Welcome and thank you for coming. May the God of Heaven supply us with an abundance of His Holy Spirit . . . by which we learn all things from God.
Before going into our continued study of Hebrews a why don’t we pray and spend some time in personal reflection with the Lord through His Word put to music and then through silent corporate prayer time.
Prayer
Music
Alright, last week we talked about the writer of Hebrews giving us a warning.
In it he said we ought to be careful not to neglect “so great a salvation” by letting the word of God “slip” or better put, “float passed.”
He actually continued on this thought in the next verse which we did not read or examine.
So where in chapter 2 verse 3 he wrote
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;”
And then he adds a verse we didn’t cover saying:
4 “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?”
In other words, the writer says, Jesus spoke of this salvation first, then those who heard Him speak (the apostles) confirmed or taught these words to believers who came afterward and then adds:
(4) “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?”
Over the course of our examination of modern American Evangelical Christianity (which we left behind last week) I have tried to articulate that while I DO believe in miracles (like the miracles that were performed during Jesus time) we CANNOT ignore the fact that these miracles served a very important and specific purpose in the life of Christ and His apostles.
Here the writer of Hebrews gives us some support for this adding that in addition to the salvation Jesus first spoke of and then the apostles thereafter, God also bore both Jesus and His disciples witness (of the things they said and taught) with
Signs
Wonders
Diverse miracles
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
As He so willed.
Why? Why did God come forth and witness or give His stamp of endorsement to the things Jesus or the apostles taught through signs and wonders and diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit at that time specifically?
We get insight to this by going to Mark chapter two.
Jesus was in Capernaum and He entered a house which quickly filled up with people
And there was no way any more could get in.
And scripture says that in this setting Jesus starts preaching to them.
(this brings us to verse 3)
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith (take note that here in this situation their faith was manifested by taking action), he said unto the sick of the palsy, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
(This is an indirect proof of Jesus divinity – for to the Jews ONLY God can forgive sins committed against God)
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, “Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?”
(Now, ask yourselves, which is easier to say? They are both easy to SAY. But which is easier to do? For God they would take just as much power and compassion and love – no difference.
The point is to say or do either thing is just as easy and just as difficult for God. But for either to be done, ONLY God could accomplish them at His word.
So to prove that His Words (to forgive others of Sin) were valid, He performed a miracle to prove it. Listen to the next verse:
10 But that ye may know (remember this line) that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
The miracle here (of getting the man to rise up and walk) PROVED the veracity of His previously spoken words.
If he could say, “Arise take up your bed and go thy way,” and the man with the palsy does it, then there is a great probability that when He says, “your sins are forgiven you” it was done too.
And (AGAIN) the miracle PROVED the validity of His spoken words or claims.
Got that?
The writer of Hebrews tells us that in light of the Word Jesus first taught (and His disciples heard and passed along) God ALSO added
SIGNS (saymion) supernatural tokens or actions that would not otherwise occur.
WONDERS (teras) a prodigy or omen that would cause people to consider and think.
DIVERSE MIRACLES (dunamis) power or strength to overcome or produce things that would otherwise not be overcome in any other manner. And . . .
GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (merismis) divisions of the Holy Spirit manifested in and through men (like tongues, prophecy, etc) that did not exist prior.
So, again, Jesus and the twelve spoke Words and God sent signs, wonders, diverse miracles, and the impartment of gifts of the Holy Spirit to validate the words spoken.
Are such signs and wonders and diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit present today?
LISTEN – ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY.
“You mean God still bears witness of Himself in signs and wonders and diverse miracles and Gifts of the Holy Spirit in His church today?
Of course! And listen – for the very same reason . . . to prove or validate or endorse His spoken words.
Say waaaa? Say huuuuh?
I am not saying God doesn’t manifest Himself in signs and wonders or diverse miracles or various displays of the Holy Spirit today like He did in the early church, but I would suggest that the miracles of the early Church are manifested today in other ways that are just as miraculous and which carry as much weight as multiplying fish.
Unfortunately, far too many believers continue to seek after the signs and wonders present in the early church instead of seeing the present day signs and wonders surrounding us as just as impressive.
Let me see if I can explain.
The miracles of the early church were use to give validity to the promises, and teachings, and claims – THE WORDS of Jesus (who is also the Word).
He or His apostles spoke and miracles followed.
Has He spoken to us today?
By His Son, right?
Through what means?
His written word.
I would then strongly suggest then, that in the present church, the miracles we see (that give validity to the promises and teachings, and claims of Jesus are . . .
