By his angels

Psalms 34:7 By his angels
There are the visible fleshly world and the invisible spiritual world. And there are God and his angels and Satan and his demons in the invisible spiritual world. Christians' struggle is not against the visible fleshly world but against the invisible spiritual world. Fundamentally Christians are helped from the invisible spiritual world. If we do not know the help of the invisible angels, we might lose the privileges of Christians. Therefore let's look at the world of angels.
Few days ago I helped one of our church members to choose a cell phone. When we chose a phone number, we said, "How about 7777 ?" But that number was occupied. We said again, "How about 1234 ?" "No." The agent replied. We asked him again, "How about 1004(which means 'angel' in Korean.) ? He said, "OK."
People think angels a kind of imaginary characters in the cartoons. They do not believe the existence of angels. But the bible tells about angels more than 300 times. Jesus also said, "See that you do not 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."(Matthew 18:10) It means that God has sent his angels for each one of us. Hebrews 1:14 says, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation ?"
Let me tell you a story written in Acts 12. King Herod arrested Peter and put him in prison. Herod intented to put him to death with the sword next morning. So the church was earnestly praying to God for him. That night suddenly an angel appeared in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, "Quick, get up ! Put on your clothes and sandals. Wrap your clock around you and follow me." Peter followed him out of the prison.
The iron gate opened by itself and they went through it. Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating."(Acts 12:11) First even Peter had no idea that the angel was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision.
There is another story about angels in Daniel 6. Daniel was accused by his political enemies. He was thrown into the lions' den. But next day when the king hurried to the lions' den, Daniel said to him without any wound, "O King, live forever ! My God sent his angel, and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me."(Daniel 6:21-22)
Just as Peter and Daniel were rescued by the help of the angels, so the Israelites were rescued by the angels. Bible says about this, "When we cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt."(Numbers 20:16)
And the bible promises that God will send his angels to us on the day of the rapture, "He will send his angel with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."(Matthew 24:31)
Brothers and sisters, angels are with us now to guard us. But some people doubt, "I cannot believe that the guardian angel is with me." Like you Jacob doubted that the angel guards him. But he had a dream in the wilderness, in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. By this dream he realized, "Aha, the angels of God are taking care of me !"
Jacob could be safe in the foreign land for 20 years by the help of the angels, and he could come back home by the help of the angels. The angels kept Jacob from many dangers, and the angels encouraged him.
Let me tell you the other story in 1 Kings 19. The prophet Elijah received a message from Jezebel the wife of king Ahab "I will kill you by this time tomorrow." Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die, "Lord, take my life. I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and he lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." The angel encouraged and strengthened Elijah so that he could do God's works successfully.
Brothers and sisters, the angels also encourage us, they touch us and say, "Be courageous !" They take care of us, and guard us. They fight for us.
In 2 Chronicles, Sennacherib King of Assyria invaded Judah. He blasphemed God's name and weakened the heart of the people in Jerusalem. So king Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah cried out in prayer to God. And God sent and angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian King. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace.(2 Chronicles 32:21)
God sent only an angel to them. But 185,000 were dead. It means that an angel is stronger than millions of army. Therefore we can say, "Whom shall I fear ? Of whom shall I be afraid ?" Today's scripture says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them."(Psalms 34:7)
Joshua conquered the land of Canaan by the help of the archangel of God.(Joshua 5:13-15) And Gideon defeated lots of Midianites with only 300 soldiers. It was possible because he heard the voice from the angel of God, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."(Judges 6:11-12) And Elisha was not embarrassed but in peace even though the king of Aram sent horses and chariots and a strong force and surrounded the city Dothan. It was possible because he saw the angel of God around him.(2 Kings 6:14-17) Jesus was also attended by the angels in the wilderness.(Mark 1:13) And an angel from heaven appeared to Jesus and strengthened him.(Luke 22:43)
My beloved, when we live in this foreign land, we sometimes feel depressed and discouraged. But don't forget that the angels of God will appear and help us. God sent us to this foreign land with his angels who guard us. They take care of us. They fight for us. Therefore we will be winners even in this foreign land. Amen !