Millions of people find comfort in the concept that everyone has a personal guardian angel looking out for them. It's a popular thought, but is it true? Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah considers what the Bible says and doesn't say about their existence. The answers might surprise you.
From angels, who they are, and how they help. Here's David to introduce his message: Guardian Angels. And I want to thank you for joining us today for the Tuesday edition of Turning Point. We are delighted to have you along with many others who join us as we open the Bible together every day. I have now been doing what I'm doing today for almost fifty years.
Everywhere I go, I meet people, and they make me feel old. They tell me they've been listening for thirty years every day, or. Forty years, and I think to myself that couldn't possibly be true. But it is. Every day, all these years, we've been sharing together our understanding of the Word of God and how important it is.
And we want to thank you for being a part of our audience today. We don't take it for granted. Today, we begin a interesting study on guardian angels. Is there a guardian angel assigned to every one of us? Do each of us have our own personal angel?
Well, that's a question I hear a lot, and I think I have a good answer for you. If you stay tuned for these two days as we open the Bible together, don't forget you can get the material for this series. The book is available for a gift of any size during the month. Say, send me the book, and it'll be on its way. And you can get the study guide from DavidJeremiah.org.
There, you will find out everything you need to know about this series, and how you can get the materials, the study guide, the. CD package with all of the teaching that you've been hearing on the radio. All of this material is available to you for your perpetuation of the Bible, sharing it with others and helping them know what you have been learning. What a great privilege you have, and these materials will help you do that. Take advantage of them while we're talking about them.
And now let's get started with our discussion of the guardian angels, one of the most controversial subjects. In this whole series, and it starts right now. What does the Bible really say about guardian angels? Does everyone really have one angel who's designed to look out just for him or her?
Well, we do know that the Bible teaches that God's angels have as one of their duties the protection of His children. We know that for sure. And Deborah Faust is convinced that God's angels still perform that function today. A late night fire took most of her family's possessions, but Deborah says that the grace of God spared her most valuable assets—her children. Debra and her four children, ages four to fourteen, had been in bed for about a half hour when her husband Bob, who was dozing on the couch downstairs, heard crackling sounds and alerted his family to the reality of a blaze in their home.
As Debra ran to wake up her children and tell them to get out of the house, smoke started pouring up the stairs.
Somehow, she managed to carry her four-year-old son Sean down the stairs and out to safety. She had planned to go back inside and get the other children, but once outside, the smoke made it impossible for her to go back in. Fourteen-year-old Alicia Faust's oldest daughter had followed her mother out of the house, but the two middle children, Dale, ten, and Wendy, twelve, were still trapped inside as flames shot through the downstairs rooms. Deborah Faust said she crouched down and looked up the stairs of the landing inside for a sign of her two children. It was then that she believed she saw angels escorting her children out to safety.
I saw two people in white coming down the steps. I believed I was seeing angels. Wendy said she felt someone grab her arm real tight and help her through the black clouds of smoke. But Dale said he had not touched his sister during the whole process. And Deborah said in this article in the newspaper in Danville, Virginia, angels took hold of them and showed them the way to get out.
Said Deborah, as she fought back the tears. This story is so similar to the many stories we have shared since the beginning of this series. The question still comes to our minds as we hear about this: Does this really happen? How can we be sure if this really is? An angelic intervention.
Does God have angels for the purpose of guarding His children? Do you know it is very recent with us this thing about angels, but it's not recent with the church. In fact, it's quite interesting to me that the older hymn writers often included references to angels in the hymns they wrote. Isaac Watts, for instance, wrote many hymn poems about angels. He had a little poem that I remember faintly from when I was very little, called the Cradle Hymn.
And the Cradle Hymn goes like this: "Hush, my dear, lies." Still and slumber, holy angels guard thy bed; heavenly blessings without number, gently falling on thy head. And another poem he wrote sounds like this: When the babes are sleeping, father guard their bed; may the wings of angels over them be spread. Samuel Rogers wrote about angels when he said, "A guardian angel, or life presiding, doubling his pleasures and his cares, dividing." If you read back through the early hymns of the church and especially the writings of the early church fathers, you will discover that they were far more aware of angels than we have been in our generation. But something is happening among evangelicals and in our world at large that is making us very sensitive to the fact that there's more going on with angels than perhaps we have been led to believe. Once again, the challenge for us is to go back to the Bible.
I love exciting stories with mystery and intrigue, but they're really no more valuable to us than the support we can find for them in the Scriptures. Because your stories is just as good as mine. My stories is good as yours. And for someone who's experienced something like what we've been talking about, the reality of it is so strong that no one will ever contradict them because they know what they've experienced. But the real issue.
For us as Bible-believing Christians, is can we find support in the Word of God for this angel thing that is happening to us today?
Well, let's begin with an Old Testament promise that we have visited before that says, in general, what those who believe in guardian angels want to say more specifically. It's that wonderful passage in Psalm ninety one that begins with a promise of God's protection and ends in verses eleven and twelve with a reminder of God's angelic presence. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High says, Psalm ninety one one, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust. And then jump down to verse eleven.
For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. In the Old Testament, we are told that angels have as one of their functions the care and protection of God's people. In the New Testament, in a very interesting verse, as Paul was writing to the Corinthians in First Corinthians four nine, he mentions that we are being watched by the angels. He says, "I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last as men condemned to death, for we have been made a spectacle.
Watch this to the world, both to angels and to men." Paul said, "We're made a spectacle to the angels. The angels are watching what we do." So we learn from the Old Testament and from the New that the angels have an awareness of who we are. We know that for sure, and they have as one of their general assignments from God the protection and the intervention in the lives of His people. Looking back at the Bible records of history. There are many incidents that would lead us to believe that angels have been personally involved with individual children of God.
For instance, you remember the verse in Daniel 6:22 where Daniel said God sent His angel and shut the lion's mouth. God did that for Daniel. And then in Acts chapter 5 and verse 19, we are told that God sent His angel and delivered the apostles from prison. But at night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out. Says Acts chapter five.
In Acts chapter twelve, we're told about how God sent His special angel into the prison where Peter was incarcerated, and loosed him from the chains in which he was bound. Took open the gate which kept him from the outside of the prison and carried him out into the street of the city. And the record says that when he was free from all of the confinement, the angel left him, and Peter knew that an angel had delivered him from all of the stress of his imprisonment. There's another incident that I'm reminded of with regard to the Apostle Paul that tells us that God specifically cares about individual people. Paul was on his way as a prisoner.
And in Acts chapter twenty-seven, we are told that in the midst of that time of stress, when the storm was great and Paul didn't know what was going to happen, there stood by me this night. He says in Acts chapter twenty-seven, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, "Do not be afraid, Paul, for you must be brought before Caesar." And indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you. Therefore, take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. God intervened in the life of Paul. Sent an angel to tell him, "Don't worry, you're not going to have a shipwreck.
Everybody who's in this ship is going to be safe. You're going to get where you're supposed to be." And I just want to encourage you. God intervened in the life of Paul. Now I could go on and multiply these because there are many of them in the Scripture where individual angels had individual attention to individual people. But these biblical examples, not usually at least, are debated by us.
We believe them. We're Bible believers. Our attitude about stuff like this is: if the Bible says it, we believe it. That settles it.
So we don't argue about the Bible revelation of things that happened in Old and New Testament days, but the real issue then becomes: Is God still doing that today? I had a man confront me after one of the early messages on angels and told me that he wanted me to know that he believed I was teaching error. He just wanted to tell me, and he did in a gracious way. But basically, what he said was, "I don't believe angels are for today." And I don't think we should be talking about angels. I don't think God uses angels today like He did in old and New Testament times.
I think angels are for Bible times, but not for our times. I asked him when we were finished talking if he believed that toward the end of the age there would be greater demonic activity, and he said yes. And I said, wouldn't it be rather strange that God would allow greater demonic activity as we approach the end of the age, and He wouldn't counteract it with greater angelic activity? I believe as we move toward the time of the coming again of Christ, we're going to hear more about this than we have ever heard in our lives, and it's important that we know what the Bible says.
Some of you are saying, "Well, Pastor Jeremiah, you said you were going to tell us if we have guardian angels, and I'm going to do the best I can." But I've researched this and I've spent a lot of time on this trying to figure out now what should I say to these people about guardian angels, and I don't want to crush any of your dreams. I don't want to give you hopes you shouldn't have. But I want to tell you that in the Bible there are only two passages that have anything to say about angels that would give us reason to believe we have guardian angels. One of them in the 18th chapter of the book of Matthew. It's important that you see this because somebody will come to you and say, "Well, do you believe I have a guardian angel?" Here are the only two passages in all of the Bible that give you reason to believe this could be true.
Matthew 18 and verse 10. These are the words of our Lord. Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven, their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. Apparently, some of God's angels are assigned to stand ready before the Father to respond instantly to His command for protection and care over these children. Jesus calls these particular angels their angels, the children's angels, and that's why some people have used this passage as their.
Proof texts to say this passage proves that everyone has their angel. These children had their angels, and we all have our angels. The other passage that teaches apparently that we have guardian angels is one to which we have already alluded in the book of Acts. Let me tell you a little bit about this, and then show you what the scripture says. This chapter records Peter's miraculous deliverance from prison.
