[Part One] The Flurry of Wings: God, Angels and You

“After experiencing dramatic rescues, medical miracles and other life-changing events, these ordinary people have no doubt that we share our world with heavenly spirits,” reports People magazine. Note 1

There was a time when those who believed in angels were thought of as misguided souls who existed on the fringe of society. Not any more. In just a few years a fad has become what is now called a cultural phenomenon. According to some surveys, nearly 75% of Americans believe in angels. And a good percentage believe that they have had an encounter with one.

Angelic appearances are diverse. One woman says that her celestial visitor came in the form of a “huge golden being” others tell of spirits that come in light, bestowing inner peace or keeping them from harm. Others take on the form of a man to do their good deed and then apparently disappear.

When Hilary Russel, then age 6, ran into the rolling surf in a deserted area in Miami Beach, the frantic parents thought she would drown. But a dark-haired man of about 30 years of age appeared a few feet beyond her. He just “picked her out of the water and held her in his arms.” He strode through the waves effortlessly. He put the child in her parents arms and he was smiling. When the Russels embraced each other for joy, they looked back and the man was gone. Today they are convinced that their welcome visitor was “Hilary’s angel.”

Gary Forner had set out with three volunteers to save a stranded 15 year old climber. While he was looking for a place to tie the straps for the rescue lines, the cliff edge crumbled beneath him. “There was nothing there to stop me from falling” he says. Then suddenly as he was falling 30 or 40 feet down the 90 foot drop, he felt this tremendous force, pushing him back. He even felt warmth in his heart, “Like when you’re a kid, and you get hurt and your mom or dad pick you up and cuddle you. All I could think was, ‘sweet Jesus, thank you.’” Thankfully, he was able get to a network of tree roots to climb back up. “It was either God or an angel” he says. His partners who saw the cliff the next morning agreed that “divine intervention is really the only explanation.”

Kahn-Langer was healed while having exploratory surgery for a brain tumor. When she was wheeled into the operating room, she remembered that a golden being had come to her, and to the doctor’s surprise, on the day she was scheduled for surgery, the tumor was gone. Not only was she healed, but she now has the ability to see angels. She has even seen winged spirits, one massive angel over her partner, a clinical psychologist. He in turn believes that this angel is the being who healed him many years earlier. This being had come into his hospital room and sang the Hebrew, “Hear O Israel, the Lord my God, the Lord is One.” An out of body experience convinced him that he had been touched by an angel. Note 2

What do we make of all of this? Why do angels appear to some and not to others? Why is Hollywood fascinated with angel accessories, angel ornaments and angel books? Indeed, stores dedicated to angels are springing up all over the country and the profits are, well, “heavenly.” What is going on?

What does this interest in angels say about our society’s understanding of God? Has such a phenomenon ever happened before? What do we know about angels that will help us interpret these interesting accounts? What are the implications of the Biblical teaching that there are two kinds of angels, and how shall we distinguish between them? Before we discuss angels, we must first discuss God. The reason is quite simple: our view of God will determine our view of angels. Every “angel story” carries with it a “God story;” tell me what you believe about angels and I will tell you what you believe about God.

Humanism simply does not satisfy the human heart. The Bible makes it clear that when people stop worshipping the true God they do not stop worshipping; they just change the object of their worship. Thus, as God has been eclipsed in our society, it is not surprising that people are turning toward spirituality of one kind or another. The desire is to make contact with some “higher power” or a very friendly god who can be accessed by anyone.

This new obsession with spirituality is now combined with the individualism of the West and the result is smorgasbord religion. Little wonder “Everyone believes that his own personal feelings are more important than the collective wisdom of the ages.” Note 3

If it is true, as Tozer has said, that what a man believes about God is the most important thing about him, it follows that the way we approach God reveals the kind of God we worship. In other words, if you tell me how you think God should be approached, I will tell you whether you believe in the Biblical deity or some figment of the human imagination. There are several stories in the Bible that illustrate this principle.

Cain brought an offering to the Lord that was “the fruit of the ground.” He thought that God should be satisfied with something creative, something fashioned from his own experience. Since he was a “tiller of the ground” he came to God in a way that reflected his own private interests.

Cain’s God was “seeker friendly” and just so long as one approached Him with sincerity and a loving disposition, He would be available for fellowship. This God was not narrow minded, but broad enough for people of all kinds, people with different creative ideas interests.

Abel brought “the firstlings of his flock” and he was accepted by God. Interestingly, it was not that Abel was better than Cain that he was accepted, rather it is because “the Lord had regard for his offering.” The question was not whether one man had sinned more greatly than the other (though that question is important for other reasons), but it was the quality of the offering that determined who was accepted or rejected.

