Ministering Spirits

 

The book of Hebrews speaks of the superiority of God’s revelation to humanity through Christ. We saw that in the first three verses of chapter one. As we continue to work our way through Hebrews, we will see Christ’s superiority to angels, His superiority to Moses, His superiority to the Levitical priesthood, and the superiority of the new covenant to the Old Covenant.

 

Today we look at Christ’s superiority over angels. Our primary text comes from verse 14 of this first chapter, but I will read the entire chapter for context: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited 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 a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me”?

 

And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says, “Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.” But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.” And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; They will perish, but You remain; And they all will become old like a garment, And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end.” But to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” 

 

When we talk about angels it’s vital that we maintain a biblical worldview during our discussions. Indeed, when we talk about anything related to our lives on earth and after death – maintaining a biblical perspective is critical to our spiritual health, our spiritual safety, and to the eternal destiny of our souls and the souls of those whom we love.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). When we say God created all things, it means He created ALL things – whether visible or invisible – including the supernatural beings called ‘angels.’

 

Let me say that again for emphasis so we are clear: God created all the supernatural Beings we call angels. They are not eternal. Only God – whom we know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – only God is eternal.

 

Scripture identifies two categories of angels: holy angels and fallen angels. It’s important to understand that when God created the angels, they were ALL holy angels. But scripture records that one of the holy angels named Lucifer rebelled against his creator and sought to dethrone God from His throne. We find in Isaiah this text about Lucifer (Hebrew: Light-bearer), “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God . . .‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ (Isaiah 14:13-14)

 

We find reference to Satan in Ezekiel 28:12-17: “You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God . . You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you . . . “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.”

I don’t want to spend more time talking about the enemy of our souls than is necessary, but I continue a bit longer because we must be reminded not only of Satan’s existence, but also of his powerful influence in the affairs of men and women, and his strategies for our eternal destruction. Without a keen awareness of Satan’s activities, we render ourselves and our loved ones defenseless against his deadly attacks.

And while on the subject of Satan’s power to influence, it’s important to note that Satan was able to convince 1/3 of God’s holy Angels – supernatural Beings who lived in the very presence of Almighty God, Beings surrounded by the love of God, by the glory of God, by the beauty of God – Satan convinced 1/3 of them to also rebel against their Creator. (see Revelation 12:4).

Let me pause a moment to reiterate what I just said. Satan was able to persuade 1/3 of the holy angels living in heaven to rebel against God. So, don’t think for a moment that he cannot persuade humans to do the same. The history of planet earth overflows with blood-soaked evidence of that tragic and ongoing reality. And the histories of many of our families also give mournful testimony of the devil’s ability to influence man and women away from God.

 

Regarding also Satan’s ability to influence humanity to rebel against God and His commandments, consider how he has perverted and corrupted the gifts God has given us, for example, in the areas of human sexuality and marriage.

 

The most recent National Survey of Family Growth, done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and completed in 2019, has found that 43 percent of evangelical Protestants ages 15 to 22 said they definitely or probably would cohabit in the future. More than two-thirds of evangelicals ages 29 to 49 had cohabited at least once. And 53 percent of evangelical Protestants currently in their first marriage cohabited with each other prior to being legally wed. And just to be clear, to ‘cohabit’ in this context is synonymous with committing fornication – a damnable sin, unless remedied by repentance.

 

Furthermore, according to a recent Pew Research survey of Americans who identify as Christian, 54% believe homosexuality should be accepted, rather than discouraged, by society – another damnable sin, unless remedied by repentance.

  

Do you begin to understand how successful the Dark Forces of hell have been to seduce men and women away from God’s light?

 

We should also look at yet another example of Satan’s strategy to move people toward disobedience to God and His commandments – and this one has to do with the commemorations the Christian Church has given us as a means of remembering and reflecting on God’s goodness, His holiness, His love, and His commandments.

 

The Church originally celebrated ‘Christ’s Mass’ – which was shortened to ‘Christmas’ – the Church celebrated Christmas as a day to remember the birth of the Savior in that little town of Bethlehem. But Satan hijacked Christmas and corrupted its original intent so that the day is often now synonymous with Santa Claus and reindeer, and scant thought (if any at all) about Jesus.

 

Easter is another holy day perverted by the devil. What originally began as a celebration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ now focuses our attention on cute bunnies and chocolate eggs.

