Superior To Angels (part 2) - [Hebrews 1:4]

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Superior To Angels (part 3) - [Hebrews 1:4]

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You know trends come and go. It wasn't that long ago that the angel trend was in and I'm sure it's going to be back.
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People love angels. TV shows about angels. There have been angel boutiques, angel college level courses, t -shirts, calendars, sunglasses, jewelry.
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In 1993 Newsweek said quote, angels are appearing everywhere in America. Those who see angels talk to them and put others in touch with them and they're prized guests on television and radio talk shows.
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Newsweek accounts need inspiration. There are workshops that will assist you in identifying early angel experiences or in unleashing your inner angel.
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Tired of your old spirit guide? New age channelers will connect you with Michael the Archangel.
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Having trouble recognizing angels among us? Join an angel focus group.
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I kid you not, end quote. Why are angels so popular? Why do they continue to be popular?
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Well maybe it's because they're not very judgmental. They're very kind. They don't offer all kinds of laws.
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Time Magazine said for those who choke too easily on God and His rules, angels are a handy compromise.
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All fluff and meringue. Kind, non -judgmental and they're available to everyone like aspirin.
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I just thought we'd maybe write a new book. Instead of Jesus Calling it would be Angels Calling or something like that.
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Purpose driven angel life. You can write letters to angels.
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One writer said, just begin this way, dear angel and let your words flow. Sign it at the end as you would a friend to a letter.
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The letter can be mailed by placing it on a meditation altar, under one's pillow or perhaps one may burn it, sending the message up to the heavens with the rising smoke.
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Tooth fairy angels I guess. And if you'd like to attract angels before we get into our text, one last thing.
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You can wear the right colors. You can hail angels by wearing proper colors.
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Guardian angels like rose pink or soft green. Healing angels like deep sapphire blue.
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Seraphim like crimson red. Cherubim like blue. And Angel Michael, he especially loves deep green.
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Sadly, I think, Gabriel's attracted to tans, browns and dark greens. Thankfully we don't worship angels.
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Thankfully Jesus is beautiful better than angels. And if you'll take your Bible and open to Hebrews chapter 1 this morning, the whole passage, the whole sermon, the whole chapter is
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Jesus is greater than angels. Remember God is having His servant write to the
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Hebrews and they knew all about angels. Jews knew about angels. They knew how powerful they were.
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They knew what they did for God. You can imagine every Jew knew Isaiah chapter 6. The angels, the seraphim, swirling around the throne room of God singing, saying, holy, holy, holy is the
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Lord God Almighty. God even having the one angel going to Isaiah and touching his lips to give him atonement are covering everywhere you go in the
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Old Testament. Angels are prominent. They're real. They're spirit beings and they're great.
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Frankly, if you met an angel, I'm sure you would want to fall down on your face because they're so great.
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They do not deserve worship, but we would be tempted to do that as others have been. But if angels are great, should they be the object of worship or should we say someone is greater?
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And Hebrews, the whole book really, and especially chapter 1, could probably use a paradigm like this.
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Good, better, best. Certainly the Old Testament was good.
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Chapter 1 says that. Prophets were good. The church fathers were good in the sense of the fathers of Israel rather.
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But there's someone who's better. There's someone who's the best and his name is Jesus. And if you have to summarize all of the book of Hebrews is that Jesus is the great high priest.
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He's a superior high priest. That's the summary of the entire book. And then when we ratchet in a little closer, we see there's two main sections.
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Like almost all New Testament epistles, we've got the doctrinal, the first ten chapters, and then the last few chapters, practical.
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So early on we're in a theological, doctrinal discourse about Jesus is superior.
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And verses 1 through 4, 1 through 3, he's superior to prophets and now he's superior to angels.
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Let me just reread verses 1 through 3 to set the context. Long ago at many times,
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Hebrews 1, 1, and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. Well, that was good.
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But in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. This is better. He's the best, whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world.
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He, Jesus, the son is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.
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And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
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Jesus is greater than the prophets. Now we move to Jesus is greater than angels, and it goes all the way through chapter 1 and yes, even through chapter 2.
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Jesus is superior to the angels. We're going to learn how he's demonstrated that superiority by his humanity, by his exaltation, by his suffering, by his destroying
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Satan and death. But early on, verses 5 through 14,
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Jesus is superior and the writer uses the Old Testament to demonstrate it.
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So the demonstration of the Old Testament teaches Jesus is greater than the angels.
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If you have an ESV like I do, and there's a format there, you can see all the white space in your chapter, chapter 1,
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Hebrews chapter 1, because they're all the quotes from the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, seven sections of the
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Old Testament from different places, but mainly the Psalms saying Jesus is greater. There's an
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Old Testament backup for Jesus' exaltation and his excellence.
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Do you notice verse 4, it says, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
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Jesus is superior to angels. Now let me read verses 5 through 14 and see how many times you can see the word son there or get the idea of a comparison.
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Jesus is greater than angels. Angels are great, but Jesus is better. Verses 5 through 14, for to which of the angels did
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God ever say? By the way, if you look at verse 13, there's the bookend for that same kind of statement, to which of the angels has he ever said?
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Verse 5, for to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you.
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Or again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all
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God's angels worship him. Verse 7, of the angels he says, they're just servants, they're not the son.
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He makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire, but of the son he says, your throne,
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O God, calling the son God is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
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You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.
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And you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands.
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They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up.
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Like a garment they will be changed, but you are the same and your years will have no end.
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And a very, very fitting summary to these Old Testament verses, and to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
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Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
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Now there's a style -substance debate in evangelicalism. Do we go for substance or do we go for style?
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Or could you actually have both? Could you have both substance, good doctrine, and style?
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And I think the book of Hebrews shows you could have both, because the way it's written, it uses alliteration, it uses this wonderful way of, with a symphony -like coordination of all these
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New Testament, Old Testament passages. What he's really doing, the writer of Hebrews, he's using a
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Jewish way of stringing one passage to the next, to the next, and the way the
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Jews would speak of it is they called it a string of pearls. But we don't have pearls, we have
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Old Testament passages all saying, Jesus is better, Jesus is better, Jesus is better, Jesus is better,
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Jesus is better. How many is that, six? Jesus is better, I have jet lag, so never tell the congregation if you have jet lag or you don't feel good or you hit your head, then you have an excuse for the reason the sermon might not be good.
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It's a chain of quotations, and I think it's good to stop here for a second and say this.
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If you ever want to prove a doctrine, the literal resurrection of Jesus, the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, inerrancy, any doctrine you want, what would be the best way to prove that doctrine in light of what we've just seen even here?
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What does the Bible say? The Bible says, and now here the writer of Hebrews says, Jesus is better than any angel, and when you read the
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Old Testament, angels did amazing things. How can Jesus be better? Well, I said so. No, what the writer does is he said, let me just give you the list, not one, not two, but seven
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Old Testament passages that say Jesus is better. Building support for theological positions by stringing together the
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Old Testament, and for us, we do that with the old and the new. We have to make sure we run from, and I know you as a congregation and you don't do it, so make sure you don't do it any time in the future.
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Well, I feel this doctrine. I think this other doctrine.
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I'm not sure about unconditional election because it feels like God is playing favorites. I'm not too sure about depravity because I might know some good people.
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I don't know about reprobation and hell because I don't think a good God would ever do that to some nice people.
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What we have to do, what we must do, what we're required to do is to say, what does the
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Bible say? For instance, hell, the doctrine of hell. I could not believe in the doctrine of hell.
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I would not believe in the doctrine of hell unless Scripture teaches it over and over and over, correct? And so what we have to do is we have to say, we submit ourselves to what does the
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Bible say. Yes, but Jesus is the only way. Yes, Jesus is the only way.
