We See Jesus

Well, why don't you get your Bibles out and open them to the book of Hebrews, chapter 2? Actually, let's start at chapter 1; I hope you don't mind.

We read there, "God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds. Who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."

"For unto which of the angels said He at any time, 'Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee'? Again, 'I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son.' And again, when He bringeth the first begotten into the world, He said, 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.' And of the angels, He said, 'Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.' But unto the Son, He says, 'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.'"

"And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou remain. They all shall wax old, as doth a garment. As a vesture, they shall fold them up, and they shall be changed. But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said He at any time, 'Sit on my right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool'? And are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"

Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip or drift away.

Let's pray. God, as we open Your word tonight and look into this portion of Scripture, I do ask, Lord, that You would open our hearts and that You'd speak to us.

That you would reveal to us your plan, Lord. That you'd give us insight into your heart for man. God, help us to see the things that are laid before us tonight, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated. Amen. I hear the sound of cell phones being turned off. What a wonderful sound! It's almost as nice as the sound of pages in Bibles being flipped open.

Hebrews chapter 2. The book of Hebrews is truly a great book. How many of you have actually read through the whole book of Hebrews? That's great! That's wonderful. I have found, though, in reading the book of Hebrews—and I've read through it several times; I've got it very marked up in my Bible—I’ve found that you can read through this book, and there are some things in here that can confuse you. There are a lot of things in here that you read maybe once, and you go, "Well, that's interesting." You read a second time, and you go, "Yeah, that is kind of interesting." You read a third time, and you go, "I really don't get it now." Read it three, four, five times, and you go, "Boy, I think I'm more confused now."

But the Lord is able to give us enlightenment as we read His word. His Spirit is to guide us into all truth. As I was reading today in John chapters 14, 15, and 16, the Lord says, "I'm going to give you the Spirit, and He's going to teach you all things." What a wonderful thing it is to know that we have the Holy Spirit, our teacher, the one who's going to guide us through the Scriptures.

So it's my prayer tonight that as we go through this portion of Scripture, He’s going to guide us through this passage. There's been a lot of debate over the years, and I didn't get a chance to hear Pastor Richard last week; he may have mentioned this. But there's been a lot of debate as to who wrote the book of Hebrews. There are those who say that it was penned by Luke, the same writer who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. There's also another group of people who say that it was written by Apollos, the guy who was mentioned in the early church. We see him in the book of Acts and also in 1 Corinthians. His name is mentioned by Paul several times.

The majority of people believe that the Apostle Paul wrote this letter, that he penned it. But really, in the end, when you consider who penned the book or this letter to the Hebrews, it really doesn't matter. Ultimately, it was written by God. In fact, if you look at Hebrews 1, verse 1, what does it say? What's the very first word? God. He's the one who wrote this.

He's the one who put it down for us. In fact, Paul, in the book of 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, says that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. All Scripture is God-breathed; God was the one who spoke it. It is prophesied and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. So, all the Scripture has been written ultimately by God.

Maybe you've seen before a book that says, for example, the book "Harvest" by Chuck Smith. It states it was written by Chuck Smith and Tal Brook, but there is a ghost author with that book. You could really say that the book of Hebrews and the Bible as a whole has a ghost author: the Holy Ghost. He is the one who spoke it by God through the Holy Ghost to these men who penned it. It was given to us for what? For doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. The purpose of it is given in 2 Timothy 3, verse 17, that the man of God would be perfect, thoroughly equipped for all good works. God's desire is that you and I would be thoroughly equipped, that we would know Him. He has written this down for us, His letter to us.

Now, although there is debate over who wrote the book of Hebrews, there is no debate as to whom it was written to. At the very end of the book of Hebrews, there is a little subscript indicating that it was taken by the hand of Timothy to the Hebrews, to those who were Jewish believers. These were individuals who had been Jews but had converted to Christianity and had begun to follow the Lord. They realized that Jesus was the Christ, that He is the Messiah, and that He is the one who came to save them. They began to follow Him.

However, within the Jewish church, there was a lot of tradition. There was great respect for Moses; they revered him very highly. They looked to the law and admired Abraham. They really looked up to these figures and prized the priesthood. They loved the priesthood they had and cherished the temple that was in Jerusalem, along with their feast days and traditions. They truly loved these things. I believe that the Apostle Paul did write this book.

There's a lot that we could go into, but we're not going to do that tonight. One of the reasons I believe Paul wrote this book is that he would have known the traditions of the Hebrew church. He would have been aware of all the teachings about the law, the prophets, Abraham, and Moses. He would have understood the danger of sliding back into the old ways and the temptation to revert to religiosity. This includes the vain repetition that can be found in traditions.

