Biblestudy: Angelic Responsibilities

Angels
#BS-1004
Martin G. Collins
Given 31-Jul-10; 58 minutes

I know you have seen movies and television shows where they depict angels. Sometimes they are good angels, sometimes they are bad angels. But it seems like even when they depict the "good" angels, that those angels oftentimes want to be like man, or they want to give up their angelic lifestyle and become a man and maybe marry someone and that type of thing. And so, anyway, you have seen those types of movies where those angels desire to be men, or be people.

As we go through this, you will see that the angels, the holy angels, would never want to be a man. And if any angel is wanting to be a man, it would be one of the fallen angels, not one of the holy angels.

I want to begin this Bible study this evening by giving you some background regarding the creation and function of angels. Let us briefly run through the chronology of events in the Bible from the very beginning to God's creation of man. We are going to just race through several scriptures here to give you the chronology there so you have an understanding of when the angels actually came into being and also how they relate to the earth.

The very beginning, of course, is found in John 1 , verse 1, if you will turn with me there; we almost have that memorized. It is such an important scripture. It is fitting that we start at the very beginning, which is here.

John 1:1-3 In the very beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

So God the Father created the angels through Jesus Christ. This takes us right to the beginning here.

If you will, flip over to Ezekiel 28. The creation of angels, including Lucifer, is found mentioned here.

Ezekiel 28:15 You [that is, Lucifer] were perfect in your ways from the day you were created.

We have it there established that God did create the angels. If He created the archangel Lucifer, He certainly created the other angels.

Now, the next one that the angels already existed at the first original creation of the earth is found in Job 38, verses 6 and 7. This is just a quick, a brief chronology of what has happened according to scripture.

Job 38:6-7 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God [that is, the angels] shouted for joy?

So the angels were there at the original creation of the earth.

And then the original creation of the heavens and the earth is found mentioned in Genesis 1:1, as you know, so while we are flipping scriptures we should go to that as well. It is just as important as the others. I am sure you just about have it memorized.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

That was the initial, original creation of the earth.

Then there was the rebellion of the angels which is found in Isaiah 14, verses 13 through 14. I promise the whole Bible study will not be like this but I wanted to give you this background. It is important. It is something we need to breeze through.

Isaiah 14:13-14 For you [that is, Lucifer] have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'

We see there the rebellion of the angels, beginning with Lucifer who led a third of them away.

And then, you do not have to turn back there, but Ezekiel 28, verse 15, the last half of that. We read the first half, which said, You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created. And the last half of that says,

Ezekiel 28:15 . . . till iniquity was found in you.

So there we have established a point in time where Lucifer had rebelled or sinned against God.

Turn back to Genesis if you will please, to chapter 1, verses 2 through 3. This is the recreation of the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:2-3 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

We see there in verse 1 was the original creation of the earth. The angels rebelled in between that time. And then the creation of the earth in which man was put on is here in Genesis 1:2-3. So that gives you a chronology. Then just one more verse, one page over.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness."

And there you have the creation of man.

So that gives you an idea of the chronology of events that happened concerning the angels and their creation and that type of thing.

Now, let us look at some of the details of what happened regarding the angels during this time frame. Initially, God created the heavens and the earth in a state of orderliness. There is no way that He would recreate anything in a state of confusion so He created it beginning with orderliness. First Corinthians 14:33 says that God is not the author of confusion. We know that God is the author of peace and of order and of law and He would not have created His creation in disorder and then have to straighten it out. That just does not make any sense at all.

The Hebrew word for created is bara. It is used in Genesis 1:1 and it implies that the creation was a perfect and a beautiful order and system, not chaos and confusion. So there in verse 1, we have an ordered system. And how did it become chaotic is the question.

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void.

So then it later became chaotic between verse 1 and verse 2.

Now the same word hayah, that is translated "was" in Genesis 1:2 there, is translated "became" in Genesis 19:26. For the sake of time, you do not have to turn there, but that is where it says, "But his [that is, Lot] wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of salt." So we see there in verse 2 of Genesis 1 that the earth was and that word is the same as became there, that Lot's wife became a pillar of salt. So it is more correctly translated became without form and void, meaning it had not been before but then it did.

