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In the book of Hebrews, the 2nd chapter, we might start with the 10th verse today.
For it became him.
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.
Or both. He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.
For which 'cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
And again I will put my trust in him, and again behold I and the children which God hath given me.
Or 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 bonding.
For verily he took not on him Angel, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things had 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.
Or in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.
**** your brother and the end of the sixth verse of our chapter, but I don't think.
It was mentioned yesterday.
And I wonder about the significance of it and these words that thou visited him.
At the end of the sixth verse, what is man? That our mindful attempt are the Son of Man, that thou visited him. And I think many of us here would probably like to have a little explanation of those.
That little question there, that thou visited him.
In the first chapter of Luke, which might give some thought in connection with it.
Luke, chapter one.
Verse 77. To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins.
Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on high.
Hath visited us.
We think of who that one is who came down and visited us. He didn't visit us in the form of an Angel, but he visited us in the form of a man. And as God had those purposes of blessing for man, God himself becomes a man and the person of Christ, and in this way he visits man. He comes down to. Someone has said if you wanted to talk to a family you'd scare it away. But if you could become a family and talk to it, then there would be a.
And the marvel of all marvels is that the dayspring from on high, the Lord of glory, came down, and he became a man. What his man? Just a frail being, but God himself became a man. And in this way he visited us, took a place lower than the angels, but because of who this person is, now God has raised him up.
Giving him a place above the angels. He's taken his place above them.
And lifted man in that way because we shall be associated with Him in his coming glory. Lifted man to a place above angels too. But I believe it's he connected with that verse in Luke. It maybe helps to bring out the thought about Him visiting mankind in this way.
Instances where we see that the Lord no doubt was here on earth, that is, visiting or contacting man, there's always an uncertainty whether or not it was an Angel. I was thinking of the three that came to Abraham, but we see that one undoubtedly was the Lord, and then we think of those that were with the three.
Children there in the fire.
And the king says one is like the son of man, but I believe it should be a son of man. He was thinking of an Angel.
And then you have the Angel that visited Manoa, and no doubt that was the Lord, and perhaps it might have been the Lord that visited Gideon. But I just submit that it's a little vague, isn't it? But that there's nothing vague about his entrance into the world as a man in Luke.
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No, in fact in John it's and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Isn't it so that he it's not just?
A while the word visiting is used here, we don't want to get the thought that he just came on a visit. He he, he became a man. He didn't just take the farm as it were or come into a certain condition. He he actually became a man. And in the verses that we read this morning.
We have brought before us the.
You might say some of the reasons why he became a man, because that is really what we have in these verses we've read, is that he.
As we have it in our chapter.
In verse 14, far as much then as the children are particulars of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. But as he became a man, and he became a man in order that he might be the he might lead the many sons to glory, to be the author, leader of salvation, and he.
He became a man in order to annul the power of Satan, who had.
Who held men in ******* through fear of death and he became a man in order to make propitiation for the sins.
Of the people, and that he might be a merciful and faithful High priest.
All he came into that place in manhood in order to accomplish these wonderful things that are brought before us in these verses that we read. The first being that he might be the author leader.
And our version says Captain of our salvation.
There are these instances in the Old Testament why it was even possible for angels to take a body and come down as those three men who appeared at Abrams tent door, one of whom was the Lord. The two were angels who later came to lot in Sodom saw that through the Old Testament we do find that angels and the Lord appeared on occasion, but it wasn't until the incarnation that that verse was fulfilled. A body has.
Prepared me. And so the Lord Jesus having come down and taken a body, he remains a man for all eternity. And when he rose from the dead and went up, it was said, this same Jesus which is taken from you shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. So those appearances in the Old Testament were simply in the same way. It couldn't be said of an Angel that they had been. An Angel became Incarnate, but it was so that they did.
Occasion take a body. But the Lord Jesus did something very very.
Marvelous as it's brought before us, He took a body and remains a man for all eternity. And in resurrection he's still a man, a man up there in the glory. And this is the implication of all that is brought before us here. The reason that he did it was having taken a body. He took a body not subject to death, but capable of dying. And so that's what it means. He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.
God, as God could not die.
Angels are ministering spirits, but God became a man in the person of Christ.
Took a body capable of death, went into death, rose again, and now he's a glorified man. And because he's there, he's the first fruits, and we are going to be glorified too, and have bodies of glory like him. So we mustn't, shall we say, confuse those appearances in the Old Testament of angels and of the Lord Himself with the incarnation and his becoming a man and the place that he now occupies as man as our.
