Matthew 5: 17 Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. The Amplified translation says ~ Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the prophets; I have come not to do away with but to complete and fulfill them.
18) For truly I tell you, until the sky and earth pass away and perish, not one smallest letter nor one little hook (identifying certain Hebrew letters) will pass from the Law until all things (it foreshadows) are accomplished. Notice what our Lord said, until all things it foreshadows are accomplished . He is saying without a doubt something is coming that will replace the Law and it's demands on mankind.

Paul teaches in there was a time when faith was absent from mankind and a time when faith would be apportioned to all, Galatians 3: 23 - 25 But before faith came, we were kept under the Law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24) Wherefore the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25) But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. This deliniation is clear. A time before faith, a time after faith. He also adds the Law served as trainer or schoolmaster until faith came. This witnesses to what our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5: 17 & 18. A time will come when our schooling and training will be complete and we can then graduate to this way of operating in the Kingdom of God by faith. This is vitally important brethren to understand this principle. Otherwise we will be brought back under the Law those of us that don't hear and understand that the law holds no demands on a New Covenant believer. There are no more need to's and have to's The Law is carnal---Faith is spiritual.

Most of our teaching these days in the church is milk. How to get along with everybody, how not to give in to the lusts of the flesh, salvation and all things pertaining to it. This is great, and this is still needed for new converts and infants in Christ and cannot be left out. But at some time in 20 or 30 years of church going, some of us should be able to grasp these basic lessons and go on to the meat of God's Word. There should be programs set up in the church to develope fathers in Christ to lead decipleship teams into all walks of this world. These teams shouldn't try to kick down doors nor force Jesus down peoples throat, but go about their everyday walk, in the position in life that God has allotted to them trusting Him and only Him to put them in the exact place at the right time for His service. 1 Cororinthians 7: 17 - 24 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.
18) Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.
19) Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
20) Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
21) Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.
22) For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.
23) Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
24) Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

These prior verses are in perfect line with the perfect principle of God's will ~ nothing more ~ nothing less ~ nothing else ~ at any cost. According to works of the law, we in our ever persistent struggle to go against what God wants for our lives try to ordain everything by our own strength taking no thought of what God has ordained for us. This is done with never a thought about His will for us. We force everything to happen in our lives and never let anything work out by God's grace. Grace is all He said we needed to walk this walk. Even in the things that at the time we think are not right; He will show us He indeed is there. In reality Paul is saying something pretty harsh here 1 Corinthians. For example---Even if you must be falsely accused of a crime and go into prison for it, even use that to glorify God. It's not like God isn't aware you're there. This would be the ultimate trust in God, brethren. Paul did just this. He was imprisoned many times on trumped up charges. Surely it would be a tough burden to bear, but we that are His MUST BE WILLING to do anything He asks.

In Acts 16: 16 - 32 Paul was going about the work of the Kingdom, casting a demon out of a woman and he and Silas were brought before the magistrate and beaten with many stripes and put in stocks in prison. They both trusted that God knew they were there and probably ordained it. Realizing this they both started singing praises to God and the jailer and his whole household were saved. Acts 16: 25 - 32 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26) And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
27) And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28) But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
29) Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30) And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32) And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. The point where I believe todays church is lacking is the most important point of all, and this has always been when we get religious. The Law and its demands is in total opposition to faith. The Law or religion says we must do it; Faith says by grace we have done it. In the Lords prayer ~ God's will be done on earth ~ as it is in heaven, is what we should live our life by. Jesus did. All the desciples did. God's will is done in heaven, the determining factor here on earth is our will, ours must line up with His for a perfect will.

Up until Faith came The Law governed mankind, or God instructed mankind in every way. Now that Faith is here, we are trust in the Holy Spirit to guide us apart from God leading us around by the hand like children. Heb. 6:1 - 3 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2) Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3) And this will we do, if God permit. Yes Dear Lord, please permit! We have to grow into mature believers brethren. We can't sit up in the upper room having church and fulfill the calling that is given to all believers. This isn't a calling only to ministers and pastors. This calling is for us all. God makes no distinction from one man to another. Gal. 4: 4 & 5 (amp) But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to (the regulations of) the Law,
5) To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us (and be recognized as God's sons).

