Entertaining Angels
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Entertaining Angels
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Heb 13:2
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some have unwittingly entertained angels.
I understand that this scripture means being hospitable and accepting of people who you don’t know and in doing so you will unknowingly help out angels. But tonight I don’t want to refer to this passage in context I just want to use the phrase; entertaining angels.
The bible teaches us that angelic beings are much more powerful than humans and they are much more intelligent and wiser. Many spend their time just surrounding the throne of God in heaven while many others minister to the children of God day and night.
I have this distinct feeling that angels in general tend to look in wonder at these pitiful little beings created by God Himself, filled with the breath of life, and tend to scratch their heads in amazement at what they see.
I think we actually put on a great show for the angels.
§ Angels understand what validates them
I thought it might be a good idea if we just take a look down at ourselves from their level and perspective and see just how we might be entertaining them. We are going to look at three areas of our lives where they might be entertained.
Luke 1:18-20
Here we arere scurrying as humans and bustling and sweating and doing everything we can just to earn validation. We want people to notice us and appreciate us and like us. This isn’t evil but we must start seeking it in the right place.
There are always those kinds of people who get around acting tougher than life and saying stuff: “I don’t care what people think about me!” They’re the worst at this kind of stuff. These kinds of people are so addicted to impressions of others it completely repulses them and they reject it all together like a plague and so they walk around like they are untouchable yet they are still completely different when no one is watching so clearly they do care.
God isn’t frustrated at this because it’s actually a desire and craving He placed in our hearts but it must be directed in the right place…
And so we look at these awesome beings that carry unfathomable power and we see how they understand where true validation truly comes from.
Gabriel comes with a message for the Priest. (A minister who is supposed to know God) The bible offers this guy the title that very few have ever attained. He is called blameless. So God shows up by the means of His angel and tells this bible college graduate that He is going to be a dad and that the son he’ll bear will have a very important assignment to carry out.
The bible tells us that the priest freaked out and was greatly troubled with fear. Once the angel delivers his message the priest asks him: “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
Can you for a minute imagine the angel’s disgust when he gets questioned by this petty, impotent, finite human?
I can just see Gabriel thinking to himself: “What did he just say??? I think I'm going to slap him or maybe punch a hole in his abdomen and start tying his ribs in a knot. I am actually being questioned by this mortal being.”
Just think for a minute what Gabriel could have done to show Zacharias that he was legitimate.
He could have:
- Stamped his feet and caused the world’s greatest earthquake followed by its biggest ever tsunami.
- Taken out his sword and sliced the tallest mountain in half.
- Picked him up flew 10 000 metres into the air and threatened to drop him
- Taken the moon out of orbit and spun it on his finger.
But do yo know what he said? Do you realise what this awesome being that the book of Hebrews calls a flame of fire responded to this pesky little humanoid?
His response was: “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God.”
That’s it… That was His response.
And yet here we are working, labouring, fighting and struggling, desperate for a little validation and we have missed it entirely.
There is only one, true form of validation. In the words of my favourite preacher Leonard Ravenhill: “No man is greater than his prayer life!” He also says “Come on you men who pomp on by and strut your stuff, Where’s your stamina to pray?”
Have we missed it completely? Christians today have ran down the path of trying to get appreciation by how much they have achieved, how many accomplishments they have attained.
And I am convinced that the angels watch on and just scratch their heads in utter amazement as they see a people who are called by Christ’s name and have all mercy to approach the very throne of grace, yet spending all their time and resource trying to get other people, who are just as fallen as they are, to validate them.
“This must be a joke.” One angel says to another.
“I’m not so sure.” the other replies.
“They look quite sincere.”
“How sad it is when our accomplishments become the grounds for our confidence!” Ravenhill.
Just think of it, all the power of the Triune Godhead becomes accessible to you when you bend your knees in prayer and YET here we are running around still trying to be accepted by others.
