Okay, turn with me back to Hebrews
1, and look at verse 13, with me,
13 and 14. Hebrews 1, 13 says, 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?" Tonight we're going to look at the subject of God's
guardian angels. God's guardian The end of verse
14 says, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation. Sent forth to his elect. God's guardian angels. But before
we look at his angels, I want us to look at Christ. All right? Before we look at his angels,
let's take a look at him first. Look with me at verse 4. That's
where we pick up from last week. Verse 4 says, being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. I'm interested in his angels,
and we are going to look at his angels tonight. And I enjoyed
studying it, I really did. But let's start by glorying in
Christ, first and foremost. He is so much better than the
angels. so much better. And he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. You can turn
with me or you can listen to Philippians 2. This is Philippians
2 verses 9 to 11. Philippians 2 verse 9 says, God
also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, every single knee, of things in heaven, that's angels, everything
that's up there, and things in earth, and things under the earth. And that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. In looking at this, we're not
going to worship the angels. We're not going to. We're not
going to worship and adore God's angels. We're going to worship
Christ. His name is above everything. Everything. Every knee must bow
And every tongue must confess that He is Lord. Now go with me to Revelation
chapter 22. Revelation 22 verse 8 says, And I, John, saw these things
and heard them." John, the apostle, wrote, he penned this book. And the Lord sent an angel to
him to say, write these things, okay? So it says, I, John, saw
these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen,
I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed
me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou
do it not, for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren
the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book.
Worship God. He said, Don't do it. Stand up.
Stand up. I fell down to worship at the
feet of this angel. He said, Get up. Worship God. Worship God. By God's grace,
that's what we're going to do tonight. We're going to worship
God. In looking at His created beings, we're going to worship
Him for His provision and His protection for us. All right,
now turn with me back to Hebrews 1. Verse 5 says, 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. God the Father only said that
to Christ his Son, only. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is not God's Son. Isn't that a wonderful revelation?
Isn't that a wonderful thing to see? Jesus Christ is the Son
of God and He is not God's Son. Not by creation like we are and
everything else is. Not by creation like men think
He is. They think that He is God's Son. A man has a son. The man came
first, the son came second. Not in this case. Not in this
case. The angels were created, not
him. He's the one who created the angels. And he's not the
son by adoption like we are. We're sons of God by adoption,
by bought price, purchased price. Christ is the Son by nature.
That's who He is. He's the Son of God by nature. Verse 6 says, and again, when
He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He saith, and
let all the angels of God worship Him. When Christ came to this
earth, the Father said every angel in glory must bow down
and worship Him. Oh, worship the King. The king
is here and that's exactly what they did. You can listen or you
can turn with me to Luke 2. This is Luke 2 verses 8 to 14. Luke 2 verse 8 says, There were
in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
were with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, goodwill toward men. God said all the heavenly host
must bow down and worship Him. And that's exactly what they
did. All right, now back in our text in Hebrews 1 verse 6 says,
and again when He bringeth in the firstborn into the world,
He saith, and let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the
angels, or concerning the angels, He said, who maketh his angels
spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. He created his angels
to be spirits. They are created spirits and
every now and then they take on them a form of a body. And
he calls them flames of fire. And one man, one commentator
said, They could be called that because of a few reasons. One
of them is they're so swift in flight, like a bolt of lightning. I love back in Daniel 9, that's
one of my favorite accounts in the scripture. In Daniel 9, they're
in captivity and Daniel is praying to God, begging and pleading
on behalf of the sin of the people. Daniel starts to realize, Jeremiah
wrote about this, And the scriptures start to come alive to him, and
he starts to see the sin of the people, and he starts begging
God, Oh, Lord, please forgive. Please help us. And it says,
the angel Gabriel being caused to fly swiftly. came down and touched him. And
he touched him before he even finished praying. He was in the
middle of praying. And the angel said, as soon as
you started speaking, the command came from the throne. Go help
him. and the angel being caused to
