Turn with me now to 1 Timothy
3. 1 Timothy 3, let's read verse 16. 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, and received up into glory. That's great. Great is the mystery
of godliness. It's a great mystery and the
mystery is great. Great is the mystery of godliness. The mystery is so great the scripture
says angels desire to look into it. The whole thing. The things that our God has purposed
to do, the things that our God has done, those things, this
verse of scripture right here says, were seen of angels. They have been seen of angels. Heard of angels. Carried out
by angels. And that's going to be the point
of view of our message this morning. That's our point of view this
morning. We're going to see the mystery of godliness from the
point of view of the angels. Now this coming Friday, people
all over this world are going to be celebrating what has become
a religious holiday. It's called Christmas. And it
has been turned into a religious holiday. It did not start out
as a religious holiday. Not at all. It was a wicked Roman
pagan celebration. That's what it was. But the Catholic
Church in Rome attached itself to this celebration to capitalize
on it. And they told everybody that
the last day of this celebration, which is December the 25th, is
Christ's Mass. And the reason that's Christ's
Mass is because that's the day that this man, Jesus, was born. Now it is not believed that our
Lord was born on December the 25th. They did not even believe
he was born on December 25th when they told them that. That's
what's recorded in history. You can look it up. They just
told everybody that. They just made it up. Some have speculated that our
Lord was born in the spring, maybe in the summer. But the truth of the matter is,
no one knows when he was born. Could have been on December 25th,
I don't know. Nobody knows. It does not matter when he was
born. All that matters is that he was
born. That's all that matters. That
he was born. But if we search the truth and
the origin of this time of year, we're going to see that this
man, Jesus, is not the reason for the season. He's not the reason for the season,
for everything that's going on. Let it be known that we do not
worship this season. That's why we don't have a nativity
scene out front. We do not worship this season. This holiday does not affect
our worship any more than Valentine's Day does, or any other holiday. It makes no difference. To the
true believer, who is looking to Christ, the one who redeemed
him with his own blood, the true believer who is totally looking
to Christ. A Christmas tree is nothing more
than decoration for your living room. It means nothing to me
spiritually. It has nothing to do with our
worship, nothing. To a true believer who has all
of his hope in Christ, All of us hope in Christ. This season
is nothing more than an excuse to be kind. I love Christmas. It's a good reason to be kind. It's a good reason to give gifts.
It's a good reason to talk to your neighbor. One time a year,
you show up at your neighbor's door, Merry Christmas. Oh, thanks. See you next year. It's a good reason to show love
and appreciation and thanks. It's a good reason to come together. Everybody just take a break and
let's just get together. It's just nice. It's nice. Now with all that being said,
people all over this world, this time of year, they're going to,
in some degree, They're thinking about our dear
Savior's birth. That's what everybody's thinking
about. People sing songs about it. Radio stations give themselves
to it for a whole month. A whole month, they give themselves
to, oh, holy night. The stars are brightly shining. It is the dawn of our dear Savior's
birth. one of the greatest events that
has ever taken place in humanity. I believe seven great events
have happened to humanity. Our Lord's birth, His life, His
death, His victory in that death, everything He accomplished in
that death, His resurrection, His ascension, His return. Seven great events have happened
to humanity. So I love this time of year.
I really do. I love it. I love any opportunity
we can have to dwell on any or all of those seven things. This
morning I want us to look at Christ by highest heaven adored. Christ the everlasting Lord,
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity, Pleased
as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. That's who I want
us to look at this morning. And I want us to see all of this,
everything that God has done, that mystery we just read about.
