Seen of Angels
watchfully, carefully and soberly, as becometh Christians every way.
So much for that: I proceed to the next words, 'Seen of Angels.'
The word is not altogether so fitly translated, for it is more pregnant than it is here rendered, 'He was seen.' It is true. But he was seen with admiration and wonderment of angels. He was seen, as such an object presented to them should be seen, and seen with wonderment.
It implies the consequence of sight. Sight stirs up affection. It stirs up the whole soul. Therefore it is put for all the rest (j).
1. They saw him with wonderment. For was it not a wonder that God should stoop so low, as to be shut up in the straits of a virgin's womb? that Christ should humble himself so low, to be 'God in our flesh? Was not here exceeding wondrous love and mercy to mankind, to wretched man, having passed by the glorious angels that were fallen? And exceeding wisdom in God, in satisfying his justice, that he might shew mercy? It was matter of admiration to the angels, to see the great God stoop so low, to be clothed in such a poor nature as man's, that is meaner than their own. This doubtless is the meaning of the Holy Ghost: they saw it with admiration.
(2.) And because he was their head, as the second person, and they were creatures to attend upon Christ, their sight and wonderment must tend to some practice suitable to their condition. Therefore they so see and wondered at him, as that they attended upon Christ in all the passages of his humiliation and exaltation—in his life, in his death, in his resurrection and ascension.
(3.) They saw him so as they were witnesses of him to men. They gave testimony and witness of him. So that it is a full word, in the
intention of the Holy Ghost. Indeed, not only the angels, but all gave witness of him, from the highest heavens to hell itself; all witnessed
Christ to be the true Messiah.
In his baptism there was the Trinity; the Father in a 'voice from heaven,' the Holy Ghost in the shape 'of a dove.' He had the witness of angels, of men of all ranks, Jews and Gentiles, men and women; yea, the devils themselves ofttimes confessed him in the gospel. He was witnessed of all ranks. They saw him, and gave evidence and testimony of him that he was the true Messiah.
He was seen of angels. To declare this a little more particularly.
The angels knew of Christ's coming in the flesh before it was, for what the church knew the angels knew in some measure. When God made the promise of the promised seed, the angels knew of it. And in Daniel the angel speaks of the seventy weeks; therefore before his incarnation they knew of him. But now they saw him with wonderment in our flesh, now they had an experimental knowledge of him; for the angels, besides their natural and supernatural knowledge, they have an experimental knowledge, that is daily increased in them, in the church. They see somewhat to admiration continually in the church, in the head, and in the members. They knew of the incarnation of Christ before. You know the angel brought the news of it beforehand to the virgin Mary. The angels attended upon Christ from his very infancy. The angels ministered to him in his temptation, Mat. 4:11. Before his death they comforted him in the garden, Luke 22:43. He was made 'lower than the angels,' in some sort, as it is in Ps. 8:5; for they came to 'comfort him.' He was so low that he had the comforting of angels. Then they saw when he was buried; they 'rolled away the stone,' Mat. 28:2.
By the way in general, it is the angels' office to remove impediments that hinder us from Christ. A Christian shall have angels to remove the stones, the hindrances that are between heaven and him, rather than they shall be any impediment to his salvation.
Then when he rose there were angels, one at the head and another at the feet; and they told Mary that he was risen. And then at his ascension the angels told the disciples that Christ should come again.
You have the story of it at large in the Gospel, how from the annunciation of his conception to his ascension they saw him, and attended on him, and witnessed of him.
As soon as ever he was born, when they appeared to the shepherds, what a glorious hymn they sang! 'Glory to God on high, peace on earth, good will to men,' Luke 2:14. How joyful were they of the incarnation of Christ, and the great work of redemption wrought thereby!
