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[0:00] In your scripture sheet, we are at the top of page 2b in Hebrews, the second chapter. And unless there are other considerations or questions that need to be addressed, we will move on from verse 9, which has to do with Christ having tasted death for every man.

[0:21] We pointed out, I think, with sufficient elaboration, but we'll go over it if we need to, if there is more discussion, how that Christ's death was for the entire human race, and that the scope of it covered the same degree as did the scope of Adam's fall, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

[0:48] And we labor to make a careful distinction between universal redemption, which makes all men savable, and universal salvation, which is certainly not the case, because the corporate redemption that Christ accomplished is appropriated by the individual when, as an act of your will, you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, the one who died for your sin, not merely for the sins of the whole world, but for your sins personally, and that appropriates the corporate death of Christ and personalizes it on your behalf.

[1:25] And this is why, I think, why Paul says what he does in 2 Corinthians 5, he talks about God being in Christ, reconciled the world unto himself.

[1:40] And then, within the next two verses, he says, I pray you, be reconciled unto God. Well, he just said that we were. But that second expression, be ye reconciled unto God, is a plea for the individual to make personal what Christ appropriated and provided for the entire human race.

[2:04] So, what the death of Christ gives us is a gospel to preach. We are able to tell men and women, Christ died for your sins.

[2:18] Therefore, you should own him as your Savior because he is your substitute. And it is this act that evokes the faith in the individual.

[2:31] Our faith is an expression, is our answer to what God did in Christ. And when we express our faith, that is our answer to what he did in Christ.

[2:45] And it's a beautiful thing. Gives us a gospel to preach. Any other thoughts or comments about that? We'll move on. Okay. Verse 10. For it became him.

[2:58] It was fitting, Weymouth translates it, For it was appropriate, It was an act worthy of God and fitting to the divine nature that he is. The Amplified Translation renders it.

[3:10] For whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons into glory. This glory is the ultimate product that is to be realized in the life of the believer.

[3:27] Right now, we are all a study in progress. None of us has arrived. And that means, of course, none of us is glorified.

[3:41] But as Paul wrote to the Colossians, that because Christ is in us, that is our hope of glory.

[3:52] And we have elaborated in time past regarding that word hope. And we have taken issue with the interpretation and the idea that is given to the word hope as we use it.

[4:09] And when we use the word hope, it always contains an element of if. There is a conditionality. The Bible never uses it that way.

[4:19] And I am so glad that it doesn't. When we say if, we mean maybe this, maybe that. We don't know. There is an if involved. We hope it rains today, but we don't know that it will.

[4:33] So there is an uncertainty there. But when the Bible uses the word hope and says Christ is in you, the hope of glory, it means that because Christ is in you, that is your absolute, God-assured, confident hope of glory.

[4:50] So far as God is concerned, it's already accomplished. It's already done. Our glory is not up in the air. Maybe we'll be glorified. Maybe we won't. No, no, no, no.

[5:01] None of that. It is an absolute, we would say, it's a slam dunk. And it is because Christ is in you. That is your guarantee of future glory.

[5:12] And fellas, this is what provides the basis for internal peace, security, stability. You know where you stand with God and you know that it is not on the basis of your merit, it is on the basis of Christ's merit and your trust in Him.

[5:30] So that is our guarantee that He is going to bring us to glory. That's the meaning here, I think, of verse 10. Guiding His many children to His glorious salvation.

[5:42] That's when we will be a finished product. Philippians tells us that when we see Him, our bodies will be fashioned like unto His glorious body.

[5:54] And this glorious body, that's the glory body. It's not this body. This is one that is deteriorating, is weak, and is prone to everything that the flesh is prone to.

[6:07] But the body of glory will not be that. And to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. The author of our salvation, Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith.

[6:20] The Montgomery translation, the pioneer of their salvation, or the leader, Williams renders it. Perfect, that is, complete and mature.

[6:32] The word perfect more often conveys the idea of thoroughness and completeness. And that's what is being talked about here.

[6:44] To make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. Well, there isn't anything about Christ that was imperfect. But there was a lot about Him that was not complete.

[6:59] He had a great deal to accomplish to move toward completion when He came into this world through the Incarnation. That was just the beginning. And He learned, He experienced obedience through the things that He suffered.

[7:15] That simply means that Christ was subjected to every semblance of human temptation, human trial, human suffering, etc.

