Are You Being Watched???
1 Peter 1:12
Opening Prayer
ÒFather, weÕre so thankful for Your grace, that
we do not deserve anything that we have, that we do not deserve the salvation
that is so great, so magnificent. We do not deserve any of the blessings that You have given us, but they are given to us not because of
who we are or what weÕve done, but because the Lord Jesus Christ paid the
penalty for our sin on the cross, and that we have His righteousness. It is His
righteousness that is imputed to us that is the source, the basis for Your blessing to us.
Father, we thank You for all that we have in Christ and all that He has
provided for us in the unique spiritual life we have in this Church Age.
Father, we pray that we might not take this for granted, but that we
might exploit every asset you have given us, that we might be tremendous
examples of Your grace, trophies of Your grace, and that You might be glorified
through our lives and through our ministry and service to You in this life. We
pray this in ChristÕs name, Amen.Ó
Open your Bibles with me to 1 Peter. After a nine-lesson sidetrack into
the Doctrine of Inerrancy I did a summary to bring us back on track two weeks
ago. Then, of course we had the Chafer Seminary PastorÕs Conference last week.
Now weÕre going to finish up what I was looking at last time
which is the last verse of the introduction, one last phrase.
First I thought I would read something to you and have a little humor.
Remember in the opening verses of the salutation we have a verse that is often
taken out of context and misinterpreted by Calvinists. If youÕve been around
Christianity for any length of time you know thereÕs a huge debate thatÕs gone
on for centuries between Calvinists and Arminianists.
Before that it was between Augustinians and Palagians.
One side has a deterministic, fatalistic view. The other side has a free will
view.
One day a Calvinist arrived at the gates of Heaven and saw that there
were two lines. One was marked ÒpredestinedÓ and the other was marked Òfree
willÓ. Since he was a card-carrying five-point Calvinist, he strolled over to
the line that was labeled ÒpredestinedÓ. After a little while an angel came
over and said, ÒWhy are you in this line?Ó He said, ÒBecause I chose it.Ó
The angel looked surprised and said, ÒWell, if you chose it, you should
be in the free will line.Ó So our Calvinist was a little bit miffed. He
obediently wandered over to the free will line. After a few minutes, another
angel came over and asked him, ÒWhy are you in this line?Ó He sullenly replied,
ÒSomeone made me come here.Ó
Thus we resolve the conundrum between Calvinism and Arminianism.
All right, as weÕre going through out study in 1 Peter we have to be
reminded again and again that what weÕre talking about in this section is not
Phase One salvation. There are three stages in the Christian life.
Justification takes place the instant we trust in Christ as Savior.
Then we enter immediately into Phase Two. They are connected but itÕs
not a necessary connection. The reason I say that is because in ÒLordship
salvationÓ they have a necessary connection so that if youÕre truly justified
you will necessarily grow spiritually. ThatÕs how they connect the two.
We say that a person is born again. They have new life and then they
have to decide whether or not theyÕre going to grow. They have to have some
nourishment that theyÕre going to grow. So Phase Two is the spiritual life.
Phase Three is when weÕre absent from the body, face-to-face with the
Lord. Saved is used in these three senses. WeÕre saved from the penalty of sin
when we believe in Christ. WeÕre saved from the power of sin as we grow as
believers and saved from the presence of sin when weÕre absent from the body
and face-to-face with the Lord.
1 Peter is about Phase Two. ItÕs not about Phase One. HeÕs not talking
to people about how to become justified, but how to be
delivered from the trials and the tests that are going on in this life.
The conclusion to the introduction comes in 1 Peter 1:12. We have spent quite a
bit of time on this and last time, as I looked at this and we reviewed the
basic themes and structure of 1 Peter we talked about context and the
importance of understanding context to understand what was going on.
I didnÕt get to the point of talking about the last phrase in this
verse. We read, ÒTo them it was revealed
[the Old Testament prophets] not to
themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been
reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy
Spirit sent from heaven ÉÓ
Then he adds this interesting phrase, ÒThings which angels desire to look into.Ó That little phrase just
opens up the whole door to the angelic conflict. IÕm not going to divert down
except to focus on this one aspect, that we are under observation.
You think the NSA is watching you? Well, itÕs nothing compared to what the elect angels
are doing. We are constantly under scrutiny, not only from the elect angels,
but also from the demons. We are, as it were, living in glass houses all the
time in terms of our spiritual life.
Yet, because of the impact of the Enlightenment and the rationalist
worldview that came out of the Enlightenment called Modernism and
Post-Modernism, we really have difficulty thinking about it as products of the
20th and 21st centuries.
On the other hand if you go to a lot of cultures and societies in what
we used to call third-world countries [Dan Hill last week called it something
else like Òdeveloping nationsÓ] such as in Africa and India where they have
this cultural heritage of Spiritism, they think
thereÕs a spirit in everything that somehow animates the world around us. Their
problem is that they go to the other extreme and try to identify some sort of
spirit in everything. They say everything is the result of some sort of spirit
activity.
