Hark! The Hebrew Herald Sings

Here is the auto transcript from this week’s sermon on the Gospel to the Hebrews, Hark the Hebrew Herald Sings

Man, there's a lot of kids.

I felt like the Lord's Prayer this morning was like being in a stadium doing the wave.

You know, kind of went to one end and came back.

Always a blessing to hear them do that.

So we want to welcome all of you who are in-house today and all of those who are joining us online.

Don't ever think that we have forgotten you or that we don't know that you're with us.

We do care about your presence here with us today, even if it's online and from a great distance.

We have a lot to talk about today, and I'm just going to tell you right up front, we're going to do a little -- well, I know this is so not woke.

You're so not supposed to do this.

But we're going to do a little profiling today, a little Hebrew profiling of the writer and the author of the book of Hebrews as we kind of dive into chapter 2, verses 1 through 13, and kind of look into what the writer of Hebrews is saying, not just to the Hebrew people, but to us.

One of my first introductions to the Hebrew heritage of the Bible, I think one of the early things that kind of caught my attention, having gone to Israel in 1990 and came back kind of with an interest in the Hebraic background of things, was the Shema, Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

It may be one of the first Hebrew sentences that I was ever able to say.

And this powerful statement was a declaration of a foundational truth about God that would set Israel apart from all other people.

He is the one true God, and He is one.

But this powerful declaration of truth begins not with an invitation to hear, but a command.

Not a suggestion, but an imperative.

And in fact, when we hear the, and we recite the Shema, you may think that you're reciting two or one sentence.

You're not.

You're actually reciting two sentences.

You see, the first sentence of the Shema is Shema Yisrael, and though the original Hebrew was not written with punctuation, later when the sages added that punctuation, they added punctuation immediately after Shema Yisrael.

Exclamation point.

Gives you the, it intensifies that idea that this is an imperative.

It is a command.

Shema Yisrael is a complete sentence by itself that ends, in our translations, with an exclamation point.

Charles Wesley was a very famous revival preacher of the Methodist movement in the 1700s.

And he was known, while he was known for being a great preacher, he was also a prolific hymn writer.

And one day he sat down and he wrote a ten stanza poem.

And by the way, he was known for writing thousands of hymns.

And when he wrote those hymns, they were infused with scripture references and doctrinal references.

I think, you know, when we went through the worship wars, I think that's something that the older generation, including myself, because I'm in that generation, we kind of miss sometimes with some of the newer songs.

Because some of those older hymns recited sound doctrine.

Now, some of them not so much, but most of them recited sound doctrine, and they referenced scriptural truths and prophecies.

In 1739, Wesley sat down and wrote a ten stanza poem that would become one of the most famous of his hymns.

And in that hymn, he referenced up to 40 prophetic scriptures.

Did you hear that number?

40 prophetic scriptures alluded to them in one song about the Messiah's coming.

Some of the scriptures he referred to referenced the coming of the Messiah the first time.

Many of them actually referenced the coming of the Messiah his second time.

From his birth to his ultimate messianic reign, Wesley wrote about it all.

But what many don't realize is that the first sentence of that famous song that you hear very much during this particular time of year, is a one word sentence that ends with an exclamation point.

"Hark!

" You know the song?

"Hark!

" Exclamation point.

That means that's the end of a sentence.

The herald angels sing.

Like the Shema, Wesley wanted to capture the urgency and the imperative of our need to listen, to hear what has been said.

Just like the Shema, Shema Israel, "Listen, O Israel, Hark!

" Listen to the voice of what the angels are singing and declaring.

Now granted, "Hark" is not a word that we use much in our modern English.

In fact, if you did, I'm sure somebody, at least maybe your children, would make fun of you.

Like what?

"Harken to my voice.

" I will just as soon as you explain that word.

But "Hark" like Shema is simply an imperative call to listen.

And that command to listen and to hear what the herald angels are declaring.

He is referencing the angelic announcement about the birth of our Savior, who is Messiah Christ the Lord, in Luke chapter 2, verse 10 and following.

The writer of Hebrews also emphasizes the imperative need to listen to what we have heard in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 2.

