Motivated for Sanctification (Hebrews 2:5-18)

Kootenai Church

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Welcome to Kootenai Church and our adult Sunday school class.

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Great spot to be on a cold fall morning. Let's open in a word of prayer.

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Our loving Father, we come before you today to worship and to glorify your name.

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You reign supreme over every corner of our universe and you are perfect in all your ways.

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As we come to you and to your perfect word this morning, we ask you for your spirit's help to guide us into all truth.

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May we delight in the contemplation of the perfect life of your son and our savior,

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Jesus Christ. It is in his perfect name that we pray, amen.

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Well, welcome back. I am excited to resume our Sunday school series that we are calling

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Walk by the Spirit. This is week three of that series.

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And I have been extremely blessed over the past two weeks by all of the comments and questions and thought provoking ideas that you have shared with me right after the service or throughout the week.

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That is body life. That's exactly what I was praying for is that God would use this to stimulate us to apply his word and to cultivate the unity that we have in Jesus Christ.

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Now, several people have asked if I can share the application questions that I'm sharing as part of each lesson.

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And I would be more than happy to do that with you. So you have two options. You can either look me up in the church directory and get my email and phone number and feel free to email, call, text, whatever's easiest for you.

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Or if you don't want to wait to forget, I have a sheet of paper up here. You can come up afterwards, write down your name and either your email or your phone number for text messages.

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And I would be happy to send you my application questions after each lesson. Now, one of the application questions that I asked last week was, has your spiritual walk with God, your sanctification process, has it plateaued or started to decline a little bit?

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But more importantly, not just has it, but why has it started to plateau or decline?

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It doesn't matter how long you've been saved. Almost all of us have experienced that multiple times in our spiritual walk.

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Why? Well, it's easy. Sanctification, the process that we are going through, it's hard work.

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And we ask ourselves, where is the fuel for that fight? I have a quote for you from Jerry Bridges that I love.

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It says, God's purpose in our salvation is that we might be conformed to the image of his son.

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Those who God justifies, the Holy Spirit sanctifies. As the agent of our transformation, the

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Holy Spirit both works in us and enables us. And that is the key that we have been zeroing in on as we focus our minds and hearts on the person of Jesus Christ, the man,

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Christ Jesus, because it's not just him. It's really the Holy Spirit in him and in us that is producing the work of sanctification.

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But why is sanctification so hard? Well, the process is long and the goal can seem unattainable.

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It's just always out of reach, never get there. And that can be very frustrating for us as human beings.

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Secondly, we are weak in our minds, hearts, and bodies and we fail repeatedly.

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And that frustrates us. Third, we're always fighting against the remnant of the sinful flesh that we have.

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And that fight is contemplated by the reality that we live in a sinful world that's conflicting with God's word and plan.

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And that world is ruled by the power of Satan. So all three of those things combine together to make this sanctification process that you and I are in together difficult.

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Now, lest we grow weary and stumble in our walk, we must realize and rely upon the power that God provided us in the human life of Jesus as he lived in full dependence upon the

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Holy Spirit. The title of today's lesson is Motivated for Sanctification.

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And we'll be drawing this from Hebrews chapter two, verse five through 18. So if you would like to,

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I would have you turn to Hebrews two, verse five. Now I know what some of you might be thinking.

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Is Simon really going to be the first guy to teach from the book of Hebrews after Jim? So to those of you questioning my sanity, let me just offer up a couple of points of information.

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First off, I did not personally observe Jim teach this passage from Hebrews two.

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And therefore I have no conclusive proof that he actually did. Now you may well say, well,

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Simon, if you just go look at YouTube, you can clearly see that he preached six sermons from Hebrews two, five through 18 from June 3rd to July 15th, 2018.

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And I have two answers for you. First, in our current day of AI and Josh Comstock, I don't believe a single thing

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I see on the internet anymore. Secondly, my family arrived at KCC in 2021 and we were in Hebrews 10 and it took us four years to finish 10 through 13.

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There's no way he made it from chapter two to chapter 10 in less than that time.

