glorious things are spoken of one. Now, we've heard this morning good things about who Jesus is, who God is, who the Holy Spirit is. Let me pray right quick. Father, in my weakness, I just ask that You would hold me up, that You would speak through me, that the people would hear, not from me, but from You, that Your Word would pierce hearts and that we would see You rightly, and that Christ would be glorified in our midst. Amen. We're going to be in Hebrews 2. We heard from chapter 9, and that was a glorious passage. We could sit down on that. But we're going to be in chapter 2, starting in verse 14. I've titled this, Our high priest, chapter 9 that was read to us, declared that Jesus is our high priest. In the last message from Hebrews, we saw how Jesus came as a man. How he was victorious over sin and death and has been glorified and honored in heaven. And he calls us, consider this, the one who is fully God. self-existent, calls us, announces publicly in the midst of the brotherhood, you and me, and all of the children of God around the world, declares that we are his brothers and sisters. I still haven't wrapped my mind totally around that. The last paragraph of this chapter builds on this, reminds us of three things. I want to bring three things to your attention today. First is Jesus' humanity. The author doesn't let it go with what we learned last time. We're going to touch on that again this morning. Secondly is how he came to die. That was his mission. And thirdly, how he now helps us as our faithful high priest. See, in each of these three points is meant to comfort and strengthen His people. Now as then, some 2,000 years ago, God's people live in a world that is designed and run to draw us aside, to weigh us down. Many of our brothers and sisters around the world are persecuted and killed. We're not persecuted and killed in this country just because we gather on Sunday and praise the Lord and go out and proclaim His gospel to people who don't know Him. But, whether we are threatened with the sword or by countless enticements to compromise, which is where we live, our refuge is the same. There is only one refuge that we can flee to. And when our flesh is weak, which is even when it's strong, we need a strong tower. And we need an advocate who will plead our case. You and I can't plead our case. There's one who has an untarnished record. One whom the judge highly esteems. In fact, the judge says here, Not only do you plead their case, but here you sit as their judge. So much is the Son esteemed by the Father. So we who have faith in Christ have more than we need. Let's get into our text here. I'm going to read 14 through 18. Inasmuch then, as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same. that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, In all things, he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted." My first point, Jesus, humanity. Our text compares them to humans. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood. See, it's easy for us to think of people that are not like us. You know, we don't think that everybody's just flesh and blood. Our culture and the world system impresses upon us this conversation of race. comparing and contrasting one race with another. Rightly understood, all human beings belong to the same race. There's only one race, it's the human race. People who rely on skin color and cultural distinctives are working to divide rather than to unite. And this is all the more unacceptable within the body of Christ. We should not seek to divide. We should not even permit division based on the rules of the world. The opening verse describes human nature, sharing in flesh and blood. But it's speaking of the children. See, back in verse 13, Jesus declared, here I am and the children whom God had given me. And while there's a sense in which Jesus identifies with all humanity, He came as a man, He's particularly identifying in His role as High Priest with His children that God has given Him. We are flesh and blood. That's what the Bible says. We who are children of the living God share in flesh and blood. We share in being of the same race of humans as everyone who has faith in the Son. And since we are all in Christ, we are all of one spirit. And this is why Paul said that the wall of hostility has been broken down and the two men, Jew and Gentile, two different people groups in that time had been made one. There's no barrier based on cultural dynamics in Christ. There's no barriers. This is what it means, you know, when no Jew, Greek, no slave or free, no male or female. Those distinctions don't not exist. They do exist, but they have no meaning if you are in Christ. Being born again in Christ Jesus is, as we were just saying, all in all. He is our all in all. This is why it's just flat out wrong to gather as the saints of Christ, being marked off as a black church or a white church or a cowboy church. These fleshly distinctives should not describe, should not work as an adjective to modify our identity in Christ. The fact that you have darker skin than another person doesn't mean that you're a black Christian. No, you're a Christian. You happen to have dark skin. That's not what identifies you if you're a child of God. Who is your identity? Paul says, he said, I know no man any longer according to the flesh. That's the type of thing he's talking about. Verse 14 continues. He himself likewise shared in the same. Jesus came and he shared in the same. The same what? The same flesh and blood. There are people that claim he had celestial flesh. The flesh came down from heaven. He didn't have earthly flesh. People trying to get too smart for their britches when they make stuff up the Bible don't say. He shared in the same. He took on flesh. He was made a man. He partook not only of the nature of our flesh and blood, but of the earthly trials and experiences thereof. He learned obedience as a boy. He developed a trade. I think