never
take a play take place under him but
we don't see things yet under him because
god says in this passage that will yet
come to pass you know god's first purpose
that is indicated in the bible is this
purpose of man ruling as sovereign over god's
universe and god's first purpose is always his
ultimate purpose god never changes his purposes and
even though man failed in the garden of
eden and refused the commandments that god had
given him and his responsibility to god yet
god says that purpose still stands and there's
still going to be a man that is
going to rule over all things as i
intended so we do not see things yet
put under him but he says we see
jesus i think that's a lovely expression in
between those verses that verse the phrase that
i read before he says for him that
he put all in subjection under him he
left nothing that is not put under him
in other words absolute control without any limitation
but he says but now we see not
yet all things put under him but we
see jesus you know it's interesting to me
that in the earlier part of this book
up to this point in time he has
never mentioned the personal name of jesus i
think there's about nine or eleven times in
the book of hebrews that he uses the
single name jesus the name of his humanity
the name of his lowliness of his walk
and his humility but he says we do
we see jesus it's the eye of faith
that looks upon him and looking upon the
lord jesus christ as a man who came
into this world and who walked in this
life in a way that adam never did
in every in every way that adam failed
and disobeyed god the lord jesus triumphed and
proved his faithfulness and showed his obedience to
the will of god never deviated from it
you remember that it went out in the
tent in the wilderness to be tempted or
tested by the devil that was not of
course the design of the devil to do
that that was designed by god he was
driven by the spirit into the wilderness to
be tempted of the because god was going
to prove to this enemy of his own
purposes that there was a man that was
different a real man but a a different
man a man that had no had no
ability would never succumb to the temptation of
this one that had brought ruin into the
creation of god so god put the lord
jesus in his perfect humanity in the wilderness
that in every point that he was tempted
he might prove himself to be the one
that was superior to the one that had
failed in the garden and so we find
that we see jesus and that is that
word that indicates that he came into this
world as a new man a different man
but a real man a man that would
not be touched by sin we read in
chapter five that in his high priestly character
we have such a one who is holy
harmless undefiled separate from sinners which means he
is different altogether from sinners and he's now
made higher than the heavens and so he's
marking him out in all of his perfection
the eye of faith of a child of
god sees jesus and it's not seeing him
as he walked in this light here below
it's seeing him now at the right hand
of god we see a real man and
that real man that passed through this scene
with all of his temptations and trials and
triumphed over everything that stood against him and
always vindicated the will of god the fact
that he is now at the right hand
of god is the evidence that while god
says we see not yet all things put
under him we will one day a living
savior a living man at the right hand
of god is the absolute proof that god's
purpose to put this world under the control
of a man will one day be realized
he had to become a man to fulfill
god's purpose god never intended that he would
rule over this world from heaven he could
have but that wasn't god's purpose he never
intended that any other person would rule over
this world and have absolute control for god
what he is a man and as a
perfect man jesus he is going to rule
and in that capacity so we see that
he has indicated to us that he came
into this world and he came in that
way that he might vindicate the purpose of
god and fulfill it and that in doing
so he might one day be seated on
the highest throne of the entire creation and
all things will one day be put into
subjection under his feet now when that says
all things it means all things we notice
in chapter one that he is the one
that has made all things by the word
of his power we find that he is
the one who upholds all things by the
word of his power he's taking them all
to their final destination all things were made
by him in john chapter one and without
him was not anything made that was made
all things means all things and everything without
exception will be brought under subject into subjection
under the absolute supreme control of the lord
jesus it's any wonder that we read in
isaiah chapter 52 in verse verse uh 15
is it or 14 that king shall shut
their mouths at him for that which had
not been told them shall they see and
that which had not heard shall they consider
that is they will see that one that
bowed in shame and humiliation at calvary and
suffered at the hands of man crowned with
glory and honor and seen in all his
glory and dignity and beauty he's the one
that's going to rule thank god we can
look forward to that that's what gives me
hope in this in this present scene with
all of its chaos and in a certain
sense and you know the word of god
tells us that degeneration in terms of order
so far as the world is concerned is
going to become worse and worse we think
things are bad today just wait i'm thankful
i won't be there nevertheless the fact remains
that when man has his way of control
he can never rise to the standard that
god wants but the right man the right
man upon the throne is the one that
will bring peace order justice righteousness we read
that in chapter one last night god says
about him that thou lovest righteousness and hatest
lawlessness therefore he says god even thy god
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows and so far superior to
every other ruler will be the lord jesus
seen in all of his power and glory
solomon when he reigned over that vast area
of the middle east was a picture of
the lord jesus one who never fought a
battle and never had to subdue an enemy
and the one who who had a reign
that was peaceable and was profitable and prosperous
so we have this lovely picture that one
day he will have that place of supremacy
but we pass from that because in order
for him to have that place of supremacy
and sovereignty he must pass through the article
of death he must be the one that
is suffering the word of god always makes
it very clear that the cross comes before
the crown you remember that in the wilderness
is referred to that the devil offered him
the kingdoms of the world of the glory
of them said all these can be yours
if you'll only fall down and worship me
and of course he would have liked to
have deviated the lord jesus from going to
the cross and he would not have it
because that had to come first he must
suffer and that must take place first so
we read that we see jesus that one
who was made a little lower than the
angels now some would try to say that
it means for a little time lower than
the angels in terms of time and it
possible it's possible that could be the thought
of it but more than likely the thought
really is expressing the fact that he came
into perfect manhood what was man a little
lower than the angels where did the lord
jesus christ come in incarnation a little lower
than the angels he came as a kinsman
redeemer you know in the old testament we
have those that were called redeemers or kinsmen
and a kinsman redeemer that would set free
one that have been taken into slavery or
bring back and rebuy land that had been
lost because of poverty or other reasons he
might come in to vindicate the issue that
might arise he had to be one who
was associated and related to the individual couldn't
be just someone off the street to come
in and do that work he had to
be a near relative he had to be
one that was related to the injured party
and the lord jesus came into this scene
made like unto his brethren becoming one who
was a kinsman redeemer that he might in
all of his association with fallen mankind lift
them up redeem them purchase back that which
had been lost and bring us back into
the good of an inheritance what a wonderful
person he is we see jesus he says
who was made a little lower than the
angels because of his perfect manhood coming in
the same place that you and i occupy
today in fact we find that in verse
11 he says that he that sanctifyeth and
they who are sanctified are all of one
that is they're of one company they're associated
together he's come in such a lowly way
in such a perfect identification with mankind that
he might redeem us that he might bring
us back to god wonderful work he came
to do he says he made a little
lower than the angels angels could never redeem
one soul angels could never die and angels
could never take upon themselves flesh and blood
like he did that he might redeem those
who were like him except for their sin
so he says he was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of
death or because of the suffering of death
you can lick that expression the suffering of
death either with with that which goes before
it or that which comes after it and
anyone that studies this passage of the bible
would know that there are different opinions as
to how this verse should be interpreted i'll
just tell you that there are those who
would say that he was crowned with glory
and honor in his lifetime and you see
the evidence of it as he moved amongst
men and he showed his power over the
elements of creation calming the sea and stilling
the waves and stopping the wind and being
in the well with the wild beasts in
the wilderness and not being touched by them
he was like adam crowned with glory and
honor in his lifetime and in the same
way he suffered death as others would tell
us and i personally inclined this way even
though it's more difficult and it seems more
unwieldy so far as the verse is concerned
to see that his crowning with glory and
honor is following his suffering of death but
be whatever it might be he has indicated
to us that the one who has suffered
is the one who is also the one
who is crowned and just like adam was
crowned with glory and honor we read in
verse seven crowned with glory and honor in
view of his official capacity as a ruler
over the universe under god's purpose i take
it in the same way the lord jesus
is crowned with glory and honor in view
of him by way of suffering and resurrection
and exaltation one day taking up that same
position that adam lost because of his fall
but he's making it very clear that he
is the one who suffered farther down the
chapter he doesn't speak about suffering he just
speaks about his death the suffering indicates the
payment of sin the suffering indicates the travail
of his soul and all that he had
to pass through the suffering indicates that he
entered into the experience of what man should
suffer man should experience because of his own
sinfulness and so we read that we see
jesus made a little lower than the angels
because of the suffering of death now crowned
with glory and honor that's the way i
read it i link it with what follows
because of the suffering of death he is
now crowned with glory and honor that is
to say that because of what he passed
through in his perfect obedience to god in
his willingness to suffer under the great load
of sin now he is crowned with glory
and honor fitted perfectly for that capacity of
ruling over a creation that is redeemed by
his own suffering and death and then you
have that last expression is the one that
gives us trouble because it seems totally out
of order doesn't it crowned with glory and
honor that he by the grace of god
should taste death for every man and i
would take it in my own little way
of thinking that he is indicating that he
