Brother Mike Ministries

The many days of Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011!  
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ETERNAL LIFE: No Longer Possible!! ***

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Hebrews 1:9-14
By Brother Mike (12-28-15; 40 minutes)
   


9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows .
10
And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands :
11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment ;
12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail .
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool ?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ?


INTRODUCTION
 

In verses 9-14 of Hebrews 1, we continue on the theme of Christ of the New Covenant being so much greater and better than the angels of the Old Covenant, and, therefore, the New Covenant is so much greater and better than the Old Covenant. Indeed, being better and greater than the angels of the Old Covenant, Christ is revealed as being the one who loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore Yahweh anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His fellows. Being so much better than the angels of the Old Covenant, Christ is also revealed to be the creator of the earth and the heavens. And, whereas the earth and heavens will perish and be changed, Christ remains forever, and He will never change. Furthermore, in being so much greater than the angels of the Old Covenant, Yahweh says to Christ only, sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Yes, Christ is the anointed creator who outlives His creation and does not change; who has been commanded to sit on Yahweh's right hand to rule as king until all His enemies have been brought into complete subjection. The angels of the Old Covenant, on the other hand, are merely servants for the ones about to be heirs of salvation. So, see how great the Christ of the New Covenant really is; therefore, let's let go of the Old and move on to the New Covenant is the underlying motivation.  


Verse 9:   


9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows .  

Here, in the next few verses, Yahweh continues to express how great Christ is, and this is done, as we had learned before, in order to set Christ, who spoke in the New Covenant, apart as much greater than the angels, who spoke in the Old Covenant, in order to teach that the New Covenant, therefore, is much greater than the Old. We first read the following about Christ: Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity. Actually, the word hast in Thou hast loved righteousness is not found in the Greek, so it literally reads, Thou loved righteousness, and hated iniquity. Both the verb loved and hated are in the aorist tense of the Greek, which means that He loved righteousness, and hated iniquity at a specific point in the past, and, since the book of Hebrews speaks of Christ primarily in His priestly office in heaven after the resurrection, it seems to me that when Christ loved righteousness, and hated iniquity is looking back on His whole life on earth up to and including the cross where it was fully displayed to the whole world that He loved righteousness, and hated iniquity. His love for righteousness was revealed by His complete obedience unto death on a cross, while His hatred for iniquity was revealed by His taking on all the sins of His elect and being punished in their stead up to and including on the cross. 

Now, it was because of Christ's love for righteousness, and His hatred for iniquity that we read, therefore God, [even] thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. The word even in the phrase even thy God, and the word hath in the sentence God hath anointed thee is not in the Greek, and the word gladness in the phrase oil of gladness can be translated as oil of exceeding gladness, so our verse would be better and more literally translated, 

9 . . . therefore God, thy God anointed thee with the oil of exceeding gladness above thy fellows .  

So, it was because Christ loved righteousness through His obedience unto the cross, and hated iniquity by being punished for His elect on up to and on the cross that Yahweh, His Yahweh, anointed Him with the oil of exceeding gladness above His fellows (Yahweh and Christ are the one and same God, but they are different persons - see God is a Trinity ). That is, once Christ completed paying for sins on the cross, and then rose from the dead, and then ascended into heaven, He was completely anointed with the oil of exceeding gladness above His fellows. Indeed, He was anointed as the High Priest in glory who now ministers on behalf of the elect. We read about the earthly anointing of the High Priest in Exodus 29,  

4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water .
5 And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod
6 And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre .
7
Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him
8 And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them .
9 And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons .

So, this was the earthly anointing of the earthly High Priest, but we read that the heavenly anointing of Jesus began at His baptism. We read, 

Mt 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him . . . 

Here, it is not literal oil that was poured on His head, but rather the Spirit of God, for the anointing with oil in the Bible is symbolic of being anointed with the Holy Spirit. We read of this, for instance, in Isaiah 61,  

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound . . .  

