Christ Church

Life According to the Lamb (Christ Church)
Christ Church on September 10, 2025
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Hebrews

So Much Better Than The Angels (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended into Heaven. This is called the Ascension, and we celebrate that historical event on this Lord’s Day. The text before us says that the Ascension means that Jesus is so much better than the angels. Today we consider what that means.

The Text: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son…” (Heb. 1:1-2:9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In the Old Testament, angels had been God’s more common messengers telling the prophets His Word (Heb. 1:1), but in the last days of the Old Covenant, God spoke directly by His Son, Jesus, the heir of the world by whom all things were made (Heb. 1:2). Being the brightness of God’s glory, the exact image of His person, and upholding all things, having purged our sins, He ascended and sat down on God’s own throne, far above all angels (Heb. 1:3-4).

Christ had a right to this glory because He is God’s own Son (Heb. 1:5). What angel is worthy of the worship of angels (Heb. 1:6)? Angels are certainly God’s ministers, but the Son sits on the throne of God and rules all things forever (Heb. 1:7-12). Angels are ministering spirits, but Christ reigns until all His enemies are put beneath His feet (Heb. 1:13-14).

Therefore, we must give far more earnest heed to His Word (Heb. 2:1). If God guarded His Word thundered by angels in the Old Testament, how much more jealous is He of the Word of His Son, even as it has been passed down by those who heard Him directly (Heb. 2:2-4)? The angels are not the ones inheriting the world; rather, this was God’s design for man, who was made a little lower than the angels but created to rule all things (Heb. 2:5-7). Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death in order to be crowned with glory and honor and bring many sons to glory (Heb. 2:8-10).

FOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS TEXT

1. This text gives us a glimpse of a biblical cosmology: the angels were present and cheering when God laid the foundations of the earth (Job 38:6-8). Angels sometimes appear in human form (e.g. Gen. 19, Dan. 10), but also seraphim (fiery, dragon-like creatures) (Num. 21, Is. 6) and cherubim (sphynx-like creatures) (Ez. 10), as well as the “angel of the Lord,” a “theophany” of Christ Himself (Gen. 32, Ex. 3, Jdg. 13). Since angels are described as ministers and guardians of men, it seems likely that angels would have been like tutors for Adam and Eve (“a little lower than the angels”) (Ps. 34:7, 91:11, Mt. 18:10). Since Satan appears to be a fallen seraph, he was the original false teacher (2 Cor. 11:13-14). When man sinned, cherubim became guardians of God’s presence (Gen. 3:24, Ex. 36-37, Gal. 4), delivered the law (Gal. 3:19), and enforced His justice (Ps. 78:49, 1 Chron. 21). The only way back into God’s glory was through their swords, but no one could do that and survive.

2. So Hebrews is emphasizing the supremacy of the New Covenant by underlining the supremacy of Christ: No man or angel dares claim God’s majesty (Heb. 1:3). No man or angel dares sit on God’s throne (Heb. 1:8). No man or angel has laid the foundations of the earth or can claim to have made the galaxies (Heb. 1:10-12). No man or angel may say that his years will never fail (Heb. 1:12). No man or angel could taste death for sin and survive (Heb. 1:3, 2:9). To ascribe all these things to Christ is either perfectly just or utterly blasphemous. This is either a lie and fabrication, or it is delusional madness, or it is historical truth and reality. People try to split the difference and say that perhaps it was all a very pious mistake – they all had a very spiritual experience, and it changed their lives. But that isn’t what Jesus or the apostles said (e.g. Mk.10:37, Lk. 14:26, Heb. 1:13, 2:8). Either Jesus was a liar, a lunatic, or He is Lord.

3. If Jesus is God, His Word is the Word of God. Hebrews says that God has been speaking since the beginning in various ways (Heb. 1:1). And if there is a God and He has spoken at all, no human being may treat that casually, but if that God has now spoken clearly through His own Son, by whom He made all things, it is pure insolence to ignore Him (Heb. 1:2, 2:1-3). While the prophets and patriarchs and Israel had no excuses, it might have been understandable for someone far off to not be sure what the angels/prophets meant by their messages. But when Christ has come and spoken plainly, when there are hundreds of witnesses of His resurrection, four written testimonies, and over a dozen more documents attesting to what He said and done, there is no excuse (Acts 17:30-31). He has spoken. What will you do with His word?

4. Christ is King, and He will have dominion. Angels are ministers and servants. But Christ ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:3). All the angels worship Him (Heb. 1:6). He sits on the throne of God (Heb. 1:8). He loves righteousness and hates all evil perfectly (Heb. 1:9). He made all things (Heb. 1:10). His kingdom is forever (Heb. 1:11-12). He ascended and must reign until all His enemies are made His footstool (Heb. 1:13). Christ is Lord. Christ claims all things in Heaven and on Earth, and this necessarily has implications for all rule and authority (Mt. 28:18-20). He is reigning until everything is in submission to Him: every nation, every city, every family, every business, every husband, mayor, president, judge – until every knee bows.

