The Runway of God's Greatness - Thoughts from Psalm 103

Psalm 103:1 "Bless the Lord, O my soul,And all that is within me, bless His holy name."

Anytime I have ever flown in an aircraft, the take off is personally among the most interesting aspects of airtravel. Dozens of people are responsible for taxiing the aircraft out to the tarmac to get it ready to zoom down the runway and into the air. Great care is taken to ensure that the aircraft itself is ready for the voyage into the sky. Runway lights show the way to point the pilot and passengers into their journey into the air. When that aircraft is positioned, the engines roar to their full speed. The passengers being pushed back into their seats indicate the proper velocity needed to go from ground to air. Once the bumpiness of the runway is gone, I know we have succeeded in enjoying the view from above. All of this imagery (whether the reader likes flying or not) illustrates how I feel when reading Psalm 103. The Psamist is commanding himself: "Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and all that is within me, praise His holy name". Today I want us to strap ourselves into the seats of Psalm 103 and discover how God in this Psalm gets us down the runway to view His greatness. Notice these thoughts...

1. The redemption won by Jesus Christ - the vessel for beholding God's greatness. Psalm 103:1-5
Someone may wonder how we see Jesus and His finished work in these first five verses, being that this Psalm was written a millennium before Christ came to this world? We must ever remember that the people of God in the Old Testament were saved as much by the cross of Christ as we are, with the distinction being that of perspective. Old Testament saints, like David, looked forward to Christ through the types and shadows of the temple, sacrifices and promises, as spelled out in New Testament passages such as Luke 24:44 and Hebrews 1:1-2. We in the New Testament look back on Christ's finished work. In order for anyone to truly know God, they must begin at the cross. The forgiveness and redemption of God, promise and predicted in the Old Testatment, finds its finish and starting line at the cross. Outside of the cross, God cannot be known in a saving way. Martin Luther in his commentary on Galatians says it well: "If you ask how God may be found, who justifies sinners, know that there is no other God besides this man Christ Jesus. Embrace Him, and forget about the nature of God. But these fanatics who exclude our Mediator in their dealings with God, do not believe me. Did not Christ Himself say: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me"? Without Christ there is no access to the Father, but futile rambling; no truth, but hypocrisy; no life, but eternal death."

2. God's benefits, the windows through which we delight in God's greatness. Psalm 103:2-18
Thus when we are told in Psalm 103:2 to not forget any of God's benefits - those benefits include:

a. Forgiveness (103:3)

b. Healing (103:3)

c. Deliverance (103:4). Such saving benefits not only save us "from" something, but also "unto something" - namely the crowning of God's people with heavenly benefits (103:4).

d. God's mercies. This includes God's abiding peace in this world (103:5-18). Again, what Jesus would achieve and did achieve reaches backward to where David was and forward to where we are at and must be grasped by grace through faith. The redeeming work of God in Christ is the vessel which we must climb into by faith to behold and appreciate God's greatness. 

e. God's Sovereignty. (103:19) If we try to behold God's greatness through any other way, we are no better than a man falling to the ground with no parachute. Anything outside of Jesus Christ leads to certain death. So the redemption won by Jesus Christ is the vessel for beholding God's greatness, but notice something else in this Psalm...

3. God's works and ways are the wheels upon which we roll down the runway of His greatness. Psalm 103:6-18
An airplane needs wheels upon which to roll down the runway. When we are strapped into Jesus Christ by faith, we are ready to live out and soar for Him. What is ever needed in the Christian life is a great love and appreciation for the greatness of God brought to us. David in this Psalm focuses upon four kinds of works of God in Psalm 103:7-18 - God's righteous acts (103:6-7) and three-fold cord of lovingkindness, tender mercies and compassions (103:8-18). At one point the Psalmist makes the distinction between God revealing His acts to the children of Israel (103:7) and His ways to Moses (103:7). It's one thing to see God's hand in our life (i.e His acts). However, whenever God shows us His face in Christ, it is then we pine after Him and are so satisfied with God in Christ that we are fulfilled in every point of faith. The thrust of thus Psalm takes us from contemplating to what God has done (His benefits, His acts, His ways) to the kind of God God is. It is in this pattern of focusing on God's works, ways to actual Person that causes the aircraft of the faith-life to get off of the runway and into the air. We know that in this world, getting into the air is not always easy. God has given us every conceivable grace possible to ensure we will endure to the end (Romans 10:13; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24-25). We have seen the vessel and the wheels needed to get down the runway of God's greatness. In Psalm 103, David mentions one final act of God's grace towards us that oftentimes we don't thin about...

