Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sunday morning Foundations Classes
God's Positioning System (GPS)
Angels Lesson #1
Our study is an introduction to “Angels”
who are mentioned 273 times in the Bible. It would be difficult to study the
Old Testament without including angels, which we have done in our Sunday
morning class in Heritage Lounge. Ephesians 6:10-18 alerts us that we are
engaged in spiritual warfare, which of course includes angels. Our
study will show the role of angels both good and evil and their interaction with man.
Though we don’t think about it as such, but Satan, the Devil, was also created
as a high-ranking angel with supernatural powers.
The battle taking place in our society is
not just between flesh and blood adversaries—Blue vs. Red, Liberal vs. Conservative.
Satan
and
his fallen angels are the instigators of evil. Sometimes adversity is the
result of spiritual warfare, which of course includes angels, both good and
evil. One of the spiritual weapons in Eph. 6 for Christians is putting on the
Whole Armor of God, with prayer.
The battle is not just against flesh and
blood but also against principalities,
powers, the rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places. It’s
been an on-going battle between good and evil since the beginning of time (Eph.
6:11-12).
Satan’s rebellion in heaven was a real
battle. Much of the unrest we are seeing on TV news, began long ago with that angelic
rebellion in heaven, long before man was created. The battle continues, with
Satan and the fallen angels instigating (not compelling) destruction, looting
and even murder, throughout many American cities. Man’s fallen nature is
receptive to Satan lies.
just as he
convinced Adam and Eve that eating the forbidden fruit was in their best
interest.
Some may wonder, “Is Satan involved with
the riots taking place now?” We can be certain that he is, just as he led the
rebellion in heaven, tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden, and influenced Judas
Iscariot to betray Jesus (Mark 4:10). The same can be said for the Jewish
Sanhedrin and Pharisees who were politically motivated to demand Jesus’ death
to the Romans
(Mark 14:53–65, Matthew 26:57–68, Luke 22:63–71 and John 18:12-24 ). When
we say Satan is behind it, we need to be mindful that he has an army of fallen angels at
his disposal, all of whom have thousands of years of experience with human
nature, and are very capable of easily
manipulating
man
in almost
every situation. Yes,
it all ties together.
Rev. 12:7, 9 tells us that not only
was Satan and his angels cast out of heaven, but they have been and are
“deceiving the whole world” in their hatred for God and His people
and
instigating and inciting others with a similar hatred. Again, spiritual warfare
is real and happening all around us. Hatred is the fuel that ignites it and
keeps it burning.
How then can we know
Satan is involved with the riots? We can’t lose sight that he has an army of demonic angels at his command. In 1 John
4:19, the apostle tells us that the whole world is under the sway of the wicked
one, the wicked one being Satan. 2 Thess. 2:9 tells about having “the
working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” Angels
and
demons are real and have access to the earth for both good and evil.
An intense persecution of Christians
began in 64 AD under Emperor Nero. Where were God’s angels when Christians were
being murdered in Rome’s Coliseum? But we need to be mindful that Scripture is
silent as to how many Christians escaped persecution, perhaps with angelic help.
Those martyrs were not abandoned by God; each received a reward in heaven. How
do we know? Jesus tells us in Matt 16:27 “For
the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then
he will reward each person according to what he has done.” What
they did was of the highest order, they suffered death rather than deny Christ.
Romans 8:28 tells us that “in all things
God works for the good of those that love Him.” Not some things. Not some of
the time. But all things, all of the time, it will be for good. Even
those who were killed in the Coliseum were rewarded in heaven. God may send a
single angel, as in the case of Daniel in the lions’ den (Chap. 6 of the Book
of Daniel) where the
angel
shut the lions’ mouths, or an army of angels with horses and chariots of fire, as in 2
Kings 6:17.
Can we understand angels speaking? Can they
understand us? There are no language barriers between angels and man,
regardless of one’s language. How is that possible? We see an example of
language differences in Acts, 2:5-12, when Peter and the apostles spoke to the
crowd about Jesus, in his own native Galilean dialect, and yet Jews from across
the entire Roman Empire heard them in their own language. Would God give angels
any less an ability. We see that in Acts 12, when an angel rescues Peter from
prison.
God’s angels intervened at strategic
moments in history, as we see in Acts 12, with an angel
freeing the Apostle Peter from jail, having been imprisoned by King Herod, who
had just murdered the Apostle James, brother of John. It’s noted that the angel
radiated light when he appeared. A supernatural light radiating from within. With that same spiritual energy, he removed the chains from Peter.
In Acts 12, God sent an angel to rescue Peter
from Herod’s prison. When
the angel spoke to Peter, he understood what the angel said. When the angel
opened the cell door, the guards did not wake up—a capital offense to sleep on
guard duty, yet they slept. The angel in some way, inhibited the guards from
knowing he was there. The angel then opened the outer iron gate without even
touching it with a supernatural
power radiating from within.
We see the role of angels in 2 Kings.
Trusting God
means looking beyond what we can see to what God sees. God will allow a nation
to drift away from Him for
only so long and so far,
and then He will allow consequences to occur that He will use to turn their
attention back to
Him. As noted in 2 Kings
6, God’s
angels are a powerful army,
though
unseen,
that holds back
and restrains Satan’s demonic army, unless God withdraws His own warriors, and
Satan’s demons are set free to wreak havoc. When that happens it is a time of
intense spiritual warfare.
The Church’s weapon is prayer (Eph. 6:10-18).
Angels have always played a
significant role down through history and will during the
End Times as reflected in the Book of Revelation. The antichrist is
emboldened with
the power of Satan. 1 John 2:18 tells us that many antichrist have
already come and still will come. In all cases the
antichrist is empowered
by fallen
angels doing his bidding, each with supernatural power.
Angels, both holy and fallen are
mentioned no less than 77 times in the Book of Revelation. Revelation 8:2 also
refers to the seven angels who stand before the Lord. Michael, Gabriel, and
Raphael are the three named in the Bible. Most think of Revelation in terms of
the End Times, as the period that defines closure of world history. Have we
crossed that threshold yet? I’m sure Christians wondered the same thing when both WWI and WWII
began. We can speculate but we just don’t know. It will bring devastation far greater
that the current riots and looting. Hold our Nation and our President up in
daily prayer. That angels may surround and protect him and his family. That
good may prevail over evil.
When we watch TV news we
see people vs. people—flesh vs. flesh! We may not see them, but we are in a
time of spiritual warfare—evil vs. good! During this time of civil unrest our
Nation may very well be at a crossroad and very much in need of prayer. What
can we do as a church? We can “Pray”!
What does this have to do with angels? A
great deal. Our society,
and even much of our educational standards have shifted away from traditional values
rooted in the Bible. In 1962
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against prayer in the schools. We have been
reaping the consequences of that decision ever since. Including unleashing
Satan’s influence on generations without moral guidance. The value of life has
diminished in our society and is no longer held sacred.
There’s increasing confirmation that the
riots across major cities are being incited from behind the scene, rather than
locally motivated over legitimate social concerns. If the Church is silent, Satan
and his angels will
prevail. We may not see them, but God’s angelic hosts stand ready to respond to
His peoples’ supplication.
The Apostle John wrote this in the 1st century, warning that the end times was
near (Rev. 1:3), which puts us 2,000 years closer. God’s interaction with man
has generally been through His angels. As such, their role is not only
important, but essential. Hopefully, God’s angels will stand besides His people
during both
these riots
and the pandemic,
especially as our church doors reopen and we gather-together for worship.
2 Chron7:14 – prayer is the spiritual
lifeblood of a Christian. Invite family and friends to join us in
worship each Sunday
even
if it’s only on livestream—it’s easy to do send
them the link via Facebook,
Twitter, or email, so why not.
Although it contains history, the Bible is not a
history book, but rather a “lessons book”. Chronicles portrays a nation that
fell further and further away from God and faced dreadful consequences for its
apostasy; but it’s also a story of national revival. The United States has
openly proclaimed itself as “One Nation Under God”. Is that now a “hollow
phrase”? If so, can we as the Church, through prayer, help transform back into
a “sincere affirmation”? God’s
angels are being restrained by willful sin while Satan’s fallen angels are
being empowered.
Satan’s dominion over the world system is
limited. As powerful as it is, Satan’s kingdom will come to an end when Jesus
returns (Rev. 19).
Let me know your opinion on returning to
Heritage Lounge by email or phone—both are in the church directory.
In our next lesson we will look at the various ranks and categories of angels.
In our next lesson we will look at the various ranks and categories of angels.
THIS CONCLUDES ANGELS LESSON #1
