Several of you attended the conference
at Mill Site Baptist Church weekend before last, where Brother Mike
Walker is pastor up in Cottageville, West Virginia. I heard a lot of good things
concerning the conference, which of course was delightful to me,
but I got a note from Yvonne Redding, right after she got
back from Cottageville, and she made this observation, and I
thought it was just outstanding. I don't know if this is a proper
interpretation of Hebrews 1.14, but I heard angels speak this
past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Cottageville Conference.
Truly, they were ministering spirits in the service of our
great Redeemer, I was blessed beyond measure to think I was
dropped right into a spiritual honeypot. I long to return there
to worship God with the dear saints there as often as he permits. I want you, if you will, to turn
to Genesis chapter 32. Genesis 32. When I read Yvonne's
note, I thought that's exactly the
attitude we ought to have every time we come to the house of
God. That's the attitude we ought
to have with regard to the worship of our God. That's the attitude
we ought to have with regard to God's servants, those men
he sends to us to proclaim the gospel of his free grace. There are many who have foolish,
silly ideas, superstitious ideas with regards to angels. The papists
venerate them, offer prayers to them, and worship them as
though they were God. There are many who wear little
pins and pendants around their necks or on their jackets or
somewhere to have a little angel to guard them from evil. And
I know folks say, well, I I don't really think that, well, then
throw the blooming thing away. Just throw it away. And there
are silly people who think that when children, babies die as
little children, they go to heaven, they become angels. And I want
to try to answer a question tonight from the scriptures. I want to
give you the answer from scriptures. What do you know about angels?
What do you know about angels? And it's not just a speculative
thing. It's not just to give you some better understanding
about the angelic creatures. I want to give you a word from
God that will help your souls day by day and a word from God
that will help you in understanding the scriptures. While you're
turning to Genesis 32, I've got to make a couple of comments
and hear it well. We live in this day of demonic,
charismatic tomfoolery and I wish I could I wish I could speak
loudly enough with a voice heard broad enough that the whole Pentecostal
world would hear me. The whole of charismatic religion
is as demonic as hell itself. It is demonic tomfoolery and
folks talk about speaking in tongues and having visions, and
having dreams, and seeing angels, and hearing angels speak, and
they talk about having a word from God, and a revelation from
God. Well, anytime you hear someone
say he's had a word from God, a fresh revelation from God,
he's seen an angel, he's heard an angel speak, he speaks in
tongues, he can perform a miracle. If you happen to have a char
tobacco in your mouth, that'd be a good time to spit. and then
reach back and button your billfold pocket because he's after your
money. That's just absolutely, the things you hear in this regard
is just absolute nonsense. Since that which is perfect is
come. And right here's what Paul's
talking about, 1 Corinthians 13, when he said, when that which
is perfect is come. You've got a copy of it in your
hand. He's talking about the Word of God. Since that which
is perfect is come. That which was in part has been
put aside permanently and the sooner you understand that the
better. We have the complete revelation of God in Holy Scripture. The whole revelation of God in
the pages of Holy Scripture. There is no need for nor can
there be any inspired prophets or apostles with a new word from
God. Folks stand up, they talk about
being apostles today, or prophets today, and they have a word from
God. What they say, and this is what they teach, is that the
word of that prophet, the word of that apostle, is equal to
and authoritative over the written word of God, because this is
a fresh, new word from God. That's their doctrine. That's
their doctrine. And that's utterly, utterly destructive to any concept
of understanding of the scriptures. Because we have no new word from
God, we do not now live in the age of miracles and signs and
tongues and wonders. Those things needed in the church's
infancy to confirm the apostles as the messengers of the Messiah.
I don't mean by that God doesn't perform wonders. He only performs
wonders. I mean by that there are no men
with gifts to perform wonders as the apostles did. There are
no men with gifts to write the book of God as the apostles had.
