FBCD_FaithEssentials_June_FlipBook

Todd Gaddis

21:15-18). Though many feel these appearances, including those in Daniel, were the pre-incarnate Christ, He nevertheless came in the form of angel. When Herod Agrippa I, the Judean king who persecuted the church and put James the disciple to death, was addressing his subjects, “The people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’” (Acts 12:22). When the King failed to give glory to God, He was struck by an angel and eaten by worms. Perhaps the most significant purpose angels have is praising and glorifying God. The aged disciple John, exiled on the isle of Patmos, received a vision eventually recorded on the pages of Scripture. On one occasion, he looked and heard the voices of millions of angels as they circled the throne and praised God. Loudly, 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). There is a branch in the angelic ranks called seraphim that have a single item on their job description: praise the character and name of God in heaven “24/7.” They appear in the Bible at the call of Isaiah the prophet. Catching a glimpse of the LORD on the throne, Isaiah records these six-winged angels calling out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6:3). Similarly, during Ezekiel’s commission, as the Spirit lifted him up, he heard, “Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place,” as well as “The sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another” (Ezekiel 3:12-13). At the birth of Jesus, on that first Christmas day, a heavenly host appeared, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14).

ENTERTAINING ANGELS

Everything written in this chapter up till now points toward our second key question: “What are angels doing today?” There’s no

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