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Well, it's good to see so many of you back. All of you have started school now, that's correct.! Anyone not started school yet? Okay, no, you're just kidding. Okay, so everyone's, are you joking? Okay, yeah, that's what I thought.
Alright, everyone's back in school. Last night I had the privilege of going to Southwest Covenant to watch Union City play against Southwest Covenant. Really, in my mind, it was Colson versus Trace, and I cheered for both equally.
So, Trace's team won, Colson had more points, so trade-off. No offense, Trace. Colson had 19, so he scored well.
It's good to see you guys back. We're going through Hebrews this semester. Our title for this series is Jesus over everything. Jesus is supreme over absolutely everything that's been created, over everything you could do with your life.
Jesus is better. Jesus is over everything. And as we think about life today, there are a lot of messages that you can basically ignore and still be totally fine.
Okay, one of these things is warning labels. So, warning labels are good, they're helpful. I was digging through a cabinet in our house earlier this week, and on Tylenol, which a lot of you probably have at your house, it says, do not consume Tylenol if you've consumed three or more alcoholic beverages in 24 hours.
So then I'm like, no, I'm just kidding. I don't drink. That's something I don't have to try to avoid. That's just something that through the natural course of life, I don't need that warning in my life.
Also in our cabinet, there was nail polish remover, and it said, do not use next to an open flame. And I've never used nail polish remover, but I've never sat by an open flame and had the urge to paint my nails or remove paint from my nails or whatever.
So, you know, these are warnings that you can basically ignore and still be totally fine. Another one is the terms and conditions on your phone. That's a lie we've all told when we check the box.
I have read and agreed to the terms and conditions. No one reads those. There are also messages that you can ignore, but only at your own risk. Maybe you'll get away with it, maybe not by ignoring these messages.
One of those things would be stop signs. Maybe you can get away with it. Maybe you'll get in a wreck. Maybe the police will see you and give you a ticket. Speed limit signs. Also this way.
Maybe you'll get away with it, maybe not. Text from your mom. Ignore it. Maybe get away with it, but probably not. What we see from the book of Hebrews is the gospel is not one of these messages we can ignore.
The gospel is not a message that you can just listen to and walk the other way without consequence. The gospel is not something you can take or leave. The gospel is not something you can ignore and maybe get away with it.
Now it's not to say that if you don't believe the gospel that your life is going to be shorter than everyone else is or that your life is going to be more miserable or whatever. You may have a fine life here on earth.
But it does mean that if you ignore the gospel, this life on earth is the only heaven you will ever know. This life with all of its brokenness and darkness and difficulties and trials is the best place you will ever live if you ignore the gospel.
Because according to the Bible, if you ignore the gospel, if you reject Jesus Christ, you will die in your sins and suffer under God's wrath in hell. The gospel is not a message you can ignore.
The gospel is not something you can get away with rejecting. And the author of the book of Hebrews is still urging us to view Jesus as superior to the angels, as greater than these heavenly creatures ever could be.
And he started this argument in chapter 1, and he backed it up by quoting the Old Testament seven times to show that Jesus is better than the angels. But what was his point?
Why was he spending so much time talking about Jesus being greater than the angels? And now this evening in chapter 2, the author of Hebrews urges us to pay the closest attention to the message declared through Jesus.
We must pay attention to Jesus. And we'll cover chapter 2 in two sections. Number 1 is Jesus is King. Jesus is King.
And we see this in verses 1 through 9. And I'll read verses 1 through 4 for us to get us started. This is the first of several warning passages that are in the book of Hebrews.
Chapter 2 verse 1 says, Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
The author of Hebrews warns us of the danger of drifting away from Jesus. This spiritual drift is a dangerous and life-threatening condition, and the most dangerous thing about it is it's almost impossible to see.
Until one day you look up and you've drifted so far off course, you don't know how to get back. And this spiritual drift is something that, it's the story of many churches, many denominations, which are groups of churches, and many individual families and individual Christians, if I ask the senior class, can they think of anyone who used to be a part of our youth group who's now disappeared?
There'd be plenty of people they could think of. People that were once claiming the name of Christ, people who once came to elevate every week, who were here to listen to God's word, who have now just drifted off, and don't claim the name of Christ.
This is a very real danger, and it's sad how common it is in churches today. So how can we resist this drift? How can you, as someone who wants to follow Christ, how can you resist drifting away from him?
How can you resist missing the point of what the gospel says? Yes, pay much closer attention to what you have heard.
