Turn back to Hebrews chapter
1. The title of the message is The Supremacy of Christ over
Angels. Or we could just title it Angels. After having set forth the Son
of God in these first three verses as the final spokesman in these
last days, as the Creator and Heir of all things, and the One
who by Himself purged us from our sins, and is now seated at
the right hand of the Majesty on High, the writer of Hebrews
turns our attention to angels. I really don't think about angels.
I really never gave it any thought. But the Hebrews had a tendency
to worship angels. Look over in Colossians chapter
1, and we're going to use our Bible tonight because I have
several things written down. Over in Colossians chapter, I believe it's 2. I
didn't write that one down. Colossians 2, yes. Look in verse
18. Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels. They had a tendency to worship
angels. You know, John fell down before
the angel there in Revelations, and the angel said to him, and
Mike, you quote it to me up here, He said, don't do that. See,
they'll do that. Not don't. The angels said, don't do that.
Don't worship me. We worship him. We worship Christ. No angel, no created angel, and
I know Christ is called sometimes the angel, angel of the covenant.
Angel of the Lord, but no created angel is to be an object of worship
ever. But they had a tendency to do
that. So that's why the writer of Hebrews turns our attention
to angels, their existence, and their ministry, and how that
the Lord Jesus Christ, this One who is seated at God's right
hand, is so much greater than the angels. He says in verse
4, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance, because of who he is, obtained a more excellent
name than they. There are other beings besides
us. There are. There are angels. There are demons. And there is
Satan. And there is God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. These people are real. persons. They're real. Now, I want to talk a little
bit here. I've never really looked at angels before through the
Scriptures. But in doing so, we can preach
the gospel. And let's look at these angels
first. And then we'll take a look at the Lord Jesus Christ and
how He's greater than the angels. First of all, angels are, as
I said, created spirits. Look over in Nehemiah chapter
9. Nehemiah chapter 9, that's right after the book of Ezra,
which is after 1st and 2nd Chronicles, I believe. In Nehemiah, let me
get there, chapter 9, look in verse 6. Thou, even Thou art Lord alone. Thou hast made heaven, the heaven
of heavens, with all their host," and he's speaking there of the
angels, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and
all that is therein, and Thou preserves them all, and the host
of heaven, the angels of heaven, worship. They worship Thee. Created spirits it says over
in Colossians 1 16 and I'll read this to you I have it written
down for by him that is by the Lord Jesus Christ Were all things
created That are in heaven that are in earth Visible and invisible
the unseen things whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
Principalities Michael Gabriel, the archangels. You know, it
says over in Revelation chapter 12. Look, let me see if I can
find this verse. I didn't write this one down
either. Let me see if I can find it here
in Revelation 12. In Revelation 12, look in verse
7. And there was war in heaven,
Michael and his angels. Evidently, he has a charge over
angels, and he's the captain of them. He's the leader of these
angels that he has charge over. Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels, the fallen
angels. So our Lord, it says here, that
He created all things visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, whatever powers there
are, He created it. All things were created by Him
and for Him. They are created spirits. You
see, the Son, we'll see this in a little bit, the Son of God
is not created. The Son is given. Scripture says
He's not created. But all these angels, And I mean
it's a host. The Scripture calls them a host
of angels. They are created spirits. And
they are greater in strength than we are. You know, we are
limited. We are very limited in our abilities
because of this flesh. But they are greater in power.
Look over in 2 Peter. In 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 11, whereas angels which
are greater in power and might bring not railing accusation
against them before the Lord. So angels who are created spirits
are greater in power and might than we are. We don't have that
kind of power. It says in Psalm 103, verse 20,
Bless the Lord, ye His angels that excel in strength. You remember
when David numbered Israel and God dealt with him over it? You
know what it says there? The angel of the Lord slew 70,000
men. One angel. Slew 70,000 men. They are greater in strength
and that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of
His Word. And then angels, you know what
the word angel means? It means messenger. They're messengers. You know, I told you one time
here not too long ago about a man when I was just a little boy
coming up to the porch at nighttime and he asked for something to
eat. And I thought of this scripture, you know, every time I thought
of the scripture, Beware lest you entertain angels unaware.