 

And, since we are so close to the holy day that used to be called ‘All Hallows Eve’ and its companion, ‘All Saints Day’ – on which Christians used to remember and honor the holy martyrs of the church who died for their Christian testimony – today All Hallows Eve has been perverted into Halloween. Instead of honoring those who died for Christ, witches, ghosts, and black cats rule the night of Halloween.

 

Please hear this: By diverting our attention from the holiness of the original holy days, Satan has desensitized men, women, AND children – to the love of God AND what should also be the FEAR of and REVERENCE to God.

 

So – application time. God knows the spiritual danger we all face in this life and has provided us with spiritual protection through His Word, His Holy Spirit, and, as we shall see in a moment, through His holy angels.

 

THEREFORE, we ought to conduct our lives strictly according to God’s word. What that means regarding the evil spirit world is we MUST avoid everything that opens our soul to demonic seduction and danger. That includes, as I spoke of earlier in this message, it means turning our backs on the culture’s current means of celebrating All Hallows Eve – now called Halloween. Living according to God’s instructions also means we avoid reading our horoscopes. It means not caring a whit if our birthday falls under the pagan sign of Gemini, or Aries, or Virgo, or whatever. Those pagan symbols are demonic at their very source. Leave them alone.

 

Conducting ourselves according to God’s word means we don’t mess with occult and paranormal so-called ‘games’ such as Tarot cards, and Ouija boards. Living according to God’s word means we don’t watch horror movies that depict supernatural evil – of which there are dozens and dozens available on Prime and other streaming services. Remember, God tells us through the apostle Paul: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12). The Greek word Paul used for ‘struggle’ denotes a wrestling contest between two people and which is decided when the victor can hold his opponent down with his hand on his neck.

I say all this by way of guidance. Our role as parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts – whatever – our role is to help our families live biblically in this fallen culture.

 

Now we turn attention to the other category of angels: God’s holy angels.

Scripture gives us only glimpses into their supernatural realm, but what God’s word DOES tell us is sufficient for us to know what God wants us to know about the holy angels.

 

First, angels worship God. And it ought to seem incomprehensible if they would not worship Him. He surrounds them with His incredible beauty, intimate warmth, His light, His tenderness, His love.

 

Have you ever stopped to stare at a rainbow and get lost for a moment or two in its beauty? Have you ever been awed by a sunset when it painted the sky with pastel yellows and reds and blues? Have you ever been so touched by a symphonic orchestra that tears came to your eyes?  

 

Angels live in the ineffable presence of God’s incomprehensible love and in the midst of heaven’s sights and sounds of beauty – sights and sounds that far exceed anything we have ever experienced on earth. As St Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: “Things which eye has not seen ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

 

No wonder angels worship. And when we see and hear and sense the glories of heaven, we also will worship as we have never been able to worship in this life.

 

Now, moving on, the writer to the Hebrews tells us angels are ministers of God sent by Him to serve those who will inherit salvation. In what ways to they serve the child of God? Well, for one thing, angels are God’s messengers. They obediently deliver to us words from the Father. Angels usually appear as ordinary humans. That’s why Hebrews tells us: (Hebrews 13:2) “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

 

They appeared in physical form, in Genesis 18 to Abraham and Sarah. An angel appeared to Zechariah with a message about the birth of John the Baptizer. An angel appeared to Mary with the message that she would be the mother of Messiah Jesus. Angels physically appeared to Jacob, and Gideon, Samson’s parents, to Peter and to Paul. There are many other examples, but for the sake of time, we will stop here.

 

Angels also wage spiritual battle for us, fighting against the forces of spiritual darkness – fighting as only THEY can battle. We find such references in Daniel 10, Ephesians 6, and Jude 1. Angels execute God’s judgment on nations and people who persist in rebellion against God. For example, when Pharaoh refused to let God’s people leave Egypt, God sent an angel to kill every firstborn son (see Exodus 12). Herod was killed by an angel in Acts 12 because of his persistent evil and rebellion. And God sends angels to rain destruction on all of humanity in Revelation chapters 8-10.

 

God uses angels to protect us. As the Psalmist tells us: “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them.” (Psalm 34:7) We see that played out in the story of Lot, when angels dragged him and his family from Sodom before its destruction (see Genesis 19). We see it in the story of Elisha in 2 Kings 6 when the Arameans surrounded the city of Dothan.