Fulfill all his blessed work that he is fulfilling now and will for all eternity with redeemed men surrounding him in that glory. You couldn't say that those angels who took a body, it's not said of them that they kind of became flesh and blood. That refers, is it not to, to true humanity, but it refers, I believe, to the.
The state or condition in which the Lord took that humanity when He was here on earth, as you say He was not. It wasn't martial flesh.
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They we couldn't, we can't speak of the Lord of death working in the body of the Lord, because he was apart from sin.
But he did take flesh and blood which could be laid down in death, as we know he did. No man taketh my life from me, but I'll lay it down. And now he has taken it again, hasn't He? He's gone back into the glory. He's still a man, but he is in, you might say, a state in which death cannot take part. He's beyond that. He's now a man in resurrection glory beyond death.
Scripture speaks in this epistle to the Hebrews.
Who in the days of his flesh? Well, that's when he was here as a man.
And you might say in a sense with death before him, because he he laid, he was to lay down his life. But now death is entirely behind him, and he's a man in the glory. But here in this portion of the Hebrews, we have him coming into that state in condition in which we were found apart from sin, but a condition of flesh and blood here in this world.
In the abyss of the same Epistle of Hebrews.
Chapter 10 we read in verse 5. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared. That's the incarnation, isn't he?
In one sense, the Lord Jesus remains the servant forever, as we read in the type of it in the 21St chapter of Exodus. He shall serve him forever. And then in the Gospel of Luke, the Lord Jesus is spoken of as the one who, when we get home to glory, will come forth and serve us. So for all eternity he remains a man, having taken that place, He serves us, ministers to.
US, and to our joy, and as we had in First Corinthians 15.
Even there in that eternal day, it says, Then shall the Son also be subject unto him, that it put all things under him. It was mentioned, and I think it's very beautiful to see that God had a purpose. He had. He had in purpose a scene where a man would be the head of it. And the first man failed utterly and brought in all the ruin. But now there is another man in God's counsels, the only man, perhaps I should say, of God's counsels, and.
That is the God man, the Lord Jesus himself, and he takes that.
Place of the head of the not only the earth as the place where Adam was placed, but because of who he is, he becomes the center of the whole scene that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. Even in him. This blessed man, because of who he is, he's not only the center of everything in connection with this earth, but of the whole universe. And that's.
With whom were associated. And that's why it's beautifully brought out what he has done.
His present place and then what will be in the future, because for all eternity.
We will be associated with him the place that he has taken and when the.
Kingdom age is over and everything is brought into conformity according to the mind of God.
Then that whole scene will display a man as the center of all God's purposes with those who have been brought, those sons brought home to glory, associated with him in that was too marvelous for our souls to really take in. But the groundwork of it all is laid through the cross.
And His taking care of us as we travel there is his present work now. And all this is brought before us here in our chapter. I might just draw to your attention while we're thinking of it at this time, something I have enjoyed very much in my own soul, and that's in Judges Chapter 6.
Judges, Chapter 6.
Verse 25 And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father's young bullet, even the second Bullock, you notice the emphasis upon the second bullet of seven years old. And throw down the altar of bail that thy father hath, and cut down the Grove that is by it, and build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock.
Notice it's emphatic. This rock, I believe it's the same rock that we have over in verse 20.
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In the ordered place, all was according to God's order. And take the second bullet emphatically the second bullet.
And offer a birth sacrifice with the wood of the Grove which thou shalt cut. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants. And 10 course would suggest to us responsibility. The Lord Jesus met the full responsibility.
And then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord said unto him.
And so it was, well, we won't read that part, but verse 28. And when the men of the city rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of bail was cast down and the Grove was cut down. That was biased. And the second bullet was offered upon the altar that was built. So there was the sacrifice involved. But it seems like the Spirit of God would bring these lovely pictures before us to emphasize how that the 2nd man.
Glorified him.
The question is asked in respect to a verse in Psalm 34 and verse 7, The Angel of the Lord and campus about them that fear Him. The question is asked, would that apply to us today?
Well I think the 1St chapter in the last verse would answer that question. The 14th verse of Hebrews one, it says are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? And so there is that angelic care, caring for us. And then we also have in our chapter a real man, which of course was not revealed in the Psalms, a real man in the glory.
To whom we can come, to whom we can look as knowing every need, having trodden the pathway before us. So there is that angelic service, as well as the man in the glory who lives for us, our High Priest.