Many of you have probably seen the play or even the movie "Fiddler on the Roof," particularly the song "Tradition." It's a significant aspect of the Jewish faith. In fact, the Pharisees so revered tradition that, at times, their traditions were exalted above the Word of God. Paul came from that camp of the Pharisees; he was a Pharisee, as he tells us in Philippians chapter 3. He was well-acquainted with these matters.

Now that he was a believer in Christ and following the Messiah, he could see very clearly the danger of drifting away from Christ as the all-sufficient sacrifice. He would say to the church at Corinth in his second epistle to the Corinthians, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as being of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of Christ." Paul understood that he was not sufficient. Although, when he was a Pharisee and walked with the Jewish believers in Jerusalem, he believed he was perfect according to the law. He thought he had everything figured out.

In fact, if you read the book of Philippians, particularly chapter 3, you will see what he has to say about his life before he became a Christian. He believed he had all his ducks in a row based on the law, his birth, and everything about who he was. He thought he had it all together. Yet later, after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, he came to a realization: "Not that I'm sufficient of myself. I realize that my sufficiency is only of God." He recognized that God was the one who made him an able minister of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. He understood that the law, although great and given by God, had no power to save him or make him righteous.

It had no power to bring him into a relationship with the Father. As we see it typified in the Old Testament, Moses, a picture of the law, could not bring the children of Israel into the promised land. He could not bring them into that full relationship that God desired for them. Joshua, whose name in Greek is Jesus, was the only one who could bring them into the promised land. Moses, the law, could not do it. There was not sufficiency in the law.

The law, as Paul wrote to the church in Galatia, was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. After his road to Damascus conversion, Paul made a promise to God. He realized that the law wasn't going to save him and that all his good works wouldn't work. At the end of the day, when he would stand before God, he could lift all those things up and say, "See what I have done," but they would just be burned as wood, hay, and stubble. They wouldn't stand before God. He knew this; God had revealed and spoken this to him.

Now, Paul is writing back to his brothers, to those who were Jews and had converted to Christianity, sharing this with them. He is saying that they need to understand that those old ways, although great, are not sufficient. Although we love Moses, admire Abraham, and prize the priesthood, there is something, there is someone who is superior to those things. That really is what the book of Hebrews lays out for us.

In the first third of the book, we see that Jesus Christ is superior in his person. Jesus himself is superior. As we saw last week in chapter 1, he is superior to angels. We will see a little bit more of this in chapter 2, and as we go on into chapters 3 and 4, we find that he is superior to Moses, superior to the law, and of a superior priesthood. Jesus, in his person, who he was—the Son of God—is superior.

As we continue through the rest of the book, we find that Jesus' work was superior. His covenant is greater than the old covenant. As we get into chapter 11, we see that our walk of faith is superior to the works of the law. That really is what the whole book of Hebrews conveys.

Christ is laid out before us as superior in His person, superior in His work, and the walk of faith is superior to the works of the flesh and the works of the law. This letter is ultimately written by God to His chosen people, the Jews, who have now found their Messiah in Jesus. It conveys the message that it is not in their traditions, not in Moses, not in angels, not in the priesthood of Aaron, and not in the temple or the tabernacle. All those things point to His Son; all those things are just a shadow. The prophets all point to and speak of His Son.

However, many of you know that tradition can be very powerful. Religion can suck you in. Just doing things and observing days can become a trap. In fact, I would go as far as to say that tradition and religiosity can sometimes be more powerful than the temptations of this world. Once you're a Christian and following the Lord, the temptation to fall into mere religious doing can be a greater temptation than the things of this world. We know we don't want anything to do with those old fleshly dead works because we recognize that they are sin. Yet, religion and tradition can look very good to a believer. We might think, "Look what I'm doing for God." However, those things can shift our focus away from God. The main thing is no longer the main thing.

That's why we see in Hebrews, specifically in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, that the writer of Hebrews urges us to consider and look unto Jesus. We need to ensure that our eyes are firmly fixed on the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ. We need to consider Him. Why? Hebrews chapter 12, verse 3 says, "lest we become weary." You can become weary in well-doing. Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, advising them not to become weary in well-doing. Yet, we can become weary in this walk of faith as we journey with the Lord. The way to keep from becoming weary is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, considering Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself.

Lest we become weary and discouraged in our souls. I have found that I become weary and discouraged as I'm just serving, serving, serving, doing, doing, doing, and not looking unto the Lord.

We see Martha in the Gospel story as she's serving the Lord. She's busy with much service and preparing Him a meal. We could say that's a very good thing, preparing a meal for the Lord. However, she comes out and prays to Jesus while serving Him. She says, "Jesus, I pray You, tell my sister Mary to come help me." You see, she's doing great things.

