Biblical Teaching on Angels

[MUSIC] Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hin, and today we're tackling a topic that stirs curiosity and mystery and sometimes confusion. In a world that romanticizes the supernatural, angels are often misrepresented. Now, they are not baby-faced cherubs or they are not human beings who got their wings and became an angel. Angels are mighty, they're intelligent, and they are spiritual beings created by God for His glory and purposes. And so today, on the heels of our series through eschatology and heaven, the afterlife, hell, and all of those important questions we've answered, I want to explore angels and demons and a little bit of spiritual warfare as a follow-up because all of those other subjects have stirred up questions about these. And so let's look at what the Bible says about angels, what they do, who they are, and then why they matter for your life and faith. First, I want to talk to you about the origin and the nature of angels, the origin and the nature of angels. Number one, they are created by God. Colossians chapter 1, verse 16 says this, "For by Him all things were created," talk about God, and Christ specifically. And you go on to say, "both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible." So, in the heavens, or in the heavens, on the earth, visible and invisible, whether throes or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. Angels are part of that. Angels are created beings. They're not eternal or self-existent like God. They owe their entire existence entirely to Him. Second, they're spiritual beings. Hebrews 1, verse 14 describes angels as being ministering spirits who were sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation. They are real, they're intelligent, they're moral, they're powerful, and yet they are immaterial. They're spirit beings. They don't have a physical body like humans do, though they can appear in human form when God allows it, like Genesis 18, Luke chapter 1, but these are spirit beings. Third, they're built like an army. Revelation chapter 5 verse 11 says, "There are myriads and myriads of angels." And they're countless in number. They operate in ranks and with orders, we see that in Ephesians 1, 21, in Colossians 1, 16, again, when Paul kind of uses this structural language when he says, "Thrones, dominions, visible, invisible, rulers, authorities, all of these things." Angels operate with rank and order. Scripture refers to them as cherubim, seraphim, and then there's archangels as well. And I want to break these down for you. First, in Genesis 3, 24, in Ezekiel 10, we see cherubim guard the holiness of God. They're associated with that. Second, seraphim proclaim his glory and his holiness. That's in Isaiah chapter 6 verses 2 and 3. And then you have archangels like Michael in Jude 9. They serve as high-ranking leaders in God's army. Others would include the angel Gabriel. When angels are named like that, it's important. John Calvin wrote, "Angels are the dispensers and administrators of the divine beneficence towards us. And they regard our safety, they undertake our defense, they direct our ways, and they exercise a continual solicitude that no evil befall us." And so angels, they're working. Second, I want to unpack for you how angels look. The Bible gives several descriptions of what angels look like. And though it's clear their appearance is unlike any earthly creature, they have some features that we would be familiar with. Angels are spirit beings. But when they're seen in glory, they're awe-inspiring. And there's these passages that talk about them having six wings. We understand what wings look like, but six wings are incredible. And cherubim have four faces. And they're sparkling. And they have this fire-like brilliance, according to Ezekiel 1 verses 4 to 14. And the prophet Ezekiel describes the cherubim as having wheels full of eyes all around. These cherubim have just wild bodies, if you will, or wild structures to them. They're covered with eyes front and behind. If you've ever wondered why angels say do not be afraid, these are not cute chubby cupids flying up and floating around like a lot of Hollywood movies portray. These are frightening creatures. They have eyes all over them. They are alien beings to some people. You would look and think, what in the world am I looking at? Please don't kill me. Similarly, Revelation 4 verses 6 to 8 portrays the living creatures around God's throne as being full of eyes in front and behind. Their appearance often involves this blazing light and white garments and overwhelming majesty. Angels are not cute. They're not cuddly. They're not soft. They're powerful, holy. They're servants and they reflect the glory of God. And every encounter in Scripture reminds us. These are messengers with divine authority, though they are not divine like God. They have divine authority. They carry his authority. And the proper human response is reverence to God, of course. And also then, respect for or appreciation for his ministering messengers. Angels, they look glorious. They are terrifyingly pure and they're unmistakably super natural. Next, I want to talk to you about the power and limitations of angels. You got to understand what the Bible says about what they can and can't do. They're very powerful, yet they're limited. In Psalm chapter 103 verse 20, we see them called mighty and strength, who perform his word. Angels can execute God's will in moments of judgment, like 2 Kings 19, Dean verse 35, deliverance in Acts 12, 7 through 10, but they're not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent. Those are attributes of God alone. So just like I've taught you, demons and the devil himself are not omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. They're not everywhere all the time. They work as individual entities, if you will, though they are a collective army. So it is with angels. They're also moral agents. Some angels chose rebellion under Satan in Revelation 12, 4, becoming demons. The others remained loyal to God and they serve him perfectly. Their loyalty is not robotic, but it is willful, and it's an