And, as I said, they did not only see these things, but they wondered at the love and mercy and wisdom of God in the Head and members of the church; as we see in divers places, in 1 Pet. 1:12, 'We preach the gospel, which things the angels desire to look into.' The very angels desire to pry and look with admiration into the wondrous things of the gospel. So in Eph. 3:10, 'To the intent that unto principalities and powers in heavenly places might be made known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.' There is somewhat done by Christ, by his incarnation and resurrection and government of his church, that the very angels look into, and wonder at the 'manifold wisdom of God' in governing his church; his wisdom in electing them, and after in restoring mankind. And in his manner of dispensation to the Jews, first by ceremonies, and then after by the body itself, Christ 'in the flesh.' There is such a world of wonders in the government of the
church, such 'manifold wisdom,' that the very angels themselves look upon this with admiration and wonder, and with great delight.
Use 1. Shall angels see and wonder at these things? at the love and mercy and wisdom of God in governing his church, in joining together things irreconcilable to man's comprehension, infinite justice with infinite mercy in Christ, that God's wrath and justice should be satisfied in Christ, and thereby infinite mercy shewed to us? Here are things for angels to wonder at. Shall they wonder at it, and joy and delight in it, and shall we slight those things that are the wonderment of angels? There are a company of profane spirits—I would there were not too many among us—that will scarce vouchsafe to look into these things, that have scarcely the book of God in their houses. They can wonder at a story, or a poem, or some frothy device; at base things, not worthy to be reckoned of. But as for the great mysteries of salvation, that great work of the Trinity, about the salvation of mankind, they tush at them, they slight them; they never talk seriously of these things, except it be as it were with a graceless grace of slighting and scorn. They account it a disparagement to be serious in these things. They make no mysteries of that which the glorious creatures the angels themselves look upon and pry into, even with admiration. But it is not to be conceived of, the profaneness and poison that is in man's nature against divine truths, as I shall shew afterwards, how it slights the means of its own salvation, and stands wondering at baubles and trifles; and so men waste away their precious time in admiration of that which is nothing but 'vanity of vanities,' whereas we should take up our time in studying these transcendent things that go beyond the capacity of the very angels. Yet these things we dally and trifle withal.
Use 2. Again, from hence, that Christ was seen and attended on and admired by angels, there is a great deal of comfort issueth to us. It is
the ground of all the attendance and comfort that we have from the angels. For this is a rule in divinity, that there is the same reason of the head and of the members; both head and members are one.
Therefore what comfort and attendance Christ had, who is the head, the church, which is the body, hath the same, only with some difference. They attended upon him as the head, they attend upon us as the members. They attended upon him immediately for himself, they attend upon us for his sake; for whatsoever we have of God, we have it at the second hand. We receive 'grace for grace' of Christ. We receive attendance of angels, for the attendance they yielded to Christ first; they attend upon us, by his direction and commission and charge from him. So we have a derivative comfort from the attendance of angels upon Christ. But surely, whatsoever they did to him they do to us, because there is the same respect to head and members. Therefore the devil did not mistake, he was right in that, when he alleged out of the Psalm: 'He shall give his angels charge over thee, that thou dash not thy foot against a stone,' Ps. 91:11. He was right in that, applying it to Christ. For however it be true to Christians, yet it is true to Christ too; it is true to the members, as well as the head; and to the head, as to the members. For 'he that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, are all one;' as the apostle saith, 'one Christ,' Heb. 2:11.
Now the care of angels concerning Christ and his church, it was shadowed out in Exod. 25:17, seq., and 26:31. There the mercy-seat, which covered the ark wherein the law was, upon the. mercy-seat there were two cherubins counter-viewing one another, and both pried* to the mercy-seat. They shadowed out the angels that look on the mercy-seat, Christ; for he is the mercy-seat that covers the law and the curse, in whom God was merciful to us. There they look upon that with a kind of wonderment and attendance, † which St Peter alludes unto in that place, 'into which mysteries the very angels pry,'
1 Pet. 1:12. And so in the veil of the tabernacle, the veil had round about it pictures of cherubins, Exod. 26:31. What did that shadow out unto us? The multitude of cherubins and seraphins and angels that attend upon Christ and his church. So he was 'seen' and attended on by 'angels;' and it belongs to all that are his, as you have it, Heb. 1:7, 'They are ministering spirits, for the good of the heirs of salvation.' They that serve the king serve the queen too. Christ is the King of his church, and the church is the greatest queen in the world.