What did Jesus say to her? "Martha, you're worried about many things. But Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her." What was Mary doing that day? She was sitting at the feet of Jesus. She was looking unto Him.

If you do a word study in Hebrews chapter 12 on those two phrases, "looking unto Jesus" and "consider Him," you find that they have meanings similar to stargazing. If you were to sit down and just gaze at the stars, you would be in awe and wonder over what you're seeing. Really, that's what the Lord calls us to.

As we get into verse 9 of Hebrews chapter 2 tonight, we see Jesus there. We need to make sure that our eyes are on Him, fixed and focused on Him. It's very easy to stumble into just tradition and religion, looking to other people and their walk with the Lord, adoring them instead of adoring the Lord. We need to ensure that as we serve Him and follow Him, our eyes are fully fixed upon Him. Lest we drift away, lest we slip, lest we stumble.

The writer, I believe Paul, begins chapter 2 here and says, "Therefore." Of course, we've said it many times before that when you see a "therefore" in Scripture, you've got to figure out what it's there for. The whole of chapter 1 is the reason, as Paul outlines that Jesus is greater than angels. He is high above these ministers.

And these ministering spirits remind us that we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Therefore, since Jesus is greater than angels, we must pay closer attention to the things that Jesus has said. We need to focus all the more on the messages that God has spoken through His Son.

It's important to realize that the Jews held angels in high esteem. In fact, it was a common rabbinical teaching that the one who gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai was the angels. God spoke it, but the angels delivered it into the hands of Moses. We see this alluded to when Stephen, just before he is martyred in Acts chapter 7, verse 38, references this belief. The Jews regarded angels as the very ones who brought the word of the law to Moses; they were the ones who delivered the law into his hands.

Throughout the Scriptures, whenever an angel appears to man, people often cower in fear. Almost always, the first words of those angels are "fear not." The Jews esteemed angels greatly. In our society today, we also find that there is a lot of esteem given to angels. It's not just on Valentine's Day when we receive little cards with chubby little angels on them. As far as I read in Scripture, I don't think that's what angels look like.

We've had shows like "Touched by an Angel," and if you go on Amazon.com tonight and search for angels, you'll find thousands of books on the subject. We are enamored with angels, just as the Jews were. They held the words of the angels in high regard. There was a recompense, a just reward that came upon those who didn't listen to the words of angels.

You may remember the story of Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. When the two angels came to him, they said, "You've got to get out of here because we're going to destroy this city." If he had stuck around and ignored the warning from those angels, what would have happened to him? He would have been toasted.

I think of Zacharias. Perhaps you remember the story in the Gospel of Luke when the angel Gabriel came to Zacharias.

Who would be the father of John the Baptist? An angel told him that his wife would conceive and have a son, and he was to name him John. Zacharias responded, "How shall this be? I'm old, she's old, and she's been barren her whole life. How is this going to happen?" The angel replied that because he had not listened to or heeded the word of God, he would be made dumb and would not be able to speak until this was fulfilled.

There was a consequence for Zacharias's lack of faith; he did not heed the word of the angel. Even more significantly, the Jews regarded the word of angels as the law of God. If they did not follow the law, the curse of the law would come upon them. Therefore, the Jews paid close attention to the word of angels.

Yet, the writer of Hebrews states that since Jesus is the Son of God and greater than the angels, we ought to give more earnest heed to the things we have heard. We must listen to what He has to say. God has chosen to speak through His Son in these last days, and it is imperative that we pay attention.

If the word spoken by angels was steadfast, true, and strong, and if every transgression and act of disobedience received a just recompense or reward, then every time one turned away from the word of these angels, there was a consequence. Whether one was made dumb, burned up in Sodom and Gomorrah, or brought the curse of the law upon themselves, the repercussions were real.

How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard? God is speaking to us through His Son, who is above the angels and greater than the angels. He is not the same as the angels, as some may teach.

This message was very important to the Jews 2,000 years ago, and it remains equally important to us today. You may wonder, "Why? What does this have to do with me?" Well, there are those who will come to your door on a Saturday morning, and as you open the door, you notice the name tag.

Elder Joe has come to let you know that he's from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What do they have to say about Jesus? Is He greater than angels to them? No, He is the spirit brother of Lucifer. He is the brother of Lucifer, another angel. To them, Jesus is just an angel doing the work of God.

When Elder Joe comes to your door, you need to know what to say. You should be able to take them to Hebrews and point out that this is not what the book of Hebrews, chapter 1, says. It states that Jesus is greater than angels.

Similarly, when you find yourself at the Little League field and Jane from the Watchtower Society approaches you, you must explain to her that Jesus is not Michael the archangel incarnate. Jesus is actually the very Son of God, and He is greater than angels. This was very important to the Jews in that day, who respected and looked up to angels, and it remains significant for us today. There are those teaching false doctrines around us, and we must give more earnest heed to the things which Jesus has spoken because He is greater than angels. We must be cautious not to slip away, drift away, or be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, as Paul would say to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 4.

