Here we are on angels. What are angels? Why did God create them? Do you have it if you need an outline hold up your hand? Nope, we're good. Everybody have an outline. Okay, and this is a second half of the schedule from last week. All right Here's the tentative schedule where we're going and this is I'm Working through this book systematic theology will be on chapter 19 angels the rest of it today and then Starting next week chapter 20 on Satan and demons and I think that'll take us two weeks going through the Bible's teaching on that subject and then so we did doctrine of God and then doctrine of creation and then God's relationship to the creation in Providence and then we talked about prayer and miracles and God's relationship to the creation and then and then we talked about Angels created beings and then fallen angels will be Satan and demons and then we get to talk about man Man as male and female man made an image of God. What does that mean that we're in God's image? And then we skip March 4th then go on March 11th man as male and female and we'll talk about How we're similar and how we're different as men and women according to scripture and then what what are we made of? That that'll be the next topic chapter 23 are we just physical bodies or are we bodies and souls or are we bodies and souls and spirits and What is soul and what is spirit so that'll be that's kind of technically called the constituent nature of man and then chapter 24 sin We start March 25th if we keep right on schedule and that'll take sin takes a long time to talk about I'll take maybe two or three or four weeks So but you know we have doctrine of man in the image of God then what happened to us while we sinned and then and then we get into the doctrine of Christ after that So that's what we're going Angels summary from last week angels are created spiritual beings spiritual not physical beings with moral judgment They can decide right and wrong and with high intelligence But without physical bodies I said that last time they can from time to time assume a physical body and appear in physical body, but that isn't Part of their nature. I'm going to go over this by review quickly through the outline a one a Angels are created spiritual beings In fact, they're created is reported in a number of verses that says God made the heavens on the earth and all that is in them or made all their hosts or That he created things visible and invisible they exercise moral judgment because some of them sinned they have high Intelligence because they're able to carry messages from God and converse with human beings But they are spirits without physical bodies and We can't see them But sometimes they temporarily take on human bodily form and then sometimes God gives the ability to see them opening people's eyes to see into the spiritual dimension and I talked about how You know sometimes you can put on the special Goggles or lenses or glasses to see the different colors that were on the page that you didn't know where they're before until there was a filter on it So in that way somehow I think God has created our eyes so that we don't Naturally see in that spiritual realm, but occasionally in scripture he has what said open people's eyes He's I'll let that let them see in the spiritual realm and so they can see what's going on and Realize that angels are all around so that was The Lord opened the eyes of Baileum and he saw or Elisha's servant at Dothan We talked about and all of a sudden there the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire Round about Elisha Number number number of other names for angels I'll just look at your outline there sometimes they're called sons of God or holy ones or spirits or watchers or thrones dominions Principalities and authorities and then there there are in addition to angels There are other kinds of heavenly beings in scripture and we talked about these cherubes or cherubim Who who guarded the path into the Garden of Eden and who? Says God comes and he he appears on the wings of the cherubim and the Seraphim who are around God's throne crying out Holy holy holy and the living creatures of different sorts Then there's rank and order among the angels. There are specific angels Mentioned as having authority they have there are archangels or or angels with higher authority We talked about that last week and then names of specific angels Michael is named and Gabriel is named those only those two apart from Satan are named in the books of the Bible now in literature outside the Bible and in kind of What literature and mythology and things there are their names given to angels But these are the only two that we know for sure from scripture Angels, let's see Michael and Gabriel who stands in the presence of God and then They're finite beings. They're not they're not divine. They're not infinite So they're only in one place at one time and they go from place to place how many angels a lot I'm just kind of going quickly Angels are there now somebody asked me about this afterward I said are there individual guardian angels? There are no convincing spiritual scriptural support I don't mean that we don't have angels protecting us. I just meant that there isn't one angel per person That's I don't think there's anything in the Bible that says that but you know there could be in in in a room of 150 people There could be just One or two angels playing zone So So I just don't want to go beyond what scripture says angels do not marry it seems like from a Matthew 22 30 And I don't think they bear offspring like we do The power of angels it talks about them being great in power