[7:26] and came through them all. Thus, He ended up on that cross as a completed Savior. And the thing that really put the icing on the cake, of course, was the resurrection.

[7:43] Then we can say that Christ was a completed Savior. He had experienced the whole gamut of everything. And most of this consisted of suffering of one kind or another.

[7:59] And it is what contributed to making Him the thorough and full and complete Savior that He is. For, both He that sanctifies and they who are sanctified, that is, He who, the meaning of the word sanctified, if you keep in mind, literally means set apart.

[8:20] You can even translate it sanctified. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a saint. You have been sanctified or sanctified, set apart.

[8:32] And they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren. He is one of us and He has made us of Him and we are in this thing together.

[8:49] And it is a beautiful relationship. It is something that Paul uses repeatedly throughout his epistles. and I don't find it all that much in Hebrew. Well, it is in Hebrew, but it's not as obvious as it is in his other epistles.

[9:03] And that is the phrase he uses repeatedly. In Christ. In Christ. In Christ. And it relates to our infusion, our amalgamation into His spiritual body whereby we are members of His body and members one of another.

[9:23] and we are all in this thing called the body of Christ comprised of all believers of all ages all over the world regardless of geography regardless of language regardless of color.

[9:39] If you are in Christ you are a member of that body and it is a glorious thing because we are in this thing together He is with us we are with Him and He is not ashamed not embarrassed to call them brethren.

[9:53] It is a beautiful concept. And thinking about this in Christ thing we have been debating well actually Christendom has debated for centuries who the author of this epistle is.

[10:11] There is all kinds of speculation out there all over the map and one thing is for certain well a couple of things are for certain number one is the audience intended clearly Jewish no question about that and the writer had to be deeply deeply involved in Judaism in order to speak to it about it as authoritatively as he has and I really do this is just a wise opinion I could be all wrong but I really do think the apostle Paul wrote this epistle and I was mulling this over on my way here this morning and I just got to thinking you know how Paul begins most of his epistles with his name Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God unto the saints and faithful brethren that be at Colossae at Ephesus at Philippi or whatever and that's a pretty common way of addressing a letter in that day because when you open the scroll it told you right at the beginning who the author was when we write letters we sign our name at the bottom of the letter you have to read all the way through the letter and then see the signature at the bottom but when they used the scroll and unrolled it it let you know right at the beginning who the author was you didn't have to unroll it all the way down to find out who the author was so if that be the case and if

[11:54] Paul wrote Hebrews why do you suppose he didn't begin by saying Paul to the Hebrews I think that is right on I think that is right on because here's here's here's the issue the content of Hebrews is amazing the content and the superiority of Christ that is set forth to the mosaic system the sacrifices the priesthood everything else is the kind of material that every Jewish person really needed to hear they desperately needed the truth that is in the epistle to the Hebrews but as Joe suggested would they receive it from Saul of Tarsus oh buddy that's another issue

[12:57] I mean this man the only the only Jews in the first century that had any respect or any love for Paul the apostle were Jews who had also come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah and to them Paul was a precious brother but to the vast majority of Judaism Paul was a turncoat he was a traitor he was unworthy to be believed and his own countrymen early on in the Acts made a vow that they were not going to eat or drink until they saw that man's blood run free that was the kind of hatred that they had for it so just add that if you will to the possibilities of Paul having written Hebrews because I think that's a pretty good case for it Mark also in

[13:58] Peter Peter in one of his letters he states that Paul wrote Jew letters he was talking to Jews and he says in one of his letters that Paul wrote letters to them now it doesn't say he wrote this letter but he did write to them why would something this is God's spirit working to give him Peter the words why would he tell him about a letter that wasn't also in the Bible that wasn't also by the spirit you know God speaking you know why would he refer to some letter that wasn't there is one good point good point Peter you're telling that it's entirely possible John 2 Peter 3 15 okay yeah yeah yeah written as a Jew.

[15:03] Yeah. What I wrote to the Hebrews. Yeah. Because actually Peter is... And Peter, absolutely, Peter is, you know, Peter's audience is definitely the Jewish people too.

[15:16] And it's even described as his James to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. And all of these salutations really mean something. And they ought to be taken seriously.

[15:27] So, what we're confronted with again is that everything in the Bible is for us. But not everything is to us.

