God’s Uncommon Family: Part 4

God’s Uncommon Family: The Heavenly Host

Introduction: Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing God’s Uncommon Family…today I want to wrap this series of conversations up.

Didn’t Josh do a great job last week?

Heb 1:5-14

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son,today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be to him a father,and he shall be to me a son”?

6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

7 Of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels winds,and his ministers a flame of fire.”

8 But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;therefore God, your God, has anointed youwith the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

10 And,

“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,and the heavens are the work of your hands;11 they will perish, but you remain;they will all wear out like a garment,12 like a robe you will roll them up,like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same,and your years will have no end.”

13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

ESV

Angels
1. Today I want to talk about the Heavenly Host…Angels as a title not necessarily a particular being who is a part of God’s Uncommon Family…
2. According to a recent Poll
  1. 55% of Americans believe in Angels
  2. 15% believe they are people who have died

23% say they are just religious symbols.

7% believe Angels are a figment of man’s imagination.

Too often we have a skewed view of Angels because of the Renaissance Period in art, literature and the Culture of the time period…
1. So because of the Paintings of Raphael, Da Vinci, Michelangelo…
2. Literature such a Milton’s Paradise Lost…

The men of this period gave us the picture of Angels as one type of being who make up the heavenly host…because of the period we have the image of wings, halos and soft faced figures….

Transition: but today I want to look at The Heavenly Host in light of Scripture and not from a period of time in man’s history.

Power of Angels

Luke 1:19-20

19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

ESV

Don’t miss this statement right here…”I stand in the Presence of God.”
1. The Heavenly Host has the ability to stand in the very presence of God…this reveals the sheer power and majesty of these Heavenly Beings….
2. You and I cannot do that…the bible says, “No man can see me and live…” if God were to reveal the full expression of His glory to us…our spirit would live our bodies…yet these Angels stand in His presence…
One Angel killed 185,000 men…
One Angel shut the Lions mouth
One Angel rolled away the stone from Jesus’ tomb
An Angel guided Philip
Angel let Peter out of Prison
An Angel stood next to Paul in a Storm…
All the Patriachs Crossed Path’s with Angels
1. Adam and Eve
2. Abraham and Lot

Jacob wrestled with one

Moses and the Children of Israel
Joshua
Rahab – a sinner, but in agreement with Joshua…this is a major theme will come back to.

Elijah and Elisha
Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, John the Baptist’s Father, Mary the Mother of Jesus, Jesus, Peter, John and the apostle Paul.

Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

ESV

Transition: But there are different type of Heavenly Host…that is why I want you to see this Uncommon Element of God’s Family…Angels as a Title but not a particular Being.

Cherubim
1. In Pop Culture of today…they say a Cherubim is Cupid…tell me if this sounds like Cupid.

Ezek 1:5-14

5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. 12 And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14 And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

ESV

Ezek 10:20-22

20 These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands. 22 And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. Each one of them went straight forward.

ESV

These creatures were before and yet present at the Creation of Earth…
1. Job 38:6-7 says that all of the Heavenly Host shouted for joy as God created the foundations of the Earth…they all sang together…
These Cherubim have a connection to the earth, but scripture doesn’t tell us what that connection is…but the Cherubim have faces like those faces that can be found on the earth…Yet they reflect both the Power and Grace of God…they do not carry it…they reflect it.
They also Guard the Presence of God…they are closely associated with the Throne of God…

Transition: Cherubim are unique and characteristically different from other Angels…Let’s look at another Unique example of God’s Uncommon Family…

Seraphim
1. Isa 6:1-7

6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

ESV

Seraphim – known as “The Burning Ones”
1. Symbolizing their physical makeup but also their Passion for Worshipping God…
They declare Holy, Holy, Holy…exemplifying a Purified Worship that has been purified by fire…
They Cry Holy, Holy, Holy, as a result of capturing a fresh perspective of God…His beauty, majesty, glory and sheer presence…that demands a response that can only be summed up with Holy.
They experience the Powerful Impact of God’s Glory in Worship….
Scripture says they have 6 Wings.
1. 2 wings cover their face…not in fear, but in awe of God…
2. 2 wings cover their feet. In biblical days the feet were seen as the most defiled part of the body because of the direct contact the feet have with the earth…they cover their feet as a sign of humility and bringing nothing defiled before a Holy God…

2 wings they fly…these wings are for function…to respond to God’s command and word…

Arch Angels
1. The Bible Lists four Arch Angels for us
  1. Michael – The Warrior
  2. Gabriel – The Messenger

Abaddon – The Destroyer

Lucifer – The Fallen One

In Jewish Tradition it lists several others:
1. Raphael
2. Uriel

Sariel

Raquel
Remiel
Joel

These Arch Angels along with Michael oversee the Continents…and war over the Continents.
Dan 8:15-17

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”
ESV
In Daniel 10 we see Gabriel appearing before Daniel again…after Daniel had prayed for 21 days…and it gives us a glimpse of the battle the Heavenly Host is waring on our behalf…as Michael enters the battle so Gabriel can get through with the answer for Daniel…

God’s Uncommon Family
1. I have just scratched the Surface of God’s Uncommon Family…. but I want to close and share a few things with you…
2. Angels Purpose is to Do the will of Father God without hesitation!!!
  1. Throughout scripture Angels are sent out on assignments from the Lord
  2. This is vital information.
    1. You and I don’t pray to Angels…we have one mediator between man and God and that is the man Christ Jesus!
    2. You don’t worship Angels…a true Angel of the Lord will not receive your worship…
    3. Angels respond to God’s command not to mankind’s.
  3. To serve or intervene in Human Affairs

Heb 1:14

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

NKJV

Ps 34:7

7 The angel* of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.

NKJV

Ps 91:11-13

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

NKJV

Angels are sent to minister to or on-behalf-of Believers
Angels deliver God’s People

According to Ps.91:11 – Angels keep us.

According to Isa.6 – Angels bring what we need from God’s Provision to us…remember the coal.

Angels also Wage War
Our Final Escort
1. Luke 5:10 says, “there is rejoicing in the midst of angels when one sinner repents…”
2. In Luke 16 Jesus is telling the story of Lazarus and the rich man…now we know this is not just another parable…because in parables proper nouns are not used, but when Jesus would speak of factual events or happenings, he would always include proper nouns…

Luke 16:22

it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. (NKJV)

Transition: When you and I die…Angels will escort us to one place or the other…my prayer is you are saved…then they will escort you into the Presence of an Almighty God.

Closing
1. My hearts desire is for you to know…there are more for you than against you…
2. I also want you and I to be in AWE of God…
3. What Happens in Worship…
  1. Notes, voices, sound create a throne for God to Enthrone Himself upon…when He does…not only does God’s Presence Come…but so does the Heavenly Host!
  2. Luke 2:8-13

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God

God’s Uncommon Family: Part 4

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