And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me who caused His pain, for me who Him to death pursued? Amazing lover can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Amazing lover can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Tis mystery of the immortal dies, who can explain His strange design? In vain the firstborn seraph tries to sound the depths of love divine. Tis mercy, O let earth adore, let angel minds inquire no more. Tis mercy, O let earth adore, let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father's throne above, so free, so infinite His grace. Emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam's helpless race. Tis mercy all immense and free, for O my God it found out me. Tis mercy all immense and free, for O my God it found out me. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. I woke, the ancient dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed Thee. My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread. Jesus and all in Him is mine. Alive in Him my living head, and clothed with righteousness divine. Bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own. Bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own. Amazing love how can it be, that Thou my God shouldst die for me? Amazing love how can it be, that Thou my God, that Thou my God, that Thou my God shouldst die for me? 

Thank you Terry for that good song. Good morning to everyone. I hope you've enjoyed the hymns, paid attention to the words of the hymns this morning. We've seen that it's all about what Terry was just singing about, that Jesus, our God, would come and take on flesh, become a man, and live a perfect life, be the perfect sacrifice, which was pictured by all those old covenant sacrifices, the old covenant law of Moses that we're studying through the book of Hebrews, that He would fulfill that, He would complete that, being the perfect Lamb of God, and make propitiation, full satisfactory payment for the sins of man.

And for anyone who will believe Jesus, who will turn to Him, as we've been singing about over and over, that He gives to us His righteousness, this is the message of the scriptures, this is the good news, this is the contrast with religion. We're studying the book of Hebrews, we're continuing our study this morning, and digging into the first major section of chapter 1, the truth that Jesus is better than angels.

This is a very deep, kind of complicated section, it fits into the context of the author trying to explain to these Jews, to these Hebrews to which he writes, that Jesus is better, that they need not turn back to their religion, to the old covenant, to the temple sacrifices, but they need to go on to faith in Jesus, their Messiah. We've looked at length at the intent of the author in this epistle to show Jesus is better, the new covenant, a better covenant, built on better promises. His audience is Jewish, they're Hebrews, and he's writing to encourage them to believe Jesus, to forsake that old covenant, and to hold fast to Christ.

In verses 1 to 3, we saw that Jesus is God, He is Creator, He is Sustainer, He is Savior. It says that He by Himself purged our sins, and sat down at the right hand of God, finishing, completing the work of salvation in His death, burial, and resurrection, and imputing His righteousness to any man who will come to Him in simple faith and trust. 

Well, in studying the passage before us this morning, verses 4 to 14, I've become completely amazed, perhaps overwhelmed, at the depth and breadth of what the author is teaching us here. I like to compare my preparation to a comment I heard years ago from a pastor. He said a preacher should study himself full, and then write himself empty. I like that. But as I studied this passage and thought about it in the context of the book of Hebrews, the audience, the intent, the great truth of the superiority, the preeminence of Christ, I became so full I wasn't sure where to start writing.

There's so much here, so much depth, that I feel holy and completely inadequate to even preach on it, to expound it, to bring the fullness of it in a clear, concise, understandable message. So as always, we will trust the Holy Spirit to make it work, to bring the message that He intends for edification and for the glory of God. 

I'm fascinated by the book of Hebrews because the author so adeptly uses the Old Testament and Jewish illustrations to make his point that Jesus is better, and I find myself to be mostly ignorant concerning the things of which he writes, the illustrations that he uses. We as believers in Jesus Christ and the New Covenant understand the points, the truths he's teaching about Jesus and the New Covenant, but we don't have a lot of knowledge about the Jewish context in which he writes. So it is almost as if we have to go back and learn Leviticus to help us understand the reasons why he writes what he does in order to gain the fullness of the meaning.

For the Hebrews to which he wrote, the illustrations were very familiar. They readily followed his logics. It was the conclusions about Christ that they struggled with. What we see is that the author, ultimately the Holy Spirit, masterfully, flawlessly makes the case that Jesus Christ is better, that the New Covenant is better, and they should not go back, but they should go on to perfection in Christ. 

So we must remember the importance of setting everything in the Hebrew context, the historical context in which these words were written. We must be diligent to understand that the circumstances in which this was written, with the audience it was written to, this situation really no longer exists today. The temple is no longer standing. There are no longer a group of Hebrew believers and unbelievers who lived in this time and experienced the things that they did concerning Christ and hearing from those who Jesus taught. So we must be careful in our exegesis, in our interpretation, in our application. 