And then we talked about that last week I'm just kind of reviewing now and then sometimes the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament is God himself and sometimes It's just a messenger from God and we have to decide from context. So that was That was that was point a last week. What are angels kind of defining them when were angels created? Well sometime they were created. They didn't always exist sometime Before the seventh day of creation maybe on the first day of creation and we looked at those passages last week But God hasn't given a lot of detail on this then angels rebelled before the fall because Satan was an evil angel attempting Eve right there in Genesis 3 Okay, no now we get to the back page of your outline and
I began to cover this last week But this is this is kind of the so what Oh Why did God make these things and what's what's the benefit to us from knowing about them first? Angels show the greatness of God's love and plan and again, this is from last week We are more like God than angels because angels are never said to be made in the image of God. So as great and wonderful as angels are We are amazingly greater in certain ways They are never said to be made in the image of God which is the Which means they're more we are more like God than anything that he made and There are indications that we will judge angels and have authority over angels their spirits sent forth to serve for our benefit So that's amazing Angels cannot bear children but human beings have the ability to bear children and have descendants and have even even people who don't Themselves bear children have families extended families and relatives and there are those family relationships which Apparently angels do not share in and then God's love for mankind is shown in the fact that no angels were ever saved Now again someone asked me about this afterward last week and I want to clarify There are good angels who never sin of course And they remain good, but of the angels who sinned God didn't save any he didn't send his son to become an angel to die for angels sins to redeem angel God the son didn't become A person who was both God and angel he became a person who was both God and man So that shows an amazing The amazing wonder of God's love for us and his plan for our salvation That even though these angels are wonderful creatures that God has made yet when they sined he didn't he didn't redeem any of them But he redeemed us and that I think should cause us to be amazed Okay, that was that was from last week no Now I want to pick up here on point two which is just I think that's just what I the last point I mentioned last week Is angels remind us that the unseen world is real and deep down I think that's why this topic is interesting to us Because it says God is at work in invisible ways and When we get a little information about that It causes us to stand in awe and wonder and thanksgiving and it causes us to realize Um, the world is now out of control evil is not going to triumph But God is at work and he's in work in invisible ways that we don't realize in thousands hundreds of thousands Maybe millions of ways through his angelic messengers around the world and we get we read the Bible And we see that God is working in these invisible ways and occasionally people get a glimpse into it and then from time to time I think even At the present time people occasionally have a vision of an angel or see an angel And all of a sudden Wow all this stuff that the Bible says about the invisible spiritual realm. It's real and we know it's real But when you see an angel why haven't but I've talked to people who have talked about some last week and Like this like this family that I knew where the ten-year-old boy saw these angels out in the backyard day after day I think protecting the family where they were they were they involved in a very intense spiritual conflict in another country And so it was a reassurance. It's it's a reminder that the unseen world is real. There was a they have a couple of a couple of books by Frank Peretti This present darkness and piercing the darkness. I don't know if any of you read those a number of years ago But Peretti in a fictional way but a way that was consistent with scripture started Telling the story of these ordinary people in this town and then evil coming into the town and then these angels coming being sent by God to to try to counteract the activity of evil and He was talking about as if it was so real that you believed it was real and I think that encouraged people in the book Of course was a anybody this present darkness and being a lot of people have read it and what happens is your heart Kind of is stirred up to think oh there's more to this world than I realized God has things going on here We don't see this this present darkness Piersing the darkness and the author is Peretti P-E-R-E-T-T-I And they're really good now came out 10 12 years ago, but they kept selling thousands of copies So they remind us that the unseen world is real the acts 238 the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection nor angel nor spirit But the Pharisees acknowledge them on is put some people there like the Sadducees they just Think that material world is all there is
That's most of Pammy's comments. I repeat for the sake of the tape