And the record, as you know, is clear that when Peter was delivered from prison, the first thing he did was he headed for Mary's house because all of his friends were at Mary's house having a prayer meeting. And guess what they were praying? Oh God, please deliver Peter from prison! I love this story. This is so real to how we function today.
Peter comes to the door of Mary's house and he knocks on the door. And a servant by the name of Rhoda came to open the door. And the Bible says when she saw Peter, she freaked out.
Now it doesn't say it exactly like that, but that's sort of what it says. She ran back in the house. She didn't believe it. She was so excited she left Peter standing on the doorstep. And I've often wondered what would have happened if Peter had gotten re-arrested while he was trying to get into the prayer meeting.
That would have been really great headlines for the paper the next day. And then finally, when Rhoda told all the people at the Christian prayer meeting that the answer to their prayer was knocking at the door, they didn't believe it either. And in Acts chapter twelve, verses fourteen and fifteen, we read these words: When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness, she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, "You are beside yourself." Yet she kept insisting that it was so. And they said, "Now watch this.
No, it is his angel." They said, "No, it's not Peter. It's his angel." Commenting on this passage, one of the commentaries that I read said this: Their statement reflects the belief that every person has a personal angel who ministers to them, and that if the angel reveals himself, he looks and sounds much like the person under his care. The Christians gathered for prayer at Mary's house were sure that Peter had been killed, and that his angel had come to tell them about his death. And so, from this passage, a lot of people, along with Matthew eighteen ten, make the assumption that everyone has their angels or his angel, and that's where we get the doctrine of guardian angels.
Now, those are the only two passages that I'm aware of that even allude to the idea. Of guardian angels, and many of the church fathers who taught these truths back in the early days of the church, many of them believed that every individual is under the care of a particular angel who was assigned to them.
Some folks say, "Well, you know, there couldn't be that many angels. Look at all the people there are." Well, if you remember our earlier studies, how many angels are there? They're innumerable. And some people believe that there are so many angels that there's at least one angel for every one who's ever been created in the history of the world. You say, "How could there be that many angels?" I don't know, but God is great, and His ability is magnificent.
And if God needed that many angels, could He do it? Yes, absolutely. Thomas Aquinas, who's written more about angels than any of the people that I've read, he believed that everybody got assigned an angel at their birth, and that when they were in the womb, they were under the protective care of the mother's guardian angel.
So nobody was ever without direct provision by a guardian angel.
Now, having said all of that, let me give you a little bit of the other side of the story, because while there are many who would swear by the fact that everybody has a guardian angel, there are some who are not so convinced, and some very reputable people that I have read and studied who don't really believe that guardian angels are a part of biblical truth. One of these men is a very respected theologian by the name of John Calvin. And here's what he had to say about guardian angels. It's very interesting. He said, "Whether individual angels have been assigned to individual believers for their protection, I dare not affirm with confidence." Specific angels have been appointed as guardians over kingdoms and provinces.
But we ought to hold as a fact that the care of each one of us is not the task of one angel only, but all with one consent watch over our salvation. And if the fact that all the heavenly hosts are keeping watch for his safety will not satisfy a man, I do not see what benefit he could derive from knowing that one angel has been given to him as his specific guardian. Indeed, he said, "Those who can find one angel, the care that God takes of each of us, are doing a great." Injustice, both to themselves and to all the members of the church. Did you hear what John Calvin said? He says, "No matter what you believe about this, you're a winner." That's what he's saying.
If you believe you've got a guardian angel, according to Matthew 18 and Acts chapter 12, great. Go ahead and believe that because there seems to be some evidence for it. But if you're not convinced you have one guardian angel, what you have to do is fall back on the promise that all the angels in God's creative world are responsible for you, and they're all going to take care of you.
So if you want one, and of course that's part of our materialistic culture, isn't it? We don't want to rent an angel. We don't want to lease one. We want an own one, right? We want one that's got our name on it.
Isn't that true?
So if that's where you are, you can have your guardian angel. But if you're not convinced of that, then let me tell you the rest of the story: is all the angels in the whole universe care about you, and if God wants to dispatch them all, He can do it.
Now I don't know which one I believe. I just think either one of them is great. Isn't that true?
That God's angels care about us, and they can intervene in our lives. As they are called to do. In fact, it's interesting. As you read the scripture, there are many times when more than one angel was involved with one person. Do you remember when Elisha was holed up in the city of Dothan and the whole Syrian army was after him?