4. God's angels are thr runway lights pointing to His greatness. Psalm 103:19-22
David writes the following striking words in Psalm 103:19 "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all." One of the plainest declarations we would ever want to read regarding God's Sovereignty and control is found in Psalm 103:19. But now, in this world where the sky overhead is often dark and distractions abound, how is it that the child of God is able to keep focused on this plain and simple truth? David's command to his soul to "bless the Lord" is stated in the language of prayer to God. Also too, the fact that we are reading these words in our Bibles indicates that the words of God - the scriptures - are Divinely appointed by God to ensure our endurance in God. God elsewhere in His word has prescribed secondary means that reinforce to us these truths, among which are His angelic hosts. Passages such as Psalm 91:11 and Hebrews 1:14 explain how angels are ministering spirits sent by God to aid His people in striving forth in their faith. Like runway lights in the middle of the night, angels function to aid the people of God in both taking off in their faith (Hebrews 1:14; 13:3) and ensuring that at the end of their journey, they land in God's intended destination for them - Himself (Luke 16:22). The ministry of God's angels mentioned by David reminds us of this truth in Psalm 126:5 "Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting." Psalm 103:20-22 states - "Bless the Lord, you His angels,Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. 22 Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul!" Hence David ends this Psalm with the repeated reminder to himself and us: "Bless the Lord oh my soul.

Closing thoughts
The runway of God's greatness and the assurance we have of having enjoyment in God's greatness and being more heavenly minded is instructed to us in this Psalm. May we today go down the runway of God's greatness in the vessel of Jesus Christ's accomplished work, the wheels of God's acts, benefits and ways in Christ and being all the while encouraged by the runway lights of God's angelic hosts that point the way to God's greatness for us to live in, feast upon and enjoy!

Angelic Ministers of God's Greatness - How Angels point to Christ's Post-resurrected glory

Hebrews 1:5-6 "For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”?
And again, “I will be a Father to Him
And He shall be a Son to Me”? 6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”

Introduction:

Today's post concludes what has been a series of post on the subject of God's heavenly emmisaries - the angels. In keeping with the meaning of the term "angel", we have deemed this series: "God angelic ministers", since angels delivered messages to God's people in the Bible and minister aid to believers today. (see Psalm 91:11; Hebrews 1:14).  Romans 12:1 states - Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,which is your spiritual service of worship. 

God's tender mercies and graces are chiefly expressed in such ways as the Spirit's application of Christ's atoning work, the scriptures, prayer and supplies of strength in the gifts. In addition to these mercies, God also utilizes His heavenly ministers to aid, uphold and encourage His people in ways that are not often discussed.   

In this study we considered the following about God's angelic ministers in regards to how they minister God's greatness: 

1). Angels illuminate the greatness of God's power

2). Angels can energize God's people to do His work

Yesterday considered the third major area of the Angel's ministry - namely the glory of Jesus Christ. We chose to split this final heading into two sub-headings, with attention paid yesterday to how the angels minister to us the glory of Jesus Christ in His incarnation. Jesus ever retains the humanity He assumed in His incarnation, albeit glorified, resurrected humanity. Which is why today we want to understand how the angels help highlight the glory of Jesus Christ in His resurrection (and thus His ascension and 2nd coming).

Writer, author, Dr. John Piper weighs in on how the angels will show once and for all that the resurrected, glorified Christ is truly glorious
As we have been exploring how the angels minister to us the greatness of God, we have solicited the counsel of great minds both past and present. Dr. John Piper is a wonderful author and preacher who wrote a piece commenting on Jesus Christ's return to earth in Matthew 25:31-33. This short excerpt demonstrates how the angels point us to the glorified, resurrected Christ and His second coming: “And all the angels with him.” All of them. Did you get that? Heaven will be left empty of its armies. All the angels will be with him! This means that the triumph is so sure that one doesn't have to cover his rear guard. No one will threaten heaven. All the armies of God on the front line with the Son of Man. Jesus could handle the conquest of earth alone. He is God. But the angels come to magnify him and do his bidding. What is that bidding? Just this: “He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds.” They are going to gather you and me to meet the Son of Man. ( http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/all-the-angels-are-coming-with-him )

Angels point the way to the glory of Jesus Christ in His resurrection and beyond
By way of the Gospel records we see ample witness of how the angels pointed to the glory of Christ's Deity and aided him many times throughout the humility of His humanity. We see two equal emphasis on their pointing the way to His post-resurrected, ascended glory.

When one reads the Gospel accounts of Christ's resurrection and ascension, angels are seen in those episodes as well. Inasmuch as we are witnessing a sequence of historical, literal events that transpired in time and in space, we must include the reality of angelic beings. 

