The Pioneer & The Sons Of Glory

The Old Testament reading this morning, Psalm 22, verses 19 through 28, that's

page 458 in your few Bibles.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off.

O you, my help, come quickly to my aid.

Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.

Save me from the mouth of the lion.

You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.

I will tell of your name to my brothers.

In the midst of the congregation, I will praise you.

You who fear the Lord, praise him.

All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel.

For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him,

but has heard when he cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation.

My vows I will perform before those who fear him.

The afflicted shall eat and shall be satisfied.

Those who seek him shall praise the Lord.

May your hearts live forever.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship

before you.

For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

The New Testament scripture is found in the book of Romans, chapter eight, verses 18

through 30.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to

be revealed to us.

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected

it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption, and

obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

And now, and not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the spirit groan

inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our

bodies.

For in this hope we were saved, not hope that is seen is not hope,

for who hopes for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise, the spirit helps us in our weakness.

For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself intercedes

for us with groanings too deep for words.

And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit, because the spirit intercedes

for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to

his purpose.

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son

in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined, he also called.

And those whom he called, he also justified.

And those whom he justified, he also glorified.

You may be seated.

Take your Bibles and turn with me to Hebrews chapter two.

Before we begin, let me just say a few words.

Dan has, just a few minutes ago, prayed and prayed about someone else who

would come and minister here.

We really wanna make this a matter of prayer and we're asking that you really pray about someone who'd come alongside an associate

pastor.

You know, our thinking is this, and I don't know if you're aware of this, but, you know, if some guy's been

in a pulpit for 36 to 40 years, the next guy who's gonna come is gonna really have a hard time because

nobody knows him and we're used to doing it this way and all kinds of stuff.

And so our goal, our plan is to have someone who's here for a while

and so that he knows us and you know him.

And so when he steps up, it won't be a shock for either him or you.

Of course, some of you are thinking quite possibly, well, you know, it is getting, you are a pretty boring guy and it'd be

nice to get some more excitement around here, but, and I'm not gonna live forever, at least in LaRue.

So, and that doesn't mean I'm moving, I may be moving on someday.

I am planning on living forever, all right, but not here.

All right, so we're asking you, just really start praying about this.

We really need to be thinking seriously about this.

Now, I'm not ready to give up preaching or anything like that yet, but, you

know, we need to be thinking.

Hebrews chapter two, Hebrews chapter two, you follow as I read

this chapter.

Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience

received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great

salvation?

It was declared at first by the Lord and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also

bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed

according to his will.

Now, it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.

It has been testified somewhere, what is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you

care for him?

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

You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.

Now, in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.

At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him,

but we see him, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus,

crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, he might

taste death for everyone.

For it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist in

bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my

brothers.

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 God has given me.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that

through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver

all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and

faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Father, now open the text of scripture to us that we might hear the living voice, your living

voice.

We are not just looking at a book, we are looking at the very thoughts of God.

Help us then, Lord, to listen and to pay attention.

Help us to change in our thinking this day.

For your glory and our good, and we'll thank you in Jesus' name, amen.

What does it mean to be truly human?

What's the measuring stick that we use to determine what a man or a woman should be?

People spend lifetimes and fortunes trying to determine that.

University professors spend their years looking at abnormal psychology, telling us what man shouldn't be,

but oftentimes coming up short and telling us what exactly he should be.

Philosophers and even novelists think deeply about the human condition and propose what we can

do about it.

Your friends, your friends all have differing ideas about what a human being should

do and what he should be.

Now, we saw two weeks ago now that God says to be truly human, man must be crowned

with glory and honor.

That's what it means to be truly human, meaning that we act in the way that God

created us and commanded us.

And so, when God created man, he crowned him with glory and honor.

He gave him an environment, lush and rich with vegetation, and all the

species under the benign rule of man.

Man and woman lived in perfect union with each other.

There was no unhealthy competition.

There were no power struggles, no secret plots or harsh words, no

fear, no guilt, no shame.

They didn't struggle with identity, anxiety, depression, addiction, or any other things like that.

They experienced perfect union with God.

People loved, worshipped, and obeyed him as

they were created to do.

They walked in the garden, having conversation with God as if he was their friend.

They were God's resident managers, doing their job perfectly.

And God had no reason to confront them, and they had no reason to confess anything.

