Hebrews chapter 1, let's begin
reading in verse 4. We looked at a message here just
a few weeks ago on verses 1 through 3, and I want to begin in verse
4 tonight. So let's read that. Hebrews chapter
1 in verse 4. Paul had just, and might as well
go ahead and say Paul wrote this. I doubt if he did, but I'm always
saying that, everybody else saying if he did, so let's just go ahead
and get that over with. So we won't have to say that
all the time. But he just got finished saying
here that the Lord Jesus had purged the sins of his people
away and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
And now he comes to 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
saith 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 to 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 hath laid the foundations of
the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They
shall perish, but thou remainest. They all shall wax old as doeth
a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall
be changed. But they are not the same, and thy years shall
not fail. But to which of the angels saith
he at any time, Set 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 ours of
salvation?" Now, I guess that you and I would have to have
been a Jew and lived in this time to fully understand the
importance of this book. Persecutions had arisen against
the church. The believers were being put
out of the synagogue. They loved Jerusalem. They were being persecuted there
in Jerusalem. Paul finishes this book by saying,
Let us go forth unto him without the count, bearing his reproach. So it would be like us being
persecuted in our own city and finally having to leave our own
city. so that's what they were going through at this time some
have told us uh... the theme of this book is here
in verse four that christ is better christ being made so much
better than the angels this word itself is used thirteen times
thirteen chapters this book and most of the time,
many times, it's written to show the superiority of Jesus Christ
and his gospel over everything else, over the law and over the
prophets and over the sacrifices. Christ is superior. He's better. I remember Bob Coffey years ago,
probably 20 years ago, preaching here a message on Christ is better. And he preached out of this book
of Hebrews, Christ is better. Paul had just proved here in
verses 1 and verse 2 the superiority of Jesus Christ over the Old
Testament prophets. He said God used to speak to
the people by the prophets in the Old Testament but in these
last days He has spoken to us by His Son. Christ is better
than the prophets. God always saves the best to
last, doesn't He? So in these last days He has
spoken to us by His Son. The Jews in Christ's day was
always glorying in the prophets. They pretended to love the prophets.
They said if we'd have been in our day or in the prophets' day
when they killed the prophets, we'd have never did that with
them. We'd have rose up and defended the prophets. And they used to
make the tombstones and they'd paint them white and they'd put
them on the prophets' graves like they was really respecting
the prophets. Isn't it amazing they turned right around and
killed him, the Lord of the prophets, But here the apostle goes to
begin with and he proves Christ is better than the prophets.
He's better because he is the Son of God by whom God has spoken
to us in the last days. Here in verse 4 we'll look at
just a minute that Paul says he's superior to the angels,
being made so much better than the angels. The angels are mighty
creatures, aren't they? Peter says it like this, he says
the angels are greater in power and in might. Angels are mighty
creatures. Christ is better though than
the angels. A lot of people, we hear about angels all the
time, don't we? You know, they've made a movie about angels. They
write books about angels. People have talked about seeing
angels. The book of Hebrews talks a lot about angels. But you know
there's one better than the angels. That's Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. He's better than the angels. We were down at Jenny's
wedding this weekend. There were two Catholics there
and he just kept pushing, kept pushing. And I finally gave him
two books. I had two books spurging around
the wicket gate. And I went out to the truck and
got them and brought them in and gave them to him. But he started about
this, you know, now some Catholic people have seen angels. And
they talked about mercy. I said, you know, the Bible's
got a lot to say about mercy. I don't know what the angels
said about mercy, but the Bible's got a lot to say about mercy.
So even John was going to worship an angel. Remember that? That
shows how impressive these creatures are. They're mighty creatures.
And John fell down to worship one of them. And he said, don't
you dare do that. You get up. There's one God,
and you worship God. And we'll see here in a minute
who that God is. So, he's better than the angels. In chapter 3,
he proves that Christ is superior to Moses. He's better than Moses. He said there in chapter 3, This
man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, insomuch that
he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house.