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I'll tell you, Portland is crazy. It's crazy, but I felt kind of at home because it was like Santa Cruz except on steroids.
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You've got car lanes. You've got bike lanes. You've got skateboard lanes.
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Every kind of food, every kind of thing, and I can just feel Portland kind of tugging, saying, you know, beautiful Mount Hood and beautiful.
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Well, is a volcano beautiful? I guess it's beautiful. And you know, how can
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Jesus be the only way? They have a statue downtown and it shows a pioneer man with a
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Bible, his wife. He's got his arm around his wife and a little boy and he's holding the Bible and people are freaking out about that statue that they paid for because if you're in Portland, you pay $35 per person per year art tax.
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And their art is going for guns and Bibles. They put a little
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Thomas Jefferson quote on there to try to take the edge off since he was a liberal naturalist.
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And I said to our tour guide, I said, well, you know, Thomas Jefferson, he took out all the bits in the
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Bible about resurrection, supernatural things because he just would not submit himself to scripture.
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I said, but he's a supernaturalist now. When you look at the book of Hebrews, don't forget, ask yourself questions and say, how does he prove the point that Jesus is superior to angels?
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The Bible says, the Bible says, the Bible says, the Bible says, and everything in our mind when we say sovereignty of God and man's responsibility, what do
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I do? How do they go together? Are they compatible? Is it an antinomy? All these things we have to say. At the end of the day,
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I'm finite. I'm fallen. I'm not God. I choose the worshipful position to say
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I submit to the Bible, right? I know that's what you do. It is the theological right thing to do is to say,
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I submit. I'm not in charge. I'm under your authority, God. I'm not over your authority.
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The Bible is over me. And even if I don't understand something, I'll submit to it.
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This happens to be easy because it's Jesus is greater than angels. And the way the writer writes it is with style, but he's got substance to back it up.
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Now let's take a look at verse 4 as this is the gateway to all those passages.
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When you put a bunch of passages together and have a series of excerpts, it's spelled C -A -T -E -N -A,
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C -A -T -E -N -A. You might think that's pronounced Katina, but it's
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Kutina. And it's a series of excerpts, a series of the Old Testament. But this first verse, verse 4, it propels us into those seven.
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So let's make sure we understand what verse 4 says. It's almost like an introduction to these seven statements saying
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Jesus is better than angels. Jesus is, in fact, God himself. Having become as much better than angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they.
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Philip's translation is insightful, thus proving himself by the more glorious name that he has won far greater than all the angels of God.
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The Weiss translation, having become by so much superior to the angels.
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Now the King James doesn't help us because it talks about being made, but the word is having become.
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Cults love to go to this verse because they say, see Jesus is made, he's not the eternal God. But the
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King James isn't inspired, it's a fine translation. But the word isn't make, the word is become.
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What do you mean become better than the angels? Isn't the eternal son always great?
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Yes. So what must the writer of Hebrews be talking about? Jesus the eternal son is great.
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There's not a time Jesus isn't great or hasn't been great. He'll always be great. So what's the context?
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How do you determine what this verse means? Well, the answer is by looking at the context and what has he just been talking about?
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Here this Jesus has not only upheld the universe, but he's made what?
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Purification for sins and he sat down at the right hand of God. He's accomplished something.
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The eternal son is great, but now the reason why Jesus is better than angels is because he cloaks himself with human flesh, lives as a man, dies on a cross of substitutionary death, and is raised from the dead, now ascended to heaven, coronated after his resurrection, and so he's become greater as the
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God man. Highest place of honor, greatest place, the throne.
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No angel cloaked himself with human flesh and went on a rescue mission, but Jesus did, so he has become greater.
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What angel ever did that? I can make it easy as well. What politician ever did that?
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What sports star ever did that? What pop music icon ever did that?
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Who's cloaked himself with humanity and then died on the cross for their sins?
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Not their own sins, but our sins. If you look at chapter two, verse seven, you get some insight there.
