Thursday morning, I had a visit
with our family doctor, Dr. Henderson, here in town. And
as I started to leave, he asked me a question. He said, Preacher, what do you
know about angels? And I said, not much, neither does anybody
else. But I know a few things, and I'll tell you what I know.
And I briefly shared with him some of the things that are plainly
taught in Scripture concerning the angels. On the way home I
got to thinking about our brief conversation. The religious world
is caught up in superstitious sentimentality and idolatry. And you can just almost bank
on it. Almost bank on it. Anything that
you hear or see or read from the religious world concerning
such things is just wrong. There are some people who are
foolish enough to pray to and worship angels. Angels are never
prayed to or worshiped in Scripture. When John made the mistake of
doing so, I'm sure because he didn't recognize the angel as
an angel, but rather thought the angel himself to be the Son
of God, the angel rebuked him. He said, don't you worship me.
Don't you worship me. Many have gotten in the habit
recently of wearing little angel pins. Substitute crossings for angel
pens, never guardian angels, if that's going to help you.
Good luck charms to ward off evil spirits. In the name of
Christianity now, in the name of Christ, folk use wizardry
like you'd see once in Hollywood film productions to keep vampires
from getting in a couple of angels. It's just, that stuff is trash. It's just pieces of idolatry.
Don't be caught up in that stuff. The Scriptures warn us plainly,
plainly, as plain as it can possibly be, not to be involved in imagery
and spiritual icons and idols and so forth. And most of you
previously imagined that when babies and little children die,
they become angels. I've often heard folks say, well,
the Lord needed another angel. do not suddenly, now babies rather,
do not suddenly become angels when they die. So in the light
of all these things, I thought it might be profitable for me
to bring you a message on this subject. So I spent all of Thursday
and Thursday evening preparing this message, studying what I
had spoken to Dr. Henderson about in the morning.
So if you run across Dr. Henderson next week or two, you
can tell him, if you profit by this, you owe him a gratitude
for calling my mind to it. What do you know about angels?
Let's begin in Genesis chapter 32. While you're turning there,
let me say something, and I want you to hear it, and hear it well.
Before the completion of Holy Scripture, what do you have in
your hand? You have in your hand the Word of God. Not that which
contains the Word of God, not a source for the Word of God,
but the Word of God itself. Having it in your hand, you have
the complete revelation of God inscripturated. That is, in human
language, written on paper, with pen and ink, written by inspiration
of God. But before the scriptures were
complete, before the entire canon of holy scripture was written,
God used to speak to men and women both by angels and by prophets
and by apostles. And he confirmed his message
by angels and prophets and apostles with signs and wonders in heaven. During the New Testament era,
when the apostles were given to preach the gospel of God's
grace, proclaiming that Messiah has come and this is the message
he's given, they were given special signs, speaking in tongues and
so forth, to confirm them as God's messengers. But the book
of Hebrews, chapter 1, tells us plainly that those days are
over. God at some good time, and in
divers matters, taken time passed under the fathers by the prophets,
hath now in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. And now that
we have the complete revelation of God in Holy Scripture, We
do not any longer look for, nor do we need, nor do we desire,
those signs that we need for during the Church's infancy.
We don't have visitations from angels, whereby they audibly
or visibly appear to us. We do not have these signs in
one day because we have no more apostles speaking a new word
from God. Tongues and all those things
cease. When the last of the apostles
ceased, when that which was perfect has come, then that which was
in part has ceased. We now have the complete revelation
of God in Holy Scripture. Therefore we have no need for
those signs which confirm the apostles and prophets as God's
messengers. Because we have no new word from
God, and any man who says he does is a liar, he has broken
that which is the last warning of Scripture in Revelation chapter
22, adding to the Word of God. We have no new word from God. Therefore, we live in an age
where no miracles, signs, and wonders in this visible sense
are needed. Those things were just for a
temporary period during the Church's infancy. For the same reason,
our Lord no longer sends angels in this visible, audible sense
which we read of in the Scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament.