Well, Joshua might have thought that he was the one who was going to deliver the people of God.
That it was necessary that he should realize that the one who was going to deliver them, the one who was going to give them the land.
Was the Lord himself? And so when he says, art thou for us or for our adversaries?
That can be sort of a thought that can come into our minds as though the Lord couldn't do without me.
Well, the Lord appears, and we must take off our shoes and recognize that.
Nothing can be accomplished except by Him. He may use us, but if he who does all the work, and that's just as true now as it was in Joshua's time. A great moral lesson for us. I remember hearing about our brother Heaney who served the Lord in a past generation, and someone said to him, Brother Heaney, when did the Lord start to use you and his service?
And his quick reply was when I found he could do without me.
Well, that was a very good reply. Joshua needed to learn that. We all need to learn that. That when we think, oh, what will happen if I don't do this? Is this man against us or for us? Why we need to take off our shoes and recognize in his presence that he's the only one that can accomplish anything. If we're content to be nothing in his hand, then he might use us. But he is not against his people. But if we're setting up self, he may be against us too.
But if we're humble before him and recognize that everything that's done and can be done is in and through him.
Then he might use us, but he's the one who really does it. I think it's a very beautiful picture. And in that way it's connected here too. He is the captain of our salvation. He's the one who is going to accomplish all those purposes of God and bring every one of his own safely home to glory. What a cheer to our hearts.
And to everyone of us, when we think how we can failing we are. I believe it's the same thought that Peter takes up in his epistle when he says, if the righteous scarcely or with difficulty be saved, where shall the ungodly and the Sinner appear? Not one of us who are real believers would ever get through the wilderness journey if it were not for the priesthood of Christ, which supplies the strength that we need.
And so it's with difficulty all of us feel less. It's with difficulty we get through, but not by ourselves.
But by the one who is the captain, the high priest, it's beautiful. I might say, too, in the Epistle to the Hebrews we have nothing of his advocacy, because the point that is particularly emphasized in Hebrews is the completeness of his work. His advocacy has to do with restoring us when we have failed. But the great emphasis in Hebrews is that the work of Christ is so gloriously complete that the believer is presented in a.
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Standing before God by one offering hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He's always looked at in that perfect standing, needing help. Now when you come to the Epistle of John, where you have the family, then we have advocacy because we do fail in the family.
But nothing changes our standing that is perfect. And so Christ presented as a perfect sacrifice. It would perhaps spoil that thought of our perfect standing to bring in something of advocacy. But when it's in John that's brought in. But here our standing is perfect. We're going to be there because the work has fitted us to be there. But we need help and we have the captain who is going to bring us through.
It's good to see that those that he's leading to glory are referred to as.
Sons, many sons, of course, and we rejoices our heart to think of the.
Multitude who belong to the Lord and are included in this. Many sons being brought to glory.
But I would suggest that we enter into this expression many sons.
We perhaps are inclined to think of ourselves as just a worthless sinners. In what sense is true? We never should forget what we were and what we would have continued to be apart from the grace of God. But God would occupy us too with with the dignity of the place in which we've been brought in association with His beloved Son, many sons.
And he says he's not ashamed to call them. Brethren, we've been Speaking of the.
Of the place that the Lord Jesus has now as the center of the God's universe. But here we see that He has those who are associated with Himself. He associates them with Himself as his brethren to share that place before the Father. Of course not. In deity we were never brought into association with the Lord Jesus.
As a divine person, but it's in association with him as becoming a man.
When he takes and I might say this too, that are being brought into association with him was not by means of the incarnation are are being united to Christ is after he has accomplished the work of redemption and is raised from the dead and a man in glory. We are associated with him in resurrection and it's the one who has gone through death.
And has been raised from the dead and ascended into the presence of God.
And it's only in that way that we are associated with him. You remember John?
Chapter 20 when Mary found him, the one whom her soul loved, the one that she missed after he was taken away from them and crucified and buried and when she finds him, why she wants to retain him here and now in our King James Version, the Lord's answer in John 22, her when when she takes hold of him is touch me not but literally it means.
Detained me not or hold me not.
She was seeking to have him here as the one whom she had known and enjoyed and loved as a man here in this world. But he says to her, Go unto my brethren, and say, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and my God, and your God, and so indicating to her that she would have him.
And she would be in association with him, but in a new way.
As the one who has ascended, he says to her, I have not yet ascended unto my Father. She would know him as the one ascended up in the glory, the one who has gone through the heavens and who, as we've been reminded, fills the heavens, and to be associated with Him as his brethren. You know, we, we tend to downgrade ourselves and what I mean by that and I I'm not taking away.
