The Truth About Angels #35 REAIR

The Truth about Angels! Dan, Terry, and Brian discuss exactly who angels are and what they do.  They'll teach you about different types of angels that mentioned in the Bible.  They will even discuss their individual experiences with these heavenly beings.  There are various accounts of angels in the Bible that are also discussed.   You will be inspired as you learn more about the angels that God sends to protect and to fight for you.

This episode of Finish Strong will also help you live your life with purpose, change someone’s life for the better and leave a lasting impact on those around you. Everyone starts the race... but only the Fearless Finish Strong!
 
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Transcript

Brian Roland: 0:02

Can you imagine what the shepherds are thinking though? First of one angel? I mean, that's sort of the spook them, then I'll send you the heavenly host saying and praising and saying, Wow, they had to go see what was going on. Yeah. So they followed it. They followed the star they went and turn up they saw the Christian because it says they were nearby and

Dan Wheeler: 0:20

they were like, Was it something I

John Matarazzo: 0:24

live your life with purpose, change someone's life for the better, and leave a lasting impact on those around you. Welcome to finish strong, the podcast designed to help you discover your unique purpose and develop a plan to leave a powerful legacy. Dan, Bryan and Terry are ready. So let's get started.

Dan Wheeler: 0:41

What comes to mind when you hear the word angels? Do you think of a small winged cherub like creature sitting on a cloud playing a harp? Or do you think of a large winged warrior? Well, there's lots of images. There's lots of differing opinions. And today we're going to explore what the Bible says about angels on finished strong the truth about angels. I'm Dan Wheeler, I'm joined by Terry Steen and Brian Rowland. And we have a lot to talk about. You know, we don't claim to have all the answers, guys, but we can do the research of Scripture. And Brian, first of all, who are angels?

Brian Roland: 1:26

I think that's a great question. It's not the California Angels. I know that. Yeah, I thought baseball or angels, angels. Angels are spiritual beings created by God. That's really it in a nutshell. And over in Hebrews. The apostle Paul has been attributed to writing Hebrews and TC writes in Hebrews 113, and 14 two which of the angels that God ever say, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool? For your feet? are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. So in a nutshell, we've said angels are spiritual beings that are created by God, and they're created by God to serve.

Dan Wheeler: 2:09

Yes, and we've seen that throughout Scripture, you know, the angels ministered to Jesus when he was in the wilderness. And when he was being tempted by Satan, but right there, you see that, you know, they are created beings. But Terry, are they like humans? Well, Dan,

Terry Steen: 2:25

it's so interesting, because if I remember right, the other day, we were having a little discussion on the difference between humans and angels. And, and one of you said, Well, do they have a Will we ever will do angels have a will? And we're thinking, Ah, maybe they don't have a will. But what we come up with, it was like, well, angels had a choice, whether they wanted to go with Satan, or they wanted to stay with God. So apparently, they have a well also. So that was kind of an interesting discussion. But the reality is, we can't be angels. Angels can't be us, right? Yeah. So in my discussion, or in my research, here's what I found out. That right now, we're a little bit below the angels as humans. So I found in Hebrews, the second chapter, verse seven through nine, it says, You made him is talking about what is man that you're mindful of him, and it says, You made him a little lower than the angels, and you put all things in subjection under His feet. So basically, right now, we're a little bit under the angels, we're below the angels. But the other extreme of that is found in First Corinthians six, the third verse, where it says that eventually we will be judging angels. So basically, when we leave this body and receive our new body, then we will be more or less in charge or judging the angel. So there's a quite a span of time there. And so right now we're a little below, eventually we're going to be judging them. So I've got a feeling there's a spectrum between there where there's some pretty good people that are close to being angels, you know, like my wife, she's like, almost an angel. Yes, we know that. And then there's some that are almost down to the devil range, so I guess it covers everything.

