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Free PowerPoint Sermon: On the Side of the Angels Pt. 5

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On the Side of the Angels pt. 5 – Presentation Transcript

People naturally tend to divide into groups and then take sides.
Here, in our cover picture we see some typical grouping and side-taking patterns.
We group around politics, race, abilities, territory, class, education, age, taste in dress, taste in music, etc.
An old saying goes like this, “I’m on the side of the Angels.”

Worldly War Games
Emboldening Rebellion
Groupthink
Caustic Kings (Their Motive & Methods)
Dangerous Duplicity
When Joshua was fighting the Canaanites, Jesus came to him as “The Angel of the Lord” (Jesus, not yet in the flesh, often took this form in the Old Testament).
Joshua asked Him which side He was on.
Wouldn’t we all like to think God is on our chosen side of any issue?
Don’t we just want to bolster our side with Heaven’s stamp of approval?

But Jesus (the Angel of the Lord), answers him, “I am not on anybody’s side.
I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”
For the Lord…
There are only two choices.
One can be on the Lord’s side or not on the Lord’s side.

So, Joshua fell on his face and worshipped Him (this is one reason we know that this was no ordinary angel-angels never let men worship them).

Angels spend their time & energy worshipping Jesus & relaying His message.
For an angel, worshipping Jesus & relaying His message is his very existence.
Angels actually see us as co-workers in this occupation—We have the same job as them.
“The side of the Angels” is all about worshipping Jesus & relaying His message.
Listen to what the Angel of the Lord tells Joshua that he should be doing…

Like Moses before him, Joshua took off his shoes and recognized the Holy One in whose presence He stood.
The Lord was on His own side—always was, always will be.
On this occasion, Israel would win the battle, but at another time, Israel would be in disobedience and taken into captivity.
God is on the side of holiness, not on any group’s side.

When it comes to politics, there are always sides. This will never change.
These are groups that have banded together to take advantage of the strength in numbers principle.
But God is not on the side of any nation or political group.
Nations and political groups have come and gone for centuries… always will.
God is in the business of saving souls!!!

Whose side is God on?Neither! —It’s time to just bow down and worship Him!
One day, the Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to lure Him into a political debate.
They wanted Him to choose a political side, but He was much too busy trying to save men’s eternal souls than to let Himself get distracted with human-centered debates.

If this image is on your soul, then throw yourself into human interests.
So, Jesus, which side are you on? What group are you pledged to…?
Israel or the Canaanites—Israel or the Romans?
There will always be political issues that will divide the public into groups voicing their heated sides.
Like Joshua or the Pharisees, we might be tempted to say this side or that side is God’s side—Listen to what the old movie cowboy, John Wayne once said:

God has already told us His side—He cares about the salvation of souls & that for the glorification of Jesus.
He’s asked us to preach to the lost, make intercession for them, worship Him, love His Word & earnestly seeking Him!
Let’s not get distracted by picking sides.
We are made in the image of God, let us wholly, 100% give Him what is truly His—our heart, mind & strength.

All our love, time, devotion & obedience to the great commission belongs to Him.
We have two sides to choose from… to serve Jesus with all our hearts or not.
Believers have only one true identity.
We are “In Christ”—He alone is our identity and the only thing that matters to God.

We may have had other associations & loyalties.
We may be proud to call ourselves a “this” or a “that” or a “former this” or “that.”
We may sing their signature songs, wear their colors, repeat their slogans, and tattoo their image on our skin, but…
All other labels and identifiers must fall by the wayside in light of who we truly are—
Now, we can just call ourselves “His.”

This is exactly what happened to the rich young ruler.
He felt that he wanted to follow Jesus…
But when Jesus challenged him to sell everything he owned, and then follow Him. he couldn’t do it because he had invested so much of his life just getting and being rich.
So, with a heavy heart, he clung to the way of life he knew so well, loved and preferred.
He let Jesus go on without him.
We may think there is a world of choices set before us.
The fact is, in God’s mind, there is not a host of sides and choices we can make:
There is only “God’s side,” and “Not God’s Side.”
All other choices God sees as His rivals for your love, trust and devotion.
In our pride, we believe we can throw ourselves into attractive worldly pursuits and be devoted to Christ at the same time.
In this, we must be very careful, the bible teaches that we can easily become the servant of our pursuits and choices.
It happens without our knowing it.
Yet, as we throw our money, energy, time & thought-life into some beloved distraction, invisible chains start forming on our wrists.
As we learned, we become the servants of whatever we pursue with our heart.
So, just as we can become a slave to sin, simply by pursuing its pleasures.
If we pursue Christ, and spend our energy, time & thought-life focused on Christ—our beloved master, invisible chains will start forming on our wrists.
They are chains of love that will bind us to our beloved and compel us to do His will.
While Moses was up on the mountaintop hearing from God, the Israelites offered up all their gold and riches to build a false God—a golden calf.
They were happily and willingly impoverished by this new master.
All interests that rival the Lord, enslave and impoverish their devotees.
They worshiped the calf until Moses came back and saw what they were up to.

What happened next is the reason why the tribe of Levi was chosen to be the perpetual warrior/priests of Israel.
They chose the Lord’s side when their friends and family chose the golden calf.
And when God told them to slay their friends and family which had worshipped the calf, they did… it was a hard choice. God used them to execute His judgement.
Today, in this dispensation, God doesn’t put judgement in our hands, but He does ask us to make the same kind of hard choices.

Sometimes the Lord’s side is a lonely side.
You can no longer get your kicks from competing for dominance in your arena.
You can no longer be emboldened in your rebellion against the ruling authorities.
You can no longer just let some group tell you what you think.
You can no longer give a chosen leader your heart.
You no longer merely flock with others.

Nothing comes before Jesus…
No competitive teams, recreational activities, jobs, businesses, alma-maters, country, or political parties — not even church bodies, denominations, civil rights or humanitarian causes.
Not even family.

Birds of a feather, flock together.
We may align ourselves with groups that help people, and that is good, but it is not an end in itself. It helps only on a temporary basis.
The preaching of the gospel & intercessory prayer will save souls for eternity…
Not just improve their way of life for a season.
We must be very wary of the potentially all-consuming power of affiliations and allegiances.
They can easily replace our allegiance to Christ himself.
We must hold very loosely to earthy things and be ready let it all go if God calls on us to do something else for Him.
This doesn’t mean we should break ties every time we disagree with someone or that we should fail to meet a real need.
But we must never set Jesus aside to follow another passion or allegiance.

Remember, we cannot serve two masters.
Or else, only one will be the main entree (in this meal called our life) and the other will be merely a side dish.
We mustn’t turn Jesus into a Sunday Morning side-dish.
Yes, it feels great to align ourselves with a team, to follow a champion, a leader, to defeat all the competitors, to shout the victory together, just to know –
–we belong to something bigger than ourselves, something worth defending (perhaps, even defending with our lives).
But if we must put our vast potential for loyalty into play (and we must) let us apply it to advancing and defending the Gospel…
At times, we will stand alone… often we will be hated… perhaps even unto the death…
But we must always on the Side of the Angels.

Listen to what John overheard when he visited Heaven in a vision:
Finally, King David is a perfect example of a man who was on the side of the angels.
This man had the very heart of angels, a heart of worship and of service.
I suspect the angels might have even joined in with him (in Heaven) as he prayed this prayer.
Can we say with David. “O LORD, this is your kingdom.”
And now we will see that David even went far beyond the side of the angels.
He realized that he was unworthy to even be allowed to offer praise to the Most High.
Yet, he must… he must praise the Lord.
He had gone beyond the “side of the angels”
He was now on the side of the REDEEMED.
Today, can we detach ourselves from our various groups and sides and fill our hearts with praise and adoration for the One who died for us and has risen to His throne in Heaven?
Can we stand on the side of the angels (and with David) to offer him a level of praise truly worthy of Who He is?