In any way the sense that we should ever have.
Of how bad the flesh is. I know that in me dwelleth no good thing that is in the flesh, but on the other hand, that God would have us to enter in and to be in the conscious understanding and enjoyment of the place into which He has brought us in association with the Lord Jesus. He's not ashamed to call us brethren.
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Now I might say too, that we can't turn that around and we would never refer to the Lord Jesus.
As our brother, but he's not ashamed to call us brethren, associating us with himself, because we have been made all one with him before the Father.
I believe, as we were saying before, it's nice to see that there is this oneness in believers in the three different ways presented in the Scripture. It says in First Corinthians 12 by 1 Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, and we have been made one in the body of Christ. And every believer indwelled by the Spirit of God is by the Spirit united to every other believer on earth. And.
The head in glory. But that is not the thought here. That was particularly the ministry that Paul was given in connection with the truth of the church.
So that we are in that position of oneness in John's ministry. It is more particularly our place as being one in the family.
We have been brought into the family of God and so there is a large family.
All those who have been born into that family partake of the life and nature of the family.
And there is a oneness so that you and I who are believers possess the very life of Christ and a Christ who is our life. And as we have in John's epistle, it says he was that eternal life and that he is our life, so that we actually are one in the family and we can enter into and enjoy that relationship as children of God. That is particularly brought before us in John's ministry.
But then there is, I believe, something.
Further that is brought before us here that the thought is rather one if I could use the expression one in kind.
And that is, I am not only a member of the body of Christ, and united to Christ the Head in glory.
I'm not only part of the family so that I can call God my father, but I am associated with a real man in the glory. He didn't take upon him the nature of angels. He took upon him the seed of Abraham so that I can look up and say I'm a man, but there's a real man in the glory.
And he wears my nature upon the throne. And now I am looking forward to the time when.
I, with all the redeemed company, will be around him, not as angels lifted to a wonderful place, but as men. And that is the oneness I believe that He's spoken of here, and that's why it says he's not ashamed to call us. Brethren, this ought to touch our hearts, that God has so revealed Himself that He has become a man in the person of Christ. There's a man at the right hand of God, and he is going to have redeemed man.
Around him with whom he is associated saw that we are members of the body of Christ. We are one in the family of God, but also we are we are men and he is a man. And I believe that's particularly the line of truth that he's brought before us here. So the captain is a man, the one who is our high priest is a man, the one with whom we're going to spend eternity as a man. And what a scene that will be.
When we surround him in all this enjoyment of this blessed relationship and in its fullness.
Well, I believe it's precious to see these different lines of truth that are opened up in the scripture.
The Sun has particularly the thought of dignity. Now we're spoken of as sons in connection with the dignity of our position, but in the relationship it's his children. It's very precious.
Verse 11 That the wake that he has done at the cross is precious blood has been so infinite in his value that he has set us apart, united with himself, sanctified we are sanctified to set apart with himself. How blessed we are, set apart, united with Him as one, sanctified because of the infinite bag of a special blood on the cross. We want to remember too that these these things.
They may sound very.
Elevated, but they're true of us not because of the perhaps we we of our feelings, but this is what God makes known to us as to our association with Christ, even while we're down here. It's not that this is a condition that we will enter into in the glory We're all we're even now of one sort, one kind, as our brother said, as the Father.
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Looks down upon Christ, He sees him associated with many brethren, and they're all alike. They're all alike. And one might say, well.
That that is really elevating us to a position that I'm not so sure we're worthy of. Well, it's he's not ashamed. It's a place he puts us in. It isn't a question of whether we are worthy. It's, it's what he is doing. And God, we're sanctified, we're set apart. It's all of God's work. And he associates us with his beloved son in this way that he looks down and sees that we're all of one, all of one sort.
Not Christ one thing and we another.
But we are all of one sort, and that's why He's not ashamed to call us brethren. And these are the ones he is leading to glory, and these are the ones he's going to introduce to the Father as those who have been given unto them, unto Him. And these are the one, the ones who's missed He would be in and singing praises or leading their praises to the Father, as we have in these quotations that follow in verses 12 and 13. It's all in connection with our.
Being of one sort with the Lord, one before the Father, with him. And the work will be complete when we bear the image as it should read the image of the heavenly one, because it says that He's going to transform these bodies of humiliation like unto His body of glory. That will complete the work, will it not?