CONCLUSION

Christ became man to taste death, to eat death for us (Heb. 2:9). This was the promise of the prophets: “He will swallow up death in victory” (Is. 25:8). Christ, the Eternal Son of God, humbled Himself to be a little lower than the angels in order to suffer death for us who deserve death, in order to take away our sins, in order to restore us to the glory of the Father. “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” (1 Cor 6:3, cf. Heb. 2:5).

We do not yet see all things put under Christ, but we see Christ crowned with glory and honor. We see Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high, and He will get His reward. You are either with Him or against Him. You are either under His blood or you scorn His blood. He is King. So crown Him.

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The Two-Edged Sword (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

Charles Spurgeon once offered a humble recommendation for how to defend the Bible. He kept it quite simple, “Let it defend itself.” His statement gets to the heart of our problem. We want to hold up the Word of God, forgetting that it holds us up. We want to cut with the Sword of the Spirit rather than have it cut us. We treat the sword like it is an inanimate object in need of the living to wield it. But our text says the word is alive and we are the ones in need of animation. We’re the ones in need of entering into rest, being prodded to enter that rest by the two-edged sword.

SURVEY OF THE TEXT- HEBREWS 4:11-13

Given the example of the Israelites, many of whom after being delivered out of Egypt still died in the desert, new covenant saints must labor to enter that rest (v. 11). That rest is not just any rest, more about this particular rest in a moment. We can enter that rest because of the Word of God, which is quick and powerful, sharper than the sword that splits the heart (soul and spirit), body (joints and marrow), and mind (thoughts and intents) (v. 12). This Living Word doesn’t only carve up the individual, it exposes all of creation, every creature being laid open today by the same Word to whom they will one day give an account (v. 13).

INTO THAT REST

The rest here described is a very particular kind of rest. It is called that rest. And that rest was defined in the previous verse, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his”(v. 10). God’s rest was previously described as “the seventh day” when God rested from His work of creation (v. 4). But in verse 10 we hear of another, who entered into His rest like God did from His own. And then our text in verse 11 says that the saints should enter into that rest, namely the man’s rest from verse 10. So who is that man?

The context identifies that man as Jesus Christ, who “is passed into the heavens” (v.14). As God rested from His work of creation so Christ has rested from His work of redemption. And the saints must labor to enter that rest, the rest of Christ’s completed work. There is a future fulfillment of this rest when you arrive in heaven. But there is a present reality of this rest for all those who will have it.

THE WORD OF GOD IS QUICK

Verse 11 provides the directive but it doesn’t supply the fuel for completing the directive. You can hear the exhortation to enter into rest well enough and still be left troubled about how you’re actually going to enter in. Even if Christ is in you, your flesh is no help at all, “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin” (Romans 8:10). But verse 12 supplies the remedy. Enter into Christ’s rest “for the word of God is quick.”

The Word of God in this passage is not merely the prophets and the apostles but the Living Christ Himself. Quick in our text is often translated living. And the same sense comes through in both words. The Christ Word is always up to something. Creation itself was formed by that Word. The soul of man was formed by the same— “The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him” (Zechariah 12:1). New life comes by this same Word (1 Peter 1:23). The maintenance and maturity of that new life comes likewise (John 17:17).

In whatever the Christ Word is up to, He is effectual. God says through the prophet Isaiah that His Word is like rain or snow from heaven and it will prosper in the thing whereto He sent it (Isaiah 55:11). But that prospering is not as straight-forward as some make it out to be. His sword cuts to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, thoughts and intentions. It goes places we can’t go and accomplishes there things we can’t accomplish.

What it accomplishes is always good, but it can take us by surprise. God’s Word is a fire that melts cold hearts and a hammer that breaks hard hearts (Jeremiah 23:29). So this Christ Word enfleshed dry bones in Ezekiel’s valley and, at the same time, disemboweled King Jehoram due to his sin. This two-edged sword plagued Pharaoh, hanged Haman, and sent dogs to eat Jezebel (2 Kings 9:10). But it also humbled Nebuchadnezzar, turned Manasseh from his evil way, and spared Nineveh.

CREATION EXPOSED 

This living and effectual Word is the same Word to whom man will one day give an account. Verse 13 says that all things are already exposed before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. This is a reference to the judgment seat of Christ— “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ . . . So then ever one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10, 12). But the only way to give a faithful account to the Word it to have that Word carve you up. The only way to go before Christ with a load of good works done in the body is to enter into His rest.