You could have the kind of anointing of Elijah who said in 2 Kings “If I am a man of God than let fire fall from heaven…” and it did and consumed 51 soldiers not once but twice. Yet we just want cash in that kind of power and authority so we can be liked.
And I'm not saying that we seek God for those benefits. But who would agree that when these benefits are a pretty awesome side-effect we look all the more ridiculous to the angels watching on.
Christians seem happy to gossip, slander, swear, lie, and defame even God Himself as long as you feel validated. As long as you feel like ‘a somebody’, as long as you belong.
Gabriel simply said “I’ll tell you what makes me so right; I have not come from the filthy parties, profane movies and detestable nightclubs you humans frequent just to be liked. I don’t have a degree from a university or any of the credentials that you pesky humanoids spend all your energies trying to earn. I don’t drive the hottest car; have the cutest boy/girl friend. I don’t run the fastest; sing the finest or dress the coolest… But I have come from the very presence of the Living God!”
§ They know the power & Authority we have
There are spiritual battles occurring all the time around us in a realm we can’t see. Angels and demons do battle and they do battle over us. There is a little story in the book of Daniel where this powerful man of God prays and God sends His answer through His angel. The bible is not specific as to what this angel’s name is but many scholars assume it to be our friend Gabriel.
Daniel 10:11-14
What is clearly outlined here is the powerful example of angelic forces and demonic forces doing battle. Gabriel (supposedly) was withstood by the prince of Persia and big brother Mike had to came and bail him out of his trouble. This was a turf war.
Angels themselves are an incredible force:
- Angels have the strength to destroy 180,000 soldiers in a period of one night.
- They have the ability to withhold and pursue demonic strongholds in the realms of the spirit.
- They carry the title Host of Heaven which means an army or able warriors.
- They have wars to engage in that we know not off and yet one of the most entertaining things for an angel must be to look on while a puny little, impotent, weak human forgets what authority they have.
There is a little passage in the book of Luke chapter 10:18-19 that says And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
Yet when these beings of immense power and might look over the balcony of heaven and watch Christians continually being pestered by the devil and his hordes of demons without victory they must be absolutely baffled.
For the angels it would be like watching a full grown man being attacked by a vicious mosquito. The man becomes overwhelmed and begins to cry and screams for help while at the same time he has all the power he needs to eradicate this tiny pest.
There are Christians being attacked by the devil and they are crying out to God for help when all they have to do is engage that authority that’s in His name and mess the devil up. You should be hurting him so bad that he doesn’t even want to hear your name mentioned around him. He should shudder to think that you; as small and powerless as you are, have been given all authority over him. And every time he thinks about you he sobs like a baby because he remembers how you whooped his little tale right back down to hell.
Christians must realise that the name of Jesus Christ is so powerful that when you use it to bring a demon to its knees it’s like killing a fly with an atomic warhead.
And it’s not because our enemy is impotent and small and hopeless. Angels know what it takes to defeat a demonic onslaught yet it’s about the strength of our weapons.
“For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” 2 Cor 10:4
You have no lack for power and yet the angels mush watch in horror when God’s people who have been given all authority over the enemy keep getting enslaved and beat down by the tiniest little distraction.
§ They understand your high calling.
Do you realise that we have been offered the greatest assignment of the gospel ever in the history of the world.
There are 6.6 billion people alive today on planet Earth. Around the time of Jesus there was an estimation of between 150-400 million people alive.
In fact there are more people alive today than there ever has been at any time in history.
And Here’s a scary thought… God chose you…
He could have had, Apostles Peter, James, john or Paul, Martin Luther, John Wesley, Charles Finney, Evan Roberts, Smith Wigglesworth but He actually wanted someone special.
Oh sure they’re special they did exploits that would blow your mind but there is something about you, there is something peculiar, something unusual, something curious, something divine!
There you were in heaven existing only in the heart and mind of God and He would look at you and think about you throughout every age and era and say:
“Hmm No, I have something extra special for you, you will just have to wait.”
And than He looked at you and finally said; “You ready?”
