Transcript
Will you turn with me once again to the Epistle to the Hebrews and this time to Hebrews chapter 2? Hebrews chapter 2, Hebrews chapter 2 beginning to read at verse 5.
For He has not put the world to come of which we speak in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place saying, ‘What is man that You are mindful of him or the Son of Man that You take care of him? You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of Your hands. You have 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 do not yet see 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 might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren saying, ‘I will declare Your name to my brethren. In the midst of the congregation I will sing praise to You.’ And again, ‘I will put my trust in Him.’ And again, ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given to me.’
For in that He Himself has suffered being tempted He is able to aid those who are tempted.
And one final passage all the way back in chapter 12. Hebrews 12:1 and 2.
Therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author or once again the word for captain and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Now we come back to Hebrews chapter 2. Jerry Garrison was a real problem child at the age of about ten or eleven. He was a streetwise kid growing up in Sacramento and he would have had to disrupt a classroom when he attended school. Probably his poor behavior was not too surprising. His mother had died as an alcoholic and his father had been in and out of trouble with the law for years and is currently serving a term in prison for assault and will not be eligible for parole until 1991.
One day about two years ago Jerry and his brother Danny were visiting their father in a Sacramento apartment building. Jerry went into a vacant apartment to retrieve a toy that his brother had tossed inside. And when he got inside the apartment he heard a hissing sound. He went over to the garage to the gas stove. The valve was open. He could smell the fumes escaping. Instinctively he started to run but it was too late. There was a huge explosion.
Jerry thought of our couch. He crashed through a window and fell to the ground below partly on the pavement and partly on the lawn. He was on fire. He got up and went over to a damp part of the lawn and began to roll around to put out the flames. His father put out his hair and there this tough little kid was faced with the toughest battle of his entire life. Ninety percent of his body was covered with burns and doctors gave him only a ten percent chance to live.
Lying as he hovered near death in the burn ward of a Sacramento hospital he was visited by his school principal a man by the name of Tom Dunlap. When the visit was over and the principal turned to go Jerry said, “Mr. Dunlap you know something.” And Mr. Dunlap said, “What Jerry?” And Jerry replied, “This is the first time that I have looked you in the eye. I love you.”
Well Mr. Dunlap knew what that was all about. He had disciplined Jerry many times at school and Jerry had looked away. He had never looked him in the eye. And now this tough little kid was not only learning to look his principal in the eye. He was to face life and look it in the eye.
And you will not be surprised to discover that Jerry beat the odds. He lived. But after he got out of the hospital his face was disfigured by the accident. His skin was white and puffy. His lower eyelids were red and his mouth and nose were somewhat deformed. When he goes to school he has to wear a sterilized silicone mask over his face to protect his skin. There are holes for his eyes and nose and a slit for his mouth. And the mask is held in place by a hood that fits tightly over his head.
Other parts of his body are also swathed in bandages. Lots of kids would not like to go to school that way but not this gritty little kid. He is looking forward to the future and doctors believe that surgery will be able to restore his face to normal by the time he is about sixteen years of age. Meanwhile Jerry can take the occasional guff and ridicule that he gets for the way that he looks.
“People make fun of me sometimes,” he said. “They shouldn’t be so rude but I am getting used to it. I am getting used to it.”
I do not know about you but I think that is a pretty challenging story. And I think that Jerry Garrison is a pretty brave courageous gritty little boy.
And you know what is wrong with us and lots of Christians who are in the Christian church today? Very few have the courage and the grit that Jerry has. They are too soft and flabby. And I am not talking about physical flab. I am in no position to talk about physical flab. I am trying to take off pounds myself. I am talking about moral and spiritual softness and flabbiness.
Oh yes it is easy is it not to be upbeat when everything is going smooth. Like we really can get enthused about our Christian faith when all the family is healthy when we are paying all of our bills and when everything down at work is going smoothly. But let things get tough. Let them get hard. Let them get frustrating and disappointing. And then what kind of people are we?
And this evening I am going to tell you something that I want you to remember for a long long time. And it is this. The world of the future belongs to those who endure in suffering. The world of the future belongs to those who endure in suffering.
The writer of the book of Hebrews has been talking about the future world. He has been talking about that splendid day when Jesus Christ will sit on a throne that will never end. When all of His enemies will have been made the footstool of His feet. He is talking about the time when Jesus will be surrounded by His companions who share in the joy of His kingship.
And there is one thing that the writer wants us to be sure to understand. He wants us to understand that the world of the future does not belong to the angels. And he tells us in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 5 that not unto the angels has He subjected the world to come of which we are speaking.
The world to come he does not belong to the angels. Now when I was a little boy we used to sing a song in which the angels were involved. And when something like this. Do not worry I am not about to start singing up here. I mean the words went something like this.
“Holy holy holy is what the angels sing and I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring. But when I sing redemption story they will fold their wings for angels never know the joy that my salvation brings.”
