Hebrews 1:5-14

Would you open up your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 1, it's on page 1187 of your pew Bible.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

I'm going to read through 5 through 14, but I'm going to start in verse 4.

Hear God's Word.

Regarding the Son, 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.

And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, He says, let all God's angels worship

Him.

Of the angels, He says, He makes His angels' winds, His ministers a flame of fire.

But of the Son, 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.

And you, Lord, referring to the Son, you, Lord, laid 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.

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?

Are they, the angels, not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those

who are to inherit salvation?

May God bless the hearing of His word.

I have an iPhone, a smartphone, I'm guessing you do too.

And it runs an operating system.

And that operating system, it runs all the software hardware and all the applications.

That operating system in your smartphone is the controlling center of your smartphone.

And just like a smartphone, every human being has a central operating system, a controlling

center that governs all that we do.

Prior to becoming a Christian, everyone has one of two operating systems.

You're running one of these two.

It's either hedonism, which is also known as lawlessness.

It's a person who's being ruled by their passions and desires.

Whether that's something sexual or something you just have a passion to shop to, you drop.

A passion to please people, it rules you.

It's a man-centered operating system.

There's no life in it.

It's a brutal taskmaster.

The other side, if it's not hedonism, it's legalism.

And if hedonism is a lawlessness, legalism is a lawfulness, but not in a good sense.

It's when a person who is being ruled by keeping rules,

they have the sense that their security and that their acceptance is dependent on their ability

to keep rules, to keep in between the lines.

If you're a perfectionist, chances are you're a legalist.

It's another man-centered operating system.

So whether you're a hedonist or a legalist, you know what you have in common.

You have in common, you are the controlling center of your life.

And that's what the gospel calls us out of.

The gospel gives us a new operating system.

It's the good news of Jesus Christ as the controlling center of your life.

Because he is life.

It's the son OS.

The Jesus operating system.

And once you start living with Jesus as the controlling center of your life,

there's just no going back.

Hedonism, legalism, it just doesn't have it anymore.

You've been set free.

Don't go back.

Don't go back.

But, we are prone to wander.

In 1758, a 22-year-old young man named Robert Robinson penned,

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.

Prone to wander.

Lord, I feel it.

Prone to leave the God I love.

Prone to drift from the God I love.

Christians, the blood-bought, called out of these idolatrous operating systems,

we tend to drift back to them.

The book of Hebrews was originally written to a church.

And they had suffered for Christ.

And they had become spiritually dull to Christ.

And with that, they were starting to stray back into a religious legalism.

They were so familiar with Judaism, they wanted to go back.

There were just rules.

It was safe, or so they thought.

But the old covenant that was mediated by angels,

there's no salvation in it.

There's no Christ in it.

Maybe you're not tempted to go back to Jewish sacrificial systems and strict dietary laws.

But you're definitely tempted to drift back to pleasure-seeking or rule-following.

The book of Hebrews is one long exhortation to hold fast to God's exalted Son,

who is high and lifted up on His throne.

Hold fast to Him.

Don't drift to the things you've been called out of.

Jesus is greater.

Greater than any other operating system.

And what we have before us this morning, verses 5 through 14,

is an argument.

You can look at it in your Bibles.

Do you see all the Old Testament quotes?

There are seven.

One scholar calls it a chain quotation.

One after the other.

And what you're going to see is there's actually a little bit more nuance.

They're set up in pairs.

Verse 5, there's a pairing.

Verses 6 through 7, there's a pairing.

Verses 8 through 12, there's a big pairing.

And verse 13, a stand-alone finale of the whole passage.

And it's there to show you that Jesus is greater than the angels.

Don't drift from Him.

Don't go back to the old ways.

Hold fast to Him.

So let's walk through this.

Let's start with the first pair.

It's in verse 5 of chapter 1.

And don't forget, verse 5 is following verse 4,

where we've been introduced to this son who is superior to the angels

because he has a name that is more excellent than theirs.

It's the name son, the title son.

What is beautiful about this passage is that it takes all these seven Old Testament quotes

and the author is going to convince you that this son is none other than Jesus.

So let's look at this first pair.

It starts with a quote from Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

You are my son, today I have begotten you.

That's Psalm chapter 2, verse 7.

Psalms 2:7

And if you're not familiar with Psalm 2, it's about the coming king, a Messiah, the Messiah of God.

The nations rule, the nations rage against God.

But as John read, just to start the service, God's in heaven.