fly swiftly, and that word swiftly means with weariness of flight. He flew so hard. I'm here. God said, it's okay. I'll tell you this, if that doesn't
encourage us to cry out to our God for help, I don't know what
will. He said, as soon as you started speaking, the command
came from the throne. That man, that commentator also
said, They could be called flames of fire because of their burning
love and zeal for their God. It's inspiring. They do his bidding. They do his bidding. The same
angel, Gabriel, told Zacharias, I'm the one who stands in the
presence of God. I look at God and I stand at
His throne waiting for His command. That's what I do. I wait for
His command. The Lord said about the angels
that He has stationed with His people, and again, we're about
to get into that in just a minute. He said, this is what He said
about them, they always behold the face of my Father. They always behold the face of
my father. Now, two weeks ago, May 6th,
we were headed to the conference in Rocky Mount. And in order
to get there on time, we had to take our girls out of school
early. So we went to get them, and they were having field day
that day. And they had all these stations
set up, you know, they would take the classes to the different,
one of the stations was the police department was doing a canine
demonstration. And I was kind of interested
to see it. I was excited. I wanted that dog to attack somebody. You know, they put that suit
on and he did. But I waited around to see it. And this police officer had the
dog in the car and he was talking to all the kids and telling them
what to expect and this is what we're, there's some rules here
before we get the dog out. And anyway, when it was time,
he had a remote, he hit a button, and the rear passenger door of
his car opened. And that dog came shooting out
of that car, and he ran straight to his left side. He had his
weapon on his right side. That dog was trained to go straight
to his left side. And I had it in my mind, especially after
he was kind of warning the kids, stay back, you know. I thought
that the dog would be on a leash, you know, just like vicious dogs,
you know, standing there like leaning forward, you know, let
me, just let me, release me, release me. Looking out, where's
the, I'm going to deal with this, I'm going to deal with you. That's
not what happened at all. I almost started crying. When
he hit that button, that dog ran out. It came straight to
his side and looked up at him and never took his head off of
him. And that police officer would
take a couple steps forward and he'd move forward. And he'd take
a couple steps back and he'd move back. And if he would spin,
he would get to his side and look up at him. Finally, he said,
stay, lie down, and he went up and he was talking to the kids,
walking around a little bit, and the whole time that dog looked at
him. He never took his eyes off of him, waiting for his command. And I saw that dog and I thought,
what loyalty. What service. What worship. That's what it is, that dog worshiped
him. And he didn't move until the
command was given. Never took his eyes off of him. Our Lord said, that's what the
angels do. That's what the angels do. They
are constantly beholding the face of my Father. Constantly. Verse 8 says, But unto the Son
he saith Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of
righteousness is the scepter 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. The man Christ Jesus came to
this earth And he earned the crown, he earned the throne,
and he earned the kingdom. He earned it all. He loved righteousness
and he hated iniquity, so he dealt with it. And because he
made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of
a servant, humbled himself. and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Because he did that, God the
Father anointed him above all his fellows. Verse 10 says, And
thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth And the heavens are the works of thine hands. I love
how he said to Job, you know, Job had two cents he wanted to
throw into the pot. And he said, you're going to
bring counsel to me? Where were you when I laid the
foundations of this earth? Where were you when I stretched
the line? He said, what's it all, how's
it all staying together? You tell me, Job, what's it all fastened
to? If any man glories, let him glory in the Lord. Right? Let
him glory in the Lord. Lord, you made it all, you're
going to destroy it all. The end of verse 10 says, and
the heavens are the works of thine hand. Verse 11 says, 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. Like a shirt,
you're just going to take it off and fold it up and set it
to the side. It's yours to do with whatever
you want to. All the power is in your hands. All authority is in your hands. So verse 13 says, To which of
the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I
make thine enemies thy footstool." God the Father has only made
that promise to God the Son, only. And concerning his angels
now, he says in verse 14, are they not all ministering spirits
sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? That verse tells us that the
reason God made angels was for the purpose of ministering to
God's elect. That's humbling, isn't it? That's
humbling. They do His bidding concerning
them who shall be heirs of salvation. Now, turn with me to a few scriptures.
