Let's look at three verses. begin with verse ten. Brother Rick read through the
first nine verses of that great salvation that Christ wrought
and brought to us, and he says here in verse ten, that it is
of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently. studiously, carefully, the prophets
inquired and searched into this salvation, and they prophesied
of the grace in the coming Messiah, the coming Redeemer, that should
come unto you. They searched what or what matter
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them, the Holy Spirit,
did signify. That's significant there, the
Spirit of Christ. The Spirit takes the things of
Christ. He's the Spirit of Christ, isn't He? He's the messenger
of Christ. He says, They searched what, or what manner of time,
or when, and how, and what should take place when Christ should
come, when they testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, His
passion, His miracles, His life, His birth. all these things they
prophesied of, and the final glory that should follow his
resurrection, his final reception into glory. In verse 12, it was
unto them, unto the prophets, the Old Testament prophets, it
was revealed, they understood that it was not unto themselves,
but unto us they did minister these things. prophesied of things
which should come that they themselves would not see. They knew this.
And they are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel, the apostles and all preachers since then, including
this preacher. These things have been reported
unto you by them that preach the gospel unto you with the
power of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. And this is
what I want to dwell on here. He says, these are the things,
which things, this glorious gospel, these things that pertain to
salvation that's in Christ, these things the angels desire to look
into. These are things that angels
are interested in. What I want to show you this
evening, I want to try to paint you a picture. I want to show
you that there is a race of beings infinitely more intelligent than
we are, whose one course of study is the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They're infinitely more wise
and intelligent than we are, and they are taken up with one
thing. What are we taking up with? I
want to show you, first of all, how that the angels, the angels
is who I'm speaking of, they take an active interest in the
gospel, an active interest. God, the angels are ministers
of his concerning this gospel. But it's not for themselves.
It's not for themselves, much like the Old Testament prophets.
The angels don't need the gospel. They've never seen it. They don't
need the gospel. They've never seen it. Yet they're
very interested in forgiveness. And don't you know that they
are amazed and astounded at men who need it and aren't interested
in it? Think about that. This gospel
was not intended for the fallen angels, either. There were some
some angels in the very beginning who kept not their first estate,
and they failed. But Christ didn't take on himself
the nature of angels, did he? So they were reserved in everlasting
chains. So the gospel is not for the
fallen angels. Yet the angels are interested, vitally interested
in this gospel. Why? Because God's interested, and
they're watching Him. They're in His presence, and
they're watching Him and doing His bidding. And they see that
what He's interested in, they're interested in. What God cares
for, the angels care for and serve Him. And that which grieves
the Spirit grieves the angels. They're in His presence now.
They do His bidding and serve Him day and night. in the temple,
the revelation said. And that which glorifies God's
Son, that God obviously, evidently, shows great pleasure with, that which glorifies
His Son and smiles upon that which glorifies His Son, the
angels, they rejoice in that, and they continually sing of
His glory. And it may have been like this. There's some speculation,
but I don't think it's without scriptural basis. It doesn't
do harm to the word of God at all. But the angels, perhaps
two angels may have talked in this fashion. They may have said
this, you know, our blessed Lord, our blessed Lord and our leader
went all the way down to earth to accomplish this, to redeem
these fallen creatures. So, let's learn all we can about
this. This marvelous work that our
Lord and our Redeemer has accomplished, that our God and our Creator,
our Master, He's so taken up with and obviously so interested
in. Let's learn what we can about this. Let's get in on it. And you know, they must, like
I said, they must have been astonished. They must have been in amazement
at men who rejected their Lord when he came. Just must have
been amazed and astonished. Couldn't understand it, I'm sure.
Well, I want you to notice with me how that angels have always
taken an active interest in the gospel. Please bear with me.
I believe this is going to be a blessing to you. Gird up your
loins. We read it there in verse 13.
Gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober. Now let's think about
this thing. It's in a fifteen-minute message.
The angels have always taken an interest, an active interest,
in all the concerns of mankind. They minister to us as well as
they do God. God has sent his angels to minister
to men throughout the ages. Now in creation, in the very
beginning, and I don't know what part the angels played, But I
know they witnessed creation, they were there, they watched
it all being, taking place. And they must have marveled at
the work, the handiwork of their great God, as they watched God
sprinkle the heavens with stars, and then fashion this globe,
and speak light, and all of these things, and create the animals
and so forth. They must have been amazed at
all this. They must have glorified God
at each new day that he created something. They say, look at this, and the
angels buzzed, talking about, look at this, look at this, look
at that. Our God's great. He's done all things well. Isn't
it great? But what about the day that God created a man in
his image? Now, I don't know what image
the Lord Jesus Christ had in the beginning with the father.
I don't know. But it says he created man in his own image.
Now, was Christ in some form of, some bodily image in the
beginning? I don't know. There's some scripture
or there's some indications in the scriptures that he was. I
don't know. You know, he appeared many times in the Old Testament.
But they, when God created this man, this beautiful, glorious
creature, upright and intelligent, in the image of God Almighty.
Don't you know the angels just step back a minute? What have
we here? What is this? They thought. What? This is the grandest creation
of all. This is the greatest thing he's
done so far. And then one day, I've used this
illustration before and I'll give it again. And then one day
after, I don't know how long it was, They watched this man
and this woman romping through God's creation in just a glorious
sight, just a beautiful, beautiful creation of God, this man and
this woman, with all things necessary and happiness. And then one day,
they see it taking place. They heard God say to this man
and this woman, and He said it nicely. And I know He didn't
say this in a horrid manner. God loved this man. He said,
of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of one tree,
don't eat of that tree. And the day that you eat thereof,
you shall surely die. And they heard this. Well, anyway,
time went on. And then this, in one day, they
watched this happen. The angels, they really watched
it. They watched this, this woman talking to Lucifer. They knew Lucifer. They knew
him. They saw him fall. And they thought,
y'all better stay away from him. Didn't they? You know they did.
They couldn't speak to him. Stay away. In God's purpose though,
he allowed this woman to talk to this subtle creature, this
crafty creature. And they thought, oh no, what's
going to happen? And it happened. The woman listened
to that serpent. And she reached up there and
grabbed a piece of that fruit in rebellion now. She did it.
The serpent wasn't to blame. She did it in rebellion. Lust
of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. She did
it and it gave to Adam. And they both so much as said,
we want to be God. And the angel saw this. And they
thought, oh no. What have they done? And you
know, Henry and Shirley, they must have thought, God's going
to destroy them. They got ready. They got ready
to go and destroy this creation that God had marvelously wrought. They just knew it was going to
happen. They saw the first angels, which kept not their first estate.
They saw God take them who had rebelled against him and cast
them into everlasting darkness and wrap them up in chains reserved
for the final day when he just annihilates them completely.
And they thought, this is what's going to happen to this man.
Surely, God's just. We know it. We've seen it. We've
seen Him in His justice and He's holding it. He'll not abide by
this. He'll not tolerate this rebellion. But then the voice
of God, is that Christ? The Word of God, came walking
in the cool of the day. Adam. And Adam was hiding from
Him. And the angels may have thought,
We don't know what's happening here, but he's going to take
him. He's personally going to annihilate
him and say, where are you? And he talked to him. They watched
God talk to this man and this woman and explain to the man
and the woman of the consequences of what they'd done. They watched
him and heard him talk to this man and woman with authority. and condemnation, yet with a
promise in it, in kindness and compassion, not without hope.
They sorrowed, yes, but there was a message of hope in what
he had to say. You're going to die. You are dead. But somebody's
going to come. I'm going to send somebody. I've
made provision just for this time. Somebody's going to come
and redeem you from this. And the angels must have thought,
what is this? What is going on here? And if the answer came,
it must have been, it's called mercy. Mercy. God is not going
to do to this man and this woman what they deserve. He's not going
to destroy them like he did those angels. He's going to have mercy. He's going to stay his wrath
from them. Glory to our God in his mercy.
We've never seen him like this. And then he talked of that woman's
seed that was coming. The Redeemer talked with him
and then took that animal and slew it, the blood. They watched
the blood flow. They'd never seen blood before. I don't guess. I don't know. I know Christ was
a lamb as it was been slain. But I don't know. Blood, you
know, is the life of the flesh. But they watched this blood being
shed. What is this? And they watched
God take these skins and wrap it around this man and this woman.