He laughs.

And he is going to set up a king who will be enthroned in Zion.

And what you're going to learn from Hebrews, it's the heavenly Jerusalem.

Verse 7, I will tell the decree, the Lord said to me,

You are my son, today I have begotten you.

Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage.

When you hear the word begotten,

that might make you a little uncomfortable.

Because when we talk about begottenness,

we typically talk about it in terms of biological conception or birth.

Not in chapter 2, not Psalm 2.

Psalm 2 is talking about this begottenness.

Today, today you're my son, I've begotten you.

It's the day that God sets his Messiah on his throne in Zion.

It's an enthronement moment.

He's been appointed.

And in the New Testament, that moment of appointment

is when Jesus is, after his crucifixion,

he's raised from the dead, he ascends to high

and he sits at the right hand of God.

Enthroned.

What we have going on in chapter 2

is this introduction of the son

as being a king enthroned.

And he's been given a worldwide dominion.

The second of the pair,

the second in this Old Testament quotation chain

is 2 Samuel 7, 14.

It says,

Or again, I will be to him a father

and he shall be to me a son.

2 Samuel 7,

if you're not familiar with it,

it's when God makes a covenant with David.

And he says to David,

David, I am going to raise up

someone from your line

who will sit and reign from your throne forever.

It wasn't Solomon.

It's Jesus,

David's greater son.

2 Samuel 7, 13, 14, read this.

He shall build a house for my name.

And Les is going to preach on this in a couple weeks.

The Messiah is building a house.

And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be to him a father

and he shall be to me a son.

And so again, you have this kingdom, kingship.

You have a throne,

but here it's being kind of connected to David

from the line of David.

It's the Messiah that's going to come.

It's one from David's line

who will be established on God's throne

and he will establish a forever kingdom

that has worldwide dominion.

What these two Old Testament quotes

have in common is the word son.

You are my son.

Today I begotten you.

I will be to him a father

and he shall be to me a son.

What the argument is,

is hey, Jesus is greater than the angels

because God has never called an angel

this son, the Messiah,

sits on the throne.

Do you know who Charles III of England is?

Real question.

Do you know who Charles III of England is?

Let me maybe introduce him.

He's over 50 years old.

I'm over 50 years old.

He's 5'10".

I'm 5'9 1⁄2".

You can just say I'm 5'10".

He speaks English.

I speak English.

He speaks British English.

I speak American English.

Still English.

He loves polo.

I could probably get into polo

if they have good snacks.

The major difference between

Charles III of England

and yours truly of Kenosha

is King Charles

is the enthroned king of Britain.

I am not.

And what the author of Hebrews is doing here

is he's showing us

that the son is greater than the angels

because he is right now

the enthroned king of all.

I'm not.

You're not.

There's no angel that is.

So the argument will go

through the book of Hebrews is

why would you go back?

Why would you go back

to the law of the old covenant

mediated by angels

who are lesser than the son?

No.

Hold fast to the son.

Hold fast to the one

who's established a new covenant

by his blood

and is now exalted

seated on his throne.

Don't go back

to old operating systems.

Your old hedonism

or your old legalism

that there's no life in them.

They don't sit on the throne.

There's no Christ in them.

In Psalm 2,

Psalms 2:12

verse 12,

the psalmist lands that psalm

by telling of the kings of the time

to kiss the son,

to pay homage to him,

to affectionately

declare loyalty to him,

to come under his reign,

to delightedly

bow your knee

to this son.

And that's true for all of us.

Hey, brother, sister in Christ,

did you kiss the son this morning?

Did you declare your loyalty to him?

He's on his throne.

So this first pair

is dealing with the son.

Now the second pair of quotations,

third and fourth

on the quotation chain,

the focus shifts.

And again,

when he brings his firstborn

into the world,

he says,

let all God's angels worship him.

Of the angels,

he says,

he makes his angels wins

and his ministers a flame of fire.

So this next pair

of Old Testament quotes

shifts from focusing on the son

to focusing on angels

in order to help us

see the relationship

between the son and angels.

The first quote

is from Deuteronomy 32, 43,

and it's dealing with worship.

By the way,

as you look at verse 6,

and again,

when he brings the firstborn

into the world,

the firstborn is another way

of talking about the son.

And it might throw you

a little bit

because you hear firstborn

and you think in terms of

birth order,

that's not how it's being used here.

Psalm 89, 27

talks about the firstborn,

but it's talking about David

as the king of Israel.