I thought of that night and that person. But I'm sure that was
not an angel. Because when an angel is sent
of God, especially in the Old Testament, he has a message. They're messengers. God sends
them with a message. And if you look throughout the
whole Old Testament, I was looking at Scripture today here. I mean,
just Scripture after Scripture where God sent angels with messages
to His prophets and to His servants. They're messengers, that's what
they are. And oftentimes in the Old Testament, God sent an angel
to deliver a message. It says in 2 Kings 1.20, Bless
the Lord, ye his angels that excel in strength. I just read
that one. That do his commandments, hearkening,
hearkening unto the voice of his word, doing his word. He says go and he goes. He says,
come and he comes. He gives him a commandment and
he delivers the word of the Lord just as it was given to him.
An angel does that. It says in Acts 8.26, And the
angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go
toward the south unto the way that goes down from
Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert. You remember that eunuch? An
angel said to Philip, Go down there. Go down there. Go down
there. Angels are sent to deliver a
message. You remember when God reproved Balaam? It was an angel that stood there
and reproved him. It was an angel that announced
the birth of Samson over in Judges 13. It was an angel that announced
the birth of John the Baptist over in Luke chapter 1. Look
over here in Luke chapter 1. They're messengers. God sends them with a message
and He sends them to His elect. In Luke chapter 1, look in verse
Let's see here, verse 11. And there appeared unto him an
angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of
incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he
was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto
him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy
wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his
name John. He came and announced the birth
of John the Baptist. It was an angel that announced
the birth of our Lord. Look over in Luke chapter 1.
In Luke here in chapter 1, in verse 28. And the angel came unto her,
that is, unto Mary, and said, Hail thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was
troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be. And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over..."
My, what a message he's given here to Mary. This angel, what
a message he's giving. He shall reign over the house
of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
God sent an angel to tell her this. Then God sent an angel
there in Matthew chapter 2 to warn Joseph and to send him down
to Egypt. God sent an angel. They're messengers,
is what I'm showing you. They're messengers. And then they ministered unto
our Lord after His temptation in the wilderness. After He was
hungry 40 days and 40 nights, and Satan came and tempted Him,
and after all that was over, it said the angels came and ministered
unto Him. His angels. The ones He created. His servants. And don't you know,
don't you know they were glad and anxious to do that? Don't
you know they were ready, just ready I can just see Him ready
and waiting for the Word. And boy, when that temptation
was over, they flew in there and ministered unto Him. Strengthened
Him. When He was in the Garden of
Gethsemane, and He said, Father, if You will, let this cup pass
from Me. But not My will, but Thine be
done. It says there over in Luke 22 that the angels came and ministered
unto him in the garden of Gethsemane, strengthened him. The angels were present at his
tomb. Look over in Matthew 28. In Matthew 28, in verse 6, Let me start reading. Let me
start reading verse 1. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began
to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there
was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from
heaven. That's power, isn't it? That's
power to cause an earthquake. This angel descended from the
heaven and came and he rolled back the stone from the door.
You know, they said, put a big stone over it. This is what they
said. Let's put a great stone over
it so that nobody can come and roll it away. And one angel comes
down, causes this earthquake and rolls the stone away. Just
rolls it away. And his countenance was like
lightning. Can you imagine seeing that?
And his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers
did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered and
said unto the women, Fear not, ye, don't be afraid. I didn't
come to harm you. I came to help you. You see,
there are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them
who are heirs of salvation. He said, Don't be afraid of me.
Don't be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He's not here, for he is risen. As he said, come, see the place
where the Lord – boy, they called it right, didn't they? – the
Lord lay. Then it was present at his ascension.
Look over in Acts, in the book of Acts, chapter 1. I tell you what, there are no
loiterers in heaven. They're busy. They're busy. God has them doing His will and
His purpose and watching over His elect at all times. I know we don't realize this
often. We never think of it much. I
know this. At least I don't. I don't think of it that much.
But I'm telling you, this is true. This room right now is
full of angels. It's full of angels. And every
one of God's elect has an angel, has a guardian angel. I'll show
you this in a minute. They have a guardian angel. Okay, where
was I at? Present at His ascension. That's
why you make notes. It keeps you on track. Acts chapter
1, in verse 10. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven, as he went up, they watched the Lord Jesus Christ
go up. Behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel." See, they could take on the form of men,
just like when they came to Abraham. There were three angels. One
of them was the Lord. They could take on the appearance
of men. And they stood by them in white apparel, which also
said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."