Why? What's going on here? And if God explained it, he may
have said, this is called grace. This is what I'm going to do
for the man. This is what I'm going to do
for men in ages to come. I'm going to slay an innocent
person, my son, their Redeemer, slay him and cover them with
his robe of righteousness and take their sin upon him and send
him to the tree and bruise his heel. But they glorified God
in that. And then they watched this man
and this woman being banished from the garden. God did send
them now. God said, OK. I don't know how many he sent.
Was it two? I forget. But he sent some angels
down to that garden and said, now, go down there. I'm kicking
the man and the woman out of the garden. And you go down there
and you guard the way. I'm giving you flaming swords.
Guard the way. Don't let that man and woman
back in the garden. And they went. And they guarded
the way. And they thought, why? Why won't
he let them back in? Why won't he restore them back
into the garden? And if the answer came, it was
this. My holiness won't let me. I'm
holy. Man is now a sinner. He can't
come into my presence anymore. Then how, they may have inquisitively
asked this question, how then is man, you said that you're
going to accept a man, how is this going to, we don't understand.
You see, these things the angels desired to look into. We read
it, didn't we? We don't understand this. Well, God may have said this,
this is going to be the greatest display of my glory ever. Just
watch, just watch and wait. You're going to see glory has
never been beheld before. I'm going to become a man. What? Wait a minute. God? A creature? Yes. We don't understand this, but
we want to look into it. We're all ears. We're all ears. Well, like I said, I wouldn't
err in a council. I don't know that this took place.
I read there from our text, though, it says these ain't things the
angels desire to look into. Desire. They desire to look into
it. Perhaps they're treated like
any servant would be. God doesn't have to tell them
anything. Or our children. We don't have to explain ourselves
to our children. But we're loving, kind. Most of us are loving,
kind parents. And we take our children and
sit them down, don't we, and calmly and patiently teach them,
instruct them these things, don't we? Perhaps God did that with
these angels. I don't know. He says they desire
to look into it. He didn't have to. Well, you
know, any time it says there they desire to look into these
things, any time there is a desire, something is wanting. something
is wanting, that means when you desire something, if it's something
you don't have. And this is the reason I just
detest using this thing, this term, God wants this, or God
wants you to. I detest that. That means it's
something he doesn't have. Well, these angels desire to
look into these things. So evidently, they didn't fully
understand what was going on. Well, they were there in the
creation and they were there in the fall. And then throughout
time, the angels were sent as messengers and servants to mankind. They were sent many different
times to speak to men and to serve men in various capacities,
men and women. After the fall, they were constantly
sent to tend to and watch over men and women and even frequently
speak to them. Angels spoke to men frequently.
But they weren't the ones entrusted
with the message of all messages. We are. That's a mystery, isn't
it? We have this treasure put in
earthen vessels. They were the first ones to herald
this message, yes. They were the first. God was
the first. Take that back. Genesis 3, 15. God was the first.
But the angels were the ones that came down and announced
this. But let me say this as a way of warning. God once spoke to men through
angels. And now he calls his ministers
angels, doesn't he? God speaks through men as he
once did angels. And we're not to despise God's
ministers, God's preachers, because we may be entertaining Well, they were sent down various
different times. They were sent down, you remember,
to Abraham to tell him of the coming seed. You remember when
the three angels, the angel of the Lord was there, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Many say that that was Christ,
one of the angels. But nevertheless, he was accompanied
by another, or was it two or three? I forget. But they came
down to tell Abraham of the coming seed, the coming seed, Isaac. And then they were sent down
to a lot. You remember when the angels came to a lot to tell
him to warn him of the destruction of Sodom and to pull him out
of there? Some say that was Christ, too, because he said, I'm going
to destroy. I don't know. It'll work. But
some and you remember when the angel wrestled with Jacob? Some
say that was Christ, too, because he blessed him. It'll work, I
guess, in the glory. But many instances, angels came
down here and ministered to men and spoke with them. And surely,
these angels, they must have watched in wonder and amazement
at all the things that took place in mankind's life. Just, you're
seeing that? Well, they must have just wondered
in amazement at all that was going on in mankind. Everything that went, that took
place. All the rebellion of the children of Israel. They were
just amazed at everything that was happening. God move, and
they saw him working and moving in marvelous ways. Look at Psalm
68 with me. Psalm 68. The angels, they watched
everything that happened to man down through the years. And they
were sent many times to speak to him, but many times just to
silently minister God's commands to man. But this case, I want
you to look at this with me. This is the giving of the law.
