Angels!
Matt 28: 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
How we love to read the Christmas and Easter stories, and hear of the multitudes of angels, that exist, and that are sent here to help and protect us.
A few verses that are of great comfort to me are:
Ps 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
Ps 68:17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.
Ps 103:20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Mt 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Mt 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Mt 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mt 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
Mt 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Lu 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.
Lu 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
Lu 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Lu 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Ga 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Col 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Heb 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
Heb 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
Heb 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
It seems then that angels guard and protect us, minister to us, help us in the great commission in bringing people to Jesus, they worship, they are holy, the perform heavenly ministries on our behalf, and on behalf of God, they rejoice and bear witness to salvation and God’s covenant, and they separate between holy and profane, evil and good.
I am reminded of the following story, regarding the present day ministry of angels in the gospel:
John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, “Who were all those men with you there?” Paton knew no men were present–but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station.
Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 18
This is by no means, and exhaustive study, just a simple exhortation to be aware of the ministry of angels around us. One morning in devotions I heard Holy Spirit whisper to me: ‘I am alerting my church to my end time ministry of angels!”
In today’s reading, we see a glorious angel made visable at Jesus resurrection, with a message from God to the church! Obviously angels are so glorious, that Paul had to instruct us not to worship them, but they can bring to us, messages from God.
This is the direction I feel impressed to lead you in prayer for today:
‘Father God, thank you for the host of heaven, your mighty angels! I ask that you alert me to their end time ministry, and that I work with them in your perfect calling and destiny for my life. Any messages you have instructed them to bring to my life, I receive right now! I believe I receive their ministry, help, protection, guidance, deliverance, and separation from all that is unholy in my life, in your name I pray Lord Jesus, Amen.’