he was more likely a mason than a carpenter. The word could mean either one. We always think carpenter, but if you think about the place he lived in, it was more of a desert area. And I think he was a mason, but I don't think that's critical. What is interesting and what is important for us to understand is that Jesus, Son of God, Son of Man, He was tempted in all ways. You and I are tempted in just a few ways, right? None of us is tempted in all ways. You have different temptations than I do. So, Jesus was tempted in all ways, yet he sinned not. He was hungry at times, he was angry at times, he was betrayed by close associates, disowned by those that were close to him. He was misunderstood by those he loved. He was abandoned by his closest friends at his greatest time of need. Couldn't rely on his own children. Who could he rely on? What does the scripture say? He entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. Jesus had no need of his own to go through these trials and the humiliation of becoming a human. It was our need. It was our fallen condition. It was ordained by God so that the Son could be sent, identify with his people, and bring them home. When he finishes bringing every Lost sheep back into the sheepfold. That place that he's preparing will be complete. Second point. Jesus delivers us from death. It says, he himself likewise shared in the same that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death. That is the devil. One commentator remarked, if they, entering this earthly life by birth, leave it in due course by death, it was divinely fitting that he too should die. Indeed, this is stated here as the purpose of his incarnation, that he should die, and in the very act of dying, draw or remove the sting of death. And having been made like us in every respect, as verse 17 says, this tells us that even his manner of coming into the world by being born of the flesh of a woman as a baby. See, when Adam was created, he was created as a man. That's the only way you can understand creation. God created him as a man. Boom. When the Son of God came as a man, he came as a baby. His manner of going out of this world is the same way that we go out of this world. We die. When he died, the dreams of political liberation that many of his followers had were shattered. A lot of the Jews, most of the Jews, they expected a political victory, a political victor. They didn't expect him to die. That's why it was so hard for them to understand when he said the Son of Man must go to Jerusalem and be tortured by men, you know, crucified, must die, and after three days rise again. It didn't make sense to them until the Spirit of God opened their eyes to it. Because culturally speaking, that's not supposed to happen. He was supposed to liberate them from the heavy yoke of the Roman government. What he did was liberate them from the heavy yoke of the Jewish government. The Jews tended to think of a piece of dirt in the Middle East as the seat of God's throne, and it was for a while. And they kind of took for granted that it always would be. But they failed to see that the yoke of Moses, plus everything they added to it, was what he was sent to free them from. He didn't die like Jacob Maccabeus. He was front and center in the rebellion against Rome. He died as a martyr in the Jews' eyes because he fought to liberate Israel from the Romans. Jesus died in the most shameful, despicable manner possible to the apparent victim of his own weakness. He died in disgrace. You know, only the worst Only the worst criminals, the dregs of the criminal humanity was crucified. It wasn't the normal way of killing people. Jesus was considered the most worthless and so they crucified him. His disciples were without hope. They were scattered in fearful of what lay ahead. Their liberator failed. He was in the grave. One commentator said, if ever a cause was lost, it was his. If ever the power of evil was victorious, it was then. And yet, within a generation, his followers were exultingly proclaiming the crucified Christ to be the conqueror of death and asserting, like the author in Hebrews here, that by dying he had reduced the erstwhile lord of death to impotence. In Colossians, Paul wrote that he made a mockery of those authorities, those spiritual authorities. Put to shame, He destroyed him who had the power of death, our text says. And so when we talk about the death of Christ, we must always bear in mind that having died doesn't answer the question He must be raised from the dead. And so when you think about the death of Christ, don't ever stop there. Always be drawn to the resurrection of Christ because therein lies the victory. Therein lies the hope for you and me. His death gave us victory over sin and He paid a price demanded by our rebellion. You rebelled against God. I rebelled against God. Jesus drank the cup of wrath, to use another metaphor scripture gives us, do you and me. Those people that are going to be condemned in hell for eternity, they're going to be forever drinking that cup. There is no bottom to that cup, humanly speaking. Jesus drank it to the dregs. When he took his life back up again, He rose victoriously over death as He came out of the tomb, because death could not hold Him. And He stood up and rolled the stone away and walked out into the early morning. The sun was shining more brightly than He ever had. Because not only was He the meek, suffering, tender Savior, He had vindicated Himself. before man and was approved of by God when God raised them from the grave. A friend of mine counsels people who were despondent over the trials they are facing, telling them that he does not know how the Lord will deliver them. But he tells them their problem ain't nothing compared to a three days dead Jesus. If God can raise up a three-day dead Jesus, taking him from the one who had been given the power over death, he can handle whatever trial you or I might be going through. As