The author of Hebrews gives this as the cure for spiritual drifting. Pay much closer attention to what you have heard. And in the Christian life, you are either listening to Christ and walking in his word, or you are drifting away.
There is no middle ground. Are you listening and obeying the voice of Jesus, or are you drifting? We must listen to what he says, and good listening involves more than just hearing.
It involves the heart. We must listen in order to obey. We must listen to fear and love God as he says in his word. And how is it that you grow as a Christian?
How is it that you avoid this spiritual drift and grow as a Christian? Well, good news for us is that growth in Christianity is not like the secret Krabby Patty formula for Krabby Patty lovers.
We are sanctified through God's word. We are made more holy by listening and reading God's word. We are made more like Jesus by seeking to obey what he says.
Jesus prayed to his father and said, he prayed for God to sanctify all of his followers, to sanctify them in the truth. And he said, your word is truth. How we grow as Christians comes through reading and intaking God's word.
And so we avoid spiritual drift by dropping our anchors in the deep waters of God's word, and we will not be moved. Pay close attention to what God's word says.
Because, verse 2, the message that was declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution.
What is this message declared by angels? Well, the Jews believed that in the Old Testament, when Moses went up on Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments, you saw, the Jews saw a storm, basically.
Dark clouds, loud wind, fire, all kinds of thunder and lightning flashing around this mountain, revealing the presence of the Lord. And the Jews understood this as God's angels delivering the covenant to Moses.
God speaking to Moses through his angels. And if you look, interestingly, back at last week, verse 7, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire.
And so, the author of Hebrews is saying that if that covenant that was delivered through angels received, it gave exact punishment for sins that were committed. It gave exact wrath of God on the people who committed these sins.
And Jesus is greater than those angels. How much greater will the punishment be if you fail to listen to Christ? If you reject and ignore Jesus, there is no hope.
Verse 3, How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? The gospel of Jesus Christ is God's final word.
And if you reject that final word, it will lead to final judgment. There is no escape from God's wrath if you refuse to believe in Jesus.
You will receive a just penalty for all sins you have committed. And so, how is this message more excellent? Like, it's spoken through Jesus. We get that from chapter 1, verse 2.
But what qualities does this gospel message have that set it apart from the other messages that are going on in our world today in this message of the Old Testament? Well, the author of Hebrews gives us four reasons why it's better.
It was declared at first by the Lord. That's Jesus himself. And if you read about his ministry, when he first showed up on the scene, he began to preach.
He began to preach the gospel, which began with the message of repentance. Turn from your sin. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
And in addition to Jesus proclaiming this message, it was attested to us by those who heard. And so the apostles also were sent out to proclaim this gospel message.
And God himself, God the Father, was also bearing witness about this message in verse 4. God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
So God bore witness by signs and wonders and miracles, and the Holy Spirit bears witness by gifts given according to his will. And we see something interesting here.
We see that miracles and signs and wonders have a very specific purpose. There are churches today, even in Mustang, that will claim to perform miracles and signs and wonders even on a weekly basis.
But what's the function of a miracle? Well, what's the function of these signs and wonders that we see in Acts where the apostles are able to heal people? What is the purpose of those things?
It's to point them to Christ. To point them to the truth of the gospel message. To give them a platform to preach the gospel. And so miracles aren't to be sought out.
They are not the end in themselves. They point us beyond themselves to the truth of who Jesus is. And the Holy Spirit distributed gifts according to his will.
Spiritual gifts are intended to show the truthfulness of the gospel and to build up the church. And so if you're saved, you have spiritual gifts.
You can serve the church. You can encourage the church. You can build the church up. They're not intended to prop you up as talented or for us to look at you as someone to be jealous of.
But the gifts are intended to build up the church and show that the gospel is true. And so for all these reasons, Jesus deserves and demands to be heard.
And in verses 5 through 9, the author continues on this line of thinking that Jesus is better than the angels. And once again, he quotes the Old Testament for us, this time from Psalm 8.
And in verse 5, he says, For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, what is man that you are mindful of him?
Or the son of man that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.
All right, this is about to get really deep for a second, okay? Because what the author of Hebrews is doing here is pretty complex. So he's quoting from Psalm 8. And when he says in verse 6, it's been testified somewhere.
We don't want to read this and be like, okay, the author of Hebrews, you know, it's like that Bible verse you know, but you don't know where it comes from. You're like, I read this in the Bible somewhere. The author of Hebrews is not talking like that.
