A New Beginning presents a book about the greatest evangelist of the 20th century, Billy Graham, written by his friend, Pastor Greg Laurie. I bring insights that maybe other books have not really touched on. I also weave in a lot of my personal experiences, one-on-one with Billy, things he said to me, and things I gleaned by watching him. So if you want to learn more about this man that changed the world, get your copy of Billy Graham, The Man I Knew.
Yours for a gift of any amount at Harvest.org. Angels sort of work behind the scenes. You might call them God's secret agents.
We don't see them or hear them, but sometimes we're affected by what they do. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie brings insight on angels. They're doing the work of God all the time, and that's why we're told in Hebrews 13 to don't forget to entertain strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. This is the day, the day when life begins. The sum total of what many people know about angels came from a movie, or a TV show, or a book, or social media.
But whether it came from a screenplay or a novel, it was fiction. Someone made it up, and it may have left real angels rolling on the floor laughing. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie takes us to the authoritative source on angels. We'll read the words of the creator of angels, our text in God's Word.
It's from the series called Timeless. This is the day, the day when life begins. You know, right now, at this moment, all around us, there is a supernatural world, a very real world. It's as real as the physical world. It's the world of God and Satan.
It's the world of angels and demons. In fact, there's a story in the Bible about the prophet Elisha with his servant Gehazi, and the enemy armies were closing in on them, and Gehazi was getting really frightened. And he said to Elisha, Master, wake up.
What are we going to do? And Elisha, wiping the sleep from his eyes, said this prayer, Lord, open his eyes. And then he said, because those that are with us are more than those that are with them.
And then that servant had his spiritual eyes open, and he saw the mountain full of horses with chariots of fire all around Elisha. What happened was that man had his eyes open to the supernatural world. If we could see this invisible world right now, frankly, it might just freak us out a little bit.
But it's there. And I'm praying that God will open our eyes to understand how this unseen world interfaces with the world that we are all living in right now. How angels are at work in our lives and what the agenda of demons are in our lives as well. How many angels are there?
Well, I think you can't really count them. The Bible says there's thousands and thousands of them. Most angels are holy. Some angels are fallen.
You find them in the Old and New Testament alike. They're mentioned directly or indirectly in the Bible 300 times. Now, there's a lot of misconceptions about angels.
We don't understand what the role actually is. Sometimes you hear of people talking to angels or praying to angels, and this is never encouraged in Scripture. Angels sort of work behind the scenes. You might call them God's secret agents. Angels are like Navy Seals, you know.
We don't know a lot of what the Navy Seals do. We just know they go out there and they take care of business without a lot of fanfare. Angels are the same. They're doing the work of God behind the scenes. We frankly don't know how many times an angel may have stopped us, gotten us out of a tight situation, protected us from harm, maybe even spoken directly to us. I was speaking with my granddaughters a while ago, and they asked me the question, Papa, what do angels look like? And I said, well, girls, angels appear in the Bible as men, and they were very upset by this.
They said, Papa, that's not fair. And it's funny because we tend to think of angels as feminine. And a lot of times in art, you see angels as women when in reality, every time an angel appears in the Bible, they appear as a man in masculine form.
So it's quite different than people often think. In fact, we read over in Luke 24, for after Jesus rose, two men enclosed that shone like lightning stood beside them. So angels are created beings made by God. I bring this up because sometimes when people die, we'll say, well, they've become an angel now, or God needed another angel in heaven. No, people don't become angels. Angels are angels created by God. In fact, it appears that they're eternal, and they never die. Speaking of those who've gone into heaven, Jesus said in Luke 20, neither can they die anymore, for they're equal to the angels.
So that's interesting. Now, they have a special work that they do specifically in the life of the Christian. The Bible says of angels that they're ministering spirits sent to serve those that are heirs of salvation. And the Bible is just full of stories of where angels got involved in the lives of people. Now, I'm going to give you seven takeaway truths about angels and demons.
So if you're taking notes, here's point number one. Sometimes angels deliver us from difficult situations. Sometimes angels deliver us from difficult situations. In Acts chapter five, we read of angels busting the apostles out of jail, saying, go tell the people all about this new life. Then later on in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 12, Herod was in control, and he had James executed, and he put Peter in prison, and the church began to pray for God to deliver Peter, and the Lord dispatched an angel to get him out. And what's interesting is Peter was so deep in his sleep, the angel had to whack him to wake him up.
I find that a humorous story. And then as Peter finally realized what's happening, the doors open up automatically in the prison, and he walks out free because God delivered him through angels. Probably one of the best known angelic stories is found in the book of Daniel when Daniel was thrown into the lion's den because he would not obey the decree of King Darius to not pray. A law was passed that no one could pray, but Daniel disobeyed the law, and because of this, he was sent to a den of lions.
But the Bible tells us God sent his angel to protect Daniel. And it's a good reminder that if government ever passes a law that contradicts God's law, we go with what the Bible says, not with what government says, right? The book of Acts, we had government authorities telling the apostles to no longer preach. They said, stop, you're forbidden.
And after that, the apostles preached like never before, saying we must obey God and not man. Also, we know, number two, angels stop us, and other times they prompt us. In the book of Acts, there's a story of the Lord prompting Philip, simply saying, go to the desert. The angel did not give a detailed blueprint to Philip.
He did not tell him what was gonna happen next. Of course, you remember the story. There was a man visiting from Ethiopia, a foreign dignitary that was seeking God, and the Lord directed Philip to engage him, but the angel told him to go. So there may have been times where an angel has actually said something to you, and you didn't even know it was an angel.
You thought it was your own thoughts, but it may have been one of these mysterious messengers doing God's work in your life. One of the most well-known stories of angels is in the story of Balaam and his donkey. And this, by the way, is one of my favorite stories in the Bible, because you recall Balaam was sort of a prophet for hire. In fact, you could spell his description a prophet, P-R-O-F-I-T. He was a prophet for profit.
And so the enemies of Israel came to him and hired him to curse the Jewish people, and he agreed to do this. And as he was on his way to do what God did not want him to do, the Lord intervened, and actually, as he was riding his donkey, the donkey suddenly stopped. And then Balaam was beating his donkey, trying to get it to move forward, and the donkey then rubbed up against the wall, crushing the leg of Balaam, and then he kept beating him, and finally the donkey just collapsed. And then the Bible tells us that the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey.
This is why it's such a funny story. And the donkey actually says, why are you beating me? Haven't I been a good donkey?
Now, that's amazing, but what's more amazing is without missing a beat, Balaam said in response, because you're not doing what I told you to do. And then suddenly an angel of the Lord appears with his sword drawn, and Balaam suddenly realizes that this was God trying to stop him from doing the wrong thing. And the angel rebuked him for beating his donkey.
That donkey had more sense than the prophet had. So you may not be aware of the presence of angels, but they're doing the work of God all the time. And that's why we're told in Hebrews 13 to don't forget to entertain strangers, for in doing so some have entertained angels without knowing it. So you may have met an angel. You may be sitting next to an angel. An angel can take on bodily form. So look around.
I don't know. I don't think you'll see any feathers or angel food cake crumbs as little reminders. But they're around us doing the work of God. If an angel were to appear to us right now, we would be tempted to worship it, because he would be so glorious, so amazing, so incredible. In fact, that actually happened to the apostle John. He saw an angel and fell down and began to worship it.
And in Revelation 22, 8, the angel said, Do not worship me, worship God. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We really enjoy hearing when Pastor Greg's teaching and preaching touches lives. Pastor Greg Laurie, I start my day every day by listening to your podcast.
I love it. You make me laugh, and I love your teachings. Even though I was baptized back in 2010 and I considered myself a believer, I wasn't very good at reading the Bible. And now I read it every day, and it's changed my life. I purchased your New Beginners Bible.
I've read and listened to the Audibles, Jesus Revolution, Billy Graham. And I'm going to finish them all. But I so enjoy them, and I've watched all your documentaries, too. And they're just so inspiring. And I share them with others. So I just commend you, Pastor Greg Laurie. I'm so glad I found you, and thank you again for all you do.
How have these studies in God's Word touched your life? If you have a story to share, why not call us and let us know? Call 1-866-871-1144.