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Discipline as Genuine Love (Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #5)


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INTRODUCTION

In our message last Lord’s Day, we defined what we mean by the word discipline. Our subject this week is “discipline as genuine love,” and so it is important to begin with a definition of love. What does it mean to love God, and what does it mean to love our neighbor? These are the two great commandments, and so we should know what they summon us to.

To love someone is to treat someone lawfully from the heart. To love God is to do what He calls us to do, and to do it from the heart. Nowhere does Scripture identify love with our emotional “feels,” that approach being an error that is currently destroying millions. At the same time, we are called to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Dt. 6:4-9; Mark 12:30), and this would certainly include our “feels.” But this simply means that our emotions must be obedient, along with the rest of our being. But obeying commands is not the same thing as issuing commands. 

So loving God means doing what He says to do, from the heart. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). And His commandments include bringing up our children in the nurture and admonition, applying physical correction when necessary, and providing loving instruction all the time. 

THE TEXT

“He that spareth his rod hateth his son: But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes” (Proverbs 13:24). 

“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, my son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness” (Hebrews 12:5–10). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Words like love and hate are to be defined by the Scriptures, and not by our emotional frame of mind. There are sentiments that we would call kind, or loving, or tender, but which are toxic by the standard of the Word. A man might mix up a batch of cyanide or arsenic, and it does not much matter how much emotional sugar was put into the recipe.

And so Proverbs defines hatred of a son—a form of disowning a son—as withholding the rod. But when we think of all the people who withhold this form of correction, what is it that motivates them? Is it what we normally call “hate?” No, it would be what we would normally call sentimentalism or, in its true colors, hatred.

The Hebrews passage teaches us something similar. One of our assurances of our adoption as sons is the fact that God chastens us. He doesn’t spank the neighbor kids, but rather His own (vv. 5-6). We should endure chastening, knowing it to be a mark of sonship (v. 7). If you don’t receive this kind of correction, then that is a sign that you are a bastard, and no legitimate heir (v. 8). If we revere our earthly fathers who do this, then how much more should we do the same with the Father of spirits (v. 9)? Our earthly fathers did it with temporal goals in view, but God has our holiness in mind (v. 10). Notice that while the goals may differ, the process of discipline is the same. 

THE COLD CONCRETE OF COVENANT

The illustration here is aimed at the relationship between parents and children, but it actually applies to all your relationships. But settle it in your minds first with regard to your marriage, and the children God has blessed you with. 

You build your household the same way you build a house. Go down into your basement and look at the concrete walls. They are hard, cold, straight, and gray. There is no warmth to them at all. And because there is no warmth there, it is possible to have warmth elsewhere. Now go upstairs and look at the living room—pillows on the sofa, curtains, soft carpet, pictures on the wall. The surroundings there are truly pleasant. But the only reason anything is pleasant is because the concrete is where the concrete is, and the living room stuff is in the living room. Roll up the carpet, gather the cushions, throw on the sofa, and try to erect a stud wall on it. It will be the wobbliest thing in the world, and this explains why your family interactions are so full of so much unedifying drama. 

THE GREATEST ACT OF LOVE

What was the greatest act of love ever rendered by a human being? The answer to that question has to be the love that Christ showed for us when He laid down His life as a sacrifice for sin—doing this when we were still in rebellion, still in our sins. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This was the greatest act of love ever, and it is the template for measuring every other act of love (Eph. 5:25) .

And yet, Christ didn’t feel like it. “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38). And on the basis of what He felt, He prayed earnestly in the Garden of Gethsemene—asking His Father three times if the cup could pass from Him. “And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words” (Matthew 26:44). And so He obeyed the will of His Father, from the heart, and He did so for the joy that was set before Him. The joy was not behind Him, pushing, but there before Him, beckoning—the way a field of grain beckons a farmer doing the hard work of plowing the field months before (Heb. 12:11).

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not” (1 John 3:1). 

The love we experience in our salvation is a triune love. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). Everything the Son sees the Father doing, He also does, love included. “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (John 15:9). And the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). The persons of the Godhead always work together in harmonious unity. 

So there was love in the assignment of the mission, there was love in the execution of the mission, and love in the application of the mission. It began with love, and it ends with love, but there was agony in the middle. Our Savior was no sentimentalist, and neither should you be.

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Reformed Worship (What is “Reformed” Anyway? #4) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

The 16th Century Reformation was a reformation of worship. Worship is at the center of human life, and therefore, we believe it is the most important thing we do as Christians. How we think about worship and offer our worship flows into all of life. 

In the beginning, God placed Adam in the Garden Sanctuary where Adam had direct communion with God, and from that Garden a river flowed out to the four corners of the world. In Ezekiel’s vision, a river flows out from under the altar growing deeper until it reaches the sea, bringing healing to the nations. What we do in worship impacts us and the whole world. 