He knows exactly where this is found. He knows precisely how to quote this at length. What he's meaning is the important thing is that God is speaking through these words. God has testified about this.
And this quote in Psalm 8, it was written by David, and it's about mankind in general. And so he's saying, what is man that you are mindful of him?
You know, when we consider the stars and the planets that exist out there, what are we that God pays attention to us? This is the question that David is asking.
And he shows, David shows what mankind's destiny is. We were created to be kings. We were created to rule over the earth. And so David is stepping back and saying, this is what Adam and Eve were created as in Genesis.
They were created to rule over God's creation. But sin has come into the world and ruined that reign. And David is also speaking as a son of God, as the king of Israel, saying this is my destiny as a son of God, is to rule and to reign not only over Israel, but you've created mankind to rule over everything that you have made.
And the author of Hebrews is quoting this psalm, saying this is ultimately about Christ. This is ultimately about Jesus, who is the ultimate Adam, who is the descendant of David.
And so he unpacks this in verse 8. Now, in putting everything in subjection to him, that is to Jesus, he left nothing outside his control.
And so what the author of Hebrews is saying is that Jesus, because of his death and resurrection, has now been exalted to the right hand of God. We read that in chapter 1, and Kagan read that for us earlier. He's been exalted.
He's on the throne. He's been crowned with glory and honor. Everything has been put under his feet. He is the ruler over everything. But why is our world in so much trouble?
Why is it that chaos marks the streets of our country? Why is it that we still have sin in our lives? Why is it that the universe seems to be just out of control sometimes?
Why is it, if Christ is really ruling over everything, why do we not see righteousness in our world? Well, this is something that in the Bible is called the already and the not yet.
Christ is already the king. But his kingdom has not yet fully come. He is the king.
He has been coronated. He has been crowned. He is sitting at the right hand of his father's majesty. But he has not yet received all of the glory that he one day will.
And so the author of Hebrews is explaining this. Nothing is outside of Christ's control. He is over everything. But at present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
We do not yet see the fulfillment of this activity. We do not yet see the accomplishment of Christ reigning over the entire earth and bringing peace to everyone.
Verse 9, We do not yet see the one who will fulfill those promises.
We do not yet see all of these promises being fulfilled in our life. But we do see the one who will fulfill those promises.
But we do not yet see the new heavens and the new earth. We do not yet see sin being expelled from our world. But we see Jesus who will accomplish those things.
We do see him and he has been crowned with glory and honor by God himself. And it says he was for a little while made lower than the angels.
What the Bible teaches about Jesus is that he as the Son of God has always existed. We believe in a triune God. We believe in the Trinity that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
They've existed for all eternity. And yet at a point in time, Jesus became a man. Jesus was born.
And for his time on earth, he was made lower than the angels. But now he's been exalted above them. He's been exalted over them. Everything's been put in subjection under his feet.
He's been crowned with glory and honor. Why has he been exalted? Why does he receive this honor? Because of the suffering of death. So that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.
The reason he's been exalted. The reason he's been crowned with glory and honor. The reason he is everything Adam was supposed to be is because he suffered.
But he didn't just suffer in general. He suffered for his people. It says he suffered for everyone.
His suffering was redemptive. Now does this mean that everyone will be saved? Does this mean that Jesus died in the place of everyone? No. As we'll see, he died to bring sons to glory.
He died for the people that God gave him. But he died in their place. He died to pay the price that was owed them because of their sin.
And so what we see is that as David reflects on Genesis 1 and 2 about the first Adam, we see the first Adam plunged humanity into death. And Jesus, as the last Adam, plunged into death to save humanity.
In order to save us from the curse, he took the curse on himself. And because of this suffering, he's been exalted to the place of all authority, even over the angels.
Even though he was made lower than the angels for a short time, he was exalted above them. Jesus is king. Jesus is on his throne. And secondly, we see that Jesus is priest.
Jesus is priest. And we see this in verses 10 through 18. And so the first half of Hebrews 2 says that Jesus would taste death for everyone.
And that brings us salvation. That shows his greatness over the angels. And now this second half of Hebrews chapter 2 kind of unpacks what that means. It explains what it means that Jesus tasted death for everyone.
It tells us what that means. Verse 10. For it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist in bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
The Bible says it was fitting that Jesus would die in the place of his people. And it gets a little tricky here because it says it was fitting that he, and this he, is the one for whom and by whom all things exist.