"For if the word spoken through the angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

How will we escape if we do not hark, if we do not shema, if we do not listen?

" The most Hebrew thing that Hebrews were ever called to do was to hear and obey what they heard.

So this morning, I'm going to ask you to hark, to listen to what the Hebrew herald is declaring.

And I want to begin before we pray, to ask you a simple question about this moment in time.

Will it be a moment that you sit there and simply hear my voice because I have a microphone and I have amplification and you can't avoid it?

If you do that, that is not harkening.

That's just passive hearing.

I'm asking you in this moment to ask yourself, "Am I in this moment ready to hear truly, maybe fresh, what God is saying to me?

" Will you pray with me?

Father, having said all that, I would ask that you would hearken to this prayer, that you would hear my voice and you would hear my heart, and that you would know that my ultimate desire is not that anybody remembers me, but that everybody remembers you and your Son.

I pray in earnest, Lord, this morning for those who are in the room who will not simply passively listen to the sound of my voice, but will intensely listen for what your Spirit is saying through your word to them this day.

Speak, Lord, to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear what your Spirit wants to say to us.

In the name of Yeshua, I pray.

Amen.

So we continue our study of Hebrews, the gospel to the Hebrews, the Hebrew community, which doesn't leave us out.

It's to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.

And just a reminder that one little punctuation placed at the end of a sentence helps us understand the force and importance of what the author is saying.

But the writer of Hebrews uses far more than just punctuation to make his point.

In fact, he is the master at making his point.

As we go through the book of Hebrews, there are what I'm going to call conspicuous constructions that the writer of Hebrew uses to write a cohesive systematic presentation of his point.

Now, what I mean by that is that the writer of Hebrews uses a very conspicuous methodology.

And I am duty bound, I feel like in my heart and mind to show you what that conspicuous construction is, because that was what the Hebrew writer and the Holy Spirit, how they collectively decided to bring us this message, which means he said it way better than I'm going to say it.

Amen.

Not too loud.

He said it, he wrote it way better than I'm going to.

And so I want to take time to make sure that you pay attention to some of this conspicuous construction.

We're going to be talking throughout this whole series about things that I call the golden threads, topics and terminology that he will lace from the beginning to the end of the book.

And we will repeat it over and over again.

Things that I call Hebrew hammers, familiar forms of Hebrew instructional methods like Kalvech-Homer's, how much more statements, strings of pearls where the writer will grab a whole bunch of prophecies and sentences from scripture and he'll just mush them all together.

Parallelisms, where he will put two things side by side just like in Hebrew poetry.

Juxtapositions where he will create comparisons that will force us to think through the analogies that he's presenting.

And a very familiar vocabulary, especially familiar to the Hebrew people.

We're going to see that today in Droves.

But sometimes the conspicuous construction is also in Greek.

And today we're going to see both in an amazing way as he calls us to hearken to his voice.

Now, we need to go back to Hebrews chapter 1 verse 5.

Because the conspicuous construction, the formula that I want to point out that he's going to use, and he's going to continue to use this.

And by the way, we're only going to look at verses 1 through 13 today.

The construction actually goes on beyond that, but because of some change and shift in topics, I want to wait to address those next week.

But the first time he uses this conspicuous construction is in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 5, when he asks this question, "For to which of the angels did he ever say?

" The construction is built around the use of one Greek word, the word "gar," which we translate as "for.

" And I'm not going to go into all, you know, blur your mind with tons of Greek grammar.

But I just want to intensify and amplify how he is using that word "for.

" And so maybe if I can amplify it in this way so that you understand the import of what he's saying, it's not just "for," but he's actually saying, "For the fact is.

" Do you see the difference?

I mean, this is a very intensive "for.

" "For the fact is," and every time he uses this term, he's going to intensify and amplify the point that he's already made, and he's going to use this construct.

And so we're going to be seeing this construct where he says, "For this and for that and for this and for that.

" But what it really is is that he's stating a fact that he wants us to take a look at.

And every time the writer of Hebrews uses it, like I said, it's going to enforce a truth that he has been sharing about or making a statement or asking a question that's going to force us to acknowledge a truth we cannot ignore.

