Alright, Hebrews chapter number 2 in your Bibles tonight. Hebrews chapter number 2. Your outline should be on the back. Hebrews chapter number 2. Highlights from the book of Hebrews. If you learn anything from the book of Hebrews, it'll be this, that Jesus Christ is enough. He's enough to save me. He's enough to keep me. He's enough to sustain me and intercede with me and see me to glory, meet every need of my life. He is the answer. to my life, to your life, to everybody's life. He's the key to living life successfully. And we're going to look at the book of Hebrews because we want to learn more about the Savior and our relationship with Him. Hebrews chapter number 2. Find your place there, if you would please. Now, I could have entitled the message, Better Than the Angels, Part 3, but that's a little boring. All right? So I didn't want to do that. So I entitled it, The Captain of Our Salvation. We're going to pull that right out of our text. Let's begin looking, if we could please, Hebrews chapter number 2 and verse number 5. He said, "'Friend of the angels, hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak?' 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? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownedest him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands. 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. 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. For it became Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory." Now here's our words, to make the captain of their salvation perfect. through sufferings. Let's pray together and ask God to speak to our hearts. Father, thank you for the verses at hand. I thank you for an infallible word from God. Lord, I pray you'll let the Holy Spirit be our teacher tonight. Lord, we know the Holy Spirit came to testify of you. And I pray that you would be lifted up tonight, that we would know more of you, that we would grow an understanding of Christ, our relationship to Him, His relationship to us, His desires in our lives, and Lord, Your plans and purposes for us as Your people. I pray, Lord, that You'll speak to our hearts tonight, and we'll see the greatness of Jesus. In Christ's name I pray, Amen. Well, the book of Hebrews, we found, has two primary purposes. The first one is to exalt the Lord Jesus. Help us to learn more about the person of the Savior. And you're going to find that the book of Hebrews has more to say about the person of Jesus Christ than any other book in the New Testament except the four Gospels. We learned that the key to the book of Hebrews is the word, better. You'll find that word used some 13 times in the book of Hebrews. And it speaks of Him being greater and superior. And it speaks to us of the superiority of Christ. And so it's going to exalt the Lord. But then the second purpose is to encourage Christians. We know that the book of Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish believers who were on the verge of giving up. They were facing persecution. There were Jews, unbelieving Jews, probably Gentiles, who were hostile to the things of God. They were hostile to the things of Christ. And because they named the name of Jesus, they were persecuting them and they were making life difficult for them. And it was causing these believers to stumble, to become weary and ready to give up, to throw in the towel, maybe even to go back to the old. to the old ways of Judaism and that system of worship. And the writer of Hebrews is saying, no, listen, God doesn't want you to stop. He doesn't want you to quit. He wants you to go on. And dear Christian, listen, we live in a day that's becoming more and more difficult, a world that's more and more difficult to live in. There is greater and greater hostility to the things of God. You go a long way, even in America, before anything moves you and motivates you spiritually outside the things of God. We're living in a day when two Christian bakers cannot, through their own business, determine a stand that they're going to take for religious liberty without being persecuted by the state and by our government, losing their business, their welfare. their livelihood, and then on top of that being fined large amounts of money. We're finding Christians all over America that are being persecuted for what they believe. And if you're not careful, I'm not careful, we will allow the spirit of the day to discourage us, to erode our courage, and to cause us to think about giving up, slowing down, and even stopping in this matter of living for Jesus Christ. And the writer of Hebrews tonight says to you and I, go on. Go on. Continue. That's a good word, isn't it? Which is our theme. We want to continue on. And let me just sort of give you a little update. Not an update, but I want to just take a moment and get a little technical with you in the passage, and then we're going to move into the message itself, okay? When we deal with the superiority of Christ, and to understand the flow of Hebrews when you read it, in chapter 1, let's just work your way with me, okay? Go back to chapter 1, and then I'm going to dive into the message, alright? Chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, Christ is better than the prophets. He's God's last word to men. And it speaks to us of the work of the cross. It speaks to us of Him finishing His earthly ministry of redeeming sinners and now has sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High. The work of redemption is complete. It is done. And God's last word to men has been spoken through His Son Jesus Christ. So He's superior to the Old Testament prophets. Then when you pick up in verse number 4, you find that he's better than the angels. Alright? And so chapter 1 verses 4 through 14, he's talking about the superiority of Christ over the angels. Then you come to chapter 2 and verse 1 and you have what we call a parenthesis. Now stay with me. It's almost you're reading along, Christ is better than the angels. Here's why He's better than the angels. And then all of a sudden, the thought of the writer of Hebrews stops. And he says, now let me challenge you spiritually. Based on what I've just said, I want to challenge you in your spiritual life. And so it's sort of like a parenthesis. He stops and he makes a challenge, almost like making an application of what he said to those that's reading it. And so verses 1 through 4 is a parenthesis we've already preached on. And it's about neglecting salvation and the danger of drifting and slipping away from that that we know is right and good. and godly and living for Jesus Christ. He's saying, listen Christian, don't neglect what God's done in your life. And then when you come to verse number 5, guess what he does again? He picks up the argument. It's a parenthesis. He says, now, let me tell you about how Jesus is better than the angels. Because look at verse number 14 of chapter number 1. Would you look there? Are they talking about angels? Not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. And so there, he's talking about the angels. Then he has a parenthesis, verses 1 through 4, And then look at verse number 5. For unto the angels, he just picks up his thought, alright? And just keeps right on going. And now here's what I want you to get. He stops the flow of his thought, he exhorts the believers, and then he picks it right back up again, and he talks about the superiority of Christ, and continues his thought about Christ being superior to the angels. Now, I want you to do something, alright? We're still on our Bibles, we haven't got to the note yet, alright? In verses 1 through 5, excuse me, in chapter 1, verses 4 through 14, it has to do with the deity of Christ. The deity of Christ. The angels are servants, but Jesus is the Son. He says, Thy throne, O God. So he talks about the deity, that Jesus is better than the angels because He is God the Son. He is the Son of God. But wait a minute, the Holy Spirit's anticipating the next argument or an objection. Yeah, but wait a minute, He's not just God the Son, He's also the Son of Man. What about His humanity? Now, because He's become a man, is He not lower than the angels? You're going to find this phrase a little lower than the angels used several times in chapter number 2. And so the thought, the objection that is anticipated is somebody said, wait a minute, yeah, when Jesus was in heaven as God the Son, He's superior. But now wait a minute, when He became a man and He's made a little Lord of the angels, now maybe they're superior. And He's getting ready to talk about in verses number 5 through 18 of chapter 2. Here you see the humanity of Christ. And listen, He's superior because He's the captain of our salvation. Amen? He's the captain of our salvation. Now we're going to get to our notes. Are you ready? Did you follow the thought pattern? Because I want you to read it and understand the thought pattern of where we're going. And you're going to see this ebb and flow throughout the book. We're going to talk about what the writer of Hebrews is doing about the spirit of Christ, and then he's going to say, now wait a minute, I'm going to preach to you a minute. And then he's going to pick it back up again. Does that make sense? And our thoughts. Now watch this, the word captain. That word captain means author, it means originator, it means leader. Do you realize that salvation and the gospel is not what man thought up, it's what God has sent down in His Son. It is not human in origin, it is divine in origin. But yet Jesus had to become a man in order, now watch this, for the gospel to be effective. God cannot die. So God became a man so that he could give his life in order to be the originator and the author and the leader of our salvation. And now he says, now watch this, he's the one, when you think of a captain, you think of a leader, you think of an originator, you're thinking of one who opens up the way for others to follow. Well, preacher, what way did he open up? Look down, if you would, please, in verse number 10. Would you look at it? He said, "...for it became Him for whom all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons unto..." What, church? Say it with me. Glory. Did you see that? Hey, listen, He has opened up the way to glory, and He says, Christian, listen, you can go on, and you should go on, and you ought to continue in this thing of living for God because of His purposes for you in Christ. All right? Now, let's get this real quickly. Jesus Christ is superior to the angels. All right? He's the captain of my salvation because of His sovereignty over me. His sovereignty over me. All right? Let's go back to verse number 5. For unto the angels hath He not... Now watch this. For unto the angels hath He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. Now that world to come, that phrase, That speaks of the coming kingdom, the millennial age over which Christ will reign for a thousand years. And he's talking about the coming kingdom, which is very big in a Jewish mind. They're immediately all the time thinking about the kingdom, the kingdom, the kingdom that had been promised to them. And he said, listen, the angels have not been promised to rule and reign in the world to come. That is a position or authority never given to the angels. They're not given the responsibility of ruling over men. They serve God by serving saints and carrying out God's will, but they don't rule over men. And watch this, it will be a man, and that's an authority never given to an angel, it will be a man and not an angel that will rule over the world to come. Now, I want you to see our word glory. Remember that word glory we looked at a minute ago? It's a key word in our passage used three times. You're going to find it in verse number 7. Look at the middle part of verse 7. Thou crown'st him with glory. You see that? Look down at verse number 9. But we see Jesus made a little lower than the angels who for the suffering of death, crowned with glory. Underline that word glory. Alright, now look down at verse number 10. Middle part of it. In bringing many sons unto glory. Now here's what I want you to get. There is a special glory given to men that is never given to the angels. God's given something to us He never gave to an angel. There is a glory that we have that they don't have, but now let me let you in on something. It's a glory that's been lost. We don't have it right now. Notice, if you would, the glory removed. And you see that in verses 6 through 8. This is a quotation of Psalm 8 that sets forth God's original purposes for man. Look what he says. But one in a certain place testified. He's talking about the psalmist in Psalm 8 saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man that thou out-visitest him? You know what? At this moment, it sets forth God's original purposes for man. We're getting ready to see the God-given dignity and destiny for a man who seems to be only an insignificant speck in a vast universe. What is man? He began to look at the world around him. And in Psalm 80, he talks about the sun and the moon and the stars being the work of his finger. And he's thinking about the vastness of the universe around him. And he said, what am I? What is man? That God, you would even think of Him in the vastness and the greatness of your universe. Would you think about our place in the universe for a minute? Would you think about it? I mean, folks, when you look at the vastness of our universe, and it's hard to say it's continuing to expand, and there are billions of stars and galaxies and planets and all of this, and here's man just a little speck in all of that. But yet what privilege God has bestowed upon us. Now I want you to get this, and this is important. Man wasn't made for the universe. The universe was made for man. The universe was uniquely designed for man to occupy. All of the systems necessary to the life and existence of human people were put into creation from the very outset. By the way, I could go up into Washington right now if they let me, and I could cut something out of our budget that would probably save us tens of millions of dollars. You say, Preacher, what is it? It's these great big dishes, satellite dishes or something, that are tuned to the heavens, waiting for somebody to speak. You think I'm kidding? There's part of our budget that they pay big bucks, big money, millions and millions of dollars, just to see if there's anybody else out there. Wouldn't you think in 6,000 years of human history somebody showed up? Well, preacher, did you watch the X-Files last night? I didn't watch fantasy and fiction. I look at the facts. And God has created one planet in a vast universe, and He's fitted it uniquely for a creature of His special creation to live on, and it's called the earth, and that creature is called man. And it fills the psalmist with wonder and praise that God would do that. Notice, if you would, his creation, verse 7. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Do you know that man is the special creation of God? And as it relates to the order of creation, yes, angels are spirit beings and we are human beings. And yes, we are made a little lower than the angels, I understand that, in the creative order. But wait a minute, God tells us that we're His crowning achievement of His creative work. He says something of us He never says of an angel. But before I get there, let me remind you. Genesis 2-7, jot it down in your notes. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And it's interesting, friend, that God only gives a fraction of Scripture to the creation of angels, but He lovingly talks about the creation of man. And it's as a master craftsman. That word formed pictures a master craftsman who brings out a work of art. It's his masterpiece. And God, as it were, out of the dust of the earth formed His masterpiece. And He was laying there a piece of clay. And He breathed into it and man became alive. He became a living soul. Evolution says just the opposite. Evolution and creation are diametrically opposed to one another. You cannot mix the two. Creation says man is a little lower than the angels. Evolution wants to say that man is a little higher than the animals. Friend, listen, I like what one preacher said. He said we're somewhere between a clod and a cherub. Somewhere in there. A clod of dirt and a cherub. Sort of where we're at, okay? But we're lower than the angels, okay? But then God said, not only have I created him, I've crowned him. Look at verse number 7, And did set him over the works of thy hands. Can I show you what He's talking about? Thus put all things in subjection under His feet. For in that He put all in subjection, He left nothing that is not put under it. Can we just look at it? Can you turn back to the first book of your Bible? And I want you to see God's original plan and intention for mankind. Now, I have determined for Wednesday night to be a Bible study, and I've determined that we're going to just take our time learning the Scriptures together, okay? That's what we're going to do. We're going to come away with an understanding of the Bible as best we can. Look at verse 26. And this is what the writer of Hebrews and the psalmist is alluding to. And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them, talking about the man and the woman, have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Now, can I tell you that in original creation, God gave and vested in man the leadership of the relationship and the home, but notice they both were given dominion. There is an equality between the man and the woman in creation. It was the fall that marred it. Look at verse 27. So God created man in his own image, and in the image of God created he them, male and female created he them. Notice God said, let them have dominion. That means rule, authority. God's intention was that man was to have dominion, and I say man, I'm talking about mankind. over the newly created earth. So God gave them the sun to shine on them. And God gave them the moon to direct their paths. And God gave them flowers to give fragrance to the earth. And God gave birds to sing beautiful songs for man. And God gave the animals to serve man. And God intended that man would have dominion. He crowned him with glory. Hey, he's made a little lower than the angels, but God said, I'm going to crown you with glory and honor, and I've got a plan for you that the angels know nothing of. And God intended for man to extend the paradise of Eden all over the planet. That's what He intended. But look back at chapter 2, verse 8. I hope you held your place. I want you to underline four words in verse 8. Now don't underline until I tell you. Because I've got to start the sentence. This is the last sentence of verse 8. God's not left anything that's not put under Him. I want you to underline the words, now we, but now we. Underline those two words, now we. And then we're going to see the verb see, and I want you to underline two more words, not yet. Now we, not yet. You say, Preacher, what is that all about? That's all about that God had an intention and a plan for man, but man's not realized it. He's failed. And there's the glory removed. Because it's at this point that man through sin fell from his lofty estate and his position before God, and the glory was removed, and sin marred man's dominion over the earth and interrupted God's plan for man. The writer of Hebrews is saying God had a plan for mankind, and He crowned Him, He's made a little lower than the angels, that even though in His humanity man is an order of creation, it's less than the angels, God's plan for Him is greater than the angels. But he's failed. And he's missed it. And that man is a marred creature and the dominion is lost. And the glory has been removed. But I love verse 9. I want you to underline four words in verse 9. But we see Jesus. Do you realize that everything that man lost, he's regained. He was made a little lower than the angels. He became a man. It not only implies position, but also time. For a short time, He's become a little lower than the angels. Look down at verse number 16. For verily, He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham, that He is the fulfillment of the promises of Abraham. And He took upon Him the nature of mankind. And for a while, He stooped lower than the angels as God, that He through death might raise us higher than the angels. Do you see that? And God's crowned Him with glory and honor. And friend, you and I tonight should crown Him with glory and honor. Because friend, everything that was lost in Adam has been regained in Christ. Look at verse number 10. He said, for it became Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons unto glory. You see, friend, glory was lost, but now it's restored. Man has failed, but in Christ he's fully realized God's plan and position for him. And in Adam, watch this, Adam you have the glory removed, but in Christ you have the glory restored. Isn't that good? I want you to look at a passage with me. Hold your place and turn all the way to the end. We're going to go from Genesis to Revelation tonight. Go to Revelation chapter 20. And look at verse number 6. We are entering into the kingdom age at this point as it relates to end time events. When you come to Revelation 20, Jesus has already come. The Antichrist has been destroyed. His kingdom is now being set up. Look at verse 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part of the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ. Now watch this. And shall reign dominion with him a thousand years. What was lost has been regained. Friend, if we could grasp the lofty and the high position that we have in Christ, it would elevate us as Christians. I'm not talking about being filled with pride, okay? But what I am saying is that most men, when their sons are young, they'll say, son, you got my name. You lift your head. You put your shoulders back. You walk like a man. You shake a man's hand and look him in the eye. You carry my name, son. You honor my name. You honor my name. God said we're His brethren. We share in His glory. And he says, listen, don't you walk around down there ashamed of me. And don't walk around down there on the earth as if you're not important. Don't walk around as if this is something of being a Christian to hide. He said, no, I've given you my name. He said, now honor it. Honor it on the job. Honor it out in the community. Honor it down at Walmart and at the ball game and wherever we go. Let's honor His name. I'm not talking about being haughty. And I'm not talking about being prideful. And I'm not talking about having a pharisaical spirit. But I'm talking about having a realization that I am a child of the King and my brother is the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's not ashamed to call me His brother. He's not ashamed to own me as His own. Friend, we shouldn't be ashamed to own Him as ours. Amen. Friend, we shouldn't be ashamed to name the name of Jesus. Wow! For He is the captain of our salvation. Let's bow our heads in prayer tonight. With heads bowed and eyes