~ 7 P’s of Angelic Ministry: PULL ~
Prolog
~ Angels are God’s special undercover agents
who bring messages from God and minister to God’s people. “But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make
Your enemies Your footstool’? Are they not all ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:13-14).
#6 – Angels PULL Us Out (of
difficulties) ~ “When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, ‘Arise, take your wife and
your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the
city.’ And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and
the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they
brought him out and set him outside the city.
So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, ‘Escape
for your life! Do not look behind you
nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape
to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.’
“Then Lot
said to them, ‘Please, no, my lords! Indeed
now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your
mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the
mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. See now, this city is near enough to flee to,
and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?)
and my soul shall live.’
“And he said
to him, ‘See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not
overthrow this city for which you have spoken.
Hurry, escape there. For I cannot
do anything until you arrive there.’
“Therefore
the name of the city was called Zoar.
“The sun had
risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar.
Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the
Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew
those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on
the ground” (Genesis 19:15-25).
“Then the high
priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the
Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the
apostles and put them in the common prison.
But at night an angel of the Lord
opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ‘Go, stand in the
temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.’ And when they heard that, they entered the
temple early in the morning and taught. But
the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with
all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them
brought” (Acts 5:17-21).
“Peter was
therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the
church. And when Herod was about to
bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two
soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison;
and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself
and tie on your sandals;’ and so he did. And he said to him, ‘Put on your garment and follow me.’
So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by
the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second
guard posts, they came to the iron gate
that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went
out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord has
sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all
the expectation of the Jewish people’” (Acts 12:5-11).
Epilog
~ Angels are spirit beings and
invisible. However, sometimes in
Scripture they appear in human form.
Scripture reminds us: “Do not forget to entertain strangers,
for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:2).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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