Part 7 Angels are Real

A.M. Sermon

Spring Hill, TN

3/11/07 a.m.

Series: “Discovering the Spiritual Realm” (Pt. 7)

Text(s): Various texts

Summary: In PART 7, we look into the spiritual realm and investigate the spiritual beings known as angels.

“Angels are Real”

Introduction:

A. How Do You Picture an Angel?

1. If I mention the word “angel” what do you envision?

2. Do you see a beautiful woman with long golden hair with lovely shining wings and a gentle voice?

3. Or do you see a fat pink baby with a crossbow and heart shaped arrows?

B. A Biblical Picture of Angels

1. When it comes to the spiritual realm many people let speculation and imagination form their beliefs.

2. As we have continually emphasized in this series, anything that we can know about the spiritual realm must be gained from what God has revealed in his word.

3. As we continue to Discover the Spiritual Realm, in this lesson we explore the biblical picture of angels in this lesson titled, “Angels are Real.”

I. THE DEFINITION OF ANGELS

A. “Angel” as Messengers

1. The word most often translated “angel” in the Old Testament is the Hebrew malak, which appears 211 times and literally means “messenger.” (Malachi means “my messenger”).

2. The word most often translated “angel” in the New Testament is the Greek word aggelos, which appears 188 times and also literally means “messenger.”

3. The word itself simply means a “messenger who is sent” and is used in Scripture to describe messengers generally, both human and heavenly.

B. “Angel” as God Himself

1. Sometimes the term “angel” is applied in a specialized way in the designation “the angel of the LORD.”

2. In this specialized usage, the “angel of the LORD” is God Himself.

3. Instances of this occur at Abraham’s attempt to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22), when Balaam’s pathway was blocked (Num. 22), and the presence of God appearing in the burning bush (Ex. 3:2).

4. The “angel of the LORD” identifies himself in this latter text as being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Ex. 3:2-4, 15).

5. Latter, Jesus Christ apparently states that he was the one present in the burning bush as God’s special messenger (John 8:24, cf. Ex. 3:14).

6. Before coming in the flesh, apparently God sent the eternal, uncreated Word (John 1:1-2) (eventually Jesus Christ) on many missions to earth.

C. “Angel” as Human Servants

1. These Hebrew and Greek terms most often used to describe the heavenly messengers that we call “angels” are sometimes used to describe human messengers.

2. Prophets like Haggai are sometimes called “angels” in that they are “the LORD’s messenger” (1:13) and the term malak is used.

3. Priests are also called “angels” being “messengers of the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 2:7).

4. It is possible that when the letters to the churches of Asia are addressed to the “angels” in those churches (Rev. 2-3), the term aggelos is referring to the preachers in those congregations. But in some contexts in the NT, the term is clearly used of human messengers (Luke 7:24).

D. “Angel” as Spirit Beings

1. These are the rare usages of the terms, however.

2. Most often the terms malak and aggelos are used of non-human spiritual beings—the angelic messengers of God.

3. It is this normal sense of “angels” that we will concentrate upon for the remainder of the study.

II. THE NATURE OF ANGELS

A. The Origin of Angels

1. While angels are similar to God in that they are spiritual beings, they are different from God in that they are not eternal beings but were created [Although the pre-incarnate Christ is apparently called “the angel of the LORD” in several OT texts, this is a designation of Jesus as a messenger. One should not conclude that Jesus is a created being—he is “higher than the angels” (Heb. 1:4) is eternal (John 1:1-4) and is responsible for creating the angels (Col. 1:16)].

2. That angels are created beings is clearly seen in Psalm 148:1-5, where the angels are included within a list of things that God “commanded and they were created.”

3. Like everything that was created, the pre-incarnate Christ was responsible for the creation of angels and all other things “both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible” (Col. 1:16).

4. Apparently angels were created prior to the events of Genesis 1:1, as the entire angelic host “shouted for joy” at the world’s beginning (Job 38:4-7).

5. Contrary to what some believe, there is no evidence in Scripture that human beings become angels at death.

B. The “Biology” of Angels

1. Contrary to imaginative myths, angels are sex-less beings neither male nor female (Matt. 22:30).

2. Angels are not physical beings of flesh and blood but are spiritual beings (Heb. 1:14).

3. Spiritual beings do not possess flesh and bone (Luke 24:39), rather spiritual beings possess spiritual bodies (cf. 1 John 3:2; Phil. 3:21).

4. Angels are sometimes present but are invisible to human eyes (Num. 22:13) at other times they appear as men (Gen. 18:1-2; Heb. 13:2), and still at other times they appear similar to men but bathed in radiant light (Matt. 28:3).

C. The Position of Angels

1. Within God’s Universe, angels have a unique position.

2. Angels are below both God and the glorified Christ (Heb. 1:4-2:9) but angels are above men (Heb. 2:6; 2 Peter 2:10).

3. Angels are “below God” in that they do not have incomplete knowledge of many things (1 Peter 1:12).

4. Although angels are “above men” in the divine order, they are not worthy of men’s worship and we are warned by God not to worship angelic beings (Col. 2:18).

D. The Rankings of Angels

1. Angels are “mighty in strength” (Ps. 103:20) in that they are a great host of them (1 Kings 22:19).

2. Jesus seems to indicate that the angelic army is at least 72,000 in number (Matt. 26:53), but likely their number is even greater—even “thousands of thousands” (Rev. 5:11).

3. There are certain distinctions of rank among angels with Michael the archangel apparently being given charge over all the angels (Rev. 12:7; Jude 9).

4. Besides Michael, only one other angel is mentioned by name in Scripture that being Gabriel who “stands in the presence of God” (Luke 1:19, 26).

5. Within the ranks of angels there are different types of angels including the “cherubim” who hold the throne of God and are described as having four wings (Psalm 80:1, Ezek 10:18-22), and “seraphim” who surround the throne of God having six wings (Isaiah 6:2).

6. Apparently these different types of angels have different functions within God’s order.

III. THE WORK OF ANGELS

A. Worshippers of God

1. Angels continually appear before the throne of God and apparently give reports of their activity and interaction with mankind (Job 2:1-2).

2. Before God’s presence, the angels continually give praise and worship to the Holy God crying out “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:1-3).

3. The angelic chorus unites together with the saints and sings the harmonious new song before God’s throne in praise (Rev. 5:9ff).

B. Messengers of God

1. One of the primary functions of angels seems to be their role in serving as messengers for God Himself.

2. When God would deal with mankind in both the Old and New Testament, He would often send angels with certain messages (cf. Heb. 13:2).

3. God would often send messages to mankind through the agency of angels (Gal. 3:19; cf. Acts 27:23).

4. However, this function of angels has now ceased since we have the complete revelation from God in the written words of the Bible (Galatians 1:6-9).

5. This visible work of angels was complete with the confirmation of God’s word.

C. Ministers to the Saved

1. The work of angels today is invisible but is nevertheless real and active in the behalf of Christians.

2. Angels are apparently watching when a person is baptized into Christ. When a person repents and is brought into the family of God, the angels of heaven shout for joy (Luke 15:10).

3. To those that are already Christians, angels are “ministering” to those who will inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14).

4. Exactly what angels are now doing in behalf of Christians is not revealed in Scripture, perhaps angels are working behind the scenes helping us to find the way of escape during temptation (1 Cor. 10:13).

5. Details are simply not given in Scripture as to these specifics and we must be cautious of speculating (Deut. 29:29).

D. Transportation of the Dead

1. One detail that is given in Scripture is that apparently angels provide spiritual transportation to the spiritual realm at the moment of death.

2. Jesus gives us some details about what happens after death in Luke 16:19-31.

3. Here Jesus describes a dead man’s spirit being “carried away by the angels” into the spiritual realm (Luke 16:22).

E. Servants at Judgment

1. Another detail that is given is that angels will apparently be responsible for serving as the “reapers” at Judgment.

2. Jesus describes the angels going from one end of the sky to the other gathering together all of the saved spirits of men (Matt. 24:31).

Conclusion:

A. Jesus gives a warning in Matthew 18:6-10 to anyone that would be stumbling block to “little ones” (new converts) that believe in me.

B. Why is it so dangerous to cause a new convert to Christ to stumble?

C. Because “their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10).

D. Christians have “friends in high places” that have direct access to God that are continually ministering to our needs.

E. God provides providential angelic help to Christians in their times of need!