[15:39] And that makes a huge difference if you understand the meaning there. Whatsoever things, Paul said, Romans, I think, 15, 4, whatsoever things were written a four time, and that would include all of the Old Testament.

[15:57] Whatsoever things were written a four time were written for our learning. That we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. And it's a huge difference to learn something from a passage of Scripture that is really different from go and do thou likewise.

[16:20] See what I'm saying? I mean, we can learn about the value of the Old Testament sacrificial system and what was instituted under the Mosaic Law, including Sabbath and the kosher diet and all of that.

[16:37] We can learn that and benefit from it, but does that mean that's what you're supposed to do? No, of course not. Why not? Because there is a progress of Revelation.

[16:50] As you move from Genesis to Revelation, God is consistently and continually revealing more and more about Himself and His plan and His program until you get up to where Paul is now.

[17:06] And this is regarded as the mystery which Paul says in Ephesians 3, which in times past was not made known to the sons of men.

[17:19] Didn't know about it. Never knew about it. Never thought about it. Never dreamed of it. Until the risen Christ began this series of revelations to Paul providing with the information of the body of Christ and of all things this meant Jew and Gentile together.

[17:40] That was a bombshell. Unheard of. Jew and Gentile making the twain one new man. And that is in the body of Christ of which He is the head.

[17:54] So Paul and his writings gives us an update from what we have earlier and the time is coming when Paul's writings are going to be given an update.

[18:12] And the update will be revelation. That's yet to come. And we believe that's going to transpire after the church is removed from the scene and the body of Christ is taken out of here and then the tribulation period is underway.

[18:29] So, okay, any other thoughts regarding that? We'll move along. Okay. Say, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church or the assembly which is the ecclesia some translated congregation some translated assembly.

[18:47] I will sing praise unto thee and again I will put my trust in him and again behold I and the children which God has given me.

[18:58] so, 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.

[19:29] This is this really ties everything together in the finished work of Christ and what what he accomplished is just absolutely astounding.

[19:42] For verily he took not on him the nature of angels and here again he is presenting Christ as superior to the angels other translations render it the RSV says for surely it is not with angels that he is concerned and Weymouth for surely it is not to angels that he reaches a helping hand and if we turn the pages here but by way of contrast he took on him the seed of Abraham and this goes all the way back to the promise that God gave even predating Abraham and the promise that God gave to Eve that it would be her seed that would crush the head of the serpent and that there would be a state of war declared between her seed which is humanity and Satan's seed which has to do with the

[20:47] Antichrist and everything about it and this conflict is set up that is going to go on and we see the entirety of the human race with the exception of eight people wiped out in Genesis and God starts something totally new with this singular family Noah and his wife and their three sons and these three sons provide the base for the present world population most of us are descendants of J-Path that's most of Europe and a lot of eastern western Asia and then there is Ham and the descendants of Ham the Egyptians the Africans a lot of the middle mid-easterners are Hamitic and the one son that is to be the basis for the production of the

[21:54] Messiah is Shem S-H-E-M and if you just drop the H off you get S-E-M from which our word Semite or Semitic comes and this has to do with the Semitic people or the Jewish people and the first one who is designated with that handle is called it Hebrew and this is Abraham when God called him out of Ur the Chaldees to go to a land that I will show you and God made this promise to Abraham that through him his seed all nations of the earth will be blessed this is a key passage back in Genesis 12 we spent time on in the past and then this establishes the big three who are here and after referred to as the fathers they are the fathers Abraham Isaac Jacob in order for one to be a true Jew he does not have to be merely a son of

[22:57] Abraham that isn't enough because after all Ishmael was the son of Abraham too but he's certainly not a Jew and it was not enough that he'd be a son of Isaac because Esau was of Isaac but Esau is not a Jew Esau even though he was a twin brother of a Jew Jacob Esau was an Idumean and he is going to occupy that area there in Edom and Herod the great will be an Edomite and it is not enough to be a son of Abraham and Isaac you have to be a son of Abraham Isaac and Jacob one of those twelve and that's what establishes Jewishness so it's a concept that God set in motion way back when any thoughts or comments about that anybody okay let's move on he took on him the seed of

[24:00] Abraham wherefore verse 17 in all things in everything it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be this of course is speaking of Christ that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people and the ASV translates that propitiation or expiation and a propitiation literally means satisfaction when God sees the travail of his soul that is of Christ's soul he shall be satisfied that propitiation means that God was able to pronounce the price that Jesus Christ paid for the sin debt of humanity God was able to pronounce it satisfactory propitious full complete lacking nothing because fellas if there is one single sin in your life for which