In the New Testament, Jude warns against those who “go the way of Cain” that is, those who fashion their own way to approach God. He describes them as people who do not fear God, but are “caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 12,13).

Cain was rejected by God for the simple reason that the holiness of God makes it impossible for us to come to God on our own creative terms. Abel was accepted because he offered the bloody sacrifice that God commanded. “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain” (Hebrews 11:4).

The question people should ask today is: Do I approach God with a sacrifice that He will accept? Am I coming to Him in the right way? A God who accepts any sincere person, regardless of what he believes, is not the God Cain and Abel had come to know.

A similar story comes to us from the Tower of Babel. “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4).

If Cain represents a customized, individualized approach, Babel represents a societal approach, a belief that if we unite, we can get to God by climbing a ladder of our own making. They thought that if they built a tower, they would be spared from another flood. And, they could get to the heavens, if only their tower was high enough.

Instead of repenting of their sin and turning to God for mercy, they thought that they could overcome the consequences of their own rebellion by technological advancement. With meticulous plans and hard work, they could reach the heavens.

Associated with this project was astrology, an attempt to control one’s own destiny without turning to God. The religion of Babylon represents an alternative religion; it seeks to connect man to God on man’s terms.

God responded by coming down to them in judgment, scattering the people by confusing their language. God did not doubt their sincerity; He did not doubt their ability to build a tower. If they had known the Almighty better they would have understood a basic principle: every tower man builds to God comes infinitely short. Every success man has in building his pathway to God only gives him the false confidence that the goal is attainable.

God’s judgment was also an act of mercy; it forced mankind to realize that God cannot be approached according to man’s liking or design. If man is to be rescued, God must build a “tower” to earth; man cannot build one to God.

The third story takes place at Mount Sinai. God instructed the people that a mediator was needed. In fact, God told the people that they had better stay away from the mountain. The mountain was the scene of fire, thunder and a violent earthquake.

The people were warned to stay away. “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish” (Exodus 20:19:21). Then a boundary was set up around the mountain to make sure that the people would not come near and be struck dead. If an animal strayed past the boundary, it was to be put to death by an arrow or stoned to death without human hands touching it.

Modern man has no place for fear in approaching God. This is why so many reject the Old Testament; it presents a God who is woefully out of step with these enlightened times. People today want a direct encounter; they have the audacity to approach the mountain directly, just on the strength of their good intentions and personal merit.

The people of Israel were wise enough to say to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Michael Horton asks, “Can we, in our day, even conceive of a God whose presence so frightens worshippers that they beg for a mediator, knowing that if they go to God directly, they will perish?” Note 4

The Ten Commandments had just been given to Moses and Israel was dancing around a golden calf, choosing to fashion Jehovah after the gods that they had come to know in Egypt. They wanted a God with a face; they wanted to approach God in a more relevant way.

Keep in mind that the people were not worshipping a false God, but rather they were worshipping Jehovah in a false way. “We are worshipping Jehovah,” Aaron explained to Moses.

God judged the people severely for one good reason: He wanted them to know that it is not only necessary to worship the right God, but also to worship Him in the right way.

This is the great sin of our time: that anyone can approach God directly in his/her own way, without a mediator, without an acceptable sacrifice and without blood.

In the early centuries there was a movement known as Gnosticism, (from the Greek word gnosis meaning knowledge). This school of thought believed that one could have a direct experience of God and achieve secret knowledge. It was also a movement that believed that one should incorporate angels in worship.

One could indeed be touched by an angel and make contact with beings who were on standby to help mortals. In fact, angels were more accessible than God. This heresy threatened the very existence of the Christian church.

Paul the apostle sometimes referred to these people as “super apostles,” not because they were unspiritual, but because they were too spiritual, too tuned into the spirit world, and too brazen in their assertion that they had experienced God. These were the teachers with the “higher knowledge,” the ones who talked convincingly of spiritual realities. These were the people who claimed to know God and angels better than Paul did!

Many writers believe that American religion has revived this old ancient heresy called Gnosticism. If this is the case, we had better know what the Gnostics believed. Here are a few details of their ever-changing creed.

1. Religious beliefs must be brought together, with no one belief dominating over the rest. Gnosticism was a big house, with room for many different religious viewpoints. They willingly incorporated bits and pieces of Christianity with popular culture and mystical theories. Could you find a better description of where we are today?

2. Personal experience was always superior to a doctrinal creed or objective belief. “Gnostic syncretism” says Philip Lee, “believes everything in general for the purpose of avoiding a belief in something particular. In the case of Christian Gnosticism, what is being avoided is the particularity of the Gospel, that which is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to Gentiles.” Note 5

Spirituality, yes, specific beliefs, no. Religion should be all encompassing, all embracing. Christ is popular as a way to God, but not as the only way.

3. God is near and can be directly assessed. God could be found in the “inner man” available to all who would take the time to look deeply within their own selves.

4. Matter was evil and spirit was good. The self is imprisoned in the body and longs for freedom from it. Thus, Gnostics believed in “mind over matter.” Armed with the notion that matter was evil, Gnosticism attacked Christianity at its central point: The Word (Christ) could not have “become flesh.” If so, Gnostics argued, God would have become evil. Thus, the belief arose that Jesus only appeared to have a physical body.

5. This dualism, between matter and spirit led some Gnostics to the idea that strictly speaking, God could not have any contact with matter at all.

This notion that the incarnation could not have happened because God could not even have contact with matter, was combatted by John the Apostle when he wrote, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (1 John 4:2,3).

Gnostics were faced with the question: how did God create the world, and how can we have contact with Him? Thus one school of thought said this: God is accessible but He can best be contacted by association with angels.

A movie which I did not see, but read about titled: Angels In The Outfield, tells the story of an eleven year old boy Roger, whose mother has just died and whose father has now rejected him. Longing for the family he once had, he seizes on his father’s cynical remark that they will all be together again when the L.A. Angel baseball team (hopelessly inept) wins the World Series.

So Roger prays to a god he does not know, and a god of whose existence he is unconvinced, and asks him/her for help to aid the L.A Angels so that his wish becomes true. It happens, of course, and God is to be thanked for sending “heavenly angels” to help the baseball team.

Paul had a word for people who called on angels to help them! “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind” (Colossians 2:18).

What was the great danger of the church in the city of Colossae? There were those who invoked angels for protection, help and assistance. The phrase “worship of angels” could be translated, “veneration of angels” that is, calling on angels in magical invocations.

People called on angels as intermediaries of God to protect them from evil, to give them “inner light” and help them with daily affairs of daily life. Angels were called to help heal diseases and enlisted for success in business affairs.

These people did not speak ill of Christ. They just did not consider Him as the only mediator between God and man.

Devotees preferred angels to Christ because they could be more easily manipulated. Guardian angels were thought of as “good luck charms” for protection and getting things done. They were perceived to be more accessible than Christ and even more friendly.

Yes, history does repeat itself! If Gnosticism is the religion of America today, we should not be surprised that angels have made a remarkable comeback.

Anyone can be touched by an angel. Anyone can benefit from trying to make contact with heavenly beings. All this rests on a basic premise: God can be contacted without a mediator, without a sacrifice and without blood.

What are the dangers of this philosophy? What do angels know and do? What do angels think of the attention they are receiving? How do we interpret the miracle stories associated with them? To these matters we now turn.

Notes 1. People magazine, Dec. 22, 1997. 2. Ibid. 3. Michael Horton, In The Face of God (Dallas: Word, Pub. 1996), p.26. 4. Ibid., p.12. 5. Ibid., p.52.

HERE’S AN IMPORTANT CALL TO PRAYER

re a purported Presidential Crisis looming soon . . .

I’m awaiting permission to post the whole article so just this for now:

http://www.newsongfellowship.org/propheticmoments36.html

EXCERPT FROM
“PROPHETIC WORDS FOR 2011”

(This is the last few minutes of my annual prophetic word delivered at NEW SONG FELLOWSHIP December 12, 2011. To view the entire message in Quicktime video format click HERE.)

I have hesitated to publish this and have pondered carefully how I might word it in order to avoid contributing to the frenzy of fear-mongering that too often passes for the prophetic word these days. Because I value accuracy in the prophetic I don’t like to speak until I am fairly certain of what I’m hearing or sensing.

To the point: We, the United States of America, are headed toward an intense crisis at the presidential level, the outcome of which will determine the direction of this country for a number of years to come. I sense this crisis coming at or before the beginning of President Obama’s fourth year in office. I am therefore issuing an intense call to prayer because the prayers of God’s people, together with the spirit in which we offer them, will shape the aftermath of this crisis for either good or ill. It can be a wonderful and historic turning point for the nation or it can be the beginning of the shattering of our country with depths of division beyond any we have seen since the Civil War. Much depends on what believers choose to do now in the months we have in which to prepare.

Please note that I am making no political statements here. I merely point out that a crisis is coming, whatever form it may take, that it will directly affect our president and that the outcome of the crisis will be either restorative or destructive for us as a nation.

The rest of the article is at the link above.

PING TO END TIMES LIST: