Hebrews 1:1-14

Good morning, open up your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 1.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

So a little heads up, if I slur my speech or I create some new words you've never heard of before,

! Just go with it. Example, I created a word called perspection the other day, I think which is the blend of perceptive and perspective.

So, just a heads up, that happens. But, we are in the book of Hebrews, going verse by verse.

I know there's a lot of excitement about this, especially in my own heart.

And related to that, I thought I would give a book plug, which is related to the sermon today.

But it's a book called Loving the Old Testament by Alec Mortier, and forward by Tim Keller, Don Carson. Good book.

But, he has this little section in here that I would really appreciate it, called,

What Would Jesus Say About the Old Testament? Kind of thing.

And it says,

He says,

If we walked up to Jesus and says to Him,

Why are you quoting so much of the Old Testament?

Please tell me,

Why are you quoting it so much?

He would say,

The old what?

I don't know what you mean.

What do you mean by the Old Testament?

And in our poor, flustered way,

because we didn't expect that answer from Him,

we would begin to explain to Him what we meant by the question,

Why do you keep quoting the Old Testament?

And in the long run,

the Lord Jesus would say to us kindly,

Oh, I see.

You mean the Holy Scriptures.

Why didn't you ever call them by such a weird name?

You mean the Scriptures.

And we find that in John 10, 15,

the Scriptures cannot be broken.

That is the wording we have used,

not the Old Testament,

but the Scripture.

And if we went on talking to the precious Savior,

He would again say,

Oh, I see what you mean.

You mean the Word of God.

Just as we hear His words in Mark 7, 13,

making the Word of God non-effect

because of your tradition.

And if we pursued the manner a little further,

He would say to us,

Why do you call it the Old Testament?

It is God's law.

So, as in Luke 10, 26,

What is the written law?

And what is your reading of it?

Jesus would have known what we meant,

not have known what we meant by the Old Testament.

He would say the Scriptures,

the Word of God, the law.

It's not attacking the name,

but really just the understanding

of how people just continue to think

it has no relevance

as we're our Lord,

you know, held it in very, very high esteem.

So, example in our text today,

there are many citations

from what we would call the Old Testament.

And the New Testament writers

always proved what they said

by pointing back to the Scriptures.

And that's a pretty arrogant thing

when we say that we don't have to prove

what we say by the Scriptures themselves.

But Nathan's already given you

a lot of really good context

just on the book of Hebrews.

But to kind of keep in mind

that it was obviously written

to a Jewish audience.

And there are probably, in my opinion,

like three different camps of Jews

in this group.

There are some who have converted

and actually become followers of Jesus,

believed Him to be the Messiah

and fulfillment of the Scriptures.

And then there are some

who are kind of on the fence

trying to decide,

like, do we throw ourselves

and become followers of Jesus

or do we remain in the Old?

And then there's the camp

trying to pull them back

into the Old.

There's the...

So, a lot of times

when you're reading Hebrews,

it's good to kind of think about

who He actually might be addressing.

And then our text today

is kind of a continuation

of what Nathan preached on last week

of how Christ is supreme

and Christ is better,

Christ is more prominent,

and He is the fulfillment

of what was in the Old.

So, as we read this,

we'll start in verse 1

because it's just sort of a continuation.

Hebrews 1.1

Long ago, at many times

and in many ways,

God spoke to our fathers

by the prophets.

But in these last days,

He has spoken to us

by His Son,

whom He appointed

the heir of all things,

through whom also

He created the world.

He is the radiance

of the glory of God

and the exact imprint

of His nature,

and He upholds the universe

by the word of His power.

And after making purifications

for sins,

He sat down

at the right hand

of the Majesty on high.

Having become

as much superior

to angels

as the name

He has inherited

is more excellent

than theirs.

For to which of God's angels

did God ever say,

You are my Son,

today I have begotten you?

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 of God's angels

worship Him.

Of the angels,

He says,

He makes His angels

winds

and His ministers

a flame of fire.

But of the sun,

He says,

Your throne,

O God,

is forever and ever.