Just for the next few minutes, we're going to turn to a few
scriptures, and I believe you'll be glad you did. There is so
much comfort in this right here. Go with me to Psalm 103. While you're turning over there,
let me quote to you a little bit of what John Gill said about
our Lord's angels. And every statement that he made
can be supported by scripture. He made a statement about them
and every piece of it can be supported by scripture. He said, the ministry of angels
concerns things spiritual and temporal, our souls and our bodies,
both spiritual and physical, in directing and preserving us
in journeys. And we have scripture to prove
that. What that means is we go on a trip and all of a sudden
we get all bent out of shape because there's a detour ahead. What happened? A boulder fell.
It landed straight in the middle of the interstate. We've got
to go all the way around. What actually happened was, now here's
the point. Nothing happens by chance. Nothing
happens by accident. Nothing happens without the direct
command from the throne of God. A leaf won't fall off of a tree
unless God says it's okay. So what literally happened is,
God the Father said, there's danger ahead. Go up that interstate
a few miles and hit that rock. Safe. And we're all bent out
of shape. Now we've got to make our detour and we live another
day. So he said about his angels,
their ministry concerns our souls and our bodies in directing and
preserving us in journeys. In delivering us from outward
dangers, we have no idea the danger we're constantly in. No
idea. And I'll tell you this, ignorance
is bliss. It's so much bliss. In restraining
things that would harm us and in destroying our enemies,
they also make known the mind and the will of the Lord to us. They assist us in trial and temptation. They even came to our Lord, didn't
they? When he was 40 days in the wilderness. They came to
him when he was in Gethsemane. They assist us in trial and temptation. They carry us to heaven. And
we'll gather the elect in the last day. They are sent forth
by Christ to minister to us. Now, that's just precious, isn't
it? Look right here at Psalm 103, verse 20 says, Bless the Lord, ye his angels,
that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word. Now I have a reference that right
next to that Excel in strength, it says mighty in strength. They don't just have strength,
they are mighty in strength. Mighty in strength. In 2 Thessalonians,
Paul called them his mighty angels. Let me show you how mighty they
are, okay? You're gonna love this. Go with me to 2 Kings 19.
2 Kings 19. This is the Lord speaking. In
verse 34, He said, For I will defend this city. This city was
being attacked by the enemy. And God said, I will defend this
city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. I'm going to defend this place.
It's being attacked, but I'm going to defend it for my sake
and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night
that the angel, now do you see how angel is a lowercase a, not
a capital a? This is one of God's ministering
spirits. One, the angel of the Lord went
out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore
and five, one hundred eighty-five thousand. And when they arose
early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses."
One angel. Our Lord said, take heed that
you despise not one of these little ones. You better be careful
that you despise. They said, the Assyrians said,
we're going to take that city and we're going to kill all of
Israel. And God said, you better take heed that you despise not
one of my little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven,
they're angels. Not they're angel. They're angels. do always behold the face of
my Father which is in heaven." What does that mean? They're
angels. Turn with me to 2 Kings 6. The king of Syria wanted to kill
Elisha. He wanted him dead. So 2 Kings
6 verse 13 says, And he said, that's the king
of Syria, go and spy where he is that I may send and fetch
him. And it was told him saying, behold,
he's in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses
and chariots and a great host. And they came by night and encompassed
the city about. And when the servant of the man
of God was risen early, when Elisha's servant, his helper,
When the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone
forth, behold, and host compassed the city, both with horses and
chariots. And his servant said unto him,
Alas, my master, how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not,
for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord,
I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. We cannot physically imagine
how safe we are. Your brain can't go there. Can't
go there. You cannot imagine how safe you
are if you belong to Christ. One angel killed 185,000 men
in one night. One angel. When Peter drew out
his sword and cut off that man's ear, I can just see Peter. He
had his sword. Here's Peter. They came with
sticks and there's Peter with his sword. Our Lord said, Peter,
That's cute. Put away your sword. If I give
the command right now, 12 legions of angels will come surround
us. A legion is 6,000 angels. That's 72,000 angels. If I say
the word, 72,000 mighty angels will come surround us. Now, I'm
not trying to be dramatic. I'm not trying to be emotional.
