The Ministry of Angels
Introdcution: We have began a series of messages on The Ministry of Angels and Doctrines of Demons. Today we will finish what we started a couple of weeks ago on the ministry of Angels. I hope this message is encouraging and informative. My goal is to teach you the different types of angels with a spiritual lesson and then follow that with a summary of the End time angels and different testimonies from those who have experienced God's divine intervention either by circumstance or by Angels.
Ill. Two pals are sitting in a pub watching the ten-o'clock news. A report comes on about a man threatening to jump from the 20th floor of a downtown building. One friend turns to the other and says, "I'll bet you ten bucks the guy doesn't jump."
"It's a bet," agrees his buddy.
A few minutes later, the man on the ledge jumps, so the loser hands his pal a $10 bill. "I can't take your money," his friend admits. "I saw him jump earlier on the six-o'clock news."
"Me, too," say the other buddy. "But I didn't think he'd do it again!" (Ohio Motorist, quoted in Reader's Digest, June, 1994, p. 72.)
Transition: So there is definitely a need to learn things. ;) This morning we are going to learn that there are three different types of Angels mentioned in the scripture and apply a spiritual truth to each one. We begin with:
The Seraphim
We read about the Seraphim in Isaiah 6:1,2:
"In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew."
The word "Seraphim" means 'fiery ones'
In regular use those six wings were used for flying, most likely very rapidly. If a hummingbird can move across a garden of flowers, like a cursor across your computer screen, with only two wings. Imagine how swiftly an angel with six wings could carry out God's orders. Just as Angels themselves are put to different uses, These two verses in Isaiah show that when in the presence of a Holy God, the Seraphim must put even their wings to a different use.
One pair of wings covered their head from the overwhelming brightness of His glory. We have read about several encounters in the Bible of men and angels, who themselves have had men bow down to them because of their brightness, must cover their own faces in the brightness of God.
Another pair of the Seraphims wings covered their feet. Rememember that Moses' dusty sandles were not appropriate to be worn in the presence of the Holy God. What unclean thing can exist in the presence of the purity of God? Nothing. It's amazing that even the wonderful Seraphim must cover their feet while flying in the presence of the Holy God.
Adam and Eve looked for something to cover their shame, but only after they knew evil as well as good. Take note that: once you know the difference between good and evil, you must be held accountable for what you know. Before Jesus, we could only cover the shame of our sin with animal sacrifices, and before the law of sacrifices, we see our first parents attempting to cover their shame with fig leaves. It is our nature to cover our shame from the Holy God. What fellowship does light have with darkness? What do righteousnes and wickedness have in common? Even when the holy name of Jesus is spoken it can evoke shame. Others, like Adam show a contempt for what God commands and a desire for what God did not want him to have.
Today, the rebels pride desipses the shameful feeling that God's holiness brings. They despise it so much that they not only refuse to humble themsleves and repent, but they take their contempt out against God, they speak against him, they curse him, they blame him for all their problems, they accuse him of everyone elses problems, and they speak against the only thing that represents Christ on earth: his disciples. Calling them "hypocrites" "haters" "bigots" and worse. We have to remember that there is a great danger in not retaining God in our knowledge; in fact there is a point of no return. There is a coming moment when God will turn unrepentant unbelievers over to a reprobate mind. He has done it before and will do it again. God's patience and mercy is everlasting, but God only turns on those who are destined by their own determination to refuse to ever turn to him. He allows them to live in the prison of sin that they desperately desire to live in. Unlike Adam and Eve and the Seraphim angels these people don't try to hide their shame, Paul says these enemies of the cross "glory in their shame" (Ph.3:19)
In this modern day world, I believe a new generation of enemies of the cross are filled with an anti-christ spirit, who are glorying in their shame. Instead of being ashamed of their sin, they were proud of it. For years, Islamic terrorists have been killing children, raping women, and torturing Christians and far from being ashamed of their actions they are proud of it. I think it's quite apropriate that the gay movement not only have parades, but call those parades "Gay PRIDE Parades." The very thing that God hates the most in them, is the one thing they are most proud of. Matthew Henry said "Sin is the sinners shame, especially when it is gloried in." Romans 1 calls them "God-haters" and they truly have no shame. But before the apostle speaks about God's wrath upon these "God-haters" He says in the same chapter:
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." -Romans 1:16
If the sinner will parade and flaunt their sin without shame, and yet we have Christian who are ashamed of the gospel - they why do we wonder why we are losing the culture war today?!