Hence, we find that the earthly anointing with oil was a picture of the heavenly anointing of the Spirit. And, whereas the earthly anointing of oil was administered at the hands of men, the heavenly is administered at the hand of God. Therefore, we find in this another reason as to why the New Covenant is superior to the Old, namely because it was a man who did the anointing with oil in the Old, but it is Yahweh Himself who does the anointing with the Holy Spirit in the New. So, it comes down to this: would you rather be anointed by man with oil, or would you rather be anointed by Yahweh Himself with the eternal Holy Spirit? Of course, the answer is, I would rather be anointed by Yahweh himself with the eternal Holy Spirit. So, also, should you be willing to let the Old Testament way of doing things vanish away, and move onto the much better things of the New. Yet, unfortunately, there are many who still even today hold onto aspects of the Old, and we will address some of these issues as we progress through the book of Hebrews: two of these issues, for instance, are infant baptism and the Saturday Sabbath of which we will discuss in more detail at another time. But, leave it to say that both the doctrines of Infant Baptism and the Saturday Sabbath exist because they carry over a portion of the Old that has actually been abolished into the New, and, thus, those who hold to such doctrines are still holding onto the Old to some degree, which is a denying that Christ has come. But, as I said, we will get more into these things later. 

But, for now, we wonder why the anointing of Jesus by the Holy Spirit both at His baptism and completely after He ascended into heaven is called the oil of exceeding gladness. We understand why it is called the oil because the oil represents the Holy Spirit in the Bible, but why is the Holy Spirit identified with gladness here? Can you see it? Why it is because the Holy Spirit is identified with salvation and salvation is identified with joy. As we read in Luke 15,
 
Lu 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance

And, again,

Lu 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth .

It is the Spirit who anoints us to salvation whereby we are freed from sin and destruction, and forgiven all our sins, and whereby we are promised new bodies and life eternal in the new heaven and earth. No wonder the Holy Spirit is identified as the oil of gladness. Indeed, it is a joy or gladness which goes beyond just the feeling of joy, but it is a joy unspeakable and everlasting. Indeed, to have been anointed by the Holy Spirit is to have been given the down payment for all the blessings of our inheritance yet to come in the next life, including our new sinless bodies and the new Heaven and earth. As we read of the elect in Ephesians 1, 

Eph. 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise ,
14 Which is the earnest [down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory .  

So, we begin to see just why the anointing of the Holy Spirit is identified with exceeding gladness, and, all the more when we are talking about Christ Himself. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit of exceeding gladness because He is our salvation in the same way that the Holy Spirit is our salvation. The Holy Spirit of exceeding gladness is Jesus, and Jesus is the Holy Spirit of exceeding gladness (see doctrine of the Trinity ). It is because of his obedience unto death on a cross in our place that we, the elect, have been pardoned of our sins, and have also received the anointing by the Spirit of exceeding gladness above our fellow human beings. But, Christ was the firstborn from the dead so that we too could be born again from the dead, and so anointed with the Spirit of exceeding gladness above our fellows, which is the down payment for our new sinless and glorious bodies to be received on the Last Day.


Verse 10:
  

10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands . . .   

Now, whereas the Son created the worlds (the entire universe) as we learned back in verse 2, here, the Son, Christ Jesus, is called Lord and it is mentioned that He laid the foundation of the earth. We read, And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth. The verb translated hast laid the foundation is in the aorist tense of the Greek, which means the earth was founded or established by the Lord at some point in the past. And, since the context of our verse is showing that Jesus is superior to the angels, and, therefore, superior to the Old Covenant or Testament because it was established by angels while the New Covenant was established by Christ Himself, we can understand why Yahweh here wants to make it clear that the Christ of the New Covenant created the earth. Any way, we are told clearly that Christ, the Lord, did not just create the universe out there (verse 2), but He created the earth as well. Why does He mention this? Well, as we have stated before, He wants to make it perfectly clear just how great Christ Jesus really is in comparison to the angels who established the Old Covenant, and, therefore, just how great the New Covenant is that was established by the one and only true God, Christ Jesus our Lord.  

But, Christ is not only said to have laid the foundation of the earth in His greatness; it is also said that the heavens are the works of [His] hands. So, He is also the creator of the heavens (plural). The reason the word heavens is in the plural is because when we look out into space there is more than one layer of heaven. First, there is our atmosphere. Then, there is space, which has no atmosphere, and, then, there are atmospheres around all the various planets as well. So, therefore, the heaven above the earth is called heavens (plural) because it is divided into various layers. 

Now, we read further, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. Does this mean that Christ used His literal hands to form the heavens? Obviously, not! The term hands in the Bible can be symbolic of the will, and, so, what this is saying is simply that the heavens are the works of the will of Christ. It was by His choosing that the heavens were formed. And, all He had to do was speak, and it was formed in the same way that every thing else was created at His command (see Genesis 1). 