Does anybody know

where David fell

in the birth order

with Jesse, his father?

Number eight.

But he's described

as the firstborn

in Psalm 89.

He's the king

who reigns over all.

And again,

when he brings

the firstborn son,

the king,

into the world,

that could be his incarnation,

that could be his return.

I think it's probably

talking about his exaltation.

He says,

let all God's angels

worship him.

The author of Hebrews

is saying,

when he was exalted,

all of God's angels,

when he took his place

on the throne,

there was a roar in glory.

All of the angels

worshiped him.

You've got to get

the relationship straight.

the firstborn

isn't worshiping

the angels.

The angels

are worshiping

the firstborn.

That's why

he's greater than them.

He's worshiped

by them.

The second quote

is from

Psalm 104,

Psalms 104:4

verse 4.

And of the angels,

he says,

he makes his angels

winds

and his ministers

a flame of fire

where the

Deuteronomy 32 quote

talks about worship.

This is talking

about service.

A minister,

his ministers

is talking about

serving

this exalted

king.

He makes

his angels.

He's the creator

of them

to be his servants.

If you look

at verse 14

at the end

of chapter 1,

speaking of the

angels,

are they not

all ministering

spirits

sent out

to serve

for the sake

of those

who are to

inherit salvation?

You see,

the Son,

who is also

the creator,

created the angels

to serve

his glorious

salvific

purposes.

The Son

doesn't serve

the angels.

The angels

serve the Son.

Do you remember

in Matthew

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4,

Jesus is

in the wilderness,

is tempted

by the devil,

and Jesus

does what

the first Adam

could not do.

He resists

the temptations.

He holds

to God's word,

and after

40 days of

fasting,

after these

temptations

by the devil,

do you know

what you read

in chapter 11?

The angels

came to him

in the wilderness,

and they

ministered to him.

They served

him.

These two

Old Testament

quotes are

making it

clear just

exactly what

is the

relationship

between the

Son and

the angels,

and they

worship him,

and they

serve him,

because he's

greater than

them.

Now,

in Revelation

Revelation 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22,

this is not

the only

account of

something like

this in

your Bible.

We read

this in

verses 8 and

9.

I, John,

am the one

who heard

and saw

these things,

and when I

heard and saw

them, I fell

down to

worship at

the feet of

the angel

who showed

them to

me.

What is

that angel

going to

do?

But he,

the angel,

said to me,

you must not

do that.

I'm a

fellow servant

with you and

your brothers

and the

prophets, and

with those who

keep the words

of this book,

worship God.

If you went

into the

heavenly throne

room right

now, and you

started to bow

down and worship

the myriads of

angels in there,

they would all

tell you,

stop it!

Worship the

one on the

throne!

He's greater!

Now, maybe

you're sitting in

your pew and

you're like,

hmm, I don't

have a problem

with worshiping

angels.

This feels a

little irrelevant.

Okay?

What do you

worship in the

place of the

sun?

Maybe it's

not angels.

What is your

choice operating

system that you

drift back to?

What is the

idol that is

the default

controlling center

of your life?

If you

neglect the

sun, are

you a

pleasure

seeker?

If you

neglect the

sun, are

you a rule

keeper?

Thinking that

life is in

either of those?

Thinking that

salvation is in

either of those?

Jesus is in

neither of those.

the king is not

there.

The sun is

greater than the

angels.

He's greater than

your pleasure

seeking.

He's greater than

your rule

keeping.

He's greater than

you.

Don't drift from

the sun.

kiss the

sun.

Hold fast

to him.

Which now

brings me to

the third pair

of Old Testament

quotes.

Number five and

six on this

quotation chain.

And we shift

back to the

sun.

Now, I just

want you to

notice something.

If you're

looking at your

Bible right now,

the first two

pairs, they're

just single

quotes.

These next two

pairs, they're

expansions.

It's because the

argument's building.

It's because the

author wants you to

feel the weight of

who this sun is.

And where the

word sun,

it holds those

first two quotes

together.

And angels holds

the second two

quotes together.

What holds these

next two quotes,

these next two

psalms, are the

word you and

explicit claims of

divinity for the

sun.

Your throne, O

God, is forever

and ever.

You have loved

righteousness and

hated wickedness.

Verse 10, you,

Lord, lay the

foundation of the

earth in the

beginning.

This is building

to a climax.

This is building to

a finale.

