Yeah, Hebrews chapter one. Okay, you'll have to bear with me this morning, I'm kind of a bit cold this morning. Okay, Hebrews chapter one. Okay, this is the fourth message from our series on the book of Hebrews dealing with First of all, we dealt with in the first sermon, God with hundred times and in diverse manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. The book of Hebrews wonderfully exalts the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It wonderfully exalts how wonderful our Savior truly is. In messages, the previous messages have come, I pray that they have what touched a small element of what is truly in those passages. Hebrews is one of those almost inexhaustible books as in there's so much detail, so much of a blessing has come upon me just by studying through these passages and really seeing how highly we need to think of our Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Before we begin, we'll just bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord in heaven, I just pray. Lord, you know my body is weak this morning, but I just pray that you will use me, even in my weakness. Father, I pray that your name, your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, be exalted this morning. Father, that there would be all our hearts, our thoughts, our minds would be focused upon you and what you have done. and the excellency of your savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, may we lift his name on high. Lord, may he be our delight, our joy, our king, our crown. Lord, that we would see nothing else that we would want from this day, your Lord's day, that would be holy and set apart for you. Oh Lord, enable me now so that your son may be glorified. Use all of us, Lord. May this message be a blessing to all of you. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Okay, Hebrews chapter one, I'm just gonna read. The title of today's message is The Excellency of Christ. The Excellency of Christ. And I'm gonna read from Hebrews chapter one, verses one to nine for context, but the focus will be on verses four to seven. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and 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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high. being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels and God worship him. And of the angels he saith, who maketh his angels' spirits and his ministers a flame of fire? And unto the sun he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Thus reads God's Holy and Precious Word. We're going to deal with verses 4 to 7 under the title of the Excellency of Christ. There's a possibility of a second message under the same name but I'll see as I develop through it. I remember I was preparing this message yesterday and I was hoping to do that on to verse 9 but there's so much detail simply in verses 4 to 7 that it suffices to finish off there. Before we begin, we need to look at why a topic, again when we study through these things, it is not just so we can gain knowledge for knowledge's sake. It is so we can know our Savior, our Lord, our King, and wonderfully appreciate who He is. The Bible doesn't answer all of our curiosities. It really doesn't. Why? Because it is all scriptures given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God be perfect, thoroughly furnished. unto all good works. That's why scripture is there. It is not there to answer every single speculative question we may ever have. But, we must study to show ourselves approved unto God. Unfortunately, with modern Christianity, there's an unbiblical anti-intellectualism which has crept into the Church. And it goes back a long time. It's as old as the Bible, really. But the most modern movement of it is in the last 200 years. where professing Christians now see Christianity of how God makes me feel, what he does for me, as the heart knowledge, rather than who he is and loving him for no other reason than for who he is. The word excellency. The word excellence he means, and this is from Webster's 1828 Dictionary, the state of possessing good qualities in an unusual or eminent degree. An unusual or eminent degree. The state of excelling in anything. And I'll just name some of the qualities. A valuable quality, something of value. Something highly esteemed. Makes another point. Dignity, high rank in the scale of beings. Angels are beings of more excellence than men. Men are beings of more excellence than brutes. It also says in the same definition, a title of honor formerly given to kings and emperors, now given to ambassadors, governors, and other persons below the rank of kings, but elevated above the custom, the common, sorry, classes of men. You know, when you, you'd often hear people being greeted as your excellency. This means that somebody is to be revered. If the president comes into the room, we don't just kind of go, hey, how are you doing? There's a certain sense of respect. and how much more should that excellency and reverence be given to our Savior and Lord, who is above all kings, above all lords, above all principalities, above all dominions. It is something to be excellent, and it's often another throw-away word. There's a lot of words that have entered into slang. Wicked, righteous, different words like that that don't, awesome even. Only God is awesome. Some people will say, well, you know, this cup of tea is awesome. I say, no, it's a great cup of tea, but God is awesome. So these words have changed meaning over time because of common usage. But excellent truly means something that is highly valuable, rare, or perhaps unique, superior, meritorious, possessing qualities that are remarkable. If we knew this, we wouldn't use the term so much. The outline for the message is as follows. The first one, we're gonna look at verses four to seven. And the comparison in verses four to seven, I'm just gonna read it again to give another look at it. Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. The angels are being compared with Christ for a comparison. Verse 5, front of them, front of which of the angels, said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, then he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. So we must understand angels, not to speculative degrees, but we must understand who angels are and why this comparison was used. Number one, the angels, the comparison, verses four to seven. Number two, his excellent name, verse four. Number three, his unique, eternal sonship declared, verse five. And then point four, the worship and service due unto him by the angels, which is verses six and seven. Point number one, the angels. Angels are used for comparison verses four to seven all the way through. We must also realize what is being compared here. It is not divine nature or human nature of Christ being compared with angels. The main reason, quickly, comparing the divine nature with that of the angelic, it's not proportionate, basically. It's like comparing a man with a worm. Comparing human nature Again, it's not doing this, comparing human nature with that of angelic nature. Again, maner of less glory than he was made a little lower than the angels. This is not what's been spoken about here, but it's speaking about his dignity, his office, his power, and his glory. His dignity, his office, his power, and glory. Why use comparison, or even why use a comparison at all? Simply, comparisons, and I know as an English teacher, when I'm trying to get some language students to effectively describe the city they're from, I only get them to use comparisons. Compare with the city you're from. So you get a clearer understanding of it. Use a comparison because it is one of the most effective ways of transmitting the difference between one and the other. For a comparison to work, you need something that is of an exalted stat, something that is glorious, something that is powerful. It tells us nothing if we just say something is excellent. Oh, that's great, that's wonderful. But compared to what? Angels outside of the Godhead are the most incredible of preachers. There is nothing more glorious outside of the Godhead, that has been created, that is more credible than the angels. They are creatures that have fascinated mankind, still to this day. And they fascinated the Pharisees and the Sadducees, lots of debates went on between the two, one believing in angels, one not believing in angels. And they would go into the most speculative ideas about angels, mainly because the scriptures say nothing about it, and it titillates the fascination of mankind. We need to use such an illustration is to show the exalted status. Phil Johnson, when he was writing about angels, says, few biblical topics have provoked more wild speculation and fruitless debate than the topic of angels. This is not what we want to do here. While the Bible does not answer every single question we have about angels, it does tell us solid things about angels in which to make this comparison more powerful. He goes on to say, Scripture doesn't begin to answer all of our questions about the subject, but there is a lot more information about angels in the Bible than you might think. Angels have great power. They have great privilege and strength. So much so, when people were studying them, they almost were worshipping them. They saw this power, they almost felt like worshipping. A number of times in the Bible, you see people bowing before angels and, don't worship me, I am not God. They are glorious creatures. In order to show the excellency of Christ, we must look at the excellency or the excellency of angels. and to compare the two exalts the Lord Jesus Christ. William Gouge stated that angels are of all mere creatures the most excellent. Of all the created beings, they're the most excellent. Outside of the Godhead, We already made that point. In Colossians 1.16 it talks about, For by Him were all things created that were in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. Speaking with the Lord Jesus Christ. This verse is dealing with the different titles for angels. The Geneva Bible, also in the 1560 edition, says that he sets forth the angels with glorious names so that by the comparison of the most excellent spirits we may understand how far surpassing the excellency of Christ is, in whom alone we have to contend ourselves with and let go of all angels. While they are glorious, they were created by Christ. At the beginning of the world, they had the privilege of beholding the foundations of the world. It says in Job 38, six and seven, whereby are the foundations thereof fastened? And who lay the cornerstone thereof? When the morning stars, another title for angels, sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. They're privileged. They have the privilege of serving God and they are ministering spirits. Various theories about angels when they were created. I don't think they're too really important. The fact of the matter is