TEXT - Hebrews 12:22.
"But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels."
This is a wonderful gift given to the Church. These angels enjoy working for the saints of the Lord. We see and
meditate on the devotion and dedication that they do for mankind, they are from a group of sinless, eternal beings, that are higher than man, because man is made a little lower than the angels. They also know that it is in God's plan to give man glory that will place him above the angels of the creation, and yet they go about their work in happiness, because they want to see the glory of God placed upon mankind so that Satan can be defeated. We have to go about our Christian life in that same way. We have to not become elevated and high-minded. We have to see others who are downtrodden and we have to hope and help them to not only come up to our elevation, but if possible, above.
The access of these angels to be in our life, came about through the ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, and that was shown very clearly when Jacob had the dream of the staircase that went from the throne of
God and down to earth, and he saw angels ascending and descending doing work in this world for God. That
staircase is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is now the intercessor. As He hung on the cross between
heaven and earth, that cross and the sacrifice that He made, became a staircase between earth and God, and the
angels could then ascend and descend, and they could give many benefits to mankind. As a workforce we enjoy
our work and give of our best when certain conditions apply. And so it would appear with the angels of God.
Christ spoke about this, and He said that if you are ashamed of me in this life, then my Father and the angels will also be ashamed of you.
We see the first step. We must never be ashamed of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We must never be
ashamed of His role, of His blessings, of what He stands for. We must never be ashamed to confess to others
that as Christians, we are baptised into His book of Life, and that we do value Him highly as The Saviour to
mankind. How many of us would enjoy working for somebody who was ashamed of us? We also hear that
Christ spoke of how these angels can be told of us, where He said, "that if you will testify and speak of me in this life and my ways, then I will testify of you before My Father and the angels." If we live life as a testimony of Christ's life and are prepared to show that we pray through this intercessor and that we are happy to work for the Lord and testify by our deeds. If we stand up for all of those things in this life that are Godly, then each time we do that our name is broadcast before the angels. In our own workplace we prefer to work for someone who will give us some recognition. So it is with the angels.
Christ spoke of another way. We know that in the workplace if we are joyful, then we enjoy doing our job. Christ said, "I tell you there is more rejoicing before God and the angels for one repenting sinner then there is for ninety nine righteous. " If we umble ourselves and repent and ask the Lord to forgive us, then we become a repenting sinner. In joy then those angels can minister unto us. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Know ye not that the angels are ministering spirits for the heirs of salvation." To be a heir of salvation, we must look to the salvation of our soul and we become heirs when we are baptised and then have the right to be redeemed from the original sin, to be reconciled with God, and work out our salvation through the Holy Spirit's workings.
Apostle Peter writes that the mysteries of God that are preached unto us by the Holy Ghost, are things that the angels desire to look into. We see by this that they will be close to those that attend where this preaching is done. Angels have great power. When Daniel went into the lion's den, he prayed to God to protect him, and an angel came and held the mouth of the lions. Many times we put ourselves in the lion's den, and if we pray to God, this gift of administering angels will come unto us and protect us. Apostles Peter and John learned of the power of angels, where they were cast into prison and an angel came and ordered them to stand up and move out and go and teach in the temple. He had the power to take them out of prison.
We often allow ourselves to be locked into things in this life and we think that there is no way out, but if we pray to the Almighty God through our intercessor and He sends but one angel, He can take us out of those positions. When we become depressed in this life with the cares of this world, we lock ourselves in a prison and are depressed and think there is no way out, remember if we pray to God through our intercessor, this gift of an angel will come, and it will work within us and the power and strength will tell us to stand up and make a stand against that which is ruining our lives. It is well for us to set in place the environment to allow these angels to work and minister for us in this life, for we read of the great day that our Lord returns, "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." We should review how we are accepting the gifts from our intercessor, as we do not want to offend the gift giver.
APOSTLE CLIFF FLOR
NORTH QUEENSLAND
TEXT – Matthew 12:25
"And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shal1 not stand: "
All of us at some time or other have stood before a locked door and been forced to turn away. Sometimes we may have experienced the people were at home, but in the course of our conversation with them we discovered their thoughts were elsewhere. St. Augustin admitted to God, "You were with me, but unfortunately I was
not with you. "
Those who are unable to concentrate their thoughts are unable to conduct their lives in an orderly manner, and are prevented thereby from effectually serving their Lord. The Philosopher Nietzsche wrote, "When I hear the pealing of the Church bel1s I am reminded they are ringing because of a Jew who lived 2,000 years ago and was supposed to have been the Son of God, which, however, has never been proved." This man certainly was unable to concentrate his thoughts. In vain did the pealing of the bells invite his soul to dedicate itself to their way and goal.