She said that's why they're sad you see I shouldn't have repeated that but I did All right Okay Now they believed in God, but they didn't believe in a lot of this other and so they were kind of like semi-liberals in terms of unbelief theological liberals Then second king six 17 Elisha prayed and said oh lord, please open his eyes that he may see So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha Elisha and I've read that a dozen times probably and every time I read it it stirs up my heart I say oh lord I suppose that means that there are angels protecting us protecting me protecting Scottsdale Bible Church today and we just don't see them but keeping the enemy at bay uh Protecting people in time of danger protecting us from attack from demonic forces Not that not that there's no evil or no Attack that comes into our life, but that many many times we are saved from much more than we realize and And that this is real And when we come in worship Hebrews 12-22 you've come To mount Zion that is there's a here spec a heavenly reality And the author says you've come to innumerable angels in festival gathering So that that I think that's one of the reasons that God created angels and made them invisible But gave us testimony about them in scripture and gives people from time to time the ability to see them or encounter angels It stirs up our heart to the fact that the realm in which God works Is real and it's much bigger than we can see with our eyes and so these televisions shows I've watched a few times this show Touched by an angel or something like that. Why was that so popular because people have a hunger in their heart to know that there's a spiritual reality out here It's bigger than just the physical world that we see and I think it kind of I'm just kind of stirred up people's hearts to make them realize that um Angels are examples for us while they obey God and they worship God perfectly and so And so we can be encouraged to do so as well your kingdom come you will be done on earth as it is in heaven in heaven Angels and the saints who have gone before obey and worship God perfectly Then number four angels carry out some of God's plans So the Greek word angolos Means messenger and he brewed my lock means messenger as well. So the basic Name that is most frequently given to these creatures is messenger they come as Sent by God to carry out his to deliver messages or carry out some of his plans So Acts 826 an angel of the Lord said to Philip rise and go down toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza This is a desert place. That's Acts 8 to 826. So an angel is just telling Philip go do this Or sometimes God sends them as messengers of judgment and so second chronicles 3221 and the Lord sent an angel Who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria So he returned with shame of face to his own land the Assyrian thought. Whoa. We've destroyed all these other nations We're in a destroy Israel too and they come and they camp and they're about to overrun the people of Israel And then in response to his people's prayer God sends an angel and destroys them He says you may have overrun other nations, but these are my people and it's not going to happen here and pow thousands of them all of a sudden Are put to death by the angel who comes in judgment and there are a number of other times in the Bible where A destroying angel and avenging angel and angel brings judgment
now again just as Just as our hearts are are kind of encouraged or thrilled to see Those angels that were there protecting Elisha from the Syrian army in the Old Testament so When we realize there are angels that protect God's people and even bring judgment I Think it encourages our hearts to say God's plans will be accomplished and evil will be dealt with And I think that the reason that That's exciting or encouraging to us is God has made our hearts so that we delight to see great power Compined with holiness and justice um In November couple of two three months ago Margaret and I were in Washington DC And the morning we were leaving. We're taking a cab to the airport Going along one of these roads and as a Saturday morning and As we're driving along I just noticed these two men Who apparently had just stopped a really hard run and they were just walking but they were just sweating and And they were they were just massive. I mean they they had to be um Secret service or CIA or something, but they were just Huge and you could see because they're just running shorts and and these t-shirts and they were dripping wet with sweat And they look like they had they had a good workout and then I and then I looked the direction. I saw the US Capitol I thought I'm glad they're on our side That is When we see power and strength Combined with defending what is good If it feels right am I making sense here and um and the these uh these secret service agents or these Navy seals or Or whatever they were That they weren't ordinary guys um They um They were defending our nation. They were doing what is right. Well angels are more powerful than that and they're a lot more of them and so When we see in scripture that they go forth to bring judgment on evil That is also an encouragement to us and I think God put This information there so that we could be encouraged that even today God is it work is it work in invisible ways that we don't always see With these angels are mighty and God can send them forth and A thousand a thousand enemies are put to death And so we stand in awe that they're on our side and they're doing right We delight to see great power combined with holiness and justice And when Jesus comes back in judgment Matthew 1627 the son of man Is going to come with his angels in the glory of his father and then he will repay each person According to what he has done that is got Jesus going to come with angels to help him carry out judgment In a similar way angels patrol the earth Zechariah 1 10 to 11 So the man who was standing among the murder trees answered these are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth And they answered the angel of the Lord who was standing among the murder trees and said We have patrolled the earth and behold all the earth remains at rest They're keeping watch they're protecting they were guarding In addition to protecting God's people from evil human beings who would harm them Angels also war against demonic forces. I don't know why for some reason God has Decided that he he just won't In a second Destroy all the demonic forces in the world and remove all evil from it. He's allowed He's allowed for Reasons known to himself He's allowed for this