We need to listen up and understand what the Scriptures say about our Lord, lest we be tossed around. The word that was spoken by angels carries weight; if you didn't listen to it, a reward or recompense came upon you—a judgment. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? What salvation? The salvation that Jesus spoke of. If you don't listen to the word of angels, the law of God given by angels to Moses, what is the reward? Romans chapter 6 states that the wages of sin is death. If we don't heed the word of angels, if we disregard the word of God delivered by them to the hand of Moses, the wages of sin is indeed death.

But if we neglect, let's say you listen to the word of angels and you try to follow the law like the Jews did, but you neglect the great salvation that came from Jesus, how shall you escape the judgment of God that will come upon them? We need to listen up. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

The gospel of Christ, which began first to be preached by the Lord, was then confirmed to us by those who heard Him, by His disciples. They confirmed it. They said, "Yes, indeed, that's what He spoke." He said that salvation is the only way, as stated in John 14. As He tells His disciples, many of you have been reading this very week if you've been going through your Bible reading plan for the year. He says, "I'm going away. And where I'm going, you cannot go, but the way you know." They say, "Well, Lord," and Thomas speaks up, "We don't know the way." Jesus responds in John chapter 14, verse 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus was the one who declared the way of salvation, and His disciples confirmed it. They said, "Indeed, that's what He said." Moving on to verse 4, it says, "God also bearing witness, both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to His own will." God bore witness to their message with good works. He proved that their message was true by the miracles they performed, by the signs and the wonders they displayed.

Jesus tells us in John that the works He did bore witness to His testimony, that it was true. The works that His disciples would go on to do are recorded in the book of Acts, where you see them healing the sick, casting demons out of people, and preaching the word with power. These works proved that their message was true—by the miracles, by the wonders, by the signs, and by the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Underline this in verse 4: "according to His own will."

Now, there are those today in other churches who are teaching that whatever gift you want, just claim it in the name of Jesus and you'll have it. Yet, Paul would tell the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13, and 14...

Specifically, the gifts are according to the will of God. He gives them severally as He wills. The writer of Hebrews, whom I believe to be Paul, says the same thing in verse 4: the gifts of the Holy Ghost are according to His own will.

Now, if you turn in your Bibles to the book of Mark, specifically to the last chapter, Mark 16, you will find Jesus speaking His final exhortation to His disciples. In Mark 16, verse 15, Jesus gives them the Great Commission. He says unto them, "Go you into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be damned."

In verse 17 of Mark 16, it states, "And these signs shall follow them that believe. In My name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." These signs are going to follow those who go and preach the gospel.

There are those in our nation today who claim that these signs manifest during our little church services. You might see them handling snakes in the Appalachian Mountains, declaring that in the name of Jesus they will handle these poisonous snakes. Personally, I think that's kind of foolish, but they argue that they have faith and that the snakes will not harm them, according to Mark 16, verse 18.

However, it is important to notice the context of Mark chapter 16 and also the context of Hebrews chapter 2. It was as they went out, taking the Word with them, that these signs would follow. As you read the book of Acts, you find that these signs did indeed follow the disciples as they went out. They served as proof that their message was real and true. God bore witness to their message that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, through the works they performed, the wonders they accomplished, and the gifts they possessed.

God was essentially saying, "My seal of approval is on this message." As they delivered someone from blindness or leprosy, or healed the lame man at the temple gate, these signs were meant to bear witness to God's message. As we go out, we should remember the significance of these signs and the purpose they serve.

And bring the message into the world. These signs will follow us as well. You may say, "Well, I don't see these signs." Are you going out? You might sit in the church and smugly ask, "How come I don't see the signs that Jesus spoke of?" He said in John that you shall do greater works than these if you believe in Him. If you're not seeing those signs, perhaps it's because you're not going out with the power of God.

Ask anyone in our church who has gone out and served the Lord in any capacity—whether it's here in Ephesus, in Escondido with Open Arms, or over in Kiev with Radstock Ministries. Whatever it may be, as they go out, you will see God do miracles. I promise you that. Attend missions prayer, and you can hear about the miracles that God is performing as people go out.

If you find yourself sitting in the church at any time and saying, "I don't see those miracles spoken of. This church is not really following the Lord," it’s likely because you're not going out and doing what God has called you to do. These are the signs. These signs shall follow them and bear witness that your message is true, that your message is real. Jesus spoke it, His disciples confirmed it, and God bore witness to the message of salvation.

