What Angels Are Interested In

Q: What does the Bible say about the interest of angels in salvation?

The Bible indicates that angels desire to look into the salvation offered through Christ, as noted in 1 Peter 1:12. According to 1 Peter 1:12, angels are profoundly interested in the mystery of salvation and desire to understand its implications. They are described as beings who, despite their greater might compared to humans, are captivated by the grace extended to mankind through Christ's work. This interest suggests the depth of the gospel's significance, as it reveals God's plan for redemption, which even angels find awe-inspiring. Their attention reflects the grandeur of God's grace, which is afforded to sinners who believe.

Q: How do we know that the doctrine of salvation is true?

The doctrine of salvation is affirmed through the prophetic testimonies in Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit, as seen in 1 Peter 1:10-12. The truth of the doctrine of salvation is grounded in the prophetic revelations found in Scripture, specifically noted in 1 Peter 1:10-12. The prophets of the Old Testament, moved by the Holy Spirit, inquired and searched diligently about the grace that would come to God’s people, which has been fulfilled in Christ. This historical testimony is reinforced by Christ's redemptive work, assuring believers of salvation that is kept through God's power. The Holy Spirit's role in revealing these truths further substantiates the doctrinal claims of salvation, providing believers with confidence in their faith.

Q: Why is the leadership of the Holy Spirit important in preaching?

The leadership of the Holy Spirit is crucial in preaching as it ensures that the messages communicated are aligned with God's truth and effectively reach the hearts of believers. The importance of the Holy Spirit in preaching cannot be overstated, as highlighted in 1 Peter 1:12 and throughout the New Testament. Preaching is described as a reporting of what God has already revealed, and without the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit, this task is rendered ineffective. The Holy Spirit not only empowers the preacher but also enables the listeners to understand and respond to the message of the gospel. The dynamic of this relationship ensures that the preaching is not merely human opinion but a divine communication that God uses to save and edify His people. This spiritual aspect is essential for any true preaching to occur, emphasizing that both the preacher and the congregation rely on God's grace for understanding and belief.

Q: What is the significance of Christ's sufferings according to the Bible?

Christ's sufferings are significant as they fulfill God's justice and provide the means for the salvation of His elect, highlighted in Isaiah 53. The significance of Christ's sufferings is profound, rooted in both the physical pain He endured and the spiritual anguish that accompanied it. Isaiah 53 encapsulates the prophetic testimony of His suffering, emphasizing that He bore the sins of many and was punished to satisfy God's justice. This dual aspect of suffering illustrates not only the severity of sin but also the depth of God's love and grace for His elect. By willingly taking upon Himself the penalty for sin, Christ accomplished salvation, providing believers with the assurance of forgiveness and reconciliation with God. The glory that follows His sufferings indicates the completion of God’s redemptive plan, showcasing both His justice and mercy.

Chapter 1. The last phrase of verse 12, which things the angels desire to look into. Verse 10, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. Searching what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, but 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, which things the angels desire to look into.

Let's pray. Lord, we ask that the gospel would be preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. Lord, we wait on thee. By thy grace, we expect to hear from thee, from your word. Manifest yourself to us for Christ's sake. Be with all your people wherever they meet together. Lord, forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake. In his name we pray, amen.

What angels are interested in? Doesn't that interest you? What is it that angels are interested in? In 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, when Paul gives the great definition of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit. Scene of angels. I want you to think about that concept for just a moment. When the Lord Jesus was walking upon this earth, he had the constant attention of angels. They looked upon him in amazement. Angels. Spirits who are mightier and greater than we, the scripture says. Angels. beheld the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now much that men are concerned with, I'm sure the angels are bored with what men consider important. But oh, how they looked upon the Lord Jesus Christ with wonder and amazement. And when they hear of the great Doctrine of salvation the great truth of salvation They want to look into it more Which things angels desire to look into what an incredible concept Verse 10 Of which salvation Verse 9 says, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation? Of which salvation?

Well, the one that Peter has described in this amazing way in these first verses of 1 Peter. He begins with the work of the Trinity in salvation. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, verse 2. Here's the work of the Spirit through sanctification of the Spirit. Here's the work of the Son and to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. There we have the work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in salvation.

Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Verse three, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy. has begotten us again into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, and that faith is not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God, and the same power that created the universe.

The same power that raised Christ from the dead is used in keeping you. Isn't that amazing? Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. And this salvation we're speaking of won't be completely revealed until the last time when we stand before God perfect, beholding his face in righteousness, satisfied by being awakened in his likeness, of which salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice in this salvation, though now for a season, if need be, there's a need be, you're in heaviness, through manifold temptation, that the trial, the testing of your faith may Being much more precious than of gold, the parishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you loved, in whom, though now you seem not yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation the prophets. have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you." The prophets. I love that. Well, let's read it. Just a few pages over, 2 Peter chapter one.

