Thank you all for last Tuesday. We had a packed house of 35 for dinner and 40 for worship. We read in Revelation that the angels and the saints in heaven are constantly engaged in thanksgiving and worship. It is always a truly good and joyful thing whenever we can join our voices with theirs – for that is the ultimate purpose of the race that we run.
This week we are going to begin our study of angels. There are more than 350 references to angels within Holy Scripture, and yet, except as cute ornaments on a Christmas tree or Christmas cards, we often overlook them. In the City of God, Augustine says that there is a great fellowship between men and angels and that they are our fellow citizens in heaven. This week we will explore the nature of our fellow citizens – what they are, when they were created, and their function at worship. In preparation for Tuesday, please read a selection of the following verses:
Genesis 21:8-21 (ministering to Hagar and Ishmael)
Genesis 28:10-17 (Jacob’s ladder)
Number 22:21-35 (Balaam, the donkey, and the angel)
2 Kings 6:8-17 (Elisha’s army of angels)
Daniel 10:5-12 (Angelic vision)
Psalm 148 (Praising)
Luke 15:1-7 (Rejoicing)
Job 38:1-7 (Rejoicing)
Isaiah 6:1-8 (Worship)
Revelation 4, 5, 8:1-9 (Worship)
Also, and most importantly, make Elisha’s prayer for his servant you own: “O Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see.” 2 Kings 6:17. Dinner is at 6. The menu is chicken and potato casserole. Please invite your friends and neighbors to join us. Hope to see you here.
O for a thousand seraph tongues
“Praise to the Son” – Charles Wesley
To bless th’ incarnate Word!
O for a thousand thankful songs
In honor of my Lord.
Come, tune afresh your golden lyres,
Ye angels round the throne.
Ye saints, in all your sacred choirs
Adore th’ eternal Son.