[25:20] Christ did not die you're sunk you're sunk you are separated from God forever that's how dependent we are upon the sufficiency and the efficaciousness of the death of Christ when he paid that price and said it is finished that meant the whole nine yards was taken care of nothing left remains to be done he paid it all satisfied satisfied the holiness of his father in the price that he paid and the reason he was able to do that was simply because of who he was that's the only reason he was able to do it so everything is wrapped up in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that is that is our gospel that is our message that is all we have and it's all we need and because of that because of his making reconciliation for the sins of the people that is in

[26:25] God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself for in that he himself has suffered being tempted this is the idea of being not only tempted but I think more accurately the idea of testing and G.

[26:46] Campbell Morgan Anglican scholar I think he was Anglican I'm not sure if he was Anglican or not but anyway he wrote some really great things and one of my favorite books that he wrote was called The Crises of the Christ and in it he dealt with the seven crises in the life of the Savior beginning with his incarnation and ending with his ascension and one of those seven that he covered was the temptation that he endured with Satan in the wilderness and he made much to do I think of the point regarding the impeccability of Christ and that's just a theological term that relates to the nature and character of Christ and Dr.

[27:42] Morgan pointed out that Christ was tempted in all points like as we not not in order to see whether he would sin or whether he would be able to hold out against the temptations that completely misappropriates and misapplies the nature of Christ but he was tempted in every point like as we to prove that he could not sin not that he would not sin but he could not sin being very deity as he was that was beyond him and he demonstrated his his credentials and his right to be the son of man as the son of God and provide redemption for the human race in that he was a perfect sacrifice and this hearkens all the way back to the sacrificial lamb and Passover that had to be examined the day of examination before it was offered had to be examined for any spot or blemish that would disqualify it and that's a perfect picture of

[28:58] Christ who was without spot the lamb of God John echoed that when he saw Jesus coming down the road and introduced him as the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world beautiful beautiful concept and because of that he is able to succor them that are tempted that is to give immediate help sympathy understanding etc you know when when somebody is going through a particular crisis in their life be a time of great loss well in my opinion and I think many would share this there's probably no greater loss that you can have than that of a child or that of a spouse that you've lived with for many many years and some of you know first hand what I'm talking about and we do derive comfort and understanding from people who come up to us and give us a hug or shake our hands and say

[30:17] I'm sorry for your loss you'll be in my prayers you have my sympathy etc and and you appreciate that but when somebody is able to say and you know that they know what they're talking about and they are able to say I know what it's like and I know how tough it is and I know something about the loss that you're experiencing you derive a measure of comfort and succor from that that you can't get from somebody who hasn't been there and this is one of the reasons that Christ endured what he did is because of his experiences of what he was subjected to by way of the temptation and Satan and all the rest of it he is able to say to us that he's been there he's done that and he knows what you're dealing with and you are well you know you all know what I'm talking about any thoughts or comments feel free

[31:31] I think we'll just maybe it's about time for the food maybe we'll just conclude here with chapter 2 yes Kevin in the Bible there's the shortest scripture is Jesus sweat and I think this is the fourth smallest scripture in the Bible but it speaks I mean just in spirit me to speak it aloud everything that you said isn't it interesting where where God says just so many plain words I mean just so easy and simple he says you can do nothing without me just guess something from everything that you have expounded on and that just can pop it up in my spirit you can do nothing without me and nothing because every time

[32:34] I use my human reasoning and every time I try to do something and it looks good a lot of times human reasoning looks good oh yeah it can be good you know what I mean but when it ends up always something always goes wrong or falls short or we try to do things without you know without the Lord you know what I mean to me I mean I can't speak for nobody else it's just you know everything just falls short I end up getting in some kind of trouble or something that's close to my demise I mean everything that you spoke on Mark the only thing that popped up in my mind was you can do nothing without me nothing thank you Kevin any other thoughts or comments anybody feel free well with your kind permission we will consider chapter 2 concluded unless there's something you want to resurrect there otherwise we'll be starting off with chapter 3 next week and this thing is going to build and by the time we get further into

[33:43]  Hebrews there's some whiz bang stuff coming I'll tell you it is just amazing that the insights that the writer has given and the position is taken it will be a real blessing I can promise you that