age that there are demonic forces evil forces in the world And they are at work and they bring great harm to people but then God has Sent angels to war against them and to protect us against them and there's conflict going on Daniel 10 13 the prince of the kingdom of Persia We stood me 21 days. I think that means a demon who was having great influence over the kingdom of Persia But Michael one of the chief princes came to help me where I was left there with the kings of Persia So They they they wore they battle against demonic forces And then angels will proclaim Christ's coming First Thessalonians 416 says at some time in the future we don't know it could be today Could be next week Might or might not be in our lifetimes But sometimes the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command With the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God And the dead in Christ will rise first And so this is angels going to proclaim The king returns It's going to proclaim the Lord is coming to the earth. I don't know. I don't know what he'll say But he'll proclaim he'll announce the coming of Jesus And angels proclaim future judgments So in Revelation 18 John a revelation 181 and 2 John says after this I saw another angel coming down from heaven having great authority And the earth was made bright with his glory and he called out with a mighty voice And this is something that's going to happen in the future fallen fallen his babble on the great She's become a dwelling place for demons a haunt for every unclean spirit a haunt for every unclean bird a haunt for every unclean and a testable beast But the angel proclaims God's destroying her now bringing all this evil to an end All the the world system and the evils that are opposing the people of God and angels will proclaim It is falling And then angels do something else They directly glorify God and they delight in that just as we delight in worshiping God so they do So Revelation 48 these living creatures that we talked about last week the four living creatures each of them with six wings are Full of eyes all around and within and day and night They never cease to say holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was and is and is to come So they're praising that the living creatures are praising glorifying God day and night never cease to say
You know sometimes you can I don't know if you've ever been traveling and you And you are in the strange city. Sometimes this has happened to us in England in particular You're in a strange city and you go into city and all of a sudden You see this old church and then you want to go in the church and you open the door to peek in the door and there's a choir practicing It's absolutely beautiful music and there's worship of God going on in there You go and just sit and listen And so here's a little peek into what's going on in heaven There's worship of God going on there music greater than and more beautiful And we can imagine and they're singing holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty Psalm 103 bless the Lord O you his angels you mighty ones who do his word Obeying the voice of his word and not only the angels, but the syraff him calling out in Isaiah six three holy holy Holy is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory. That's going on right now We don't see it. We don't hear the Bible tells us about it to remind us that it's real and it's going on continually in God's presence in heaven
Angels rejoice and worship God particularly when a person becomes a Christian Luke 1510 just so I tell you there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents
if you Think of how you feel when you have opportunity to pray with someone to trust in Christ Or if you're present when someone puts his or her trust in Christ There's a special spiritual joy That's that's that's unique and I and I think That maybe God is just kind of letting us feel the influence of the rejoicing of angels in the salvation of someone who comes to know Christ In these Frank Peretti books that I mentioned I think it's the second one piercing the darkness where It's been a long time so I'm not remembering all the details But it seems to me that one of the one of the main characters in the story is a is a is a newspaper reporter a woman who is not a believer but She's I can't remember as a woman a man. I think it's a woman who's not a believer but she's she keeps coming into contact with these Christians and then Partway through the book. She's walking in a city and she just feels like she needs to trust in Christ and she's in Out in this park and she kind of kneels down And praise and puts her trust in Christ and then Peretti says And there was a circle of angels around her kneeling and rejoicing And there's I think they are there that's just a picture of how they're they're greatly filled with joy when Someone comes to salvation In fact first Peter 112 says About the Old Testament prophets it says it was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you The Old Testament writers In the things that have now been announced you through those who preach the good news To you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven things into which angels long to look what are those things Things into which angels long to look are the things that have now been announced to you Well, yeah, that's the story of Christ dying for our sins and fulfilling Old Testament prophecy But I think the things that have now been announced to you would have to include How the message of the gospel applies to your life today Or the life of the Peter's readers and so I think the things is not just the truths of the Bible But their application to life and so I think Peter is saying or implying that angels long to look Not just into the content of scripture as it's proclaimed but into the content of how it applies to Frank's life. I see Frank up here in the front row or jack's life in the second row And and how it applies to each individual's life That angels delight in seeing that how scripture applies to people's lives and how how How God's purpose works out in our lives and angels rejoice as they see What God is doing in our lives today they rejoice in that Okay, so that's now stop there This is the play before I talk about our relationship to angels You want to talk about any of this the place of angels in God's purpose They show the greatness of God's love and plan number one they remind us that the unseen world is real number two Number three their examples for us number four they carry out God's plans and number five they directly glorify God So that's a lot of a lot of things a lot of reasons that God has put angels
