Jesus, Death-Destroyer and Gentle Priest (Hebrews Sermon 8)

The famous hymn says, “T’was grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace my fears relieved.” Of course that’s coming from Amazing Grace, arguably the most popular hymn in the world. One immediately recognizable even to many non-church people. Written by John Newton, I think, as a personal testimony that he was giving of how God saved him. “A wretch,” he called himself in that hymn. He was a famous sinner. The ship’s captain, where he served as a slave-trading vessel, said he had never heard anyone blaspheme and swear like John Newton. Later, God put those gifts of verbal skill to better use. When he was converted, God transformed that ability but the captain of that ship, the Greyhound, said he invented swears no one had ever heard before. That was John Newton, he was a wretch, he was a wicked man. A blasphemer. But there was a night in March of 1748 while that ship, the Greyhound, was in the North Atlantic that a storm threatened to destroy the entire ship and everybody aboard. And Newton saw a man swept overboard where he had been standing just moments before.

And after hours of the crew bailing and just trying to empty that rapidly filling ship of water and just trying to stay afloat, he offered a desperate suggestion to the captain that might save the ship in some way. Captain ordered that it be done and Newton said, “If this will not do, then Lord have mercy on us all.” He said those words. He then returned to the pump where he and another sailor were pumping and lashed himself to it so he wouldn’t be swept overboard, and for 11 hours fought the storm and fought to stay alive. And during that time, he says in his later writings, he was thinking again and again about his own words. If this will not do, then the Lord have mercy on us all. And he started thinking about how afraid he was to die. He was afraid to die. He was afraid that after he died, he’d be sent to hell. And he knew that the only thing that could deliver him from death and hell was the mercy of the same Lord that he’d been blaspheming earlier that day. And that was the beginning of his conversion. T’was grace that taught his heart to fear and grace his fears relieved. These fears must be tied to death. To be afraid of death and the judgement that follows. It is appointed unto each one of us to die once and after that to face the judgement.

Some people don’t have any idea why the grace of God would teach someone to fear. I remember Phil Driscoll who plays incredible trumpet and sings songs, did his version of Amazing Grace, changed the lyrics a little bit. T’was grace that taught my heart to love and grace my fears relieved. I think the original’s better. It is God’s grace that teaches us to fear his judgement, to fear death and hell. It is God’s grace to us to teach us to fear those things. And I say to you, and I say it tenderly, there are some people sitting here today who do not fear death enough, who ought to fear death immeasurably more than you do. I say it to you tenderly because you are lost. You are not yet converted. You’re not ready to face judgement, you’re not ready to stand before God. You don’t have Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And therefore, you greatly underestimate the danger that death is to you. Greatly underestimate it.

Jesus said this, “Do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing to you. I’ll tell you who to fear. Fear the one who after the death of the body has power to destroy both soul and body in hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” It is grace to take Jesus’ command there to heart, isn’t it? And to fear the one who has power to destroy both soul and body in hell. But I also say to you tenderly that there are some here who fear death too much and ought not to fear death at all because you are Christians and Jesus has died for you, and he has liberated you from the bondage of slavery to fear of death. And that’s what the text is talking about today. It’s my delight to proclaim to you your Savior again, and to speak to you what he has achieved for you, and to speak to you Christians and encourage you and say, “Do not fear death ever again. Do not fear death.” And so we’re going to unfold Hebrews 2:14-18 in a very orderly and logical way. It’s not a three-part outline, you notice. But it’s a careful stepping through the text.

I. Jesus Shared in Our Humanity

I just want you to understand where we’re heading but basically, we’re going to cover this. Jesus became incarnate, he took on a human body, so that he could die, so he could destroy the devil and death, and so he could rescue us from bondage, from slavery to fear of death. So that he could take hold of Abraham’s descendants and rescue them and be for us a merciful and faithful high priest, and in that way, step into our temptations and our sufferings when we are tempted and help us at our time of greatest need. So if I could sum all that up, Jesus took on a body to help you in your temptations. That’s what it’s about. We’re going to learn how to invite Jesus, our merciful and high priest into our time of greatest weakness, our time of greatest suffering, that time of temptation. That’s what this sermon is about. Let’s start at the beginning.

In verse 14, it speaks of the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus taking on a human body. Verse 14, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity.” This is the infinite mystery of the incarnation. The mystery of Christmas. God became man. AW Pink commenting on this verse said this:

“Another thing which makes it so difficult for us to grasp the wonder of the Divine incarnation is that there is nothing else which we can for a moment compare with it; there is no analogy which in any wise resembles it. It stands unique, alone, in all its solitary grandeur. We are thrilled when we think of the angels sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation: that those wondrous creatures, which so far excel us in wisdom and strength, should have been appointed to be our attendants; that those holy creatures should be commissioned to encamp round about poor sinners; that the courtiers of Heaven should wait upon worms of the earth! Truly, that is a great wonder. But oh my brethren, that wonder pales into utter insignificance and, in comparison, fades away into nothingness, before this far greater wonder—that the Creator of angels should leave His throne on High and descend to this sin-cursed earth; that the very One before whom all the angels bow should, for a season, be made lower than they; that the Lord of glory, who had dwelt in “light unapproachable,” should Himself become partaker of “flesh and blood”! This is the wonder of wonders.” – Commentary on Hebrews, 131.

We can never get done thinking about the mystery of Christmas. It’s an infinite mystery, beyond all question the mystery of godliness is great. He became a man, took on a human body. And so here we have described the fact of the incarnation and unfolded from that its reasons why Jesus became a man. It says since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity. And the children are those that Christ is coming to save. And because they have flesh and blood, speaking there of their physical existence, because they have bodies, because they have a physical existence, not like the angels. The Greek expression says that these children have a fellowship together in flesh and blood. It unites the human race. We are all of us flesh and blood. It doesn’t matter what race we come from. We share together this flesh and blood existence. It unites us. And Jesus had to join with us in that he had to become a partaker, a willing partaker of our human nature in order to save us. And so He had to take on a flesh and blood existence.