Notice the distinction God's Word makes of Jesus being born subject to the Law by being born of a woman or being born in the flesh. One of the many contrasts and balances of the Kingdom of God is the law is liked to the flesh ~ and faith is liked unto the spirit. The flesh is always working to get it done ~ faith settles back and knows it's already done. As Galatians says, there is a time before faith when God led His children around by the hand instucting them in all ways. And a time after faith came where God lets us instruct and teach others about the Kingdom of God, as His sons. This point in time when faith came is when Jesus went into the ground and produced many more sons after His own kind when He arose to glory. Jesus Himself says in Jn. 12: 24 (amp) ~ I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains (just one grain; it never becomes more but lives) by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.

Until Jesus came the word faith had only appeared two times in the Old Covenant. Since He has come the word faith appears over 300 times in The New Covenant, with our Lord speaking it for the first time in Matthew 6: 30.

The reason why I'm writing so about Faith here in the subject Freedom from the Law, is because of this verse that speaks of a way of being righteousness by only trusting in Him Romans 10: 4 (Amp) ~ For Christ is the end of the Law (the limit at which it ceases to be, for the Law leads up to Him Who is the fulfillment of its types, and in Him the purpose which it was designed to accomplish fulfilled. That is, the purpose of the Law is fulfilled in Him) as the means of righteousness (right relationship to God) for everyone who trusts in and adheres to and relies on Him. I would most specifically like to make the point that the church of today claims that they understand the grace alone message yet they themselves still live by a bunch of have to's and need to's. Just taking one for instance the whole time they preach grace they say you must tithe. You must tithe is a Law, people.

I know we understand that up until Jesus came, mankind was separated from God by iniquity. The Holy Spirit couldn't dwell in man. It had been this way since the fall of man. Throughout the ages God would impart faith to certain individuals and raise up men and women to prophesy, or perform deeds of service to the Lord. But these brethren of faith were few and far between over the 4000 and some odd years of the prophets. Heb 11, the whole chapter sums it up for these men and women of faith. But if you read the last verse of that chapter, these men and women couldn’t receive the Promise, Yeshua, without the rest of us believers. In other words, we are all made perfect together. It says in Hebrews 11:39 And all of these, though they won divine approval by (means of) their faith, they did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised. Which is the righteousness of Jesus by faith.

Most believers if you ask them if we living under the law or grace would say we are living under God's grace. All we have to do is read Romans 6: 14 14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the Law, but under grace. The Amplified translation says ~ For sin shall not (any longer) exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law (as slaves) or students , but under grace (as subjects of God's mercy and favor)

The Amplified text makes it clear that when we were under the Law we were slaves and in bondage, or we were being trained to do a job by on the job training. But the Word goes even further and calls it the curse of the Law. Nehemiah 10: 29. In the first place God enacted the Law for one reason, the same reason why the magistrates enact laws today, because of civil disobedience. Or to make mankind do right and live right. But in God's case, He established the Law because of spiritual disobedience. Romans 3: 20 (amp) explains ~ 20) For no person will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged) in His sight by observing the works prescribed by the Law. For (the real function of) the Law is to make men recognize and be conscious of sin (not a mere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance, faith, and holy character).

Have you ever really wondered why our Lord kept them in the wilderness until all that originally embarked on the trek died except Joshua and Caleb? God never intended for this to be so. I'm not saying this wasn't in His plan. As I said before, God has a permissive will and a perfect will. God's plan leads up to the point where our will takes over, then He will either back away to let our will or proceed and let His will be done. What a lot of us in the church don't understand is the only place God Himself has set as out of bounds where He doesn't even tread is our free will. He will not impose anything against our will. This is His permissive will. He will permit anything we so ordain. Many don't believe this but it is Truth. In the parameter of His perfect will, all things work out for good even when we don't see it at first.

