From the Lesser to the Greater: The Structure of Hebrews and the Superiority of Jesus to the Angels (Hebrews 1:4-14)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Take hold of your Bible or the one in the pew

back there in front of you and open up to. The

book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter one. We started

a new sermon series just three Sundays ago on

this book, and we spent two Sundays on the first

three verses. Today we will look at verses four

through 14. Again, Hebrews is New Testament.

It's following the letters of Paul. just before

the book of James. And so would you give special

careful close attention to the reading of God's

holy word Hebrews 1 4 through 14. 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've 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 angels, 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

Oh 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

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 not

all ministering spirits? sent out to serve for

the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.

Friends, this is God's word. Let's pray. Blessed

Lord, who caused all of holy scripture to be

written for our learning, would you grant that

we may in some way hear these words, read them,

mark them, learn them. and inwardly digest them

that by patience and the comfort of your word

we may embrace and ever hold fast to the blessed

hope of everlasting life which you have given

us through Christ our Lord in whose name we do

pray amen. When I was about 10 I started playing

baseball and I loved it. And I hope you love

baseball, too. And that year, I played on my

first Little League baseball team, and we were

called the Angels after the California Angels.

Well, that was about 1994. And that same year,

a movie came out that you may have seen. It was

called Angels in the Outfield. And to this day,

Angels in the Outfield is still one of my favorite

baseball movies. And if you remember the premise

of the movie, there's a little boy named Roger.

Roger likes baseball too. But Roger is in foster

care because his father has given him over to

the state of California. His father has said

to him, I can't take care of you. And so Roger

comes under the care of a sweet older lady named

Maggie, the foster mother. And one day Roger's

dad comes to visit him. And Roger says something

to the effect of, Dad, when are we going to be

a family again? And his dad responds to him and

he says, the way I see it, when the angels win

the pennant. Now that might not mean a lot to

you, but you should know that in the movie the

angels are depicted as Being terrible they're

the worst baseball team in the league and so

what the dad is essentially saying to his father

is kid It's not happening. We're never gonna

be a family now you can understand how that would

impact a young boy and So that night he lies

down on his bed. He puts his head on his pillow,

and he doesn't know what to do He doesn't know

what he's doing, but he begins to pray. He doesn't

know how to pray, but he prays. And he prays

to be reunited with his dad, to be a family again.

And he prays along the lines, because again,

he's like 10 years old, just like me at that

time. He prays along the lines of what his father

has said to him. And so he prays. Again, this

is very fictitional. He prays for the angels

to win the pennant. in order that he and his

dad would be a family again. How does God respond

to that prayer? Again, in fiction, God sends

angels to play for the California Angels baseball

team, and suddenly the angels are there ministering

to the baseball players, and they can hit, and

they can throw, they can pitch, they can run,

they can field, and all of those things, and

they become very, very good. Now, We look at

that and we say, well, actually, when I say it,

it sounds kind of a silly premise. And indeed,

it's not theologically accurate. It's made by

Hollywood. And yet there is some truth in there

that God does send angels to minister and to

serve. Look at verse 14. Again, I'll read it.

Are they not all ministering spirits? Send out

to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit

salvation. What I want us to see today is two

functions of angels and they're created to do

more but just two functions of angels today.

One, angels were created to worship God and two,

angels were created to serve God. And yet at

the same time, as I say this, please hear me.

This passage is not firstly about angels. It

is about Christ. And so here's the main point.

Christ Jesus is the Son of God and the eternal

King. And just like the angels, we too are to

worship and serve. And really, this is kind of

the pattern of the book that we have seen and

that we will continue to see that Christ is superior.

Christ is preeminent. We've already seen that

Christ Jesus is the better word. He is the better

prophet, the better priest, the better king.

Christ we're going to see is greater than Moses.

Christ Jesus is greater than Joshua the high

priest. And yes, Christ is greater than the angels.

For as great as the angels of God are, be it

as ministering spirits or turning a double play,

Christ is greater. And verse four shows us where

this is going. Look there. Having become as much

superior to angels as the name he has inherited,

is more excellent than theirs. Christ has the

more excellent name. And we would all agree with

that. And perhaps this has something to do with

what the names of Christ mean. Christ, meaning

the anointed one that we're actually going to

see a little further down in the passage or Jesus,

meaning Yahweh saves. There is greatness in this

name. But at the same time, I actually think

the text wants us to see Christ and the name

being the Son of God, because that's where verse

five and verse six are going. This is referring

to His sonship. Christ has the more excellent

name because He is the Son of God, the Son of

the Father, and as such He is equal with the

Father in power and in glory, and therefore Christ

is to be worshiped. And so here we have that

function of the angels, that they are to worship

God, and they are to worship the Son. Look in

verse six. Let all God's angels worship Him.

