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Lessons and Sermons from the Longmire Road church of Christ in Conroe Texas USA
Imagine waking up tomorrow morning to
discover that someone had posted
on Facebook that scientists have
discovered that sleeping with a potato
under your
pillow improves your memory by forty
percent.
By lunchtime the grocery stores are sold
out of potatoes.
By supper, people are arguing about which
potato is the best.
One fellow then insists that russets are
superior.
Another swears by red potatoes in
somewhere somebody is selling memory
enhancing
organic potatoes, no doubt, for twenty
nine ninety-nine apiece.
And when someone reasonable finally asks,
has anyone actually seen the scientific
evidence for this study?
And someone will say, Well,
I haven't seen the study, but my cousin is
a nurse and she read the article.
And that's enough for people to believe,
just that. But so many times what we do
is we hear things, specifically as it
relates to biblical things.
And individuals will repeat those things
without any shred of biblical evidence.
And I guess if there was a subject that
was widely misunderstood
and grossly misapplied, it is that of
celestial beings.
It is that of those who have fallen from
their position,
angels and demons, and also even Satan.
And this misapplication is not just by
those in the world,
but even by those in the body as well,
and it comes by ignorance of the
scriptures.
It's not malicious necessarily intent,
but some have not necessarily studied the
scriptures enough to be able
to understand what the Bible says.
Many people have a lot to say about angels
and demons,
respectively. They have more to say than
what the Bible says about them.
And so the Christian does not want to
avoid the subject when it comes up.
Many times when it does come up,
we tend to shy away from the subject
simply because we don't know enough about
it.
But this is a good opportunity,
and so certainly during this time of the
year,
where there's a lot of talk about demons
more so than angels.
It is a good opportunity for the Christian
to be able to shed some light
on what the Bible says about the topic.
Because the Bible does have something to
say.
about it. And so for the next three weeks
at least we'll take a look
at at angels and demons. We'll look at
angels today and demons next week
and then we'll work our way down the
ladder to Satan,
if you will. It is our aim to give a
general overview while also focusing
on more prevalent errors regarding these ~
the subject matter.
And so first let's start with angels and
let's let's start at the very beginning
and let's ask the question about origin.
Let's ask the question about origin.
I firmly believe that the spurious views
about angels are fueled
by the erroneous attributions to their
origins or of their origins.
If I can determine the catalyst,
if I can determine an origin point,
if I can determine the birth, if you will,
of angels, then I can put together many
facts concerning them.
If I know exactly this is where they
started,
that this is how it started. Now,
some believe that angels are departed
human beings.
Some believe that when a human being dies,
that the human being then becomes an
angel.
And you would hear well-meaning people
say,
Well, my so-and-so is now an angel in
heaven.
This is what well-meaning people say.
This is by no means
~ an attempt to to speak down on those if
us on those individuals.
Sometimes it's grief speaking and and they
are just wanting to believe something.
But this is what people say that this
person is now an angel in heaven
and you see the angel or see a a picture
of the individual with a halo around their
~ head and then also ~ pictured with wings
and the like and this view however
is contrary to scripture and the only
place you will find this view
~ and views agreeable to it
Is the Book of Mormon. That's really the
only place that you will find
a view that says that a humans are going
to be angels.
And that book we know is not from God,
as we concluded in the last number of
weeks.
When the Sadducees tried to catch Jesus in
a conundrum,
Jesus answered this question. He answered
this question when they came
to him and they asked him about a woman
who was married several times because
her husband has passed away. When she then
enters into ~ the eternal realm.
Whose wife is she going to be?
And so Jesus answers the question.
They were trying to catch him,
they were trying to trip him up.
The Sadducees were. They were also trying
to speak about
the afterlife negatively because they did
not believe in it.
But notice Jesus' answer in Matthew
chapter 22,
verses 29 and 30. Jesus answered and said
unto them,
You do err, not knowing the scriptures nor
the power of God.
For in the resurrection they neither
marry.
Nor are given in marriage, but are as the
angels of God in heaven.
Now, what did he say in this text?
Jesus said, In heaven, we will be like or
as the angels with regards
to our genetic makeup, if you will,
or our gender, I should say. Angels are
genderless.
Why? Because they are celestial beings.
They do not have a gender, if you will.
Why? Because
Only that which is physical has a specific
gender of which there are only two.
And then the Lord says that when you get
there,
there is nothing like that in heaven.
You're talking about giving a man and a
woman to putting them together in heaven.
There is no man and woman, so to speak,
in heaven in that sense. And so there is
nothing mentioned here
in holy writ about angels or about man.
Becoming angels. That's not what the Lord
said.
The Lord did not say that we are angels
when we get there.
He's talking in respect to marriage,
and he says, as the angels. And it has
reference here to their gender,
not to the fact that we will be like them
in relation to being angels.