The scepter

of uprightness

is the scepter

of Your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness

and hated wickedness,

and therefore,

God,

Your God,

has anointed You

with the oil of gladness

beyond Your companions.

And You,

Lord,

laid the foundation

of the earth

and the beginning

of the heavens

are the work

of Your hands.

And they will perish,

but You will remain.

They will wear out

like a garment,

like a robe.

You will roll them up

like a garment.

They will be changed,

but You are the same.

And Your years

will have no end.

And to which

of the angels

He has ever said,

Sit in My right hand

until I make

Your enemies

a footstool

for Your feet?

Are they not

all ministering spirits

sent out

to serve those

for the sake of

those who inherit salvation?

So,

in our text today,

the writer of Hebrews,

whether it was Paul

or Apollos

or someone else,

is addressing

an issue

that was going on

at this time,

but a lot of

angelic confusion

both then and now

in a lot of ways.

So,

we're talking about

angels today.

But we're also

talking about

Christ's superiority

and His ability

to rule over angels.

angels,

and most of us

would probably

think about

angels as

protector,

guides.

Children may

think of them

as some

angelic,

imaginary friend

that they may have.

All sorts of things,

but in this time,

there was a

dangerous teaching

that was kind of

a mixture of

local Jewish

folklore

and paganism

central to the idea

that angels

could come to you

and help protect you

from evil spirits.

So,

they would wear

amulets and other

things just as

protection from

evil spirits.

And an old

ancient

amulet that was

worn around the

neck around this

time says

on the inscription,

Michael,

Gabriel,

Raphael,

protect the one

who wears this.

Flee,

O hated one,

Solomon pursues you.

So,

this

superstition,

I guess,

around angels

that they were

somehow protectors

against evil spirits

in a paganistic

kind of way.

And,

as we know

very well,

if you know

some of this stuff,

but a lot of

the world's

false religions

and cults

have been started

by someone

who said

they had an

angelic encounter

and they were

given certain

things to

follow.

So,

in Islam,

Muhammad claimed

an angel

appeared to him

showing him

the true

and new way.

In Mormonism,

Joseph Smith

claiming to receive

revelations from

the angel Moroni

and God the Father

and Jesus the Son.

So,

we need to be aware

that this kind

of stuff is real,

but are they

really from God

or are they

from the enemy?

There's a lot

of warnings

about having

misunderstandings

about angels.

examples.

For example,

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 2:13

chapter 2

verse 13,

for such men

are false

apostles,

deceitful workmen,

disguising themselves

as apostles of

Christ.

And no wonder,

for even Satan

disguises himself

as an angel

of light.

So it is no

surprise if his

servants also

disguise themselves

as servants

of righteousness.

righteousness.

We all know

the famous

Galatians chapter

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

1,

but even if we

or an angel

from heaven

should preach

to you

a gospel

contrary to

the one we

preach to you,

let him be

accursed.

So isn't that

crazy that some

of these world

religions and

cults were

started by this

very thing that

they had just

read and been

aware,

be warned.

but it goes

on even like

our modern

day perception

of angels

as these

sweet and

docile creatures

that kind of

come and

hang out with

us.

A lot of

that is kind

of depicted

in western

art and

statues and

other things.

But as we

know,

the famous

screw tape

letters were

as a fictional

work of one

demon instructing

another demon on

how he ought to

act around

humans.

And regardless

to angels,

he said that

the depiction

of these angels

was more of

a soft,

not powerful

kind of

creature.

And he says,

finally,

the soft,

slim,

girlish,

and angels

of the 19th

century art

shape so

feminine that

they avoid

being voluptuous

only by their

total insipidity.

Big word there.

The frigid

auras of

teton table

paradise.

They are

pernicious

symbol.

In the

scripture,

the visitation

of an angel

always is

alarming and

has to begin

by saying,

fear not.

But the

Victorian angels

look as if

they're going

to say,

they're there.

angels.

