Angels - Blessed Messengers of God Part 2

A host of angels sang praises and glorified Christ's birth and an angel gave glad tidings to the shepherds of the Savior's birth, and prevented the return of the seers to Herod. With the coming of the Son of God, appearances of angels have especially increased, a fact that the Lord predicted to the Apostles, saying that from here on heaven shall be open and they shall see "the angels of God, ascending and descending upon the son of Man." Truly, angels served Jesus Christ during his temptations in the desert, and an angel came to support Him in the garden of Gethsemane. Angels told the myrrh-bearers of His resurrection and told the Apostles, at His Ascension into heaven, of His second coming. An angel freed the Apostles from prison, as well as the Apostle Peter, who was condemned to death. An angel appeared to Cornelius and instructed him to summon the Apostle Peter so that Cornelius might be instructed in the word of God (John 1:51; Acts 5:19, 12:7-15 and 10:3-7 ). The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of the angels on several occasions. According to His words, the angels bore the soul of the dead beggar Lazarus to the bosom of Abraham. The angels rejoice even over one repenting sinner. They will come with Him before the end of the world and will separate the evil ones from the righteous. From the instructions of the Savior and from many biblical and daily examples, one sees that the angels constantly interact as kindly beings, concerned about our salvation and welfare (Luke 16:22 and 15:10; Matthew 13:39-41, 16:27). At the same time, the angels are totally devoted to God. When man oversteps the laws of God, an angel holds him back and even punishes him. For example, during the banishment from Eden of the people who fell into sin, the Cherubim was placed with a flaming sword to protect the gates of Paradise. An angel with a sword stood before the prophet Balaam to impede his evil intention. An angel struck down Herod in Caesarea for his pride. The book of Revelation concurs that the angels punish sinners. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that the purpose of their punishments is always benevolent: to awaken repentance in sinners and to help them to turn to God (Genesis ch. 3; Numbers 22:23; Acts 12:23; Revelation chs. 8–19 and 16:11).Actually, angels, through God's will, take part in the lives of whole nations more actively than most of us suspect. Through the vision of the prophet Daniel, it is known that there are angels to whom God has entrusted the overseeing of the fate of kingdoms and those inhabiting the earth (Daniel chs. 10–12). On this subject the Holy Fathers have expressed the following thoughts: "Some of them (angels) stand before the Great God, others by their cooperation uphold the whole world" (St. Gregory the Theologian, "Mystical Hymns," Homily 6 ). From ancient times, it has been a custom of the Church to address the angels by means of prayer. Even during the time of the Old Testament, the Hebrews had on top of the Ark of the Covenant, and later in the Holy of Holies, gold portrayals of Cherubim. The Jews used to pray before them. Between these two images of Cherubim, God spoke to Moses. The angels manifest themselves as bearers of God's holiness; that is why it was commanded to Joshua when he saw an angel, "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy" (Exodus 25:18-22; 3 Kings 6:23; Joshua 5:15). The Guardian Angel "An Angel of peace, a faithful guide and guardian of our souls and bodies let us ask of the Lord," we pray during services. The Orthodox Church believes every child receives from God a Guardian Angel. The Lord Jesus Christ said: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you, their angels in heaven always behold the face of My Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:10). The Blessed Augustine writes, "The angels, with great concern, and with untiring eagerness, reside with us at every hour and in every place. They help us, they foresee our needs, serve as mediators between God and ourselves, lifting up to Him our groans and sighs … Accompanying us in all our travels, they go in and out with us, attentively watching if we deport ourselves with piety and honor among the evil species, and with what effort do we seek the Kingdom of God." A similar thought is expressed by Basil the Great, "With every believer there is an angel, which, as a child's leader and pastor, directs his life." And in confirmation of this he quotes the Psalm that says about God that "He commands His angels regarding you to guard you in all your paths … The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them" (Psalm 91:11, 34:7). Bishop Theophan the Recluse instructs in one of his letters, "We must remember that we have a Guardian Angel and turn to him in our thoughts and heart. This is good during peaceful times and especially so during turmoil. When such contact with the angel is missing, he has no means of influencing us. For example, if one approaches quicksand or an abyss, and has plugged his ears and closed his eyes, how can anyone help him?" Thus should a Christian remember his good angel, who for the span of all his life concerns himself with him, rejoicing in his spiritual achievements, and grieves over his downfalls. When a person dies, the angel takes his soul to God. Having found itself in the spirit world, according to many accounts, the soul recognizes its Guardian Angel. The following is a short morning prayer to the Guardian Angel (from the Russian prayer book): Angel of God, my holy protector, given to me from heaven by God for my protection, I fervently beseech you: enlighten me and preserve me from all evil, instruct me in good deeds and direct me on the path of salvation. Amen.