In chapter 1, the writer begins by declaring and recounting who Yeshua is, the Son of God, who is the creator of all things and therefore is the rightful heir of all things.

Now notice that terminology, "all things.

" That's going to be one of those conspicuous golden threads.

And by the way, I don't know if you noticed, but it's terminology we even use when we bless our children.

So that in all things, in all ways, it's a very Hebrew thing to say.

Why?

Because the writer of Hebrews is going to constantly bring us back to the source of all things, who is Jesus.

If that is the case, why would we turn to anyone or anything else in this world but him?

If he is all things and all things revolve around him, then he must be the center of our focus.

So having declared that Jesus is so much superior even to the angels, he then uses this first "for" construction.

Now let me just throw in here that while we're talking about the Greek language, this is very Hebrew.

This construction is a very Hebraic form.

You and I are used to parables.

But when I say the word "parable," most of us will immediately think about some of the teachings of Jesus because there was a season when he literally began to teach dominantly and predominantly in parables.

Very Jewish, very Hebraic.

And the power of a parable is that the parables teaches you a story, a truth of which you already kind of accept anyway.

Sometimes it's in a story form.

Sometimes it's in a statement or even a question.

Can a blind man lead a blind man?

That's a parable.

The book of Proverbs is called Mishlei, which comes from the Hebrew word "mashal," which is a parable.

A parable is a proverb.

It's a proverb told in the context of a story.

But the message doesn't always have to be story.

Sometimes it can be interrogative.

It can be a question.

Sometimes it can be a statement that forces you to make a comparison because that's actually what the Hebrew word means.

A parable or a proverb forces your mind and your spirit to consider a truth that's being revealed by comparison.

The story parable forces you to consider a comparison by using a familiar context.

"A sower went out to sow his seed.

" They were already familiar with that context.

And then the proverb, the lesson, can be woven into it.

Why am I telling you this?

Because the writer of Hebrews is going to use this formula to make a very significant point about Jesus, and it is conspicuous.

In chapter 1, verse 5, the comparison begins with the difference between what God has said about the Son in comparison to what God has said to and about the angelic servants of his Son and the servants of humanity, the angels.

This construct is going to continue in chapter 2, and there's actually five or six, seven or eight in this section.

I mean, there's a lot of them, and we're only going to look at about five of them.

So let's look at Hebrews chapter 2 beginning in verses 1 through 4.

"For this reason," and in this verse it's actually a different word for "for," "because of this, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away.

" That's the thesis point.

We have to listen because if we don't listen, we start to drift.

The main point of chapter 1 is that God has spoken to us to and through about his Son.

Chapter 2 now is going to ask the question, "Are we listening?

Are we hearkening to what God has said?

" So what is the price tag?

The price tag is that if we don't start listening to what we have heard, we will drift away.

Stop listening, start drifting.

That's a spiritual equation, and you and I, all of us, have had that experience in our life.

You say, "Well, Brent, that's kind of judgmental.

" No, it's just kind of honest.

I mean, if you're here today and you've never experienced drift, please come lay your hands on me and pray for me.

Because sometimes I get distracted by other things.

It happens.

I'll never forget sitting on the Sea of Galilee when the Lord kind of thumped my heart and my mind with this simple truth, "Discipleship is learning to listen to the voice of God.

" It's not a method, it's a choice.

How am I going to wake up?

How am I going to live my life?

And I've said it before, apostasy is as real as repentance.

If repentance is turning to God, then by just the law of nature, there has to be the opposite, which is apostasy, which is turning away from God, and the writer is going to introduce that topic by saying, "You don't want to do that.

" And here's how it starts.

Stop listening, start drifting.

That's what happens.

And sometimes it's not even that we're listening to bad things, sometimes it's just that we get consumed with other things.

Things about my righteousness instead of his.

Things about how I say it instead of how he said it.

Other things.

Other things don't even have to be bad things.

But somehow Satan is so good at getting us focused on other things.

So then he wants to emphasize and amplify that point.

So the first or the second proverbial for comparison, the first one we talked about in Hebrews chapter one, the second one is going to show up in Hebrews chapter two, verses two through four.

Verse two, "For if the word of God spoken to the angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

After it was first spoken through the Lord, and it was confirmed by those who heard, God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will.

