Sermon: Who Do You Trust? (Part Three)
The Original Broken Bond of Trust
#1728
Mark Schindler
Given 23-Sep-23; 64 minutes
description: (hide)
transcript:
We began this series of sermons on trust with what I felt was the most significant trust that exists—the absolute trust that has always been in the Family of God between the Father and the Word, followed by Their trust together to accomplish Their plan to bring all men into Their Family.
On this particular Sabbath I feel it is important that we begin this sermon with a bit of a review of that perfect example of trust.
Today, we observe the second Sabbath of the seventh month, just one week after we observed the Feast of Trumpets on the first weekly Sabbath of the seventh month. That day should have represented to us the profound pivot point in God’s plan. It sits right in the middle of God’s holy days to remind us that everything is absolutely ordered under God’s sovereign authority.
Numbers 10:1-10 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. When they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you. When you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey. When you sound the advance the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall begin their journey; they shall sound the call for them to begin their journeys. And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations. "When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the LORD your God."
In his CGG Weekly essay two weeks ago, Richard wrote the following after citing these verses:
We can conclude that the blast of trumpets was meant to be a continual reminder to them that God, their covenanted Ruler, was supreme over everything. He ordered their marches, telling them to go and to stop. He called them to assemble. He sent them to war. He gave them blessings to bring them joy. He appointed their feasts. He even provided them with a calendar and the know-how to make it work! The sound of the trumpet, whenever they heard it, was to bring to their minds that God orders everything; He is in charge.
We observed the Trumpets Sabbath last week, that was in fact a reflection point of God’s absolute sovereignty. Today we prepare to observe the Day of Atonement, beginning at sunset tomorrow evening, and the next step in God’s plan to create all men in the image and likeness of God. A plan that is only being driven by the perfect work of Jesus Christ, who under the Father’s authority is Creator and Redeemer—the Firstborn of all men that God has carefully purposed to come after Him. He is doing the unbroken work of justification, sanctification, and glorification. It is by the love of Christ that all this is taking place.
I purposely used the word “observed” because, just as God rested on the weekly Sabbath, to review all that He had done in preparing for us to be at one with Him, we too need to use these days that have been given for us to appreciate what only God can and is doing to bring us all into the Family.
These days are vital to our perspective on the truth that resides completely and perfectly in the Father and the Word. These days were carefully laid out by Them so we can observe the perfect good in everything They are doing, as another building block of trust so we can be like Them.
I would like to insert something here from John Ritenbaugh’s 2008 Trumpets sermon that I think must be very clearly on our minds through these days. I hope by the end of this sermon we will see our need to be driven to the same conclusion as the apostle Paul.
John referred to II Corinthians 5:13-15 toward the end of that sermon where Paul wrote:
II Corinthians 5:13-15 For if we are beside ourselves [in other words, "crazy"], it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels [constrains] us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
Paul tells us what drove him on. It was the love of Christ. The word "constrains" in verse 14 means controlled, urges, impels, pushes, drives. That word indicates internal motivation for the action that one sees on the outside. It was the love of Christ that drove him. Notice what I said. It was the love of Christ. It was not merely love for Christ. It was a little bit more than that. It was the love of Christ. This is a love that began with the Father, who in turn gave the Son. The Son, out of love, gave Himself.
We are given the love of God by means of the Holy Spirit, and thus we are enabled to return the love by giving ourselves in submission to them. In other words, Paul was so appreciative of what Christ had done for him, and was continuing to do in him, and through him, that he felt he could not do enough in return, so he constantly drove himself to do as much as he could. Yes, he loved Christ, but he was attributing that love and that drive to the gift that God gave him.
I bring these things to your attention because, brethren, we have the same gift, but are we making use of it? Do we really appreciate Christ so that we are able to give ourselves to Him unreservedly like the apostle Paul did, every day asking God to supply the need that we might return to Him the love that started with Him, through Christ, onto us, into us, and back out to Him? It was a loving appreciation. It was a full-blown loving gratitude that compelled him, that built in him a loving obligation to do whatever demands arose in the meeting of his responsibility regardless of the sacrifice involved. This brethren, is something we all need to ask God to build in us, and if we have it there, there will be no doubt about us being in the resurrection.
Brethren, I feel that I have inadequately tried to express over these sermons how perfectly trustworthy They are in unbroken outgoing concern to always produce what is good! And, as John said about Paul in giving us the gift of becoming what They are, we must be as loving and trustworthy as They are, if we are ever going to be in Their image and likeness.
