In this sermon, the key theme in chapter one of the book is God speaking. Throughout the chapter, it is emphasized that God has spoken in various ways about His Son. This includes speaking to the fathers through the prophets in the past, speaking in His Son Jesus Christ in the present, speaking for His Son in His resurrection, relationship, and return, and speaking to His Son. The purpose of the sermon is to warn those who have heard the message of salvation but are in danger of neglecting it, as neglecting it can result in losing the promised salvation. The sermon also highlights the greatness of Jesus and the New Testament message, emphasizing the importance of not neglecting it. The sermon continues into chapter two, where the warning is stated and the significance of the word "therefore" is explained, indicating that it refers to what has already been said.

Let's bow and pray, please. Our Father, we thank thee tonight for the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we thank thee for the way in which he is portrayed in this epistle to the Hebrews. And Lord, we thank thee not only for him, we thank thee for the Holy Spirit, who indwells believers to teach us all things, to give us an unction from the Holy One, so that we might understand the great depths of truth found in this precious book. And so Lord, tonight we ask for thy guidance, we pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us and guide us and show us more of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in Christ's name and for his sake, amen. All right, we're in Hebrews chapter 2 tonight, and you folks can take one of these as you go there. Thank you. Hebrews chapter 2. Now, we haven't been together for a night, and I just want to, by way of review, now go back to chapter 1, and we find the key words in chapter 1. Gary, just take that away. Thank you. The key words in chapter 1 were what? The key words in the book is better, but what in chapter 1? What was the key in chapter 1? God speaking. All right, now we get it. Did I teach this? I must have done. God speaking. All right, now, all the way through the chapter you have the fact of God speaking in a variety of ways concerning his Son. And so we find in verse 1, God speaking about his Son in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Then we talked about God speaking in his Son, God speaking in Christ. That's in these last days, that's the days in which we're now living, in which God is giving his last message to man in the Lord Jesus. Then we spoke about God speaking for his Son in his resurrection, in his relationship, and in his return. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes back again, all the angels of God will worship him, and God is speaking for his Son. Then God was speaking to his Son in verse 8, and we find God speaking to his Son concerning his majesty or his royalty. When he says, thy throne, he speaks concerning his deity. When he says, O God, he speaks about his eternality, that is, he's for eternity. When he says, forever and ever, he speaks about his authority. When he talks about a scepter of righteousness as the scepter of his kingdom, he speaks about his purity. When he loved righteousness and hated iniquity, he speaks to his Son about his superiority. When he says, thy throne is above thy fellows, have an orderly with the oil of gladness above thy fellows, and Christ is in the highest place. And then he speaks about his ability. When he says, thou Lord didst lay the foundation of the earth. And then he speaks about his immutability, which is his unchangeableness. When he says, that day the heavens and the earth shall perish, but thou remainest. Thou art the same. Christ is unchangeable. That's what he's talking about there. And then he talks about his destiny when he says, sit in my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Now, all of this is saying this, this is the greatness of the New Testament message. It's in Christ. And so we have found how great Christ is. And that's how great the message is. And that's why it's a terrible sin for any person to neglect that message. And that's what you come to in chapter two, at the beginning of the chapter. In the beginning you have the warning stated. Now you notice the chapter begins with a word. What is the word? Therefore. Now when you're studying the Bible, always find out when the word therefore is there, find out what it's there for. And it simply means this. The word therefore means in the light of what has already been said. That's what the word therefore means. In the light of what has gone before. That's what it means. And so he's telling you the reason for the warning, the purpose of the warning. He says, therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. Now, here's where we've got to be careful in the book of Hebrews. We've got to find out who has heard, you see, and realize that all those who have heard don't necessarily heed what they hear. That's very important. And that's why we get confused in the book of Hebrews, because as you go through the warnings, you're liable to say to yourself, now these warnings are all given to Christians. Now they are given to professing Christians, no doubt about that, because these Hebrews were professing what? Christians. Now some of you, when you're answering the questions in the last test we had, when we asked the question as to the people to whom this epistle was written, you put down Hebrew Christians. Now it is true that they were Hebrew professing Christians, and they were addressed on the basis of their profession. But this does not necessarily mean that all of the Hebrews were saved. It means that they all professed to be Christians, and they are addressed as such. But there was a danger among them, and the danger was this, that there were some who had heard the New Testament message, and they were in danger of neglecting what they heard. See, that's the thing. And they were in danger of turning away from what they heard. We get that later in the book. So when he says here, therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. There are two things you need to