" In the first four proverbial comparison in chapter one, the writer forces us to remember what God has said about the son versus what he has said about the angels.

Now he's going to enforce his point by pointing out not what was spoken to the angels, but what was spoken through the angels.

And he's going to remind the Hebrew people of something they already know.

If it was spoken by an angel as a word from the Lord, it cannot be changed.

God doesn't say, "Oh, forget about that.

I changed my mind.

" It used to be an old SNL skit years ago where they had a person who would start down a path, and they'd say, "Forget about that.

" And then they'd start on something.

God doesn't do that.

I do that every once in a while.

My wife screams, "Finish your point!

" I know that.

I'm the only one that's ever happened to.

As heralds of God's will, whatever the angels are told to say by God, it is inalterable.

And the reason I'm referring to them as heralds is because the word herald is simply a meaning, a word, a proclaimer.

A prophet is a herald of God.

A writer of Hebrews is a herald of God.

A preacher is a herald of God.

Are we hearkening?

Are we listening to what those who have been entrusted with the word of God are saying?

And so here's the comparison.

If the angels have been given words from God to speak to humanity, and those words cannot be changed and must be adhered to and must be listened to, how much more--now we're into one of those Hebraic hammers, one of those Hebrew forms, the kalvachomer--how much more can the word of God spoken through His Son, confirmed by those who heard, and borne witness to by God Himself through signs and wonders and miracles and the distribution of the Holy Spirit--if the word of angels is binding, how much more is the testimony of God who spoke to us about Jesus in all those ways?

Do you understand the point of comparison?

Man, he's amplifying the point.

You already know the word of an angel is unalterable.

How much more significant is the message from God that was patterned in the patriarchs, spoken by the prophets, told in parables, taught by the apostles, and revealed in the Son of God Himself, and then God started testifying about Him?

How can we escape if we walk away from the testimony of God?

Remember our series in the Gospel of John, how we keep pointing out that Jesus is consistently and repeatedly saying, "It is the Father who's testifying about me.

If you reject me, you're rejecting the testimony of the Father.

" And one of all these ways that God has spoken to us said that Yeshua is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.

And I'd like to believe that we all really believe that, except that we all so easily get distracted by other things.

It's like the Lord is trying to show us the door, and we're trying to spend all of our time getting ready to go through the door.

I want to make sure I'm saying everything right with the proper pronunciation before I go to the door.

I want to make sure I'm worshiping on the right day before--just go to the door!

Sorry.

I got seven straight hours of sleep last night.

I may be a little wound up.

You cannot ignore Yeshua and be a co-heir with Yeshua.

You cannot ignore all the things that were spoken by Him and about the One from whom all things exist and expect to share in all the things only He can give.

How many of you want to experience all things?

Then you have to be in relationship with the One who created all things, who upholds all things, for whom all things exist.

This is a powerful proverbial truth.

A blind man can't lead a blind man, and getting focused on other things doesn't lead you to the One who is all things.

The central focus of our lives, and we sang about it this morning in our worship time, must be on the Savior if we expect to have a share in the salvation that only He as the Savior can give.

Again, this is one of those powerful call to homers, "How much more?

" If the word is spoken by an angel is binding and should be heeded, how much more should we be listening to the revelation of who Yeshua is?

The angels as heralds of God's Word serve as a perfect point of comparison for the writer of Hebrews Jews.

One, because he knows that the Jewish people in seasons of their history have been really fixated on the angels.

I mean, they've got whole documents about the angels that are not in the canon of inspired Scripture, but they have names for them and all kinds of stuff.

But they're the perfect point of comparison.

Why?

Because they are created beings, like us.

They are created to serve God's purpose and plan, like us.

They are free will beings, like us.

How do I know?

Some of them chose to rebel.

They perform a priestly service before God, like us.

They were created to spread His will and fulfill His purpose, like us.

But the writer of Hebrews reminds them of two things.

When they failed to fulfill their mission, they were punished as people are punished who failed to obey the word they spoke.

If the angels spoke a word and the people didn't obey, the people were punished.

If the angels were given a word by God and they didn't obey, they were punished.