they are the most glorious creatures, created creatures, outside of the Godhead. They're the most powerful, the most privileged creatures. Matthew Henry says, the work of angels is to praise God. The more we abound in holy, humble, thankful praise, the more we do the will of God as they do it. And whereas we are so barren and defective in praising God, it is a comfort to think that they are doing it in a better manner. Phil Johnson says that angels are God's unseen ministers. One of the most interesting questions of all about angels has to do with their unseen service on behalf of believers. Scripture portrays angels as caretakers of God's providence on our behalf, ministering spirits, quote, ministering spirits sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation, Hebrews 114. In Matthew 18.10, Jesus, speaking of his own tender care for little children, said, I tell you that in heaven there angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. Phil Johnson goes on to say that, suggesting that specific angels have guardianship of specific individuals. And Hebrews 13.2 states, Do not neglect to show hospitality to a stranger, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Very little further explanation of the angels' service to humans is given, which is why we need to not go any further than what Scripture declares. To quote Calvin, where Scripture is silent, we need to be silent. Many are tempted to inquire, Phil Johnson says, many are tempted to inquire into the matter in search of specificities that scripture doesn't reveal. They, and also to say that they were one of the responsibilities to show their exalted status and their privilege was they were involved in the giving of the law, not just Moses. Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church, stated that, who, referring to angels, have received the law, well he's not referring to angels there, he's referring to the Jews, who have received the law by the dispensation of angels and have not kept it, Acts 7.53. Number two, he's excellent named. Now that we have some knowledge about angels, let's make the comparison. Be made so much better than the angels, verse four. As he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. We must look at the context from the previous verse to understand what is being said here. Be made so much better than the angels. Continue on from the previous verse, verse three, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Jesus Christ, after he's finished work on the cross, returns in victory to sit down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Then it continues on, being made so much better than the angels. This maid is not in a kind of a created, formed maid. It means, John Owen comments to that, frequently in the scriptures, a thing that is said to be made or to be when it is manifested. So, to be. He also goes on to say, according to this interpretation, and just for those of you who are studying this, actually Owen didn't actually agree with this interpretation, I actually do, that the Holy Ghost intimated to us that whereas the Lord Christ ministered in an outwardly low condition in this world whilst he purged our sins, yet by sitting down at the right hand of God, he was revealed, manifested, declared to be more excellent than all the angels in heaven. He was always, in his divine nature, always glorious. Always 100% God. What changed when he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high? He was manifested, declared to be so. And I believe this is con- There are one or two other views about this, but I think- I believe it is the most consistent with the context. Owen's own view, for those who are interested, is that the word means a Christ is exalted and preferred. That is also true, but I don't believe that's what the verses are speaking about here. The Greek for the word made is genomai, meaning to become. To come to past, to come into existence, to begin, to become, to be made, to become. Yeah, it's really the same thing over and over. also continues on with the context in a very similar, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. What does it mean that he obtained a more excellent name than they? Jesus Christ was made a little lower than the angels in order that he would bear the sins of his people, the sufferings, the things that we deserve. He took it in our place as a federal head And then sat down, returned to heaven in glorious victory. And then he is manifested when he sits down, revealed, declared to be more excellent than the angels. These creatures which fascinate mankind and have fascinated so many religious debates for centuries. What does it mean? He, by inheritance, obtained, a more excellent name than they, honor and dignity. He obtained honor and dignity. In His position, He was always God. He took on Himself the form of sinful flesh. But now, who He was, was manifested, declared, and exalted and revealed to be so. Number three, his unique eternal sonship declared. Verse five says, front to which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. He's saying, for unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son? To none of them. None of them had that unique, privileged status of being the only begotten Son of God. To return to our definition of excellent, it is something of Qualities but in an unusual degree. He is unique. He was the only one. He is the only begotten son of God. And he was declared to be so by his father. Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Well look at that. Typologically, this phrase when it's used in the Old Testament in types, in shadows, literally sometimes it spoke about Solomon or David. But when that anti-type came in its place, it's speaking about both at times. It depends on the context. Psalm 2 verses 6-7, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare his decree. The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. He is unique. Acts 13.33 speaks about this verse. God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, speaking of the fathers in old Israel, in that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. God hath fulfilled the same. the perfect anti-type. Anti-type means instead of the type. For example, the Temple in Old Israel was a type of the Church. The anti-type of the Temple was the Church. In the same way, the Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, is the Church, the anti-type, instead of. Hebrews 5.5 says, So also Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. Now, the words today seem to be declarative. Now this, again, is one or two views on whether it means from eternity or it's in the declarative within time. There has been the suggestion by some that it, I just mentioned that, to quote from John Owen, from the context it makes more sense, at least to me, that this is declarative. To quote John Owen here, he says, to make, to be made in his resurrection and exalted over all that ensued thereon. He was declared, this is my beloved son. This day, thou art my son, this day have I begun thee, declaring. He always was the son, eternally. But this is declarative, so that all may worship him. Thou art my Son, today have I begotten Thee, to be made in His resurrection and exaltation over all that ensue thereon. He did not become the Son, He was from eternity the Son, but declared the resurrection to be the Son in the same way He was made more excellent than the angels, as stated in verse four. The 1599 Geneva Bible notes stated that the father begat the son from everlasting. But that everlasting generation was made manifest and represented to the world in his time. And again, the second appellation, it says, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. This is referring to just one instance of where this is referring to, 2 Samuel chapter 7. verses 13 to 14, he says, he shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with a rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. Literally, it's talking of Solomon. But Solomon was a type of Christ, in the same way David was a type of Christ. To be a type, it does not mean they were perfect, like the anti-type. But, there were types and they were pointing towards the Savior who would come. David, with the Davidic Covenant, when he was head over the Kingdom of God in types and shadows. In the same way, Solomon, here, is another type of Christ. The imperfect types are taken away when the imperfect, or not the imperfect, antitype came. None of the angels of such a relationship with God, the Father, none of the angels are as glorious and powerful as they were, ever received such a declaration from God. Christ, his only begotten son, was declared to be unique and exalted as he sat on the right hand of the majesty on high. It wasn't that Christ became more glorious. When He came into this world, when He took upon Himself the form of a servant, as our brother Rowan rightly pointed out about two months ago when he preached a message on many false attributes of God that are believed, he pointed out that God did not empty Himself of His glory. He emptied Himself of the outward declarations of His glory, but He was equally as glorious. He is unique and exalted and therefore most excellent. Point number four. the worship and service due unto Him by the angels." The worship and service due unto Him by the angels, verses 6 and 7. And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He saith, and let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, And his ministers a flame of fire? So let's deal with the first part of Hebrews 1, 6. And again, when He breathed in the first begotten into the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, He said, let all the angels of God worship Him. These exalted beings, these beings whom William Gouge describes as are the most excellent of all mere creatures, are to worship God the Son. If these most privileged, most powerful of all mere creatures are to worship God the Son, how much more should we? When we compare ourselves, these incredible creatures, we have angels who have never sinned, the elect angels who never fell into sin. And then we have those angels who fell. and there is no redemption for those angels. How much more as these angels fall at the face of God and worship Him, how much more should we? Psalm 89 verse 27 states, Also I will make him my firstborn higher than the kings of the earth. These immensely powerful beings are to worship and serve God and all see that only that they depend upon God. But here's the thing, here's what humans do, right? We in our stubbornness and rebellion believe we do not need God. We believe and we are much more puny than the angels. In comparison with the angels, we are puny. But the angels realize, at least the elect angels, that they depend upon God. Often we live in our own lives, in a very practical sense, as if we don't need God. That we don't need to worship Him. To worship, one aspect of