There are no men with gifts to speak in tongues as those of
the apostolic age did. For the same reasons, the Lord
God no longer sends angels in any visible or audible manifestation
to direct us into His will and His ways. We have his word and
his spirit for that purpose. Now, however, that does not mean
that the ministry of God's angels has ceased. Oh, no. The angels
of God are as active today as ever. The word angel means messenger. An angel is a messenger from
God to you. a messenger from God, one sent
from God. Without question, there is a
specific order of spirit beings called angels. We'll look at
them in a little bit. The fallen angels described in Revelation
12 are commonly referred to as devils or demons. Those fallen
angels are messengers of Satan bent upon our destruction. But
the angels of God are described in Hebrews 114 as ministering
spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be the heirs
of salvation. They are ministering spirits
created by God and sent forth by God to minister to those people
chosen and ordained of God to be the heirs of salvation. Now, let's look at our text here
in Genesis 32. Jacob went on his way, and the
angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said,
this is God's host. And he called the name of that
place Mahaniim, and that's the beginning of this message concerning
angels. These are God's host, God's host. called upon by God or sent by
God for our benefit and for our good, to minister to our souls,
the host of God. Children of God, we have far more friends than
any of us imagine. More than we know, as you make
your pilgrimage through this world, as you seek to serve the
Lord God as you walk in the midst of enemies on every side, as
you go through darkness and difficulty day after day, if only you could
hear, you would hear the rushing of angels' wings, of God's host
at your side. If only you had eyes to see,
you would see a mountain full of horses and chariots of fire
round about you as Elisha's servant did. Let me show you three things. Three things, I'll be very brief,
but I hope very profitable to you. First, our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, is the preeminent angel of God. He is the preeminent
angel of God. He is the archangel. Turn to
Malachi chapter 4, chapter 3 rather, Malachi chapter 3, verse 1. Behold, I will send my messenger. He shall prepare the way before
me. The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly
come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant. This
one who is the Lord you seek, he comes the messenger of the
covenant, that one in whom you delight. Behold, he shall come,
saith the Lord. In Isaiah 63, 9, he who is here
called the messenger, the angel of the covenant, is called the
angel of God's presence. In all their affliction, he was
afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. The Lord
Jesus The eternal son of God is the angel of the Lord, the
messenger of the covenant. He is the angel of God's presence. Now it does not in any way detract
from our Lord's glorious deity to speak of him as the angel
of God any more than it detracts from his deity to speak of him
as the servant of God. Jesus Christ is that angel of
the Lord by whom God came to men and made himself known to
men in all the Old Testament pictures you have of the angel
of the Lord appearing. You remember Abraham, he had
three angels to come to him. One of them was the Son of God.
We know that because Abraham bowed down and worshipped him.
Abraham worshipped one of them. Manoah and his wife had the angel
of the Lord appear to them. And the Lord did gloriously before
them. And he is the Lord Jesus, the
Son of God. The angel of the Lord appeared
again and again and again in the Old Testament scriptures.