Now, Paul goes back and talks about the angels again. He asks, "Hath He not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak?" He explains that the angels will not be over the world to come. When God creates a new heaven and a new earth, the angels will not be the ones who rule over it or hold authority over it. So, who will be in authority over that?

In a certain place, now quoting from Psalm 8, David testified, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him? For You made him a little lower than the angels, but You crowned him with glory and honor and did set him over the works of Thy 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. Now turn in your Bibles to Psalm 8 real quick, and let's look at this as David speaks. David, the great psalmist of Israel.

I'm sure that as he was sitting out one night, probably when he was a young man, David was overseeing the sheep of his father, Jesse. As he looked up into the sky and began to sing this song, he said, "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent thy name is in all the earth, who has set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger."

Then he said in verse 3, "When I consider thy heavens and the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet."

As David sat there and looked up at the stars, considering the moon, the stars, and the sun, he wondered, "Lord, who am I?" Maybe you've done that before—gone out to the desert or gone up to the mountains, camping under the sky, looking up at the great wonders that God has created.

During the time of David, they didn't have the Hubble Space Telescope or even the Palomar Space Telescope up on Palomar Mountain. Galileo was a long way off. Yet David, just sitting there, looked at the stars and said, "Man, that's incredible, Lord. Who am I that you think about me?"

Today, we have the Hubble Space Telescope and have discovered some incredible things about this universe and the galaxies within it. When you begin to look at how small we really are, I remember an article from 1984 in National Geographic. Thank you very much; I knew Richard would know. It was the one with the yellow border.

In that article, there was a foldout—a map of the known universe at that time. Many of you might have this; Richard has one, and I have one at home somewhere, probably buried in my room. As you begin to look at this and consider just how small we are, it becomes even more astonishing. This was in 1984.

Before the Hubble telescope was launched, people had a limited understanding of the universe. Since then, they have come to realize how vast the universe is and how much it is still expanding and unfolding. I believe, as I was reading some material, that our Milky Way galaxy, of which we are on the outer edges, is about 200,000 or maybe it was 200 million light-years in diameter. I don't remember the exact number, but it is indeed around 200 million light-years across, which is approximately 6 trillion miles long. They say there are over a billion other galaxies like ours in the universe, each more than 6 trillion miles in diameter.

That should give you an idea of just how insignificant we really are. We are merely spectators, just a speck of dust on a speck of dust in the midst of dust, out on the corner of some more dust. And all of this, God spoke into existence.

Notice what David says in Psalm 8, verse 3: "When I consider the heavens, all that expands, how greatly and incredibly large that is, the work of your fingers." It took nothing for the Lord to create that—the work of His fingers. What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands.

God has given man dominion over all of His creation. Yet, in the garden, man gave that up. However, in the age to come, God is going to reestablish that. He says in verse 5 that the angels are not put in subjection over the world to come, but man will rule with the Lord in the age to come.

So when we look at all these things and consider, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" we see that You have put all things in subjection under his feet. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 8 states that He has put all things in subjection under him.

He left nothing that is not put under him. God put everything under us, under the authority of man, but we gave it up. However, we do not yet see all things put under him. We don't see that man has this power right now because, of course, in the Garden of Eden, we gave this up.

But we see Jesus. Man doesn't have it together right now, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. He was crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. We don't see man having dominion over all the creation that God has made, although that was how God planned it from the beginning.

We see Jesus, the Son of God, who became a man, as Philippians 2:5 explains to us. He did not think it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a servant. He came in the likeness of man.

So we see Jesus, who became lower than the angels. This one, who was greater than the angels, laid aside his deity for a time to become lower than the angels, with us. Why? For the suffering of death. He could go through death and be crowned with glory and honor. Why? That he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.

He came down here, laying aside his deity and his position over the angels. He became lower than the angels so that he could taste death for every single human being. For it became him, as verse 10 states, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

It was right for God, for whom are all things. All things have been created for him and by whom are all things; he created all things. It was a right thing for him to bring us to glory, to bring us to himself.

That he would make the captain of our salvation perfect through sufferings. Jesus had to come and suffer so that he could become the perfect captain for you and me to lead us to the Lord. He had to go through the suffering of the cross, the death of the cross. He had to come down here and make himself of no reputation, lower than the angels, and suffer death, tasting death for every man so that he could become the perfect captain for us to lead us to God.

What is this saying to you and me? Well, what it's telling us is that he tasted death for us so that we would not have to taste it. He experienced it so that we would not have to. You might say, "Well, Miles, you've made a mistake because 100% of those who are born die. We're all going to die." You've made a mistake in saying that he tasted it for us so that we don't have to die.