But at the same time, the truths, the principles concerning Jesus and the New Covenant that are brought to light here have most tremendous applications for us. Amazing, deep, profound is this book of Hebrews. Let's study it together as we see this morning in chapter 1 that Jesus is better than angels.

We'll begin again in verse 1. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 

For to which of the angels did He ever say, You are my Son, today I have begotten you? And again, I will be to Him a father, and He shall be to me a son. But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, Let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels, He says, who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. But to the Son, He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is a scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. And You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain. And they will all grow old like a garment, like a cloak. You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail. 

But to which of the angels has He ever said, Sit at my right hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

I've given you three points on your outline this morning. First, we see that His name is Son. Second, His name is Savior. And third, His name is King of kings and Lord of lords. 

When we consider the text before us, just reading through it, I think the first thing that came to my mind is, what is all this business about angels? Angels are sort of a mysterious thing for us in our world, our culture. I guess I'm not sure where they really fit in today. It seems to me they were much more prominent and popular when I was younger. But perhaps this is my perspective. 

I remember when I was younger, there were lots of TV shows that were about angels. There were movies about angels. And Grandma always had a big collection of those porcelain angels. And the religion I grew up in, angels, were a big deal, part of the art, of the icons, of the literature in the church. It seems that angels were an important part of our religious culture. But these were not, and they are not, the angels of the Bible. They were false creations of men and very misunderstood. And this is apparently nothing new, because the Jews had some great misunderstandings about angels as well and had exalted them to an improper place in their religion and culture at the time of this letter.

Certainly angels have an important role in the Bible and in the creation and plan of God. Angels are mentioned 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament. So they are real, they are very important, and they are a great emphasis in the Word of God. But what are they? And what is their purpose? What do they do? And why does the author of Hebrews spend the better part of the first two chapters talking about them, comparing them to Jesus? 

Once again, it's imperative that we try to put on the thinking of the Hebrew mind of the first century, that we set things in the proper historical perspective if we're going to rightly divide the text before us. Angels are a part of God's creation. He created, apparently, a very large number of angels. We read in passages like Revelation 5 that there were 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands before the throne. We know that one-third of the angels that were created fell and became evil angels or demons. 

We know from the Word of God that angels are spirits, but they can take a form. They may have a celestial body, as Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15. And they're able to take on different forms, even appearing as men. And when they appear, this is interesting, they always appear as men, never as women, which is funny because Grandma's little figurines were always beautiful women, women with long, flowing hair. But the angels who appear as humans in the Bible are always masculine. In fact, in Hebrews 13, we will see that we should always be hospitable to strangers, it says, because we may be entertaining angels unaware, even as Abraham did. 

So angels are created beings. There's a finite number of them. Jesus tells us in Matthew that they neither marry nor are they given in marriage. They do not reproduce as men do. God created a number of angels. They never increase or decrease in number, but some of them fell and followed Satan. We know from Daniel 10 that there's an ongoing battle between angels and demons behind the scenes. We know that there are angels in the third heaven with God continually ministering to Him around the throne, and angels and demons also live in the second heaven in our atmosphere, able to traverse this space as well. And they're operative in the first heaven here in our world, influencing the affairs of men.

So what is their purpose? Why did God create them? Well, we see a couple clues in our text. If you look at verse 7, we read that He makes His angels. Now this is interesting because He here refers to Jesus. Jesus makes. You see, He created the angels. It says His angels. He possesses them. They are His and under His control. That's pretty powerful evidence that Jesus is better than angels. 

What we learned in verse 7 is that they are spirits or winds and flames of fire. And notice it says they are His servants. This really gets to the purpose of angels. They are servants of God. They are servants of Jesus. They move like the winds, invisible but forceful and influencing the world and the creation for the purposes of God. They are a flame of fire. They're used in judgment, carrying out the will of God. We could look at many places in the Old Testament where powerful angels carried out judgment on men, accomplishing the will of God. And we know at the end, even in the second coming of Christ, the angels will be instrumental in going out and gathering and judging the men of this earth. They are servants. They are ministers. 

Look at verse 14. Verse 14 says, they are also ministers to those who will inherit salvation. Who is that? Who does the author speak of? Those who will inherit salvation. That's us, my brothers and sisters. Believers in Jesus Christ. They are ministers to us, to God's people. We see powerful examples of this in the Old Testament where angels protected the people of God. In 2 Kings 19, we see that one angel killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians, the enemies of Israel. We know that God used the destroyer or death angel in the Passover to take the lives of the firstborn in Egypt. Angels came and shut the mouths of the lions for Daniel. Angels came and announced the birth of Jesus. They got Peter out of prison. They stood before Paul in the shipwreck in the book of Acts, promising to deliver every man on that boat. 

There are far too many examples to mention, but it is clear that angels are ministers, servants to God and to man for the purposes of God. We see that angels are very fast in Daniel 9, sometimes described with wings, even multiple sets of wings. They're extremely powerful, intelligent, inquisitive. They rejoice over the salvation of men. They praise and worship God and bring Him glory. One angel, the archangel Michael, sits watch over the nation of Israel, according to Daniel 12. Angels are a great part of God's creation and an integral part of His working in the universe and His purposes and plans. This is a biblical view of angels and what they are and what they do. 

But the Jews, in the time of this letter, had added to these things. They had embellished and changed a few things so that they had a less than biblical view of angels, much like we do today. In the apocryphal writings of the intertestamental period between the Revelation of Malachi and Matthew, we find that the Jewish writings added a lot of fanciful ideas concerning angels which led to these unbiblical views. 

In the Jewish tradition, individual angels are given rule over the weather, one over thunder, one over snow, one over wind. They become almost like the Greek mythical gods. There are only three angels named in the Bible, Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer. But the Hebrews came up with a long list of named angels who controlled certain things on the earth and would even pray to these angels for protection and guidance. Angels in the Jewish mind became so elevated that some even began to worship angels. And as a rule, gave angels an improper place. 

Now here's the key, chiefly because they were the mediators of the old covenant law of Moses. And here's where we really get to the heart of the matter. As interesting as it is to study the doctrine of angels through the Bible and important as it is for us to understand the Jewish misunderstanding, the real matter in the mind of the author here is to compare the angels of the old covenant as mediators to Jesus as mediator of the new covenant. And this because it accomplishes his very intent to show the new covenant better than the old. The new as the fulfillment of the old. 

So here's the basic premise, the truth that we really need to get in order to understand this text. If the mediator of the new covenant is better, superior to the mediator of the old covenant, then the new is better, superior to the old. This is why the author spends so much time on angels here and comparing them with Jesus because they were the mediators of the law of Moses. 

Turn over to Galatians 3 with me, please. Galatians 3 at verse 19. It's an instructive passage about the law, Paul writing to the believers in Galatia. He says, what purpose then does the law serve? That's a good question, isn't it? What's the purpose of the Ten Commandments? What's the purpose of the law? Why did God give the law? Paul says it was added because of transgressions. It was given to show us our sin, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 

The law was appointed, given through angels. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. Look at this. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 

Paul tells us that the law was given, mediated through the hands of angels from God to man, this speaking of the law engraved on stones at Sinai. Now turn over to Acts 7 at verse 51. This is Stephen preaching to the Jews in the early founding of the church, and after this great sermon they stoned him to death. Acts 7 51, he's speaking to the Jewish people, he says, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you. 

Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers. Look at verse 53, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it. Stephen says the law was received from God by the direction of angels. Angels acted in the Old Covenant as a mediator of the covenant from God to man. This is important to understand in the Jewish mind. 

We see also from Jewish literature of the time that it was common teaching that angels were mediators of the law. Josephus, the Jewish priest historian of the first century and an expert in Jewish beliefs at that time, said, we have learned the noblest of our doctrines and the holiest of our laws from the angels sent by God. So we see that the Bible clearly teaches a mediating role for angels in the Old Covenant. The Jews of this time probably took that even a little further than God intended with extra biblical teaching elevating angels to a point of worship which is clearly forbidden even in their own law.

Suffice to say the angels were tied heavily to the law of Moses, the Old Covenant Jewish system. This is the context we must understand if we're going to understand Hebrews 1 and the author's discussion of angels in comparison to Jesus. Now verse 4 of our text, please. This is the most interesting verse. It says, "...having become," speaking of Jesus, "...having become so much better than the angels as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." 

Now the focus here is on the more excellent name, but notice it says he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Well, it's had me scratching my head for some time to really fully understand what God is saying. He just said that Jesus is God in the first three verses. That he's the fullness of God. That he's the express image of his person. That he is the Creator God. It says that he is the Savior. He has by himself purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of God. How is it that Jesus obtained a better name? And what does it mean that he obtained it by inheritance? 