And all of those pictures where the angel of the Lord, wherever
you find that definite article, the angel of the Lord is found,
you'll find that's Christ Jesus in one of his pre-incarnate manifestations,
one of the pre-incarnate revelations of himself to his people. To
say that Christ is the angel of the Lord is simply to say
he is that one by whom God speaks to men. He is that one by whom
God sends his message to men. He is that one by whom God reveals
himself to men as the angel of the Lord, the messenger of the
covenant. Christ Jesus came into this world
to fulfill all the stipulations of the covenant. And when he
fulfilled all the stipulations of the covenant, as our mediator
and substitute, he brought in everlasting righteousness and
obtained eternal redemption for us. And now he is that angel
of the Lord, the angel of God's presence, the angel of the covenant
by whom he makes known the covenant of grace to his people, having
accomplished redemption for us. I want you to turn to Revelation
chapter 10. Revelation chapter 10. I've referred
to it a number of times in the past couple of weeks, but you
look at it with me. Having accomplished redemption
for us, having fulfilled all the requirements of the covenant,
our substitute, our savior is seen here by John in Revelation
chapter 10 as an angel, an angel standing in heaven. Look at Revelation
10 verse 1. In chapter 5, He is the Lamb
of God ascending up out of the throne and he has, he's that
one who takes hold of the book, the book of God's decrees, the
book of God's purpose. He's the one worthy to, who has
prevailed and is worthy to take the book, to open it and to loose
the seals. That means he's worthy and able
to fulfill all God's decrees. Now look at him, this is a picture
here in Revelation 10. And I saw another mighty angel come down
from heaven. clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow
was upon his head. Rainbow, we saw that back in
chapter 4. The bow circling God's throne,
God's covenant on his head. And his face was as it were the
sun, and his feet pillars of fire. And he had in his hand
a little book open for a picture, You've got the book of God's
decrees. Merle, everything, the triune
God from eternity, purpose to be done in that book. Man, that's
a big book. Man, that's a big book. Who could
imagine such a book? But it's in His hand, a little
book. A little book. No difficulties
with Him. No problems with Him. No obstacles
before Him. Just a little book. It's open
in His hand. And He set His right foot upon
the sea, and His left foot upon the earth. And He cried with
a loud voice, as when a lion roareth. And when He had cried,
seven thunders uttered their voices. Our Lord Jesus is that
angel of the covenant who holds the book of God's purpose in
His hand with power over all flesh to give eternal life to
as many as God has given Him and he's always fulfilling God's
everlasting purpose as the angel of the covenant. He came here
and conquered Satan. He bound him and cast him into
the bottomless pit. He is that one who rebukes the
devil and stands by our side when Satan raises Moses up and
would accuse us of our own crimes and our own sins. He is that
one, back in Zechariah chapter 3, stands by. While Satan is
at Joshua's right hand and he's resisting Joshua. But the angel
of the Lord stands by. He stands by and he says, the
Lord rebuke thee. The Lord rebuke thee. He simply
speaks the word by pleading what he has done. The Lord rebuke
thee. He said, take off his dirty clothes.
Put clean raiment on him. That priest who defiled himself
down in Babylon, you take off his filthy clothes and put clean
linen on him and put a fair miter on his head. I cause your iniquities
to pass from you. That's the message of the angel
of the Lord, our great intercessor, our great high priest, Jesus
Christ the Lord. Now, second, turn to the book
of Revelation chapter one. Revelation chapter one. Christ
is the angel, the angel preeminent, who rules the universe for us
for the saving of his people. Oh, how we ought to rejoice in
that. How we ought to rejoice in that. Our great Savior, the
Son of God, absolutely rules the world. One of the men back
in the office a little bit ago asking, or made the statement,
said, What God's doing with all that's gone on the past couple
of weeks. What we look at is tragedies
and travesty. Things we'd never choose. Things
we'd never choose for anybody. What's God doing? The angel of
the Lord. performing the will of God, fulfilling
the purpose of God, accomplishing all the decree of God, and he's
doing it for the salvation of God's elect. Oh my God, teach
me to be content with what you do. Teach me to be at ease with
your purpose. Teach me to bow and quit bucking
your purpose. That which came to pass today
came to pass because the Son of God, the angel of God's presence,
the angel of the covenant turned that page of God's book
and says, let's move on. He's accomplishing God's purpose. All right, here in Revelation
chapter 1. Let me talk to you briefly about
some human angels. Faithful pastors are the angels
of God's churches. They are the angels of God's
churches. God's angels to his churches. Look at Revelation 1 verse 20.