Moses, he said, was a servant in his house, but Christ was
the Son over his house. and if we go on through this
book in the weeks ahead we'll see that when we get there. Moses
was a faithful man. He was a faithful servant. But
he was just a servant in his house. But Christ was a son over
his house. He has a house. And you know,
you remember how the Jews gloried in Moses. When the Lord healed
the blind man and they put him out of the temple and they said,
they said, you're Christ's disciple, but we're Moses' disciple. Here's
one better than Moses. He's superior to Moses. And boy,
that was saying a lot if you told a Jew that. Here's one superior
to Moses. And then in chapter 7, he begins
to prove that Christ's ministry in every part is better than
the ministry of those who ministered under the law, the moral law
and the ceremonial law. Listen to what he says in chapter
7. The law made nothing perfect. The law made nothing perfect. If you're talking about the ceremonial
law, if you're talking about the moral Ten Commandment law,
it made nothing perfect. It revealed imperfection, didn't
it? It revealed sin. By the law is
the knowledge of sin. Even the sacrifices. Every year
they brought those sacrifices for sin. And what did that reveal? Our need. There's a need of atonement
for sin. So he said there in chapter 7,
he said, The law be nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better
hope. Christ and His gospel brings
in a better hope. We have a good hope by which
we draw nigh to God. So it's better than the ministration
of the law. It is better, he says, than the
Levitical priesthood. He begins there in chapter 7
to prove that Christ is superior to the Levitical priesthood,
the Aaronic priesthood. The priesthood came out of the
Levites, the tribe of Levi. The high priesthood came out
of the house of Aaron. Aaron's house is Lynch. There
were priests, he said, listen to chapter 7 verse 23. There
were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue,
by reason of death, they die. But this man, because he continueth
forever, hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able
to save to the uttermost them that come to Christ by him, that
come to God by him. So his ministry is better. It's better than the Levitical
priesthood. In chapter 7 and 8, he also goes
on to say this, and Christ's ministry is better than their
ministry because they ministered in an earthly sanctuary. They
went into a sanctuary that Moses had built. They went into a sanctuary
that Solomon had built. They went into a sanctuary, finally,
that Harry the King had built. But it was an earthly sanctuary. They ministered in that kind.
Where does Christ minister? In heaven. He has a better sanctuary. Therefore, He is a better minister. Christ is not entered into the
holy place made with hands, which are only a figure of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us. I tell you, if I was a Jew living
in this day, I would say, the heck with that earthly ministry.
I want a heavenly minister. Would you say that? Let them
put me out of the synagogue. Let them put me out of the temple.
I've got a heavenly ministry. And chapter 8 and verse 6, listen
to this, Christ is the mediator of a better covenant which was
established upon better promises. Better covenant? What did the
first covenant say? Well, the first covenant put
everything in the hands of man, didn't it? It was a covenant
of works. This do and you shall live. But I tell you, because they
didn't do, God disregarded them. The covenant was made void. This
do. But the new covenant, the covenant
of grace, says this. God is going to do. Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, is going to do. A new covenant will I make with
the house of Israel, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into
their minds. I will write them upon their
hearts. They shall all know me, for I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness and their sins and iniquity. Will I remember
no more? That's a better covenant, isn't
it? And it's certainly upon better promises. And He don't come to
us and say, if you live, then you can do. He comes to us and
gives us life. And then we do because He gives
us life and He gives us these precious promises. And then in
verses 9 and 10, the priest under the law offered the blood of
bulls and goats. And in chapter 9 he said this,
Almost all things are by the law purged or cleansed with blood,
and without the shedding of blood there is no remission. It was
necessary therefore that the pattern of things in heaven,
that is the priesthood, the tabernacle, the furniture, It's necessary
that these things, the patterns, should be cleansed with blood,
but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. He said this, for the blood of
bulls and of goats can never take away sin. That's the blood that they offered. It could never take away sin.
That's why they offered it year after year after year. But listen
to this. But Christ, having entered once
into the holy place by His blood, He obtained eternal redemption
for us. The blood of bulls and goats
was just a type, a picture, a shadow of that precious blood that was
to do what it only pictured. The blood of bulls and goats
can never purge the conscience. But you know something, the blood
of Christ can. It can. It's better, isn't it? It's better.
The blood is better. The blood of bulls and goats
can never reconcile us to God, but the blood of Christ did.
The blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin, but
the blood of Christ did. The blood of bulls and goats
can never reconcile us to God, but the blood of Christ did. And he went on to say in chapter
12, verse 24, The blood of Jesus speaketh better things than that
of Abel. So the blood is better. The ministry
is better. The priesthood is better. The
sacrifice of blood is better. Christ is better. Christ and
His gospel is better. What did Abel's blood cry for?
Revenge. What does the blood of Christ
say? Reconciliation. Peace with God. Abel's blood cried for justice.
Jesus' blood cries for mercy. Abel's blood cries for punishment.
Jesus' blood cries for forgiveness. And Abel's blood cried for death.
Christ's blood cries for life, life eternal. The blood of Christ
speaketh better things than that of Abel. And not only was Jesus
far superior to the Levitical priesthood in their ministry
and their sacrifices, But he was far superior to them,
to them, to the priests themselves and to the sacrifices that they
offered year by year. We'll find this out in chapter
10. Every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oft times the same sacrifice which
can never take away sin. But this man, when he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, set down on the right hand of
God. So we just keep using this word,
Christ is better, Christ is better, Christ is superior. And in the
10th chapter in verse 19, 20, this is the way he sums this
up about Christ being better. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living
way. Where are the prophets? Bless
their hearts, they all died, didn't they? Where's Moses? He
died. And where's the temple? Where's the holy place in the
temple? And where's all the furniture? Where's all of the ceremony? It's all waxed old and faded
away. It's gone, isn't it? But where's
Christ and where's His gospel? He is a new and living way. And He'll never grow old. And
now He's the only way. He is the true way of what those
just represented and pointed to. Jesus Christ, the true and
living way. He truly is better. He's better. And in chapter 11, it said, The
country that Jesus Christ has promised to those who love Him
and believe His gospel is far better than the one promised
to the Jews in the Old Testament. You can turn over and read that.
Look over here in chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. They had
an earthly country. Boy, it was beautiful. It was
beautiful. Remember those grapes that those
spies brought back? The big old cluster that took
two guys to carry? It was beautiful. Flowing with
milk and honey. But you know what the Bible says
that the Lord has prepared for His people? A better country. It's better than that. Look in
chapter 11 and look in verse 13. All these, these patriarchs,
they died in the faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them before all, and were persuaded of them and embraced
them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth. For they that say such things, that they're pilgrims
on this earth, they declare plainly that they seek a country And
truly, if they had been mindful of that country from which they
came out, out of Egypt, they might have had opportunity to
have return. But now they desire a better
country. That is, then, heavenly. Wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared
for them a city. There's a real country, brothers
and sisters. It's a heavenly country. And it's a better, better
than any country this world has to offer. in this life. And look
in chapter 13 and look in verse, well let's look back in verse
9. Chapter 13 verse 9. Be not carried about with divers
in strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart
be established with grace, not with meats which have not profited
them which have been occupied therein. We have an altar whereof
they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the
bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary
by the high priest for sin are burned without the count. Let
us, wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people
with His own blood, He suffered without the gate. Let us go forth,
therefore, unto Him without the count, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. By Him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise continually, that is the fruit of our lips,
giving thanks unto His name so Christ is better every way Christ
is better now quickly right quickly let's go back to verse 4 just
look at this right quick you're in verse 4 and what what the
Apostle is saying here that Jesus Christ is better in his humanity
than the angels 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
saith 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." He tells us here that
Christ is better because He has obtained a more excellent name. And what is His name? The Son
of God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's His name. And I tell you,
He's the Son of God in a way and by His nature that no angel
or no man could ever be. He's the only begotten In John
chapter 3 verse 16, this is one of the most amazing verses because
of all the things it teaches, but listen to this. God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And the old Puritans
used to have a phrase to describe what that word means, His only
begotten Son, and they said that means He was eternally begotten. If there is a Father, there has
to be a Son. But how can he be begotten and
yet be eternal and one with God? So they called him the eternal
begotten of the Father. Now get a hold of that if you
can, Mr. Baker. That's impossible, isn't it? But here, it doesn't
mean that. It means Christ in His humanity. In His humanity, in His conception,
and in His birth, He was begotten of the Father. Now I want you
to go over there and read that. This is astounding, one of the
most astounding things in Luke chapter 1, and look in verse
30. We've read this so many times, but this is absolutely astounding
to me of what this angel, Gabriel, announced here to the Virgin
Mary. And I want you to look at it. Now this is speaking,
what makes this so wonderful, Christ is better than the angels.