That's 866-871-1144. Pastor Greg is presenting a fascinating study of angels and demons today. It's a message from his new series called Timeless. Now, sometimes the question is asked, do we have guardian angels? And I think the answer is maybe. I think some of us have maybe worn out a few guardian angels.
I don't know. I think it's entirely possible that children have guardian angels because in Matthew 18, 10, Jesus says, don't look down on one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. That's interesting, their angels in heaven, not just the angels in heaven.
So that implies that maybe they have personalized angels that are assigned to watch over the little ones. But then there's an interesting story going back to Acts 12. After Peter was released from prison, he showed up at the door of a home where Christians were praying, no doubt for his deliverance. A lady named Rhoda answered the door, and there stands before her an answer to her prayer, and it's Peter, and she shuts the door in his face. And then goes back and tells the apostles, who are probably praying for his deliverance at that very moment, that Peter's standing at the front door, and one of them says, well, it's just his angel, which I find weird. So does that imply Peter had a guardian angel, number one, and number two? If I had an angel standing at my front door knocking, I would probably let him in, wouldn't you?
And then they finally realized that it was Peter, and God had answered their prayers. Okay, so the title of this message is Angels and Demons. Now let's shift gears and talk about demons. Where in the heck did demons come from, and why do they even exist? Simple answer, demons are fallen angels. The Bible tells the story of Lucifer, who was once a high-ranking angel, later to become known as Satan and the Devil, leading a rebellion against God, and one-third of the angels went with him. So one-third of the angels, which number in the thousands, are now what we would call fallen angels or demons doing the bidding of Lucifer. The bad news is one-third defected. The good news is two-thirds are still on our side.
So that's good to know, right? But where did the Devil come from? Well, as I said, he was once this high-ranking, beautiful angel. Some think he might have even been an archangel. There's only three angels named in the Bible.
They're Gabriel, they're Michael, and Lucifer, which means the son of the morning. But according to Isaiah 14, Satan became lifted up with pride. He effectively wanted the top job. He wanted to be as God.
So the Lord rejected him from that position. He wants hell. We think the Devil comes from hell. The reality is the Devil comes from heaven. But he rebelled against God, and ultimately, he is headed to hell. Sometimes we sort of envision the Devil ruling from some throne in hell, and that's not true at all. He's not there yet, but he's headed there because Jesus said hell was prepared for the Devil and his angels. And so here is the Devil now with this well-organized network of demonic powers.
His minions, not those kinds of minions, that do his bidding and do his work. Back in the book of Job, there's a story of the angels appearing before the Lord and Satan appearing with them. And the Lord sees Lucifer and says, where have you been? And Lucifer says, well, I've been going back and forth across the earth watching everything that's going on. And the Bible describes Satan as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
Think of a lion that's hungry and is ready to pounce on its prey. He never takes a vacation. He never takes a day off.
He never takes an hour off. If he is beaten, he rises again. If he can't get in the front door, he'll come in the back door.
And if that doesn't work, he'll come to the roof or climb up through the floor as an uninvited guest. On our little anniversary trip that we just took, we went to Italy, which was very nice. Italian food is so good, especially in Italy. And so we were going to this hotel and someone was driving us there. And they somehow got confused and took us to the wrong property. And so they pull up to this place and I get out of the car and the front door is open and I walk in and I thought, wow, this looks a lot like someone's house. And I said, hello, and some Italian guy comes out and he says, what are you doing?
This is my house. And I said, oh, sorry, sorry, Arrivederci Roma and I'm trying to get out of there. I had walked into his house uninvited. Fortunately, he was a nice guy.
But the point is is that I wasn't invited into his home, but I went in anyway. And this is what the devil's looking for. He's looking for a foothold, a way to get into our life. And he doesn't give up.
He's looking for someone who's vulnerable. I watched a video the other day of some antelopes in Africa that were fighting. And they were so busy fighting with each other they did not see the lion and the tall grass creeping up in their direction and suddenly he burst out of the grass and grabbed one of them and had antelope for lunch.
And that reminds me a little bit of us. Sometimes we're so busy fighting with each other we forget who the real enemy is. And it's the devil.