They use the example, if you remember, that one of the helpers the Hills
had in their kitchen, was cut two or three times over a period of weeks. We
would say that she cut herself with a knife. They came in one day and the knife
was in the garbage and when he asked why. She said the knife cut her.
In their worldview of Spiritism, everything
has a spirit and that spirit in the knife is causing them to be cut. ItÕs the
old Flip Wilson line, ÒThe devil made me do it.Ó They see a devil, a demon, or
a spirit behind everything. What does that do but erode individual, personal
responsibility?
So you have these two polar opposite views. The biblical view is
in-between. It says that there are spirit beings out there who
are alive and well and active and they influence mankind. How they influence
mankind we donÕt know. They influence history but all of this is under the
control of God.
We see that part of this is that in the Church Age and throughout
history, there are angels who are watching or observing us and there are
reasons because they are learning things related to God and His character and
His justice, His righteousness, His love, and His grace that could not be
learned within the framework of angelic creation.
WeÕre not told a lot about angelic history or angelic creation in the
Scripture. WeÕre just given bits and pieces here and there
from which we can derive a framework for understanding the angelic conflict.
ItÕs not everything we would like to know about angels and demons, but itÕs
enough to where we can form a theology, a doctrine, a teaching that keeps us
within bounds.
The problem that we have as human beings is we always want to know
everything there is to know about something. ThereÕs a lot of speculation that
comes along with regard to angels and demons. You can flip around if you want
to be entertained sometimes on a number of the religious channels and you will
find a lot of deliverance evangelist types that are on television that are
stomping out the devil and all these other kinds of things. They say theyÕre
casting demons out of anyone and anybody who thinks they have one. They think
Christians can be demon possessed.
All of this is based on two things. ItÕs based on experience and itÕs
based on theater. They just want the drama and excitement because they can use
that to raise a lot of money. ItÕs amazing how many of these kinds of preachers
and evangelists have been caught with incredible amounts of money. They have a lot
of problems as a result of that. That doesnÕt mean every one of them is that
way, but it certainly has happened to quite a few of them.
The Bible does teach that there are invisible beings called angels. They
have a primary role which is indicated by their name,
angels, of being messengers from God. They carry out GodÕs will. As God is
governing and overseeing the operations of the universe, all the physical laws
and everything else, behind the scenes, GodÕs angels are working to make all of
that happen. They are involved in overseeing the mechanics of the physical laws
God has put into place. TheyÕre also involved in overseeing and watching human
history.
Human history is directly related to the fall of Satan and what we would
refer to as the angelic conflict, or the angelic rebellion, or SatanÕs
rebellion. One of the reasons we say these are connected together and you canÕt
study human history apart from what the Bible says about the angelic conflict
is because of these verses weÕre going to look at tonight.
After Tommy and I wrote the book ÒSpiritual WarfareÓ [which surprises me
was 26years ago] I was talking with a pastor friend who has his doctorate from
Dallas Seminary and is a respected theologian and pastor in his own right. He
asked me a question that had never occurred to me before.
He said, ÒRobby, why do you think it is that in Reformed
or Calvinist theology there is very little written about angels or demons or
spiritual warfare? Why is it that itÕs not part of their theology?Ó You can go
back and you can read John Calvin. You can read Bullinger.
You can read Zwingli. You can go up through Jonathan Edwards and up to Charles
Hodge and Warfield, and all of these well-respected
Calvinist reformed theologians, and part of the problem is they donÕt really
talk about angels.
They donÕt talk much about the Holy Spirit and the Church Age, either.
That was something I discovered in doing research in a doctoral class on pneumatology when I was in seminary.
The answer is that after the development of the charismatic movement which emphasizes both the Holy Spirit and angels, a
lot of pressure was put on the Presbyterians and the Calvinists to start
talking about these things. So in the 20th century youÕll find
theologies written that talk more about angels and the Holy Spirit. But when I
was taking this seminar/class on pneumatology, one of
the things I did was to look at two of what were considered by erudite
theologians to be the two classic works on the Holy Spirit.
One was written by John Owen who was the chaplain to Oliver Cromwell in
the mid-1600s in England, his work on the Holy Spirit. The other was a work
written by a Dutch reformed Calvinist. I think it was Herman Bavinck on the work of the Holy Spirit. As a result of that
study I realized they never talked about the baptism of the Spirit, the filling
of the Spirit, walking by the Spirit, or any of those dimensions to the
Christian life. They were just ignored.
When you got into the 20th century you would look at a few
and they would talk about these other things. So this question was posed, ÒWhy
is it that Reform theology basically ignores the angelic conflict?Ó The answer
is going back to understanding the difference between Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism, remember I said dispensationalists believe
there are three things that are the core beliefs in dispensationalism.