So some believe that angels are departed
human beings,
but there is no evidence for this in
Scripture whatsoever,
aside from this passage, which is wholly
taken out of its context.
But then also some believes that angels
are eternal.
Now, this is a much more serious doctrine
because it cannot be asserted that
an angel is eternal. We have some big
problems with that.
There are only two categories in which an
angel can fall.
They are either eternal or they are
created.
To be eternal means to be divine.
To be eternal means to be omnipotent,
to be omniscient, to be omnipresent.
God is eternal. God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is
eternal.
He is or they are Alpha Omega from
beginning to end.
They have no end. They have no beginning.
They are eternal. No one else shares that.
God is absolutely eternal.
Holy. And so the psalmist would say in
Psalm 90,
verse 2, it says, Before the mountains
were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the
world,
even from everlasting to everlasting,
you are God. You are the eternal one.
Remember in Exodus chapter 3, verses 13
and 14,
when Moses asked the question,
Lord, when I get to the children of
Israel,
and they will ask me, Who what is his
name?
The one that sent you unto us.
To release us from Egyptian bondage.
What is his name? And Moses said unto God,
Behold, when I come to the children of
Israel,
and shall say unto them, The God of your
fathers has sent me unto you,
and they shall say to me, What is his
name?
What shall I say unto them? And God said
unto Moses,
I am that I am. And thus saith,
thus shall thou say unto the children of
Israel,
I am, has sent me unto you. The term I am
has reference to being
the self existing one.
The self-dependent one. God is not
dependent on anyone or anything.
He is self-dependent. He is the only one.
They are the only ones who are
self-dependent.
God the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit are the ones who are
self-dependent,
independent, the eternal one. They share
that nature.
There is only one self-existing one.
This is how the Bible describes the
Godhead.
Isaiah chapter 45, verses 5 through 6.
The Bible says the following I am Jehovah,
and there is none else, there is no God
beside me.
I girded thee, though thou hast not known
me,
that they may know from the rising of the
sun and from the west that there
is none beside me. I am Jehovah,
and there is no one else. And so there is
only one God.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy
Spirit,
there is only one nature of deity.
No one else shares that. And so when we
look at those facts,
we have to conclude that angels cannot
possibly be eternal.
Because if they were eternal, that means
they were on the same par as God.
No, we understand that angels then have to
fall into the same realm
as human beings, created.
They are created beings. If angels are not
eternal,
then of necessity they were created.
And if they were created, they were
created by God.
Why? Because God is the eternal one who
has created everything.
No one else has creative power.
No one else has the ability to create like
God.
In Nehemiah chapter 9 and verse 6,
it says, You alone are Jehovah.
You have made the heaven, the heaven of
heavens,
with all their hosts, the earth and all
things that are therein,
the seas and all things that are therein,
and you preserve them all, and the host of
heaven worships you.
You alone are the eternal one.
You alone are deity. And what have you
done?
You've created everything. Everything you
see has been created by God.
No one else has there wasn't someone else
working in the shadows somewhere while
God has created this and I have created
this over here.
No, it doesn't work like that.
Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 and 17 in
the New Testament,
the Bible says of the Christ, she says,
who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature.
For by him were all things created that
are under heaven,
or in heaven rather, and that ~ are in the
earth.
Visible and invisible, whether there be
thrones,
dominions, principalities, and powers,
all things were created by him and for
him,
and he is before all things, and by him
all things consist.
God is not a creator.
He is the creator.
He is the creator, he is the prime mover.
No single entity has the power to create.
Now man thinks he can create something.
You've heard me tell the story about the
scientists who looked at God and say,
with all the technologies that we have
today,
we also can create humans just like you,
God. And so God took the challenge and
said,
Okay, let's put this to the test.
Let's both create humans and let's see who
does it best.
And the scientist walks away, and God
says,
Before you move, you need to get your own
dust.
We don't have the ability.
To create anything. Why? Because we're
working with materials that have already
been
created. We can't make something out of
nothing.
That's God who is able to do that.
He is the prime mover. He is the only one
who has the power to create
and has created all things. And so when we
look at the origin of angels,
we look no further than the God of heaven.
He is the one responsible for their
existence.
These facts are critical as we delve into
an understanding of angels better.
If I want to know something about God or
the things of God,
I must go to Scripture. If I want to know
something about angels,
I have to go to the book that God has
given me about the things that
He has done and will do. I cannot go
anywhere else.
Why would I go if I want to know more
about angels?
Why would I not go to the source,
to the one?
Who created them? Why would I go over here
to someone who says,
Well, I think or I believe, well,
it is my opinion that, well, it doesn't
matter what your opinion is,
it matters what the creator said about
them.
It matters what God has revealed about
them.
Because without the revelation of God,
we would know nothing about angels to
begin with.
Where would we have heard about them,
if not from the revelation of God?
