Uh, in Hebrews, turn to Hebrews,
Hebrews chapter one. Uh, and I was, uh, verse 11 of chapter two. I was going over this today and
I, and Lord willing, I'll preach on this in a few weeks. It says for both he that sanctifies
and they who are sanctified. are all of one. And when you first read that,
immediately you think about how we have been elevated in Him. And it's right. That's right.
But what this has been talking about You go back to verse 9,
but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death. He was crowned with glory and
honor that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every
man. Not every man without distinction,
but every man, every woman that was given Him an electing grace. But what it's talking about in
verse 11 is exactly what Neal was talking about. For which
cause? I mean, they who are sanctified
are all of one. And what it's talking about is,
though this is true that we were elevated in Him, what it's talking
about is He was made a little lower than the angels. And He
was made like unto His brethren. And as a man, as a man, as a
man, He obeyed God. I'm going to tell you that's,
oh boy, that's something that we need to be reminded of often. Thank you, Neil, for that. Let's look at Hebrews 1, 7 to
9. The Spirit of God had set forth
in the opening verses of this particular book. Now remember
this, the Apostle is writing to Jews. Jews that have been
regenerated by the grace of God, but who like all of us have grave
clothes. And the Apostle is speaking to
them concerning the excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
had told them back in verse 2 of chapter 1 that it was by Him,
God in flesh, human flesh, it was by Him that God speaks. He is the appointed heir of all
things. All things. are His, to bring glory and honor to Him. All things are His. Even taking upon Himself the guilt,
sin, the debt, death itself honors Him. I've conquered it. The Creator of the world. The
brightness of God's glory. The express image of His person. And I read all of these things
and I hear them and I know they're so. And even as I say these things,
repeat what the Scriptures brings forth, I'm thinking to myself,
Lord, teach me these things. Teach me this. I want to know
this. I want to hear this. I would
desire that the Spirit of God would speak to me. I was listening the other day
to a message that Brother Don Fortner was preaching, and he
had said last year or something. He was
going through a real tough time. And he said that while he was
going through that time, he just felt as though that in himself,
he said, I just felt as though that I couldn't talk to the Lord. And he said, I just felt as though
that the Lord was not talking to me. And he said, I asked Shelby to
read Scripture to me. And he said, she would read and
read and read. He said, then one day, it was as
if the Lord, in His infinite mercy, just allowed me to hear
again. I thought to myself, I think
I know what you're talking about. A time in my life when I can remember
more so than even now by God's grace that I often say what Brother
Maurice Montgomery said. He said there's times that God
will put a man on a limb and make him think he's going to
leave him there. And if you're his, You'll be listening. You'll be looking, praying, God,
oh, don't leave me to myself. Lord, if You leave me, if You're
silent to me, David said, I'll be like those that go down to
the pit. Well, if I don't get into this
Scripture right here, I won't have any time to say it. The Scripture says concerning
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, More so than even the angels. Made so much better than the
angels. Says verse 7, And of the angels
he saith who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a
flame of fire. That's a quote out of the book
of Psalms. Psalms 104 verse 4. unto the angels. They were created who maketh His angels spirits." He was never created. He is Almighty
God. They were created and created
by Him. The Scripture says that By Him
all the worlds were made. All things were made by Him and
for Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. They're not just angels. Verse
7 says they're His angels. Angels. They're spoken of in
Scripture And we know something about their being. If they need to be, and they
are whatever God Almighty ordains that they are at that time. Turn over to 2 Kings. Let me
show you something about these angels. 2 Kings 6. Invisible if they need to be.
Invisible if God ordains them to be invisible at that time. 2 Kings 6 verse 15, And when
the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth,
behold, and host accomplished the city both with horses and
chariots. And his servant said unto him,
Alas, my master, how shall we do? Here was the servant. of Elisha. And he got up one
morning real early and he looked out there and there was Syrians
just all around. What are we going to do? And he answered, Fear not, for
they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
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 he saw, and behold, the mountain was full
of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." Invisible
if they need to be. Invisible if God ordains them
to be. They may be visible. Turn to
Genesis 19.1. They are whatever Almighty God requires them to be. Let me say
it like this. Genesis 19.1. And there came
two angels to Sodom at Eden, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom,
Lot seeing them. They saw them. It was what appeared
to him was two men. Scripture says they were angels.
And Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself
with his face toward the ground." Not in worship, just in respect. He just doesn't say he worshipped
them. Had he been worshipping them,
they would have not allowed him to do it. And he said, Behold
now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servants' house
and tarry all night and wash your feet. You shall rise up
early and go on your ways. And they said, Nay, but we will
abide in the street all night. Verse 4 says, But before they
lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed
the house round about, both old and young, all the people from
every quarter. And they called unto Lot and
said unto him, Where are the men? came in to thee this night, bring
them out unto us, that we may know them." Verse 11 says concerning
these angels, and they spoke to men that were at the door
of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that
they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men said unto
Lot, Hast thou here any besides sons-in-law thy sons, thy daughters,
whatsoever thou hast in this city? Bring them out of this
place, for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them
is waxen great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has
sent us to destroy it." Visible? Invisible? But back in Hebrews 1, 7, concerning these angels, "...who
maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire." Their ministering spirits. Verse
14 of chapter 1 says that's what they are. Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? Waiters. That's what the word
ministering means. Sent forth to minister. Waiters.
Like you go into a restaurant and someone comes waits on you. That's what the word means. Ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs.