recognize here. Number one, who is the we? Who are the we? And then secondly, what are the things which we have heard? Now that takes us back to chapter one, because when you're studying the Bible, always look at the context, what has gone before. Now let's go back to the beginning of chapter one again, all right? And we'll find out, first of all, who the we refers to. Now in chapter one, verse two, after it tells us in verse one, God who at some great times in a diverse manner spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Now notice this now, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. So the us refers to the people to whom God has spoken, is that right? Is that the us? God has spoken unto us, and he's referring to the people to whom God has spoken. And in the things which we have heard are the things which are in the message, and the message is in Christ. And he's speaking about the New Testament message of the gospel which God has spoken in these last days. The us refers to the people to whom he has spoken. The things which we have heard refers to the good news of the gospel which is centered in Christ. Now what he's doing is this. He's issuing a warning, and the warning is that those who hear ought to heed, give more earnest heed. Now why? You see the danger was that they were liable to neglect the message which they had heard, and they were in danger of suffering the judgment of God. Now keep this in mind, if you have accepted the message, if you've accepted it, then you're saved, isn't that right? If you have accepted it, you're saved. You're sitting here tonight and say, well now when I heard the good news and I saw the truth, I accepted Jesus Christ, now therefore you heeded what you heard, right? That's the thing, you have heeded it. So when the warning comes, keep in mind it's to we who have heard and who are in danger of neglecting what we have heard. But you see if you're a Christian, you've accepted it, because the message has said to you, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be what? Saved. But I'll tell you this, there's a possibility that there could be even one of you sitting here tonight, and you have heard, and you have seen, and you have seen how great the Lord Jesus is, and you've seen how great the work that he has accomplished, you have seen the salvation he's provided, but you're in danger instead of accepting what he has said, you're in danger of neglecting it. Now if that's the case, then the problem is this, if you have heard and you neglect what you have heard, then you're in danger of losing that which is promised in that message, and that is the good news of the gospel, and it's relating to salvation. He's talking about the gospel here in these verses, and so the purpose of the warning is to say to people who have heard, we ought to give them more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, less than any time we should let them what? Slip. In other words, the word here, let them slip, if you've got a marginal reference, if you've got a marginal reference Bible or some of you, notice number three beside let them slip, all right? Now what it says there is run out like leaking vessels, you see that? And what he's saying is this, that you're liable to lose the things which you have heard. If you don't heed them, that's the danger. Now if you have accepted them, that's another question. Have you accepted them? But if you haven't, then you need to realize this, that the message, and what is the book of Hebrews clearly teaches all the way through is this, that God who shows the truth and speaks the truth to men, if they harden their hearts and they turn away from him, they've had a good thing, you know. Not because God isn't loving, but because they harden their what? Hearts. They do not heed what they have heard. Now keep that in mind as we go through the book of Hebrews, that's why you'll find me going back to the preceding chapters, bringing out these arguments, because you're liable to jump to conclusions which are not there. So the we refers to those who have what? Together? Heard. The message which they have heard is the what? The gospel. The gospel is centered in who? Jesus Christ, and he's saying this, therefore, in the light of the greatness. How great Jesus Christ is. And all of those wonderful things that God has spoken to us about in chapter one, in the light of that, then we ought to give them more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest we should lose those things by deliberately not giving heed to them. Now we've already spoken about the people. Now look at verse two, and here you have the word which is spoken to them. It says, for if the word spoken by angels was steadfast. Now let me explain to you the word spoken by angels, the word of the law. The word spoken by angels here is referring to the Old Testament law. I'll tell you why. In the Old Testament, God gave the law to Moses through angels. That's how he did it. You say, sometimes you wonder, when Moses went up to Mount Sinai, and God gave him the tables of stone, you say, how did God give them to him? Did God personally go over to Moses and stretch out his hand and say, here's the law? No, he didn't. He didn't. The law was disposed by angels. God gave the law by angels to Moses, and Moses gave it to the people. Now let me show that to you. Go over to Galatians chapter 3 for a moment. Galatians chapter 3. And in Galatians chapter 3, you'll find here some words concerning the law. Now look at verse 19. Galatians 3 verse 19. And here's a question. It says, wherefore then serveth the law? In other words, what purpose has the law? All right. And then it says, it was added because of transgressions. It's telling us here why the law was added back in the Old Testament scriptures. It was because of transgressions. All right. And then it says, it was till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. Now there's the next phrase, and it was ordained by what? Angels in the hand of a what? Mediator. In other words, the angels gave the law to Moses, the mediator, and Moses took the law from God through angels to the people. Gave it to them, you see. And if you were to read another portion, for instance, in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 7, chapter 8, you remember when Stephen was preaching in Acts 7, 53. You'll find there that he said to those people at that time that they received the law by the disposition of angels. So the word spoken by angels refers to the what? What does it refer to? The law. That was the Old Testament law. Now here's what he tells us about the Old Testament law. He says, for if the word, let's go back now to Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 2. For if the word spoken by angels was what? Steadfast. And every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward. Now let's look at that for a moment. When you've got the the precepts that God is giving here, he's speaking about the word spoken in the law, and he says the word spoken in the law was steadfast. And every transgression and disobedience received a just, that word just means righteous, recompense of reward. In other words, when people disobeyed the law or transgressed the law, they received what they righteously deserved, right? That's what he's saying. That's true. Now generally, if a man despised Moses' law and he deliberately disobeyed it and deliberately transgressed it, the Bible says he died without mercy under two or three witnesses. That's what it says. Now turn over to Hebrews chapter 10 for a moment, and I'll tell you what happens when people despise. You see what he's doing now is this. He's looking back into the Old Testament, and he's saying, now listen, back there when the law was given, if a person deliberately transgressed and disobeyed the law, they received what they righteously deserved, right? That's what happened to them. So what happened to them now in Hebrews chapter 10, look at verse 28, Hebrews 10 28, got it? He that despised Moses' law died without what? Mercy, under two or three witnesses. Now what's he telling us? He's saying, listen, in the Old Testament when God spoke back then, and God gave the law by angels to the people, any person who disobeyed, deliberately disobeyed and transgressed the law died without mercy. Now if that was the case back then, to those people in the Old Testament, how about us who have heard the message of the New Testament? He isn't talking about us who have received the message of the New Testament. Let's keep that in mind. He's talking about us who have what together? Heard. Let me go over that again. It's us who have what? Heard. Heard. And there's a difference between hearing and receiving, major difference. And no, I don't have the right to say that every person that hears receives, because they don't. An awful lot of people who hear the message and don't receive, isn't that true? There are a lot of people who see the truth and never accept it. And so in the book of Hebrews, he's saying this, that those people who heard the word of the law, spoken by angels in the Old Testament, and they deliberately disobeyed the word of the law and transgressed the word of the law, they suffered the consequence. They received a just, a righteous recompense of reward. In other words, they received what they deserved, what they had earned, what they had paid for by their disobedience and their transgression. Now, what's he doing now? He's saying, listen, if back there under the law, those who deliberately disobeyed and transgressed that word spoken by angels, then how shall we in the New Testament days, who have heard this great, tremendous, wonderful message in Christ, escape? Escape what? Worse punishment than that, you see. He's saying that those people who disobeyed the law deserved, and generally it was physical death, wasn't it? Back then if a person, for instance, disobeyed the law and the person was caught in adultery, they stoned them to death. They suffered death, physical death. Now he's saying this in verse 3, how shall we escape? All right, we who have what, together? Heard. Keep it in mind. We who have heard, how shall we escape? If we neglect, so what? Great salvation. And he's saying this, if those people back then who received that word, Old Testament word, received what they righteously deserved for disobeying it and transgressing it, how shall we in the New Testament who have heard this great message about this great salvation, how shall we escape? Well, how could we? But I'll tell you this, the punishment for disobeying the law is one thing, and transgressing the law is one thing, but the punishment for neglecting so great salvation is quite another, isn't it? And I'll tell you this, you know what determines the greatness of the punishment? The greatness of the message that's being neglected. Is there anything greater than Christ? Answer? No. Is there any message any greater than the message of the gospel? What? No. Is there anything greater than salvation? No. And that's why, you see, that the Bible says that a person who neglects the message which is so great, and so great a person in these last days, they deserve a great punishment, and it's hell. That's what they deserve. Why not? Sure they would deserve it. But keep in mind, he isn't speaking about people who have received salvation. He is speaking about people who have neglected salvation. See the difference? He says, how shall we escape? We what? Neglect so great salvation. And he's speaking to people who have what? Together again? Heard. That's what verse 1 says. Therefore we ought to give thee more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. The we refers to us in these last days to whom God has spoken in his son, and the things which we have heard refer to the good news of great salvation, and the people who neglect that message which they have heard, they're going to suffer the judgment of God. He's saying this, if the people back then received what they righteously deserved for rejecting and disobeying the word of the law, then the people now who hear the message and they neglect it, and they let it go away from them, and they don't accept it, they deserve greater punishment. Right? That's the question. Now as you look at the situation now, what he's saying is this. How could any person in these last days escape the judgment of God who neglects so great salvation? And the answer is this, they couldn't. There is no escape. There's no answer to that question. How? There isn't any how. It's impossible. You know, it's very interesting when you study questions in the Bible, there are certain questions that can be answered. For instance, what must I do to be saved? If you ask that question, I can answer it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. A man standing in Matthew 27 called Pilate said, what shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? He could answer that question. He could either accept it or reject it. Right? He could answer the question. The Bible says, what shall the end be of those that obey not the gospel of God? You can answer that question. It's found in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Well, it says they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the glory of the Lord, and then from the glory of his power, and so forth, from the presence of God. They're going to be separated from God's presence. But when you ask this question, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? There's no answer. There's no answer. No way. So let's keep in mind, here's the first warning in the book of Hebrews, and if you grasp this one, and here it is. You see, it's a warning to those who have what together? Heard. And the message they have heard is the what? And the greatness of the gospel is seen in who? Jesus Christ. And they cannot escape the judgment of God. That's the point. Now, he's talking about salvation here, the New Testament message, and that's very obvious. And after giving us the precept about the word spoken in the law, then he speaks about the word spoken in the Lord. Now notice what it says next, in verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Now this great salvation at the first began to be spoken by who? The Lord himself. The first great preacher of the gospel was Christ. Now John the Baptist did not preach the gospel. Don't run around saying John the Baptist preached the gospel. He didn't. John the Baptist preached the message of repentance, looking forward to the coming of Christ, right? That's what he preached. And he had a message which looked forward to Christ's coming, and he was preparing people to accept Christ. And that's why later on you'll find there were certain men in the book of Acts who were John's disciples, and they hadn't even known the Holy Ghost had come, and all they knew that Jesus was going to come. They were ready for his coming, and they had to get saved, really. They had to accept Christ, whom they were prepared to meet. John the Baptist preached, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is what? Is at hand. He was looking forward to Christ's coming. But Jesus himself was the first great preacher of the salvation, as he says here, which at the first began to be spoken by who? The Lord. It was commenced by the Lord. Now it says next it was confirmed by the apostles. You notice what it says here. It says it was confirmed unto us by them which heard him. Those disciples who walked with the Lord Jesus, and they talked with the Lord Jesus, they knew about Christ in his life and in his death, and they were also witnesses of his resurrection, and they confirmed the message to us. And we have that in the book of Acts. You read the book of Acts, you'll find that those men who started to preach the gospel on the day of Pentecost were men who were with the Lord Jesus. They heard it. And that's why you remember Peter in 2 Peter chapter 1 says, listen, when we were preaching to you, we weren't telling you any fables or any fairy tales. Why? Because we were with him. Turn over to 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1. And in that first chapter, you'll find Peter referring to this when he says in verse 16, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 16, he says, for we, that's the apostles, for we have not followed cunningly devised what? Fables. In other words, they weren't telling you a bunch of fairy tales. It wasn't cunningly devised. What he means is that we didn't make up something to tell you. We didn't very cunningly make up a story, as they say, that wasn't true. When we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, look at the next phrase, but were what? Eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory when there was came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven, we what? We heard. The message was confirmed unto us by them that what? Heard him. Peter says we heard him. We saw him. We heard God speaking and saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And so we have the confirmation of the apostles of this New Testament message. He's saying, this message which people are in danger of neglecting, it was first spoken by the Lord, it was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, and that's the apostle. And then God, you know what God did? God gave his witness to it. So he did. Now in the next verse it says, let's go back again to Hebrews chapter 2, it says this, God also bearing them witness. Here's the witness of God. Now you notice the witness is in three ways here, signs and wonders, divers miracles, gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will. Now notice, all of these things were God bearing what? Witness. Let's keep that in mind. Now when you read the book of Acts, you'll find this, that there were three groups of people who were given the witness of God. First of all, the Jews were given the witness of God. And God gave a witness to the Jews of the message in signs and wonders. He did that. If you read the book of Acts, you'll find it, for instance, when the Holy Ghost came and so forth, there were 17 nationalities of people who were Jewish proselytes who came to Jerusalem, and they heard the message in their own language, didn't they? And what it's saying is this, God was giving witness to the message of the gospel to the Jews. And you'll find that that was a sign. And as a matter of fact, you'll find this very, very specifically, that that sign, which was given particularly in the day of Pentecost, for instance, when they spoke with other tongues and so forth, that it was a fulfillment of a prophecy in which God was indicating that he would speak to his people, the Jews, with other tongues. That's why it was given. It was a sign to the Jewish people concerning the message that they should accept, and they never accepted it. Let me show that to you. Go over to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 14 for a moment. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. You know, when you're dealing with signs and wonders and so on, you should find out why they were given and to whom they were given and so on. Now 1 Corinthians chapter 14, you notice in verse 21, 1 Corinthians 14 verse 21. Now it says, in the law it is written. That means in the Old Testament it is written. Now in this chapter he's talking by tongues, and he says, in the law it is written with men of other, what? Tongues. And other what? Lips. Will I speak unto what people? Now that's a prophecy from the prophecy of Isaiah. Someone had Isaiah open tonight and wondered if we're going to teach in Isaiah. Well, there we are in Isaiah, brother. You could have kept your Bible open there. Isaiah 28. He was just mixed up a little bit. Come in here speaking French tonight, brother. I'm only joking. But you know, Isaiah 28 is a prophecy in which God is saying this. I am going to speak to this people, that's the Jews, with men of other tongues and other lips. And that's why tongues were used. They were a sign. They were a sign. And they were a sign which was God's witness. God's witness, it says, God bearing witness with signs and wonders. And here's a sign. And you say, was it a sign? I'll tell you it is, because it says in verse 22, after it says, yet for all that they will not hear me, saith the Lord. The sign didn't make them hear him. The sign showed the Jews that God was bearing witness to his message, but they would not hear, see, even though they had that sign. Now, you say, were these tongues a sign? Yes, verse 22 tells you that. It says, wherefore tongues are for a what? Together? A sign. Not to them that believe, but to them that what? Believe not. If you go to the preceding verse, you notice that it was a sign to this people. If you notice verse 21, it says, will I speak unto this people? Now, if you go back to Isaiah 28, you'll find that this people referred to the Jews. That's what he did. He referred to them. Now, what I'm saying is this. When God was bearing witness to the gospel in the beginning, he had signs and wonders which he first of all, he gave to the Jews. And one of them was tongues to the Jews. Now, diverse miracles. That means different kinds of miracles. When you read the book of Acts, you'll find when Paul, for instance, went to Ephesus, the word of God says that God wrought special miracles, didn't it, by the hand of Paul. God was bearing witness, and he has already done that now among the Gentiles. Now, sometimes there's a misunderstanding, and it's this misunderstanding that you're liable to take a very legitimate thing to an extreme. Now, God is able to perform miracles today, sure he is, but he doesn't necessarily perform the same miracles today. Not necessarily. For instance, you read the book of Acts, you'll find that when one of the promises was to the apostles was that they were to drink any poisonous thing, they wouldn't die, right? Now, you don't get people running around today drinking poison just because God said that. You too, will be liable to attend your funeral. As a matter of fact, there's a group in the United States. There's a group down in the states, and they carry rattlesnakes around their necks to try and fulfill the scriptures. They're saying God says if any poisonous serpents bite them, they won't die, you see. And so they go around with rattlesnakes around their necks, change their leadership every couple of years. Really. Wondering why there's people dying all the time. Well, what happens is you move that rattlesnake the wrong way someday. They'll probably get away with it for a while, but somewhere along the line, the thing's liable to bite you. And I'll tell you this, that they found this in the group that's trying to do it, that if anyone is bitten by a rattlesnake, they have to get the venom for the counteractant to live, see. Now, it doesn't mean to say that God couldn't perform a miracle, but you see, God gave his witness that way. You see what I mean? He already established that. We don't have to go around with rattlesnakes around our necks to prove that God can perform miracles. That's presumption, and that's what these people do. Now, they're very sincere about it, but what they're neglecting is this. Back in the beginning, when God confirmed the message, when he confirmed it to the Jews, he gave signs and wonders specially to them, see. He did that. And he gave special miracles, special, see, special miracles to the Gentiles, among the Gentiles. Why was he doing? He was bearing witness to his message, and he did it, see. I'll tell you something. We have the greatest witness to the message today there is, and that's the Word of God, don't we? Isn't that true? That's what we need, is the Word. We've got the Word. They didn't, remember. The New Testament did not exist. And furthermore, what we have today for the church is what God gave us, and what he did was this. To the church he gave gifts so that we might take the message, didn't he? Gave us gifts. They're all different gifts and so on, but he gave us gifts. So what he did was this. You see, is this message the real message? It sure is, because you see God moving among the Jews. He gave them signs and wonders to prove it. When the message was going among the Gentiles in the beginning, in the book of Acts, there were special miracles wrought, divers' miracles. And when the church was established, what did he do? He gave the members gifts. That's what he did. Now, I don't have time tonight to go into all of the gifts, but I'll tell you one thing that's very important about them that you need to learn, and it's this. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given according to his own will. That's important. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter 2 there a moment. When God was bearing witness to the church, and he gave gifts of the Holy Ghost, you notice the little phrase at the end of that verse which says, according to his own what? Will. Now, that takes me to another verse. Why don't you go back to 1 Corinthians again? 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And this is very important, that when you're a Christian, and you're part of the body of Christ, keep in mind that God does not give gifts just because we want them. You know, sometimes we're allowed to look for gifts to play with them and so on, and God doesn't do that. That's why the Corinthians were like that. The Apostle Paul called them babes in Christ, and they hadn't grown up. They were playing with gifts, that they were doing, like children, like toys. When you're dealing with gifts, keep in mind this fact, gifts are in the context of a body. And that means that in the context of that body, there's a variety of gifts, and they all are for the purpose of benefiting the whole body. Therefore, they should all be exercised. But they all have a purpose, and they're very intelligent. There's nothing simply emotional about them. It's intelligent. The fact that, for instance, in my physical body, I've got two hands, and I need two hands. See, it's all I need, two hands. Sometimes I wish I could have more, but I only got two. And they're sufficient for this body of mine. I've got two feet. You don't need any more than two feet. None at all. You've got exactly the number that your body needs, right? You've got one nose. To most people, that's sufficient. Some people more than others. It's all kinds of noses. You know, people have got Roman noses. That means they're roaming all over their face. No, it's, you know, it's Roman. But you only need one. It doesn't matter whether it's big or small or indifferent. It's one. You only need one. Sometimes you wish you didn't have one. Depends where you are, what the atmosphere is like. One nose, that's all you need. Two ears, that's all you need. Two eyes, exactly. You see, it's very intelligent, the fact your body is put together, and the gifts are given, even in your physical body, according to the will of God. Isn't that true? According to God's will. And God has given us these gifts. And he's saying, I've given this gift to that part of your body for the benefit of the whole. And that's all you need. That's all you need. And so my hand doesn't have to go through life wishing that it was an eye, or worrying about that it's not. It was made the way it is to do the job it has to do. And when it's working effectually, everything is fine in the body. That all is teaching this, that the gifts in my physical body, the number of them, the function of them, the position of them, are all according to the will of God. See, I have no say in the matter. My hand didn't say, well, I think I'll go with the end of the arm there and stick there. I think, no, no. Had nothing to say about it. This body of mine in the beginning, the body of man was put together by who? God. And he knew exactly where to put my hand. I wouldn't like to have it stuck in the middle of my face. You wouldn't either, see. It's terrible to have a boot, you know, your foot in the top of your head or something. It'd be ridiculous. Now, we may not be content the way we are. Sometimes we're not. You ever get to take a good look at yourself, especially you get older and say, well, I wish I was, you know, better looking and all of that there. But you may wish to be different, but I'll tell you that actually where the members of your body are couldn't be better. It could not be better. And I'll tell you something else, that if you, in the presence of God, discover what your gift is, and you simply exercise that particular gift and don't be envying anybody else and do the job that God has given you to do, it couldn't be better. There's nothing better than doing what God has gifted you to do. Don't be running around trying to envy everybody else. Why? Because God has put you where you are to do what you're doing. If you're doing it, maybe you haven't even discovered. Maybe you're sitting here tonight and says, I haven't a clue what my gift is. Well, you better find out. Better find out. Now, you know, it's very interesting. You could find out very easily. People say, well, I can't find out what my gift is. Well, now, if you never do anything, you never find out anything either. You never find out your gifts by sitting around at home saying, well, I wonder what I'm gifted for, Lord. Well, why don't you start doing something? I would never in a million years have discovered whether I could preach or not. I still can't, but I'd never known that I could ever speak or preach unless I'd preached. It'd be silly to sit for a thousand years saying, I wonder if I can preach. Did you ever try it? No. But I want the Lord to tell me without trying, it'll never happen. It'll never happen. It doesn't happen that way. What happens is this, that when you start doing things, you'll discover there are certain things you can't do, and there are certain things that you can do, and it'll be because God has given you the ability to do it. And that's the wonderful thing about it. And all of that, you know, when I realize this, that the body of Christ with a variety of members, with a variety of gifts, is God's witness to the effectiveness of the gospel. It really is. It's an amazing thing to see that there's such a variety of Christians, and all different, and with a different function, many of them, in the body of Christ, and all necessary. It's a wonderful thing. And I know this. This is a great message, isn't it? It's God's witness. As I stand here with the gift that I have, it's part of God's witness to the gospel, to the church. You see, one of the things that happened when Jesus died and was buried and rose again and ascended into heaven was this. Gifts were