Allen Jackson - Another Dimension - Part 2
We have too little imagination of spiritual things or we make too few allowances for spiritual influences in our lives. We prefer to blend in with the rest of the world that doesn’t believe this stuff, that don’t read their Bibles. They don’t have Jesus as Lord of their lives. We imagine our physical attributes, our strength, our beauty or our financial condition, our education or our race or our IQ or our social status. We imagine all those things to be more significant determiners of our life outcome than spiritual influences. How can that be? Our Savior didn’t begin in time. He began outside of time and he stepped into time to launch the greatest rescue mission in the history of humanity.
How can we step away from that and say we don’t believe? Well, I think a huge contributor to that is the diminished role of Scripture. Truthfully, it is very seldom any longer in churches even considered authoritative. It’s something of a book of suggestions regarding a higher life. It’s not really intended to be definitive, we’re told. It’s open to interpretation. After all, it was written long ago by many people in a culture that we don’t understand. So, you don’t wanna be so out of date and out of step. You don’t wanna lack so much culture and sophistication, you don’t want your education to be so incomplete that you actually treat the Word of God as if it were like the Word of God.
And tragically, this has been taught in our theology schools for decades now. It’s resulted in church leadership that values cultural voices far too frequently more than the perspective of Scripture. It’s resulted in a church which doesn’t lead our culture, but we pander to the popular trends in hopes of being included in the party that is our world. That’s not the assignment. And you don’t have to listen carefully. In fact, if you’re not listening carefully, you’ll be influenced by that thought that diminishes the authority of Scripture. You know, the fancy language around it typically is rooted in something called biblical criticism. Critical theory didn’t start with critical race theory. It infected our theological training for decades before it made it into the sociological realms.
It’s a school of thought regarding biblical studies that uses critical analysis to explain the Bible. Not to yield to its authority, to explain it, to sit in judgment on the Word of God, to put ourselves above it. And there are many layers to it. It’s a very clever system. Textual criticism, literary criticism, source criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, all of those breaking down portions of the Scripture to look at them from different angles and in each angle you diminish a bit of authority and then you reassemble it as if it’s just a collection of ideas that men put together for their own objectives and purposes and manipulations. Some myths, some fiction, some fantasy, some kernels of truth, but you can’t really know which ones are the kernels of truth, so you have to hold it kind of loosely.
Then we get into the debates about supernatural or no supernatural or miracles that ceased. Before long, you just have kind of a book of thoughts. Critical race theory arose from a similar approach. It begins with an outcome in mind and then formulates a rational plan for achievement. The outcome of biblical criticism, beyond just infecting the church so deeply that we’ve become almost completely impotent, is to imagine the Bible is little more than an epic human effort. It shouldn’t be understood to have a divine component or influence. For the record, I do not accept that premise. I think it’s a fallacy. It does not reflect. It does not reflect the thoughts of the early church or the church through the ages.
In fact, it’s a latecomer to the discussion of biblical ideas, and it is by no means the only school of thought. And it’s very unfortunate that we’ve allowed it to penetrate our academic institutions and the training of our leaders in the church to the depth it has. Even the Christian schools and universities are deeply affected. We’ve got to return to a reverence for the Word of God, and that begins in our own homes by our willingness to read it. I commend you for that. I’ve arrived at the conclusion that we don’t read it because we understand that we are not really living yielded to its authority and it’s just too uncomfortable to be reminded of that. So, we say, «It’s hard to read,» or, «We don’t understand it,» or whatever.
I watched the joy the kids have when they get to learn their Bibles. We can do this. Well, one of the fundamental principles in Scripture from the beginning of the book to the end is this notion of angels and demons and you. And I wanna walk through it with you, not as if it’s a fantasy. You know, I smile a bit. Hollywood is more willing to believe in angels than the church. They make like a limitless number of films about them. But when it comes to the church, we act like, «Oh, well now, I don’t».
Let’s just see if it’s in the Bible, then we’ve got to adjust. If it’s not, we can go on with our merry selves. And I’ll step into New and Old Testaments because it’s not limited to one time period or one cultural period. That’s one of the ways they diminished biblical authorities is that we know that first century world was far more willing to describe spiritual influences, but now we’re more sophisticated, we’re more rational. But they don’t understand with that statement, what they’re saying is that Jesus was so influenced by his culture that he quit telling the truth. That makes no sense if you believe he’s the incarnate Son of God. Hebrews chapter 1, and verse 14 says, «Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation»?
So, we learn a couple of things. Angels are spirits. They don’t have a body, but they’ve been sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. Salvation is for the descendants of Adam. A third of the angels rebelled. There is no record in Scripture that there’s been any redemptive initiative launched towards the rebellious angels. We’re told what their destiny will be, but when Adam and Eve, when humanity fell, God launched a redemptive initiative towards us, that we could be delivered from the bondage of sin and welcomed into his eternal kingdom. And the author of Hebrews says that angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those of us who will inherit salvation. Why would you reject a servant that God provided for you? That makes no sense to me. I want all the help available. I want all the help available. In fact, if you don’t want yours, I want yours.