They attend upon her; nay, Christ hath made us, with himself, kings.
Now, what a king is that that hath a guard of angels! As they guarded and attended upon Christ, so they guard and attend all that are his; as you have it excellently in Dan. 7:10, 'There are thousand thousands of angels about the throne continually.' All this is for our comfort, because we are one mystical body with him.
You have in Jacob's ladder a notable representation of this. Jacob's ladder, it reached from earth to heaven; and that pointed to Christ himself, who is 'Immanuel,' God and man, who brought God and man together. He was a mediator between both, and a friend to both.
He was that ladder that touched heaven and earth, and joined both together. Now it is said, the angels ascended and descended upon that ladder; so the angels descending upon us, is, because they ascend and descend upon Jacob's ladder first; that is, upon Christ.
'All things are yours,' saith the apostle. What be those? God is ours, the Spirit is ours, heaven is ours, the earth is ours; afflictions, life, death, Paul, Apollos, the angels themselves, all is ours. Why? 'Ye are
Christ's.' That is the ground. So it is a spring of comfort to consider that Christ was 'seen' and admired and attended by angels. They are ours, because we are Christ's. Let us consider what a comfort it is, to have the attendance of these blessed spirits for Christ's sake.
And hence we have the ground of the perpetuity of it, that they will for ever be attendants to us; because their love and respect to us is founded upon their love and respect to Christ. When favour to another is grounded upon a sound foundation; when the favour that a king or a great person bears to one is founded on the love of his own son; he loves the other because he loves his son whom the other loves; so it is perpetual and sound, because he will ever love his son.
The angels will for ever love and honour and attend us. Why? For what ground have they respect to us at all? It is in Christ, whose members and spouse we are. So long as the church hath any relation to Christ, so long the angels shall respect the church; but the church hath relation to Christ for ever. Therefore, the respect that the blessed angels have to Christ and to the church, it is for ever and for ever.
Well, let us think of this, so as to make use of it; that now in Christ we have the attendance of angels. We do not see them, as in former time, before Christ's incarnation. It is true; because now, since Christ is come 'in the flesh,' the government of Christ is spiritual; and we are not supported with those glorious manifestations, but they are about us in an invisible manner. We have Elisha's guard about us continually, but we see them not.* There were more apparitions† in the infancy of the church, because the dispensation of Christ to the church was according to the weak state of the church. But now Christ is come 'in the flesh,' and 'received up in glory,' and there is more abundance of spirit. We should be more spiritual and heavenlyminded, and not look for outward apparitions of angels; but be content that we have a guard of them about us, as every Christian doth. 'Despise not,' saith Christ, 'these little ones.' They are about Christians, and about little ones, little in years, and little in esteem;
'for their angels,' &c., Matt. 18:10. It is a strange thing. They are God's angels, but they are theirs for their service. 'Their angels
behold the face of your heavenly Father.' So that Christ's angels are our angels; they are angels' even of children, of little ones. Nay, let a man be never so poor, even as Lazarus, he shall have the attendance of angels, in life and death. There is no Christian of low degree, of the lowest degree, that shall think himself neglected of God; for the very angels attend him, as we see in Lazarus. There is a general commission for the least, the little ones.
Likewise, it may comfort us in all our extremities whatsoever, in all our desertions. The time may come, beloved, that we may be deserted of the world, and deserted of our friends; we may be in such straits as we may have nobody in the world near us. Oh! but if a man be a true Christian, he hath God and angels about him alway. A Christian is a king; he is never without his guard, that invisible guard of angels. What! if a man have nobody by him when he dies, but God and his good angels, to carry his soul to heaven, is he neglected?