the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right
hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou
sawest are the seven churches. Here and then in chapters two
and three, the Spirit of God gives us this picture. pastors, pastors of local churches,
God's servants, those who are sent of God to preach the Word
of God, and he describes them as angels, because faithful men,
gifted, called, and sent of God are to perform the work of the
ministry that God's given them as messengers of God to your
soul. Bobby Estes, that's my responsibility
and my privilege. I'm here to be God's messenger
to your soul. That's the purpose of a pastor. I can't emphasize sufficiently
the need, no, the necessity of a pastor to every child of God
and particularly to every local assembly. You've got to have
God's messenger to your soul. You've got to have God's messenger
to your soul. I get very concerned for a local
church. I get very concerned for a local
church. And some of those in just this position are going
to hear this message. I want them to hear it, and I
want you to hear it. I get very concerned for a local
church that goes for a long time without a pastor and is content
not having one. A group of folks, Merle, who
think they can make it on their own are going to make a mess
on their own. Now, if I drop dead tonight, you remember that
tomorrow. You remember that tomorrow. Local churches cannot function
properly without a faithful pastor. You've got to have one. Why are they called angels? Because
God has ordained the salvation of His elect by the hearing of
the gospel. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. But a man can't preach unless
he's been sent. You're right, he can't. And you
can't hear unless God sends you a man to proclaim the Word. The
Word of God is that by which we are born again. The Word of
God is that seed planted in us by the Holy Spirit by which God
gives life to chosen sinners. Look in the book of James, chapter
1, verse 18. James 1, verse 18. Of his own will begat he us. You see that? We believe salvation
by God's sovereign will. Yes, sir. With the word of truth. Of his own will begat he us. With the word of truth. That means, Mark Henson, God
doesn't save folks apart from the ministry of the word. That's
how God saves his people. You can do whatever you want
to with that. That's what the book teaches, and it teaches
it throughout the New Testament. Well, we believe God's sovereignty
can save sinners however He wants to. He can, and the way He wants
to is by the preaching of the Word. That's exactly what He
tells us. Not only that, turn to Ephesians
chapter 4, Ephesians 4. Let no one despise or lightly
esteem the ministry of the Word. Gospel preachers are essential
both to the salvation of chosen sinners and to the edification
of those sinners chosen, redeemed, and called by the grace of God.
Look at Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. He gave some apostles and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. The word quite literally is pastor-teachers. Pastor teachers. The pastor is
the man responsible to teach the congregation. That's my responsibility. My responsibility and my responsibility
alone. God gives many men gifts to assist
in those things, but the responsibility for this congregation is my responsibility
as the pastor teacher in this place. And he did this for the
perfecting of the saints. for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ. He did it to bring
God's people into the blessed joy of the perfection of Christ
in sanctification, building us up in the faith, edifying us
as the body of Christ. Till we all come in unity of
the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
That is, this work's not going to cease until God's work in
this world is over. That we henceforth be no more
children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind
of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby
they lie in wait to deceive. Let me tell you what I've experienced. I get telephone calls And letters
and emails every day. Every day. From all over the
world. Every day. And folks have questions. Ah, man. They have questions.
Questions about angels, and questions about church, and questions about
church order, and questions about this point of doctrine, questions
about the millennium, questions about the rapture, questions
about no rapture, questions about Christ's second coming, questions
about wine or bread at the Lord's table, questions about baptism,
just questions, questions, questions, questions, questions. I'll tell
you what I almost never experience. almost never get those questions
from somebody who's sitting under a faithful minister. Almost never get them. Almost
never get them. Somebody who's sitting under
and hearing the preaching of a faithful gospel preacher, how
come? Because the questions are answered
in the context of the gospel as a man faithfully preaches
the word. The folks who are tossed to and fro with the cunning craftiness
and the slight of men, with every wind of doctrine. You believe
this today and tomorrow. Well, I've changed my mind. They
don't sit under and heed the preaching of a faithful gospel
preacher. I've often heard people say,
well, I thought of the Lord. I don't follow any man. And there's
a sense in which that's right. Every man is responsible for
his own soul. And you are responsible to search
the scriptures and make certain that those preachers you hear
are preaching the truth. Make sure that what Don Fortner
says to you, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Tuesday night,
is according to this book. And Bill Raleigh, if it's, don't
quit listening to me. If it's not according to this
book, go find somebody who's telling you the truth. If it's
according to this book, you better pay attention. You better pay
attention. If you follow Christ, you're going to follow a preacher.
