A Study of Angels (116)

James R. Davis

Introduction:

A. Stories of angels.

1. A celebrated Philadelphia neurologist had gone to bed after an exceptionally tiring day. Suddenly someone knocking on his door awakened him. Opening it he found a little girl poorly dressed and deeply upset. She told him her mother was very sick and asked him if he would please come with her. It was a bitterly cold, snowy night, but though he was bone tired, the doctor dressed and followed the girl.

The doctor found the mother desperately ill with pneumonia. After arranging for medical care, he complimented the sick woman on the intelligence and persistence of her little daughter. The woman looked at him strangely and then said, "My daughter died a month ago." She added, "Her shoes and coat are in the clothes closet there." Amazed and perplexed, the doctor went to the closet and opened the door. There hung the very coat worn by the little girl who had brought him to tend to her mother. It was warm and dry and could not possibly have been out in the wintry night.

Could the doctor have been called in the hour of desperate need by an angel who appeared as this woman's young daughter? Was this the work of God's angels on behalf of the sick woman?

2. You'd be hard-pressed to find a magazine-- secular or religious--that hasn't done a story on angels in the past year or two. In what seems to be a national search for spirituality, we've hit upon angels as the objects of our affection and attention. Yet what do we really know about angels and their activities?

3. Books, movies, and seminars play to this phenomenon in a big way. A recently published book, A Book of Angels, zoomed to the top of the bestseller lists.

a. In movies such as Grand Canyon, a character is dramatically rescued from certain death and wonders whether his rescuer "is a real person or something else--sent from somewhere else."

b. Larry King had a program on TNT about angels.

B. When people in our modern age have their attention drawn to the subject of angels from time to time, those ideas have often been fanciful or unbiblical. Some believe that angels are just a product of our imagination, like Santa Clause or magical elves.

C. The one place where not much is being said about angels these days is the church. A renewed interest in angelic beings in modern culture brings both warnings and opportunities for the church today. "When people do not believe the truth, the danger is not that they will believe nothing, but rather that they will believe anything." The church should consider three questions that arise from this interest in angels:

1. Why are we fascinated with angels?

a. Some studies of baby boomers suggest that the search for spiritual meaning is a major factor. Teens, in increasing numbers, are affirming their belief in angels.

b. There is also the temptation for people to want a "spiritual fix" from angels without having to deal with God Himself.

c. Angelologists are uninterested in hierarchy. What interests them are the guardian angels and what they can do for us right now.

2. What are angels? Angels are mentioned throughout Scripture and are usually seen as messengers of God, with emphasis on function, not essence. "Angels can never become a stand-in for God," though many of the New Age persuasion do claim to experience angels apart from any experience with God or Christ.

3. What is the role of angels in our lives?

a. I am convinced that these heavenly beings exist and that they provide unseen aid on our behalf. I do not believe in angels because someone has told me about a dramatic visitation from an angel, impressive as such rare testimonies may be.

b. I believe that spiritual forces and resources are available to all Christians. I pray that God will open our eyes to the resources that are at our disposal.

c. In a materialistic world which is riddled with evil and suffering, we need to discover afresh the Bible's teaching about angels.

d. Stories about angel sightings do not tell us much about angels. They usually don't tell us anything about God. They may or may not be real. I have no way of verifying the stories.

e. Open our eyes that we might see.

II Ki 6:17-18And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

I. Caution

A. Those who want to exercise discernment in responding to angel mania should keep these principles in mind:

1. Worship rightly. It's tempting to replace God with angels. They seem so close; He seems so far away. The angel in Rev. 22:9, however, warned the apostle not to worship him, but to worship God.

2. Jesus is God with us. Mt 28:18 "Lo, I am with you alway."

3. Worship of angels forbidden .

Rev 22:8-9 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. 9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. (KJV)

Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (KJV)

Col 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, (KJV)

4. Angels are not preeminent.

Hebrews 1:3-4

B. Do angels still function in our daily lives? "Their appearances may be rare, but angels are no endangered species." Scripture indicates that they can and do work in behalf of people, but they are not mediators between humans and God--Jesus Christ alone performs that function. The angels or departed saints don't serve as our mediators.

1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (KJV)

1 Peter 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. (KJV)

B. Be skeptical.

An elderly man said to H. A. Ironside, "I will not go on unless I know I'm saved, or else know it's hopeless to seek to be sure of it. I want a definite witness, something I can't be mistaken about!"