Does that mean then that these The ministry of angels has ceased?
That the angels no longer exist? Not at all. The angels of God
are just as active today as ever. The word angel simply means messenger. Whenever you think angel, always
think messenger. Angels have a message to deliver,
a message to bring. Whether they bring it audibly,
or whether they bring it in another way, angels are sent with a specific
message from God, a commission from God. An angel, then, is
essentially a messenger of God, one created and sent by God. Without question, there is a
specific order of heavenly beings called angels. You can read about
him in Revelation chapter 12. In Revelation 12 and verse 4,
we read about those fallen angels, one-third of the heavenly hosts,
who were led by Satan in his fall, in the beginning. They're
commonly called devils or demons. You remember James says, you
believe there's one God, you do. Well, the devil, the demons
also believe, only they have more sense than most people do.
They tremble for what they believe. Whereas the angels of God are
described as ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those
who shall be the heirs of salvation. The angels of God, then, are
God's messengers, messengers of mercy for his elect. Look
here in Genesis 32, verse 1. And Jacob, God's Israel. Jacob, throughout the Scriptures,
represents God's elect. All the way through the Scriptures.
cunning, deceitful, as fickle as running water. Jacob. The Lord said, I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Jacob. Sinner, that's his name. Sinner is what he is. That's
our name, that's what we are. But chosen sinner. Redeemed sinner. God sinner. 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 Mahanaim. Now children of God, you and
I have far more friends in this world than we know. As you make
your pilgrimage through this world, as you seek to serve the
Lord your God, as you walk in the midst of your enemies in
this world of darkness, If you could only hear, if you would
only hear as well as you ought to be able to hear. You can hear
the rush of angel beings around you constantly. If only that
eye is to see. You will see like Elijah's servant
the mountain full of chariot horses and chariots of fire round
about you. As you dare to be faithful to
God. Let's begin with the message by talking to you about the most
eminent angel, the first angel of importance, that angel which
is above all angels, that angel who is the creator of all angels,
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Turn to Malachi chapter 3. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, is called the
angel of the covenant. In Malachi chapter 3, the prophecy
is given concerning the coming of John the Baptist and the coming
of Christ. Verse 1, Behold, I will send
my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord
whom you seek shall suddenly come into his temple, or come
to his temple. Who is this one, this Lord, who
will suddenly come to his temple? Even the messenger, the angel,
that's the word. The angel of the covenant. Whom
ye delight in, behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
Come back to Isaiah 63 for a moment. In Isaiah chapter 63, in verse
9, our Savior is called the angel of God's presence. He is that
one who constantly watches over and protects God's elect in this
world. Even in the midst of divine judgment,
He watches over and protects God's elect. Even when He sifts
the tares and the wheat, He watches over and protects God's elect.
Even as He separates the calf from the wheat, He watches over
and protects God's elect. He says in verse 9, in all their
afflictions, He was afflicted. Oh, what a relationship. Here's
what that means, Skip. There's nothing that touches
you that doesn't touch him. Nothing. In all their affliction,
he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence
saved them. In his love and in his pity,
he redeemed them. And he bared them and tended
them all the days of old. The Lord Jesus Christ The eternal
son of God is here called the messenger, the angel of the covenant. Now commonly, when you read the
Old Testament scriptures, let's see if I can call your attention
to a few. You remember when the Lord was
about to destroy Sodom, he sent angels down to Abraham. And one
of those angels was one whom Abraham worshipped. He was the
angel of the Lord. You remember Manoah's wife was
out one day and she saw an angel of the Lord. And Manoah went
out and saw the angel of the Lord and said, we're going to
die. We've seen the Lord. And Manoah's
wife said, well if he was going to kill us, why would he do that?
