Behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Matthew 4:11

 Recommended Reading: Luke 24:1-7

Every aspect of our Lord’s life was intersected by angels. His birth was announced by angels; they ministered to Him after His temptation; and He spoke about them in His teachings. In the Garden of Gethsemane, an angel comforted Him in His distress. They rolled away the stone and announced His resurrection, and they were present when He ascended into heaven. The Bible tells us that when He returns, He will be accompanied by angelic hosts.

If Jesus so needed His angels to assist Him, how much more do we need constant angelic help! When we get to heaven, we’ll likely be surprised to learn how much angels had to do with our earthly journey. What a blessing to know how much God cares for His children, using angels. Dr. Jack Graham wrote, “The same angelic presence and protection that enveloped Jesus Christ at all points along his earthly journey remains in service to those who love God here and now.”¹

Take a moment right now to ask God to send His angels to watch over you today.

It is a whisper-thin veil that separates the natural from the supernatural, meaning divine activity is all around us.
Jack Graham

1. Jack Graham, Angels (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2016).

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You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:6, NIV

 Recommended Reading: Romans 5:1-8

Army Pfc. Garfield McConnell Langhorn, twenty, a devout Christian, was trapped by enemy soldiers in Vietnam. When an enemy grenade landed in front of him and several wounded men, Langhorn didn’t hesitate. He said, “Someone’s got to care!” and he threw himself on the explosive device, absorbing the blast and saving his follow soldiers. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor.¹

The Bible says, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8, NIV).

In the Old Testament, Jesus occasionally showed up as the Angel of the Lord, but the New Testament begins with Him actually becoming human, that He might die for us. Think of how you’d feel if you were one of those saved by Pfc. Langhorn’s sacrifice. We should surely feel something akin to that kind of gratitude when we remember what Christ did for us because He cares for us so much.

In love, the Son of God literally gave Himself for me. This puts in personal terms the great transaction of Calvary.
J. Oswald Sanders

1. Katie Lange, “Medal of Honor Monday: Army Pfc. Garfield Langhorn,” DOD News, January 16, 2023.

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And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.
Exodus 14:19

 Recommended Reading: Exodus 14:13-22

In the Old Testament, an angel that appears from time to time is different from all the others. He’s called, “the Angel of the Lord.” He has characteristics that seem to be divine. And, yes, they are divine, for the Old Testament Angel of the Lord is the manifestation of God before Christ came at Bethlehem. It is the second Person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ Himself. When you read about the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, you are likely reading about God the Son Himself.

Christ is eternal without beginning or ending. But when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, He began the process of also taking on humanity, of becoming both God and Man. After His birth, the Angel of the Lord disappears from Scripture. He is now the Son of God who lived among us and gave His life for us.

Jesus inspires our awe whenever we see Him in either the Old or New Testament. He deserves our loving worship.

What we see in the angel of the Lord is brought to a culmination in the person of Jesus, who draws near to humanity in order to draw us near to God.
Carissa Quinn

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Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet.
Luke 16:22, NLT

 Recommended Reading: Luke 16:19-23

Some people mistakenly believe we become angels after we die. The Bible nowhere teaches such a thing, but it does tell us that angels will accompany believers on their journey to heaven at the moment of death. In His story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus said that when the beggar Lazarus died, he “was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). In other words, the angels escorted him to be with Abraham and all the rest of God’s children in the heavenly places.

It’s normal to be apprehensive about dying but knowing Jesus as Savior turns the experience into an adventure. Death isn’t a drop into darkness. It’s a quick journey into the presence of Christ and our loved ones with angels as chauffeurs, bodyguards, and companions.

As you anticipate heaven, remember none of us will take the journey there alone. The Bible says that angels escort us to heaven. What a comforting truth!

Death for the Christian cuts the cord that holds us captive in this present evil world so that angels may transport believers to their heavenly inheritance.
Billy Graham

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Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.
Revelation 5:11

 Recommended Reading: Hebrews 2:14-16

Eschatology is the study of the last things, and the most eschatologically focused book of the Bible is Revelation. And guess what Revelation mentions more than any other book of the Bible: angels. Angels are mentioned in Revelation more than seventy times.