I would like us to consider again the perfection of our Great God and His plan that will produce exactly what He has intended from eternity—very real members of the Family who can always be trusted to live and act just like Them, firmly committed to what the Father knows will produce peace and creativity for eternity.
There is going to be some speculation involved as I try to help us see the incredible expansive work of God that can always be trusted to produce good. But I hope it will also serve as a warning for us in keeping our focus on our Great God, who can always be trusted to create peace and harmony in love.
Turn with me if you will to an absolute truth that we can always know in the faith OF Christ for certain and we will be reading it in context!
Remember what John Ritenbaugh said about the love of Christ:
Romans 8:1-9 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
Romans 8:14-22 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Romans 8:28-33 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
Now let us add three verses to this from Jesus Christ and two from those who personally beheld His glory—Paul and Peter:
John 17:5-8 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
John 17:12 “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
John 17:16-22 “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:”
John 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
Ephesians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
I Peter 1:16-22 Because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.
Brethren, from before the foundations of the physical creation this was God’s plan that can be absolutely trusted. As far as we can see, His perfect plan to create man in His image and likeness was in place long before He created time and space as we know it. All this is for us to be sons of God born into His Family by the love of Christ dwelling in us, as determined from before the foundations of time and space were set in place. But it is not just us but all men that are called in accord with God’s perfect plan to patiently bring all men to repentance, salvation, and knowledge of the truth, as you can read in
II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
I Timothy 2:4 Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
I Corinthians 15:22-23 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.
In the last sermon I tried to give us a small glimpse of the incredibly awesome expanse of God’s universe with just a tiny look at His physical creation of the earth and things like the “Van Allen belts” that He created within His perfect wisdom. But that is only the tiniest snapshot of what God is doing from before the foundation to bring men into His Family.
I mentioned we were going to be doing some speculation here, as I have already done in considering that perhaps God’s plan to bring men into His Family, as sons in His exact image and likeness long before we may think.
We look back a Genesis 1:26 and most often consider this His plan for men from this point forward. But was it?
We are going to take a short survey of scriptures that I think show us that this purpose, under God’s absolute sovereign authority, was being worked out long before this. I believe, too, we are going to see a very vivid warning that I think ties in very well with Bill Onisick’s sermon two weeks ago on the deathly dangerous sin of envy.
We are going to start with two vital scriptures that we as time limited beings in this flesh have a hard time comprehending. But nonetheless they need to be always within our minds in considering our awesome God.
Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Our God is not subject to the boundaries of time that He created, and He is working towards a relationship with the wholeheartedly humble.
Now back a few chapters to Isaiah 46 and a couple more verses just to help us keep things in perspective regarding how God looks at what He has created under His sovereign authority.
Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.'
With these in mind let us go back to the book of beginnings and God’s declaration that we all know very well and we are actually going to be working our way backward in time.
But we are going to start here in Genesis 1:26, on the sixth day of God’s rebuilding of the earth and what had been terribly demolished by Satan.
Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
I think most of us clearly recognize that what we see in Genesis 1:27 was merely the beginning of man’s creation in His image as physical beings, only to be finished as full-fledged members of God’s Family for the glory of the Father, through the perfect work of Jesus Christ.
What we are going to review now may seem to be an irrelevant segue from this series of sermons on trust. But I assure you it is not, even though it may stand on quite a bit of speculation. I believe it should be food for thought in our consideration of our response to our Great God who can always be trusted. We will also see the dangerous road we can end up on when we do not absolutely trust Him and what He has planned from before we can barely imagine.
God has very carefully put all within the place we need to be to produce peace, productivity, and growth with outgoing concern for eternity. But it takes absolute trust in God in our own loyalty and trustworthy service where He has set each of us.
We always need to keep Deuteronomy 29:29 in front of us, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law.”
We can speculate based on God’s Word, as I am about to do, but always know that our Great God will always give us those things we need to learn and live His Word within the ability and opportunity He gives that will bring peace and order within His Family.
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
As most of us know, as far as we understand these two verses, the Church of the Great God generally subscribes to what is called the “Gap Theory,” also more properly referred to as Restoration Creationism. Sometimes, it is called the “re-creation theory.”
Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and we know what God creates is very good. However, verse 2 gives us a completely different picture. Verse 2 shows us a creation that was "without form" and "void,' as translated in the King James. Those two words in the original Hebrew are tohu and bohu, which mean "confusion" and "ruin or chaos."
God does not create things in confusion and chaos, so the indication is that something drastic happened between verses 1 and 2 where we see God recreating order and productivity on the earth. Something must have happened between verses 1 and 2 which had turned the earth into “a shapeless, chaotic mass,” as The Living Bible puts it.