an aside, medicine 2,000 years ago was not as precise as it is in our day. And a man had to be dead for three days in order to be legally considered dead. Because they just weren't too sure if he was dead otherwise. That's why Jesus waited four days to raise Lazarus. He had a point to make. That's an aside and I'll leave it there. Verse 15 continues this thought of Jesus that He would release those who through fear of death were all of their lifetime subject to bondage. Most people don't completely lose their fear of death. As Christians, we understand that death is not the final answer. And therefore, we shouldn't really fear it like those who don't know the answer. That's what the author is saying. Subject to bondage, this human frailty Another commentator said, in crushing the head of this tyrant, Jesus entered the strongman's house and plundered his goods. In this way, he was able to deliver the children the father had given him from lifelong bondage. And it's possible the writer was thinking specifically about the conditions produced by the law covenant. The effects of that covenant were fear and bondage. Nothing short of the incarnation and that under the strictures of the law could deliver sinners from such terrors. Think about what Mark said in chapter 3, verse 27. No man can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. This is what the Lord Jesus has done with his death and his resurrection. He entered the stronghold of Satan having bound him by dying without sin, and he spoiled the strong man's house by taking his life back up after three days. Sin could not hold him. I agree with the commentator I quoted. The author of Hebrews was probably thinking of the Jews because he talks about the law They had lived under the law of Moses and under the traditions of the elders that were not found in the covenant of Moses. And they, and anybody who walks under any law, whether it's the law of Moses or some other law, carry a burden that will not be mediated by your own efforts. Bondage to the law carries the sentence of death. Not just physical death, but spiritual death. Because law-keeping cannot make you acceptable to God. You see, the opening chapter of Romans makes it clear that not only Jews carry this yoke, but all men who are by nature under the same yoke ruled by the strong man. You see, this is why Jesus had to come and die, because man can't bind Satan. The angels don't dare rebuke him, but they say the Lord rebuke you. Satan is not a being that A strong, young, 25-year-old man can rebuke or bind. He's not a being that a 90-year-old saint who has been 55 years in the Lord can bind. Satan is a being that God alone can bind. I think Luther said, Satan is God-Satan. An honest man who does not have peace with God will admit that he is frightened by what comes next. There's a conscience at work in all but the most reprobate that will tell him that something's out there beyond death. And he just can't bring himself to admit what it is. But those who are called brethren by the Lord Jesus, we should not have that type of terrifying fear of death. That enemy has been defeated. His house spoiled on our account by the God-man who stood in our place that day on Calvary. Verse 16 says, For indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. See, you find these contrasts all through Scripture. Here, he's contrasting angels with the seed of Abraham. And it's interesting to me, he doesn't say all the offspring of Adam. Adam all die. He says he came to help the seed of Abraham. What is said of Abraham by Paul in a couple of places? Those who have faith in Christ are the children of Abraham according to the promise and it is children of promise not children of the flesh who are the children of God. The help that Jesus gives to these people constitutes the rescue of sinners by a gracious God at a high expense. I don't think that we should ever stop reminding ourselves of the high price that was paid to bring us peace with God. God helps all people. After the flood, He told Noah that while earth remains, sea time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. The seasons aren't going to cease. This is His condensation to have compassion on the most reprobate man on the planet. But it's not redeeming love. Redeeming love is for the children of Abraham. If somebody is tempted to say, well, it's not fair that he only saves some, then just have them read Romans 9 out loud a couple of times. In the sovereign will of Almighty God, he helps those that will come to him. And those who come to him have been helped by him. And since he bound the strong man, Jesus extends saving grace to sinners chosen before time. Now this is another one of those things in the scripture that we simply have to accept. Because it says, before the foundations of the earth, we were chosen. God's choice is not like ours. Let me back up. It says he didn't come to help angels. Angels that are in heaven, what is one thing that is said about them? They don't understand the mystery of salvation. They desire to look into the grace that is given to sinners. It's not something they get that help. They don't get that help. Strict obedience to God is the only thing that keeps them in their state. We who have benefited from this kindness have no reason to think that we're better than anybody else. For he does not save according to any goodness in the creature. Oh, Pamela, you were so much better than John, so I saved you, but John, you've got to work it out a little bit. No. Sorry, Pam, you've got no goodness in you. But the Father said, you're his, and he's given me to you. And that's how he brought every single sheep into his sheepfold. We're not better than anybody. We're simply better off than people who are not in Christ. Now, I want to get to my third point. Jesus is our High Priest. Therefore, in all things, He had to be made like His brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in all