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