Note: This is an unedited, verbatim transcript of the live broadcast. Our message today is going to be dealing with the truth about angels. It may be one sermon. We’ll see how it goes today. If I don’t cover all the material or most of it, then I might let this go over into next week as well.
There’s a story I’d like to launch with. If you go to your bibles in 2 Kings 6, perhaps just to give you the background, the King of Syria was always at war with the King of Israel and several times he tried to surprise attack or ambush the King of Israel, but every time he was about to do that, he would very carefully lay his war plans and it was all top secret. He’d tell his generals and they’d go to where they knew the King of Israel was frequent to pass and the Man of God, Elisha the Prophet, would tell the King of Israel, “Don’t go down that road. The King of Syria has planned an ambush.” And he’d send some messengers and sure enough, there they were all waiting to ambush him. So he’d go another way.
And this happened several times until so exasperated, the King of Syria, he said to his servants, “One of you is a traitor. How could the King of Israel possibly always know what our plans are?” And they said, “None of us are betraying your majesty, but the Prophet of God, Elisha, who is in the land of Israel, he knows the things that you speak in your bed chamber.” The King of Israel said, “So that’s their secret weapon. All right, let’s just capture him.”
So during the night, they found out that Elisha the Prophet was in the little town of Dothan. It’s a very small town for shepherds. There’s some stone walls a horse could jump over. So they found out that’s where Elisha was staying. The sent a very great army and this is where our story picks up. 2 Kings 6:14, “Therefore the King of Syria sent horses and chariots and a great army there to arrest one unarmed prophet and he came by night and he surrounded the city.
And when the servant, the Man of God, just like Elijah trained Elisha, Elisha was his apprentice, when Elisha because the main prophet, he had a young man, probably one of the sons of the prophets he was training, he woke up in the morning and went to get some water to bring to his master’s house. He says when he woke up, he went out and there in the rising sun he could see the glittering armor of all these soldiers and he heard the snort of the horses stomping ready to attack the city. They were surrounded on very side.
And he shook Elisha awake and said, “Alas, my master, look out the window. What shall we do?” Elisha rubbed his eyes and he said, “Do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Well, that would be a lot because it says this was a great army. And then he prayed a prayer that I prayed this morning. He prayed and said, “Lord, I pray you will open his eyes that he may see. I pray that God will open our eyes and help us to see that we are not alone. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man. You notice Elisha didn’t say for my benefit, but for his.
And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain was full of chariots of fire and horses all around Elisha. This is God’s army. It’s often depicted the angelic host as chariots and horses of fire when Elisha went to heaven, it says chariots and horses of fire. That’s the only term they could think of to describe these angelic messengers of light that came down and swooped up Elisha. They were all around them, surrounding them on every side.
We are surrounded by angels. And the bible talks a lot about angels, so I thought it’s appropriate. At least 250 times in the bible there are references to angels. Now, how many of you would say that you think that you have seen an angel? Raise your hands. Quite a few. We’ll have counseling sessions following the service. No, I believe you. I believe.
The bible says some have entertained angels unaware. Some of you have seen angels and you didn’t know that they were angels. You won’t know until you get to heaven. You don’t have a story to tell because you didn’t even know.
How many of you think that you have been divinely protected by angels? It’s almost everybody. So is that why we believe in angels? Not me. Though I may have seen an angel, though I know I’ve been divinely protected by angels, I believe in angels because the bible teaches it. All over the place, it is literally from Genesis to Revelation. As a matter, of the over 250 references to angels in the bible, nearly 80 of them are just in the book of Revelation. And so angels are clearly taught in the bible, but you don’t hear much thought about them and I think that if God talks about it, then he wants us to talk about it.
Sometimes they’re called angel, that would be the Greek word that comes angelos and it means a messenger. It’s Hebrew, it’s malach and that would mean someone who is dispatched as a deputy or similarly a messenger. Then we’ve heard about Seraphim and that means the burning ones or the shining ones. Cherubim, they’re a class of winged angels. Sometimes they’re called watchers. Sometimes it says there was a man. And when you read on in the story, you know that it was an angel, but he appeared in the form of the man. And so there are a number -- sometimes they are talked about as stars. A lot of references to angels in the bible.