In the world Carol
I have a friend from our previous church and I still get the prayer requests of our class there and it seems like the last two months At least three of the prayer requests I remember vividly that this friend of mine seems to come to the rescue and I mean, it's like she's an angel and what she's doing. Yeah, I know the Holy Spirit's guiding her and she's just full of love for the Lord, but I just think of hers being an angel and answering the needs of these prayers. Yeah
Does she have children? Roan shown. I don't think she's an angel in
But but what you're saying is we I'm joking with you a little bit um We do when we see what angels are like Then we see they continually do good and they're sent by God to help to minister ministering spirits for the sake of those who are to abstain And we see people acting like that. We can apply the word angel to them So I think yeah, you're that's right, but but let me say something else Carol There have been times in my life where I've been
Where I've just gotten to know someone a little bit but not too much and then the person cycles out of your life again And I have every once in a while wondering I wonder if I wonder if that person was for real or if that was an angel see that just seemed like You know a visitor to our class for a month or do you know what I mean? I've just wondered and they bring a lot of good and they help and then they're gone and you don't know I Okay, I think there's some Bible passage in Hebrews that encourages us to think that way from I'll get to that in a few minutes But okay now sandy um I would just like your opinion your thoughts on this Exaltation of angels phenomenon that has occurred in oh especially the last decade where There are all kinds of books about Connecting with your angel There are I've been in places where there are entire stores devoted to All sorts of things having to do with angels and I I'd it's it's been You know interesting for me to observe and I have thoughts about it But I didn't I'd be interested to know when we were sorry. I think your thoughts and my thoughts are gonna be very similar sandy No, I was not really aware of that But but now that you say it, I think yeah, like in Barnes and Nobleer borders and and Here's the thing Any doctrine you can fall off on the left side or the right side And make a mistake and and you fall off on the left side I think it's hey, there's nothing except the physical world. There's no spiritual reality all you can become a Sadducee And the right side is you go overboard and emphasize this so much you forget about God and I mentioned in a positive way this show touched by an angel but Who's missing from that Jesus From that show because it's too offensive to some people and who's missing from that generally God It's just kind of so angels are I mean they're kind of a safe substitute for God for people don't want to believe the whole Bible So then we have to watch out for that and then And then this kind of gets into the following week, but angels disguised or Satan disguises himself as an angel of light so How do we know this is not if it's a spiritual manifestation? How do we know it's not a demonic Manifestation to leading people in the false doctrine or fear or something like that or superstition Good morning Yeah, thanks Andy wayne over here Keith
Getting back to angels has created beings and that don't procreate Do you have a sense that God in eternity past created the A finite number the legions of angels and that was it or do you think he's continually creating angels Okay, that's one of those things where I've got an instinct of something I've thought for a long time And I think that is he just created them all at once and that's done Now to give you reason why I think that just kind of have to dredge in my brain and see if there's anything there for a minute It's It's it's partly he didn't spare the angels when they sin but cast them into hell and committed them to pits another gloom to be kept until the judgment It's partly this first Timothy passage where Paul talks about I command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels Thinking that there's a certain group of angels who are elect they're chosen. They're they're they're preserved in righteousness They're not going to sin And then it's just the absence of any indication that God creates any new ones or that they they they Reproduce they So I think they were just all created at once. Not sure EG Yeah, that would infer that none of them would have sin Maybe if he keeps creating new ones Maybe there's no more. I think there's only it seems like they just one incident of the Building of angels. Yeah of the fall of angels. So it couldn't have couldn't keep happening. It doesn't keep happening Which would put the case that they were all created at once. Yeah, I suspect so Okay, I mean over here Le Verne Just recently I think I had an encounter with an angel and what happened was is on New Year's morning my mother 91 who lives with us Took ill and we had a 9-1-1 and we