The writer then subtly emphasizes an amazing point.

Now, remember, we haven't spent a lot of time trying to figure out who the writer of Hebrews is.

Only God knows.

But we do know some things about him.

From this verse, we can kind of surmise that he is a second-generation believer and not a firsthand eyewitness.

He knows the word because someone faithfully testified to that word they had heard and seen.

That's kind of the boat we're in, isn't it?

We weren't there at the resurrection.

We didn't see Jesus walk on water.

But we have the faithful testimony, and we have a choice.

We're either going to believe the testimony that has been passed down to us or we're not.

What happens when we neglect to pass on the word we have received and has been passed on to us?

Who doesn't get saved?

Who doesn't hear?

Who doesn't obey when we don't fulfill the purpose and calling of Christ in our lives?

Do you realize the book of Hebrews would not exist if someone hadn't hearkened to the word that they had heard and passed it along?

Man, there are so many sidebar topics we could, you know, as a preacher, I can get all fired up about.

Are we listening?

If the preeminent message of God, spoken of from the patriarchs, the prophets, all the way down, all these things, testified to by God with signs, wonders, why is it that so often in the body of Messiah, we want to talk about everything other than who Yeshua is and how he can change your life?

There is no other topic in Scripture that the Bible says the Lord testified about with signs and wonders and miracles and gifts of the Holy.

I mean, you cannot read this and not know what is the priority message in God's heart and mind.

Amen.

That's what matters to him.

What matters to us.

We sang about it this morning.

The transformational power of the gospel.

It can set people free.

It can break prison doors.

But what happens if we don't hear and pass on the word that we have received?

Number one, stop listening, start drifting, and stop listening, and you stop being used to rescue other people.

This four-part explanation of how God himself testified is so completely consistent with what we read in the Scripture.

It's completely consistent with Jesus' own words in the gospel of John, that God was the one doing the testifying about the Son.

It's completely consistent with the doctrine of the deity of Jesus as outlined by the apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 2 that we were looking at.

But notice also these are the same testimonies of God that the word of God says will accompany the born-again spirit-filled believer.

Now I want to just sidebar and tell you that sometime in late spring, Chris has asked that we do a series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

And I don't know about you, but I want to become an all-things believer.

Amen?

I don't want to be a spectator to the kingdom of God.

I want to be a participant.

And so we're going to take time to-- okay, well, God, if this is how you're going to testify, and this is how you have validated and testified, and you have poured out the ruach ha-kodesh, the Holy Spirit, within us, he's saying, "I will do these testimonies in you, through you.

" That doesn't happen if we stop listening.

You see, we're supposed to be the heralds of the gospel that transform, and God has promised that the Messiah will pour forth the Holy Spirit to equip and empower us to fulfill that task.

Why, then, would we turn aside to other things?

Let's move on.

Hebrews 2, verses 8 takes us into another proverbial statement, verse 5.

"For the fact is, he did not subject the angels to the world to come, concerning which we are speaking, but one has testified somewhere, saying, 'What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you are concerned about him?

You have made him a little lower than the angels.

You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of his hands.

You have put all things in subjection under his feet.

'" The writer amplifies his point even more, "For the fact is that the angels are not recipients of the world to come.

" Can I just do a little ethnic profiling right now?

You know, there are a lot of ways that the Hebrew writer could have talked about the kingdom that's coming, salvation, but did you notice how he describes it?

The world to come.

Now, if you are a person who has studied anything, read anything about how the sages write about the kingdom and the resurrection, that terminology would just jump off the page.

I mean, like, "This dude is Jewish.

I'm sorry.

I'm profiling this guy big time.

How do I know?

" Because that's how they say it.

You see, the sages of Israel constantly and consistently write about two things.

One, the olam hazeh, this world, the life we're in now, and olam haba, literally, the world to come.

Look how the Hebrew writer used familiar Hebrew thought patterns and terminology when he talks about this.

You see, sometimes in Christianity, we often hear a lot of talk about going to heaven, which, quite honestly, is alien terminology to the Hebrew mind.

And I'm not saying that to be critical.

I'm just saying there's a disconnect.