Been put very simply, the Son of God.
Has become the Son of man, that the sons of men might become the sons of God.
Connection with this sanctification in the 10th chapter of Hebrews it's brought out what her brother was saying. The 10th chapter of Hebrews and the 10th verse. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, and then the 14th verse. For by one offering he hath perfected forever.
Them that are sanctified. So it's no question of anything in ourselves at all. It's all through what he has done.
We couldn't be fully relaxed in his presence if we weren't conscious of the fact that we have been brought into this perfect standing before Him.
If we have any thought of worthiness in ourselves or something that we must attain to, then we can't be fully relaxed. If I go to your table and feel I must attain to something before I can really enjoy your presence, I'm not going to be relaxed there. But if I know that I have been fully accepted before and I come and sit there as one who is accepted now I can relax and enjoy.
Your presence and your company. And let us remember, brethren.
We will not have a better standing before God, even in glory than we have right now.
We are already in this place of perfect acceptance. And I say again and perhaps.
This helps to emphasize it. That's why the advocacy of Christ is not brought in, and Hebrews, because nothing is to mar this thought of the perfect place into which we have been brought. We are already accepted in the Beloved. We are already perfected forever, and we need help along the pathway. But the priesthood of Christ is not for our sins. It's to provide the help that we need. It's for our infirmities.
Come here this morning with a headache. Well, that headache may hinder in a certain measure our enjoyment of the Lord. So we say, oh, I don't know how I can enjoy the meeting while we look up to the Lord and he helps our infirmity. The Spirit helps our infirmities, helps us to rise above it. And so instead of allowing that to spoil it, we think, isn't it lovely? I can get that help and be lifted above this headache, not necessarily removed, but lurked it, above it and helped in it so that we.
Enjoy our portion. Are we expecting some difficulty when we return from these meetings? Well, there's one up there who says I'll help you. I'll provide all the grace and help that you need. He's able to save to the uttermost. We spoke a little of this this morning, the uttermost. There can never be any situation so difficult that he can't supply the help that is needed. So the priesthood of Christ is not, as I say, connected.
Our sins but to give us that help that we need along the pathway because he's bringing us home to glory, but he's already fitted us. We're already sanctified and we let me say again, we will never have a better standing than we have right now. Only the Spirit of God lead us to enjoy these things here and now. There is the practical side of sanctification, but that isn't the thought that's brought before us.
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It's the positional thing that which is the result.
Of the work of Christ, and this is what's brought before us here to encourage our hearts.
I think some of the young people might enjoy a little more breakdown on that word sanctification.
Well, it simply means set apart. And so we have been set apart in Hebrews. That's particularly connected with all the ordinances and everything that had to do with the Jewish ritual, because there was always something that had to be done. There was no end. The priest stood because the work was never finished. There was always something being carried on. But this man sat down.
All the work was completed, there was nothing more to be done.
So we have been set apart not only from a world that's under judgment, but from all ritual and everything, nothing of any of the things that we believe that baptism plays an important place in Christianity. The Lords Supper is a great privilege, but none of these things have anything to do with our standing before God. It's all apart from any of those kind of things, just as it is apart from any Jewish ordinances. We're not part of the world. It's under judgment we have.
Set apart. That is our position. Now the practical side of it is brought in in other places. In John chapter 17 it says, Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Thy may be permitted to use a little illustration. Supposing I went into a store and there's 10 baskets of apples sitting on the floor and I.
Say I'll take this particular basket and I pay the price.
The storekeeper puts my name on the handle. Why that basket of apples belongs to me. Now the price has been paid. Someone else comes in in a few minutes and picks out the same basket. He says, I can't sell you that one. That's all that belongs to another person that's already been purchased. Now he says, oh, we better put that out in the back of the shop so there'll be no confusion. So he carries it to the back of the shop so there will be no confusion.
But it isn't anymore mine in the back of the shop than when it was sitting with the rest. But there was confusion when they're mixed. Now, brethren, our standing is that the price has been paid and we're sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. But are we so confused with the world that they don't know we belong to Him? Well, he says if the truth of this gets hold of our souls, it's going to separate us from the world. It's going to separate us from all that, even Christendom.
Some value on us having something to do with making us more fit for God. We're set apart from all that. And so when this truth lays hold of our souls, it becomes a practical thing enjoyed in our lives, and we're apart practically from it. But the truth is all based on a fact. The price has been paid. And so the position is one thing founded on the work of Christ, the practical side, as the Lord said, when the truth of this gets hold of our souls.
