In this sermon, Chip Brogdon continues his series on the book of Hebrews, focusing on Jesus as our High Priest. He emphasizes that Jesus is God's supreme revelation and the focal point of everything God has done and will do. Brogdon references Philippians 2:5-11 to highlight Jesus' humility and obedience, even unto death on the cross. He also challenges the mindset of the listeners, urging them to read the scriptures and see that Jesus is Lord, not the devil or man.

This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Hello again everyone, this is Chip Brogden coming to you with another edition of our weekly webcast. I'm streaming online at www.watchman.net and we are continuing in our series of messages on the book of Hebrews. So, grab your Bibles and turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Last week we completed Hebrews chapter 1, this week we're going to begin with chapter 2. And we are discussing the book of Hebrews and how Jesus is our High Priest. He is the mediator of a new covenant that's established upon better promises. And this book of Hebrews is such a rich, enlightening, powerful book. I'm excited to be able to go through it chapter by chapter with you. So, let's go ahead and get started with prayer. And then prepare to launch into our study with Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1. Let's go to the Lord in prayer right now. Thank you Lord for the privilege that we have to join together and to study your word. I thank you that your word is spirit and life and light and truth. And Lord, open our eyes and open our ears and open our hearts to be able to receive the truth and the light that you have for us in this wonderful book of Hebrews. Lord, I thank you for everyone who is listening. I pray, Father, that you would minister to us and would teach us and lead us. Holy Spirit, give us counsel and wisdom and insight and instruction as we look into your word. Thank you for 30, 60, and 100-fold return as we sow to the Spirit. I thank you that we'll reap of the Spirit a blessing and something that will encourage us and impart something to us and cause us to see Jesus in this book of Hebrews. Thank you again, Lord, for everyone who's listening. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Praise the Lord. Well, Hebrews chapter 2, beginning in verse 1, it says, Now, I always say that when you see the word therefore in Scripture, you need to see what it's there for. So, therefore is a clue that it's about to explain to you the reason why the previous statements were made. So, in Hebrews chapter 1, just to review, we talked about how Jesus is exalted far above all angels, angels being the highest created beings that God has made. Nevertheless, Jesus himself, it says, is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person. Now, and I think we should go back and define that because I don't know if I really addressed that very thoroughly last week. See, when you are getting a word or revelation from the Lord through a prophet, through an angel, through some type of a messenger or a message or a teacher, you are only getting one little aspect, one little facet, one little piece of truth about the Lord. Because we don't have, you don't have a complete revelation. You don't have, you don't know all that there is to know. You don't see all that there is to see in the Lord Jesus through someone else. All we see, Paul says, we see in part and we know in part. So, the whole purpose of this Hebrews 1 where it says that Jesus is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person, or the exact replication, the exact representation of God himself. He is the express image, the exact image of God. So, when you see Jesus in his fullness, you see the fullness of God. Jesus is the complete revelation. Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead revealed. Whereas, if you are looking to angels or prophets or teachers or pastors or ministers or brothers and sisters, we all see in part and we know in part. We are not the brightness of God's glory. We are not the express image of his person, but Jesus is. Praise the Lord. So, Jesus is God's ultimate revealing of himself to us. Now, in times past, God, because the Word had not become flesh, because Jesus had not come to earth, God had to, if I could say it like this, God had to content himself with revealing certain aspects of himself through angels, through angelic messengers, through prophets, through written words and prophecies. But now it says, in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. And when we see Jesus, we see the completeness. We see the total revelation. There is nothing else that God is going to reveal beyond this complete and full and utter revelation of Jesus Christ. And so, everything that we are speaking, if we are speaking truly by the Spirit, it is going to reveal Jesus. It is not going to reveal anything outside of, apart from, beyond this complete and full revelation of God in the face of Jesus Christ. As Paul says, that the light of God's glory has shone in the darkness, and we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Whereas, when we look to one another, we see in part and we know in part. When we prophesy, we prophesy in part. But, when we see him for who he is, we see God's complete, utter, final, authoritative revelation of himself in Jesus Christ. He is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person. So, praise the Lord. I hope that clears that up, that Jesus is God's supreme revelation. And Jesus is the emphasis. It is the focal point. It is the impetus. It is the reason. It is the motivation. It is the purpose of everything that God has done, everything that God is doing, everything that God will do. Everything that God has said, everything that God is saying, and everything that God will say is connected to the testimony of Jesus. The truth concerning Jesus is the inspiration for all prophecy. I should say all true prophecy, because false prophets will always lead you in a direction that takes something