And that is true is it not? Angels do not know the joy of being a sinner saved by grace. They do not know what it is like to receive the free gift of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ. We know what that is about but they do not.
For something else the angels do not know anything about. They do not know what it is like to suffer physically or to die. After all the angels are a higher order of being. They are spirit beings swift as the winds powerful as flames of fire. And they do not have bodies of flesh and blood and bones like we have. And in their experience they know nothing about what it means to suffer physically or to die.
And here is something amazing. Here is something really really amazing. God has put the world to come in subjection to creatures who are lower than the angels. Fools and know what it means to suffer. And that is why the writer draws from the words of Psalm 8 and he says,
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 crownedst him with glory and honor. And set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.
Staggering thought. Tiny man living down here on this little ball underneath the vast expanse of the universe. Tiny man created to rule the creation. But wait a minute. Wait a minute. That is not the way it is. That is not the way it is.
Oh go out to your own coastline and talk to these celebrities and wealthy people whose homes were destroyed by the fierce storms that lashed your coasts earlier this year. And ask them if man has control over the works of God’s hands. And they will tell you he does not. Go to Louisiana to the areas that were under flood waters earlier this spring. And ask them if man has control over the works of God’s hands. And they will tell you that he does not.
Oh yes there are lots of things that man can control but there are lots of things in creation over which he has no control. But the writer of Hebrews tells us that when God says that he has put all things under his feet he means exactly what he has said. He means all things.
But says the writer of Hebrews we do not yet see all things put under him. Man is not yet over the works of God’s hands. Last March Dale Watson of Dallas Texas was in her kitchen when some people only about 10:45 a.m. and she heard a tremendous crash. She rushed out of her kitchen and she found a Pontiac Grand Prix that had crashed through the den the dining area and had stopped in the living room about twenty feet from the kitchen.
Fortunately her two children were in another part of the house. And there is a man still sitting in the driver’s seat. And she went up to him and asked him if he was all right. And he nodded that he was. And then she started screaming. The impact finally hit her.
The accident had happened as the Pontiac was heading north at a fast rate of speed on Rolling Rock Lane. It had skidded around the curve. It had crashed through a twelve-foot stretch of wooden fence. It had gone another fifteen feet and it had crashed into the den the dining area. And when it came to a stop the windshield was in the living room.
The man who was driving it was arrested for driving without a license driving without insurance and reckless damage to property. And when he was released on bail later that day he came back to get some belongings out of the car which happened to be a rented car. And this is what he said. He said, “I pure fell asleep and drove through it. It was an accident. What can I say?”
Well I suspect that Mrs. Watson would say that it would have been a good idea if he had stayed awake and kept control of the car. After all people who drive cars are supposed to control the vehicles that they drive. And listen. Man was made to control the creation. But the creation has crashed. And it is a calamitous tragic resounding crash.
Man has lost control of this world by his sin by his fall in the Garden of Eden. He is not in control at all. We do not yet see all things put under him. But there is hope. There is hope. For though we do not yet see all things put under him there is something we do see. We do see Jesus.
We see Jesus who was made lower than the angels that he might taste death for every man. And we see Jesus who for the suffering of death because he suffered is crowned with glory and honor. He sits at the right hand of the throne of God expecting the moment to rule over the entire world.
But there is more. There is more. You see God is in the process of bringing many sons to the glory of that dominion. Jesus is the Son of Man. And God is bringing many sons to share His dominion. And in order to bring them to that glory Jesus became a man and he suffered and he became their leader.
And that is why we read in verse 10.
It was fitting for Him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
And because Jesus suffered he is just exactly the kind of leader that we need to lead us to that glory. Colonel William Travis was the officer in command of the troops who were to defend the Alamo against the attack of the five thousand Mexican troops under the leadership of Santa Anna.
And as the battle was approaching Colonel Travis addressed his men and he drew a sword. And he said, “Anybody who wants to escape is free to go. But anyone who wants to stay and die in defense of the Alamo cross that line.”
And the famous Davy Crockett was the first man across. And the others followed him until there was only one man on the other side of the line. That was James Bowie for whom the Bowie knife was named. And he was too sick to move under his own power but he requested that someone would carry him across the line. And they did it.
And when everybody was across the line Colonel Travis sent that brave message to Santa Anna and he said, “We refuse to surrender.” When March the 6 1836 the attack began. It took three waves of assault to overpower the defenders of the Alamo. And finally they succumbed to the sheer mass of the numbers who were attacking them. And it was all over. Every one of them was dead.
But news of their bravery leaked back to the army under the command of General Sam Houston. And it was General Sam Houston who raised that famous cry, “Victory is certain. Remember the Alamo.” And I can assure you that in Texas we do remember the Alamo. And we remember it as a monument to human bravery and courage.
But it is well to remember that the key to that courage lay in a brave leader who had the capacity to inspire his followers and join with them in the battle and die with those who defended that fortress. And my Christian friends tonight we have a great leader. We have a great leader.