So,

we have all

kinds of

different ideas

of angels,

but I'm

really thankful

that I had

a chance

to study

this more

in depth

because it

was a good

reminder for

me.

It was such

a good

reminder.

One of my

close brothers

has more

of a

Pentecostal

background,

and he a

long time

ago said,

I feel like

the people

in the

reform camp

overthink

everything and

are too

academic,

and I had

the other

response of

like,

well,

I think

the R2,

you know,

not as

academic and

not so

right on,

but he is

a true

brother,

but he

always just

reminded me

like,

look,

we live

in a

spiritual

realm.

There are

spiritual

realities

that I

feel like

you just

can't put

in the

natural

world,

and you

have to

like,

so he

was always

challenging

me in

that area,

and I'm

really

thankful.

But a

few things

just to

kind of

look at

before we

start.

unpacking

the text

just about

angels and

generals and

things to

kind of hang

your hat on,

I guess,

is a

definition of

what is an

angel.

Created

spiritual

beings with

moral judgment,

high intelligence,

possessing great

power,

and yet without

physical bodies.

Sort of a

safe definition

without getting

into all the

other deals.

those are

also referred

to throughout

scripture as

the holy

ones,

spirits,

watchers,

thrones,

dominions,

principalities.

And we

know there

are several

types of

angelic

beings kind

of singled

out in

scripture.

A

cherubim

who were

given the

task of

guarding the

entrance of

the garden

of Eden

in Genesis

3.

They accompany and serve God as he goes about, Psalm 18.

Then we know the seraphim, some of my favorite ones to think about from the encounter of Isaiah 6,

the flaming ones who have six wings and whose voices shake the foundations that you're standing on, praising God.

We know that they have rank and order.

Michael was called the archangel in Jude 9.

He's also called the chief of princes in Daniel 10 and a warrior and leader of the angelic host.

In Revelation 12, verse 7, it says,

Revelation 12:7

Now a war arose in heaven, and Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon,

and the dragon and his angels fought back.

But he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

So we don't really think about that kind of stuff.

We tend to just make our faith about right here.

But there is an eternal and unseen realm that the Scripture screams at us if we would just pay attention.

And so we at least know there are four functions of angels that we see in Scripture.

I'll give you the four.

There could be more, but I think this summarizes pretty well.

Angels continuously worship and praise the God they serve.

Angels continually worship and praise the God they serve.

Nehemiah chapter 9.

Nehemiah 9 · chapter mention

You are the Lord, you alone.

You made the heavens and the heaven of heavens with all their hosts,

the earth and all that is in it, the seas and all that is in them.

You preserve all of them, and the host of heaven worships you.

So, very majestic language, angels.

The second function, angels minister to believers.

They serve and help and minister to children of God, those who are in Christ.

Psalm 34, verse 7,

Psalms 34:7

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them.

Angels, thirdly, communicate God's message to man.

We see this a lot.

Gabriel visiting Mary, a lot of other messenger angels.

And then, fourthly, angels will be given the task with carrying out God's final earthly judgments

and ushering in the second coming of Christ.

It says in 2 Thessalonians, Paul writes,

God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you

and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us.

When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,

inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God

and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

So, it's awesome what angels are.

I think most of us would just tend to dismiss the idea.

I've never really had much conversation with people about an angelic host.

But as powerful as they are,

the writer of Hebrews is trying to say that

Jesus is superior.

He is greater.

He's more powerful.

The angels serve and worship Him.

As we've been reading in the first few verses there,

He is superior.

And the word is kind of used of more advantageous, more excellent,

far surpassing is Jesus,

the Son of God than the angelic host.

So, a writer uses Scripture from the Old Testament to prove what he's saying.

He's pointing back and saying,

this is why Jesus is superior to angels.

So, I have four.

Nope, five of them.

I was going to combine two, but just for sake of clarity,

we have five.

Five reasons why Jesus is deemed far superior to angels.

First off, Christ's superior name.

Christ's superior name.

If you look at verse 4 in Hebrews,

having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

you are my son, today I have begotten you.

Or again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son.

