Angels (a Study on Angels)

8/2/2019 Angels (a Study on Angels)

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A STUDY ON ANGELS

INTRODUCTION:

1. They have been the featured subject of national news magazines,countless books, and several television shows. They have evensurfaced on the Internet. You can find them on postcards, T-shirts,calendars and sunglasses. In fact, entire seminars, newsletters,and boutiques have been devoted to these beings. There's nodoubt about it: America is experiencing a wave of "angel-mania."

2. Time Magazineconducted a poll among American adults on thesubject of angels and found some interesting results:

a. 69% confirmed their belief in the existence of angels.

b. 46% acknowledged their belief in a personal guardian angel.

c. 32% claimed to have felt an angelic presence at some time in theirlives.

3. People are fascinated with angels.

THIS MORNING, WE WILL EXAMINE WHAT

THE BIBLE TEACHES US ABOUT ANGELS.


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I. FIRST, LET'S LOOK AT THE NATURE

OF ANGELS.

1. Angels are created beings.

a. The fact of their creation is brought out in (Psalm 148). There thepsalmist calls upon all in the celestial heavens, including theangels, to praise God. The reason given is, For He commandedand they were created (Ps. 148:5).

b. The time of their creation is never stated in the Bible, however, weknow they were created before the creation of the world. From the

book of Job we are told that they were present when the earth wascreated (Job 38:4-7) so their creation was prior to the creation ofthe earth as described in Genesis one.

2. Angels are spirit creatures.

a. Angels are spirit beings. Though at times they have been given theability to reveal themselves in the form of human bodies as in(Genesis 18:3), they are described as spirits in (Hebrews 1:14).

This suggests they do not have material bodies as we do. For thatreason, they do not function as human beings in terms of marriageand procreation (Mark 12:25) nor are they subject to death (Luke20:36).

3. As created spirit beings, angels are mere creatures.

a. They are not divine and are not to be worshipped (Rev. 19:10;22:9). As a separate order of creatures, they are both distinct from

human beings and higher than humans with powers far beyond ourabilities in this present age (1 Cor. 6:3; Heb. 1:14; 2:7). But ascreatures they are limited in their powers, knowledge, andactivities (1 Peter 1:11-12; Rev. 7:1). Like all of creation, angels areunder Gods authority and subject to His judgment (1 Cor. 6:3;Matt. 25:41).


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II. SECOND, THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF

ANGELS--GOOD AND EVIL.

1. While all the angels were originally created holy and without sin,there was a rebellion by Satan (a fallen angel), who, being lifted upby his own beauty, sought to exalt himself above God and rebelled.In his rebellion, he took with him one-third of the angels (Rev.12:4).

a. This rebellion is probably described for us in (Isaiah 14:12-14) and(Ezekiel 28:15) embodied in the kings of Babylon and Tyre.Prophesying of a future angelic conflict, John wrote, And therewas war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against thedragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back (Rev. 12:7) . Inother words, there are good angels and there are evil angels.

2. As it is clear from (Revelation 12:7) and many other passages, theleader of these fallen angels (or demons as they are also called) isSatan (Matt. 12:25-27). Satan, the leader of unholy angels, is a liar,a murderer, and a thief (John 10:10). As Gods great adversary, Hehates God and Gods people. Scripture teaches us that he prowlsabout like a roaring lion in search of those whom he may devour.

As an angelic being, Satan, along with his demon-like angels whooperate under his authority, is supernaturally powerful andbrilliant, and he uses all his powers against humanity.

3. So we need to realize that there are good angels and bad angels.


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III. THIRD, LET'S LOOK AT THE

MINISTRY OF THE GOOD ANGELS.

1. The book of Hebrews calls angels "ministering spirits sent to servethose who will inherit salvation" (Heb. 1:14). Angels minister to usin many ways, and I'd like for us to look at some of their ministries.

A. ANGELS PROTECT.

1. Perhaps no aspect of their ministry to man is more talked aboutthan the idea of a guardian angel. Over the years, I have beenasked, Does everyone have a guardian angel? While no passage

specifically states that every person has a guardian angel, theBible does teach that angels do guard or protect as (Psalm 91:11)declares.

"For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all yourways."

2. In addition, (Matthew 18:10) may suggest a guardian angel becauseof the statement Christ made regarding little children when Hesaid, See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.

For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of myFather in heaven.

3. Angels care for and protect believers from physical harm andgive believers strength to overcome difficulties.


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4. This world is a dangerous place, and angels can providesupernatural protection. (Daniel 6) tells the story of how an angelshut the mouths of the lions when Daniel was thrown into theirden.

ILLUSTRATION:

A young lady named Myra worked in the inner-city ministry of TeenChallenge in Philadelphia. One neighborhood gang liked to terrorizeanyone who tried to enter the Teen Challenge building, and theyharassed Myra as well. One night, when she was alone in the buildingwith the gang banging on the door, she felt she should continue to tryto reach out to them with the gospel of Jesus. As she opened thedoor, she breathed a prayer for protection. The boys suddenly

stopped their shouting, looked at each other, turned and left quietly.Myra had no idea why.

