"Fair Use for Discussion and Educational Purpose"
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By: Ron Rhodes
Excerpt from" Close Encounters of the Celestial Kind"

URL:"http://pub39.bravenet.com/forum/static/post.php?usernum=3330765498&frmid=8549&cp=1


The Reformer John Calvin once said that the error in much angelology is to deal with angels apart from the biblical witness. This is precisely what has happened on a popular level today. Many of the best-selling angel books contain legend, lore, and outright occultism, but pay little attention to what God's Word teaches on the subject. We will now use the Bible as our standard of truth in briefly evaluating the "angels" of the New Age.

A Faulty Foundation
At the outset, let us note that an implicit assumption on the part of many angel enthusiasts today is that all angels are good. Indeed, "there is a prior assumption that angels are only good and therefore contacting them is also only good (and consequently without risk)." To New Agers, every paranormal event is a good and positive event. However, as critic Gary Kinnaman puts it so well, "Not everything that glitters is heavenly gold. Not every bright angel is from heaven."

In 2 Corinthians 11:14 the apostle Paul sternly warned that "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." Satan and his horde of demons (fallen angels) mimic God's holy angels, and they do so for a malevolent, sinister purpose - to lead people away from the true Christ and God of the Bible (see v. 3). In the process of doing this, they propagate doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:1-3). Part and parcel of this system of demonic theology is today's New Age angelology.

The apostle Paul explicitly warned against accepting any "gospel" from an "angel" that goes against the inspired Word of God (Gal. 1:6-8). One would do well to remember that Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, said an angel named Moroni led him to the golden plates containing the Book of Mormon. As well, Muhammad claimed he received the revelations contained in the Qur'an directly from the angel Gabriel (a demonic impostor).

Other religions involving "angelic" messengers include The Church of the New Jerusalem, founded by Emmanuel Swedenborg; Anthroposophy, founded by Rudolf Steiner; the Self Realization Fellowship, founded by Paramahansa Yogananda; and the Unity School of Christianity, founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore. We must not forget that true holy angels of God are not in the business of starting or promoting new religions or giving us revelations that contradict God's Word (see Ps. 103:20; Rev. 22:9). (One might also note that the above religious systems radically contradict each other at many key points of doctrine, thereby undermining the reliability of these "angels" as sources of truth.)

We know from the Scriptures that Satan and his fallen angels seek to thwart the purposes of God and Christ (Rev. 2:10; 1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:11; Matt. 13:39; 1 Tim. 4:1). We also know that fallen angels seek to blind the minds of people to spiritual truth (2 Cor. 4:4; 11:14; 2 Thess. 2:9-10). Tragically, many New Agers - assuming that human experience is a reliable source of truth - have undiscerningly and gullibly accepted all "angels" at face value without seeking to "check out their credentials" or consider their motives.

Human Experience as a Source for Truth
Experience and intuition are the final authorities for New Agers. However, a subjective experience with an "angel" is insufficient as a ground upon which to build our knowledge of any spiritual matter. It is too uncertain and unreliable in every way. (The contradictory nature of the above religious systems illustrates my point.)

Some in the church are said to possess a gift of "distinguishing between spirits" (1 Cor. 12:10). The need for this gift reminds us that not all spirits are good. Just because one has a seemingly positive experience with a spiritual being does not mean that that spiritual being is benign. We are therefore called to sort, sift, and test experiences (1 Thess. 5:21).

We would do well to ponder what happened to the apostle John as described in Revelation 22:8-9. According to this passage, John beheld an incredibly glorious angel, and his first inclination was to bow down in worship before it. The holy angel immediately told him to cease such an idolatrous response and to worship only God. This event points to an extremely important consideration: spiritual experiences can be overwhelmingly powerful. And without a reference point to test such experiences (i.e., the Word of God), they can all too easily be misunderstood. If John nearly went astray due to his own human weakness in the overwhelming presence of a holy angel, how much more are they in danger of going astray who find themselves in the overwhelming presence of a fallen angel (all the while mimicking a holy angel) who is bent on their destruction! We are well advised to follow Calvin's advice in making the biblical witness our absolute guiding standard.

Occultism and Paranormal Information
Certainly the Scriptures allow that real spirit entities can be contacted via channeling and other occultic means, and these beings are capable of divulging paranormal information (see Acts 16:16-19). However, Scripture is consistent in portraying these entities as malevolent and deceptive. As New Age critic Elliot Miller points out, the information such spirit entities give "is such a supernaturally sophisticated mixture of truth and error that their followers are incapable of sorting it out, and thus become entrapped in a web of deceit."

The current celestial web of deceit is a sinister mixture of truth and error indeed. For the angels of God do care about human spirituality - but not a spirituality without God (Rev. 22:9). Angels can give messages from God (Acts 10:3-33) - but not new "revelations" that contradict God's Word (Ps. 103:20). God may use angels to answer the prayers of believers (Acts 12:5-10) - but angels are not the object of prayer; only God is (Matt. 6:9). Angels can appear to humans (Luke 2:9) - but not "subtly" in newspaper headlines taken out of context. Angels do care about the death of believers (Luke 16:22) - but they do not propagate the idea that death is the next step in man's spiritual evolution. Angels do care about man's future (e.g., Acts 8:26; 10:1-8; 1 Pet. 1:12) - but not a future without God (or His laws) that involves a mystical and occultic New Age of enlightenment and harmony.

