We have been brought to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, who are ministering spirits executing God's purposes and judgments. Angels express God's mind, announce His events, and minister to Christ, while also rejoicing over repentant sinners. The sermon emphasizes that believers have also been brought to the Church of the Firstborn, a divine organism composed of believers in Christ, not a human institution. Membership in this church is achieved through faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross, and the call is to embrace this salvation immediately, as the Lord's return is near.
Restored with Diffio
Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
Speech quality score (model-estimated, SCOREQ): before 2.40 → restored 4.16
turn again in your Bibles to the epistle to the Hebrews Hebrews chapter twelve and verse twenty two but ye are come unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven. And to God, the judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Again, the Lord will bless to us this reading from his precious word. We have been discussing these past few days things to which we have been brought. We have been brought to Mount Zion. We have been brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. And we have been brought to myriads of angels. I would just like to recapture some of the things mentioned this morning as you continue the subject on angels. Angels are a higher order than that of men.
angels were created before men. Job, he calls them the sons of God. On Nehemiah, he calls them the hosts of heaven. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, in chapter one we read, that the angels are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall become heirs of salvation. I mentioned this morning the significance, they are all ministering spirits. There's no lethargy, there's no apathy, there's no indolence amongst the angels.
They are marked by alacrity and determination as they execute the orders given to them by God. And these ministering spirits are placed into different categories. We mentioned this morning that Gabriel is God's minister of internal affairs. Michael is his minister of external affairs. Gabriel brings before us the things relative to the mind of God, whereas Michael is more militant in the execution of his job for God. And the scriptures tell us Again, other categories of angels.
There are some and they are executives of holiness. In Isaiah chapter six, they say, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is filled with his glory. Some are executives of righteousness. An angel stood outside the Garden of Eden and protected the tree of life. Others are executives of judgment. Second Thessalonians two, the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These angels, they are involved in your external affairs and mine.
Our journeys, our bodies, they are ever in motion working on behalf of God's people. It was an angel that came to the respondent Elijah in First Kings chapter nineteen. He says, Lord, just let me die. Very discouraged. And the angel, just like God, showed great patience. And he ministered to Elijah. He baked him a cake, brought a cruise of water, and then put him to sleep again. Then he revived him and gave him meat. and he went in the strength of that meat for forty days, ministering to Elijah in his knee.
We mentioned this morning that when the great Lazarus died, God gave him a special angelic escort. Angels carried him right into paradise. And I believe when every child of God passes out of time into eternity, God delegates a special escort of angels, and they are carried right into the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was an angel who removed the shackles from the feet of Peter when he was found in prison in Acts chapter twelve. It was an angel who stood by Paul and assured him that God would deliver every soul from death in the storm in the Aegean Sea.
All ministering spirits. You and I have been brought to these myriads of angels. We also observed this morning that angels, they express the mind of God. They are highly intelligent and God instructs these angels and they take the message from heaven to the inhabitants of the earth. It was Gabriel who made a special trip from heaven to advise Daniel concerning prophetic things, events to come. It was an angel who expressed the mind of God to the Virgin Mary. He said, Thou art highly favored, Gabriel.
Thou art highly favored, blessed art thou amongst women. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring for the child His name shall be called Emmanuel, God with us. Mary was confused. How shall these things be? And Gabriel went on to express the mind of God. And he told her the divine secret. The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee. And the power of the high shall overshadow thee. And that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. It was an angel who came to Joseph and said, Take the young child, the Lord Jesus, take the young child down to Egypt, that the scriptures might be fulfilled, which said, Out of Egypt, I have called my son.
It was an angel who compelled Philip the Evangelist to leave his productive gospel field in Samaria and join the black man on his way to Ethiopia on the Gaza Strip. and he pointed the men to the Lord Jesus Christ. Philip did. But it was all engineered by the function of the evangelists. And not only do angels express the mind of God, but they execute the purposes of God. We related the somewhat amusing incident in Numbers chapter twenty-two, where Balaam was on that journey from Moab to Israel, interested in money and God was determined that he would not carry through his objectives.
He was hired by King Balak to curse the people of God and God said, Balaam, he will never curse my people. And God put an angel in the pathway of the S that was carrying Balaam. And there the two of them had an argument, the donkey and Balaam on the road to Israel. How strange Here we have an ass speaking like a man, and we have a man acting like an ass. That's the exact picture recorded here. And this tells me this, beloved friends, that an animal with its God-given instinct is far more intelligent than a man who is blinded by the God of the day.
This man, Balaam, was blind. He could not see the angel, but the Asdyn. God working through angels to execute his purposes. It was an angel who moved the stone away from the tomb, the garden tomb, on the morning of resurrection. And it was an angel who proclaimed with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open a book? and to loose the seals thereof in Revelation chapter five. Who is worthy? A strong angel. And John wept tears because there was no one found worthy to open the book.
