In this sermon, the preacher describes the four living creatures mentioned in the book of Revelation. These creatures are described as having multiple eyes and different appearances on each side. They continuously praise God, saying "holy, holy, holy" and are always ready to serve Him. The preacher also mentions that angels are involved in various aspects of our lives, including escorting believers into God's presence at death and ministering to the world, often in the context of judgment.

So grab your Bibles this morning as we continue our series, part 12 really, of our series of the life and times of Jesus Christ and part 12 being this morning a very special, as they all are each week in this series, a special topic and that is Christ and the angels. As we come to number 12 in our study, we look at Christ and the angels and we still look to the same very theme verse of our study and that is Colossians chapter 2 verse 9, for it says there, in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form. That is when you're looking at Jesus Christ, when the disciples, the apostles, looked at Christ, they were looking at the manifestation, the physical manifestation of the will of God, of the purpose of God and of course that comes through the second person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ. That's why he said when Philip asked him, if you'll just show us the Father, Jesus will be okay. And Jesus said to the disciples and mainly to Philip, he said, have I not been with you so long? And you still ask, show me the Father. He who has seen me has seen the Father. Not that the Father looks like Jesus, not that the Spirit looks like Jesus, but that what Jesus thinks, does, says and ministers is the very will of his Father and of the Holy Spirit and of course himself. And we covered the triunity of God in an earlier study and you can either get the tape of that now or you can wait until the whole series comes out in a packet to go through this study all in one time. But this morning we come to a very, very interesting and you know what, look around you today, obviously a very exciting topic. People are nuts about angels. They got angels everywhere. They got angel lapel buttons, they got angel ties, they've got angel, little angel things on license plates, bumper stickers, and it's just a craze right now. And I don't know if it's just national or worldwide, but it's everywhere. But the interest in angels has always been. Ever since the beginning of time there seems to be this mysterious curiosity regarding angels and what they're all about and how they traverse regarding the heavenly realm and regarding earth. You might want to jot this down. Out of the 34 books of the Bible, you know the Bible is one book, but it's made up of 66 books. Out of the 66 books of the Bible, 34 of them make reference to angels. And by the way, they are some awesome creatures. They are angels. They're not like, you know, angels that you see in drawings or what some artist might render. I know and I understand that the New Age movement is really big on angels. And they have these cute angels. Have you seen them? They're angels and they're like waving, you know, and they got this big smile. I'm not saying angels don't smile and I'm not saying angels don't wave, but every instance of an angel appearing in the Bible, the people are greatly affected. More often than not they are absolutely scared to death of the angelic appearance. Daniel, when he sees the angel that appears to him while he's praying, it says in the end of Daniel's book, Daniel chapter 12, it says there that the angel in his appearance left me, Daniel, sick for many days and all strength had left him. And he laid in bed by having an encounter with an angel. That's an awesome thing. So whatever our perception or our understanding of angels might be, it's probably wrong. And you know, you've heard me say this before. It is pathetic that in some of your bathrooms or somewhere in your hallway, you might have a little fat cherub on your wall with a little arrow and he's a little baby, somewhere around 11 or 12 months of age with little stubby wings and big round butt. Have you noticed? And he's just there like little Cupid and he's so cute. Now that's not in the Bible. You know, you don't see those kind of angels in the Bible. You see these awesome creatures that you're going to get a look at this morning and remember this and we'll see it as we go through. But those of you who might be new, jot this down. The Bible says that Jesus Christ himself created the angels, not the Holy Spirit, not God the Father, Jesus. The Bible says Jesus created the angels. And that's pretty amazing. We'll see just exactly how that all works. We know, first of all, that there are some angels that never leave the presence of God. Did you know that? In Revelation chapter 4 verse 6 through 8, you might want to jot that down and listen. Or if you can, by the way, we have a lot of verses this morning, so you might want to run with me as we give you these passages. But by way of introduction, we know that there are some angels who never leave the presence of God. Revelation 4, 6 says that before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal. And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures. This is how John describes them. Full of eyes in the front and in the back of them. The first living creature looked like a lion on one side. The other side of him looked like a calf. And the other side of him looked like a man. And the other side, he looked like a flying eagle. And