The events of the empty tomb, Jesus' post-resurrection appearances and the cause for the disciple's belief in the resurrection stand in the mind of scholar William Lane Craig as being the three chief events needing to be explained. Certainly I concur with him and would like to add one further detail - the presence of angels. What were the angels achieving as they ministered the glory of Christ's resurrected power to the Apostles? Moreover, what can we learn and apply to our lives regarding Jesus' resurrection power for today? Please note the following thoughts:

1. Angels protected the message and messengers who proclaim Jesus' resurrection from the dead
Matthew 28:3-4 "And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men."  When we look at this detail, it is significant for a number of reasons. First, the women were already on their way to finish the anointing process of Jesus' body in Matthew 28:1. Second, this detail mentioned by Matthew in 28:3-4 reminds the reader of the manifest impossibility of anyone coming to steal the body of Jesus, since the enemies of Jesus had arranged the tomb to be guarded in Matthew 27:62-66. But now when we realize that the presence of angels led to the collapse of the soldiers, it is apparent that the angels were sent to defend, to protect the women and those who would be peering into the empty tomb. Passages such as 2 Kings 6; Psalm 34:7; 91:11 and Hebrews 1:14 remind us of how angels defend or protect God's people. But notice a second significant reason for the presence of angels in the events of the Risen and Ascended Christ...

2. Angels aided in the declaration and explanation of Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
We read in Matthew 28:5-7 "The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” The Hebrew and Greek words translated "angel" speak of a "messenger". Angels are seen throughout scripture announcing things to people. Notice again the function of angels both declaring an explaining in Acts 1:9-11 "And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” The angels were doing what they were created to do: declare and explain the glory of God (Psalm 68:17) and the equal and shared glory of the Son (Luke 2:14). Now notice the third significant reason as to why angels are included in the resurrection and ascension accounts of the Living Christ...

3. Angels' presence demonstration the Deity and humanity of Christ in His resurrection from the deadThe Old Testament makes it abundantly clear that the angels function in the capacity of a royal court demonstrating the Deity of Yahweh. In Job 38:7 and Psalm 104:1-4 we see the angels, from the inception of their creation, exalting God for His creative power. In Psalm 68:17 we see angels attending the giving of the law atop Mount Sinai, demonstrating before the newly redeemed Hebrew nation that uncontested Deity of Yahweh. Daniel 7:10-13 portrays the Lord, the Ancient of Days and the Pre-incarnate Son of Man in royal Deity, being attended by innumerable angelic hosts. Later on in Daniel 12:1-3 we see Michael the archangel attending what will undoubtedly be the Divine power of God Himself raising believers from the dead in the resurrection of the righteous and unbelievers in the later resurrection of the wicked.

Such associations between Yahweh's Deity and angelic presence enables the reader to understand that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was indeed the resurrection of the humanity of the Son who also was, is and forever will be God. The Living Christ who came out of the tomb on Sunday morning had angels attending to assert the fact that He is as much Full Deity as He is glorified, resurrected humanity.

Closing thoughts
We have spent the last four days considering how the angels minister to believers the greatness of God. In these four posts we have summarized this angelic ministry under three headings:

1). Angels illuminate the greatness of God's power

2). Angels can energize God's people to do His work

3). Angels minister to believers the greatness of God in Jesus Christ

In that last point, we saw angels pointing us to both Jesus' incarnation and post-resurrected glory. May these posts be used of God to further His Kingdom in our days. 

Angelic Ministers of God's Greatness - How they minister the glory of Jesus Christ's incarnation

Hebrews 1:5-6 "For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”?
And again, “I will be a Father to Him
And He shall be a Son to Me”? 6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”

Introduction:

Today's post continues what has been a series of posts on the subject of God's heavenly emmisaries - the angels. Thus far in our study we have considered the following about God's angelic ministers in regards to how they minister God's greatness: 

1). Angels illuminate the greatness of God's power

2). Angels can energize God's people to do His work

Today's post will focus on part one of the final major heading regarding the angels' ministry to us - namely emphasizing the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Dr. John MacArthur weighs in on how angels point the way to Jesus Christ

In a sermon Bible teacher and author Dr. John MacArthur preached back in 1976, he relays how angels are portrayed in the Bible, with particular focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. MacArthur states: "Now, to give you a parallel, look at Revelation chapter 5 verse 11. Revelation chapter 5 verse 11: “And I beheld and heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb.’” And here the angels are crying out, “Worthy is the Lamb.” Now, the question is: Are they singing? Verse 9 – back up: “And they sang a new song.” Did the four living creatures, who are angels, and the four and twenty elders, I believe are representatives of the church, and it appears as though all the rest of the angels join that new song. So, yes – mark this – the angels are seen singing twice in the Bible. Once at the creation of the world, once again at the return of Jesus Christ. Do you know what is particularly interesting about that? There is no record of them ever singing in between those two things. It seems as though immediately after God made the world and man fell, the angels lost their song. And the thing that will restore the angels’ song is the return of Jesus Christ, and then they’ll sing again." ( http://gty.org/resources/sermons/1363/angels--gods-invisible-army-part-3 )