Just absolutely perfect.

But the writer to the Hebrews says, even though man was crowned with glory and honor, with

everything under subjection to him, he says, but we don't see that.

Things aren't the way they're supposed to be.

Human beings aren't what they're supposed to be.

So what hope is there?

And he told us, and he replies in verses five through nine, look, we see

Jesus now, crowned with that glory and honor that was once ours.

He has fulfilled God's original intention for man.

He is the true human being.

He measures up.

He has defeated the curse by his death, and so he stands as the measure of

humanity.

And we saw a couple weeks ago that Jesus became man so that he would

fulfill God's original intention for human beings.

He, like man before sin, was crowned with glory and honor.

But will God be satisfied with only crowning one son.

With glory and honor?

Is he satisfied with that?

Let's look at our text for this morning, verses 10 through 13.

For it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many

sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers 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 God has given me.

Why did God the son became man?

In order to bring many sons to glory.

And that's what our text tells us.

Now let's look at it together, shall we?

God brings you to glory by the suffering of Jesus.

God brings you to glory by the suffering of Jesus.

Note, it is the sovereign God who brings many sons to glory.

All of creation exists by God and for God.

He created everything so that in a great harmony of how it all works, would

shout of the glory of God in every part of its existence.

All that exists by him and for him includes us.

It includes mankind.

This God who's glorified in creation wants to bring many sons to

glory.

He wants them with all of creation to glorify him, to be part of that great

symphony that glorifies him in everything that they say and do.

And man once did that in paradise when God originally crowned him with glory and honor.

You remember, as you look back at verses five through nine, especially verses six through eight,

you see that he quotes Psalm eight.

You remember, he's quoting from the Old Testament.

They're his Bible.

He's quoting from Psalm eight, which proclaims that man was made a little lower than the angels, but he was

crowned with glory and honor by what, what is that crowning of glory and honor?

That is verse eight, putting everything in subjection under his feet, all of creation under man,

where he uses it and cultivates it and does it all for the glory of God.

God crowned humanity with the glory and honor of all things under his subjection where he would rule

it and develop it for the glory of God.

But in verse eight, the last part of verse eight, you see, now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside

his control, but at present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

We don't see everything subject to man.

Sin came in and marred that glory and honor of that wonderful rule, that perfect rule of creation.

But Jesus regained what mankind lost by living as a man, and with his death and his

resurrection and ascension, he has been crowned with that original glory and honor,

and he now glorifies the Father.

So God is determined to bring many sons to glory, to restore us

to that place of glory and honor.

It is God's intention that we take back, not take back, that we be given

that same glory and honor that the original man had, that Jesus has now accomplished,

and through him, we also will accomplish.

He is determined to bring many sons to glory.

I don't know about you, but that, to me, that's exciting to me.

I'm trying to imagine the universe where, I mean, an earth which we will inherit, as

we've seen, the future, where we will once again be the kind of human beings that

God intended us to be from the beginning, where we will rule over creation

in the right way, where we won't be exploiting it and destroying it, nor will it

have control over us, where we're trying to wrestle control back because of the curse of sin, where

everything will be perfect.

That's exciting to me.

You know, the new earth is going to be, eternity is going to be being a human being the

way you were intended.

Okay, I'll have to admit, I love music, okay?

But to actually think about spending eternity strumming a harp and just singing

forever, just doesn't, it doesn't appeal to me.

Sure, a couple hours a day, I can handle that, right?

But, you know, all those crazy, crazy visions that have

been planted in our head about what eternity is going to be, floating in clouds in white robes, strumming a harp,

we are going to be firmly planted on this earth.

We will be ruling over creation.

We will be what human beings were always intended to do, creating and doing things and

interacting with the environment, an environment that's no longer fighting us.

I don't know about you, but that sounds fascinating to me.

But that's what he's saying.

God is determined to bring many sons to glory.

That's the glory he's talking about.

That's exciting, isn't it?

God's determined to do it, but how does he do it?

In order to accomplish his purpose, he must first perfect the founder of that

salvation.

By the way, notice that that kind, what I just described is part of salvation.

It's part of what God is saving us for, right?

That kind of eternity, living as human beings were always intended to live.

That's part of our salvation.

And so he says that he wanted to make the founder of their

salvation perfect through suffering.

What does that founder mean?

It's the word that can mean like pioneer or leader.

