Ron Rhodes - The Secret Life of Angels: Who They Are and How They Help Us

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota

Cover photo vichly4thai, Ig0rZh / Fotolia

Formerly Titled Angels Among Us

THE SECRET LIFE OF ANGELS

Copyright 1994/2008 by Harvest House Publishers

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rhodes, Ron.

[Angels among us]

The secret life of angels / Ron Rhodes.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-4879-1 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-4880-7 (eBook)

1. AngelsChristianity. I. Title.

BT966.3.R5 2014

235'.3dc23

2013043546

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This book is lovingly dedicated to my grandmother,

Annie Belle Carothers.

Away from the body, at home with the Lord.

A special thanks to my wife, Kerri, for proofreading each chapter in this book prior to publication. I so appreciate her assistance and encouragement. Thanks also to our children David and Kyliemy personal cheering squad.

To all my friends at Harvest House Publishersworking with you is a pleasure. Blessings to you all!

Contents

P atmos is a mountainous desert island located on the Aegean Sea and covers about 60 square miles. Rome exiled criminals to this desolate island, and this is where Domitian, the emperor of Rome, exiled the aged apostle John as a punishment for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone he met. John was sent here to die of either old age or starvation.

Little did John know what God had in store for him on this tiny, secluded island. Sometime around AD 90about 60 years after Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended to heavenJohn had the most sweeping and panoramic vision any saint of God ever received. John was privileged to behold Christ in His awesome postresurrection glory.

During this incredible vision, John witnessed innumerable angels singing a song of worship to the Messiah, Jesus Christ:

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. 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! (Revelation 5:11-12).

Ten thousand times ten thousand is a lot of angels. In fact, this calculates to 100 million angels surrounding Christ on the throne and singing a magnificent worship song in praise of Him.

To give you a perspective regarding how many angels this is, the average football stadium in America holds about 50,000 people. It would take 2000 stadiums of that size to hold 100,000,000 people. Such large numbers boggle the mind!

Actually, the total number of angels John saw may far exceed 100 million. I say this because ten thousand was the highest numerical figure used in the Greek language. Ten thousand times ten thousand may be Johns way of describing an inexpressibly large company of angelsmyriads upon myriads.

Try to imagine the scene. This magnificent company of at least 100 million angelswith every single one radiating resplendent, luminous beautysurrounds Christs glorious throne and sings praises to His matchless name. The sound of this many voices singing in unison to Christ must surely have been the most awe-inspiring experience John (or any other human) ever encountered. What a precious privilege God gave His lowly servant!

Bible expositor John MacArthur exults in this majestic praise song: I cannot wait to hear it. I cannot wait to sing it with a glorified voice, and be part of the great chorus of the redeemed, with the entire host of heaven joining in. MacArthur expresses a longing in every Christians heart!

Note that this majestic worship scene ascribes power, glory, and honor to Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:12). These are the exact words used to describe the worship of the Father in Revelation 4:11. Jesus receives from this vast company of angels the same worship as the Father!

Why do I begin a book on angels in this way? Simply because I want to set the tone for the rest of the book. Many recent books focus on angels as an end in themselves, completely (or largely) apart from God. This is not as it should be.

Angels exist because Christ created them to exist (Colossians 1:16). Angels exist as eternal servants to God and Christ (Psalm 103:20). Any discussion of angels that treats them as an end in themselves is unbalanced.

In chapter 1 we will consider some testimonies of people who claim to have had a close encounter of the celestial kindthat is, an encounter with an angel. Then, in chapters 2 through 4, well focus attention on some of the imbalances that have emerged in recent years regarding angels. Throughout the rest of the book, we will zero in on what the Bible tells us about this intriguing subject.

As you discover what Scripture has to say, I am confident you will begin to grasp the glorious provisions God has made for our care and well-being in the world. You will see that angels are indeed among us.

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep; All these with ceaseless praise his works behold both day and night.

~ ~

S ally, a woman who attends my church, could not restrain her tears as she poured out her heart to Pastor Dave. After a series of medical tests, Sallys doctor had called to inform her that the baby she was expecting would be born with Down syndrome. Pastor Dave shared Sallys grief at the news. He vowed to help Sally and her husband, Jim, in any way he could.

The following day Pastor Dave decided to send Sally and Jim a postcard with a word of encouragement. On the card, Dave assured them of how much God loved them and their soon-to-be-born little baby.

The postcard was delivered to a wrong address several miles from Sally and Jims house. Suewho lived at the house the card was mistakenly delivered todecided to take the postcard to Sally personally.

When Sally opened the door, Sue said, This card from your pastor was delivered to my house by mistake. I wanted to come by and deliver the card personally because I too have a child with Down syndrome, and I want to help you through this if youll let me. God has shown me so much that I would like to share with you.