Let us once again turn to God's
Word and the text that we've been considering these past few
weeks here on Lord's Day evenings in 1st Timothy chapter 3 and
verse 16. 1st Timothy 3, 16, our fourth
sermon on the text and I want us to turn particularly to these
words seen of angels concerning the Lord Jesus remember this
is really a little theological nugget so much truth such glorious
doctrine in the confines of a few words here at the end of this
third chapter in the Apostles epistle to young Timothy he says
and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up
into glory. So we come to this particular
clause and take up the theme, the subject matter of seeing
of angels. So last time we were obviously
considering the previous clause and those words justified in
the spirit and I said then that in some ways we might say that
there is some reference to the divine nature in the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ as in the previous clause we're told that
God was manifest in the flesh reference to his human nature
the word flesh really having reference to the whole of that
nature a human body and also a reasonable soul he was a real
man and as we read of him there in his human nature so it can
be said that the expression justified in the spirit refers more particularly
to his divine nature and he quickened himself in a sense in his divine
nature divinity back to his frame the life he had yielded restored
all the wonder and the miracle of it but also such is the the
fullness of the word of God also we can understand that expression
justified in the spirits in terms not so much of the divine nature
in the person of the Lord Jesus but also in terms of the ministry
of God the Holy Spirit and if we see it in that sense we are
reminded are we not of the very real humility of the life that
Jesus Christ lived, because it was a life lived in complete
and utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit. In fact, in every
part of his human life he was dependent on the Spirit. How
was he first of all conceived? Well, we read the words there
in Luke 1.35, the words that the angel speaks unto the virgin
to Mary the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power
of the higher shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy
thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God
she was with child she knew not a man but she was with child
and she was with child of and by the miraculous working of
God the Holy Spirit in her virgin womb even in his conception there
because it was not the spirit of course that was manifest in
the flesh it was not the father that was manifested in the flesh
it was the second person in the Godhead it was the eternal son
of God who became a man and from whence did that human nature
proceed he was the seed of the woman He derived his human nature
from his virgin mother, but she conceived that human nature only
by and through the miraculous working and the power of the
Holy Spirit. And as in his conception and
in his birth, so also when we think of the ministry that the
Lord Jesus Christ came to exercise amongst men. Now in all his ministry,
He is ever and always the Christ. He is the Anointed One. And He
is anointed with the Spirit of God. We are told that the Father
giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him, He whom God hath sent. speaketh the words of God for
God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him. There was a
remarkable outpouring of the spirit upon him and we see it
most significantly when we come to his baptism as he is baptized
there of John in the river Jordan and coming up out of the waters
of baptism the heavens open and the the spirit descends upon
him in the form of a dove and the father speaks those words
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and as the
spirit is upon him so he is led and directed of the spirit and
immediately after his baptism we are told he is led of the
spirit led of the spirit into the wilderness and there in the
wilderness of course he will be tempted of satan It's not
that the spirit is leading him into temptation. There's the
mystery there, the mystery of the providence of God in the
life of this man. He's led of the spirit into the
wilderness, yes. And it's there that the devil
comes and assaults him. But all the mystery, God is not
the author of sin. God the Holy Spirit is not the
author of sin. Let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted with God. God cannot be tempted and God
tempteth no man at all but the mystery of the Lord's ways and
the Lord's dealing how that even the man Christ Jesus is so severely
assailed at the beginning of his ministry in all points he
must be tempted like as we are yet without sin and so having
resisted all the assaults of Satan he then comes out of the
wilderness and we're told how he returns he returned out of
the wilderness in the power of the spirit and then as you know
he goes into the synagogue in Nazareth and he reads there in
the book of the prophet Isaiah that 61st chapter the spirit
of the Lord is upon him he has anointed me to preach the gospel
he is so dependent upon the ministry of the Spirit in all of His earthly
ministry. That's the truth that we see
so evidently as we read through the Gospels. Christ's dependence
upon the Spirit. And then when we come to the
end, when we come to His death upon the cross, we read those
words in Hebrews 9 who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to God and again as I said last time there is
recognized to be a reference both to the divine nature in the word through the eternal
spirit Dr. Owen the great Puritan says it
as reference to his divine nature that is the altar upon which
he makes the sacrifice he offers himself of course in his human
nature but it is the altar that sanctifies the gift that is offered
and so the Puritan says there is a reference to the divine
nature who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God but also It is recognized that there is reference likewise
to God, the Holy Spirit. Again, sustaining Him, strengthening
Him all His life, you see. Even when He comes to that great
death of the cross, He lives a life that's so dependent on
the ministry of the Spirit. And then we see the Spirit again
in His rising from the dead. He's put to death in the flesh.
He's quickened by the Spirit. And the Lord Jesus, what is He?
He's a pattern. He's a pattern to all that believe.
All His disciples must lead the same life that He led. They must
also live a life of dependence upon God, the Holy Spirit. Do
we recognize that? Do we feel that? Where are we? What are we without that gracious
ministry of God, the Holy Ghost? How little is made of His blessed
ministry in our day and generation. What can we do without Him? How
can we mortify the deeds of the flesh? How can we put to death
the sins associated with the body? If ye through the Spirit
do mortify, put to death, crucify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live. all we thought in last time of
those words justified in the spirit. But I want us to turn
now to what we're told concerning the angels. Scene of angels we're
told. It was scene of angels. What is this? What is the ministry
of these glorious beings? well first of all we're to remember
that they do more than look and they do more than see they are
those who also serve they serve God we're told of the angels
aren't we in Revelation chapter 7 how they are before the throne
of God and they serve him day and night in his temple And we're
told there are various types of angels. There are Seraphim
and there are Cherubim. And we read the names of some
of the angels. There's Gabriel of whom we read
earlier there in Luke chapter 1. There's Michael the Archangel. There are many angels. And they
are messengers. The very name as we have it in
the New Testament literally means a messenger. They are there to
serve God. And we're told, aren't we, concerning
those Seraphim, those burning ones, those holy angels, in Isaiah
chapter 6, that they have six wings. And with two they cover their
feet, and with two they cover their faces, and with two they
fly. they cover their feet indicating
that the ground upon which they stand is holy ground they are
in the presence of God they serve him day and night in his temple
and with two they cover their faces for though they be sinless
and the very word Seraphim has the idea of shining ones or the
beauty of these creatures these sinless angels But they cannot
bear to look upon the sight of the Lord God Himself, the Holy
One. And so they cover their faces.
But with two of their wings they fly. Or they continually do the
bidding of God. They do it there in Isaiah 6.
They fly with coals from the brazen altar to cleanse the lips
of the prophets. when he confesses he's a man
of unclean lips dwelling in the midst of the people of unclean
lips and he's seen the Lord and he feels his uncleanness but
the angels they take a call there from the brazen altar and they
make application the figure of course indicates it's the sacrifices
it's the shedding of the blood, it's the cleansing virtue of
that blood it's a remarkable chapter, Isaiah chapter 6 and
you know the remarkable thing also is that it's the Lord Jesus
Christ who is there have you ever noticed what's said in the
gospel concerning that chapter in John's gospel, John chapter
12 and there at verse 39 well previously
verse 37 we're told though the Lord had done so many miracles
before them yet they believe not on him and then it says that
the saying of Isaiah or Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled
Lord you have believed our reports into whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed the words of Isaiah 53 But then also it says, verse
39, Therefore they could not believe, because Esaias said
again, and these are words from Isaiah 6, He hath blinded their
eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with
their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted,
and I should heal them. These things said Esaias when
he saw his glory, and spake of him. Who is the one who is being
spoken of? It's the Lord Jesus. Isaiah saw
His glory there in Isaiah chapter 6 when he saw the throne of the
Lord God. It is Christ and there are the
angels and they're beholding the Lord Jesus Christ there in
the temple of the Lord and they're serving Him. All their servants,
they serve God. They serve Him day and night.
They are continually doing His bidding. And they have wings
to fly at His command. No sooner is the word spoken. And they are obedient to what
the Lord God Himself declares. But they don't only serve God.