And as we think about this, the author of Hebrews has already described Jesus in terms like this. But here he's actually talking about God the Father. God the Father is the one for whom and by whom all things exist.
And it was fitting that he made Jesus perfect through this suffering. And so God is the one in Jesus' life who's bringing many sons to glory.
God the Father is the one who sent Jesus the Son to die for the sins of his people. God the Father is the one who initiated this plan of salvation. And it was his idea to bring many sons to glory through the suffering of his Son.
And I think sometimes, if we're not careful, we can have a view of God the Father that is less than fatherly. We can view God the Father as stern and angry against sin, and he does hate sin.
And we can view Jesus as trying to persuade God the Father to save anyone. We can view Jesus as trying to soften up the Father a little bit just so he'll save his people.
And while the Bible does tell us that God hates sin, and God is angry with the wicked, the Bible also tells us that salvation was the Father's idea.
Salvation was God's idea. It is not the Son trying to persuade him and trying to turn his will to save his people. It is God the Father who is bringing many sons to glory by sending his Son to suffer and die.
And it might make us a little uncomfortable that it says that God the Father made Jesus perfect through suffering.
How did the Father make Jesus perfect? Wasn't Jesus always perfect? Wasn't Jesus always sinless? Yes. So how was he made perfect?
When we're thinking about this, we're not thinking morally. So it's not like Jesus was a sinful guy and then God made him perfect. Jesus has never sinned. But Jesus was made the perfect priest.
He was made the perfect Savior through what he suffered. And it calls him the founder of our salvation. This word founder is literally like pioneer, this leader.
He's the one who purchased salvation for us. He's the one who goes before us through the heavenly places to open up the way into God's presence. And he was made the perfect Savior through his suffering.
Verse 11, for he who sanctifies, that's Jesus, and those who are sanctified all have one source. Jesus sanctifies us.
We as his people are sanctified. And we all have one source. We are all one. Meaning we're united in the Father. The Son comes forth from the Father to save his people.
And he brings us back to the Father as sons of glory. And so what we see is that the Son of God became a man in order that men might become sons of God.
He gave his life to save his people. And so because we share this one source in the Father, that is why he, that's Jesus, is not ashamed to call them brothers.
And when you read in the Bible and it mentions brothers or sons and you're a girl, don't think like, ah, man, can't get saved. This is gender inclusive language.
They would refer to brothers or sons as representative of the Christians who were there. It would be like us saying mankind doesn't just include those who are males. Okay?
So, you ladies, if you're saved, are included in the sons of glory that it speaks about. You're included in this brotherhood that is spoken of here.
And this is a fascinating thing. Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers. How many times are we ashamed of Jesus?
How many times have we kept our mouths shut because we really care more about what this person thinks about us than what Jesus tells us to do?
And how many times are we unworthy of the salvation that Jesus has purchased for us? How many times have we sinned today? How many times have we sinned today?
And if you're a believer, Jesus is not ashamed of you. Jesus died for your sins. Jesus paid for your sins.
He loves you. Now, that doesn't mean that we just go out and sin as much as possible. We want to be like him. We want to show our love for him.
And he is not ashamed to call them brothers. And he quotes from three different verses in the Old Testament now. And what's interesting is that if you read these verses in the Old Testament context in which they appear, Jesus is not mentioned.
And yet here it's him that is speaking. These words are on Jesus' lips. The author of Hebrews says, Jesus says, I will tell of your name to my brothers.
In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise. This comes from Psalm 22, which is about the suffering of Christ. And so Jesus, after he has suffered, invites his brothers to join the celebration of his victory, of his redemption.
And the next two quotes actually come from Isaiah 8. These verses are back to back in Isaiah 8. Verse 13, And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children God has given me.
And so in Isaiah 8, Isaiah is trying to speak to the king. King Ahaz is being unfaithful. And Isaiah has a message from God. And he names his kids things that are messages for the king.
So he names his boys. You may have heard someone with this name. Mehershelal Hashbaz. Anyone heard that? No? Okay. The other one, maybe more popular, Shier Yashuv.
Anyone heard of? Okay. No. Okay. That's your dad's name? Oh, nice. All right. So Isaiah names his sons these two strange names. Mehershelal Hashbaz basically means like, hey, you guys are going to get killed, more or less.
And then Shier Yashuv means that a remnant will return. And so Isaiah is saying, my children are standing as signs to the nation of Israel. They're standing as messengers to Israel about what will happen to you.