It's the idea of one who blazes the trail for others.

He's blazed the trail for us that we're going to follow.

Now, most people here, most of you as I look at you,

you think about putting a man on the moon and sending guys to the International Space Station

to work for months is no big deal.

We do it all the time, you know.

But some of us are old enough to remember when the space program

first was launched.

It was launched with something called the Mercury Program.

The Mercury Program was when we first put men into space, guys like Alan Shepard.

See, some of these are like, you're going, okay, Alan Shepard, I kind of remember that name.

John Glenn, you know, because he was from our state.

Gus Grissom, Deke Slayton.

All these guys, there were seven men in the Mercury Program.

They were the first men that we put into space.

Alan Shepard was the first one to go up.

He just went up like this and came down.

He was the first American in space.

Then John Glenn was the next one.

He went around the Earth seven times and then came back.

Gus Grissom and others, there were seven of them in

the Mercury Program.

They're the pioneers.

They're the trailblazers.

They were the ones who paved the way for what then became the Gemini Program,

then the Apollo Program, the landing on the moon, and now we're talking about what?

Going to Mars.

None of that possible without Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, and the others.

None of it possible without those guys.

They were the trailblazers.

They were the ones who opened up new territory, who blazed a trail into space.

Jesus was the pioneer, the leader, the first man of the new

creation who blazed the trail for us.

He's the first one into the new realm, the realm of mankind's true glory and honor.

But notice, this pioneer, this founder, had to be perfected.

What in the world does that mean?

Now, the writer of this epistle does not even hint that Jesus was in some way morally

blemished so that he had to be perfectly perfected in morality.

That's not what that term means.

And he cannot mean that Jesus was somehow morally deficient and so had to be

perfected.

Because three other places in this book, he says things like this.

Look at chapter four, verse 15.

Very familiar verse to us.

He says that Jesus was one who in every respect has been tempted as

we are, what?

Yet without sin.

When you come to chapter seven, verse 26, it says, for it was indeed fitting that we

should have such a high priest, holy, innocent,

unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.

That speaks of perfection.

Chapter nine, verse 14, it says that Christ offered himself without

blemish to God.

Now, I don't think that our pastor who's writing the epistle to the Hebrews or this sermon to the Hebrews, I

don't think that he's that dumb that he contradicts himself that close to himself.

He doesn't mean that Jesus is morally deficient and thus must be perfected.

When you look at a man and say, Joe is the perfect man for that job, do you mean that Joe

has no moral imperfections?

No, that's not what you mean.

What do you mean by that?

You mean he has the right personality and the proper vocational skills to do the job well.

He is qualified for the job.

All right, he's qualified.

When Tim Pazma came to LaRue Baptist Church as a 29 -year -old, was he the perfect man

for the job?

Absolutely not.

He wasn't.

Now, there might be some debate at this point about now, but let's just assume for the sake of argument,

what about now?

Do you think he's fitted for pastoral ministry?

If you say yes, I ask you why.

It's because he's had 30 years of pastoral experience that has

qualified him.

To shepherd.

And so it is with Jesus.

God perfected or qualified him for the job of bringing

many sons to glory.

Now, we're gonna come across that word perfected a number of different places in this book.

And he's always using it in that technical sense of fitted for,

qualified for the job.

It's actually a term that's used in the Old Testament about Old Testament priests.

It's a technical term for the fact that a man is not morally perfect, but that

he has been set apart for the job of priest.

And that's primarily how it's gonna be used in this book.

So when you come across that, as we continue through the book, and as you continue your reading, realize that

it's talking about being qualified for this priestly role, okay?

That's what he's talking about.

Not moral perfection, but if you will, if you wanna put it this way, vocational perfection.

He has been perfected for that job, qualified for that job.

So in order to bring many sons to glory, he must be perfected or qualified, note,

through suffering, through suffering.

He must live under.

He must, like all of us, live under and suffer the effects of the

curse.

Suffer the effects of the curse, including death, like everyone else.

You know, Jesus suffered the effects of the curse in his entire life on earth,

didn't he?

Do you think he had brothers and sisters who hated him, who just were fighting with him, right?

Do you think he had to work hard?

Do you think he has calluses on his hands?

And I wonder sometimes, did Jesus still have calluses on his hands from the hard work that he did?

You know, as a carpenter, that doesn't mean a guy who's just sawing wood and nailing things together.