What you're seeing in this portion of Hebrews

chapter one is that the writer of Hebrews is

taking you back to all sorts of Old Testament

scriptures. You can see all of them that is here.

But verse five and verse six especially seem

to be pointing to some texts like Deuteronomy

32 and Psalm 97, making it clear to us that the

angels were created to worship. That we are not

to worship the angels. The angels are the ones

who are doing worshiping. And I want to take

you to a text that's not recorded here, but I

think might help us to understand this point.

Isaiah chapter six. And I think some of you may

know at least portions of this text, Isaiah six,

one through three. It reads like this. In the

year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting

upon a throne high and lifted up. the train of

his robe filled the temple above him stood the

seraphim each had six wings with two he covered

his face and with two he covered his feet and

with two he flew and one called to another and

said holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the

whole earth is full of his glory And so what

are the seraphim, these angelic beings, what

are the seraphim doing in the passage? They are

worshiping God. R .C. Sproul comments here, they

are, as it were, the heavenly choir celebrating

the transcendent majesty of the creator by singing

of his splendor and saying, holy, holy, holy.

This should remind us of other places in which

we see holy holy holy written places like Revelation

4 and Revelation 5 if you were to study those

passages what you get and this is metaphorical

but God it's like God is opening up a window

whereby we can glimpse up into the heavens and

see his heavenly worship surrounded by angelic

beings Let me read some of this for you from

Revelation 4 and 5. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord

God Almighty who was and is and is to come. Worthy

is the lamb who was slain to receive power and

wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory

and blessing. And then down into chapter 5 verse

11, to him who sits on the throne and to the

lamb. be blessing and honor and might forever

and ever. The angelic host is worshipping the

lamb who is slain, which obviously is Jesus.

Yes, it's true, friends. Angels were created

to worship. And one day we too, united in faith

to Christ, will join that heavenly choir. But

we don't have to wait until then, do we? We don't

have to wait to worship God. We are doing it

right here and right now. It's such that every

time, every Lord's Day that we gather for worship,

we are preparing ourselves for our heavenly home.

Every time we sing a good hymn or a psalm, We

are preparing to join that heavenly choir. Every

time we take the Lord's Supper, we are preparing

for the marriage supper of the Lamb. And every

time that we read the Word, or we hear the Word

read, or we hear it preached, we are preparing

ourselves to meet the one who has called the

Word face to face. Every time we do what we are

doing right now, we are getting ready. for heaven.

You see, worship is not just something that you

do. Worship is who you are, and we are worshipers

of the one true God, the one who is holy, holy,

holy, and the one who is triune, like the angels

we have been created to worship. I hope that

you really thought about the lyrics of Holy,

Holy, Holy as we sang it. Verse two, all the

saints adore thee. You are the saints casting

down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.

Cherubim and Seraphim falling down before thee,

which work and art and evermore shall be. That

is you. And that is me and that is all of the

heavenly host worshiping Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit. And yet sometimes people forget who they

are worshiping. At times in the scriptures people

have fallen down, not before God, but before

angels to worship. And yet whenever you see somebody

bowing down before an angel in worship, you see

that angel saying, stop, don't do that. Revelation

19 10, then I, this being John, fell down at

his, his being the feet of an angel to worship

him. But he said to me, you must not do that.

I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers.

who hold to the testimony of Jesus, worship God.

The angels are not to be worshiped. The angels

are to worship, for they are special ministers.

They're ministers of the Son, but they are not

the Son. The angels are not God. And so look

at verse five. To which of the angels has God

ever said, today you are my son, I've begotten

you? To which of the angels has God ever said

that? The implied answer is obvious to none of

them. And yet we may wonder when it says today,

what does that mean? When did Christ become the

son of the father? When did Christ become worthy

of the worship of angels? Well, there's a simple

answer to that, always. Christ has always been,

and he's always been worthy of worship, but there

does seem to be an emphasis on when, that word

today or down into verse six, when he brings

the firstborn into the world. And so really,

when does Christ become worthy? He's always been,

but at what point does it become obvious? Well,

when it says firstborn, perhaps we are to think

here of the incarnation. What were the angels

doing when Christ was born? Well, they were the

ones who announced the birth, weren't they? And

they were the ones who are worshiping. And so

perhaps that's in play. However, I also think

that there's a little more going on here too.

That possibly this is looking beyond the incarnation.