And now the author of Hebrews is saying, Jesus is saying these things. I and the children God has given me.
And it's interesting that Jesus refers to his followers as children that God gave him.
How does someone get saved? They get saved by God opening their heart. They're saved because the Father gives them to the Son.
We are not saved ultimately by anything we do. We are not saved by works we perform in order to earn God's favor. We are saved as a gift from the Father to the Son.
Who suffered in the place of his people. And so how did Jesus accomplish this? We know he died. We know he became a man and rose again.
But why did it go down this way? Why did it happen like this? Verse 14. Since therefore the children, that is the followers of Christ.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood. Meaning we've got flesh and blood, right? We're embodied people. He himself, Jesus, likewise partook of the same things.
Of flesh and blood. So that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death. That is the devil. And so in order to save humanity, Jesus became human.
He was made of the same flesh and blood that you and I are. He experienced the same kinds of suffering that we experience. He experienced the same kinds of temptations that we experience every day.
Yet he was completely without sin. In the gospel, in the Christmas story, the infinite one became an infant. The eternal one took on temporality.
Though he was the creator of the universe, he now experienced hunger and pain. He was tired. He slept. He ate. He drank. He partook of the same things. As verse 14 says, all of this to save his people.
All of this to bring many sons to glory. Jesus did this in order to destroy two very powerful enemies. He did this to destroy death and the devil.
Death and the devil. And as you think about death, it's something we can't escape. Maybe you've had a family member you've lost to death.
Maybe you've heard of someone dying and contemplated your own end of days. Death is a reality we have to face.
And if you're outside of Christ, death is not just a future that is waiting for you. Death is actually a power that's ruling over you. Death is a result of sin. Death is a result of sin. And why is it that we die?
Why do we die? Death, according to the Bible, is a result of sin against God. And so how do you defeat death? Well, the only way to defeat death is if you defeat sin.
Death is a result of sin. And so if you want to conquer death, you have to conquer sin. And so Jesus had to conquer sin. If Jesus did not pay for sin, then he did not defeat death, which is caused by sin.
And so our only hope of a sinless eternity in heaven is that Jesus dealt with sin on the cross. And there are many today who would call themselves Christians who will look at Jesus' death on the cross and say, you know, if you think that God the Father sent God the Son to die on the cross, that's not Christianity.
That's cosmic child abuse. That's what people will say. They'll say, Jesus was maybe an example for us. He was a prophet. He died a martyr.
He was an example of what faithful death looks like. But he didn't die in our place. That's grotesque. That's brutal. No. But the Bible says that's the gospel.
The Bible says that's the good news. That Jesus died in the place of his people. Because of your sins and my sins, we deserve to die and go to hell under God's wrath because we've rebelled against him.
And so if we're going to be set free from that, payment has to be made. And Jesus has offered that payment. He became a man to represent us.
And he became a perfect man in order to perfectly atone for our sins as God. And he now is our high priest.
He's defeated death. And he has defeated the one who has power over death, which is the devil. The devil is the one who enticed humanity into sin to begin with.
He is a dark force that has influence over our world. He should not be messed with or used as a form of entertainment. The devil and his demons are real and powerful.
But they are defeated through Christ. Christ came to destroy his work. Christ came to vanquish the devil ultimately.
And we as Christians, we should not minimize the devil as if he doesn't exist. But we also should not maximize him. As you know, I stubbed my toe. Satan just was really spiritual warfare was intense this morning.
We shouldn't do either one of those things. But we do need to have a realistic view of the power he has. And the fact that he's been defeated by Christ shows that Jesus truly is the king.
Jesus truly is powerful over everything and everyone. How is it that he overcomes death? By dying. How is it that he defeats the one who has the power of death?
By rising again. By coming through the other side of the grave. Christ has overcome the curse by taking the curse on himself. In verse 16.
Well, the end of verse 15. This delivers people who are subjected to slavery. Outside of Christ, we are dead in our sins and enslaved to our sin.
And so look at this. In Psalm 8, David speaks of mankind. What we were created for was to rule and to reign over God's creation. What have we become? Slaves.
Slaves to sin. And Christ has come to deliver us and set us free from that slavery. In verse 16.
For surely it is not angels that he helps. But he helps the offspring of Abraham. Jesus did not take the form of an angel to save the angels.
Jesus became a man to save humanity. Jesus came to save his people. The descendants of Abraham. All of those who by faith believe in the promises that God has given.