What are they? A literal, plain interpretation of Scripture is number
one. As a result of that, secondly, you have a distinction between GodÕs plan
for Israel and GodÕs plan for the Church. The third distinction that Ryrie
emphasized was that dispensationalism sees the overriding theme or the
overriding purpose of all of history, which would include angelic history, is
the glory of God.
In contrast, in Reform Theology the overriding purpose of God in history
is redemption. Are angels redeemed? No. So, because they have a more narrow
understanding of the purpose of history as only redemption, this means when
they approach the Bible they already have some blinders on which cause them to
ignore the role of angels.
Even though they believe in angels and they have a minimal angelology,
they donÕt connect the two because their view of the purpose of history as
redemptive limits them from talking about angels. Since angels arenÕt redeemed,
it doesnÕt fit within their framework.
So this is one of those important areas to distinguish in history. When
dispensationalism comes along, you find that certain men like Donald Grey Barnhouse, who came out of a strong Presbyterian Reform
background, like most of the early dispensationalists were strong Calvinists.
John Nelson Darby to Scofield to Chafer, they came
out of Presbyterianism. Barnhouse was the pastor of
the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and had a nationwide radio
ministry in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. He wrote a classic book on spiritual warfare
called ÒThe Invisible WarÓ.
What gave him the understanding of the importance of angels and
spiritual warfare wasnÕt the Calvinistic background he had. When he became a
dispensationalist it opened up his understanding to focus on the role of angels
and Satan.
What we see referenced here in 1 Peter 1:12 is that angels desire to
look into these things, that is the role of suffering that leads to
glorification. ThatÕs what gets emphasized throughout this
section by Peter, that suffering is necessary on the path to the
glorification of God.
These terms are used several times. For example in 1 Peter 1:8 talking
about Jesus whom we havenÕt seen, we love, though now you do not see Him, but
by believing [not Phase One but Phase Two—trusting in the provisions of
Christ in order to handle the fiery trials] but by believing you rejoice with
joy inexpressible and full of glory.
That connects this to glorification. Now the words that are used here,
the word for desire is the word EPITHUMEO which is accurately
translated desire. It can refer to illicit desires and lust patterns or it can
refer to positive desires. ThatÕs something you are to legitimately want or
desire. It shows their volition. They want to look into this.
The word for Òto look intoÓ is the word PARAKUPTO. It
means to look through something in the sense of a thorough analysis. It has the
physical sense to it to indicate itÕs something you donÕt just glance at but
you lean over, you stoop down, and you take a more disciplined, intense
examination, and you look at something.
ItÕs the idea that they desire to look at something, examine it, and
thoroughly understand it. This word PARAKUPTO is used in three passages that are significant
at this season. Tomorrow is Good Friday and Sunday is Resurrection Day.
PARAKUPTO is
used in Luke 24:12, John 20:5, and John 20:11. Luke 24:12 and John 20:5 both
refer to what happens when Peter and John run to the tomb after they have been
told that the LordÕs body was no longer there.
Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down [PARAKUPTO] he
looks inside. ItÕs to stoop down so you can look more intently at something.
In John 20:5 we see John stooping down and looking in seeing the linen
cloths there but he didnÕt go in. Then Peter goes in and stoops down. ThatÕs
the idea we see in this verb.
In John 20:11 Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping and as she wept she
stooped down and looked into the tomb. ThatÕs the idea. ItÕs taking time for a
more thorough examination.
One usage is really important and that in James 1:25 where James says
that the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty. This isnÕt someone
whoÕs just taking a glance at Scripture. This isnÕt someone who just opens their Bible on Sunday morning.
This is someone who is not only studying the Word, listening to a
pastor exposit the Scriptures verse by verse, but is taking the time on their
own to read and to study, to learn how to study the Bible, and to carry on
personal Bible study into the Scriptures.
Someone who is deeply involved in investigating the
meaning of Scripture. So this is the idea that we
have when the text says that these are things that angels desire to look into.
We need to look at some other passages so that we can understand the
whole breadth of this particular doctrine. I want you to turn first of all to
Luke, chapter 15. WeÕre going to bounce around through some different passages
but we want to go to Luke 15.
Luke 15 is a passage that youÕll recognize because of the third parable.
There are three parables that are told in Luke 15. Sometimes they are
misunderstood. I would suggest that some of you might have been mistaught on portions of this particular passage.
There are three parables and itÕs usually referred to as the three
parables about lost things. The first parable is the parable of the lost sheep.
The second parable beginning in Luke 15:8 is the parable of the lost coin. The
third parable is the parable youÕre most familiar with, the parable of the lost
son or the prodigal son.
When we look at these passages itÕs important to understand the context.
There are those who treat these parables, sometimes the first two parables, as
if this is talking about Phase One salvation because
they talk about thereÕs one sheep thatÕs lost.
As soon as we hear that word ÒlostÓ, weÕre sort of pre-programmed by our
evangelical culture to think this means theyÕre not saved. In the second
parable the woman loses a coin so itÕs a lost coin so that must be talking
about someone who is unsaved.