God's perfect will for the Israelites was for them to go over without back talking and complaining and possess the promised land. As with them, when our will doesn't line up with His, He has got to lead us around in the wilderness of tribulation until our flesh dies. Some of us it's more than 40 years. God has a divine plan for all of us. But when we step in and say, That's okay Father I can handle this, and take it out of His control, He has to oblige us. He will not overstep our free will. This means, where it would have taken them 2 to 3 weeks to get to the promised land, it took them 40 years and still most of them couldn't enter in. All paths lead to the cross, but for some of us, it takes a little longer to get there. But at some point, only the Father knows when, He will stop giving us chances to follow His will. At some point we will be given over completely to our own desires. He's the same today as yesterday, He didn't put up with the wilderness crowd in their complaining and murmering indefinitely. He will give us over today also if we persist in going against His perfect will.

This was the final straw when the ten spies came back, and all but Joshua and Caleb were afraid to enter into God's Rest. This principle of God's true rest is another one of God's mysteries that isn't understood. It still stands today though. God desires us to enter into a Sabbath Rest everyday, not just on Sunday. Ezekiel 20: 10 - 26 ~ Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
11) And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
12) Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.
13) But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
14) But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
15) Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
16) Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
17) Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.
18) But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
19) I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;
20) And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.
21) Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my Sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
22) Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.
23) I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;
24) Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
25) Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
26) And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord. This Sabbath Rest is a daily rest that our Father desires us not to pervert or pollute by not trusting Him to provide all that we need.

Isaiah 56: 4 ~ For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5) Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. There is only one thing that we can choose that pleases God. Heb. 11: 6 (amp) ~ But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactoy to Him. For whoever would come near to God must (necessarily) believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him (out). Brethren, if we continue to pervert and deny God's Sabbath Rest by not walking in faith and trust in Him everyday, He will give us over also the way He did to the Israelites. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

In Num. 14: 1 - 38 we find Moses begging and pleading with God again to pardon the people for many acts of faithlessness by His people. In verse 12, it looks like to me that our Father was grooming Moses as an another Abraham. But the very next verse is and was always Moses' downfall, always second guessing God, instead of saying ~ Be it done, according to Thy will O God. This was the last straw for Moses as far as God was concerned. Joshua and Caleb were about to get stoned by the people, all because their cry was Come on guys, fear not! If God is for us, who can be against us! I will jump over to Neh. 9 from here and save the rest of this for my subject God's True Rest as I hope it will explain just how serious the people's infraction was and just how they missed the mark, and what we have to do to walk in God's Sabbaths today.

In Neh. 9 The Word starts off with Ezra, some would say praying, but I see it more as prophesying. Verses 1 - 15, he is praising God for all the many blessings bestowed to the people, but in verse 16, he starts to show how faithless, grumbling, and complaining they were. Each time through this whole chapter, he says how God blessed and then how the Israelites would bring cursing, 10 times they tried Him in the wilderness, and Ezra is reminding them why they are being brought back under the curse of the law. I will put blue text for the times God blessed. And red text for the times God allowed the curse because of unbelief and faithlessness. Neh. 9: 7 - 31 Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
8) And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:
9) And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;
10) And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.
11) And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
12) Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.
13) Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:
14) And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:
15) And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.
16) But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
17) And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

18) Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
19) Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.
20) Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
21) Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
22) Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
23) Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.
24) So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.
25) And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
26) Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.
27) Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
28) But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;
29) And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
30) Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.
31) Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

If you have an Amplified bible read Neh.10: 28 & 29, because this is where the church is headed now, back under the curse of the law. The Israelites, because of their refusal to enter into God's Sabbath Rest, were brought back under the curse of the Law which is a place of do's and don't's strictly enforced. 28) And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding;
29) They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's Law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;

The Gospel of Christ says in Galatians 3:19 & 20 (Amp) What then was the purpose of the Law? It was added (later on, after the Promise, to disclose and expose to men their guilt) because of transgressions and (to make men more conscious of their sinfulness) of sin; and it was intended to be in effect until the Seed (the Descendant, the Heir) should come, to and concerning Whom the Promise had been made. And it (the Law) was arranged and ordained and appointed through the instrumentality of angels (and was given) by hand (in the person ) of a go-between (Moses, an intermediary person between God and man).
20) Now a go-between (intermediary) has to do with and implies more than one party (there can be no mediator with just one person). Yet God is (only) one Person (and He was the sole party in giving that promise to Abraham. But the Law was a contract between two, God and Israel; its validity was dependent upon both). Notice this last verse ~ its validity is dependent upon both. God never breaks a contract or covenant, man always is guilty of this. This Seed (singular) as I said before is Jesus. This covenant that was added on later could not annul the Covenant made previously with the father of Faith, Abraham. God didn't break the Covenant, as usual, Israel did.