In view of such doctrinal deception coming from channeled entities, it is not surprising that God absolutely condemns the seeking of any paranormal information through occult means (from "angels" or any other entities) as a heinous sin that is utterly detestable to Him (Deut. 18:9-12). God will have none of it!

Note also that in Scripture we never find God's people attempting to make contact with an angel by channeling or any other means. In the Bible, the angels typically show up on the scene unexpectedly and startle the human spectator. Christian critic Timothy Jones offers this sound advice: "We should be wary of angel visits that seem to come from someone's prompting or conjuring. Any visit that comes out of someone's effort to summon an angel is likely counterfeit....Angels in the Bible caught the subjects of their visits off guard. An angel visit that seems to come out of the blue stands a better chance of being authentic."

God's Angels: "Ministering Spirits"
New Age angelology centers on spirit entities that can not only be invoked but also be manipulated by human beings to bring about specific desired results. Instead of God being the Sovereign, in the New Age scenario it is humanity - in the guise of being God - that is sovereign over the angels. Such a system panders to human selfishness, pride, and the perpetual desire for self-exaltation (Isa. 14:12-14; Gen. 3:5). New Agers would do well to remember, however, that God does not look lightly on human pretenders to the divine throne (see Acts 12:20-25 for a graphic example).

In contrast to New Age angelology, we get to the heart of the true identity of angels in Hebrews 1:14: "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" This brief statement is packed with meaning.

The word "ministering" comes from a Greek word meaning "serve." Angels are spirit-servants who render aid, and this aid is rendered to the heirs of salvation in the outworking of God's purposes on earth.

What form does this service take? Such ministry can involve protection (Ps. 91:11), guidance (Gen. 19:17), encouragement (Judg. 6:12), deliverance (Acts 12:7), supply (Ps. 105:40), empowerment (Luke 22:43), as well as occasional rebuke (Num. 22:32) and judgment (Acts 12:23). And angelic service is rendered largely unseen and often unrecognized (2 Kings 6:17; Heb. 13:2).

Notice that Hebrews 1:14 says angels are sent to render service to the heirs of salvation. God has specifically sent and appointed angels to carry out tasks on behalf of believers; humans do not invoke or manipulate them. We must never forget that angels assist us because God has ordained it that way. There is never any sense that the sent one is more significant than (or takes the place of) the divine Sender.

God's angels act to carry out only God's commands. There's not a single Bible verse that portrays an elect, holy angel of God acting independently from God. Psalm 103:20 makes explicit reference to God's angels "who do his bidding, who obey his word."

Because only God sends angels on our behalf, our focus of attention must ever be on the God who sends them. God's holy angels do not seek praise or worship for the things they do. In fact, they discourage it and point to God as the only one worthy of worship (Rev. 22:9). The apostle Paul flatly condemned the worship of angels in Colossians 2:18. God Himself explicitly commands that only He is to be worshiped (Exod. 20:5-6).

This leads us to the single most important point of this article. In the words of John Calvin, "As God does not make [the angels] ministers of his power and goodness to share his glory with them, so he does not promise us his help through their ministry in order that we should divide our trust between them and him." Indeed, Calvin says, the angels "do lead us away unless they lead us by the hand straight to him, that we may look upon him, call upon him, and proclaim him as our sole helper; unless we regard them as his hands that are moved to no work without his direction; unless they keep us in the one Mediator, Christ, that we may wholly depend upon him, lean upon him, be brought to him, and rest in him."

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People that I have been acquainted with claim they are communicating with their personal "angel". Talk show hosts on some of these internet forums talk of personal encounters with "spirits". All have said it was an enlightening experience. Well, that's how a snake gets in the door, first the head, and then the whole body. Before long it's "eat you time"!

There was another story of a man who made a Monitor lizards his pet. He kept it in his apartment. The end of the story, it ate him! Gruesome thing!

I believe that during the tribulation God will send forth Angels to fulfill His specific purpose. I can't find in the scripture where we, the church, should be conversing with any angels during this present church age. Doesn't the Bible say that there is ONE mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus! 1 Timothy 2:5 And Christ said when He assended up, said that He would send us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to be our paraclete, which means advocate or
helper! We as a Christian are never told to SEEK out help from Angels! And they have no reason to be contacting us "directly", because Jesus abides IN us to guide us into all truth! We are told that Angels are God's messengers fulfilling HIS high purpose in our life. We wont see them, they are INVISABLE!

I feel like we must get this settled right now what God wants us to know because great evil is already walking our streets and have invaded many christian lives; they are deceiving, false entities! I'm just cautioning. If we depend on anything but God and His Word, we are in harms way! Evil abounds, but Grace does that much MORE abound!
Blessing and God's Wisdom to you! maranatha! Sally

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Sally WROTE:

Steven, thank you sooooo much for the inserted videos!!!!!!! They tell the TRUTH!!
Many are being deceived because they DO NOT know what the Bible says! Jesus should be our ONLY authority thru the ministry of the infilling Holy Spirit!
God Bless you!!! YSIC!!! Sally