When you get to the third one, thatÕs a parable youÕve heard many times
being taught as a parable about fellowship, not about someone being unsaved.
The two sons are both part of the family of the man. The younger son goes off
on his own, takes his inheritance and squanders it. He is never outside of the
family.
He may be in rebellion against his father. He may be out on his own in
the pig sty but he is still part of the family. ItÕs a
picture of a rebellious believer.
We go back and look at the first two and we see that the text makes it
very clear that this is talking about believers. Luke 15:1 is parallel to
Matthew 9 where weÕve studied before and also Matthew 18 talking about the lost
sheep. The shepherd is analogous to the Father and the sheep are all sheep.
TheyÕre not goats.
The context is set up in Luke 15:1–2 that the tax collectors and
sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him and the pharisees
and the scribes complained that Jesus received sinners and eats with them.
TheyÕre being extremely self-righteous and theyÕre judging Jesus because He is
associating with sinners.
The term ÒsinnersÓ does not necessarily mean someone who is an
unbeliever. It can mean someone who is rebellious against God. Jesus tells
these parables, ÒWhat man of you having a
hundred sheep ÉÓ Right away we see that the man who represents the Father
owns the sheep. That means theyÕre all His originally.
It goes on to say, ÒIf He loses
one of them, does He not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one
which is lost until He finds it? When He has found it He lays it on His
shoulders, rejoicing. When He comes home he calls to His friends and says,
ÔRejoice with me for I have found My sheepÕ.Ó
ItÕs not a sheep that was owned by someone else or a goat that now
becomes His. That would be a picture of salvation. This is a picture of
restoration. This is a picture of a believer being restored to the flock in
terms of fellowship.
What I want to point out in terms of this passage is that in Luke 15:7
He says, ÒI say to you that likewise
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.Ó Now, thatÕs
not getting justified. That is a believer who is turning back to God, who is
confessing sin. This is not talking about justification, but sanctification.
ÒThere will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no
repentance.Ó
The point here is that Heaven rejoices. Who is in Heaven? This is a
figure of speech. Heaven is an impersonal thing. It is a place, so when the
text says there is joy in Heaven itÕs talking about those who are inhabiting Heaven having joy. ThereÕs a reason IÕm
putting it that way. WeÕll come back to that later on.
Heaven is merely the place for those who inhabit it, the angels.
The second parable is the parable of the lost coin. We read, ÒOr what woman having ten silver coins, if
she loses one coin, doesnÕt light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully
until she finds it?Ó She already owns the ten coins. TheyÕre hers. SheÕs
not getting one she didnÕt already own. That indicates again that itÕs
something that is hers and thereÕs a recovery process taking
place here, not a justification process.
When she found it she called her friends and neighbors together and
said, ÒRejoice with me for I found the
piece which I lost.Ó This indicates she owned it initially.
The last verse, Luke 15:10, says, ÒLikewise,
I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
who repents.Ó This is Jesus drawing the principle. This is talking about
someone who turns back to God. The whole idea in the Old Testament of shub which weÕve
studied before, turning away from disobedience to God and turning to God in
obedience.
This first example tells us that the angels are watching believers and
when believers are out of fellowship and in rebellion, the angels are aware of
that, and when they observe how God works to bring us back to Himself and win
that rebellious believer so he turns back to God, they rejoice in Heaven.
Each time we confess our sins, each time we turn back to God, each time
we shift our walk from the path of death or carnality to the path of life and
walking by the Spirit, the angels rejoice. They cheer for us. That is the
backdrop for that particular passage.
The next passage I want to look at is in 1 Timothy.
Turn with me to 1 Timothy. All the ÒTÓ books go together, 1 Thessalonians, 2
Thessalonians, and 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and then
Titus. All the ÒTÓ books go together.
In 1 Timothy 3 it begins talking about the qualifications for the
leaders in the church, the bishop or the pastor, and secondly, the deacons. We
have to understand thatÕs the context, qualifications for those in leadership.
Then as Paul transitions to his next topic in 1 Timothy 3:14 he says, ÒThese things I write to you though I hope to
come to you shortly. But if IÕm delayed I write to you so that you may know how
you should conduct yourselves in the house of God.Ó
He uses that phrase Òhouse of GodÓ to refer to the local church. How are
you conduct yourselves? YouÕre to have two categories
of leaders: elders, bishops, or pastors as these terms were used
interchangeably and then, deacons, that things should be done in order. This is
how you ought to conduct yourselves in the house of God, which is the church of
the Living God. Church is EKKLESIA, the assembly, the pillar and ground of the
truth.
Then in 1 Timothy 3:16 in the King James Version it is translated very
awkwardly. ÒAnd without controversy great
is the mystery of godliness.Ó That word without controversy is a word
thatÕs familiar to most of you. ItÕs the Greek word HOMOLOGEO as
a participle.