Now, there’s a very strong family orientation to Hebrews 2. Lots of family language. I went over that last time that I preached on Hebrews. But just look again at some of the verses. Verse 11 it says, “Both the one who makes men holy, and those who are made holy are of the same family.” So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. And then we have here in verse 14, “Since the children have flesh and blood, He shared in their humanity.” Verse 17, “For this reason He had to be made like his brothers in every way.” This is a family thing. God has in view the family of God with Jesus as our perfect elder brother, and Jesus is a brother to all of those that he’s saving. Or we use the language of children since the children have flesh and blood. And He wanted them to become partakers of the divine nature that we should become like God. Isn’t that beautiful? We were originally created in the image of God. Sin has marred that image badly. But now redeemed in Christ we are created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. It says in 2 Peter 1 that his precious promises are given to us so that through them, we “may participate in the divine nature.”

Now there are some words that can keep you busy at night meditating on them. That we may participate in the divine nature. Become like God. In order for us to become like God, he had to become like us and take on this flesh and blood existence. And this plan was in God’s mind before the creation of the world. It says in Romans 8:29, “For those whom God foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” It was God’s plan from the beginning that Jesus would be the firstborn brother of a family of brothers and sisters, all of us conformed to his image, that we would be like Jesus. This is what we’re predestined for in Jesus. And it’s a beautiful thing. And so Hebrews 2 reverses the whole thing and says, what Jesus had to do to make that happen? In order for that to happen, he had to leave his father’s throne and then come down to that stable in Bethlehem and take on flesh and blood.

II. So Jesus Can Die

And so he took on this existence and he did it so that he could die. These are the reasons for the incarnation. “Since the children have flesh and blood he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy” the devil. Jesus did it so he could die. You should just marvel at the courage and love of that. He entered the world with his eyes open. Now, of course, once a baby had to learn many things. But before he took on human flesh, he knew very well, he was doing it to die. Now, the Hebrew word for flesh, word is “basar.” It’s used of both man and beast. We’re very similar to the beasts. It says in Genesis 2:7, “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Later in that same chapter, Genesis 2:19, it says, “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and the birds of the air.” Both of us are formed out of the ground. We’re very much like each other in this fleshly nature, flesh is muscle, sinews, intestines, vital organs, brains, those kinds of things.

And we are very much like the animals in that regard. It also means we’re mortal. We can die. Our flesh can decay in this sin cursed world, not much different than deer that are dying by the side of the road and decaying. So it is with our bodies as well. Mortal bodies. The focus though in the verse is actually on blood, it reverses it. It’s interesting that NIV puts it back in the normal order, flesh and blood. But it’s actually blood and flesh in the Greek. The emphasis is really on blood. And I think in two senses, one in terms of kinship, family. It says in Act 17:26, in the King James Version it says, “And God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth.” We are all of one blood, we’re of one race together. And so, Jesus had to partake in that race. He had to be of the same blood as us. But I think even more significant is the fact that that blood had to be poured out for sin to be forgiven. He had to have blood in order to shed the blood for our sins.

It says in Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar. It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” Hebrews later will say in Hebrews 9:22, “without the shedding of blood there’s no forgiveness.” For us to be forgiven, Jesus had to come on from heaven to earth and have blood flowing in his blood vessels, so that he could shed his blood for us. He came to die. And so it says in Romans 3:25, it was Christ whom God put forward as a propitiation. We’ll talk more about that in just a moment, but he put forward as a propitiation by his blood. Propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. I think there’s also a focus here in Jesus’ humanity on suffering. He took on blood and flesh so that he could share in our suffering. The pain that we go through, the pain that all of us endures. No one makes it through here unscathed, friends.

We all go through pain and suffering, and Jesus, in order to become a merciful and faithful high priest had to do it too. He had to go through suffering. And so, he goes through the pain of weariness. Think about Jesus sitting by the Samaritan well, where the woman is about to come, weary as he was from his journey or picture him asleep in the back of the boat on the cushion. He’s tired. Or you think about the pain of thirst, how Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink. And why did he do it? Well, first and foremost, he was thirsty. And secondly, he wanted to save her. And then on the cross, he cries out in fulfillment of scripture, but just out of his bodily needy, he cries out, I thirst. He was thirsty. He was also hungry. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, it says in Matthew 4, in one of the great understatements, Jesus was hungry. That he was hungry. He went through all the pain that we do. He goes through the pain of temptation, which is I think the point of the passage here in verse 18, Jesus “suffered when he was tempted.” And so he’s able help those who are going through that kind of suffering.

He knows what fleshly temptation is like. The pain of injury, the flogging that the Roman soldiers gave to him, ripping his back to shreds and certainly, ultimately, the pain of death by crucifixion. Jesus took on flesh and blood so that he could suffer. The atonement could not be worked for us without death. Jesus came into the world to save the children from death. From the very beginning of our sin, there’s a link between sin and death. Genesis 2:17, God said, “You may eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For when you eat of it, you will surely die.” That is the death penalty, and it was linked to disobedience, transgression of God’s law from the very beginning. We know that the wages of sin is death. And if Jesus is going to save us, he must die. He must die. He must take on that death penalty. And so, we have in verse 17, propitiation. Propitiation by death. Look at verse 17, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

Now, some of the translations are going to give you atonement there. They do that to reason with us that we don’t know the word propitiation, or most people don’t know it. Can I tell you? No one is born knowing the word propitiation. Everybody has to study and learn it at some point. If you don’t presently know what the word propitiation means, this is your happy day. God has brought you here to learn that word. And not just so you can impress your friends with your knowledge of theology, but so that you can understand your salvation. What is propitiation? Propitiation has to do with the turning aside of the wrath of God by the shedding of a blood sacrifice. That God’s wrath is averted because blood was shed on our behalf. That’s what propitiation’s all about.

Now earlier in last century, liberal theologians thought that the idea of propitiation was far too pagan for the noble high-minded religion of the Bible, which they were crafting or re-crafting. They figured the idea of an angry deity who is then appeased by blood sacrifices is clearly pagan and having nothing to do with the high-minded religion of the Bible so they wanted to do away with it. So they started re-translating the words giving you things like expiation, other things like that. But they were trying to get away from propitiation because it offended them that God would ever be seen to be angry with us. Surely God is never angry with us. We may be angry with God, but he’s never angry with us. Friend, that’s just not biblical. God’s passionate reaction to our sin is wrath, it’s anger. He is angry about sin. And he does avert his own wrath by the shedding of the blood of Jesus. That’s called propitiation. And so this idea of propitiation, it is a pagan idea. I don’t think it originated with the pagans. I think it originated with animal sacrifice that God established at the very beginning after Adam and Eve sinned. God originated it, but then the pagan religions twisted it and perverted it.

You know the story in the Trojan War Legend, JI Packer tells us this of Prince Paris, that he carried off Princess Helen to Troy and the Greeks were going to send their army and go rescue Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships. They’re going to get her back and they’re led by their general, Agamemnon. The problem is, that Poseidon apparently, perhaps with some other of his cohort gods or goddesses, is sending contrary winds and the fleet can’t get underway. What does Agamemnon do? He calls for his precious daughter and sacrifices her to the gods. Packer, I think tongue-in-cheek, said the move paid off and the wind subsided and they were able to go.

So JI Packer talks about this idea of pagan propitiation. He says this is how it works,

There are various gods, none enjoying absolute dominion, but each with some power to make life easier or harder for you. Their temper is uniformly uncertain; they take offense at the smallest things—or they get jealous because they feel you are paying too much attention to other gods and other people and not enough to themselves, and then they take it out on you by manipulating circumstances to your heart.

“The only course at that point is to humor and mollify them by an offering. The rule with offerings is the bigger the better, for the gods are inclined to hold out for something sizeable. In this they are cruel and heartless, but they have the advantage, so what can you do? The wise person bows to the inevitable and makes sure to offer something impressive enough to produce the desired result. Human sacrifice, in particular, is expensive but effective. Thus pagan religion appears as a callous commercialism, a  matter of managing and manipulating your gods by cunning bribery. And within paganism propitiation, the appeasing of celestial bad tempers, takes its place as a regular part of life, one of the many irksome necessities that one cannot get on without.”  – In My Place Condemned He Stood, 29-30).

Well, that’s pagan propitiation. That’s not what happened with Jesus. But I tell you this, God had an aggressive wrath against our sin and he appeased that wrath in only one way, by the shedding of Jesus’ blood. Hence, the word propitiation in verse 17. JI Packer said, “If I could sum up the New Testament message in three words, sum the whole thing up and get as much as I could into three words, it would be this: Adoption by propitiation.” And that’s what we have in the text. We are the children of God. We have been adopted by his grace. We are in his family.

How could it be that sinners like us could be adopted as his sons and daughters? Only by one way. By the propitiation that came through the blood of Jesus. Adoption by propitiation, friends, is the gospel. The biggest problem of an unbeliever’s life has nothing to do with their finances, has nothing to do with their health, nothing to do with their marriage, nothing to do with their sin habits even. The biggest problem of an unbeliever’s life is the wrath of God against them for their sin. In John 3:36, it says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever rejects the Son will not see life for God’s wrath remains on him.” Though he or she may not feel it at all. They may be just going through the ups and downs of their everyday life not feeling at all that the biggest problem of their life is the wrath of God.

Let me give you an illustration. Let’s say there’s a wealthy couple on the Titanic on a certain night, in 1912. And they’re in their expensive luxury berth and they’re having an argument; they’re going back and forth. They are really getting heated up, they’re really focused on their own position, they want to win the argument when suddenly there’s a lurch and a screeching sound and all that, and then nothing more after that. What was that? They look at each other. I don’t know. Anyway, like I was saying and off they go. And they continue their argument little knowing that their biggest problem is the gash along the side of the ship and the thousands, even hundreds of thousands of gallons of sea water that at that moment are pouring into that doomed ship. So I think that the ship was doomed before everyone on board knew it was doomed. And so it is with us with the wrath of God. The biggest danger of your life, if you’re an unbeliever, is the wrath of God against you. You may not see it, you may not feel it. But I’m here as a messenger of the gospel to proclaim it, that God has an aggressive wrath against sin, and if you do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior, that wrath will come down on you for eternity in hell.

But God sent his Son who took on flesh and blood, that he might die as a propitiation for the wrath of God, that he might avert the wrath of God and take it away completely from you, so that you can be free from it forever. And that is the essence of our freedom from slavery to fear of death. We don’t fear it anymore because the wrath of God has been removed. So can I just plead with you if you’re here in an unsafe state. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know your hearts. I can’t read your minds. I don’t know how it stands with you and God. But if you’re an unbeliever, the wrath of God is your great danger. Flee to Christ. Come to Christ. He is your only your hope, the only possibility of salvation. This is the propitiation that’s proclaimed plainly here.

III. So Jesus Can Destroy the Devil and Death;

Jesus took on flesh and blood so that he might propitiate the wrath of God, and so that He could destroy the devil and the fear of death that plagues us. Look at verse 14, “So that by His death, He might destroy him who holds the power of death,” that is the devil.

So here we have in some marvelous, mysterious way, a contest between Christ and the devil. Jesus versus the devil. What I would call an infinitely unequal fight. Amen? Infinitely unequal. But there it is. Christ is pitted against the devil here. Hebrews 1 has already proclaimed that Jesus is greater than any angel. It seems possible that Satan was the greatest of all the angels. Filled with his own arrogance and pride, he decided to try take God’s place in heaven. He led a rebellion of some of the other angels, they fought in heaven. Michael the archangel and his angels fought, and Satan lost and he was cast down to the earth. I believe all that happened before God made Adam and Eve.

Put Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, made them king and queen of the worlds and put them on larger heads with Satan who thought he was king of the world. Satan, I believe was, in some mysterious way, brought to the tree to be judged. But instead he co-opted the whole trial, the court trial turned the thing around, drew in Adam and Eve into his rebellion, and we came under his thrall. We became slaves of sin and death. And so Satan in some way held the power of death. How did he hold it? Well, Jesus said in John 8:44, “He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning. Not holding to the truth for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language for he’s a liar and the father of lies.” So you have to unravel that to figure it out. Satan holds the power of death through his lies, leading to our sin, leading to the death penalty of the judgment of God’s law. That’s how it works. He uses God’s law against us to kill us. And he does that by lying to us. It’s lies, sin, death. That’s how he holds the power of death.

1 Corinthians 15:56 says “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” What does Satan do? He lies to you. He entices you. Baits you to sin. And then once you’ve committed sin, he turns around and gets all righteous on you and points the finger and says, “You sinner.” And accuses you before the judgement seat of God based on your sin and seeks to use God’s law against us to kill us. It would have been effective except for Jesus who stepped in and took the death penalty and crushed to use Satan’s own weapon, death, against him by dying in our place.

I love the story of David’s mighty men. You know how they’re all listed and there’s just little vignettes about each one. I want to choose one of them though, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada. Speaking of him, he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. Stop right there. What courage does that take? Here’s this huge Egyptian with a spear, he’s like, “Anybody have a club? It’s all I need today.” But he goes against this man and listen to what it says, “He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.” Amen! You read the same thing in Habakkuk 3. Just look it up this afternoon. With his own spear, he was killed. Satan was killed by death, because Jesus died. Amen? And so He destroyed the devil. And in that way, made Satan’s own future in the lake of fire certain. The devil knows that his time is short. He’s filled with rage because of it. There’s nothing that can change it for surely it’s not angels he helps. No fallen angel’s going to be saved by the death of Jesus, not one. Satan has no redeemer. Satan has no atoning sacrifice. There is no gospel for Satan or any of the fallen angels that fell with him. They’re all lost forever.

Do you see the grace of God to us that there even is a gospel for us? But He has come, Jesus, to destroy the devil and his works, and He’s snatched from the devil the keys of death and Hades. Amen? Revelation 1:18 says, “I am the living one, I was dead and behold, I’m alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Jesus has the keys. It is Jesus’ to kill and it is Jesus’ to raise to life, even eternal life. He holds the keys of death and Hades. And so therefore, He can free us from fear of death. Look at verse 15, “And free those, who all their lives, were held in slavery by their fear of death.” The greatest bondage there is, is bondage to sin. Bondage to sin. And Jesus says, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. But if the Son sets you free,” What? “You will be free indeed.” Amen. Free indeed.

And what was the nature of our bondage? Well, Ephesians 2 says, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you follow the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time. Gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature, our flesh, and fulfilling its lust and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But God, because of His great love for us, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved.” That is our salvation. We were in bondage to sin, and therefore, in bondage to fear of death. Not everybody’s equally afraid of death, some people just because they’re young and strong and vigorous and ignorant and haven’t been to many funerals, they ain’t scared. I’ve seen the bumper stickers. “I fear nothing.” Look, God can make you afraid. We are flesh and blood. What are we? We ought to be afraid of death apart from Christ.

I was reading recently a little biography of Howard Hughes, the billionaire aviator. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man so afraid to die as this man. He was especially afraid to die of infection. He was mortally afraid of germs so he spent the last few years of his life lying naked in hotel rooms that have been sanitized with tissue boxes on each feet. He gave special instructions to his staff on how to prepare canned peaches. Yes, that’s right, prepare canned peaches. You had to take the label off, you had to scour the can until fresh metal showed. You had to basically grind the can down. Disinfect the can, and then you had to open it and pour the contents, the peaches into a bowl without the can touching the bowl. Can touches bowl, I ain’t eatin’ peaches. He lived in mortal fear of dying by disease. I say he’s dead already. That’s no life. He lived in bondage to fear of death, and there are all different versions of that bondage, all different versions. Jesus came to set us free. And no Christian ought to live anything like that at all. Don’t be afraid of death.

We’ll get to that in a moment. But Jesus frees us forever from fear of death. Many Christians have lived boldly unafraid of death. Boldly unafraid. Think of Stephen in Acts 7. Stephen gives that incredible sermon, that awesome message. Sanhedrin didn’t like it very well. Actually, they were incensed by it, they were enraged. So they wanted to kill him. And with murderous intent, they get up out of their seats to start to rush at him. “But Stephen,” it says, “full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this, they covered their ears and yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.”

I tell you in a very beautiful way, different than Howard Hughes, Stephen was already gone. He was already in heaven. Wasn’t dead yet but they’re stoning him, they’re killing him and he says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And then one last thing, one last thing he says, “Lord, please do not lay this sin to their charge.” Just like Jesus, and off he goes. Awesome. Many saints have testified that they no longer fear death at all. Charles Spurgeon says that he knows saints that actually talked to death, they say, “I will not fear you death, why should I? You look like a dragon but your sting is gone.” For these saints, says Spurgeon, “To die has been so different a thing from what they expected it to be, so light, so joyous. They have been so unloaded of all care. They felt so relieved instead of burdened. They’ve wondered whether this could be the monster that they had been afraid of all their days. They find it to be a pin’s prick when they feared it would be a sword thrust. It is the shutting of the eye on earth and the opening of the eye in heaven.”

Thomas Goodwin, a Puritan pastor said this, he was laying on his death bed, he said, “Ah! Is this dying? How have I dreaded as an enemy this smiling friend.” Charles Wesley, quoting a Psalm, said, “I shall be satisfied with thy likeness.” Satisfied. Satisfied. He just kept saying that over and over. Satisfied. William Everett said just one word for 25 minutes over and over, “Glory, glory, glory.” Do you feel that they’re already there in some mysterious way, that the deposit through the Holy Spirit had been amply poured out on them at that moment? Poured out on them and they were already in heaven? Every time a child of God dies like that crisis, already one yet another marvelous victory over fear of death.

IV. So Jesus Can Take Hold of Abraham’s Descendants

So, Jesus took on flesh and blood so that he could die, so that he could destroy the devil and death, so that he could free us from fear of death, so that he could take hold of Abraham’s descendants. I’m not going to say much about this except I’m going to tell you he doesn’t do this for everybody. He doesn’t save everybody. We don’t believe in universal atonement. We don’t believe in universal salvation. There are going to be some people in hell and they ought to fear death right through it and on, and they will when they see what’s coming. But it’s Abraham’s descendants he helps. This is a covenant salvation. And we, whether Jew or Gentile, who follow our Father Abraham’s footsteps of faith, who trust in God’s promises the way Abraham did, who believe in him and it’s credited to him as righteousness, we are adopted into Abraham’s spiritual family and he’s become for us a spiritual father.

We are descendants of Abraham by faith. Galatians 3 makes this very plain. It says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.” He says if you belong to Christ then you’re Abraham’s seed, that means Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to the promise. You are adopted children of Abraham by faith. Those are the ones he helps. And you know what helps means here? Literally, the Greek word is to grasp or take hold of as if you’re drowning. Surely it’s not angels he grabs and saves, but it’s Abraham’s descendants. I picture exact same Greek word, Peter walking on water, remember, seeing the wind and the waves, looks around and beginning to sink cries out, “Lord, save me.” And Jesus saves us as we cry out for help, reaches down and takes hold of us.

V. So Jesus Can Be a Merciful and Faithful High Priest;

So, Jesus took on flesh and blood so that he could die, so that he could destroy the devil and death, so that he could free us from death, so that he could take hold of Abraham’s descendants, so he can be for us a merciful and faithful high priest. Look at verse 17, “For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and that he might make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Now, this is the first time in the Book of Hebrews that Jesus’ priestly ministry is mentioned. It will be abundantly unfolded for us in later chapters so I’m not going to say much about it here. I’m just going to tell you, Jesus is both merciful and faithful. Merciful horizontally to us and faithful to God. He is merciful to you, friends. He shows a great mercy and tenderness and compassion to you. And this is getting right to the pastoral application. He is tender towards you as you suffer.

VII. So Jesus Can Help Those Suffering in Temptation

And so therefore, the final point is, though Jesus can help those suffering in temptation, this is the point of it all, look at verse 18, “because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

You already knew it but I’m going to say that based on this text, temptation produces suffering. You already knew that, didn’t you? Have any of you ever suffered temptation? It is a bitter thing. Hence, in the Lord’s prayer, we ask to avoid it, lead us not into temptation, because it produces suffering. But if you want to live a holy life in this, world you must resolve to suffer. You must resolve to suffer the temptation. It says when you say no to ungodliness, it hurts. It’s hard to change your habits. Think of a dieter who has come to the conclusion that he or she needs to lose a significant amount of weight but they’re in really, really bad food habits. They’ve made an idol of food for decades. Their stomachs probably physically too large. And when they reduce their calorie intake and they are sticking to their diet, I tell you, it is physically painful to say no. Amen? Physically painful. But so it is for all sins.

You may be in the habit of gossip or slander, and the Lord’s convicted you, that you don’t want to lay someone low, throw them under the bus. They may have been unkind to you but you don’t want to say things about them behind their back anymore. You don’t want to assassinate their character. But you have these habits. And somebody, let’s say, is mean to you, they’re unkind. And then you’ve got a sympathetic ear and it’s just so comfortable and you’re just talking about the things that have been happening to you recently and then… Ugh, no, I’m not going to say anything, I’m not. To God be the glory, I’m going to say no. That is suffering temptation. To stand firm.

Somebody addicted to internet pornography, they’ve had habits in this, I’ve done counseling in this area. And they want to make the change, they know it’s destroying their life. They want to make the change. When the time has come to fight the battle, they have to suffer the temptation. Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer temptation. He sweat great drops of blood to not give in to the temptation of saying no to his Father. He knows what it’s like. He’s been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. I have a bunch of applications, I’m going to throw them all out. There’s just one I want to give you. I want to get to the application of this. The Hebrew Christians were being tempted to turn their backs on Jesus. You know why? Because their Jewish friends and neighbors and relatives and rabbis were putting pressure on them, hurting them, confiscating things from them, taking things from their lives. And so they were needing to stand firm in a time of temptation and testing. And the author here, you know what he’s doing in these verses? He’s giving them Jesus at that moment.

When you are being tempted, call Jesus into that moment. Have Jesus’ hand reach down like he did for Peter and pull you up. That’s what its all about. The hymn, we were riding back from a wedding yesterday and we were doing our family devotion in the car, I was like, “Sing a hymn.” Alright “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” That’s the one I chose cause it was in my mind. “All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. O what peace we often forfeit. O what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Listen to the second verse, have we trials and what? Temptations. Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. That’s what this text is about. A merciful and faithful high priest who took on flesh and blood, who died on the cross to deliver you from fear of death, to give you a promise of eternal life, and then stand with you in the fight for holiness. Call on him to be holy. Close with me in prayer.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

I begin this morning with this one statement:

There are some here that OUGHT TO FEAR DEATH vastly more than you do

And there are others here who ought NOT TO FEAR DEATH AT ALL!!!

Fear of death hangs over this text… both its existence and its resolution…

John Newton’s hymn “Amazing Grace” is arguably the most popular hymn in the world, one immediately recognizable to even many non-churched people. Newton’s biographer, Jonathan Aitken, estimates that “Amazing Grace” is sung over 10 million times every year.

In this famous hymn, Newton was writing his personal testimony of God’s grace to him as a wretched sinner, a slave-trader and debauched man, wicked to the core… a man who had heard the gospel repeatedly but who refused to come to Christ and be saved. Newton had been kidnapped and pressed into service in the British Navy, eventually deserted, and ended up on a slave trading vessel, the Greyhound. His behavior and cursing were among the worst that ship’s captain had ever heard… not only did he swear and curse as most sailors did, he stretched language to invent new curses none of them had ever heard.

In March 1748, while the Greyhound was in the North Atlantic, a violent storm came upon the ship that was so rough it swept overboard a crew member who had been standing where Newton was moments before. After hours of the crew emptying water from the ship and expecting to be capsized, he offered a desperate suggestion to the captain, who ordered it so. Newton turned and said, “If this will not do, then Lord have mercy upon us!” He returned to the pump where he and another mate tied themselves to it to keep from being washed over. After an hour’s rest, an exhausted Newton returned to the deck to steer for the next eleven hours where he pondered what he had said, “If this will not do, then Lord have mercy upon us!”

Filled with terror at the prospect of his own death, he realized that he could only be saved from death and hell by the mercy of the Lord, the same Lord he’d mocked and blasphemed earlier that day. That event, prompted by his fear of death, led to his eventual conversion to Christ.

In the hymn, Newton wrote,

“‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.”

Given his testimony, there can be little doubt that his fear was fear of death, and of the judgment that would follow.

Hebrews 9:27 man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment

Some people don’t have any idea why the grace of God should teach a person’s heart to fear… that makes no sense to them

BUT the fear a sinner has of death and of the judgment that follows is a KEY STEPPING STONE to salvation in Christ

Once that grace has come, however, we should forever be freed from fear of death!!! Christ’s powerful death on the cross and His mighty resurrection from the dead have immeasurable power to free sinners from fear of death

Thus I make this one statement:

There are some here that OUGHT TO FEAR DEATH vastly more than you do

And there are others here who ought NOT TO FEAR DEATH AT ALL!!!

Those of you who are lost, who have not Christ as Savior… you ought to fear death:

Luke 12:5 Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

And do not be so confident, thinking, “I am young… I have many years ahead of me!” God is able to strike down both young and old. And do not reason with yourselves, thinking “There is no obvious way that I will die… I’m in good health, sitting comfortably in a pew in church!” Death comes whenever God chooses, and we cannot stop it. The SAFEST THING A SINNER CAN EVER DO is to fear death and flee to Christ… so FEAR DEATH and FLEE TO Christ

Christ has power to destroy fear of death

And so I say to others of you, who are Christians, who are trusting Christ as your Savior, you fear death far MORE THAN YOU SHOULD

Our text this morning says that Christ became a human being, in order that He might die on the cross and destroy him who held the power of death (the devil) AND FREE THOSE WHO ALL THEIR LIVES WERE HELD IN SLAVERY BY THEIR FEAR OF DEATH

SO you ought to walk in complete freedom from fear of death It is to that end that I preach to you today

I.   Jesus Shared in Our Humanity…

Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity…

A.  Astonishing Mystery

1.  Because of our sins, we merely “See through a glass darkly”

2.  We cannot comprehend sometimes even the simplest doctrinal truths

3.  But this is NOT the simplest of doctrinal truths… but perhaps the most astonishing of them all

A.W. Pink: Another thing which makes it so difficult for us to grasp the wonder of the Divine incarnation is that there is nothing else which we can for a moment compare with it; there is no analogy which in any wise resembles it. It stands unique, alone, in all its solitary grandeur. We are thrilled when we think of the angels sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation: that those wondrous creatures, which so far excel us in wisdom and strength, should have been appointed to be our attendants; that those holy creatures should be commissioned to encamp round about poor sinners; that the courtiers of Heaven should wait upon worms of the earth! Truly, that is a great wonder. But oh my brethren, that wonder pales into utter insignificance and, in comparison, fades away into nothingness, before this far greater wonder—that the Creator of angels should leave His throne on High and descend to this sin-cursed earth; that the very One before whom all the angels bow should, for a season, be made lower than they; that the Lord of glory, who had dwelt in “light unapproachable,” should Himself become partaker of “flesh and blood”! This is the wonder of wonders. [Commentary on Hebrews, p. 131]

4.  Paul said it was a great mystery

1 Timothy 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body

B.  Here Described: the Fact of the Incarnation, and Its Reasons

1.  It says

“since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity”

2.  The children are those Christ desires to save

3.  “Flesh and blood” = physical existence… not like the ANGELS

a.  Greek word: “children have a FELLOWSHIP in flesh and blood”

b.  It unites the human race… all of us descended from Adam, share a common physical nature

c.  We are frail, physical beings… able to DIE

4.  Jesus had to take on a human body to save us

C.  Jesus: A Partaker of Flesh and Blood

1.  Last week: the “family” nature of our great salvation

Hebrews 2:11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Hebrews 2:12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”

Hebrews 2:13 And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity…

Hebrews 2:16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.

Hebrews 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way

2.  God has in view a FAMILY… the family of God

3.  So Jesus says this in another place

Matthew 12:48-50 “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

D.  His Children: Partakers of the Divine Nature

1.  Jesus’ ultimate goal was to make us participants in His own DIVINE nature

2 Peter 1:4 says God has given us…

his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature

Paul also speaks of our new nature…

Ephesians 4:24 put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

2.  We were created to be like God, and now redeemed in Christ, we are made new to be like God

3.  In order to make US like Him, He had to become like us

4.  This family likeness was predestined, central to God’s plan before the foundation of the world

Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Hebrews 2 REVERSES this amazingly: it says that Christ HAD TO BE MADE LIKE US in every way, so we could be made like Him in every way

II.   So Jesus Can Die;

A.  Reason Clearly Stated: “So That By His Death…”

Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death– that is, the devil– 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

1.  Christ took on flesh and blood so He could DIE

2.  He entered the world to lay down His life for us and save us from our sins

3.  Many verses teach this

Matthew 20:28 the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

1 Timothy 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners– of whom I am the worst.

Hebrews 10:5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me

4.  Marvel at the COURAGE and LOVE of Christ to enter the world specifically for the purpose of dying

5.  “Flesh and blood” HUMAN in its limitation and frailty

a.  Flesh and blood did not reveal that Jesus was the Christ to Peter (Mt. 16:17)

b.  Flesh and blood did not reveal the gospel to Paul (Gal. 1:16)

c.  Flesh and blood cannot fight the spirit world (Ephesians 6:12)

d.  Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50)

e.  Flesh and blood means EARTHBOUND HUMAN… and especially MORTAL

6.  Hebrew word for “flesh” used for both man and beast… both were created from the dust of the earth

Genesis 2:7 LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air.

Flesh is MUSCLE… sinew, organs, intestines, tendons… and we share it with the beasts of the field

It also means in our sin we are MORTAL

Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

B.  Focus on the Blood

1.  The usual order is “flesh and blood”

2.  Original text actually reverses the order:  BLOOD and FLESH

3.  Probably to emphasize the blood connection… and the bloody death Jesus would have to die to save His blood brothers

a.  Blood = family… lineage, genealogy,

John 1:12-13 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

KJV Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth

We commonly speak of “blood-relatives”… or related “by blood”

b.  Blood = death

i)  More deeply, though, the theme of blood is strongly related in the book of Hebrews to animal sacrifice and the atonement for sin

ii)  Leviticus

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.

iii)  Hebrews

Hebrews 9:22 …without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

So Jesus was given BLOOD so He could shed His blood as an atonement for our sins:

Romans 3:25 [It was Christ] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

C.  Focus Also on the Suffering

1.  Jesus shared in our humanity so He could suffer as we do

2.  The issue of suffering is clear here

3.  So also the shared experience of PAIN

a.  The pain of weariness

John 4:6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.

b.  The pain of thirst

John 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

c.  The pain of hunger

Matthew 4:2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

d.  The pain of temptation

Hebrews 2:18 he himself suffered when he was tempted

e.  The pain of injury

Matthew 27:26 Pilate had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

f.  The pain of death… crucifixion

D.  Atonement Cannot Be Worked Without Death

1.  Christ came into the world to save “the children” from death

2.  The death= the penalty the people deserved because of sin

Genesis 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Romans 5:12 … sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned

Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death…” Ezekiel 18:4 …the soul who sins shall die.

3.  For Christ to save us from the death penalty, He had to die… and the only way He could die was to partake in our flesh and blood… become ONE OF US

E.  Propitiation by Death (vs. 17)

ESV Hebrews 2:17 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.

1.  Very strong word used in verse 17… “propitiation”

2.  Classical example:

An effort began in 19th century German liberal theology, and has gained momentum in the last one hundred years or so in America, to remove the idea of propitiation as the appeasing of God’s wrath, and to see it simply as the removal of sin. Part of their case for this is that they see the appeasing of the wrath of a god as more of a pagan idea than a Christian idea. For example, in the Trojan War legend, Prince Paris had carried off Princess Helen to Troy. The Greeks sent their army, led by their general, Agamemnon, to retrieve the princess. They set off by ship to travel to Troy, but were held up by contrary winds for many days.

Agamemnon responded by sending for his daughter, who was then slaughtered as a sacrifice to appease the gods who were sending the contrary winds. It worked, and the fleet reached Troy without further delay. J.I. Packer summarizes this pagan notion of propitiation as follows:

There are various gods, none enjoying absolute dominion, but each with some power to make life easier or harder for you. Their temper is uniformly uncertain; they take offense at the smallest things—or they get jealous because they feel you are paying too much attention to other gods and other people and not enough to themselves, and then they take it out on you by manipulating circumstances to your heart.

The only course at that point is to humor and mollify them by an offering. The rule with offerings is the bigger the better, for the gods are inclined to hold out for something sizeable. In this they are cruel and heartless, but they have the advantage, so what can you do? The wise person bows to the inevitable and makes sure to offer something impressive enough to produce the desired result. Human sacrifice, in particular, is expensive but effective. Thus pagan religion appears as a callous commercialism, a matter of managing and manipulating your gods by cunning bribery. And within paganism propitiation, the appeasing of celestial bad tempers, takes its place as a regular part of life, one of the many irksome necessities that one cannot get on without. (In My Place Condemned He Stood, pp.29-30)

3.  J.I. Packer in Knowing God

“Were I asked to focus the New Testament message in three words, my proposal would be adoption through propitiation” (p. 216)

a.  Adoption = being made sons of the living God… thus we have this powerful family language

b.  Propitiation = the removal of God’s righteous wrath against us for our sins by the offering up of a sacrifice acceptable to Him

4.  The word means the removal of the wrath of God by the death of a sacrifice

5.  The BIGGEST problem in an unbeliever’s life: the righteous wrath of God against them for their sins

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

6.  They may not see that as the biggest problem… but it is

a.  Example: suppose there was a wealthy married couple in one of the expensive luxury berths on the Titanic that fateful night April 14, 1912… they are having a violent argument about some incredibly important issue… each of them is determined to have their way

b.  Suddenly there is a terrible screech and a jolt… though they pause their argument briefly, they hear no further noises and resume their argument

c.  They may feel their conflict is a big problem… and so it is; but a far bigger problem is the gash in the side of the Titanic, and the tons of seawater pouring in the doomed hull

d.  So it is with the wrath of God… God is our BIGGEST PROBLEM if we are not yet atoned for

7.  In Christ, the wrath of God is PROPITIATED… removed… because of the shedding of His blood

8.  Christ could only propitiate God’s wrath by taking on a human body

III.   So Jesus Can Destroy the Devil and Death;

Hebrews 2:14 so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil

A.  Christ vs. the Devil

1.  Here we have a head to head confrontation between Christ and an angel

2.  Hebrews 1 says Christ is greater than any angel

3.  Satan was, it seems, one of the greatest of the angels, and he arrogantly tried to usurp God’s place in heaven

4.  Satan led a group of angels in revolt against God

5.  The Archangel Michael and his holy angels fought against the devil and his wicked angels and won the victory in heaven…

6.  The devil and his angels was thrown down to the earth

7.  God created man in his image and entrusted the whole earth to him; Adam and Eve were the King and Queen of the whole earth

8.  The devil then approached Eve and deceived her and through her was able to entice Adam to sin as well

9.  In this way, the devil became the King of the Earth… he drew Adam into rebellion against God, and Adam came under the death penalty

B.  How the Devil Holds the Power of Death

John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

1.  The wages of sin is death… the inevitable link between sin and death is the key to the devil’s power

1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

2.  The devil uses temptation to lure humanity into sin

3.  Then the devil accuses sinners of their sin in the face of Almighty God and seeks to use the justice of God to kill us in hell forever

Zechariah 3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.

4.  So, the devil “holds the power of death”

C.  How Christ’s Death Destroys that Power

1.  David’s mighty man, Benaiah

2 Samuel 23:20-21 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab’s best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 21 And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

2.  Jesus snatched death from the devil and killed him with his own spear

Habakkuk 3:13-14 You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. Selah 14 With his own spear you pierced his head

3.  Christ by dying has killed death ultimately… for those He came to save, His death and resurrection will one day put us in a place where death itself will by obsolete

D.  “Destroys”: A Gradual But Certain Process

Hebrews 2:14 so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil

1.  The word used by the author of Hebrews means to render something powerless, void, inert… sometimes with a sense of an increasing powerlessness

2.  The devil was not annihilated… but His power over the elect was removed forever… he cannot send the elect to hell; rather, the devil’s influence over the elect is rendered null and void; the devil is allowed some freedom to roam and harass, but his ability to deceive the elect was destroyed at the cross

E.  How Christ’s Death Destroys the Devil Himself

1.  The devil himself was destroyed at the cross in that his effort to hold power over the earth was snatched back by Christ

2.  The work of the devil was destroyed… the work of setting up a rebel kingdom to oppose God

1 John 3:8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

3.  Christ utters the sentence over the devil…

Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

4.  and someday, His power will bring it about

Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur

5.  so meanwhile the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour… but he is filled with rage because he knows his time is short

F.  Jesus Snatched the Keys of Death and Hades

1.  Jesus now controls the keys of death and Hades

Revelation 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

2.  This means that by His death He is in charge of the power of death… He kills and He brings to life, and no one can stay His hand!

IV.   So Jesus Can Free Us From Fear of Death;

Hebrews 2:15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

A.  The Greatest Bondage: Sin

John 8:34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

Romans 6:20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

Ephesians 2:1-3 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

B.  The Resultant Terror: Death

1.  The author says that people all their lives are held in slavery by their fear of death

2.  Some people are so afraid of death, they can scarcely move out of their homes

Billionaire aviator Howard Hughes lived in constant terror of death, especially by infection. He spent most of his life trying to avoid germs. Toward the end of his life, he lay naked in bed in darkened hotel rooms in what he considered a germ-free zone. He wore tissue boxes on his feet to protect them. And he burned his clothing if someone near him became ill.

Hughes wrote a staff manual on how to open a can of peaches–including directions for removing the label, scrubbing the can down until it was bare metal, washing it again and pouring the contents into a bowl without touching the can to the bowl.

Though extreme, this is an example of what the text says… people who spend their whole lives in slavery because of their fear of death

3.  The root fear is a fear of judgment by God… that after death will come judgment for sin, and eternal condemnation in hell

Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death…

Ezekiel 18:4 The soul who sins will die

Hebrews 9:27 It is appointed unto man to die once, and after that, to face the judgment

C.  How Jesus Frees Us Forever from Fear of Death

1.  Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection forms the only sure basis for removal of fear of death

2.  As I said at the beginning of the sermon… “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved

3.  By faith in Christ, we can face death UNAFRAID!!!

D.  Testimonies

Acts 7:55-59 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.

Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Many saints have testified by their faith-filled joy that death is not a crushing burden…

Spurgeon: “Every day Christ is overcoming death, for He gives His Spirit to His saints, and having that Spirit within them they confront death with songs… they face death with a calm countenance, and they fall asleep in peace. ‘I will not fear thee death—why should I? You look like a dragon, but your sting is gone.” “For these saints, to die has been so different a thing from what they expected it to be, so lightsome, so joyous; they have been so unloaded of all care, have felt so relieved instead of burdened, that they have wondered whether this could be the monster they had been afraid of all their days. They find it a pin’s prick, when they feared it would be a sword thrust; it is the shutting of the eye on earth, and the opening of it in heaven…”

Thomas Goodwin: “Ah! Is this dying? How have I dreaded as an enemy this smiling friend!”

William Preston: “Blessed be God! Though I shall change my place, I shall not change my company!”

Charles Wesley: “I shall be satisfied with thy likeness… satisfied, satisfied!!”

Adoniram Judson: “I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world; yet when Christ calls me home, I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school.”

John Pawson: “I know I am dying, but my death-bed is a bed of roses. Heaven has already begun.”

William Everett: “Glory… Glory…Glory…” for the last 25 minutes of his life, until he was gone.

Every time a child of God dies like that, Christ has already won yet another victory over death.

E.  But What About You?

Do you personally have this kind of assurance?? Can you face death unafraid because of your faith in Christ?

V.   So Jesus Can Take Hold of Abraham’s Descendents;

Hebrews 2:16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.

A.  Not For Everyone

1.  He doesn’t help angels… by this I think it means fallen angels, like demons

2.  There is NO SALVATION for them… they will be sent to hell… indeed hell was made for them

3.  Also, Jesus does not help every single human being, but the text says “Abraham’s descendents”

B.  Jesus Takes Hold of Some… and Saves them

Matthew 20:28 the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus doesn’t save every single person from death and hell… He saves MANY but not all

C.  Who? Abraham’s Descendents

1.  The covenant was made in and through Abraham

2.  Paul makes this plain both in Romans and Galatians… Gentiles and Jews alike are considered children of Abraham only one way, by faith

D.  All Sons of Abraham by Faith

Romans 4:16-17 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring– not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”

Galatians 3:26-27 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Galatians 3:29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

VI.   So Jesus Can Be a Merciful and Faithful High Priest;

Hebrews 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people

A.  First Time Christ’s Priestly Ministry Mentioned

B.  Fully Developed in Hebrews

C.  Two Descriptions: Merciful and Faithful

1.  Merciful to us

2.  Faithful to God

D.  Full Atonement for Sins

VII.   So Jesus Can Help Those Suffering in Temptation

Hebrews 2:18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

A.  Here’s the Point: Temptation Causes Suffering

1.  When you are being tempted to sin, and the Holy Spirit moves in you to resist, to say “No!!!” to ungodliness, it HURTS!!!

2.  Think of the dieter who has made food an idol for years; the time comes to be disciplined on food; the stomach pains, screams for attention, for the habitual intake of food; it is physically painful to say no

3.  Think of the person who is tempted to gossip or slander someone, especially when that person has hurt you in some way; how strong is that temptation to slander, to tell the story in a way that makes you look good and them look bad; it causes a kind of SUFFERING to say no to the temptation to lay that person out with your conversation

4.  Think of the man who has struggled with internet pornography; there is almost a physical suffering that comes from resisting the temptation, saying NO to the flesh; it causes suffering to be holy!!!

5.  Think of the Christian who wants to grow in their personal prayer life; they are used to praying 10 minutes a day, and they make a commitment to extend it to 30 minutes a day… after about 12 minutes, their mind is wandering, their body is growing weary of staying on their knees, their flesh is screaming to be done with the burden of praying for others, interceding for them, wrestling for them in prayer… temptation causes SUFFERING

B.  Jesus Understands the Suffering

1.  Jesus suffered when He was tempted

2.  Gethsemane is a clear picture of this

Luke 22:42-44 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

3.  Jesus was tempted in EVERY WAY

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.

4.  The whole application of this passage is pastoral… Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer

C.  Jesus Can Help Us Not Sin

1.  The Hebrews were being tempted to give up their confession of Christ and reject him in order to please their persecuting neighbors and family members and rabbis… Jesus understood their temptation and the suffering they were enduring

2.  The author is pointing to Christ as the death conqueror… they need not fear persecution, neither the suffering caused by temptation

3.  Christ can HELP US NOT TO SIN

What a Friend We Have in Jesus… Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged— Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful, Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer.

VIII.   Application

A.  Terrified of Death? Come to Christ!

B.  Suffering in Temptation? Come to Christ!