About Angels

Here are a few thoughts which I hope you’ll find helpful.

(i) We must start by acknowledging our limited understanding.

(ii) We should ground our thinking in God’s Word.

(iii) We should recognize that it’s difficult to know where to draw the line between solid exposition of God’s Word and “interpretations” that move beyond God’s Word, even if they pay lip-service to Scripture.

(iv) Our chief focus of attention should be on our Saviour.

(a) The angels in heaven find their greatest joy in seeing people coming to the Saviour (Luke 15:10).

(b) God’s Word says this about Jesus: “Let all God’s angels worship Him” (Hebrews 1:6).

(c) We must take care that we don’t make too much of angels. When John started to worship an angel, the angel stopped him, and said, “Worship God!” (Revelation 19.10).

(d) We must never forget that a good angel became a bad angel (Satan), and he has caused endless harm ever since! Jesus will never change His nature from good to evil. He is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8) – the sinless Son of God.

(e) When we take our eyes off Jesus, and pay more attention to angels, we’re asking for trouble. A fallen angel (Satan) is always ready to seize his opportunity to take us even further away from Jesus.

(f) We must remember Jesus’ words, “Judge not that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). Even when we’re seeking to take our stand on God’s Word, we’re not always able to say, “This is from the Lord. That’s not from the Lord.” What we should always be doing is pointing people to Jesus, inviting them to learn of Him as they read God’s Word.

When we speak about angels, we should pray for (1) confidence in God’s Word; (2) humility when we offer our own interpretations of His Word; and (3) the wisdom that is able to tell the difference between the two!