The central message of the gospel,
while there are many messages in the gospel, the central message
of the gospel is the exaltation and glory of Jesus Christ. And if you miss that, then you
really miss what the gospel is, because you must begin there.
Now that's not to say that the man who knows himself by the
grace of God has been brought to know himself to be a sinner
is primarily concerned with that. His primary concern when a man
is brought down to know himself to be a sinner is he needs help
from one whom he believes can help him and he cries out to
him. But as the Lord is pleased to lead a man into that salvation,
which is in Christ, then by the grace of God, he also teaches
that man who Christ is. And that's ultimately the place
where we desire to come, is to see the glory of Christ. In fact,
as we come to take this supper, that the Lord gave to us to remember
Him. That's what we remember. We remember
that He suffered. We remember that He's coming
again. But we remember that all of this
is for His glory. And we are beneficiaries of it.
But we must never lose sight that all things are done under
the glory of God. And he is to be praised and thanked. And so as we come to the book
of Hebrews, I believe that the writer of Hebrews is intent on
setting forth the glory of Christ. Because that was the thing that
the Jews by and large and even to the present day, as you think
of the Jewish people in general, that they do not see as they
do not see the glory that surrounds Christ. Now, all of them and
many of them will admit and will say, yes, he was a great prophet
and he did much moral good. but they cannot fall down and
worship him because they do not see him as he is in that place
where he rightfully occupies and so this book of Hebrews is
written to set the story plainly out there of what Christ did
in the path of sinners but who he is that was able to do what
he did because If you believe that Christ died for sinners,
that's a glorious truth and one which is absolutely necessary
for a man to come to grips with. But you must understand who it
is that died. He's not just another man. that
came into the world. I mean, there's a lot of men
who have laid down their lives for other men, have they not?
I mean, stories of heroic deeds done by many soldiers in battle
who have willingly sacrificed their own life for the benefit
of their comrades. You know, there's multitudes
who have done that. But yet, they're not the savior.
because they didn't have it within their power. It wasn't that thing
which they had the ability to do. But this man, Christ Jesus,
he came into the world and he did exactly the same thing that
other men have done, but he did it in a fashion that had the
ability as that God-man who could indeed take away the sin of his
people. And so it is that That's what
Paul, I believe, wrote in the book of Hebrews. That's what
he's sending forth here. As he says, God, who at sundry
times in diverse manners, making times past by the prophets, hath
in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who, being
the brightness of his glory, expressed the image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had
by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high. 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 of the angels, he saith,
who maketh his angel spirits and his ministers a flame of
fire. But unto the Son, he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever
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 shall all wax old as a garment. And as a vesture thou
shalt fold them up, and they shall be changed, but thou art
the same. Thy years shall not fail. But
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 the heirs
of salvation? Now, when we think about the
subject of angels, our mind usually goes to, a winged creature. You know, we've all seen the
paintings and artist renditions of angels and the scripture does
indeed describe heavenly creatures that do have some of those same
characteristics. I don't think an artist can properly
capture, however, The glory of the angels angels do occupy a
glorious place in comparison to men They've been given that
by God And it pleased him to put them in that place. And thus
they have that place of honor before the Lord. But every time
that angels are mentioned in the scriptures, it's not always
speaking about those winged creatures, those heavenly creatures. But
we must understand that the word angel, as used in the Greek,
simply means a messenger. It doesn't necessarily mean a
heavenly creature, but it means someone sent by God with a message. And of course, as you read through
the scripture, the Lord did send angels many times to bring a
message unto the people of God. In fact, we see that the Lord
sent angels to minister unto the Lord Jesus Christ when he
was in the garden. And they ministered to him. They
brought a message from God. They upheld him. They strengthened
him. And you know, if you grasp that
mystery of that, then you can grasp more than I can because
that overwhelms me when I think about that. that the Creator
of all things is comforted by the very creature that He is
pleased to give, to make. I can't really wrap my head around
that, but nonetheless, it is true. And so, there's two things
that have to be always in our mind as we consider the Lord
Jesus Christ. One is that indeed He is a man.