Dan Wheeler: 4:38

Well, you know, I like what you said that angels don't become humans and humans don't become angels. There's a lot of misconceptions and I've heard people say, oh, you know, now that my mom has passed I know she's watching over me and I talked to her every night and you know, they don't because come angels they're right there with with with God if they know the law. Are these their Savior? They're in heaven, but they're not angels. So that's that's a good point. There's several types of angels we read about in Scripture. The first is found in Genesis 324. And this was after Adam and Eve had sinned and the Lord drove them out of the garden. It says, after he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden Chair of them, and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. So here's an example of angels whose main job is to guard to protect Yeah, and then there we read about Sarafem in Scripture, you know, we read about them in Revelation who worship God all day and all night long. And they are equally as important. And then Brian, you did some research and I know you found out about the, the archangels that there is a bit of a hierarchy. Because you know, Michael, was a an ark Angel, right? And I'm gonna look at Jude here, Jude is only one chapter and in verse nine, it says, but even the Archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, The Lord rebuke you. So here we're talking about the Ark angel Michael, disputing with Satan about the body of Moses. It's fascinating. There are Warring Angels. And this was an eye opener to me. Reading Second Kings. Let's see 19 Verse 35. Listen to this. It says, that night, the angel of the Lord went out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. Wow, that's a warring Angel. You know, there's remember the death angel that passed through Egypt. And if the blood wasn't on the doorpost, you know, he was causing destruction. And then there's fallen angels and terror. You alluded to that. When you said they had a choice, you know, Lucifer, was placing himself above Christ at above God and saying, I'm gonna be even higher. And he was the fairest, the angel, the most beautiful, but it said, you know, God cast him out. And like he took a third of the angels with him. And those fallen angels, and I guess are demons.

Terry Steen: 7:42

So interesting that there's only a certain amount of angels that get called by name in Scripture. So you gotta wonder if the others aren't a little bit jealous. They didn't get their names in there.

Dan Wheeler: 7:54

Ya know, when I was when I was thinking about, you know, demons and fallen angels, and you know how far Satan fell. I was thinking that so many people so many Christians almost ascribe too much power to saints. And if you read in Isaiah chapter 14, that's where the story of Lucifer falling from heaven that he was the morning star, the son of the dawn, you have been cast down to the earth you who wants laid low the nation's Now check this out? Over in verse 16. This is when Satan is going to be exposed. At the end when when God totally destroys them and throws him like a fire it says, Those who see you stare at you they ponder your fate they say is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms Trumbull? The man who made the world a desert who overthrew its cities? It would not let us kept those go. This is the I think we're going to be amazed compared to Christ, he is going to seem puny and weak and small, and we have to claim authority. Yeah,

Terry Steen: 9:06

totally agree. Now there is power, he has power. In fact, you've mentioned that when you talked about Michael, who wouldn't even talk disparaging to Satan himself. He said in the name of the Lord, he, he used the Lord's authority, because that's where the true power is in overcoming Satan.

Dan Wheeler: 9:28

Yeah. Now, Brian, you know, angels do a lot of different things in Scripture. Let's talk about that.

Brian Roland: 9:36

Yeah, they do. I would think that one thing I could say that angels are for sure. Messengers are God's messengers. They serve him and when he has a message once it out, they deliver it, and they make major announcements is one of the things we read in Luke, chapter one where God sent the angel Gabriel to visit Mary until either she was going to have a baby.

Dan Wheeler: 10:02

And so there's one of the angels that was mentioned by name right, right Hebrew game

Brian Roland: 10:07

is one that's mentioned the other Michael, and, and then over in Luke two, there are the shepherds when they were in the fields, it says, Today in the town of the David, a Savior has been born to you, the angels came to them and told them that. And they said, after the angels had told the shepherds that a great company of heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to those on whom his favorite rests. So again, there was he was giving an announcement that something great was happening. So this was again was a messenger of God.

