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Bible Class will begin shortly

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Bible Class will begin at the conclusion of this song.

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God’s Angel Armies

And Other Spiritual Forces

Lesson 5 - More on Angels

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Lesson 5 - Living with Angels

Lesson Frame: We will read scripture to gain a better understanding of the work angels do in our lives.

I will focus living a life based on Biblical virtues rather than live by my feelings.

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Last Week we a reviewed our study on the spiritual realms and spirits, then jumped in head first to discuss the Holy Spirit.

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The Real Universe

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The Spiritual

“The heavenlies”

The Physical

You, your body, other people, sickness, technologies, natural phenomena, human motives and desires.

God

heavenly

hosts

souls of

the dead

Satan demons

cherubs

arch angels

principalities

angels

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The Why?

Let’s Recover the Role of Spirits in our lives so we can walk in step with the most important of Spirits -

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the Holy Spirit of God!

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How does the Spirit transform us into the Image of Christ?

I Thess. 1:5-6

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I’ve led a good life.

Have I had a good life

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I’ve led a good life.

Have I had a good life

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Virtue-based Living

Vs

Feelings-based Living

#1 - Love God

What does your lifestyle say about your view of the universe? The answer to that question will actually, believe it or not, impact your view of angels. For angels are nothing other than spiritual beings created by God to guide and govern the universe according to rightness and holiness. The universe has a spiritual architecture embedded in it by God Himself and governed by angels. To interact with angels is to live consistent with this spiritual architecture. Is the universe random and simply here for my pleasure? Or is there a spiritual architecture embedded within the universe by God Himself by which we should live? The answer, in a Christian worldview, is the second, and this spiritual architecture is guided and governed by angels. When we live virtuous lives, we live consistent with the work of the angels, and we receive their support. If we live by feelings rather than by virtue, we end up acting against the ministry God assigned to angels, and we find ourselves at odds with the very spirits sent to guide us. This is why we need to understand who angels are and what angels do.

Want to add, living a “good life” - is important, critical, but it is not all that one must do. As we mentioned last week, the number one requirement of God, is to LOVE HIM. We have to love God… and loving God means putting Him first.

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Ponder this -

ARE YOU LIVING BY GOD’S TIMELESS ORDER AS REFLECTED IN THE COSMOS HE CREATED OR ARE YOU SIMPLY LIVING BY YOUR FEELINGS? WHAT DOES YOUR LIFESTYLE SAY ABOUT YOUR VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE?

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What are Angels?

God is King of the universe. Angels are everywhere, administering His holy and orderly will.

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I’ve already argued that Westerners generally ignore spirits. But there is a sense in which Americans are comfortable with the idea of angels, especially the idea of angels helping us get what we want. This explains why there are so many movies, songs, postcards, and the like about angels in America. But often we think of angels more as sources of entertainment or magic lamps who give us what we want. Angels are actually God’s engineers, guides, and guards overseeing both the architecture of the universe and its governance. There are thousands upon thousands of angels. Angels are everywhere, always administering God’s holy will. Think of angels as employees of the King who are constantly carrying out his administrative will. A number of Scriptures mention the work of angels, as we will see. But their vast presence in the universe is reflected in such Scriptures as Colossians 2:8-15, Isaiah 45:12, Psalm 82:1, Daniel 7:9-10, 1 Kings 22:19, and Job 1:6.

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Angel

Messenger

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God’s Hierarchy of the Heavenly Realms

God

↓

Cherubs and Seraphs

↓

Thrones, Powers, Rulers, and Authorities

↓

Archangels

↓

Angels

↓

Humans

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REVIEW

At the top of God’s hierarchy is God himself—who

is the only non-created being in the hierarchy. God

alone is eternal and infinite; and God is the King of

the Universe. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12, Psalm 103:19, 1

Timothy 1:17). Beneath God are the cherubs and the

seraphs (Genesis 3:24, Ezekiel 10:14, Exodus 25:22,

Isaiah 6:2). Seraphs are only mentioned by name in

Isaiah 6, but the word cherub is found nearly 90 times

in the Bible. It refers not to the sweet angelic babies we normally see in Christmas art, but rather to ferocious winged beasts, who look much like a lion and who guard the throne room of dignitaries. Cherubs are depicted all over the Middle East and Mediterra nean worlds, and suggest the fact that humans actually experienced these beings.

Beneath the cherubs are thrones, powers, rulers, and authorities (Colossians 1:16, Ephesians 3:8, 10). The rulers and powers appear in Scripture to oversee large territories or subjects in the creation. Beneath the powers and rulers are the Archangels, who oversee the work of angels (1 Thessalonians 4:16, Jude 9).

Beneath the archangels are

angels themselves, mentioned well over 300 times in the

Bible. Anything referred to this many times in

Scripture must be very important! In fact, an

gels are mentioned more times than many oth

er biblical terms that we know are important:

faith, baptism, church, forgiveness—the word

angel occurs more than any of these. Angels are

important, and understanding them is import

ant, too! There are many angels, since adminis

tering God’s will is spread over the entire uni

verse. Jesus says that he has at his disposal 12

legions of angels, which would mean no fewer

than 72,000 angels using the Roman reckoning

of a legion (Matthew 26:53). This reinforces the

truth that angels are everywhere, governing

the creation.