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Hebrews 2 .7, you made him for a little while lower than the angels. Now, eternally, he's always greater than the angels, but at his incarnation, when he's cloaked with humanity, he's made for a little while.
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That's the incarnation. That's Jesus as the God man on earth, lower than the angels.
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Do you notice in verse nine, it says, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, but now he's much more superior, so Jesus, the eternal son before Genesis 1 is great.
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He's God. Now, in the manger, he cloaks himself with humanity, and he's made a little lower than the angels as a servant, as a man.
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Jesus is the God man, but as a man, he's lower than the angels, but after his life, his death, his resurrection, his exaltation, his coronation, is he still a little lower than the angels?
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No. Chapter one, verse four says he's much superior to the angels. At one time, he was lower than the angels.
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That's during his incarnation, but now he is no longer. He's greater, and as such, do you notice verse four?
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He has inherited a much more excellent name than they.
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Now, when I say to you, what's your name? You tell me. What's my name? I tell you. What's in a name?
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Well, how about back in those days? He's writing to the Hebrews, and when the Hebrews heard something about a name, what did that flag in their minds?
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Character, quality, everything about that person. His whole character was exemplified by a name, and you can go back to Exodus chapter three.
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What about God's name? I am who I am. Now, some people think this name is
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Yahweh. He's inherited a name more excellent than theirs. Some think it's son.
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I don't think you inherit the word Yahweh, but I think you inherit the word son after what you've done, and that's after what we'll see in Psalm two.
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Taking us back to the language of chapter one, verse four, verse five, verse two, heir of all things.
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Now, Jesus has inherited this name son, and no angel is called son, no individual angel, and Jesus now is greater, more superior, more excellent, higher position, higher rank.
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He is the one who's seated at God's right hand and rules the world as the Davidic Messiah, so he is superior.
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Jesus is greater than the angels as not just God but as the God -man. That's the point.
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So I stop for a moment and ask, what's your opinion of Jesus? Do you think he's great?
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Do you think he's worthy of worship? Do you believe that he exists? Do you believe that he lived this life?
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Do you believe that he was eternal then cloaked himself with humanity, then lived a perfect life, died on the cross and was raised from the dead?
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Do you think he's superior? Yeah, well, intellectually, Mike, I think so. But remember, there's knowledge, there's assent and trust, and I'm asking you today, do you believe on the
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Lord Jesus Christ with your whole heart? As we've heard in the waters of testimony, they were waters of testimony, the baptismal waters.
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You can learn a lot growing up in church and still not have saving faith. So this whole discourse is about Jesus is superior.
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Do you think he's superior? I think one good way you could answer that question is this, is by this.
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My life is difficult, my life, I'm having struggles, I've got issues going on, and if only this would happen, fill in the blank what this is,
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I'd be happy. If only this would happen, I would be happy.
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That's a good way to do a little self -diagnostic, what are my idols kind of thing, because if you're single and you go, you know what,
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I would be happy in my life and I could have joy in my life if I could only be married.
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Now, is it good to be married? Very good to be married. He who finds a wife finds a what?
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Excellent thing. We got into the plane in Portland flying back, and for some reason
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I was walking in first and Kim was behind me, and I said to the flight attendant,
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I said, so we had a good relationship with them, and it's been going on for 26 years, stalking.
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If I could just have this health problem fixed, then I would be happy. If I could just have more friends, then
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I would be happy. If my spouse would become a Christian, my kids would become a Christian, then
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I could have joy. Of course, it's a struggle for all of us to think, you know what, how do we work through these issues?
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But if you've got Jesus, you should have everything. Same thing at a local church.
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Kim and I regularly say, the elders and I regularly say, if Jesus is enough, you'll like this church because that's all we want to talk about is who
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Jesus is and how He's superior to Jeremiah, to Ezekiel, to John the Baptist, and even to angels,
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Jesus should be enough. Lord, help me to be content with Jesus. Remember when you first got saved and you realized you deserved hell and now
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Jesus intercepted you and then had so much love for you, He paid everything for you on the cross.