Dr. MacArthur states later on in the same message: "(W)e said that angels have a ministry toward Christ. We saw the angels minister to Christ in announcing His birth. They ministered to Him right around the time of His birth, all through His earthly life. They ministered to Him at His temptation, early in His life. Later, at His resurrection, and they were there attending His ascension into heaven, and they’ll be with Him when He comes back. But we said in all of the life of Christ, there was one period of time when the angels weren’t helping. You remember what it was? Was when He died. And that’s the time He said, “If I wanted, I could have called 12 legions of angels,” but He chose not to in order that He might die for you and for me. Apart from that, the angels attended Him throughout all of His life. And they still serve Him and He’ll come back with them in His second coming."

Angels minister the glory of Christ's incarnation

By witnessing how the angels ministered to Jesus points us to the truth of His incarnation and thus His glory for our sake. Jesus certainly illustrated the point of angelic assistant in the believer's life by how angels aided Him in His humanity. Matthew 4:11 "Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him." As Jesus was praying in Gethsemane we read in Luke 22:43 "Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him." Jesus chose to forego angelic aid in Matthew 26:53 "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" The numerous appearances of angels throughout Jesus' earthly ministry points us to the glory of His incarnation.

Tomorrow we will conclude this series of posts on the angelic ministers of God's greatness by noting how they minister the glory of Jesus Christ in His resurrection.

Angelic Ministers of God's Greatness - Angels Encouragement of God's People

Hebrews 1:14 "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?"

Introduction and review

Yesterday we began consideration of how Angels are used by God to minister forth His greatness. Does God need angels? No. However God has determined that we need angelic aid along with His primary methods of reinforcing to us His greatness (i.e the Word, prayer, Christ's atoning work, God's people, the ministry of the Holy Spirit). We saw how angels first of all express the power of God's greatness by their numbers, strength and worship. As we read of their exploits in scripture, we find ourselves made more aware of how great God is revealed in Jesus Christ. Angels are spotlights pointing to God, highlighters underscoring His greatness and exclamation points appearing at the end of God's revelation of Himself in the Bible and in Jesus Christ. Today's post wants to consider a second major area of angelic ministry of God's greatness - namely, how angels encourage God's people.

What one great writer and preacher had to say about angelic encouragement
The great late Baptist preacher W.A Criswell preached a sermon in 1959 entitled: "The Angels of God". Note what he says regarding angelic encouragement to God's people: "Now, when you turn through the pages of the Book, how many times will you see those angelic messengers in their assignments from glory helping God’s people? Now, let’s just take a few. Somebody said there are more than three hundred instances of this in the Bible alone. I choose just a few. Two angels took hold upon Lot, and led him out of the city of Sodom when God said, “I shall reign fire upon it.” God’s angels. When Hagar turned her face from Ishmael, her boy, lest she looked upon him as he died, an angel heard her weep and showed her a fountain of water. When Abraham drew back his hand, to thrust the knife into the heart of his only son Isaac, an angel caught it.

The angels of God blessed those patriarchs in a world found in idolatry. Abraham called his old faithful servant Eliezer and said to him, “Go back to my father’s house to find a bride for my son, Isaac. And the angel of the Lord shall go before you.” And when Eliezer found Rebecca, he said, “God hath sent His angel before me to prepare the way.” “An angel stopped the mouths of the lions,” Daniel says. He was not hurt in their lair and in their den.

Angels ministered to Jesus in the trial of the wilderness. In Gethsemane, Luke says, when His sweat were as it were great drops of blood. In the agony of His prayer, Luke says, 'and an angel appeared, strengthening Him.' So all throughout the record of the children of God, there they are giving help, and deliverance, and encouragement."

How the angels aid God's people and thus point to His greatness
To understand what the scriptures have to teach us about the Angel's encouragement to God's people, we will first consider their ministry in the Old Testament, the New Testament and some final comments on how God uses them today.

Angelic Assistance in the Old Testament 

Is it scriptural to say that angels are used and deployed by God to aid Christians in grasping and striving in the precious areas of the faith walk? Indeed so. Consider Psalm 91:11 "For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways." The Holy Spirit tells us in Psalm 37:4 "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them." Throughout the Old Testament, we see angels aiding God's people. Abraham's life is an extended illustration of this truth as seen in his encounter with the three mysterious men in Genesis 18. Whatever may be said of at least one of these figures, two of them were definitely angels who had taken on temporary human form. The outcome of their meeting with Abraham led to him praying for the people of Sodom, hastening his efforts to obey God and having a heightened spiritual awareness.

