Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. Can we just make a small appearance so he says, all right, and he pulls the curtains back and the angels and the whole heavenly host just begins crying out, glory to God and peace on earth.
Look at this. He has found a way to bring peace on earth. Because they've been watching for the centuries and centuries where there was no peace and that people were distant from God and rebelled from God and they saw the mystery unveiled in a baby in a manger.
Wow. Something that angels don't know. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. Merry Christmas. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in our Christmas series as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Penistries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastoralan.org. That's pastoralan.org or call 877-544-4860.
877-544-4860. More on this later in today's program. But now, let's get started with the teaching for today.
Here is Alan Wright. Okay. Are you ready for some good news?
Yes. It bends our minds to think of it, but this is what we're going to see today. We're fascinated with the angels, but in a real way, they're fascinated with us, or at least they're fascinated with what God has done in us, for us, and through us. I want to show you a text in 1 Peter as my mind has been on angels since preaching on this subject last week and all the Christmas narratives. And look at this in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 6. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 6. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials. So Peter's writing to people who've suffered a lot.
And that's important for the context. So that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you've not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. So that's Peter's description of Christians in a Roman empire being persecuted for their faith, is that they are rejoicing with joy that's inexpressible and filled with glory. Obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And verse 10, concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, about this new covenant that we enjoy, the saving message of Christ taking our place on the cross, becoming our sin that we would become his righteousness. That salvation that they prophesied about, inquiring verse 11, what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them, verse 12, that they were serving not themselves, but you that the prophecies were for you for, for the new covenant people in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. And here's our, here's our line things, speaking of all the wonders of the gospel, the new covenant and the church of Jesus Christ things into which angels long to look. I want you to think about that. Some wit has said, uh, if, if you can live without caffeine, if you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, if you can resist complaining, if you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time, if you can take criticism and blame without resentment, if you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend, if you can face the world without lies and deceit, if you can relax without liquor, if you can sleep without the aid of drugs, congratulations, you have almost reached the same level of spiritual development as your dog. It sounds like I'm reading out a statement of the, of the, of the greatest spiritual person in the world, right?
But all those things are true of a dog, which goes far to say that Christ came for something more than that list. A lot of us would be happy just to settle for that list. Wouldn't we? Yeah, I'd like to take criticism without resentment.
Sleep without drugs. Yeah, that'd be good. That's what, no Christianity is more than that. That's not enough for the angels to stoop from heaven and want to see what God's done in you. Coach Jim Harbaugh of Michigan as this thing he's always done with his players before games where he'd, he'd, he'd shout to them, who's got it better than us. And all these 300 pound men, nobody. And he got it from his dad. They didn't grow up with a lot.
I can't remember where he grew up, but a cold, they just had made their own fun. They'd pour water in the backyard and make their own ice rink. And they'd be out there playing a little hockey in the back. And his dad's like, who's got it better than us boys.
And they'd be like, hey, you know, we got it better. And we've gotten into a custom of taking our staff here that have got young kids and we take them on the hayrides that go through the Tanglewood lights and the kids love it. And it's a, it's a, it's a fun thing. And a couple of years ago we were on the hayride and I'm on, on one of the, one of the wagons and I was, I was talking about the long line of traffic, you know, and we weren't in it. We're in the hayride and I'm telling all the little kids and I was like, I mean, who's got it better than us, you know, and I'm telling that whole thing.
They're like, nobody, you know, we're not out there in the traffic. We're in the wagon. Who's got better than us.
So that became our thing. But at the end of the evening, one of the kids got a little wrong and, and I heard him shout out, who's better than us. I want to be clear. There's a big difference than who's got it better than us than who's better than us. And I think we say, who's got it better than us? Well, the angels surely do.
No, they don't. Wow. I want to show you what it is that the angels want to see. I like the passion translation of this text from first Peter. And now you have heard these things from the evangelists who preach the gospel to you through the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, the gospel containing wonderful mysteries that even the angels long to get a glimpse of.
There's something so marvelous and so beautiful and so enthralling that the angels just long to get even a glimpse of it. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series in a world that often feels overwhelming. We all seek moments of encouragement and hope as a heartfelt thank you for your partnership with Alan Wright Ministries. When you give today, we're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope, strength, your identity in Christ, Thanksgiving and much more. This unique resource can be yours. Make your gift to the ministry today and get your blessing box.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit, providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. Now we are in our final days of offering this special product. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. Call us at 877-544-4860 or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.
Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. So we talked about angels a week ago, and there's a lot of confusion about angels. I stumbled upon some things that kids say about angels. Daniel, age seven, what he thought about angels. He said, an angel gets mad. If an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to 10.
And when he lets out his breath somewhere, there's a tornado. A little girl named Amber said, my angel is my grandma who died last year. And then she said, she got a big headstart on helping me while she was still down here on earth. Matthew, age nine said, it's not easy to become an angel. First you die, then you go to heaven and then there's still the flight training to go through. And listen to this, and then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes. Little boy, like that'd be the worst thing of all, wear those angel clothes. Little girl named Mandy, age eight said, angels work for God and watch over kids when God has something else to do. Sarah, age six said, angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. One little boy said, my guardian angel helps me. Harry age seven, my guardian angel helps me with math, but he's not much good for science. Sarah age seven said, what I don't get about angels is why when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them.
I like the story of one little boy is trying to sing the Christmas carol with angelic host proclaimed, but instead he's saying with jelly toast proclaiming. I gave you this definition of angels that they are exceedingly powerful, moral, spiritual creatures who worship and serve God as he wills for God's glory and the wellbeing of God's children. They are exceedingly powerful. Everybody in the Christmas stories that meets an angel trembles in fear because they are huge. They're majestic, they're mighty, they're moral. Some of them have fallen. That's what we call demons there.
They are beyond redemption, but the angels that love and serve God, the picture we get in the scripture is that they have eternally, morally chosen to love and worship God and will never fall. They're spiritual. They're not physical though. They can manifest physically and appear in a variety of ways. They're creatures.
They are not so important. I understand they are not gods. They're creatures.
They're made by God in the same way that you were made by God and that this earth was made by God. There's a different sort of creature, but they are creatures, so they're not to be worshiped. They're not to be prayed to. They worship God. The scripture says they look upon his face, they encircle his throne and they serve God.
Angel means messenger. They're ambassadors. They're warriors for God. They do warfare on your behalf and it's for God's glory and our wellbeing. That's an astounding thought, but that is part of God's created order that there is a hierarchy of angels that glorify God and they serve you.
That's hard to wrap your mind around. These majestic creatures, Peter says, long stoop down as if from heaven trying to peer down to look at you and to look at the church to see into these things or get a glimpse. The word here for look in the Greek, it means to be in a sense outside of something and to get a peek at it from the viewpoint of an outsider. That's the way the word is used usually, and it's usually used of someone who's not seen by those who are being watched and it has with it an eager desire to just get a look. You know, you got to get a sense of this. You got to think of some time in your life where you just, you were on the outside and you really just wanted to see.
We had that happen last week. We've got a new tradition every year where we'll go up to the Grove Park Inn in Asheville and see the gingerbread houses on display from the national contest. Anybody ever gone to see them up in Asheville? It is quite a sight. It is extraordinary.
I say gingerbread houses, but that's not accurate. They are, they are, they are edible creations that are elaborate beyond description. You can't even believe it till you go see these things. You're like, what, why do you, this is amazing.
Everything in the creation has to be edible and they, and they have winners. They're on display. The winner is on this rotating glass case, you know, that is going around and you could just go to the Grove Park and it's nothing more delightful than on a chilly wintry afternoon to get a cup of hot chocolate at that big gingerbread house they set up in the lobby and you go sit on the back porch and look over the mountains and sip the hot chocolate and talk about how gorgeous all these gingerbread creations are that you've just seen all over. And we've gone, we've had times where we've gone, we've spent the night, but we've just grown cuffs and we'd just go try to have a lunch there, wander around and see. So we went up and you know, two hour, a couple of hour drive, we did know it must be pretty crowded because we couldn't get any lunch reservations at any of the restaurants in the Grove Park. Well, we knew it was going to be crowded and when we pulled up to turn into where you go to park and there was a police car there and there was a teenage boy who was out there standing at that road that leads up to the hotel. We put the window down and he said, I'm sorry. He said, it's full. He said, the fire marshal said, we can't take any more people. So unless you have a reservation for accommodations or for dinner or something, we can't allow you to go up.