I want us to see every bit of that through the eyes of the
angels. I want to see it from the point
of view of God's servants, the ones who have been with Him since
the beginning. The angels that God made doing
His bidding ever since He made them. The ones who have been
announcing to us The will and the purpose of God,
the work of God Almighty. He has been using them. He has
been telling them. He has been teaching them. And
as all these things have unfolded so far, I want us to see it through
their eyes. Everything that's happened, I want to see it through
their eyes. All right, let's start by turning to Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Verse 20 says. Bless the Lord. Ye his angels. That excel in strength. That
do his commandments. Harkening unto the voice of his
word. You know what that means? That
means they're believers. That's what it means, they're
believers. Obedient servants that do his
commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word. They're followers
of Christ. That's what they are. Paul called
them elect angels. That's what he told Timothy.
They're elect angels and they believe God. They do, they believe
God. We know they believe God because
every angel that did not believe God, Lucifer and all those with
him, God cast every one of them out of heaven as a bolt of lightning.
That was because they did not believe God. So all the angels
who are there believe God. And they've heard His word from
the beginning. They've been listening to Him
from the beginning. Go with me to Genesis chapter
18. When Adam and Eve sinned, The
angels saw our Lord kill a lamb to cover them. They saw from our Lord what it
would take to pay the debt of sin, a bloody sacrifice. We know the angels existed because
Lucifer is the one who deceived Eve. So they saw this. They saw our Lord teach this,
preach this. And the angels heard the Lord
tell the serpent, tell the enemy, about the woman's seed. Isn't
that what he said in the first part of Genesis? The woman's
seed that would bruise his head. The Lord told that serpent that
directly. He's going to bruise your head. So they knew a redeemer's
coming. A Redeemer is coming. Now look
at Genesis 18 verse 1 says, And the Lord appeared unto Abraham
in the plains of Mamre. And he sat in the tent door in
the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and
looked, and lo, three men stood by him. Three. And when he saw
them, he ran to meet them from the tent door. and bowed himself
toward the ground and said, My Lord, if now I have found favor
in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Our Lord took two angels with
him to witness this. Three men went. Two angels went
with him. Verse 9 says, And they said unto Abraham, Where is Sarah
thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly
return unto thee according to the time of life. And lo, Sarah
thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door which was behind him. Sarah's going to have a son.
Our Lord came, he brought two angels to witness to Abraham,
you're going to have a son. Verse 16, And the men rose up
from the tents, and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with
them to bring them on the way. And the Lord said, Shall I hide
from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall
surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in him? Now, is he just talking
about Isaac? He came to announce, Abraham,
you're going to have a son. And all nations of the earth
are going to be blessed through you and this son. Is he just
talking about Isaac? He's talking about Abraham's
seed. Galatians says, which is Christ. He's talking about Jesus Christ. He's talking about himself. That's
what he's telling Abraham about himself. The angels knew this.
The angels knew Who would come? The angels knew when he would
come. They knew when he would come.
Now no man knows when our Lord is going to return. The scripture
says not even the angels. No man knows. But they knew when
he would come. When this Messiah would come
and redeem his people. Turn with me over to Daniel chapter
9. Daniel is weeping and praying
to God for the sins of his people right here. His own sin, the
sin of Israel. He's crying, Lord redeem us,
Lord help us, forgive us. Look at verse 19, Daniel 9 verse
19. He said, O Lord, hear. O Lord,
forgive. O Lord, hearken and do. Defer not for thine own sake. O my God, for the city and thy
people are called by thy name. Daniel said, And while I was
speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people
Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the
holy mountain of my God, yea, while I was speaking in prayer,
even the man Gabriel, the angel Gabriel, whom I had seen in the
vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched
me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me
and talked with me and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth
to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications,
the commandment came forth." That's always been one of my
favorite lines in the scripture. He said, we were all up in glory.
watching you, and as soon as you started crying to God on
behalf of your sin and the sin of God's people, God Almighty
looked over from His throne and said, Go. Verse 23, At the beginning of
thy supplications the commandment came forth, And I am come to
show thee, for thou art greatly beloved. Therefore understand
the matter and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression
and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity
and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and
prophecy and to anoint the most holy. Know therefore and understand
that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and
to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,
and threescore and two weeks, and the street shall be built
again, and the wall even in troublous times, and after threescore and
two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself, And
the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood,
and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall
confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst
of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease, And for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make
it desolate even until the consummation and that determined shall be
poured upon the desolate." Sounds like he knows what he's talking
about, doesn't it? I never knew what he was talking about, not
until the preacher preached it to me. But it sounds like he
knows exactly what he's talking about. It sounds like God has
taught him something. It sounds like he believes God.