it says there then the fourth living creatures, each having six wings full of eyes. That ought to blow your mind. Put that in your bathroom or on your hallway. Having eyes, full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, who is to come. By the way, that is the reference to Jesus Christ. Did you know that? The one who was, who is, who is to come. But they say it three times, holy, holy, holy. Personally, holy for the Father, holy for the Son, holy for the Spirit. They rest not day and night saying that. In the presence of God for all eternity. Now you might think, wow, that's a long time. You don't think it's hard? They're there for a long time. Easy answer to your question. There is no time in eternity. The moment that they're there is the moment that is. And it's the moment that there will always be. And you don't have to worry about time. It's eternal. We know from scientific examination that wherever there's a material or physical realm, time exists. And when there is no physical appearance or physical attributes of this universe as we know it, there is no time. And scientists have been able to bombard atoms and for a millisecond, nanoseconds actually, have been able to cause time in a chamber to stand still. Interesting. Flirting with eternity where there is no time. There are some angels that appear before his throne to give God reports. Interesting. In Job chapter 1 verse 6, Job 1, 6 says, And there was a day when the sons of God, a reference to the angelic host, came and presented themselves before the Lord and Satan came among them. More on him later. But Jesus Christ himself was aware of and taught regarding the existence of angels. You can buy many books on angels. I'm going to encourage you to be careful about that. I want to recommend three books to you that are very good. Billy Graham's book, Angels, Angels, Angels is a good book. There's a book by Merrill Unger that's currently out of print. It's called Angels in Biblical Demonology, written back in the 1950s. Very, very good book. And there's a book entitled God's Secret Agents by Donald Gray Barnhouse. I believe the same title is shared by Greg Laurie. I think Greg Laurie stole that title from Donald Gray Barnhouse and wrote a book recently about it as well. God's Secret Agents. Who? Angels. And by the way, they are very, very real and equally powerful. You need to realize that. We kind of make jokes about angels and yet angels will, as we'll see in the Bible, make no joke one to another about other angels. The Bible says even the most highest ranking angels of heaven do not joke around about Satan who was once a cherub or a very special angel. They don't mess around. They don't joke around about it. So this morning we want to look at our first point. There will be three of them this morning. And the first thing we want to consider this morning regarding Christ and the angels is that Christ has created the angels. It's an amazing fact. A lot of people don't realize this, but Christ has created the angels. In Colossians chapter 1, verses 14 to 16, it says, therefore, in whom we, that is Jesus, have the redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn or the preeminent one, over all of creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones – you ought to mark that in your Bible – thrones, dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created through Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ. And so the first thing that we'll see this morning regarding the fact that Christ has created the angels, in his creating of them, get this, he has, outside of the animal creation, outside of the celestial creation – you know what I mean by celestial? You're all smart in here, right? You know a dictionary? Heavenly bodies, planets, celestial realms, outside of those, outside of the animal kingdom, God has made two types of beings that have the ability to worship. Only two. One is the angelic world and second is the human race. Only those two. Last night we were at the Brea Mall Christmas shopping and we spent a great deal of time, you know, talking about the, you know, trying to unwind at the pet shop that's there. And so we were picking up all these cute little guys, you know, and they're so cute, these little puppies, and playing with them and stuff. But as cute as they are, they don't exactly worship God. They have a soul. And I don't want to depress anybody, but the Bible says that the soul of an animal, when it dies, it returns to the earth. It goes into, well, it goes into nowhere. The body returns to dust and its consciousness ceases. Don't ask me later if there's going to be animals in heaven. Read your Bible. It talks about animals in heaven. At least there's horses. We know that for a fact in heaven. But will your little poodle be there? I don't think any poodles will be there, personally. That was a joke. My dog will be there. But they have a soul. When they die, there's no more consciousness. That's not true about the human being. The human lives forever in heaven or in hell. The Bible makes it very clear. Angels live forever. We'll talk about that later. But we want to look at the passion that angels have to worship God. The passion that angels have to worship them. Jot that down if you haven't already. Christ and the created angels. The first thing we see is that they have a passion to worship God. They have what is called a free moral agency. They can choose to worship Him or not. Angels can choose to obey Him or not. Revelation 4.8. We read it a moment ago. Let me read it again. They