Later on, as the staff people were able to build relationships with thegang members, the ministry director asked them why they droppedtheir threats against Myra and left her alone that night. One youngman spoke up, saying, "We wouldn't dare touch her after herboyfriend showed up. That dude had to be seven feet tall." Thedirector said, "I didn't know Myra had a boyfriend. But at any rate, shewas here alone that night." Another gang member insisted, "No, wesaw him. He was right behind her, big as life in his classy white suit."


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ILLUSTRATION:

Another young woman walking home from work in Brooklyn had to gopast a young man loitering against a building. She was fearful; therehad been muggings in the area recently, and she prayed forprotection. She had to go right by him, and although she could feelhim watching her, he didn't move. A short time after she reachedhome, she heard sirens and saw police lights. The next day herneighbor told her someone had been raped, in the same place andjust after she had passed by the young man.

She wondered if the man she'd passed was the rapist, because if itwere, she could identify him. She called the police and discoveredthey had a suspect in custody. She identified him in a lineup and

asked the policeman, "Why didn't he attack me? I was just asvulnerable as the next woman who came along." The policeman wascurious too, so he described the woman and asked the suspect abouther. He said, "I remember her. But why would I have bothered her?She was walking down the street with two big guys, one on either sideof her."

5. Although we do not know all the ways angels protect us, the Biblesays that they do.


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B. ANGELS ENCOURAGE.

1. Angels strengthened Jesus after His temptation (Matt 4:11). Theyencouraged the apostles to keep preaching after releasing them

from prison (Acts 5:19-20), and told Paul that everyone on his shipwould survive the impending shipwreck (Acts 27:23-25). Angelsencourage.

ILLUSTRATION:

One mother of a young girl told the story that the night after herdaughter's cancer surgery, a very tall nurse with long braids, a realAmazon, ministered to her all night long. She was caring for the girl

with a strong but gentle tenderness, and talking with the mom abouthow good God is. After they went home, the mother decided to write athank-you note to the nurse, and called the hospital to ask for hername. Everyone--even the head of nursing--insisted that there was nonurse with that description working at the hospital. She believes Godsent an angel to encourage her through that dark night.

2. Not only can God send us brothers and sisters in Christ toencourage us, He can also send us His messengers.


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C. ANGELS PROVIDE GUIDANCE.

1. Sometimes, angels give guidance so God's people will know whatHe wants us to do. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and

instructed him to take Mary as his wife and to name her babyJesus (Matthew 1:20-21).

2. And it was an angel who told Philip where to go in his travels sothat he could meet the Ethiopian eunuch and lead him to Christ(Acts 8:26).

3. Since we now have the completed canon of Scripture, God may notsend His angels to deliver messages as often as He did in the Bible

times, however, it is possible.

4. It is comforting to know that God may send us angels to protect,encourage, and guide us. Praise the Lord for His angels and for allthe work they do for Him.


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IV. LASTLY, HERE ARE SOME FINAL

THOUGHTS TO PONDER ABOUT

ANGELS.1. We need to be extremely carefully not to buy into the world's

perspective on angels. Our secular society presents many falseviews and ideas about God's messengers.

a. For example, some people believe that they should contact andpray to angels.

(1) There are now books available in the bookstores with titles like

Ask Your Angelsand 100 Ways to Attract Angels. But the Biblegives neither permission nor precedent for us to directly contactangels. If we need help or assistance, we should pray to God, forHe is the one we should talk to, not angels.

b. Some people believe that they receive special knowledge orteachings from angels.

(1) Naomi Albright distributes teachings about the deep meanings of

colors, and numbers and letters of the alphabet which she claimsis knowledge given from above and brought forth in more detailby angels. These same beings told Mrs. Albright to stress twomain teachings: first, that God accepts all religions, and second,reincarnation. These two teachings keep showing up in much ofthe New Age angel literature, which shouldnt be surprising sincethey are heretical lies that come from the pit of hell, which iswhere the angel teachers are from.

(2) We need to remember that Gods angels are not teachers. Gods

word says they are messengersthats what angel meansandthey minister to us. God has revealed to us everything we need forlife and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), in His Word.


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c. Some people believe that when they die they become angels whogo back to earth to minister to their family and friends.

(1) However, we do not become angels after we die. Angels are notglorified human beings. (Matthew 22:30) explains that angels donot marry or reproduce like humans.

(2) Also, angels are a company or association (Hebrews 12:22), not arace descended from a human ancestry (Luke 20:34-36).

2. What our culture needs in response to the angel craze is strongdiscernment built on the foundation of Gods word. We need toremember, and share with others, three truths about angels:

a. The ministry of holy angels will never contradict the Bible.

b. The actions of holy angels will always be consistent with thecharacter of Christ.

c. A genuine encounter with a holy angel will glorify God, not theangel. Holy angels never draw attention to themselves. Theytypically do their work and disappear.

CONCLUSION:

1. I Hope and pray that this study on angels has been biblical andbeneficial.

2. We never want to close a service without offering an invitation, soif you would like to respond to the Lord's invitation, please comeas we stand and sing.

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Angels (a Study on Angels)