It would be like the biggest sporting event of your life and your team is down by a huge margin and you haven’t even tasted any of the game yet. Than the coach looks at you and smiles; “You ready?” momentarily you think; “This is a joke right? Why would he save me for this moment? Why now? Why not earlier when it was easier? I’m far from the best player, I'm can’t do half the things others can, why would He choose me now?”
But this is no joke… He wanted you in the game now!
Look at it for just a moment:
Era & Population:
Ø Apostles era = 300 million
Ø Martin Luther and Reformation era = 500 million
Ø Wesley’s & Whitfield’s era = 750-900 million
Ø Finney’s & 2nd great awakening era = 1.2 Billion
Ø Robert’s & Wigglesworth’s = 1.6 billion
And when the task seems almost insurmountable and the odds have multiplied by 6 times since Evan Robert’s day than He calls you???
He could have had any of them but He still choose you!
He calls you by name (Craig) and beckons you into His presence and says “It’s time. I have waited 6000 years of human existence and the time is right. I’m giving you the last portion, the last battle, the last push, the last surge and the last outpouring. Now is the time for the final hour and you have been selected. Not by a committee not by a panel not by a board but by Myself. Go run the race, fight the good fight and remember I am with you always even to the end of the age. You are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus
And now here you are purposed by the heart and mind of God to be alive. No accident like the evolution scientists would have you believe. You are not some random chance mutation of amino acids forming together haphazardly with the correct peptide bonds creating protein molecules the building blocks of life.
Your foundation and origins are in the Mind of Christ the Creator and Sustainer of all life. He holds eternity in His hands and He is the giver of life. He is the Salvation to all who would come unto Him and seek it.
He calls you by name and thrusts you into life without a memory of the eternal place from whence you came.
This is no accident. He, God almighty doesn’t look at His bench and you in the eye and yell out Jonathon Edwards I need you now!!! You sheepishly walk over and whisper into His all Divine Ear: “Oh, Lord, I'm real sorry to have to tell you this but my name is actually Craig Ireland.”
“WHAT!” booms out of very the mouth that fashioned the universe and all that’s in it.
“Than where’s Jonathon Edwards, I had him scheduled right now to lead the great awakening and see hundreds of thousands saved?”
“Oh, you sent him into the game back in the 18th century.”
“NOOOOOO!!!! He screams it’s all ruined my plans are ruined. I had you planned for back than to live a life of relative insignificance and than weasel your way finally up here to heaven after you had done not all that much.”
Now you know that isn’t happening… YOU ARE CALLED TO THE HERE AND NOW TO BRING ABOUT THE GREATEST AWAKENING THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN AND KNOWN AND TO BRING A FIRE UPON THE EARTH THAT NO MAN CAN FATHOM!
This is your only chance, your only shot.
This is it; so how will you spend it?
You were hand picked to be a part of what I believe to be the final surge of the Gospel and how have and will you use this gift of life.
The ultimate finale between good and evil. The battle that raged from the Garden of Eden is coming to a close and the curtain is beginning to fall on this futile human existence. The bible teaches us that God isn’t slow as some count slowness and He isn’t delaying but He is patiently waiting till all have an opportunity to know Him because He isn’t willing that any should perish.
And this is what angels are baffled and amused by, not that He chose you, because they can see from where they’re sitting that you are the complete package. They can see that in Him (And only in Him) you have all authority, power, dominion and can do all things through Him. He has offered you the most precious gift one could offer and that’s His name and through it His integrity. These angelic beings are stunned and perplexed why you still treat it like some petty little game.
And so there you have it. We do in fact entertain angels after all.
How could they not be taken by all our constant striving for validation and acceptance? We look for justification from every place but the secret place.
They find themselves with fixed eyes staring at our absolute lack of understanding of what power we hold in the authority given in the name of Jesus
And they must stand baffled by the utter disrespect we hold for eternity. It’s quite a show we put on isn’t it?
Comments:
Craig C. Ireland
Blessings
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