I don't know if they had nails back then.

It does mean a guy who would build fences with stones.

It does mean a kind of heavy duty manual labor.

Jesus did that.

He had to wrestle with creation, just like you and me.

And finally, he had to suffer the ultimate curse of sin and that's death.

Jesus has been equipped in suffering the effects of the curse,

just like you and me, just like you and me.

And he has to glorify God, even in that death.

And in that way, he will bring many sons to glory.

By taking on humanity, by taking on human form, human nature, the

son is fully equipped to serve his role in

restoring and redeeming us and bringing us to glory.

He had to come and live like us in order to bring us to glory and

he has blazed the trail ahead of us now.

And now is crowned with glory and honor, having gained what we lost.

Now, in that way, he achieves this great salvation.

Now, remember, all of this is connected.

All of this is connected to, this is a superior message than anything before.

This is the ultimate message, right?

Here's the argument.

Chapter two, therefore, don't neglect this great salvation, right?

Don't neglect it or you'll drift away and be lost and condemned.

Don't drift away.

Pay closer attention to this great salvation.

And what does that great salvation involve?

It involves restoring us to the place where we are crowned with glory and honor.

And Jesus has been that way, has been crowned for us.

Now, we look at salvation as being saved from the wrath of God, and that's what it is.

And we see salvation as God's declaration that we have been justified before the law, declared not guilty, and

so it is.

And we see salvation as God redeeming us, regenerating us, sanctifying us, adopting us,

glorifying us, and so it is, all of that.

But salvation also brings us to the glory and honor of a perfect

relationship with God, a perfect relationship with one another, a perfect relationship

with the earth and our environment.

All of those relationships, again, restored in the way they ought to be, that's salvation.

A life where we will again walk with God, conversing with him as a friend, and enjoying perfect

fellowship.

A life where we again will love and worship and obey as we are created to do.

A life, again, of no struggle with our identity, with anxiety, depression, addiction,

or any kind of painful history.

A life where we will again be God's resident managers of the earth, doing what we were supposed to

do, in the right way.

Salvation means finally fulfilling God's purpose for humanity, that's what it means.

To have a life that is truly human, right?

That's what this salvation means, that's why.

Don't neglect it, or you'll drift away to condemnation.

Pay close attention to this, don't give it up, you see?

And note, in verse 10, this was the most fitting way for God to accomplish his purpose.

To send his son, to live like us, to suffer,

and to blaze the trail to glory.

Verse 10 says it, right?

For it is fitting, this was the best way of doing it.

The only real way of restoring us is by perfecting the perfecting of God's son,

through suffering, tasting death for us, and blazing the trail to glory and honor.

But how does that work?

How is it that God's son brings us to glory through suffering?

Well, he tells us then in the verses that remain in our text.

For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers 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 God has given me.

God brings you to glory by the solidarity of Jesus with us.

All right, he brings us to glory through the suffering of Jesus, but that works because God can

bring you to glory by the solidarity of Jesus with us.

Jesus is one with us in paternity.

Verse 11, Jesus by his death, it says, makes us holy, right?

He is the sanctifier.

He makes us holy.

That is, he sets us apart from the world of people to be a

special people.

I don't know if you've thought about this.

It's all through the New Testament.

No, it's through the old as well.

That God's intention is always to separate out of humanity a special people,

the people of God.

Now, I don't know if you realize this, but there's one sense in which you are different from everybody around you, and

that is you belong to God.

The rest of the, those who don't, the rest of humanity, they don't belong to God,

but you are a special class of people.

Now, listen, I'm not being Mr. Rogers here and saying you're so special, okay?

I'm not saying that.

So everybody clap and say, oh, aren't we special, okay?

I'm saying you're a special people of God in that you have an identity that the rest of humanity does not.

You are the sanctified ones.

He's the one who has sanctified you.

By his death, he has set you apart.

He has made you holy.

You are set apart from the world as the people of God, as the ones who will glorify God.

But even though he sanctifies us, even though he's the one who sanctifies us, he,

and even though he is the great sanctifier, he is our brother.

That's what he's saying here.

He is our brother.

He is our brother because we have the same father.

Notice this idea of we all have one source.

Now, it just says source.

Well, what's he talking about there?

I believe he's talking about we have one father.

And by the way, some of the translations that you will read will put father in there.