Psalm 103, verse 19, «The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all». What does all mean? Oh, you are the bright group. Nothing’s left out of all. His sovereignty rules over everything in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Over every dimension, he is sovereign over all. «Bless the Lord, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word». We’ve learned a little bit more. Angels have mighty strength. I have a helper with mighty strength. You go do a seminar on whether you believe in it or not. I got some significant horsepower helping me out and so do you. We have lived in this place where we’ve questioned and stepped away from it.
Look at Hebrews 13:2, «Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it». Wow. So, they can appear as a person, not with wings and halos and glowing. Sometimes they appear in ways that frighten and intimidate people, but sometimes apparently, you could have a meal with them and not even know that you had hosted an angel. One of the prayers we started praying in the previous session is, «Lord, I wanna see. Lord, I wanna see. I wanna understand. I don’t wanna stand in the shadow of the skeptic. I don’t want to live in the midst of, well, maybe. I wanna see with clarity, Father. Give me an understanding heart».
I’ve discovered something about the Lord. That he very seldom will intrude where he’s not wanted. You know, I know in the current manipulation of language it’s probably not even politically correct anymore, but the way I’ve always understood it is the Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He’ll not come where he’s not invited. And if you don’t really wanna see, don’t. You don’t have to worry about it. The Lord won’t bother you. He won’t drag you into heaven against your will. «I don’t wanna go»! No, he won’t make you do that. Like you’ll have to be willing to acknowledge that apart from him, you got no shot. You’ll have to be willing to say I will change in order to participate in your kingdom. I need help that I can’t deliver to myself and I will trust you to be my Savior. That’s the nature of that transition. It’s so important.
Let’s take a minute or two, we can’t finish this by any stretch, but we’re gonna start down this pathway. Some of the roles of angels in Scriptures because they’re still doing many of these same things in the earth today, today, today. In Genesis chapter 3, and if you’re following, that’s very near the beginning of the book. After Adam and his rebellion, «The LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he’d been taken. And he drove the man out. He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim,» in Hebrew, «im» is a plural ending. It’s the equivalent of an English of an «s». So, cherubim is cherubs. «He placed these angelic beings with a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life».
So, we’ve been so marginally interested, so casual about this that we think, you know, an angel is an angel is an angel. As if there was no distinction or differentiation, the Bible talks about mighty angels and powerful angels and realms of authority for angels and physical assignments to parts of the globe for angels and particular people groups for angels. And in this role, we see angels with the ability to guard a place on planet Earth, that they guard a physical place. An angel, a ministering spirit, can guard a physical place and keep people from entering. Wow. Look at Exodus chapter 14. Says, «The angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army,» that makes me smile.
«The angel of God, who’d been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew,» went to the back. They’re trying to flank us. I need to move my defender. Do you live with this notion that the angel of God travels with us? Watches over us? I don’t want you to be weird. I don’t want you to stop looking before you merge into traffic. That doesn’t make you spiritual. You know, I’m not suggesting that when your car signals that you’re out of gas, that you pray. No, you need money and a gas station or an EV portal or I don’t know, something. You need an internal combustion eng… no, that’s it. I’m sorry. I’m not asking you to be weird. I’m suggesting we’ve lived a very diminished life. We’ve said we’re people of the book, but we haven’t paid much attention to it.
Look at Matthew 18, this is Jesus speaking. He’s talking to a group of adults about their attitude towards children. And he slips this little sentence in. He says, «See to it that you don’t look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven». That there are angels assigned to these children that are on speed dial to the throne room. That gives me pause when I think about some of the attitudes we expressed towards children and our rights to choose. He said, «See to it that you don’t even look down on them». He didn’t talk about harming them or mistreating them or abusing them. Their angels have the Father’s attention. And there’s multiple places in the Scripture where angels are instruments of God’s judgment.
You know God brings judgment to human beings, right? That’s a biblical principle that’s kind of got lost in the mush that is the current incomplete gospel. If he’s not a God of judgment, then the whole Jesus initiative was not necessary. We didn’t need a Savior to die on a cross if God isn’t gonna judge human beings for their sin. If there’s no judgment, that was wasted effort, and I don’t believe God asked Jesus to waste that effort. But it wasn’t a surprise to us. We see God’s judgments in time throughout the story from the opening chapters where Adam couldn’t stay in Eden any longer. He posted cherubim to see that he didn’t drift back in or try to sneak in at night. The assignment actually that God gave to Adam to watch over the garden is the modern Hebrew word for like a watchman. It’s the word they use in Hebrew today.