Verse 19, we also have a more sure word of prophecy. This is more sure than that experience we had on the Mount of Transfiguration. When we saw the Lord Jesus Christ transfigured, this is more sure than that physical experience. I love that. We've got something more sure than Peter and James and John had when they saw the Lord transfigured before them. We've got something more sure than that. Now I thought I would have loved to have seen that and you thought it too. Wouldn't you have loved to have been there to behold that? Peter says this is more sure.

Wherein to you do well that you take heed as into a light that shineth in a dark place into the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts knowing this first. that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation. That's your interpretation. Don't talk like that. It's a no private interpretation. Here's what it means to me. And I don't want to sound harsh, but I hate it when people, I don't care what it means to you. What does it mean? That is all that counts. What does it mean? Not, what is your interpretation? Well, this is my interpretation. Nobody cares. That probably sounds mean, but I mean it to be mean as far as that goes, because nobody cares.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now that's the prophets he's speaking of. Now back to our text.

Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied, and I love this, of the grace that should come unto you. This is their subject. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the grace that should come unto you. Now I realize that that should come is in italics, but that is, I like what they're saying.

The grace that should come unto you. I don't come to grace. Grace comes to me. Thank God for that. Grace comes to me like the good Samaritan came to the man who was half dead, lying in the ditch. He came to him where he was. And that's what grace, the grace of God does. It comes to me where I am.

They prophesied of the grace that should come. And I have no doubt that these men knew what they were talking about. I love that passage in Acts chapter two about David when he's quoting Psalm 16, it says he knew. He knew that this was a prophecy concerning him that was to come, of his death, burial, and resurrection. He knew he understood this. These men knew what they were talking about, and they searched diligently with regard to the grace that should come. Now, let's go on reading verse 11. Searching what?

What manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it or he, the Spirit of God through them, testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Now here is a summary of the testimony of the prophets through God the Holy Spirit. They testified beforehand, before it took place, of the sufferings of Christ. and the glory that should be revealed. Now, first of all, they testified with Isaiah 53.

They testified of the sufferings of Christ. Now, I was thinking about this. I remember when I was a little boy, eight, nine, 10 years old, 13th Street Baptist Church. There was a preacher by the name of Pharaoh Griswold, and I remember being enthralled by this message. He gave the most complete description of the physical sufferings of Christ I've ever heard. He talked about the cat of the nine tails, bits of glass in it, rock lashed on his back, it would pull the flesh out, blood would fly. He talked about the pain that was involved in the ripping out of his beard.

He talked about how the nails were driven not in the palms of his hand, I don't know if that's so, but in the wrist because that would keep them there fastened to the cross and through his ankles. And he talked about how you'd have to hold up with the pain to keep from suffocating. You'd have to hold up with your ankles. And the reason they break their legs is because they would suffocate and die quickly.

He gave all these graphic descriptions of the physical, pain that the Lord endured. And I remember being so captivated by that. I would not diminish the physical pain of Christ in any way, the pain of being crucified, but the sufferings of Christ was because his father forsook him.

It was because his father turned his back on him. Why did the Lord do that? Because he's just. because he's not going to let the guilty go unpunished, because he must punish sin, and the sins of God's elect became the sins of the Lord Jesus Christ. He became guilty of those sins, and his father turned his back on him.

That's the sufferings of Christ. Now, like I said, I would not in any way diminish the physical sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, but oh, What he suffered from was the fact that his father turned his face away from him and punished him and killed him. The sufferings of Christ. That's what they testified of. That's the message of the gospel. The sufferings of Christ, why he suffered, not just at description of the physical sufferings, but why he suffered because he was guilty.

He was getting exactly what he deserved because God is just. God would never do this to a man that was not guilty. He wouldn't do it. He's just. The sins of God's elect were given to him when he drank that cup in the Gethsemane's garden. It was the sins of his people and God punished him.

That's his suffering. and the glory that should follow. The glory of what he accomplished by that. I can't get enough of thinking about Luke 9 31, where Moses and Elijah were talking with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, and they speak of the deceased, which he should accomplish. Isn't that glorious? Oh, his death was an accomplishment. He accomplished the full manifestation of God's glory. He accomplished the complete salvation of his people. the glory that he should accomplish.

Verse 12. Now, the spirit of Christ, verse 11, which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow that must necessarily follow his sufferings unto whom it was revealed. Now, why did they know these things, it was revealed to him.

Why do you know what you know? Why? It was revealed to you by God himself. That's why you know. You rejoice only in the suffering of Christ. That's all your salvation. You see the glory that should follow that. You see that. Why? He was revealed by God himself. He hasn't left you alone. He's revealed himself to you. That's the revelation of himself.

