Billy Graham - Angels: Gods Secret Agents

ANGELS

OTHER BOOKS BY BILLY GRAHAM

Death and the Life After

The Holy Spirit

Hope for the Troubled Heart

How to Be Born Again

The Journey

Peace with God

The Secret of Happiness

Unto the Hills

ANGELS

BILLY GRAHAM

ANGELS: GODS SECRET AGENTS

1975, 1986, 1994, 1995 by Billy Graham

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, except for brief quotations in reviews, without written permission from the publisher.

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New AmericanStandard Bible (NASB), 1960, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation. Scripture quotations marked The Living Bible (TLB) are from The Living Bible, Paraphrased, 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Ill. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NIV are from The Holy Bible, New InternationalVersion, 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. The quotation marked Goodspeed is from The New Testament: An AmericanTranslation by Edgar J. Goodspeed, 1923, 1948 by the University of Chicago. The quotation marked TEV is from the Todays English Version of the Bible, 1976 American Bible Society. The quotations marked Phillips are from TheNew Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (PHILLIPS), 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

Excerpt from A Prisoner and Yet... by Corrie ten Boom, 1954 by Christian Literature Crusade, London and Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. Used by permission.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Graham, Billy, 1918
Angels: Gods Secret Agents.
ISBN 978-0-8499-4214-3 (TP)
ISBN 978-0-8499-1167-2 (HC)
ISBN 978-0-8499-1059-3 (TP)
1. Angels. I. title.
BT966.2.G7 1994 235.3

94-31578

Printed in the United States of America
09 10 11 12 13 WC 25 24 23 22 21

The angels are the dispensers and administrators of thedivine beneficence toward us; they regard our safety,undertake our defense, direct our ways, andexercise a constant solicitude that no evil befall us.

JOHN CALVIN
Institutes of the Christian Religion, I

CONTENTS

I f ever there was a time when people needed the special power and blessings of heaven in their lives, that time is now. We live in troubled times. Political, social, and economic issues loom so large in our daily lives, we often seem to be in danger of losing any sense of happiness or peace. And many people have lost touch with basic values and beliefs. For many people, life is so difficult and serious that they simply dont pause to discover the inner strength that comes through the supernatural. That is why this book was written and why it is being released in this special new edition.

When this momentous work was first published in 1975, there was almost nothing in print on the subject of angels. True, there were many works on the occult, on mysticism, and even on devil worship. In the age of Charles Manson, many people were coming to believe in the reality of evil in the world. But the same people who were fascinated by movies such as The Exorcist or RosemarysBaby apparently associated the whole subject of angels with fairy tales and fables. Even people with strong religious convictions werent sure if angels even existed.

But many things have changed since 1975. For one thing, new beliefs and new ideas about spirituality have become all too common. The New Age movement has introduced a whole host of strange and disturbing beliefs about God and His creation. In early 1994 the New York Times best-seller list included eight separate books on the subject of angels. These works ranged from collections of poetry and fantasy to how-to courses on contacting the spirits. Most of them seemed to be written for the growing number of people who now believe in the dynamic forces of the spirit world but who have very little knowledge of what the Bible teaches on these subjects. At a time when many people have lost touch with their Christian heritage, there is a great risk of falling for ideas that sound exotic and appealing but that are actually misleading and extremely dangerous.

Yes, there are angels in our very midstbut not all supernatural forces are good, and not all angels are from God. Paul warns that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light and deceives many peopleincluding many spiritual leaders. He writes, Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:14, 15 NKJV). So the problem for people today is not simply believing that angels exist, but being able to distinguish between angels and demons. In bringing out this beautiful new edition of Billy Grahams classic book, we are excited to introduce a new generation to this timely message. You will discover how personal faith in Jesus Christ will allow you to experience the dynamic presence of angels in your daily life, along with unprecedented peace, fulfillment, and power. We trust that Dr. Grahams personal insights into this fascinating subject will help each reader achieve a new level of happiness and a dynamic, new hope for the future.

PREFACE TO THE
SECOND EDITION

W hen I decided to preach a sermon on angels, I found practically nothing in my library. Upon investigation I soon discovered that little had been written on the subject in this century. This seemed a strange and ominous omission. Bookstores and libraries have shelves of books on demons, the occult, and the devil. Why was the devil getting so much more attention from writers than angels? Some people seem to put the devil on a par with God. Actually, Satan is a fallen angel.

Even when people in our modern age have had their attention drawn to the subject of angels from time to time, those ideas have often been fanciful or unbiblical. As I write this preface to the second edition, a popular television program tells the story of an angel who has been sent to earth in the form of a man to help people who are facing problems. The popularity of the program suggests many people find it great entertainmentbut I cannot help but feel it also reinforces the idea in many minds that angels are just a product of our imagination, like Santa Claus or magical elves. But the Bible stresses their reality and underlines their constantif unseenministry on behalf of Gods people. In a materialistic world that nevertheless is riddled with evil and suffering, we need to discover afresh the Bibles teaching about angels.

The English painter Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones wrote to Oscar Wilde that the more materialistic science becomes, the more angels shall I paint: their wings are my protest in favor of the immortality of the soul.

Angels have a much more important place in the Bible than the devil and his demons. Therefore, I undertook a biblical study of the subject of angels. Not only has it been one of the most fascinating studies of my life, but I believe the subject is more relevant today than perhaps at any time in history.

The Bible teaches that angels intervene in the affairs of nations. God often uses them to execute judgment on nations. They guide, comfort, and provide for the people of God in the midst of suffering and persecution. Martin Luther once said in