 

As we live biblically with God’s holy angels, Scripture provides some clear guidelines as to our interaction with them. Essentially – those guidelines tell us to ‘stay in our own lane.”  What I mean by that is, first, we don’t seek them. We don’t pray to them. We don’t honor them. We don’t initiate conversations with them. And we don’t have the right to name any angel, including our so-called ‘Guardian’ angel. Throughout Scripture, naming a person or a thing meant having authority over it. For example, Adam gave names to all the animals (Genesis 2). Parents give names to their children.

God never gives us the authority to name HIS angels.

 

We seek Christ and Him alone. Not angels. Christ alone is the focus of our prayers, our honor, and our conversations. To do ANYTHING different is to open our spirits to the dark forces I’ve already mentioned. St Paul was not joking when he told the Corinthian Christians: (2 Corinthians 11:14b-15) “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” 

 

And 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 – “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

 

As I said at the beginning of this message, when we talk about angels – or indeed, when we talk about anything related to how we ought to live our lives – it’s vital that we maintain a biblical perspective. To do otherwise opens our spirits to enormous spiritual danger.

 

Seek Christ alone. Not people. Not angels. No one but Christ. Obey His Word in all things. And give Him thanks for the protection He provides moment by moment through His holy angels, sent by Him to serve those who will inherit salvation.

 

Next week I want us to move into chapter two and this text: “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”

 

 

 

Purification of Sins

 

Today’s text once again comes from the first few verses of Hebrews chapter one: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 

 

A few weeks ago, as I began thinking about the messages I plan to bring from the book of Hebrews, I didn’t realize that today’s text which speaks of Christ’s purification of sin would dovetail with the Biblical holy day of Yom Kippur (also known as the Day of Atonement). Yom Kippur, as some of you may know, is the highest of holy days in Jewish faith. It falls on a different day each fall because – like Ash Wednesday, Passover, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday (Easter) – it follows the lunar calendar and not the solar calendar.

 

This year, Yom Kippur fell on this past Wednesday, October 1. I’ve preached about Yom Kippur before, and I do it again today because repetition is a good method to retain information. As St Peter wrote to his readers (2 Peter 1:12-15): “I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them.”

 

There is a scientific reason for the use of repetition. Studies on what is called the ‘forgetting curve’ demonstrate that people typically forget approximately 50% of new information within one hour. Within 24 hours they’ve forgotten 70% of new information. They’ve lost up to 90% within a week. This rapid decline in memory retention underscores the need for effective reinforcement methods – and those include repetition. That’s why teachers told us to ‘study’ for our tests. And Luther was spot on when he said: “We need to hear the gospel every day because we forget it every day.”

Thus, the reason for today’s review of things we’ve heard and read before. This information is important to our understanding and our confidence in our purification of our sins in God’s eyes.

 

As I just said, the Day of Atonement is the highest holy day in the Jewish faith. It’s the day when many Jews – even non-observant Jews – call to mind their sins and make an appeal to God for forgiveness. This last point is important because Jews – as well as Christians – know that only God can forgive sins committed against Him; And as we all should know, ALL sin, small and big and in between – all sins are ultimately against God and His commandments. Anyone who questions that needs only to take a few minutes to read the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 20 and the Lord’s commandments in His sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters five through seven.

According to the Books of Moses, on the Day of Atonement the high priest received two sacrificial animals from the people. One he slaughtered, catching its blood in a basin and then sprinkled it on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.

 

That lid was called the “Mercy Seat.” The Hebrew word for Mercy Seat translates to the Greek word used by the New Testament writers – propitiation – which means “to a make atonement for sins and remove the associated judgment for those sins.” Propitiation is how God’s wrath against the sinner because of their sins is appeased, satisfied, pacified.

 

The high priest then took the second sacrificial animal, placed both his hands on its head and thereby transferred ALL the sins of the people. The ‘scapegoat’ (as it was called) was then led out into the desert, never to be seen again. 

 

In other words, on Yom Kippur, God not only covered the people’s sins with the blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, but He also showed them by the Scapegoat that He was removing their sins from their midst, just as the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 103, He removed the penitent’s sins “as far as the east is from the west.”

 

The events of the Day of Atonement was a picture of what God would do 1400 years later on Good Friday when He transferred the sins of the world – including yours and mine – onto His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Jesus filled the role of the sacrificed animal when He spilled His blood on the cross to cover our sins. AND Messiah Jesus filled the role of the scapegoat who took our sins as far from us as east is from the west.