given. They were given because of the gospel. That's why. God was bearing what? Witness to the church. Now look at 1 Corinthians 12, verse 11. After speaking about the gifts here, the diversities of gifts, and as I say, we're not going to discuss what the gifts are tonight, but just to show you this one principle. It says, all, that's all the gifts, these, that's these gifts, worketh. Notice that, worketh. You don't learn that word, the worketh. All of these worketh that one and the self, same what? Spirit. The common factor is the same, spirit. Now I don't know you, all of you tonight, in a very personal way, and I don't need to, but I do know this, that if you're a Christian, the same spirit that indwells me, indwells you. See? Same spirit. And the same spirit who gives me ability and gives me gift in the Word of God, gives you ability in whatever He's given you to do. I know that much, because it says that. All these worketh that one and the self, same spirit. Now notice this, dividing to every man severally, as he will. See? In other words, what it's saying is this, that the Holy Spirit has the gifts, and as He wills. He knows where you're going to fit, you see. They go around to say, now, this, this is yours. He gives you yours. Not the same as mine, different. Here's yours. And here's yours. Here's yours. He's giving. I don't give gifts. You ever get the idea that New Brunswick Bible Institute, that if you came here and studied the Bible, it would make you a gifted person? Forget it. We do not make gifted people. People make that mistake all the time. They say, well, now, so-and-so, hey, they're great preachers. You know, why he went to New Brunswick Bible Institute? That's nonsense. Now, the New Brunswick Bible Institute may be used to teach them in the area of study and to pour the Word of God into their lives, but only the Holy Spirit can gift people, see? We can't do that. We don't make preachers. God makes preachers, see? God does it. And keep in mind that God can do the very same thing for you. It says, dividing to every man severally as he what? Together. He will. Keep that in mind. So, God gave gifts to the church because He was bearing witness to the message according to His own will. So, that's the message concerning the Lord. Now, go back to Hebrews chapter 2 again, and we move on to the next part. You see, what He's saying is this. This great message was a message which was commenced by the Lord Himself, was confirmed by the apostles. God bore great witness to it, both to the Jews and the Gentiles, and also to the church. Now, in verse 5, we have another point coming up. After the warning, He talks about the world. It's objection. And what He's doing in these verses is showing this, that Jesus Christ in the New Testament message is so great that He's greater than all the prophets that spoke before Him, and He's far, far greater than the angels. See, the angels have been mentioned a number of times here, haven't they? In chapter 1 and in chapter 2 already. And He says here in verse 5, "...for unto the angels happy not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak." Now, the world to come is referring to the inhabited earth to come. When you're studying the New Testament, the word world sometimes refers to a system. Sometimes it refers to people. Sometimes it refers to the earth. And what He's talking about here is this, that in the future there's going to be a kingdom, and there are going to be people, and there are going to be rulers. And He's saying that that world to come in the future, which is going to be a wonderful world, is not going to be in subjection to angels. Angels will not rule over the world to come. But we will. And the conclusion about angels is that they will not rule over the world to come. And sometimes this whole matter of angels, people get confused about. Now angels are spirits, and angels are messengers, and angels have a tremendous position in the heavens and all of that. But they are not going to share the glory of ruling over the world to come with Jesus Christ. They're not going to do that. It's very interesting, by the way, that the Mormons, as they travel around today and so forth and try to be accepted, they do a lot of talking about angels because of the fact that quite a number of them destined to be angels. You see, the Mormons teach that if you die, I speak now particularly to the ladies, and your marriage is not sealed for eternity, or if you die unmarried, that you will not reach the highest heights of glory. You will be an angel. But if you're married and your marriage is sealed for eternity, then you can become a god, and the angels will minister to you. So it pays to be married, according to the Mormons. And that's what Joseph Smith discovered in section 132 of his Doctrine and Covenants. He discovered the fact, supposedly, that the Lord had told him that if he would bring in the everlasting covenant of marriage, then if a man, for instance, had many wives, he could reach the heights and could reproduce children forever. And the greater number of wives he had, they would rule like queens at his side. He'd be the king, and all the single people would be the servants. That's what the Mormons teach, you know, about angels. And then they try to tell you they believe the same as we do, but anyway, there's no comparison. But they talk about angels, and there are other people who get, what are angels? Now, angels are spirits, and they are ministering spirits, they are servants, they are messengers, and all of that, but they do not occupy the position that we do. And that's the conclusion. The world to come, which is the inhabited earth to come, will not be ruled over by what? Angels. That's verse 5. Now, verse 6, but, there's the next part, now but, and the next part here, you've got the concern about man. Now here's a few verses which are very difficult unless you read them carefully and get what it says very clearly. The reason is because there's a little expression here which is used concerning Jesus, and is also used concerning man. Verses 6, 7, and 8 refer to man and his descendants. I'm going to prove that to