But the timely message was, weak not John. The lion of the tribe of Judah has forbidden to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. So angels express the mind of God and they execute the purpose of God. But as we continue our subject, angels also execute the judgment of God. In the days of King David, David was somewhat very egotistical one day, and he thought to himself, I'm going to number the people of Israel. Now there was no harm in numbering the people of Israel, provided that they produced the half shekel of the sanctuary.
But David failed to give God his portion, and pride permeated his heart, and he numbered the nation of Israel. And God sent an angel. And one angel destroyed seventy thousand men. You see the power that are invested in these heavenly beings. In Isaiah chapter thirty-seven, one angel destroyed a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians. One angel. When our Savior was here, he said to his disciples, who were trying to come to his rescue as he faced the onslaught of the high priest and Pilate, He says, don't you realize that I have at my disposal twelve legions of angels?
Here were twelve legion of angels. A Roman legion was reckoned to be six thousand men, assuming the comparable figure seventy-two thousand angels bursting the very battlements of him. ready to come to help their great commander if he so required. If one angel could destroy a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians, what could seventy-two thousand angels do if they were let loose with the power at their disposal? When these lights went out, I just thought of the Lord's coming.
it's just going to be exactly like this watchman what of the night there'll be an intense darkness upon this earth that will be absolutely and be unprecedented and angels after we have gone home to heaven that is the people of God they will execute the purposes of God in his prophetic program and in his judgments upon the earth. One angel will be let loose according to Revelation chapter eight. He of course he will sound the trumpet and one third of all the vegetation in the world will be destroyed.
Another angel will sound the trumpet and the third part of the sea become like blood. A third angel will sound the trumpet and a third part of the rivers will be contaminated. And so it goes on and on and on. These angels, they execute the judgment of God. Not only do they express the mind of God, and they execute the purposes of God and execute the judgment of God.
But these angels to which you and I have been brought, they celebrate the praises of God. We've heard some wonderful singing during this past week of conference meetings, but you and I are going to still hear far better singing in a day to come. and angels will indeed be part of the great celebration that shall take place when God calls the church of God home into his presence. They celebrate the creation of God.
When God threw the stars into space, when he created the heavens on the earth, this large angelic host Their hearts were filled with jubilation. The morning stars they sang together, and the sons of God, they shouted aloud for joy. It was a happy day for the angelic hosts when God created the heavens on the earth. But the joy of their hearts knew no bounds when the Savior was born. They are intelligent beings and they knew that everything hinged upon the birth of God's Son.
All God's prophetic program, his purposes, were centered in the success of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you, friend, if Christ had not come, You and I would have been lost in our sins forever. Only hell with all its fire and brimstone awaited you and me. But God did devise a means whereby his banished ones might not be expelled from him. And this involved God giving up his son.
When the question was raised in eternity past, whom shall we send? Who shall go for us? Who could make this blueprint effective? I'm sure Gabriel was standing by and Michael. They would have been willing to come. But they did not have the ability. Only God's Son could become the days man between God. and fallen humanity. And what a moment that was for heaven when the day came, when the fullness of the time was come. And God had to part with his sons.
For millenniums they had enjoyed unbroken fellowship. I was by him as one brought up with him, rejoicing all way before him. The day came. when he must leave heaven. And the son of the eternal God came down and he was born in Bethlehem in the land of Judah. That birth fitted the Lord Jesus Christ to become our king's man, Redeemer. Somebody has got to redeem us back to God. I could not redeem you.
and you sure couldn't redeem me. The Bible says no man can redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him. The redemption of the soul is costly and must abide forever. But God's son came down and he became our king's men. He became a blood relation. And in one single verse in the epistle to the Hebrews, the threefold qualification of a kind man are clearly endorsed. He must be a blood relation. He must be an avenger.
He must be a restorer of that which was lost. Our Lord Jesus was the only man who could fulfill that threefold demand. And that verse in Hebrews two fourteen says, For as much as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him who with the power of death that is the devil. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject among.
And when he was born, the angelic host let loose, and they sang praises to God. Glory to God in the highest, and an earth peace. Good will toward me. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. No wonder they sang. And those of us who have been brought to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to these myriads of angels, we have been singing the praises ever since.
They celebrate the praises of God. In Revelation chapter five, God draws aside the curtain and he gives us a preview of that heavenly city. And there is that great choir in glory. The leader of the praise is our blessed Lord. I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation. Will I praise thee? His voice is as the voice of many ones. The baritone, the bass, the soprano, the tenor, the altar, all have their perfect display in one voice.