worship is dependency. It is dependency. If we live like we don't depend on God, we are stating, not only we don't depend on Him, but He's not excellent. How excellent is Christ to you this morning? Is He precious? Is He excellent? Is He exalted? Or is He another idol added to your life? And if He's another idol added to your life, it is not the Christ of the Scriptures. Paul warned about not just another gospel, but also another Jesus. The Jesus that does not demand that you repent of your idols, repent of your sin, repent of the own lies in your own heart, is not the God of Scripture. He's the Jesus of many different cults and religions, but He's not the God of Scripture. We often live as if we despise His very name, even as Christians at times. Is He excellent? Don't just use the words, prove it by your life. Does your life declare forth the excellency of Christ? Or does it show that you speak one thing with your mouth, but with your life live in a completely different way? When we cling onto the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, We're declaring He's not excellent. The word to worship, just to look at the word, proskuneo. And of the angels He saith, He maketh His spirit angels and His ministers a flame of fire. And let all the angels of God worship Him, the verse before that. Worship, proskuneo, to fall down. Do obeisance too. Prostrate oneself before. It means to bow the knee. Do reverence. Welcome respectively, depending on the object. When people often say, I depend upon this to get through my day. You know what you often say? I depend upon this. And it's often trivial things we'll say it about. I depend on my phone today. I mean, you don't depend on your phone, really. Or I depend on the internet to get by. To depend upon, if you cannot live without an object, you worship that object, whatever it is. And I say this today, and I know there's idols that are going through your mind right now. And I urge you to go home, when you do go home, and throw them all in the trash. Every single last one of them. The evidence here noted whereby Christ is declared to be more excellent, as stated by William Gouge, then all the angels is in this act worshipped and joined to angels. For he that is worshipped is thereby manifested to be far more excellent than they who worship him." And again, he's not made to be manifested, he is manifested, declared to be more excellent. William Gouge goes on to state that worshipping one is much different from blessing one. That is an act of the inferior. This is of the superior. He quotes from Hebrews 7, 7, without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. And without all contradiction, the better is worshipped of the less, especially if worship be taken as here in this place. Do you worship Him? Do you depend upon Him? Do you prostrate the knee before Christ every day? That is what it means if you really believe He's excellent. Is He excellent to you this day? And of the angels He saith, who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. This maketh is a little bit different from the maid in verse 7. This word also could be rendered, formed, or created. So far, let's read back over everything we know. Verse 4 to 7, let's read this again. Being made so much better than the angels, exaltation, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Comparison, he's more excellent than these glorious creatures. Verse 5, For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, and this day I will have begotten thee, and again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. He is unique, he is excellent. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, Let all the angels worship him. These glorious creatures must worship him. And then finally in verse 7, And of the angels, he saith, who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers of flame, of fire, who maketh his angels spirits, who formed them, created them. This is, all the way through these verses, is a comparison between the angels and Christ in His dignity, office, and power. What does it show? It shows the inferiority of the angels when compared with Christ. These creatures which have fascinated so many religions, fascinated so much idol speculation, are so much inferior to Christ. Little wonder that there is not more written in the scriptures about the angels, because we probably fall out of worship. But often we are not as interested about our Lord, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. If we would but know, brethren, more about our Savior, prayer would not be as difficult. If we would but know more about how excellent He is, Doing the righteous deeds that Christ demands that we do would be much easier because our inner man would be being fed by the knowledge and the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason we find these things difficult is we don't know enough about them. Often people will say, well I have another knowledge, I've studied a lot, but what type of knowledge of God have you obtained? The knowledge of the Tree of Life or the knowledge of the Tree of Knowledge, Good and Evil? Are you trying by science or all the various fields of architecture to prove that this city existed 2,000-3,000 years ago and Nineveh existed, all this kind of thing? What does that prove? Not much. You're not going to worship God in that way. And those kind of fields of endeavor have their place at times. But the knowledge of God, the revealed knowledge of who