Well, we’re going to go through a number points to just give us some understanding about these intelligent beings that surround us that we interact with every day. We talk about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, but there is another class of principalities and powers that are in the bible that are involved in both our salvation and trying to bring about our fall, because there are good and there are bad angels. We’ll get to that in a moment. But it’s good to understand what’s going on. They are powerful beings and they are created. Angels are not born.
People misunderstand those versus there in Genesis 6 when it says, “The Sons of God saw the daughters of men, they were fair and took them wives of all they chose,” and it’s talking nothing about angels. The bible says -- the term Sons of God is used two different ways in the bible. “Behold what manner of love,” 1 John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called Sons of God.” Believers are called Sons and Daughters of God.
Back in Genesis, “When the descendants of Seth that were true to God, as long as they remain separate from Cain, who had turned his back on God and his descendants, they remain loyal. But when the Sons of God, Seth’s children, saw the daughters of Cain, called the Daughters of Men, that they were fair and they began to inter-marry, the result was they were brought down.” It says, “Then the thoughts of men’s hearts were only evil continually.
Oh, but Pastor Doug, it says some of their children were giants. That’s not unusual. That’s simply called genetic vitality. You’ll often find that the children who are of two different races when they come together, they have stronger genes. And so that’s very common. That’s how you get the hybrids. That’s why there’s bigger corn today. That’s why they call it GMO. Those giants were GMO giants. They weren’t aliens. They weren’t angels. Do not procreate with humans. The bible tells that they are created beings.
Let me read some versus on these. You might want to take notes and maybe I’ll upload my notes if you can’t keep up. Nehemiah 9:16, “You alone are the Lord. You have made heaven the heaven of heavens with all their hosts.” The heavenly hosts, angels. You remember when Jesus was born. It says there was a heavenly host. It’s the angels that were singing there. Psalm 104:4, “Who makes His angels spirits.” He makes them. They are created. His minister is a flame of fire. Psalm 8:5, “For you have made him a little lower than the angels.” Man was made a little lower. Angels are powerful. More powerful than humans. Much more powerful than us. They were even more powerful than Adam in his innocence. 2 Peter 2:11, “Whereas angels, who are greater in power and might do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.”
So angels are more powerful, much more powerful. You read in the bible, in the night says that one angel slew 185,000 Syrian soldiers. You can read about the Angel of the Lord, went through Jerusalem with judgment, 70,000 men died, one angel with a drawn sword. So they’re very powerful. Don’t make them mad, unless they’re the bad angels. You can make them mad and that’s okay.
Which brings me to my next point. There are good angels and there are bad angels. Revelation 12:7, “And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon.” The dragon is a symbolic work for a character. Who is that? Satan the devil. So if dragon is a symbolic word in his angels, then does it stand to reason possibly the word Michael is symbolic for something, too? A dragon who is the leader of the evil or fallen angels and his angels fought with Michael.
There was at one time a war in heaven. Understanding angels helps us understand why we have sin in the world today. It’s their fault. It’s the angels’ fault, the bad angels. God created these very powerful ministering spirits and there was a rebellion among them led by the highest created being, whose name was Lucifer, and finally the rebellion developed and unfolded to a point where there was a war and they were expelled. They were cast out of heaven. And when Satan found in this world some creatures that were willing to listen to him instead of God, God said no, the devil said go ahead. The bible says whoever you obey that’s whose servant you are. He was given permission to set up his headquarters on this planet and he has been carrying out his rebellion against God ever since.
Now, there are good angels and there are bad angels. Ephesians 6:10, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.” Paul was trying to use the words available then to describe there is a whole spiritual realm we don’t understand. There are different levels of angels that these principalities and powers and we’re warring with them, that bring temptation.