It makes us a separated people.
We see the place he takes is a man who and in this these verses.
12 and 13.
Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the Church of the Assembly, while I sing praise unto thee.
Takes that place of leading the praises of his people to to God and then in verse 13 again I will put my trust in him.
Or we know that when he was here.
How he demonstrated that not only obedience, but confidence that he had in in God and perfect trust. And so I was thinking that it says we're all of one sort. So this is has a very practical application to my mind. If we're of one sort with the Lord as a man. This is what is you might say, the kind of man.
That God has found in him and what he looks for in his people that we would.
Be conformed to him in this way at the present time. He so associates himself with us while we're down here. And I think this is the important thing to see that that what he's bringing out here is the association that we have with the Lord while we're down here and he associates himself with us and.
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So that we are all of one sort while we're here. And we, the Lord, would have us to conform to this. We might be those who would.
The giving praise and thanks to the Father as he would lead the praises and then those who would be like himself, putting their their confidence and their faith and their trust in God as we pass through this scene, how he is encouraging these Hebrews that they might not slip away. Encouraging them through this association with the Lord Jesus and his identifying himself with us while we're down here. It's one thing.
To know him on high as our great high priest. But here I think it's emphasizing the fact that he.
Associates himself with us down here. While we are passing through this wilderness, we can we can know the Lord is with us and he identifies himself with us.
And I don't quite get that point. Brother Johnson and 13. And again, I will put my trust in him.
Well, it's a quotation of and I believe it refers to the the, the way in which he was a dependent man and in confidence with God.
As being the the sort that God finds delight in. This is the kind of man that God finds delight in.
6 to 16 Some may help to make it clear. All of us realize that the 16th Psalm is bringing the Lord Himself before us, because it ends in the 16th Psalm.
The ninth Verse. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope.
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One, to see corruption.
Thou will show me the path of life in Thy presence is fullness of joy. At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. But this 16 sum brings before us the Lord Jesus here as the dependent man. And so the first verse preserved me, O God, for indeed do I put my trust. This applies to the Lord Jesus Himself, because as we have been having before us, He took the place of a man. What is the proper?
Of a man it is submission and obedience, and the Lord was the only one who could and did fulfill that place perfectly.
And so in his whole pathway, he was here as the dependent man, counting upon his father, didn't even speak a word he said. He didn't speak a word of himself, only the words that the Father gave him to do, to speak. He didn't do all work, only the works that the Father gave him to do. And so that was his pathway. And now he has gone up there in glory.
And he has marked out the path for us. What was his path? The path of dependent man.
And where did that path lead? Well, it led to the glory. And there he is now.
It says in the last verse, Thou will show me the path of life. In Thy presence is fullness of joy. At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. He returns to glory as the one who has fully glorified His Father. And if one can speak in this way, the Father's faces fullness of joy, The 1St man who has fully glorified Him on earth. He has gone back into His presence, but He has not only.
Horrified him in connection with his own personal pathway, but he has accomplished a work whereby many sons can be brought to glory, but he has marked out the path of those sons, and that was the path in which he himself walked. And so it's a joy to our hearts to read the 16th Psalm and think of the Lord in his pathway all through this world as the dependent man and apply it to ourselves and say this is the pathway for us too. This is the path.
Which he is leading us, and so he returns to the Father. He had marked out that path.
He had put his trust in his Father, He had done his will. The cost was great. And when he came to that cross, he would not turn back. He looked beyond the cross to the full fruit of that work in glory. And now that path is here for us, and we are the many sons. We partake of his life and nature. I think it's very lovely. And so in that coming day, I believe he will introduce us to the Father's house with these words.
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Behold, I and the children whom God have given me, so that he will introduce the whole company.
That He has fitted to be there, who have learned in Him the path in which we should walk, who find in Him the help needed for the pathway, and are finally at the end, introduced as those who are the children given to Him of the Father, and now able to enter into and enjoy all the fruit of that work. But as as man, as redeemed men in that glory. I think it's a beautiful picture that is brought before us and as our brother said.
Having learned this, why he raises the praises in the assembly now, Because we're not waiting to be fitted for that place. We're already fitted for it. We have been sanctified. We're to enjoy it now. But he'll more fully lead our praises when we get home to glory. And there will be no hindrance. And everyone will have a harp and a vial full of odors to sing his worthiness and his praise. And that day he's brought in, in our chapter, I believe.
I might just add this if you excuse me.