This speaks of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. I want
you to notice who was present here. Psalm 68, verse 17. It says, The chariots of God
are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels. The Lord is among
them. as in Sinai in the holy place. Charles, when God gave that law
to Moses, that glorious revelation of his character, it says there
were thousands of angels present fluttering around that mountain.
Is it any wonder God said, you'd better take off your shoes, you
worm, you approach this mountain carefully, don't let anybody
else around here. And the angels hovered over that mountain as
God gave this glorious revelation of his person, his character,
the law on Mount Sinai. So they watched. Consider this. They watched the creation and
they watched the man fall. And then they watched down through
the years. They watched the flood. They
watched God destroy mankind from the earth. They didn't understand
this either. And only eight men were saved. Eight men and women
were saved. in the many years of sin and of misery that came
upon man. And then, finally, in time, like he promised
many years before, they watched in hushed silence and utter astonishment
and amazement as their God, their King, their Ruler, entered into
the body of a baby, the womb of a woman. They thought, what
is this? They stood in silence in awe
of what was taking place. Their King, their God, Emmanuel,
their King was now engulfed in this woman's womb. They were wondering what was
going on here, weren't they? They were desiring to look into
this. We don't know what this is all
about. But he took on this body of this
newborn baby, and they watched this baby born. Finally, in the
course of time, nine months, this little, they watched, oh
my, Henry, this little Jewish maiden and this poor man traveling
around the country on his donkey with their Finally, in the course of time,
nine months, this woman, they watched this little maiden go
into this cow stall. There was no room, they thought,
no room for her king to be born. They watched her enter into this
little cow stall. and lay in the hay and writhe
and travail in pain and give birth to this screaming, squalling
little baby. Don't you know there was a hundred
and fifty zillion angels around that star? God said, now you'll
go hover around him and you watch over him. And you keep good care
of him. Don't let him dash his foot against
a stone. Don't let any harm come to him. Nothing, not a bone of
that child is to be broken. You watch it." And they hovered. If you could have heard the sound
of their wings, Rick, it would have been like O'Hara, Chicago
Airport. The buzzing of those wings around
that stall. or that baby lay in that hay.
They didn't know what was going on here. They just knew that
their king was in this body. What he was going to do, they
didn't know. Well, look at this. Look at Luke chapter 2 with me.
Luke chapter 2. So, God said, let no harm come
to this my son. You watch over him. Keep charge
over him. lest he dash his foot against
the stone. But then, one day, God said,
in that day, God said to these angels, He said, Now, you go
tell, you go tell men who's here. Oh boy, they weren't silent then. They went rushing. To that mountain,
God pointed them directly to some men that weren't looking
for him. Some shepherds up on that hill. Some poor shepherds
up on that hill. Go tell those. Those right there. He does that to us until you
think about it. Picks us out. Hand picks us out and says, you
go tell. Sends his angel, his spirit. You go tell old John
Sheasley down there. And those shepherds thought the
same thing. They come to tell us. What? Well,
they went down there. Those angels must have jumped
with joy at this thought of announcing the great birth of their king.
So look at this in Luke, chapter 2, verse 10. Well, go back to
verse 5. So Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem
to be taxed when his wife was espoused, or with his espoused
wife, who was great with child. And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished. fulfilled 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 a field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. The angel of the Lord came upon
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. I don't
know what this looked like, but this was something. And they
were so afraid. These shepherds were so afraid.
And the angel said, Don't be afraid. Oh, my. Don't be afraid. Far from it. You should have
been afraid a long time ago, but not now. Don't be afraid now. Behold,
we bring you good news. Good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people, to mankind. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, Christ the Lord." He's here. He's here. Okay. And this will be a sign unto
you. They said, you'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger. And suddenly, look at this, there
was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God
and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men. God has come. God has come. It came to pass that the angels
were gone away from them into heaven. The shepherds said, let's
go see about this. They got the desire to look into
it, didn't they? Well, this was a glorious revelation
of their king. These angels got to tell about
it. They got to be the first heralds
of this glorious coming. And then, so they watched their
king grow up. as a young boy, as a tender plant.
