to themK They are the fellow-servants of the saints ''j united with them as part of the Church over which Christ presides', and appointed to minister unto them in the capacity of ser- vants™. However venerable therefore they are in themselves, and whatever honour God put upon them in the giving of the law, they are infinitely below the Lord Jesus, who is their Creator, their Governor, and their God. In his human nature he was " made a little lower than they;" but in his pre-existent nature he was infinitely above them. O that we may have worthy conceptions of his Divine Majesty, and ever be ready to address him in the words of Thomas, " My Lord, and my God!"]
2. The truth of his Messiahship —
[Here is a prophecy that must receive an accomplishment: there must be a person superior to the angels in his own nature, and made lower than they by the assumption of our nature. He must submit to this humiliation " for the purpose of suffering death," as the penalty due to the sins of men. Having " tasted death for every man," he must be raised, and *' crowned with glory and honour," and must " have all things in heaven, earth, and hell, put under his feet." Now then we ask. In whom has this, or any part of it, been fulfilled ? Who has experienced either the humiliation or the exaltation which are here predicted? That Jesus has fulfilled the pro- phecy, we know : for, " being in the form of God, and account- ing it no robbery to be equal with God, he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant: and having submitted to death, even the death of the cross, he has been exalted, and has had a name given him above every name, that every knee should bow to him, and every tongue confess him to be the Lord, to the glory of God the Father "." Is there any one else of whom these things, or any one of them, can be spoken? Assuredly not: '^ But toe see Jesus'' thus humbled, and thus exalted": and, consequently, Jesus is, beyond all doubt, " the Christ, the Saviour of the world."]
3. The certainty of his triumphs —
[When he was on earth " he was crucified through weak- ness; but now he liveth by the power of God." He is not only " crowned with glory and honour," as his followers will be, but is " set far above all principality and power, and
' Heb. ii. 5. "^ Rev. xix. 10. and xxii. 9.
> Eph. i. 10. '" Heb. i. 14.
n Phil, ii. 6 — 11. where ke'j'wcrf in ver. 7. corresponds with i)\aT- -waag in the text. « ver. 9.
2274.1 Christ's superiority to angels. 165
might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come : and being- constituted Head over all things to the Church, he fiUeth all in all," supplying every member of it with light and life, even as the sun does in the material worlds. The Apostle indeed justly observes, " We see not yet all things put under him^." But we see enough to assure us, that all things shall in due time be put under him. See to what a state he himself was reduced, when he lay sealed up, and guarded in the silent tomb! but he rose triumphant, and ascended up to heaven, and " sits as King upon God's holy hill of Zion." See how quickly he triumphed over all the lusts and prejudices of man- kind, and subdued millions to the obedience of faith ; and this through the instrumentality of a few poor fishermen ! See how he carries on his victories yet daily through the world ! Indeed every saint is a living witness for him, and a pledge to the world that nothing in the universe shall finally withstand his power.]