In the first three chapters of the Bible, and many other places where you find the word hayah, in almost every case it denotes a condition that was different from a former condition. In other words, the earth became chaotic and it had not always been that way. The Rotherham translation of Genesis 1:2 out of the original Hebrew language is this: "Now the Earth had become waste and empty." It had not always been that way. It became that way.

As in Genesis 1:2, the phrase without form and void is also found in Jeremiah 4:23, Isaiah 34:11, and in other places in the Bible, using the same Hebrew words, tohu and bohu, meaning chaotic and in confusion. And in every case, that condition is the result of a sin. So that means the earth there in Genesis 1:2 had to result in that chaotic condition as a result of sin.

Now, Isaiah tells us that God did not create the heavens and the earth in tohu, that is, in chaos. If you will turn with me to Isaiah 45 please.

Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it. Who did not create it in vain [keep that in mind], who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the Lord, and there is no other."

"In vain" here is a poor translation. The original Hebrew word there is tohu. This Hebrew word is the identical word used there in Genesis 1:2, meaning confusion and emptiness and waste a result of disorder, a result of the violation of law.

Here, Isaiah makes the clear statement that God did not create the earth tohu, that is, chaotic. But in Genesis 1:2 the earth "was," that is, because it had become chaotic and in confusion, then it became that way after it was created and as a result of sin. Again, it became that way, chaotic, between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis 1.

Now what sin could have wrecked the earth and brought it into the chaotic condition in which it was found in Genesis 1:2? Well, it was not a sin caused by human beings because there were no human beings on earth at that time until the sixth day of the recreation or the remaking of the earth. So it was not a sin of man.

Adam was the first man and he had not been created yet. In I Corinthians 15:45 Paul calls Adam the first man on this earth. In Genesis, Eve is called the mother of all living human beings. There was no other race prior to Adam and Eve. So the sin that brought chaos was not caused by man. And yet some intelligent life must have populated the earth because a sin had occurred on the earth that brought it into a condition of chaos and confusion by breaking the laws of God.

What kind of life had populated the earth prior to the week called Creation Week? I am sure every one of you are already ahead of me on this.

Next, let us go to II Peter 2, verses 4 through 6.

II Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned [well, that is pretty clearly stated in Scripture], but cast them down to hell and deliver them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; . . .

Here is the sin of the angels mentioned. There was a chaotic condition brought about on the earth as a result of the sins of the angels. And the sin of the angels is mentioned first and it occurred first here in II Peter 2:4. There was a Devil already there in existence by the time Adam was created. So the sin of the angels happened before the creation of man. Destruction came to the earth as a result of the sins of the angels that occurred before Adam. It had to have.

II Peter 2:5 . . . and God did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; . . .

There it mentions the sins of Adam to Noah. It mentions the physical destruction of the earth as a result of the Flood, a chaotic physical condition brought about on earth by the sins of ungodly men.

II Peter 2:6 . . . and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly.

So universal sin was in those two Canaanite cities and physical destruction came to the entire part of the surface of the earth that those people occupied as a result of their sin.

Turn with me to Jude, please, just over a few pages. Some angels were and are restricted to earth. It is the sinning angels who are reserved in those chains under darkness, restrained from light and restrained from truth until the judgment of the great Day.

Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their abode [as they had a place where they lived, a habitation and a state, and they left it], He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

Now, the sinning angels had a habitation that they did not keep. In Hebrews 2, we read this:

Hebrews 2:5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.

There is a key phrase there. "For He [God] has not put the world to come [so it has not come yet, it is not here yet] of which we speak in subjection to angels." The millennial world and the Kingdom of God will not be under the subjection of angels. The present world is under subjection of fallen angels. The demons and the Devil that is their leader ruthlessly rule this present world—earth—and negatively influence its inhabitants. So it will be that great change that comes.

The demonic angels obtain their dominion, they acquire their power, and they maintain their control to mislead, to rule this world, by an invader and a conqueror. Of course, that invader and conqueror is Satan leading that third of the angels. As we very well know, Satan the Devil is the leader of the fallen angels. He is called the god of this world and he is the king or the prince of the evil world that we live in today.