 

So, in this, and in many other portions and many other ways, God promised humanity a means by which our sins could be purified, purged, completely erased. He promised us an ‘Etch-A-Sketch’ clean over a Magic Slate clean.

Some of you will remember that illustration I used several months ago. I repeat the illustration for the sake of those here who have not heard it.

 

The Magic Slate is a stiff piece of cardboard about 8 inches wide and maybe 12 inches high. The center of the cardboard is covered with a black waxy film which is then overlaid by a thin translucent sheet. When you write on the sheet with a stylus, the black wax behind it causes marks to appear on the thin overlay. To erase what you wrote, you just lift the translucent film, and all the writing disappears. But you don’t have to look too closely at the black wax underneath to see the indentations of the stylus on the black wax. They are always there.

By contrast, the Etch-A-Sketch is a box of approximately the same length and height as the Magic Slate, but the box has a glass screen coated on the underside with a metallic powder. The box had two knobs, one on the left and one on the right. By turning the knobs, a stylus under the glass moved across the screen either horizontally or vertically and causes marks to appear in the powder under the glass. To erase the marks, the user simply turns the box upside down and shakes it. Doing so causes the lines to completely disappear. But unlike the Magic Slate, the stylus DOES NOT leave any depressions on the glass. Once erased, the user has a completely clean surface on which to write.

When it comes to God's forgiveness of our confessed sins, Christians fall into two general categories of thought. I call them the ‘Magic Slate’ and the ‘Etch-A-Sketch’ categories. Those in the Magic Slate category think that when they confess their sins to God that He ‘lifts’ the translucent film and our sins disappear. But – and to keep the metaphor – God can always see the traces of those sins still embedded in the black wax.

However – and this is the KEY difference – the Magic Slate ‘removal of sins’ is completely contrary to the way the totality of scriptures describes how God treats our confessed sins. When God forgives sins – the Greek word used by the New Testament writers means to ‘remit’ our sins – when God remits our confessed sins, He treats them as if they’d been written on an Etch-A-Sketch. When we confess our sins, God turns the Etch-A-Sketch upside down – again, to keep the metaphor – and gives it a mighty shake.

When Jesus made ‘purification of our sins’ He turned the instrument right side up again, and every trace of our sins – let me say that again for emphasis – EVERY trace of our sins was gone. Completely erased even from God's memory because He CHOOSES to erase those sins from His memory.

The prophet Micah tells us God casts our sins into the depths of the deepest oceans (see Micah 7:19). And in Jeremiah’s prophecy (31:34), God promises the penitent: “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

Focus a moment on that last clause: “I will remember their sin no more.”  That means YOUR sin, my sin – everyone whose sins are atoned for, they are ‘Etch-A-Sketch’ removed – they are PURIFIED by the blood-washed sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God. God remembers our sins ‘no more.’

That’s one reason the idea of Purgatory is so profoundly false. The penitent Christian has nothing to fear of further purging of their sins after death because in God’s eyes, those sins no longer exist.

 

But there is even more good news: Because Jesus made purification of sins – even sins for which the Christian is unaware – even THOSE sins are purified by the Son of God. And THAT forgiveness is also pre-figured by Moses in this passage related to the Day of Atonement.  For example, in referencing Leviticus 5:17-18, the writer to the Hebrews, assures the Christian: “Now when these things have been so prepared [meaning the elements of the Tabernacle], the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year [on Yom Kippur], not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. (Hebrews 9:6-7)

 

God's incomprehensible mercy displayed on Yom Kippur is a picture of the incalculable mercy He would display some 1400 years later on Good Friday. Yom Kippur and Good Friday are evidence that God knows our sin-nature makes it utterly impossible to free ourselves from the penalty of our sins – that penalty being eternal separation from God and eternal death.

 

Now, all of this raises a logical question: Since, as we’ve already seen, all sins we commit are sins against God, how could Jesus forgive those sins which only God can forgive?

 

Well, let’s turn for a moment to Matthew chapter nine. When Jesus was about to heal the paralytic, He told the religious leaders present: “So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” (Matthew 9:6)

 

How could Jesus forgive sins committed against God? The answer is simple: Because Jesus IS God. Jesus is God incarnate. Jesus is God who took the form of a man. The Scriptures give abundant and repeated evidence of that truth. That’s why in this text I quoted from Matthew the religious leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy because they knew Jesus was claiming to be God.