Other Old Testament saints experienced the aid of angels in their faith walks. Elijah the prophet was fleeing from the threats of wicked Queen Jezebel and was to the point of exhaustion and near death. 1 Kings 19:7 records these words from an angel speaking to Elijah - "The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, 'Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.' The prophet Daniel experienced an angel shutting the mouth of a lion in Daniel 6:17. As a man of prayer, Daniel was assisted by an angel while praying in Daniel 10:11: "He said to me, “O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling." Such examples serve to show the ways angels encouraged God's people in the Old Testament.

Angelic Assistance in the New Testament

Jesus certainly illustrated the point of angelic assistant in the believer's life by how angels aided Him in His humanity. Matthew 4:11 "Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him." Or how about Matthew 26:53 "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" As Jesus was praying in Gethsemane we read in Luke 22:43 "Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him." The four Gospels record some 20 instances of angels being present at Christ's incarnation, earthly ministry, eve of crucifixion, resurrection and ascension.

In the life of the Apostles we see further evidence of great encouragement from God's heavenly ministers. The Apostle Peter, when incarcerated, was set free by an angel as the early church prayed for his release in Acts 12:6-8. Or how about in the life of the Apostle Paul as he was on a ship in the middle of a two-week long storm? Acts 27:23-24 "For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you." 

Angelic Assistance for Christians today
Perhaps upon reading such verses you may be tempted to think: "Abraham was the father of faith and was special. David, Daniel, Paul and Peter were Prophets and Apostles. Furthermore, Jesus was God in human flesh so it would only make sense that He have His own angelic secret service." However, we must remember these words from Hebrews 1:14 

"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" 
Moreover, Hebrews 13:2 reminds us - "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." How many stories have I heard over the years of mysterious strangers helping lost children find their families when lost in a mall or people with flat tires helped by a stranger who suddenly disappeared. We never want to build our doctrine off of experience. We do know that doctrine can explain much of what we experience.

Theologians of past and present day aid us greatly in seeing the importance of angelic assistance in the lives of Christians. Many able minds could be cited, but for our purposes two will suffice. First John Wesley notes: "They may assist us in our search after truth, remove many doubts and difficulties, throw light on what was before dark and obscure, and confirm us in the truth that is after godliness. They may warn us of evil in disguise; and place what is good, in a clear, strong light. They may gently move our will to embrace what is good, and fly from that which is evil. They may, many times, quicken our dull affections, increase our holy hope or filial fear, and assist us more ardently to love Him who has first loved us."1

More recently Michael Horton notes about the angels, that they are: "ministers of God's saving purposes for the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14)"...."(t)hey watch over believers (Pss 34:7; 91:11), learn the truths of God's unfolding mystery in Christ (Eph. 3:10; 1 Pet 1:12), and are said to bring believer's to Abraham's side (Lk 16:22)."2

Conclusions:
In today's post we have noted what the Bible has to teach about angelic assistance in the life of the believer. We have surveyed the Old and New Testaments and some observations from a couple of keen theological minds. My prayer is that this post has helped you in your Christian walk. May the Lord richly bless you.

Endnotes:
 1. See more at: http://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-71-Of-Good-Angels#sthash.bXmpdbHU.dpuf

2. Michael Horton. The Christian Faith - A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way. Zondervan. 2011. Page 406

Angelic ministers of God's greatness - Angels Illuminate the greatness of God's power

Psalm 103:19-22 "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all. 20 Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will. 22 Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul!"

Introduction:

Today's post features that part of God's created order that is not too often spoken about - namely the angelic realm. Romans 12:1 states - Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,which is your spiritual service of worship. God's tender mercies and graces are chiefly expressed in such ways as the Spirit's application of Christ's atoning work, the scriptures, prayer and supplies of strength he uses in ministering to His saints to each other in the gifts. In addition to these mercies, God also utilizes His heavenly ministers to aid, uphold and encourage His people in ways that are not often discussed.   

The great preacher and founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley, once preached a sermon simply entitled: "Of Good Angels".  In that sermon Wesley notes the relationship between God's tender mercies and the angels: "So perfectly are the angels of God qualified for their high office. It remains to inquire, how they discharge their office. How do they minister to the heirs of salvation?  Wesley later notes: "I will not say, that they do not minister at all to those who, through their obstinate impenitence and unbelief, disinherit themselves of the kingdom. This world is a world of mercy, wherein God pours down many mercies, even on the evil and the unthankful. And many of these, it is probable, are conveyed even to them by the ministry of angels; especially, so long as they have any thought of God, or any fear of God before their eyes. But it is their favourite employ, their peculiar office, to minister to the heirs of salvation; to those who are now "saved by faith," or at least seeking God in sincerity." ( http://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-71-Of-Good-Angels#sthash.bXmpdbHU.owXAtukt.dpuf )

In surveying the hundreds of passages in the Bible on the vast subject of the angelic realm, we can summarize under three main headings what angels achieve in God's overall purposes toward human beings: 

1). Illuminating the greatness of His power

2). Energizing God's people to do His work

3). Emphasizing the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Today we will consider the first of these.

