The Lord has spoken to many different people in many different ways throughout history, but now He speaks to us by Jesus, the most Supreme, and he does so through his word, which is much better than any of the other ways that He has ever spoken to mankind.

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, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down 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 firstbegotten 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. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre 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. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 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. But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Hebrews Chapter 1

Jesus is better than the fathers

In Hebrews chapter one, we are introduced to a list of things that Jesus is better than. First and foremost we are told that Jesus is better than the fathers.

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

1 Peter 1:18

By fathers, the Lord is speaking about the Jewish fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These fathers were typically held in very high esteem, after all, Abraham left everything behind to follow the living and true God. Something that he did not learn from his family, he did this by faith, and by that faith we now have the nation of Israel.

However, Jesus is better than the fathers of Israel. The fathers were not perfect men, they were sinners and as such we know of some of their sins. Abraham lied as found in Genesis 20:12 when asked who Sara was, and of course, Jacob is known as the deceiver (Genesis 27).

Jesus is better than the fathers, you can trust everything that Jesus has said, he is not a liar or a deciever.

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Numbers 23:19

Jesus is better than the prophets

The next thing that we see, is that Jesus is not only better than the fathers but is also better than all of the prophets. With prophets, you need to be concerned about whether they are true prophets or not and you would also need to be concerned about their motives.

And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 18:21-22

The motives of Jesus are never of concern, therefore Jesus is better than the prophets

Jesus is better than angels

I have heard many times from people, and have even thought to myself in the past, that it sure would be nice if the Lord would just speak to us audibly or through angels as he has done in the past, but the issue with that is, you would not be able to tell if it was actually of the Lord or not.

There have been plenty of times in the past that the Lord spoke to someone by angels and they were almost always unsure whether to believe the angel or not.

Jesus is better than the creation

The creation itself is a witness unto God, any person with an honest heart cannot look at the creation, and come to the conclusion that there is no God

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Romans 1:20-23

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

Psalms 8:3

Jesus is better than the fathers, he is better than the prophets, he is better than the angels and the creation. These truths are self-evident, and anyone who would look into these things would not come to any other conclusion. Jesus is better, and He speaks to us in a way that no one else in history had the luxury of, he speaks to us through his infallible, revealed word.

Jesus speaks to us through his word

What is better, is that we have his words in our language, written in a book that can be easily referenced with the chapter and verse markings that we have in the King James Bible.

You have the word of God in your possession in your language and you do not have to rely on your memory of what God has said. The fathers had to rely on what they remembered the Lord saying to them, the prophets did too as well as anyone who was instructed by angels. We do not have to rely on our memory or on our own private interpretation based on that memory, we have the scriptures

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Peter 1:19-21

The entire context of 2 Peter 1:19-21 is that having the scriptures is a more sure word from the Lord than hearing Him speak directly to us from heaven! What a blessing it is to know that we have the word of God that we can trust as our final authority in all matters of faith and practice. Not for faith alone, not just for what we believe, but also to show us how we ought to conduct ourselves after we have believed.

Jesus speaks to us through the preaching of his word

But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

Titus 1:3

The Lord speaks to us today, through his word and he does so by the preaching of his word. The preached word is profitable unto you. If you refuse preaching, if you don’t believe that the Lord uses preaching and if you don’t believe that the Lord speaks through preaching, you will never receive the full profit of his words

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews Chapter 4

If you reject the word through preaching, it will be difficult for you to find rest from all of your troubles.

I realize that the doctrinal application of the rest that is spoken of in Hebrews chapter 4 is referring to the millennial rest, but we can also see how that the rejection of God’s word through preaching will make it difficult for you to find rest in all of your troubles today.

We don’t attend church and listen to preaching, just because we enjoy preaching, or because it is a habit, or what is expected of us. We submit ourselves under preaching so that the Lord can give us help and rest in the day of trouble, and so that we can experience the full profit of his word.

The Lord has used different methods to communicate with his creation throughout the history of mankind but has in these last days chosen to speak to us by Jesus through his revealed word. JESUS IS BETTER.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.