Every Christian, if he hath none else with him, he hath God, the whole Trinity, and the guard of angels, to help and comfort him, and to convey his soul to the place of happiness. Therefore, let us never despair, let us never be disconsolate; whatsoever our condition be, we shall have God and good angels with us in all our straits and extremities. Go through all the passages of our life, we see how ready we are to fall into dangers. In our infancy, in our tender years, we are committed to their custody: after, in our dangers, they pitch their tents about us; as it is, Ps. 34:7, 'The angels of the Lord pitch their tents about those that fear the Lord.' In our conversion they rejoice.
'There is joy in heaven at the conversion of a sinner,' Luke 15:10. At the hour of death, as we see in Lazarus, they are ready to convey our souls to the place of happiness. Lazarus's soul 'was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom,' Luke 16:22. At the resurrection they shall gather our dead bodies together. It is the office of the angels. In heaven they shall 'praise and glorify God,' together with us for ever;
for 'Christ shall come with a multitude of heavenly angels,' at the day of judgment: 'when he shall come to be glorified in his saints,' 2
Thess. 1:10. Then we shall for ever 'glorify God,' saints and angels together, in heaven. Therefore, in Heb. 12:22, it is said, 'We are come to the innumerable multitude of angels.' What is the meaning of that? That is, now in the New Testament, by our communion with Christ, we have association with the 'blessed angels, innumerable company of angels,' saith the Holy Ghost there. We have association with them even from our infancy, till we be in glory. Indeed, they are as nurses: 'They shall carry thee, that thou dash not thy foot against a stone,' as it is in Ps. 91:11. They keep us from many inconveniences.
Obj. But you will say, God's children fall into inconveniences; how then I are they attended by angels?
Ans. I answer: First of all, God's angels preserve those that are his, from many inconveniences that they know not of. And certainly we have devils about us continually, and there is a conflict betwixt good angels and devils about us continually. And when we do fall into any inconvenience, it is because we are not in our way. If we go out of our way, they have not the 'charge over us;' they are to keep us 'in our ways.' And if they keep us not from 'dashing our foot against a stone,' if they keep us not from ill, yet they keep us in ill, and deliver us out of ill at length; for they deliver us not only from evil, that we fall not into it, but they keep us in ill, and deliver us out of ill, nay, and by ill.
If we suffer in the custody of angels any inconvenience, it is that we may be tried by it, that we may be exercised and bettered by it. There is nothing that falls out to God's children in the world, but they gain by it, whatsoever it is. This, therefore, doth not prejudice the attendance of angels.
Therefore let us comfort ourselves in all conditions for ourselves and for the state. Put case it be brought to a very small number, that the enemies were thousands more than we, many thousands and millions; yet, if we be in the covenant of grace, and in good terms with God, we have 'more for us than against us,' we shall have angels fight for us. You know Elisha's servant, when he saw a multitude of enemies, his eyes were opened to see a company of angels; and saith the prophet, 'There are more for us than against us,' 2 Kings 6:17, seq. So let us be to the eye of the world never so few and never so weak; let us but have Elisha's eye, the eye of faith, and we shall have his guard about us alway and about the commonwealth. This should comfort us.
But then we must learn this duty, not to grieve these good spirits. As it is wondrous humility, that they will stoop to be servants to us, that are of a weaker, baser nature than they, so it is wondrous patience, that they will continue still to guard us, notwithstanding we do that that grieves those good spirits: one motive to keep us in the way of obedience, that we do not grieve those blessed spirits that are our guard and attendance. Let us consider when we are alone—it would keep us from many sins—no eye of man seeth; ay, but God seeth, and conscience within seeth, and angels without are witnesses: they grieve at it, and the devils about us rejoice at it. These meditations, when we are solicited to sin, would withdraw our minds and take up our hearts, if we had a spirit of faith to believe these things.