Well, I'll tell you tonight, I'm not going to die—spiritually. He tasted the death of the cross, indeed, and that was horrible. Many of us saw the movie "The Passion," and we look at that and say, "That's just unbelievable, the death that he went through." Even Mel Gibson said that he could have shown it even worse than what he held back.

But the death of the cross is nothing in comparison to the spiritual death that Jesus experienced on the cross when he said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" You see, there was a time while Jesus was on the cross and after he died that there was separation between the Father and the Son. Jesus experienced spiritual death. He tasted spiritual death so that you and I should not have to. He went through that separation from the Father, which is spiritual death, so that we would never have to go through it.

I want you to note there, in verse 9, that it says, "that by the grace of God, should taste death for every man." Underline that "should." Because you see, not every single man takes hold of the gracious gift that God has extended to him. Jesus came and he suffered so that we should not have to taste death.

As he did, not everybody lays hold of the grace of God that's extended to them. God is willing that none should perish, but that all would come to repentance. However, we know that this is not always the case. There are those who die without the Lord; they reject so great a salvation and do not lay hold of the grace of God spoken of in verse 9. Because of that, those who do not know the Lord, those who have not received His gracious gift, will taste of the second death. This spiritual death is eternal separation from the Father. They will experience physical death when their body dies, and they will taste of spiritual death when He casts them into the lake of fire in the age to come.

Jesus came so that we should not have to endure that. Unfortunately, there are those who will not escape, as verse 3 talks about; they will not escape the second death because they have neglected so great a salvation. Jesus came, and it was right for Him to suffer these things and to go through them so that He could become the perfect captain, as mentioned in verse 10.

Now, in this election year, there is a debate going on, and some of you may have heard about this. Perhaps you've read the article in Newsweek about five or six weeks ago that discussed this very topic. Their cover story focused on the military history or military service of our president, President Bush, and the Democratic frontrunner, John Kerry. In the Newsweek article and on many news shows, they are saying that President Bush did not go to war; he opted to be in the National Guard during the Vietnam War. They question how he can be a good leader and commander-in-chief of the armies he is sending off to war.

It is interesting to me that several years ago, when Bill Clinton, a man who admitted to dodging the draft, was sending people off to Bosnia, Somalia, and Haiti, this was not such a big deal. However, it is a big deal right now.

They are saying that there are those in the news who claim that, because he was in the National Guard and didn't really go over to fight in Vietnam, he is not a good leader to send people into battle. He is essentially saying, "Do what I say and not what I do." This debate is currently present in the media. However, there will never be such a debate with our Lord. No one could ever point the finger and say, "Oh, you made somebody else do it."

If we followed the teachings of the Jehovah's Witness Church, we might say that God just created Michael and made him do it—Michael the Archangel. Alternatively, if we follow the teachings of the Mormon Church, they would argue that Jesus was just a created being, like the angels, and that God the Father sent him off to do it, implying that He wasn't willing to do it Himself.

In reality, what we have, as the scripture teaches us and as we see right here in verse 10, is that Jesus was made the perfect leader for us to lead us to the glory of God because He came and suffered Himself. He suffered for our mistakes, not for His own. He came and died—not just a physical death, but a spiritual death. He tasted that spiritual death, laying His life down so that He could once again take it up and lead us to the Lord, to the Father.

He experienced that death, and what a horrible death it is to taste—the spiritual death of being separated from God. I can't even imagine, nor will I ever have to, because of what Jesus did. That is why, when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed three times, "Let this cup pass from me." The cup of death, the cup of the wrath of God, is seen in the Book of Revelation and will be poured out upon those who do not believe. Yet, Jesus took and tasted that cup so that He could become the perfect leader for us, bringing us to glory in the Father.

For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all one. And so, by His work, we are united.

He has made us one in Him. The one who sanctifies, Jesus, and those who are sanctified, we have now become one in Christ. As you read the book of Ephesians, you see that as well. Not only has He made us one, but He has adopted us into the family of God, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, as stated in verse 11. Jesus calls us brothers and sisters now by the work which He did. The work which He accomplished on the cross and tasting of that cup has made it possible for Him to lead us perfectly to the Father and to bring us into the family so that we are now children of God, and He is not ashamed to call us brethren.

How wonderful that is! Jesus, our great High Priest, the Son of God, is not ashamed to call us measly sinners His brothers and sisters. To the Jew, how amazing this would have been to hear that God, whom they revered so highly and whom we ought to revere more, had brought them into His family. The very Son of God had won their salvation and was not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, "I will declare Thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the church will I sing praises unto Thee." This is a quote from Isaiah chapter 3.

And again, "I will put my trust in Him." And again, "Behold, I and the children which God has given to me." That's also in Isaiah 8 and John chapter 17. 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.