worship God with meaning. I laugh because let me, well you'll see why I'm laughing in a minute. Revelation 4.8. The four living creatures each having six wings full of eyes within and without. And they do not rest day and night saying holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty who was, who is, who is to come the Almighty. Listen, one angel, this by the way we'll address it later, is a seraphim. It's a type of angel. Weird angel. Sounds scary. They have a face or they have a head. They have one head. They have a face of a man pointing this way. Remember how it said they have eyes on the front and back? They have two eyes that look this way. Let me, by those who are not here and listening in, they have two eyes that face north. Face of a man. Then there's a face of an ox. What you would think would be the side of the ear, the eastward side, it's a face of an ox with two eyes looking that way. On the back side, there's a face of a cow. Or I'm kind of goofing that up. It's a man. It is, yeah the lion's coming. The lion's on the other side. Thank you. A man, an ox, a lion facing south with two eyes and on the left side an eagle of course with two eyes. And interesting, all those animals including the bird, the eagle, have eyes facing forward on its head. This one seraphim has one head with four faces. That ought to keep you up all night if you saw one, don't you think? And it's got six wings. And it says while they are in the presence of God, they shield their body with two of their wings. Why do they need to shield their body? I don't know, it's interesting though, isn't it? And with two other wings, they cover their faces. They can't look at them it appears. And then with the remaining two wings, remember they have six, they must fly like the dickens with those two wings in his presence. And with two, they do fly. Seraphim, amazing. And what is their message? Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty who was, who is, who is to come the Almighty. Now, do you think up there they're going, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, who is to come is the Almighty. Okay, now you say it, this side of my face, you say it. Oh no, they're not bored. For all eternity they mean exactly that. And they are in absolute awe. Angels worship God. And I bet you that angels are in some sort of a shock that we don't worship God more. They must scratch their head and four faces, stroking those chins saying, what is wrong with those people down there? When worship is saying, why don't they all just praise God instead of thinking about the meatloaf or did I unplug the iron? Now I just lost 50% of you by bringing those two topics up. They worship God with a passion, so should we. Isaiah chapter 6 verse 3 says, and one cried saying to another, holy, holy, holy. Hey, it sounds like the same story, isn't it? Is the Lord of hosts and the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah chapter 6 verse 3. In their creation, that is the creation of the angels, we know this, that they existed before the physical world was created. How do we know that? They existed before the physical world was created. We know that for a fact because Job chapter 38 verse 7 tells us that at his creation, the morning stars, it's another reference to angels, sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. Another reference to angels in the Old Testament, sons of God in the Old Testament, morning stars and sons of God. They sang at the day of creation. Isn't that neat? I wonder what they sang. I wonder how they sang. I wonder what it sounded like. It must have been incredible. We know that angels were created, as I said earlier, free moral agents or having a free moral capacity, meaning that they can choose. You and I are living in a world right now that everybody is complaining and arguing. I want the right to choice. I want the right to perform an abortion or not. I want a right to choose this and a right to choose that. You can choose anything you want, person. Anything you want, Christian or non-Christian, you can choose anything you want. Just know this. Your choice will result in answering to God for your choice. You and I have been brought up in a culture that says there is no responsibility regarding our decisions. This is humanism that we live in. Well, go ahead and do what you want. If it feels good, do it. What they don't tell you is later you're going to reap of your bad decisions or your good decisions. Oh, every one of us have a choice. There's no doubt about it. Am I pro-choice? You bet I'm pro-choice. I think everybody should choose Jesus Christ and live. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 6 tells us, But when He, again, brings forth the firstborn into the world, speaking of Jesus, He says, Let all of the angels worship God. That's interesting. That's Hebrews 1 verse 6. The Lord says, When He brought forth Jesus, the word means brought into the world as a physical being, Christ, born in Bethlehem. The Father turns to the angelic realm and says, All you angels, worship Him. Well, they didn't get up and go, All right. They couldn't wait to get going. I can prove this in a moment. You'll see. Revelation chapter 22 verse 9, it says, An angel announces to John and the spectators, Worship God. Listen, we know that angels possess a will and they possess emotions. Did you know that? Angels possess a will and emotions. In Luke chapter 2 verse 9 concerning angels, it says, And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before the shepherds, that's in the hills of