. . . the souls saved and lives changed . . . both by the Word (Jesus) saving them and His written Word (the Bible) creating in each of us the new man.
So while I believe God continues to raise people from the dead His miracles are more bringing the spiritually dead to new life in Him.
And while the physically blind, or deaf, or diseased are still healed by God (through one means or another) it is the miracle of the spiritually blind, and deaf, and diseased being raised to new life that is the miracle of our day and age?
In fact, and in terms of miracles today, what is easier to heal in a person today . . .
A diseased physical heart or a diseased spiritual heart?
A deaf physical ear or a spiritual deafness?
I know teenage life guards to today can watch a man grasp his chest and fall over dead on the beach, grap a set of difibulators and bring him back to life but a thousand Harvard trained Master of Divinity Graduates who can’t touch the heart of spiritually dead atheist.
I’m not saying that God doesn’t heal in physical ways today, but I am suggesting that a contextual understanding of the Word suggests to me that the
Signs and
Wonders and
Diverse miracles, and the
Diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit expressed in His church (of fools)
Is what God uses today to . . . that’s right, prove His Word – His word that became flesh and His Word as contained in the Bible.
Jesus said in His teaching in Mark that the miracle of raising the palsy-stricken fellow was so that
“ye (the onlookers) may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.”
How do we know Jesus Christ today?
How do we know He has the power to forgive all sins?
By His Word.
You want a miracle today? Take a selfish, bastard reprobate who cares nothing about anyone but himself – his opinions, his needs, his desires and ways –and get Him to have a real introduction to the Word made flesh.
Then . . . (oh, no, he’s not done being completely cooked by a long shot) then you want to see Him really change – see an unbelievable transformation? Witness a true miracle – get him (or her) into a steady diet of the Word of God.
Miracles, friend, the greatest miracles EVER witnessed by humankind will occur. And (listen) these miracles will prove God’s Word true.
Speaking of miracles back in the day and miracles around us today, the very existence of the Word of God is a MIRACLE in and of itself when we consider the attempts made to eradicate the world of its contents.
Endure for just a moment a brief exposition regarding the miracle of our having this book we spend so much time promoting, reading, and studying.
The presence of it in our hands today is as great a miraculous manifestation of God as the Red Sea parting as far as I’m concerned because Satan and this world have always HATED the Bible and its contents.
From the time of Trajan (who reigned 98-117) up until Constantine (c. 300) virtually every Roman emperor was vehemently opposed to Christianity. And many of their efforts were directed toward destroying our manual the Bible.
Eusebius wrote that Diocletian (AD 284-316 and who was the ruler immediately preceding Constantine) had royal edicts published everywhere and in them commanded that “all churches be leveled to the ground and the Scriptures destroyed by fire” (Church History, Book VIII, Ch. 1).
Diocletian said that if someone had a copy of the Scriptures and did not surrender it to be burned they would be killed.
He reinforced this edict by also putting anyone to death who knew someone had a copy of the Scriptures and did not report it.
According to Newman’s History of the Church (vol. 1 page 169) many copies of the Bible that were burned were laboriously written out in longhand and summarily tossed on huge heaps of buring Bibles. He added,
“Multitudes hastened to deny the faith and to surrender their copies of the Scriptures but many more bore the most horrible tortures and refused with their latest breath to surrender the Scriptures or in any way to compromise themselves”
After Diocletian’s edict had been in force for two years, Rimmer, in his book, The Seven Wonders of the World, says Diocletian boasted,
“I have completely exterminated the Christian writings from the face of the earth!” (p. 15).
Is this true?
History tells us that when the next ruler popped up, Constantine, and after he became a Christian, he requested that copies of the Scriptures be made for all the churches (if any could be found) and he offered a substantial reward for any copy of the Scriptures remaining.
Within 25 hours 50 completed copies of the Bible were brought to him.
Those are fifty courageous souls we pay tribute to in our hearts today. But the attempts to wipe out His Word continued.
Skipping ahead, during the middle ages, for example, the Roman Catholic Church burned thousands of copies of the Bible.
I’m not castigating them as it is possible they thought they were engaged in God’s work but let me offer just a few examples from real Catholic History.
In 1199, Pope Innocent III made it clear that the Bible was not fit for the common man, saying, relative to the Bible:
“… to be reproved are those who translate into French the Gospels, the letters of Paul, the psalter, etc. They are moved by a certain love of Scripture in order to explain them clandestinely and to preach them to one another. The mysteries of the faith are not to explained rashly to anyone. Usually in fact, they cannot be understood by everyone but only by those who are qualified to understand them with informed intelligence. The depth of the divine Scriptures is such that not only the illiterate and uninitiated have difficulty understanding them, but also the educated and the gifted.” (Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum 770-771) Source: Bridging the Gap – Lectio Divina, Religious Education, and the Have-not’s by Father John Belmonte, S.J.