The angels also, of course, are there to serve men. They serve
the redeemed of the Lord. Are they not all ministering
spirits? Send forth to minister to them who are the heirs of
salvation, it says in Hebrews 1. They serve the saints of God. They serve Christian believers. That's the amazing thing. I remember many years ago in a
college in South Wales and going up the valleys to preach, a place
called Hynie Pier, just outside Tunnypandy. And there was such
a godly man there, Desmond Matthews. He was a great supporter of the
Sovereign Grace Union. He was on the main council in
those days. Many years later, when I met John Chalk over at
Providence Chapel, Chichester, he'd been a great friend of Des
Matthews. All those years before, I didn't know that. until I came
into contact with John Chalk. But Des Matthews, he set up a
little printing press in his garage and he used to publish
tracts, free grace tracts he called them. I remember him telling
me on one occasion how he had a nasty incident really when
he was trying to set this this little press up. There wasn't
a lot of room but he was up in the in the rafters of the garage
trying to maneuver with a pulley this little printing press and
he fell and he was only going to fall about 10 feet at the
most and he fell head first and he used to say to me and he said
it more than once he said you know I'm absolutely convinced
that when I fell and landed on my feet it was because an angel
flipped me over as I was falling I fell and my head went first
But I didn't land on my head, I landed on my feet. And he was
convinced that there's a ministry of angels. Or do we really believe
that there is a ministry of the angels? How the Lord Jesus speaks
of them, doesn't he? Concerning the little ones. Remember
what he says there in the gospel, I say unto you that in The angels in heaven are before
the face of my Father. Those angels that watch over
the little ones. And the Lord is speaking, isn't
he, of those who are the greatest in the kingdom of God. There's
a ministry of the angels to men, to the heirs of salvation, as
there's a ministry before God. Well, not surprisingly, if they
serve God, And if they serve man, surely they must serve him
who is God and man. Oh, how they served the Lord
Jesus. He was made a little lower than the angels, we're told.
We see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death. He took not on him the nature
of angels. He took upon him the seed of
Abraham. for as much as the children were partakers of flesh and blood
he likewise took part of the same he's lower than the angels
and so the angels minister to him and they they minister to
him of course as a man just as they minister to him as God and
how active the angels are there at the at the conception and
at the birth of the Lord Jesus those words that we were reading
just now there in that opening chapter of Luke's gospel but
we're told concerning Mary that woman so highly favoured blessed
among women the angel comes to her and tells her hail thou that
art highly favoured the Lord is with thee blessed art thou
among women And how troubled she was at his
saying, what could this salutation mean? Fear not, Mary, thou hast
found favour with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in
thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. It's the angels who are there
serving the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, of course, subsequently,
we see it so strikingly when they come to the shepherds at
his actual birth. shepherds were watching over
their flocks there outside Bethlehem at night and the angels come
and then there's a great host of angels praising God and saying
glory to God in the highest peace on earth goodwill towards men
or the proclamation of the angels they proclaim his birth but not
only that we know that they were also there at the end of his
earthly ministry when we see the Lord Jesus Christ going into
the Garden of Gethsemane contemplating that that is before him he knew
that his time was come when he must be received up he had set
his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem and there he celebrates
his last Passover with the disciples all with desire he had desired
to eat that feast with them before he suffered. He is the fulfillment,
of course, of all that is typified in the Passover. And then after
he's instituted what we now know as the Holy Supper, the Lord's
Supper, after that he goes into the garden with his disciples. Oftentimes he would resort there.
It was a favorite spot with the Lord. And there he goes to to
plead with his God and his Father. And he takes those favoured three,
Peter, James and John, a little apart from the others and asks
them to sit and watch with him. And he goes a little further
from them and begins to pray. And now he prays. All being in
an agony, he's praying most earnestly and his sweat is as drops of
blood falling to the ground, we're told. And there appeared
an angel unto him, strengthening him, it says. There appeared
an angel. All the angels are there, you
see, they're there at the beginning, they're there at the end. And
that great Scots minister, John Duncan, Rabbi Duncan, often said,
that's my favourite angel. He loved that angel. Why that
angel ministered to Christ? as he comes to make that great
sin atoning sacrifice and of course as they are there at the
end so they are there at the resurrection from the dead those who go to the tomb and
discover that the tomb is empty why there are angels there to
proclaim his resurrection from the dead how they serve they
serve God they serve man they serve the God now they serve
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is seen. He is seen of angels. But that's not the end, is it?
Because they are also there when He ascends to heaven. We have
the record in the opening chapter of the Acts of the Apostles concerning
this, essentially, rose from the dead and for 40 days he showed
himself to his disciples by those infallible proofs they established
the truth of his resurrection and then he comes his ascension and we're told there in Acts
1.9 when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was
taken up and the cloud received him out of their sight and while
they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up Behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This saying,
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall come in
like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. Or they speak,
you see, of his ascension, and they receive him, don't they?
