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I wholeheartedly believe in angelic beings. I believe in a spirit world that while usually not visible to the normal eyesight, exists just as real as what we can see around us. There are two reasons why I believe in angels: 1). Because God's Word says that they exist. 2). I have seen them with my natural eye on at least three occasions in my life.

If you believe that the Bible is God's Word, then you must believe in angelic beings. They were created by God in the beginning and they were created with the primary duty of serving Him and carrying out His orders, particularly in ministering to humanity. In fact, Hebrews states of angelic creatures:

In scripture we find angels bringing messages from God to humans such as Daniel and Mary and Joseph. We find angels such as Michael fighting against demonic forces. We find angels assigned to watch over children and then to follow that person throughout their life. Such things are scriptural principles about angels.

We know from scripture that angels do not marry. We know that they can appear in the likeness of a man but do not have flesh and bones and blood that get sick or hurt. In that way angels are said to be "a little higher than man" in that they do not have our physical limitations. We know that they can fly. We know that they can travel from the spirit world into the visible and from earth to the throne room of God at whim. We know that they are organized with some watching over individuals, some assigned to churches, some assigned to specific assignments and others praising God continually in heaven. We know from scripture that there are "ranks" and levels of power and authority within the angelic realm. Angels are in subjection to the rule over them which are in turn subject to God.

Let me take a moment and dispel some myths -- some things that are NOT scriptural although they are commonly believed about angels today. For instance, there are no halos, at least not mentioned in the Bible. Halos are the invention of Catholic painters of the Renaissance. When people die, they do not become angels. Angels are another separate order of creation from humanity. We will live forever but in a glorified body, not as a spirit being only. In that sense, you could say that humanity begins life a little "lower than the angels" but ends up "a little higher" because the book of Hebrews says that Jesus did not take upon Himself the nature of angels, but made Himself a "little lower than the angels" and then when He was resurrected in His glorified body, He ascended far above angelic beings. Since we are to be like Him it follows that we must understand that we will never be like "angels" but will be uniquely resurrected in a glorified body.

Many people believe that angels are robots, unable to think for themselves and serving God because they cannot do otherwise, but that is not true. Angels have the choice to obey or disobey. The devil is the fallen angel, Lucifer, who decided that he should be praised rather than God. The Bible mentions other angels that disobeyed God separate from Lucifer and his angels. Angels can choose NOT to serve God. The difference is that if they do, they are forever lost and destined for hell. The scriptures say that hell was at first created as a place of torment for the devil and his angels. Only because of man's sin did hell "enlarge itself" to hold the unsaved. Angels can choose to rebel, but when they do, there is no hope of repentance or restoration.

Also contrary to popular opinion, there are no voluptuous "sexy mama" girl angels. Angels are neuter in gender although they always appear in scripture manifest as a male figure, that is probably because they are representing God who is always referred to in the male sense. There are no such things as little naked baby cherubims that float around in the clouds with strategically placed ribbons over various parts of their bodies. That's a Catholic invention also. And there is no such thing as cupid shooting your heart. If you lust, it's your flesh doing so, and don't blame it on the angels!

The biggest myth about angels is that we can command them around. Nothing is further from the truth. Go home and try it: drop your toothpaste on the floor and command your angel (who is really there) to pick it up. If it does, then understand that it is in rebellion to God because it is supposed to only follow the will of God and God does not do things for us that we can do ourselves. If an angel obeys your command then it is and evil angel and you should be aware that it is only doing so to lure you into trusting it!

We CAN pray to God and ask Him to send His angels to guard us and watch over us. That's scriptural, but He has to make the command. We must request God to do so. And in like manner we are forbidden to worship angels in any form because they are a creation of God who is the only One who is to be worshipped. We are also forbidden to obey angelic commands if they go against the written Word of God. If an angel commands you to do something against the Word of God, then it's the wrong kind, and you don't want to obey it and end up where it's going!

The interesting point about angels to me is that every time God begins to move and do great things among humanity, there is an increase of angelic activity and an increase of human awareness of that angelic activity. When God was dealing with Jacob, we find that he saw a vision of many angels ascending a ladder that stretched to heaven. When God decided to send deliverers to Israel in the form of Gideon, Samson, and others, He sent an angel to tell the good news. When God was getting ready to free Israel from the hand of Persia, we find angels visiting Daniel to bring him messages. When it came time for the birth of Christ to come we find angels visiting Zacharias, Mary, and Joseph. When it came time to begin Jesus' ministry, we find the devil appearing to tempt Him and then angels ministering unto Him. At Jesus resurrection we find angels present announcing the news. At the start of the Early Church we find angels opening prison doors and an increased activity. When God begins to move, then the angels follow suit to perform His will!