He says there, because God's children are human beings made of flesh and blood, Jesus also became a human being. Because we are made of flesh and blood, because we are human beings, He became a human being in human form. He died as we die, but He tasted of that spiritual death.

Because only by doing that could He break the power and destroy him who had the power of death, and that is the devil. Only by coming and doing that could Jesus destroy the power that Satan had—the power of sin and death. And so He came and He did that. Not only has He destroyed him who had the power of death, but He also has delivered us who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

There are so many people in this world who are so afraid to die. There may be people in this church tonight who are just fearful of death. You've heard it before, and I have too, that the older you get, a lot of times you fear it even more. People do. But those who believe in the Lord do not have to fear that. We no longer have to fear that. For as Jesus would say in John chapter 11, verse 26, as He was speaking to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, He says, "And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." Do you believe this? He asked her that day, "Do you believe this?" That if you believe in Me, you shall never die.

Jesus came and destroyed him who has the power of death so that He could deliver us and we would not have to die. That's the taste of spiritual death. And thus, physical death—what is it? To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When this tent, when this body gives up the ghost, when it's done, you, who you really are, your spirit, if you believe in the Lord, will immediately be with the Father in the presence of God.

At this point in time, you are hindered from coming before His presence because of this body, this flesh. It's corrupting. It's dead. Every single day, it dies a little bit more. You look in the mirror and you can tell that when you wake up in the morning and you smell your breath or whatever it may be, it smells like decay because you're dying. And God is perfect, and He can't be in contact with that.

And so, really, we're in bondage to this body. When this body finally gives up and dies, we, who we really are, our spirit, will be with the Lord forevermore in the presence of God. We do not have to fear death. What an incredible testimony that is to the rest of the world, especially to those who are fearful of death. They look down a tunnel and see the light at the end of the tunnel coming towards them, but they know it's not that wonderful going into heaven experience; it's the train coming right at them.

I always find it interesting when you hear about those who have had near-death experiences. They often describe going down a dark tunnel and seeing a light in the distance, feeling warmth, and being so happy because of that light. I often wonder, have you ever thought that maybe that light in the distance is like the fires of hell? That's why it's so warm; it's not an inviting thing. Yet so many people in the world are worried about death, and it's coming towards them so quickly.

The days of a man's life are seventy, and if by reason of strength, Psalm 90 tells us, maybe eighty years. Moses, the writer of Psalm 90, would say, "Lord, teach us to number our days that we might apply our hearts to wisdom." Lord, help us to use our time wisely while we're here. We don't have to fear death because when we die, when this body stops ticking, our spirit will be with the Lord.

He has come to destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and to deliver us who through fear of death were all our lifetime subject to bondage. Until you come to the Lord, you're subject to that bondage of fearing death. How sad it would be to be just an atheistic humanist, trying to live life up as much as possible because you don't know; you might die tomorrow. If you die, what's going to happen? This body is just going to go into the ground, and you'll cease to exist. So you feel you have to live it up, but you're fearful that that day might come. What bondage is that? Yet the Lord has set us free. He has delivered those who would come and believe upon Him.

For verily, He took not upon Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved 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 reconciliation for the sins of the people.

Jesus didn't just come down here as an angel and try to show us how to do it. He didn't just take on the nature of angels and appoint somebody else to take the heat. He came as a man of the seed of Abraham. He was made like His brethren. Why? That He might be a merciful and faithful high priest. That He might know all that we go through, live like we live, and be the perfect reconciliation, the one to pay the way and to forgive our sins.

For in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to succor or to strengthen them that are tempted. Hebrews later on will go on to say that we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. He endured temptation. He went through it. We can't ever say, "Well, You don't know what I'm going through, Lord. This is too hard, too difficult." No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. But He is faithful. He will give you a way of escape that you may be able to bear the temptation.

You might say, "Well, Jesus didn't have all the things that we have today to be tempted with." All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He was tempted with all of those things. Read Matthew chapter 4, and you'll see His temptation in the wilderness as He was tempted with the lust of the flesh.

"Oh, you haven't eaten for 40 days. Command these stones to be turned into bread. You need it. You're very hungry. You're the Son of God. Go ahead."

Then there was the lust of the eyes. He took them up on the pinnacle of the temple. "Hey, look. All you have to do is jump off. Looks like fun, doesn't it? He'll bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. Come on, do it."

Finally, there was the pride of life.

All these kingdoms I will give unto you if you'll just bow down and worship me. Jesus was tempted in all points, yet without sin. Because He was tempted in that way, He is able to strengthen us when we go through temptation as well. Although those temptations must have been very difficult, I believe the most difficult temptation He went through was there in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times He came before the Lord and said, "Lord, let this cup pass from me." This reflects the temptation that every single one of us goes through every single day—trying to save our lives. Yet Jesus would say, "He who will try to save his life will lose it, and he who will lose his life for my sake will find it."