Finally, beneath angels in God’s hierarchy, we find humans. (Psalm 8:3-5, Genesis 1:26- 28). And we humans also figure into God’s cosmic hierarchy: we are responsible for the animals and for planet Earth (Genesis 9:2-3).

NEXT SLIDE - God’s creation has an order, and there is a divine pattern of goodness built into the universe. Angels guard this order, and to recognize the work of angels is to live consistent with the virtues God engineered into the world.

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God’s Hierarchy of the Heavenly Realms

God

↓

Cherubs and Seraphs

↓

Thrones, Powers, Rulers, and Authorities

↓

Archangels

↓

Angels

Humans

↓

Earth and animals.

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What do Angels Actually do?

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Angels are everywhere, administering God’s will.

Do not thwart that will.

Angels are everywhere administering God’s Holy Will. They’re all over the universe, overseeing great things such as the rotation of planets and the birth of new galaxies, but also guiding very small matters, such as the blooming of a flower or the development of a molecule. In Scripture, we read that angels attend to a number of human functions: sex and reproduction (Genesis 16:10), judgment and disaster (Genesis 19:1), marriage (Genesis 24:7), health (Genesis 48:16), travel (Exodus 23:20), heroes (Judges 6:12), sleep and waking Angels are everywhere, administering God’s will. Do not thwart that will. 21 (1 Kings 19:5), dreams (Matthew 1:20), babies and children (Matthew 18:10), the 10 commandments (Galatians 3:19), male and female relationships (1 Corinthians 11:10), divine revelation (Revelation 1:1), churches (Revelation 1:20), wind (Revelation 7:1), prayer (Revelation 8:4), and many other things. Psalm 103:20 sums it up: angels are to praise the Lord. It also says they “do [God’s] bidding and obey His Word.” Angels are everywhere, constantly administering the Holy Will of God in the fabric of the universe. Living virtuous lives engages these angels in ways that move us closer and closer to God. Thwarting the work of angels sends us tumbling further and further from God.

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Luke 15:10

10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

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Hebrews 1:14

14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

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Psalm 91:11-12

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;�12 they will lift you up in their hands,�so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

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Job 38:4, 7 -

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand. while the morning stars sang together and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

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Revelation 4:8

8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

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Revelation 4:8

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’[a]

who was, and is, and is to come.”

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Revelation 5:11-12

11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.

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Revelation 5:11-12

12 In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,� to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength� and honor and glory and praise!”

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Revelation 14:6

6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.

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Matthew 24:31

31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

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Psalm 78:49

He unleashed against them his hot anger,

his wrath, indignation and hostility—

a band of destroying angels.

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Acts 8:26

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Remember -Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

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Exodus 23:20-21

20 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.

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We should treat the world with holiness, acknowledging that angels exist (Exodus 23:20-21, Jude 9). We should worship God often, remembering that worship is the language of angels (Revelation 5:11-13).

We should trust in God—who sends His angels to protect us (Psalm 34:7, Daniel 6:22). To help us recover a spiritual worldview—one that includes a robust view of angels—ask this simple question whenever you face an issue or a decision. “What Spirit is at work here and what is the spirit trying to do?”

You can be sure that there is an angel involved in every decision and in every issue of life. And the angels are encouraging you to make virtuous decisions. Listen to their voices. Do what is right. Live by the virtues God gives us, and discover a life that is indeed worth living.

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Jude 9

9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”[a]

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We should treat the world with holiness, acknowledging that angels exist (Exodus 23:20-21, Jude 9). We should worship God often, remembering that worship is the language of angels (Revelation 5:11-13).

We should trust in God—who sends His angels to protect us (Psalm 34:7, Daniel 6:22). To help us recover a spiritual worldview—one that includes a robust view of angels—ask this simple question whenever you face an issue or a decision. “What Spirit is at work here and what is the spirit trying to do?”

You can be sure that there is an angel involved in every decision and in every issue of life. And the angels are encouraging you to make virtuous decisions. Listen to their voices. Do what is right. Live by the virtues God gives us, and discover a life that is indeed worth living.

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Daniel 6:22

22 My God has sent His angel and has shut the mouths of the lions so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also before you, O king, I have committed no crime.”

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Psalm 34:7

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience],

And He rescues [each of] them. (Amp. Ver).

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What Spirit is at Work Here,

And what is this Spirit trying to do?

Ask Yourself in Every Situation

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Lesson Frame: We will read scripture to gain a better understanding of the work angels in our lives.

I will focus living a life based on Biblical virtues rather than live by my feelings.

Next Week: Missions. Then Nov. 10, Satan.

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Text @ 979-807-4834

https://joyfullivingns.blogspot.com/

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