And that one that they saw, they worshipped and offered a sacrifice
to him, he did wondrously as the smoke of the sacrifice went
up to God, accepting their worship. You remember when Joshua was
visited by the Lord, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joshua,
and the Lord appeared to him, Laurel, as a man of war with
a sword in his hand. That angel of the Lord was a
pre-incarnate manifestation of Jesus Christ our Savior. And
those visitations of the angel of the Lord with men, when he
came to make himself known to men, was just forerunners and
freeloers to the coming of Christ to redeem us. That one who stood
before Joshua with a sword in his hand and a man of war. He
is the captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ the Lord. Now somebody
will hear that and say, well, to say that Christ is an angel
is to deny his deity. No more than to say he's a man.
Jesus Christ is the God-Man, our Savior, and He who is the
God-Man, our Savior, is pre-eminently the messenger of the covenant
to us. To say that Christ is the angel
of God does not in any way contradict the facts of His eternal deity.
He is both Jehovah and Jehovah's messenger in His eternal deity. The Son of God, our Savior, is
God Himself, over all, blessed forever. In his mediatorial capacity,
our Lord Jesus Christ assumed our nature. He's the God-man,
our surety, our representative, our substitute. And he is the
angel of the Lord's presence, the messenger of the covenant.
As the messenger of the covenant, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God,
comes to men to reveal and to fulfill all the covenant of God's
grace. Lindsay talked about it a little
bit this morning. I'll talk about it more next week, Lord willing.
Before the world began, the scripture tells us in Jeremiah 31, in Hebrews
chapter 8, of a covenant, an everlasting covenant, made between
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. A covenant
of grace and redemption, whereby God promised to put His Spirit
in us. Whereby God promised to remove
our iniquities from us. Whereby God promised to make
us His sons and daughters. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the surety of that covenant. Now there's only one way that
those promises from God could be made by the rest of his promises.
Only one way. Only one way God could forgive
your sins, make you righteous, put his spirit in you, and take
you to be his son forever. And that is if somebody who is
able and worthy can come here and meet all the requirements
of our holy God on your behalf. That's the angel of the covenant. Jesus Christ our Lord came here,
satisfied all the demands of God's law and justice, brought
in everlasting righteousness, and now he pours out his spirit,
the seal of the covenant, upon his people and fulfills all the
covenant for us. Having fulfilled all the requirements
of the covenant of grace, as our substitute, our Savior now
sits upon the throne of universal monarchy, ruling all things according
to the purpose of God. As the God-man, our mediator,
the angel of the covenant, gives eternal life to whomsoever he
will. Let me give you some pictures.
You can jot down the references. You remember in Revelation chapter
5, John has this vision of heaven and the door opened in heaven
and one sitting on the throne and chained to his throne is
a book. A book written within and without, filled with seven
seals. And it went because no man was found worthy to open
the book. And then he saw a lamb. A lamb as it had been slain.
And he reaches up and takes the book. He didn't ask permission. He takes the book and he begins
to open the seal. The book, as you read the book
of Revelation, was the book of God's purposes. The book of God's
secret decrees, the book of God's covenant. When you get to Revelation
chapter 10, we see the Lamb of God, a great angel, with a little
book in his hand. Oh man, that's a big book, but
it's in his hand. And there's a little book. It's
a small lamb. But this is the book of God's
decrees. the book of God's purpose and it stands with one foot on
the sea and one foot on the earth ruling over all the land of God
and it opens the pages of the book and fulfills everything
from the This is the angel that's described in Revelation chapter
20, who comes down from heaven with a mighty cane in his hand
and lays hold upon the Lord's shepherd, the devil, the dragon,
and grinds him and casts him into a pit, that he should deceive
the nations no more. That's Jesus Christ our Lord,
the angel of the covenant. It is this one who lifts his
hand to heaven and says, time shall be no more, it's done.