Putting scriptures together from other places in the Bible we can draw the conclusion that this gap in time and the confusion and chaos recorded in verse 2, was the result of the rebellious destruction of Satan and those demonic angels that followed him.
I would like to remind us here what we believe and teach regarding this, as stated on the Church of the Great God website under the title, "How Does The Bible Explain Fossil Ages Over 6,000 Years (Genesis 1:2)":
Scientists often date fossils such as dinosaur bones and those termed "human" or "early man" thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of years before the creation of Adam. Although we understand the interest generated by this subject, it is not the primary duty of the church to enter a field that properly belongs to geologists, paleontologists, and anthropologists. None of the facts discovered by science contradict the Bible, though certainly many of the theories proposed by scientists to explain their facts are at odds with God's Word!
God's church has been commissioned primarily to announce the good news of the soon-coming Kingdom of God to humanity now on earth—those descended from Adam, who the Bible shows was created nearly 6,000 years ago. As a part of that message, we explain the fact that there was a previous world of immense duration (revealed in simplest form in Genesis 1:1-2) over which angels were given rule.
At this point the statement references Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:11-16, which we will get to in a few minutes.
Isaiah 45:18 states clearly that God did not create the world a chaotic wasteland: "Who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited." It is evident, however, that the previous world ended in chaos and destruction because of the rebellion of the angels (Genesis 1:2; Jude 6). Whatever forms of breathing, physical life that existed at the time of that titanic destruction would have died in it (Isaiah 14:12; Luke 10:18). Then there followed a week of re-creation (Psalm 104:30). On the sixth day of that week, God created man and endowed him with human spirit. Any accurately dated fossils older than 6,000 years would consequently be pre-Adamic.
The Bible is God's revelation of knowledge that man cannot discover by himself—primarily spiritual knowledge concerning the purpose of life and the origin of creation. Basically, the Bible deals with the 7,000-year plan of God for the descendants of Adam and has only sketchy glimpses of what occurred before—or what shall come after this period.
Brethren, what we know for sure about the awesome expanse of God’s work can probably fill a thimble. The Bible that God has graciously given to us as our road map basically looks at a small part of what our Great God who inhabits eternity is doing. But it is more than enough for us, if we continue to trust the words of the law that He has given to us in the place He has set us. This includes rehearsing His 7,000-year plan laid out before us in His holy days year after year just as we are doing now.
The statement continues:
From the Bible we know that Adam and Eve were the first humans made in the image of God and given a human spirit to make possible the wondrous functioning of the human mind. They were created for the purpose of enlarging the Family of God. This is the important knowledge about human life—the incredible human potential—which can be learned only from God's revelation, not from the fossil record.
Now I would like to add something that will help lead us into the next part of this sermon, which will be dealing with being loyal and trustworthy ourselves in the place God has set us. The following is from what Charles Whitaker had written regarding this period of time that I hope will add a bit more to what I am trying to show you.
Charles wrote:
Gap theorists believe that this “something” which changed the earth to a wasteland was the working of Satan. He had fallen from God’s grace and eventually made war on God, of course to no avail. God had stationed him on the earth, and he ultimately became “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). But, the fallen Satan, sometime after “iniquity had been found in him” (Ezekiel 28:15), made a big mess of the earth. These theorists are quick to point out that Satan is called “the destroyer” in Revelation 9:11. Satan is, by his very nature, destructive.
There are other speculations and conjectures that may explain how things happened. For instance, Satan, the ruler (not the god, see II Corinthians 4:4, properly translated) of the earth, as he became more and more perverted—twisted—in his thinking, may have turned what life forms did exist on the face of the earth, like the many types of trilobites geologists speak of, into ferocious, serpent-like animals we now call dinosaurs. (There is no evidence that Satan can either create life or reproduce it, but he could certainly control breeding, etc.) What Satan apparently can do is “play” with genetics such that ghastly mutations eventually arose, bringing about hideous creatures, the “creations” of Satan.
Geologists also tell us that dinosaurs were extremely varied: some were herbivorous, others were carnivorous, others omnivorous. Some were viviparous (embryo grew within the mother’s womb), while others were ovoviviparous (were hatched), and a few were both. [Viviparous and ovoviviparous? I told you this was from Charles.]
Some were extremely large and lumbering, the result of gigantism, while others were small and lithe. They controlled the sea as well as the land; some even glided through the air. In other words, these creatures were king. They dominated the earth.
But geologists tell us, apparently in short order, perhaps through a catastrophe, they were totally wiped out. What caused that? Evolutionary theory, which posits that the reptiles dominated the earth, and were therefore the “fittest” creatures there, cannot explain their sudden demise.