So, in the ancient mind, obviously, names were a lot more important than they are now.

They represent a person's character, their ability, their mission,

especially when that name was given to them by God.

And Jesus Christ, you know, we know that means to save the Savior, the Messiah, the Anointed One.

But here, he says,

God never looked at any of his angels and said,

you are my son, today I have begotten you.

Capital S, if you would.

Jesus possessed the name of son from all eternity,

and he will always retain that name.

The perfect tense of the phrase,

name has inherited,

it indicates that he will always keep that name.

No angel was ever created by God and called a son.

And so, just so you know, another reference to angels,

they're referred to as the sons of God in Job 1.6,

but the high title and name given to the son is different.

He uses Psalm 2 here, which is a well-known messianic psalm,

a picture of the Messiah,

to which the Jews understood, at least in their minds,

to be one day fulfilled in a descendant of King David.

But the heart of the psalm is fulfilled in the reign of Jesus,

Yahweh's son, the Anointed King,

both in the present and the future, Zion.

So the phrase, though Jesus always existed as God's son,

it says, today I have begotten you.

It could be kind of expressed this way,

without butchering the language.

God has begotten the already living son.

If you would, today.

Indicates Jesus was born at a certain point in time in our world,

and he lived here among us in the incarnation.

But in Romans 1, 1 through 5,

this is further proof of this.

Paul is referring to this idea of Psalm 2.

And he says,

The gospel of God was promised beforehand through his prophets

in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son,

who was descended from David according to the flesh,

and was declared to be the son of God in power,

according to the spirit of holiness,

by his resurrection from the dead.

So he uses that.

Today I have begotten you.

You are my son.

And then he also uses, in the second part of, I mean, in verse 5,

he quotes from 2 Samuel chapter 7,

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

which is another strong messianic passage,

commonly known as the Davidic covenant,

where God makes a covenant with David and his descendants.

But the prophet Nathan told David after his death

that he would have a son,

a covenant heir that would build a house of God

and would establish a throne that would last forever.

But a lot of people would say,

Wasn't that Solomon?

But the problem was,

Solomon sinned greatly in the eyes of the Lord

and was not the fulfillment of that prophecy.

His throne was not established forever.

As we know.

So the promise can really only be fulfilled

by the one God designates as his son

that will be established forevermore.

So both Psalm 2 and 2 Samuel 7

are tied together in this idea.

So when the angelic host visited Mary in Luke 1,

Gabriel, right?

He said,

He will be great,

and he will be called the Son of the Most High,

and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,

and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

And of his kingdom there will be no end.

A direct fulfillment of Psalm 2.

This poetic expression of Jesus has a higher name,

a higher status,

a higher title than any angel could ever have.

And it was echoed, right, at his baptism.

This is my beloved son.

The transfiguration, the same thing.

So Jesus is superior in his name,

his title over angels.

Secondly,

he goes on to argue that Christ's superior honor,

Christ's superior honor,

which we kind of see in verse 6.

And again,

when he brings the firstborn into the world,

he says,

let all God's angels worship him.

So this next argument is saying,

Jesus is worshiped and adored and feared by angels.

Again, Nathan explained this last week,

but the phrase firstborn is not implying that Jesus was created,

but the word just really denotes prominence of position,

of title,

using the rights,

the privileges that were given to the firstborn,

particularly the son of the king.

So it's in relationship to his status and of high rank.

He is a image of the invisible God,

the firstborn of all creation,

Paul said,

Colossians 1.

So where he cites,

let all God's angels worship him.

He's using the Greek translation of the Hebrew

from Psalm 97, verse 7,

Psalms 97:7

or Deuteronomy 32.

It can be said that,

think about Jesus' life,

and when he walked on this earth,

when he came into the world,

he was worshiped, right,

by an angelic host that ushered in his coming to this world in Luke 2.

Think of some others.

During his temptation,

after he survived in the wilderness,

the temptation of the enemy,

it says that angels ministered to him after that.