To ensure that these translated copies did not get in the hands of “the common man,” they burned them, not believing the common man could handle their contents.
Then, in November of 1229, at the Council of TOULOUSE, a special ecclesiastical tribunal, or court, known as the Inquisition (Lat. inquisitio, an inquiry) was established to “search out and try heretics.”
Twenty of the forty-five articles decreed by the Council dealt with heretics and heresy and how to wipe them from off the face of the earth. Here are a few highlights:
Canon 1 says: We appoint, therefore, that the archbishops and bishops shall swear in one priest, and two or three laymen of good report, or more if they think fit, in every parish, both in and out of cities, who shall diligently, faithfully, and frequently seek out the heretics in those parishes, by searching all houses and subterranean chambers which lie under suspicion. And looking out for appendages or out- buildings, in the roofs themselves, or any other kind of hiding places, all which we direct to be destroyed.”
Canon 6 says: “that the house in which any heretic shall be found shall be destroyed.”
Canon 14 says: “We prohibit also that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the Old or New Testament; unless anyone from motive of devotion should wish to have “the Psalter” or “the Breviary” for divine offices or the hours of the blessed Virgin; but we most strictly forbid their having any translation of these books.”
Source: Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe, Edited with an introduction by Edward Peters, Scolar Press, London, copyright 1980 by Edward Peters, ISBN 0-85967-621-8, pp. 194-195, citing S. R. Maitland, Facts and Documents [illustrative of the history, doctrine and rites, of the ancient Albigenses & Waldenses], London, Rivington, 1832, pp. 192-194.
In 1778 Voltaire, that French infidel and sardonic writer, made an attempt to destroy the Bible.
Voltaire was the one who said, in effect, that “God’s creation of Man was so perfect that he made the nose just perfect for hold a pair of glasses.” A real piece of work.
In the year he died, he boldly predicted that “within one hundred years the Bible and Christianity would have been swept from existence and into oblivion.”
Interestingly enough, within 100 years, the printing press Voltaire had his writings published on (like Candide) was being used to print . . . thaz right . . . Bibles.
Christian artist and poet, William Blake, wrote:
“Mock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rosseau!
Mock on, mock on, ’tis all in vain;
You blow the dust against the wind,
And the wind blows it back again.”
And of course, since then and before, the Bible (and the miracle that it is) has been maligned, and marginalized, and questioned unable to convince the most hardened of men – just like the miracles of Christ.
Where the miracles of Christ were there to validate and substantiate His words, the miracle of our lives validate and substantiate His written words and fleshly promises of the King.
Simple as that.
Alright, so the writer of Hebrews (now at verse 5-9) jumps back to the topic of angels again (which he hit on in chapter one.)
So let’s read verses 5 through 9 and see what we discover. Ready? They’re a tad heavy.
Hebrews 2:5 “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
So it seems like for a few verses in chapter two the writer got a little side-tracked from the points he was making in chapter one (about Jesus being superior to angels) and so here in verse five he comes back to the topic.
Now, the approach is VERY difficult to really concretely understand and Bible commentators have offered a number of varied opinions as to what the approach is trying to convey.
Because of the difficulty I am going to read the passages through again, and then launch into trying to explain what I believe he is doing.
Returning to the subject of comparing angels to Jesus, the author writes:
5 “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
6 But one in a certain place (Psalm testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
In the previous verses the writer has been referencing life in the future world to come and so here in verse five he says, essentially:
Hebrews 2:5 (WEB) For God didn’t subject the world to come, of which we speak, to angels.
And then in verse six he essentially adds:
“No, a writer has declared somewhere– ‘What is man that thou should even remember him? Or a son of man that thou should’st regard him?
Now, the apostle was writing to those who were supposed to be familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures and sort of references a passage instead of quoting it directly from Psalm 8:4-6.
So reading these two passages together with some paraphrasing of our own, we might better understand them this way:
Hebrews 2:5 (WEB) For God didn’t subject the world to come, of which we have been talking about, to angels. No, but one of the writers of scripture declared somewhere– ‘What is man that thou should’st remember him? Or a son of man (same thing) that thou should’st regard him?
This seems to be the argument the writer is making in verses 5-9:
That in the beginning (the Garden of Eden) God put all things under the subjection of man (lower case m).
And everything was in subjection to him at that time. I would suppose that Adam was not only over all plant and animal life that possibly he was literally over all things – all elements.