And the reason why is because it says we all come from one source and then it says, so he's not

ashamed to call them brothers.

It must be talking about God as father.

Jesus belongs to the father through what theologians have called the eternal generation of

the son, which is to say he was always the son to the father.

We, but we belong to the father by new birth into God's family.

We're born into that family by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and we are adopted

into that family.

We got both avenues covered there, folks.

We're part of God's family by birth and by adoption, okay?

We're born again.

We are born by the spirit of God and the spirit is also the spirit of adoption.

And so we both have the same father.

And we are so much a child of the heavenly father that Jesus is not

ashamed to identify us as his brothers and his sisters.

I want you to just let that sink in.

Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters.

So here's Wally.

Let's say Wally's 14 years old and his parents have adopted Joel.

Joel is 10.

And one day Wally's best friend says to him, hey Wally, is that your brother I saw on the playground

yesterday?

And Wally replies, hey, he's no brother of mine.

Don't ever, ever use my name and his name in the

same breath.

Wally is ashamed of his brother Joel.

He doesn't like him because he's different.

He's an intruder.

He's spoiled everything now.

He's just, as far as Wally's concerned, he's just not part of the family.

He is ashamed to call Joel brother and he doesn't want

anyone to connect the two.

Don't connect me with that guy.

Now, let me tell you something.

If anyone should be ashamed of us, it should be Jesus.

I mean, in John chapter eight, you know what he says?

He says, our father is Satan.

You know, I don't know if you get that.

That's kind of a powerful statement.

And we know that unlike Jesus, we have done terrible, wicked things and we

remember those sins.

But Jesus, because we have the same father, now

identifies himself with us.

He is not ashamed to call us his family.

He's not ashamed to embrace you and call you

sister.

He's not ashamed to embrace you and call you brother.

Yeah, I just think you ought to let that sink in.

Maybe we ought to just go home right now and just think about that for a while.

Isn't that something?

If anybody should be ashamed, it should be Jesus, but he loves us and he embraces us.

We have the same father.

He calls you sister, he calls you brother.

What a glorious truth this is.

Jesus is not repelled by us.

Jesus embraces us.

Jesus is one with us in paternity, right?

We're in solidarity with him, why?

Because we have the same dad, we have the same father.

In fact, the Old Testament prepared the way by showing how Jesus is one of us.

And he quotes here, first of all, from Psalm 22, and then the last two quotes come

from Isaiah chapter eight.

Jesus is one with us in praise, verse 12.

Now, you heard this morning the reading of part of Psalm 22.

Jake read for us a big chunk of Psalm 22.

Psalm 22 is a psalm of lament.

You know how it starts out, verse one?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

That is how Psalm 22 starts out.

Let's turn there real quickly and just, let's just look at a couple things from there so you get an idea of why our

pastor is quoting Hebrews.

I'm sorry, he's quoting Psalm 22.

Why would he quote this?

And by the way, by the way, from Psalm 22 in Isaiah eight, he's saying this is

Jesus talking, even though in Psalm 22 it's David, and even in Isaiah, it's the

prophet Isaiah.

He says, this is what Jesus says.

See, all of it's pointing to Jesus.

All of it is fulfilled in Jesus.

This is Jesus talking.

And as we see in Psalm 22, very familiar words to us, it is him talking, isn't it?

Psalm 22, let's look at verses six through eight.

But I am a worm, okay?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

God, you're not even listening.

Where are you?

I'm being afflicted.

Verses six through eight, but I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me, and they make mouths at me.

They wag their heads.

He trusts in the Lord, let him deliver him.

Let him rescue him, for he delights in him.

By the way, you recognize those words?

Those were the words of the mockers who stood around the cross and say, let God deliver him.

He trusted in God, not knowing how they were actually fulfilling what God had

said already centuries before.

So he laments in the whole first part of this psalm.

He laments that God has abandoned him.

Where are you?

I'm afflicted.

Rescue me, rescue me, deliver me.

When you come to verse 22, we've turned the corner.

Let's look at 22.

This is the verse that our pastor quotes for us in his Sermon of Hebrews.

I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation.

I will praise you.

Why, what's happened?

Because God has answered his prayer.

He knows that God will deliver him.

Even though right now it looks like God has abandoned him, he says, God will deliver me.

And as we turn that corner, the call for help has been answered.

And the remainder of the psalm starts praising God for answering his prayer and

rescuing him from his enemies.

Now note, as you read through this psalm, the victory is not reserved for Jesus alone because we

share in his triumph.

Look at verses.

Let's just look at some of these verses.

Verse 22, the one he quotes.

I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation.

I will praise you.

You who fear the Lord, praise him.

All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel.

For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted.

And he has not hidden his face from him, but he has heard when he cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation.

My vows I'll perform before those who fear him.

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied.

Those who seek him shall praise the Lord.

May your hearts live forever.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord.

And all the families of the nation shall worship before you for kingship belongs to the Lord.

And he rules over the nations.

All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship.

Before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself

alive.

Posterity shall serve him.

It shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation.

They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn that he has done it.

You see, there's great feasting.

There's now joy because the victory that the one who was afflicted in this psalm, the victory has

come and we all benefit from it.

All the ends of the earth are gonna be worshiping and feasting and having a great time because they share in that

triumph.

We all praise God.

What's the point?

Even Jesus suffered and he will praise God with those whom he calls brothers

in the midst of the congregation.

We're those brothers that are talked about in Psalm 22.

We're the ones there.

We've also, we're also afflicted.

He's writing to people who are afflicted and he's saying, look at Jesus.

He's one with you in praise.

You along with him will praise God when he answers your prayer.

Jesus is one with us in praise.

So he's one with us in paternity.

He's one with us in praise.

Let's keep going.

He's one with us in dependence.

Imagine, think that thought.

Jesus is one with us in dependence upon God.

I will put my trust in him.

Now, where is this coming from?

This is coming from Isaiah chapter eight.

So I want you to turn there.

You see, the writer isn't just quoting a verse here and there.

He's bringing the whole context of that verse in.

Psalm 22 is about one who's afflicted, who cries out to God.

Just like these people, just like Jesus was afflicted and cried out to God, just like you're afflicted and cried out

to God.

Listen, I was at a conference yesterday.

It was at a breakout session at a counseling conference yesterday.

And my friend John Street was the main speaker.

And it was all about counseling in terms of the sexual

perversions that are going on today and how Christians ought to approach that and what we ought to

be thinking and how we ought to help and so forth.

But as you as well as me know, this is the avenue, the sexual

revolution that is happening,.

That has happened,.

Is the avenue of our rejection by most of our culture.

Because we say things like two people living together is wrong if they're not

married.

We say things like that's adultery, right?

We say things like if you're born a male, that's what God intended you to be.

Doesn't matter how you self -identify.

And we're hated for that.

And these people in his day were hated for the fact that they followed Christ.

And so he's drawing from the Old Testament from places where

the Savior and his people are afflicted.

He's trying to show them Jesus is one with us in everything that we face.

He's been there.

He's one with us.

And that's how because of his solidarity, that's how he can bring many sons to glory, you see.

So let's look at Isaiah 8.

Isaiah chapter 8.

We'll start reading in verse 11 and we'll get the whole context then of where he's quoting the last

two quotes.

For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me and warned me not to walk in the way of this people,

saying, do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy and do not fear what they

fear, nor be in dread.

But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy.

Let him be your fear.

Let him be your dread.

And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel,

a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And many shall stumble on it.

They shall fall and be broken.

They shall be snared and taken.

Now note, he's saying that God and those who follow him are gonna be stumbling blocks,

right?

People are gonna be tripping over us because they're not liking what we're saying.

They're not liking what Isaiah said.

He's gonna be a rock of offense.

All right, verse 16.

Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples.

I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope

in him.

Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of

hosts who dwells on Mount Zion.

And so our pastor writes from verse 17, I will

wait for the Lord, I will put my trust in him is the translation that he's using.

I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.

He says, I'll trust in the Lord, I'll trust in the Lord.

Jesus is one with us in dependence, in dependence on God.

See, Isaiah and his message were rejected.

In fact, his message, Isaiah's message proves to be a stumbling block.

In the midst of suffering and rejection, Isaiah says, doesn't matter.

If people stumble over it, if they hate us for this message, Isaiah says, it doesn't matter.

I will hope in the Lord, even when he hides his face from his people.

Even though my message will not turn anyone to God, but

instead my message will not help, but it will make people stumble.

I will still trust in the Lord.