Dan Wheeler: 10:43

Can you can you imagine that night I mean, the skies lighting up the shepherd seeking these incredible heavenly beings with this major now. I mean, I, I think about that a lot. And I think it's interesting. They appeared to shepherds, you know, the most common of, of people. Yeah, that's, that's a major, major announcement by many angels. Right.

Brian Roland: 11:05

Can you imagine what the shepherds were thinking, though? First of one angel. I mean, that's about this book. And then also, there's a heavenly host, saying and praising and saying, Wow, they had to go see what was going on? Yeah. So they followed it. They followed the star, they went and cheered up. They saw the Christ show because it said they were

Dan Wheeler: 11:22

like, what was it something I ate or what what was it? I think they were pretty much in awe. Yeah, they were too.

Brian Roland: 11:29

But then, of course, giving another announcement was over in Genesis 1810. It says that Abraham and Sarah were of old age, so there was no way they were in childbearing age. But some angels visited Abraham, but they appeared as men. And well thought was interesting. But when I was reading it, it says, one of the angels was Jesus. So this is I thought, This is great. And Jesus said to them, I will surely return to you about this time, same time next year. And Sarah, your wife will have a son. So he gave them that announcement. Well, of course, they didn't think that was possible. But a year later, Sarah, she produced the sun. So there was another announcement that an angel was making and delivering the message from God. But He sent His Son to do that, to send Jesus to give that message that I thought was interesting.

Terry Steen: 12:20

And it's interesting that apparently, they can change their form. Because they appeared as a maid.

Dan Wheeler: 12:26

Yeah, that's what was interesting to me.

Brian Roland: 12:29

Well, they appear as a man here at the scene appearing in other ways to like and, and a warning over in Matthew 212, Joseph got a warning in a dream, he had a dream and an angel appeared to him, and says, Get up, take the child and his mother and escaped to Egypt, stay there until I tell you for Herod is going to search for the child and we're going to kill him. So the angels appear in different different ways. We see him as a parent, as a man, we see them appearing in dreams, we see that they've appeared just as angels as a heavenly host as they came down. So there's different ways that they appear in that. And I'm sure there's different ways that they even interact, that we don't, that we're not even aware of. What I thought was really great, though, is over in Matthew 28, to two, five, this is after Christ and the crucifixion, and he's in the grave for three days. Of course, they set a Roman soldier up there so that disciples couldn't steal the body and all there was all that they were worried about. I think God did this, just just for the those soldiers sake. It says there was a violent earthquake, for an angel, the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. I love that. He's just sat on it. But he rolled that thing back. Now Christ could have walked through there, he could have commanded angels, he could have rolled the back himself. But God sent his angel down. And so the guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead man. Well, I would think so. Yeah. And of course, he waited there until the women came in the morning, that we're going to treat the body in that and, and he told, don't be afraid you're looking for Jesus. He's not here. He has resume, which is great. But God's angels are definitely God's messengers. And yeah, sir, what else would you say they do?

Terry Steen: 14:11

Well, do you guys think you have a guardian angel? I don't think so. I

Dan Wheeler: 14:17

felt that I have and I'll talk about that later in the program and experience.

Terry Steen: 14:22

It's interesting, isn't it? Because one of the things they do is they protect. I love Psalm 91. My wife and I read it 99% of the time we take a trip before we go, we read that. And down in the 11th of the 10th verse, it says, No evil shall be fall, you know, should any plague come near your dwelling, for he shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. That is one of the most comforting and powerful scriptures we could ever have when you're talking about angels having that being surrounded by the angels, we need them. Yeah, that's a need of thought. It really, you know, another thing is that they carry out judgments. You know, they're up there waiting for their assignment to just like, we're down here waiting for our assignment, the angels have their assignments. And I was thinking about, if I can find it, and I know it's in the Old Testament, but I know it was talked about in Acts 12. But there was a time when Herod was being worshipped by all of his constituents. And rather than push that back to God, he took all that he was so prideful, he took all that worship on himself, because they were saying, It's the voice of a God and not a man. And it tells us in Acts that immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he didn't give the glory to God and He died. So there's many acts that the angels come down to help bring judgment. And then another thing would be just to praise and worship. And there are so many verses that talk about that. But you know that everything God made, was intended to worship him. The angels are no different. The Bible tells us in Revelations, the fifth chapter I looked, I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, it says there were 10,000 times 10 1000s, and 1000s of 1000s of them. So many of these angels that we're saying Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Can you imagine one day we're going to be up there to be a part of that, with the angels, shouting those same things of praise and worship to God? It's going to be incredible.

Dan Wheeler: 17:04

It's fascinating when you see all the things angels doing scripture, of course, I referred to this one in Matthew 411, about the angels ministering to Jesus, after he had been fasting, you know, st and appeared to him and tried to take advantage of his weakened state, and was tempting him and asking him to bow down and worship Him. And Jesus kept battling him with the Scripture with the word. And it says, there that then the devil left him, and angels came and attended to him. And in the king, I'm reading in the New International Version of the King James, it says, they ministered to him, ministering angels, and then comfort. Luke 2243. Now, guys, I don't know how I ever missed this all the times I've read the Bible. But do you realize when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, an angel came to him and gave him strength? In verse 42, he says, Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me yet not my will, but yours be done. And then it says an angel from heaven, appeared to him and strengthened him. Right there. So Jesus, you know, dependent on angels as well. Yes, Terry, that

Terry Steen: 18:21

is so neat, because everyone else left him. All his disciples were sleeping, he had no one else to draw a source of strength from and when that happens, God sends whatever we need.

Dan Wheeler: 18:36

Yeah. You know, those disciples reminded me of you the night before a test and we try to study and you'd be asleep and above 15.

Terry Steen: 18:46

Really, John, I was just gonna say that wasn't that pop midterm was

Dan Wheeler: 18:54

John Cox, who came to pop midterm today.

Terry Steen: 18:59

I had no idea the midterm week and

Dan Wheeler: 19:02

the fact that he hadn't been to class the whole day. Exactly. So I don't know if angels will help you in that situation. But then in Revelation 21, through three we read about Warring Angels. Boy, we've got a lot to get to. I'll read this quickly. Revelation 21 through three and I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the abyss and holding in his hand a great chain, he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil or Satan and bound him for 1000 years, he threw him into the abyss, locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the 1000 years around after that, he must be free for a short time. So Brian, we've seen all of these things do angels appear at certain times in Scripture?

Brian Roland: 19:54

Um, you know, I don't think we can actually know when they're going to appear when we've never did so. We've never seen that from from anything we've read. But we do know that again, they make major announcements and definitely in critical times, they let us know. And angels often appear to aid and minister and deliver messages, but mostly from what I'm reading. And when they appear, though, I've noticed that their actions always glorify God. They always there to accomplish God's will. So I think that is when they do appear as when they're doing Yeah.

Dan Wheeler: 20:26

Terry, are they omnipresent? Like God,

Terry Steen: 20:30

you know, they're not. They're not like God by any means. In fact, if you go to Daniel, the 10th chapter, it tells how Daniel was actually praying for a word, he wanted a prophetic word for something. And it took 21 days, and it tells us where Michael came to him. And he apologized, because he said, Hey, I've been fighting a demon for 21 days I was trying to get to you, but I couldn't. So that was just one angel. That couldn't immediately be where he was. So it took him time to fight that battle, and then get to him to tell him the word that was supposed to be told to him. So I think maybe we should keep that in mind as well for our own lives when we don't hear the answer to something immediately. That does not mean that God has not dispatched the answer for us, whether it's through an angel, or the Holy Spirit.

Dan Wheeler: 21:26

So we've talked about and I'm going to move quickly through this, why they exist. They exist to carry out God's plans, they protect they fight battles they administer. God created them at some point. But Brian, here is something that is so important, because I think a lot of people don't understand this. Are we to worship angels?

Brian Roland: 21:47

I was researching this and looking at it and I found a letter, or that Billy Graham wrote, and he was answering a lady who was asking that question, and I'm gonna read, he said, The Bible clearly teaches that angels are real, and they constantly work in the unseen ways on behalf of God's children. The Bible says, are not all angels ministering spirits that to serve those who will inherit salvation. But the Bible also clearly teaches that we aren't to worship angels or to pray to them, after God use an angel to reveal the apostle John, what was going on to happen in the future, this over revelation, John's first reaction was to fall down and worship the angel. The angel, however, immediately rebuked him, and he said, do not do it. I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers, the prophets worship God. So why should we worship angels? Well, the main reason is, because only God is worthy of our worship.

Terry Steen: 22:39

Amen. Boy, that's

Dan Wheeler: 22:40

great. I'm glad you found that letter. You know, people, I think, just want to they're so taken with the supernatural. And so but we're not to pray to angels. We're not to worship angels. But I believe it's okay to ask God to place his angels around us for protection. I often on an airplane as it's taken off, I said, Lord, please put your angels around this plane, keep the plane operating, safely help the pilots and deliver us to our destination. So I think, you know, I mean, angels are at God's disposal, right? But that's not praying to angels. Right? Have you had personal experiences with angels? I know that I have a Brian, you remember when we worked in Chicago, there were one way streets. But the bus lane would come the opposite way. In one day, I was walking into work, I had a lot on my mind about some documentary I was working on and I wasn't even thinking and I went to push off. I was walking one way and I went to push off to go left to cross the street, because I didn't see any cars come this way. And something stopped me. I mean, I had pushed with my leg. I was in motion. Something stopped me a force and a bus went right by me, I would have been killed. I fell to my knees right there because I felt like God had protected me with that angel. And then when Beth was dying, my friend John, who brought Brian from the airport that night, saw something he was acting weird. Brian and I both noticed it because he had been real talkative on the way from the airport with Brian. And then he said the next day he needed to talk to me said he saw a being. And he described this being as eight to 10 feet tall, sparkling so bright, he couldn't even look at it. It hurt his eyes. He looked away, looked back. And as I was talking, he said it appeared again right over me. And he couldn't even see again and he knows this. I said, John, what do you think it was? He goes, I'm not a spiritual guy. I'm not a religious guy, but I think it was an angel. And I said, John, I know it was because they're all around here. When Beth was getting ready to to go to heaven, but Brian, you and I didn't see it.

Brian Roland: 24:58

We didn't we missed it on there. On

Terry Steen: 25:02

that spiritual realm that angels travel in and live in, is so different than ours. It's just such an interesting thing. When we get up there, it's going to be so fun to learn the reality of all this spiritual world that we can only garner from God's word to a certain point. Yeah, one

Brian Roland: 25:24

question out there, what are we going to be judging? Are they not doing their jobs? Right? I

Dan Wheeler: 25:30

don't know. Well, we are at the end of another podcast, boy, time flies. But I think this is a real important study on angels. And as Terry said, they move in the spirit world. But sometimes people seem to get glimpses into the world and you want to be sure and join us on our next podcast, because we're going to talk about spiritual warfare. Boy, is there a lot of it going on right now? things behind the scenes, and you have to understand it. Boy, thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you next time and thanks. And remember, finish strong, keeping your eyes on God, not an Angels nylon demons keep your eyes on God and on His Son Jesus Christ. God bless we'll see you next time for another edition of finish strong.

John Matarazzo: 26:24

Thank you for listening to finish strong. For more information about finish strong and fearless faith. Check out their website ef faith.org. Make sure that you rate and review this podcast to help more people accomplish their God given purpose so that together we can finish strong