We see here in the book of Hebrews that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, although He was greater than them. In this book, we will see that Jesus is greater than the prophets, greater than angels, superior to Moses, and superior to the law. He is over the priesthood of Aaron and has an enduring priesthood that never fails. His covenant is greater than the old covenant.

Does that mean we should do away with Moses, do away with the law, do away with angels, or do away with all those things? No. All of those things have their fulfillment in Jesus. They all point to Him; they are all signs directing us to Him. As Paul would tell the church at Galatia, that is the schoolmaster that brings us to Christ. Yet for so many Jews, they became focused on the sign. They fixed their eyes upon the sign only and never entered in.

There is a danger for you and me as well that we could get focused on the signs, just as many did during the time of Christ. They said, "Show us a sign and we'll believe in you." He would show and do things, yet they didn't believe. They wouldn't believe Him. I was reading just the other day...

The story of Lazarus is significant, particularly when Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead. I found it interesting to recall the story of the rich man and Lazarus that Jesus told. There was a rich man who had all these great things, and there was a beggar who sat at his gate every single day, begging. The rich man lived his great life, while the beggar, whose name was Lazarus, died. Eventually, the rich man died as well, and they both went down into Hades.

In Hades, there was Lazarus on one side, in Abraham's bosom, being comforted, while the rich man was on the other side, being tormented. The rich man cried out, "Lord, just have Lazarus dip his finger in the water and give me a little bit of water on my tongue because I'm being tormented." Abraham responded, "While you lived, you had comfort and pleasure. You didn't do anything for Lazarus, and now here you are."

The rich man then pleaded, "Would you just send Lazarus back?" Abraham replied, "They have the law and the prophets, and if they don't hear those, they're certainly not going to hear from this man raised from the dead." Isn't it interesting that Jesus rose a man named Lazarus from the dead, yet they didn't believe? They didn't believe because they were focused on their religion and their tradition.

If we become focused on tradition and just religiosity, losing sight of Jesus, there are great warnings in this book, particularly in Hebrews chapters 6 and 10, about those who lose sight of Him. If you miss Him, you'll miss out for sure.

I used to tell the kids in the junior high group that it would be as if we set up a trip to go to Magic Mountain. This analogy doesn't work as well with adults because they might respond, "Oh, great, Magic Mountain," but the kids would get excited. I would give everyone their ticket, and we would drive the two and a half to three hours—two hours if you're really good—up to Magic Mountain.

Once we got off the freeway, if any of you know, there's a great big sign that says "Six Flags Magic Mountain" about a quarter of a mile from the park. I would say it would be as if we drove all the way up there, you had your ticket in hand, and then you sat down in front of the sign and just said, "Oh, Magic Mountain," all day long. Then you would come home and tell everybody.

Hey, I went to Magic Mountain yesterday.

Oh, cool! Did you ride the Riddler?

No. How about the Viper?

No. Batman?

No. Did you ride any of the rides?

No, we just got there. We were sitting at the sign; it was just awesome.

But you didn't go into the park?

Well, what are you talking about? The sign just points to the park.

No, we just had a great time sitting there looking at the sign. It had cool colors, and it was great. You would think that person a fool, but that's what many of the Jews did.

There is a danger of very much the same thing happening in our day, where we just get focused on tradition. You might say, "Well, we don't have candles, and we don't have big altars, and we don't have flowing robes and stuff in Calvary Chapel." Hey, there's tradition in Calvary Chapel, and people get focused on it. They lose sight of Jesus.

We need to give the more earnest heed in these days when there are so many false doctrines out there, lest at any time we should let them slip.

Let's pray. God, I pray that we would not miss Your Son. As this text says, may we see Jesus. Lord, help us to consider You and the work that You did—the work that You accomplished on the cross. Not only in physically dying a brutal death but spiritually tasting of death for us so that we would not have to taste of it.

And Father, tonight, if there are any in this room who have gotten stuck on the sign, just looking to tradition or maybe their own faith or their own works, as Paul did early in his life, I pray that by Your Spirit, You would touch their hearts tonight. Convict their hearts, Lord.

May they not be like those described in this book who were enlightened, tasted of the heavenly gift, were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted of the good word and the powers of the world to come, but then fell away. They let it slip because their eyes were not upon You, and it was impossible for them to turn back again.

God, turn our hearts to You tonight. Help us to heed the word that You're speaking to us in this great book. Although the teachings can be difficult and some of the things in here are a little hard to handle and don't make a lot of sense sometimes, I pray that You would help us to understand.

Lord, stir us to read these things, to move away from just milk and begin to eat the meat. Lord, that we too would be those who speak boldly Your truth. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.