Adam failed to watch over the garden, Satan entered, and he lost his place. And he’s driven out of the garden and God posts an angel to watch over that garden. Judgment is a part of the story from the opening book of the Bible to the concluding book of the Bible. Doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us, but it doesn’t mean we get to write the rules. We’ve been so casual. We’ve wanted to live in one dimension where we’re really kind of in control of this thing. «I am the captain of my fate, and I am the master of my soul». Not so much. We have the free will. Well, in 2 Samuel 24, David has said, he’s disobeyed God. And God comes with his pronouncement. He gives him a choice of judgments. He said, «'There’ll come upon you three years of famine? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies? Or three days of plague in your land? ' And David said, 'I’d rather fall into the hands of God than the hands of my enemy.'»
So, God sends an angel. Look in verse 16, «When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity and he said to the angel who was afflicting the people, 'Withdraw your hand. Stop right there.'» There was physical destruction coming to the inhabitants of the land. Lives are being lost, thousands of them, initiated from the spiritual realm. And we have seminars to decide whether or not we believe in it. Whether or not it’s appropriate to pray prayers for supernatural involvement. «The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah of the Jebusite». In verse 17, «David saw the angel who was striking down the people».
Again, this isn’t just a first century phenomenon. We’re a thousand years before the birth of Jesus in that window. Isaiah 37 says, «The angel of the LORD went out,» the Assyrians have besieged Jerusalem. They’re the most powerful military force of the day, and they’ve come to destroy Jerusalem as they have destroyed Samaria in the northern kingdom and so many other places. And Hezekiah prayed and Isaiah sent a message, «And the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 people in the camp of the Assyrians; when they rose early in the morning, all of these were dead. So the king departed and returned home». The Bible has a gift for understatement. There’s what, 300,000 people in the county where we live. Imagine we woke up in the morning, 185,000 were dead.
Do you think we would depart? No, I think we would trample one another trying to get out of the county. The angel of the Lord did that. Again, it makes us rethink our Bible, and it makes us start to rearrange the equations and it makes us begin to speak to the Lord in a slightly different way. «Lord, I wanna see. I want to see. I wanna understand. I don’t wanna just go to church like it’s an obligation. I wanna see». There are many passages in Psalms to make it clear that the Hebrew people understood angels to have had significant involvement in their journey.
Psalm 34 says, «The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them». He encamps around them and delivers them. I’m gonna leave you with that thought. The angels of the Lord encamp around us. Now, their engagement in our lives has something to do with our responses, our relationship with the Lord, our attitude towards him. Whether the angels are coming to help, to strengthen us. In multiple places, we find that the angels came and ministered to people. They ministered to Elijah, they ministered to Jesus. They will minister to us. There’s multiple places where the angels are instruments of God’s judgment and they bring discipline, physical disruption.
Let’s not leave him to Hollywood. Let’s begin to be the church again. Let’s begin to be the church again. Let’s decide that we wanna be an influence in our culture, that we don’t want the politicians to bear the weight of having to advocate for biblical worldview. What if the church did? What if the church would say, «We believe in marriage between a man and a woman»? What if the church would say, «God created us male and female»? They’re not political issues, folks. I’m grateful when politicians will take a biblical worldview and stand for it. I look forward to the day when across all the parties we do that. Won’t that not be a blessed time? But the initiative is led by, reinforced by the church. And we have drifted so far away.
Well, let’s begin to change. Let’s initiate a change that will cause what’s happening in Washington to look like it’s in slow motion. It’s up to us. I wanna pray if you’ll stand with me. Angels in the house. I mean, I know one that you’re named that, but there’s like heavenly beings in the house. You think it’s possible we’ve lived somewhere below what God intends us to be? You think it’s possible we’ve been influenced by a culture that is more secular than it is spiritual? Is it possible that we’ve gotten so acclimated because we’ve had so many options that was so much available to us, so much food and so much medicine and so many ways to recreate and so many ways to be distracted that we didn’t really have to depend on the Lord, so, we treated him like he was kind of an afterthought, an addendum, a footnote?
Well, what if we put God back at the top of the priority list? What if we began to say, «Lord, today, I would like to honor you». That doesn’t mean you have to preach on the courthouse steps. «I just want to honor you today, Lord. With the people with whom I interact, I would like to honor you. I would like to use whatever authority you’ve given me to be an advocate for your perspective in my world. I don’t want to compromise today, God. I don’t want to bargain. My goal isn’t necessarily unity». I know in John 17, Jesus prayed for unity, but that was unity amongst those who believed in him. God, I wanna honor you today. Let’s make that our goal this week. And let’s get the angels busy. The folks are working so hard to honor the Lord they’re exhausting us. May that be the report in heaven.
Father, thank you for your Word. It illumines our minds and it brings faith to our hearts and it opens doors of kingdom possibility and we stand in your presence this day to say we choose you. Lord, we want to see, we want to understand. We don’t wanna be religious or churched or kind or polite or timid or tame. We wanna be men and women fully devoted to you. Forgive us, we’ve been less than that. Forgive us. Forgive us that we’ve wanted the applause of something that’s temporary over the approval of the eternal. We want to cooperate with you. We wanna honor you this week. We wanna honor you this day and we want to honor you each day this week. Help us in Jesus’s name, amen.