Where do we find HOMOLOGEO? 1 John 1:9, ÒIf we confess our
sins ÉÓ So HOMOLOGEO means to confess and probably the best translation here is what we find
in the New American Standard, ÒBy common
confession, great is the mystery of godliness:Ó Then thereÕs a pause and
like a poetic insert, ÒGod was manifested
in the flesh, [NASB says He who was revealed in the flesh], was justified [vindicated] in
the Spirit, seen by angels, preached [proclaimed] among the Gentiles [nations], believed
on in the word, taken up into glory.Ó
So these statements all are related to the Person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is a verse that is focused on the hypostatic union. The mystery is
that revelation of the 2nd Person of the Trinity in human flesh. We
need to talk about this for a minute because thereÕs a lot more going on here
than we think about.
In that opening line, ÒBy common
confession great is the mystery of godlinessÓ, this word ÒgodlinessÓ is a
lot like our word holiness which weÕre going to get into when we get into the
next two or three verses in 1 Peter. ItÕs one of those words that is used so
much in Christianity that it loses its meaning.
People donÕt take the time to go back and look up words in a dictionary.
What does this word godliness mean anyway? ThatÕs not necessarily an easy thing
to talk about. The Greek word is EUSEBEIA. This is formed by an
EU prefix. In Greek an EU prefix indicates
that youÕre taking the main word and adding something that is positive or
beneficial to it.
For example you can have a saying about someone, which would be a LOGOS, a
statement. LOGOS means words. So youÕd have a statement about someone and youÕd call it
a LOGOS but if itÕs a positive statement about someone it becomes an EULOGEO, an eulogy, a positive statement about the person.
So EUSEBEIA is talking about something positive in terms of this root word SEBEIA.
The core semantic meaning has the idea of keeping your distance from someone.
When it comes to applying this to deity, it has the idea of showing reverence
to God, shrinking back in fear, or worship. That has this idea of something
that is devoted to God and something that is fearful of God.
Another compound word uses the prefix THEOS for God. THEOSEBEIA is
close in meaning to EUSEBEIA. It describes a personÕs attitude toward the Divine, the attitude they
have towards God.
In the Greek New Testament this idea of EUSEBEIA has
the idea of someone who is walking closely with God, someone who has a life
that shows they honor and reverence God. In English they try to capture this by
adding the ÒlyÓ suffix, which usually implies an
adverb. In Old English itÕs like something they would say is God-like or
Christ-like.
That got contracted to godly. You find this in other words. So godliness
in English really goes back to the meaning of godlikeness. ThatÕs what weÕre
talking about here, the process whereby the believer learns to imitate Christ,
to live his life in imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is supposed to be
Christ-like, Romans 8:28–29 says that we are
predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.
ThatÕs GodÕs destiny for us, to be Christ-like, conformed to His image.
The mystery of EUSEBEIA is the mystery of being like Christ. It is the mystery of the Christian
life. ThatÕs why I often translate this word EUSEBEIA as
just spiritual life because it drives us toward being like Christ and being
conformed to His image.
When we look at this we see that Paul is saying that this is the mystery
of the spiritual life, to be Christlike. We have to
understand who Jesus Christ is in His person. We have to understand the role of
the humanity of Christ in terms of setting that pattern and that standard for
what the believerÕs life should be like.
He uses that word mystery because the word mystery doesnÕt refer to
trying to figure out a riddle or a whodunit but in Greek thought a mystery was
a previous unrevealed truth. The idea that God would become man and enter into
human history in the way it happened with Jesus Christ as John says in John
1:18 that Jesus is the EXEGETE or the one who reveals the Father. ÒNo
one has seen the Father at any time; the only begotten Son É has revealed Him.Ó
ThatÕs the mystery, that we can only know God through the incarnate Jesus
Christ.
We have passages in the epistles that talk about this. In Ephesians 5:32
Paul says, ÒThis is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church.Ó In the passage in context heÕs
talking about marriage between husband and wife and how that mirrors the
relationship of Christ and the church. He says that this is the mystery of the
relationship between Christ and the church.
This was not revealed in the Old Testament because the mystery of the
hypostatic union could not be understood.
In 1 Timothy 3:9
Paul says, ÒWe are holding the mystery of
the faith with a pure conscience.Ó ThatÕs in relation to the qualifications
of a deacon. A deacon is to hold on and have an understanding of this
previously unrevealed teaching about the faith, that
it centers on the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is then described in
verse 15 as the Òpillar and ground of the truth.Ó
Then we can also look at two verses in Colossians 1:27 and Colossians
2:2 that also talk about mystery and they connect this also to the Person of
Christ.
In Colossians 1:27 we read, ÒTo
them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles.Ó What is that mystery? That mystery is ÒChrist in you, the hope of glory.Ó What
is happening to the church has never happened before in human history, that God
indwelt man. Christ is the one here indwelling the believer.