How different was the heart's attitude of the servant girl who, six years after she had left her employment, sent a note back to her former employers telling them she had become a Christian and enclosing 6 Marks in payment for a pair of shoes she had stolen from them. This young girl had concentrated her thoughts and taken
a positive and definite step to set her affairs in order. Such action leads to the development of a strong and joyful spiritual 1ife. It would have been only too easy to erase the matter from her memory - draw a line through it and console herself with the thought that those people would have forgotten all about the shoes by that time, and in any case, they did not know she had stolen them.
In the conscience of that young girl it was however clearly written black on white what she had done, and she mustered the courage to grasp the bull by the horns and set the matter right. There are those people who waste their time peeping through the curtains to see what their neighbours are up to. They are so preoccupied with poking their noses into other peoples business that they neglect to care properly for their own affairs. As Christians we must possess the courage of our convictions and put that into practice what we believe.
The measuring rod, the pacemaker, is not without but within us. It is pointless to hang our cross around our necks or a badge on our lape1s to show the world that we are an Apostolic Christian, much more to the point it is to carry within our hearts and souls the nature and love of Him of whom the cross is but the outward sign.
It is pointless to be happy in other peoples homes if we are unable to find peace in our own home. Such an attitude would leave us far removed from the condition which Paul experienced in the home of Stephanas, where its occupants were said to have dedicated themselves to the ministry of the saints. 1 Cor.16:15.
He who thinks he can live a purely material existence in this world and ignore the spiritual side of his being is only fooling himself. If such a person would shut himself away from the rat race of this world and sit in quiet meditation he would speedily become aware of the enslaved and neglected condition of his sou1. The soul
hungers unspokenly for the Spirit of Him whose spark is the illumination of it.
The famous hymn “Jesus, Lover of my Soul", te11s us all in its words - Our soul can never be complete without Him.
LATE APOSTLE RUDOLF LUDWIG
GERMANY
TEXT - Isaiah 54:16.
"Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire,and that bringeth forth an instrument for his
work; and I have created the waster to destroy."
We see herein words of comfort and words of strength, for no gift that is given unto us of God is given willy-nilly. These gifts are all regulated as the prophet said, that God created the smithy which burns a furnace and he
blows into those coals of fire, and out of that without using his hands, for we know a blacksmith takes the steel
and moulds it, but through the breath of God and blowing into these coals of fire which are the Holy Spirit and
the Power of God, instruments are made instantly for the workings of the Almighty God through His Son, our
Lord and Sviour Jesus Christ. If we do not accept these coals of fire that come into our lives, these burning
desires that tell us we must labour for the Lord, and that then asks us to seek out diligently, those gifts that have
been given us, we are turning our back on this great power that can make instruments by the mere breath, and at
that stage then there should be fear, for if we turn our back on one with so much power, we can easily see what
our Lord meant when He said that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and that will come about because we will then understand that we were given this opportunity to work for the Lord and be His instrument, and we turned it down.
The prophet gave great strength, that no matter what comes against those who take up this challenge that those
enemies will become as nothing, as they will not persevere, for the workings of the Lord is founded in
righteousness, and the righteousness of the Lord is the one who is doing these workings. He gave us this great
promise that this is the heritage of all servants of the Lord. It is a time of reviewing those gifts that have been
given unto us, the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are diverse and many. Some are gifted to be able to work in the
ministry, all are gifted in some way by the gifts or fruits of the Holy Ghost in love and joy and peace and long
suffering, in charity, we are gifted in the riches of this world that we can put towards the saving of the souls of
others - all of these things are the workings of the Church and they have to all be done in equality. No one is
greater than anyone else. Many have a greater obligation for they have been given greater gifts.
Everyone of us who is baptised in the name of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost is given a gift, and we then have to apply our minds to wisdom and we have to seek that gift out, and above all we have to then work. We should not be fearful. We should only be fearful if we turn our backs on that obligation, as the Lord in His parable said that at the end, it will be taken from us and given to someone who already has plenty. And so it is with the Word of God. The Word of God never falls on deaf ears. If we reject the Word of God then a greater strength goes to another, and they then become more understanding of the wisdom of God through the blessings of God.