Ironside replied, "Suppose you had a vision of an angel who told you your sins were forgiven. Would that be enough to rest on?" "Yes, I think it would. An angel should be right." Ironside continued, "But suppose on your deathbed Satan came and said, 'I was that angel, transformed to deceive you.' What would you say?" The man was speechless.

Ironside then told him that God has given us something more dependable than the voice of an angel. He has given His Son, who died for our sins, and He has testified in His own Word that if we trust Him, all our sins are gone.

Ironside read 1 John 5:13, "You may know that you have eternal life." Then he said, "Is that not enough to rest on? It is a letter from heaven expressly to you." God's Spirit used that to bring assurance to the man's heart.

C.Angel mania gives us reason for hope at least people are thinking about spiritual things. But it also gives us reason for caution. Just because people are searching for spiritual experiences doesn't mean they want to embrace the truth. They just want to embrace something.  Don't believe everything you hear about angels. There is a dark side: not all that is supernatural is necessarily good or of God.

John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (KJV)

2 Cor 11:14-15 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (KJV)

II Thess 2:7-11
For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.

2 Pet 2:4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;

Jude 1:6And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home-- these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

Isa 14:12-14 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."

Eph 2:2 Prince of power of the air.

2 Cor 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

John 14:30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,

Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Rev 12:3-9 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down-- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Mt 25:41 "Everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

D. They are reserved unto judgement. But until this happens they constitute a mighty force - capable of wreaking havoc among individuals, families and nations! Remember the Garden of Eden.

John 8:44-45 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

2 Cor 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

E. Engaged on the national scene.

Dan 10:11-14 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

C. Know your Bible. There's enough said in the Bible about angels to give you a good foundation for discernment. Knowing what God has already said is your greatest defense.

Gal 1:8

1 King 13:15-26 15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: 17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. 18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. 19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. 20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back: 21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. 25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. 26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him. (KJV)

D. Be grateful. Though we may know little about angels, what we do know gives us reason to be thankful. We can also thank God for the open doors for the gospel that angel mania provides. People today, especially boomers, are searching for spiritual meaning. Where they find it--in the occult, in New Age expressions, or in a personal relationship with God through Christ--is an issue the church must address.

II. Angels are Real

A. I believe in angels because the Bible says there are angels; and I believe the Bible to be the true Word of God. We recognize the existence of angels. We sing a songs that testify to our belief in angels:

Precious memories, unseen angels, Sent from somewhere to my soul; How they linger ever near me,

My Latest Sun Is sinking Fast

O come, angel band, Come, and around me stand; O bear me away on your snowy wings To my immortal home.

He could have called ten thousand angels To destroy the world and set` Him Free. He could have called, ten thousand angels, But He died alone, for you and me.

B. Angels are created beings.

Heb 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. (KJV)

Col 1:16-17 16 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. (KJV)

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (KJV)

Psa 68:17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. (KJV)

2 Thes 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, (KJV)

Gen 3:24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (NIV)

C. Angels of the churches.

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. (KJV)

Rev 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; (KJV)

Rev 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; (KJV)

Rev 2:18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; (KJV)

Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. (KJV)

Rev 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; (KJV)

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (KJV)

D. Children's angels.

Matt 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. (KJV)

E. Waited upon Christ.

Mt 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. (KJV)

Mt 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (KJV)

Lk 22:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. (KJV)

F. Angels appear to men.

Gen 32:1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

Heb 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. (NIV)

Acts 8:26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. (KJV)

Acts 10:3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. (KJV)

G. Angels in heaven.

Mk 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. (KJV)

Rev 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, (KJV)

H. Rejoice in our salvation.

Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. (KJV)

The Bible stresses the reality of angels, and underlines their constant - if unseen - ministry on behalf of God's people.

III. Work of Angels.

A. Angels possess knowledge men do not have. Yet, they do not know everything.

Mk 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. (KJV)

B.. Serve the saints. The Bible calls angels "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation" (Heb. 1:14).  In its pages we see angels protecting (Ps. 91:11), providing (Mt. 4:11), proclaiming (Lk. 1:11), and punishing (Acts 12:23).

C. Protectors.

Psalms 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. (KJV)

Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. (KJV)

D. Providing.

Mt 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. (KJV)

E. Engaged in battle with Satanic forces.

Dan 10:11-14 11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. (KJV)

F. Angels of wrath.

Gen 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; (KJV)

1 Chr 21:15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. (KJV)

Herod

Acts 12:23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. (KJV)

Matt 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (KJV)

G. Present when we die.

O come angel band, O come and around me stand.

Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; (KJV)

Conclusion:

Open our eyes that we might see.

II Ki 6:17-18 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.