If you go back before time, of course everybody would agree
that He was better than the angels. But here Jesus Christ is in His
meekness and lowliness. And when you saw Him, there is
no beauty that you should desire Him. But here this Apostle is
saying Jesus Christ in His meek and lowly humanity is better
than the angel. Now look how the angel Gabriel
said it here. Look in verse 30. Luke chapter
1 verse 30. And the angel Gabriel 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 your Son. He shall be great,
and shall be called the Son of the Highest. Now wasn't he that
before he came? Of course he was. But in his
humanity, Jesus of Nazareth, Mary's son, is the son of the
highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall
be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be?
saying, I know not a man. And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, the power of
the highest shall overshadow thee, Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God." Here was a baby conceived in the womb of a virgin and he
was born and had to be washed, had to be cleaned, had to be
swaddled and hung upon his mother's breast and his name was the Son
of God. Now why is that so astounding?
That never happened before. That will never happen again. When you and I are born, if an
angel had appeared to your mother, you know what she would have
said? She wouldn't have said, he wouldn't have said to her, you're
fixing to have a child and we're going to call him the Son of
God. He's a holy thing. You know what she would have
said to him? You're going to have a son. He's going to be
a little sinner. He's going to be a son of fallen Adam. Ain't
that so? But not with this baby. You're
going to call Him the Son of God. Here was a man that looked
so in poverty and nothing beautiful about him. Devils tempted him. Men hated him. No place to lay
his head. Most of the women cared for Him
and ministered to Him. And He was the eternal Son of
God in our humanity. That's astounding to me. The
Incarnation is astounding. Thou art my Son. This day, this
day have I begotten You. So that tells there was a time
and it was this time. But you know, to be more specific,
what we're looking at here in Hebrews chapter 1, I think it's
even more specific than the time that Christ was incarnated. I
think it has to do mainly with His resurrection. He was the
only begotten Son of God. He was begotten from the dead. Paul quotes this Scripture here,
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee. He takes that
from Psalms chapter 2 verse 7 and that chapter is pertaining to
the resurrection of Christ. He said, I have set my Son upon
my holy hill of Zion. Remember that psalm, the kings
of the earth set themselves and they said, let us break their
bands of sundry. That's when they judged Christ and persecuted
Him and killed Him. And God said, I'm going to laugh
at you. Because I'm going to raise my Son from the dead and
I'm going to exalt my King on my holy hill of Zion. And I'm
going to say unto Him, Thou art my Son this day have I begotten
Thee. So when He raised Jesus Christ
from the dead, He said then to him, I have begotten you. I have begotten you from the
dead. One of the reasons I say that is look over here back in
our text again, what he says here in the very next verse.
I often remember what Wayne said when he was teaching through
the book of Romans, Romans chapter 1 verse 4, that Christ was declared
to be the Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness by
the resurrection from the dead. So when He raised from the dead,
that early Sunday morning, God said, You are My Son. I begotten
You from the dead. And another reason I say that,
look back over here to our text again. In verse chapter 1 and
verse 6, look in verse 6. And again, when He bringeth in
the first begotten unto the world. Now Jesus Christ is called the
first begotten from the dead. Sometimes He is called the first
fruits from the dead. I am alive forevermore. I am He that was dead and now
I am alive forevermore. So He is the first fruit. He
is the first begotten from the dead. So here in verse 6 when
He said, And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten into the
world, He is speaking there, I think, and most commentators
that I have read think that He was speaking of when He brought
Him back into the world from the dead. He brought Him back
from among the dead. and gave His life to His body.
And that is when He said, look at this, ìLet all the angels
of God worship Him.î So first thing we find out here is that
Christ has a better name. He is better than the angels.