Maybe you haven't thought about them for many months, but I want to remind you that there are angelic forces even here right now and the spiritual world -- although not seen with human eyes -- is very, very real.

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I have noticed in studying over the past few years that the Apostles and Early Church were very aware of angelic beings and the spiritual world that was around them. And while most of probably realize that Paul and Peter and such believed in angelic activity, there are some surprising statements in scripture that people largely ignore. Maybe it's because they've never studied the verses to really understand what they are saying, or maybe it's because they don't really understand the implication of what the scripture is saying. Either way, I want to redirect your attention to our text in Ephesians chapter 3:

Verse 10 is the attention grabber. It says that the revelations of God and His power have been given to us so that the principalities and powers in heavenly places -- in other words, angelic beings -- might "be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God!" The Greek word "by" there means "to be an agency that teaches or brings to another." The Greek word for "church" means "an assembly" and is always referred to a group of believers meeting together to worship and learn about God. So understand what this verse is saying: God has given us His power and might and wisdom and Spirit so that we could meet together and essentially educate the angelic beings about the ways of God! Simply put, the church -- whether it be a particular meeting or referring to the individuals that make up that body -- is supposed to be an angel's education and learning center! One of the purposes of the church of God is to teach the angels about their Creator.

You and I don't think about that much do we?! At least I don't. If you would have asked me to name the top 100 reasons why we should come together and have church before I began studying this subject a few years ago, and nowhere in the top 100 things I would have named would have been "to teach angels." But Paul said that one of the primary purposes of the church is so that the heavenly beings can "know" "the manifold wisdom of God."

And this was not just a fluke accidental slip of the quill because Paul obviously thought about this quite often. He wrote in our other text to the church in Corinth:

"for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men." The Greek word for "spectacle" there is literally theatron which is where we get our word "theatre." It means exactly what it sounds like it means: "an audience room where people watch a performance." Paul said that the Apostolic church was a theatron, a live drama that was being played out for the benefit of those watching on and that those watching and learning were "the world," "men", and -- get this -- "angels." One of the reasons that we live is to educate the angels through our actions.

Furthermore not only Paul was aware of this and thinking constantly about this but the Apostle Peter was as well. He wrote:

After talking about the how we had received the Holy Ghost, Peter said "which things the angels desire to look into!" The angels watch the Spirit-filled church with interest and "desire to look into" the things that we have been given by God. The church exists for "an angel's education!

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Think about what the Word of God is saying! If the angels need to watch us to learn what they need to learn, then there must be something that they can learn only from watching us. At first thought that might seem foolish, but actually there is quite a bit an angel can get educated on by watching a Spirit-filled Christian.

The angels already knew that God was powerful because they witnessed creation and how that God created everything out of nothing. They know that He fills the universe. They know that there is only One God who created everything and that sits upon one throne in heaven. They know such things because they have witnessed it for themselves. They know that God is holy and perfect and righteous. They already knew that God was a God of judgment and wrath, having witness Lucifer flung from heaven and the creation of a hell to be his final destination. Those things the angels knew already.

But without humanity, they would have never learned that God is a merciful God! They look on in awe when God forgives a sinner who has hurt Him through disobedience and takes him as His own son. The angels look on with wonderment because they've never learned that in heaven. It took earth and the stage of humanity to reveal that to them! They didn't know that God's mercy "endureth forever" until they saw generation after generation of humanity forgiven and serving God.

The angels didn't know about God's love until Calvary. How could they see that God has a love greater than even imaginable if He had no one to love? But in awe the angels watched the One God of glory step off of the throne of heaven and be born as one of His lowest creation, humanity, and then give that very life in order to reach out to a sinful creation that had done nothing but hurt Him and reject Him. There was a great education taught that day to the angels and that's why the scripture that we quote so many times but never think about completely says:

"Seen of angels." They knew that Jesus Christ was the One God of glory come in flesh, but the fact that He did what He did was teaching the angels something. They learned that day that the God who was powerful enough to create the universe and cast Lucifer from his place was also the God who loved enough to pay the ultimate sacrifice of suffering and humiliation and death so that the relationship between Him and His lowest creation could be as it should be again! Jesus came to earth to be "manifest in the flesh." He came to be "preached unto the Gentiles" and believed on in the world" but don't forget that He also came for the reason to be "seen of angels." His dying on the cross so that you and I could be saved and live forever with Him free from the bondage of sin was an angel's education also! God was revealing Himself to the angelic hosts! Without us, they would have never known!