They are the very ones who receive Him. You know the language of
the Psalm, Psalm 24. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory, the
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle? Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?
the Lord of hosts. He is the King of Glory, Selah. All the angels, now they receive
Him there in heaven and when He comes again will He not also
return with all His holy angels at the great consummation of
all things? There is this continual ministry
then of the angels, how they ministered unto Him. how they
ministered to Him. Why? There at the very beginning
when He's led of the Holy Spirit into the wilderness and He's
tempted. Remember how after His temptations they came and ministered
to Him. They would minister to Him again
and again and again. But what we have in the text
is not so much the service of the angels. But it's the sight
of the angels that we see here. Seeing of angels. And so let's turn for a while
in the second place to the sights of these angels. The sight of
the angels. And what is it that they delight
to see, to look into? Well they like to behold the
work of Christ that is, that salvation that he accomplished
here upon the earth but they also delight to look into the
work of Christ not only in its accomplishment but also in its
blessed application they behold all the work, you
see of redemption, salvation These angels are in the very
presence of God, but they love to behold those things that God
has done and is yet doing here in this world, this world that
lies in wickedness, because they see in all these great works
of salvation such a revelation of God. They are before God,
they see God. I know they veil their faces,
but they're there in all the glory of heaven but they they
want to behold things that are taking place here upon the earth
first of all there is that accomplishment of salvation remember the the
words that we have in Peter's first epistle Peter speaks quite specifically
of the angels desiring to look into these things There in 1
Peter 1 at verse 10, Peter writes, of which salvation,
that is the salvation accomplished by Christ, of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied
of the grace that should come unto you. Searching what manner
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify
when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow. This is speaking of the prophets,
Old Testament prophets, unto whom it was revealed that not
unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which
are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel
unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. And then
this clause, which things the angels desire to look into. The
salvation. The subject matter of Old Testament
prophecy. The message that's being preached
by the New Testament apostles. This is what the angels desire
to look into. This great salvation. And you
know, it is Christ in all the scriptures. All is leading up
to this. this great accomplishment when
Christ was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
How remarkable it is that the angels desire to look into these
things. What a mystery it is to them.
We sometimes sing the verse of the hymn, don't we? When I by
faith my maker see in weakness and distress brought down to
that sad state for me which angels can't express it's such a wonder
to them it's a wonder to them they look into it it's unfathomable
to them it is a mystery this is the mystery of godliness he
was seen of angels that part of the mystery he was seen of
the angels and you know It's all there in the Old Testament,
isn't it? We referred just now to those
words of Peter where he's speaking of the Old Testament prophets. But in the Old Testament, of
course, we don't only have the prophetic ministry, we have all
the types and the figures, all the ceremonial laws. And remember,
what we're told concerning the tabernacle and its furnishings.
I mentioned these things in times past but I make no excuse for
mentioning them again. The mercy seat, the Ark of the
Covenant, we have all that detail in Exodus 25 concerning that
chest which is to contain the two tables of the Lord and atop
of that there is the mercy seat and on each end of the mercy
seat there are the cherubim angels where the seraphims are burning
ones, pure ones why the cherubim are the mighty ones and there
they are to have figures of cherubim with their wings outspread and
they're looking down upon the mercy seat with their wings outspread
and one on each end and one of the mercy seats Well, it was
there, of course, on the Great Atonement Day that the High Priest
would enter into the holiest of all, the Holy of Holies. That's where they kept the Ark
of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat. And there was the High
Priest and he was to go beyond that second veil and he must
take the Blood of Atonement and he'd sprinkle it before the Mercy
Seat. it sprinkle it upon the mercy
seat and here are the cherubim looking into these things that's
the image that we have in the Old Testament that's the type
and the anti-type in the New Testament Christ is that one
of course who is the fulfillment of all that transpired on that
day of atonement and the angels the angels desire to look into
these things what a wonderful type it is What is the high priest
doing? He's making atonement. He's making
atonement. He's satisfying the wrath of
God against the sin of the people. It's propitiation. And that's
the Lord Jesus. How God has set him forth to
be a propitiation, it says. here in his love not that we
love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins he is the one upon whom the Lord God has visited
all that holy wrath and indignation against the sin of his people the love of God in the gift of