Well, the translation in the New King James in verse 4 is correct. It says Jesus was not made, some translations say made as in created out of existing materials, but rather the word means that he has become so much better than the angels. The author here is not speaking to the eternal existence of Jesus or his eternal sonship as the second person of the Trinity, but rather remember the context and intent. He's comparing the mediator of the New Covenant to the mediators of the Old Covenant, the angels. 

Our first point we see in this text is that the name that he has obtained by inheritance is son. Look at verse 5. He says, For to which of the angels did he ever say, You are my son, today I have begotten you, and again I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. Here the author quotes from Psalm 2, you're familiar with Psalm 2, why do the nations rage and plot a vain thing and the kings set themselves against God. He said, I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. And we get down to verse 7, it says, I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. 

Verse 7 of Psalm 2 speaks most specifically of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ. In Acts 13, we see this affirmed in verse 32, Peter says, And we declared to you glad tidings, that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, and that he raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you. This phrase refers to the resurrection, today I have begotten you. So we see that the name that he has obtained is son. 

But what does it mean that he obtained it by inheritance? Well here's where things get really interesting, because the author goes way over and above in several directions here, all the way through the end of chapter 2, to tie it all together and show us that Jesus is far superior to angels. In his resurrection, Jesus was exalted to his rightful place of glory and dignity. Romans 1.4 says that through the resurrection, he was shown to be the Son of God with power. Hebrews tells us that after his resurrection and ascension, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. 

But here's the key, listen now. In order to obtain a name above the angels, Jesus had to be first made a little lower than the angels. And this speaks to his incarnation, his taking on of human flesh, becoming a man. Look over to chapter 2 at verse 9, Hebrews 2.9, and we'll see him explain this. He's speaking in the first part of chapter 2 about how all things are not right in the world, all things are not as God intended. We don't see things being right and just. But in verse 9 he says, "...but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." 

These are amazing words. It says that Jesus was made perfect or complete through his sufferings. He accomplished the will of God, he obtained salvation, he paid the full debt of the sins of man, he defeated sin and death and Satan at the cross, and he rose from the dead and he's seated at the right hand of God making intercession for the saints. As our high priest, he makes intercession for us, he gives aid to the seat of Abraham, the text says. And this is what verse 4 of our text is speaking of. By inheritance, he has obtained a more excellent name, the incarnation, the taking on of flesh, becoming a man, being made a little lower than the angels. 

But through his messianic sonship, his submission to the Father in the salvation work, Hebrews 12 says, "...who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame." This work culminated in the resurrection. You see, if he had just died and rotted in the ground, that would not have accomplished anything. But God raised him from the dead, giving him victory over sin and death and hell, and he says, by the resurrection it was manifest, it was shown, it was made known that he is the Son of God with power. 

You are my Son, today I have begotten you. God never said such a thing to an angel, only to Jesus. And thus, Jesus is not a servant, He's not a created thing like angels, but He is a Son, and Jesus is Savior. This is the very point, my friends. He has obtained a more excellent name through His work on the cross, through His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. His name is Son, and His name is Savior. Call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." This is the excellence of the New Covenant. 

In the Old Covenant, God mediated the law through angels. There was no connection with man. There was no God-man. But in the New Covenant, God comes down to this earth and He becomes one of us. And He's tempted just as we are, only without sin. He takes on flesh and bone. And because He is a man, He can aid man, can empathize with man. God has become man and knows us now in an experiential way. And He was able to die in our place because He did not sin. He did not have the debt. He could pay the debt that I owed in my place. 

In the Old Covenant, sin separated God from man. There was a veil of separation. God was unapproachable. God is holy and man is utterly sinful and thus there's no access to God directly. There's so many scriptures that flood my mind we could look at. But in the New Covenant, because of our Savior Jesus, who dealt with sin in the flesh, reconciled us to God, who took on Himself our sin, breaking down the wall of separation, fulfilling the law of God, we now have access to God. 

Hebrews says we can now come boldly to the throne of grace to find help in time of need. In fact, John 14 says the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have come to live in us, to make their home in us. We can't get any closer. We can't have any more fellowship than that. Indeed, the New Covenant is better because the Mediator is not a created being, a servant angel, but He is a Savior Son. 

Now the next truth that we see in our text with several quotes from the Old Testament is that having accomplished our salvation, as Mediator of the New Covenant, having been exalted to His rightful place of glory and honor, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God, waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. This reminds me the other day I was at a friend's house, a man I've been witnessing to, and he was asking me to look at some woodwork in his house, and talked to this guy for months, and he's a hard, he's a very intelligent guy, very knowledgeable in his religion, but he's hard to talk to, and he's asked me, why do you think this is like this? And right on the wall there was a giant crucifix. 

