NOTE: This article first appeared as an editorial in the February 2020 issue of the Michigan Memo, the official newsletter of the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Working Like Angels
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He instructed them to entreat our heavenly Father, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Luke 11:2) What exactly does that mean? Beyond a mere turn of phrase, I believe Jesus was saying that God actually wants us to execute His will here on earth the same way it is executed in heaven. Therefore, to do God’s work well, we need to better understand how heaven operates.
Revelation chapters four and five provide a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of the heavenly courts. Here we find the members of the Godhead each in their respective roles—the Father on the throne, the Son as “a Lamb as though it had been slain,” and the Spirit “sent out into all the earth.” (Revelation 5:6) Beyond the Heavenly Trio there are four living creatures and twenty-four elders, each in their assigned place. Yet, for all the rightful attention given to God, the living creatures, and the elders, the overwhelming majority of heaven’s population is made up of another group of beings. “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” (Revelation 5:11) Whether that number is literal or figurative, we can all agree it is a lot of angels! What is their function in God’s kingdom?
The Apostle Paul explains how God “makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire” and that angels are “all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation.” (Hebrews 1:7, 14) So while there are a handful of key leaders, heaven consists mostly of angels, each tasked with personally ministering to the lost. That is the model of labor God wants to see reflected in His church on the earth.
The Counsel of Jethro
You are likely familiar with the story of Israel’s organization recorded in Exodus 18. No sooner had the Lord delivered the Israelites from Egypt than it became expected that each day “Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.” (Exodus 18:13) When his father-in-law, Jethro, observed this practice, he questioned Moses as to why he worked that way. Very sincerely Moses answered, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.” (Exodus 18:15, 16) Despite his sincerity, the way Moses was working was not in harmony with heaven’s ideal. To correct the situation, Jethro makes a two-part proposal.
First, he recommends that Moses “teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.” Interestingly, this counsel is practically identical to what Moses was already doing; the only difference being the added task of teaching people “the work they must do.” The instruction Moses gave needed to include more practical application of personal duty.
Second, Jethro encourages an expanded leadership structure. “Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” (Exodus 18:21) Instead of one man directing all the affairs of an immense sea of people, Moses should arrange the congregation such that everyone would have his or her place in a small group for the purpose of service.
Jethro concluded with encouragement saying, “If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace. So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.” (Exodus 18:23, 24)
Jesus, the Model Minister
It should come as little surprise that Jesus, who had commanded the Angel host and established the working order of heaven, instituted these same principles among His disciples on earth. At their very first interaction, Jesus said “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17) They were not merely to be witnesses of Christ’s work for the lost, but to become workers themselves.
Later, after having spent time assisting Christ in His ministry, the disciples were sent out to practice what they had learned. “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick… So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.” (Luke 9:1-6) Expanding this model even further, we read how “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. (Luke 10:1) That’s eighty-two people Jesus deployed for practical ministry!
“Then He said to them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’” (Luke 10:2) Jesus knew that His mission entailed not just His own labor for the lost but training of others to do the same. “In all His work, He was training them for individual labor, to be extended as their numbers increased, and eventually to reach to the uttermost parts of the earth.” (Acts of the Apostles, p. 32).
From the Apostles to Christ’s Return
After Christ’s departure, His lessons of organization for individual labor weren’t lost on His disciples. When the believers began looking to them to care for every need of the congregation, the Apostles immediately put into to practice what they had learned from Jesus. “Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, ‘It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’” (Acts 6:2-4) And what was the result? “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7).
This story illustrates the proper role of church leaders. Pastors and administrators, like Jesus and the disciples He trained, are called to train individual members for personal ministry and to organize local congregations for effective soul-winning service. As the Apostle Paul explained, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11, 12).
This biblical model is further elucidated by the Spirit of Prophecy. In The Ministry of Healing, p. 149 we read how, “Every church should be a training school for Christian workers. Its members should be taught how to give Bible readings, how to conduct and teach Sabbath school classes, how best to help the poor and to care for the sick, how to work for the unconverted.” This call for personal ministry from every church member is so vital that we are even told that, “The work of God in the earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work and unite their efforts with those of ministers and church officers.” (Gospel Workers, p. 352).
I love working in Sabbath School and Personal Ministries (SSPM) because this department exists to train, equip, and encourage lay members to win souls and grow their local churches. How desperately we need a revival of every-member evangelism! It is my conviction that this, at least in part, is what Jesus had in mind when He taught us to pray for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” Making this very application, Mrs. White counsels, “How can you who repeat the Lord's prayer, ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,’ sit at ease in your homes without helping to carry the torch of truth to others? How can you lift up your hands before God and ask his blessing upon yourselves and your families when you are doing so little to help others? ... The heavenly messengers are doing their work; but what are we doing? Brethren and sisters, God calls upon you to redeem the time.” (Historical Sketches, p. 288)
Friends, I believe that we all, myself included, should pray more earnestly as Christ taught us. May we each “redeem the time” by dedicating ourselves to individually seeking the lost and coming close to those in need. In so doing we will cooperate with the ministering angels and taste a little piece of heaven here on earth.
Pastor Kameron deVasher serves as director of the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department of the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.