I'm just trying to state a fact to every single one of us. If
God would open our eyes right now, our God does not change. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. One of his words will not fail.
And if he would open our eyes right now, and if we could see,
you see, we can't see right now. But if he could cause us to see,
Not only would we see angels inside this room filling up all
the empty seats, we would see angels lined up in ranks around
this building. There are angels sitting on the
roof. There are angels stationed in
the basement. Nothing is coming up in or on
God's people, not as long as God is on the throne. It will
not happen. If you could do that for your
child, would you do it? Yes, and he can. Not as long
as he's on the throne. Nothing will happen. In a minute,
we're going to get in our cars and we're going to go home. You're
going to have angels stationed around your cars. Not only are they going to walk
you all the way to your front door, they are going to be stationed
at the head, foot, and sides of your bed. I'm not lying. I'm just not lying
to us. This is not fairytale make-believe. This is the Word
of God Almighty. All of the angels that God has
stationed with His people are continually beholding His face,
waiting for His command, protecting His people. It's what they do,
and they're good at it. They're good at it. There is
a very special relationship between the Lord's people and His angels,
a very close, special relationship. This Word of God says, and this
tells you that the heart He's given His angels for His people.
This Word of God says, every time a child of God repents,
all of the mighty angels, all of the strong soldiers of war,
break out rejoicing. Heaven erupts with joy. And just for a little bit of
added peace of mind, if you need a little more peace of mind here,
I did the math. If one angel can at least wipe
out 185,000 men of the enemy, 72,000 angels, just by the calculation
of God's Word, can at least wipe out 13,320,000,000 men in one
night. One night. Alright, now just in case that's not enough, just in case more than 13 billion
men attack you in one night. I want you to turn with me to
Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12 verse 22 says, But
you are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company
of angels. The host of God's angels cannot
be numbered. Not by a man's number. They cannot be numbered. And God will send as many as
it takes. He'll send as many as it takes. And this is just
precious. I don't know how else to say
it, but this is precious. Look at chapter 13, verse 2. It says,
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers. For thereby some have
entertained angels unaware. Some have physically had dealings
with God's angels from heaven. They look like men. They don't
have wings. I know that's a shocker, but
they don't. They do fly. But I have not found one scripture,
and this afternoon I looked at 65 and I couldn't find one scripture
that says that the angels have wings. Now if somebody finds
one, I will stand corrected, that's fine. But the seraphims
have wings, six of them, and they're continually around the
throne crying, holy, holy, holy. The cherubims have wings. But
the angels look like men. Every time you hear of the angels,
when Mary and they went into the tomb and two men stood by
in shining garments, they looked like men. And they're real. They're spirits. You can't always
see them, but God says some have had dealings with God's angels
directly with fresh paperwork, with fresh commands from the
throne of God. Straight from God to you. You
think about that. The throne of grace. Straight from the throne
of grace. God to you, directly. And you
didn't even know it. You had no idea. That's just
glorious. That is glorious. Now, let's
close this message with this verse of scripture, okay? Go
with me back to the text. Hebrews 1, verse 4 says, Being made so much better than
the angels. Let's come back to that. As wonderful
as the angels are, they're wonderful. Christ is better. He is so, so
much better. And every angel that's in this
room right now, and if they can hear through the walls and the
windows, every time A child of God declares that the Christ
is better than angels. Every angel cries, Amen! Christ is better than the angels
and they all say, Amen! Every time. He's better. All
of heaven says it. He's better. He's better. All
right, let's all stand together.