Matthew 25, “Jesus will stay to those on the left hand,” you don’t want to be on the left hand, “depart from me you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” They’re very real, though you cannot see them. You cannot see television and radio waves, but you believe in them. We now know about these things. Job 4:18, “If He puts no trust in His servants, if He charges his angels with error,” there were some angels that rebelled, led by Lucifer, Satan, the devil. If you take D of devil, what word do you have? Evil. He is consummate evil.
Now, someone is thinking, “Well, God is so powerful and His angels outnumber the devil’s angels, the bible says in Revelation 12, “One-third of the angels chose to follow Lucifer.” And that’s a lot. Why doesn’t God just snap his fingers. If he could create them, can’t he uncreate them? Couldn’t he vaporize them? He could, with a word He could do it. God could do it without breaking a sweat. He could destroy all the bad angels. But it has to do a lot more with God’s justice and his character than who’s more powerful.
The devil has leveled terrible charges against God and if God just wipes him out when he accuses God of being unfair, it then motivates the creatures to follow God out of fear instead of love. And God must have us obey him because of love. Love must remain the supreme motive for serving God. So he had to allow Satan and his angels to show for Him. Unfortunately, you and I were born in the world where this battle was being acted out.
But there are good angels and there are bad angels. Jude 6, “The angels which kept not their estates,” speaking of the evil angels, “but they left their own habitation. He, God, has reserved an everlasting chains under darkness under the judgment of the great day.”
The bible is telling us that these angels, they know that their time is short. Revelation 12 says the devil has come down with great wrath because he knows his time is short. And whenever angels saw Jesus come to their town, they said, “Jesus, Son of God, we know who you are. Have you come to torment us before the time?” They know their time is coming. They are in everlasting chains. They’re restricted to this world. It says in Revelation 20, “The devil is bound.” A great, more powerful angel comes down and binds Lucifer. He’s bound to this planet during millennium. That’s a different sermon, though.
You know, there’s a great quote from that classic book Great Controversy, Page 517, “None are in greater danger from the influence of evil spirits than those who notwithstanding the direct and ample testimony of scripture, deny the existence and agency of the devil and his angels.” Short version, not only is it good for us to believe in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but we need to believe in good angels and you even need to believe in bad angels. It doesn’t mean you worship them. It means you need to know that they’re there, because otherwise we’re easily exposed. You need to be aware that there is a battle.
That’s why Paul said, “We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood,” but there is a real wrestling match. How many of you have felt that wrestling match between good and evil in your life before? Every hand should have gone up because if you don’t feel any resistance, you’re probably not trying. Even the Lord’s prayer says deliver from evil, lead us not to temptation. Even in the Lord’s Prayer it says there is a battle in a Christian life and angels are involved in that.
A few more interesting details. I mentioned that angels do not procreate. Jesus made this clear. They don’t have little baby angels. I know you’ve seen lots of paintings of angels that look like chubby little babies and that’s just little cherubs, little cupids on clouds, naked frequently, but this is just medieval fiction. Angels are majestic, large, powerful creatures.
The bad angels, the devil loves for us to see the devil and his angels portrayed as these little ghoulish troll-like imps with batwings and horns and all this and goat feet and fur, thinking people go you think these are the creatures out there tempting everybody and they scoff and dismiss it. No, they’re very beautiful, powerful, majestic, intelligent creatures. But they don’t marry. They are created.
Jesus was talking about this, Luke 20:35, “But those who are counted worthy to attain of that age and resurrection from the dead, they neither marry, nor are they given in marriage, nor can they die anymore.” They’ve got their glorified bodies. “For they are equal to the angels and are Sons of God,” the angels are sometimes called Sons of God,” being Sons of the Resurrection.” And so Jesus said angels don’t marry, they don’t procreate, they are created. God made every one and he gave them all a name. They are bright, fast and powerful.