took her to the hospital and then a few days later she got better and my husband went out of town and that Day they put her into rehab and three hours later she had a massive heart attack Well, she had a spell and they rushed her to emergency and so I was called to go to emergency and it was late at night and she was laying there she had a directive. She didn't want to be brought back to life and She was they were paddling her with a paddle and this was all alarming to me because I'd never seen anything like this and And they said should we let her go or should we put a ventilator in her and I didn't know what to say and so I was very upset and I said Well, I know she doesn't want to be put on artificial things as a ventilator something permanent or what is it? You know and so and he was not here and so anyway I said well, I don't want her to die like this She was you know like flopping all over was horrible and so they put a ventilator in her and then they brought her over to a where I was standing on a stretcher and She was crying and she was going like this no, no, and I didn't know really I was supposing what she might be saying and I looked on I was there all by myself. I looked out the foot of the bed There was this beautiful blonde headed little shark Lady she was about 40-ish And I said you know, I don't know if I did the right thing or not and she looked me dead in the eye and she says yes You did the right thing you did exactly the right thing you did you did what I would have done and that was the right thing And then about that time my daughter came in and So I so I said to everybody and there where is that lady? I want to talk to that lady There was nobody in emergency that had blonde hair that was short like this And so later I was telling Art about it since he's a doctor. I thought he ought to know something You know what's going on And and his first response was well, Laverne, you know, it was an angel I've seen this many times really and so I really believe that angel was sent to comfort me my mother passed away on January 10th So but I just was really relaxed in letting that happen because whatever she needed to have accomplished It needed a few more days And so for whatever's worth I think I've just recently had an encounter with an angel. Oh, Laverne. Thank you That's that just fits exactly what I think God sends angels for you were alone And he needed someone and and there wasn't anybody there that you knew or trusted Within God sent someone Yeah Yeah, thanks so much What what a thank you Laverne for sharing that Wow Art, do you want to add anything to that or what why did you say you see that? Yeah, okay You have seen that happen in other situations Well, yeah
How long have you two been married? Just a year and probably Yeah, way to go art Good things. Okay, in back Who is this back here? The one from Portland, Maine. Oh, yeah, it's Jim. Yes, thank you. Wait. I was just wondering about Genesis chapter six the first few verses Ah, yeah, are you gonna be here next week? I'm not oh Too bad Okay
Genesis six has The sons of God going into the daughters of men and having children with them and This was in the days when the Nephilim were in the earth and I'll give you the answer without the reasons. I think it's just um Suns of God is people who are following God and the daughters of men were human beings who were not following and they were that they were Unbelieving what so I think it was believing husbands and unbelieving wives Uh and no and no angels involved but People differ on that passage a lot and I that I did a lot of research in kind of Jewish literature Not that that solves the problem. I'll tell about that more next week and I found eighteen Comments on that in Jewish literature after the time of the Old Testament Nine of them thought these were human beings and nine of them thought they were angels They wouldn't make consensus and I've got and some people think the sons of God means human princes or Government officials We'll go into it more detail, but I don't think it's angels or demons, but some people do but I don't think so um Wayne for the benefit of our guest uh who won't be here next week They can download your messages from www.scostlebible.com. Oh, yeah. Okay. Good. Yeah. See can listen even Remain good. Okay Deer our relationship to angels is kind of okay. What should we do we should be aware of angels in our daily lives Though we do not ordinarily or see or hear evidence of this heavenly worship It in in rich in riches our sense of reverence every once in a while when you're in the middle of the church service Just think you know they're probably angels up and down the aisle here worshipping with us that we don't see And it makes makes more real the fact that uh that we're in the presence of of God and and angelic beings who are worshipping God That's what should be happening in the universe. He brews 12 22 to 23 Talking to Christians you have come to Mount Zion into the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to Inumerable angels infestal gathering and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous Made perfect. There's a great heavenly assembly that we join when we When we even the next hour now go to uh join with God's people in singing praise Angels can sometimes take human form to make quote inspection visits Hebrews 13 too do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares and i've read of a number of stories that seem Believable to me liver and story seems exactly true and right and it happened and and we know liver and and it's just wow amazing And so from time to time This will happen and Or showing kindness to someone In need or something like that and there it's it's God just putting an angel there and here's Abraham Lifting up his eyes and three men were standing in front of him and and he ran and and then prepared