And so the writer to the Hebrew says, who else suffered like this?

Who else suffered like this?

Where no one believed the words he said and his message was a stumbling block.

Well, who would it be?

Of course, Jesus, just like Isaiah.

And in the midst of suffering and rejection, even rejection by God, Jesus will trust

in God.

And so the recipients of this letter and us are also suffering rejection.

But what are you going to do?

You're going to be like Jesus who also trusts in God.

You see, he's one with us in dependence.

He depends on God too.

He hopes and puts his trust in God.

He was in the same place.

Jesus is one with us in dependence.

One last thing.

Jesus is one with us in witness.

And again, behold, I and the children God has given me.

Now he's quoting again from Isaiah only verse 18.

Remember Isaiah said, I and the children the Lord has given me who will be portents and

portents, signs and portents, wonders, signs, witnesses to

Israel.

Now, Isaiah says his children are signs to Israel.

Now, what does he mean by that?

Okay, if you're writing this down, take these two names down.

His two sons were named Shear Yashub.

Okay, you got that?

Which means remnant will return.

And his second son, Maher Shalal Hashbaz.

I want one of you young people to name one of your children that.

One word, Maher Shalal Hashbaz, which means

hasten booty, speed spoil.

You say, what in the world is that all about?

His own sons by their names were expressions of Isaiah's

trust in God.

His confidence that what God had said he would surely bring to pass.

Right?

The remnant will return.

God's got his people.

Even though right now everybody's rejecting our message.

Everybody's rejecting my message.

My son, name says, the remnant, there will be a people of God.

Even though everyone rejects our message, my second son, hasten booty, speed spoil,

means there's gonna be a conqueror.

He's gonna do it.

He's gonna do it.

Those children were signs to their generation.

They are witnesses that God will deliver.

Now, Jesus again affirms his solidarity with us by calling us here, by calling

us here his children, his sons.

Nowhere else in the New Testament are we ever identified as sons of Jesus.

Here we are.

Here we are.

Again, Jesus along with his children, along with us,

will act as witnesses of God's faithfulness.

God will accomplish what he has promised.

That's the point.

That's the point.

Jesus is one with us in witness.

He believes that God will deliver.

And like Isaiah, who walked and said the message when he was gone, he had two sons who said

the same thing.

Just as Jesus is now gone from our presence, he's left us behind.

We are one with him in witness.

So what's the point?

Look to Jesus.

That's the point.

Everyone desires to be a complete human being, but that seems beyond our reach.

And it is. It is.

We have been sullied and corrupted by sin.

We live in an environment that exists under a curse, which we cannot overcome.

We cannot change it.

But God can accomplish it because he has determined to bring many sons to glory.

Our salvation includes us finally fulfilling God's intention for us.

You see that?

Though we cannot achieve it, we cannot achieve it.

I cannot give you a list of 10 ways you

can be crowned with glory and honor.

Can't be done.

We can't do it.

It takes the suffering of the one who blazed the trail for us.

That's the only way we will become sons of glory.

That's the only way.

The only way was through the incarnation, suffering, death, resurrection, and

ascension of Jesus.

That's the only way we're ever gonna be crowned with glory and honor like we should be.

And he can do that because the son of God became one of us.

Now, listen to me.

Some of you here may have never entrusted yourself to Jesus.

You're living in the frustration of will life ever change?

It won't for you.

It won't.

It's coming a day when creation will swallow you up.

As I say many, many, many times, ashes to ashes,

dust to dust, and there's no hope for you without Jesus.

You'll be swallowed up by creation.

That's not the case if you've entrusted yourself to Jesus.

Now, listen, Christian, what is he saying here?

He is saying, don't neglect this great salvation.

Don't drift away to destruction.

Don't do it.

Hold tight because this is the only salvation.

This is it.

You wanna be what God intends you to be?

Then you cannot drift away from this.

He's trying to communicate to you this great salvation.

You must hang on to it in order to achieve the destiny God has for you,

or if you don't, you drift away to be swallowed up.

You drift away to destruction.

This great salvation is your only hope in bringing you to glory,

in making you what God always intended you to be.

Father, thank you for your word.

Thank you for the vistas, the horizons it opens up for us, the glory that

maybe we haven't seen before.

Thank you for showing us just how great this

salvation is.

Now we pray, help us to pay closer attention to it so that we do not drift away.

Help us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.