away from the preeminence of Jesus, or, at a minimum, does nothing to reveal Christ to us. A lot of prophecies, a lot of prophetic words, a lot of people who claim to be prophets, but they do not bring people into a deeper understanding and intimate knowing and experiential relationship with Jesus Christ, and so, in my opinion, they're not prophets. If they're not leading us into the fullness of Jesus, if they're not taking us into the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person through that ministry gift, whatever you call it, it's not, according to Scripture, if it is not pointing and leading people to Jesus. John the Baptist was the greatest prophet, and all he did, Jesus says he's the greatest prophet, and all John the Baptist did is point people to Jesus. So, if that's all you do, you are doing a prophetic work. We need to go to God's Word for the definition of what something is, and not just accept what tradition, what man, what our Christian media tells us is prophetic, tells us is apostolic. Let's go to the Word and see what God considers something to be prophetic, what he considers apostolic, what he considers pastoral, because we will be led astray if we listen to human opinion, if we listen to flesh and blood. Instead, let's get spirit and truth, okay? So, Jesus is God's supreme revelation. Therefore, back to Hebrews 2.1, Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. To the things who have heard. The people who have heard in these last days God speaking to them by his Son. That's who he's talking about. He's talking about you. He's talking about me. He's talking about these people in Jerusalem and Judea, these Jewish people who had accepted Christ as Messiah and had become Christians. He's saying you need to give the more earnest heed to the things that you have heard, lest we drift away. Why? For if the word, verse 2, If the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received the just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will. So what he's saying is, God's complete and utter, full and final revelation has been spoken to us, not through a prophet, not through angels, but through Jesus Christ himself. God became a man. God took upon himself flesh and blood and became a man. And came to earth and spoke this salvation to us face to face. Not leaving it to an angel. Not leaving it to a prophet. Not leaving it to an apostle. But came, the word became flesh, dwelt among us, it says in John 1. And we saw him and we beheld his glory. And he came down from heaven and he spoke face to face with us and gave us this message of salvation. So the argument here is, If the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received the just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord himself, is the point. The Lord himself spoke the word to us. And so we ought to give heed to what the Lord himself is saying. And beyond that, he gave that word to others, to apostles, to disciples, to speak, and then God bore witness with that, to the word they were saying, with signs and wonders and miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Okay? So it's again demonstrating the preeminence of Jesus Christ and the significance of Jesus Christ, God, becoming man, invading this earth and infusing his light into this darkness, bringing order to chaos. And that's exactly what he did. And he began that spiritual work of establishing the kingdom. And that kingdom is growing and it is enlarging. It is increasing. And we're going to see the final act of that at some point in the future when God begins to establish in this earth the kingdom of God. Jesus says, when we pray, to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on the earth. Now, God's will has not and is not being done on the earth. He is working all things together according to that will. But obviously, we are not there yet. So there is still some work to be done, and God is doing that work. He is not sitting off a thousand million miles away in outer space somewhere, just kind of casually observing what's going on. At the center of this universe, at the center of this earth, Jesus Christ is upholding all things according to the word of his power. We just read that in Hebrews 1. And God is working all things together according to the counsel of his will, according to his purpose. Verse 5. It's beginning now to give us a hint of what's in store for this earth. For he has not, verse 5 of Hebrews 2, he has not put the world to come of which we speak in subjection to angels. So who has he put it in subjection to? In subjection to the Son. Verse 6. But one testified in a certain place, saying, What is man that you are mindful of him, or the Son of man, that you take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. Praise the Lord. Now, a lot of people will read this, take it out of context, and believe that God is talking about how great man is. And I've heard some Word of Faith teachers teach it this way, and it's just absolutely wrong. It's taken out of context. Hebrews is not trying to tell us how great man is. It's trying to tell us how wonderful the Lord Jesus is. It's trying to demonstrate the preeminence of Jesus and not trying to build up man. If anything, history, 6,000 years of history, proves it is the sufficiency of God and the insufficiency of man, the utter authority and power of God and the absolute impotence and weakness of mankind. So if you'll read this in context, you'll see that it's not talking about man. It's talking about the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. It's not talking about human beings having dominion. You don't have any dominion or authority outside of Jesus Christ. He is the one that has been crowned with glory and honor, made a little lower than the angels. He was crowned with glory and honor. And it says that God has set him over the works of his hands and has put all things in subjection beneath his feet. Well, you can try to apply that to yourself if you want to. But I think you're doing an injustice here and you're taking it out of context to try to apply that to the Adamic nature, to man. Or even to the recreated man because all authority and power belongs to Jesus. And all things are not under my feet. Regardless of what you think about my opinion, Hebrews itself interprets this passage as referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. So just keep reading here. Verse 8. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him. He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him, 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, might taste death for everyone. So right there it's very clear that the writer of Hebrews, Paul, interprets this passage of Scripture. And this passage of Scripture, by the way, is from Psalm 8 where it talks about that God has made him a little lower than the angels, crowned him with glory and honor, set him over all the works of his hands, put all things in subjection under his feet. Verse 9 says, 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, might taste death for everyone. So there's the answer. There's your interpretation. If you'll simply read it in context and not take it out of context and try to apply it in some kind of a fleshly way to yourself, it's not talking about you. It's not talking about me. It's talking about Jesus being made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor, given preeminence and dominion over all the works of God's hands and that all things have been put in subjection beneath his feet. If that's not enough, you can go to Philippians 2 and keep your finger there and let's go to Philippians 2 because I want you to see this. Philippians 2, verse 5, it says, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant and coming in the likeness of men. See, that is Jesus becoming a man, coming to earth to tell us face to face this message of the kingdom. Okay? Verse 8, Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him the name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Praise the Lord. So again, showing us that the Lord Jesus Christ emptied himself, humbled himself, took upon him the nature of a servant, became a man, came to earth, died, was raised again, and God highly exalted him, gave him a name above every name, and has put all things in subjection beneath his feet. So go back to Hebrews 2, and when you read this passage now, I think it will make more sense to you that it's talking about the Lord Jesus. Now, as we go back again to verse 8, You have put all things in subjection under his feet. Talking about Jesus. For in that he put all in subjection under Jesus, he left nothing that is not put under Jesus. Listen, folks. He left nothing that is not put under him. What does that include? That includes everything. Everything is submitted beneath the feet of Jesus. You say, well, I don't see everything submitted beneath the feet of Jesus. Well, exactly. That's the point it makes immediately following. But now it says, we do not yet see all things put under him. We do not yet see. We do not yet see. And to me, this is one of the most powerful little snippets of Scripture that I've ever come across. We do not yet see all things put under him. We do not yet see all things submitted beneath his feet. That word yet there has a tremendous implication. And the implication is that one day, think about it, if we don't yet see it, what is that telling us? That one day we will see all things submitted beneath his feet. Now the question is, are all things submitted to him even though we do not yet see it? According to Scripture, even though we do not yet see all things submitted to him, nevertheless, God has put all things in subjection under his feet. So you've got a spiritual reality that says Jesus is Lord regardless of every appearance to the contrary. Everything else is a lie. Every other claim to power, every other claim to authority, every other claim to dominion in this universe is a lie. It is an illusion of control. It is not actual authority and power and dominion because according to Scripture, all power, all authority, all dominion lies with, rests with this one who has been exalted far above every principality and power and every name that is named not only in this world but in the world that is to come. We do not yet see all things put under him, verse 9, but we see Jesus. Praise the Lord. Now when you see Jesus, you see the direction of this world. You see the direction of this universe. You see the direction of the church. You see the direction of every disciple that is submitted beneath the lordship of Jesus. And what do you see? You see God's purpose, God's will being fulfilled in bringing all things beneath the lordship of Jesus Christ. All things beneath the preeminence of Jesus. All things submitted to him. All things surrendered to him. Now, for some people, that's a wonderful thing because they've given their heart to the Lord Jesus. They've surrendered themselves already to him. But for other people, that's a frightening thing because they're still living for themselves. They're still living according to the darkness of this world. So that's going to be a problem for them. But regardless, it says, we do not yet see all things submitted to him, 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, might taste death for everyone. So, praise the Lord. It's happening whether you see it or not. It's real. It's happening. He must increase. Therefore, he will increase. And he is increasing. Praise the Lord. Verse 10, Why was Jesus made lower? For it was fitting for him for whom are all things and by whom are all things. There's again a reference to his preeminence. All things are from him. All things are through him. All things are unto him. All things are by him and all things are because of him. All things, it says in Revelation, were created by him and for his pleasure. He is Lord. Praise God. For it was fitting 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. Now, he's going to explain why. Verse 11, For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one. All