	Addendum by Dr. Steven Bushnell Counterfeit Angels The first half of the 1990's saw an explosion of the number of books on angels. Many of these books contain touching accounts of the roles angels played in the salvation of people in their daily lives. Almost all these books advocate an openness to angels and a grateful acceptance of angels and their communications with mankind. Many of the authors encourage an angel-centered life and the hope for their regular influence and, at the same time, an awareness that angels sometimes appear in ways that are outwardly not very angelic. Nearly all these books fail to consider that the devil and his legions of demons are fallen angels who can disguise themselves as angels of light to cause the destruction of our souls. From the letters of St. Paul (2 Cor. 11:14) to modern times, the writings of the Church describe how these fallen angels masquerade not only as angels of light but also as saints, the Virgin Mary, and Christ Himself.
For example, in his discussion of the importance of discrimination, St. John Cassian recounts how one monk caused his own death and how, in another instance, another monk was prepared to murder his own son. In both cases, demons disguised as angels were the cause (The Philokalia, vol. I). In a different time and place, the Kiev Caves Paterikon records that a young monk named Nikita did reverence to an angel of light who told him not to spend time in prayer, that the angel would do it for him because it was more important for Nikita to spend time reading. While the demon-as-angel prayed in his place, Nikita became clairvoyant. Soon he didn't even want to hear about the Gospels, preferring to become well versed in the Old Testament instead. His fellow monks, having finally perceived the demon, drove it away by prayer. Nikita repented and, through the grace of God, went on to become bishop of Novgorod, a shepherd to his flock, and a miracle-worker. We know him as St. Nikita the Recluse. "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?" (Matt. 7:15-16). "But the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:22-24). To put into practice these words of Christ and St. Paul in discriminating between real angels and demons masquerading as angels is difficult in the face of human frailty, our sinfulness, our self-willed delusion, and the thousands of years of experience of the enemy of man and God. Remember that the deluded monks described above had dedicated their very lives to Christ. The Holy Fathers of the Church, in their great love for us, tell us to pray, to seek humility, and to seek the guidance of a spiritual Father. They clearly tell us not to seek visions of angels and to be very questioning and skeptical when we do receive such visions. They tell us that if we have the slightest doubt about a vision, to say, in fact, "I do not know," and to put it aside or simply to reject it. They tell us that God will overcome our actions if God is the source and that the angels will rejoice at our humility and sobriety. (See the indices of The Philokalia, vols. I, III, and IV of the English edition, for some pertinent references.) What the Holy Fathers of the Church tell us is very different from what has been written by the authors of today's popular books. The devil is a liar and a sower of confusion, and to accomplish his ends, he and his demons will lie to us not only by their words but also by masquerading as something they are not. Any otherwordly phenomena that are sources of confusion and distraction (so-called alien abductions being a modern example) might be such a masquerade. Copyright © 2001 Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission 466 Foothill Blvd, Box 397, La Canada, Ca 91011 Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant) Edited by Donald Shufran Bishop Alexander (Mileant), Bishop of South America and Buenos Aires, author and editor of Orthodox Missionary brochures (www.fatheralexander.org) and founder of Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission Theological School on the Internet (www.holytrinitymission.org) reposed peacefully on September 12 after his heroic battle against cancer.
To: Previous Orthodox Articles