And in the darkness of Gethsemane,

before his crucifixion,

it says that God sent an angel to stand and strengthen him,

to encourage him,

to help him remember, right?

So we know that Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature,

which we read in verse 3.

So the chief employment of angels is to worship and praise God,

and so they're doing that with the Son,

who is that exact imprint.

Only God is worthy of worship, right?

We know examples in Scripture where an angel appears to someone,

and someone falls down,

and they say,

Get up!

I am not God.

Do not worship me.

So angels will worship,

fear, love, and revere the invincible Son of God.

A proof text, Revelation 5,

we all know that.

The living creatures and the angels,

myriads of myriads,

thousands of thousands,

saying with a loud voice,

Worthy is the Lamb,

who was slain,

to receive power, wealth, and wisdom,

and might, and honor,

and glory, and blessing.

So we know that.

That's Revelation 5, 11 through 13.

For sake of time,

just a proof text there.

But thirdly,

thirdly,

Christ's superior status

over angels.

See this in verse 7.

Writer says,

Of the angels,

he says,

He makes His angels winds,

His ministers a flame of fire.

But of the sun,

he says,

Your throne, O God,

is forever and ever.

The scepter of uprightness

is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness

and hated wickedness.

Therefore,

God,

your God,

has anointed you

with the oil of gladness

beyond your companions.

So His status,

He has a higher

status.

Here's the simple comparison.

Angels are servants.

Jesus is the sovereign.

The angels are servants.

Jesus is the sovereign.

And again,

he quotes from two passages.

Psalm 104,

which speaks about

God being the all-powerful creator

and sustainer of things,

which is also mentioned

earlier in Hebrews.

And it's even implying

that this is understood

that the splendor of angels

comes from God's creative hand.

The sun employs His angels

as heavenly ministers

to carry out His will.

And we see that,

right,

in Scripture.

Winds,

fire,

thunder,

lightning,

which He carries out

His decrees

and judgments

on the earth.

John Owen said

this is a picture

of their power

and powerful,

effective,

agile,

and swift

in carrying out

God's will.

Then he quotes

Psalm 45,

Psalms 45:6

verses 6 and 7.

And this is a psalm

that is extolling

the Davidic king,

which only Jesus,

as the Davidic Messiah,

truly meets the description for.

And break this down

in three different ways here.

And then Psalm 45,

6 through 7,

that he's quoting.

But it describes

the king's throne,

his scepter,

and his anointing.

His throne implies

that his rule

will never come to an end

as he sits

at the right hand

of the Father.

His scepter,

a symbol of power

and authority

where he executes

righteousness.

And his anointing

with the oil of joy

or gladness,

the joy of

the heavenly king,

the joy

that was set

before him

that he knew

he would receive

at the Father's right hand.

So,

they are.

Angels are great.

They're splendid.

They're majestic.

They're powerful

beyond our wildest dreams.

But they are

not

greater

than the Son.

They are servants

of the Son.

and they tremble

before him.

Fourthly,

Christ's

superior

existence.

Christ's

superior existence.

Seen in verses

10-12.

And you,

Lord,

lay the foundation

of the earth

in the beginning

and the heavens

are the work

of your hands.

They will perish

but you remain.

They will all wear out

like a garment.

Like a robe,

you will roll them up.

Like a garment,

they will be changed.

But you are the same

and your years

will have no end.

Now,

it's saying that

angels were created

things.

Christ has

always existed.

He has always existed

and he will always

exist.

He will never

change

this idea

of being

immutable,

eternal.

Christ has a superior

existence

to angels.

He will,

saying here,

that all creation

will be

unmade

and remade

one day

but God

and his son

remain the same

and are unchanged.

We all know that

to be true

about this world.

Everything around us

is falling apart.

The creation

is groaning

but we know

that it will be

renewed one day.

Everything around us

is changed

but Jesus remains

the same

today,

yesterday

and forever.

Fifthly

and lastly

some other things

we'll look at

in a second

but

if we look at

our text

verse 13 and 14

we see Christ's

superior

vocation

or his

work.

What does he do?