 

As for Christ’s deity, look again at the very context of today’s text about Jesus making purification of sins: “God . . has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and upholds all things by the word of His power.”

 

When the writer tells us Jesus is the exact representation, the Greek word means He is the ‘precise reproduction’ of God in every respect.” One commentary explains it this way: “He is one who has the whole nature of God in him.”

 

In other words, God is utterly holy, and therefore Jesus is utterly holy. God is omnipotent, therefore Jesus is omnipotent. God is eternal from before time began, therefore Jesus is eternal before time began.

 

You will remember some of the profound statements He made to His followers and to His enemies. For example, (John 10:30) “I and the Father are one.” And (John 14:9) “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

 

The writer of Hebrews is simply reiterating what we find elsewhere in Scripture about the deity of Jesus. For example, “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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men . . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1-4, 15)

 

Look also at Isaiah, 700 years before Jesus was born in that little town of Bethlehem: “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

 

And yet again, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He [i.e. God] Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives . . . Therefore, He [i.e. God] had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation [atonement] for the sins of the people.  (Hebrews 2:14-15, 17)

 

For millennia, Satan has tried and continues to try to conceal the plain truth of Jesus’ deity so as to bring the deceived away from God’s Truth and imprison them in error and, ultimately, the Lake of Fire. The history of the Church underscores Satan’s strategy. The earliest heresies are called heresies because they denied the full deity and the simultaneous full humanity of Jesus.

 

That’s also why modern so-called ‘churches’ are rightly called heretical cults, such as The Church of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) and Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are heretical because they deny the deity of Jesus. They claim Jesus was a created being.

 

So, as I conclude this message, let’s go back to our text. When Jesus made purification of sins, the Greek word means to purge, to cleanse, to totally remove the sinners guilt before God. That’s what Jesus meant when He said from that cross, “It is finished.” 

Jesus paid with His life’s blood the penalty our sins deserved. He was our propitiatory sacrifice. His sacrificial death appeased the righteous wrath of God against our sins. And in appeasing God’s wrath, Jesus reconciled God’s enemies – you and me – and brought the Christian into intimate and loving relationship with our Creator.

 

THAT is why there is no other name under all of heaven given to us whereby we MUST be saved, because only the incarnate God – Jesus – could die for our sins against God.

 

When Scripture says Jesus made purification of our sins, it means exactly that. Jesus wiped our sins from existence itself. The penitent sinner who comes to Jesus for cleansing will have every stain, every shame, every contamination of sin erased forever.

 

No wonder the apostle cried out: (Romans 5:1) “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And later cried out: (2 Corinthians 9:15) “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

 

God Still Speaks - Part One

 

Today’s text comes from the first few verses of Hebrew chapter one: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 

 

In our multicultural, pluralistic culture, to make the claim that Jesus Christ is the ONLY Savior, the ONLY hope for eternal life, the ONLY hope for God’s favor – such a claim nowadays seems to border on what some would call absurd (at best) or hate speech (at worst).

 

But frankly, I for one do not care if others think my unwavering declaration that Jesus is humanity’s ONLY savior, that He is humanity’s ONLY hope for eternal life – I don’t care if others think I am being absurd or if they lie about being hateful.

 

Those who chose unbelief in the days Jesus walked the earth killed Him because He told them things they did not want to hear. And so, today, those who CHOOSE unbelief do the same. Satan hates truth. Satan hates light. And so, the Lord warned His disciples in that first century, as He warns His disciples in 2025: “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹³ You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (Mark 13:12-13).

 

According to a report in 2024 by Open Doors – a global ministry dedicated to serving persecuted Christians – including here in America – more than 4,000 Christians were murdered around the globe because of their beliefs in Christ and His resurrection. Nearly 5,000 were imprisoned. Nearly 8,000 churches and Christian properties were attacked. And Charlie Kirk is only one of the more recent Christians martyred for their bold faith in Christ and their courageous proclamation of God’s truth.

 

And speaking of God’s truth, this is a good place to pause and consider the very idea of God as He describes Himself throughout Scripture, because if He does NOT exist, then there is no infallible and unfailing Truth – absolute truth, unchangeable truth, perfect truth.

 

And that is precisely what atheists, agnostics, and whatever other labels modern scoffers of God and His Truth assign to themselves – that is precisely why such men and women want to believe God doesn’t exist, because if there is no absolute truth – truth to which they are and will be held accountable – then they can live as they choose. And if anyone wonders how a culture looks when led by atheists and agnostics and those who mock God – watch the nightly news for 10 minutes.

