And turn with me in God's Word, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 1, Hebrews chapter 1, we're going to read the first four verses of Hebrews chapter 1, and then we're going to read all of Hebrews chapter 2, and then once you've found that, if you would turn in the back of your Psalter hymnal to page 20 we're going to be considering from the catechism from Lord's Day 13 and 14 as we consider the word so when you find page 20 in the back of the Psalter hymnal I'm going to read the catechism first and then we'll go to God's word I know that that might be a little out of order but after this I go back to LA so there's no one who can punish me for it. But the real reason I want to do that is because I want to read the Catechism and consider what it has to say, but as we'll be considering from God's Word, we want to read God's Word last so it'll be fresh in our minds when we begin to consider it together. So we're going to read from Lord's Day 13, question 33, 34, and 35. And since there's a lot there, I'm just going to read. So if you would follow along as I read, I think it'll be helpful for us. So the catechism asks the question, question 33, why is he called God's only begotten son when we also are God's children? And the answer is because Christ alone is the eternal, natural son of God. We, however, are adopted children of God, adopted by grace through Christ. Question 34 asks, why do you call him our Lord? Because not with gold or silver but with his precious blood he has set us free from sin and from the tyranny of the devil and has bought us body and soul to be his very own. And question 35 asks, what does it mean that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary? And the answer that the eternal Son of God who is and remains true and eternal God took to Himself through the working of the Holy Spirit from the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary a truly human nature so that He might become David's true descendant in all things like us His brothers except for sin. And if you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. We'll read the first four verses and then skip down to chapter 2, reading all of chapter 2. And let us pay careful attention, for this is God's own word. In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. So He became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs. And then skipping down to chapter 2. We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. It is not angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet. In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present, we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, I will declare your name to my brothers in the presence of the congregation. I will sing your praises. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again He says, Here am I and the children God has given me. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. Thus far, the reading of God's word, may he bless it to us. Well, this evening we want to consider the Jesus that we see. The Jesus that we see in this text. The Jesus that the author of Hebrews can talk about and say, we see Jesus and this great salvation that is provided for us in him. One of the great advantages of the catechism is that once a year takes us through all the important things we need to know about Jesus. All the important things that He has done. All the important things that He is. And this particular passage of Scripture captures so much of who Jesus is that we can use it for all of those catechism questions. That this text talks about the deity of Christ. This text talks about how we are adopted as children of God. So that He is the only begotten Son of God, the only natural Son of God, but that we too are children of God. We too belong to that family. It touches on the fact that Jesus is Lord because He has ransomed us from the power of the devil. And He paid not with gold or silver, but with His precious blood poured out for us. And that's why we call Him Lord. And that He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. made man indeed our passage tells us he had to be made man in order to be a savior for us this passage tells us a lot about the jesus we see in the first place we see the jesus who is the speaking son the speaking son who is speaking to his people we see the jesus who is the incarnate savior come to save his people and we see the jesus who is the reigning lord continuing to help and support His people. And that's what we want to consider tonight. The Jesus we see who is, first and foremost, the speaking Son. That is how He is presented to us in Scripture. That is how He is presented to us at the beginning of Hebrews. You'll notice that the writer of Hebrews spares not a moment to get into talking about this Word that has come to us from the Son of God. There aren't the greetings that you typically find in a letter. This is a sermon that sort of skips the introduction and gets right to the main point. Let's us know that something important is happening. As important as it has been in the past that the prophets have been speaking to God's people. As important as it was in the past that God spoke to His people by the angels. There is something new happening now. Something important happening now that God is speaking to us by His Son. The son who has been looked for by the people of God. The reason we're singing from Psalm 2 is because Psalm 2 points out that God has appointed him heir of all things. That his son will be appointed as heir. Psalm 2 verses 7 and 8 say, I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son. Today I have become your father. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession. The writer of Hebrews says this is the Son who has been made heir. He has been appointed heir of all things. That one who was promised in Psalm 2 has come. Likewise, we see a reference to Psalm 110 where we read a well-known passage. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion and you will rule in the midst of your enemies. Well, Hebrews 1 talks about the one who is seated at the right hand of majesty on high. The one who has been seated. The one who is reigning. And this is all by way of saying, this is the one who the Psalms were looking to. This is the one who the prophets were looking to. This is the one who the angels were looking to. And now he has come. This son who has been appointed heir of all things, who reigns at the right hand of God. And it just heaps up the importance of who this one is who is coming to speak to His people. What else does the passage say about this Jesus who is coming? In verse 3 of Hebrews 1, the Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. This is the One through whom the world was made. He is the one who is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of his being, the one by whom all things are sustained. This is true and eternal God who has come. And he's come with a word. He has come to say something to his people. And the writer of Hebrews wants to talk so much about who he is so that when he says something, we're paying attention. It was important when prophets spoke. It was important when angels spoke. God has been speaking to his people in many ways, in many times, in many places. But this is something new. This is something different. This is something superior to that word that has come from any other place. So if the author of Hebrews is saying, Think carefully about who this is so that when he speaks, you don't miss it. He's come to say something important. And that's the thrust of how chapter 2 begins and proceeds. It reiterates the fact, don't miss what he says. What he says is important. Don't miss who he is so that you won't miss what he says. Look how chapter 2 begins. We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard so that we do not drift away. We haven't yet gotten to what he says, but the author is saying he's important. You have to listen to him, and there's a great cost in not listening to him. Because if you don't listen to him, if you neglect what he's come to say, you will drift away. Um, that's a, that's a image that's conjured up of boats attached to their moorings. And it's a way of saying, if you cut those ropes that attach you to the dock, if you cut those ropes that secure the boat, what happens to the boat? It begins to drift. Um, and that's such a great image because when you cut, when you cut the mooring ropes of a boat and it starts to drift, the minute you cut the ropes, you might not really see the drift. it might be subtle. It may look for all intents and purposes like the boat is still moored. And if we extend the imagery out, it's not until the seas start to roil that you really see how loose the ship is. Seeing some of the imagery of the hurricane, you see ships blown up on the coast. That's what's happened to ships that have drifted away, that have cut loose from their moorings, that have lost their center, lost their security. And what Hebrews is telling us right out of the gate is, the one who is speaking, this is important. Don't neglect it. Because if you neglect it, you begin to drift away. And he goes on to say, if the message delivered by angels was important, how much more important is the message who comes with the one who made the angels, who sustains the angels by its power? who spoke the angels into existence. Well, what is he referring to? Well, the word brought by angels is the way they referred to the law delivered at Sinai in the Old Testament. That was how the law came to people through angels. That's what Paul says in Galatians 3.19. That's what Stephen says in Acts 7.38 and 39. That's the law that comes by angels. And the law is important. The law brought requirements. The law brought along punishments for disobedience. And the writer of Hebrews is saying, If that was so important and remains so important in the lives of God's people, how much more important is it then when the Son comes to speak? And how much worse will it be to neglect what the Son has to say? This message of salvation that He brings. The good news of the gospel that He brings. If you neglect it, you'll be cut loose from your moorings and won't there be a heavier penalty to be paid for those who neglect? and I think that one of the particular temptations we have as a reformed people who presumably are going through the catechism regularly, who are regularly thinking about Jesus, thinking about the work that Jesus did, considering this great salvation, we can have a tendency to say, we know this. We're familiar with the salvation. We think about this every year when we go through the catechism. We think about what God did. We regularly preach Christ. We regularly preach what Christ came to do. what his death does for the people of God. We know these things. Shouldn't we be talking about those things that we don't know? Shouldn't we be covering other topics? Don't we have this one wired as Reformed people? And I think it's very interesting that the writer of Hebrews is not writing to people who haven't heard it before. He's writing to people who have heard it before. And he's emphasizing once again, it can't be neglected. You can't move away from it. It's not something that you hear and you learn and you move on. You have to stay attached to the Word or you lose your moorings and you drift away. You have to pay careful attention to what the Son is saying, the salvation about which He is speaking. And so, as the writer of Hebrews goes along, we ought to have our ears then turned and opened and ready to listen. What is this message of salvation? And the message of salvation is of the incarnate Savior who came into the world to save sinners. The one who came into the world to be made like us so that he could put an end to death. So that by his death, he could break the power of death. He had to be made like us. That's what verse 17 says. He had to be made like us. And to those who it would be inconceivable that God would become like us, he says, it's fitting. It's fitting that God would do this. It's fitting that God would work this way to work this salvation for His people. It's fitting. It's necessary. It's proper. Why? Because that was the only way He could do what He