If you follow Christ, you're going to follow a preacher. Write
that down, put quotation marks on it, and you can say, Don Fortner
said that, I'll stand to it. If you follow Christ, you're
going to follow a preacher. If you don't follow his servant,
you don't follow him. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God, whose
faith follow. Obey them that have the rule
over you. Submit yourselves. Submit yourselves. For they watch for your souls,
as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy
and not with grief. I recall years ago, years ago,
Brother Mahan had the preacher school in Ashland. And some years
later, one of the fellows Made a mess of things where he was.
But me and I were on the road. He said to me, discussing that
situation, he said, well, he was with us for a long time,
but he never shut up long enough to learn anything. He never shut
up long enough to learn anything. Folks who know everything know
too much. Don't be so quick to offer an
opinion about things. listen to the preaching of the
word, search the scriptures, and obey the word of God. These
faithful men are portrayed as living creatures, beasts in Revelation
chapter 4. They are men who by the gift
and grace of God the Holy Spirit are as bold as lions, as strong
as oxen, as compassionate as men. and they soar to heaven
for a word from God. I tell preachers all the time,
especially my young friends, if you're going to do this work,
you're going to do this work, you better have the height of
a rhinoceros, and you better have a backbone of steel as wide
as an eight-lane freeway, and you better have a heart as tender
as a baby's. You've got to be as bold as a
lion, as strong as an ox, tender and compassionate as a man, and
like an eagle soaring to heaven to get God's word for his people.
They're described in Isaiah 6 as seraphs, seraphim. looking constantly
on the mercy seat, with her eyes fixed constantly on the blood,
constantly looking to the crucified Redeemer, and then carrying the
Word of God from the crucified Redeemer, fresh from off the
altar of God, with a hot coal in their hands, to touch the
lips of God's elect, saying, Thine iniquity is purged, your
sin is taken away, because of the work of the Redeemer. constantly
declaring to men and women the accomplishments of Christ Jesus.
Gospel preachers, by the unction of God the Spirit, speak the
word and when they speak by the unction of God the Spirit, sinners
hear God speak. What an amazing thing. What an
amazing thing. Brother Mark's going down to
Reach for our friends down at Spring Lake Sunday and Tuesday,
Sunday and Wednesday next week. Wouldn't it be amazing if God
speak through you? If God would speak through you.
And if God doesn't speak through you, everything is just so much
wind and air. I can't tell you how I pray.
as I prepare to preach to you that God will speak through me
to you this hour. I've been at this for a while,
and I'm more keenly aware now than I have ever been of the
utter, complete vanity and uselessness of my most ardent labors in preparation
unless God blesses the word preached. I can't overcome your prejudices.
I can't overcome your obstacles standing between you and the
word. I can't, I can't, I can't do anything. I'm as helpless, I'm as helpless
as a worm in the ground to try to do anything for you. are to you spiritually. I can't
do anything. But oh, if God will speak, he'll alter your life forever
through the word he gives to one of his servants. Gospel preachers, the angels of God to the souls
of men, lead sinners to the worship of God, giving glory, honor,
thanks to him that sat on the throne, and worship him that
liveth forever and ever. Now, let's look at that text
I referred to earlier in Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. There are a special order of
heavenly spirit beings called angels, the angels of God. who
were specifically created by God to be ministering spirits
to God's elect. Look at verse 14, Hebrews chapter
1. Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be the heirs
of salvation? These heavenly ministering spirits
were created by God, our Heavenly Father, to minister to and serve
the needs of those who shall be saved by His grace. God Almighty
has an elect people scattered through all the human race, scattered
in all the parts of the earth, scattered through all the ages
of time, and for each of those elect centers, God has ordained
a time of love when he will call the chosen redeemed sinner to
himself by the word of his grace. And he sends his angels to protect,
to care for, to minister to, to secretly guard his chosen
who shall be the heirs of his salvation. The papers talk about having
guardian angels. Each child got a special guardian
angel. And folks like that kind of nonsense. But the scriptures don't teach
anything like that. All the innumerable host of God's
angels are guardians of his elect. Oh God open his eyes and let
him see. Look yonder, the mountain is
full of chariots and horses of fire, the angels of God camped
around us. If we could just see, oh if we
could just see how wondrous the picture is, the angels of God
constantly guarding over and protecting his elect. Back in Psalm 91, Psalm 91. Let's look at that for just a
minute. I won't read just a couple of
verses here, but you can read the whole Psalm later. Because thou hast made the Lord,
which is my refuge, even the most high thy habitation. Look
at verse 10. There shall no evil befall thee. Neither shall any plague come
nigh thy dwelling. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. James Jordan's here Sunday night.