Angels Illuminate the Greatness of God's Power

When we consider Psalm 103, the Psalmist begins in Psalm 103:1-2 "Bless the Lord, O my soul,And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits". Among the benefits mentioned by the Psalmist, we see God's rich mercies (103:3-7); revelations of love (103:8-18) and reighning Sovereignty (103:19-22). Each of these benefits are worthy of their own treatment, but all together the Psalmist is desiring to focus on God's greatness as revealed in these benefits. At the end of the Psalm the writer makes mention of the angels. Why? Like an exclamation point on the end of a sentence (!), angels serve to get our attention and look to how great God is and the benefits He bestows because of His greatness. To illustrate how angels illuminate God's greatness in another way, think of highlighter markers. Angels are God's highlighters that illuminate how great and awesome God is to what can be our dull and incomplete undrrstanding. Just as the colors in the previous sentence hopefully got your attention, the angelic realm does the same for our spiritual attention. Angels serve to illuminate the greatness of God's power. 

Angels are the most expressive intelligent beings in God's creation. The ways in which they communicate and illuminate God's greatness is by itself indicative of the God who made them. Notice how the angels illuminate God's great power:

1. Angelic numbers illuminate God's great power

Whenever you arrive at the New Testament, you discover that in Hebrews 12:22, the word translated "myriads" can refer to either tens of thousands or by extension an innumerable host. In Revelation 5:11, if we multiply the phrases used to describe the numbers of angels around the throne, we come up with around 100 trillion angels! Depending on how literal you take those numbers, we can say at least when it comes to the number of angels in the invisible realm, we have to use numbers like trillions or even larger numbers. To think that Jesus Christ's name alone is worth more than all the angels put together (Hebrews 1:1-4) or to think that all the angels put together are simply described as God's "armies" or "hosts" or even "heavenly court" ought to point us to the Great power of God.

2. Angelic strength points to God's great power

Angels are dramatically powerful beings.  For example, one particular angel in 1 Chronicles 21:14 was instrumentally used by God to wipe out 70,000 men in judgment.  In 2 Kings 19:35 God answered the prayer of Godly King Hezekiah by having one angel destroy 185,000 of the mighty men of Sennacherib's Assyrian forces. Jesus told Peter prior to His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:53 - "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" Then in Revelation 9:13-21 we see 4 angels unleashed to kill 1/3 of humanity in the judgment that will occur in the future great tribulation. All of these examples demonstrate the power of the angelic realm, and yet such power is insigificant in comparison to God. Again, by their strength angels illuminate God's great power, since it is He who empowers them. 

3. The angels' worship illuminates God's great power
The point of today's post has been to begin understanding how angels minister the Greatness of God in regards to His power. Without a doubt their vast numbers and strength point to the One from whence they derive their very existence and ability. However, when we behold the scenes of angels offering up worship to God, it is where we see even more the great power of God. Isaiah 6:3-4 records the scene following God's majesty shining forth in the Heavenly temple - "And one called out to another and said, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.'
4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke." Or who can forget these words in Daniel 7:10 “A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The court sat, And the books were opened." In Jesus' birth, Luke records in Luke 2:12-14 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in amanger.” 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Then one final example involves angels and perhaps the redeemed saying these words in Revelation 19:1 "After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God." Roger Ellsworth in his book: "What the Bible says about angels" notes: "If the angels enjoy God, should we not do the same? If the angels, great as they are, find reason to praise God, should we not also be praising Him?" 

Closing thoughts
In closing today, we can note that Angels are God's heavenly emmisaries whose main task is to point the way to His greatness. Such provision of angelic beings is among the many mercies expressed by God to His people. We saw today that angels illuminate God's great power by their sheer numbers, strength and worship. Tomorrow we will consider how God, in His tender mercies towards His people, uses Angels to energize His people in accomplishing His work. 

5 practical reasons why you should study the angelic realm in the Bible

Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Introduction
Over the course of the next several days we will be diving into understanding how angels function to point people to God's greatness. I thought before beginning with that series, it would behoove this blogger to present practical reasons for undertaking the study of angels in the firstplace. A quote from one of the ablest theological minds, Charles Hodge, will set the tone for why this subject is of utmost practical importance:
"So much is said in the Scriptures of good and evil angels, and such important functions are ascribed to them both in the providence of God over the world, and especially in the experience of his people and of his Church, that the doctrine of the Bible concerning them should not be overlooked."1

Anytime we engage in the study of the angelic realm, three branches are generally recognized in the subject (some may list more or less): angelology (study of angels, their nature, function and ranks); demonology (study of demons, their nature, function and ranks) and Satanology (Satan's nature, function and efforts against mankind and God).  To get us off the runway and into the air on this subject, I want us to consider why studying the angelic realm is important.