That in connection with what we've had, that he who sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one kind of one sort. And So what kind of a man was he? A dependent man. And I think it's in connection with that thought that we're all of one kind. And so we we look to him to see what kind of man.
Really, we are.
In association with himself and that kind of man was a dependent man, as he's been pointed out in the.
In the 16th Psalm again it says I will put my trust in him. That's the kind of man.
That he was and that's what we're, that's the what we're associated with.
Fellowship. Well, I think that fellowship would be more.
You might say what we enter into ourselves and enjoy. When I think of fellowship, I think of thinking of, of having, enjoying things in common. And if I am in fellowship with the Lord and with the Father, we're enjoying things that we have in common. But association, I believe that we are in this association.
Even though we might not be in the enjoyment of it and have the.
Even the understanding of it. But the Lord associates us with Himself in this way, so that association could be true even where even when there might not be the fellowship in joy, wouldn't you say?
The word translated in the Scripture, communion and fellowship are in most cases the same word, and it's just the thought that has been expressed. It's common thoughts. It's a very wonderful thing that you and I can enter into the thoughts of God. We must be first brought into a place of association with Him. But I might be associated with a person and not able to enter into their thoughts. But what God has done, He's not only brought us into this.
But he has given us a life and nature by which we can hold fellowship with him, have common thoughts with him, and that is so very beautiful and precious that this very life that we possess. A turn to John 12. I think there's a lovely thought brought out here.
John 12 and verse 49, for I have not spoken of myself.
But the father which sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak.
And I know that His commandment is life everlasting whatsoever I speak. Therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. It's particularly that expression. I know that His commandment is life everlasting. I've sometimes said, God will never ask us to do anything as believers, that He hasn't given us a life that delights in doing that very thing.
Now that's what the law did not do. The law gave commandments.
But it says, if there had been a law given which could have given life, then verily righteousness had been by the law.
So God made known his demands for man brought, in a certain sense, a people into association.
With himself. But unless they possessed a new life they couldn't enjoy.
Doing those things that were pleasing to him, but now in Christianity.
The Lord has saved us and he's given us a life and nature that delights in pleasing him. It's the very life of Christ. And we read a verse sometimes and the enemy says, oh, it would be hard to carry that out. And God says, Oh no, the life I've given you once to carry it out is capable of carrying it out, desires to carry it out. His commandment is life everlasting. And this is fellowship. This is communion.
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May I also mention John 17 where it says?
And this is life everlasting, life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God.
And Jesus Christ, whom thou ascent, many think of life eternal.
As simply a life that exists forever. Well, even the lost will exist forever, but they'll never possess everlasting life. But what you and I possess is a life by which we can hold fellowship with God as our Father, enjoy doing the things that are pleasing to him. And just as the Lord Jesus found his delight and joy in doing what was pleasing to his Father, he says, I've given you that life. And when I when I ask you to do something, you possess the life that delights to do it.
And we see too in the.
What follows how that these were being brought to glory, the many sons who have been Speaking of their being associated with Christ. But we have the condition in which they were. We know it was our condition as those who had the sentence of death upon us, and death was that which was before. Man is appointed unto men who wants to die, and no doubt Satan would.
That as bringing souls under ******* and not only that but we see 2IN verse 17 that we were guilty and so there had to be a propitiation made for our sins. We run into under ******* in regard to death and we were guilty in regard to our sins before God and so the Lord Jesus.
Comes into that.
Becomes a man in this world.
Taking upon him flesh, blood and flesh, in order that he might.
Deliver us from that condition of ******* the fear of death, and then to remove those sins from before the eye of a holy and a righteous God to make propitiation. Now you notice I changed the word in verse 17, the end of verse 17. It says to make reconciliation in the King James, but the word properly is propitiation to make propitiation for the sins reconciliation doesn't have.
Reference to dealing with sins. Persons are reconciled. We are reconciled.
And things are reconciled, but sins propitiation that is rendering satisfaction to God for those sins paying the penalty. And also we might just mention in verse 16 that the reading should be it doesn't refer to the incarnation there the words, the nature should be left out.
Verily he layeth not hold of angels, but he layeth hold of the seed of Abraham.
It doesn't refer, it's the IT has reference to His undertaking the cause of man who lay under the sentence of death and in a condition of being guilty before God, and he comes down. It takes a flesh and blood in order to meet that condition and state in which we were found, that He might bring us as many sons to the glory.
Would it be because of the fact that Abraham is the father of the faithful that it says in that 16th verse, but he took on him the seed of Abraham instead of saying the seed of Adam?