He has a name that they never have. He is called the Son of
God. Now they were the sons of God,
the Bible tells us they are. You're here tonight and you're
born of God. You're a child of God. You're a son of God. But
not like this. Not like this. He has that name
that's peculiar to Him. He was born in His humanity,
the Son of God. And when God raised Him from
the dead, God said, I have begotten you. This day, you're My son. Secondly, He goes on here to
prove this in verse 6, Jesus is better than the angels because
Jesus in His humanity is the object of their worship. They
adore Him, they admire Him, they praise Him. That's their existence,
living to adore and worship the Son of God. See what He said
again? And again, when He bringeth in
the first begotten to the world, He said, And let all the angels
of God worship Him. Well, the angels of God were
there at his conception. We just read it, didn't we? That
one told Mary, you know, you're going to have a son. You're going
to be the son of the highest. And they were there at the resurrection,
at his birth, at the birth of Christ. They were there. Remember
what they said? Glory to God in the highest. And you know,
they were the first ones to see the resurrected Christ. When
Mary and the ladies were told to come into the tomb, said,
come and see the place where he laid, he's not here. They
saw Him. They were the first ones to see
Him, the first ones to announce His resurrection. And this verse
here is to teach us they were the first ones to worship the
resurrected Christ. Let all the angels of God worship
Him. I don't know how that took place.
I don't know if they got down on their spiritual knees or they
just saw Him. You know the Bible says this
is one of the mysteries. that God was manifest in the
flesh and seen of angels. The eternal God was seen of angels
in our humanity. And when they saw Him, they worshipped
Him. The angels worshipped Him. And you know in heaven today
the Bible teaches us that they are still worshipping Him. The
Bible teaches that the number of angels is a number that no
man can number, innumerable company of angels. And in the fifth chapter
of of the book of Revelations. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing. You know who sings that song?
Angels. They worship the Son of God up
in heaven. And Jesus our Lord and Savior
in His humanity is better than the angels because He is superior
to them. in His name, in His nature, and
they worship Him. So He's superior to these angels. Verses 7 and 8, right quickly.
He's going to prove another way that He's superior to the angels
because He's their Creator. The Son of God is their Creator.
Look in verse 7. And of the angels, he saith,
he maketh his angels 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." He is superior to the angels
as far as the Creator is superior to the creature. He is better
than the angels. What are the angels? Well, we
set them in to go. They're mighty creatures. They're
spiritual creatures. There's no man. There's no creatures. There's no other creatures like
angels. The Bible has a lot to say about their power. Well,
here he calls them flames of fire, doesn't he? God made them
spiritual men, flames of fire. And as you read through the Bible,
you realize what mighty deeds these angels have done. They've
protected men and they've slain men. They go about it God's bidding. When the Lord Jesus comes back,
He said He's coming back with His mighty angels in flame and
fire. And when the Lord Jesus returns,
He's going to send His angels and they're going to gather together
His elect from the four winds and protect them and bring them
up to heaven. And His angels are going to sever the wicked
from among the just. And up there when the Lord Jesus
has judged them, He is going to say to His angels, bind them
hand and foot and cast them into what He calls the furnace of
fire. So they are mighty spiritual creatures. But what does He say
here of the Son? Is He a creature? Is He a minister? Is He a mere prophet or a great
prophet? What does He say to the Son? In verse 8, Unto the
Son He saith, Thy throne Oh, God is forever and ever. Here is God calling somebody
God. Ain't that amazing? God is calling
somebody God. And if God calls him God, you
better bet he's God, because God tells things like they are,
doesn't He? God said of the Son, Thou art God. I was talking to
a Jehovah Witness, a friend of Clarence worked with him. He
was at my house one time, and I was talking about Thomas, I said,
you know, Thomas said to Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God. And
he said, well, Thomas was confused. He was confused. God is not confused,
is He? God is not confused. And what
does God say of His Son? Thy throne, O God. I just love to say it, don't
you? Jesus is God. He's God. The Son of Mary is the Son of
God who is very And I tell you, a man better be careful. A man
better be careful denying the deity of Jesus Christ. But Bud,
when we deny the deity of Jesus Christ, we're going against God,
aren't we? We're going contrary to God, and it will not stand. God said, Thou art God. And hear more of him. He says,
More thy throne, O God. What does he tell us there? Well,
Jesus Christ is on the throne. He has a dominion. He's on the
throne of creation and providence and salvation. He's ruling and
subduing His enemies. We see that there in verse 13.
My Son said, On my right hand do you make your enemies your
footstool. But He's on another throne too,
isn't He? He's on a throne of grace. And He's subduing His
people unto Himself. And He's saving them by His grace.