Our Lord Jesus. And He will lead the praise of His people. And in Revelation chapter five, we find that joining that great hallelujah course are the angels. And we read that their number is ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. And what do you think the hymn is? Worthy is the land. They celebrate the praises of God.
We have been brought to an innumerable company of angels. They also announce the events of God. They announce, as I have remarked, the incarnation and the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it was an angel who announced the great event, the resurrection. Why seek ye here the living among the dead? He is not here.
He is present. And this is the foundation of our hope. Because if Christ be not raised from the dead, we're wasting our time. We'll be if all men most miserable and our preaching would be in vain. But we know that he is alive. God raised him from the dead. And God placed him at the highest pinnacle of glory. The angel and that the resurrection it was an angel who announced the ascension and it was an angel who announced the coming again of our Lord Jesus as he stood there with his own they were very perplexed as he winded his way into heaven the angel says ye men of Galilee Why stand ye there gazing up into heaven?
This same genius shall so come as ye have seen him now. No wonder God's people, their hearts are filled with emotion. When they sing, Jesus is coming, sing the glad one, coming for those he redeemed by his blood. coming to reign as the glorified Lord, Jesus is coming again. They announce the events of God. But not only are angels sent forth to minister to you and to me, the heirs of salvation, but angel, they minister to the Christ of God.
what a thrill. When he was found in the garden, in the wilderness, being tempted of the devil hungry for fodder days, and he endured the onslaught of the forces of hell, at the end of the temptation an angel minister unto Christ. in the garden of Gethsemane our Lord Jesus Christ as he anticipated Calvary his holy soul shreds at the thought of coming in contact with your sin and mine we cannot measure the sensitivity of a divine being and we will never know where it cost the Lord Jesus, the holy, spotless Lamb of God, to bear your sins in mind on
his own body on the tree. And in view of Calvary, he swept, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the And he cried in anguish of soul, Father, if it be possible. Let this cup pass from me, Father, if there's any other way that he knew there was none. Nevertheless, not mine, but dine be dine. And an angel came and strengthened our Lord Jesus Christ.
ministering to the Christ of God. They are constantly in motion in relation to you and in relation to me, but also in relation to Christ. Nathaniel was amazed when the Lord said to him, Nathaniel, when you were under the fig tree, I knew you. The omnipotent, the omniscient, the omnipresent Christ was there. And you marvel, he said to Nathaniel. Nathaniel, you're going to see greater things than me. You will see angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man, constantly ministering to our Blessed Lord.
And when he gives that call, to judge the Antichrist and the Christ with him. They were ready to gird their sword and follow their great commander form. For the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty aid, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and their obeying of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. they minister to the Christ of God. But angels are amazing creatures because they are interested in the gospel of God.
And would to God that you and I were just as interested in the gospel. In Luke's Gospel chapter fifty, The Lord Jesus Christ says that there shall be rejoicing in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repented. And in our gathering tonight, if there's a John Doe, and you're still not born again, if you are not sheltered under the blood of Christ, If you would only give up tonight, capitulate, yield to Christ and get saved.
An angel immediately would carry the message home to him. Maybe to a waiting mother in glory. Who's prayed for you for years. Now at home with the Lord. Or a praying dead. At home with the Lord. hearing the message, so and so has been born again. God will be happy. The Lord Jesus Christ will be happy. The Spirit of God will be happy. And we God's people will be happy. But so also the angels.
Rejoice it amongst the angels. As you and I conduct ourselves down here in church capacity, angels are looking on. If you could only see what is going on in this building, there's always a tremendous confrontation between two groups of angels, fallen angels, the cohorts of faith and faithful angels. the servants of Jesus Christ. And in every gospel effort, there's this great confrontation, this great battle going on.
An angel faithful to Christ, as they see you and I, saved by the grace of them, may behold the manifold wisdom of God. In Peter's first epistle, as Peter presents the survey of salvation's history, he says which things the angels delight to look into. They long to investigate the operation of the gospel.
That's why we're so thankful to God that we have been brought to Mary the Savior. But in our next verse, or the same verse, the next thing is, we have been brought to the church of the firstborn. It's a wonderful thing to be brought to Mount Zion. It's a wonderful thing to come to this heavenly city. It's a wonderful thing to come to marriage of angels. But thank God we have come to the church of the firstborn.
What is a church? In the original language the word Ecclesia means a called out people. Stephen referred to Israel as being the Ecclesia in the wilderness. They were a called out people from the land of Egypt. So a church is a called out people. A hundred times in the New Testament do we have this word church, Ecclesia, called up. So a church is a called out people. But we ask ourselves the question, what is the church of God?
Well, friends, it's certainly not a material building. Made of brick, stone, mortar, lumber. It's not a material building. and it's not a traditional organization. But the Church of God is a divine organism. The Church of God is living and composed of living members. We have been brought to the Church of the Firstborn registered in heaven.