We live in a period of time where the prophet saw a temple being built. We are in the rebuilding period of time of this spiritual temple of God, for the original temple fell in disarray because the order of God was taken away. We have to work in this rebuilding and there are many lessons to be learnt from the building of the original temple of the Jewish nation by King Solomon. We can imagine the great challenge and fear that he had, for he confessed that he was only but as a child when the Lord told him he had to build this temple. If we read the history of this temple we will find that it was all laid out - the size, the height, the width, how it should be built, what should be in it, and the site where it should be built, which was on this hill in Jerusalem and when he looked at that hill he saw that the top of it was not large enough to fit that temple. Now he could have taken the way of man and reduced the size of the temple to fit the site, but he knew in fear of God, that God's word must be obeyed and God had a plan for that temple to be that size, so firstly he had to call upon many thousands of helpers who voluntarily gave up their time and came to that place and tore down that hill with picks and shovels. They laboured diligently for the Lord. They moved a mountain to make it the right size to build God's temple.
Today we see as we are called to go out into labour, many people building the temple to suit the size of the land on which they stand. That is not God's will. God requires this to be a world wide temple. "Out of every kindred and every nation and every tongue", and to achieve that, mountains have to be brought down, areas prepared so that rooms and wings of this temple can be built in those places, and once again it requires a mighty effort from those servants of God, and those efforts are now standing with us today. If we are prepared to put our shoulder to the wheel, contribute through the gifts that we have, then each of us will only labour a little, but collectively it will achieve the site prepared for the building of the temple of God, for it is God who builds this temple of living stones through those vessels prepared by the blowing of the fire through the furnace and creating those people who will be able to labour for the Lord. For those that accept the challenge shall share the promise “and great shall be the peace of thy children."
APOSTLE CLIFF FLOR
NORTH QUEENSLAND
TEXT - Daniel 1:3-4.
"And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and the king's seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans."
The word science is only mentioned twice in the Bible, once in our textwords and the second time in l.Timothy 6:20, and these two textwords are typical of the foolish contest between so called 'religion’ and 'science'. In our textword we perceive that the godly man Daniel is also a man of science. Apparently there was no conflict in Daniel between his love for God and his scientific knowledge, yet in Timothy the boot is on the other foot, for he was warned by the Apostle Paul to beware of the oppositions of science falsely so called. This statement of the Apostle Paul makes it clear that he thought the scientific oppositions only masqueraded under the name of science.
We should understand that science is the study of God's Creation. What is bad about that? If an artist paints a picture and some people do not even bother themselves lo look at it properly whilst others stop to study and admire his handiwork, with whom is the artist most pleased? Obviously with those who bother themselves to appreciate his work.
When the scientist Galileo used the newly invented telescope to enhance his study of the stars, he soon perceived that the earth and the other planets revolved around the sun, but his joyous and innocent publication of this truth caused only consternation and anger in the established Church of that time, because the ecclesiastics had already decided that the whole universe revolved around the earth. This is not written in the Bible, but nevertheless poor Galileo was threatened with torture and death by the Inquisition if he did not recant his statement, but recanting did not make that which was wrong right and in the end Galilio’s truthful statement triumphed over cruel and misguided religious bigotry.
When we regard the splendor and majesty of God's universe on a clear and starry night and realize how infinitesimally small we are in comparison to the magnitude and vastness of God’s Creation on the cosmic scale, we cannot but be filled with wonder and humility that He who is so great can be so concerned and loving towards us who are so small. The words of that beautiful hymn “How great Thou art!” echo in our ears.
APOSTLE BILL ERRY (Since Retired)
INDIA
TEXT- Proverbs 1-33.
“But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.”
These words from Solomon imply that we have to spend time in our busy lives to learn from Gods words and ways. In any learning there must be a text book. Of course for us that text book is the Bible. Like all text books certain parts teach us special things and some are more relevant to the problem in hand. Some advice on how to approach this text book is as follows.
How to read the Bible.
Some helps are found for the following situations.
Accused wrongfully- 1 Peter 3:16 Knowing God’s will- Proverbs 3: 1-6
Angry and resentful- Ephesians 4:26-32 Loneliness and fear- Psalm 23
Assurance with God- Romans 8 Peace of mind- John 14:27; Philippians 4:6-8
Bitterness to others- 1 Corinthians 13 Persecution- 2 Corinthians 4:8-18 and 6:3-10
Coping with loss- Job 1 Rest and peace - Matthew 11:25-30
Courage needed- Joshua 1:1-19 Rules for conduct- Exodus 20:1-17
Danger- Psalm 91 Salvation- John 3:16
Doubts- Psalm 42; John 20:24-29 Seeking joy- Colossians 3
Discouragement- Psalm 34 Sickness- Psalm 41
Disappointment in others- Psalm 27 Sin and guilt- Psalm 51;1 John 1
Faith- Hebrews 11 Sorrow- John 14; Psalm 46
Forgetting blessings- Psalm 103 Temptation- 1 Cor.10:13; James 1:2-18
Frustrated and envious- Psalm 37 Travelling- Psalm 121
Future reward- Revelation 21:4 World seems bigger than God- Psalm 90
God seems far away - Psalm 139 Worry- Matthew 6:19-34
Guidelines for living- Matthew 5-7 Investments- Mark 10:17-31
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.”