And He's keeping them by His grace. and He's going to have
them all in Heaven at last. That's why He tells us to come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in the time of need. Anybody that would contradict
the ruling, reigning Christ, they would have to contradict
what God the Father said of Him. Who is reigning? Who is reigning? While we're here in this world
that seems all out of control, right now Who is on the throne?
Jesus Christ. Thy throne, O God, is forever. And that's the next thing He
said about Him. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. It's forever. When He sat down
on that throne, He'll never vacate it. He's reigning. Where's Pharaohs? Where's the
mighty Pharaohs? They call them the mighty pharaohs.
Well, where is the mighty pharaohs? Have you seen lately what's been
going on over in Egypt? You can't even go there anymore
to see the pyramid. It's just so dangerous. That
place is coming apart. That's the ashes of pharaohs. That's the dust that's left of
pharaohs. Where's the great pharaohs? Where's mighty Nebuchadnezzar? Where's he at? You know where
His throne was? Go over there in the Middle East
if you've gotten urban enough, there in Baghdad. Just look east
out of Baghdad towards the river and you'll see what's left. There's
nothing left there but a bunch of rubbish. They say the Arabs
want Him to spend the night in there. They're afraid to. Just
a haunted place, they say. That's His throne. That's His
throne. Where's Alexander the Great?
You know he was a great Greek. You know the Greek Greece right
now where he was from, so much in debt they're bankrupt. Other
countries having a proper life. That's the dust. That's the ashes
left of him. What about the Caesars? What
about the great Caesars that ruled Rome? You know all that's
left of Rome today is St. Petersburg Square. A few acres
over there with a pope with a hat and a dress on. That's all that's
left of mighty Caesar's kingdom. But you know something about
the kingdom of Christ, the throne of Christ, His dominion, isn't
that everlasting dominion? He'll never vacate His throne.
His kingdom will stand forever. His throne. I tell you, I'll
take Him over anything, won't you? He's better than everything.
He's God and His throne is forever and ever. And he makes this statement
here. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. John Gill said it was the great
kings that always had a staff, and they called their staff the
ruler's staff. The ruler's staff. And the great
kings had a staff. Some of it was made out of beautiful
woods they carved them out of. Some of it was made out of pure
gold. Some was iron, some was brass. But the great rulers sat
there with their staff. and all other people gathered
around him. And it was said that people there kept an eye on that
staff. During the business, people kept
an eye on that staff. The captain and his guards kept
an eye on that staff. If you approached into the king's
throne and he didn't hold that staff out to you, they'd carry
you out of there pretty quick and you'd never be seen again.
Remember Esther? Mordecai said, Go into King Ahasuas
and plead for your people. And she said, You know, if I
go in there and bow before Him and He don't hold out that scepter
to me, I'm a dead woman. And she went there and bowed
herself before the king and he held out that scepter to her
and said, Esther, what do you want? Jesus Christ has a scepter. A scepter. And you know what? It's a righteous scepter. He
didn't come to His throne as some tyrant. He didn't come to
his throne because he bribed somebody. He didn't come to his
throne by some unlawful means. God set him there. He's exalted
in righteousness, is He? A king shall reign in righteousness. Jesus Christ is on a righteous
throne. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch And
a king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment in the earth
and justice. And his day Judah shall be saved
and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. A king is reigning in righteousness. And boy, when we come to him
and he holds out that scepter to us and says, What do you want,
Sue? You want mercy? You want righteousness
to save you? I've got it. And He holds out
that scepter to you. And He welcomes you into His
presence. I never heard of this happening, but it might have
happened. Can you imagine the king jumping
off of his throne and embracing some poor subject and saying,
I love you, and I forgive you, and I receive you? I don't know
if any earthly kings ever did that, but the heavenly kings
have done that often, haven't they? When we go into His presence
bow before Him and He reaches out that scepter of mercy and
righteousness. Welcome! Welcome! He said here in verse 9, Thou
hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God,
even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness. above
your fellows, all his fellows. Angels are said, I guess, to
be his fellows. Prophets, his saints, his people. The priest, he's above them all,
isn't he? God has anointed him above them
all with the oil of gladness. There's nobody in heaven today
any more glad than Jesus Christ. He is thrilled. He is happy.
You and I are sad when so many things happen to us, but you
know what? He's glad. He's glad. He knows he's reigning. He knows just how things are
going to turn out. It's going to turn out just as he's purposed
it to do. And he's glad. He's glad. Are you glad? Are
you glad that he's glad? Spurgeon said if we have a friend
in heaven and he's happy, we ought to be happy because he's
happy. You may be going through a bad time, but if your friend's
happy, then you ought to be happy for your friend. He's glad. He's glad. When the disciples
saw the Lord, they were glad. What would make you glad? Wouldn't
that make you glad to see the Lord? It makes us glad to know
that He's glad, doesn't it? Well, I'm keeping you just a
little bit longer again. Let's finish this right quickly. In verse
10, Christ is superior to the angels because He is not only
the Creator of the angels, but He is the Creator of all things. Verse 10, And thou, Lord, in
the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens
are the work of thine hand. We never read that angels created
anything. They are mighty creatures. I
do not think you can put the creatures in the place of the
Creator, can you? And that is what they are. They
are mighty, but they are just creatures. When wicked men deny
divine creation, you know they're denying the Son of God because
He created all things. This is speaking here of the
Son, isn't it? Still speaking of the Son. In the beginning,
Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens
are the work of Your hand. And we've been told on every
hand, well, it just didn't happen that way. It all evolved. And
look at the professing Christians that fell into that trap because
by faith we believe. We don't have to explain. How
in the world do you explain that there was nothing and that God
made everything out of nothing? How can you comprehend or explain
that? You just believe it. It's going to take a lot of faith
for me to believe that there was nothing. Then suddenly out
of nothing a big bang created all of this. That's going to
take more faith than I've got. I can believe Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, did it. I can believe that. By His grace,
I believe that. I believe that. And look in verse 11. They shall
perish, but thou remainest, and they shall wax old as doth the
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." Boy, he does not like his creation, does
he? And that is what the apostle has proven here. This creation
is waxing old. When you go to plant your garden,
man, you have got to get some manure on it or fertilizer. It
is not going to grow. It is wearing out, isn't it?
This earth, this creation is literally wearing out. It is
waxing old. It is coming apart. They are
finding these rocks now from outer space, these rocks that
are broken up and hitting the earth. It has been happening
for years and years and years. And the problem is not with the
creation. The problem is sin has affected
the creation. It is the judgment of God upon
the creation. That is why it is waxing old.
But you know something about the Son of God? He is not like
creation. Thy years shall not fail. These
are wax and old, but thou art the same. Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes, does He? He
never changes. We look at ourselves. We look
at creation. And we say, Oh, He must be like
us. He must be like the creation. And the Apostle said, No, He's
not like us. He's the creator of all things.
He's the sustainer of all things. And notice what He says here.
He's going to be the changer of it, too. As a vesture shalt
thou fold them up. You shall fold them up. In your
own time, you will fold them up, and you will change them. He's going to change them. I
don't know exactly how that's going to take place. I don't
know if He's going to change what we have now, purify it by
fire and change it, if it's going to be completely new, if this,
as we know, it's going to be completely done away. I don't
know. But I know He's going to make a new heaven and a new earth.
And the same one that's going to do that is going to give His
people a new body, a glorious body. And there's going to be
beauty and righteousness and sinlessness and holiness. But He's going to do it. He's
a lot better than the angels, isn't He? No matter how you consider
it. And he says, go back to verse
13, and through this book he is saying this many times. To which of the angels saith
he at any time, Set on my right hand, till I make your enemies
your foes. Several times he makes that statement
in this book. Set on my right hand. He never
says that to the angels, just his Son. Verse 14, They are all
ministering spirits, and we thank God for them. and how often they
minister to us, but they do it so secretly that we really don't
know it. But someday at the judgment we'll
realize, because we'll know then what happened in this life. When
we have this sanctified knowledge and our hearts will be enlarged,
the Lord will show us the times that He protected us by His angels,
lest at any time we should stomp our feet against the rock. Angels
are ministering spirit, but angels are just that. They are ministering
spirits made and held up by Jesus Christ. Mr. Baker, dismiss us, would you?