While there are many reasons to anticipate a future in heaven, one is often overlooked: the opportunity to witness the reality and presence of the innumerable angels who have served God and His people for eons. We may even encounter an angel that was sent to minister to us in a time of need! God through Jesus Christ has taken away the fear of death for all who belong to Him (Hebrews 2:14-15). Just as God has a fiery destination prepared for “the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41), so God has prepared a wondrous destination for His angels and for those who belong to Christ (Hebrews 12:22).

If you belong to God through faith in Christ, your future is with God and His angels in heaven. Thank God today for that promise!

Why shouldest thou be afraid to die, who hopest to live by dying!
William Gurnall

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Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith.
1 Peter 5:8-9

 Recommended Reading: James 4:7

While lions no longer roam the plains of the Middle East, they did in biblical days. And Peter used the lion as a picture of Satan. Lions roar to intimidate their prey and competitors, but Satan intimidates in other, more subtle ways.

The apostle Paul pointed out that spiritual warfare is not a matter of physical armaments and conflicts, but a battle over truth—the realm of thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). That’s how Satan attacked and intimidated Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He replaced God’s truth—“You shall not eat…lest you die”—with a lie: “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:3-4). He intimidated Adam and Eve into believing a lie, and they died spiritually. Jesus said that Satan is “the father of lies” (John 8:44, NIV). His primary weapon against Christians is to persuade us to believe lies about God—that He is not good, forgiving, loving, or faithful.

When you are tempted to doubt God or His truth, you are being tempted by Satan. Resist him and stand firm in the faith.

It is the oldest stratagem of Satan to disfigure the truth by misrepresentation.
Iain Murray

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All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.
Matthew 4:9

 Recommended Reading: Acts 20:19

This verse is the key to understanding the motive of Satan and the origin of evil. The devil desires to be worshiped as God. Professor D. Edmond Hiebert wrote, “In his ambition to assume the place of God, Satan is mastered by a consuming passion to receive worship as God. That master passion was revealed in Satan’s bold offer to invest Jesus with authority over the kingdoms of this world on condition Jesus would worship him.”¹

Our Lord’s response was, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Matthew 4:10).

We may never desire to be worshiped as God, but that’s at the heart of the attitude of pride that drives much of what we think and do. God desires humility. We’re to serve the Lord with all humility (Acts 20:19), putting on “tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12). Psalm 147:6 says, “The Lord lifts up the humble.” And Peter assures us that God gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).

Every day resist Satan by living in humble obedience to our one, great, true God.

All the cunning of the devil is exercised in trying to tear us away from the Word.
Martin Luther

1. D. E. Hiebert, The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol. 5, Merrill C. Tenney, ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010).

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NOVEMBER 10, 2023

His mighty angels.
2 Thessalonians 1:7

 Recommended Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10

While swerving to avoid another car, Pastor John Boston struck a utility pole in Columbus, Ohio. A live transformer crashed into his car, sending thousands of volts of electricity into the vehicle. Even touching the car was dangerous. The vehicle burst into flames and began melting all around the pastor. His seatbelt was stuck, and the door wouldn’t open. Suddenly, a stranger walked up, opened the door, pulled the pastor out of the car, and helped him to a safe place just before the car exploded. Then the stranger suddenly said he had to leave, and he was never seen again. Even the emergency responders wondered if the stranger was actually an angel.¹

When we’re in a dangerous situation, God may choose to use angels to protect us from harm. He has many other methods, of course. We know He loves and cares for us, and He can certainly dispatch angels whenever He pleases.

In times of fear, let’s trust God to protect us however He chooses to do so. It might involve an angel, and we might not even know about it until we get to heaven.

I don’t think angels come to us with wings and white robes shining lights. I think they come as help and that’s what I had that day.
John Boston

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He will send His angel before you.
Genesis 24:7

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 34:4-7

The blind songwriter, Fanny Crosby, wrote the words to “Blessed Assurance” after hearing the music her friend, Phoebe Knapp, had written. The second verse says: “Angels descending bring from above, echoes of mercy, whispers of love.” This happens in two ways.

First, the angels we read about in the Bible thrill us. Consider the Nativity angels who brought the news of Christ’s birth and who proclaimed: “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14). Every Christmas, children around the world don angelic garb and repeat the thrilling news. Some of our favorite stories in the Bible involve these mysterious creatures called angels.