First time we've seen him in a long time. Man, he's had some
tough times. Sally Ponce had been sick ever
since she got back from Florida a couple of weeks ago. Bob Duff
had been out of the house in a year. What are you talking
about no evil befall thee? What are you talking about? I
got a call last night, a friend of mine. Families and churches going through
horrible times, horrible times. We're talking about no evil befall
thee. No plague come nigh thy dwelling. My preacher, you've
had cancer, you got a bad heart. What are you talking about no
evil befall thee? No plague come nigh your dwelling.
Ain't nothing ever gonna hurt you. That's exactly what it means.
Ain't nothing ever gonna hurt you. Ain't nothing ever gonna
hurt you, Rita. For he shall give his angel charge
over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee
up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion
and adder, the young lion and the dragon, You're going to walk
all over Satan, shalt thou trample under thy feet. None of us will ever know this
side of eternity, what the angels of God have done for us. But
when our pilgrimage here is over, the angels of God will carry
each of God's Lazaruses away to glory. They are the secret
servants of Emmanuel's kingdom. ministering to all who shall
be the heirs of God's salvation. Let me remind you just a little
bit, I'll wrap this up, of some of the things angels have done.
It was an angel who first announced the purpose of our Lord's coming.
It was an angel who said, call his name Jesus, he shall save
his people from their sins. It was a chorus of angels who
first sang the praise of the incarnate God. It was an angel
who first declared that our crucified Redeemer was risen from the dead.
It was an angel, an angel of God who sent men, an angel sent
men to fetch Peter to come tell Cornelius about the Savior. Angels
of God kept us all the days of our rebellion. While we were cussing God, while
we were cussing God, while we were cussing God, the angels
of God holding us in their hands. While we were flirting with death
and playing with hell, the angels of God holding us in their grip. The angels of God watch over
us every hour. They come and meet with us in
our assemblies and they always behold our Father's face in heaven. Careful now what you think about
this little child of mine. You be careful what you say about
that little child of mine. You be careful what you do to
that little child of mine, our Savior said. They're angels. Behold their Father's face in
heaven 24 hours a day. Watching constantly over us,
the angels of God will at last carry us home. The fact is there
is far more intimate relationship between the saints of God and
the angels of God than any of us have yet conceived. You come
to the new Jerusalem, the church of the living God, to the spirits
of just men made perfect. To Jesus, the mediator of the
new covenant, whose blood speaks better things than that of angels,
and to angels. Angels, the assembly of the firstborn,
the church of the firstborn. We have an intimate relationship
with angels that is yet to be discovered. Let us ever then
give thanks to God for the angels, the messengers of mercy, Christ,
the angel of the covenant. Those men God sends as faithful
pastors to minister to your souls and the heavenly host ministering
spirit sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of
salvation. Now let me answer one question
and I'll be done. Who are those people who shall be heirs of
God's salvation? I'll tell you exactly who they
are. They are those chosen and predestinated of God to everlasting
life in Christ before the world began. They are those who are
redeemed by the precious blood of God's darling son, the Lord
Jesus at Calvary. Those who shall be heirs of salvation,
they are those who shall be called by the omnipotent, irresistible
grace and power of God the Holy Spirit. Who are they? Who are
these heirs of salvation? They are those poor, desperate,
needy, doomed, damned, helpless, worthless sinners who believe
on the Son of God. Believe Him and you are among
those who have been preserved by the angels of God to believe
on Him as an heir of God's salvage. Amen.