He is, how He's manifested, glorified through this, declared at the right hand of the Majesty on High to be unique, excellent, more excellent dignity than the angels who minister, who come and worship before Him. We don't understand when we don't worship, and we don't understand when we don't reverence His holy name in our thought life, in our... All of these things are important, brother. Owen talks about this verse and says, God useth and applyeth His angels in effecting the works of His providence. The works of His providence. They are used by the Almighty God to effect the works of His providence. Even these glorious and mighty angels. And they are powerful. You read them in Scripture. They're fighting battles. They are doing incredible things. And because they're so powerful, they fascinate us. But why doesn't Christ fascinate us much more? I'll be honest, I haven't really, up until recently, and I saw this was the verses, I said, okay, I need to study a lot about angels. And I'll be honest, it interests me. Angels are spoken about the scriptures. They are. You can go from one extreme to the next. You can go from, because there's so much speculative theology about angels, you go into rationalism and there's no angels. But if there's no angels, you have to properly get rid of the book of Revelation. So there are angels in the Bible. They are immensely powerful creatures. They are the messengers. They are the secret, I suppose you could almost call them maybe secret agents of working on behalf of God. affecting his problems, but realize they are inferior, vastly inferior to Christ. Matthew Henry stated that, now upon comparing what he here says of the angels with what he says to Christ, the vast inferiority of the angels to Christ will plainly appear. He doesn't just bring in the, whenever, realize that everything that's written in the Scriptures is to exalt Christ. He's not there to answer every single question that we may ever have about a topic. But everything that is in the Bible is there to equip us to live the Christian life. There's no lacking of that. And it doesn't go beyond that. Every element of scripture must be meditated upon. John Brown talks about this verse as well when he states, it notes nothing more than a subordinate agent. It is given even to material things such as the winds and lightning. debate as to what ministers of flame of fire means, but suffice to say that they are the work of his hands. This is what everybody agrees with, and I agree with this as well. He maketh, David Dixon goes on to describe it, he maketh his spirits, his angel spirits, and he quotes them, he mentions Psalm 104 verse 5, then number one, God made not the angels to get any part of Christ's room in the church's worship, but to serve Christ. As lowly as any of the meanest creatures, these incredible creatures are made to serve and depend upon God. And when we do it, we moan and we gripe about it. Not openly, but inside our being. We sometimes do that. Ugh, do I have to do this again? Ugh. You know, it's like, how long have I been praying now? These incredible creatures serve at the throne of God, and when those creatures who are the non-elect fell, Christ sent no redeemer for them. He sent them in the likeness of sinful flesh. Do we thank God for that? He would have been just as loving if he'd never sent a Redeemer. Often in modern theology, well, man fell and God allowed it to happen so therefore God must, must send a Redeemer. He must do that. That's the implication by a lot of commentaries these days. God sent to redeem him graciously, to glorify his son in order that he could call out people for his name, to glorify himself. To continue on with David Dixon's quote, he says, number two, the second point he makes, and the angels indeed are as ready to do so and as swift and active in their service as the winds and the fire sloughs. These incredible, powerful creatures are puny in comparison when compared with the dignity, the office, and the power and the glory of our risen Savior. Do we live like that? Do we live with that knowledge on every action we ever do? To give you a practical illustration, when you move forward with an important decision in your life, do you consult scripture or do you go to scripture when everything's gone wrong? We often do the second one. When we fall into sin, the first sin is not consulting scripture. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. All things were created for and by Him. You were created for Him. I don't know if everybody in this room is a Christian. I actually... It would be foolish to think that in every Christian church that most people are Christians. Actually, in modern Christianity, a lot of people profess to be Christians, but by their works deny Him. But... Christ will be glorified. He will be glorified by you, either in your salvation, as you throw yourself upon him, crying out for mercy, and he will get glory out of that, or he will glory out of you in hell, through his perfect righteous wrath. God will be glorified. Everything that is there is there to glorify Him. Even these incredible, glorious angels. They fall prostrate before Him. They depend upon Him. And yet they cannot even but grasp the bottom of the throne. How much Christ humbled himself from the glory that was due to him. He was made lower than the angels in order to take upon himself the form of sinful flesh. He was born judicially condemned to pay, he was born with a death sentence, basically. He bore the sins of his people, not just on the cross, but his entire life. Do you believe that this day? Return to Psalm 8. Psalm number 8. To worship God is to say how excellent He is. It's to declare how excellent He is. And you can worship God in many different ways. You can pray to God. You can sing His precious and holy words through the Psalms. And you can preach the Word. You can share the Gospel with those who are lost and perishing. To not worship is to declare he is not excellent, he is not exalted, and he is not worthy of all praise. Psalm 8 says, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who hath set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens and the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field. the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the sea, the seas, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth." When we sing that psalm, do we truly believe it? How excellent is the Lord's name. He obtained a more excellent name than the angels. Dignity and honor. Do we honor Christ? Do we truly honor Christ? I ask this seriously this morning. One of my greatest burdens is not that my life passes by. And I did not do everything in my power to glorify God. I so want to see revival in my day, in this country. But it will not happen in a vacuum. It will not happen in a vacuum. If the truth of God is not there, the glory of God won't be there. If we truly believe that Christ is excellent, that He is unique, then surely the fruits of our actions will follow that, or they will deny that. The angels, these glorious, the most glorious of all mere creatures, are made to worship Him. But we have a problem. in the modern church for setting one day aside and seven. We have a problem in the modern church of making a big deal of sorteriology. This is how a person is saved. We have a problem of having our, not having our ears tickled. We don't want to think. Because when we think, it's so easy to switch off. It's so easy to amuse ourselves with the things of the world. I'll be honest, I see so many websites that are focused on amusement. It's there to distract us. I say turn away and turn off from it, and renounce yourself, to quote from Spurgeon, of all frivolous writings, whether they call themselves reformed or not. And I'm rebuking myself over this. Do we truly want to see reformation and revival in our day? Do we truly believe it's possible? Do we truly believe Christ is exiting on his throne and when he died he truly actually saved his people? Do we truly believe that? Let us live like we believe that. And I just want to send you probably like one last word. I don't know if everybody here knows Christ. I can't search your hearts. But it says examine yourselves. Is Christ excellent to you? Titus chapter 1 verse 15 and 16, and we'll leave it there. Titus chapter 1 verse 15 and 16. It is so easy to go through our lives, brethren, attend church services, attend everything, and almost pat ourselves on the back. It's so easy to do. We must realize what we've been delivered from. Unto the pure, verses 15 and 16, Titus chapter 1, verses 15 and 16. Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure. If you are unbelieving this morning, none of this will matter. Actually, you won't care. And even their mind and conscience is defiled. You may come under a slight bit of apprehension that you might be on your way to hell. But not that you've offended the Risen Savior. Verse 16, they profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him. Being abominable and disobedient and unto every good work, reprobate. Reprobate means to fail the test. Reprobate means that by the test of the standard, the fruit of your life denies this. We all have bad days, we all have days, actually our greatest days, the Pope Paul Washer would send us to hell. We cannot get our joy from our performance, ever. Otherwise our performance will become an idol. But what is the consistent fruit of our life? Does it say that Christ is excellent? Does our speech and the meditations and the thoughts of our heart proclaim forth that Christ is excellent? Let's bow our heads in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, oh Lord, I thank you for your precious and holy word. Father, we do not deserve the least of thy mercies. Father, I just pray that Everyone in this building truly knows the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, as their Lord, as their Master. And is depending upon Him, is prostrating the knee before Him. That they continue, not just one time to call upon the name of the Lord, but to continually call upon the name of the Lord. To seek after the risen savior diligently in thy holy and precious word. That these words would not be foolishness unto someone in this room. That these words would convict, that the excellency of Christ spoken about in the book of Hebrews, how he is made more excellent than all the angels. How his dignity, his power, his honor is worthy of all reverence, all glory, all worship. Father, may we see these things this day. If we do not see these things, we can have no hope of reformation. Lord, when you moved in your church, it was through men who knew and understood you, who worshipped you, and who depended upon you. May we render all the glory unto you this day. Father, oh Lord, Convict us, Lord. Wash our feet this day. And bless our brother Mark as he's in Scotland this day. And strengthen us in Thy glorious and precious Word. Amen.