The Text: “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words…” (Heb. 12:18-29). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Having warned about bitterness, fornication, and rejecting God’s blessing (Heb. 12:15-17), Hebrews says that Christians have not come to the earthly Mount Sinai that thundered and burned with fire (Heb. 12:18-21), but rather, we have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, where all the saints and angels are, to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 12:22-24). This New Covenant worship is more sobering since Christ speaks directly from heaven and shakes heaven and earth until only God’s Kingdom which cannot be shaken remains (Heb. 12:25-27, cf. Rev. 21:2). Therefore, we must have His grace to worship acceptably with reverence and fear, since He is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28-29).  

ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD

The uniform testimony of Scripture is that God is a jealous God, and He is particularly jealous for His worship. Where He meets with His people is holy ground (Ex. 3:5), and the fierce holiness of Sinai was only a faint glimmer of His heavenly glory (Ex. 19, Heb. 12:18-21). When Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded, fire devoured them (Lev. 10:1-2). When David was bringing the Ark of God back to Jerusalem and the ox cart stumbled and Uzzah put out his hand to support it, God struck him dead (2 Sam. 6:6-7). These were various innovations that God had not commanded, but God’s fierce anger also burned against Israel when they went through the motions of what God had commanded, while harboring sin in their lives (Is. 2:10-20). When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit, they died (Acts 5), and when the Corinthians were getting drunk and breaking into factions at the Lord’s Supper, some of them became sick and died (1 Cor. 11). And when Israel turned to blatant idolatries, sacrificing their own children to Baals, God says these evils were not commanded, not even contemplated (Jer. 19:5). 

At the same time, David rightly introduced singing and musical instruments into the worship of God (1 Chron. 6, 25-26), and Israel established the feasts of Purim and Hannukah, with God’s apparent blessing (cf. Esther 9, John 10:22). Putting these things together, the Reformers taught that worship must be according to God’s Word. Our central duty is to come before Him to do those things which He has explicitly commanded or which may be clearly inferred from His Word, and yet in that place of deep humility, we are to offer ourselves fully to Him and in that offering will be unique treasures that are pleasing to Him (Rev. 21:24-26).

COVENANT RENEWAL WORSHIP

The Reformers drew from covenant theology as they reformed worship. The fact that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are covenant ceremonies commanded by Christ helped explain Christian worship as “covenantal.” We are called to worship in Jesus’ name, as those who bear God’s covenantal name in our baptism, and Jesus said that we must celebrate the Lord’s Supper as a “memorial” of His death, the new covenant in His blood (1 Cor. 11). The language of memorial is covenantal: the rainbow was a memorial of God’s covenant promise to never flood the earth again (Gen. 9). The Feast of Passover was a memorial of God’s salvation from Egypt (Ex. 12). And the sacrifices and other feasts were constant memorials reminding God and His people of the covenant (e.g. Lev. 2, Num. 10). 

It has been pointed out that the covenant renewal at Sinai was a lot like a wedding, with Moses playing the part of the minister giving the vows, with the whole thing sealed with a feast (Ex. 19-24). In fact, the broad structure of that covenant ceremony are reflected in our worship: A Call to worship (Ex. 19:1-9), Confession/cleansing (Ex. 19:10-25), Word declared and explained (Ex. 20-23), followed by a feast, and a blessing (Ex. 24). Others have pointed out that when the three major sacrifices are offered together, they are always offered in the order of Sin Offering, Ascension Offering, and Peace Offering which also corresponds to our order of worship (Confession, Consecration, Communion). “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice” (Ps. 50:5), and we offer our bodies and praises as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1, Heb. 13:15). And we renew our covenant on the weekly anniversary of our Lord’s resurrection (Ex. 20:8, Rev. 1:10). 

APPLICATIONS

Family Worship: In the Old Covenant, God had commanded a morning and evening sacrifice, and this is what the New Testament is alluding to with “pray without ceasing” (Num. 28, 1 Thess. 5:17). While there is a greater freedom in the New Covenant, we should generally be aiming for daily Bible reading, prayer, and singing in our homes. And this is a great way to practice for Sunday morning worship. 

BIBLICAL FAITH & GLORY

The Church is the bride of Christ, and we are therefore required to be subject to Christ in everything, particularly in our renewal of His covenant (Eph. 5:24). While some Reformed folks draw a very narrow circle around what is acceptable, they are more faithful than those who simply want to make it up as they go along, whether with rock concerts or circus shows or medieval pageantry. We want to grow up into true Christian glory (2 Cor. 3:18), as we worship in Spirit and in Truth (Jn. 4:24), and at the center of that is a humble, evangelical faith. 

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