It is an honour to participate in this joyful occasion of the graduation service of Far Eastern Bible College. I want to congratulate each of you graduates, as well as your loved ones, parents, and educational and spiritual mentors, for the wonderful achievement we all see today. You have all worked so hard in school, and you are special witnesses of what God can do for anyone by faith. We are all proud of you. However, we do not want to linger in the past. The future lies before you—new horizons, spiritual opportunities, unclaimed territories. As someone has said: "Success must continually be won—it is never fully achieved."

In the Bible, many people were changed when they saw God’s love and mercy. Others were changed when they saw God’s power. But 2,600 years ago, Ezekiel the prophet was changed when he saw God’s glory. The glory of God is the main theme of the Bible. In fact, it can explain all in our life. Everything you see, all that ever happened in your life, all human & heavenly events, all can be explained under God’s glory.

And when we know how to glorify God, it can completely change our lives. We read in Ezekiel 1:4, " And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire." Ezekiel was trying to express something that was inexpressible. The glory of God was like fire, like bright cloud, like whirlwind. This chapter became the turning point of Ezekiel’s life—he saw God’s glory. It became the central theme of his ministry; he mentioned it 16 times in this book.

Although the glory of God is hard to express in this chapter of Ezekiel, we see some heavenly objects here which shows forth God’s glory. And from them, we can know what is the glory of God.

Let us confine our attention this evening to the heavenly object—the wheels (Ezek 1:15-20).

God is on His throne, surrounded by four archangels, and His throne is supported by the four wheels. What is the meaning of the wheels? Wheels mean "motion, progress, onward movement." So, the four wheels mean God’s constant, mighty works on earth. Today, people everywhere are on alert due to terrorist threats, and the world is uncertain and stressful about the future. But remember: God is still in control. God’s works in heaven and on earth go on. He knows everything, and He protects His people.

Let us study further the wheels in this chapter, and be challenged and blessed. In Ezekiel 1:15-20, there are five descriptions of the wheels:

(1) The wheels extend down to the earth.

(2) The wheels look complicated; they are double-wheeled.

(3) The wheels are full of eyes.

(4) Angels go with the wheels.

(5) The Holy Spirit is in the wheels.

"Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces" (Ezek 1:15).

Wheels connect God’s throne above with the ground below. This means that God is actively connected to earth. Some philosophers say: "God is dead; after creation, God let the earth go its own way." But here, we see the wheels are connected from heaven down to the earth. God is not distant from us; God actively cares for us. God knows and hears us. As a crucial part of His calling to the ministry, God wanted Ezekiel to know that God is infinitely approachable.

About 50 years ago, when I was in Junior High, God called me into the ministry. I had struggled all year, that year, and finally yielded my life to Him. But at that time, I had a problem. I had failing grades in most of my studies. My report card looked like a Christmas tree. My mind was not opened. My classmates would look at me and smile a little when they heard that I wanted to be a pastor someday. One night, I prayed to God, saying, "Dear God, in the Old Testament is written of a young man to whom you appeared and said: ‘Ask me for anything, and I will give it to you.’ And that man asked for ‘Wisdom’ and you gave him wisdom, as well as many other blessings." That was young Solomon. I continued and prayed, "Dear God, please ask me the same question—and I will ask for wisdom."

From that time on, I tried very hard in school; oftentimes studying through the night. And God proved faithful. It is all for God’s own glory; we are utterly unworthy. Dear graduates, with man it is impossible, but not with God. Pray and make commitments with the Lord. Go into partnership with God. With God, all things are possible.

God cares—His wheels reach to the ground.

"The appearance of the wheels and their work was like … a wheel in the middle of a wheel" (Ezek 1:16).

For us who are not engineers and scientists, the double-wheel looks complicated. And yet it is very functional and unified. The double-wheel enables it to go forward in all 4 directions, without need to turn around or fall down. It works with order and purpose.

Here we see two things about God at work: (1) God’s works may oftentimes look complicated and incomprehensible; and (2) God’s work always goes forward, it has no need to go back or turn around. Remember the story of Job? One day he was the richest man in the east, with children all around him, the next day, he had nothing. Job did not know that God was allowing him to be tested and tried; but God always put a hedge of protection around him; Satan could never take away his life. Finally, he earned everything back double.

Another example is the life of Jesus Christ. Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us, dying on the Cross. Within a single day, Christ suffered through six unjust and cruel trials! Then He was nailed to the Cross, with unspeakable physical pain. All throughout the history of Israel, God had condemned the injustice of Jewish rulers, and God had protected the widows, the orphans, and the oppressed. But when His own Son was afflicted and died, God was silent! It was "for them" that Christ died. God ordained it to save the world.

Yes, God’s wheels often look complicated and unexplainable. But it is always with a purpose and design—which is for God’s glory.

Ezekiel 1:18 says, "… their rings were full of eyes round about them four."

"Eyes" means wisdom and intelligence. If you look at a baby’s eyes, you can often tell if the baby is very smart or not. God’s wheels are full of eyes. That means God is all knowing and ever-present at all times. God is active at all times in every place. In the Bible, we see God is so great, that He is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent.

When we look into the microscope, we see billions of very small objects. When we look into the telescope, we see billions of very large objects. All of them in order and in motion, following definite natural laws. A heathen philosopher once asked a Christian, "Where is God?" The Christian answered, "Let me first ask you. Where is He not?" Let me quote from a few famous persons on this subject: (1) Said George Gallup, world-famed statistician, "I could prove God statistically! Take the human body alone. The chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity!"(2) Thomas Edison said: "No one can study chemistry and see the wonderful way in which certain elements combine with the nicety of the most delicate machine ever invented, and not come to the conclusion that there is a Big Engineer who is running this universe."(3) Astronaut Eugene A Cernan: "I am convinced of God by the order out in space."

Yes, the universe is filled with God and His glory—it is full of "eyes."

"And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up" (Ezek 1:19).

Here we see God’s angels are always working in God’s works. The wheels and the angels always go together, following each other up and down the universe. Even today, as we worship here, there are thousands of God’s angels worshiping with us. Wherever and whenever we serve God in the Name of Christ, we can be sure that angels are going to be with us. Some people do not believe in angels. They say: "I do not believe anything I cannot see." But this world contains many unseen things which we accept by faith. Gravity, electricity, atoms, etc, are invisible naturally, but they do exist. This visible world has just three dimensions. But there is a fourth dimensional world—the world of angels.

I love the verse in Genesis 32:1-2, "And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim." At that time, young Jacob was traveling away from home. He was burdened with fear, guilt, and the unknown. That night, he discovered the angels of God journeying with him. And so, he called that place "Mahanaim" (or "two camps"). One camp is his own camp; the other is the camp of angels surrounding him. And this is what happens to every Christian in his earthly pilgrimage—seemingly lonely, but not alone. Remember the "Arithmetic of the Christian Life." Always be sure to "plus one" (+1). You may feel lonely, but you are not alone.

In your prayers, ask God to send angels to help you. Do not pray directly to angels! Angels only listen to God and do God’s work—they are with the wheels. But, when we pray to God, God will send His angels to help us in our needs.

"Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; … for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels" (Ezek 1:20).

The "Spirit" here means the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in the wheels. Everything in God’s universe is working according to the Holy Spirit’s power. Therefore, when we do God’s work at home, in the office, in church, we must constantly submit to the Holy Spirit, and trust Him to work through us.

As future pastors and teachers, people will expect you to teach them, to warn them of apostasy, to guard and guide them into future. The old English word for pastor is "parson" who lived in the "parsonage." The meaning of this is that the pastor is the "person," the one which the community look up to. As you go forth into the ministry, you will be very busy with 101 details of a large work. You will be minding other people’s business (so to speak). But let us not fall into the pitfall of "majoring on the minor." Administration, schedules, even community service may be important, but your mission is to "Preach the Word." That is your real calling—to teach the Bible. And our beloved founder and principal, Rev Dr Timothy Tow, our dedicated staff, as well as the FEBC Board members, are your fine examples in God’s service.

From among our graduates, soon, many churches and Bible classes will be started, many dedicated leaders trained and discipled, new fellowship groups, Christian organisations, parachurch institutions will spring up. As a Biblically-trained spiritual leader, you can confidently motivate God’s people to do God’s work. The reason many people are discouraged in God’s service and without power and strength is not because God’s service is too hard. Perhaps it is because they are not trusting the Holy Spirit to lead them, to work through them, and to empower them. John Wesley said, "Give me a hundred men, who fear nothing but sin, and want nothing but God, and together we will shake the world."

The Christian life is spiritual warfare, Christian work is spiritual warfare. We need to read the Bible, pray to God, and ask the Holy Spirit to help us as we do God’s work. As we leave the portals of this illustrious school, and go into the worldwide mission field, in response to Christ’s Great Commission, remember the four wheels in Ezekiel chapter one:

(1) The wheels extend down to the earth: God cares for us.

(2) The wheels may look complicated: but God’s work is always going forward.

(3) The wheels are full of eyes: God is all-knowing and all-present.

(4) The angels go with the wheels: Pray to God to send angels to help you.

(5) The Holy Spirit is in the wheels: Depend on the Holy Spirit’s power to do God’s work.

May God bless you!