And so the angels have watched in awe and great interest as not only the God of Glory submitted Himself to Calvary but also as He humbled Himself to come live inside the bodies of His lowest creation. When Jesus first told His disciples "I have been with you, but shall be IN you" not only did it shock the disciples, but it shocked the angels. The great God of Glory would care enough about this lowly creation that He would live among them and then live in their very being, involved in their very everyday life!? It got the angel's attention so much that Peter wrote they "desired to look into it!" They've seen God in heaven but never have they experienced that powerful being within them working and equipping with such power! We have received such for the angel's education!

And let me say this: could it be that what the angels view with awe and desire to experience for themselves, be things that we as humans need to be reminded of what a privilege it really is!? The Bible says that:

The angels rejoice and go crazy when one sinner repents. And yet if we are doing something wrong that contradicts God's Word and the Word of God, Spirit of God, or the man of God corrects us and we feel conviction and find out that we need to change, many of us look at that with grudging and get mad and swell up and sit in our stinking pride and sin that's destroying our relationship with God. Wait a minute! It's a privilege to be able to repent! It's a sign that God cares about us and loves us enough to be concerned when we choose a path that is leading us away from Him. If we are reproved and corrected from errant behavior that would sent us to a devil's hell, why should you get mad? It's a privilege to be able to repent to others and to God and to get things right. God could have said "humanity can be eternally lost, and I don't give a rip." But He did NOT say that and He cares enough about you to tell you the truth of what you should change! We ought to rejoice in correction and refinement and when God identifies things in our life that need to change. I said you ought to rejoice because it means that you have the privilege of experiencing God's mercy! Correction and repentance should make you happy -- it does the angels! Maybe we need to be reminded again of what God has used us to teach the angels! Maybe WE need an angel's education!

I occasionally hear people gripe about prayer and about how burdensome and hard it is to establish a regular prayer life. At times, my flesh has felt the same way. But perhaps we need an angel's education in reference to our prayer life. No angel would ever dream of showing up in the throne room of God and asking for whatever they needed because they are to come only when summoned and are to only do whatever He commands. The angels in heaven would never think about asking God to help them in something that they had gotten themselves into, or that was a personal desire or whim. But we, as the church of Jesus Christ, have an open invitation to boldly approach the throne of Grace and find "help in time of need!" He said "if you ask anything in my name, I will do it." Certainly, we should pray according to the will of God and He has the right to say "no" but not one of us have ever been spurned or turned away even though we cried out to God for help and deliverance of a situation that our own selfishness and sin got us into. Prayer is a privilege. Prayer is an awesome privilege. It's not that "I have to pray," but that we "get to pray." The angels are in awe that we have that privilege and probably shocked that we don't use it more often!

Furthermore no angel would ever expect that they would gather together with other angels and expect the God of the universe to get up off of His great throne and come join their meeting and minister to them. They are the ministering spirits. They are His servants. They would never expect that God would do that for them.

But humanity has been given a promise that the angels are in awe of. We can "meet together" and if there are "two or three" and we meet "in His name" and we "praise Him" we have a promise that the Creator of the universe and the mighty God of glory will come down and meet us there and HE will minister to US! HE will minister to OUR needs! He will give us His time and attention!

I'm preaching to you that it's an honor to come to church and worship with other believers. If you have the attitude that "I have to go to church" then you need to pray through and get an attitude change. There shouldn't even have to be a scripture about not "forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" for you to come to church. I wonder about people who take church attendance lightly and use whatever excuse for not going because they need an angel's education! It's a privilege that we could come together and praise Him! It's a privilege that He would meet us here and we could feel His presence. It's an awesome honor that the God of Glory would willingly meet and minister to US! God has intended that our times together be a time to reveal to the angel's His great power and mercy and servant hood. The angels look on with awe at the privilege that we have and I think are probably shocked that so many of us take such a privilege so lightly and so half-heartedly. They understand how special it is! Maybe we need an angel's education!

The angels are watching us! And they are also looking to us for examples of Godliness and submission. They are looking to us as examples of how they should serve God. Immediately after writing that the "angels desire to look into" our experience with God, Peter then wrote:

The angels are watching this creation called humanity that has been given such love and mercy and power to see if they will be faithful and obedient and holy as God has commanded! Surely such a creation that has been shown such extravagant love and honor and given so much would gladly serve and honor the Word of God!? Right? The angels are watching you to see if God's great sacrifice and effort in reaching you has done any good. They are watching to see if you are truly changed.