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He said, it is finished, and you thought, you know what, I can just die and go to heaven now because my life is complete.
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The Son of God lived for me and died for me and was raised for me. Those are good days to remember.
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Baptisms are good to remember. So you say to yourself, I go to a wedding and I say to myself,
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I'm going to renew my vows to my wife in my mind. This couple gave their vows.
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I'm renewing mine in my mind. I go to a funeral and think, you know what, one day I'm going to be in that box. That's good to think through.
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And here it's the same thing. I'm going to renew these vows in my mind.
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I'm going to renew everything in my mind so I think to myself, yes, that's a good thing. I watch a baptism and say,
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Jesus, you're everything to me. You're superior. You're not a myth. You're not just a good teacher.
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You're not just somebody for Christmas and Easter. You're not only one of many ways to heaven. You're not just some created being, but you're to be honored and you're to be worshiped and you're to be believed.
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Now here's something very fascinating about this passage. Ever ask this question? The best
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Bible students, by the way, are question askers. Why the angel talk?
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You say, well, maybe they were worshiping angels. No. Why talk about angels? Do you know that the
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Bible teaches that angels delivered Mosaic law? That's weird.
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They were mediators of the law. So he's talking about the prophets. Jesus is better than the prophets.
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It makes good sense now to say, yeah, but what about the angels? They're angels. They're not just men.
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And they deliver the law. Jesus is superior over Moses, over Sinai, and the angels were there delivering the law as mediators.
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Let's figure out if that's true. Look at chapter 2 of Hebrews, verse 1. Chapter 2, verse 1.
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The reason why the writer of Hebrews is bringing up angels is not because the
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Jews were worshiping angels. They were monotheists. But the Jews knew if you're going to talk about prophets, if you're going to talk about in these last days, we know what happened and who was on Sinai helping
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Moses as mediating the law. If you're going to say Jesus is better than prophets, you better say he's better than angels because they are mediators of Moses.
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Hebrews 2, 1. Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
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For since the message declared by angels, he's talking about Moses, proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution.
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When you broke Mosaic law, you had to pay. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
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Notice there the message declared by angels. That's the
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Mosaic law, given by angels. The message declared by angels is does it say that in the
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Old Testament? Let's find out. Let's go to Exodus chapter 19. Let's take a look at Exodus chapter 19 and see if angels were there mediating the law to Moses.
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That would be good for us to ask and answer. So as we turn there, here's what we're doing again.
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Jesus is superior to angels and it makes really good sense that if he's superior to the
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Old Testament prophets who wrote Scripture, is he also superior to those who delivered the
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Word of God, Moses? Now what you're going to see in Exodus 19 is pretty impressive.
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I will make a few comments, but I want the weight of the Word itself to just blast you as if you were standing there by Sinai.
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Charlie, you'll know this. What's the name of the company where the guy is sitting there and there's a speaker just full force?
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Memorex or Maxel? I think I used to get some beta cassettes for those days.
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On the third new moon, Exodus 19, here's what we're doing. This is the law delivered. Are there any angels there mediating?
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On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.
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They set out from Rephidim, came into the wilderness of Sinai and they encamped in the wilderness.
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There Israel encamped before the mountain while Moses went up to God. The Lord, Yahweh, called to him out of the mountain saying, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel, you yourselves have seen what
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I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.
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Eagles' wings, God's compassion for Israel, God's care for Israel. It's said that with eagles, when they push a little eaglet out of the nest, if the eaglet can't fly, the mother eagle will fly underneath the eaglet and catch them.
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God's faithful to his covenant. He protected Israel. Now therefore, verse 5, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession, my special treasure, my own selection, my own sovereign choice among all the peoples for all the earth is mine.
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God can put his heart on anyone he'd like and he chooses Israel by his own free will, his own possession.
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And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the people of Israel.