Where would we have received information
about it?
If not from the revelation of God.
First Corinthians chapter 2, verses 9
through 12 bears this out.
If you're going to talk about angels,
you need to bring your Bible. It does not
matter what folklore says,
it does not matter what mythology says,
it does not matter what tradition says,
it does not matter what your grandma saw
on a dark night while walking by the lake.
The authority on angels is the Bible.
So when we talk about the origin of
angels,
We're talking about that which has been
created by God.
And what does the Bible then say about
angels?
What is the description that the Lord
gives about angels?
Well, first of all, the Bible tells us
that they do have a purpose.
They do serve a purpose. We are created
for the glory of God.
All things have been created for the glory
of God.
In First Corinthians chapter 8 and verse
6,
the Apostle Paul makes this very clear.
He says, But to us there is but one God
the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in Him,
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things,
and we by Him. And that phraseology there
in First Corinthians chapter
8 carries the idea that we have been
created for Him.
We are for the glory of God. That's why
Matthew chapter 5,
verses 13 through 16.
Talks about Christians shining their
light,
show that God may get the glory.
The material world, yea, the universe,
all of that has been created for the glory
of God.
In Psalm 19 and verse 1,
it says to the chief musician,
a Psalm of David, the heavens do what?
What do the heavens do? They declare the
glory of God,
and the firmament shows his handiwork.
When you look at the vast realm of space,
there are individuals who want to go into
space.
They want to explore space. They want to
see space,
and that's great. You do it if you have
the money to do so.
And people say, well, why are we wasting
all of that time on on going into space?
And certainly there can be an argument for
that.
But what do you think they're going to see
when they get into deep space?
What do you think they're going to run
into when they get into outer space?
They're going to run into the glory of
God.
Because when you take a telescope,
And you peer into space and you see what
is out there,
the only thing you can do is stand in awe
of the mighty God.
God has created all of these things.
And so what has been created by God is
created for his glory and for his purpose.
And so it stands to reason that when we
look at angels,
that their purpose is going to be rooted
in the same foundation.
They're going to have God.
Glory at first and foremost. Angels like
deacons,
they serve at the pleasure and discretion
of God.
Angels have been created by God to serve
God.
They've been created by God for his glory.
And so the Bible tells us that angels are
subservient to God.
What does that mean? They serve God.
The psalmist said in Psalm 103,
verses 20 through 21. Psalm 103.
Verses 20 to 21, bless the Lord,
ye ~ his angels, that excel in strength.
And so he talks about the strength of
angels here.
That, notice this, do his commandments.
Hearkening unto the voice of his word,
bless ye the Lord, all ye hosts,
ye ministers of he that do his pleasure.
The psalmist says that even the host of
heaven,
what do they do? They follow the
commandments of God.
They serve at the pleasure of God.
They have free will, as we will note,
with Satan and demons who rebelled against
God.
God did not create robots. God did not
create ~ individuals or beings
who do not have the ability to at least
think for themselves.
No, they have free will. That's why some
chose to leave.
And so angels do not operate with innate
authority.
Whatever they do has to come from the one
who is in authority.
They too follow commandments. They too
follow orders.
They too hearken unto the one God of
heaven.
There's only one who's in charge.
There's only one who's in charge,
and it's not the angels. And so First
Peter chapter 3,
21 and 22 says, The like figure where unto
baptism doth also now save us,
not to the putting away of the filth of
the flesh,
but the answer of a good conscience toward
God by the resurrection
of Jesus the Christ, who is gone into
heaven.
Notice this.
And is on the right hand of God,
angels and authorities and powers being
made subject unto him.
They are subservient. They're not in
positions
of authority over God. They are
subservient.
They are servants. So they are servants
who served in what?
The Bible tells us they are servants who
served in guarding,
in guard duty, if you will.
Genesis chapter three, verses twenty three
and twenty four.
The Bible says, Therefore the Lord God
sent him forth from the garden,
that is Adam, to till the ground from when
she was taken.
So he drove out man, and he placed at the
east of the garden of Eden cherubims,
and a flaming sword which turned every
which way to keep the way of
the tree of life. And so what what was the
cherubim doing?
Very important job. The security guard,
if you will.
No, no, not trying to diminish what they
were doing,
but I'm trying to point out what they were
doing was being a servant of God.
God says, Go watch the garden over there.
So they don't want get back in there.
And so we have the cherubim, which we'll
talk about ~ later here.
And they were guarding, and so they were
serving and guarding,
but not only that were they servants in
guarding,
which God told them to guard, but they
were also avenging.
They were God God's avenging angels,
we might say.
Genesis chapter 19, verses 12 and 13.
Genesis chapter 19, verses 12 and 13,
the account here of Sodom and Gomorrah.
And the men said unto Lot, Has thou here
any besides son-in-law and so
and thy sons and thy daughters,
and whosoever has come into the city?