 

A favorite excuse many atheists use to soothe their own conscience is that faith in God is a fairytale fit only for old women and small children. They like to tell themselves that intelligent adults have no time for myths.

 

But when they say such things, they simply parrot the ignorance of others who themselves parrot the ignorance of others. However, and to the contrary of what they tell themselves, when any intelligent person with an honest and humble heart seeks to know if God exists, they ALWAYS come away with the answer that converts them to God AND to the Savior, Jesus.

How many of our unbelieving family, friends, and acquaintances know that in the 20^th century, just under 66% of those receiving Nobel awards in physics and medicine were Christians? Nearly 75% of Nobel prize awards in Chemistry went to Christians.

Were those Nobel Prize awardees uneducated and superstitious fools because they believed in God? Really? And I could spend the next hour just listing the names and the contributions to science that Christian men and women have made in the last several centuries, up to and including the 21^st century. Yes, it takes a certain kind of self-blindness to hang on to the irrational excuse that God is the stuff of fairy tales fit only for old women and small children

You meet your share of scoffers and unbelievers in your daily rubbing of shoulders with those at the tables around you at each meal. That’s why I remind you of things I have said here in this sanctuary before: Your faith in God and of His Christ is found to be true by all who seek truth with an honest and humble heart. And let us ever remember what the Lord Jesus said of those who look for excuses to deny Truth:

“Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:19-21)

 

So, let’s go back to that first clause in today’s text: “God, after He spoke long ago to the Fathers . . . .”

 

From the perspective of the writer to the Hebrews, ‘long ago’ had been some 1400 years since Moses wrote the history of creation, the introduction of sin into humanity by Satan, of God’s promise to bring us a savior to break Satan’s chains.

 

I need to repeat that for the emphasis it deserves. It was 1400 years before God finally fulfilled His promise to send a Redeemer, a Savior, a Messiah to humanity trapped by Satan’s chains of sins. That means that for all those 1400 years after Moses wrote his books, generation after generation were born, lived, and died, without seeing the fulfillment of God’s promise of redemption from the grip of sin and the devil.

 

Think for a moment how they must have felt, being among the untold millions of men, women, and children who faithfully lifted their prayers week after week, prayers from the lips of faithful Jews who NEVER saw the fulfillment of God’s promise to establish Messiah’s kingdom. No wonder the disciples asked Jesus just prior to the His ascension, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)

 

Their waiting – indeed, and now OUR waiting for the return of Christ, which has now lasted two thousand years – such delay has given skeptics ammunition to mock those of us who continue to wait for the Lord to fulfill His promise of the second Advent. St. Peter talked about mockers and skeptics in his day. Here is what he wrote:

 

“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4)

 

And besides waiting for Christ’s return, are you tired of waiting for answers to your prayers? It’s no surprise if you are. Our culture has conditioned us since infancy to expect quick results when we want something. But when we do not see the expected results of our prayers – how many just give up – not only praying, but some even walk away from the Lord, thinking He’s not concerned about my prayers.

 

That idea, of course, is utterly preposterous.

 

The first clause in today’s Scripture text ought to give us a better perspective about being PATIENT about God’s timing. And in addition to patience, God teaches us something else in this first clause related to waiting. It also teaches us about trust.

 

God tells His children to trust Him whose plans are bigger and grander than ours. And just as important – JUST as important – we are EACH a PART of that plan.

 

Trusting God is NOT a psychological trick we play on ourselves and gets its vigor from our emotions. Trusting God is an act of the will, an intellectual decision – not an emotional decision. It is an intellectual decision to trust the Sovereign God who spoke the universe into existence and who is so deeply connected to you and me that He knows how many hairs we have on our heads.

He is so connected with us that – as we saw when I preached through Psalm 139: “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. (Psalm 139:13-16)

I’m the first to admit this kind of trust is far easier to say than it is to do when life throws us a wicked curve. It was not that long ago, as some of you know, that I failed miserably to live up to the kind of trust I just told you we should have. When Nancy was in the ICU with a stroke, I melted into a slough of dread and anxiety that plagued me for many weeks.

But the truth is – truth with a capital T – the truth is we can trust our Father in heaven – regardless of how we ‘feel.’ We can trust Him because He really and immeasurably cares for us. For you. For me. Put your name on that statement. The Almighty, omnipotent God profoundly cares for you.