is crowned with glory and honor again because
of the fact that he by the grace
of god tasted death for every man based
upon that fact of the finality of his
work because of the fact that he has
finished the work to satisfy god's requirements and
because of the fact that all has been
done in an entire way to redeem lost
guilty fallen men to himself there he is
now crowned with glory and honor and seated
the right hand of god i think that
it's interesting that it has been made lower
than the angels it was a voluntary act
upon of his on his part he was
made or he became for a little time
or for a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death and you remember
that it required that so that we you
and i might have a savior that we
might be redeemed we might be brought back
to god so we have this one who
has tasted death for every man now that
word taste doesn't mean that he just took
a little sip of death the word really
indicates that he took into himself all the
death involved and all of its extremity and
all of its suffering and all of its
separation from god and all the isolation that
he endured what he hung upon the cross
and his loneliness and all that death meant
he tasted that death and he did that
for every man it's interesting that the word
man is really not the word literally man
here it's for every purpose or everything mr
darby translates it he tasted death for everything
or for every purpose and that would be
interesting because it indicates that his tasting death
goes beyond simply saving our souls but it
is involved to the fact that he has
redeemed the entire world of universe that has
fallen under the curse and the awful depravity
of sin he tasted death i like to
think of it this way he tasted death
for the accomplishment of every purpose of god
in order to fulfill all that god had
in view i'll be that as it may
it's very definitely emphasizing to us that the
object of a child of god is the
one who passed through the deep sorrows and
sufferings of the cross of calvary and who
is now seated at god's right hand a
prince and a savior but the clock is
moving very quickly on me let me go
on very quickly a little faster here and
look at verse 10 and 13 we see
him as a sanctifier of his people just
notice a few things in verse 10 it
says for it became him of whom are
all for whom are all things and by
whom are all things that's god himself it's
the one who has originated and one who
has created all things and who has brought
everything into existence it's for him and it's
by him you read in another epistle that
it's also for the lord jesus and by
the lord jesus so that you have a
worker unitedly between every member of the godhead
to produce all that has been made and
to sustain it and it's for god's purposes
to be displayed so that one it says
it became him and that word became means
it was perfectly suitable to him it was
that which uh is in keeping exactly suitable
and fitting to his own purpose it was
suitable to god who has made all things
and for whom are all things in he
says bringing many sons unto glory to make
the captain of their salvation that word captain
means the leader the one that goes ahead
the one that has experienced all this ahead
and has done it for us to make
the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings
now there's a few interesting expressions there and
one is to indicate that it's suitable god
says it's perfectly fitting in relation to god's
purpose and bringing these sons unto glory that
in keeping with that great purpose the captain
the leader the one that's identified with them
as their p as his people must be
made perfect through sufferings now you say wasn't
the lord jesus always perfect absolutely not a
question about it but the word perfect doesn't
mean perfect in the way that we oftentimes
think about it it means brought to completion
he says he's going to bring he must
bring him to completion and how does that
apply to the lord jesus christ as the
captain of our salvation being brought to completion
well you know until he passed through this
world and all of its difficulties and temptations
and trials and knowing what it was to
hunger and thirst and to be weary on
his journey and experience the same things that
you and i experience apart from sin how
could he ever really be identified with his
people unless he knows what you and i
are passing through that is he is brought
to a state of completion he is brought
to official completeness in terms of what god
intends for him to be and to do
to represent his people he is going to
pass through the same experiences of suffering that
you and i experience but apart from sin
and even more though he would suffer for
sin at the cross to redeem these sons
that they might be brought to glory so
here he is as the one who has
gone the way before who is leading the
way to glory he's going to bring with
him all these sons and he's going to
be made complete and and and suitable for
that work that position by means of the
fact that he has suffered and passed through
the same experiences as those that are coming
behind have experienced and so he's making it
very clear that this one who is a
sanctifier of his people in verse 11 is
the one who is who is brought to
the state of completion of perfection as their
captain it was suitable it was fitting to
god's in view of bringing all these sons
to glory that he's going to make the
one who is leading them the one who
perfectly represents them not only by way of
a position but also by way of experience
he says because he that sanctifies that's the
lord jesus he's the one that has set
us apart he's the one that has given
us a position that is perfect before god
he says that one that sanctifies his people
and those that are sanctified which are his
people are all of one they're all of
one and of course we're not all of
one in one sense because it's not one
in essence it's not one in nature because
who could be one in nature with one