70 weeks, a week is 7 years, and
70 weeks is 490 years. And that's how long it was from
the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem to Christ. It was 490 years.
He told him exactly when Messiah would come to make reconciliation
for iniquity. That was Gabriel the angel. So
he knew exactly when the Messiah was coming. Gabriel the angel. 490 years later, turn with me
to Luke chapter 1. 490 years later, Luke chapter 1,
look at verse 19. And the angel answering said
unto him, I am Gabriel, same angel, that stand in the presence
of God. My position, my job is to stand
in the presence of God and look at him and wait on his commandment. and am sent to speak unto thee
and to show thee these glad tidings." He was talking to John the Baptist's
father right there, Zacharias. He said, you're going to have
a son and you're going to prepare the way of the Lord. That son
is going to prepare the way of the Lord just like Isaiah 40
said he would. Just like Isaiah 40 said he would.
And then in verse 26, In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel
was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to
a virgin, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house
of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came
in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the
Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast
in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel
said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with
God. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. Mary, as a virgin, you're going
to bring forth a son and you're going to call his name Jesus,
Savior, Emmanuel, God with us, just like Isaiah 7 said you would. You're going to. It's going to
happen. Do you think Gabriel believes
God? He's a good messenger, isn't
he? He's a faithful messenger, isn't he? Do you think after
4,000 years of standing at God's throne, hearing over and over
and over why Messiah will come, do you think there's any doubt
in his mind or any of the other angels' mind what is taking place
here? Verse 32, he said, Mary, he shall
be great and shall be called the son of the highest. And the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David.
He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom. There shall be no end, no end. Luke chapter two, verse six says,
and so it was. Just like he said. And so it
was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that
she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn
son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn. And 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 showed 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
was 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. As soon as that declaration went
forth, the Christ is born. As soon as that declaration went
forth, the heavenly host appeared. And Michael the archangel said,
sing, choirs of angels. This is what we've been waiting
on. This is what we've been announcing to everybody. All of our missions
were for this moment right here. I cannot imagine what that moment
sounded like. These shepherds out in the field,
nobody else around, but some sheep. And all of a sudden they
look up and here's an angel telling them, the Christ is born. And
all of a sudden, and they heard glory to God in
the highest. I've heard some beautiful music
in my life, but I tell you this, ear hath not heard Ear hath not heard what the choirs
of angels sound like praising God. Hail the heaven-born Prince of
Peace. Hail the Son of Righteousness.
Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by. They knew that. They'd been announcing
it for 4,000 years. He just laid His glory by. born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.
Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king. Glory
to God in the highest. On earth, peace, goodwill toward
men. Now turn with me to Matthew 28. When the time came and our Lord
paid the debt for the sin of his people, he was born, he lived,
and when he offered himself a living sacrifice and gave up the ghost,
the scripture says there was silence in heaven for the space
of about a half an hour. Not one angel said a word. The seraphims that cry holy,
they've been crying holy, holy, holy since the day they were
created. They will for all eternity and
it'll never grow old to us. We'll sit there and listen to
holy, holy, holy. And there was silence in heaven
for the space of a half an hour. They knew what was taking place. They knew how holy it was. How
holy it was. Matthew 28 verse 1 says, In the
end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day
of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to the sepulcher.