Let us see something about the origin of the Devil, continue this thought. Isaiah 14:4 speaks of the king of Babylon. And this account continues to tell how he had disrupted the earth. He was a warmonger trying to take away from others and trying to acquire all that he could. He was a thief. He had the exact opposite philosophy from that of God. He had the philosophy of the Devil and he represented the Devil. The king of Babylon was the Devil's instrument and tool here in Isaiah 14.

We will turn to Hosea 14 in just a moment, but in Revelation 13, the king of the Babylonian system is called the beast and he is given his power and seat by Satan, so the world worships the dragon who gives authority to the beast. So we see there on through the Tribulation also the fallen angels still have authority over the governments of this world.

Isaiah 14:12, the type, this human of Babylon raises to the arch anti-type Satan. And Satan is to be removed and bound after the Messiah's coming. So Isaiah's prophecy reveals that he is the former archangel Lucifer.

Isaiah 14:12-14 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart, 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'"

And then verse 15 returns in context to the human king.

So we see there a description of Lucifer, showing that he is the one who rebelled against God. This former archangel had been placed as ruler over the angels that sinned and he had a throne and he said he would exalt his throne above the stars, that is, the angels of God, the stars of God. Lucifer's throne already was exalted above the angels of the earth, the angels that sinned with him.

Then he was going to exalt it over God's angels in heaven. He was going to invade God's heaven, try to knock God off the throne of the universe, and rule the whole universe himself. Now, God gave the angels the potential to take over the entire universe according to His will initially, not out of rebellion, but to in a sense take over it to help rule in it. I guess rule is not the right word, but to help serve in it, I should say. They would have eventually been given the duty to improve and finish the billions of physical planets surrounding the uncountable stars, the innumerable solar systems as well. That is what the angels would have been looking forward to.

Now the physical universe that God created is vast beyond imagination. He intended angels to have an important part in the final creation of the awesome universe. And it may be that God did not reveal this tremendous potential to the angels. I do not mean the potential that man has for ruling the universe, but I mean the potential that the angels have for helping to improve it and finish it. It was for this purpose that God established His government on earth over them. The administration of the government of God over this earth was delegated to the super archangel, the great cherub Lucifer.

Now remember that even the common holy angels and archangels, including Lucifer, were endowed with the ability to think and to reason, to form attitudes, to make choices, and to make decisions. Initially, God designed and created Lucifer with wisdom and beauty and perfection. He was perfect in all his ways from the instant he was created until rebellion and lawlessness was found in Him. Lucifer had been trained and given experience in the administration of the government of God at the throne of the universe. And he was one of the two cherubs whose wings covered the throne of the Most High God. You do not have to turn there, but Exodus 25:20 says, "And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat."

Turn with me, if you will, to Ezekiel 28, verse 11. Ezekiel was inspired to describe Lucifer before his rebellion and he does that in Ezekiel 28.

Ezekiel 28:11-16 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God, "You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes [pipes probably represents music there] was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers [referring to the covering of the throne]; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; and you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones."

The angels are the sons of God by creation, not sons of God by spiritual birth. There is a major distinction there between angels and men. Angels are higher than man is now and they were created to be God's servants and His messengers and His representatives in God's universe-ruling government. Angels are commissioned to minister to the spirit born children of God who are God's spiritual heirs.

Now, demonic beings are ready and willing to fill the empty place in the hearts and minds of misguided people. Demons deceive them into rejecting the sovereignty of the one true God. In contrast, the holy angels who remain submissive to God, are powerful and are responsible, and they are purposeful and loyal and obedient beings given the responsibility of ministering to the faithful elect of God.

John 12:29 and Revelation 6:1 tell us that angels are so powerful that when they speak it sounds like thunder, and Revelation 7:1 says that they have power over the elements, over the earth, the sea, and the atmosphere. Psalm 103:20 says, "Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word." They are speaking about God's holy angels.

Turn with me if you will please to Hebrews 1. But God's righteous angels are serving and ministering spirits. They serve God and they minister to the members of God's church's needs under God's direction.

Hebrews 1:13-14 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?

Those who inherit salvation, of course, are the saints, the elect of God.

Turn back over to Luke chapter 20, please. Angels do not marry. They cannot have sex and they cannot die according to Scripture.

Luke 20:34-36 But Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage [the spirit beings are not]; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection."