Bring them out of this place. For we will
destroy this place,
because the cry of them that waxed great
before the face of the Lord,
and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.
And so here the Lord has sent angels.
We're familiar with the angels who came to
Lot.
And they tell Lot, listen, you need to get
out of here.
Because God has sent us to do what?
To destroy. And so they have grand power.
They have the ability to destroy those
five cities as we talked about.
The one angel went up against 185
Assyrians,
and the Bible says they woke up dead.
And so we understand that they have this
grand ability to avenge what
God would have them.
Avenge. But notice also the great avenging
power of these angels
in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, verses 7
through 8.
It says, And to give you who are troubled
rest with us,
when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels,
in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those
who do not know God and who
do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
And so the angels are God's avengers.
They are going to execute God's vengeance.
God is going to say,
Go and burn it all. And Jesus is not just
coming with his angels,
he's coming with his mighty angels.
The Lord is trying to impress upon our
minds,
you know the power that the angels have?
You know those five cities, Sodom and
Gomorrah,
and Zoboam, and Atba and Beer.
You know those cities? Do you see?
Have you been to those cities?
No, you know why? Because an angel,
God sent angels to destroy it all.
And the Lord says, I'm coming with my
mighty angels to destroy this world.
And so they were avenging, they were
guarding,
but the Bible also says that they were
protecting.
Second Kings chapter 19 and verse 35.
Second Kings 19 and verse 35. And it came
to pass that night that the angel
of the Lord went out, and he smote the
camp of Assyrians and a hundred
and fourscore and five thousand.
And they arose early in the morning,
and behold, they were all dead corpses.
And so the Bible here says that one angel
was smoting the Assyrians.
A hundred and eighty-five thousand.
Why was he doing that? To protect the
children of God.
Because God had said he's going to spare
Judah and Assyria,
who is already going to take Israel,
the northern kingdom. Judah has still
doing what is right,
so God's going to spare them. And how is
he going to do this?
Sends an angel. And so an angel was
responsible here for guarding,
was responsible for avenging, was
responsible for protecting,
but then also was responsible for.
For ministering. In first Kings chapter
nineteen,
verses five through seven, we have a
prophet that is dealing with tremendous
trauma.
A prophet who he is down and out because
he is the only
one standing for righteousness.
And he is on the run because that wicked
Jezebel is chasing him.
The Bible says that as he lay and slept
under a juniper tree,
suddenly an angel touched him and said
unto him,
Arise and eat.
Then he looked, and thereby his head was a
cake baked on coals and a jar of water.
So he ate and he drank and he lay down
again.
And the angel and the angel of the Lord
came back the second time
and touched him and said, Arise and eat,
because the journey is too great for thee.
And so what is an angel doing?
Ministering to a prophet of God.
Telling the prophet, Listen, you need to
you need to eat.
Right? And so we have an angel
ministering,
but not only to the prophet of God,
he ministers to, or they minister to thee.
Prophet of God. In Luke chapter 22,
verses 41 and 43, and as he was withdrawn
from them about a stone's throat,
that's Jesus. He knelt down and prayed,
saying, Father, if it be thy will,
take this cup from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, but yours be done.
Then an angel appeared unto him from
heaven,
strengthening him. Strengthening Baron,
this wasn't a pat on the back.
This was not a pat on the back.
You see, Jesus was going through
tremendous trauma.
And what does the angel do here?
What does an angel do? God sends forth an
angel to his son to do what?
To minister unto him, to strengthen him.
It's not without precedent, done it
before.
It's what they do. They serve in guarding,
they serve in avenging, they serve in
protecting,
they serve in ministering, but then also
in messaging.
This has to be one of the more
Prominent functions in their service to
God.
In fact, the Hebrew and the Greek word for
angel is messenger.
That's what they do. They're the
messengers of God.
Angels spoke to the prophets.
They announced the birth of John the
Baptist and Jesus.
They warned Joseph to flee to Egypt.
They proclaimed the Christ's resurrection,
and an angel sent Philip to the eunuch.
And so angels were employed by God to go
give a message.
Remember, they went to Sarah and to
Abraham.
They what did they? You're gonna bear a
son.
And so we have angels giving the message
of God.
In the book of Revelation, Revelation
chapter 1,
verses 1 and 2, the revelation of Jesus
Christ,
which he gave him to show his servants
things which might shortly take place.
And he sent and signified it by his angel
to his servant John.
So we sent him by his angel to his servant
John,
and he wrote, bore witness, he bore
witness rather to the word of God
and to the testimony of Jesus Christ at
all things that he had saw.
So angels have a purpose. They have a
purpose,
and their purpose is rooted in the will of
God.
God wanted them to do something,
and this is what they have accomplished.
And so God desires them to go and protect.
God desires them to go and avenge.
