Running To Win

Guest (Male): Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. The world of the spirit, unseen millions of angels hover all around the people of God, serving those who are the heirs of salvation. Today, another chapter in the basic teachings of the Christian faith, a chapter on angels. Stay with us.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, where are we heading today as you talk about the angels we appreciate?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: In your intro, you alluded to the fact that there are angels that surround the people of God. I think that if my memory serves me correctly when I say this, the passage of scripture that enables us to say that is Hebrews chapter one, verse 14. That angels, well, yes, they do minister to those who are heirs of salvation. I think that if we knew everything that angels did for us, we’d be very surprised. That’s why I speak on the topic.

At the same time, I want to emphasize that you don’t get that special attention unless you are born again. There’s a difference between those who are religious and those who have been transformed by the power of God. I’m holding in my hands a book entitled The New Birth. It’s written by a man by the name of Peter Mead, who is a minister in England. Thoroughly scriptural, helps us to understand what the new birth is. For a gift of any amount, we’re making it available for you. Here’s what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. And thank God for angels.

I begin today with a question. Do angels exist? Yes, for sure angels exist. 108 times in the Old Testament, 165 times in the New Testament, there are references to angels. There’s a reason why there are more references in the New Testament than to the Old Testament.

Angels exist. And it’s not just the Bible that confirms it, though that would be enough for us. It’s the fact that people have had experiences with angels. There’s no doubt that they exist. John Paton, who was a missionary in the Hebrides, tells the story of natives that were going to kill him and his wife. They were in this hut and they prayed all night.

The natives eventually left. Later on, when one was converted, he asked them what happened that night. And he said, "Your whole hut was surrounded by men in shining armor and with swords." Yes, angels exist.

Today we live in a day of overbelief in angels because of the revival of ancient Gnosticism. We find that people are into angels. I took time about a week ago to stop at the Transitions Bookstore just to look at their whole shelf of books on angels. I didn’t buy any. I was just interested in the titles. How to connect with your guardian angel, and how you can get angels on your side, and how you can access these entities. Our nation is flooded with the idea of angels.

This is a revival of ancient paganism. Paul says in the book of Colossians that there are those who venerate angels. He says they go into detail about experiences that they have had. Doesn’t that happen today?

Some of the stories we hear about dramatic rescues and so forth could be from the angels of God. That’s a possibility. But we live at a time where one of the most popular shows was Touched by an Angel. The basic plot line was always the same. A person is in trouble, but what happens is an angel comes along and this angel helps resolve the crisis and everybody feels good.

But it’s loaded with cultural theology, a non-Christian view of man and God with angels out there just trying to do all kinds of things for anybody. That’s not the picture of the Bible.

Today we’re going to limit our discussion to what the Bible teaches about the good angels, the angels that we appreciate. The Bible also refers to them as the elect angels. They were preserved from falling by a divine decree.

Normally, I ask you to turn to various passages, but we have so many of them today, many of them I’ll simply refer to or to quote, that I’m not going to ask you to turn to a passage. Now, that’s unusual because I want you to bring your Bibles to church. But today we’re looking at the whole story and we’re doing it so briefly that I simply want you to follow me.

First of all, a couple of words about the nature of angels. What are they like? Well, they are spirit beings. Do they have a body? Yes, but it’s a spirit body, if I can put it that way. That means that they are not omnipresent. They can’t be everywhere at once.

When the angel Gabriel was communicating with Daniel in Babylon, he could not at the same time have been in Jerusalem. Later on, he shows up in Jerusalem and speaks to Zechariah and then, of course, in Nazareth and he speaks to Mary. He can’t be in all those places simultaneously, though evidently, he can fly from one place to another rather quickly. So, yes, they have spirit bodies. They were created by God. They were created by God and they will exist forever, even as we will exist forever.

Next question is personality. Do they have personality? Yeah. Generally, it is said that the test for personality is mind, emotion, and will. Intelligence, emotion, and will. Do they have intelligence? Oh yes, they can communicate. They can talk.

See them there on the stone that they rolled away from the sepulcher on resurrection morning. And they’re communicating, they’re talking. Of course, they have intelligence. In fact, a passage that is very critical to our message today is 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 12, where it talks about salvation and then it says, "These things the angels long to look into." One translation says, "They desire to look into these things." Yeah, they have intelligence.

Do they have emotion? Yes. 38th chapter of Job, sometimes angels are talked about in the Bible as stars. And it says that at creation, the morning stars sang together for joy.

If I could use my imagination, God lined up the hundreds of millions of angels that exist before he created the worlds and he got them all in line and says, "Just watch this." And God spoke the word and the stars were created and the planets were created, and no wonder they shouted for joy. Luke 15:10, they rejoice over one sinner who repents. There’s a cosmic celebration in heaven every time somebody gets saved on earth.

Yes, they have emotion. Do they have a will? Yes, they have a will. Satan, who was the most glorious of the angels before he fell, he had a will and seven times he says, "I will." The next message on this series on doctrine is entitled "The Devil Whom We Abhor." You want to be here for that and invite your friends to hear the message about the devil.