Ezekiel 1:14, “And the living creatures ran back and forth in appearance like a flash of lightening.” They’re very quick. Dragonflies are probably one of the fastest insects. They’ve been clocked at like 25, 30 miles and hour, which for you and I to go that fast, you would have to run about 90 miles an hour. They fly very quick and they’re very powerful. They can lift over two times their own body weight. There’s no aircraft that we have created that is able to do that. They have eyes all around. They can see in every direction. They have fantastic vision. You can’t sneak up on a dragonfly. Did you ever try that? And what’s amazing is they have found fossils of dragonflies and they used to have a 24-inch wingspan back before the flood. Wouldn’t that we spooky? Can you imagine the mosquitoes back then and how big they were? They would have drained you dry in one bite.
There’s more about them being bright and fast. When Jesus rose from the dead, Matthew 28:3, the angel that came, it says, “Its countenance was like lightening and raiment white as snow.” Face like lightening, they’re bright. Daniel 9:21, “Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I’d seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly to swiftly. He touched me about the time of the evening offering.” Daniel is praying. The man Gabriel, this angel Gabriel, comes, touches Daniel in his prayer and he says, “You know, when you started praying, God in Heaven sent me and before his prayer is over, he’s here.”
How fast does an angel have to go to get from Heaven, which is probably not in our galaxy, to get from heaven. You’ve heard about the speed limit, which is what, 85? No? Or the speed of sound, depends upon the air pressure, 600 to 700 miles and hour, then you’ve got the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second. For an angel to get from Heaven to earth, he has to go infinitely faster than the speed of light. They are fast. The Highway Patrol would never catch them. They go the speed of thought. There’s speeds out there we don’t even know about yet because we can’t measure them. But angels, when God sends them, they zip right along.
Evidently they have wings. You can read in Isaiah 6, “The seraphim each had six wings, with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet and with two he flew.” I don’t think their wings look like stork or eagle wings with feathers. We often paint them that way and what you see on the screen, friends, please forgive me, these are just artists concepts and someone comes to me invariably and they say, how come all the angels are painted as Caucasian? Be patient, that’s all that they’re coming up with. If I get the others, I’ll put all kinds of them up there. But angels are individuals. We’re trying to ready our understanding of people in the angels. They’re completely different. They’ve got some kind of wings they fly with.
You can read in 2 Chronicles, “The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark.” Seraphim, cherubim and angles I think can fly. They have a way to maybe fold up their wings where you don’t see them. When they want to appear as men, they obviously hide their wings or you would think there was something suspicious, right? So they can do that.
They have bodies, though. The bible talks about there is a celestial body and there is a physical body. You and I have what kind of bodies now? Physical bodies, but flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. In the Resurrection we’re giving glorified bodies that will inhabit both the physical and the celestial realm. Angels have very real bodies, but it’s a celestial body. It’s a whole dimension we don’t understand.
Who was it, Albert Einstein, that said there are different dimensions we can’t comprehend and for all you know, in another dimension a train is coming through this room and we’re totally unaware of it. It used to be that people laughed at him, but now when we’re aware of all the different radio frequencies that are bombarding us that are swirling around us and the different kind of rays and the different kinds of light and the spectrum you can’t even see, it makes it easier to believe that there is a spirit realm that we don’t just fully understand. So they have wings.
How many angels are there? Well, we don’t know exactly, but there’s a lot. For one thing, it tells us that there are innumerable. Matthew 26:53, Jesus on the cross or when he was being betrayed, he said to the disciples when they were going to fight for him, “Do you think I can not now pray to my father and He’ll provide me with more than 12 legions of angels?” If one angle could take out 185,000 soldiers, what would you do with 12 legions? The Roman legion, that would come to over 70,000 angels. Revelation 5, “Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands.”
Keep in mind in Greek, they didn’t have a word for million and so they used the word thousands as many multiples as they could. And so basically saying, I saw this innumerable company of angels. Which by the way, you find in Hebrews 12:22, “For you have come to Mount Zion to the City of the Living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem and innumerable company of angels.” And those are the good ones, thank heavens. But if one-third of the angels fell, that means there’s a whole lot of bad ones out there, too.