1. Massiveness of the subject in the Bible
A great tool to have when studying any topic of scripture is a Bible Concordance.  A concordance functions much like a telephone book, in that you can find the verses where any word or any subject is listed.  The added bonus is that many Bible Concordances today will print out a portion of the passages and give you all the Bible books and number of times each word appears.2  The magnitude of times the angelic realm appears in the scripture is extraordinary and thus warrants its study.  Consider the following statistics (I found these just searching through the Strongest Strong's NIV exhaustive concordance):

a. Angels and their various ranks and descriptions are found roughly 400 times in the scriptures. Angels of all sorts are mentioned in 17 of the 39 Old Testament books and 19 out of 27 of the New Testament books.

b. Demons and their various ranks are found in 6 of the 39 Old Testament books and 12 of the 27 New Testament books.  In the concordance I consulted I discovered nearly 75 places in the scriptures on the subject of demons.

c. Satan, who is also called the Devil, Serpent, Dragon and other names appears in 6 of the 39 Old Testament books and in 19 of the 27 New Testament books, reeking havoc in at least 115 places throughout scripture. 

d. When you add up all of the places in the Bible where angels, demons and Satan appear, you come up with close to 600 places.  

e. Whether good angels, fallen angels or Satan himself, the nature of angelic beings is that of spirit - that is, they are rational, intelligent beings without a physical body. (Psalm 104:3-4; Daniel 7:10; Hebrews 1:14) Occassionally (good angels) can assume for a temporary period of time a physical form of sorts (Genesis 18:2; Mark 16:5; Hebrews 13:2) By and large though, angels are spirit beings whose numbers far exceed those of us humans. Such a large number of mentions and the extraordinary facts of the angelic realm in the Bible reveal the importance of such a study. But notice a second reason why this subject is important...

2. Major scale of spiritual warfare
Ephesians 6:11-12 issues this command - "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."  Should not Christians of all people be more aware of the nature of the spiritual battle that they are involved? As a practical example, lets say you were to take a trip to a foreign country that is experience increasing pockets of violent outbreaks.  Would you not read up on the current conditions of the government, intelligence information on where attacks have taken place, as well as updates on where the most safe places would be? Would you not want to know whom you could trust as well as who to avoid? If that is the case in the incidence of travel, how much the more in the daily Christian walk.  Knowing the proverbial "lay of the land" in the spiritual Christian walk will make for a more Biblically informed and wise people who are effective witnesses for Jesus Christ.

3. Maintain a proper balance on the angelic realm
Having been involved with or having interacted with various Christians from many denominational and theological persuasions, there are two ditches people fall into when it comes to the angelic realm:

a. Ignorance.  Some denominations and some theological traditions don't talk about angels, demons or Satan.  The danger of this ditch is viewing life and reality in only physical terms. The urgency for Godly living and fighting the good fight of faith presuppose the existence of Two Kingdoms: the far greater and ultimate kingdom of God and the lesser and dangerous kingdom of darkness. To be ignorant of the angelic realm means ignorance of the supernatural realm, a Christianity that operates with one arm tied behind its back if you will.

b. Obsession. Other groups go to the other extreme and see demons behind every bush. They blame everything bad on the Devil. When the ditch of obsession over the angelic realm occurs, Christianity can skirt close to paganism by giving angels too much prominence.  

To see these two general attitudes, walk into the average Christian bookstore or listen to the topics being preached in more well-known pulpits.  It seems to me (at least in the circles I operate), that the tendency would be more in the ignorant direction.  Our culture is unusually pre-occupied by mostly the demonic side (and a skewed view at that) or operating in a paganized view of angels and demons.  We as believers need to be aware of what the Bible teaches in order to moderate our priority of the angelic realm.  

4. Mandate of scripture: The study of the angels is indeed practical
In the opening verse of today's blog I mentioned Hebrews 13:2 which commands Christians to exercise hospitality. Why? Because among other things, we may be entertaining angels unawares.  Reference to angels is listed among the very practical topics of Hebrews 13:1-4 such as loving the brethren (13:1); hospitality (13:2); visiting prisoners (13:3) and marriage (13:4). 