 

Never think your existence or your role in His grand plan for humanity is insignificant. As I spoke last week about what the Lord did with the fish and loaves, we are each an integral part of God’s plan for humanity in general and for specific individuals, in particular.

 

Listen: If we are NOT integral, then we wouldn’t have been born, or been placed in the circumstances in which we find ourselves. If every sheep was not important to the Shepherd, He would not have left the 99 safely in the corral and gone looking for the one lost sheep.

 

Yes, YOU are important. But – and this too is critical – just because you and I are important to God’s work, that does NOT mean our role in His plan will be easy. Or comfortable. May God help us adopt the kind of attitude of the apostle Paul. While a prisoner of Rome for his faith, Paul wrote this to the church at Philippi:

“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. . . .

 

A few verses later he shares with his readers about his expectation and hope that – the end of verse 20: “Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. (Philippians 1:12-20)

The apostle had the same nature as any other person. He had his own set of sins, of fears, of joys, and sorrows, and frustrations. He was, at a fundamental level, just as human as you and I. But he made a decision, an act of the will, that whatever the circumstances, he wanted Jesus to be exalted in his body – whether that meant life or death. It didn’t matter, so long as Jesus was exalted.

 

May God help us to develop such an attitude, that whether in health or illness, poverty or riches, loneliness or surrounded by loved ones, freedom or imprisonment, fear or security – whatever our circumstances, God has permitted them – or in some cases actually brought them to us – so that, because of our TRUST in our Father’s love for us, Jesus Christ will be exalted through our lives and others will be drawn to Him.

Let’s go back now to the text. The writer tells us God spoke to the Fathers in many diverse ways. And Scripture certainly confirms that. For example,

“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2)

 

God has spoken through shepherds and kings, priests and paupers, farmers and tentmakers, fishermen and physicians. He declared His words through men and women who were well-known, little-known, and unknown.

 

He speaks through His creation of man and woman. Any high school biology textbook illustrates with photos and maps of the intricacy of the human cell – not to mention the astounding complexity of the entire human body.

 

But as is true today, we find throughout the old and new testaments that only a few truly listened and obeyed what God spoke. Only a remnant cared enough about God’s loving embrace to follow what He told them thought the prophets and apostles. Here is only one of dozens of sad accounts recorded for us. You will find this one in 2 Chronicles 36:15-16:

 

“The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.”

 

Why do we think so many, even among those who warm a pew each week, why would they continue to travel the broad way to the wide gate that leads to destruction? Why do very few choose the narrow road and the small gate that leads to life?

 

Perhaps because the narrow road and the small gate are arduous. Anyone who has ever given more than lip service to an obedient and holy lifestyle knows how arduous the road is. It is much easier to live in sin than it is to be holy. It is much easier to find reasons to NOT obey Jesus than it is to faithfully follow Him.

 

And so, it remains true: In these last days, God has spoken His final and unalterable word about sin, righteousness, judgment, eternal life and eternal torment. And He has spoken His truth to us through His Son.

 

For good reason, the apostle Peter told the religious leaders of his day: “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

 

Peter was simply restating what the Lord Jesus had said earlier to the crowds of laity and clergy: “Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24) Then later to His disciples: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

 

That’s why I don’t care if unbelievers think what I am saying about Jesus is absurd or if they lie and call it hate speech. There is no one else who can save us from the wrath of God toward us for our sins. No one but Jesus. Not Buddha. Not Muhammed. Not Moses, not our good works or good intentions. Nothing and no one in all history can save us from the eternal Lake of Fire. Only Jesus can do that. Only Jesus can save us.

 

Do not ever be ashamed of that unique Truth – capital ‘T’ – in a pluralistic world racing toward the eternal damnation. You and I are created by God to exalt Him, to be an integral part of His plan of redemption, of reconciliation for sinners who WANT to be reconciled. And our part is wrapped and sealed in the unique truth of Jesus Christ.

 

That’s why Paul proclaimed on the streets and in the towns and villages of his own pagan, pluralistic, and polytheistic culture: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the [Gentile].”  (Romans 1:16)

God has spoken. God continues to speak. And He has ENTRUSTED us with His message of hope and the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ.

When God said in Isaiah’s hearing: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Isaiah answered, “Here am I. Send me!”

May God please change our hearts to become increasingly willing to answer God’s question with the same answer: “Here am I. Send me.”