And to which

of the angels

has ever said

sit at my right hand

until I make

your enemies

a footstool

for your feet.

And are they not

all ministering

spirits

sent out to serve

for the sake

of those

who inherit

salvation?

So

Christ rules

and angels

serve.

It's kind of a

connection to

their status.

It's like

what does the king

do?

He rules.

What do angels

do?

They serve.

So this is getting

into their function

and

there's a lot

to consider here

but one of my

favorite psalms

as of late

the last few

years

has become

Psalm 110.

Have any of you

ever really studied

Psalm 110?

How many books

have been written

about Psalm 110?

Not many.

One of those

forgotten ones

but

it's quoted

in the New Testament

14 times.

It shows

that it's one

of the most

significant

Old Testament

passages

in the mind

of New Testament

writers

when it comes

to talking

about the Messiah.

And from

Psalm 110

you see this

idea of God

making Christ's

enemies a

footstool for

him.

And a cool

beautiful picture

of this custom

for a defeated

king to throw

himself down

prostrate before

the conquering

king.

And the sign

of submission.

And then the

victorious king

would put his

feet on top

of the

conquered king

forcing his

neck down to

the ground

basically saying

you're my

footstool.

I have

conquered you.

So John

Calvin's

commentary

on the

psalm he

says from

this psalm

from that

statement of

this making

his enemies

a footstool.

From this

let us learn

that however

numerous those

enemies may be

who conspire

against the

son of God

and attempt

the subversion

of his kingdom

all will be

unavailing

for they shall

never prevail

against God's

immutable purpose

but on the

contrary

they shall

by that

greatness of

his power

be laid

prostrate at

Christ's feet.

Amazing to

think about.