Would that be the reason?
And I suppose too, he's writing to these Hebrews and you know, they made the claim once to the Lord Jesus that they were the seed of Abraham. Well, perhaps in the physical sense, they were descendants of Abraham, but they didn't have the faith of Abraham. They weren't doing the works of Abraham so that perhaps it would be a reminder that that Abraham is the father of the faithful and to be the true seed of Abraham.
Would be those who had true faith.
Not just like in the John 8 when they said we we had the seed of Abraham.
Think of all that's embraced in the 14th verse.
We rather spoke as we opened our reading today of.
The one who would relate to man giving a likeness of one who would relate to a family becoming a family, and we think of how a divine purpose.
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Was embraced in the Councils of Eternity.
That.
God himself and the person of the Son should take on Him.
The form of man. And so we have that thought brought before us. We want to enlarge on it because we've already spoken of it. But I wonder if that He would in grace condescend to that place.
The likeness of sinful flesh. It wasn't sinful flesh, but in the likeness.
But then.
It's not only relating to man and bringing communion to man, but the ultimate objective of this transition, divinely done.
Is expressed in the in the latter part of this 14th verse that through death.
He might destroy him that had the power of death.
So we would say that.
The prime, the wonderful, the divine purpose.
Underlying all in our Savior, taking the form of man and becoming man in the flesh.
Was death because as God spirit God he could not die, but death was required that our sins.
Might be atoned for and taken care of. So he took that place. He came as the one who alone could do it and.
I wonders when all is said and done to say, well here was the prime objective.
There's an extremely solemn.
Statement there in Acts chapter 3, Brother Gill that comes to my attention.
Peter here in laying this charge heavily upon the nation in Acts chapter 3 and verse 15, he says and have killed the Prince of light or as the margin reads, the author of life. It's the same thought, the same word that we have as the captain of our salvation. I think one of the writers says that there's only three places where we have this word.
Here in this 15th verse of Acts 3, and also in our portion in Hebrews 2, and also in Hebrews 12, where it says He's the author or the originator of faith. But to me this is a very solemn charge that Peter lays upon them.
That they killed the originator, the author of life. How solemn that is to think of it.
Seems to me a wonderful thing too, as Speaking of that 16th verse, He took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham, as it's been remarked the other translation. He didn't lay upon the hand of his, put his hand upon the angels, but upon men. And when we stopped to think of it, there were many angels who had fallen. There is no gospel preached to the angels, those the angels who sinned.
Are going to be punished with eternal punishment away from God.
And there's no offer of salvation to them at all. But what a marvelous thing that God should have shown his delight in man.
We think of all the rebellion that man has shown against God, his awful course of history preceding the time the Lord Jesus came for, so 4000 years in his open rebellion against God, and finally, as you remark, taking the very originator of life and putting him on a cross. But God laid hold on man, guilty man, and he is going to fill heaven with redeemed men.
Angels who have never fallen will be there to praise Him for his greatness and power.
But there will be no redeemed angels there. Those who sin don't have the offer of pardon. People talk as though God were under some kind of obligation to offer a pardon to man. Oh, brethren, let us think how wonderful it is. He did offer us a pardon at all. We didn't deserve it, and He has. He's more than offered us a pardon. He has brought us into this wonderful place of association.
So that God becomes a man, lays hold upon the seed of Abraham becomes a man.
And now identifies with himself, not redeemed angels. There is no such thing but.
Those from fallen humanity to be in that place of nearness with himself.
And that which is Satan was able to bring in, in his attempt to ruin the human race, the Lord Jesus goes into death. And by the very sword that Satan had used, if I can speak that way, he destroys the power of Satan. Just as David. He went out to meet the giant. And how did he slay the giant? With his own sword? And so the Lord Jesus came. And what was Satan's sword? It was death. He had succeeded in bringing death by.
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Man to listen to him in the garden, and the Lord goes into death, and the very instrument he used becomes the very means by which He accomplishes that work that can bring us into blessing. Surely, as we think of this, it ought to fill our souls with praise that He should visit, redeem, visit man, I should say, and take from among man those who would be brought into blessing and in association with the one who became a man, not an Angel, but became a man.
To enjoy with us that place for all eternity.
He shall see of the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied. I suppose they could say that there were three purposes in the coming to earth of the Son of God. First, to die for the glory of God.
Secondly, to redeem man, and thirdly, as we have in.
This end of the 14th verse they might destroy him that had the power.
Of death, that is the devil.