To do the protecting and the guarding to
ministering and messaging,
and that's what they're going to do.
Their servants. But not only do we see
their purpose in the Bible,
also what we see in the Bible are their
parameters.
And this is probably, or most likely,
where the revelation of God's will becomes
critical to our understanding of angels.
Because many people have a lot to say
about what angels can and cannot do.
And so people have purported all sorts of
ideas about angels,
of which many have no biblical foundation.
Consider their parameters on worship or in
worship.
People worship just about anything and
everything these days,
and angels are not excluded. But this is
nothing new that individuals will worship
angels. Colossians chapter two and verse
18 says,
Let no one cheat you in reward,
taking delight in false humility in the
worship of angels.
Introducing into or intruding into those
things which he has not seen,
vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.
And so the Lord says, Here's what they're
doing all in Colossae.
Well, the brethren there, he says,
Don't let people, don't let people pull
the wool over your eyes.
They want you to worship angels.
And they're talking about things that they
haven't seen.
And so the warnings not to worship angels
is early on in the church,
where people have ~ reported, the apostle
Paul reports that that's what they were
doing.
In Matthew chapter 4 and verse 10,
the scriptures is very clear. When Satan,
who is a fallen angel, when he asks for
what?
For worship. Is Jesus said unto him,
What? Away with you, Satan, for it is
written,
You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shalt thou serve.
You do not deserve worship. Jehovah is the
only one who deserves worship.
God is the object of our worship,
and any worship directed to any other
entity.
Is idolatry, angels included.
When John attempted to pay respects to an
angel,
notice what the Bible says in Revelation
chapter 22,
verses 8 through 9. Now I, John,
it says, saw and heard these things,
and when I heard and saw, I fell down to
worship before the feet of
the angel who showed me these things.
Then he, the angel, said to me,
See that you do that you do not do that.
Don't do that, John. I am your fellow
servant,
and of your brethren, the prophets,
and of those who keep the words of this
book,
worship God. So the he's he's in this
vision,
he falls down before the angel,
and the angel said, Nope, don't do it.
You don't want to get in trouble here.
I'm I'm like you. He said, I am a fellow
servant.
Isn't that what we read in the scriptures?
That they are subservient, that they are
servants,
and here we have the words.
straight out of scriptures. And so they
have parameters in worship in
the sense that we do not worship angels.
That would be tantamount to us worshiping
one another.
Why? Because they stand side by side in a
different realm,
certainly different characteristics,
but they are servants of God as we are
servants of God.
They serve in a different capacity.
There are also parameters in word.
Remember angels at times were messengers
of God.
However, they could only deliver
A message that was approved by God.
They did not have their own message.
They didn't come with their own opinions.
Angels have no authority to change or
alter the word of God.
Joseph Smith didn't quite get that.
Because an angel was telling him all sorts
of things about God.
And he didn't quite understand,
or he didn't quite read when he
plagiarized the scriptures,
he didn't quite read Galatians chapter 1,
verses 6 through 9. Where the Apostle Paul
said,
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from
him who hath called you unto
the grace of God unto a different gospel,
which is not another, but there are some
who trouble you and would pervert
the gospel of Christ. But though we,
the apostles, or an angel from heaven,
directly from heaven,
Preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you.
I want you to think about this.
The apostle Paul says, I've already
preached the gospel unto you.
You've heard the gospel on the day of
Pentecost.
And here I come as an apostle,
telling you, you know what? Baptism
doesn't really save.
He says, If I come to you saying that,
if an angel comes saying that,
let him be a curse. As we have said
before,
so so now I say unto you again,
if anyone
Preaches any other gospel to you than that
which you have received,
let him be accursed. One of the biggest
religions in the world was founded upon
an angel preaching another gospel to a
young boy named Joseph Smith.
Just think about that. Paul makes it very
clear that there are to be no,
the angels have parameters. They cannot
bring doctrine to you that does
not coincide with what has already been
delivered.
But that is so many times what happens.
People say, well, an angel appeared unto
me and an angel told me this.
Well, you'd be careful, because the Bible
says even Satan is transformed into
an angel of light. That's what I like to
ask people when they say,
Well, you know what, an angel spoke to me
and said,
Well, how do you know it's not Satan?
Well, how do you know it's not,
first of all, how do you know it's not
heartburn and a bad dream?
But how do you know it's not Satan?
People say all sorts of things about the
things that they've seen,
and they have no evidence whatsoever to
back it up.
And so there's a there's certainly
parameters.
They have parameters in in that they have
cannot or should not be worshiped.
And certainly in the word, they can only
speak the message of God.
They can only deliver the message of God.
And brethren, we don't need an angel to
deliver the message of God today.
It's already been delivered. Sealed,
signed, and delivered, as they say.
And we have it right here. We know what
God desires of us.
But then also we have to conclude that
there is here at the last.
That there is some confusion about angels.
This is by no means an in-depth study of
angels.
We can spend a lot of time talking about
the characteristics of angels,
talking about their power, talking about
where God sent them and what they did.
But but let's just look at some confusion
as it relates to angels.
First of all, let's consider the concept
of winged angels.
When you see an angel, what does he have?
He has wings. Every angel has wings when
people draw them.
However, that is not consistent with the
Bible.
The winged beings of Scripture are related
to the cherubim and the seraphim.
When the Bible speaks about angels having
wings,
it only talks about two types of angels,
that is the seraphim and the seraphim.
When the Bible speaks about angels in any
other form,
they don't have wings. Isaiah chapter 6,
verse 2, and Ezekiel chapter 10 bears this
out.
Angels are not described as having wings,
and those angels, those angels surround
the throne of God.
And those angels don't just have two
wings,
the Bible says. They have wings that cover
their body,
their face, and wings that stand on six
wings,
the Lord says. And so we we understand
that those are a special type of angel,
which it has to be said that some of them
are also seen in a vision.
And so we have to be careful to ascribe
wings to all angels that
God has not prescribed. But so many times
this is what happens:
wings are given to just about every angel.
And that's not to say.
That there does not exist angels with
wings.
The cherubim and the seraphim clearly are
described as wings,
but we have to be careful in making so or
making the claim or asserting that every
angel appears in this way. And besides,
why are we worried about whether the angel
has wings or not?
Does this change somehow whether they can
fly or not?
Right? Does this change their ability?
Remember, their ability and their power
comes from God.
It doesn't come from anywhere else.
And so whether they have wings or not is
irrelevant.
But not only is there confusion about
this,
the biggest confusion, certainly,
that we have to address is that of
guardian angels.
Just by looking at the scriptures,
we can clearly identify and conclude the
purpose of angels.
We noted that. However, some have added to
that purpose,
which in reality is a perversion of the
truth.
When you add to the word of God,
or you take away from the word of God.
You have entered into the realm of false
doctrine.
You have entered into the realm of error.
Some have adopted the view of guardian
angels.
And let me say this at the onset:
that view is not in scripture.
Guardian angels, there is no such view in
scripture,
as we will note. Angels, they say,
are assigned to each individual for their
protection.
This doctrine has absolutely no biblical
foundation.
And it has its roots firmly planted in
Catholicism,
as we will know. Catholicism, they're the
ones who came up with
the concept of guardian angels.
Why would we take advice from individuals
who can't even follow the Bible?
The Hebrew passage that they use often is
Hebrew chapter 1,
verses 13 and 14. Notice what it says.
Hebrews chapter 1, verses 13 and 14,
it says, But to which of the angels
Has he ever said, Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool?
Are they not all ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for those
who will inherit salvation? Let's first
consider the context,
as you should do with every piece of
scripture.
Hebrews chapter 1 is not a lesson in
angelology,
number one. That is not a book talking
about angels.
It is the proof here in Hebrews chapter 1
of Christ's superiority over
angels. That's the point the Hebrews
writer is trying to make.
In Hebrews chapter one and verse four.
And he builds that superiority over
several Old Testament quotations.
So verse 13 here, he closes that chain.
He closes that argument with Psalm 110 and
verse 1.
A rhetorical question. He asks a
rhetorical question.
He says, Who did what angel
Was ever given this or told this?
Sit at my right hand till I make your
enemies your footstool.
No angel has ever received that.
That's the point he's making. He's asking
a rhetorical question.
And then in verse 14 of that ~ Hebrews
chapter 1,
he states the contrast. The Son,
however, the Son sits on the throne.
But what are the angels? The angels are
servants.
That's his point.
The angels are servants, ministering
servants,
he says. The Son sits enthroned while the
angels stand and serve.
The writer's point here is about their
personal service that they render to God.
That's the point. To pull a doctrine of
guardian angels out of a passage written
to exalt Christ is to miss the point
entirely.
The text is not talking about guardian
angels.
It's not talking about everyone has an
angel,
but certainly we have to address what it
says here.
They are Ace Diocanian for the service.
The phrase expresses the purpose of the
sending service rendered under God's
direction. So they do minister for it,
says. We cannot deny that. That's what the
text says.
But also they minister for the sake of
those who will inherit salvation.
The text says they, the angels,
minister for the sake of those
The preposition here with the accusative
means on the account of those
who will inherit salvation. The object
here is plural.
It refers to the collective body of
saints.
They minister to the collective body.
The collective body of saints are
beneficiaries.
Nothing in the construction assigns an
individual angel to an individual
believer.
There's nothing in that construction of
the grammar.
There's nothing in the context that says
every human being has an angel assigned
to him. The closest you could get and
still be wrong is that every Christian
has an angel assigned to him. That's the
closest you could get,
but you'd still be wrong. Because the
scripture still does not
say every Christian has an angel assigned
to them personally.
It just says that the angels are
ministering on behalf of the body
collective.
And so the glaring conclusion here is.
The age of the miraculous has ceased.
We know this much. God is no longer
revealing his will via angels.
He's no longer standing, sending angels to
stand in the way of donkeys.
Right? God, the age of the miraculous has
ceased.
Every angelic appearance is identified as
such by divine revelation
and not human perception alone.
When you read about an angel in the
scriptures,
how do you know it's an angel?
Because God said it was. Because they did
something to prove that they were
an angel. It was either self-exposure,
they said they were angels, it was
supernatural evidence,
they did things that were akin to the
power that they had.
God opening the eyes of an individual,
Balaam, who was able to then see the
angel,
a writer's inspired testimony,
a writer writing and saying this was an
angel.
And so we cannot point.
To any event and declare, Well,
that was an angel. That was an angel from
God.
My question would be, how do you know that
was an angel?
Where would you get that information?
How would you possibly, with confidence,
say, Well, I just know that that was an
angel?
The age of the miraculous is over.
Are you saying that the age of the
miraculous is not over?
Are you saying that God sent an angel to
stop the car from hitting you?
That's a miracle, brethren. That's a
miracle.
Because that defies the natural laws under
which we are.
And a miracle is the suspension of natural
law and the action of that which
is supernatural. You cannot say that
angels are currently acting
in miraculous ways and at the same time
say that miracles are not are over.
Is God using angels in a providential way
for the benefit of
Of the collective body of believers.
The text seems to suggest that.
But one thing is certain. God did not
reveal anything to us in relation to how,
when, where, or who. Where does that leave
you and I?
That you leaves you and I with this.
I don't know. I don't know. What I do know
is that
my God is providentially taking care of
his saints.
I don't need to know the ins and outs
about it.
But I know that is what he's doing,
and that is all I know. But I am not going
to be ascribe.
With them or uses them for the body
collectively,
but it cannot be miraculous, because that
age has ceased.
But notice also Matthew chapter 18,
Matthew chapter 18 and verse 10,
and we'll close with this. Matthew chapter
18 and verse 10 is another passage that
is often used. Take heed that you do not
despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that in heaven their
angels always see the face of my Father,
which is in heaven.
What is the context of Matthew chapter 18?
It is one of the most beautiful passages
as it relates to Christians
or those who are children of God who are
in sin.
The majority of Matthew chapter 18 is
about bringing the erring child back
to repentance. It is a message from the
Father saying:
if you have someone who is in sin,
if you have somebody who is not doing the
will of God,
who has fallen away from God, you need to
understand.
I want them to come back. You have to say
something to them.
Don't just let them sit there while their
ankles are on fire because hellfire
is coming. He says, say something to them.
That's the entirety of Matthew chapter 18.
And he says, Why should you do this?
In the section, verses 10 through 14,
the Lord are argues here ~ for terriori.
Don't have to remember that. It's it's in
in logic,
it it has to do with reasoning here.
He describes an argument.
That reasons from an accepted truth to a
second accepted truth,
which follows with the even greater force.
In English, we use how much more.
That's the type of argument the Lord uses.
How much more. And so verse 10,
he argues from the greater to the lesser,
he says, if heaven's angels so regard
these little ones,
and the little ones here are believers.
They're not children, by the way.
They're believers.
And he says, if the little ones,
if the if heaven's angels regard these
little ones,
how dare you despise them? If in heaven
the angels are concerned about your
salvation as a Christian, as a child of
God,
if they're concerned about it,
you should be too. The Lord says,
if there are people who are lost in sin,
if your brothers or sisters are lost in
sin,
you should be worried about it.
Why? Because the angels are even worried
about it.
And so their angels here.
The saints collectively are in the
presence of God continually.
Their angels don't want their destruction.
And so the Lord says here in verses 12
through 14,
he argues then from the lesser to the
greater.
And he says, if a man values a straying
sheep,
one straying sheep, how much more does the
Father value one straying sheep?
So he'd argue from the greater to the
lesser and the lesser to the greater,
all to make this one point.
Says, listen, you need to reach out to
those who are lost.
And the conclusion then in verse 14,
the conclusion statement is even so,
it is not the will of your father which is
in heaven that one of these little ones
should perish. Just like their angels,
the saints, just like a shepherd losing
the sheep,
the father is not willing that any of his
children be lost.
Once again, consider the conclusion.
What the text states is that all
Angels are ministering spirits sent forth
by God to serve him.
Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 14.
Their service benefits the heirs of
salvation.
The angels associated with the most
humblest disciples continually
are in the Father's presence in heaven.
Matthew chapter 18 and verse 10.
And those angels share the Father's care
that none of these little ones perish.
That's what God says. What the text does
not say.
Is that each person has an individual
angel?
What's the text does not say is that
angels are permanently stationed beside
the believers on earth. The text does not
say that every child or every human being
has an angel, that anyone may communicate
with,
pray to, or identify an angel.
How, when, or where angels carry out their
service,
that's not said here in the text.
All this text in Matthew chapter 18 and 10
points out is that
the angels are concerned about your
salvation.
Man, just think about that. And God says
we should be concerned as well about
our brethren's salvation. What would be
the purpose of a guardian angel,
brethren? Would the purpose be to bring us
to Christ?
Then what's the point of this?
If the purpose is to bring us to Christ,
what's the point of this? All of us came
to Christ,
not because an angel talked to us,
we came to Christ because somebody taught
us the gospel.
Romans chapter one and verse sixteen,
the gospel is the power of God unto
salvation,
not an angel. Matthew chapter twenty eight
and following,
the command to preach the gospel is given
to the Christian.
It's not abdicated to the angels.
And so what would be their purpose?
It cannot be to bring us to Christ.
Why? Because the Bible says how people
come to Christ by faith.
Romans chapter 10 and verse 17.
Is it to protect us from harm?
Is that what angels are supposed to do?
If so, they're not doing a very great job.
Right? Because do we not have Christians
who fall into harm's way?
People always claim, well, an angel saved
me.
Really? Hmm. God saved you, but he didn't
save me?
Is God a respecter of persons?
No, He's not. And so, what about
Christians who are in harm's way,
Christians who are suffering, Christians
who are suffering in other countries
who are in danger of death? What about all
of the Christians who suffered
at the hands of regimes as they as the as
in the first century under Nero?
All of those Christians who were burned at
the stake in the Colosseum,
who were used for entertainment.
Where were their angels when they were
burning?
When lions were tearing them apart,
where were their angels? If they were
supposed to protect the saints.
Are angels supposed to comfort you?
Well, that job is never given to angels.
It comes from God. And we are told to
comfort one another.
The Apostle Paul says, as God has
comforted you,
so you comfort one another. I believe the
nail in the coffin for this doctrine comes
from the ones who made it famous.
Let me read to you, and I'll close with
this.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia.
And this is what they said. The concept of
an angel assigned to guide
and nurture each human being is a
development of Catholic doctrine
and piety based on scripture, but not
directly drawn from it.
Corrupt as they are, even Catholicism
claims this doctrine is not biblical.
The best they could come up with,
it's based on a true story. That's all
they can say about guardian angels.
It's based, it's based on script.
We don't have any evidence, but we kind of
based it on scripture.
Brethren, this is their doctrine.
It's not the Bible's doctrine.
Certainly, we can draw comfort in the
fact.
That God is watching over us, but we
should be careful in assigning doctrines
and motivations to God's celestial beings
that He has not.
Most of the time, when this subject is
broached,
we shy away from it. We don't want to talk
about it with our friends
and our family because we don't know
enough about it.
Don't expect to understand the Bible
themes if you don't take time
to study Bible facts.
This is not a subject the Christian shies
away from.
Why? Because we have plenty of evidence in
the scriptures that we can use to say,
listen, I know you talked about angels and
demons,
and you had a lot to say. I see you have a
demon on your front yard today.
Do you know what they're about?
Do you know what that means? Well,
no, I haven't really thought about it.
Well, why don't you come over?
I have coffee and some donuts.
Let's sit down and study the Bible
together.
That's how Bible studies are born by.
By honest conversation, trying to explain
the word of God more perfectly.
And so as heaven's invitation is extended
tonight,
we ask the question about angels and
demons and about the doctrines
of God in relation to them. What has been
your view of it?
And have you said things about the Word of
God,
about angels that are not that are
contrary to God tonight?
Ask God's forgiveness.
Tell God, Lord, I didn't know,
I'm sorry. Do that. But stop purporting
and stop proclaiming messages that
God has not given. But heaven's invitation
is also extended to those
who are outside of Christ. The word of the
Lord is your salvation.
You know, sometimes people wait for a sign
before they want to obey the gospel.
I need some type of sign. Here's your
sign.
Hear the glorious gospel of Jesus the
Christ.
His death, his burial, and his
resurrection is the sign that God has
given that
he has made available salvation to you.
He has given that to you in his
scriptures.
Romans chapter 10 and verse 17 says,
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.
And tonight, won't you believe that
glorious word of God?
And won't you repent of sins? Get rid of
the mindsets that are contrary to him,
confess the good name of Christ,
be immersed in water, have your sins
washed away.
And be added to the Lord's church.
Where you can draw the comfort that God is
providentially looking out for us,
and even employing his ministering
servants to that end.
I may not know how, where, or when,
but what I do know is that my God is
concerned about me being with
him for all eternity. And he is about you
too.
If you have need of heaven's invitation,
make it known while we stand and as we
sing.