DELINEATION

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1. Their Adoration.

“Again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he said, And let all the angels of God worship him” (Heb. 1:6 ). See also Isaiah 6:3; John 12:41; Revelation 5:11, 12. We are told in Colossians 2:18 never to worship angels.

2. Their Ministration.

a. Angelic Revelation.

They are able to carry the will of God to man. “If the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation,” (Heb. 2:2). Also Daniel 8:16, 17; Luke 1:11-13; Acts 1:9-11.

b. Angelic Preservation.

They are sent to help the saints of God. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (Dan. 3:25). See also II Kings 6:15-18; Hebrews 1:14.

c. Angelic Stimulation.

They are sent to encourage the child of God. “For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saving, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me” (Acts 27:23-25).

d. Angelic Emancipation.

They are sent to deliver the child of God. “The angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5:19, 20).

e. Angelic Sustentation.

“The devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him” (Matt. 4:11). See also Luke 22:43.

f. Angelic Conduction.

“The angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert” (Acts 8:26). See also Genesis 24:7; Exodus 23:20-23; Numbers 20:16; Acts 10:3- 8.

g. Angelic Administration.

They execute the will of God. “Bless the LORD, all ye hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless the LORD all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul” (Ps. 103:21, 22).

(1) In Judgement.

“Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them” (Ps. 35:5). See also I Chronicles 21:15; II Kings 19:35.

(2) In Guarding the Saved.

“At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people” (Dan. 12: la). See also Hebrews 1:14.

(3) In Guarding the Dead.

“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried” (Luke 16:22).

(4) In Communicating the Law.

“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgression, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator” (Gal. 3:19). See also Hebrews 2:2.

(5) In Accompanying Christ.

“To you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels” (II Thess. 1:7).

(6) In Regathering Israel.

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory” (Matt. 25:31).

(7) In Harvesting at the End of the Age.

“Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matt. 13:30).

B. Evil Angels.

These are the angelic followers of the Devil. These are they for whom hell is prepared.

1. Their Designation.

They are evil spirits; seductive, unclean, demons. “When he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils [demons] coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way” (Matt. 8:28). See also Matthew 9:33; 10:1; 12:43; Mark 1:26; 5:2-5; 9:17, 20; Luke 6:18; 9:39.

2. Their Division.

b. Fallen and Chained.

“God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (II Peter 2:4). See also Ephesians 6:12; Jude 6.

(1) They Obtain Possession of the Bodies of Men.

“They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils [demons] was healed” (Luke 8:36).

(2) They Voluntarily Vacate the Bodies of Men.

“When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none” (Matt. 12:43).

(1) They Threw a Man Down and Didn’t Hurt Him.

“Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil [demon] had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not” (Luke 4:35).

(2) They Threw a Man Down and Tore Him.

“As he was yet a coming, the devil [demon] threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father” (Luke 9:42).

(3) They Drove a Man Into the Wilderness.

“He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bonds, and was driven of the devil [demon] into the wilderness” (Luke 8:29).

(1) Some Are Deaf.

“When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him” (Mark 9:25).

(2) Some Are Dumb.

“One of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit” (Mark 9:17).

(3) Some Are Lying.

“The LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so” (I Kings 22:22).

(4) Some are Foul.

“When Jesus saw that the people were running together, he rebuked the foul spirit” (Mark 9:25a).

(5) Some Are Seducing.

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils [demons]” (I Tim. 4:1).

(1) They Control the Bodies of Both Men and Beasts

(Mark 5:8-13).

(2) They Inflict Physical Infirmities.

“Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day ?” (Luke 13:16).

(3) They Inflict Mental Maladies.

“Always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones” (Mark 5:5).

(4) They Produce Moral Impurity.

“When he was come up out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit” (Mark 5:2). See also Matthew 10:1.

e. Their Existence.

The word “devil” is best translated “demon.” There is only one Devil, but many demons, the Devil being the prince over them. There is such a thing as demon possession today. Missionaries to foreign countries attest to this fact. Demonpossessed men have super-human strength; they are fully controlled by demons. It is good to point out that the demons always spoke through the mouths of those they possessed. The demons in these people recognized the Lord Jesus, and he distinguished between the demon and the man. Demons do not like to be disembodied; they prefer to be cast into a herd of swine (Mark 5:1-20). f. Their Evidence. Demonism was not limited to the time of Christ. There was evidence that it was in existence before His first advent:

(1) The four Gospels introduced demonism as the thing that was known.
(2) The people showed no surprise at demon possession.
(3) The Jews claimed to cast out demons by their power. (Matt. 12:27).
(4) After the time of Christ, the early Apostolic Fathers came in contact withdemonism (Matt. 10:1; Mark 16:17; Acts 8:7).
(5) Demonism is seen today in modern missionary annals (Eph. 2:2, 6).

4. The Imprisoned Angels.

a. Their Sins.

“God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment” (II Peter 2:4). The above Scripture plainly shows that these angels were not in the original rebellion with Satan. The casting out of Satan occurred before the time of Adam; the angels referred to sinned since the time of Adam. Surely these must be the “sons of God,” who married the “daughters of men.” “It came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. . . . There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old men of renown” (Gen. 6:1,2, 4).

There are those who hold that the “sons of God” were the Sons of Seth, and that the “daughters of men” were the daughters of Cain. This is refuted simply by asking, “How could Seth beget Sons of God?” Others contend that the “sons of God” were regenerated men, who married unregenerated women, called the “daughters of men.” We see the same things happening even today, but there are no giants born because of this unequally yoked union. To be safe and sure as to the correct interpretation, let us find out who the “sons of God” could be. There are several persons called the “sons of God” in Scripture:

1. Jesus Christ — the Son of God — by relationship.
2. Adam — a son of God — by creation (Luke 3:38).
3. Angels — sons of God — by creation (Job 1, 2).
4. Regenerated men — sons of God — by regeneration and adoption.

Remember, we are only children of God now by regeneration; we shall be declared to be sons at our adoption — “to wit the redemption of our body.” By simple elimination we find out who the “sons of God” were: Christ is eliminated, and Adam also, as he had been dead for a long time. They could not be regenerated men because adoption of sonship had not occurred yet. This leaves only the angels. The question naturally arises, “Do not the Scriptures teach that angels cannot marry?” They do not teach this; they teach that they do not marry in heaven. Man marries here, but he will not marry in heaven. Then how did they marry the daughters of men? We do not know, but the following verses prove, without a doubt, that they did. We have already quoted Jude 6, but we will do so again, adding verse seven. This substantiates our claim: “And the angels which kept not their first estate [principality, their own being as angels], but left their own habitation [heaven], he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 6, 7). Thus, I believe it is positively proved that the angels sinned after the similitude of Sodom and Gomorrah.

This union brought about a race of giants — giants in stature, and giants in sin. They were destroyed by the flood.  Demon possession was prolific before the flood; and the Lord Jesus has revealed, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24:37). Demon possession shall be in full control during the Great Tribulation (Rev. 12), before the revelation of Christ at His second coming. b. Their Position. They are cast down into Tartarus, the innermost prison of Hades, chained in darkness, awaiting their day of judgment (II Peter 2:4).

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