Verse 17. And therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect. One question I hear a lot from scoffers that has been asked of me even.
Is surely there was another way. If God really wanted to forgive sin and he's all powerful. He could have just snapped his fingers and forgiven sin. But Hebrews 2 says that Jesus had to be made like us.
Jesus had to die in our place. So that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God. To make propitiation for the sins of his people.
Because Jesus suffered. He is able to comfort us in our suffering. Because Jesus has experienced temptation. He is able to help us in our temptations.
And Jesus knows far more about the power of temptation than we ever will. Because he did not sin. If we think about Jesus' perfection. I think we can often look at him and say, Well yeah, I mean, he was the son of God.
Like, he doesn't really know what temptation is like. He doesn't know what my temptation to sin is like. But Jesus knows the fullest extent of temptation's power. Because he never gave in.
Alright, so think about this. It's kind of cold outside. It's going to get really cold on Monday. I heard the high is like 8. And the low, 10, thank you. And the low is minus 1 or whatever.
So really cold. So imagine, I take two of you. Name your two. Not literally. And I say, Okay, getting shorts and a t-shirt. One of you is going to go outside for 10 minutes.
And come back in. The other one is going to stay outside for 10 hours. And then come back in. Are both people going to get cold? Yes. Someone said no.
Yes, you will get cold. But which person will know the fullest extent of how cold it is? The one that's still alive. Good point. But the one that stayed out there longer will know how cold it actually is.
If they survive. God rest their soul, maybe. And so Jesus knows how powerful temptation is. He endured it to the end.
He never gave in. He never quit. He never succumbed to the power of temptation. And because he is aware of the fullest extent of temptation, he is able to help us in our temptation.
And all of this was to propitiate our sins. To propitiate God's wrath. To make propitiation for the sins of the people. He came to make a payment for sin.
Propitiation is a big word, but it means to satisfy God's wrath. To wipe away sin and to fully satisfy the wrath of God. This is why Jesus came.
Verse 18. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Christ has suffered in every way.
And because of that, he's able to comfort us at all times and in any circumstance. No one can pray to Jesus and legitimately say, you don't know what I'm going through.
Jesus has suffered. And Jesus is able to help you in any time of need. And so this is a look at the gospel. Jesus died on the cross for sinners.
So that we as sinners can go free. If we turn from our sin and believe in Jesus, he has offered a payment for our sins. So that we can become sons and daughters of glory.
No longer slaves that shrink back in fear, but sons and daughters who approach the throne of our Father with confidence and joy and boldness because Jesus has died and risen.
And we see from this passage that Jesus came to suffer for us. He came to sanctify us. He came to set us free. He came to save us. And he came and he can sympathize with us.
He is the author of life, but he experienced weeping at a friend's grave. He is the bread of life, but he felt hunger pains. The thorns, which are the sign and symbol of the curse, were jammed into his skull.
The hands that wove creation together were nailed to a cross. He can relate to our suffering. He is able to gently lead us through this life because he himself has been tempted like we are.
Our God, our Savior, is not someone who is powerful and in control, but unloving. He knows where we hurt.
He knows where we are weak. He knows where we are suffering because he has experienced the same kinds of temptations. We must draw near to him.
We must come close to him in our moments of weakness and temptation. And we know that even in our weakest moments as followers of Christ, even then, verse 11 is true.
He is not ashamed to call us brothers. He became like us and experienced temptation and weakness in order to deliver us so that we can overcome our temptation and weakness.
And so let us not carelessly drift away from the gospel. Let us not carelessly avoid obedience to Jesus. Let us not miss the point of why Jesus came and find ourselves receiving the wrath of God for all eternity.
Let us pay very careful attention to what Jesus said. Let us pay the closest attention to what Jesus was and what he accomplished through his death and resurrection.
because if we ignore him, if we fail to be obedient to him, there will be no escape from his wrath. Father, we thank you for elevate this evening and being able to gather together to hear your word.
And Father, as we contemplate this message that was given through your son, I pray that we would not drift away from it. I pray for those of us who are suffering through trials and difficulties, I pray for those of us who are struggling with sin that we would remember the sufferings of Jesus and we would look to him now as the risen one, knowing that where he is, we will be with him because he died in our place.
And Father, help us to see your love for your people in sending your son to suffer a gruesome death under your wrath and help us be thankful for Jesus and to follow him with our lives.
And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. All right, love you guys.