Because when we start talking about going to heaven, it sounds like we're talking about going to a disembodied-- and this is what I grew up believing-- that we're going to this disembodied, ethereal spirit existence.

And when I was a kid, I was like, "Well, you know, I kind of had this-- forgive me, I wasn't a very bright kid-- this kind of Casper the Friendly Ghost mentality of what the resurrection was going to be like.

And when I think of a spirit, I think of something without body and form, and I think of, you know, like a vapor.

I mean, how are we going to recognize anybody?

" Probably why I wasn't all that thrilled with the idea to begin with.

But that's not what the Bible talks about.

It talks about olam hazeh, this world, but it also talks about olam haba, the world to come, and to have a share in the world to come, which is also an inheritance in the world to come, which is also a very Jewish way of talking about this thing.

That if I'm going to have a share in the world to come, I have to have a share in the Messiah now.

And notice what the writer says, if I may paraphrase.

"In case you have missed the point so far, this is what I'm writing about, the olam haba, because that is his definition of what it means-- what salvation means.

" So what the writer says is, "In case you haven't caught on to what I've written so far about Yeshua and who he is and why he is and all that, I'm talking about the olam haba.

I'm talking about the salvation to come.

" Salvation takes in all that Yeshua has to give because he is the all of everything.

He's the creator of all things.

He's the inheritor of all things.

He's the giver of all things, including a share in the world to come.

And the writer of Hebrews doesn't say a part of heaven because that is not what the word has spoken about concerning olam haba.

Matthew Day is teaching our teens, and he's writing a curriculum on Hebrew, and he's been sending it to me, and we've been discussing it and just real quickly going back and forth.

And I really appreciate one of the points of clarification that he made.

He said, "We're not just returning to the Garden of Eden.

" I know in Hebraic circles, we love talking about the cyclical nature of things, and that is absolutely true.

The Bible is cyclical.

But the problem is that sometimes if you emphasize that too much, you think you're just going back to the way it was, and that's not what the Bible says.

We're not just going back to the way it was.

We're going back to something far better.

Remember better?

A greater kingdom, a greater dominion, a greater revelation, a greater relationship with the Lord.

We're not going back to the seed.

We're coming to the flower, if I can use that illustration.

The Garden of Eden was a seed.

The flower is olam haba, the world to come.

And I don't exactly know all the ways it's going to be better.

I just know the Bible says it's going to be way better.

It's a kingdom that is a wedding, a marriage between heaven and earth, whose king is both divine and human, a dominion that is better.

And here's what the writer of Hebrews stresses, and it's not for the angels.

It's for you.

It's not the angels who will have dominion or have the inheritance of the kingdom.

It is those who hearken to what the biblical heralds have revealed and spoken about the son.

He then illustrates this with a bit of irony that is completely consistent with how God does things.

He always elevates the lesser to the greater.

Amen?

Think about Joseph.

The writer points out the irony of this, in that mankind was actually made a little lesser than the angels.

He then cites Psalm chapter 8, verses 4 and 6.

"But one has testified somewhere saying, 'What is man that you remember him, or the son of man that you are concerned about him?

You have made him for a little while lower than the angels.

You have crowned him with glory and honor and have appointed him over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under subjection under his feet.

'" So here's the irony.

The lesser will inherit the greater.

The writer of Hebrews knows exactly what he is citing.

So why not cite reference?

I mean, somewhere someone has said?

Come on, man.

You're supposed to be an inspired Bible writer, right?

Oh, somewhere someone has said.

Why not just cite reference?

Matthew says, "As it's spoken of in Isaiah the prophet.

" Because this is the gospel to the Hebrews.

And the minute they hear this, they should know it.

Come on.

This is familiar terminology.

He doesn't have to cite a reference.

They've already heard this word.

And that word, that psalm that he quotes, talks about how God has placed all things under his feet.

Go home and print out a copy of the Bible, book of Hebrews.

Get out your pen or do it in your Bible.

Just start underlining everywhere, starting in chapter 1.

All things, all things, all things.

Where do you get that?

Because it's a very Hebrew thing to say.

And they've heard it before.

And now he's quoting the Psalms, which Yeshua refers to as the Torah, saying that God is going to place all things under his feet.