And he fulfills everything written in the book. Jesus Christ, the
Lord of God, the Lord our God, our Savior, the Son of God, He
and He alone is able to fulfill the book of God's decree. He
who rules the universe is God in human flesh, our Savior, our
Redeemer, the Angel of the Covenant. Let us then rejoice. Now then,
turn to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. Let me
talk to you just briefly about some other angels some human
angels now uh you might have in your
mind's eye an idea of what angels are supposed to look like look
up here look up here you're looking at one that's right that's right you
see faithful pastors are the angels of God to his churches. Exactly right. Look here in Revelation
120. The mystery of the seven stars
which thou sawest in thy right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches. And the seven golden candlesticks
which thou sawest are the seven churches. Here in Revelation 1 20 and in
chapters 2 and 3, the pastors of local churches are called
angels because faithful pastors are men gifted and called of
God to the work of the gospel ministry as God's messengers
to his people. Not all pastors are designated
angels, unless you would want to designate them fallen angels.
But you understand this. You had the privilege this past
weekend of hearing ten faithful angels of God minister to your
soul. Messages from God with a message
for you. That's what pastors are. Those
who are truly God's messengers to the souls of men are to be
esteemed as the angels of God. Why? Because God has ordained
the salvation of his elect by the wording of the gospel. Let
no one despise or lightly esteem the ministry of God's word. Gospel
preachers are essential both to the salvation of children
of redeemed sinners and to their edification in the faith. Turn
to Ephesians chapter 4 for a moment. Ephesians 4. I can't expound
this whole passage. Paul is talking about us endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. He tells
the church at Thessalonica to esteem them which labor among
you and are over you in the Lord and to Highly esteem them for
their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves. Here in Ephesians
4 verse 11, the apostle is describing now the ascending gift of Christ
to his church. And he gave some apostles and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the faith. What? What for? For the perfecting of the faith.
For the completion, the building up of God's name. For the work
of the ministry, for the edifying, the building up of the body of
Christ. Till we all come in the unity
of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slice of men
and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
but seeking the truth in love may grow up into him, into Christ,
in all things which is to his, even Christ, from whom the whole
body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplieth, according to the effect so working in the
measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love. I recall several years ago Brother
Mahan and I were preaching at Dindas And actually, Henry wasn't
preaching. He was just simply giving a devotional
reading from Isaiah chapter 50. This is an outstanding job. That's
what got done. Somebody came up to him at the
service and said, I've read that all my life. I never got that
out of that. He said, that's what you paid me for. And while
he was speaking a bit lightly, he was speaking exactly right.
Exactly right. God's messenger. are not something
you take or leave. They're not. Don't ever treat
them with such contempt. Don't ever do so. Don't ever
do so. Not this one, not any other. And I speak specifically concerning
any other. God's messages are absolutely
vital to the proper understanding of gospel truth. to the knowledge
of the living God, to an understanding of the word of God. This is how
God speaks to me. Oh, boy, you set yourself up.
Any of you who know me know better. No, sir. No, sir. But I am telling
you, Merle, this is how God speaks to your heart as he speaks to
you. It's through his service. When you go home and you read
the word and say, oh, look at this. Remember, somebody told
you. Somebody told you, and now God
brings it to life. People often say, I'll not follow
a man, I'll follow the Lord. I've had folks tell me that.
I kind of push it aside and forget it anymore. I wouldn't argue
it. But I'm going to tell you something. If you follow the
Lord by best, you're going to follow his message. Paul said,
follow me as I follow Christ. It's true. You are responsible
for your own soul. Like the Bereans of old, search
the scriptures and make certain, you make certain for yourself
that that man whom you hear at any time speaks to you the word
of truth for the glory of our God. Make certain that you're
responsible for it. But at the same time, if God
gives you a messenger at any point in your life, and God speaks
to you by his servant, you submit to and obey. Let's say that's
not according to the book. Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter
13. Verse 7. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God, whose
faith follow. That word faith is very properly
translated faith. and very properly translated,
faithfulness. You remember those who have the rule over you, who
are over you in the Lord, who spoke unto you the word of God,
whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
What is it? Who is to guess about that? Read
verse 8. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Look at verse 17. Obey them that
have the rule over you, and 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, for that is unprofitable for
you. In Revelation chapter 4, these angels of the churches
are described as beasts that are translated living creatures.