eternal commitment to worship an obedient. So in that wonderful, they're moral agents. They had a choice to follow Lucifer, or to remain obedient to God. And so their loyalty is not robotic. It's really affirming and wonderfully comforting that angels have chosen to obey God in that way. Also, they're immortal and they're holy. Angels don't die. In Luke 20 verse 36, they're eternal. They don't marry, they don't reproduce. They're pure, but they're not perfect like God. Nothing in no one is. They still are dependent on his holiness. We would say that theologically, while they are pure, they are not perfect or as holy as God. Now, number four, overall, I want to talk about the work in ministry of angels. And scripture reveals at least six ministries. Number one, worshiping God. Above all, angels exist to worship in Revelation 5 verses 11 and 12. They cry out, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and might, and honor and glory and blessing." Oh, we've seen these songs in our church, and you've seen songs like, "Is he worthy?" and you're seeing about the worthiness of the Lamb of Christ himself. Angels exist to minister in that regard. Their ministry begins and ends in adoration of God's glory. Number two, serving people. Huge part of their role. They are ministering spirits, and they're sent to serve believers. They protect, they strengthen, they comfort, and they focus on God's people in that regard, according to his will. In the Bible, we see some examples of this. Like an angel protecting Daniel in the lion's den in Daniel 622, or an angel ministering to Jesus in Gethsemane in Luke 22, 43, or angels setting Peter free from prison in that passage in Acts chapter 12. You may not see them. I may not see them, but angels are active. And God sends them to carry out His providential care for His children. Also, they're focused on delivering God's messages. The Greek word for angel. The Greek word is anglos. It means messenger. And Gabriel announced John's birth to Zechariah in Luke chapter 1. Jesus's birth to Mary in Luke chapter 1 later on, verses 26 to 38, they deliver messages. Angels delivered key instructions to Joseph, if you look at Matthew chapter 1 verse 20, and chapter 2 verse 13, he's telling the angel appears to Joseph and gives him instructions. And reveals things to him about Mary and the virgin birth, and then he should marry her, and then warns him in a dream. And all of these things are important to understand, that while angels no longer today deliver new revelation, because scripture is complete, and in these last days like Hebrews 1 says we have been spoken to, we've received the Word of God through the Son of God Christ. They still carry out God's orders to minister invisibly. They didn't just stop ministering and doing what they do, but in the New Covenant, and with God's Word revealed, they operate in a very modern day way. Fourth, they execute God's judgment. Angels are also agents of divine wrath when necessary. We see this in 2 Kings 19 verse 35, the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 assyrians. In Revelation 8 and Revelation 9, angels carry out the trumpet and bold judgements on the earth. And all of that may strike fear in some people, but remember, God's justice is good. Angels act under His perfect righteousness. And so when they administer His justice, they are doing His perfect will. Also, angels are involved in guiding and protecting believers. They guide and protect believers. Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12 says, "For He will give His angels charge over you or concerning you to guard you in all your ways." That doesn't mean every danger is prevented, but that God's angels carry out His will to protect and sustain His people even in the midst of danger. Now, we don't pray to angels. We don't command them, but we can thank God that He deploys them for our good. Another function of angels is gathering and rejoicing. At the return of Christ, angels will gather the elect Matthew 2431 says, and Luke 1510 tells us they rejoice when just one sinner repents. They rejoice. They gather. They celebrate salvation. Not because they're redeemed. They never sinned. So they're not celebrating salvation, like thinking, "Oh, wow, they got saved too. I'm so excited." And I got saved. And I was at center, no. But because they delight in God's redemptive plan, they are looking at things that God has decreed and they're aware of. As He saves human beings, His children, angels celebrate that reality. Now, I want to talk to about what angels are not. Many of you who follow the podcast and listen to me regularly, no, I love these counterintuitive sort of looking at things from the negative and then the positive. What angels are not or ways to not this or not. I think you can be helpful for us to kind of move into that thinking so that we demolish misconceptions. And that's really what I love to do. I love to break down and break apart misconceptions. We all have them and it's helpful to look at these things. So, number one, angels are not humans who have died. I don't mean to be insensitive and if I'm messing up what you thought before looking love, I'm glad because it's not very loving to live lies or to not tell you the truth. Hebrews 12 verses 22 to 23 distinguishes innumerable angels, okay? From the spirits of the righteous who have been made perfect, that passage makes a clear distinction between angels and humans who have been the spirits of the righteous made perfect, humans who are in their glorified state, they've been redeemed in their in heaven. It's not the same thing. Nobody's getting wings. Humans and angels are separate created orders the Bible says so. So, we can't say, oh, they're my guardian angel now. They're not. I know it feels good to say that about mom or dad or your aunt or uncle or a friend and oh, they're an angel now and they're up there. They're my guardian angel and I know they're my angel watching over you, not according to the Bible. They may be the cloud of witnesses celebrating and cheering us on as we run our race of faith, but contrary to pop culture thinking and this leaks into the church and what might make us feel better that there are angel, it's so much better to know that God is our comfort. He is our God. The angels are his ministering messengers and they may be looking out for us and protecting us, angels, not the humans who have gone on to heaven and our loved ones are enjoying the presence of God. Then they don't have to worry about being our guardian angel. They're enjoying their eternal reward and they know if we're in Christ, we will join them one day too. Also, angels are not omnipresent and all-knowing. Already touched on that so I don't need to go much further into it, but they operate in one place at a time and they act with great speed, but they're not omnipresent. Number three, angels are not to be worshipped or prayed to. This is very important. Perhaps for some of you who come from maybe Roman Catholic influences or looking at saints and icons and people in a way that kind of mirrors the angelic approach and all of a sudden angels kind of have a higher place than they ought to. Revelation 22 verses 8 and 9 recorded John falling before an angel. And the angel rebukes him. Basically says, "Don't do that. I'm a fellow servant. What are you bound down to me for? Worship God." And so any teaching that exalts angels beyond or above being servants of God, borders on idolatry at best and at worst it flat out is idolatry. Fourth, angels don't operate independently of God's will. They're his messengers and his soldiers. They're not his freelance agents. So angels aren't out there doing what they want. No, they do exactly what God has said. And so really important for you to understand things that angels are not, not only what angels are. Another aspect that I want to talk about is angelic appearances in scripture. Throughout scripture angels appear at pivotal moments in salvation history. And these are important for you to know because it kind of gives you a better picture of them. They're not out there being our guardian angels. They're not running around floating with little cupid wings and firing arrows at people. They've got a job to do. And they appear with prominence at these particular moments throughout redemptive history. First, at creation in Job 387 it says the morning stars saying together, talking about the angels. And that was all when God laid the foundations of the earth. Angels appear in a great and prominent way at the patriarchs. Abraham, Lot, Jacob, all in Genesis chapter 18 to 19. Genesis 32. Angels are seen coming to hang out with Abraham. They're coming down there to hang out and sit and minister visit Lot, Jacob as well. So very prominent and just a fascinating thing that they came down. They had human form. And according to God's will, they did that even though they don't technically look like humans or they're certainly not humans. But wonderful how God ordered that at that time. They appeared the Exodus in prominence. The angel of the Lord led Israel through the wilderness. And I'll talk here shortly about what Christophannies are. But if you took that to be an angel of the Lord, an archangel on assignment, it's a prominent moment at the Exodus. And also at the birth of Christ. Heaven erupts in Luke chapter 2 with singing as the angels appear in the skies of the heavens. Singing to the shepherds announcing the birth of the Savior. Angels also appeared the resurrection. You remember the line from Matthew 286? He is not here. He has risen. You know it. I know it too. That he's risen. The angel declares that. And then one day the angels will appear at the second coming. Matthew 2531 talks about the angels accompanying Christ in glory. Angels mark every redemptive event in human history. They are witnesses to the unfolding of God's plan. And they are not detached from what he's doing. They are very much involved. If not, they are the front row cheerleaders. And the singers of worship and praise unto God. Now I mentioned the angel of the Lord. And so I want to add this as well as we think through what the Bible says. There's a unique figure called the Angel of the Lord. That phrase appears repeatedly in the Old Testament. Genesis 16, Exodus 3, Judges 6. There's a number of different moments where the Angel of the Lord appears. And he speaks as God. And he receives worship. He does forgive sin. And so many theologians, including John Calvin Charles, Hodge, Hodg, John McArthur, they understand this as the pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. It's called a Christophony. It's not the actual second coming. It's not the advent of Christ, you know, in Bethlehem. But it's a pre-incarnate. Meaning God has not God the Son has not taken on His human form per se, yet as a man coming to earth. But it's an angel of the Lord. And when the angel of the Lord appears, God himself is making his presence known to people before the incarnation. Certainly something that God could do. And I would be of the mind that Christophannies are real and a accurate way to describe the Angel of the Lord. I think each passage deserves its own look. And I think you need to take that and fit it into the hole and understand the context. But overall, I think it's a pretty good position. Also, what about angels in Jesus Christ? How do angels relate to Jesus Christ? Well, they played crucial roles in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. They announced His birth. They ministered to Him after temptation. They strengthened Him and get 70 when He was in prayer. They proclaimed His resurrection and they'll accompany Him at His return. Yet they bowed to Christ and yet they're working alongside Christ. Christ. And Hebrews 1 6 says, "Let all the angels of God worship him." So Christ is supreme overall, but the angels, "Oh, they're with him, supporting him, helping him, assisting, and celebrating Christ." Now, that's how angels relate with Christ. How do angels relate to believers? Let me give you a few key truths here. Number one, they watch us. 1 Corinthians 4 9 says, "We are a spectacle to the world, both two angels and to men." So people watch us, but so do the angels. Ephesians 3 10 says, "God's wisdom is displayed through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. The church is the manifold wisdom of God." And so our faithfulness in suffering teaches angels something about the grace and wisdom of God. They are observing. They're watching us. Number two, they protect and guide us. We don't command angels. God commands them for us. But we can take great comfort in being reminded in Psalm 347, the angel of the Lord and camps around those who fear him and delivers them. Oh, yeah. The angel of the Lord and camps around those who fear him and who delivers them. 3 The Allah Company, you at death. This is a viable Christian position. In Luke 1622, it is said that Lazarus was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. There are many who would make the point and I certainly could argue this from Scripture that when a believer dies, angels usher them into the presence of the Lord. You say, "Costee, that kind of sounds a little, you know, a little bit, you know, dicey there. Maybe it's kind of wishful thinking." No. If Jesus is describing something even in a parable, then angels took Lazarus to Abraham's bosom, a place described as being in the presence of God, then is it not entirely possible and probable that as God's ministering agents, the angels guide the, not like they're controlling it all, but they guide or accompany or celebrate the ushering of a spirit, us, the soul, into glory into the presence of God. There's enough of them. There's myriads and myriads of angels. And so if you calculated all the Christians who die every day around the world, is it not entirely possible that there's angels on assignment to usher the spirits of God's people into his presence? I think it's important to realize that angels are not detached from what's happening. This is why it's so important to study these things. I think we've gotten to a very rationalistic type of church culture where we think about these things and they're like, "Ah, it's a little, it's getting a little weird." No. We're weird. When we don't acknowledge how spiritual, meaning the heavenlies, the Christian life really is and more so even afterwards. Fourth, they're going to join us in worship forever. Hebrews 12, 22 describes the heavenly scene. You have come to Mount Zion to innumerable angels. You've entered into it and they're everywhere for eternity. Believers and angels together will worship the Lamb who was slain for us. And we are the only ones who get saved, but we worship together. Finally, angels in the church. Angels are mentioned in connection with the churches in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, that angels of the churches likely refer to pastors or messengers that are representing its congregation. But it also reminds us that heavenly beings are aware of local church life, even for John to use that word as a descriptor. When we worship faithfully, angels observe. Angels are protecting the church. They are preserving the church. And when we preach Christ crucified, the angels are rejoicing. When the gospel advances, the angels are rejoicing. And so you need to understand that there's no way the church is protected the way it is in certain places without the protective work of angels. Do we need to pray to them now and say, "Oh, please angels protect us." No. God gives the commands. There's also churches like the church right now in Nigeria just being absolutely decimated by horrible persecution. And God is in his sovereignty. For reasons we can't fully understand all the time, is allowing that. And he may protect one region right now. And another is being martyred. And we do know that martyres receive a crown and a blessing. And so in that, on the other side of eternity, even though it's painful and horrible now, they're receiving great reward in glory. But we must understand the humility on our part to recognize God that we are protected that angels would encamp around us that you would give your angels charge over us. And for however long you choose to allow us to minister and freedom and safety, all praise glory and honor be yours. And then for those who are suffering, they're being ushered into glory with their Savior given their reward. And in that, we can still celebrate that they have experienced their faith now becoming sight. Angels are involved in all of it. And then you have the future role of angels. In the end times, they play dramatic roles. They're going to announce judgments. They separate the righteous and the wicked. They'll proclaim the everlasting gospel and they'll accompany Christ in triumph. After judgment, angels will continue to glorify God forever. And their role will shift from warfare to worship. And they're not the center of it all. Christ is. And so just like C.S. Lewis once warned about demons and devils, he said, there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race, meaning the human race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. The same can be said about angels. Our fascination in angels must never overshadow our faith in Christ. Angels are mirrors. They reflect the majesty of the one who made them. And so as you go about your week this week, remember, you're not alone. Heaven's armies are real. God's angels are on your side. His purposes are unfolding. And the same Lord who commands the angels to protect his people has promised to return with them one day in glory. And so worship the Creator, not the creation. Trust the Lord of hosts and not the Lord's hosts. I hope this episode was helpful and I really just can't thank you enough for your support and your prayers. As you think about your own stewardship and your partnership with Christian Resource Ministries, I'd love for you to consider joining our gospel patron community. If the Lord is used for the gospel in your life and he's put it on your heart, doing so helps us continue to provide sound doctrine for everyday people in multiple languages around the world. And so for more information about how to partner with us financially, you can go to forthegospel.org, click give and you'll see our end of your fundraising goal and ways to get involved. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel. [Music]