Now, it says there "nor can they die anymore." And there is been the question often of whether angels can die or not and we do not have an emphatic answer to that. [see "Do Angels Live Forever?" at www.cgg.org] However, this could mean here, nor can they die anymore by their own hand or their own choosing. I have a hard time believing that God is not powerful enough, if He wanted to, He could destroy spirit beings or the angels. I just think He chooses not to. And as physical human beings can die if we do not take care of ourselves or we can die by someone killing us, it would be different for them. They would not be dying from lack of nutrition or lack of food and they would not be able to be murdered by anyone.

So there is that remaining question of whether the angels can be killed or not. God can do anything, in my opinion. And yours too, I am sure. So, I believe He could kill the angels and also when He sends them into outer darkness or puts them in prison, finally, looking at the way God handles people who sin, He gives them the death penalty, and why would it be different for the angels eventually, where they were to be just annihilated, gotten rid of rather than put in outer darkness forever and ever and ever. That is not merciful from God's perspective and from His own statements. So we do not know emphatically whether angels can die or not. This says they cannot. There may be a qualification in that but God can do anything. So we just have to wait and see.

The function of the holy angels towards sinners has been to destroy, as was Sodom for its perversions there in Genesis 19, verses 1 and 13. The holy angels are also towards sinners in that they curse them and they bring pestilence upon them, they bring death and they persecute the sinners. And so there are negative things that the holy angels are required to do under God's direction.

On the other hand, the ministry of the holy angels to the elect includes guiding and providing for, and protecting, delivering, comforting, gathering, and many other things, anything that is according to God's will. And we saw in Hebrews 1:14 that ministering spirits are sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation. So we know that they minister to the church. To minister means to do service for or for the service of. So holy angels are sent forth to do service for the saints, those going on to perfection, inheriting eternal life.

Now they are here to save us from premature death and accident and to help us to reach eternal life. Just to help us, they cannot give us eternal life, of course. That is God's authority, job, and power. The ministering of angels to the elect is an inspiring and encouraging proof of God's care and concern for all members of the church. We heard earlier today that there could be as many as 150 million angels and two-thirds of those would be holy angels, which means possibly 100 million angels. And that is a lot of angels to take care of God's people. Of course, they are taking care of His throne and the universe and that type of thing, but it sure leaves plenty to look carefully over God's people.

Let us look at some of these angelic responsibilities. God has commissioned His angels to guide events for the benefit of the elect, for His saints. For example, it is recorded in Genesis 24:7 that when Abraham was speaking to his servant regarding finding a wife for his son Isaac, Abraham said to his servant, He, that is, God, will send His angel before you. And then in verse 40 Abraham's servant quoted his instructions to Rebecca's father and brother, Laban and Bethuel. And he told them that Abraham had said the Lord before whom I walk will send His angel with you and prosper your way. To prosper in this context means to make the way successful. So Abraham was telling his servant that God would send one of His angels to guide and to make successful the servants efforts to find a wife for Isaac. So God provided Rebecca for Isaac by using an angel to guide specific events.

Herbert Armstrong described the relationship between God and angels and man in this way. It is a very simple analogy which I think helps clarify their function. Herbert Armstrong says,

Consider for a moment, the relationship between a wealthy man's young son and the man's servant. The servant, being older and more knowledgeable, has the responsibility of caring for the young boy even though he, as the guardian, has much less potential or promise than the son. When the son has matured, he inherits his father's wealth, influence, and power, but the guardian remains at the same stature as a servant.

Similarly, angels minister as guardians to us today under God's direction. They are older, more knowledgeable, and more powerful. And since they are spirit, better developed mentally. Our potential as elect sons of God is far greater than the angels and this is made clear in Hebrews 2 and also in I Corinthians 6.

The theme in the context of Hebrews 2 is the world to come. So if you will please turn over to Hebrews 2 with me.

Hebrews 2:5-8 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: "What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet." For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not see all things put under him.