But today we continue to talk about the good angels, their form of appearance. Well, they can come in different ways, all subject to the will and purpose of God. Joseph is wondering whether or not he should marry Mary to whom he was engaged. And an angel appears to him in a dream and says, "Joseph, don’t fear to take unto you Mary as your wife." And then the angel explains that she is of child with the Holy Spirit.

So they can come in a dream. But most often, they have the ability to actualize themselves and when they do, most often they look like an ordinary human being. Abraham entertains three men and they even eat with him and afterwards he realizes that he has entertained angels.

That’s the basis of the statement in the book of Hebrews where it says, "Don’t neglect to invite strangers in because thereby some have entertained angels unawares." You have also they come and they rescue Lot from Sodom. In fact, they look so much like men that the men of Sodom, you remember, wanted to sodomize them. And so that’s their appearance oftentimes that they take as human beings.

What about the ministry of angels? What do they do? Well, they certainly worship God. You have the Seraphim, which is one of the categories of angels. There are a number of categories and you have them, the actual word is "burning ones." They are before the throne and they are giving praise to God. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory."

But the Bible says in Hebrews 1:14, which would be a key text for a lot of what I have to say today, that they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who are heirs of salvation. Do you realize that angels under God’s direction become our servants?

So we should not be surprised that they are frequently in the Bible messengers. In fact, that’s what the word angel means. It means a messenger. So God uses them to communicate and to send messages to people.

For example, we’ve already talked about Gabriel going to Zechariah and later on to Mary. And you have the story of the incarnation. An angel comes to the shepherds and they, of course, are terrified. And he says, "Fear not, for unto you is born today in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord." And so they’re communicating a message.

The Bible says in Psalm 103 that angels are spirits who obey the voice of God’s word. Much of the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation was actually communicated to Daniel and to John by an angel. So angels are used by God and they are used to communicate messages.

What about protection? Yes, three stories in the book of Acts talk about the work of angels. First of all, the apostles are in jail and an angel comes and opens the door of the prison and says, "Go stand and speak in the presence of the people." That’s in Acts chapter 5.

But I think one of the most dramatic is Acts chapter 12, where Peter is in prison and he is sleeping. And the angel of the Lord nudges him and wakes him up and says, "Get your clothes on." I was reading that this week and I thought, of course you’d have to tell him to do that because Peter was totally terrified. If an angel came to you and you were sleeping, I think he’d have to tell you. He says, "Put on your sandals, put on your cloak, and take your robe as well," the angel said.

And then the doors open. And I can visualize this. It’s like shopping at Dominick’s and you’ve got your cart and you just begin toward the door and suddenly they just open like that. And the doors of the prison open and Peter walks out.

Later on, he goes to where they are having a prayer meeting and there is a girl who comes to the door and she can’t believe it. She said, "It is his angel." And the people didn’t believe that God had answered their prayers and gotten Peter out of prison.

Paul was in a difficult dilemma. He was having a trial where his own life was at stake and he says, "An angel of the Lord came and stood by me and gave me this message." So yes, God uses angels to connect with us, to communicate with us, and sometimes to bring messages to the human race.

And of course, they are there at our death. As we shall see, they are very interested in salvation. It was about 30 years ago my wife and I were coming from Canada. Rebecca was driving the car and I was thinking that I might be having a heart attack. Didn’t really have any pain, but I was finding it hard to breathe suddenly.

I thought, "What if I die here in the car?" And the first thing I thought of was, "Yes, I’ll see Jesus, but also I thought I will see angels because in the 16th chapter of the book of Luke, it says that when Lazarus died, it was angels that carried him into Abraham’s bosom." They’ll be there at your death.

Do you know that when the five missionaries were martyred in Central America way back in the 1950s—and the Auca Indians, I believe, are the ones that martyred these five people—did you know that a whole choir of angels showed up? The way this was discovered is not at the time that the murders took place, but when some of the murderers came to saving faith in Christ.

They were invited to the homes of other missionaries. And these missionaries were playing records of Christian music and choirs. And they said, "You know, that’s exactly what we heard when the killings were taking place. All throughout the trees, we were hearing this music." Angels showed up, no doubt in my mind, at the killing of these five wonderful young missionaries.

I have a nephew who was killed in a car accident. 15 years old, he’s in the back seat of a car with another young woman and they are studying the book of John. They are memorizing the book of John because they’re on their way to a Bible quiz. In the front of the seat, the passenger side, there’s a young mother who is kind of supervising the young people in their Bible quiz.

And then there’s a young driver. They hit a patch of ice, truck hits them, all three are killed except the driver. We’re told that when it happened, there was a man that was there at the scene of the accident but he disappeared and nobody saw him again. Can’t be sure, but possibly an angel showing up at the scene of an accident and angels guiding people who die and taking them all the way to heaven.

Yes, angels become our servants. They are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Now, they also execute judgment for God. Angels do have a ministry to the unsaved.

You look at the Old Testament, they’re involved in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. They’re involved in the plagues of Egypt, winning battles against the Assyrians when one angel killed thousands in a single night.

You look at the book of Revelation, you discover that it is angels that are involved in judgments. They hold back the judgment and then, according to God’s good timing and his word, they release the judgments on the earth. And when Jesus returns, angels will return with Jesus.

I read the passage last night. 2 Thessalonians, when Jesus comes, it says, "with his mighty angels who shall execute judgment on those who know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." No matter where you go, no matter where Jesus goes, let me put it that way, angels are there with him. All part of the works of God on this planet.

So you have that. You have Michael. Michael is warring. First of all, he has an argument with Satan over the body of Jesus. We’re not sure exactly what that is about, but that’s interesting because the Bible says that Satan had the gall to slander Michael, God’s angel.

Can you imagine the nerve that he has? And he is a slanderer. If you are a slanderer, you are doing Satan’s work. That’s really what the word Satan or Devil means, slanderer. And he has the gall to do that. And Michael didn’t hurl an accusation against him, but says, "The Lord rebuke you. I’m going to let God take care of this." This is found in the book of Jude.

And then later on in Revelation chapter 12, there is war in heaven and Michael and his angels are warring against the dragon and his angels. And they are cast down and they are very, very angry, these defeated angels, because they know that their time is short. And those angels that we’re going to talk about in another time, they are the ones who will be confined forever in a place called Hell. And the Bible says that there is torment there day and night. That’s where they are headed.

Angels are very interested in us. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians, Paul says women should make sure that they are in subjection to men. That’s the way in which we can contemporize the context. He says, "and do it because of the angels." You read that and you say, "Well, why would angels be interested in the way in which we worship?"

Well, they have seen insubordination, they have seen rebellion, and so they’re very concerned that a church service be done decently and in order. I have absolutely no doubt that angels are here today observing us worship God.

In fact, we’ve had people who were demonized, people who have evil spirits, who find it difficult to come into the church. I had somebody say, "I could get as far as the steps of the church, but couldn’t come in." Now, why would that be, unless perhaps God in his grace were to give us angels here that make this an entirely different place? It’s not a substitute for the presence of God, don’t get me wrong, but angels observe our worship.

Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer and all that we can do is contemplate what I’ve just said. We don’t understand at all. There are many mysteries, many questions go unanswered, but all that we know is this: angels were created to give God glory and they have an interest in us and our salvation.

And speaking of our salvation, I’m holding in my hands a book entitled The New Birth. I want you to visualize this. One day, when Rebecca and I were in Europe, we went to cross the border from Germany into the Czech Republic. And through a series of providences that I don’t have time to explain to you, a man was helping us find what we were looking for. And because I know a little bit of German, I said to him in German that he had to be born again. And he answered, "I have been born once, why do I have to be born twice?"

Well, you and I know exactly that that’s the question that Nicodemus asked. I believe that this book, The New Birth, written by Peter Mead, is going to clarify a lot of issues. You are not born again just because you’re baptized. You’re born again of the spirit through faith in Jesus Christ.

If you have a pen or pencil handy, and I sure hope that you do, here’s how this resource can be yours. Go to rtwoffer.com. That’s rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. We had better know what the new birth is because Jesus said, "Unless you are born again, you’ll not enter the kingdom of heaven." Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Make sure that you are born again of the spirit. It’s the way to the kingdom of God.

It’s time again for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question you may have about the Bible or the Christian life. Today’s question, Dr. Lutzer, comes from a listener in Connecticut. He asks, "Is it true that the Apocrypha was never part of the Jewish canon in Palestine?"

And the answer to that question is yes, you are right. It was never a part of the Jewish canon. It’s important to realize that when Jesus was here on earth, the Bible that he referred to, the Old Testament, had exactly the same books as our Old Testament. Now, mind you, they were rearranged differently. For example, 1st and 2nd Kings, that would have been one book, the same with 1st and 2nd Chronicles, etc. So it might have appeared as if there were fewer books, but the content was absolutely the same as our Old Testament.

The Apocrypha, these books which arose some of them before the time of Jesus, were written in Greek and they circulated. And the reason that they made some claim to canonicity is because Jerome, he was very reluctant to translate them, but he did translate the Apocrypha and they appeared in the Latin Vulgate.

Now, throughout all of history, hundreds of years, the church recognized that these books were not authentic, they were not breathed by God. Jerome himself spoke about them as being a kind of second canon, a secondary canon.

But then later on, during the time of the Reformation, these books were used against Luther and so forth. And then the church officially recognized them, that is the Catholic Church recognized them as being fully authoritative. So that’s why there is this disagreement that still exists until this day. But the bottom line, the answer is yes, the canon of Jesus is the same as ours, the one that he referred to, and the Apocrypha was never a part of the Old Testament canon.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Dr. Lutzer, for that lesson in history. If you’d like to hear your question answered, go to rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That’s 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running To Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. In Bible times, angels were messengers to God's people, and they've been charged with a task of watching over believers. In this life, we’ll never know how often they’ve protected us from harm. Next time on Running To Win, more about God's angelic host and how they care for us. As we learn more about the angels we appreciate, we’ll discover that they are far from being aloof and uninvolved. Running To Win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running To Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.