Jesus was made lower than the angels. He became one with us in all respects. He shares our humanity. He shares our flesh and blood. He shares our experience of suffering and even the experience of death. And for that reason this is wonderful. For that reason He is not ashamed to call us His brethren and to declare His Father’s name to us.
And here is the bottom line. Here is the bottom line. Because He Himself has suffered being tempted He is able to help those who are tempted.
My Christian friends tonight we are saved freely by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. But the road to glory and dominion over the creation is a tough road. And we often encounter on that road trouble hardship frustration and suffering.
But our leader has traveled the road ahead of us. He has been victorious over everything. And He has now sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And from there He is able not only to help us but also to inspire us.
And that is why there comes ringing to our ears the challenge of Hebrews 12:1 and 2. That we should run with endurance the race that is set before us doing what? Doing what? Looking to Jesus the captain and the finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
And if that does not inspire you nothing will. Nothing will.
Maybe some of you read the story of Pham Cong Trang in your newspapers not long ago. He is an eighteen-year-old Vietnamese teenager who decided he wanted to escape communist-dominated Vietnam. His goal was to come to California where he has a sister living in Rosemead.
Last April the 12th he got aboard a ship with three relatives and nine neighbors and they set out across the South China Sea. After three days they ran out of food and water. And on April the 18th the ship was struck by a wave that Pham Cong Trang describes as being as high as a house.
The ship shattered. Everyone was drowned except Pham Cong Trang who somehow managed to get a hold of a plastic water container. And for two days he clung to that plastic water jug in the South China Sea until he was rescued by a Norwegian freighter which picked him up and took him to Manila.
And hopefully he is with his sister today in Rosemead. Now that is a story about endurance. The ship shattered. His companions drowned. And he was clinging to the only object that could keep him afloat.
And the Bible is perfectly honest with us my friends. The Bible does not promise us that our journey to the shores of the kingdom of God will always be across calm and placid seas. Often violent storms sweep down upon us. And the waves of trouble lash our bows.
And we must cling to the only object that can keep us afloat. We must cling to our great captain and leader whose help and whose inspiration can see us through to victory. For as surely as He was victorious we can be victorious too.
When you see the world of the future belongs to those who have come to Jesus Christ and who endure in suffering. Because the Bible says if we endure we shall also reign with Him.
Now I know that nobody in this audience has ever heard of Tales and Tour. And so just before I close I would like to introduce you to Tales and Tour. He was a poodle and he belonged to Herbert and Audrey Harris who live in Dallas.
Unfortunately last September Tales and Tour died of kidney failure at the ripe old age of fifteen years. Herbert and Audrey were grief-stricken. And they wanted to do something that would memorialize Tales and Tour.
Now Mr. Harris happens to be a wealthy real estate investor. And he called the Dallas Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to find out what they needed. And they told him. So he wrote out two fifteen thousand dollar checks just like that and promised more if it was needed.
And thus was established at the Dallas SPCA kennels the Tales and Tour grooming room which offers free hair care to stray mongrels and other assorted dogs.
They say what need does the SPCA have of a grooming room? Well they have more need than you might think. And the dogs have more need than you might think. You see about fifty percent of the dogs who pass through the kennels find new and loving owners. But about fifty percent of them do not.
And they have to be led down to a back room and put to sleep. Sometimes they are too old. Sometimes they are too ugly to be adopted. And other times the kennels are so crowded they just have to make a hard choice.
And a dog’s chance of finding a new home and escaping that walk to the back green room improves greatly if he is well groomed. And just to show you during one two-week period one hundred and another dogs were groomed in the Tales and Tour grooming room. And within two days ninety of them were adopted.
Mr. Harris commented, “Tales and Tour in his fur life now is going to be responsible for about two thousand dollars a year being groomed. I think he would be very proud.”
And you know I really liked the sentence with which that newspaper story opened. This is what it said. It is a Tales and Tour died. None of the dogs might live and look sharp and look sharp.
Now I know that that is a very pale and distant comparison. But on a much higher level you might say Jesus Christ came into the world and died not only that we might live with Him forever but also that we might look sharp. That we might look sharp.
And if you will allow me to say it this way this present life with all of its troubles and frustrations and sufferings is our grooming room. It is our grooming room. For it is here that God prepares us for our future in His kingdom. It is here that He grooms us for our role in the government of the world and in the glory of dominion over the creation.
And well do we sing at times.
Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Sure I must fight if I would reign. Increase my courage Lord. I will bear the cross endure the pain supported by Thy word.
Make no mistake about it. The world of the future belongs to those who endure in suffering.
Shall we pray?
Father for the privilege of following so great a captain and leader we thank Thee for His example for His inspiration for His help day by day. We praise Thy name. Grant us the strength to endure all that is in our pathway and to triumph along with Him and reign with Him forever. We ask it in Christ’s name. Amen.