who is god manifested flesh but we're one
in the sense of identification and association together
all one in the fact that he has
become identified with his people and they're indivisible
as a result like the body and the
head of the body in terms of the
church they're inseparable he said they're all of
one so that what one has passed through
and experienced the other will pass through and
experience as well and he has set us
apart to god and brought us into that
lovely and perfect position he that sanctifies and
they were sanctified are all one and it
says for this reason because of this he
is not ashamed to call them brethren that's
the expression of his condescending grace he has
brought us into association with himself and he
says as a result these are not my
servants these are not my slaves these are
not just my followers these are my brethren
these are my brethren you know Gideon spoke
to Ziba and Zalmanah when he was getting
his victory over them and he said what
kind of men were those that you slew
wherever it was i can't remember the exact
place in the battle they described me he
said they were just like you they had
faces like eagles he says they were my
brethren and as a result he slews Ziba
and Zalmanah for their act against his own
brother here's one who has brought us into
such a place of relationship we don't call
him brother by the way it would be
wrong for us to call the lord jesus
anything but what the word of god tells
us we should call him we call him
lord we call him our savior we call
him the one who is our great high
priest but he in condescending grace he calls
us brethren and his expression of the fact
that having passed this way himself he's identified
himself so perfectly with us he's going to
bring us his sons unto glory that's the
assurance of the final destination but he's going
to bring us along as brethren he says
he's not ashamed to call them brethren and
that's based on verse 12 in verse 12
of the old testament quarter from psalm 22
and if you look at psalm 22 in
that particular passage you know that psalm 22
deals with the sufferings of christ but the
latter part of it has to do with
singing the praises in the midst of his
brethren in the congregation he's singing praises unto
god he's the one that leads his people
in praise identified with them as the great
praise leader he says i will declare my
name unto thy name unto my brethren and
he says again in the same context i
will put my trust in him as a
perfect man he moved in his dependence upon
god like you and i are supposed to
and again he says behold i and the
children that word is the little children it's
a word that has tenderness connected with it
behold i and the little children which god
hath given me so he has identified himself
with us and as such he is the
sanctifier of his people we enjoy a perfect
position before god today because we're seen in
our relationship to him he's the one that
sanctifies us that word's not a sanctimonious word
by the way sanctify just means to be
set apart from that which is contrary to
god it means being set apart to that
which is connected with christ and representative of
him and expressive of his own purpose we've
been set apart and as a result we're
seen in the presence of god of the
lord jesus now then verse 14 and 15
the lord in his incarnation is seen there
as a savior through death a partaker of
humanity notice in verse 14 the language is
so very careful for as much he says
then as the children those children that he's
been speaking about these sons these little children
these children he says they are partakers of
flesh and blood that word simply means that
you and i had no other option it
wasn't a choice we had we were brought
into a commonality of possessing flesh and blood
that's our life that's our natural existence he
says that is what we were that means
that there is fellowship and joy through a
like nature the children are partakers of flesh
and blood but really no different in that
respect he likewise himself took part of the
same now it's important to notice words in
your bible that's a different word altogether we
are partakers because that was our only existence
we had no existence outside of flesh and
blood but he took part voluntarily he took
it upon himself for the accomplishment of a
purpose he came from a different existence into
this existence of flesh and blood and there
he is becoming identified with his people but
not because there was as it were no
other possibility of existence so you and i
are characterized by flesh and blood he took
part of flesh and blood in his identification
with his people he took part of the
same that through death the inevitable result of
flesh and blood is death and taking himself
bringing him coming rather i should say in
that experience like you and i have come
into have had from our birth he says
he took part of the same that through
death he might destroy him that had the
power of that is the devil and deliver
them now the word destroy him that had
the power of death doesn't mean that he's
absolutely annihilated him it means that he carries
the idea that he has nullified his power
he's abolished his authority he's robbed him of
his potential and there even though he exists
today the devil himself the lord himself is
moving with his superior power displayed as a
perfect man his glorious resurrection and he has
defeated that devil the one that had the
power of death and he's delivering them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject of bondage so that that fear of
death has brought bondage man is bound to
eventually die and the anticipation of it to
some degree causes fear to his heart you
say how does the devil have the power
of death well the you know the the
entire kingdom of darkness over which the devil
rules is a kingdom of death it's the
death that has come into this world because
of man's sin and when man's sin of