So a passage

I'd like for you

to turn to

is 2 Kings

2 Kings 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

I just

thought about

sharing one

of my

favorite

images of

angels

in scripture

but this is

a prophet

Elisha

not Elijah

but Elisha

2 Kings

2 Kings 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

and we can

look down

at verse 15

but just so

you know

the

Syrians

and others

are out to

destroy

the prophet

to take him

down

they're coming

against him

with

an army

and it says

that he's in

Dothan

that's not

Dothan

Alabama

but in

verse 15

we see this

so I want

you to just

think

which one

would you be

here

would you be

more like

his servant

or be more

like Elisha

in your

awareness of

a spiritual

realm

around you

verse 15

when the servant

of the man

of God

rose early

in the morning

he went

out

and behold

an army

with horses

and chariots

was all

around the

city

and the servant

said

alas

my master

what shall

we do

he said

do not

be afraid

for those

who are

with us

are more

than those

who are

with them

then

Elisha

prayed

and said

oh lord

please

open his

eyes

that he

may not

that he

may see

excuse me

that he

may see

so the

lord

opened the

eyes

of the

young

man

and he

saw

and behold

the mountain

was full

of horses

and chariots

of fire

all around

Elisha

and when

the syrians

came down

against him

Elisha

prayed to

the lord

and said

please

strike

this

people

with

blindness

so he

struck

them

with

blindness

in

accordance

with the

prayer

of

Elisha

what a

what a

picture

so

you always

have to be

careful

when you

do this

but

are you

tempted

just to

think

that's

the

scripture

that's

the

scripture

well

I'm sure

many of us

are aware

of very

similar

stories

in the

history

of the

church

outside

of just

the

scripture

where the

same

thing

happened

I was

going to

read you

a couple

so all

of us

are aware

of

good old

John

Patton

the old

Scotsman

missionary

went to

the

cannibals

and they

said

you'll

be eaten

by

cannibals

you'll

be

consumed

if you

go and

try to

share

the

gospel

with

these

people

but

I'll

refrain

from

quoting

what he

said

back

but

you know

the giggles

tell me

I'll know

what he

said

but while

he was

in the

New

Hebrides

the

headhunters

the

cannibals

were

all

around

and they

were

very

intent

on

taking

his

life

and

that

of

his

wife

and

they

were

in a

hut

they

could

hear

the

cries

and

screams

of the

natives

all

around

them

coming

toward

them

and so

they shut

the door

and began

to pray

just for

God's

intervention

for

protection

and

here's

kind of what

happened

on that

dark night

a Scottish

missionary

and a couple

found themselves

surrounded by

cannibals

intent on

taking their

lives

the

terror

filled

the

night

they

fell

on

their

knees

and

prayed

that

God

would

protect

them

intermittent

with their

prayers

the

missionaries

heard the cries

of the

savages

and expected

them to come

to the door

at any

moment

but as the

sun began to

rise to their

astonishment

they found

that the natives

were retreating

into the forest

the couple's

heart soared

to God

and it was a

day of rejoicing

the missionaries

bravely continued

their work

but about a year

later a

chieftain from

that tribe

was converted

as the

missionary

spoke with

him

he remembered

the horror

of that

night

he asked

the

chieftain

why he

and his

men did

not kill

them

and the

chief

replied

who are

those men

who are

with you

the missionary

answered

why there

was there

were no

men

with me

there was

just me

and my

wife

and the

chieftain

began to

argue

with him

saying

no

there were

hundreds

of tall

men

shining

garments

with drawn

swords

circling

about your

house

so we

couldn't

attack

you

we ran

back into

the jungle

it's good

stuff

I'm going

to read

you one

more

there was

a

in east

africa

back in

the 1950s

there was

an uprising

of a

tribe

very hostile

tribe

and they

went to

a nearby

village

that had

around

300 men

women

and children

and they

killed all

of them

slaughtered

the entire

village

mainly

because they

were

Christians

or known

to be

but there

was an

academy

nearby

the

Rift Valley

Academy

was kind

of a

private

school

for missionary

children

to go

and stay

kind of

like

black

forest

would be

in

Germany

and they

knew

that this

tribe

was coming

that way

they could

hear them

shouting

battle

cries

had

all

kind

of

weapons

and

torches

and they

they came

around the

school

and this

is what

you read

in the

darkness

slighted

torches

were seen

coming

toward the

school

soon

there was

a complete

ring of

terrorists

around the

academy

cutting off

all avenue

of escape

shouts

and curses

could be

heard

coming from

the

mamas

which is

the

tribe

they

began

to

advance

on

the

school

tightening

the

circle

shouting

louder

and louder

coming

closer

and then

unexpectedly

when they

were close

enough

to throw

spears

they

stopped

they

began

yelling

and

retreating

running

back

into

the

jungle

the

army

eventually

was called

out

and

captured

this

band

of

raiders

later

at

their

trial

their

leader

was

called

to

witness

and the

judge

questioned

him

on

this

particular

night

did

you

kill

the

inhabitants

of

lorry

which

is

that

village

and

he

said

yes

we

we

did

we

killed

them

all

and

then

the

judge

said

well

why

did

you

not

go

on

to

complete

your

mission

like

why

didn't

you

attack

the

school

the

missionary

school

and

the

leader

of

the

mamas

answered

we

were

on

our

way

to

attack

and

destroy

them

as

well

the

between

us

and

the

school

there

were

huge

men

dressed

in

white

with

flaming

swords

we

became

afraid

and

we

ran

and

we

hid

going

on

there's

just be

aware

right

this

isn't

just

fairy

tale

this

isn't

just

the

hobbit

more

the

rings

this

is

even

better

right

reality

spiritual

realities

around

us

a

scripture

that

has

probably

been

abused

a

little

bit

Hebrews

Hebrews 13:2

13

verse

2

says

you

don't

neglect

to show

hospitality

to

strangers

for

thereby

some

have

entertained

angels

unawares

meaning

that

they

may

be

around

us

and

you

don't

know

a

story

precious

to

me

a

long

time

ago

my

mom

was

I

think

three

or

four

years

old

living

toward

Marble

Hill

direction

Nelson

Georgia

which

is a

lot

more

rural

than

than

now

but

my

grandmother

who's

one of

the most

God

fearing

women

I

know

they're

riding