The third proverbial for comparison emphasizes this again in the latter part of Hebrews 2, verse 8.

It says, "For in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him.

But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

" The writer of Hebrews now begins to introduce a dominant theme in his book to the Hebrews that will eventually culminate in one of the most well-known definitions of what it means to trust and have faith in God.

And he's beginning to allude to it here.

He's beginning to hint at it here.

How does he introduce the subject of faith?

He introduces an irony that though all things will eventually be under his feet, we do not currently see all things under his feet.

Do you know what he just did?

He introduced the subject of faith.

Did you see it?

He just slid it right in there while you weren't paying attention.

This irony that though all things will eventually be under the feet of Yeshua, we do not currently see all these things.

But what do we see?

We see Jesus made a little lower than the angels who suffered and died, verse 9.

But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

We see the one made a little lower who suffered and died, and now he's crowned and exalted.

He became the lesser so he could be revealed as the greater.

That's so God.

The writer of Hebrews wants us to remember what we have heard and what has been spoken in the past.

Remember the apostle Peter's words at Shavuot, at Pentecost, in Jerusalem.

And I'm going to do a string of pearls.

I'm going to mush some verses here.

"Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you see in here, jumping down, therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

The olam haba is coming for those who have a share in it, because they have a deposit from within them, already within them, the seal of the Holy Spirit who was given to them by the one who suffered and died and ascended and poured forth.

" The lesser became the greater.

And though we do not see the future olam haba, we have heard and seen what our Savior did for us.

And if we drift away from that, if we drift away from what he did, we will have no part in what he is going to do.

That's the price tag.

When other things become more important to the one who is all things, we begin to move the wrong direction.

The writer of Hebrews will eventually take us to 11.

1 where he will define our faith in this exact fashion.

Now faith is the assurance, the certainty of things hoped for, the conviction of things not yet seen.

Remember how I told you this guy is a genius?

Man, he just slips that topic in there, shows it to you from the ancient scriptures, and says, "Are you paying attention to what you've heard?

Are you paying attention to what you've seen?

" Because if you want to see olam haba, you better be paying attention to olam hazeh.

You better be paying attention to what God has revealed.

The fourth proverbial comparison or juxtaposition is in verse 10.

"For it was fitting for him," let me restate it, "For the fact is, it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory to perfect the author of salvation through sufferings.

" Uh-oh, we got a trigger word.

Remember we talked about that last week.

Words like appointed, having become, and the way we use those words in English, we start thinking about a before and after.

And people try to use that to make it sound like, "Well, Jesus wasn't the Son of God, he became the Son of God.

" That is not what that word is teaching you.

Now we've got another word that we've got to make sure we clarify, and it's this word, "to perfect the author of their salvation.

" So again, what do we hear?

We hear a before and after.

"He wasn't perfect, so he had to be made perfect.

" Isn't that the way we would use that terminology?

To perfect something means that something wasn't previously perfect, and that's what the English does to us, and that, forgive me, but that's why I have to take time to look at the original.

It's not that you can't trust your English Bible, it's just that you have to remember that words may not be used exactly the same way.

And the word that is used here is absolutely my favorite Greek word.

It's the Greek word "telos.

" For Christ is the end of the law.

Christ is the telos, the goal, the thing to which the law was pointing to from the beginning.

And that's what this word is, "to perfect.

" It's not the removal of imperfection, it's the final revelation of perfection.

It is--let me say that again--it's not the revealing of imperfection.

It is the revelation of his perfection.

What does that mean?

That the final revelation of his righteousness, of his holiness, of his right to inherit and share all things was that he would endure all things that his servants had to endure.

What is the writer of Hebrews telling us?

The final revelation that he has the right to all things is because he experienced--listen to me, church-- he experienced all things for you.

He suffered all things for you.

It amazes me when I catch myself wanting to listen to what somebody else has to say about what it means to be a human being instead of listening to the one who knows more about what it means to be a human being than I do.

He was the most human who has ever lived.

And he suffered and endured all things for me and for you.

I love one of the golden threads in the Gospel of John.

It starts with changing the water to wine.

Jesus says, "My time is not now.