The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should reveal unto whom it was revealed to them. Those prophets, that's how they knew this, unto whom it was revealed. 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, which things angels desire to look into. Now, first, revelation. I think of the Lord speaking to his disciples in Matthew chapter 16. He said, whom do men say that I, the son of man am?

Well, some say you're Elias or one of the prophets. They put you in some high company, which actually was an insult to the Lord Jesus Christ to put him on the level of any man. They thought it sounded good, but it wasn't. It was awful for them to put him on the same level as a sinful man. He said, whom say ye that I am? Peter said, thou art the Christ. God's Christ, God's prophet, God's priest, God's king, the son of the living God. The Lord said, blessed art thou Simon Marjona.

Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to me. But my father, which is in heaven. Revelation. They were ministering to us, look in verse 12. but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you. Now, that's what preaching is. It's reporting what's already been said. That's all it is. It's reporting what's already been said. These are not my thoughts. When I get up and preach the gospel, I'm not giving my opinion, my thoughts. If I am, you'd be better off going somewhere else where you weren't hearing a man's opinion. Preaching is reporting that which God has already said. Reporting, that's what a preacher is, a reporter. Preaching what God has already said.

Timothy, preach the word. reported unto you them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. True preaching is with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. If God the Holy Spirit is not speaking through the word, no good is being done at all. The only way true spiritual good will be done is with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. If the preacher's preaching, he's preaching under the power of God the Holy Spirit. If that's not there, No good will be done. It's not true preaching. You can call it what you will, but it's not true preaching.

The only way we can hear is through the power of God the Holy Spirit being sent down from heaven. It takes just as much grace to hear as it does to preach. I can't hear unless the God the Holy Spirit is sent down from heaven to reveal himself to me. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them to believe. That's what the Bible says. And that's not putting the emphasis on the preacher. What is the preacher? Nothing. A nobody who has no power at all. He's not something special. There's no such thing as clergy, laity.

We're all one in Christ Jesus. We're all on the same plane. But preaching must be done through the power of the Holy Spirit or nothing good at all will come, it's only God the Holy Spirit who applies the word preached to any spiritual benefit. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Beginning in verse 9. But as it is written, I love how often that comes up in the Scriptures, don't you? This is an appeal to what has already been written in the Old Testament Scriptures.

As it is written, I hath not seen nor heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him, but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. the third person of the blessed Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

For what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for the foolishness under him. Neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned.

You have to have God the Holy Spirit. You have to have a new nature. But he that's spiritual judges, discerns all things. He hears the gospel. Yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have because of God the Holy Spirit. We have the mind of Christ. We hear because of God the Holy Spirit giving us the mind of Christ.

Titus 1.3 says it said, God has manifested his word through preaching, which is committed to my trust.

Now back to our text. unto whom it was revealed, verse 12, 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. Them that have preached the gospel to you. I repeat the emphasis, not the preacher, but the gospel that's preached. But how important is the preaching of the gospel?

That is how God is pleased to speak. That's what he said. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe Christ still walks among the golden candlesticks. I hope we all have this proper view of the preaching and the hearing of the gospel. And then he ends this amazing passage of scripture, which things the angels desire. And that word desire is a very strong word. It is actually translated covet and lust. this great desire to look into these things.

Now, angels that are, you know, people say there's a lot right now going on about extraterrestrial beings. People thinking they've seen flying saucers and all these, there's just a lot in the news about it. Well, there are extraterrestrial beings, the angels. The angels. And the elect angels, I love the way Paul calls them that. The one reason they didn't fall with Satan and the rest of that bunch is because they were elect. The elect angels, they look upon the things of the gospel and they're utterly astounded. And they want to know more and more and more how keenly they look.

You know, I love it when They came to arrest the Lord, and the Lord said, don't you know, if I wanted to, I'd call 12 legions of angels, 72,000 angels. One angel could wipe out everybody. Do you think that I'm a victim in this thing? No, I call my angels, they'll take care of this. The angels desire.

Oh, they're so mystified by this thing of God being just. and justifying the ungodly. How glorious. I love what Charles Spurgeon said. Charles Spurgeon said that if he called upon the angels to say, how can I be just and justify that group that have fallen, that are sinful and rebel, he said they'd still be scratching their head. They couldn't come up with the answer. But oh, how they love to behold the things of the gospel. angels desire to look into.

What Angels Are Interested In

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the interest of angels in salvation?

How do we know that the doctrine of salvation is true?

Why is the leadership of the Holy Spirit important in preaching?

What is the significance of Christ's sufferings according to the Bible?

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What Angels Are Interested In

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the interest of angels in salvation?

How do we know that the doctrine of salvation is true?

Why is the leadership of the Holy Spirit important in preaching?

What is the significance of Christ's sufferings according to the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

About Todd Nibert

Comments

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