Bethlehem, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to the shepherds, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. That means Gentiles too. For there is born to you this day in the city of David the Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a food trough for cattle or otherwise known as a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God, saying this, Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men. Actually in the Greek it's actually this. The angels announced, Glory to God in the highest and among men of good will, peace be to them. Interesting. So great is this passion. Hebrews chapter 13 verses 1 and 2 says, Continue to love one another as true brethren. Don't forget to be kind, listen, to strangers that might pass by. For some who have done this have unknowingly entertained and ministered to angels. What are you saying Jack? Well the Bible says in various places that angels have the ability to appear as mortal human beings and then disappear. Isn't that wild? I have a friend who yearly visits this place. He goes there and he goes to the kitchen and he would cook breakfast for all of the men for the men's prayer breakfast. And he would prepare all of the food and then by 530 he would drive back home and get ready to go to his business. And this was his ministry. Nobody saw him do it. It was his thing. He was a very wealthy man and this is the way he supplied that breakfast and he cooked it himself. On his way home, he fell asleep at the wheel of his car. And unfortunately, he was going at a very high rate of speed. And when his car went off the side of the road, he went right underneath a parked tractor rig and trailer. And he was brutally mangled, but get a load of this. When we went to visit him in the hospital, and he wasn't even supposed to live, he said, Jack, you wouldn't believe what happened. He says, I was just, the last, first I went from cooking to driving in my memory, in my mind, and he said, I never realized what I hit. He said, but the car was completely trapped underneath the big rig and the car was completely mangled. He said, I felt no pain whatsoever, but I heard a voice say to me, Glenn, step out this way. Glenn, step out this way. And he looked and he had no strength in his body. He said, and this man opened the door for him and he stepped out and the man held his hand and he walked about 20 feet over from the crash scene. And he sat the man down and the man then went to the back of him and was rubbing the back of his shoulders and then vanished. The car exploded into flames. And when the paramedics, when Costa Mesa PD and fire department showed up, the door was never opened. It was completely crushed. He was outside in a safe place, waking up to the fact that the paramedics were working on him. And he said, Jack, it was amazing. I saw an angel. And I said, what did he look like? He looked like an average Joe, but he was an angel. There's no other explanation. All of the paramedics and the firefighters were shocked that such a thing happened to me. We know this from the Bible that angels appear and they actually converse with men and then they're gone. Sometimes they give information. Sometimes this or the other, we know also, and we'll talk about this later, I hope at the time clock, at the clock stops, that angels can also, or demons or fallen angels can appear as good angels and deceive people. That's very dangerous, but they do traffic among men. Could there be one here this morning? It's possible. Be nice to strangers, he's saying to us, because one of them could be an angel. Isn't that wild? It's funny how the world, you and I live in it. We wanna get all excited about stuff. And so we'll go watch really goofy movies or challenging things. And ooh, we wanna be titillated with the latest thriller. And then the Bible, to me, this is the ultimate thriller. It says, hey, watch how you conduct yourself around and make sure you love one another as brothers because around us may be an angel. Now that ought to freak you out. I hope an angel doesn't show up here one day and nobody says hi to him. And then he goes back and tells God on us. I went there and nobody said hi. Lord, fry them. You know? Interesting. Secondly, we see this morning, Christ and the created angels, they have a passion to worship. They also have a mission to serve God. They serve God. They love it. They love to serve the Lord. In fact, I'm sure they scratch their head and wonder why we don't serve him more. Serving him, by the way, it is temptation. They serve the Lord at Jesus's temptation. Mark chapter one, verse 13 says, and Jesus was there in the wilderness for 40 days being tempted by Satan and was there with the wild beast in the mountains. And the angels came and ministered to him. That had to be something. Matthew four, verse 11. And when Satan had left Jesus, then the angels came and ministered unto him. We also know this, that Jesus himself announced their service. John chapter one, verse 51. Jesus said, most assuredly I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open up and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man, referring to himself. What an awesome thing to say. Angels love to serve God. That's their mission. They have a mission to serve the Lord. Second, look, watch this. They are ready to serve him. They stand ready. In Matthew chapter 26, verse 53, look how ready they are. Remember when Peter was there, that Jesus is the rest and they're all there. Peter thinks he's gonna save the son of God. Pulls out a knife and runs after this