" And that "not now" thread just continues through the Book of John.

Not now, not now, my time is not now.

It's not time for me to be glorified.

And only when he reaches the point where he's going to the cross does he say, "Now is the Son of Man revealed as the creator of all things, "the sustainer of all things, the giver of all things," because he was willing to endure all things for me, now is the Son of Man glorified because he was revealed, he was perfected.

He was shown to be the telos, the fullest expression of God's goodness.

Finally, the fifth proverbial, verse 11.

"For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified "are all from one Father, for which reason he is not ashamed "to call them his brothers, saying, "'I will proclaim your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation.

"'I will sing your praise, and again I will put my trust in him, "'and again behold I and the children from whom God has given me.

'" Worship team, you can come back.

This last proverbial for the fact is statement comes from Psalm 2222, the Messiah Psalm.

The writer of Hebrews quotes the Messiah Psalm, which calls us to proclaim, to herald his name to his brothers, but how are they his brothers?

Because the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all children of the same Father.

Jesus the sanctifier.

The one who is revealed as perfect turns those of us who are revealed to be imperfect into children of God.

John chapter 1, "To those who received him, "he gave them the right to become the children of God.

" And that's going to be another golden thread throughout the book of Hebrews.

What it means to be a child of God.

What it means to be his brethren, his brother.

Shema Yisrael.

Hark the herald angels sing.

John Wesley wrote that famous hymn saying, "Are you listening to what the angels declared?

"For unto you this day in the city of David "a Savior has been born who is Christ the Lord.

" Hark!

He is the creator of all things.

He is the inheritor of all things.

He is the giver of all things, including all the gifts of the Spirit.

And in him, he--look at me.

In him, he gives us all things, including a share in olam haba, the world to come.

How shall we escape if we turn our attention to other things?

Well, I can't sing that song this month because.

.

.

Other things!

Who is he?

Who do they--who did the psalmist say?

They stand in the congregation of the Lord and they sing his praises.

Whose praises?

The one who is all things, above all things, for whom all things are held together, who gives all things.

You know, the hardest thing in discipleship is keeping the main thing the main thing.

Because, you know, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

Amen?

And I'm gonna tell you right now, there's only one main thing who just happens to be all things-- Jesus Christ.

A year ago, I told Chris, I said, "Chris, watch what happens "when, as a congregation, we begin to exalt the name of Jesus, "when we begin to put him in his rightful place, "watch what happens.

" When I told him that, we were running 35.

Now, even today, with many family-- of our family traveling and sick, look around.

God's doing something.

Have you heard what's going on in Norman, Oklahoma?

God's doing something.

Not everybody likes it.

I don't care.

Because the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing, and he's the main thing.

Now, if you can look around and say, "Wow, you know what?

"You're right, we started elevating Yeshua, "we started singing about Jesus, "we started talking about the main thing, "and pretty soon, he began to multiply our assembly.

"Pretty soon, the congregation in which we sang "begins to fill up.

" Now, church, listen to me, 'cause I'm gonna close with this, and I want to talk to you personally, because you get to be your own testimony.

Look around.

Has he multiplied?

Has he manifested?

We've had healings in this congregation.

We've had baptisms in this-- we've had new life in this congregation.

But now I don't want to talk to you as a congregation.

I want to talk to you as an individual disciple.

What could God multiply in you?

What could God manifest in you?

I'm not talking about the congregation now, I'm talking about you.

What could God--what gift could God give?

What testimony could come forth in and through you if in the coming year, you decided to keep him as the main thing above all other things?

Can you begin from this day forward to remember what the Father has told you, what the Son has revealed, what the patriarchs lived, what the prophets foretold, what the apostles declared, what the Holy Spirit has poured forth in you to declare?

What would happen in your life if in the coming year, you decided to keep him the main thing?

I think next year by this time, you would look back and you would have a testimony of new gifts of the Spirit flowing through your life.

I think you'll look back and there will be testimonies of those who had not heard and did not know who came to bow their knee to the Son of the Most High God because you heard and you declared.

So there's the challenge, church.

Look around.

You're sitting in a congregation that bears the testimony of what God can do when Yeshua becomes the main thing.

Let's worship.