And many people believe that. There's many historians, they
know he's a historical figure. There's most religions in the
earth, even the Muslims have a recognition that Jesus Christ
was a man who lived in the world and he went about doing much
good. He was even, they believe, a
prophet from God. Which is kind of odd. that someone
would believe someone was a prophet, but yet not believe what they
say. That's the amazing thing, that
men can somehow in their mind think that Jesus Christ was a
prophet, but yet think that at the same time he was the biggest
liar that ever lived. Because he said some things that
if they're not true, then it overturns everything that he
did say. Because he cannot be telling
the truth of God if he's telling a lie. But we know that he is. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. Now either that's true or it's
not true. And if it's true, then we must
bow down before him. And so it is that Paul speaks
here, as are the Lord speaking through Paul, says that the Lord
Jesus Christ occupies a place which is higher than the angels,
better than the angels. Now, men, we can't comprehend
of any creature that would be higher than the angels, yet the
Lord Jesus Christ came into the world as a man. And yet men,
we know, are lower than the angels. So he wasn't a man just like
any other man, but he was a man who was also God. As he came,
and he is higher than the angels, not as a man, but as he is God. Because he made himself what?
The scripture says, lower than the angels. Now that's an amazing
thing. Again, I don't have a comprehension
of it. All I can do is fall down before
the Lord and worship Him, being made so much better than the
angels. The place He occupies is better
than the angels, even though He made Himself lower than the
angels. And He hath by, because He hath
by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. He
is that one who had a right to that place because he is God. And so the poem makes this this
comparison here between the Lord, or I say a comparison, he makes
a contrast between the Lord and the angels, that is those heavenly
creatures. But I believe the more comprehensive message of
what Paul is writing about here is not specifically the fact
that he is higher than those heavenly creatures. and he has
a more excellent name than they. But that he is speaking about
all the messengers that God has ever sent into the world. Because
keep in mind he says here, God who at sundry times and in divers
manner spake in times past by the prophets. Now the prophets
in this context were angels. They were those sent by God with
a message to the people. And God was pleased to speak
through them, but Jesus Christ hath obtained a greater name
than they. There's not a prophet that's
ever arisen among men, the Lord Jesus said, greater than John
the Baptist. Now, it's amazing to me that
some of these later religions that have come along and have
their prophet, such as Muhammad, or such as Joseph Smith, or such
as Buddha, or such as all these things, they come along, but
there has not, no prophet, according to the words of the Lord Jesus,
who spoke nothing but the truth, said there's never been a greater
prophet than John the Baptist. He's greater than Elijah. Now
that's an amazing thing, is it not? But he was, according to
what the Lord said. But he said, John the Baptist,
though he be the greatest among the prophets, that the man who
is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the
Baptist. Now who made himself the least
among men? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's greater
than John the Baptist. And so also, I mean, that's not
necessarily the whole message he was sending forth, but we
do see that that is a truth set forth by him. But even the weakest
of brethren who come to know Christ have more understanding
of the kingdom of God than all of the great prophets who've
gone in times past, because the revelation that we have is so
much greater. Why? Because we see the glory
of him whom the Lord sent. Isaiah prophesied of him, but
he never saw him. Except, well, I take that back.
He did see him high and lifted up, seated on the throne of heaven,
but he never saw him come as a man, though he prophesied him
to come as a man. Yet he never saw him. And you
or I, we've not seen him with these eyes, but we've seen him
in the understanding of faith by the grace of God delivering
to us the revelation of Christ in the earth. And so, We see
Christ, it says here, for which of the angels are which of the
messengers? Now keep in mind, I'm not saying
this has no reference to those heavenly creatures, but I'm saying
it in the context of what he's saying. I believe the application
can strongly be made that he's speaking about any messenger
that's ever come speaking of Christ. He's greater than, even
in the present time, of course. from which of the angels said
he, at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee. Now we have indeed been born
again into the kingdom of God, but we've not been begotten even
as Jesus Christ is. Now what does that word mean?