And so, let's look

at each one of

them.

Verses 8 and 9 is

quoting Psalm 45,

6 and 7.

Again, it gets at

enthronement.

Your throne, O God,

is forever and

ever.

It's alluding back

to 1-3 where the

sun sat down at the

right hand of

majesty after making

purification.

salvation.

This throne is

forever and ever.

2 Samuel 7, 13, and

14.

The nature of this

reign of the sun

exalted on high.

Well, the scepter of

uprightness is the

scepter of your

kingdom.

A scepter was this

kind of fancy rod and

it was a symbol of a

king's authority and

reign.

And what this rod is

is a rod, it's a

scepter of uprightness.

It characterizes the

reign of the sun, his

rule and his authority.

In verse 9, you have

loved righteousness and

hated wickedness.

Do you know what this

means?

His reign is a holy

reign.

His kingdom is a

kingdom of saints.

The New Testament

speaks of Christians as

saints, as holy ones.

Christ.

Because our king holds a

scepter of uprightness.

He loves righteousness.

He hates wickedness.

And we're to love and

hate what he loves and

hates.

But the feature of Psalm

45 that stands out is

your throne, O God, is

forever and ever.

It's an explicit claim to

the sun being fully God,

totally God.

It goes back to what we

read last week in verse

3.

He, the sun, is the

radiance of the glory of

God and the exact imprint

of his nature.

This one on the throne,

this king who's exalted,

he's God.

God, there's no angel.

There's no angel called

that.

The second, the next pair

is in verses 10 through

12, and it's a quote from

Psalm 102, 25 through 27,

and it starts with you

referring to the sun.

Lord, you, Lord, laid the

foundations of the earth in

the beginning, and the

heavens are the work of your

hands.

And so now what's added is

that this sun is the

creator of all.

The earth, its foundations,

and the heavens.

This goes back to what we

read at the end of verse 2

last week.

Through whom also he created

the world.

He upholds the universe by

the word of his power.

He is the creator of all,

and he's sitting on the

throne.

He creates angels.

But there's more.

Look at verse 11.

Speaking of the earth and the

heavens, they will perish.

Look at the end of verse 12.

Your years will have no end.

Here's a contrast.

Between the temporary nature of

the heavens and the earth and

the everlasting to everlasting

nature of the sun on his

throne.

He's eternal.

But there's more.

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.

Unlike the created order that

will change, that will be

brought to a close and

recreated by this sun, this

sun does not change.

He is what theologians call

immutable.

Maybe you're familiar with

Hebrews 13.8.

Jesus Christ is the same

yesterday and today and

forever.

That's who the sun is.

Who would you rather have on

the throne?

Someone like yourself, who's

changing daily, or the

creator, who's eternal and

unchanging, life giver, and he

gave himself for you and me.

Jesus is greater.

He's greater than the angels.

He's greater than you and me.

What we see going on here in

this last pair of Psalm 45 and

102 is that this sun is greater

than the angels because he's the

king of an eternal kingdom

forever and ever.

He's the king of a holy kingdom,

scepter of uprightness.

He's exalted.

He's been anointed.

He's God's son, the creator,

eternal, unchanging.

He's got the whole world in his

hands.

Jesus.

What I find absolutely striking

about these Old Testament

passages is that they're all

being fulfilled in some way in

the sun.

Jesus.

Any football fans in the room?

A couple.

A couple.

During the Super Bowl, at some

point, I believe, there was a

quarterback comparison.

Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts,

yards passed, completion

percentages, TDs, interceptions,

QB ratings.

What this quotation chain does with

all these pairs is it's a

comparison between the sun and the

angels.

The sun is the creator.

The angels are the created.

The sun is to be worshipped.

The angels are the worshippers.

The king tells people what to do.

Angels serve.

This is the king on his throne.

He's God.

Angels aren't on the throne,

and they're not God.

This king made purification for our

sins.

Only he, in his eternal nature,

could bear all the fullness of God's

eternal wrath to forgive us of all

of our sin.

There is no angel that could have

done that.

there is no angel that could have

life in pleasure seeking.

There's a way to enjoy God's good

gift, but don't make an idol out of

it.

And rules serve a purpose, but man,

there's no life there.

There.

Don't drift back.

Fix your eyes on the one on the throne.

Hold fast to him.

Kiss the risen, exalted king.

And if you find yourself a little stuck,

you can always compare yourself to him.

He's the creator.

You're the creator.

