Okay, we're in Hebrews chapter 1. We're just starting out on our journey in the book of Hebrews. And begin reading at verse... Well, we can begin reading at verse 4. being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, and again I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him. And the angels, he saith, who maketh his angel spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the sun, he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. And a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest. and they shall become old as doth a garment. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Shall we pray? Loving Father, we do thank you for the reading of your word. Ask for your blessing, Father, upon it, that your grace and mercies may be seen and that Jesus may be glorified. In his name I pray. Amen. Joe, how are we doing back there? Can you hear me? Joe? Can you hear me? Yeah, okay. I just want to know if you could hear me up there. I know you have a little trouble in hearing. That's why I'm using the microphone here for you. I'm sorry. Okay. Great. Great. Well, I would like to look at this passage, of course, and see the Lord Jesus Christ in his role as being not only better than the prophets, but better than the angels of God. And when we think of angels, we think of those ministering spirits sent forth to minister, and that they perform a very important role in God's plan, that he might have these ministering agents of God, messengers if you will, divine messengers, being sent forth to accomplish his purposes at different times. Remember some of our Old Testament history, we know the angels did visit a number of different people. Abraham was visited by angels. Of course, Joshua was visited by angels. And we find that, believe it or not, maybe Samson's parents were visited by angels. Or at least a vision was spoken to. Well, we find that Joshua, of course, was visited by an angel and a lot of different people in the Old Testament. And they served a very important role, of course, as God intended for these messengers to carry his revelation to men. God's revelation to man that otherwise man would not know save God give it. That is a very perhaps simple definition of revelation but it is a definition. And so we find that God was using prophets, God was using angels in Old Testament times. But now Now we find in the book of Hebrews, even as we don't know the author to the book of Hebrews, except to say the author is the spirit of God. And that we do know for certain. But it isn't so essential that we know who actually wrote it, that is God used to write it. Although many do say, well, perhaps it was the Apostle Paul. Perhaps it was Barnabas. Perhaps it was Apollos. But there's a lot of perhapses along the way. But we don't have a definite author. And we find that the Holy Spirit is the agent here. And God, who at sundry times and in various or diverse manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. By his Son. By Son. Actually, the article was missing. It's just Son. By Son. The Son of God. Of course, we supply the article because there is no other but Jesus. There's no other son of God. And so being made much better than the angels, being made much better than the angels, and of course, that is talking about Jesus, who was made better than the angels, the son of God, being made much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance Remember, God gave to Jesus all that he possessed to inherit, that Jesus might be known as not only the Son of God, but the Savior of the world, and the one who should hold the scepter at the very throne of God. being made so much better than the angels, and hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they, whether prophet or angel. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son. Well, if we go back a little bit to the book of Psalms, and particularly Psalm 2, We find this psalm is referred to actually quite a bit in scripture. And in Psalm 2, we find this statement being made. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. The psalmist, David, the psalmist, wrote a very important statement that by prophecy it is of Jesus himself. Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. You notice the word son is capitalized in Psalm 2 7 and it does refer to the son of God by prophecy and we find that this phrase that Jesus, that the Son of God, is begotten. Begotten thou art, my son, this day have I begotten thee. And so we find that Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, is in this sense an inheritor of all things concerning the throne of God. First of all, Christ, the only begotten Son. Now we know this is a phrase which is carried on in the New Testament as well. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, John 1.14. And so we find that the begotten, the only begotten son of God is in view in the scripture not only in Psalm 2 but here in John 1.14 and in Romans, excuse me, in the book of Hebrews here as we read concerning the Lord Jesus Christ For unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son? Well, he didn't say that to any of the angels. No angel was that ever said of them. And so, what do we see in the book of Hebrews but that Christ is elevated? He is elevated. He is elevated higher than the prophets. He is elevated higher than the angels. He is the son of God. He is the only begotten son of God. And so he comes from the Godhead. And we know that his being comes from the Godhead. He was manifested in due time. And so we read of him, and again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And so as the only begotten son of God, God meant for Jesus to be elevated in such a high degree. And you go on and read in verse six, and again, when he bringeth forth When he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him. Now the phrase begotten of God is a phrase which refers to a priority relationship with the father. It doesn't refer to the fact that he was created. No, Jesus wasn't created. Jesus is the eternal, pre-existing One with the Father. And so we read, of course, in John chapter 1 and verse 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And so we find that Jesus was in the beginning with God. And so when we drop down to verse 14, and we beheld his glory, the only begotten of the Father, we