Paul wrote the church in Corinth about how that God had chosen long hair on women and short hair on men as a sign of submission to Godly authority and then wrote this:

"Because of the angels!" The angels are watching us to see if we will surrender our wills to God's! We tend to think that we must live holy and right in front of people, but the scripture says that there is also another group of creatures watching, and watching at all times. The angels know if you are for real or not. They know if it's just an act or if you are really sincerely allowing God to change you. And you are teaching the angels about the power of God through whether or not you are obedient and Christ-like at all times. What does your life when no human is around show the angels about the power of God? Does it show them that God is powerful enough to change the lowest creature of the universe and recreate Him anew, or does it show them that God cannot? The writer of Hebrews said:

We entertain angels without even realizing what we have done. Your hidden sin hurts yourself and it hurts God and will eventually hurt others, but did you ever stop to think what you are saying to the witnesses that you were probably not even thinking about? The angels are watching and God will have to punish even hidden sins that nobody knows about because the angels know and God is fair and just!

The scripture says that we entertain angels unaware. I wonder how many times that we ran into someone on the street or in our everyday business not even realizing that they were an angel learning about how much God had changed you by appearing to you and interacting with you as a normal human being? Your life is serving to educate an angel on what God can and cannot do.

Jesus told His disciples this:

He said: "preach the Gospel!" The Gospel being the life changing power and good news of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. But get this: He said, "preach the gospel to every creature." Not just to humanity. But we are to be a living witness of the life changing power to every creature on earth. The word in the Greek for "creature" means "created being" and also refers to angels! How do you preach to an angel? By obeying the Word of God not matter who is around or who is not around! By submitting yourself to His will in all things and in all situations! God designed your life to not only show others what the power of God can do but so it would also teach the angels!

And the point is this: if we live our life in such away that we are a Godly angel's education in every situation, then what other humans see cannot but help but reveal the power and might and mercy and love of God!

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I close with this: an angel's education does not stop with just the privileges that God has given us for this life. The writer of Hebrews wrote:

The world to come will not be governed by the angels! Guess who it will be governed by? Redeemed humanity! You and I were created a little lower than the angels, but like Jesus, when we get our glorified body, we will be higher than the level of the angelic beings. Paul was trying to get the church in Corinth to stop suing each other in court and was trying to get them to pick someone within the church that was wise to decide the case, when he wrote this:

Well, we didn't know that we will judge angels, but we do so now, Paul! Paul's point is that our earthly life is but a trial run for an eternity where we will rule and reign with Jesus Christ. The Bible talks about us being "kings and priests" and Jesus taught in the parables that some would rule "ten cities" and others "five cities." You need to understand that we are not living this life just to "be saved" but that our lifestyle qualifies us for HOW and in what position that we will spend eternity! In other words, my faithfulness or lack thereof to the things of God here on earth are defining my eternity and existence for forever.

Let me then end this message by throwing out a "what if." We don't know exactly what Paul meant when he said that we "will judge angels," but think about this:

The Bible says this about God:

1 Peter 1:12 says that the angels desire to look into the Holy Ghost and the revealed mercy and power and wisdom of God that humanity has experienced. If that is true, then just maybe -- just maybe it's possible that after time as we know it winds up and all of humanity is either saved or lost, that somewhere in eternity, through some way even beyond what we can imagine, angels will have an opportunity to feel the love of God and experience His mercy and His grace. I'm not talking about the devil and the fallen angels because the scripture makes it clear that they will spend eternity in torment within the lake of fire. But the book of Job says this:

The English Standard Version puts it like this:

God sees some things that even the good angels need to work upon and they desire to look into our experiences and God fulfills the desires of creation and we will one day in some way "judge angels." What if then, that when time winds up for humanity, if God will not somehow give the angels a shot at experiencing temptation and the duty to rule an earth? And that the roles will be somehow reversed with us ministering to them and teaching them?

I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'm throwing out a "what if." If it does happen that way, then what is your lifestyle and faithfulness to God after salvation going to speak to those angels? Will it be a testimony to them that they can make it no matter what imperfections and trials and ups and downs may come and that no matter how much they fall, they can get up and allow God to forgive them and change them and make it? Or will your life serve as an example to them that there is no use? If they do get a turn, will they have seen a created being that was formed "lower" than them yet who was so transformed by the power and mercy of God to make it to a "higher place!?"

The world is watching our life and that means that we are an open spectacle that should be revealing the power and ability of God for this time and age. But there's even more than just the fate of humanity that rests upon our actions and upon whether or not we are faithful to God Almighty. The angelic creation watches with awe and wonderment, this church of the Living God. This church, even this local assembly is providing knowledge about God and the future to a host of and unseen audience. We are an angel's education, let our lives show them how great a God we serve and how mighty and loving He truly is!