The shame of sin, caused Adam and Eve to hide from God. The Seraphim covered their head and feet in the presence of God even though they had nothing to be ashamed of. They did not sin. In fact, Isaiah says in the next verse:
"And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." -Isaiah 6:3
There are two things the Seraphim praise God for
His Holiness:
The Angels are considered Holy and yet they can not help themselves from singing the same word over again. He is Holy! Holy! Holy! His perfect goodness and holiness of God is something they love to contemplate and dwell upon and can not help themselves from singing about his holiness. He is not once holy or twice holy or even thrice holy but he is perfectly holy, infinitely holy, and eternally holy. God the Father is Holy, God the Son is Holy, and the God the Holy Spirit is Holy. They sing about his power once but his holiness three times. GOD IS HOLY!
His Glory:
The Jews thought the glory of God should be confined to their land only. But Christ tells his disciples "and the gospel must be preached to all nations." (Mk. 13:10) before the end to come. Then not just the temple but the whole earth will be filled with his glory.
Their voices are so powerful tha they moved the foundations of the doorposts.
Transition: We have learned a lesson of worship and integrity through the Seraphim angels and now we will learn a lesson by the second type of angel:
The Cherubim
The stereotype of Cherubs are little fat babies playing harps in peaceful harmony. But the Bible describes the Cherubim in a very different light.
Cherubim/cherubs are angelic beings involved in the worship and praise of God. The cherubim are first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 3:24, “After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”
In the book of Ezekiel they are said to have the likeness of a man, but had four wings, two to fly with and two to cover their bodies. Far from being cute innocent creatures, Ezekiel description of them is quite frightening. Having four wings and four faces. Some thought that Satan was an archangel but Ezekiel 28:14 points to the fact that Satan was a Cherubim angel, it says "You were an anointed guardian cherub..."
The Cherubim were also the angels that were constructed on the ark of the covenant that covered the ark.
The Bible doesn't say how many Cherubim there are, but we're told that Ezekiel saw four - and there may be more than that! Their role is to guard God's Holy domain and presence from any sin and corruption.
We are to guard and defend God and his gospel as these angels guard and defend his presnce from corruption.
"Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people." - Jude 1:3 NLT
How to we defend the faith? Mainly we study the reasons why we believe what we believe. This will give us the ability to acoomplish what is mentions in 2 Corinthians 10:5 - "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,"
We defend the faith, not by browbeating the gospel into someone, but by practicing what we are preaching. When we love God with all our heart, abandon in, love others as ourselves, and follow the precepts of the Bible, we defend the faith. When we practice what is preached we defend the faith. This is being salt and light in a dark and bland world.
Ill. The Great Wall of China is a gigantic structure which cost an immense amount of money and labor. When it was finished, it appeared impregnable. But the enemy breached it. Not by breaking it down or going around it. They did it by bribing the gatekeepers. (sermonillustrations.com)
Just like the pharisees who bribed Judas to betray Jesus. The Cherubim guarded God and acted as a filter of sin. but as we learn, Our defense of the gospel may only be as strong as our loyalty to Christ.
Transition: The last type of Angel is the Archangel
The Archangel
There is only one named Archangel in the Bible and he is mentioned in Jude 1:9
"But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
We read in Revelation 12:7-9 that Michael fought against the dragon . . . which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his (Satan's) angels were cast out with him. So this is how we know where demons come from.
Gabriel could be an archangel, but although he is named, he is never named as an acrchangel in scripture. Gabriel did have important messages to deliver: He appeared to Zacharias to foretell the birth of John the Baptist and he appeared to Mary to tell her she had been highly faovred and would give birth to a son, and was to name him Jesus (Immanuel) 'God with us' or 'Savior'
There are Catholic believers that add the Apocrapha to their Bibles, and believe that it combined with the book of Revelation lends credence to there being seven Archangels.