the garden of eden he relinquished relinquished his
power and he willingly allowed the devil to
take that control and as a result he
is linked with the power of death he
doesn't cause death god himself is the one
that brought death he said in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou should surely die
but this aspect of death is that he
is the one who holds sway in this
kingdom that is characterized by death and he
has that dominion over it and because he
is the cause of sin he has the
power to demand the death of the sinner
and yet he is under that same penalty
himself a power of death that is the
devil and deliver them setting them free i
spoke at my mother's funeral back in 1979
amazing to think that's long long ago she'd
asked me to speak at her funeral this
is one of the scriptures i used when
i was speaking that the lord jesus robbed
the devil of the power of death and
he came to liberate them who all their
lifetime were subject to bondage and he is
the one that has brought about deliverance for
his people so by way of his sal
by way of his death by way of
him entering in the article of death and
willingly allowing that experience to be his and
voluntarily suffering what sin required he robbed the
devil and he's been delivering you and me
so we have a savior wonderful savior he
is wonderful if you know him as your
savior everyone here tonight and can say he's
my savior he delivered me from the power
of death he's the one that has taken
away the fear of death and one day
he's going to take away the sting of
death we read in first quintet's 15 when
the resurrection takes place so we have the
last expression i'll just briefly mention it because
we might go on to it tomorrow night
and that is a relation to the high
priest he had to become a man so
that he could be the great high priest
you know moses was not the high priest
of israel you remember that aaron was a
high priest you know why well moses never
experienced all the conditions of the israelites experience
when they were in slavery when he was
in egypt he was in the palace of
pharaoh he was the son of pharaoh's daughter
and then when he fled when he was
40 years old he went out in the
wilderness you know when he was tending the
sheep he never experienced the lash of the
taskmaster he never experienced the fear of being
oppressed by the enemy he never experienced the
toil and the travail but aaron did aaron
was there for all those years and he
knew what the people had passed through and
aaron because of that he was the high
priest now you notice he says wherefore in
all things it behooved him that word behooved
means it was a moral obligation a necessity
he must be likened to his brother we'll
read over in chapter five i believe it's
in chapter five that every high priest taken
from among men is ordained for man in
things pertaining to god verse two says who
can have compassion on the ignorant and on
them that are out of the way and
so we find that the one who is
going to be the high priest must be
one who knows what sore temptations are for
he endured the same and those years of
his of his journey is sojourned here in
this world the lord jesus passed through the
experiences similar to you and me so he
is made like unto his brethren so that
he might be or become a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to god
and so because of his incarnation we have
the anticipation of a sovereign over the universe
we have the enjoyment presently of one who
suffered and is and he is the one
who is crowned now with glory and honor
he's the one that sanctifies his people and
is leading us on to glory he's the
one who is our savior who has set
us free by means of his death and
he's the succorer because he's the great high
priest those are five of the reasons i
believe five of the purposes that were involved
and the lord jesus coming to this world
in perfect manhood incarnation what a marvel it
was coming to this world as god manifest
in flesh but a real man a man
that knows what you and i experience and
a man who one day as that man
and all of the experiences of his life
will be the one who will rule in
perfect righteousness and justice for god what a
wonderful future really lies ahead even though we
know that according to the word of god
there will be dark experiences that will come
in between when the wrong man sits upon
the throne you have one day there will
be the right man he is exalted and
crowned and he's coming again so god help
us to appreciate him and to understand in
a greater way perhaps some more reasons you
know sometimes we only think that the lord
jesus came to be a man so that
he might die on the cross i would
say there are at least 10 purposes 10
reasons in her bible why the lord jesus
came into this world as a man and
he's a man today he wasn't a man
until he came into this world but he's
always going to be a man carrying glorified
manhood back into heaven and there is one
who is seated at god's right hand there
as a man preparing a place for us
so one day we will be with him
and like him and god bless his word
let's pray our god and a gracious father
we are thankful of thee that through our
lord jesus we have been brought unto thee
to enjoy fellowship with thyself today and one
day as sons will be brought into glory
to be identified with him gathered around himself
and presented to thee as those that have
been redeemed by his own precious blood guarded
by his tender care and watched over all
along the way thank god we're going to
be there and we look forward to that
moment at any time when he shall appear
we offer thanks for our time together we're
thankful for the word of god we're thankful
for the portrayal of our lord jesus we
pray we might appreciate him more and more
as time comes and we ask thy blessing
now you separate grant thy help to each
one of thy people and use thy word
we pray for the encouragement of each one
of us as we ask and give thanks
to thee in the name of the lord
jesus amen