his only begotten son and then to pour out all that wrath that
was due to those who were the sinners and Christ dying as a
substitute whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood the words that we have there in Romans
3.25 and the interesting thing is
that the word as we have it there in that verse that particular
form of the word is used on just one other occasion in Hebrews
chapter 9 verse 5. In that passage Paul is describing
something of the various furnishings of the tabernacle and he uses
the word mercy seat. It's exactly the same word that
we have in Romans 3.25 which is rendered as propitiation. the passage then in Romans could
be rendered whom God had set forth to be a mercy seat through
faith in his blood the mercy seat, the place where the atonement,
the propitiation is made and the angels their faces towards
the mercy seat as we're told there in Exodus 25 and the angels
desire to look into these things the angels desire to look into
these things and you know the verb that we have there to look
it's such a strong verb it's the same word that we have used
also in reference to Peter when he arrives there at the empty
tomb remember in John's account in John 20 it's Peter and it's
John who who run when they hear news concerning the empty tomb
and John outruns Peter but John doesn't enter John holds back
and then Peter you can see it can't you? impetuous Peter he's
no sooner there is in when it says doesn't it there in John
3 25 he's stooping down and looking in the same word, the same word
that were used concerning the angels. They
desire to look into these things, they stoop down to look into
these things, they're completely taken up with this sight. It
is such a wonder to them. Who are the angels you say? they
delight in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ they have no interest
in it of course the elect angels never needed any redemption the
elect angels never sinned but there was never any provision
made for the fallen angels and yet these elect angels they have
such an interest Such a burning desire to be looking into all
that the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished for those who are
lower than the angels. We're lower than the angels. And the contrast when we think
of the birth of the Lord Jesus. I love that verse in Joseph Hart's
hymn number 39 But see what different thoughts arise in ours and angels'
breasts. To hail his birth they left the
skies. We lodged him with the beasts.
We lodged him with the beasts. And they, they left the skies. Oh, what's in their breasts,
you see? They have such an interest, such a desire, such a longing
to look into these things. but it's not just that they behold
what the Lord God has done in the person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ in order to the salvation of sinners of humankind
but they also take an interest in the blessed application or
they love to behold what's going on even today amongst the people
of God Ephesians 3 and verse 10, as Paul writes to the church
there at Ephesus, what does he say? Ephesians 3.10, to the intent
that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places,
the principalities and powers, that's the angels, in heavenly
places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of
God. Oh, they see the wonder of God.
They're in the presence of God. They're in heaven and yet they
look to the earth. They look to the earth and they
see the manifold wisdom of God. That's what Paul says. The wonder
of salvation. And what is it that God is doing
in the church? He is saving souls. That great
work that Christ accomplished upon the cross, it must be brought
home. It must be applied. There's joy in the presence of
the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Are we those
repenting sinners? Believing sinners? Unashamed? Or we want people to know what
we are? We are Baptist after all and so we desire to make
that profession of our faith And there's joy in the presence
of the angels of God as they behold these things. They glory
in these things, they study these things. Stooping down, they're
looking into these things. But what of us? Oh, we desire
us to look into these things. Isn't that the way of salvation?
Looking onto Jesus. He was seen of angels. And there
in Hebrews 12 Paul says looking unto Jesus the author and finisher
of our faith. You want faith? Look unto Jesus. And you know again the strength
of the verb to look there. It means to look away. To look away. To look away from
every other object. To look to one thing. alone,
to look away and to look only onto Jesus. Salvation is nowhere else. Salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is salvation. There is none
other name unto heaven given amongst men whereby we must be
saved. You know it isn't faith that
saves us. How many are mistaken here? How many are mistaken? They seem to think that it is
faith that is the Saviour. Faith is not the Saviour. It
is Christ alone. There is salvation in none other
name except that name and all that that name declares and that
that the angels look into all he has seen of
angels has he been seen of you has he been seen of you can you
say yes i have actually seen him i've seen him with the eye
of faith and i look to him and i look away from every other
object and i look only unto him and i see everything all the
fullness of salvation in his blessed person he is that one
who is really God and yet he is also truly man and he's the
only saviour of sinners and by the grace of God I own and confess
him he is my God and he is my saviour can we say that in all
honesty and are we willing to make that public profession of
our faith in such a God as Christ really is well the Lord be pleased
to bless his word to us. Amen.