Angel Protection

Reading: Psalm 91

1. THE FEARS OF MANKIND
There are many things that people fear these days: violence, war, disease, old age, unemployment, loneliness, persecution, famine. Man has assembled a battery of safeguards: the police, the armed forces, the medicine, laws on human rights, social security and scores of other insurance policies; but the problems still remain. We cannot rid ourselves of them. Moreover they are on the increase. No one will doubt but that the human race is in need of protection from the many fears that beset society. Mankind is in a bad way, a very bad way.

Does the Most High have any Insurance Policies? Does he offer His people any form of protection? Stewarton Bible School is happy to announce that He does. The Almighty God has a fully comprehensive insurance cover that, in the upper bracket, involves angel protection! Angels are a fully equipped spiritual force capable of handling virtually any danger mankind is likely to face. Today we will briefly consider Yahweh's use of angels as a form of protection.

2. CONDITIONAL PROMISES
Most - though not all - of Yahweh's promises are conditional. That is, they apply if His conditions are met. Consider these two conditional promises concerning the Time of Trouble.

Psalm 37: 39	But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. 40: And the LORD shall help them and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
Psalm 91:1	He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

The mandatory conditions here are: that you trust in Him; and that you dwell in the secret place of the Most High. Then you will be sheltered and delivered. God's secret place is the Most Holy place, also called the Holy of Holies; the inner apartment where His law is kept.

To dwell in the secret place of the Most High means to abide by Yahweh's commandments. In other words, only the obedient will receive protection during the Time of Trouble spoken of in Psalm 91:

Psalm 91:3

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4: He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5: Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6: Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7: A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8: Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 9: Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10: There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11: For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12: They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13: Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14: Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15: He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

The Almighty's Name
To set your love upon God is to obey Him. (John 15:10 and 1 John 2:3-4) To know the Almighty's name is far more than just knowing that His name is Yahweh; or that His Son's name is Yeshua or Yahshua. To know the Almighty's name means to love and obey His will, His laws; to want to be like Him - holy as He is holy. In short, to know Yahweh's name means to reflect His character. It means to be meek, merciful, kind, patient, honest, just and good. Millions know that the Almighty is called Yahweh: even the devils know that. But the devils don't really 'know God' in the true sense of the term; because they do not obey His law even though they know what it says. But the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will, as promised, set His love upon and deliver everyone who really knows His Name and keeps His commandments. That is what Psalm 91 is all about.

3. EXAMPLES OF DELIVERANCE
There are many examples in the Bible of angel protection. Here are a few examples where the conditions of faith and obedience were met and where the Most High despatched a holy angel to deliver His servants.

Lot Delivered from Sodom

Gen.19:1

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; 2: And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. 3: And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

The Pillar of Cloud

Exo.14:19

And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 20: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

Daniel in the Lion's Den

Daniel 6:21:

My God has sent His angel and has shut the lion's mouth so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent and blameless before Him and also before you, O King, I have done no harm or wrong.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

Daniel 3:28

Then Nebuchadnezzar said: Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who hath sent His angel and delivered His servants who believed, trusted in and relied on Him! And they set aside the King's command and yielded their bodies, rather than serve or worship any God except their own God.

The Apostles

Acts 5:18-20

And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

Acts 12:1

Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 2: And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3: And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 4: And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. 5: Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. 6: And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. 7: And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8: And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. 9: And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

4. THE EXCEPTIONS
There are, of course, times when a true believer does all that he is required to do and still the expected deliverance doesn't come. Examples are Job, Paul, John the Baptist and Yeshua the Messiah himself. All these faithful, obedient persons suffered enormous agonies, privations or death. What went wrong? Why did Yahweh permit them to suffer. Did He fail to honour His many promises of protection and deliverance? What happened with His guaranteed insurance policies? If you study each story in detail you will see that when a faithful and obedient believer suffers without apparent deliverance, the Most High has a very good reason for acting as He does; an over-riding plan and purpose which, exceptionally, excludes immediate help. But the story doesn't end there.

In the final analysis, and in this there are no exceptions, the believing sufferer is guaranteed a far better reward than the value of the deliverance he was expecting at the time of his/her trouble. This fact is apparent in many Scriptures.

2 Tim 4:5-8	But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Matt. 19:29	And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
1 Cor. 2:9	But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Romans 8:18	For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

For further information on this matter, see Human Suffering: Why does God Allow it?

5. WHAT OF TODAY?
Today we await angel protection else Satan will wipe out the church. Like Lot of old we live in an extremely evil society, which is fast descending into the life-style of Sodom and Gomorrah. Angels are scheduled to one day lead us out of this system like ancient Israel was divinely escorted out of Egypt. The end-time saints will be delivered again as was Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

SUMMARY

Problems. Humanity faces many problems: violence, war, famine, disease, unemployment, loneliness, persecution and many, many others.

Solutions. Man's solutions are praiseworthy, but not good enough. In the end they all break down. Yahweh's solutions, on the other hand, are always trustworthy. They provide a far greater degree of protection than we can ever imagine. Two mandatory conditions, however, apply before protection can be expected: a) We must fear (trust in and have faith) in the Almighty. b)We must express our faith in obedience.
To know the Almighty's Name means to know His character and to endeavour to be like Him.
Yahweh sends His angels to deliver His obedient followers: Lot, Daniel, Peter and Paul etc.
In exceptional circumstances, however, when deliverance is not immediately given to an obedient believer, there is an unseen but very good reason for God's actions. One day, we will know and understand the reason. When protection doesn't arrive, (as in the case of the martyrs) the Most High has promised to recompense the sufferer - far beyond his/her wildest expectations - in the Kingdom to come.

For further study see: The Coming Exodus.

MLC Sermon Notes

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