They were there as it is at His ascension. They've always been
present. Always. Except when our Lord
went to the cross, He went there alone. He said, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? He was totally, completely alone,
suffering the wrath of God. Then the angels will be with
Christ at His second coming. Look over in 2 Thessalonians. They will be with Him at His
second coming. I've just given you a few Scriptures.
I think I've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 written down here just for
that, but we'll just look at one. 2 Thessalonians 1, look
in verse 7. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels, the angels of His power, In flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God. But he's going
to be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. And then they'll be with Christ
at judgment. Look over in Matthew 13. Matthew chapter 13. Look in verse 39. The enemy that sowed them is
the devil. The harvest is the end of the
world, and the reapers are the angels. Angels of God. They'll be with Him in judgment.
They'll be part of the executing of judgment. Look in verse 41. The Son of Man shall send forth
His angels And they shall gather out of his kingdom all things
that offend, and them which do iniquity. And look at verse 49. So shall it be at the end of
the world. The angels shall come forth and
sever the wicked from among the just. They'll have a part in
judgment. They'll be a part of it. They'll
execute judgment upon the wicked. I want you to look over now in
Revelation chapter 7. They will execute judgment. In Revelation chapter 7, verse
1, And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four
corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth,
that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea,
nor on any tree. They will have power. Why, what
power they had. It says here, look in verse 9.
After this, I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man
could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes and palms in their hands. Now that's chapter
9, I'm sorry. That's chapter 9. Look over in
chapter 9. In chapter 9, Look in verse 15. And the four angels were loosed,
which were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year
for to slay the third part of men. Powers given to them. They are messengers. They're
going to have a part in judgment, the execution of judgment on
this world. And I said to you, before I forget
it, that we have a guardian angel. I want you to look over in Matthew
chapter 18. These angels who have so much
power given to them, it's given to them for a reason,
and that's to take care of God's elect. In 18 verse 10, let me see here. Take heed that ye despise not
one of these little ones, for I say unto you that in heaven
they are angels." That's what he's saying there, they're angels.
It's been given to them to protect them. Their angels do always
behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. They're angels. You remember, well, instead of
trying You just turn over to 2 Kings chapter 6. Now this army
came out here to arrest Elisha. And there was a young man with
Elisha. He was scared to death because there was a great army
come out against him. And he's nervous. He's shook up. He's
tore up. He just sees no way out, this
young man. And Elisha, I want you to notice
this here, starting in verse 15. And when the servant of the man
of God was risen early and gone forth, Behold, a host compassed
the city, both with horses and chariots. And his servant said
unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? How are we going
to escape? And he answered, Fear not. Fear not. For they that be with us are
more than they that be with them. And I'm sure that young man is
looking around saying, Why do you see that I don't see? If
there's more with us than with them, where are they? Where are
they? And I'm telling you, if the Lord
would open our eyes tonight, we would be astonished. And Elisha
prayed and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may
see. And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha. Elisha. You're all right. That
young man, all he could see was the flesh. All he could see was
all that army of that big host. Look up here in verse 13. And
he said, Go and spy where he is. Look for Elisha, that I may
send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying,
Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore send thither horses
and chariots and a great host. up against Elisha. He sent a
great host to get him. And they came by night and encompassed
the city about. And this young man saw that.
He saw that. And he was scared to death. And
Elisha said, Lord, open his eyes. And he saw all those chariots
of fire and horses round about the mountain protecting Elisha,
protecting that young man. It's the same today. We have
the same protection today. No less. No less. Angels are immortal. They're
not like us. We have to die. They don't. They don't. We have to die. But now in light
of all of this, their power, their strength, their glory, Jesus Christ, that man, seated
at God's right hand is far greater. That's why he's saying all this.
There is no comparison. There is absolutely no comparison.
He's telling these Hebrews. There is absolutely no comparison
of Michael or Gabriel to this one man seated at God's right
hand. There's no comparison. They are
created spirits. He is the eternal God. He is the eternal God. That's
who He is. They were created in the likeness
of God. That's what Michael, I believe
that's what Michael's name means. Michael means like God. Well,
Jesus Christ is not like God. He is God. He's not in likeness
to God. He is God. You and I were created
in the likeness of God. When God created Adam, created
him in his own likeness. But the Son of God is not in
likeness, He is. He is God. And He has by inheritance
or a title, by title, a more excellent name than they. What's
that? Son. Son of God. By virtue of who He is, makes
Him more excellent. The Son of God. He is their Creator. He is the Creator of all things,
and they are subject to Him. Gabriel, Michael, the archangels,
Satan, who is a fallen angel, all the fallen angels are all,
every one of them, subject to Him. He's the King. He's their Lord. He says, come,
and they come. He says, go, and they go. There's
no comparison. He's their Creator. They are
called the elect angels. If He hadn't have chosen them,
you know what? They would have fallen too. It says over in Job
that He charges His angels with folly because they're capable of falling.
They had that ability in them because He did let some of them
fall. But the reason that the others did not fall is the reason
that you and I are saved and will not fall away. Elect. They
are elect. He chose them. For unto which
of the angels said He, it is God the Father, 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. God
the Father never said to any angel at any time, Thou art my
son. This day have I begotten thee.
Like begets like. And that's used as a metaphor.
It's not saying that the Father existed before the Son. But what
it's saying here is that the Son is exactly as the Father. That's what it's saying. You
know, I have an earthly father and my DNA matches his. You know, exactly. I'm begotten
by him. That is, he's my father. The genes that was in him is
in me. But what this is saying is that the Son is exactly as
the Father. They're one in essence. They're
one. There's no difference. They are one. This title of son belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ
in a special way. Now the angels are called sons
of God. They are by creation. But he's
a son of God by eternal generation. He's eternal. Listen here to
Matthew chapter 3. And Jesus, when He was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water. And, lo, the heavens were
opened unto Him. And He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. And, lo, a voice from
heaven saying, This is my beloved Son. God never said that to an
angel. You go through from Genesis to
Revelation. God did not say that to an angel. He said that to
this man. This man who was despised and
rejected of men, this man who went to the cross, this man who
died, this man who rose, this is my Son. He's my Son, in whom
I am well pleased. He said it again at the Mount
of Transfiguration. This is my Son, hear ye Him.
Three times He said that. And again, when He bringeth in
the first begotten into the world, He said, now listen, let all
the angels of God worship Him. Now if He is not God, it would
not be right to do that, would it? It would not be right for an
angel or any of us to worship Him. God only is to be worshipped. This shows His deity. He brings
Him into the world and He commands. He said, let all the angels of
God worship Him. The angels are commanded to worship
Him. And here's the reason why. This is God incarnate. This is
God. He's the maker. He's the master. And they are to worship Him.
They are not to be worshipped. But the angels, He said, the
highest order. No doubt the highest order in
creation. are to fall down and worship this man seated at God's
right hand. Our Lord said one time, He said,
I could call twelve legions of angels if I wanted to. They're
in the garden. He said, if I wanted to call,
I could do that right now. And He said, let all the angels,
Gabriel, fall down. Michael, fall down. Worship Him. Worship Him. There truly is no comparison
between Christ and the angels. He is so high above all of them. And if angels are commanded to
worship Him, how much ought we to worship Him who has been redeemed,
washed in the blood, made righteous, made righteous in the Lord Jesus
Christ. How much more ought we to worship
Him by what He has saved us from? The angels desire to look into
these things that you and I experience and know. How much more ought we to worship
Him? Our sins have been put away We know what grace is. We know what grace is. We know
what mercy is. We know what it is. We've been
down in the dust. The elect angels, they've not
sinned. They stay in His presence. You and I, we've been like maggots
plucked like brads from the fire. Oh, how much more ought we to
worship Him? and to fall at His feet. Back to Hebrews 1. I'll close
here. He says in verse 7, And of the
angels, He saith, who maketh His angel spirits and His ministers
a flame of fire. But to the Son, He saith, Thy
throne, O God. He calls Him God. is forever
and ever. 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 all shall wax 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. eternal, but to which of the
angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand till I make
thine enemies thy footstool. He never said it to an angel.
He said it to his son. Our Lord, our Lord, are they
not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister, to help, to
aid them, for them who shall be heirs of salvation. He shall give His angels charge
over thee, lest you dash your foot against a stone. I know
that applies to Christ, but I'm telling you that applies to everyone
of God's elect. He's given His angels charge to take care of
you as you pass through this life. You and I could not be
more protected than we are. Truly, we couldn't be.