Let us learn to make this use likewise, to magnify God, that hath thus honoured us; not only to take our nature upon him, to be 'manifest in the flesh,' but also to give us his own attendance, his own guard, a guard of angels. Indeed, we are in Christ above angels, advanced higher than angels. What cause have we to praise God! How are we advanced above them? We are the spouse of Christ, and so are not
angels. They are under Christ as a head of government and a head of influence. They have strength and confirmation from Christ. He is not a head of redemption, but of confirmation to them. St Paul calls them 'elect angels' that stand. They stand by Christ, they have good by him. But they are not the spouse of Christ. We are the spouse and members of Christ. He hath honoured our nature more than the angelical: he did not take upon him the nature of angels, but of men; and as he hath advanced us above angels, so his dispensation is, that those glorious creatures should be our attendants for our good; and they distaste not this attendance.
And this is that we should know, what care God hath over us, and what love he bears us; that he hath honoured us so much that creatures of a more excellent rank than we are, even the angels, should be serviceable to us in Christ. And all is, that we should be full of thankfulness.
Obj. But you will say, What need the guard or attendance of angels to Christ or to us, to head or members, considering that God is able to guard us with his almighty power?
Ans. It is true. The creatures that God hath ordained in their several ranks, they are not for any defect in God, to supply his want of power, but further to enlarge and demonstrate his goodness. He is the 'Lord of hosts,' therefore he will have hosts of creatures, one under another, and all serviceable to his end. His end is, to bring a company to salvation, to a supernatural end, to happiness in the world to come; and he being Lord of all, he makes all to serve for that end. He could do it of himself; but, having ordained such ranks of creatures, he makes all to serve for that end, for the manifestation of his power and of his goodness, not for any defect of strength in himself. He could do all by himself. He could have been content with
his own happiness, and never have made a world; but he made the world to shew his goodness and love and respect to mankind. So he will have angels attend us, though he watch over us by his own providence. This takes not away any care of his, but he shews his care in the attendance of angels and other creatures. He useth them to convey his care and love to us.
Obj. But you will say, How can the angels help our souls any kind of way? They may help our outward man, or the state where we live; but what good do they to the inward man?
Ans. I answer, The inward man is especially subject to the Spirit of Christ. It is God that bows the neck of the inward man. But yet notwithstanding, if the devils can suggest sin, angels are as strong as devils, and stronger and wiser too. They are wiser than the devil is malicious, and stronger than the devil is powerful. Whatsoever they can do in evil, the good angels can in good. Therefore no question, but they suggest many thoughts that are good They are not only a guard about us, but they are tutors to teach and instruct us; they minister good thoughts, and stir up good motions and suggestions.
They work not upon the heart of man immediately, to alter and change it—that is proper to God—but by stirring up motions, and by way of suggestion; as the devils do in ill, so they in good. Therefore it is said, they 'comforted' our blessed Saviour; which I suppose was more than by their presence. So they comfort God's children, by presenting to their thoughts (we know not how, the manner is mystical; it is not for us to search into that) good motions, by stirring up to good. Only the altering and changing of our dispositions, that is proper to the Holy Spirit of God.
Let us often think of this, what a glorious head we have, for whose sake the angels attend upon us in all estates whatsoever, even till we
come to heaven.
And this should stir us up to labour to be made one with Christ. All the good we have any way is by the interest we have in Christ first.
He holds it in capite. If we have not a being in our head Christ, we can challenge nothing in the world, no attendance of angels; for the angels are at variance with us out of Christ. We see presently after the fall, the cherubin was set with his sword drawn to keep the entrance of paradise, from whence Adam was shut, to shew that presently upon the fall there was a variance, and a mighty distance between the angels and us. But now the angels no longer shut paradise; no, they accompany us in the wilderness of this world, to the heavenly Canaan, to paradise. They go up and down Jacob's ladder. They attend upon Christ; and for his sake they are ministering spirits for the comfort of the elect. So that all things are reconciled now in Christ, both in heaven and earth, angels and men.