The church of God is composed of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible speaks about church in the singular and churches. But the church in the aggregate, the universal church, that is the church to which will be brought. Now I was raised in the Church of Scotland. Now it doesn't say here that we have been brought to the Church of Scotland. It doesn't say here that we've been brought to the Methodist Church or the Presbyterian Church or the Roman Church.
It doesn't say that. Because these things are of men. but we want to belong to something that's of God, not of man. And so we find that God and his kindness has brought us to the church of the firstborn. Israel was called his firstborn because of the covenant relation with Abraham. Here the church is called the firstborn because of a covenant relationship with Christ.
It's dignity and grace resplendent in the name firstborn. Now we ask ourselves a question as we near the end of the meeting. How do we come to this church? The writer says, we have come to the church of the firstborn. How did we come? We certainly did not come by signing our name on a church register. There's only one way that we can come into this church and enjoy its benefits through Calvary.
The Lord Jesus Christ, He died upon Calvary's cross, bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood, sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah, what a Savior. That is the only way to become a member of this living organism. is by coming to Calvary's cross, confessing that you are a sinner and that Christ can save you from your sins, that's how we come.
God's word is so clear. I was mentioning this morning how distressing when President Johnson was buried on the service in Washington, Dr. George Davis, the man who officiated, He said he was scared of angels. I'm thankful for them. I'm sure so are you. And he said in his message that somehow, some way, President Johnson and my path will one day cross. As to heaven, he says, I'm not sure where it is, of what it is, of how to get there. Oh, my heart ached when I heard that man make these statements.
We know where heaven is. We know how to get there. Through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wrote to him. Sent him a book by the hand. How to get there. I hope he reads it. The way that he reads it. How do we get to heaven through the blood? We must all need to go home by the way of the cross. That's how you get into this church. Not membership. Not signing a register. But by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now when should we join this church? When should we come to the church of the firstborn? Right now. If you're not saved, if you are still in your sins, you have not much time left. The Lord's parousia, his appearance is coming, is very, very near. We can almost hear his footfall on the threshold of the door. Darkness is intensifying. Satanical influence is on the inside. Churches of Satan rising up everywhere, six million Germans worshipping Satan.
We have not much time left. You better trust Christ tonight before the lights light for eternity. How do we come through the blood? When should we come? Right now. Why should we come? Because God wants you. Over in Britain in World War I before I was born. But I have seen pictures of the posters of Lord Kitchener with a finger. I want you. I see our friends remembering. I want you.
Our great God with his heart of love. He's looking down on this congregation tonight. And he says, I want you. Think of it. Why would God want you? Why would he want me? I do not know. I do not know. Why did he love me so? I do not know. He loved a mess when he loved me. But he says tonight I want you. Why should you come? He wants you. And why you should come is this? Because if you don't come, you'll perish in your sins forever.
Who would want to go to a lost eternity away from loved ones and perish in their sins? Oh, the Lord help us to appreciate to what we have been brought to, myriads of ages. Let us thank God those of us who are saying that we have come to the church of the firstborn. If there's one in our gathering tonight and you're not saved, you might need help, you might have a spiritual problem, I can't save you, but I can help you. I know the man that can. We can look into scriptures, but whatever you do, don't go out that door.
Exposed to the wrath of God, shall we pray? Our Father, we thank thee for thy mercy. and for thy grace that thou didst ever think upon us in our great need. Father, we thank thee for Calvary and for the men that die. We pray that we might have a greater appreciation of him. And again, Father, we pray for any of our friends who might be here tonight and are not saved. Father, may thy gracious spirit back home the message in the power and unction and that souls might respond And flee to Christ for refuge.
Before it be too late. May it be so. What his name says. Amen. Now before we sing our final hymn. Could we sing our chorus again? He's the Saviour of my soul. We've been singing this during the week. The last two mornings anyway. And has been very, very encouraging. He's the Saviour of my soul. Jesus, Lord Jesus. He's the Saviour of my soul. He's my Lord, my life, my all. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He's the Savior of my soul. He's my Lord, my life, my all. Now this is a chorus that you can bring in the parts. Brother Graham there bringing the tenor.
And let's sing this chorus out to God's glory. He's the Savior of my soul. Jesus, love Jesus. He's the Savior of my soul. He's my Lord, my life, my own. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is the Savior of my soul.
He's my Lord, my life, my Lord. Thank you for helping me out with that hymn. Now shall we finally conclude by singing hymn number two. Oh, hail the power of Jesus name. Let angels prostrate forth, bring forth the royal diadem and crown him, Lord, up off. It's somewhat hot in the building, but I'm sure you'll give this your best, give it full volume and bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.