Colossians 2:2, ÒThat their hearts
may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of
the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God,
both of the Father and of Christ,Ó This again connects us to previously
unrevealed doctrine related to Christ and how the eternal 2nd Person
of the Trinity could enter into human history.
All of that helps us to understand that this mystery is the Person of
Christ. What does that verse go on to say in the whole context? ÒHe who was revealed in the flesh [the
incarnation of Christ], was vindicated by the Spirit [in His spiritual life], was seen by
angels. ThatÕs what weÕre looking at.
Angels were watching the Lord Jesus Christ in hypostatic union in His
humanity as He lived His spiritual life laying down the precedence of the
spiritual life of the Church Age.
The third point we see is that angels are observing believers. They
learn from us and they are watching us. They learn about God. They learn about
grace. They learn about GodÕs justice, things that they would not learn in
terms of GodÕs plan for the angels.
We see this in three basic passages. 1 Corinthians
4:9, Ephesians 3:10, and 1 Timothy 5:21.
In 1 Corinthians 4:9 we read Paul saying, ÒFor I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men
condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to
angels and to men.Ó
HeÕs saying that as apostles they have come under specific scrutiny by
the angels as well. TheyÕve been made a spectacle. ThatÕs the word THEATRON which is where we get our word theater. Some places itÕs translated theater. Some places it has the idea of
being made a display or a spectacle.
This is the drama of the ages that is being presented before the angels
and they are watching us on the stage. We are a spectacle to angels and to men.
Now in Ephesians 3:10 we see something else again. We see the statement
that Paul makes that Òto the intent that
now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities
and powers in heavenly places.Ó That phrase Òprincipalities and powersÓ is
a term that refers to the hierarchy, the chain of command within the angelic
ranks, those who live within the heavens. So the angels are living in the
heavenly places.
He doesnÕt say angels. He talks about their place of habitation. HeÕs
using that as a figure of speech to talk about the inhabitants of Heaven, not
just as an impersonal location.
Getting the context here is important. In Ephesians 3:9 Paul says, ÒTo make all see what is the fellowship of
the mystery.Ó Again weÕre back talking about the mystery doctrine,
something that wasnÕt revealed in the Old Testament but now has been revealed
in the New Testament primarily through the apostle Paul. But also this mystery
doctrine, although itÕs not used as such, is revealed in even the so-called
Jewish epistles, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, James, and Hebrews.
ÒTo make all see what is the
fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden
in God.Ó See, thatÕs the idea. Throughout all of creation from Adam up
until when Jesus Christ is incarnate, the fact of the creation of the church as
a unique body of believers was not revealed.
Only later in JesusÕ ministry does He begin to reveal it to His disciples.
They donÕt get it. ItÕs just itty-bitty increments here and there until you get
to the upper room discourse when He begins to really teach them what is about
to happen after the cross.
The mystery was hidden in God who created all things through Jesus
Christ all the way until just about the end of ChristÕs ministry. ÒTo the intent [the purpose of the
mystery] that now the manifold wisdom of
God might be made known.Ó The extent of GodÕs wisdom was not made evident
in the Old Testament but it has now been made evident and been revealed to us.
This is remarkable. We have knowledge and information that no one in the
Old Testament had. Abraham didnÕt understand. Moses didnÕt understand. David
didnÕt understand. None of the prophets understood. ÒThe manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the
principalities and powers in the heavenly places.Ó
They only learn this by observing us, by watching the church.
Now as Paul is nearing the end of his first imprisonment when heÕs been
slightly rebuking Timothy for being a little timid and not being strong enough
in his pastorate, Paul tells him in 1 Timothy 5:21, ÒI charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels.Ó
Notice the order there. God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the elect angels. ÒThat you
observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.Ó
He lists three things. Something I just learned is that this just shows
how much PaulÕs rabbinic training influenced him. Rabbis love to list things in
groups of three. Sort of like dispensationalists like seven points, rabbis
group things in groups of three. You find this throughout all of PaulÕs
writings where he groups things in groups of three. ThatÕs evidence of his deep
rabbinic training.
So he says, ÒI charge you before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels.Ó Now where does God the
Father have His abode? Heaven. Where does the Lord Jesus Christ have His abode
now? In Heaven. Where do the angels live? In Heaven. What is Paul doing here?
He is calling upon the inhabitants of Heaven to be a witness to what he
is charging Timothy with. HeÕs saying that heÕs charging Timothy before Heaven.
We could paraphrase it that way. What he means is not Heaven as a spatial
object but the inhabitants of Heaven.
ÒI charge you before Heaven that
you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.Ó
This, again, is so Old Testament, so Jewish. We just have to go back to
Deuteronomy and weÕll see this.
In Deuteronomy 4:26 what does Moses say as he is charging the conquest
generation with his final words before he dies? He says, ÒI call upon heaven and earth to witness against you ÉÓ ItÕs a legal
testimony. WhatÕs required in the laws to confirm something? Two witnesses. It
doesnÕt mean the spatial heaven. It means the inhabitants of Heaven. Who? It
means the angels.