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They're not your words, Moses, they're my words. So Moses came, called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the
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Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken we shall do.
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Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord and the Lord said to Moses, behold, I'm coming to you, not in a pillar of fire anymore, not in a pillar of cloud, but now it's dense, it's black, it's pitch black.
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You are in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and you also believe and may also believe you forever.
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They're going to know it's not you, Moses, it's me talking. It'll be impressive and it'll be an affirmation of your leadership.
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You're going to be the man for me. When Moses told these words of the people to the Lord, the Lord, verse 10, said to Moses, go to the people, consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day.
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And on the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people and you shall set limits for all the people all around saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it.
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Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, kill him from a distance.
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He shall be stoned or shot, whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.
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I don't know about you, but I probably would have been saying to myself, I just heard a blast. Was that a short blast to you or a long blast to you?
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Which one was it? Trumpets going to sound. When you hear trumpets in the
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Bible, there's either going to be rescue or destruction. Verse 14, so Moses went down from the mountain to the people, consecrated the people and they washed their garments.
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He said to the people, be ready for the third day. Do not go near a woman. Be attentive physically, spiritually.
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Don't get distracted in any way, shape or form. And the finale comes, verse 16, on the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled.
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Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
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It is a weasel hermeneutical move to say this was a volcano. There's thunder, lightning, thick cloud, trumpet, fiery smoke, earthquake.
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It has to be God. Verse 18, now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the
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Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
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That's impressive. And the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder.
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Exclamation point. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain and the Lord called to Moses at the top of the mountain and Moses went up.
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The Lord said to Moses, go down and warn the people lest they break through the Lord to look and many of them perish.
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Also let the priest who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves lest the Lord break out against them. And Moses said to the
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Lord, the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai for you yourself warned us saying set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.
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And the Lord said to him, go down and come up bringing Aaron with you but do not let the priest and the people break through to come up to the
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Lord lest he break out against them. So Moses went down to the people and told them and God spoke these words saying,
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I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery and here come the
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Ten Commandments. You shall have no other gods before me. And the list goes on. Now here's the quiz question.
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Did you see any angels mediating the law? No, I didn't see them.
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Were there angels mediating the law? Turn to Deuteronomy 33 and the answer is going to be yes.
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While everything isn't told to us in Genesis, Exodus rather 20 and 19, we do have with Hebrews 2 and 19 that the now
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Deuteronomy 33 from the word of God, angels are there mediating this law.
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And it's fascinating to me to find Deuteronomy 33 giving us a glimpse of what was happening that the writer of Hebrews knows about.
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This Deuteronomy 33 1 is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the people of Israel before his death.
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He said the Lord came from Sinai, dawned from Seir upon us. He shone forth from Mount Paran.
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He came from the ten thousands of holy ones, there it is, with flaming fire at his right hand.
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Yes, he loved his people. All his holy ones were in his hands. So they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you when
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Moses commanded us a law. Right there, ten thousand of holy ones.
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Moses was God's intermediary. The gift of the law mediated again through angels.
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Listen to Galatians 3 .19. The law, why? It was added because of transgressions until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary,
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Galatians 3 .19. So let's go back to Hebrews. Here's my point. The writer is saying angels are better than Jesus as the
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God -man on earth, not better intrinsically, but he's an angel.
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No, Jesus is a man. They're angels. But at the exaltation of Jesus, at the resurrection of Jesus, he is better.
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And he's been talking about these angels because they were involved with giving Mosaic law. Oh, you know what?
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What we should do? Go to Hebrews 12. Since we're talking about that fiery great mountain and how
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Sinai was so intense, when we were flying into Portland, I saw
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Mount St. Helens and I thought, what if it blows up again now when I'm on the plane? How intense that must have been to be there at Mount Vesuvius or St.
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Helens or any other volcano. But Sinai is more dreadful. How do we come to Sinai now?
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How do we come to God now? Do we have to come to Sinai? Hebrews 12 .18.
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And you can't read Exodus 19 without thinking of this. For you, Christian, have not come to what may be touched, blazing fire and darkness and gloom and tempest.
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And at the sound of the trumpet with a loud voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them, for they could not endure the order that was given.
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If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said,
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I, Moses, tremble with fear. And look at now how it turns. Look at the hinge.
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But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to innumerable angels in festal gathering and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God, the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.
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And instead of coming to Sinai, you come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel, and for that matter,
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Cain. Is Jesus terrifying to the
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Christian like Sinai was to Moses? And the writer Hebrew says, of course not. This Jesus is the one who said, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
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All right, now back to Hebrews 1. The writer is saying Jesus is better. Eternal Son cloaks himself with humanity, purifies sins, sits down at the right hand of the
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Father and is better than angels who had something to do with mediating the law. And now he's going to start giving us those seven
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Old Testament passages that prove his point. Now before I give you the first one, look at how each one is introduced.
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Does it say in verse 5, For to which of the angels did David ever say?
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Why doesn't it say David? Did David write those words? Today you are my son, today
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I have begotten you? Yes, but the focus in Hebrews is not the human author, it's the divine author.
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All these quotes are from the Old Testament, yet it says in verse 6, he says.
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Verse 7, he says. Verse 8, he says. Verse 9, he says. Verse 13, has he ever said?
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There is this big controversy in the book of Hebrews. What manuscript did the writer use? He didn't use
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Hebrew, he used Greek, but what Greek manuscript did he use? We can't find that Greek manuscript.
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Did he just change things? Did he have some kind of corrupt Greek manuscript? Did he cite from memory and his memory went bad?
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Or did he change the Old Testament on purpose to fit his reasons? One thing you can know for sure,
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God wrote these Old Testament verses to say Jesus was better and the author now,
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God the author, not the human author even, but primarily God the author adapts these verses from Psalms whatever way he wishes.
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For the point being Jesus is greater than the angel. Now let's stop for a second and think about this as well.
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What's one of the reasons why the writer of the book of Hebrews was writing? Well one of the reasons is these people who are not believers, he wanted them to be believers.
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Another reason was some of the people were believers but they were listless, they were dull, they weren't getting motivated at all to live their
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Christian life. We would call it backsliding, we would call it tepid Christians, lukewarm Christians, Sunday morning
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Christians. They're struggling in their Christian life. I have a question for you. If you meet someone that's struggling with their
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Christian life and they call you on the phone and you say, I think I could help you. How would you help them?
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How would you help a struggling Christian whose fires are not burning at full strength?
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I'll tell you what the writer does. He just starts giving them doctrine. All these quotes from the
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Old Testament. Jesus is greater than angels. How can knowing Jesus is greater than angels, how can it help me?
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I've got to go to work tomorrow. How relevant is this?
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Is it relevant that Jesus is great? I said that with sarcasm.
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Come on, I need other help. I know Jesus is great. I've got that all figured out. I'm catechized,
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I'm confirmed, I'm consecrated, I'm irrigated, all these other things.
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I've got it all. But chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, all the way to chapter 10, the way you help listless
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Christians is saying, look at Jesus. And by the way, that also elicits praise in heaven because what's going to give you praise in heaven forever and ever and ever?
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The lamb standing as if slain. I think
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I've regularly told you when I struggle in my Christian life, I just think I have to have the
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Bible just in front of me and I watch Jesus. I've been reading Luke this week.
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Do you know there's nobody like Jesus? Nobody talks like him, nobody preaches like him, nobody acts like him, nobody forgives sins like him, nobody can raise people from the dead like him.
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He just sees this boy, he raises him from the dead, he casts out demons. And if you don't look at Jesus with the eyes of faith, what do you see him as?
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Remember the false teachers that come to Jesus? Hey, listen, John the Baptist, we don't like him.
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Jesus, we don't like you. And Jesus said, you don't like anybody because you love yourselves. John the
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Baptist, austere, not much of a diet, wouldn't have fit into Portland downtown very well with all the honey and locusts.