They have the face of a lion, the face of a half, the face
of an eagle. They have the face of a man. Well, what you talking about?
I've got back in my book one of these books on dispensational
cartoons, you know, and they've got these hideous looking monsters
All those faces on them. God's servants are like a man,
compassionate with men. But being gifted and called of
God, they're bold as a lion, and as strong as an ox, and they
soar to heaven like an eagle, seeking a message from God to
your soul. They're described in Isaiah chapter
6 as And like the seraphim they cover their face with two wings
and cover their feet with two because they're modest and humble
before God Almighty whom they serve as a swiftly fly to do
his will and they carry a message. The message of the gospel like
a lion's hole from off the altar. Christ crucified and his delirious
terror. You cry, why me? For I'm undone. They lay the message on their
feet. And when God speaks, this is what God says. Your iniquity
is taken away. That's the message. All right,
now thirdly, turn to Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 14. I'll
wrap this up. There is indeed a special order
of heavenly spirit beings called the angels of God, who are specifically
created to be ministering spirits to God's elect. Look at this,
verse 14. We'll go back up to verse 13
so we can get a little bit of context. To which of the angels
said he at any time sit there on my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool? He never said that to an angel,
he said that to his son. And he says in verse 14, Are
they not all ministering spirits, the angels of God? Serving spirits
sent forth to minister, sent forth to serve, for them, look
at it now, who shall be, not just them who are, but them who
shall be the heirs of salvation. These heavenly ministering spirits
were created and sent forth by our Heavenly Father to minister
to, to serve the needs of those who shall be the heirs of salvation.
You see, God Almighty has His elect scattered in all the four
corners of the earth. He's dispersed his Israel among
the nations of the world. But he has reported a time of
love called the time of love in Ezekiel 16. In which every
chosen redeemed sinner shall be called by his grace. But they
live. They live with hearts of the
devil. They come forth from the womb
seeking lives just like everybody else. They have the fist of square
in God's face. They toy with hell all the days
of their lives. How on earth are they going to
be kept until the day of their calling? How are they going to
be preserved in the midst of their rebellion? How are they
going to be preserved before God saves them and sends them
out to the battlefield and cannons firing around them and the guns
firing around them and shrapnel flying everywhere around them?
How are they going to be kept? How are they going to be kept during
their drunken rebellion and revelry? How are they going to be kept
during all the times of their ungodliness? The angels of God
Instruments of his preeminent grace to keep his elect until
the day of their calling Now you may think like I do you might
not be as technical as me and think well God could do that
without angels Yeah, he could be created a whole castle of
them just for that Just to keep his people They're kept by the
power of God Kept by the ministry of angels and then after they're
called the angels ministry is not over all the superstitions
regarding these angels becoming, or having guardian angels, you
know, and babies becoming angels, all that stuff is foolish. But
God's elect have a whole host of angels, called the host of
God, to minister to them. Listen to this, we read it earlier.
He shall give his angels charge over thee. to keep this in all
thy ways. James, as we walk with God, we
walk with God, we walk with his people, we walk in his spirit,
and we walk in the company of angels. We camp around Like hundreds
and thousands and uncountable multitudes of horses and chariots
of fire to defend us at all times. And when we get done, the angels
of God have another task to perform. According to Luke 16.23, the
angels of God carry God's legacies away to glory. And the Son of
God presents us holy and unblamable and unreservable before the majesty
of the throne of God himself. Thank God for those heavenly
creatures who are sent forth to minister to those who shall
be heirs to salvation. Maybe, just maybe, You've been
under the care of God's angels for a long time. And they have
fetched you here today to hear the word of his grace. All may
God be pleased to grant you life and faith in him for Christ's
sake. Amen.