Isaiah 40:26, “He brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls each one of them by name.” Not only has God number all the stars, do you know how many stars there are? Neither do I, but one astronomer estimated there are approximately as many stars in the visible as there are grains of sand on the beaches of the world. There probably is a limit to the number of angels. We don’t know what that number is. God said to Abraham, “Your seed will be like the stars of Heaven, your seed will be like the sand by the seashore,” but there was been a specific number of descendants of Abraham. So we don’t know how many angels there are, but I just want you to know there’s a lot of them, according to the bible. Amen. That’s good to know, because the good angels outnumber the bad two to one.
Angels are bright, they’re powerful, they’re intelligent, they’re individuals, they’ve got personality, but we’re not to worship them. They are part of the divine order that God uses in our salvation, but they are created, where as God, the Father, Son and Spirit are eternal, angels had a beginning. Big difference. We’re in the same category as angels in that we had a beginning. But the good angels lived through eternity.
Colossians 2:18, “Let no one cheat you in regard to talking, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels,” Paul is saying don’t get involved in that, “or intruding into those things he has not seen.” Even the John the Apostle wanted to worship an angel. As a matter of fact, when you go through many of the opines in the bible and angels appeared to men, the nature response, they were so bright and so glorious is that they would fall before the angels. Here they’ve got the glory of God, they come from the presence of God and we can’t even endure it.
When Moses talked to God, they asked him to veil his face. Angels had continually behold the face of my Father. How bright are they? And so you can understand when the apostle or Daniel or Ezekiel, when they wanted to fall and worship the angels, that’s because they come shining with the glory of God. The residue of God’s glory is all over them.
This is Revelation 22:8, 9, “When I heard and I saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things and indignant the angel says, ‘See that you do not do that.’” What is one of the Ten Commandments? To worship the Lord thy God only. There was an angel that asked Jesus to worship him and Jesus would not worship Lucifer and we’re not to worship angels, especially not that one. “See that you don’t do it for I am your fellow servant.”
Angels see themselves as our partners in the plan of salvation. “I’m your fellow servant and of your brethren the prophets and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” So angels say we’re not God, we’re only to worship God and I’m glad they forgave John for doing that. You and I, if we saw an angel, might be tempted to do the same. An angel in their unveiled glory.
They’re ministering spirits. What is the work of angels? What do they do? He makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. I think I read you that verse already. We also read in Isaiah where these angels in Chapter 6 are before the throne of God and always are going Holy, holy, holy. They worship God.
So one of the things they do is they’re engaged in glorifying God. When the angels came to announce the birth of Jesus, what did they say? Glory to God in the highest. There is nothing that they find greater joy in than glorifying and worshiping God.
And I should probably pause and ask you to think about why did God make you? Why do we exist? For what purpose were we made? God’s entertainment or does God know that we will find our highest joy in worshiping Him? Whether you eat or whether you drink or whatever you do, whether you work or whether you sew, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. This is what angels do. Everything they do is to the glory of God and that’s where we’re going to find our greatest happiness.
They’re ministering spirits. They do the will of God. They stand constantly around them. Do you remember when the temple was built, which was a miniature model, the bible says, of things in heaven and you went into the holy place where the ark was. What did that ark symbolize? The dwelling place of God. What was in engraved all over the walls in gold of the temple? Angels. And what was on the curtain? Angels. What was above the ark? Angels.
So if you put on goggles where you could endure it, like a welder with goggles, and you could somehow manage the light and you put that on and you were to go into the very throne room of God, you would see a moving, waving, shimmering sheet of living angels, billions of them surrounding God. So you’ve to think something bigger than the planet here. Bigger than you and I can imagine. Surrounded with ministering spirits and he is telling them his will. He communicates with them His will and they dart like lightening all through the galaxy to do his will. Right now they’re very preoccupied with what’s happening on this planet. We’re causing more problems than anybody and so a lot of angels are dedicated to our world.
But they’re the ministering spirits. They’re the army of God. They’re called the hosts. That was the word for the army of God. Doing the will of God. You can read again, Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation.” Isn’t that wonderful? Did anyone here plan on inheriting salvation? Why did God say He’s got these angels? They are to minister on behalf of those who will inherit salvation. God has angels dedicated to watch over, to care for you. Are there guardian angels? I believe so.