Did Satan become angry and destroy his perverted creation? Did God destroy the reptiles in some sort of war with Satan, in preparation for the recreation of the earth? We do not know, of course, but that is how many gap theorists see it.
Though the genesis of the Gap Theory lies in the thoughts of (well-meaning) anti-evolutionists, it must not be forgotten that the Gap Theory attempts to make sense of Isaiah 14 as well as Ezekiel 28:11-19, both of which discuss the being who eventually became known to us as Satan. These scriptures indicate that Satan was once a magnificent archangel whom God created to be perfect in all his ways until his pride got the best of him. The archangel then, perhaps over a long period of time, fermented a rebellion against God, thinking he, himself, should be God!
This archangel eventually became the being we call Satan, the leader of a third of the angels, who themselves became demons. He has set himself up as the adversary of God.
We have spent a good deal of time going through this “Gap Theory” and our biblically based speculation both as a church and personally because I was hoping to build a bridge to what may very well have taken place but never outside God’s ultimate plan, purpose, and execution. But it may give us a very sobering look at what will take place if we are not trustworthy ourselves in the place God has put us to affirm our loyalty to our Great God.
This is going to require some speculation, because after all we only have a small but absolutely necessary snapshot of our place within time that God Himself created, beyond which He exists. But I hope, during these holy days, heralding God’s absolute sovereign control and the magnificent work in love to expand Their Family, we may find another layer of appreciation for our Great God who will finish His work with us that started farther back than we can imagine, and with His outgoing concern and character.
At the same time (this may be additional food for thought), helping to drive us just as the apostle Paul was to do whatever it takes to show God that we can be trusted to live as He lives now, to the best of our ability, loyally where God has placed us to serve the Body of Christ.
Just like Paul, this is going to require a great deal of personal effort to overcome the main staple of Satan’s carnal minded character—envy—as Bill pointed to in his sermon two weeks ago.
As the Bible tells us, God’s plan has been carefully laid out from before the foundation of the earth. We are going to pick up a few important scriptures that give us a bit of insight into their earlier preparation before Genesis 1:1.
Job 38:1-7 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
It seems interesting that God begins His thunderous account to Job of His sovereignty over every facet of His creation with the joyful songs of the angels when He created the earth. It is possible that this joy was expressed by the angels at the recreation of the earth and return to peace and order in anticipation of God’s work to create additional members of the Family.
Or it may be possible that this predated Genesis 1:1 and the earth’s original creation to be ultimately inhabited by those whom God intended to be in His Family. Perhaps this was at earth’s pre-gap creation when the angels may have been given the task by God trusting them to finish the preparations for mankind.
Considering this possibility let us now turn to Hebrews 1.
Hebrews 1:1-8 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son"? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire." But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.”
Here the author of Hebrews begins his declaration of the Word who upholds the whole creation, as the One who became Jesus Christ and the firstborn of many men who would follow Him, just as They planned from the beginning to become members of God’s Family.
Hebrews 1:10-14 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail." But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool?" Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
Hebrews 2:5-11 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: "What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet." For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Hebrews 2:16-18 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Brethren, these are all very familiar scriptures but before we turn to our next set of scriptures, while keeping our thoughts focused on “trust” being a key part of God’s Creative work, I would like to read a section that I have cited from Martin Collins’ Forerunner article from 1995, entitled, “The Ministry of Angels”:
In many religions, angels are gaining popularity as "personal guides and protectors." An increasing number of people—Christians of every stripe, New Agers, Hindus, Buddhists, even Jews—are calling upon their personal spirit or guardian angel for guidance during the course of their daily lives. Much of this popularity has come about as a result of the New Age religions' heavy emphasis on "spiritualism" and its frequent appearances in the media.
But are they really angels? Yes—but not the benevolent, holy angels who serve God. In reality, these spirit guides are demonic beings ready and willing to fill the empty place in the hearts and minds of misguided people, deceiving them into accepting them as angels of light.
Martin then confirms this through God’s inspired word, as written II Corinthians 11, verses 14-15, where Paul wrote:
II Corinthians 11:14-15 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
Martin continued:
Ultimately, this leads to the person rejecting the sovereignty of the true God. In contrast, the angels who remained loyal to God are powerful, responsible, purposeful, faithful, and obedient beings who have been given the responsibility of ministering to God's elect. As revealed in the Scriptures, God's angels work and act far differently than popularly expressed today by those who are fascinated with them.
Angels are personal spirit beings, each having a mind of greater capacity and ability than ours. They are capable of attitudes, purposes, and intentions. But as wonderful and powerful as angels are, they have no authority apart from God. In Matthew 28:18, Christ said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." Our Savior has complete control over all spirit beings. We should, therefore, direct all our requests for our needs to God, not to angels.