You're the created.

He's the savior.

You need saving.

He's a life giver.

We're in constant need.

The last of the quotation chain,

number seven.

This is the finale.

Verse 13.

Can I just point something out?

For you nerds in the room.

In verse 13, it starts,

and to which of the angels has he ever

said?

Look at verse five.

For to which of the angels did God

ever say?

It's verbatim, virtually verbatim.

It's called an inclusio.

And what it is is a book-ended unit.

And what it is is it tells you this is

the beginning and the end of this

particular line of thought.

It's all to go together.

But what makes this last quote unique

is it stands alone.

And to which of the angels has he

ever said?

The other way to say that is

only of the son has he ever said

this.

Sit at my right hand until I make

your enemies a footstool for your

feet.

It's a quote of Psalm 10.1.

Did you know that Psalm 110 is the

most often quoted Old Testament

passage in the New Testament?

Over 20 times?

I think it's over 25 times.

In fact, Psalm 110.1 has already

been alluded to in verse 3.

He sat down at the right hand of

the majesty on high.

What the author is doing is he's

bringing together his argument.

This one on the throne.

This son.

God's king.

The creator.

Who's eternal.

Who's unchanging.

Savior of all.

He is on his throne right now.

All of these seven Old Testament

quotations are pointing to Jesus.

God's exalted son reigning on high.

Seated on his throne.

On my iPhone.

I have this really interesting

option to see where my daughter

and wife are at any given moment.

Technically, I can see where their

iPhones are at any given moment.

But you know what it does?

It assures me.

Oh, I know where they are.

Do you know what Psalm 110 is doing?

It's locating for us

where our king is

right now

to assure us

of who he is

and what he's doing.

So that we would draw near to him,

not drift from him.

King Jesus is on his throne

right now

reigning over all things.

All things have been put under his feet.

And he is reigning

as all things are being

subjected to him.

We'll look at that

in two weeks.

This past week,

I was

swapping texts

with a beloved brother

who has been waiting

to hear some

very significant news.

And at one point,

he texted me,

the Lord is on his throne.

It was both

focusing

and assuring

because our king Jesus

who's been raised

from the dead

is on a throne of grace.

His unchangingness,

his immutability

means his love

for you,

Christian,

doesn't change.

It's not dependent

on your obedience

or not.

He loves you

unconditionally.

An angel

is not

sitting on the throne

of David right now.

You

are not

sitting on the throne

of David right now.

There's no

pleasure

sitting

on the throne

of David right now.

There is no

rule

sitting

on the throne

of David

right now.

Our

risen

king

is sitting

on the throne

of David

right now.

And it is

to locate him

for our wandering

hearts.

It helps us

to see him,

to fix our eyes

on him.

He's totally

God,

totally man.

You know

what you do?

Kiss the sun.

I'm all

yours.

I will

follow you

anywhere.

I won't

drift to the

left or to the

right.

I will stay

on your

way

wholeheartedly

depending on

you because

you are my

risen and

reigning king.

It's what the

Old Testament

points us

all to.

And it also

means this.

You've got

some dethroning

to do,

I'm guessing.

Dethrone your

hedonism.

Dethrone your

legalism.

They're

idolatrous

counterfeits

to the one

true God

who is reigning

on the throne

right now.

The true

controlling center

of your life

who alone

brings fullness

of joy

and life

everlasting.

What hedonists

and legalists

don't remember

is their paths

that lead to

destruction.

There's no

life in them.

We find

grace to

endure

from the

throne

because of

the one

who sits

on it.

This

morning

locate him.

Fix your

eyes on him.

Do you

remember the

words of that

22-year-old

prone to

wander?

Lord, I feel

it.

Prone to

leave, drift

from the

God I love?

Don't go

back.

This

afternoon,

don't go

back.

This week

when things

get hard

and you

lose sight

of Jesus,

don't go

back.

No,

locate him

on his

throne.

Remember who

he is.

He's greater

than the

angels.

Fix your

eyes on

him.

Hold fast

to him.

Kiss the

son.

Hold fast

to him

and find

joy.

Joy in

enduring.

Joy in

being faithful

to him.

Joy in even

suffering for

him.

He's worth

it.

God in

heaven, we

are so

grateful that

Lord Jesus,

you are on

your throne.

When we

slept last

night, whether

it's for

eight hours or

three, you

were on your

throne.

No matter

what we're

facing this

week, whether

it is an

unknown or

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