things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted." It's not something I choose to hammer on, but the author does. He's got another statement that tells us about Jesus and His humanity. He had to be made like His brothers. Jesus was made like His brothers in a way not common with mankind in general. We who are marked out by God before the foundation of the world is belonging to Him, being predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, is a difference that we are unaware of until we're actually born again. I didn't know until God saved me that I was one of His elect, and somebody showed me in a Bible that that's what that meant. See, you go around and people say, how do I know if I'm one of God's elect? Don't worry about it. Believe on the Lord Jesus. When Jesus grew up, He gained knowledge of his mission. When he was 12 years old, he tarried behind his parents. And when they found him, he said, don't you know I must be about my father's business? I must be about my father's business. That was his mission in life. He had a perspective of eternity that guided his every action, word, and thought. I like how the King James says that when he went to Jerusalem, he set his face like flint, knowing that he was going to face a cruel death. He had an eternal perspective for the joy that awaited him beyond the cross. An eternal perspective. When we are born again and begin to mature in our faith, we need to realize more and more that we need to have this eternal perspective. And it ought to guide our every thought, word, and action. Living life in light of eternity. Now, none of us will be able in this life to love God perfectly. But that's what we were made to do. When you don't love God perfectly, does it leave a bad taste in your mouth? You can know that there's some sin that has crept in. You don't want that to continue. That desire is a mark of godliness. And when Christ comes to take us where He's going to be on the new earth, There will be no more sin. No more temptation to sin. And we will love Him as He loves us perfectly. In this, Jesus, eternally God, came to know experientially what it's like to be a man. See, this is why, for our sake, He had to become a man because God's not a man. He's a spirit. How can God even, in our finite human being, how can this eternal spiritual God, how can He really understand me? We sit in judgment on God, but that's the way we think. knowing our frame, sent his son in the form of a man, wrapped in flesh, and he learned by experience what it was like to be a man. And this is something that the last section that we looked at in Hebrews focused on, this hypostatic union, Something that we can never truly comprehend. But this gives him a unique ability to sympathize with us, and it gives us the ability to see him in that light. A God who is close to us, closer than a brother in the flesh. And by these things that he did, Jesus became the perfect high priest for us. Because he didn't have any imperfections. But in our frailty of mind, unable to approach him as our priest until he had suffered as one of us, made like his brothers in every respect except one, he had no sin. When we take our focus off the Lamb of God, our natural self will focus on self, and we are a hedonist by nature, and it's easy to slip back into that. When we are saved, these practiced attitudes are not magically removed. They are part of what Scripture calls the sin which clings so closely to us, which we're told to lay aside, that we would run the race of endurance that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. The remedy for our natural condition, the corrective action when we sin, is to look to Jesus. Not to self, not to spouse, not to parent, not to church. We look to Jesus. Our faith was a gift from God. Jesus is the founder and finisher of our faith. We look to Him. What reason would we have to look somewhere else? The only remedy for sin is Jesus. He is our great High Priest for all who are called by His name and believe in Him. But unlike you and me, when He was faced with various trials, He did not waver. He took the cup that was ours, and for our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And this line from that hymn, the deepest stroke that pierced him, the deepest stroke that pierced him was the stroke that justice gave. I've got some other things I want to tell to you, but I'm about wore out. Galatians 4, Hebrews 9, which was read to us, so I'll have to go there. We must, in our own minds and with one another, we must build up Jesus as our High Priest. He is the one who secured us what is called in chapter 9, eternal redemption. He's the one who secured for us eternal life. So my dear brothers and sisters, do you see Christ as a high priest worthy of the title? Do you see Him as just merely a good man? He is the one that has done the work that we could not. As you examine yourself, do you see the fruit of the Spirit? It's not fruits of the Spirit, it's fruit of the Spirit. It's comprised of several different things. Do you see these in your life? Do you hate your sin more than you used to? Do you look for His returning? When He comes again, Hebrews also says, it won't be to deal with sin. There's no second chance at that point. When He comes again, it says He will be to gather those who eagerly await for Him. Are you eagerly awaiting Him? He will judge the quick and the dead. So the question, have you been washed by the blood of the Lamb? Do not take for granted that your name is in His book. If you are His, there will be evidence. Rest not until you know. And those who know you best see credible evidence of the Spirit of God living in you and guiding you and producing fruit in you. Here we have a firm foundation, here a refuge of the lost. Christ, the rock of our salvation, is the name in which we boast. Lamb of God for sinners wounded, sacrificed to cancel guilt. None shall ever be confounded who on Him their hope have built.