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No way. Third, how many of you were here in 2018 and allegedly heard him preach from Hebrews two?

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If you were, I'm fairly certain that a couple of you missed one of those six weeks and you probably don't remember everything that he said.

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Fourth, I intend to summarize this passage in one Sunday school rather than six.

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If you want the deep dive and I do commend it to you because the AI was pretty good. You can go back to YouTube and watch the

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AI enhanced Jim Osmond teach it. Motivated for sanctification.

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This morning, we're gonna look at four incentives to persist in sanctification provided by the humanity of Christ so that we can find the motivation that we need for our daily walk with the spirit.

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We're gonna see four incentives for us to persist in sanctification in this passage.

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In the humanity of Christ so that we will find that motivation that we need for our daily walk with the spirit.

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And our first incentive is in his perfect humanity, he redeemed our right to rule.

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And we'll see that in verses five through nine of Hebrews chapter two. Now we need to quickly set the context here.

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The author of Hebrews is writing to a group of church age Jewish believers suffering from persecution and tempted to go back and abandon the truth that following Jesus as a part of his church, that that truth was superior to the old covenant law and the

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Jewish tradition and culture in which they had been raised. The writer of Hebrews takes time to conclusively demonstrate that Jesus and his new covenant community, the church is better in all possible ways than the old covenant and old law.

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Now let's read Hebrews chapter two verses five through 18 together and then focus in on the first section of that.

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

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You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor and have appointed him over the works of your hands.

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You have put all things in subjection under his feet for in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not yet, there's not subject subject to him.

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But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him, but we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely

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Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

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For it was fitting for him for whom are all things and through whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.

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For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one father, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren saying,

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I will proclaim your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise.

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And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children whom

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God has given me. Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same that through death, he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

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For assuredly he does not give help to angels, but he gives help to the descendant of Abraham.

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Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

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For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

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Our first incentive is that in his perfect humanity, Jesus redeemed our right to rule.

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And we're going to look at Hebrews 2 .5 and I want you to notice there, it says he did not subject to angels.

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And angels come up a lot here. We see it down in verse nine. We see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels.

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In his humanity, Jesus, the son of God is made like us in that temporarily he is placed in a position that is lower than the angels.

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But the author is quick to note that God the Father did not subject to the angels the world to come.

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Jesus will resume his position above the angels. When? What does the text say here?

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It says the world to come. In other words, he's referring forward to the second age that will be established with the coming of Jesus, the

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Messiah to reign. And then if we look at verse eight here, I love the way he phrases this verse.

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In the second half, he says, but now, right now, and I think that now is a profound now because it continues into our now and into the future now.

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In other words, anyone who ever comes to Hebrews 2 .8 is going to read the word now, but now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

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In other words, we are waiting with a joyful, earnest expectation of that day when we will see

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Jesus reign in his earthly kingdom glory. Just remind yourself of that child of God.

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You will see him and you will see all things subjected to him.

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If you are in Christ, you will personally see that day. Hebrews 2 .6

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says, but one has testified somewhere saying, what is man that you remember him or the son of man that you are concerned about him?

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Now in verses six through eight, the author of Hebrews quotes from Psalm eight, verse four through six, and he asks a rhetorical question.

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What is man? In other words, what is your divine purpose for man?

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Answer, to rule over your creation as an administrative mediator of God, the father.

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That's the purpose that we derive from Psalm eight. Now that phrase, son of man, that he uses here and pulls out of Psalm eight is critical for us.

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And for that, I want to turn you back and have you read Daniel chapter seven. So go ahead and turn all the way back into the

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Old Testament. We will be in Hebrews two this morning, but you cannot be in Hebrews two without spending some time in some of the other passages of scripture that are alluded to.

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And so we want to be Daniel seven, verse 13. We're just going to read two verses there. Jesus loved this phrase, son of man.

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He uses it about himself 83 times in the gospels. So as a young Jewish boy, imagine

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Jesus reading Daniel seven, 13 and 14, not just for the first time, but repeatedly.