In other words, maybe with all things in subjection to him he could have walked on water, etc.
But this total subjection was lost in the Fall.
And instead of obedient and compliant animals, they rise up and try and kill us.
And instead of sustainable water molecules, they give way and we sink.
Where modern humanists love to entertain the notion that man is in control, we have yet to truly control the weather, the sea, animal life, or biology.
We harness and manipulate it but every advance we make is only met with another failure.
I remember on one of daughters volleyball teams was a girl with a mother who was a top ranked biologist who worked for the CDC for a time.
She was also an atheist.
I asked her one day how the progress was in fighting bacteria and viruses.
She looked me straight in the face and smiling said:
“We do all we can to battle and prevent and inoculate ourselves but in the end the germs will win.”
So the writer, in his comparison of angels to Jesus, brings in the subject of man, and quoting David from the Old Testament, wonders, What is man that all things were placed under his subjection in the first place?”
So while all things were put in subjection to Man, now they are not. This is why he says:
8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. (I would suggest that thus far the writer is speaking of Adam pre fall, and then he adds) But now we see not yet all things put under him. (and this line is speaking of post fall.)
You may or may not agree but it seems to me that the writer, who has been comparing angels to Jesus, is making a point of showing how Jesus – God incarnate or God becoming Man – put all things under Him.
This is why the first line of verse nine says:
9 “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor . . .”
Where God gave the “first man Adam,” dominion man over all his works in this lower world, and he, man, was the undisputed lord of this lower world.
But man fell, and so God became man (or “the last Adam as Paul describes Him) and in addition to being superior to prophets, and angels, and equal with God, He also had total dominion over all things too – a position the first Adam was supposed to maintain.
This is why Jesus was able to turn water into wine (He had command over molecules) rode a donkey that had never before been ridden (otherwise disobedient animals were subject to Him) commanded a fig tree to die (plant life was in His command), walked on water and stopped the wind from blowing (the seas and weather were in his control) and cured humanity of all ailments (as viruses, bacteria, and even death were in His control).
And remember, as the Son of God, death was His to give. In other words, death had no reign over His life – He was not only God but as man He was perfectly obedient to the Father – death had no power over Him. This is why He said:
John 10:17 “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.”
John 6:51 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
John 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
This is why the whole of verse nine reads:
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
In the end, verses 5-9, appear to bring in the idea of Man for the purpose of comparing angels to not just any Man, but the only Son of Man (capital s and capital M) to show that God has not placed any of them over all things but Jesus (who is so much better than the angels) had dominion over all things on earth AND on high.
Before we wrap up these passages for the day, let’s take note, however, of the last line of verse eight which says, regarding man
8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
Where man today possesses a general dominion over the earth and all that in it is, our control is not by any means exhaustive nor does it extend very far beyond the good old terra firma under our feet.
However, the writer suggests that in time, all things will be put under man.
I would strongly suggest that:
This will happen only by and through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
Those who are part of His Body, who comprise His bride, who come to Him by and through free-will faith and follow Him through the same.
Now listen, this “following of Him” is NOT simply saying I believe in Him. Even the devils believe.
Tied to the notion of being “an heir” of God, or part of the body of Christ, is something most of us do not want to think about let alone experience – suffering.
Think about it. Christ’s BODY suffered.
His BODY was beaten, scourged, crucified, and even stabbed when dead.
The believing part is just the start. It’s the suffering part where we are made heirs.
Titus 3:7 says “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
That line, “should be made heirs” comes from the Greek “Ga- hin-ahmahee” and it
is “a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb meaning “to cause to be (“gen”-erate), i.e. to become and to “come into being.”
Doesn’t happen when we are justified. We are made heirs if allowed to tary.
Romans 8:17 says it well:
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Acts 14:22 says, “and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
Philippians 1:29 says,
“ For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”
2nd Timothy 2:11-12 says
“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.”
2nd Timothy 3:12 says it plainly:
“ Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
(beat)
The suffering comes to each of us from God in ways particular to us.
If it is anger we deal with, we will suffer to control it.
If it is desires for the world, we will suffer to turn from it.
To suffer persecution does not always mean suffering from the hands of other because we are Christian (though if we are living it right it certainly will include this) but the Greek word for persecution literally means “to be pursued after” by something – and while it may be angry mobs because you are so good and loving in Jesus name, I would the pursuers in most Christians lives is their own flesh, the things of this world, and a refusal to let God fully sit on the throne.
Questions or comments?
(please step up to the microphone)
Prayer (and prayer list)
Song.