As the chief servants of God Almighty, angels do His will in all things, whether toward His future sons or against the wicked.
In the future, God will commission His angels to gather the elect to Christ at Jerusalem. When He returns in great power and glory, Jesus will "send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:31). God plans ahead. He has already determined the specific duties the holy angels will perform at our Savior's return.
Brethren, please keep this idea that God has determined the specific duties of the angels in mind going forward. But please do not limit His purposeful planning ahead to a particular time frame in the past.
Martin finished his article with these paragraphs that shows the vital important tie between trust and holiness with any of God’s sentient beings that He has created to fulfill His plans for a peaceful and purposeful eternity:
Angels were created to be ministers, agents and helpers in God's creation. The holy angels who have remained loyal to God realize that He made them to be servants of the God Family. John writes in Revelation 22:8-9:
I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that, for I am your fellow servant. . . .Worship God."
Under God's direction the ministry of angels is to guide, provide for, protect, deliver, comfort and watch over the elect. These holy angels of God are greater beings than we are now, but our potential is far greater.
They are loyal and dedicated servants of God commissioned to help us attain salvation. Yet angels are helping us to attain levels in the God Family far greater than they have. They will remain servants while we become born sons of God! How many human beings could function with a pure attitude without jealousy toward those who will soon be in authority over them? We may have underestimated the loyalty and dedication of God's holy angels!
We should certainly appreciate the work of these "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation." They do so much for us that we never see. Praise and thank God for His loyal angels!
Now with all this in mind please turn with me to Ezekiel 28.
Ezekiel 28:12-19 "Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings that they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; you have become a horror, and shall be no more forever."'"
Martin showed how much we can greatly admire those powerful ministering spirits that have dedicated themselves to using all the power and honor God had given them in loyalty and trust. They are an example of trust, both in their trust for God and their own trustworthiness to loyally and faithfully do the work God has given them in the places God has given them. They are holy beings set apart by God, as vital parts of His plan and purpose for His honor and glory! Just as we have been set apart within our incredible potential for His honor and glory!
But here in Ezekiel God gives us a glimpse of one of those beings set apart and given the perfect wisdom of God to prove trustworthy in fulfilling his job within the place God had put Him—to lead preparations of the earth for those God had determined as His elect. But as we saw in Ezekiel 28:17, something ate at him from the inside out! Something ultimately corrupted the wisdom God had given him to do his job for God’s honor and glory.
Rather than being the vital asset God had made him as, he went from being “Helel” a shining light for the glory of God—to Satan, the adversary and destroyer.
Why?
Perhaps we may be able to piggyback on what Bill said a few weeks ago to see just how notoriously horrible in breaking the bond of trust with God is envy. I think we can make a biblically sound guess that it was envy over what did not rightly belong to him or any angels—being created in the image and likeness of God!
Isaiah 14:12-16 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Helel, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: 'Is this the one who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms? Who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?'
Brethren, as we saw Satan is the ruler of this world, with the authority and power that God had given to His created angels as ministering spirit being of great power. Is it possible that his original rulership was to complete the construction of earth as a suitable habitat for physical man who were going to be in God’s Family, but his envy for what was never going to be his got in the way, and ate away at him?
Perhaps we have not considered as carefully as we should how much God is working to show us how vital trust and loyalty while in the place God has put any one of us—men or angels—is to remaining firmly set in all of our relationships for God’s honor and glory.
How much can each of us be trusted to reject Satan’s spirit of challenging God’s sovereignty, no matter where He has placed us, to create what is going to produce perfect peace and harmony for eternity?
As John Ritenbaugh always taught, eternity is not as much about time as about quality of our relationship, first and foremost with God and then with each other.
God willing, in the next sermon (on the second day of the Feast of Tabernacles), we are going to pick up on just how trustworthy we can and should be now with the gifts God has given to us in this life, to secure that bonded relationship.
But I want to leave you with something to consider. I often point to the first four verses of the book of John in the beginning because they are so important. But I would like to close this sermon by turning to the end of the book of John and Jesus Christ’s clear warning not to follow Satan’s original sin.
This passage is after Peter’s declaration of love for Christ, and His strong warning.
John 21:20-23 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?" Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me." Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?"
We must keep our eyes focused on Jesus Christ and the sovereign work of God from within the place He has perfectly placed us, and not focused on anyone else and the place God has put them, but to humbly appreciate what our Great God has always been doing in outgoing concern for all.
MS/rwu/drm