This might be looking beyond the birth of Christ,

because actually as you see that scripture there

in verse 5, you are my son, today I've begotten

you, this comes from Psalm 2. Or the next one

comes from 2 Samuel 7. When the New Testament,

outside of this passage here, Hebrews, when the

New Testament uses these scriptures like in Acts

Acts 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13, it's actually talking about the resurrection,

and the ascension of Jesus. And those texts,

Old Testament texts, point to a forever king,

a king that could not be held by death or by

the grave, a king who ascended to the right hand

of the Father, where he now rules and reigns

forever. But he had to go through the cross,

didn't he? And verse eight shows us why, if you

look there. Eight and nine, 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. God loves

righteousness and hated wickedness, and therefore,

in order for us to have this righteousness, we

needed somebody else's. We needed the righteousness

of Christ. Because prior to our conversion, all

of our work, all of our efforts are like filthy

rags. We're totally depraved. And so we need

Christ's righteousness here because God loves

it and God hates wickedness. And yet God is a

just God and therefore all of sin had to be punished.

But Christ, to quote a commentator, holds out

that scepter in mercy and grace to his people,

declaring their pardon. the basis of his costly

sacrifice and so Christ Jesus goes through the

cross For us that we might have his righteousness

and You can see here that he going through all

of that is anointed with the oil of gladness

Look at verse 9 Therefore, God your God has anointed

you with the oil of gladness. This is quoting

from Psalm 45, which is actually a wedding song,

which might seem a curious song to choose here.

But the writer of Hebrews shows us that the full

interpretation of that song is Jesus, that he

is the anointed one. And if you keep looking

there in verse eight, that Christ Jesus is identified

as God. but also anointed by God. Your throne,

O God, this says. This is referring to Jesus'

throne. And so what are we really getting at

here? We are seeing the relationship of the Father

to the Son. Jesus is not a lesser God. He is

again equal in power and glory with the Father.

And so he is anointed as such. And if you kind

of know your ancient history, especially Israelite

history, you know that as new kings were established,

they were established by anointing. And so Christ

is anointed and he is the King of all time. But

also look at the end of verse 9. After it says

the oil of gladness, it says beyond your companions.

And so you might think, who are Jesus's companions

in this passage? Naturally, since I've been talking

about angels, you might think, well, this is

referring to angels, that the companions of Christ

are angels. I actually don't think, I actually

don't think that's what's going on. Because throughout

the book of Hebrews, you're actually going to

see this talk about believers as the brothers

of Christ. And so because that is true, I think

that actually what this is doing is talking about

you. It's talking about you as the companions

of Christ. It's talking about how Christ is our

brother and you are his brothers and his sisters.

You see, what Christ has secured for us among

many things is family. If you remember my opening

illustration about Roger, All he wanted was a

family. And that's what we get in Christ Jesus.

We are adopted into God's family. And I know

some of us have had difficult paths, difficult

families, difficult parents, difficult brothers,

difficult sisters. We have lost loved ones. What

we get in Christ Jesus is union with Him and

adoption into God's family. family. And friends,

as those who are united to Christ and in God's

family, we need to be about what Christ is about.

And Christ, according to this passage, is all

about uprightness and righteousness, and he hates

wickedness. And so does that characterize who

we are? Remember, the angels are sent to serve.

And so let me ask you, are you serving God? With

your gifts, your talents, your abilities, your

lips, your actions, your mind, are you serving

and are you loving righteousness? Friends, the

very same things that are ascribed to the angels

about their functions are also talking about

us. We were made to worship and we were made

to serve. But thankfully, God does not leave

us on our own to figure out how to worship. or

to figure out how to serve, He has given us His

infallible, forever Word. And so we should read

it. We should be in it. We should hear it read

in order that we would know how to rightly worship

and to serve. For we, as I said, are like the

angels in that regard. But there's also something

else, look in verse 10, not only are we like

the angels and that we are to worship and serve,

but we are like the angels and that we are created

beings. You see the angels were created in verse

10 and 11 are really getting back to this creator

created dynamic. Whereas the sun is eternal,

the angels were created. And this is quoting

from Psalm 102. And it shows us the angels were

created and also shows us that Christ is eternal.

But as I said, we were created to do something

just like those angels. And so one commentator

says here, the angels as creatures can function

only within the limits for which they were created.

That is to carry out the wishes of their creator.

Both angels and servants have a very different

function from the sun. their task is one of service,

but the son's task now is one of rule. And so

you see, as great as the angels are, they are

created beings and they are created with a purpose.

They are created, yes, for worship, but they

are created to do something. Look at verse 14.

They are ministering spirits sent out to serve.

for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.