needed to come to do. was to be made like us, to be incarnate, and to be made like us in every way. And the wonderful message that Hebrews tells us is, in doing this, he made us part of his family. He took on our flesh and blood, and in doing so, he became like us in every way, became our family. It's amazing how many of those kind of family relationship terms are piled up in this text. his children, his sons, his family. He comes to us and he comes to be like us so that he can do for us what we need done for us. And then amazingly, the writer of Hebrews can say, and he's not ashamed of us. We all have people probably in our families, maybe most of us have people in our families, that we're ashamed of, that you maybe don't want in the family Christmas picture. that are not maybe the face that you like to see put on the family. We often call that the black sheep of the family. What Jesus is saying is he's not ashamed to be part of this family. And in case you missed the reference, we're the part of the black sheep of the family in this illustration. It's not someone else, it's us. There's every reason for him to be ashamed of us. But the amazing thing is he comes and says, I'm not ashamed to call them brothers. I'm not ashamed to be like them. I'm not ashamed to be part of that family. I will declare your praises to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praises. He's not ashamed. Why is he not ashamed? Because his Father loves us and has a purpose to save us. Because his Father loves us, Jesus loves us and will be made like us. He who is so far above all things, who is high and lifted up the maker of the heavens and the earth who everything was made through him and everything is sustained by him is not too ashamed to be made lower than the angels. To take on our flesh with its weakness and its difficulties. That's an amazing thing that Jesus is willing to do to become like us. to be the stuff of the dirt of the earth like we are and to be made like us in every way. He's not ashamed of that because he knows that's the only way that he can come to break the power of death. And that's crystallized for us in Hebrews as to what he has come to do. He's come to break the power of death. He's come to destroy him who holds the power of death, the devil. It puts a very fine point on what he has come to do. Now, how does the devil have the power of death? Has he always had the power of death? No, he picked it up when we gave it to him in the garden. When we disobeyed what God had told us to do, he acquired that power. And Jesus comes to take that power away. To say, you no longer have the power of death. And the reason he needs to break the power of death, break the one who holds the power of death, is because we are enslaved by fear. That the devil uses death as his henchmen to work fear among people so that you're afraid to die because you go to be with the devil. That's the fear that enslaves men. And what Jesus comes to do is he comes to destroy the one who has the power of death, to kick in his door, to tie him up, and to take what's his. That's the picture of Jesus that we have. The one who rescues the captive. Who takes what the devil has tried to take hostage and takes him away. He comes to free us. That's why we call him our Lord, the catechism says, because he has purchased us. He has ransomed us. He has bought us with his blood. He has paid for us and he has broken the power of death. And not only does he break the power of death over us and liberate us, but he makes us holy. He sanctifies us. He makes us better than what we were before. And he comes not only to break the power of death and to sanctify us, but that glorious word is that he's come to lead us to glory. He comes to lead many sons, and by implication daughters, to glory. that's what he comes to do. Not to take us part way. Not to break us out of the devil's clutches and then leave us on our own. He comes to bring us all the way to glory. He comes to finish death, put everything in submission under his feet, free us, carry us to glory, carry us to triumph with him so that we are a part of that. It's a glorious picture. It's no wonder that Hebrews describes us as such a great salvation. It's great from beginning to end. But then, of course, Hebrews brings up an interesting problem that we see. This salvation is so great. It's so complete. It's worked by Jesus. It's accomplished by Jesus. It's all done and finished. But why don't we see a world that looks like that's happened? Why do we have still a world where if Jesus has conquered and led triumphantly into glory, we still have a list of prayer requests to read. We still have a list of so many people in such trouble and difficulty. In some cases, fighting for their lives. Or those who have lost loved ones who continue to mourn those people that are gone. The writer of Hebrews is very honest when he says, everything is subjected under Christ's feet, even though we don't see it. even though we don't see everything in subjection under Him. But what does then the writer of Hebrews offer us? What do we see? We see Jesus. And how did Jesus go in His life? He was made little lower than the angels in heaven and was crowned with glory and honor. But it was fitting that God would perfect him through suffering, we're told. That's the way the world goes. That's the way the people of God go. We don't have to suffer, surely, what he had to suffer, but we still suffer in this world. But that's how we come to glory, is through our suffering. Through the suffering we pass into glory as Christ has. And so the author of Hebrews is saying, Look to Christ because He is a testimony that glory comes after suffering. That He doesn't fail to lead many sons to glory. That glory surely accompanies Him. That He will surely lead us there even though there is suffering that comes in this life. Even though this life can give every appearance that all things are not subjected to Him. The writer of Hebrews says, Look to Christ. He is testimony to the truth of the fact that you pass from suffering into glory and He will not fail to lead you there. And then until