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Let me read it. He says, I kept looking in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man was coming.

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And he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him.

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His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away. And his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

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Jesus would have studied the old Testament and he would have come to this passage and the spirit would have enabled him to have a full understanding of who he was and what his role would be in fulfilling this messianic prophecy.

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Let me just read to you Psalm 80, verse 17, because it has a very similar feel to it.

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It says, let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, upon the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.

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Jesus is that son of man who is coming to take his throne over the entire kingdom.

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Turn back to Hebrews two. This passage is pulling on a thread.

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It's a kingdom thread. It starts at the beginning of the Bible and it extends all the way to the end of the

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Bible. We're just catching a piece of that thread here in Hebrews. But look at Hebrews two, verses seven and eight again.

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It says, you have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor and have appointed him over the works of your hands.

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You have put all things in subjection under his feet. And we noted again, that's

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Psalm eight. And the writer of Hebrews is assuming that those who know

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Psalm eight also know the passages that connect to Psalm eight. He's trying to demonstrate something here.

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He's demonstrating that God's solution for Adam's sinful failure to rule is to bring another man to earth who would take

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Adam's place. So really in Psalm eight, the Psalmist is reaching all the way back to Genesis one.

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Genesis one, verses 26 to 31. And it's worth our time.

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Let's go back and look at it. We'll flip all the way back to page one.

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Genesis one, verses 26 to 31. I'll read for you there. It says, then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

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God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them.

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God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

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Then God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed.

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It shall be food for you and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth, which has life,

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I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. God saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good.

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And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. What Adam's sin had done and what ours has perpetuated in holding humanity at large back from achieving the ideals that are set forth for us in Genesis one,

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Jesus overcomes through his humanity. His sinless human life lived in humiliation, suffering, death, and then subsequent glory reestablishes his right to rule over all things as a man and to thereby redeem all of us, all believers who are joined by faith in him to be eligible to resume our right to rule alongside of him.

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We get to rule with him. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter two, verse nine, because we need to see how the writer carries this thread forward.

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After he quotes from Psalm eight and pulls forward the idea from Genesis one, it says in verse nine, but we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely

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Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

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Jesus is made low. He's brought lower than the angels and he suffers death. Why? So that he may be crowned with glory and honor to reign because this purpose of Jesus to rule as king was not accomplished during his first coming the second coming is an absolute necessity that we can count on and look forward to.

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I'll quote from FF Bruce in his commentary to the Hebrews. He says, his suffering and triumph is a pledge of his eternal kingdom.

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It's a pledge. It's a promise. It's a commitment of God. Jesus will reign. And listen, as I read

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Revelation 20 verse six, blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection.

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Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

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That's us. So that thread, that kingdom thread carries all the way through to Revelation.

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And we picked it up here in Hebrews and it has several profound, meaningful implications that impact our sanctification.

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Let's unpack those briefly here. First is we are created by God to rule over his creation.

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That's our first implication. That is why we were created is to rule and subdue the earth.

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Our sin as an extension of Adam's sin renders us unfit to rule over any part of the creation, no matter how large or small it is.

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By rebelliously attempting to rule our own lives, we forfeit the right to rule

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God's creation. We do not deserve it. But by God's grace, by redeeming us,

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Jesus has reestablished the right for all of his saved humanity to rule through him and with him.

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And this is the key here. This should motivate us to holy living.

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This is the truth that we hold on to as we await his return and our opportunity to rule with him.

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So here are some questions for you to think about in light of that reality. Where do you find the motivation to fight sin and pursue holiness?

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Where is it for you? Is it in the opportunity to be redeemed and rule with him?

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Secondly, how much time do you spend contemplating the future reality of Jesus' kingdom and how the saints will rule with him?

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Have you spent time meditating on that truth? And third, does your pursuit of holiness reflect a desire to see the son of man coming in his glory?

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In other words, if I look at your pursuit of holiness, do I see a measure that says, this is how much this man or woman is looking forward to the son of man coming in his glory?

