Angels Among Us, 2nd Edition

Some people today are suspicious of angelic activity and they are uncomfortable with the idea of interacting directly with angels. I can certainly understand those concerns because I shared them for quite a number of years. I knew that there were angels in the Bible, and I knew that there were a lot bible accounts of angels interacting with men. But I was also keenly aware of verses like 2 Corinthians 11:14, which says, "For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light."

For years, my concern was that if I met an angel, I would not be able to tell if it was a real angel or a demonic "angel of light." I did not want to take the chance of being deceived, so I hoped I'd never meet an angel, so I'd never be put in the position of having to figure out if it was "real" or not.

Don't get me wrong. I wanted angelic activity in my life, but I did not want to see any of them. I definitely wanted the angels of Psalm 91:11-12 to protect me. "For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone." I definitely wanted the angels of Psalm 34:7 to deliver me from harm: "The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them."

I just did not want to come face-to-face with an angel because I was afraid that the devil would appear to me as an angel to deceive me. I had devised some "test questions" to assure that the angel was really from God, but I hoped I'd never have to use them. For instance, 1 Cor. 12:3 said, "...no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit." So I figured that if I ever did see an angel, I would ask him to say that "Jesus is Lord" and the demonic counterfiet would not be able to do that.

Then I had my first experiece with a real angel in November of 2000. That angel carried the Lord's presence very strongly, because he spent a lot of time before God's throne. I knew the Lord's because I had personally spent a lot of time in it. I realized that anyone who "knew" God's presence would never mistake a real angel for the demonic countfiet, because you cannot counterfiet the Lord's wonderful presence.

Over a period of time, my attitude about angels changed, but it was still a "wrong" attitude. I started desiring to see angels and even pursuing that desire. While pursuing angels is not the same as worshipping them, it can come dangerously close. The apostle John almost fell into that trap in Revelation 19:10. An angel had just commanded him to write down a prophetic uterance. the John "fell at his feet to worship him. But he [the angel] said to me, 'See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!'"

The angels do NOT want us to worship them or to look to them instead of looking to God. They want to point the way to God, they do not want to become the object of our attention affection. That is why I am going to share a guideline with you. There are probably exceptions to this guideline, but it seems to hold for most people: you are not going to see angels when you are actively pursuing them.

Angels are God's servants and they love Him dearly. They want to glorify Him and point to Him--not to themselves.

This guideline held true in my own life. I traveled all the way to Ontario Canada (from San Francisco) to go to my friend Jim's house. I went there explicitely to seek an angelic encouter. I was in a desert place and I was hungry for a touch from God. But I somehow got the idea that meeting with His angels would solve that problem. I did not mean to seek them instead of seeking Him, but that is basically what happened to me. And that is not a good idea.

God actually dispatched His angels with a message for me while I was at Jim's house. But because I was "hung up" on angels, the angel did not come to me personally. Instead, it went to Jim, gave him the mesasge, and instructed Jim to relay the message to me.

Seeking angels is not a good idea. It is much better to seek God, and at some point, God may very well send some of His angels to interact with you. But if you put all of your attention and focus into seeking them, you are probably not going to get anywhere.

If you are thinking that you would like to build a friendship with an angel--think again. It won't happen on this side of eternity. Angels are different than us. They are perfect, having never tasted sin. They have existed since before the creation, and they have an eternal perspective. They think differently than we do. For example, an angel's main concern is to serve God and do what He says to do. Angels are not interested in pursuing personal relationships with us, they are interested in pursuning their relationship with God. They are completely and totally committed to Him, and their desire is to carry out His will.

Angels are given some latitude in how the carry out their assignments, but they only do assignments that God gives them. They don't make decisions on their own to come and visit a given person; they are sent by God and they represent Him. Angels may feel affection for those who God sends them to work with, but their actions will never be "ruled" by that affection. An angel who had been sent to bless a person at one time would not hesitate to strike that same person dead if God so directed.

There has been an increased interest in angels recently. There has also been an increase of angelic activity in the church. Many people feel this is a part of God releasing heavenly resources for a great revival. Randy Clark pointed out (in lessons 3 and 4) that God has arranged for angels to co-labor with us to advance His kingdom. In addition to being God's mesasngers and heavenly protectors, angels seem to play a role in healing the sick. I don't fully understand their role in healing, because we have also been granted authority to heal the sick. But I do know that there is more "anointing" for healing when the angels are present. I also know that when I personally pray for people, I seem more healings when God releases angels to minister with me, and they usually happen faster.

Angels seem to be playing a bigger and bigger role in healing the sick as the church learns to cooperate and work with them. In fact, there is a huge healing revival that is going on in Florida, which started on April 3, 2008. I am told that God released a healing angel for that revival. They have seen an incredible amount of miracles and healings there, and they have also seen a huge number of salvations.

There does seem to be an increase in angelic activity. God seems to be releasing His angels (and the anointing they carry) into more and more ministries, as He prepares to invade the world-systems and transform them for His kingdom.

As far as I can tell, this increased angelic activity is a very good thing, and I am glad that God is doing it. As John Wimber used to say, "It should be natural for the Church to walk in the Supernatural," and when angels are released to work with us, that ushers in the supernatural. But that also means that there is a learning curve on our part. We need to learn how to do our part without interfering with their part, so we can work effecively with the angels to advance God's kingdom here on this earth.

To that goal, I would like to end by reminding you of the charge that Randy Clark gave us on working effectively with angels. This was first presented in lesson 4, but I would like to repeat it here:

God expects His Church to work with angels to be effective. Therefore we need to learn how to work with them. Obviously we must make a place for them to co-labor with us. At the same time, we must not get wrapped up in angels and put our focus and our attention on them.

Rev 19:10 makes it very clear that we are not to worship angels or overly elevate them. John writes, "And I fell at his feet to worship him (the angel who had been speaking to John). But he said to me, 'See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!'"

We should respect angels and cooperate with them. But we should not give an angel more honor than or respect than we would give another anointed human minister.