Certainly in other passages such as 2 Corinthians 13:4-5 and Ephesians 6:10-18, knowledge of the angelic realm can be useful in practical everyday Christian life. In 2 Peter 2:4, mention is made of the cosmic rebellion of the angels who followed after Lucifer in his bid to attempt a coup against God as recorded elsewhere in scripture (isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28; Revelation 12:4). Now why does Peter bring to the reader's minds the angelic realm along with other examples of rescuing Noah out of the flood and Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? The inclusion of the angelic realm is to demonstrate the universality of the principle laid out in 2 Peter 2:9 "then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment." In ways not fully explained, God preserved the holy angels from further corruption by casting out Satan and the fallen angels. Likewise God also preserved Noah, and Lot and thus preserves Christians today living in this godless world. (Philippians 2:15-16) Peter sees the practicality of including knowledge of the angelic realm in the exercising of ourselves in Godly living. So studying the angelic realm is important because of its massiveness in the scripture, major scale of spiritual warfare, maintain a proper balance in our view of the supernatural and the mandate from scripture to be more aware of the the invisible realm. But now lets consider one more practical reason for studying the angelic realm...

5. Majesty of God is reinforced in our hearts and minds by the study of angels
Perhaps the most important reason to study angelology, demonology and satanology is due to how each subject in one way or another points to God's glory.  Satan for sure is the chief adversary of God and His people, however knowing that He was defeated at the cross shows the glory of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8).  For sure the demonic realm can certainly discourage and afflict God's people, however knowing that nothing, not even they, can separate us from the love of God actually points the way to the majesty of God's love. (Romans 8:37-39) Satan's far lesser kingdom functions as a black cloth to highlight the far greater Kingdom of God.  In God's Sovereignty He permits Satan to carry out his diabolic schemes so that in the end, His glory is shown in even greater proportion. (Philippians 2) Angels (the good ones) function in relationship to God like rays of light do for the sun.  The rays of the sun lead the viewer back to their point of origin - the sun.  Likewise the good angels continually point believers back to the glory and majesty of God.  In fact the angels of heaven are termed "fellow servants" with the saints of God (Revelation 19:10)

Closing thoughts:
We have taken the time to briefly sketch out what the Bible has to tell the reader about the angelic realm - good, bad and ugly. The aim was to express practically why anyone would study angels. The last reason especially will be the motive for the next upcoming posts on how angels function in pointing the way to the greatness of God. I hope and pray the reader will return tomorrow as we launch this new series. 
Endnotes:

1. Charles Hodge. Systematic Theology - Volume 1. WM. B Eerdmans. 1965 edition. Page 637 
Dr. Charles Hodge was a professor of theology at Princeton Seminary in the late nineteenth century.  Before Princeton went liberal in the late 1920's, it had been known for years as a bastion of Bible believing orthodoxy.  At Princeton, three theologians were noteworthy for their contributions to conservative bible believing Christianity from the 1880's-1920's: Charles Hodge, B.B Warfield and J. Greshem Machen. Dr. Hodge wrote a three volume work on Systematic Theology that to this day is a standard reference work for any and every subject in the field. 

2. Any Bible concordance will aid you greatly and there are number available to purchase at either a Christian Bookstore, Lifeway.com, Amazon.com or CBD (Christian Book Distributors).  Some of the ones I have found helpful are: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (based of KJV) and NASB Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (based of NASB text).  Most of the major English versions have their own concordances as well, such as the ESV (English Standard Version); NLT (New Living Translation); NKJV (New King James Version) and NRSV (New Revised Standard Version). Most of these resources are produced by Zondervan.

Happy Trinity Sunday 2015!

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

Isaiah 6:3 "And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

2 Corinthians 13:11,14 "Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."

Introduction:

Today Christians the world-over are celebrating what is called on the Christian calendar year: "Trinity Sunday". Fred Craddock, John Hayes, Carl Holladay and Gene Tucker explain the purpose of Trinity Sunday on page 300 - their book: "Preaching through the Christian Year - Volume A": "Trinity Sunday was introduced into the liturgical cycle of the church as the celebration of a doctrine. The texts for the day enable the church at worship to reflect upon doctrine, but, more than that, they direct attention to the reality that called forth the doctrine in the first place."

Inasmuch as Baptist people are right to assert the unique authority of the Bible over any creed or confessional statement (including our own Baptist Faith & Message), to ignore the rich Christian heritage of the past 2,000 years hinders more than helps. Furthermore, any opportunity we can take in focusing more on the God of the Bible ought to be done. Finally, as a pastor of a church called "Trinity Baptist Church", it just seems to make sense to have a post today of all days that celebrates the Trinity! With those thoughts in mind, the point of today's post is to simply express what Southern Baptists believe about the Trinity, with the hope of showing how awesome God is and how much we, along with all other Trinitarian Christian bodies, affirm this most precious of truths. Below is the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 article on the Trinity, with army-loads of scripture for those desiring to dig further into exploration of the Trinity. The entire Baptist Faith & Message can be found at http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp To God be the glory and happy Trinity Sunday!

The Southern Baptist belief in the Triune God, as taken from Article 2 of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000

1. One God

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

A. God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11;23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17;1 John 5:7.

B. God the Son

"Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord."

Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33;16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38;11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11;Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15;5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.

C. God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6;Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16;4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.