Verse 11: 


11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment . . .  

In this verse, Christ is being lifted up in that They [the earth and the heavens] shall perish, but thou [Christ] remains. This is very similar to what we read in Luke 21, 

Lu 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away .  

The idea is that Christ (the Word of God) remains forever (the present tense and active voice verb remains in thou remainest means to continue to remain), but this earth and the universe will perish or be destroyed. And, this, once again, reveals just how great Christ of the New Covenant really is. He not only created the earth and the heavens, but He will also outlive them. Do you see just how great Christ of the New Covenant is compared to the Old? Therefore, these Hebrew Christians and we are being moved to let go of the Old and grab a hold of the New that is identified with Christ of the New Covenant, the creator, the one who will live forever when this earth and universe perish.   

Then, we read of the earth and the universe, that they [the earth and universe] all shall wax old as does a garment. The verb here that translates, shall wax old is in the future tense and passive voice. Therefore, it can be translated as shall be being aged in which case our verse reads, these all shall be being aged as a garment. In other words, just as a garment or piece of clothing gradually wears out, so also does the earth and the universe. These are always moving toward a state of less order toward disorder until finally they would exist no more if they were allowed to run their entire normal course of deterioration. But, as we know, they will not be permitted to run their entire normal course because Yahweh plans to destroy them before that time, and then change them into a glorious new heaven and earth wherein eternal righteousness dwells, and where the elect will live forevermore with their Lord.    


Verse 12:
 

12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail

This verse is revealing more as to why Christ is so great. We first read, And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up. That is, as we would fold up a vesture, or a piece of clothing that covers us, so will there come a time when Christ will fold up the earth and the heavens. And, then our verse says, and they shall be changed. This verb, and they shall be changed is the same verb used when scripture speaks about our bodies being changed in the rapture. We read in 1Corinthians 15,

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed . . .

And, then, continuing to the next verse,

1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed .

So, just like our bodies shall be changed into new glorious bodies in the rapture of the Last Day, so also will the earth and the heavens be changed into the new glorious heaven and earth in which our new bodies will be made fit to live for all eternity. It will be a place where there is no longer any death, sorrow, or sadness, but where there is joy unspeakable, full of righteousness and truth.

Now, in contrast to the earth and the universe being folded up and changed, we read, but thou [Christ] art the same, and thy years shall not fail. In other words, whereas the earth and the heavens as we know them will come to an end and then be changed, Christ will never come to an end, for His years shall not fail, and He does not change, for He is the same. This, once again, sets apart the New Covenant as represented by Christ as being so much greater than the Old Covenant because the Old does not remain, and it does change whereas the New Covenant as represented by Christ Jesus does remain, and will never change. The New is eternal whereas the Old was temporary until Christ Jesus would shine in our hearts.


Verse 13:

13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool ?

Here, once again, Yahweh is revealing how much greater Christ is than the angels in order to show how much better and greater the New Covenant, which was founded by Christ, is than the Old, which was founded by angels. We read, But to which of the angels said he [Yahweh] at any time. The verb, here, said he is in the perfect tense, which means the action of Yahweh having said was completed at one point in the past, and the results of Yahweh having said continues on, in full effect (see Greek verb tenses ). And, the result of Him having said is that Christ sat down on Yahweh's right hand after He ascended to heaven, until Yahweh makes Christ's enemies Christ's footstool. Therefore, the results of Yahweh having said, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool is that Christ has sat down on Yahweh's right hand, until Yahweh makes Christ's enemies Christ's footstool. And, this result continues on, in full force. In other words, Christ continues to sit at Yahweh's right hand until Yahweh makes Christ's enemies Christ's footstool.   

Now, let's look more closely at what Yahweh did not say to angels, but what He said to Christ: he said, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Here the word Sit of Sit on my right hand is a command, and it is in the present tense, which means that Christ is commanded to continue sitting on Yahweh's right hand. And, since to sit in the Bible is symbolic of to rule, Christ is being commanded here to continue ruling on Yahweh's right hand. Furthermore, because the right hand is symbolic of that place under the special blessing of Yahweh, what we are actually being told here is that Christ is being commanded to continue ruling under the special blessing of Yahweh. 