that time, He continues to be for us a reigning Lord who does reign and help us now. After saying all these wonderful things about who Jesus is and what He came to do, the writer of Hebrews says, and surely it's not angels He helps. It's the seed of Abraham He helps. It's us that He helps. He doesn't just pat us on the head and say, now's the time of suffering and I'm sorry about it, but there is glory coming afterwards so you can just kind of weather the storm. No, He's a God who helps us now. He's a God who continues to help us. He is the reigning Lord, but what the writer of Hebrews wants to particularly focus our attention on is that He is also a high priest who ministers for us. He is the faithful high priest. He is the merciful high priest. The high priest that has come. The catechism reminds us that the reason we call Jesus Lord is because He ransomed us and He ransomed us with His blood. We should be reminded that in the previous Lord's Day when we talked about Christ, the anointed, we talked about how Jesus was prophet, priest, and king. And that part of his priestly duties in this life, in this world, was to lay down his body as an offering for sin. To pay that price. To make atonement for our sins. And the writer of Hebrews says we have a Lord who is a merciful high priest. Now that's an unusual thing to say about a priest. We don't have a lot of descriptions of merciful priests. Why is Jesus unique in this office? Well, because His is a unique priesthood. It's unlike any priesthood that's come before in that the priest is God Himself. And God is a merciful God. And so His high priest is merciful. And the writer of Hebrews says, you know, it was necessary that He become like us so that He could minister to us in the way we need to be ministered to. He had to be made like us. To be a high priest for us. Because as he is, he is able to perfectly sympathize with what it is like to live life in this world. He knows exactly what it's like to be human. He knows what the human struggles are. And he has struggled human struggles worse than any of us have ever struggled in this life. So when he comes to us and says, I can help you because I know what it's like. Those are not false words. Those are not words with a lot of wealth of human experience behind them. And he can be a merciful high priest because he says, I know exactly how hard it is to live as a child of God in a sin-filled world. He is a merciful high priest, perfectly sympathetic to what we go through. But we're not just told that he's a merciful high priest, we're told that he is a faithful high priest. There's all sorts of ways you can talk about how Jesus was faithful. This particularly, I think, is focusing our attention on his faithfulness as a high priest. That he was faithful in his duties as a priest. And that is so important because what did we see him faithful in in his life? He laid down his life as a sacrifice for sin. That was how he showed himself to be a faithful high priest when he was in this world and now that he is in glory at the right hand of his Father he will continue to be a faithful priest interceding for the people of God. He will continue to be at the right hand of his Father pleading for what we need him to plead for us. That he will be there and will be able to help us. That if he was faithful in this life how much more is he faithful now? We have no doubt that He is a faithful high priest to us, continuing to minister, continuing to support us, continuing to plead before the right hand of His Father on our behalf. What a wonderful blessing to have a priest in heaven who is pleading for each and every one of us and who knows what we need and can help us when we need Him. That's the wonderful note on which our passage ends in chapter 2. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. He's able to help. He's done all that we needed him to do for us, and he continues to help us today. And the author of Hebrews says, don't forget that salvation. Don't fail to remind yourself of that salvation. Everything depends on that. Life flows from that. And if you don't have that, if you neglect that, you are doomed to drift away and to be the one who is tossed about to and fro by every wind of doctrine. And so I know that many of you have been brought up in Reformed families. Many of you have known your Reformed doctrine for a long time. And those of us who go that way can easily say at times, we know this. I know that. I don't need to be reminded of that. I'm ready to move on to the next thing. There is no next thing. This is the only thing. This is the thing that secures our souls and will be sure to bring us through life into glory. Don't neglect so great a salvation. Look to Jesus, and you will see him and have life if you believe in him. Amen. Let us pray together. Father in heaven, we stand amazed once again at the greatness of the salvation that Jesus has worked for us. We pray that we might be a people who heed the great warning of Hebrews, the warning of your word, the warning of your spirit, not to neglect Him, not to neglect such a great salvation, to be reminded that Jesus has done everything that we needed Him to do. That although He was your only natural Son, He has made us sons and daughters through His grace. That although we were slaves to the devil and to death, He has freed us. Although we were stained with sin, He has offered Himself as an atonement for our sin. Although we were unholy, he has made us holy. Although we were destined for damnation, he has led us to glory. I pray that we would always have our moorings fixed on Christ. That we would not neglect that salvation. That it never would become tiresome to hear the old, old story. but that we might constantly remind ourselves of it, that we might preach the gospel to ourselves every day and not fail to meet, to hear the word of God preached, to be reminded that Jesus is the great rock and anchor of our souls. And that if we stay connected to him, he will not fail to bring us to glory. Strengthen our faith, we pray, that we might see Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen. Thank you.