Creflo Dollar - The Reality of Angels - Part 2
Last week, we began our teaching on angels. And I want to start off today, I want to show you this little picture from one of our Creflo Dollar Ministries association churches in Kentucky. In the midst of a praise and worship service, an angel just walked right by the room. Now, I'm sure as you look at this, everybody has their opinions about whether it was real or not or whether it was doctored up or not. I want to teach today and you're gonna have to decide whether this picture is real or not because I'm telling you, these angels exist. And they participate in our services. They show up in your life. And they just happened to be able to slow this up and saw that this angel was moving across the room.
So, we were talking about facts about angels. And we were on fact number 13 about angels. And so, fact number 13 is the fact that angels are not omnipresent. Angels are not omnipotent and angels are not omniscient. And what I mean by that angels have certain limitations, in other words. Angels do have certain limitations. They are not all knowing, omnipresent. They are not all powerful, omnipotent. And they are not omniscient. They can't be everywhere present. If you look at Daniel again, Daniel chapter 10, verses 12 through 13 in the NIV, Daniel chapter 10:12 through 13 in the NIV. He says, "Then he continued, 'Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persia kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia".
So, you know, here's a perfect illustration of the angels, this one angel not being able to get there. He heard the words of Daniel, but he couldn't get there because he was being detained by another spiritual entity, of course, that was against God. And Michael had to show up, a chief angel or an archangel, to help this angel to get forward, and he brought this Word to Daniel. Again, in Jude chapter 1 and 9, you will see who Michael was, Jude 1 and 9 in NIV. "But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but he said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'" And so, angels are not omnipresent, they're not omnipotent, they are omniscient.
Here's fact number 14, angels are too numerous to count. Angels are too numerous to count. The Bible indicates that an incalculable number of angels exist according to Psalms 68, and verse 17. Psalm 68:17 in the NIV he said, "The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands". I think about when Elijah have talked about there were angels and chariots of fire surrounding the army that came against them. That's pretty awesome that the chariots of God are ten of thousands and thousands and thousands. And then in Hebrews chapter 12, and verse 22 in the NIV he says, "But you have come to Mount Zion to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly". Whoo, we got a lot to look forward to. We got a lot to look forward to.
Fact number 15, most angels remain faithful to God. Most angels remain faithful to God. While some angels rebelled against God, the vast majority stayed faithful to God. In Revelations chapter 5 and 11 through 12 in the NIV. Revelation chapter 5, verses 11 through 12 in the NIV he said, "Then I looked and heard the voice of," what? "Many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And in a loud voice they sang, 'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!'" Man, that must have been a praise service. Now, don't get mad at me 'cause we loud in church. If you don't like loud in church, you don't want to go to heaven because it's gonna be loud. "Ooh, baby, y'all need to turn that music down just a little bit. Kind of getting on my nerves". Well, you better get your nerves ready because I'm telling you, man, this is an amazing picture of what is to take place in heaven.
Now, we are familiar with, you know, three angels, here's a fact, 16, three angels have names in the Bible. The only angels are mentioned by name in the Bible, you know about them. You got what? Gabriel, you got Michael, and you got Lucifer, or Satan. You see these names Daniel chapter 8:16. You see Luke 1:19. In fact, let's just go see that 'cause this is all about, you know, checking out the Scripture and looking at what the Scripture says. Now, you know, everybody's got all this other kind of stuff, but, you know, you just gotta stick with the Word as far as... "Well, my other books say that there are five other names". Okay, whatever. I'll just kind of stick with what I got right here, and I'll learn the rest of it when I get to heaven, all right?
So, Daniel 8:16 and then Luke 1:19. Daniel 8:16 he says, "I heard a man's voice from the Ulai calling, 'Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.'" So, that's one mention of an angel. And then in Luke 1:19 he says, "And the angel said unto him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news". And then Luke 1:26. Luke 1:26 he says, "In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee". And so, you know, this is pretty, pretty awesome. We saw last week how Michael showed up in Daniel. And Michael assisted this angel to get through because he was confronted by the prince of Persia. But it's important that we just kind of stick with what's in the Bible and so we don't, you know, get so far out with a whole bunch of other things.
