Angels have a specific ministry to believers. I will never understand why so many believers say that angels do not minister to believers, because the Bible says that they do. The writer of Hebrews says of the elect:

It could not be said any clearer!

I think part of the controversy is that believers tend to shy away from talking about angels, because there have been some excesses and some unscriptural practices involving so-called angels. So many of us go to the other extreme and do not even talk about them. However, the Bible says that angels have a ministry to believers.

Some people think that every believer has a guardian angel, because Messiah Jesus, speaking about children, says:

He seems to be saying that every child has an angel in heaven, as do all of God's people:

Actually, I believe that individuals have a lot more than one angel assigned to them. [The way I drive, I must have a whole legion of angels, and I can prove that — just follow me when I drive -sic!]

I believe it is clear that angels minister to believers. Do you know why? Angels love us. For example, an angel appeared to Daniel and he said:

Angels love believers because God loves His children, and angels love what God loves. The reason I am saying this is because:

• The service of angels to believers is not unwilling.
• The service of angels to believers is not forced.
• The service of angels to believers is not under coercion.
• The service of angels to believers is voluntary (they choose to).

God the Holy Spirit serves our spiritual needs, and God's angels fulfill our physical needs. How do the angels fulfill the physical needs of believers? Through the following ministries:

1. Watching

Angels have a specific ministry of watching believers, as follows:

Apostles

For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. (1 Corinthians 4:9)

Paul said that angels were watching the apostles (those who are sent from God — not through the agency of man). I think the angels were saying Wow, look how God transformed these ordinary, sinful men into apostles. And then what did the angels do? They praised God!

The Church

To make men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which is from the beginning of the world has been hidden in God [the mystery of the church] who created all things by Christ Jesus; so that now the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God. (Ephesians 3:9-10)

Paul is saying that the godly Principalities and Powers (angels who have different rankings) in the heavenly places are watching the Church (the entire body of those who have a relationship with Messiah Jesus).

The angels have an advantage over us — we cannot see them, but they can see us and they are watching us. The angels are probably saying Look what God did in that man's life — he is perfect and he is wise. And what is the angels' response? They praise God!

Women

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul, speaking about a woman being under the authority of her husband, says:

For this cause, the woman should have authority on her head because of the angels. (1 Corinthians 11:10)

To understand this, we have to remember what the angels know. At one point, there was complete harmony in the universe, because all the created beings were subject to God. Lucifer (the highest of all creation) rejected God's authority; therefore, disharmony and sin entered and corrupted the universe. So the angels know very well that true happiness and fulfillment comes from submission to God.

God has placed the husband in a position of authority and headship (not ruling as lord and master, but as protector) over his wife. I believe the angels are watching the woman for biblical submission to her husband, and when that happens the angels praise God since they know submission [ultimately to God] is the path to true happiness and fulfillment.

 

2. Revealing

Angels have a ministry of revealing information that God sends to believers. For example, most of [the Books of] Daniel and Revelation consist of information that God, using the angels, sent to men.

In Daniel 9, Israel is held captive in Babylon, and Daniel is reading the prophecies and thinking It is about time this ends. So Daniel starts praying for answers. Who do you think brought Daniel good news and hope? It was the angel Gabriel who not only gave answers to Daniel's specific question, but he also gave a panorama of the end of the ages.

While I was still speaking in prayer, then the [angel] Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. He gave instruction and talked with me and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding." (Daniel 9:21-22)

 

3. Guiding

Angels have a specific ministry of guiding believers.

In Acts 8, Philip (an evangelist of the Good News of Messiah Jesus) is ministering up in the area of Samaria when an angel appears and directs Philip to Gaza:

"Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza." (Acts 8:26)

Philip had an appointment [set by the Lord God] with an Ethiopian eunuch (a court official of Candace, queen of Ethiopia), to expound Isaiah 53, which the eunuch had been reading. The end result was the eunuch believed Jesus is the Messiah.

I do not know about you, but I have never had an angel [in angelic garb] appear to me and direct me to a specific place. But I wonder how many of the coincidences of life are really due to an [unseen] angel that has stepped in and guided somebody to do something [and the person may be totally unaware of it]? For example, how many automobile accidents have been averted because angels have guided the drivers to safety?

 

4. Protecting

Angels have a specific ministry of protecting believers.

In And Out Of The Fire: In Daniel 3, we meet three Jewish men, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who are exiles in Babylon and who are over the administration of the province. The ruler of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, builds a big, golden image, and then he gives a choice to all peoples, nations, and men of every language: You worship the image or you go into a furnace of blazing fire. Okay, that is a fairly simple choice.

At the sounding of the instruments, all the peoples, except Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fall down and worship the image that Nebuchadnezzar had setup. Now Nebuchadnezzar is enraged because of their disobedience, and he orders the fire in the furnace to be made seven times hotter than usual, which is so hot that the flame of the fire slays the guards who carry up the three godly men to the furnace. Then because Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego are all tied up, they fall into the furnace of this extreme fire.

Nebuchadnezzar, who is still in rage and anger, looks down into the furnace and sees four men loose and walking around in the fire. He asks the advisors How many people went into the furnace? And the advisors answer We counted three. [Nebuchadnezzar's advisors were not very sharp; he had asked for advisors who could count at least to four and look who he got -sic!] Nebuchadnezzar says:

Nebuchadnezzar calls the men out of the midst of the fire, and again, there are only the three men. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego are not only not burned, but there is not even the smell of smoke on their clothes. What happened? The Most High God sent an angel [or possibly the pre-incarnate Messiah Jesus, but certainly an angel] to protect His children.

In The Lion's Den: In Daniel 6, we read of one of the first sting operations (entrapment maneuvers). Daniel was a Jewish exile in Babylon and one of the three commissioners appointed over the satraps to protect the holdings of King Darius. Daniel was definitely an upstanding and holy person; even the king considered promoting Daniel over his entire kingdom. In an effort to find a ground of accusation against Daniel, the other commissioners and satraps convinced King Darius to establish a statute, which was according to the law of the Medes and Persians (irrevocable). Knowing Daniel worshipped his God, they devised a statue that forbade anyone to worship any god or man other than the king, or face a penalty of 30 days in the lion's den.

Though Daniel was well aware of that signed document, he continued his daily praying and giving thanks before God. When by agreement the men caught Daniel in the act of praying to his God, they informed King Darius of Daniel's disobedience, and of course, Daniel was cast into the lion's den [though it greatly distressed the king to do so]. Early the next morning King Darius went to the lion's den and asked Daniel Are you okay? Did your God deliver you from the lions? What did Daniel say? O king, live forever! [That is not what I would have said — O king, die tomorrow, preferably yesterday.] Daniel said:

God sent one of His angels to protect Daniel.

You might be saying Oh, but that is just Old Testament stuff; that does not happen anymore. Well, it just so happens that the New Testament gives an account of when God sent one of His angels to protect Paul —

Ship Wrecked, But Life Sustained: In Acts 27, Paul was on an Alexandrian ship sailing across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome, Italy. Near the Crete shoreline, a dangerous Euraquilo (a violent, northeasterly wind that mariners fear) came up and was so intense that the wind whipped the sails and threatened to tear the ship to pieces. Obviously, the sailors did not have any good choices; however, they did manage to lower all of the sails, which left the ship totally at the mercy of the wind and water. Do you know of what the sailors were afraid? They were afraid that the northeasterly wind would drive them next to the coast of Libya where there are reefs (the area remains a graveyard of ships even today).

Things looked pretty bleak. The sails had been lowered, the boat was about to tear up, the sky was totally dark — they could not see the sun and they could not see any stars at night — they were [apparently] drifting toward the graveyard of ships near Libya — Libya was a problem then too — and they were about to run out of food. So Paul does what any of us would have done; he stands up in the middle of this life threatening experience and he says Men, be of good cheer! [You know what they were thinking He inhaled -sic!] Do you know why Paul was reassured? He said that God sent His angel, and he told me "Do not be afraid. You will lose the ship, but no loss of life."

And that is exactly what happened. The ship ran aground and stuck fast into a sandbar where all the men were able to reach land (the island of Malta) safely [and just in time for a snakebite -see Acts 28]! God sent His angel to protect Paul [and those with whom Paul was sailing].

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