And I said, well let me ask you this, why is Jesus still hanging on your cross? Well, you know, I said, Jesus is not on the cross. Jesus is not being sacrificed over and over and over again. He died once and accomplished our salvation, and He has risen and He is sitting at the right hand of God, waiting until His enemies are made His footstool, specifically waiting until the time of judgment on this earth, and His assuming of His rightful throne on His kingdom that He will bring to this earth in fulfillment of the promises. 

We looked at this in the last two messages in Revelation 5 where Jesus takes the scroll, and then in chapter 6 to 19, judgment is poured out on this earth, and Jesus sets up His kingdom. Can you imagine the power of this language for the Jewish reader, pointing forward to that fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham? 

Look at verse 6 with me as we see, His name is King of kings and Lord of lords. Hebrews 1.6, but when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, let all the angels of God worship Him. You see what He's saying here? Notice the words. He's been talking about the first coming of Jesus, the incarnation, the salvation work, the resurrection and exaltation, the waiting until His enemies are made His footstool, and in verse 6 He writes, but when He, what, again, when He again brings the firstborn, that's prototokos, the first one, the preeminent one, when He again brings the preeminent one into the world, He says, let all the angels of God worship Him. 

Now clearly in the Jewish mind, worship was for God and God alone, and if the angels were to worship Jesus, the Savior's Son, then He must be God, and He must be greater than angels. Jesus created the angels, they're His angels, the angels worship Him, He is better. But what is He talking about? The writer produces, or when is He talking about, I should say, the writer introduces a new important theme here, it says when God again brings Jesus into the world. 

Jesus came once for salvation, 2,000 years ago, the suffering Messiah who died for the sins of the world. He will come again for judgment and setting up His kingdom. And what will we see then? We will see the angels worship Him, serve Him, sing praises to Him as He sits on His throne. The following are quotes from the Old Testament to give additional support to the truth that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, King of kings and Lord of lords, God's anointed, and He will establish His kingdom on this earth. 

Look at verse 8 of our text. These are all quotes from the Old Testament, from the Hebrew Scriptures, but to the Son, He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is a scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. 

And You, O Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain. And they will all grow old like a garment. Like a cloak, You will fold them up and they will be changed, but You are the same and Your years will not fail. Look at verse 13, But to which of the angels has He ever said, Sit at My right hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool? 

I'd like for you to turn to Revelation 19 with me, please. Revelation 19, beginning in verse 11, describes the fulfillment of these prophecies. Revelation 19, 11, Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 

And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations. And he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great. 

And I saw the beasts, the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. 

And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded out of the mouth of him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh." 

It's an amazing scene when Jesus comes back. He will come in judgment. His angels will go out in judgment as a flame of fire. He will judge, and then we see in Revelation chapter 20, He will set up His kingdom on this earth for a thousand years and fulfill the promise to Israel. His name is Son. His name is Jesus, Savior. And His name is King of kings and Lord of lords. 

And we close with our last verse in our text at verse 14. Speaking of the angels, it says, "...are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" Do you see the contrast? The comparison between Jesus and angels? How much greater Jesus is than angels? Angels are ministers to God and to the saints, those who will inherit salvation, to us, my friends, believers in Jesus Christ. 

Angels are ministers to us for our safety, for God's will and purposes. That's encouraging and an interesting thought. Angels have the name servant. They are the creation of Jesus Christ and they are His angels serving Him continually. But Jesus has the name Son, Savior, King of kings, Lord of lords. 

Jesus is better. He's a better mediator of a better covenant built on better promises. This is the message that the author of Hebrews has so powerfully, clearly conveyed to his Jewish audience and to us as well today. Jesus is better. And the application for them and for us is to look to Jesus and Jesus only. 

The Jews were in danger of going back, clinging to the law, going to their religion, seeking their own righteousness through their works and rites and rituals. He says, go on to faith in Jesus, believe Him, trust Him, what He did on the cross in our place for our sins. Not our own works, or the law or religion, but Jesus and Jesus only. Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You for Your Word and even sometimes these deeper, more complicated sections of Your Word that bring a fullness to help us to understand who Jesus is and what He has done. Thank You that He is our Savior. Thank You that we have confidence in Him and not in ourselves, and thank You for the promises that we have in Him of life eternal. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.