Fact number 17, fact number 17. As far as I could see, there may be others. We know that there were more archangels, but there is a reference to Michael, the archangel in the Bible. He's described as one of the chief princes in the Book of Daniel, okay? So, it's possible there are other Archangels but we cannot be sure. I know of a couple of more. But the word "archangel" comes from the Greek word meaning a chief angel. And so, it refers to an angel ranked highest, or in charge of other angels. And so, an archangel is a chief angel. I think that's how Daniel expressed that that we looked at last week. And archangel is a chief angel, all right?
Fact number 18, angels were created to glorify and worship God the Father and God the Son, created to glorify and worship God the Father and God the Son. Now, it's really interesting how man was also created to give praise and worship to God. How serious do we take that? Angels were created to worship God the Father and God the Son. Look at Revelations 4 and 8, Revelations chapter 4 and 8, created to worship God the Father and God the Son. He says, "Each of the four living creatures had six wings," now pay attention to this, "they had six wings and covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was, and is, and is to come.'" They kept saying that over and over and over again. Now, later on, we're gonna kind of pick up with this six wings. I'm gonna tell you now, these are the six-winged angels were seraphim, pair covering their eyes, pair covering their body, and another pair to fly with.
Hebrews 1 and 6, Hebrews 1 and 6 that these angels were created to worship God. If you want to really, you know, notice that picture I showed you in the beginning. That was an angel showing up in praise and worship service, during praise and worship service. I'm just thanking God that during our praise and worship service, angels are just walking all up and down that dome. Praise God. Hebrews 1 and 6 he says, "Again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says 'Let all God's angels,'" do what; "'Worship him.'" Let all God's angels do what? Worship him, amen.
Now, look at fact 19. Angels report to God. Angels report to God. Well, here's two situations in the Book of Job. First of all, Job 1 and 6, and then Job 2 and 1. Job chapter 1 and verse 6, angels report to God. He says, "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came with them". So, angels came to present themselves before the Lord. They report to God. And then Job 2:1, you know, Satan came too. Job 2 and 1, verse 1, "On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him". It's kind of, kind of weird that the angels presented themselves before the Lord. The angels report to God. And here is Satan in rebellion, and he's still trying to show up too. This is interesting. Angels report to God. I won't get into that other piece, not on this sermon.
Fact 20, some angels are called seraphim. Some angels are called seraphim. There are different classes of angelic beings. Now, in Isaiah 6, verses 1 through 8, we see the description of a seraphim. Now, these are tall angels, and each of them have six wings and they can fly. That is a seraphim. These are really big angels.
All right now, in verse 1 through 8 he says, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two wings they were flying. And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.' Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.' Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I, Lord. Send me!'" So, you see a very clear description here giving info on seraphim.
Fact 21, and then I'm gonna share some Scriptures with you with the time we have left. Angels are known variously, and here's what you'll see them in the Bible known as. They're known as, number one, messengers. They are known as watchers or supervisors for God. I want you to think about this. No matter how private you think you are, there's an angel there watching you and taking record. It's nothing you can get rid of. You can't go to God and say, "I ain't do that". The angels got records of it. Think about that. I mean, sometimes I'm sitting there by myself in the house and I speak to them. I know they're there. I can't see them, but I know they're there so I'm like, "What's up"? I know they're there. And, you know, a long time ago I asked God, I said, "Now listen, if you're gonna show me something, don't, you know, let me give me a heads-up or something. I don't want to be bumping, you know".
I know they're there. I know they're here right now with me. I know they're there with you right now. If your eyes were to be opened, you would see what it all, what has always been there. That's what happened in Elijah with his servant. Elijah prayed, "Lord, opened the eyes of my servant so he can see". And when he opened his eyes, then he saw angels and chariots of fire. They didn't just show up when his eyes were opened. He only saw what was already there. I believe that there will be times where your spiritual eyes will be opened to see what's already been there, what's already there. And I'm, yeah, I'm excited about all these things that we don't know. I mean, all these things we've had in experiences, they're just like multitudes of experiences that are waiting on us.
There's a move of God that's about to hit the earth that's never hit the earth. And to know that, you know, there's a spiritual world, and there's a spiritual realm, and there's a spiritual society. There are angels. You know, just because you can't see them with your natural eye, it doesn't mean that they're not there. And that's the awesome thing about it. You know, this physical realm is running concurrently to this spiritual realm. In other words, at the same time that this realm is operating, there's a spiritual world operating at the same time. But the physical world was born out of the spiritual world. The things we can see are born out of the things we cannot see. And I think that's the thing you just can't forget. It's like, it's real. It's real. It's so real. There's a roomful of angels here tonight. There are angels where you are right now. And that's why if you can recall reading the Bible, every time an angel showed up, the first thing they said was, what? "Fear not. Fear not". And that's why Christians should not be operating in fear because of the heavenly hosts that have been sent to be watchers and supervisors for God.
The third reference of angels, military host, the military host of God. Man, God got this thing rocking and rolling. As a person in the physical world, don't forget this Scripture. Angels are subject to you. That's heavy. Angels are subject to me. That's, you know, you see these beings you've never seen before operating like they've operated before. Just like they've never had a physical body, you've never had a spiritual body. And you're existing in ways that they would long to be able to exist. I don't think you understand how, in spiritual world, people long to have what we have, the authority of Jesus Christ and to be able to reign and rule with Jesus. You know the Bible says that we will judge the angels? That's so mind boggling to me that we will judge the angels. Praise the Lord.
I don't know, maybe they need to do a good job. And I know my angels have done an excellent job. You know, if I could see them, I'm like, "Give me some". I just, you know, I know they've done an excellent job. I mean, I've been in all kinds of situations where I could have lost my life, and the angels of God showed up every time.
I had an opportunity to see a couple of mine. They showed up in a car wreck I had 20 something years ago. They showed up in an airplane situation. They just keep showing up. They showed up in a time I'll never forget. I was jumping in a pool, and I slipped and my body went out. And my head was about to hit the edge of that pool. It would have bust my head wide open. And I remember something just kind of tapped me on out just a little further where I missed it just by that much. My angels have done a pretty good job. I'm gonna judge my angels. And they've watched over me. They've ministered to me, encouragement. They've led me. They've guided me. They've, you know, my angels are amazing. I won't worship my angels. I worship Jesus. And to think that I will judge my angels, that's pretty, that's pretty heavy, pretty heavy. Praise God. These angels also are known as sons of the Mighty. They're known as sons of the Mighty. They're also known as sons of God.
And if you saw, I don't know if it was last week or today, tonight, they're also known as chariots. I always thought, you know, when it talks about the chariots of fire, I thought it was actually like chariots. There are some angels that are chariots of God. And, man, we got a lot to see. And we're getting closer to seeing those things that we see. Look at Psalms 9, verse 11. Psalms 91, verse 11 in the ESV. I'm gonna read out of ESV in all these. He says, "For he will command his angels concerning you and guard you in all your ways". He'll command his angels concerning me.
So, God is the one that's commanding the angels concerning me. That's why they're always in the face of God. They're always in the face of God. God is commanding his angels concerning me. You know, angels will come for your Word, but God is the one that's gonna give them command concerning you. I have a lot I can say about that, but I think I'll avoid it right now just to avoid a confusion around it. Hebrews chapter 13 and 2, Hebrews 13 and 2 in the NSV he says this, and I think it's important for you to have this in your notes. He said, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares".