What the Bible Says About Angels

(Psalm 103:20) We must be very careful not to fall short of Scripture, and not to go beyond it. Angels are real, created beings, messengers of the Lord. Today we discover what the Bible says about them. Believe in angels...but trust in the Lord! (0949250224) ----more----

 

Angelology: The Doctrine of Angels

What does the Bible say about angels? In our world today, there's a great deal of speculation about these invisible creatures and who they are and what they do. And then some people on the other end of the spectrum say that's all imaginary. That's just make believe. It's like some children's fairy book tale.

It's something that was just concocted from the imagination of some person. But what does the Bible say? What does the Word of God teach about angels? In Psalm 103, verse 20, we read these words, "Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word."

I think that probably is one of the greatest summary verses on the doctrine of angels that you'll find in all of scripture because it reveals so many primary truths about them. Now there are many things we do not know about the angels. But there are a few things we do know. One is that they are created beings.

The Bible says that they are His angels. Where did they come from? They came from the Lord. And what do they exist for? Psalm 103 verse 20 answers that. They exist to do His commands. They hearken to the voice of one person. They don't come to do our bidding. Instead, they exist to do the bidding of their Creator.

Primarily, that is to bring Him worship and bring Him praise. The Bible says they are to bless the Lord. Everything they do is connected in some way to the glory of God. That's why when you talk about Satan and the fallen angels, their great sin was in detracting from the glory of their creator. Stealing from God, if you will, the glory that was due to His name alone.

Now these angels are higher than man, but they're lower than God. The Bible says here in Psalm 103 verse 20 that they excel in strength. They're greater than man. In the sense of their created abilities and yet they are not God. They should not be worshiped as God. I think there are several errors and misinterpretations when it comes to the subject of angels.

One is that some people have just outright rejected the idea of angels. Liberal theology attacks, anything that's miraculous or supernatural or invisible. They say, if you can't prove it, then it can't be. But that is totally against the principle of faith. So God's Word teaches that there are angels.

We're going to learn more about them. We can't reject them. Then, on the other hand, some people have made idols out of angels. Many people have perverted the place of angels in worship. They have exalted them to the place of a Savior to be prayed to, to be trusted in. And my friend, that's idolatry.

Colossians chapter 2, verses 18 and 19 says, Let no man beguile you of your reward. In a volunteer humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things, which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the head, from which all the body, by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered and knit together, increaseth.

The bottom line is this, the angels must never take away from the place that Christ alone is worthy to have. Now that portion of scripture in Colossians 2 also tells us a third misinterpretation of angels. Some people reject them, some people make idols out of them, and then some very well intentioned people presume to know things about them that God's word is not clear on.

Sometimes writers of fiction have assumed and attributed things to God. To angels that are not scriptural they have overemphasized the place of angels. I want to tell you this. We must not fall short of scripture, but we certainly must not go beyond scripture. Let me say it this way. We must not be unwise about what is written.

We must be wise about what is written. In other words, we must know what does the Bible say about angels. Psalm 148, verse 2, and again in verse 5, we read these words, Praise ye Him, all His angels. Praise ye Him, all His hosts. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded, If you follow the angels back to their origin, you will find the one who is worthy of worship, and that is the God that the angels serve.

As a matter of fact, in scripture, when men fell down at the feet of created beings, of angels to worship, those angels very hastily said, Stand up, get up, don't worship me, worship God. Why? Because they reflect the glory of God, and they deflect all glory. back to God. Now, what do we know about angels from Scripture?

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 First of all, we know they're real. They exist. They appear all through the Word of God. They're mentioned 108 times in the Old Testament. Job tells us that they were present at the creation. They were there at the fall of Adam. You remember the cherubim and the flaming sword guarding the way of the tree of life.

They were there when Sodom was destroyed. They were present at Jacob's Ladder. They were present when the firstborn of Egypt died. They were protecting Israel. You remember Numbers 22 from Balaam. They killed 185, 000 Assyrians and delivered Israel. On and on through the Old Testament. 

Angels in the New Testament

When you come to the New Testament, they are mentioned 165 times.The vast majority of times that they are mentioned in the New Testament, they're connected to Christ. They are connected to His birth, they are connected to His temptation, to His time in the Garden of Gethsemane. We're told in Scripture that twelve legions of angels stood ready to deliver Christ from the cross.

All He had to do was say the Word. Aren't you glad He didn't say the Word? It was an angel that rolled the stone away and announced the resurrection of Christ. It were angels that accompanied him in his ascension back to glory. So the angels are closely connected to the Lord Jesus Christ and it's very significant because it tells us something not only about their reality but about their responsibility. The word angel literally means a sent one, a messenger. 

The Role of Angels Today

So the angels were constantly ministering to Christ, but now what do they do? Now they minister to us. They are the Lord's messengers, to minister, to help believers. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 refers to this, to the angels that minister to us.

And I just want to pause today and say, what a mighty God we serve. It's not the angels that I am standing in awe of. It is God that I'm standing in awe of, that he has so many messengers, and that he loves us so much that he would use those messengers to minister to us. You'll read in scripture that the angels have a great deal of responsibility in the future, in prophecy.

And we could get into that study, but I want to just, Say today, they are real and they are doing the work of God at this present hour. Now, this is very important. They do not do our bidding. They do God's bidding. They are not with you today to do what you say. And we don't pray to the angels. No, we pray to the God who created all things and the God who created all things, uses whatever means He so desires to minister to our needs day by day.

In fact, you have someone better with you, greater with you today than any angel. You have Christ in you. You have the person of the Holy Spirit of God living inside of you. 

Trust in the Lord of Hosts

In fact, you should do today exactly what the angels are doing, and that is bless the Lord. Give Him praise and give Him glory. We might say it this way.

Believe in angels, but trust in the Lord. I believe in angels. I believe in them because the Word of God teaches me all about them. Scripture talks about their existence and their power and their wisdom. All of that, but really all that's just a reflection of their great God. Their intelligence, just a reflection of His wisdom.

Their power, just a reflection of His omnipotence. And so though I may believe in angels, my friend, I trust in the Lord. And I hope today you'll put your trust in God and God alone and know that He has you in the palm of His hand. Believe the God of the Bible. and discover what the Bible says about every question.

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