God didn't just send one angel to deliver him; he sent a whole host of angels, looked like an entire army of them. And there is real good evidence in Luke chapter sixteen that it was several angels who carried Lazarus' soul to Abraham's bosom. And when Jesus was confronted in the garden, you remember what he said: "If I want to, I could call for twelve legions of angels, and they would immediately come to my defense." So maybe we shouldn't just confine ourselves to the fact that one angel cares about us. Because the Bible certainly teaches that on some occasions many angels were involved. I need to tell you because some of you have asked me privately.
I'll just say it publicly: No, I have never seen an angel. And you know what? If I go to my grave and I never see an angel, I'll be all right. It's no problem. If God wants to intervene in my life in such a majestic and marvelous way, so that I have a chance to see an angel, that'll be wonderful.
But I'm not going to rest my hope of heaven and my security of salvation on whether I see an angel. But I've been thinking about this a lot. If you were to see an angel, what kind of a situation would you expect to see him? The angel doesn't really care about your financial success. He's not going to come and give you a good feeling about yourself.
That's not really the issues. But there are some incidents in the Bible, and I just want to go through them, kind of as a little grocery list, real quickly, that give us some idea of the kinds of situations into which angels might normally interject themselves. For instance, I think there's evidence in the Bible that when we are in times of confusion. Angels might be sent to direct us. Acts chapter eleven and verse thirteen, we read these words of Peter.
He said and he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, "Send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter." In this situation, an angel was dispatched into a time of confusion to give direction. And I have been reminded. Over and over again, that when angels appear in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, they seem to be bent on giving instructions. Matthew one twenty, the angel says, "Fear not." Matthew two, he says, "Arise, take." Matthew eleven, he said, "Send." In Matthew twenty seven, the angel stood by Paul at night. Here is some more of them.
In Matthew two thirteen, the angel says, "Arise and flee." In Acts ten, the angel sends. In Acts chapter eight, "Arise and go." Angels seem to be in some special way particularly geared to give instructions, and you know what? That's at the very core of who they are. As individuals, because what does the word "angel" mean? The word "angel," at its very basic core meaning, is the word "messenger." An angel is the bearer of a message.
And the interesting thing about the scripture, and this again separates biblical angelology from much of the craziness going on today, in the Bible, angels are never sensationalized. They are sent. They give their message, but the messenger is never more important than the one who sent him. And the interesting thing is, they don't stay around for the applause. They come, they do their work, and after they've done what they've come to do, they disappear.
They don't stay around to get laud and applause.
So different from the modern concept of angels that we read so much about today.
So sometimes, when we're in a time of crisis and we don't know what to do, God might send an angel to direct us. Secondly. In times of crisis, God might send an angel to strengthen us, and I have to appeal to the Lord Jesus in this regard. You remember when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He went through that awful period of time. Which I'll tell you what I don't know any theologian who truly understands this.
What did Jesus mean totally when he said, "God, let this cup pass from me, but not my will, but thine be done"? We have some ideas of what that means, but we don't know the full impact of that, and we never will till we get to heaven. But one thing we do know: it was the most agonizing moment in the life of our Lord before the cross. The Bible says he sweat drops of blood at that moment, and when it was all over, when he was finished. Listen to this, Luke twenty-two, forty-three.
Then an angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him. Isn't that a great truth? When we're in the midst of a crisis, when the involvement between good and bad, righteous and unrighteous, is great, and the war is intense, God just might dispatch an angel to strengthen us. Amen. And as we are going to learn and hopefully remember, having all the angels available to us at any given time is way better than just one angel who watches over us.
And that's what the Bible teaches: the angels are there for us. We'll have part two of this tomorrow. I hope you'll be with us then. We are discussing angels in the Bible, and what the Bible says about them helps us understand how they fit into God's plan for our life. Hey!
Don't forget we're going to the Caribbean right after Christmas. I can't tell you much more about this. Just a few days left, and we will no longer be able to advertise it. But we're leaving on the twenty-sixth of December, and coming back on the second of January, and visiting some beautiful ports in the Caribbean, along with some great music and teaching and fellowship and joy. Ending the old year properly and looking forward to the new year together.
Please join us if you can. Find out at davidjeremiah.org. See you next time. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series "Angels: Who They Are and How They Help," visit our website, where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected: our monthly magazine Turning Points and our daily email devotional.
Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org/radio. That's davidjeremiah.org/radio, or call us at eight hundred nine four seven nineteen ninety three. Ask for your copy of David's book, "Angels: Who They Are and How They Help." What the Bible Reveals. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the New International and New King James versions, available in several handsome and durable cover options.
Get all the details when you visit our website, DavidJeremiah.org/radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series "Angels: Who They Are and How They Help" here on Turning Point.