Second, angels are still active, ministering to us in ways that are usually beyond our ability to comprehend. Psalm 34:6-7 says, “In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him” (NLT).

One of the ways God uses angels in our life is to strengthen and encourage us. Thank Him for the strength and encouragement He brings into our life every day in countless ways.

When you’re sleeping, children fair, angels keeping watch are there.
Matthias Barr

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

But while [Joseph] thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 1:20

 Recommended Reading: Daniel 10:1-19

We have questions to ask and decisions to make; we pursue familiar biblical means of decision-making: prayer, biblical principles, counsel, and more. But one thing we don’t often consider is that God might use an angel to direct us.

Think of Joseph when he learned that his betrothed, Mary, was pregnant. A good man, Joseph intended to end the engagement quietly so as not to bring shame upon Mary. But an angel came to him in a dream and told him to go ahead with his marriage to Mary—because her pregnancy was of divine origin. That angelic message led Joseph to marry Mary and become the earthly father of Jesus. Or consider Daniel: For three weeks he prayed for understanding, and then an angel appeared and told him the delay was due to spiritual warfare in the heavenlies (Daniel 10).

Make allowance in your decision making for the ministry of angels. Directly or indirectly, seen or unseen, they are commissioned by God to help you.

Angels will never be kings. They will always be servants.
Andrew Bonar

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For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Colossians 1:16

 Recommended Reading: Genesis 1:1-5

In the world of physics, entropy is a measure of disorder or randomness. For example, if we fail to apply purposeful energy in our life or to our property, disorder and decay—entropy—increases. The opposite of entropy is purpose and design, sustained by the application of energy and power.

When God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), He did so ex nihilo—“out of nothing.” From chaos and darkness (Genesis 1:2), He brought forth order by His own design—the order we observe at all levels of creation. Paul summarizes God’s approach to everything by saying, “God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). God’s purpose is also reflected in His creation of angelic beings: angels, archangels, seraphim, cherubim, angels of the Lord, mighty ones, hosts of heaven, and more. 

Take comfort today that you serve a God of order and purpose and that includes the hierarchy of His angelic servants.

I meditate on the blessed obedience and order of angels, without which no peace could be in heaven, and oh that it might be so on earth!
Richard Hooker

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Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Luke 15:10

 Recommended Reading: Luke 15:8-10

Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch Christian, often spoke of salvation as the “decision that [makes] the angels sing.” Whenever she led someone to Christ, she was aware of rejoicing taking place in heaven.

Of the Gospel writers, Luke refers to angels most often. He relates Jesus’ parable of the woman finding her lost coin. She called her neighbors to rejoice with her. Jesus said, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (15:10, NIV).

Think of the moment you received Christ as your Savior. Perhaps you weren’t aware of it, but your decision was celebrated with joy and singing among the Lord and His angels.

Angels are intrigued by salvation and rejoice when a person accepts Christ as Savior. When anyone comes to Christ, let’s rejoice like the angels in heaven.

The angels of heaven rejoice over sinners that repent: saints of God, will not you and I do the same? I do not think the church rejoices enough. We all grumble enough and groan enough: but very few of us rejoice enough.
Charles Spurgeon

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Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
Psalm 119:18

 Recommended Reading: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Angels figure into the teachings and practice of every major religion. Thus the world is filled with ideas, definitions, and depictions of angels ranging from chubby cherubs to warriors to messengers—and they can’t all be accurate. So, as with all questions theological and practical, we turn first for answers to the authoritative Word of God.

As with the existence of God Himself, the Bible doesn’t spend time defining angels. Instead, the Bible takes the existence of angels for granted. That is, we learn about angels by noticing their roles and relationships with God and with people. The authors of Scripture may be surprised by the appearance of angels at times. But they are never surprised by their existence. Perhaps the best example of the assumption that angels exist is in Hebrews 13:2 where we are told that angels, appearing as humans, may walk among us. Only the Bible gives us such practical advice and examples about the reality of angels.

The Bible is not a book about angels, but it gives ample evidence concerning who and what they are. If you want to learn about angels, start with Scripture.

The Bible assumes, rather than asserts, the existence of angels, as it does the fact of God Himself.
C. T. Cook

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And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.
Revelation 4:3

 Recommended Reading: Revelation 4:1-11

Solomon and Jesus Christ, the world’s two greatest teachers, used a figure of speech called the simile: the comparison of two unlike things by use of the words “like” or “as” (Proverbs 26:2; Matthew 13:45).

The apostle John also used the simile with great effect in Revelation. Because he saw so many sights in his vision that he couldn’t describe, he continually used “like” to paint a picture his readers could understand: “The first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking” (Revelation 4:1). When John saw God in His glory seated upon His throne, all he could write was that He was “like a jasper and a sardius stone.” And the rainbow circling His throne was “like an emerald.” The reflected brilliance of the “unapproachable light” in which God dwells (1 Timothy 6:16) can only be pictured by the brilliance of beautiful and precious stones.

The next time your eye is caught by the light of a precious stone, let your heart be caught by the glory of God.

Let us be exhorted to exalt God alone, and ascribe to him all the glory.
Jonathan Edwards

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Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
Revelation 21:1

 Recommended Reading: Revelation 21:14-27

In 1897, the obituary of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was published in a New York newspaper. The only problem was that Mark Twain was very much alive! He cleared up the confusion in a note written in May of that year: “James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness. The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

Sometimes an exaggeration doesn’t tell the whole story. That happened when the queen of Sheba heard what she considered to be outlandish reports of King Solomon’s glory in Jerusalem. When she visited the king, however, she found that Solomon’s kingdom exceeded what she had been told (1 Kings 10). Some people think what the Bible says about the new heavens and new earth is an exaggeration (for example, the lavish ornamentation described in Revelation 21:18-21). You may think God is exaggerating at times (Ephesians 3:20), but He’s not. Heaven will be like nothing you’ve ever seen.

There are no exaggerations in heaven, only truth beyond our earthly ability to comprehend.

Scripture repeatedly makes clear that heaven is a realm of unsurpassed joy, unfading glory, undiminished bliss, unlimited delights, and unending pleasures.
John MacArthur

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If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, “I am going to the Father.”
John 14:28

 Recommended Reading: Philippians 1:19-26

An old hymn says, “I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad; I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.” That song was on the mind of a man visiting the British expositor Martyn Lloyd-Jones who was dying of cancer. The great preacher had become too weak to speak, so he communicated by nodding his head or gesturing. The friend suggested Lloyd-Jones accept medications that would make him more comfortable, but Lloyd-Jones wanted nothing to dull his mind. The friend said he was grieved to see Lloyd-Jones lying there “weary and worn and sad.”

That was too much for Lloyd-Jones. Rousing himself, he mustered his energy and whispered: “Not sad! Not sad!”¹

Death can’t hold us in its grip when we know heaven awaits us. Jesus was speaking not only for Himself but for His followers when He said that if we loved Him, we would be glad that He was going to His Father. We naturally want to hold our loved ones close to us for as long as possible, but the Bible says that going to be with Jesus is “far better” (Philippians 1:23). Even at death’s door, we sorrow not as those who have no hope.

Do not hold me back from the glory.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones

1. Philip H. Eveson, Travel With Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Leominster, England, Day One Publications: 2004), 116.

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And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
Revelation 21:4

 Recommended Reading: Revelation 7:15-17

How would you define pain? Since 1968, the most widely used definition of pain in clinical settings is the one set forth by pain researcher Margo McCaffery: Pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever and wherever the person says it does. In other words, no one can tell another person that they are not in pain. Pain is as unique as the individuals who profess to experience it.

Think about any pain you may be experiencing now—relational pain, physical pain, emotional pain, or spiritual pain. Regardless of the kind of pain you are experiencing now, it will “soon” be over. The Bible says that in the New Jerusalem “there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Whatever kind of pain you feel today, an eternal day is coming in which you will feel it no more if you live in the New Jerusalem. Every God-designed need and longing of the human spirit, soul, and body will be met completely in Christ.

Let today’s pain lead you to tomorrow’s pleasure in heaven.

The greatest good suffering can do for me is to increase my capacity for God.
Joni Eareckson Tada

https://www.davidjeremiah.org