Summary
Heb 2:10-14
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I appreciate it so much. Well, how many of you can guess what book of the Bible we're going to tonight? Hebrews chapter 2.
And I hope you did your homework and have been reading this wonderful chapter of God's Word all throughout the week. I enjoyed that good supper tonight, by the way. I tell you what,
you know, people kept offering me more food. Hey, you need to try this. Eat some more of this. Eat some more of this. And then I heard somebody say, yeah, keep giving him more food. The more he eats, the shorter he'll preach.
And I want you to know I didn't take that personally at all. I really didn't. But I appreciated it. And I just, I tell you,
Baptists, they know how to eat. I heard a story. I'll start with a joke tonight, if that's okay. I heard a story about a teacher in a school, and she told her class, she said, I want all of you kids to bring something to class this Sunday that sort of exemplifies your religion.
And so there was a little girl named Mary, and she stood up in front of the class, and she said, my name is Mary, and I'm a Catholic, and this is a crucifix.
A little boy stood up, and he said, my name is David, and I'm Jewish, and this is the star of David.
Finally, a little boy got up, and he said, my name is Johnny, and I'm a Baptist, and this is a casserole dish. I thought that's pretty, I thought, you know what, if there's one thing that really just exemplifies what it means to be a Baptist, it's probably that.
I tell our church, I say, there's three requirements to be a member of Faith Baptist Church.
You have to be saved, you have to be baptized by immersion, and you have to own at least one 9x14 casserole dish. And if you can check off those three boxes, you can be a member of our church. Hebrews chapter 2, in God's Word tonight.
And James, thank you so much for extending the invitation for me to come and be here, and thank you for just coming out and listening to the messages, and I pray they've been a blessing to your heart.
I know I enjoyed studying them, and it's just been a real joy and a real pleasure for me to be able to just be here this week, and not only fellowship with James, and catch up with him, but also just be with y'all, and I've enjoyed it a lot.
Hebrews chapter 9, or 2 rather, we'll pick up in verse 9 where we left off last night. The Bible says, and I love this opening phrase, but we see Jesus,
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.
For it became him, or you could say it this way, a more modern way of saying that, it was appropriate for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
And again I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I am the children which God hath given me.
I want you to look in verse number 10 at a phrase where Jesus is described there as the captain of our salvation, the forerunner of our salvation. Or you could put it this way, the pioneer of our salvation.
If God will help me for a few moments tonight, I want to bring the message on that thought, the captain of our salvation. Let's pray together one more time and we'll ask God to guide us now into our study of his word.
Our Father in heaven, Lord, I thank you for the scriptures. And I thank you for how, Lord, we've sung the scriptures this evening.
All of those songs that Cody led us in worship in were songs that were filled with scripture and filled with references to the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Well, we are made for more and you are great and you are worthy. And I pray, Father, that the message tonight would just continue our fixation on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Lord, that we would leave this meeting this week consumed with Christ.
Because only then will we know that we have been revived when our hearts are just yearning for Jesus and longing for Jesus and wanting nothing more than an overabundance of the person and work of Christ.
Lord, I pray that you would minister to each heart tonight. Help me as your preacher. And we'll give you thanks for that now in Jesus name. Amen. On May 29th in 1953,
Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa achieved what had previously been an unrealized dream for much of humanity. And of course, that was scaling the largest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. At 29,029 feet above sea level.
Of course, Mount Everest is the world's tallest peak. And prior to 1953, a number of people had made attempts to scale that large mountain, but all of them had been unsuccessful.
But you know what I found really interesting as I was reading about that great attempt and exploration of Mount Everest and that man who reached its very summit? What I found very interesting was not only that he reached the summit, but how many people have since reached the summit.
You won't believe this, but since May 29th, 1953, 7,269 people have ascended Mount Everest and have reached the summit. So for all of human history, up to May 23rd, 1953,
zero people reached the summit. But since Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa stood on the top of that mountain, 7,269 people have reached that summit. Now you don't do that after a potluck, okay? But that is an incredible achievement.
I was thinking about that event. I was thinking about that man, Sir Edmund Hillary. What he was able to accomplish on that day set a precedent and he functioned as a forerunner. He functioned as a pioneer and many have since followed in his footsteps.
Well, this word that's in this verse number 10, this word captain used to describe the person of Jesus Christ. It means literally one who functions as a pioneer, a trailblazer or a pathfinder.
And of Christ, it speaks here specifically of how he blazed the trail for our salvation.
Aren't you thankful that 2,000 years ago, Jesus cleared out all of the obstacles between us and God? Aren't you thankful that Jesus made a way for you and I to get from where we are to where God the Father is? Aren't you thankful that Jesus said,
I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.
Aren't you glad that when the question was posed, Lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way that Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. And so in this way, Jesus is the captain of our salvation.
He's the trailblazer. But a trail is meant to be followed. A captain is the leader of a team. And those that are on the team follow in the footsteps, follow in the footprints of that captain. The Bible tells us that we are to follow in our Savior's steps.
He is the captain of our salvation. He's the trailblazer. He's the forerunner. But are we following behind him?
In 1 Peter 2 and 21, the Bible puts it this way. It says, For even here unto where ye called, because Christ also suffered for us.
And then notice this. Leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps.
Again, in 1 John 2 and 6, the Bible says that he himself who abides in Christ ought also to walk even as he, Jesus, walked.
And I think the final concluding message I want to leave in your hearts, in my own heart, as we finish this week, our study of God's word together is this. If Jesus is the captain of your salvation, are you following in his steps?
And if Jesus is the captain of the team, that is Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, is this church corporately following in his steps?
Well, if you are, if we are, there are a couple of observations that I think from this passage of Scripture will function as sort of indicators as to whether or not we really are following in our Savior's steps. And so I want you to notice them with me.
Number one, I want you to notice with me the singular cause of our captain. The singular cause of our captain. Because if he is the captain of our salvation, then his cause should be our cause. And what is the cause of our captain?
What was his cause? In verse number 9, it says that he tasted death for every man. But why did he do that? Well, verse number 10 says that this one who is the captain of our salvation tasted death for every man that he might bring many sons, many daughters to glory.
The singular cause of our captain is, as I've already mentioned, bringing us to where he is.
That word that's translated there, bringing, it's very interesting. It means literally to lead by laying hold of and by this way, bringing something to a point of destination.
And that Greek word is used in Matthew chapter 21 to describe the donkey that was brought to Jesus just prior to his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
He told his disciples, I want you to go and I want you to find this donkey on which no man has ever ridden. And I want you to bring that donkey to me.
Now those disciples, when they heard Jesus give that command, they didn't go here donkey, here donkey. No, they went out and they found that donkey and then they brought that donkey to Jesus. That's the same word that's being used here describing how Jesus saved us.
He didn't lean over the banisters of heaven and say, all right, whenever y'all are ready, you know, just get right with God and come on up here. No, he didn't do that. No, he came to where we were.
He took upon himself human form and then not only came to where we are and where we were in our sins, but he brought us through his death upon the cross unto himself.
Well, he is the singular cause of the captain of our salvation is bringing many sons to glory.
I've been staying in my parents' house this week. And, you know, when you stay in your parents' house, all kinds of memories come flooding back. And I was sitting there in my parents' house at the kitchen table. I remember when I was a kid, maybe a teenager, for instance,
my mom would say something like this to me. She'd be standing there in the kitchen cooking supper and she'd say, Stephen, call your sisters to the table. And how many of you understand that without ever moving a muscle,
all right, without ever even, you know, standing up, I would just sitting there at that table, lift up my voice, scream at the top of my lungs and say, Sarah, Laura, come to the table. And what would my mom say?
She would say, I could have done that. I didn't want you to sit there at the table and scream and holler for me and say, hey, y'all come down here to the table. I wanted you to go to where they were and bring them to me. That's what Jesus did.
He came to where we were and brought us to himself.
But you know what he's commissioned the church to do? He's commissioned the church to go into all the world and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to every creature. But you know what most churches do? We sit at the table. We feast on the fresh manna from heaven.
And then we just shout to a world that passes by our church buildings. Hey, y'all come to the table. But whatever that is, is not following the captain of our salvation. The captain of our salvation did not stay in the comforts of glory and say, hey, y'all come to where I am.
But he came instead to where we were. And so we, following his example, should leave our comfort zones.
We should go out of the building that is the local church. We should push away from the table and go out into the highways and hedges. And share the gospel with men and women and boys and girls and bring them to Jesus.
You know, so often I hear people say something like this. They'll say, you know, Brother Stephen, our church is just dying. I wish somebody would come to our church.
People just aren't coming to our church anymore. You know, I've read the Bible through and through. I've studied the Bible my whole life. I've been preaching now since I was 18 years old. I've been pastoring and in ministry and ordained ministry since I was 22.
And I've never found a place in the Bible where it tells sinners to come to church.
But over and over again in the Bible, we are told about how the church is supposed to go to sinners. And so often the most grievous sins that the church commits are not sins of commission as much as they are sins of omission.
It's not that we are doing things that God tells us not to do as much as we are neglecting to do things that Jesus tells us to do.
And perhaps the most neglected command of God in all of the scripture is the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
I wonder who this week is it that you are going to go to with the clear, simple message of salvation, telling that person that Jesus loves them,
died for them, and would love to save their soul. Why should you do that? Because that's what the captain of our salvation did for us.
Moving on, number two, I want you to notice with me this. Not only the singular cause of our captain, but as we follow his steps, we must also follow the sorrowful cost of our captain.
If you look with me again in verse 10, the Bible says this. It says it was appropriate for Jesus, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory. Then notice this phrase, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.
That word rendered there perfect, at the end of verse 10, it means to finish or to bring to completion. And in order for Jesus to finish and complete the task of bringing many sons to glory, the Bible says here that he had to endure great suffering.
Again, in verse number nine, it says that for a little time, Jesus was made lower than the angels for the suffering of death.
As our trailblazer, as our pioneer, Jesus endured great suffering. And that stands to reason, because all pioneers, all trailblazers, all those that go where none have ever dared to go before, they all face some kind of suffering, don't they? And think about the suffering that Jesus faced.
The suffering that Jesus faced during his earthly ministry and his earthly sojourn. It began immediately after he was born.
When the godless King Herod sought to put him to death, and his family had to leave all that was known and familiar to them and flee to Egypt. His suffering began immediately while he was still in infancy. His suffering continued into adulthood.
When he was marginalized and misunderstood and misrepresented by the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders. His suffering continued as he traveled.
The Bible says that Jesus, the high King of heaven, the God of all glory, during his earthly sojourn and ministry, did not sleep in comfortable palaces.
He did not eat luxurious meals. But while the foxes had their holes, and the birds had their nests, Jesus said the Son of Man doesn't even have a place to lay his precious head. Think about that suffering. Think about the suffering he was willing to endure just during his earthly ministry.
And then, of course, the greatest example of his suffering was the demonstration of sacrifice that's seen in his death upon the cross.
When he bare in his own body our sins on the tree. You know, when we think about the suffering of Calvary, we think primarily about the physical suffering, don't we?
We think about the cat of nine tails and the whip that came across his back and how it bare opened his flesh. We think about the fact that they platted together that crown of thorns and they placed it on his brow.
We think about how they beat him and they plucked out his beard. I mean, I've worn a beard now for many years. And just the very thought of someone plucking out my beard, it sends shivers down my back. What pain that must have been. They spat upon him.
They buffeted him. They beat him with their fist. And that was great agonizing pain.
They put the nails in his hands and feet. He suffocated a gasping for air as he hung on that cross. Great physical suffering.
But as great as his physical suffering was, it paled in comparison to the spiritual anguish and agony that he experienced as he bore our sins.
You see, the Bible says in Isaiah 53, that as Jesus hung there on the cross, he endured not only physical suffering,
but it says there that in order to pay for our sins, so that the Father might be both just and the justifier of them that believed that it pleased the Father to crush him,
the crushing weight of every sin for those that Jesus bled and died for on his body, on his person, in his soul on that day,
there has never been any kind of human suffering that ever came close to that. That was the sorrowful cost that our captain was willing to pay for our salvation.
And the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 13, verses 12 and 13, that Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, that he suffered without the gate.
And then it says there, let us go forth unto them without the camp, bearing his reproach.
You know, if you're going to follow the captain of our salvation, and you're going to walk in his steps, you're going to have to be willing to endure some suffering. I went to college with a guy, a Bible college with a guy named Anthony King.
And Anthony had been in the Navy, I believe. I know he served in the military. I believe it was in the Navy. He was originally from Hawaii.
And after he got out of the Navy, he returned back there to Hawaii, and he started a business in the tech industry, and he became extremely successful. And he started attending and got saved in a Baptist church there in Hawaii.
There are Baptists in Hawaii. Did you know that? It's amazing. He got saved in a Baptist church. By the way, I think I'm hearing the call right now. But he got saved in a Baptist church there in Hawaii. And again, a very successful businessman.
And over the course of a number of years, he was married, he had children, not young children either, I mean children that were growing and getting into their teen years. God began to work on Anthony's heart about going into the ministry.
And he wrestled, and he fought that call. And then eventually, one day, he went, and he answered that call to ministry. And he told his pastor and told his church. And then he sold that business.
He packed his family up in Hawaii, moved to the States, enrolled in Bible college, graduated from Bible college. And I remember being a student in college, just a single guy in my late teens and early 20s and looking at this guy, knowing his story and thinking, man, the sacrifices that he made.
After he finished college, he worked on staff at a church in California for a number of years. And then he went back to Hawaii to plant a church. And you say, boy, that sounds nice.
But if you think it costs a lot to live and minister in Wilkes County, can you imagine how much it costs to live and minister in Hawaii?
And Anthony, who had a successful business in Hawaii, Anthony, who made great money in Hawaii,
drove nice cars, his kids had the finest education, all of that. When he moved back and started a church in a city in Hawaii that had no Baptist church at all, they rented, they leased a storefront building.
On the bottom floor of that building, they had their church, that's where their church gathered and met, and he and his family lived upstairs. Next door to that church was a restaurant that was infested with mice and cockroaches.
And so their living quarters were constantly overrun with mice and cockroaches, so much so that a pastor friend of mine went out there to preach for him and said, brother,
tell me what we gotta do to get you and your family out of this place because we're gonna do it. And he said, we just feel like these are the sacrifices we have to make to reach these people with the gospel.
But you know, not too long ago, that church celebrated its 10th anniversary. And while Hawaii is a beautiful place, it's a hard place to go and plant a church and preach the gospel. And on their 10th anniversary,
my former pastor went out there to preach for them. And on that one Sunday, after the preaching service, 21 people followed Pastor King out of the church, down the street, and to the beach, and they baptized 21 converts in one Sunday on their 10th anniversary. Why?
It's because there was a man who knew that the captain of our salvation suffered in order to bring many sons to glory.
And he said, you know, if Jesus would suffer like that to bring me to glory, then I can make some sacrifices. And I can suffer a little bit to bring lost men and women and boys and girls into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
What is it that you're willing to sacrifice? What is it that you're willing to give?
What is it that you're willing to do without so that you can follow in the footsteps of the one who is the captain of our salvation in bringing many sons to glory? Number three, and finally, I want you to notice with me this,
not only the singular cause of our captain and not only the sorrowful cost of our captain, but number three, and finally, the satisfying consequence of our captain.
If you look with me in verse number 11, the Bible says it this way. It says, For he that sanctifyeth, and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he, Jesus, is not ashamed to call them brethren, brothers and sisters.
What the Bible is talking about here is the fact that Jesus went through all of the agony of Calvary.
He left the portals of glory and came to where we are and then suffered so immensely so that he could call us his brothers and sisters. What is that? That is fellowship. What is that? That is communion. What is that? That is family.
In verse number 14, again, it says, For as much then as children are partakers of flesh and blood. Human beings are made of flesh and blood. The Bible goes on to say that Jesus also himself likewise took part of the same. And he took on himself flesh and blood. Why?
That he through death might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil. Verse 15, And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
The consequence of Jesus' suffering and the consequence of Jesus' sacrifice and the consequence of his singular cause of leaving glory to bring many sons unto himself.
All of that results in the most precious thing in all the world. And that is fellowship. Communion.
Not only with God. That's most important. But also fellowship and communion with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ in the household of faith.
And if Jesus Christ is truly the captain of our salvation, then we will follow him by valuing that relationship and that fellowship not only with God but also with one another because that's what he died on the cross to give to his church.
You see, I hope, Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, that you just don't do church together. I hope that you don't see this place as just a religious association that unifies around people who are just card-carrying members of the same spiritual network.
But I hope you see church as Jesus intended the church to be. As the book of Ephesians tells us, the church is supposed to be like a building that is fitly framed together, a body where every part works in perfect conjunction so that when one party rejoices, we all rejoice.
And when one party weeps, we all weep. When one person succeeds, we all succeed. And when one person suffers, we all suffer right there with them. Why? Because Jesus died to give the church that kind of koinia, that kind of fellowship, that kind of union and unity.
You know, it seems to me like when one part of my body hurts, the rest of my body has sympathy for that part.
There was a couple weeks ago, I was had sort of an upper respiratory thing and man, I was having a difficulty time breathing and I just felt that heaviness in my chest.
And you know, it was in the evening hours and the rest of my body was so sympathetic with my breathing apparatus and my chest that the whole person of my body just stayed up with me all night long. You ever experience something like that?
And the Bible uses that analogy of a body to describe the church. When one person suffers, we suffer with them.
When one person's going through difficulty, we just go through it with them. When one person's carrying a heavy load, we help them carry it. When one person's celebrating a birth or a baby dedication or a baptism or a retirement, we celebrate with them.
But whatever it is we do, we do it together. Why?
Because Jesus died so that we could have that kind of fellowship. A fellowship that begins in this life and that continues on and on to the life that is to come. And so what that means,
and by the way, you're here on a Wednesday night. I know you're faithful to the local church. But what that means is this, is that in following the footsteps of the captain of our salvation, we remain devoted,
not to the building, not to the organization, but to this fellowship, this body that is the local church.
And I believe in doing that, we set the great example and follow rather the great example that Jesus has set for us. You know, because Jesus is the pioneering captain of our salvation, every church, even a church that's 170 something years old like this one is, should maintain a pioneering spirit.
We follow a pioneering savior and therefore every church should maintain a pioneering spirit. And what that looks like is maintaining his singular cause, embracing his sacrifice and suffering. And then also enjoying the wonderful consequences of his suffering, which is fellowship.
Let's bow our heads and close our eyes tonight. We'll have a moment of invitation. Our brother will come and play something on the piano. If you're here this evening, and I've said this every night this week, and I won't manipulate you or try to twist your arm or anything like that.
But if you're here this week and you're here this evening and you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, boy, this would be a great night to make sure
that Christ is your Savior and that if you died today, heaven would be your eternal home.
If you're here and you don't know Jesus Christ as Savior, if I were you, I wouldn't leave this building, I wouldn't let this service come to a close without being confident and sure and certain that I'd been born again into the family of God.
Maybe you're here this evening and you know Jesus Christ as Savior, and I believe probably most of you do. But as you listen to the message, as you looked at the Scripture tonight, you thought,
you know, there's some ways I'm not following in the footsteps of the captain of my salvation. Maybe his cause isn't my cause.
I've lost my burden for the unbelieving world out there that's dying and on its way to hell without Christ. Maybe you've gotten very comfortable and you've lost your willingness to make any kind of sacrifice for Jesus Christ.
Maybe you've stopped prioritizing the local church and stopped realizing the value of the fellowship that Jesus died to give us.
If you're here this evening and God spoke to your heart about any of those subjects or maybe something else, I pray that in the quietness of this time of reflection and invitation that you'll be obedient to the impulses of the Holy Spirit and respond. Father, we give you thanks today
for this precious passage of Scripture and most of all, we give you thanks for Jesus who is the captain of our salvation, who's our pioneering, trailblazing Savior. But a pioneer is meant to be followed and help us, Lord, to follow you.
Help us to follow Christ. Help his cause to be our cause, his sacrifices to be our sacrifices. And Lord, the wonderful fellowship he died to give us, help us to prioritize that. Lord, bless this sweet church. I've enjoyed ministering alongside them and to them this week.
God, I pray that in the days ahead you'd use them to be a great and mighty lighthouse here in Wilkes County.
I pray, Lord, that they would see in the days and months and years ahead many sons and daughters brought to Christ because they just keep following in the footprints of the captain of our salvation. In Jesus Christ's name, I pray these things. Amen.
Thank you again for taking your time to listen to the sermon audio of Pleasant Grove. Please subscribe to get our latest sermons each week. And Lord, thank you there again for joining us What if if Thank you.
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