Now, as you look at this, you might say, well,

how do the angels serve? Well, interestingly

enough, the writer of Hebrews doesn't tell us

a lot here, does he? He doesn't go into a big

long explanation of what it means that the angels

are sent to serve. And so maybe all we can say

is that the angels are sent I like how John Owen

puts this. He says, these blessed angels specially

minister to the church and have us under their

constant care. Maybe one day, maybe one day,

we'll know all of the ways in which the angels

were protecting or in which the angels were serving.

But we are largely kept in the dark to that,

aren't we? And yet I feel like, since I've already

mentioned angels in the outfield, that the 90s

were kind of a heyday for fascination with angels.

I'm sure at other points in history they were.

But in the 90s, you had some movies and you had

some shows. Anybody ever watch Touched by an

Angel before? Yeah, some heads nodding, right?

There has become a great fascination with angels.

And there's even become this kind of theology

of angels in which some people believe that every

single person has a guardian angel. Now I know

the biblical text that people use for that. And

I actually think it doesn't go far enough. For

occasionally in scripture, we are given a glimpse

into what angels really do. 2 Kings 6, and if

you're in the Fellowship Sunday School class,

you have heard this taught recently. 2 Kings

6 describes the situation in which Israel and

Syria are at war. And the Syrians surround an

Israelite city. I think the city is called Dothan.

Elisha is there, the prophet, but also Elisha's

servant. And the servant rises early in the morning.

And he goes out from where they are staying and

he sees that the city is surrounded by the Syrians.

And he is distraught. He's upset. He's scared,

petrified. And so he runs to Elisha and he says,

what are we going to do? We are surrounded. And

Elisha, you got to love him. He says, do not

be afraid. For those who are with us are more

than those who are with them. And then the prophet

prays, O Lord, please open his eyes that he may

see. And the Lord opens the servant's eyes and

behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots

of fire all around Elisha. You see there was

not just one angel there for each person. There

was a host of angelic beings. too great to be

numbered, taking care of God's people. Most of

us are like Elisha's servant. Sometimes we lack

trust in God, and certainly we don't seem to

understand all of the angelic activity going

on, but friends, it's there. Even if it's behind

the scenes, Hebrews 13 2 says, do not neglect

to show hospitality to strangers for thereby

some have entertained angels unawares. We're

mostly unaware of what angels are doing. But

that's indeed how they work. But if you really

want to understand angels, then I would suggest

you study the life of Christ. For you remember

as I've already said the angels were there announcing

the birth of Jesus and the angels were there

Worshipping Christ and the angels are there Every

step of the way with Christ for you might remember

the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness At

one point Satan takes Jesus to the temple And

the scriptures record that Jesus is set on the

pinnacle of the temple and Satan says to Jesus,

and this is my paraphrase, throw yourself down.

Don't you know that the angels will catch you.

They will not allow your foot to be dashed against

a rock. Just go ahead Jesus, throw yourself down.

What does Jesus say? You shall not put the Lord

your God to the test. And so of course he doesn't

fall for that. And Luke says that Satan went

out from there until a more opportune time. But

as Satan used scripture to try and tempt Jesus,

he twists the scripture as he says the angels

are gonna catch you. But that's not the only

mention of the angels in those passages. For

Matthew and Mark both say the angels were ministering.

to Jesus. The angels are right there with Jesus

in the temptation, in the wilderness, and they

are with him every step of the way through the

birth, through the temptation, through the crucifixion,

through the resurrection and through the ascension,

where Acts chapter one says, as Jesus was lifted

up, two men in white robes stood by the disciples

and said, men of Galilee, Why do you stand looking

up into heaven? This Jesus who has taken up from

you into heaven will come in the same way as

you saw him go into heaven. These angels act

as the escorts of Jesus up into the heavenly

places in order that he would sit down at the

right hand of the Father. Look in verse 13. In

order that Jesus would sit at the right hand.

To which angel has God ever given that seat to

none? It has Jesus' name written all over it.

Now you might say as I begin to conclude, why

stress the superiority of Jesus over the angels?

Isn't that obvious? It seems obvious and yet

sometimes we look for help in all of the wrong

places. Sometimes we give our worship to all

of the wrong things or to all of the wrong people.

But the angels show us what we really should

be doing. We should be worshiping Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit. And we should be serving God

with everything that we have got. And this is

indeed the pattern of the book. That Christ is

greater. Yes, it's true. The angels were sent

to serve but notice how verse 14 is written They

are sent and why are they sent? It says to those

who are to inherit salvation the angels are sent

for you And the angels do not do so on their

own accord They are sent by God to you and to

me But it's true the one who sends is Greater

than the one who is sent and so this passage

once again is Reminding us of the preeminence

of Christ that he is before that he is above

and he is greater than all of the Created being

and Jesus right now is at the right hand of the

father Being worshipped by you and by the angels

Amen.