They watch him, Henry, the angels. They watch him growing up as
a man, take form, grow in stature and grow in knowledge and favor
with God and man, the scripture says. They watch him grow up,
become a man. Then they watch Him in the most
amazing, astonishing thing of all. Listen up. Come on. Gather yourself here. They watch their King, their
good and glorious, marvelous, merciful, gracious, loving, kind
King, who came down, who condescended to become a man, to become a
worm, leave His throne of glory and become a man, go into a body
of a man, a baby and then grow up in pain and sorrow and grief
and all these things. Grow up and become a man. And
they watch men and women hate him and despise him. Everywhere he goes, he just goes
around telling the truth, revealing the truth of God. And men say,
get out of here. Depart from us. Don't you ever, don't you know
these angels? Don't these men realize who this
is? That he didn't have to come?
That he's come on a mission of mercy and goodness and grace
and love? Why don't they receive him? But these men and women go, kid,
we don't like you. And they sought to kill him.
Everywhere he went, Stan, they sought to kill him. And God said,
this time's not yet. You keep watch over him. And
they were sent to minister to him. They watched that devil,
they watched Satan tempting him. And they thought, why does God
allow him to be tempted like this? He can speak the word and
this devil be annihilated for good. Why is this going on? They
desired to look into this, he said. And God said, now go, after
forty days of this, go to him. And they rushed to his presence.
Oh Lord, oh King, we don't understand this. And then, they watched him one
day in the garden. Evidently, something was about
to take place. They didn't know what it was.
But they watched him in the garden one day. They watched him take
his disciples, and they watched them foolishly fall asleep over
there. Christ said, watch with me, but
fell asleep. And they watched Christ agonize
and pray to the Father, if it be possible. And they watched
Him sweat in blood, if it be possible, take this cup from
Him. And then the angels were said
again to minister to Him after that prayer. They thought, what
is going on? What is taking place here? with awestruck amazement, and
I can't even, I can't tell this like it must
have been. They watch men, a group of men coming with
swords and staves, and grab him, grab their king, hit him in the
face, and take him off. and start spitting on him, and
hitting him in the face, and rip his clothes off, and start
mocking him, laughing at their king. Think about it. They must have been horrified,
Rick. They must have been horrified. They didn't know what was going
on here. They watch these... these... these worms attacking
and mocking and ridiculing the King of Glory! And they thought, it's all over
now. They must have thought, he's
going to send us now. And they got ready. We're going to wipe this mess
out for treating our king like this. You know, Christ said that,
didn't he? He said, don't you know I could
call twelve legions of angels? Huh? Didn't he? Don't you know? Put up your sword, Peter. Don't
you know that all I have to do right now is say, cut! And he'd
just wipe it off and cry to take Christ back to glory. The guy says, no, hold it. Let him alone. Let them do what
they want to with him. And they watch in horror as they
beat him and spit on him and mock him. And then finally, they stretch his body out on
a old rough tree and drive nails through his hands and his feet,
shove that crown down on his head and lift him up on a pole
and drop it down on the ground. And six hours later, he dies. The angels. He's dead. Think about it. What they must
have done. He's dead. He's dead. They're lowered in their camp.
Three days. Those must have been the longest
three days in history for these beings. Three days he lay somewhere. I don't know who was it. We were
talking today. Barbara and I. Where'd he go?
Terry, where'd he go? I don't know where he went. Nobody
knows. Some say he went into hell itself with our sin, or
wherever, behind God's back as a scapegoat, Rick. Took our sins
on him and went somewhere where God couldn't see our sins. Far
as east from the west from God. He took those sins, that burden. And walked back, walked back
to the tent. Then on the third night, God
said, OK, you angels, roll away the stone. They went down to that grave,
you know, and they rolled away that stone and out walked their
king. He's alive. He's risen, just
like he said he would. He's risen. He's risen. And then, and then,
they watch, a couple of days later, they watch him go and
appear to his disciples, and they thought, oh, he's going
to upbraid them for their unbelief. Oh, he's going to mock them. They rejected him. Surely he's
going to pronounce judgment and condemnation upon them for their
unbelief, their hardness of heart, for not believing him. He told
them what he was going to do. But they watched him tenderly
and gently and compassionately and kindly say, it's me. It's me. You go tell my disciples,
especially Peter, that I've risen. Go tell them. And I'll wait for
them in Jerusalem. My, my, my. And then they heard. Don't you know now? It says,
you know, those two were what we studied in one night, those
two walking on the road to Emmaus. And Christ appeared to them and
he began preaching. They call us Phrygian, the Prince
of Preachers. No, no. This is the Prince of Preachers.
He walked with them on the road to Emmaus and began preaching
to them, beginning with Moses and the prophets. The psalms,
all the things concerning themselves, the brazen serpent and the ark
and so forth, preaching. Who do you reckon was his greatest
audience at that time? The angels. Which things the
angels desired to look into. They were all ears. They didn't
know what had happened, really, if God let them in on it. We see! They must have thought. See, they watched all this take
place down through the years. This ark, this serpent on the
pole, all the people bitten that just looked. So that's it! Talk about Him! And we do the
same thing, don't we? And He reveals it. We just glory
and marvel when these things are opened unto us. And those
angels must have just, oh, they must have glorified God. At every
new revelation is Christ preached to them. Their hearts must have
burned, too, if they had a heart. It burned. Then, forty days,
Christ stayed on the earth. And after forty days, God told the angels, He dispatched
the angels. After forty days, He said, Now,
you go down there. and you escort your King back
to me." How do you reckon they felt bringing
the King of glory back in? There must have been a standing
ovation. One hundred and fifty billion heavenly hosts standing
in applause as Christ walked into heaven. The promise is fulfilled. Salvation's
work is done, justice and mercy reconciled, for God has raised
His Son. Angels with the saints above,
of their rising victor sing, so let every creature of God's
love with loud hosannas ring. And you know the angels, we read
it there, but you notice There in a Texas said which things
the angels desire. To look into. Didn't say fasting
instead of Bible. They desire. Peter says they
desire right now said they're looking in these things right
now. You know the angels. They may
have known many subjects they may have known. You know, for,
like I said, thousands of years, the angels gathered knowledge
and watched things take place. They knew much about astronomy.
They knew a whole lot more than our astronomers did. They lived
in the stars. They walked on them. They may
have helped put them out there. I don't know. They knew a lot
about the stars. I bet you they knew quite a few
stars' names, galaxies. They saw a lot more than man
will ever see of astronomy. And in geology, You reckon they
knew anything about geology? They watched the earth being
formed, the various layers. They watched, I don't know how
long it took, 6,000 years or that God spent six days and maybe
6,000 years to create. I don't know how long it took
him to make the earth, but the angels watched every formation,
every geological formation. God do everything, placed the
water and the land in its place. They knew something about geology.
And anthropology, which is the study of man. They've been studying
man all these years. They didn't think much of him.
They thought, oh my, he's a miserable little creature, isn't he? Miserable.
They knew something about anthropology and psychology. They knew something about psychology.
They knew that man was nothing. I mean, he was a weak, frail
nothing. Nothing. They saw man at his
best state, Adam. That's all he ever thought. And
they see you and me, and they know unless God, except by God's
mercy and grace, and except God sends them to watch over you,
you ain't nothing like Adam was. They know that. But it says here,
these things are what's taken up their time and interest. These
things. Know what it says? These things are what things
the angels desire to look into. And yet, they're still interested. They're still interested. You
know, on that ark of the covenant, it says there's two cherubims,
one on this side and one on that side. They're angels touching
in the middle. They're hovered over the middle
of that ark wherein is the broken law and the glory, the Shekinah
glory of God. They're hovered over that ark.
Their wings touch, and they're looking down. That's significant,
isn't it? The angels desire to look into
this thing, into these things, as if their eyes were continually
fixed upon this thing, the ark, the covenant. Well, men and women, We grow tired
of hearing the gospel. Let a man or a woman hear the
gospel for about five or six years. Unless God is really good
in his heart now, let him hear it, and he grows tired of it. We've got to have something else.