Now there's been a lot of people come along trying to define that.
I can't define it. I can tell you that there is
only one son of God who is begotten. the only begotten Son of God,
the same one of whom we speak here. And what does that mean?
I don't know exactly. I know that it means that He
is God. I know that it means, it doesn't
mean He was created. It doesn't mean that He is less
than God, but that's how the Lord would reveal Him unto us,
as the only begotten Son of God. And so he is, none of the angels
did he ever say this to, whether they be heavenly creatures or
whether they be those that come along speaking the word of God. Even the greatest, Elijah, Elisha. Isaiah, Ezekiel, he never said,
thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. He never said
that to them because they were lesser. Christ is the one who's
come speaking the truth of God. And it is to him that we must
heed. But unto the Son, he saith, thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever. What a glorious statement.
Thy throne, O God. The one who made the heavens
and the earth calls his only begotten son God. Why? Because he is God. Even as he
said to Philip, Philip, you don't know who I am? He said, if you've
seen me, you've seen the Father. Because he is the everlasting
Father. Thy throne, O God, is forever.
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. The
only way that a man can enter into the kingdom of God is to
be righteous. As it says here, it said here,
thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore
God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows. Now who are those who are the
fellows of Jesus Christ? He made himself in the likeness
of his fellows, did he not? The likeness of sinful men. He
has made him greater than his fellows, even those who were
sent to prophesy of him. He's greater than them. He's
above them. See, the Jews, they had great
reverence for the prophets, so they said. But the Lord said,
well, I'm the one they spoke about. And they said, you blaspheme. Because they didn't know who
he was. They couldn't see him. They could see the glory of the
prophets, but they couldn't see the glory of the true prophet
of God. Because their eyes were holding.
Their eyes were closed. Their hearts were cold. By nature,
as all men are, apart from the grace of God, to show them who
he is. And so he says, the scepter of
righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. The only way
that a man can enter into the kingdom of God is to be perfectly
righteous. It doesn't make any difference
who it is. It doesn't make any difference
what a man may have done if he's not perfect. in his righteousness
is not acceptable to God. The Lord said, even your righteousness
says, that is those things you call righteous, those best deeds
and aspirations that you have, they are nothing but filthy rags
in the sight of God. And yet, when the king in time
passed, when he held out the scepter, that meant that someone
could come into his presence. If he didn't hold out the scepter,
they couldn't enter, they couldn't come towards him. And so he says
the scepter of his kingdom is righteousness. If you're righteous,
you can enter the kingdom of God. Who will the Lord look to?
To the man that's righteous, to the man that's not sinned
with his lips, that's not sinned with his mind. Not sin with his
eyes, not sin with his hands. He has clean hands and a pure
heart. That's the man whom the Lord
will receive. That's a terrifying thought.
For a man that knows himself to be a sinner, now a religious
man, a righteous man, he says, well good, that'll be good, I'm
glad to hear about that. Because now I can go in because
I'm righteous. But see, a man that knows himself
to be a sinner, A man that knows himself does not have anything
whatsoever that knows that in every essence and every way in
which a man could sin, he has sinned. And the Lord says, the
scepter of my kingdom is righteousness, and I'll hold this scepter out
to those who are righteous and bring them in to me. That'd be
a pretty disheartening thought, would it not? If there was no
hope. that Christ would apply his righteousness
to us. And not make us righteous in
the sense that he cleans us up and brings us in such a way that
we become acceptable to God in the flesh. You know, he's, I
used to be a drunkard, but now I'm not a drunkard anymore. Used
to be a drug addict, but now I quit all that. And now I used
to cuss and carry on and run around with, and do things that
I shouldn't do, but I don't do that anymore. And so now I can
come into the presence of God, oh no. No, that's not good enough. Has to be left outside. The only
righteousness that he accepts is the perfect righteousness
and the only one who is righteous in the sight of God is that one
who is righteous, who loved righteousness, he says here. Thou hast loved
righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows,
your fellow men. He's anointed him. in our behalf,
and He has become our righteousness by the grace of God, imputed
righteousness. As in Adam we die, so in Christ
shall we be made alive. What a glorious blessing that
is. They shall perish, the heavens Thou hast laid the foundation,
and these things shall perish, but thou remainest, and they
shall wax old as doth the garment, and as a vesture thou shalt fold
them up. The earth and all the things.
You know, I thought about this this week as all these different
nations, they bragging and carrying on about how much power they
got. And Putin's bragging about all his weapons. And Israel,
they bragging about all they're able to destroy this. The United
States is destroying those that shooting missiles and all at
them. And everybody's up in arms and
everybody's thinking how powerful they are. and yet they're nothing. Scripture
says the nations are as a drop of the bucket. You know, when
you pour something out, Ed, when you're pouring water into the
mixer and you bump the bucket on the thing, You don't go and
get a rag and go in there and wipe out what's left in the bucket
and try to squeeze it into the mixer. Why? Because it's a drop
of the bucket. It's of no use. You just throw
the bucket down. That's all you're gonna do. And
the Lord said that the nations of the earth are as a drop of
the bucket, as the dust of the balance. That is the, you know,
when you're gonna weigh something, you don't wipe the dust off of
the scale. Why? Because it's insignificant.
And that's what the Lord says about all the great nations of
the world. They're nothing. Doesn't mean
anything to Him. He says here that they shall
perish, but thou remainest. And they shall wax old as doth
a garment. And as a vesture thou shalt fold
them up. Just like you take a coat and
fold it up and throw it in the corner. That's what the Lord
says he'll do with the earth. And they shall be changed. You know, one thing that you
learn as you grow older in this world is that all things change.
Nothing remains the same. You know, when I was a kid, I
think of what downtown Brantford looked like. when I was a kid. And it doesn't look like that
now. I mean, it's different. I mean,
everything's different. And, you know, I think of things
and people that are younger, they come along and we get to
talking about things and I'll say, well, you know, yeah, there
was a theater right over there in that building. And they say,
what? Bramford had a theater? I mean, you know what I'm saying?
Yeah, sure enough. And yet, all these things change,
but the Lord never changes. The first early believers, they
believe the same thing that we do. Because what they believe,
you see, their belief is in the same one. It's not because they're
able to see and know the things that you know, but they know
the same one. We know him because he changes
not. Thy years shall not fail. But
to which of the angels or which of the messengers did he ever
say, sit on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Which of the great prophets that have arisen in the earth has
the Lord ever said that to? Only one. He whom the Lord sent. Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be theirs
of salvation? The Lord sends angels. He sends
ministers of the word. He sends messengers. He has sent
prophets in time past. But you know, whether he sent
ministers in time past or he sends them in the present time,
the message is always the same. because the message is about
he who is greater than all the prophets. It's the spokesman
of God. And so a man that comes preaching
anything other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified cannot be telling
you the truth. Doesn't make a difference how
good it might sound. It doesn't make a difference how good it
might make you feel. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's the
message. that the Lord has sent into the
earth. Because God, who at sundry times in divers manner spake
in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son. Oh, what a glorious privilege
we have, dear brethren, to live in this age when the Lord has
shown himself clearly No equivocation. We're not waiting for an unfolding
of a mystery to find out who he is. We're not waiting for
some prophetic occurrence to take place in order to know who
he is. We know who he is. He's that
one who came and bled for sinners. And that's what we come to do
today is to remember that until he comes again. And may the Lord
give us a mind and heart to do that today.