Does God Still Use Angels Today?

 

Most people when taking in the books of the Bible might rate the Book of Revelation as the most confusing followed up by probably the Book of Isaiah. However if you dig a bit deeper you will find that the Book of Isaiah is much like a mini-Bible within itself. The first half deals with the judgment of God's wrath against the nations of Judah and Israel and the later part with God's grace and mercy for His people. There are 66 chapters within the Book of Isaiah, much like there is 66 books within the Bible. Like any good Bible study, you need to understand the context of what is happening, and thus the reason for all of us to own a really good study Bible. They will break up the paragraphs and break up the chapters and they really help you. It is a worthy investment and they are not cheap. Think of it this way, 10 visits to Starbucks, can buy you a world class Bible! It will really help you go through all the books of the Bible in a whole different way!

Today's study will touch on the fact of whether God is still using angels today. We know that is very true as the Book of Matthew and Hebrews tells us that angels are His ministering spirits that He has sent forth, the Bible says, to minister to the heirs of salvation. We might make light of the fact about guardian angels in light of movies like It's A Wonderful Life and Clarence the angel who helps George Baily. Yet the Bible tells us that as believers in Christ, we have a least one angel that has been dispatched to our care. The second point is that Jesus tells us according to the Scripture how we treat children for example, for their faces (the children's) are represented before heaven, by their angels. Peter reminds us how we treat strangers that come into our life, because unknowingly you could be ministering to an angel. That is so sobering. Imagine how many of us have met homeless people who could have been angels testing our benevolence or in a hospital?

According to the Book of Revelation, it is only going to increase and the angelic mission is clearly defined from the Bible. It's a though the veil between the physical realm and spiritual realm is pulled back and they impact one another like never before. So why then do some scholars confuse the mighty angel we see in Revelation 10 with that of Jesus Christ. It might be because the word here for angel is not the same as an angelic being with wings, it means a messenger sent from heaven to make an announcement. It is not necessarily an angel like Michael or Gabriel. Whoever he is, he is one dispatched from heaven, with an announcement to be given to earth. That is all we know about him at this moment.

We also know that the word for angel means a created being from heaven with wings but also from the Old Testament, we have the word theophany or a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ before Bethlehem's manger. Christ appeared before Abraham and Joshua for example, and He was announced as the Angel of the Lord. In Revelation, in the opening chapters 2 and 3 it says, "to the angel at the church of Philadelphia..." We know that angel is none other than the pastor of the church of Philadelphia back then in the time of Christ. So the word has a broad application. So who is this? Let's keep studying.

We know that the message is by divine delivery no matter who it is. When we see the word "another mighty angel" is means another angel of a different kind. So he is somewhat of a great order other than your run of the mill angel. Not that any angel if we saw it today would be run of the mill. If we were able to see one, we might just pass out. When Daniel saw an angel he got sick to his stomach and had to lay in bed for many days. Lets just explain it this way, if we have another angel of a different kind providing a message by divine delivery, let's just call this one the L.A. Times. That is a messenger of a different order. But if someone comes to your door wearing a Federal Express uniform, that is still a message coming to you from a different order or from a different dispatch.

This angel is a different from the L.A. Times and the Federal Express as it is from the run of the mill angel. I think you understand this now. Notice his origin. He comes out of heaven. When God desires to provide a message to mankind, His origins are always from heaven. Always. God speaks to Abraham!

Genesis 22:11 ~ "But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham! 'Here I am', he replied."

God speaks to Moses from heaven. 

Exodus 3:2-5 ~ "There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight - why the bush does not burn up." When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

What made that ground holy? The person that was in the burning bush which was the LORD. His title was the angel of the LORD. What is the title of the angel of the LORD in the Old Testament? It is none other than the LORD Almighty, Jesus Christ. A pre-incarnate appearance before Bethlehem. When God spoke to the prophets what did He say?

Hebrews 1:1-2 ~ "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through who he made the universe."

When God spoke to the apostles, what did He say?

Matthew 17:5 ~ "While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

 When God speaks to mankind, He speaks from above.

Luke 3:21-22 ~ "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven opened up and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

God's messengers deliver a message from heaven. When God speaks, it comes from above. When God sends His messengers to mankind, it is also a messenger of divine description. This is what causes scholars to think that this messenger is someone other than just another angel.

Revelation 10:1 ~ "Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars."

This is truly an awesome description of this divine messenger. "Clothed with a cloud," that connects us immediately with whoever this person is, he is in great association with the Lord, himself. When God spoke to Moses, Mt Sinai was covered with a cloud. Not only that but when God watched over and protected the children of Israel in the wilderness, He manifested Himself as a cloud by day. On the Mount of Transfiguration, when they saw Jesus transfigured, what descended from heaven and covered them all? A cloud of glory. At Jesus' ascension when He went back up into heaven, what received Him into heaven? A cloud. At the Rapture of the church, what is going to happen when Christ comes? We are going to be caught up into the Lord's presence in the cloud. At the Second Coming, how it that going to look? The Bible says that Christ will come with the church and His angels with Him in the Second Coming in a cloud. The Lord is always in association with clouds.

Matthew 26:64 ~ "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ~ "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

Daniel 7:13 ~ "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence."

Matthew 24:30 ~ "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory."

Then it says that he has a rainbow around his head. When we get to heaven we will be given eyes to see spiritual things. God is revealing this for John to see right now. God promises to never judge the world again without mercy as we see in Genesis.

Genesis 9:13-14 ~ "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow appears in the clouds,"

Revelation 4:2-3 ~ "At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald encircled the throne."

The cloud in association with the Lord, and the rainbow in association with the Lord. We see the connection. We can also understand why there would be some confusion between this being a run of the mill angel or the Lord, Himself. "His face was like the sun,"

Revelation 1:13-16 ~ "and among the lampstands was someone 'like a son of man,' dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his moth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance."

We remember the seven lampstands is the manifestation of God's presence among His people from the first being in the tabernacle and then here in Revelation where we find that Jesus walks among them being His church.

Matthew 17:2 ~ "There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light."

We remember before in Revelation 1:15 that "His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace," He sends His messengers to mankind, a message for divine duty.

Revelation 10:2-3 ~ "He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke."

What is with the little book or scroll? This is a bit technical. You shouldn't be so focused on the placement of his feet or even the little scroll or book, is that it is open. Did you catch that? You might want to circle that in your Bible. The word implies that the book in heaven, this angel who has this book is not open. It is a book that is secret, that is held by God, it is a book that when it is opened has things in it that we are not allowed to know. God won't answer these questions we have about the book even though the Bible has all the answers. No matter what footnotes you might have in your Bible, no one knows about the little book. Nobody. Someone once said that only Seventh Day Adventists know what the book says, but they are not allowed to tell anybody what it says. Don't believe it. Read the Bible. It says that no one knows what is in the book.

Now we come to a bit of history. Whenever a general conquered another empire in a battle, they would take the general of the empire they defeated and lay him down and stand on his neck and declare victory. John would have understood this term that he is seeing an angel stand on the sea and on the land, what is he declaring? Absolute victory and John would have known this. He is announcing absolute victory of the rule and reign of the dominion by God. Even Jews who know their history who read this would understand what this means.

God gives us this break because as we have been marching through our study into Revelation, it has been pretty heavy. It might have even scared some people to unlike my Facebook page or unfriend me because they don't like what the Bible has to say about these events of the end times. He gives us a break in the story at this point to infuse hope, grace and mercy into those that are reading this. That is the very reason why some churches don't teach on the Book of Revelation, it isn't exactly a church growth builder but remember it is the only book of the Bible that offers a blessing to those that read and hear its words. This portion of the Bible is all about hope because our God is a God of hope, grace and mercy.

For those of you reading this today, that might feel hopeless, let me pray for you.

Father,

Whoever this person is that is reading this today, and they feel like they are at the end of their rope. Maybe it's their marriage, their kids, the sacrifice of their jobs, or another issue that only You know that they are dealing with. We pray that you would bring healing to their situation, healing to their relationships, health to their body, and God, peace and comfort to their soul. God, we are trusting right now that You will take this and You will touch the person who is reading this right now, who is crying out to You right now, saying "Dear God please intervene in my life, please help me now." And Lord, I have no doubt that You will speak to them, because that is the kind of God You are! In Jesus Name, AMEN!!!

Hell Does Not Have to Be Your Future!!!

If you are not a Christian, the message and study we are covering today is not one you want to hear. Whenever the subject of Hell is mentioned, no one really wants to hear about it, but it is the very reason for the death of Jesus, to keep us out of hell. When we refer to hell on earth, it is God's righteous wrath that He is delivering to a Christ-rejecting world. When you consider it, who wants to talk about hell? Answer: Nobody. Yet Jesus did more than anybody! Who really wants to meditate on the wrath of God? Again really nobody, but its part of God's awesome nature and character.

Did you notice how quickly we got through Chapter 8 in Revelation, this chapter along with others that remain in the book are written as one continuous event like 8 and 9 are. There were not supposed to be separations in them, not will there be when the actual events begin to happen. Make no mistake, we didn't rush through Chapter 8 because we were in a hurry to get through the difficult parts of scripture, but because it is structured that way as is Chapter 9. Each chapter from here on out is getting worse as the judgments from God are getting poured out upon the earth. There is no sugar coating it and that is perhaps why so many churches and pastors avoid teaching on the Book of Revelation.

The only person who this should not bother is the believer in Christ, because they know the stuff we are studying today, they do not have to be a part of. They will be gone and resting in heaven when this happens. If you aren't a believer in Christ, you too, by the time of this message, you too can chose to accept Christ and avoid what is coming. This does not have to be your future! It is your choice.

From here to the end of Chapter 19, we will see gross, dark, judgment being played out upon the earth. We don't mind this kind of gore when it's on the movie screen, but the thought of such things being real, the thought of suffering and judgment and hell, might be real is unsettling.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 ~ " and to wait for his Son from heaven, who he raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."

This means that Jesus Christ is coming for His church even before this great Tribulation period, and He has to deliver His church into heaven according to Scripture. He will deposit the church into heaven via the Rapture and then the Tribulation Period will begin. This will be the judgment of God brought to the earth. In fact, if you were to walk into any bookstore today, even a Christian one and ask for a book on Hell, they would be hard pressed to try and find you one. It's because it's not popular to talk about Hell. No one wants to talk about it.

As Christians, we can talk about Hell because it is what we will be missing. This is what Jesus has delivered us from and something we should give Him glory for. Yet it is unpopular to talk about Hell, especially by those who are afraid they are going to hell. They don't want to know about it because there is a sense of finality and a sense of fear. Just because you don't want to talk about Hell doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You develop an ostrich movement at that point, burying your head in the sand because you don't want to hear about it, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. It doesn't take away from the fact that it is real. God has declared it and he has warned us about it. There are over 600 New Testament warnings alone about hell! It is very real.

All the cults have a few things in common. (1) Jesus is not your God, Lord and Savior and (2) There is no Hell. Now if Satan is the founder of the cults and he is, isn't that a great bit of propaganda? There is no hell! If there is no hell and you die and go into an oblivion, then why did Satan spans cults in the first place? If there is no hell, according to the cults then why do I need to accept anything at all? It's so real that to avoid the logic simply doesn't make sense. Jesus said it is real! Are you willing to pit the wording of a cult against Jesus, who rose again from the dead? Are you willing to gamble your eternity that the cult leader is right and Jesus isn't? Are you willing to gamble with your foreverness, living in a hell, and gamble against the Bible. I hope not!

Revelation 9:1-12 ~ "The fifth angel sounded his trumpet and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down from the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not the harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of god, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpion, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. The first woe is past; the other two woes are yet to come."

Is that not enough to freak you out? Some of Hollywood's finest directors could get ideas from this right? Notice the number of times the reference to the descriptions were prefaced with the words "like?" "Like locusts," "Like human hair" etc. Don't be confused by what all this means. They are not simply locusts with a bad attitude. Did you know that God controls the hands of the locust even today? That locusts generally follow the wind. God moves them from an area or to an area by the wind. The Bible says the locusts have no king but are directed by the wind. We know that when locusts swarm they can cover the sky and make it dark. There is no doubt about that. Sometimes they eat what they see and other times fly right over places they should eat. They are extremely unpredictable. This passage has nothing to do with earthly locusts despite all the commentaries you may have read about this before.

John is trying to describe the greatest plague to have devastated the world during his time and that was locusts. This is going to be similar but it is not the same. Then he goes on to talk about scorpions and again these are not the same as what we have here now. Their pain is worse than anything anyone here has ever had happen to them. When hell meets earth, a creature personality will come.

We are talking about Satan, himself. The Bible refers to Satan as being a he in the male gender, the son of the morning star. If you take a survey, most people will say the Bible is true but that there is no devil. Jesus, Himself, has said the devil is real and if you don't believe he is real, you have truly fallen for his propaganda. Let's get this out of the way right now as well. There is no place in the Bible that says he wears red, has horns and carries a pitchfork and pointed tail. The Bible does say what he is draped in, that he is extremely beautiful, powerful, he is a person, and he is a creature personality, meaning that he has been created.

Revelation 9:1-12 ~ "The fifth angel sounded his trumpet and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss."

Notice the word "fallen" in verse 1, that means passed tense, he had already fallen. This is referring to Satan. Satan will fall from heaven one final time. It will happen during the great Tribulation period. In verse 1 of Revelation 9, this is the first blast of the final three remaining trumpets which we have been warned about in the final verse of Revelation 8 that were coming. This is the first one of the final three that Revelation 8 warned us about. You need to keep this in mind that Satan is real and so are his demons. The Bible says that there are fallen angels and there are demons. There is different wording for both and they both have different powers. Demonic and heavenly angels appear and disappear at will. The New Testament warns us to watch out for strangers because by unknowing we can be speaking with and entertaining an angel as a human without knowing about it.

Satan and his fallen angels can appear and disappear at will. Demons need an idol, statues, animals to manifest their will, a person to possess, and there are no known words in which Satan can possess a person outside of Judas or the Son of Perdition, the Antichrist in Scripture.  Demons can enter and leave someone who are not filled or is not under the protection of the Holy Spirit, or own by the Holy Spirit in you. That should be something that scares you to get serious about Jesus if you are an unbeliever. If you are not a believer, there is a vacancy in your body. You have to crawl over the body of Christ to get into hell.