APOSTLE CLIFF FLOR
NORTH QUEENSLAND
TEXT – Matthew 10: 26-33 THE SECRET IS REVEALED
Verse 26: "FEAR THEM NOT THEREFORE, FOR THERE IS NOTHING COVERED THAT SHALL NOT BE, REVEALED; AND HID, THAT SHALL NOT BE KNOWN.''
Be not afraid of people. Why not? The time will come when the hidden will come to light. The treasure will be discovered. Our GOD will see to that. An increasing interest in religion is notable. Let us use every opportunity to satisfy the longing of other people.
Upon the house tops - the conditions are:
Verse 27: “WHAT I TELL YOU IN DARKNESS, THAT SPEAK YE IN THE LIGHT: AND WHAT YE HEAR IN THE EAR, THAT PREACH YE UPON THE HOUSETOPS."
One thing is decisive for the disciples: They must find time and room to listen to JESUS because only he who hears has something to say. What they have to say CHRIST will whisper into their ears. HE wants to tell them personally so what HE says will find their hearts. What has found the heart will also find the hearts of others.
So easy, and yet so threatening.
Where do we personally find time and room? What does my daily life look like? My Sunday Service experience? To be able to listen we need silence.
The flat roofs of the Israeli houses are used as platform and pulpit. He who climbs onto the rooftop has to call out. It is important to take the Gospel to the rooftops, into the factories, the schools, parliament, councils, TV programs and medical centres. Which possibilities are there and which do we use? Do we go courageously to the public? Many people are reached for the first time through the public media. The goal of the Gospel is always to bring people under the protective roof of JESUS CHRIST, so they are not homeless and without protection. He who proclaims the Gospel must build a protective wall around the people so that the Life of GOD can prosper. The people must hear that CHRIST wants to live under the same roof with them.
The motivation of the Master - BE NOT AFRAID
Verse 28: "AND FEAR NOT THEM THAT KILL THE BODY, BUT ARE NOT ABLE TO KILL THE SOUL: BUT RATHER, FEAR HIM WHICH IS ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN HELL."
Verse 29: "ARE NOT TWO SPARROWS SOLD FOR A FARTHING? AND ONE OF THEM SHALL NOT FALL ON THE GROUND WITHOUT YOUR FATHER.''
Verse 30: “BUT THE VERY HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD ARE ALL NUMBERED.”
Verse 31: "FEAR YE NOT THEREFORE, YE ARE OF MORE VALUE THAN MANY SPARROWS.''
CHRIST locks out all human fear. He shows us that the power of men has boundaries. In the worst case, he can kill. It is different with GOD whom we really have to fear. HIS Judgement can take ones life forever so that we are dead for eternity.
CHRIST says: You are in GOD'S care and under HIS Power. Without HIS permission nothing will happen to you. You are of such high value to GOD (see Matthew 6:30, Luke 10:20), whatever people do to CHRIST'S Disciples, they are never victims of human wrath. We do not have to be afraid of men.
What is at stake?
Verse 32: " WHOSOEVER THEREFORE SHALL CONFESS ME BEFORE MEN, HIM WILL I CONFESESS ALSO BEFORE, MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN.''
Verse 33: "BUT WHOSOEVER SHALL DENY ME BEFORE MEN, HIM WILL I ALSO DENY BEFORE MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN.''
JESUS is the defender at the Last Judgement. Whosoever has CHRIST as his counsellor, confesses to HIM, will come into conflict with men. But he who does not confess to CHRIST comes into conflict at the Last Judgement which has a much greater impact.
Confessing does not mean to recite facts but to stand up for something we believe in. Confessing, as also denying can occur in many ways, in thoughts, in words, in deeds. The verses 29-31,encourage through GOD'S sovereign control over the whole life of the disciples: GOD preserves everything, nothing escapes HIM. Therefore the fate of HIS disciples is never a coincidence or accident. Even when they are in trouble, they are important to GOD. HE has control over the situation.