And earth doesnÕt mean the physical earth, the geological earth, the land. HeÕs talking about the inhabitants of the earth.
He has two witnesses. HeÕs calling upon the angels in Heaven and humanity to
witness this. So again itÕs showing that thereÕs this evidence even in the Old
Testament that the angels are watching.
Deuteronomy 30:19, ÒI call heaven
and earth as witnesses today against you.Ó Now physical places like the
earth canÕt be a witness. IÕve made this point all the way through that this is
a figure of speech where the place is put for the inhabitants of the place.
Deuteronomy 32:1. Again, Moses says, ÒGive ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of
my mouth.Ó Physical spatial location isnÕt what heÕs talking about. HeÕs
talking about the inhabitants of those locations. So we see that the angels in
Heaven are witnesses for whatÕs going on in human history.
A fourth thing we learn from Scripture is that not only do the elect
angels watch us but the demons watch us. Satan has organized his demonic forces
to hinder and to block Church Age believers from living out their spiritual
lives.
ItÕs clear that SatanÕs demons are intimately involved in watching
believers. One of the classic passages is the passage on spiritual warfare in
Ephesians 6:12–17. Paul says, ÒFor
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.Ó The battle, folks, is not against
the Democrats and the pagans. The battle is not against the atheists and
secularists.
The battle ultimately is against the forces of wickedness and the forces
of darkness, the forces of Satan. ÒWe do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places.Ó
Remember when we studied Revelation that the demons and Satan are not
kicked out of Heaven until half way through the Tribulation.
So what is a poor little Christian supposed to do about this?
Ephesians 6: 13, ÒTherefore take
up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand.Ó Notice itÕs using the same language.
Ephesians 6:14 starts off, ÒStand therefore.Ó This is defensive
language. The idea is you have an army and youÕve got two battalions. One whose
role and responsibility is to hold their ground and
stand firm. The other battalion is the one thatÕs going to maneuver and is
going to execute an offensive action against the attacking force. The church, the believers, are to stand firm in one place. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the other battalion who is going to attack from the flank.
The reason is because weÕre fighting an invisible enemy. We canÕt see
them. ThereÕs no way we can comprehend or understand what the enemy is doing.
So we do what weÕre ordered to do and that is to take up a defensive posture.
WeÕre not going out there and give the devil a black eye. WeÕre not going to
stomp on the devil. WeÕre not going to be engaged in offensive tactics.
Everything we read in Ephesians 6 is talking about defense. It is
putting on the full armor of God. ThatÕs the word ÒpanoplyÓ. We donÕt see it
too much anymore. You sing it in a few hymns. It means the panoply of God, the
full armor of God. So weÕre to stand there, having girded your waist with
truth.
WeÕre going to see that same imagery in 1 Peter in the next couple of
verses É that weÕre to gird up our loins. It means to take a robe or whatever
hinders us and you pull it up out of the way and tie it off so you donÕt
stumble on it. You gird up your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate
of righteousness.
Now on this slide I want to go back and talk about these words
ÒwithstandÓ, ÒstandÓ, and Òstand thereforeÓ in verse 14. The word withstand is ANTHISTEMI.
The root word is HISTEMI which is
the second word here on the slide. It just has ANTI as a prefix. So HISTEMI
means to stand and ANTHISTEMI means to stand against. ItÕs just an intensified form of the idea to
stand in place. These are two defensive terms.
Again and again and again we see this is the role of the believer. It
doesnÕt say to attack the devil. It says to stand firm.
Then in Ephesians 6:17, skipping a couple of verses, weÕre to Òtake the helmet of salvation, and the sword
of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.Ó
If you look down in front of me in front of the pulpit youÕll see there
is a Roman MACHAIRA there. ThatÕs the Greek word that is used here for sword. It refers to
the short sword of the Roman soldier. One of the interesting things about this which I just recently learned is that the Roman short sword
was not used to parry. ItÕs a two-edged sword so you donÕt use it to parry an
attack from the enemy. YouÕre not fighting with the edge of the sword. YouÕre
not using it to cut and slash.
What happens if you have your shield in your left arm and you have your MACHAIRA in
your right hand and youÕre going to hack and cut, what are you going to do as
soon as you raise the sword up? YouÕre exposed and made your right side
vulnerable.
If youÕre going to slash, again, as you rear back youÕre exposing your
left side. The Roman short sword was used only to penetrate, only to stab. What
happens when you stab? When you stab you pierce the organs. A slash and cutting
movement would wound the enemy but it wouldnÕt be a fatal wound, but if you
penetrate two or three inches itÕs going to create a fatal wound. It will
penetrate to the heart or to the vital organs.
This is the imagery we see in Hebrews 4:12. ÒFor the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even unto the division of soul and spirit, and joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.Ó
This is what we use the Word of God for. This is claiming promises,
mixing promises with faith, using the Word of God to pierce the enemy, just as
Jesus did in the wilderness temptations.
Another thing we need to look at in understanding how weÕre
being observed by Satan are passages that we see from the oldest book in
the Bible up through the New Testament. In Job weÕre told that Satan wanders
around looking for Christians who are vulnerable.
Job 1:6 says, ÒNow there was a day
when the sons of God [all the angels, fallen and elect] came to present themselves before the Lord,
and Satan also came among them.Ó
Job 2:1–2, a second incident, ÒAgain
there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. And
the Lord said to Satan, ÔFrom where do you come?Õ Satan answered the Lord and
said, ÔFrom going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on
it.Õ Ó
He didnÕt say like a roaring lion on the earth but thatÕs the same image
that heÕs going to and fro on the earth. When Peter refers to at the end of 1
Peter, he says, ÒBe sober. Be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour.Ó ThatÕs what was going on in Job.
He lights on Job as a target just as he lights on believers. Now Satan
is not omnipresent so He doesnÕt necessarily do all of this himself. He has all
of his demons and is a master at delegating authority. TheyÕre involved in
observing and recording all of our behavior. So they are intimately involved in
watching us as well so they can hinder our spiritual growth.
Now the last couple of points I want to make is
that SatanÕs major objective is twofold, one towards unbelievers and one
towards believers. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 weÕre told that toward unbelievers, Òthe god of this age [another title for
Satan] has blinded ÉÓ ThatÕs his job,
to blind the unbeliever to truth.
This shows the error in the Calvinist doctrine since we started off
talking about Calvinists in our joke earlier, is that if men have total
inability as opposed to total depravity which means man is unable to understand
or respond to the gospel, why does Satan need to blind the mind of the
unbeliever? TheyÕre already blind according to Calvinist doctrine.
ThatÕs not what we believe. We believe in total depravity, which means
that all of manÕs being is corrupted by sin, not that man is totally unable to
respond to general revelation.
In Luke 8:12 when Jesus gives the parable of the sower
He says, ÒThose [seeds] that are cast by the wayside are the ones
who hear; then the devil comes, and takes away the word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved.Ó So he is involved in blocking the
gospel and blinding the unbeliever.
Satan also has a tactic or strategy to attack believers. This is seen in
a couple of the letters to the seven churches in the first part of Revelation.
In the letter to Smyrna [Revelation 2:9] he says, ÒI know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I
know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a
synagogue of Satan.Ó These are believers who have totally succumbed to the
pagan thinking of the world.
A couple of verses later [Revelation 2:13], he says, ÒI know your works, and where you dwell,
where SatanÕs throne is. [Pagan idolatrous worship in Smyrna].Ó
Then to the church in Thyatira [Revelation 2:24] we read, ÒNow to you I say, and to the rest in
Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths
of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden.Ó You see this
attack against the church that is energized by Satan.
One way he [Satan] does this is described in 2 Corinthians
11:14–15, is that he Òtransforms
himself into an angel of light.Ó This is like the angel who appeared to
Mohammed in a cave in Arabia. This was Satan appearing as an angel of light.
ItÕs just like the angel Moroni who appeared to
Joseph Smith at Palmyra in New York. This is SatanÕs deception. He transforms
himself into an angel of light Òtherefore
it is no great thing if his ministers [demons] also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end
will be according to their works.Ó
WhatÕs our solution? James 4:7–8, ÒTherefore submit to God. Resist the devil.Ó ThatÕs the same word we
saw in Ephesians 6: 12 and following. Stand firm. ÒResist the devil and he will flee from you.Ó It doesnÕt say to
attack the devil. It just says ÒResist the devil and he will flee from you.Ó ThatÕs a promise.
ÒDraw near to God and He will draw
near to you.Ó This is talking about confession of sin. ÒCleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify
your hearts, you double-minded.Ó How do we cleanse our hearts and purify
our hands?Õ WeÕre cleansed through confession of sin.
The key is to walk with God and God will protect us. When weÕre not
walking with God, weÕve moved outside of the sphere of protection and we have exposed
ourselves spiritually to be attacked and tempted by Satan and the demons and to
be destroyed by the thinking of the cosmic system.
So that wraps up the introductory section of 1 Peter 1 and weÕll start
in the main body next time.
Closing Prayer
ÒFather, we thank You for this opportunity to study Your Word this
evening, to be reminded that we live in the midst of an open arena where weÕre
observed by the angels, the elect angels as well as the fallen angels. Our
lives are to be testimony before the angels, demonstrating Your
grace and Your goodness and Your righteousness. Demonstrating that You are a God who is true to His word. You provide for us
and protect us and Your grace is sufficient for us.
Father, we pray You would help us to understand
this and that we might not fall prey to the fiery darts of the evil one and
that we might use Your Word to constantly protect us. We pray this in ChristÕs
name. Amen.Ó