guy and misses and cuts his ear off. And Jesus says to Peter and the rest of the guys, he says, do you not think that I can pray to my father and he can send or provide me 12 legions of angels? He says, Peter, put away your sword, crazy guy. You, if I needed deliverance, I could just say, angel. You know, it's interesting. Jesus said 12 legions of angels. Well, how many of them were there at the moment? Well, remember Judas had hung himself. So there were 11 disciples and one Jesus. I think it's neat. I think it's significant. I don't wanna read too much into it, but the scripture there, Jesus says, I can call down 12 legions. Peter, you can have a legion. Andrew, you can have a legion. And I could have a legion. We all could have a legion if I wanted to. They stand ready to serve. I like that. In 2 Kings chapter 19, I told you I'd be giving you tons of scripture. So write small. 2 Kings, excuse me, chapter 19, verse 34 says there, and I will defend this city and I will save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant. And that night, the angel of the Lord went out and put to death 185,000 soldiers of the Assyrian army. And when the people woke up the next morning, their enemy was dead. How many angels did he send out to kill 185,000 Syrian soldiers? One. Can you imagine? 185 armed men. God sends one angel. Well, you've read about Moses. If you haven't read about Moses, you saw 10 commandments when Charlton Heston and those guys are all there. And when the death angel came through the camp to take the firstborn of those who are not hidden by the blood, one angel, the death angel, took away life in a moment. They're very powerful, very powerful indeed. And they have a mission to serve God. The third thing that we see under this heading is that they have a purpose to reveal God. They wanna reveal God. They love this. And I'm gonna give you some things to consider. They have a purpose to reveal God. First of all, by predicting his birth. By predicting his birth. Luke 1, verse 30. Luke 1, 30 says, Then the angel said to her, that is Mary, do not be afraid. Why? She was afraid. Don't be afraid, Mary. For you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there shall be no end. The angels predicted his birth. Also, they revealed God by announcing his birth. We read it a moment ago in Luke chapter two, verse eight. And I'll just paraphrase it. That there it says, that there was a great heavenly host announcing to the shepherds that Christ the Savior had been born. We have a graphic moment in history regarding the birth of Christ. And by the way, I'll confess, I try to insert this verse in every study I ever do. Because I love it. Are you awake? You gotta jot this one down. It's 1 Timothy 3.16. 1 Timothy 3.16. Paul with incredible confidence and great boldness says, you cannot question what I'm about to say. He says, this is beyond questioning. It's so factual and true. He says, you have no ability to disprove what I'm about to say. The mystery of godliness is great. He appeared in a human body. He was vindicated by the Holy Spirit. And he was seen by angels. Gee, what do you mean he was seen by angels? What a weird thing to say. Haven't angels always looked at him? The answer implies, no. Do you remember earlier in the introduction, I talked to you about how angels cover their faces in the presence of God? Do you know what is implied in 1 Timothy 3.16? With all due respect, listen carefully. It implies that Mary, being a good Jewish girl that she was, you know, she didn't go into the delivery room. Did you know that, everybody? She was in a cave there in Bethlehem, and Bethlehem's full of caves. She went into a cave and she got either two rocks or two stools, probably two stools. Somebody, maybe it was the innkeeper, where there was no room at that end. He might've given her two stools. It's not recorded, but he would've said, or they would've said, maybe, can we borrow two stools? My daughter's, my wife's in labor. You know what she would've done? As was the Hebrew custom, she would've put two stools on the ground and squatted on those stools and gave birth to Jesus. And what is implied here, seen by angels? The word seen in Greek is to gawk. It's to gawk at, to have wide eyes and an open mouth. Who? The angels. When? At the birthing of Christ. Why? They may not have ever seen him before. Their very creator, in his presence, they had to veil their face because of his great glory. Now, for the first time in all eternity, God was being born through Mary in the person of Jesus Christ, veiled in human skin. And the word implies that angels gawked at his delivery. With all due respect, they could've been saying, he's got black hair. I can see the top of his head. He's got ears just like they do. Here he comes. He's so small. He's a human. He took upon himself the form of a human. Look at him, our creator, veiled, draped in human skin. They gawked at him because they had never had a chance to gawk at him before. What an incredible sight that must have been. Their purpose was to reveal God. They were so excited. What do they do? Hey, all you shepherds, listen up. Today, born in the city of David is Christ the Lord, the King. That's awesome to me. That just is. He revealed God also by strengthening Jesus's resolve. How so? Well, they strengthened his resolve by visiting Jesus in Luke chapter 22, verse 40. They visited Jesus. It says there in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was praying and he sweat as it were great drops of blood and an angel came or the angels came and strengthened him. He saw the heavenly perspective and he was strengthened. They strengthened his resolve. They helped him in his hour of trial. They revealed the will of God and the purpose of God by proclaiming his victory. In Matthew chapter 28, verses one through six, the Bible says, now after the Sabbath, on the first day of the week, it began to dawn and Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb and behold, there was a great earthquake. Now, why do you think there was an earthquake? Well, it says because the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and he came and he rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. Isn't that kind of sassy? Isn't that kind of sassy? He just, earthquake, rolls back the door and then he sits on it like, what's up? He sits on it. Why? To let God out? No, to let the disciples in. He sits on it and it says there in the scriptures, Matthew 28, three, it says that his countenance was like a lightning. Wow, that's awesome. Remember, they didn't have sunglasses in those days. His face was like lightning. His clothes were as white as snow and the Roman guard shook for fear because of him and they became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, don't be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He's not here. He's risen from the dead. Come and see the place where the Lord laid. Past tense, he's gone. They revealed God by assisting him or they shall assist him at his second coming. The great second coming of Christ, which is at least seven years and one day away. Matthew 25, verse 31, it says, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he shall sit upon the throne of his glory. And you ought to read the fine print. That means his throne in the city of Jerusalem. I mean, listen, Yasser Arafat, Jesus is gonna sit on the throne in Jerusalem. Listen to that Bill Clinton. Jesus is gonna sit on the throne in Jerusalem. Barack, Jesus is gonna sit on the throne in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the most hotly contended city on the face of the earth today, just as the prophets foretold. Matthew 24, verse 30, concerning his coming. It says, then the sign of the son of man will appear in the atmosphere. And then the tribes that live upon the earth will mourn. And they will see the son of man coming with clouds in the heavens and the power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. Isn't that gonna be awesome? That's the second coming, by the way, not the rapture, the second coming. The next thing that we see this morning is very important. Our second point today, and that is Christ and the eternal angels. We need to pick up the speed or, I mean, you're fine. I need to pick up the pace. Christ and the eternal angels. Eternal angels are in the sense that they were created. Once they've been created, they live forever, okay? You got that? They, once having been created, they live forever. They're not eternal in the sense that God is. God has never had a beginning. He'll never have an end. Angels had a beginning, but they'll never have an end. You know anybody else who's had a beginning, but will never have an end? Yeah, all of us, every human being has a beginning, but they will never have an end. They will either have an eternal joy in heaven, or they'll have an eternal death in hell. But the death, read again the fine print, is a living death. Those of the people who inherit hell, they live forever in hell, in a living death. It's terrible. But the first thing you see here concerning Christ and the eternal angels is that they have personality. Yes, they're eternal, but they have personality. They're curious. Did you know that? They're curious angels. In 1 Peter 1, verse 12, they're curious. Now this kind of ought to get your attention. It says, to them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us, that is the modern day believer, we have the full counsel of God, the Bible. But to us, they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven. These things angels desire to look into. Isn't that neat? They're curious. Angels wanna hear what's being preached in this church, and they listen in. The word desire here is a very interesting word. They, with expectancy, listen in and watch. They rejoice. Angels, they're found in the Bible to get angry. Angels can get angry. Angels care. Angels fight. Did you know that? They fight. By the way, listen carefully. Don't misquote me. I'm gonna say this carefully. It's gonna raise some eyebrows, but this is what your Bible says. For some reason, we think angels are only masculine in gender, that there's only male angels. Did you know that's not true? What? It's not true that there's only male angels. First of all, we do know that they're all, except in one place, mentioned as male, in the male gender, in both Hebrew and Greek, in the masculine. But the scripture says that in Matthew chapter 22, angels are not allowed to reproduce. It doesn't say they can't. It just says that they're not allowed to reproduce. Matthew chapter 22, verses 29 to 30. But they're not all male. How do we know that? Zechariah five, verse nine. Zechariah five, nine says, then I raised my eyes and I looked, and there was two women coming with the wind in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth. Interesting. The only reference we know of in the scriptures, Zechariah five, nine, of angelic beings of a female gender. But we always see them, you know, in the New Testament as male. Just thought I'd throw that out to confuse you or upset you, one or the other. Angels have personality, and also they have a ranking order. They have ranks of authority and position. First Peter chapter three, verse 22. They have a ranking order. For it is Jesus who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, and of the angels, and of authorities, and of the powers having been made subject to Christ. What is? Angels, authorities, and powers. All of that is speaking of angelic entities of power, spirit beings, angels. They have different authority. They have different power. Ephesians chapter six, verse 12. I know I'm going fast, but I can't wait. I gotta go. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Are you ready? But against principalities, that's a rank of angelic being, against powers, against rulers in dark places, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly realm. That's what the Christian's up against. That ought to cheer you up today. But thank God, the Bible says in first John four, verse four, that greater is he that is in us than he that's in the world. That's good news. And by the way, I need to hurry. So I'm just gonna tell you, you can look at Revelation chapter 12. There's a lot of angels. How many? We don't know. The word in Greek is innumerable amounts. You can't count them. It's impossible. I'm gonna give you some of these ranking orders real quick. There's only one archangel named in the Bible. There's only one name. There's more than one, but there's only one named. Anybody know his name? Good, Michael. Michael, his name means who is like God. It's not he's like God. His name is a question. Who is like God? Isn't that neat? He always shows up and his name means who's like God. It's almost like he wants to take on somebody, which is exactly where you find Michael every time he appears in the Bible. He's fighting. All right, who's like God? You think you're like God? He shows up in the Old Testament and he knocks people out. I mean, not people, other angels. He gets in a confrontation with Satan himself. Michael does. He gets in a confrontation with the demonic forces regarding the area of Persia. You can look at that in Daniel chapter 10. He's an archangel. Jot this verse down. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16. When Jesus comes to rapture the church out of the earth, the announcement or one of the announcements, there's three of them. One of those great announcements is with the voice of the archangel. Wow. Archangel, that's a rank. Another rank is a ruling angel. Ephesians 3.10. There are ruling angels. They're less than an archangel, but they're ruling angels. That's found in Ephesians 3.10. And here you go. Everyone's gonna want this one. There are guardian angels. There truly are guardian angels. That's not a myth. It's not something made up. In two passages of scripture, at least every Christian has at least one angel that has been with her or him and stays with her or him. Listen to this. Hebrews 1.14. Hebrews 1.14 concerning guardian angels. It says, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Interesting. Also Matthew 18.10. Matthew 18.10. Jesus says, take heed that you do not despise the least of these little children. For I say to you that in heaven, their angels always see the face of my father who's in heaven. Wow. There's two passages of scripture that speak of angels guarding over the life of the believer. There's seraphim. There's seraphim in Isaiah chapter six, verses one through three. Seraphim, S-E-R-A-P-H-I-M. Seraphim. Isaiah six, one through three. There are cherubim. That's another I-M in Hebrew, plural. C-H-E-R-U-B-I-M. Cherubim. You know who's the most famous cherub of them all? Yeah, some of you aren't sure. You're just whispering it. It's Satan himself. Satan is a cherub. He's not a seraphim and he's not an archangel. He's a cherub. How do you know? Ezekiel 28, 14 calls him a cherub. There's elect angels. Elect angels. First Timothy 5, 21. First Timothy 5, 21 says there are elect angels. And then sadly, I'll give you this and we have to go quickly. There are fallen angels. Angels who were once holy, like Lucifer, whose name means the son of the morning. When he fell, God renamed him Diablos. It's the root word to diabolical. The one who destroys, the accuser, the attacker of the brethren. Satan. The Bible calls him in the book of Revelation, the serpent, the dragon of old. Second Peter chapter two, verse four speaks about him. Jude one, verse six speaks about him. Isaiah 14, nine through 12 speaks about Lucifer, the fallen angel. And by the way, there are more than one fallen angel. There are fallen angels. The book of Revelation tells us that when Satan fell, he took with him one third of that innumerable host with him. Amazing. The third look in this second point is that angels have an eternal existence. They have an eternal existence. And I just need you to note that down. You can read that throughout scripture. Just jot this verse down. Luke chapter 20, verse 36. They live forever. By the way, in a negative sense, Matthew 25, 41, in a negative sense, they live eternally. Matthew 25, 41 says that the fallen angels with all those humans which rebel against God, it says that hell has been created for the devil and his what? Angels. And they'll be tormented there forever. And by the way, so will all those who reject Christ. Very quickly, third point, and we'll be done at this point. Christ and the ministering angels. They minister. Psalm 103, verse 21. Psalm 103, verse 21 says, "'Bless the Lord, all you hosts, "'you ministers of his who do his pleasure.'" And that's a reference to angelic beings. They minister before the throne of God. They do that day and night. They never cease. They're there right now, even though there are some here right now. Secondly, they minister throughout eternity, forever. They're not only before the throne of God, they're there forever. And we looked at that in earlier scriptures. We'll get to the part that I wanna spend a little bit of time on, and that is they minister to all believers. How? Jot this down quick. I know it's late, but I'm the one in trouble, not you. They help us in this life. Currently, they're actually physically helping us in this life. Hebrews again, 114. They help us in this life. Listen, they are at work when prayer is answered. Acts chapter 12, they're praying that Peter would be released. And what happens? Peter's in prison, and the church is praying for his release. And what happens? An angel comes out of heaven and sets Peter loose. Sets him free. They observe our lives. 1 Corinthians chapter four, verse nine, says that they watch us. Even if you're alone, they're watching. They watch our lives. They observe us. And in the same light, they're actually watching over us. Acts chapter 27, verse 23. They watch over us. Acts 27, 23. They're watching over us. By the way, and I love this verse. They participate in evangelism. Whenever we share Christ, you know what they do? They get all ready to have a party. Every time we share Christ, according to Luke 15, verse 10, that when a sinner comes to the knowledge of God and repents, the angels rejoice in heaven. Isn't that neat? I love it. They escort us into God's presence at death. Angels. The moment we die, they take us into the presence of the Lord. Acts chapter 12, and Luke chapter 16. And then we'll end here. Truly, really, we will. They minister unto the world. And I wish I had better news about this one. Mostly it's in the area of judgment. When I say the world, that is the unbelieving world. In Revelation 15, verse one, John says, I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous. There were seven angels, each having seven plagues, which were the wrath of God. And it was complete. The Bible tells us throughout the book of Revelation, they visit the earth with wrathful judgments that come from God. Concerning the life of the Iraqi King or Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar. The Bible says in Daniel chapter four, it says, verse 17, this decision was by the decree of a watcher and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, angels, in order that the king may know that the most high God reigns in the kingdoms and the affairs of men, that he was turned into a beast. He went insane for seven seasons. How was that decreed? By the eyes of a watcher. A watcher. Daniel chapter four, 17. Amazing. I wanna say this in closing right now. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ will send forth his angels in two separate great events. When he raptures the church out of the earth for his believers, the angels will come with him. And then in the second coming, the angels will come and we with them in the great and cataclysmic events of the second coming. And then it says there in the second coming, don't make any mistake about it. It says, and then Jesus will send forth his angels into all the four corners of the earth and gather together his elect, that is those who have believed in him. And it says that there'll be a great gathering, Matthew chapter 25, and there Christ will judge those living beings upon the earth. And he says that there will be some who live into the kingdom age prepared for them, but the others, the angels, the reapers, they're called will take those who do not believe in Christ and they will be taken away into judgment. And I wanna ask you this morning, where will you be in that moment? Where will you be today if you die? Where will you be if Christ returns at this moment for his church? Do angels scare you the thought of meeting one? It should terrify you unless you have a relationship with Jesus. Because if an angel shows up in your life and you're a believer in Christ Jesus born again, then he's there for a purpose of ministry and instruction. But if an angel shows up and you don't know Christ, I would probably venture to say your number's about up. And I would tremble. Do you know Christ Jesus personally? You need to, because in the end, Jesus says, I will stand before my father, which is in heaven. And if you know me, I will acknowledge you before my father and all of my holy angels. But if you deny me in this earth, I will deny you before my father in heaven and before all these holy angels. Have you accepted Christ today? I hope so. If not, you need to. Let's give you an opportunity to do that right now if you would. Father, in Jesus' name, we ask, Lord, that though we spent time on angels, we see that they're ministering spirits. And there's no doubt that we who are living and breathing at this moment, born again or not, saved and destined for heaven or not, we live at this moment by virtue of the fact that angels have been dispatched for our welfare. And Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that if anyone in this place would say yes to the saving power of Jesus, that they would want him to deliver them from their sins and give them eternal life, that, Father, you would give them the courage to visit the prayer room today, not tomorrow, today, and say, Lord, save me of my sin and bring me into right standing with you. May that be the desire of your heart. May that be your prayer today. In Jesus' name.