Next, we not only discovered that Christ is commanded to continue ruling under Yahweh's full blessing, but now we find that He is to do so until I make thine enemies thy footstool. That is, Christ is to continue ruling under the blessing of Yahweh until Yahweh makes Christ's enemies Christ's footstool. Actually, the verse literally reads, until I make thine enemies thy footstool of the feet. The phrase of the feet is excluded in the King James translation. 

Now, to make Christ's enemies His footstool is symbolic of all His enemies being conquered and in His complete subjection. This, in principle, took place at the cross since it is the cross which guarantees that all the enemies of Christ will come under His subjection. But, we do not as yet see all things put under His subjection as we read in Hebrews 2, 

Heb 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet [at the cross]. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him .  

In fact, we will not see all things put under His subjection until the consummation on the Last Day. Then, all His enemies, which include all those who are not saved as well as all the fallen angels will be eternally destroyed in the Lake of fire, which has now already been spiritually lit on May 21, 2011 to burn all the foes in spiritual death with no salvation possible, but, on the Last Day, they shall all be literally burned up as well to exist no more, and this earth and universe will be folded up and then changed into the new heaven and earth where only the elect will exist in glory forevermore, where there is no longer any pain and suffering, sadness and sorrow, sickness and death, but where there is joy and bliss under the hand of the Almighty God, Jesus Christ, Yahweh. 


Verse 14: 

14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ?    

Whereas, in the previous verse, we found that Christ of the New Covenant is superior to the angels of the Old Covenant because, unlike the angels, Christ is commanded to sit on Yahweh's right hand as a king; that is, Christ is commanded to rule under the special blessing of Yahweh until Yahweh makes Christ's enemies Christ's footstool; that is, until Yahweh makes Christ's enemies completely conquered and under His subjection on the Last Day, in this verse, we are told that angels are merely servants. They are not kings like Christ is a king, but they are merely servants on behalf of those who are being saved. So, we see just how much greater Christ is than the angels, which by inference means that the New Covenant, which is of Christ, is so much better than the Old Covenant, which was of angels.    

Now, our verse reads, Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? A slightly better translation, I think, would be,

14 Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent forth into service for the ones about to be heirs of salvation ?  

This verse reveals to us that angels are not just glorious spirit beings, but they are of service to the ones about to be heirs of salvation. In other words, they are servants for the chosen ones, the elect. For instance, they were used to relay messages to the elect:   

Mt 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost

Then, we read of the same angel telling Joseph to take Mary and her newborn into Egypt to escape harm from Herod: 

Mt 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him .   

So, we see that angels not only relay messages to the elect, but they can also be used to protect the elect. Again, we read,  

Mt 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones [the elect]; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven

And, we read in Luke 12,    

Lu 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men [referring to the elect], him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God . . .    

The idea is that the elect - the little ones and those who confess Christ before men - will be made known to the angels so that the angels can fight for them, be used to answer their prayers, help them, comfort them, guide them, protect them, and do whatever it is within Yahweh's will that is for their good. Yes, angels are ministering spirits sent forth into service for the elect according to the will of Yahweh, and we, as God's elect, should not be afraid to make request of Yahweh that they be dispatched on our behalf. 


CONCLUSION  

We found in Hebrews 1:9-14 that Christ is so much better and greater than the angels, and, therefore, the New Covenant brought about by Christ is so much better and greater than the Old Covenant brought about by angels. The angels are merely servants for the sake of the elect, but Christ is the one who loved righteousness by obedience unto death on a cross, and He hated iniquity by bearing the sins of the elect. And, because of this, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit of exceeding gladness, which guarantees the salvation of the elect and their inheritance of new bodies as well as their inheritance of the new heaven and earth on the Last Day. Furthermore, unlike the angels, Christ is the creator of the earth and the entire universe. And, whereas the earth and universe will perish and be changed into the new heaven and earth on the Last Day, Christ remains forever, and He will never change. He is eternal, and unchangeable. He is Yahweh! Finally, Christ is so much greater than the angels because, unlike the angels, he has been commanded by Yahweh to rule as king on the right hand of Yahweh; that is, under the complete blessings of Yahweh until Yahweh has brought all of Christ's enemies into complete subjection to Him, which will be completed on the Last Day when all things both in heaven and on earth will be made subject to Jesus Christ, our Lord.  


Now, to the true elect of Yahweh, may the LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace .

1:1-6  
1:7-8 
1:9-14
2:1-4

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