Oh, these are marvelous creatures. But concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ, verse 8 in Hebrews 1 says, But unto the Son, He saith, Thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. Oh, what a testimony is given
concerning Him who is the Christ. God, Man, Mediator, unto the
Son, one with the Father, one with the Spirit. His throne is
forever and ever. He was made, the Scripture says,
so much better than the angels. They were created. He was made better. That word is not a word of creation.
It means to be brought from a higher plane down in humility. He humbled Himself. I don't know how to say this
more respectfully than to just quote what the Scripture has
to say. Thy throne, O God, is forever. Thy scepter, a scepter of righteousness, His His church, His kingdom has
been established in righteousness, His righteousness. All the righteousness
that can ever be said concerning His people is imputed to them. The throne of His reign is eternal.
He is the Great High Priest. Whoever liveth to make intercession, the mediation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That mediation as the God-man
that is established in absolute righteousness in His people shall
forever be preserved in that wonderful fellowship between
their Creator, God Almighty. His throne sets forth His power. Thy throne, O God. It's a rule
that is straight and honorable and righteous. Just. No deviation. This world that
we're in right now, what a mess. What a mess. I think about that
Scripture that says that new heaven and new earth wherein
dwells righteousness." No more underhanded deals. No backbiting.
No more tears. Righteous. Righteous. And the Scripture says 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." Oh, consider in that last verse
that we'll look at tonight, the marvelous blessing that we, as
the people of God, have received being chosen, represented by
Him who is our life. Here we are, fallen creatures. Scripture says created, made
in the very image of God. Made in the very image of Him who is the
express image of God Himself. Almighty God who has everlastingly
loved His people has sent Him to redeem fallen
creatures that fell just like the angels fell. Angels rebelled
against God and we rebelled against God. But they were not made in the
likeness of God. And here we are, fallen creatures
dying. Angels don't die. And here we
are this evening, being able to meet together, seeing through
a glass darkly that those of God's given light see And now we hear and read of Him
who is our life, He who is God Himself. And this is what Almighty God
has got to say about Him who is God, man, mediator, the one
in whom He is well pleased. He says concerning Him, the man, The one that obeyed God. This
is what He said about Him. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. In the days of His humiliation,
He did always only those things that pleased the Father. He loved
righteousness. He loved that which was right.
pleasing. That was the very heart, the
very spring of His obedience. He loved righteousness. I'll just stop for just a minute
and think. This is the one that represents
me. If I truly be His own, if He's truly called me out of darkness, If He's given me a new heart,
and I believe He has, this is the one that Almighty God looks
at. This is the one that answers
for me. This is the one whom God is well pleased and His righteousness
imputed to me. This is all my salvation. This
is all my hope right here. Him. that loves righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ speaking
of Him in Psalm 40, verse 8, I delight to do Thy will, O my
God, yea, Thy law is within my heart. That's my representative. And
you that believe, that's your representative. As His people, we find ourselves
struggling with this old nature. And we wrestle. And here is the One that actually
represents us. And we think to ourselves, Lord,
thanks be unto You that You don't look at me and myself without
a substitute. He loved righteousness and He
hated iniquity. He hated it. Though we're aware of the frailty
of our flesh, though we see in our flesh there dwells no good
thing, we also possess a nature that hates iniquity. We do. As
an old man which we were born, it does nothing but sin. That
which is flesh is flesh. It's never changed. You've got
an old nature about you. It was not reformed. How in the
world then to set forth that that old nature somehow cleaned
up? What do you think you're struggling
with? That which is born of God sent
it not. But for Him, He loved righteousness,
hated iniquity. And God, even thy God, hath anointed
thee the Mediator, the Prophet, Priest, and King, if anointed Him with the oil of
gladness, the Spirit of God above thy fellows." His fellows. Those that are intimate
and near Him. His fellows. All that God has
everlastingly loved. All that He represents, all that
He has come into this world to redeem, He has anointed thee with the oil
of gladness above thy fellows. He possessed the Spirit of God
in this world without measure. Holy Ghost descended. This anointing also was not only above thy fellows,
but for thy fellows. The Spirit of God given Him for
us. God, Man. What He received, we
receive in measure because of Him. He, without measure. And what he received, he has
dispensed in accordance with his good pleasure to his people. Ephesians 4, 8, Wherefore, he
saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,
and he gave gifts unto men. We believe here tonight by the
grace of God. The Spirit of God teaches us. We see in part, we know in part,
we prophesy in part, but we do not. And we do see His fellows,
the beneficiaries of His obedience, muse upon that thought. If you're
here this evening and the Lord's given you a heart to want to
be here, to want to hear, to want to learn, to want to be
taught by God's Spirit through His Word, You're greatly blessed. His fellows. Members of His body. One with Him in honor and affection. Joined with Him. I hear these
things. And by faith, believe them. But
I think to myself, Lord, to see it in the fullness of
your blessed revelation. What a sight that will be to
see Him as He is. Heirs of God. Joint heirs with
Christ. All that the Father has done
for us, He has done for the sake of His blessed Son. Trophies of His grace. but trophies of His grace to
manifest Christ, His honor, His glory, and His praise. Of the angels, He said, who maketh
His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. But unto the
Son, He saith, Thy throne, O 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. He who is all of our hope, he who humbled himself and made
Himself of no reputation. He is our Master. He is our Lord,
our God. May He be exalted and praised
in His blessed church. Blessed and blessed for His sake. Amen. Let's stand together