And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of
the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the
stone from the door and sat upon it. The other gospel says there
was two of them. Those angels, while our Lord
was laying there in that tomb, God the Father from the throne
said, you go down and you roll that stone away from that tomb. And they did, and then they sat
on it. And they watched the Lord of
glory They sat there and they watched the Lord of Glory walk
out. What an honor those two angels
received to be right there when the victorious King of Kings
and Lord of Lords left the battlefield. That's what he was doing. He
left the battlefield. I can imagine our Lord looking
at them. He acknowledged them. They were
His angels. I can imagine Him walking out,
looking them right in the eye, saying, It is finished. The battle is over. It is finished. There will be no more war. It
is finished, the end of all conflict. It is finished. Those angels
cried, Jesus is Lord. He is Lord, He is Lord. He is risen from the grave and
He is Lord. Every knee shall bow, every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Now go with me to Acts
chapter 1. The king's work is finished and
he ascends back up to his father. Acts chapter 1 verse 9 says,
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he
was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while
they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up. Can you
imagine that? Behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel. Those are angels. Which also
said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you
have seen him go into heaven. You think they know what they're
talking about? He is going to come back down
exactly like you have just watched Him go up. They know He is coming
back. We are all waiting for it. We are all waiting for it, us
and the angels. When he comes back, I've slashed
him for time, I found five scriptures that said when he comes back,
he's bringing all the angels with him. And one scripture said
it's an innumerable number. How is there enough sky for that? Go with me to 1 Thessalonians
4. 1 Thessalonians 4, look at verse
16. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God. Michael is the archangel. Michael
knows right now, and the trumpeteers know right now that they will
be playing. They will be blasting with every
fiber of their being when the Lord returns. They know that. They can read it. No one knows when his return
will be, not even the angels in heaven. They don't know, so
they're on standby. It could happen at any minute. Michael is constantly asking
them, are your trumpets ready? Ready. They're always on standby. Ready. As soon as he gives that command,
you're going to blow that horn. If God has told us to watch and
wait, isn't that what he said? It's going to happen fast. You
watch. You stand there and watch. Be
ready. If God has told us to do that,
what do you think the angels are doing? They're watching. They're waiting. They're ready.
Are you ready? I'm ready! I'm ready! At any moment, that command is
going to come, Michael, it's time. Blow your horn. God is descending. And the scripture
says all the angels are coming with him. We're empty in heaven. Let's go. An innumerable number
of people and angels. Twice as many as we even thought.
I thought I couldn't count the people. Until that time comes, everybody's
on standby right now. We're all on standby this morning.
We're on stand-by, the angels in heaven are on stand-by. There's
one great event for humanity that still has to happen. Everybody's
on stand-by. And until that moment comes,
God's Word says He has stationed His angels with His elect. Lot, God sent His angels. Those angels said, you have to
come out. We cannot do anything until you come out. You have
to be safe. Elijah, that servant, went outside
and their enemy was standing there and he ran back in and
said, Elijah, what are we going to do? And Elijah said, Lord, open his
eyes that he may see. He looked out the window and
all the mountains were covered with angels and chariots of fire. He had his angels with him. Peter,
Paul, Silas, how many times did he deliver those men out of prison?
And God sent his angels and they're not in prison anymore. It's the
same way for us. He said, I'm the Lord, I change
not. All our days are safe. And when the time comes for each
of God's elect to see Christ, some point along the way, when
Christ is finally revealed to them, the scripture says, all
the angels in heaven erupt with joy every single time a sinner
repents. Now let's close with Revelation
5. Go with me over to Revelation 5. Verse 11 says, And I beheld, and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beast and
the elders And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands and thousands. Saying with a loud voice, worthy
is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Heart
the herald angels sang. And every creature which is in
heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in
the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing,
and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four
beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever."
We're going to be right there with them. They're going to be
right there with us. We're all going to be worshipping
God. That's what we're going to do for all eternity. Worshipping
God, crying glory to the King. Glory to God in the highest.
That sounds like a wonderful eternity, doesn't it? Alright,
let's stand together.