There’s one fleeting reference where Jesus said, “If you offend one of these little ones, take care because their angels do always behold the face of my Father in heaven.” Their angels. But we may have more than one. When you need more, I think He sends me. Jesus said I could pray and God would send a legion. No, 12 legions of angels. And when Elisha was in trouble, how many angels did God send? Armies of them for one prophet.
I remember reading some quotes in the Spirit of Prophesy that God would sooner empty heaven of all its angels than allow one soul to trust in Him to be overcome by the enemy. And so He’ll send as many as you need, but you’ve got at least the one angel that’s watching all the time.
I also think angels are busy recording. A few more versus on the angels that guard us. Psalm 91, it’s a good Psalm to memory for the last days, which would be now, “For He will give His angels charge over you to keep you in all of your ways. In their hands, they will bare you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone.” Now the devil actually quoted this verse in part to Jesus when he tempted Him in the wilderness. He said jump off the temple for it’s written. He’ll give his angels charge over you, lest you dash your foot against the stone, but he left out the part to keep you in all your ways and to keep you in your ways means you don’t go around climbing buildings and jumping off temples. That’s called tempting the Lord. But it’s a wonderful promise that the angels will watch of us.
What was the devil’s accusation against God? He said, you know, the only reason Job serves you is because you protect him. He says you put a hedge about him. You think that’s a hedge of bushes? It’s a hedge of angels. If He does that for Job, does the Lord still guard his servants to trust Him? If we didn’t have a hedge of angels about us, what would the devil do to us? It makes you shudder to think about it.
How often should we thank God that He sent angels to take care of us? Every day. I want to read a quote from the book Christ Object Lessons, Page 341. “His angels are appointed to watch over us and if we put ourselves under their guardianship,” there’s something we can do through our prayers, by following the light that we have, put ourselves under their guardianship, “then in every time of danger, they will be at our right hand. When unconsciously we are in danger of exerting the wrong influence. The angels will be our side prompting us to a better course choosing our words for us and influencing our actions.”
You know what that means? A lot of times when you pray for the spirit to guide you, you’re really praying that God will use angels. Because good angels are guided by the spirit of God. We speak in general terms, so if you say the devil was tempting me, do you really think the devil even has time for you? The devil is not God. He is not omnipresent. When you say the devil is tempting me, what’s really happening is the devil is working through one of his fallen angels to tempt you.
I don’t know if you ever read that book Screwtape Letters, but C.S. Lewis has some good points in there that the devil has organized and he assigns angels that study individuals and learn their weaknesses, just as God has good angels that get to know us and they know where we need help. And so there are different levels, but it’s not specifically always the devil.
And a lot of times we say, Jesus save me. Well, how did he do it? Through his angels. The spirit guided me. How did he do it? Often through angels. Sometimes it’s speaking to your heart. But He says He’ll give His angels by our sides, choosing our words and influencing our actions. I’ve sensed that before where I’ve prayed and said, Lord, I don’t know what to do or what to say right now and then you get what you later see as divine impressions.
I had it happen to me yesterday, but I won’t tell you about it. We don’t have time. It’s not that good of story. Matthew 18:10, “Take heed that you do not despise,” I just quoted this one, “one of these little ones where I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father, who is in heaven.”
I can think of so many times in my life where I’ve had close calls and near-death experiences, everything from the equipment in the plane breaking down and then getting caught in a storm and you just have to start praying. I flipped, I was riding up a hill one time and all my friends were watching me, a really tough hill, going through the wilderness. There was no road there and it was very steep and I flipped a big four-wheeler. It went right over me, over backwards. All my friends were watching and they thought I was dead. I got up and shook myself off and they said, “Are you all right?” I said, “I think so.” It kind of stunned me, but man, you had an angel watching you. We saw that thing go right over the top of you. These were not believers that told me that.
I’ve had a lot of experiences. Haven’t you had those? I know you’ve got angels watching you. I followed some of you to church in the morning and I see how you drive and if you followed me, you know I’ve got angels watching me.
Another quote from the book Great Controversy, Page 511, “The wicked one cannot break through the guard that God has stationed about His people.” Isn’t that wonderful? Angels obey the word of God and we need to do the same. Psalm 103:20, “Bless the Lord, you angels who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word.” Again, it says they’re strong. Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” They do the will of god in heaven. Angels are encouraging us to do the will of God on earth.
While we’re talking about angels, I mentioned Gabriel and Gabriel has appeared at some prominent events through history. The other angels are not specifically named. God I’m sure has individual names. They’re as unique as you and I. Good angels are all saved. They’re unique individuals. You know God, there’s no two snowflakes that are the same. Even identical twins aren’t identical. Did you know that? By the little influences in their life and experiences that might be different, they become different. God has made every one of his angels unique. They’ve got personality. They sing when they’re happy. They cry when they’re sad. They sang at the birth of Jesus. They rejoice when someone is saved. They’re grieved when someone is lost. They cried when Christ was on the cross. They’ve got personality. They have intelligence. They’ve got all the emotions that God has. They have perspective. So these angels are unique and they’re here today. They’re around us and they’re listening. I’m praying that they’re helping us here and helping me speak. If I’m not speaking right, I still hope you hear right.
So other angel is called Michael, but he’s never really called an angel. Michael is called the Archangel and he stands out as the commander of the angelic host and in the same way Revelation 12 identified the dragon as the one who led the evil angels, Michael is identified as the one who leads the good angels.
Now, I’ll submit to you what many Protestant reformers believe, that Michael is simply the code name or another name of Christ that is used prior to the incarnation. The word Michael actually means “Who is as God.” Michael. Whenever you see el in a word, el elohim, that means God. Daniel, Rachel, God is in that name somehow. Michael means “Who is as God.” Archangel means the “Highest or the chief that holds them all together.” The arc was the top of the stone or an arch. That’s where you get the word.
And so the greatest messenger who is as God, that’s exactly what Michael the Archangel means, a messenger, angel. The greatest messenger who has the greatest message, who is as God, who leads all of the good angels is who? That’s Jesus. Jesus is not an angel. It doesn’t say he’s got wings. Never talks about Michael’s wings.
Let me give you some more evidence. In Daniel 12 it talks about “Michael the great prince who stands in behalf of your children.” That means he stands as a mediator. He stands as a representative. He stands as an intercessor, an advocate. Who is our advocate? Jesus. The bible says 1 Thessalonians, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven.” Who? “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the Archangel, the Lord, with the voice of the Archangel.”
It tells about in the Book of Jude that when Moses died, this is Old Testament. When Christ appears in the Old Testament, it’s call often a christophany or theophany and you see often the angel of the Lord that Jacob wrestled with. This often was Jesus in his preincarnate form. He’s always been eternal God. He’s not a created angel, but the word angel, even David, King David once is called an angel. It just means a messenger. And so Christ is Michael the Archangel and you see him pleading for God’s people in the Book of Daniel 10, “He resurrects.”
In Jude 9, “Jesus is the resurrection and the life and Joshua falls down before the captain of the Lord’s army.” Do you remember that story? “And he says, ‘Who are you?’ ‘I have come as captain of God’s army.’ And he says, ‘Take your shoes off your feet for it’s holy ground.’” That’s the same one that appeared to Moses. That’s Christ. That’s God the Son. And so this is Michael the Archangel. It’s Michael the Archangel that has become the vehicle, the bridge, the conduit for every other angel to pass over and minister to you and me.
When he started with that scripture reading about Jacob having that dream of angels of God. The closest thing you can picture is an escalator. Angels of God ascending and descending on this ladder. And then Jesus in the New Testament in the Gospel of John 1, he tells Nathaniel, “Do you believe because I saw you praying under the fig tree. You’ll see greater things than this. Hereafter, you will see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Heaven and Earth have been separated by sin. Communication has been cut off. The cable that connects all of the power of God between heaven and earth right now is Jesus. Jesus is the ladder, Jesus is the bridge over which the angels have the right to save sinners that are under a death sentence. It’s through Christ that they come.
So, Pastor Doug, why would you take a message and talk about angels? Study these things that we can’t see? I talk about it because the bible talks about it, but especially I want you to be inspired to remember they’re all around us. There is a spiritual world. There are heavenly places, intelligent beings, that worship God and they spend their lives serving God and they rejoice, they delight to do His will. We should be the same.
I want you to be warned because all things are naked and open to the eyes of God and not only are there guardian angels, but those guardian angels all have photographic memories and I don’t know how they’re going to do it on the judgment day, but somehow they’re going to download every idol word that we have spoken. I think it’s the angels that record. I don’t know if God has one that’s a guardian and one that’s a recording angel or how he does it. A lot of things when we get to heaven, we’re going to go ah, so that’s how it was. I’ll freely confess there’s a lot I don’t know, but there’s a lot that’s revealed that people don’t think about. So be warned. They see everything and you’re never alone.
As a matter of fact, it tells us in the bible that angels are always watching us. I think it’s in Paul’s writings he talks about the angels. He tells Titus because of God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the angels, the elect angels, he said because of God, all things you do are open to God, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the elect angels. When the message of revelation came, how does it come? Verse 1, God, through Jesus, through the angel to John. So every good blessing that you pray for from God, good chance it’s going to come from an angel somehow. They have feelings, don’t leave them out all the time.
Who is it going to be that will be witnesses in the judgment? 10,000 times 10,000, Daniel 7, Who guarded the way to the tree of life? Angels. Who were the stars that light I followed? Angels. Who was the chariot that took up Elijah? Who opened the prison doors for the apostles? Who are the clouds that will come with Jesus? Who rolled away the stone at Jesus’s tomb? Who told the disciples He’s coming again? It was angels. They’re just from cover to cover in the bible.
I think when we’re aware that we are surrounded by these beautiful creatures, it also comforts us. That was my third point. You should be comforted to know when Christ said I will never leave you or forsake you that there are always angels of God watching over us. These beautiful creatures that can hedge us in. You’re never alone. They protect us, they guide us, they comfort. They minister to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. They ministered to Jesus after he fasted 40 days in the wilderness. They gave special food to Elijah when he was fleeing out in the wilderness. Not to mentioned they probably worked with the ravens that fed him. How many times I wonder have they multiplied our food at potluck? We’re going to need to trust the angels today.
Some day we’re going to see them face to face. Won’t it be fun to see your guardian angel? You’ll be easy spotting mine. It’ll be the one with gray hair or no hair and a strait jacket.
God tells us that we’re not to worship angels, but I don’t think it would be wrong to tell them you appreciate what they do for you every now and then. Just say thank you to my angels. We’re made a little lower than the angels, but we’re going to have an experience that even angels cannot share in, that of redemption. Have you considered that Jesus said to the apostles that you will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel? When we are in heaven in our glorified bodies, we will even in a sense have a more exalted privilege than the angels. And then we’ll be sent as his ambassadors through the universe to glorify Christ and tell about what He did for us. Do you want to be involved in being His ambassador there? We need to start now.
Father in heaven, Lord, our hearts thrill when we just think about the spiritual realities going on around us right now. We may not always see it or sense it or even feel it, but we know it’s true because you say so. We thank you for your angels, these ministering spirits that you have sent to watch over us, to protect, to guide, to minister, to care. And Lord, we just pray that someday we’ll be worthy to stand and face you when you come and the sky is filled with these creatures that have been involved in your redemption and your ministry to us. Lord, I pray that each of us will also be inspired by their example, that we will find out greatest joy in worshiping and serving you and in being ambassadors to minister and to save others. In the same way that the angels feel privileged to associate with you in reaching humans, you have given us the privilege to associate with heaven and angels in reaching the lost. Help us to recognize that. Please bless, Lord, with your spirit now. I pray that we will be conscious that there are heavenly spiritual battles raging and that we don’t need to fear because greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world. We thank you and praise you and ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.