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The first incentive that we have to persist in our sanctification is that in his perfect humanity, he redeemed our right to rule.

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Secondly, look at Hebrews 2, verses 10 through 13. We're going to see that in his perfect life, he suffered for our sanctification.

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Look at Hebrews 2 .10. It says, for it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.

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Jesus did not merely come to glorify himself. He came to bring many sons to glory.

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How could he accomplish this? Well, look at Hebrews 2 .10. How does he do it?

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It says, through sufferings, plural. Not just suffering, not just one suffering, not just crucifixion.

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Sufferings, misfortune. It could also be translated calamity, evil, affliction.

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Everything is included here from his initial humiliation, choosing to even take the form of a man as a bondservant, as Philippians 2 describes it, and then persisting all the way through his human life.

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Every abuse that he endured, every unkind word, every disappointment, every manifestation of evil that came against him, all of that, his whole life is a life of sufferings.

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And it obviously finishes with the ultimate suffering, the crucifixion of an innocent man.

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But it's the big picture that I'm focusing you on here. It's his whole life. A quote from Homer Kent in his commentary in the

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Hebrews, he says, although Christ did not partake of fallen humanity, he did become a genuine man in a fallen world.

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And he lived on the earth, which had been cursed at the fall. Suffering is the common lot of all men in such a world.

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And Jesus was not exempt from that. He came to our fallen world and participated in all of the fallenness, except without sin.

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It was therefore, as the writer of Hebrews says in verse 10, fitting, becoming, that Jesus be made perfect through sufferings.

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And we looked at this briefly last week, but I'll just remind you, the word perfect here is a reference to the completion.

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It's not a progression from an imperfection to perfection. Jesus was not imperfect, but he needed to be completed.

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His process of becoming complete is what we're focusing on. And that process began as a young man, a baby, and completed itself on the cross.

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When he proclaimed, it is finished. My process of becoming perfect through sufferings.

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In other words, when the writer of Hebrews says here, he says to perfect who? The author of their salvation, our salvation.

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The author of it needed to be made perfect. And therefore we can derive that Jesus did not suffer by accident, but it was

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God's grand design for our sanctification. There's a purpose in his sufferings.

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Listen, as I read to you again, Hebrews chapter 10 or two, or excuse me, not chapter two,

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Hebrews 10, 10. It says, by this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

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Did you hear that? We have been sanctified, past tense.

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Our salvation places us in perfect union with Jesus Christ.

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And so it's the purpose of his sufferings that we're looking at here in his perfect life of humanity.

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He suffered, why? For your sanctification. Look again at Hebrews 2 .11,

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says for both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one father.

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If Jesus were not a human and he did not share in our flesh and blood, there would be a logical contradiction in his suffering on our behalf.

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If he were not a man like us, he could not suffer for our sanctification.

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And verse 11 uses that phrase from one father. We as believers are one with Jesus through both the physical identity of having been made human by the power of God, he experienced that, and by becoming his spiritual brothers through the power of the

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Holy Spirit. Now look at Hebrews 2 .12, it says, saying, I will proclaim your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation,

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I will sing your praises. And this is another reference back into the Old Testament where the writer of Hebrews quotes directly from Psalm 22 .22,

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a messianic Psalm. As I read it, imagine Jesus reading it for the first time as a boy.

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Just listen, it says in Psalm 22 .22, I will surely recount your name to my brothers in the midst of the assembly,

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I will praise you. Part of Jesus' ministry to us is his proclamation of God's glorious plan to us as his brothers, both physical and for those of us who are in Christ, spiritual brothers.

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Listen to John 17, verse six, it says, I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world.

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They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now think about this proclamation for me for just a second here.

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Homer Kent has a nice quote here that helps me establish in context here that this is a different sort of proclamation from a different sort of person.

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He says, it was not a message sent to me from some distant Olympus, but was delivered by one who partook of flesh and blood and gave his witness in the very midst of men.

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While on earth, Jesus attended synagogue and temple worship with his fellow

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Jews and identified himself with them in every way except in sinning.

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Look back again at Hebrews 2 .13, he continues this thread and he says, again,

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I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children whom God has given me.

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So in Hebrews 2 .13, the writer then quotes from Isaiah 8, verses 17 and 18.

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Isn't it just amazing how in the power of the Holy Spirit, he could just string together these passages from the

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Old Testament seamlessly to make his point. Listen, as I read Isaiah 8, 17 and 18.

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It says, I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will even look eagerly for him.

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Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells on Mount Zion.

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I won't take the time to take you back to Isaiah and develop this, but I think it's clear that in the context,

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Isaiah is talking about himself and his own children. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the author of Hebrews is able to apply that forward and say that Jesus similarly looks at us as children of, or the family of God.

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And he can say, as the writer of the Hebrews said, behold, I and the children whom

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God has given me. You're a child of God and therefore, you're a brother of Christ.

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And you have access through him to perfect righteousness, which

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Jesus imputes to you through salvation. And that is what is required for your sanctification.

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We cannot grow in holiness apart from him or apart from the work of the

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Holy Spirit in and through his word. That's why I am turning you to all of those passages is that the instrument the

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Spirit is going to use is this word. Now, how did

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Jesus perfect or complete his work? Through suffering.

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We in turn need to see suffering in our life as evidence of our identification with him.

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When we suffer, it's evidence that God has placed us in Christ and is at work in us with his sovereign hand to bring us to completion, to perfection in Jesus Christ.

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The question, do you embrace suffering and allow it to complete

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God's work of sanctification in you? I know I struggle to do so, but I have

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God's word ringing in my ears from Hebrews 12. However many years ago that was.

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We know that when we suffer, that's proof that we're his sons and his daughters.

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Proof. Second question, do you contemplate your spiritual and physical unity with Christ often or often enough?

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Do you need to increase your contemplation of that unity as you fight sin and pursue sanctification?

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So our first two motivations for sanctification are, in his perfect humanity, he redeemed our right to rule.

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Secondly, in his perfect life, he suffered for our sanctification.

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Third, in Hebrews 2, 14 through 16, we'll see that in his perfect death, he destroyed the power of the devil.

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Look at Hebrews 2, 14 through 16. It says, therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death, he might render powerless him who had the power of death.

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That is the devil and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

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For assuredly, he does not give help to angels, but he gives help to the descendant of Abraham.

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The process of sanctification is a battle. It's a fight against the remnants of our flesh, our sinful flesh.

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It's a battle we have to fight physically and spiritually. And yet how quickly we underestimate the infinite resources that are provided for us by Jesus through his death.

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In verse 14, he says, flesh and blood. Jesus took flesh and blood.

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He didn't merely just sit back in heaven and go, well, I wish you well in your fight.

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I know it's hard. You got Satan, you got sin. You have the power of death that Satan wields.

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Hope you're doing okay down there. If you make it, I'll see you soon. No, Jesus didn't do that.

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He came and he partook of the flesh and blood existence that we share. And he partook of it all the way to the end and die.

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Sin is confined to the human life, right? God cannot sin. And death is the rightful penalty for sin.

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And God cannot die. Therefore, Jesus must have chosen to live a life of full humanity.

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Everything that we are to be able to die as a man and atone for the sin of mankind.

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Through Jesus' human life and his death, this is the key here. What does the text say? He renders powerless, completely inoperative, him who has the power of death, that is the devil.

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Now this, this has profound implications for our sanctification. We should never, ever use the excuse of saying, well,

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Satan is attacking me. He's preventing me from growing in holiness. I would be fine.

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I would be able to grow, but Satan has set himself against me and he is preventing me from growing.

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The powerful life and death of Jesus completely reverses any power that Satan might be able to wield over you.

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There's nothing left. You are no longer slaves to sin because Jesus' perfect humanity has provided the substitute for your enslaved human life of sin.

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I won't read it for you, but you know Romans 6, one through 11 declares that truth for you.