It's all you preach is Christ, Christ, Christ. We've got to
have something else. Which things? The angels. desire
to look into it. Henry, I reckon we ought to be
interested, too. Well, Scripture says that wise men,
those wise men, when the Lord came to those wise men, they
said, when they came looking for the Savior, they said, And you've heard the old saying,
wise men still seek Him. And that's true. We need to be
wise and continue to seek after Him. Let me read this to you.
In Psalm 27, I'll quit. Let me read a few verses here.
David, a man after God's own heart. And this is the thoughts
and desires of every man after God's own heart. If he's truly
a man or a woman after God's own heart, this is his desire. David said in Psalm 27, verse
4, he said, One thing have I desired after of. One thing I desire
of the Lord, it's the same thing the angels do. One thing. I don't need gold,
I don't need silver, food and rain, but I got plenty of that.
One thing has got my attention. One thing has got my, got me
all consumed with desire. And that's what I'm going to
look after. Anybody here like this? This is what I'm going
to look into. I'll give her all I got. That I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life. Why? Just to escape hell? No. Just to be happy from happy,
happy, happy all the time? Nope. I want to see Him. to behold the beauty of the Lord. I want to see Him. And to inquire. Did you see that? Inquire. Jeanette, I've got some
things I want to ask you. These are things I desire to
look into. I still don't know much. I still don't know much
at all. How long could you dwell on the
incarnation of Christ? I bet the angels spent a couple
thousand years. Didn't it? Still thinking about
it. We saw it. We still can't understand
it. Great is the mystery. God became
a man. And look at Proverbs chapter
4. Solomon, the wisest man on the
face of the earth, humanly speaking. Solomon said this in Proverbs
4. He said, Listen, you children,
instruction of a father, and attend to no understanding. I'm
going to give you some good doctrine. Forsake not what I'm about to
say, my Lord. I was my father's son, tender
and only beloved in the sight of my mother, and he taught me
also. And he said these things unto
me, and I say them unto you. Let thine heart now retain my
words, and keep these words. And you'll live. Then he said
this, Get Christ. That's who wisdom is, isn't it?
He's made unto us what? Wisdom. Christ is wisdom. Get Christ. Believe Christ. Get an understanding of Him.
Don't forget Him. Neither decline from the words
of His mouth. Forsake Him not. He'll preserve
thee. Love Him, and He shall keep thee. He's the principal thing. He's
the principal one. Therefore, get an understanding
of him. And with all you get, get to
know him. That's good advice, isn't it,
Terry? And this wise father said, son, you listen to what I'm saying. And every wise father in here
will tell your children the same thing. You listen to what I'm
saying. You got to know Christ. Get an
understanding of Him. Don't be a fool. Don't be a fool,
like the foolish children, only to be destroyed. Let me read
you this, finally, in closing. Revelation 7. You know, Paul
said back in Philippians 3, he said, There's one thing that
I want. I want to win Christ. I want to be found in Him. I
want to know Him and the power of His resurrection. That's who
I want to know. And Revelation chapter 7, and
I'll quit. Everybody read this with me.
Revelation 7, verse 9 and 10. After this, I beheld and lo,
a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations
and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands,
and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God
which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the
angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders,
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces,
and worshipped God, saying, Amen! Amen. When it's all said and
done, these angels said, Amen. How about you? Perhaps even if it's preaching
the gospel right now, these angels had their ears tuned in. So no. The angel of his spirit has to
accompany the gospel for it to go forth with any power. But
we read there, in the end, when it's all over, when she's all
wrapped up, all said and done, God's destroyed the wicked, he's
justified his people, and we're all gathered around that throne.
And those angels who watched for millenniums, all this glorious
thing take place, this thing that they had desired to look
into, they shout, Glory to God. Stand with me now. Just listen
and pray. Our God, we glorify Thee and
we exalt Your holy name for this great salvation. We sing praises and Hallelujahs to our great God.
And we ask you that you would indelibly print upon our minds
and our hearts this glorious story. These things, the things
which accompany salvation. This glorious story of the great
King who became a man to save some men. Lord, make us desire
to look into these things. Give us a never-ending desire for Christ's sake. Amen.