It should stir us up to get interest in Christ, so that we may have interest in all these excellent things that first belong to Christ, and then to us. Whatsoever is excellent in heaven or earth belongs to the king of all, which is Christ, and to the queen of all, the church; and the time will come that there will be no excellency but Christ and his church. All whatsoever is in the world is nothing. It will end in hell and desperation; all other excellencies whatsoever.
This should teach us likewise to carry ourselves answerable to our condition, to take a holy state upon us. We should think ourselves too good to abase ourselves to sin, to be slaves to men, to flesh and blood—be they what they will be—to the corruptions and humours of any man, since we have angels to attend upon us. We are kings, and have a kingly guard. It should move us to take a holy state upon us. It should force a carriage suitable to kings, that have so glorious attendance. Undoubtedly, if we had a spiritual eye of faith to believe
and to know this, answerable to the things themselves and their excellency, it would work a more glorious disposition in Christians than there is, to carry ourselves as if we were in heaven before our time. Oh that we had clear eyes, answerable to the excellency of the privileges that belong to us.
Again, It should teach us not to despise the meanest Christians, seeing angels despise not to attend on them. Shall we disdain to relieve them, that the angels do not disdain to comfort? To comfort and relieve one another, it is the work of an angel. Shall any man think himself too good to help any poor Christian? Oh the pride of man's nature! when the more glorious nature of the angels disdain not to be our servants, and not only to great and noble men, but to little ones, even to Lazarus. What a devilish quality is envy and pride, that stirs us up to disdain to be useful one to another, especially to those that are inferiors! We know it was the speech of wicked Cain,
'Am I my brother's keeper?' Gen. 4:9. Shall I stoop to him? Flesh and blood begins to take state upon it. Alas! if angels had taken state upon them, where had this attendance been? The devils that kept not their first standing, being proud spirits, they disdained the calling they had; the good angels humble themselves. God himself, as it is
Ps. 113:6, disdains not to look on things below. When the great God became man, shall we wonder that angels should attend upon the nature that God hath so honoured? What a devilish sin, then, is envy, and pride, and disdain! Let these considerations move us to be out of love with this disposition. The angels joy at the conversion of others.
Shall that be our heart-smart and grief that is the joy of angels? Shall we despise the work of regeneration and the image of God in another? Shall it be the joy of angels, and shall it be our sorrow, the welfare and thriving of others spiritually or outwardly? Shall we, out of disdain and envy, think ourselves too good to do anything when it is the delight of angels?
The angels are described with wings to fly, in Isa. 6:2, seq, to shew their delight in their attendance; and wings to cover their faces and their feet, to shew their adoration and reverence of God. The nearer they come to God, the more reverence. So there is no Christian, but like the angels, the nearer he comes to God, the more he abaseth himself and adores God; as Job, when he came nearer to God than he was before, 'I abhor myself,' saith he, 'in dust and ashes,' when God came to talk with him, Job 42:6. The angels, the nearer they come to God, the more reverence they shew; the more they cover their faces in his presence. And with the other wings they fly and do their duty, to shew their expedition in their service to Christ and his church.
They do readily what they do. Let us imitate the angels in this.
The angels have a double office: a superior office and an inferior. The superior office they have is to attend upon God, to serve God and Christ, to minister to our head. The inferior office is, to attend his church, and to conflict with the evil angels that are about us continually.
It is good for us to know our prerogatives, our privilege, and our strength; not to make us proud, but to stir us up to thankfulness, and to a holy carriage answerable. It is a point not much thought on by the best of us all. We forget it, and betray our own comfort. Satan abuseth us to make us forget the dignity and strength that we have.
Hereby we dishonour God and wrong ourselves, and wrong the holy angels, for want of faith and consideration of these things. A Christian is a more excellent creature than he thinks of. It is necessary ofttimes to think what a great degree God hath raised us to in Jesus Christ, that we have this glorious attendance about us wherever we are. Oh it would move us, as I said, to comfort and to a reverent carriage! and, indeed, when we carry ourselves otherwise, it is for want of minding and believing these things. I have spoken