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And if you are struggling in your fight against sin, meditate on Romans 6, one through 11. Verse 15 says, and he might free those who through the fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

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It's not just that we fear Satan and sin, but we fear death itself.

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And this can result in a life where we try to extract the value out of all of our remaining days on this physical earth and our physical lives.

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We pour all of our effort and energy in just trying to see every day that we have left be a full, complete, good day.

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Rather than seeing that every day that we have left on this earth is a gift from the sovereign hand of God granted at the kindness of his hand.

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We can reverse that. We can live with the assurance that death is the victory for believers, for it brings us to the completion, the end of our sanctification race.

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We can reverse the fear of death and see death as the victory. Lastly, in verse 16, notice that phrase, he said, for assuredly, he does not give help to angels.

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Angels are important in God's universe, but you know who he gave help to? The descendants of Abraham.

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Jesus has literally taken hold of the descendants of Abraham, his spiritual family, and will bring them to the end.

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So implications for us are that Jesus' death provides the once for all truth that allows you and I to fight sin.

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Past sin, what you did in the past before you were a believer and that you carry with you into today.

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Your present sins, what you did this morning, what you said, what you're thinking right now, and any future sins that you know will hold you back.

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Jesus' death has given you the victory over all of those. You don't have to carry that burden.

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You can follow him in sanctification. Now, Satan continues to wield power over this world.

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He is not out of the picture yet. But guess what? He has no power over you. Zero power.

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And yes, the battle against the flesh continues, but the indwelling spirit of God uses the death of Jesus to aid you in fighting that battle against sin, if you will let him.

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Now, he will do his work, but you can obstruct that spirit's work if you do not allow him to have full access.

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So let me ask you, what sins are you battling right now? Where is the fight?

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And more importantly, are you waging war with inferior tactics? Do you overestimate the power of Satan?

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If so, how? How are you giving him credit? Lastly, do you meditate on the victory of Christ, the victory of Jesus, as you pray for the victory that you need over sin?

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We've seen three motivations for sanctification so far, three incentives for us to persist in our sanctification.

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In his perfect humanity, he has redeemed our right to rule. Secondly, in his perfect life, he suffered for our sanctification.

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And third, in his perfect death, he destroyed the power of the devil.

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Lastly, in his perfect priesthood, he encourages us in the face of temptation.

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That's from verses 17 and 18. Let's read them here. Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

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For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

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Did you see that in verse 17? He had to be made like his brethren in some things.

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He had to be made like his brethren in all things.

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To be our high priest, Jesus has to be a human. He has to be our merciful and faithful high priest who can go before God the

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Father and offer propitiation for the sins of his people.

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In other words, we can only come close to God if we are confident that the work of our high priest has actually purchased our atonement.

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Now, the listeners of the original writer of Hebrews, they would have immediately identified the significance of not just Jesus being a high priest, but the great high priest.

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The word high priest literally means great priest. So he's basically saying the great, great priest, the highest of priests.

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I'll quote for you from J. Dwight Pentecost in his commentary. He says, a merciful high priest must understand the miseries of those whom he represents.

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To understand, he must identify with men in their sufferings. To be a faithful priest to those in need, to manifest

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God's perfect faithfulness, he must be God himself. Therefore, the incarnation was necessary to provide the kind of priest we needed to represent us in our need for God.

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So let's zero in on this concept of temptation. Why does the writer mention Jesus' temptation?

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Well, his audience was encountering various temptations. And when you think temptations here, substitute it and think of the word testing.

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It's not just the temptation to sin, but it's the temptation to return to the external exercise of that which was familiar to them in Judaism.

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To go back to the law, the cultural norms, the sacrifices, the temple worship. The writer challenges this audience to trust in Jesus as the better, ultimate fulfillment of these

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Old Testament practices. How? By pointing them to Jesus' ability to resist temptation and do what was right.

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It says, for since he was tempted in that which he suffered. 1 John 3 verse 4 tells us that sin is lawlessness.

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So when Jesus was tempted by Satan, it was the temptation to operate outside of the law, outside of God's will, to declare himself independent from God.