The conclusion as a comparison: CHRIST will stand by HIS Disciples in heaven, as they stood by HIM on earth.
We should only fear GOD
Encouragement and admonition are close to each other. Both ways should encourage fearless confession.
APOSTLE GERT LOOSE
GERMANY
TEXT – Galatians 6:9-10.
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
I read recently of a piece of advice left by a well respected wealthy woman to be handed to her children at the same time as her will was read after her passing.
It Read
Man is unreasonable, illogical and egocentric.
Matters Not- LOVE HIM.
When you do good; it will be said you do it for selfish reasons.
Matters Not – DO GOOD.
The good that you do, will perhaps be forgotten tomorrow.
Matters Not – DO GOOD.
Truth and honesty make you vulnerable.
Matters Not- BE HONEST AND SINCERE.
What you have constructed, can be destroyed.
Matters Not – CONSTRUCT.
The people, whom you help, perhaps may not be thankful!
Matters Not – HELP THEM.
Give the world your best; it may tread you underfoot.
Matters Not – GIVE YOUR BEST.
And always remember what is written in the Bible, Job 33:12.
“GOD IS GREATER THAN MAN.”
Good advice for us all.
APOSTLE CLIFF FLOR
NORTH QUEENSLAND
TEXT: Hebrews 12:2-3.
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Let us look to Jesus, who at His entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, received the highest human honour as His followers shouted: “Hasanna, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” His passion began joyfully but His end was His death on the cross at Golgotha for the resurrection and eternal life.
At first the text in Heb. 12.1-3 has no connection to the day of Palm Sunday. With a big “Bang” they celebrated His entrance to Jerusalem with the word. “Hosanna-help us Lord,” and strewing of branches for the King of Israel. All of this happened shortly after the great miracle when He had raised Lazarus from the dead. This was the reason why the Pharisees and Scribes worked against Him, but all the people followed Him and revered Him as the true man and true God who would be able to help them.
The bible and many witnesses are evidence of this our faith and still teaches us the same today. At this point I would like us to remember all witnesses who went before us and give thanks to them. They had brought us into this faith, accompanied us and made sure that this precious faith and heritage is still ours. We are challenged to prove worthy of this inheritance by acquiring it to make it our own. Basically, this means to deny everything that is a burden, even the sin that always blocks our way. Otherwise it is impossible to fight the good fight for our faith. See our burden we can give to Jesus Christ and confess our sins. Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross we receive courage and strength to fight the good fight with patience to follow Christ to reach our spiritual destination. It is like a picture of a sports person in a competition who can only win if he is free of any burden.
In the second verse we are invited to look upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; when we do this we will find that He always acted according to the will of His Father and not His own and therefore was able to overcome the temptations of Satan. Although Christ had His own will, just as we have, but never decided to use His own will but only the will of His Father. That means on Palm Sunday He could have claimed to Royal Throne, be crowned and celebrated as the King of the Jews. The result would have been that He would then have prayed in the garden of Gethsemane: “Not as you want it, Father but as I want it.”
The release of Christ to Pontius Pilate and the crucifixion of Christ would not have taken place. Then He would not have had to endure the martyrdom of pain, suffering and death on the cross. There would have been no resurrection of the first born at Easter. He would not have gone to Heaven and would not have been able to sit at the right hand of God. He would not have been able to return from there. He could then only be called “Author” and great prophet but not “Finisher” of our faith. He would have reigned as King of the Jews, would have died some time later and He would have no perspective of heaven and eternal life. What a tragedy for the human race!
But how He put His will under the will of His Father: “Not mine, but Your will be done” and so on Good Friday He was committed and nailed to the cross. And on Easter morning He arose as the “First Fruit” to eternal life. And He showed Himself to His disciples even to the doubting Thomas: “My Lord and My God.” And He rose to heaven to sit at the right hand of God and He will return to gather His Bride and establish the 1000 years of peace.
We will think of Him, we will look up to Him, we will follow Him, Him who had to suffer so much contradiction but did not try to vindicate Himself. He was silent and thus demonstrated His enduring love for God. “ Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. (1 Corinthians 13.7)
It is still a long way for us yet, but He who displayed this love gives us strength so we will not get too tired and never lose hope and courage.
Let us sing with joy the hymn “Open the doors and gates for the Lord of eternal joy.”
And let us not only sing it but let Christ be the King over our life to make sure that we will not miss the future Kingdom of the AUTHOUR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH.
APOSTLE WALTER BALTISBERGER.
SWITZERLAND