Verse 6 begins with, "but one testified in a certain place, saying" and then a quotation from Psalm 8:1-6 carries on from halfway through Hebrews 2:6 to halfway through verse 8. And in this psalm David continued showing specifically that God has now placed in subjection under men the physical earth and the earth's atmosphere, land, and seas. But then the writer of the book of Hebrews was inspired to expand David's prophecy to add something completely different that happens to the world to come. The phrase "all things" in verse 8 includes the entire universe. In other words, for those willing to believe what God says, He says that He has decreed the entire universe with all its galaxies, its countless suns and moons and planets and everything will be put under man's subjection.

The last part of verse 8 again says "for in that He put all in subjection under him [that is, man], He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not see all things put under him [that is, man]." Now this is speaking of the world to come as verse 5 says, not today's world. Today however, what do we see?

Hebrews 2:9-11 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. [See how Christ is already crowned with glory and honor.] For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.

So then Christians, having God's Spirit, are joint heirs with Christ to inherit all that Christ already has inherited. He is now in glory. He has already inherited the entire universe. He sustains it by His power. A person who is converted, having God's Holy Spirit, is now only an heir, not a possessor. Christ has already been crowned with glory and honor and is already in possession and has already inherited the endless universe.

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir to all of all things [the entire universe, that is], through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding [that is, sustaining all things; that is, the entire universe] by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Christ also sustains the entire universe by His limitless divine power. As we read on, we see that He has superiority over the angels. He is the born Son of God. Angels are merely individually created beings.

Hebrews 1:4-14 Having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You." And again: "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son." But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." And of the angels He says, "Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire." But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. For You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than your companions." And: "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak you will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail." 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?

And that is the third time in this Bible study that we have read that verse, Hebrews 1:14. Angels are now invisible, administering spirits that are directed and ruled by God and they are working for Him as our guardians. And we are now still lower in power and ability than the angels, but we are heirs of salvation and of the Kingdom of God.

God has commissioned His angels to provide for us, especially in a time of need. Notice the events in I Kings 19, verses 1 through 8, where Elijah is escaping into the wilderness from Jezebel who had just massacred most of the prophets of Israel. An angel appeared while Elijah was sleeping.

I Kings 19:5 Then as he lay and slept [that is, Elijah] under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."

So Elijah ate the cake and drank the water that the angel provided for him, then he lay down again. And then continuing on in verse 7,

I Kings 19:7-8 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 you." So Elijah arose and ate and drank; and he went on the strength of the food for forty days and forty nights [and to travel a great distance].

That is quite a good food! Maybe that is the one we will get in the place of safety, hopefully. The blessing of the food came from God through His angel. The angel was the instrument through which God provided for His prophet. God provides our daily needs using His angels to perform the specific duties necessary to maintain our lives.

Psalm 23 portrays God as shepherd and the poet shows him in the providential roles of provider and protector and guide. God is the active shepherd. People are the sheep, totally dependent on the shepherd for their continued existence. The range of provisions keeps expanding throughout Psalm 23 as restoration and peacefulness and guidance and safety, and freedom from fear and protection.

Speaking of the rod and the staff, it is interesting to note that God often, maybe even primarily, uses His ministering angels to provide for us in many ways, including protection. But we always have to keep in mind that it is God who is actually doing the protecting, who is providing the protection for us and providing our provisions and those types of things, that the angels are doing His will as His agents.

Now, God has commissioned His angels to protect us as well, as I mentioned. Protection is not automatic. God expects loyalty and obedience as a prerequisite. Now, God's angels keep close to God's obedient children to protect them from accidents and calamities and plagues and other evils. Sometimes He does allow His elect to be martyred, but that is according to His will. And that is okay because anything that God wills is good and right, ultimately.

He has given His angels charge over us. Psalm 91 refers to the safety of abiding in the presence of God. Let us turn over and see that in Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12. This section of scriptures, finding peace and protection while abiding in God and with Him, and it has been related to the place of safety before as well.

Psalm 91:11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

It is showing there that God is intimately concerned about our well being, even to the depth of having our hairs numbered and not wanting us to even dash our foot against a stone, although He allows it. You get the sense here that the holy angels care for us as personally instructed by God, as if cradling us in their hands. Of course, the right picture is God cradling us in His hands, and there are scriptures that mention that. But the angels are also shown here in verse 12, "in their hands they shall bear you up." So they take a personal, not just a remote notice of us and protection of us, but when they do protect us, they are actually in one sense laying their hands on us to do that.

I do not know if you have ever had this happen. I believe it has happened to me. I am 99% sure, but I still wonder. I was driving down the road one time and a drunk driver was coming right at me. It is about 11 o'clock at night. I was tired and I was coming home from work. I had been working late and a drunk driver was coming. He came over into my lane and was coming right at me and it happened so fast I did not have time to react. My hands were on the steering wheel but it just one of those where you almost go into a slight shock when that comes about. And all of a sudden that steering wheel just jerked, and it turned the right way and the left and it was going like this and it just swerved around that car, and as I said, it was about 11 o'clock at night so I was getting up to the point I was not drowsy but I was dead of mind somewhat. So you know, this is a case where, in my mind, very likely the angels, angel or angels themselves, actually put their hands on the wheel and moved it. I mean, they would have the power to do it mentally, but I would like to think that they were actually doing that as it shows here in Psalm 91:11.

Now, when Daniel had become one of the three main governors of the Medes and Persians in the sixth century BC, he distinguished himself above the other provincial governors and King Darius considered placing Daniel over the whole realm at that time. So the other governors became extremely jealous and conspired against Daniel to destroy him. (Do we not see that in the news a lot with our politicians?) And the political hierarchy of the Medes and Persians played upon King Darius' vanity and convinced him to sign a decree that whoever petitions any god or man for 30 days in the place of the king, Darius, would be cast into the lion's den. You are very familiar with that story.

Daniel heard about the decree but continued praying and giving thanks on his knees to God three times a day as he had done most of his life. The political hierarchy very quickly reported Daniel to the king, and saddened by Daniel's predicament but obliged to the law of the Medes and Persians, King Darius commanded that Daniel be thrown into the lion's den. And after spending the night in the lions' den Daniel said to King Darius of Persia in

Daniel 6:22 "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you."

So Daniel was innocent. Generally speaking, he appeared to be a righteous man and God protected him. Here, Daniel indicates two reasons why God sends His angels to protect His people. Daniel was innocent of breaking God's laws and he respected the leadership God had placed over him. He always dealt with respect with King Darius, even when King Darius was ordering him to be thrown into the lions' den.

Let us turn over to Romans 13, please.

Romans 13:1-5 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.

So there we receive the instruction reminding us to be respectful of authority. And it even indicates, pulling these two scriptures together, that it may very well mean whether we are protected or not by God from that. God's angels are assigned to help His heirs along the road to eternal life, to save us from premature death and fatal accidents, to fight our battles, and to keep the demons at bay or to allow them to come, depending on what God's will is. But generally speaking, they are keeping the demons at bay.

God has commissioned His angels to deliver us, which is similar to the protection but slightly different. And we know that God uses His angels to rescue us from danger. This is repeated over and over again in the Scriptures. It is obvious that the angels are engaged in defending the people of God, and leading and guiding us and comforting us under trial and sustaining us in death, as it is also affirmed on the other hand, that wicked angels are constantly working to lead people to ruin.

So there is this constant spiritual battle going on around us and we are actually involved in it as well because we are fighting the wiles of Satan, as we heard earlier today in the sermon.

After David pretended madness before Abimelech who drove David away, David wrote in,

Psalm 34:7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.

That is a guarantee to those who obey God and to God's people. So you can picture that some of those 100 million holy angels are encamped around your house and are camped around us here, keeping things at bay unless God will allow something to happen. But we can be confident that they are here to protect us and to do God's will.

The psalmist there in Psalm 34:7 evidently has his own case in mind as a result of his own experience. He does not attribute his safety from danger to his own skill, nor to his own bravery, nor to the ability of his own followers, but to the goodness of God in sending an angel or a company of angels to rescue him. And he infers that what was true of himself would be true of others as well. He is giving us that guarantee by inspiration because Scripture is given by inspiration.

Consider Peter's deliverance from prison. We have been over this many times, but I just want to touch on this just very quickly. The apostle James, the brother of John, had just been killed by King Herod Agrippa the First, which pleased the Jews and Herod felt confident that he had the backing of the people. So he seized Peter during the Days of Unleavened Bread and put him in prison to await execution. Constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And Acts 12 tells us that the night before Herod was going to execute him, Peter was awakened by an angel.

Acts 12:7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him [that is, by Peter], and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly!" And his chains fell off his hands.

So the angel, in the way that a parent would treat a child, awakened Peter from a sound sleep. And he gave him detailed instructions since it was obvious to the angel that Peter was still groggy. The angel carefully instructed Peter to dress himself and tie on his sandals. And since Peter was still half asleep, and he still did not fully comprehend what was happening to him, because he thought it was a vision still, it was not until Peter's chains had fallen off, he had dressed himself and he was past the first and second guard post, he had walked through the iron gate to the city that had opened seemingly on its own, he had left the city walls and went down one street outside the city and the angel left him, that he realized what had transpired. It took all that before he became completely in control of his thoughts. And then in verse 11, Peter said,

Acts 12:11 "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod."

That is almost humorous because it was after all that, that it finally dawned on him that an angel had gotten him out of there and safely delivered him. And after his deliverance, Peter went to Mary's house, the mother of John Mark, where many of the brethren had gathered together to pray for Peter. And when Peter knocked at the door, a girl named Rhoda came to answer (and you know the story), when she recognized Peter's voice, she was so startled she forgot to let him in. She ran to announce that Peter was standing outside the door. And even though she insisted, the brethren did not believe her. So then in verse 15 of Acts 12, it says,

Acts 12:15 But they said to her, "You are beside yourself!" Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, "It is his angel."

We would probably be the same way as brethren if something were to happen to one of the ministers. John Ritenbaugh or whoever was put into prison and this transpired, and he showed up at the front door and I do not know that we would think he was an angel, but we would be very surprised that God had performed such an incredible miracle using an angel. Well, in the future, I have no doubt we are going to be seeing things greater than that.

Although they were praying for God to intervene, they could not bring themselves to believe that God had answered their prayers in such an obvious and miraculous way. And I think sometimes we overlook how God answers our prayers by having a hard time believing that God was actually the one who worked it out in such detail.

I had two other things I was going to cover, but I am going to skip those because of time running out.

One, is that God commissioned His angels to comfort us. Scripture that goes with that is Acts 27:22-24 where the angel tells Paul not to be afraid because of the storm at sea. And the other is that God has commissioned His angels for a future gathering of the elect. And you can read that in Matthew 24:29-31. That happens at Christ's return.

Also just remind you of what John Reid said in his sermon. And I will not cover that either since it has been already said today. But I will just read Revelation 5, verse 11.

Revelation 5:11 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 ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.

So there may very well be that 150 million angels total with 100 million of them as holy angels. That means there is 50-some million out there that are out to get us. Not a good thought except for the 100 million angels that are there to protect us.

Angels are personal spirit beings, each having a mind of greater capacity and ability than human minds, and they are capable of attitudes and purposes and intentions. As wonderful and powerful as holy angels are, they have no authority apart from God.

Matthew 28:18 Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

Jesus the Christ has complete control over all spirit beings. Requests for our needs should always be directed to God and not to angels. Angels were created to be ministers and agents and helpers in God's creation. And they were created as servants of the God Family. Angels should never be worshipped. Turn with me for a final scripture to Revelation 22.

Revelation 22:8-9 Now I, John, 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 said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

There is our command. Cannot get less words than that.

God works, and so do His invisible angels, our servants who are busy helping Him carry out His will. Under God's protection, the ministry of angels is to serve God, guide us, provide for us, protect us, to deliver us, and to comfort us, and to gather us together at the right time under the authority and direction of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

These holy angels of God are greater beings than us now, but our potential is far greater. They are loyal and dedicated servants of God commissioned to help us attain salvation. Angels are helping us to attain levels in the God Family far greater than they will ever have.

They have dedicated themselves in service and loyalty to the Great God. Angels do not mediate for the saints, Christ does that. But they do have the responsibility to look out for us under God's close supervision. Very few human beings could perform such a function with a pure attitude without jealousy toward those who will be greater than them.

It may be that we have underestimated the loyalty and the dedication of the holy angels to God. It seems, and I am sure it is, that their dedication and loyalty is absolute. But we should certainly appreciate the angels whose commission it is to be ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation. And that is God's church, and hopefully that is us.

MGC/aws/drm