you in a moment, okay. Verse 9 refers to Jesus. Now some people have confused this, and they read verses 6, and 7, and 8, and they say this is Jesus. What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man? You see that title? The son of man that thou visitest him. Now he isn't talking here about Jesus. He's talking about man and the son of man, or the descendant of man. Man whom God made in the beginning. He's saying God has more concern about man than he has about angels. That's true, he does. Let me ask you this, when angels fell, did God provide salvation for them? Answer, no. When angels fell, did God visit them? No, he never did. But you see, God visited man because God has a particular concern for man. He did from the very beginning. Man was a special creature for God to make, you know. You realize that out of all of his creation, when God made man, God was so concerned about man that he put man in the top place. Quite a thing, isn't it, to be a member of the human race, you see. Now I know that we're fallen today, and we're sinners by nature today, but I'll tell you this, when God made man in the beginning, that's why I'm very indignant when people try to make man just seem plain as a monkey. See, now if anybody else wants to be up a tree about that, I don't. See, not at all. That's crazy. See, God has a particular concern for man, and the son of man, and visits him. The word visits here, now I didn't give you the Greek word for a reason, because you'd never recognize it again. It's a word that's spelt E-P-I-S-K-E-P-T-O-M-A-I. Now who in the world wants to know the word of it? Good, you know, but it's an interesting word. I just gave you the meaning of it, and it means to visit with the object of caring for someone and benefiting them. That's what he's saying here. So what he's saying is this, that the world's subjection which is to come will be under the control of man, not angels, because God had a particular concern for man. Now look at verse 7, the creation of man, thou madest him a little what? Lower than the angels. Now that doesn't mean that man is inferior to the angels. No, no. It means this, God made men for the what? Where do we live? On the earth, and we're confined to a human body, and in that sense we're lower than the angels. Now the angels can travel through space. The angels are not restricted by a human body, and there are certain things that angels can do that we cannot do. True? So that we're lower than the angels in that sense. Now we're not lower than the angels in position, as we'll see in a moment. Then it says, thou crownest him with glory and honor. This is man, not only Jesus Christ, this is man. And did set him over the works of thy hands. Think of that. Thou hast put all things under and subjection under his feet. You say, did God do that for Adam? He certainly did. I'll tell you. You see how high man was in the beginning when God created him, and the control he gave him was tremendous. Let's go back to Genesis chapter 1, just see what God did for man in the beginning. This is referring to man at creation. Now look at chapter 1 of Genesis, verse 26. God said, Genesis 1 verse 26, and God said, let us make man in our what? Image. After our? Notice this, let them have what? Dominion. Notice this, over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over the cattle, over the earth, over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Now look at verse 28. God blessed them, God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply. This was man and his descendants were being blessed now, before the fall took place. And it says, and replenish the earth, and what's the next three words? And subdue it. See that? And subdue it. It's going to be in subjection to you. Subdue it. Then it says, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. You see, the verses 6, 7, and 8 are a quotation from Psalm. Which Psalm? Psalm 8. And in that Psalm, you'll find he's saying this, when you look at the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the glory of it all, what is man? The dark mantle of him. You know when you stand, go out onto the stars. I was out onto the stars this morning, about five to six. James and I were out running up the road there, and the highway, having a bit of a jog together, about four or five miles. And we were talking about that. Out there looking up into the heavens. It was beautiful this morning. Probably some of you never saw it. But anyway, it was nice. I'll tell you about it. Stars were out, clear, crisp, cool, lovely morning for running. You don't run every morning, you miss it. God's great. Out there we were, and we're looking up, just saw that very thing. When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, what is man? Psalm 8. What is man? What am I? The dark mantle of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crowned him with glory and honor. Thou hast sent him over the works of thy hands. What a tremendous position God gave man in the beginning, right? And put everything. He says, subdue the earth, all the animals, all the cattle, all the creeping things, all the birds, all the fish. Control the whole thing. Have dominion. Well, does he have dominion? No. That's why it says, but now we see not yet all things put unto him. Why? Because man failed. And we're part of a fallen race. And the world is not in subjection to us anymore. And the animals are not in subjection to us. Some of the hunters wish they were this month, you know. If they see you first, what we have now is the fear of man is upon the animals, but man does not control them. No, no. He lost control, didn't he? He lost the crown. He lost the glory. But we're going to get it back. We're getting it back. Because Jesus not only died to save us from hell, he died to bring us back to glory. So that the world will be in subjection to us again. See? That's going to be a great thing. That's what it's teaching in these verses. And the time is gone. That's the way it goes. Time flies. But you know, the next verse says, but we see Jesus. And that brings us to a wonderful Savior. And of course, what a wonderful Savior he is.