And one of the ways he attacks, one of the ways he attacks is through division. Yes, Satan can be like a lion, but he can also be like a hippo. Now, hippos are such interesting creatures.
They almost look cartoony, don't they? I don't know if you've ever seen a hippo in real life, but when I was a kid, my only reference for hippos was the jungle cruise at Disneyland, right? And their little ears would turn and they'd come out of the water and the guy would shoot them with his fake gun. But I was in Africa a number of years ago and I actually saw hippos in the wild and I was shocked to discover that hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal. They're actually pretty fast on land.
They can move quicker than you would think. And I read this story of a man in South Africa who actually had a hippo as a pet. He adopted it when it was a five month old calf and he named it Humphrey. Humphrey the hippo. So they did a little news article on him and he was talking about how wonderful Humphrey was as a pet. He said, he's like a son to me. He's just like a human. He said, people think you can only have relationships with dogs or cats or domestic animals, but I have a relationship with the most dangerous animal in Africa. Mmm, famous last words.
I think you can probably imagine how that story turned out. Humphrey got a little bit bigger and turned on his owner and killed him. So it's a reminder, don't have hippos as pets, number one, and don't make deals with the devil.
C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Screwtape Letters and it's sort of Lewis's attempt to try to get into the mind of the devil and the demons and their strategies. He was a very creative writer and here's what he wrote in The Screwtape Letters and I quote, there's a legend about Satan and his imps, meaning his demons, planning the strategy for attacking the world that's hearing the message of salvation. One of the demons says to the devil, I've got the plan, master. When I get on Earth and take charge of people's thinking, I'll tell them there's no heaven. The devil responds, I'll never believe that. The book of truth is full of messages and the hope of heaven through sins forgiven. They won't believe that.
They know there's a glory still in the future. On the other side of the room, another demon says, I've got the plan. I'll tell them there's no hell, no good, the devil says.
Jesus, while he was on Earth, talked more of hell than he did of heaven. They'll know in their hearts that is wrong. And then finally, Lewis writes, one brilliant little imp stood up in the back and said, I know the answer. I'll tell them there's no hurry. C.S. Lewis concludes, and that's the one Satan chose.
Interesting. There's no hurry. And that's what the devil says to people. There's no hurry, man. Come on, live your life, have fun. Sow your wild oats.
Do what you wanna do with whoever you wanna do it with. Enjoy every pleasure this world offers. But the Holy Spirit says to us to come to Christ now. The devil says tomorrow, but the Holy Spirit says today is the day of salvation. Such important insight from Pastor Greg Laurie today on A New Beginning. Today is the day of salvation. Pastor Greg, if someone isn't sure of their salvation, let's help them take care of that right now.
Okay. What would you say to the person who wants to make sure they're right with God? What I would say is he's only a prayer way, which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord right now through prayer, he will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you wanna know that you'll go to heaven when you die, just pray this prayer right now after me. Just pray, Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now, and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord, as my God and my friend. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer and meant those words sincerely, we wanna welcome you into the family of God. And let us help you get started walking each day with the Lord. Pastor Greg wants to send you his New Believer's Bible, absolutely free, along with some other helpful resources. Just let us know you prayed with Pastor Greg and that you want the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime at 1-800-821-3300.
Or write to us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. You know, Pastor Greg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives. So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching.
That's right. And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue. Yeah, it's really true, Dave. You know, and even a little bit helps. You know, people need to hear the Gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the Word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it and I'm called to do it and I'm thankful for it.
But I can't do it alone. So I'm gonna ask folks that are listening, if you think more people need to hear the Gospel, if you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the Word of God, then perfectly consider investing in Harvest Ministries and maybe even become a Harvest partner. Which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving and that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us. So thanks for that.
Yeah, that's right. And we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us anytime day or night at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write a new beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org. Hey everybody, you can watch our Sunday services on a special broadcast that we call Harvest at Home.
It's streaming on the Harvest Plus platform. So download that app right away, Harvest Plus, and you can enjoy being a part of our extended church family every Sunday. Well next time, more insight on angels and fallen angels, or demons, as Pastor Greg continues his series called Timeless, Unchanging Truths in a Changing Culture. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Lord. This is the day, the day when life begins.