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This temptation can come from the inside. That's how it happens for us. For Jesus, it did not come from the inside.

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It came from the outside. It came through the direct attack of Satan that we see recorded for us in the gospels.

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So it's absolutely true that we can see that Jesus understood the nature of our temptation.

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He took the full brunt of it. I'll quote again from Homer Kent. He says, he knew from experience what

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Satan's approaches were like as he faced the suggestion that he should turn aside from the Father's will.

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He knew by personal involvement what it meant to choose the way of suffering instead of yielding, sidestep the hard places.

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He's not remote from the realities of our human experience.

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We talked about this last week. He didn't just float down the road, making food for himself whenever he wanted, saying,

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I don't really need to sleep tonight because I'm good. I don't need any water.

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I don't get thirsty. I don't need any food to eat. I'm not hungry. No, he experienced every single reality of human experience necessary.

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But is that really true with regard to his temptation and testing? Even though he did not suffer, listen carefully here.

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He did not suffer from the additive effects that we have. Our indwelling sin, our previous sin, our sin stained emotions, our thoughts, and our will.

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He didn't experience those, but his temptations were even greater than ours in that he faced the direct onslaught of Satan himself, something that you and I are unlikely to ever face since Satan is not an omnipresent or omniscient being.

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I'll quote again, Philip Hughes in his commentary says, moreover, his sinlessness meant that the temptations came to him with a sharpness far greater than is known to us whose minds and wills have become dull through frequent failure.

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They were even sharper to him. And then one more quote from Homer Kent.

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He says, indeed, it is what believers need when their weaknesses seem overwhelming.

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Mercy speaks of God relieving of man's miseries. Grace is the favor of God, which he bestows without regard for merit to those who have put their trust in him.

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In times of weakness, temptation, and sin, believers find in their access to God through Christ, the timely help that is tailored to their particular need.

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Jesus, in his temptation, gives you the access that you need to fight.

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So even as we grow stronger in Christ, and I pray that many of you are growing stronger day by day, we will always be weak.

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We will always be vulnerable to temptations, and we must remain dependent on the spirit.

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Be never too big for the spirit. Even though Jesus is no longer here on earth, he's not done.

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He continues right now at this very moment to actively intercede before the

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Father for you, even as you continue to sin against him.

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His intercessory work is based not on your holiness, but on his.

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And there is no weakness or temptation in life that is beyond his aid, his mercy, or his grace.

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So let's summarize here. The book of Hebrews in this chapter has provided us a wealth, a wealth of resources to aid us, be motivated this week to go fight the fight of sanctification.

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As we gaze intensely on the eyes and person of Jesus, our savior, we see our great high priest, the victorious warrior who has suffered in our stead and defeated

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Satan, and the power of death, and who will return as the king of the world one day in the future.

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That's the savior that I want you to focus on this week. As we remain here in our frail human condition, we can rejoice.

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He too was a frail human who can sympathize with our weakness.

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He has not abandoned you to be sanctified in your own strength. Rather, he became flesh and blood just like you, and he's given you access to everything that you could possibly need to grow in his holiness.

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So as you return home today, and as you go back to your respective work this week,

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I want you to think, what areas of weakness are the most in need of the power of the spirit?

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Where are you weak today, and where can the spirit provide you access to Jesus' full power?

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How are you filling your mind and your heart with Christ as you battle sin?

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Is that where you go first when you start that fight? Lastly, I want you to ask, will you commit to praying fervently for God the

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Father to fill you with his spirit and aid you in your sanctification?

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Let's close in prayer. Our good and gracious Father, you have blessed us with so much rich food this morning.

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We came famished and we will depart full. Thank you for extending yourself to us in the revelation of your word and your perfect son,

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Jesus. As we return to the battle, may you grant us the motivation to be sanctified in the image of your son.

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May your spirit work within us to apply the truth we have studied so that we are able to grow through our strength and our suffering.

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May we return next week even more, even more whole. In the name of Jesus, our