food for them and it turns out It was the Lord and two angels with him Angels can suddenly deliver from danger or distress Daniel 622 Daniel said my god said his angel and shut the lion's mouths and the lions have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him And also before you oh king. I've done no harm or here's Peter in prison Behold acts 12 7 to 11 and angel of the Lord stood next to him in a light shown in the cell He struck Peter on the side and woke him get up quickly um And Peter went out and he didn't even know that it was really thought it was a dream or a vision and until he got out of the prison um, and then Peter says in verse 11 Now I'm sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod And from all that the Jewish people were expecting in fact the Bible says God's gonna give us angels to protect us So Psalm 91 11 to 12 he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways on their hands They will bury you up lest you strike your foot against a stone and You know a couple of times I've wondered if that doesn't happen. I remember I was driving in Illinois one day And uh came to a slippery spot and I needed to slow down and the car just started skidding I was going right toward a light pole and I just must have been that far away from it and it just turned the car just Turned and missed the light point didn't hit it Thank you Lord. I don't know what happened or when I was now I learned to swim when I was 11. I went to Boy Scout camp for my for the first time Because this is Wisconsin in northern Wisconsin and you don't have I mean you get two or three warm days a year But it's not like Phoenix I'm exaggerating but anyway But when I was um, I don't know eight or nine or something Ten my next door neighbor Dick and I my good friend we were sledding down this Riverbank and then we'd turn aside at the last our parents didn't know we were doing this But it was a great sled run, you know these old sleds that have the steel runners on it and and we'd turn and say and one time I don't know. I just didn't turn aside. I just went straight right out onto the ice of the Chippewer River And then there was about you know this much ice and then Powell was the river that it was it never froze over parts of it because it was so fast in the in the winter and So I fell fell through the ice and put and just kind of put my foot down and there was a rock there and I I stood out climbed out onto the ice and ran home and of course my mother was terrified That was my snow pants were all just dripping wet from the cold Now I don't know but that very spot Where I put my foot down I fished in a whole lot all summer long And I didn't know there was any rock there But I put my foot down rock and got out and I was at an angel kind of going like this here when I don't know But here I am today So I'm thankful. I don't know. He'll command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways on their hands They will bury you up Let's do strike your foot against a stone Trent this is not clicking for some reason You just go to the next slide So We should be aware of receiving false doctrine from angels That is if they teach anything contrary to scripture Paul says even if an angel from heaven Preaches to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to let him be a curse Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light any supernatural being that seems awesome But says something contrary to scripture don't believe it Because the Bible is our test And then there's a story in first kings 13 about someone being you know said an angel appeared to him and he deceived the man We shouldn't worship or pray to our seek angels Colossians 218 and Sandy just gets into a little bit of what we should talk about People in Colossi were in danger of being misled by people who preached worship of angels There is one God and one mediator between God and men the man the man Christ Jesus and so So we don't worship angels. We don't Bow down before them and revelation 228 The angel rebukes John says don't do that don't bow down before me worship God New angels appear to people today. Well, I suppose I've answered that Several times already and what we've said there's no strong reason to rule this out. So yes, I think they do There are many examples of scripture in scripture of angels appearing to people act 826 to fill up acts 10 3 to 6 to Cornelius and other Times Hebrews 13 to some of entertain angels unaware Be cautious if they say it takes teach something contrary to scripture. They're not from God But angels can appear to us and say you did the right thing And then I think we should just thank God for that and say lord you you intervene here in a way that we don't know and then she was gone disappeared All right Anything else last One last chance is something urgent John
Oh, okay people Okay, I didn't have it in here Yeah, people say a family member died and is now an angel in heaven I do not think people become angels and I would look at that passage in Hebrews that distinguishes innumerable angels and festival gathering from the spirits of the just made perfect So I think that people when they die become spirits without bodies until the resurrection day But I don't think they become angels Okay, good Well, I said we'd sing all four verses this week. So let's do that. I think we it's 917 and we're gonna push it to 920, but I think we'll be okay A Lord God we give you thanks we thank you for the unbelievable wonder of your creation And that there is much more than we see and that you've created these spiritual beings who minister For us to help and encourage and protect and strengthen us And to glorify you So we thank you Lord we thank you that this is real that your word teaches on it
Help us this week above all to trust in you more To worship you more fully with our hearts Amen See you next week