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Although that's probably hot there. I had a latte, by the way, and it had a pine resin reduction or something for the syrup.
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John the Baptist, he's fasting. He's wearing this weird garment. He doesn't do any of the things you do.
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And Jesus, we don't like you either because you're a glutton, you're a winebibber, and you just hang out with a bunch of sinful people.
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So we don't like either one. But to think they're saying we just want to die in our sins.
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Who is like Jesus? You say, you know what, I've got to get my faith stronger.
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I have a little faith. I want it to get stronger. That's what could get me through the day.
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As a matter of fact, Hebrews, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith. The big sin in the book of Hebrews is unbelief.
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And over and over, by faith, by faith, by faith. The way you bolster
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Christians who need bolstering is to say, let me show you again how great Jesus is.
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Because your faith isn't the issue. It's the object of your faith.
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My faith is weak, but the Savior is strong. My faith wavers, but the object of my faith,
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Jesus, He is superior. Horatius Bonar writes a great piece in his book,
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Everlasting Righteousness. What should we have said to the Israelite who, on bringing his lamb to the tabernacle, should puzzle himself with questions as to the right mode of laying his hands on the head of the victim?
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And who should refuse to take any comfort from the sacrifice, because he was not sure whether he laid his hands on them aright, on the proper place, in the right direction, with the adequate pressure, or the best attitude?
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Should we have not told him that his own actings concerning the lamb were not the lamb, and yet that he was speaking as if they were?
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Should we have not told him that the lamb was everything, his touching nothing, as to virtue or merit or recommendation?
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Should we have not told him to be of good cheer, not because he had laid his hand on the victim in the most approved fashion, but because they had touched that victim, however lightly and imperfectly, and thereby said, let this lamb stand for me.
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Let this lamb answer for me. Let this lamb die for me. The touching had no virtue in itself, and therefore the excellency of the act was no question to come up at all.
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It simply intimated the man's desire that the sacrifice should be taken instead of himself, as God's appointed way of pardon.
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It was simply the indication of his consent to God's way of saving him by the substitution of another.
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The point for him to settle was not, was my touching right or wrong, light or heavy, but was it the touch of the right lamb, the lamb appointed by God for the taking away of sins.
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The quality or quantity of faith is not the main question for the sinner. That which he needs to know is that Jesus died and was buried, rose again according to the
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Scriptures. This knowledge is life everlasting. Bow with me if you would.
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Father, we admit, confess gladly that the Scriptures teach that Jesus is greater than any angel.
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Angels were great, but Jesus is greater. And Father, when we struggle as we do,
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I struggle, the church struggles, to walk by faith and not by sight, to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.
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It's hard to do. But Father, may we not focus upon how we succeeded or how we failed, how we didn't measure up, but in the
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One who did succeed and in the One who never failed and in the
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One that you see us in, in Christ Jesus. You love us as much as you love your
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Son because we're in your Son and we have no sin to bear and we have all his righteousness. So Father, like these
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Hebrews that were listless and needed a good dose, a year's worth of dose, five years of dose of who
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Jesus is as superior, Father, help us. Help us to focus not on our faith, for it did not die on the cross.
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Our faith is in Jesus. Thank you for that provision. I pray for those that are here today, maybe there's one, maybe there's none, maybe there are many who aren't trusting in Jesus.
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They're trusting in themselves. I pray that you would open their eyes so they can see
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Jesus as superior. Grant them saving faith. And Father, to Bethlehem Bible Church, which includes me,
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I pray that you'd help us to be satisfied in Jesus. If we have
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Him, we have everything. I'll only be joyful if I had such and such. I'll only be joyful if this problem would go away.
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I'd only be joyful if I could have my mom or dad back. I'll only be joyful if I could see my son again.
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Whatever it might be, we can have joy because the joy of the Lord is our strength. In His name we pray.