And I'm not going, I'm not, I'm, I'm not making this up. The teenage boy, we kind of looked at him like, well, what would we do now? And he said, so just drive along. We didn't even know it was like, I thought he might say, go up here, turn around. So he said, just drive on. So we said, we said, well, maybe, I mean, I hate to admit it, but we kind of said, well, maybe if we come in a different way. So we went up to a different way and we came up to this area for self-parking and there's another teenage boy, another teenage boy that's there.
We're on our window down. He said, we're coming in to have lunch. He said, good. He said, could I see your reservation? We said, oh, we don't have a reservation. And he said, I'm sorry, we cannot allow you to go in. And so another teenage boy told us just to drive on.
It was just, we're like driving back. We're like, okay, there you go. On the outside, just wanting to see something.
I just, could I go in and get a glimpse of one gingerbread house? I told my wife later, I said, should we call back and see if we can get some hotel accommodations and just pay $400, even though we're not going to stay, just so we can go see the gingerbread, you know, and the angels are, this word means it's like they're on the outside of something that's magnificent and they are stooping in a sense, trying to look from heaven to earth to see what God has done. They're amazed. And what's astounding about this is that you would have to admit the angels are not easily impressed because they do not cease to look upon the very face of God. What could be so wonderful that the ones who see the face of God for eternity want to get a look at you.
They are not overawed with people in general. They've done God's bidding. One Old Testament account, an angel slayed 185,000 Assyrians. They weren't very impressed with Herod, wicked King in Acts chapter 12 and angels struck him down.
And not so much that they were just fascinated with people. They'd seen the wickedness of the world, but this thing that happened at Christmas, it's like, I just had this vision. It's like, okay, some angel gets the opportunity to tell the shepherds, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people for unto you this day in the city of David is born as Savior is Christ the Lord. Some angel gets the privilege of doing that, but it's almost like this picture is what I kept seeing all week long. It's like the whole rest of myriads and myriads, maybe billions of angels that are wanting to just be part of it because they're so overjoyed and they just like, can we just get a peak?
Can we, can we just make a small appearance? So he says, all right. And he pulls the curtains back and the angels and the whole heavenly host just begins crying out, glory to God and peace on earth. Look at this. He has found a way to bring peace on earth because they've been watching for the centuries and centuries where there was no peace and that people were distant from God and rebelled from God and they saw the mystery unveiled in a baby in a manger.
Wow. Something that angels don't know. In a sense, you could say they, they knew and understood Christ, the son of God, but what they were looking to see was Christmas. I don't think they, I don't think they could have wrapped their minds around that. They, they'd heard the prophecies just like the people of Israel had heard the prophecies.
What was it like to see it for the first time? Alan Wright, our good news message, Higher More, what angels long to see. Hey, please stay with us. Pastor Alan is back joining me in the studio, sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. In a world that often feels overwhelming, we all seek moments of encouragement and hope as a heartfelt thank you for your partnership with Alan Wright Ministries. When you give today, we're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope, strength, your identity in Christ, Thanksgiving, and much more. This unique resource can be yours. Make your gift to the ministry today and get your blessing box.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit, providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Now we are in our final days of offering this special product.
When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Pastor Alan, Merry Christmas to you. This is a good message that gives a perspective from the angel's point of view and something that they don't understand or they don't see or fully comprehend, right?
Yes. Merry Christmas, everyone. And when you're looking at these cute little cherubim on our trees and all that, remember angels are huge and majestic and awesome and dwell in glory and been uncontaminated by sin. And yet we're told that they were stooping that first Christmas to look into these things. They knew that something they could have never envisioned was happening and that they wanted to look like, like, like, you know, if you have something you want to see closer, you're bending over to see it.
And that's the image here. And so the angels that had been dispatched so many times to go and lift up a Saint's head, but now they're watching a baby who couldn't hold up his head without the help of a human hand. And they're bending down to see this and watch this mystery of incarnation unfold. It's a beautiful thought. As we're looking towards the end of the year, just a gentle reminder here before life gets too incredibly busy with holidays. As a listener funded organization, Alan Wright Ministries exists to proclaim the good news of the gospel, and we could not do it without your help. End of the year giving is very important. Yeah, Daniel, especially those that if you've thought about maybe helping us, this would be an excellent time to do that is that we could start coming to the end of the year. We know that there are many wonderful ministries and charitable opportunities that compete for our attention. If you've been blessed and you want to see the gospel of radical grace announced to others, your year end giving is vital for us to be able to continue the ministry.
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