know that it is speaking of Jesus. So Jesus is the preexistent God. He is the one in priority relationship with the Father. He is the begotten of God. And so it goes on to read, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. And so this relationship is one which is because he came forth from the father as the second person of the triunity of the Godhead. And we find that God the Son then comes into the world. And that being the case, Christ the only begotten Son, secondly, the Christ of God is revealed to man in human flesh. And so subsequently then, as he is called the only begotten of the father, the only begotten son of God, according to Psalm 2 and other related passages such as we have mentioned in John 1.1 and in John 1.14, And there are other passages that we could refer to here, but it is important for us to recognize that Jesus then came into the world at a specific point in time. He was manifest. He was manifest. And so, as it says in verse 6, and again, when he bringeth the first begotten into the world, And so when he is made manifest, when he comes into the world, and when did he come into the world? Well, we know that that is at the birth of Christ. That is because of the announcement that God favoured Mary, that she was highly favoured. The angel came and said, thou art highly favoured, and that you shall conceive and bear a seed, and his name shall be called Jesus, for he will save his people from their sin. And so we find that the first begotten came into the world, and let all the angels of God worship him. And of course, we do know that the angels of God did worship Jesus, that they came to the shepherds and made the announcement to the shepherds of the Christ child would be born. And so they ran, as it were, they came to Bethlehem and there found Jesus, the Christ child. And the angels did worship, of course, proclaiming the birth of the Son of God. the Christ. And of course the word Christ means anointed, as well as carries the same thought as being Messiah of God. And so, and let all the angels of God worship him. So secondly here, this idea of Jesus not only being son of God, and God the Father having a close relationship to God the Father because he comes forth from the Godhead in that priority relationship, not because he was created, but because he was sent. He was sent into the world. God the Father sent his only begotten son into the world. His son of priority relationship, the second person of the Godhead, was sent into the world that he might be revealed as the begotten of God, as the Christ, as the Savior of the world. In verse 7, and of the angels he saith, who maketh his angel spirits and his ministers a flame of fire? Well, we know that all things come forth from the Father. All things come forth from the Father. And so the The Son is involved in every aspect of God's program, even to the direction of ministering spirits sent forth to minister. And so, by way of contrast with the preeminence of the Son of God, God makes angels spirits. And what is a spirit? Maybe the idea that we can understand it was, remember in Acts chapter 2 when the Spirit of God descended upon them on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit manifested itself by flaming fire, tongues of fire, and a rushing mighty wind. And so there is a sense of wind, the word spirit is pneuma, and it can be translated breath or wind. And so we find that even the prophets, those who spoke or the apostles spoke, they spoke as they were born. up by the Spirit of God. The breath of God was in the words of the prophets and the apostles of those who gave the word. And so the breath of God was in them. And so these spirits, as it were, these angelic spirits manifest themselves as God's breath, as God speaks And sometimes as a flame of fire, too. I think in relationship to some of the Old Testament accounts, sometimes fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices. Of course, we know the presence of God was sometimes in this manner as well as in the Old Testament in the tabernacle. the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Upon Mount Sinai there was the fire that was present when Moses was up there. There's a number of scriptures that refer to this sense of the ministering flame of fire, and sometimes God sent his angels like that. a spirit from God, a breath from God, and a flame of God. And so the angels, he saith, who maketh his spirit, says his ministers, a flame of fire. But unto the sun, he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. And so as I said, the writer here is elevating Jesus. Greater than these things of which angels are ordained to do, whether it is to be the breath of God or whether it is to be a flame of fire, no matter what angels did, Jesus is elevated higher than they. And so he takes on this role as being seen as the son of God, the only begotten son of God, the son of priority relationship, the son of the second person of the Trinity of God, that he comes into the world and he takes upon himself human flesh. Now, we perhaps see that as a condescension. In a sense, he's condescending to take upon himself the human flesh. But at the same time, he is God. So it isn't as though God has been diminished in the person of Christ, in the manifesting of the person of Christ. It's just that God allowed for this to take place for a particular reason. that he might be elevated in his role as being son and savior and the one who would hold the scepter at the very throne of God, which angels were never destined to do. Angels were never destined to do that, you see. But unto the Son, unto Jesus, unto the Son of God, the only begotten, what does God say? Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. And so to Jesus, Jesus is elevated in this regard. And he holds that scepter of righteousness. A scepter is the one, of course, carried by the king. And so Jesus is the king's son, if you will. He is the king, but he is the son of God. And he holds the scepter of the throne. And so the one who holds the scepter is the one who controls life and death, if you will. time in eternity. All things are at the power of the throne. And when we think about this in a human sense, we know that was true in medieval kings. They held the power of the throne, life and death, and either one bowed to the king or one died at the whim of the king. But God is a righteous God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and so his righteousness is not in whim, but it is in true counsel by the Father. True counsel. And so he is a righteous king, not an unrighteous king. Earthly kings can be unrighteous, though they might control great power. They might be, but they would be unrighteous. But the Son of God is righteous. And he has a scepter of righteousness. And a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. And so we know that there is a kingdom of God, and that kingdom of God shall and is spoken of in the scripture and of course will come into view at a later time when the millennial kingdom reveals Jesus upon the throne which he shall rule and reign for a period of time upon the earth. And so Christ the only begotten son, Christ of God is revealed to man in human flesh, but will have this eternal scepter of righteousness. Christ possesses the scepter and eternal throne of righteousness. In verse 9, Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Well, of course, Jesus is anointed. He is the anointed of God. The word Christ means anointed. And so he is the anointed of God. And we know that his anointing is one which shall reveal him as the true son of God that we might recognize him as the eternal ruler. We thought we read in John chapter 3 in verse 34, for he whom God has sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, he that believeth not on believeth not the sun, shall not see light, but the wrath of God abideth on him. And so here we see that God giveth not the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, by measure unto him. Why? Because he is the Son of God. He possesses the true essence of the Spirit of God, the true fullness of the Spirit of God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, possessing the full measure of the Spirit of God. No wonder then that Jesus was able to do the things that he was able to do. And again, this is elevating Jesus higher than prophets, higher than angels. It's elevating Jesus and it's good for us to see these various aspects of him being elevated. Being elevated as the only begotten son of God. Being elevated that he has the scepter of the throne, the eternal throne of God. being elevated that he has this scepter of righteousness and that God means for him to possess this divine anointing if you will. This divine anointing and the anointing comes by the Spirit of God and so Jesus has the fullness of the Spirit of God in him. the fullness of the Spirit of God. Now it is true that you and I have an anointing of God. We have an anointing because we have the Spirit of God, but we don't have it the same as Jesus. We have a measure of it, according to the Word of God. In fact, it is the Spirit of God that gives us our new birth, as we know in John chapter 3. We are born from above. We are born of natural birth, of water, but we are born of the Spirit of God. And so, that doesn't make us God, it just makes us born of God. As we know that John 1 12 tells us, as many as received him to them gave he the power to be called the children of God, the sons of God. So we have been given that privilege by the Spirit of God, but it doesn't make us God. But Jesus possesses the fullness of the Spirit of God itself. And so that is important to note here. Verse 9, thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee. Now in 1 John 2.20 and also 27, it tells us that we have a holy unction from God. We have a holy unction, a holy empowering. And we need not that any man teach us, but the Spirit of God is able to teach us. And that anointing comes from God. You see, well you see that in other words we have a measure of the spirit of God that God can teach each of us the very basic elements of our salvation but we can go on even into greater meat of the word of God. We at first feed upon the milk of the Word of God. Then later we get into the meat of the Word of God. And we learn more and more of those wonderful things, you see. So we have an anointing as well. But see, Jesus is elevated higher, higher. He is the one that possesses all power and authority. He is the, as Hebrews says, the author and finisher of our faith. So he is the one who was anointed from the Father to come. The second person of the Godhead was to come down and to take upon himself human flesh and as he did, that fullness of the Spirit of God was still in him, though he was veiled in human flesh. And we might say he limited his Godhead if that's possible, if God could do such a thing. It's only, I suppose, illusionary to us. But to God, Jesus was every bit God. He was every bit God, as he has always been. And so we find that God meant for his son to fulfill this role, this role. In Psalm 45 verse 6, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness. Therefore God, thy God, hath appointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Notice the psalm kind of has that strong messianic tone to it. As we read on, it says in verse 8 of the same psalm, Psalm 45, 8. All thy garments smell of myrrh and alloys and queso. of Casa, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad. And there's even a song out of the ivory palaces, it speaks of Jesus and his sufferings and so forth. So he came out of the ivory palaces of heaven as it were, from the very throne of God to become the anointed one, the anointed one who would bestow upon us the benefits of salvation. Anointed thee with the oil of gladness. So kings were anointed in the Old Testament. We know David was anointed. Saul was anointed. All the subsequent kings had to be anointed to be kings of God. That is part of the theocratic kingdom. Solomon, no doubt, was anointed of God. Some of them didn't do so good, did they? No. Even though they were anointed of God, they didn't do so good. But we find that Jesus is anointed above others. And so he is elevated higher. that sense of being elevated higher in his role as being the son of God. Verse 10, And thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands. Well, of course this particular verse also speaks to the fact that Jesus was involved as the creator God. Christ is the creator God who sits on the right hand of the throne of God. He is the creator God. And so as creator, he is the one who has been revealed in his sonship as the one who was even involved in creating from the foundations of the world. It comes out of Psalm 102, verse 25 to 27. Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure, yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment. As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee. when we think of that part where it says, all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture shall thou change them. Or perhaps you think of the book of Revelation here a little bit, and how that there's similar language. God is the one who controls creation. He created creation. Jesus is also a part of the Godhead. and you know in our thinking it may be hard to understand both of the elements except they are co-equal and co-eternal in their essence and yet Jesus came into the world and it appears that his manifestation as the son of God has made him uniquely revealed as the Creator God. Now I don't profess to understand all of that, but to say that is what the scripture requires us to understand, is that Jesus is the Creator God. As much as God the Father is the Creator God, in the beginning God, in the book of Genesis, And we find of course that similar statements are made concerning Jesus Christ, who is this Creator God, revealed that by Him all things consist, by the Lord Jesus Christ, all things consist. And so it is important that we recognize that comes out of Colossians 1.20 or along about there. So in verse 10, And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands. Well, we recently looked at Psalm 19 and what does it say there? That the heavens are the works of the hands of God. in Psalm 19, and God created the heavens above. And God is, so again, God is, Jesus is being elevated to create a God in verse 10, being elevated. They shall perish, but thou remainest, and they all shall become old, as doth a garment. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. And so we read of Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the creator God. Jesus is the eternal God, the eternal Son of God. In verse 13, Again, that is an elevation, elevating him as creator God, the one who possesses heaven and earth, has it right in his hands, so to speak. Even to create a new heaven and a new earth, according to the book of Revelation, verse 13, but to which of the angels said, he at any time sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Of course, none. Jesus, God didn't say that to any of the angels, only to the Son, only to that one who possessed the very throne of God, the scepter of righteousness, only to Him. In Psalm 110, in verse 1, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. So, we find that God is elevating his Son. Higher than prophets, higher than angels, sit on thy right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. So where is Jesus now? He's at the right hand of God. He is there. But all of the enemies have not been made his footstool yet, but they will be when God's Son rules and reigns on his millennial throne. And we find that Jesus then has this high and elevated position at the right hand of God awaiting the full fruition of all things that he might make his enemies his footstool. In verse 14, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Well, angels do serve God, you see. The mission of angels is not to rule, but to serve their servants. And they are spirit beings whom God has ordained, if you will, to do a certain function. And it says that they are serving really us, in a sense, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. We are the ones who shall be heirs of salvation. And so God They serve a function in heaven, worshipping God, but they also serve a function of serving God on our behalf. And so the angels are involved here. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 we read this, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole honor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. So there are evil angels but then there are good angels, guardian angels, if you will, ministering angels, and even Hebrews talks about entertaining angels unawares, and that we might be compassionately hospitable, because we don't know when we might actually be entertaining angels, ministers of God, messengers of God. And I'm not sure how that works. I guess that's something God has to... God is involved in that sort of thing. He doesn't give that into our hands, and so we're only supposed to do our part, and He will do His in due time. The main point of the passage, of course, is the existence of these angels, as it were, that angels are inferior to the Son of God, even those who are ministering angels. are inferior to the Son of God. Why? Because Jesus is the one who came into the world as being God himself, manifest in the flesh, the one who came that he might provide salvation unto us and angels only support his work of salvation that he came to fulfill. And of course we know that when Jesus was was in the garden, angels ministered to Jesus in his agony in the garden. And that as the psalm says, he could have called 10,000 angels. Well, it's based upon the scriptural concept that Jesus could have summoned angels to his, for lack of a better word, rescue. We know he is God, so he doesn't have to be rescued. But even Satan tried to bring a temptation upon Satan by saying, cast yourself down from this pinnacle and it is written that angels shall bear thee up. Something to that extent. Yes, they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be, to them who shall be heirs of salvation. So Jesus is elevated all the way through this passage as the book of Hebrews relates to us that the Son of God, the Son of God, God, who at various times in diverse places spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, Jesus Christ. Christ is superior to angels. Shall we pray? Loving Father, we do thank you for these thoughts. Pray you will enlarge upon them by your Holy Spirit as we think upon what Hebrews has to say to us about Jesus. I pray, Father, for your working and for your grace and mercies. In Jesus' name, Amen. Okay, for our closing hymn, number 134, 134, My Jesus, I Love Thee. I love thee, I know thou art mine. For thee, all thou art mine. of sin I resign. My precious Redeemer, my Savior, If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, tis now.