Let me try to explain this, the Promise was made to Abraham, from God's lips ~ The contract was arranged through angels and given by hand to Moses from God. This go-between action even though it came after the Promise, couldn’t void the covenant made previously with Abraham or the Promise. Galatians 3: 17 (amp) ~ This is my argument: the Law, which began 430 years after the covenant (concerning the coming Messiah), does not and can not annul the covenant previously established (ratified) by God, so as to abolish the Promise and make it void.
18) For if the inheritance (of the promise depends on observing) the Law (as these false teachers would like you to believe), it no longer (depends) on the Promise; however, God gave it to Abraham (as a free gift solely ) by virtue of His Promise. Which by the way is faith. Galatians 3: 25

My point is here is in 1 Timothy 2: 5 For there (is only) one God, and (only) one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. When we pray and ask God in faith for needs, wants or desires, we don’t have to send Moses up to the mountain to get an answer. Our Lord said Himself, If we ask for anything believing, it shall be given us . Whether we trudge around in the wilderness for 40 years depends on whether we ask in God's perfect will or in His permissive will. If our will lines up with His, His predetermined plan for our life will come about in perfect timing and much blessing will come of it. But if we ask in His permissive will in faith, He will honor this faith, but you can expect much extra baggage that you will have to carry around for a period of time in the hot, dry, wilderness of our own will. But please understand, all is not a total loss, this is still part of God's will, just the other part, His permissive will. We will just have to take the long way around on a journey that would normally take us 2 weeks. Romans 8: 28 says ~ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8: 27 just explains what I said about praying in God's predestined will for us. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. The image of the Son was an image on one who doesn't argue or debate the Father's will.

Now, what has all that I said have to do with the title of this text? We are not bound to any external observance of holy worship to God. This includes ~ someone telling us we need to be in church ~ we have to tithe ~ we should knock on doors for converts. Anything that religion says we must do is a law, and thereby we're not bound by it. Now any of these things that the church feels is a necessity by their standards, you can freely do, if the Holy Spirit tells you to, and you have a willing heart to do it. God loves a cheerful giver. He doesn't honor something that has to be wrung out of us. If a brother or sister tells you from the pulpit or the parking lot that you have to ~ need to ~ or should do, then you are back under the curse of the Law and therefore bound to the 600 and some odd rules and regulations laid down to the Israelites. And what's so tough, if you fail to keep just one of them you've broken them all James 2: 10.

The church of today is being brought back under the curse of the Law, due to the same reasons as the wilderness bunch. With all the grumbling, complaining, and murmuring and the constant prayers going against His perfect will for us, our Lord is going to give us so much meat, we'll be puking it out of our nostrils. And all the manna we try to pick up for tomorrow, will spoil.

We are taught from the pulpit and the TV to Just believe God for that new home to satisfy your flesh ~ Just believe God for that new car your lusting after ~ and in all truth, even if we lust and chase after the healing and comfort for our flesh, this is no different in God's eyes than any other kind of lust. Sin is sin to God. He makes no distinction.

Since He is the same as yesterday, maybe He would like to teach us the way Paul learned the walk. 2 Corinthians 12: 7 - 10 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8) For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Notice Paul said he was given a thorn in the flesh by a messenger of satan. Anyone that doesn't believe God uses all angels even the fallen ones to perfect His will, read Hebrews 1: 6 & 7 And again, when He bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him.
7) And of the angels He saith, Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. Colosians 1: 16 & 17 For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him:
17) And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. This is very clear.

Please understand, I'm not against organized religion unless it makes the Word of God of no effect in a believers life. Or nullifys the Faith. Anytime anyone in the church tells you you must do something according to the way they have been taught or by what their church believes, we should always go to the Gospel of Christ ourselves to find perfect truth. This is the only thing we must do.

I BID YOU HEART PEACE AND ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSING UNTO YOU FROM HIS THRONE OF GRACE!