of one. All of one. In Christ. Abide in me, Jesus says. Why? Because he is one with us. We are to be one with him. And that is called identification. That's how Paul is able to say I am crucified with Christ. Because he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one. You need to rehearse that mentally. Get that in your mouth and begin to speak it. All of one. I am one with him. He is one with me. Jesus says abide in me and I will abide in you. And so many hundreds of times in Scripture, in the epistles of Paul, it talks about in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. That's not just hyperbole. That's not just some type of a theological little expression, but it is actually an illustration. It is a reality. It is a truth that is being spoken that we are one with him. He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. And I'm telling you, folks, that's where the authority comes from. That's where the power comes from. That's where the dominion comes from. That's where the anointing comes from. It's nothing in you. In you, there is no good thing, Paul says. I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing. It is because we are in him that we are something. It's because of who he is that I am anything. It's because of who he is that I have all that he has and we share in that same life. Praise the Lord. Verse 12, he quotes again from Psalms. I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly. I will sing praise to you. See, Jesus became a man, became a human being, became a brother. He says, I'm not here to ask you to serve me, but I'm here to be the servant of all and to minister and to lay down my life for all. Praise the Lord. Verse 13, and again, I will put my trust in him. And again, here am I and the children whom God has given me. Okay? So verse 14 says this, Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same. Again, the Word became flesh. Jesus did not work out our salvation sitting enthroned upon his place in the heavenlies. Instead, he discarded that. He emptied himself of that. As it says in Philippians 2, became a servant, took on the fashion and the appearance of a man in flesh and blood. Why? Because the children were of flesh and blood. So he himself likewise shared in the same, verse 14, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. John says the same thing. For this purpose was the Son of God manifest that he might destroy the works of the devil. And I'm sick and tired of people talking to me about how powerful the devil is, how much authority the devil has, oh, what the devil is doing, when Scripture says Jesus has all authority, Jesus has all power, Jesus has all dominion, and he's given it to us in his name. And for this purpose was the Son of God manifest to destroy the works of the devil. Hebrews says that he died so that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. So why in the world would you want to exalt the devil when Jesus has all authority and Jesus has all power? People like the idea of a powerful devil because it gives them an excuse to live a defeated life. And I'm taking away that excuse from you in the name of Jesus. And I exhort you to search the Scriptures and get the perspective of who you are in the name of Jesus. Find out who you are in Him and who He is in you and stop giving so much credit to the devil. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world and they that dwell therein. It's time to overcome instead of coming up with all the reasons why you can't do it, start coming up with the reasons why you shouldn't do it. Why should you overcome when you are more than a conqueror through Him who loved us? When greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Praise the Lord. He has released those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. You will know the truth, Jesus says, and the truth will make you free. But you know what? One thing I've learned also, the truth will make you free, but first it will make you mad. And some of you might be mad right now because I'm challenging your mindset. And I'm telling you, don't take my word for it. You read the Scriptures. And if you'll read the Scriptures, you'll see that Jesus is Lord, not the devil and not man. Okay? So praise God. Verse 16, For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. And folks, the seed of Abraham is a spiritual race of enchristed people. It is not earthly Jerusalem, earthly Israel. The seed of Abraham are all those who accept and live by the faith of Abraham which is faith in Jesus Christ that is clearly, clearly established in the book of Galatians and in the book of Romans. Verse 17, Therefore, in all things, He had to be made like His brethren that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation or payment or restitution for the sins of the people. Verse 18, For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. Jesus is our merciful and faithful high priest. And that's why it says in Romans 8, verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because our merciful and faithful high priest, because He has suffered the same temptations, testings, and trials, He is able to help us when we are going through the same situations, the same temptations, tests, and trials. It says He has suffered the same thing we have suffered in those things, and so He is able to help us with no condemnation being a merciful and faithful high priest. Praise the Lord. Thank God for this new covenant. Thank God for our merciful and faithful high priest, Jesus Christ, who became like we are, who suffered just as we suffer, and now He is able to help those of us who are being tempted, tested, and tried as we go through these things. Jesus says, In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. What a merciful and faithful high priest we have. Praise the Lord. This is Chip Brogdon. I'm all out of time for this week, but we'll pick up with Hebrews 3 next week. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll see you then. Bye.