So, how many archangels are there? Truth is, only God knows. But there is only one that is named in scripture and he is Michael. We read that Daniel fasted 21 days. The angel was sent to give Daniel an answer to the vision he had seen. The messenger angel fought with the prince of Persia (Satan). Michael had come to the rescue (Daniel 10). Could this explain delays of answers to our prayers?
The spiritual warfare that we are engaged in from time to time calls for heavenly assistance. There are times when we have prayed for God's provision, we have prayed for his protection and we have stood upon his promises in faith. And out of nowhere we are blindided by some tragedy. It seems that it is in these times that God is most likely to send his angels, (we have studied the three types of angels, but..) and we know that they can be disguised as regular people.
"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." -Hebrews 13:2
Be polite and thoughtful and kind to everyone, because you never know who you are being polite and thoughtful and kind to (they could be an angel). Besides there are countless testimonies of people who had been at the right place at the right time to save a life. They had never been seen before and they were never seen since.
I read about a mother who called her son from work and he wouldn't answer which was strange, she thought it was a bad connection so she went outside for better reception still nothing. Then the phone stopped ringing and she could hear the wind, but her son Christ was silent. She knew immediately that something was wrong. She said "What's wrong Chris?" He just sobbed uncontrollably "I don't know" and he kept saying those same words over and over, and talking very strange. She knew instantly that he was going through insulin shock. He was diagnosed with diabetes at a very young age and had similar incident like this happen to him years ago, where he drove off the road and into the ditch and into a lightpole, but was basically unharmed. The mother told her son "pull the truck over right now and stay where you are!" She frantically told her boss she was leaving to get her son. Her boss knew them for years and understood but said "Cathy, do you know where Chris is?" she just realized she didn't. Her boss you need to call 911. Instead she decided to call his work but couldn't remember the number, so she called the office and learned that he was headed to Myrtle beach on Interstate 95, She then tried to call everyone she could think that could help, his friends, his girlfriend. She prayed "GOD HELP HIM!" and a secretary that worked with her named Dot told Debbie, "I am going to pray for him." Debbie doesn't remember if she said anything back to her or not but being a pastor's wife she had seen many of Dot's prayers answered before and her son Chris definitely needed prayer now. Finally after several minutes of hysteria, her son Chris calls her and says "Mom, I will be alright in just a minute." Debbie relieved he sounded normal again asked "What are you talking about?" He said "The man you sent, gave me a candy bar and a mountain dew." Debbie was confused and she said "I didn't send anyone son, I am on my way to help you now!" He sounded a little agitated and said "The man with the snow white hair and snow white beard said you sent him." He opened the door and put his comforting hand on his shoulder and said it will be alright, your mothers prayers are answered." In perilous times, God will send an Angel!
(Precious-testimonies.com)
Ill. September 11th, 2001 just past 9:00am, Stanley Praimnath, Vice President for Fuji Bank, was in his office in the South Tower at WTC when his phone rang. “Are you watching the news?’ asked a woman the Chicago office. “Are you alright?” “I’m fine” he said wondering why she had called. Just then he turned to gaze out the window at the Statue of Liberty, as had been his routine. The surreal sight of a low-flying commercial jet, heading straight for his tower disrupted his view. He dropped the phone in mid-sentence and dove to the floor. Curling under his desk he began praying to God, “Lord, help me” he prayed desperately as the aircraft smashed into the tower.
The smell of jet fuel in the air, equipment scattered all around, rubble covering the floor, dust in the air, he began clawing across mound of debris. “Lord, I have to go home to my family,” he wheezed. “I have to see my daughters.” Just then he saw a light.
“I am here to help you.” He thought, “This is my guardian angel! The Lord sent somebody to help me!” Praimnath’s guardian angel was Brian Clark, a Christian who was an executive 3 floors below. The 2 miraculously climbed out of the rubble to safety.
Praimnath stated, “My Lord has some unfinished tasks for me.” “I took the tattered clothes I was wearing that day, put them in a box, and wrote DELIVERANCE all over it. I told my wife, ‘if I ever get spiritually cold, I want you to bring this box to me, open it up, and show me what the Lord brought me from.” (sermoncentral illustrations)
Transition: You never know how or by whom God will deliver you, but we know that every angel in God's service are all working for his glory and in the lives of his servants. We finally look at the last point of our message on the ministry of angels and that is the End Time Angels
End Time Angels
Just as angels heralded his coming they will also herald his return. "And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." -Matthew 24:30, 31
"The devil and his angels shall be cast "into the lake of fire and brimstone . . . and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Rev. 20:10
Angels serve all the Lord's beleivers in general.
"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee inall thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest hou dash thy foot against a stone." - Psalm 91:11
In Matthew 18:10, Christ taught that His children have guardian angels. "Be careful not to look with scorn on a single one of these little children, for I tell you that in heaven their angels have uninterrupted or continued access to my Father in heaven"
We know that the cosmos is filed with angels reporting and then speeding back to earth to minister to us, and to guard us and do the general will of God.
Ill. A noted minister was in revival in Los Angeles, California. He hadn't seen his family in several months due to his revival schedule. He learned of a flight leaving at 1:30 a.m. which would give him five to six hours with his family in Tulsa before having to catch a plane to Memphis and his next revival. Desperately he closed the service and ran for the airport. He got his ticket and ran quickly for the appropriate gate. the door closed just seconds befor ehe arrived. With all fo his insistence, it was too late, the plane left the gate.
Angrily, he stormed out of the airport and sought lodging for the night in one of the motels close to the airport. Next morning he went to the airport and stood in line to board his flight. Before loading he picked up a local paper to read. His eyes caught the headlines, "Plane crashes into the Grand Canyon, 200 killed." As he read the article, his heart almost stopped. this was the flight he missed at 1:30 a.m. God had spared his life!
God works all things together for the good. Even when it seems inconvenient or even painful. He is always working for the best interest of those who love him and love others. Its ironic, we live in a culture that teaches "stranger danger" when God calls us to entertain strangers because they may be angels. "Well what if they are bad people." Well there really is no such thing as a 'good person'. There are plenty of "good" people by our standard but there are none by God's Holy standard. Even if they are bad love them anyway. Its easy to love those who love us and are kind to us, but it is to our credit when we love those who are difficult not only to love but difficult to like.
Think of this. Jesus knew all along that Judas did not have the same character of Peter, he knew all along that Judas was going to betray him, and he loved him anyway, and when the time for the betrayal came he simply said "what you must do, do it quickly." Nothing can separate us from his love, but we make our own choices. Jesus loved him even though He knew he was a scoundrel, a greedy thief, and traitor. But Jesus practiced what he preached. "...the one that loves God should love his brother also." - 1 John 4:21
Conclusion: For those who betray Christ, and reject him and are opposed to him, Jesus teaches us that on judgment day he will say "I was hungry, naked, sick, imprisoned and you never fed me, clothed me, visitied me, comforted me," and some, who have always thought they were in good standing with Jesus will say in unbelief: "When did we see you like this and didn't help you?" and then he will say when you refused to help that person, when a gave to you but you didn't give to me, when you avoided the one I called you to reconcile with, and ignored those who were in a terrible situation, you did the same to me.
let's all realize that God has a purpose and a will for our lives also. It certainly isn't to do nothing. Although we don't have the power of angels, we actually have a more important role in God’s great plan of salvation. We must realize and understand that no angel can be an evangelist. No angel can pastor a church. No angel can do what God has called you to do on this earth, that is why He created you.
You and I are unique! The Bible calls us a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, a chosen generation, and we have privileges that even angels cannot experience. I Peter 1:12 says that the mysteries of the gospel and the methods of man's salvation is so glorious that even the heavenly Angels wish they could look into it. they desire to investigate it. They are captivated by God's work in you. God has commanded the church to preach. This is the great task reserved for believers only.
God uses no other means. Only man can, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, lead another to salvation. If Angels are captivted by this, why aren't we? We should earnestly pray to know our purpose in life and what role we are to play in leading others to Christ, then use our gifts and abilities to do exactly that. Be encouraged, that if we ever need assistance God has a host of angels and a diversity of ways to accomplish his goal through us.
Amen.
