[PART FOUR] The Flurry of Wings: Deceived By Angels

As of this writing, Hollywood has produced more than three dozen films, made-for-TV movies, and series featuring “heavenly beings.” Roger Ebert, film critic not noted for his commitment to the Bible, wrote “These scenarios are all wrong, wrong, wrong from a theological point of view (which is the only one worth having about angels). All the authorities agree that God created angels before the beginning—before there was earth or sea or sky, or men and women.” Say it again, Roger!

We do not expect theological accuracy from Hollywood; indeed, sometimes even respect and decency are lacking. Thus in the movie Michael, John Travolta portrays the biblical archangel as a slob; a brawling, promiscuous, but supposedly lovable, slob. Covering his wings with an old trenchcoat, Michael joins three tabloid journalists on a journey to Chicago. Along the way he seduces women and he spends a night in jail.

Obviously, this scenario is much more akin to the fallen angel, Lucifer, than it is to Michael, the archangel, the “prince who protects” the children of Israel, and who fought with the devil over the body of Moses. Hollywood has it wrong, very wrong.

My concern is not with such gross distortions of angels, however. Something much more sinister is taking place with this new angel fad, something that ultimately is more damaging than trash television or blatant, liberal theology. I refer to this: that millions of evangelicals are accepting the “Touched by an Angel” TV series as good viewing for Christians everywhere. People who should know better are looking upon this show with approval.

If you are not acquainted with the TV program, “Touched By an Angel,” the basic formula as stated by the producers is this: “The angel meets her assigned human at a crossroads in his or her life. The angel (by the power of God) performs a miracle to bring that person to a point of decision or revelation. He or she, by their own free will, then takes life-changing action.” Note 1

Thus, in virtually every episode a troubled person is helped, perhaps there is a physical healing, or an emotional barrier overcome. Sometimes the needy person might be facing a personal crisis in his or her marriage or with the children. Whatever the situation, an angel is used by God to resolve the crisis, proving that there is a spiritual dimension to the world, and that God Himself stands at the ready to help us by sending angels to those who least deserve or expect it. Each show has a “feel good” ending, since a crisis has been resolved, and the troubled person has turned a corner, setting out in a new direction.

Why do I object to this harmless story line? The answer, briefly put, is that the show is loaded with theology, a cultural theology that reinforces the prevalent views about man and God. Through its pleasing portrayals of needy people, helped by heavenly messengers, it lobs a grenade at the heart of the Christian Gospel.

First, it assumes that people are basically good, rather than sinners who stand in desperate need of God’s saving grace. The show avoids concepts such as sin and the total depravity of the human race. Everyone has good within, waiting for it to be unleashed. Indeed, one of the show’s actors says that “there might be an angel in everyone of us, waiting to do a miracle.”

The show reinforces the prevailing cultural myth that sin is never the problem we face, rather it is always a feeling of disconnectedness, a need for knowledge about how God’s help can be enlisted. Thankfully, an angel comes to help in a crisis, and there is relief knowing that at last one has made contact with God.

The Bible teaches that an understanding of our sinfulness is central to our understanding of how we must approach God. If we don’t know how bad off we are in the presence of a holy God, we will try to access Him in ways that He despises. Thus, a wrong view of man always leads to a wrong view of God.

In the television series, the Almighty can be contacted by anyone who has the good fortune of connecting with an angel. Like Cain, who thought that God could be approached in any creative way, the show teaches that ordinary people, if they have enough ordinary good will, can have contact with God, without a mediator, without a sacrifice, without blood.

It follows that the show has no place for Christ, neither His cross nor His resurrection is necessary for us to make contact with the “powers that be.” Angels are waiting to help us get connected. They are more approachable than God; thus, it is possible to be in touch with the spiritual world without appeasing God.

“But” you protest, “it does not claim to be a Christian program, but is committed to presenting a generic faith, showing that there are people who believe in God; and that angels are real beings just as the Bible says.” But the point cannot be made too strongly: The view of human nature portrayed in the series is not biblical and therefore the God the show portrays is not biblical either. It reinforces a destructive cultural stereotype.

What do we make of the angel stories; the reports of angels intervening to help people? Before we answer that question, we have to cover an important bit of biblical data to put matters in perspective.

All angels, whether good or bad were created by God. They are independent creatures, not recycled dead people as Hollywood often portrays them to be. In many movies, angels are presented as deceased humans, who earn their wings by good behavior. That is a human idea found nowhere in the Bible.

We must affirm that there is a great deal of similarity between the evil angels and the “elect” angels, as Paul calls them. Thus, it is not possible for us to always distinguish the good angels from the bad ones. It is simply not wise to navigate the metaphysical landscape without a map, a guide that lets us call these angelic beings by their correct designation.

Satan is presented in the Bible as having a keen intellect, a full complement of emotions and a will by which he rebelled against God. Although at one time he stood in God’s presence, orchestrating the praise of all the angelic host, he chose his own path in the cosmos. As a result, he is on a forced march to destruction, enroute to his final destination of torment and humiliation in hell.

Unfortunately, he did not fall alone, but took a percentage of the angelic host with him (perhaps 1/3 according to Revelation 12). At any rate, he has a multitude of helpers that do his bidding, and that seek to extend his kingdom. These helpers are known in Scripture as demons.

When Jesus was on earth, Satan mustered all of his powers to try to divert the Son of God from His calling. He tried to kill the Christ Child when Herod slaughtered the children under two years of age in the environs of Bethlehem. Since the plan failed, he tried to get Christ to sin in the desert; later he continued his opposition, but Christ decisively defeated him on the cross.

Satan was unsuccessful, of course. Facing the cross, Christ said, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31).

It is not always possible for us to tell the difference between good and bad angels. The evil angels are willing to make as many concessions as possible to deceive the unwary. The angels of darkness turn themselves into angels of light so that people will be confused about their real identity.

1. Evil angels are willing to mouth solid, evangelical doctrine. When Christ was in the synagogue in Capernaum He met a man with an unclean spirit, who, when confronted by Christ cried out, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are — the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24). This demon, in effect, could sign an evangelical statement of faith that affirmed that Christ was Jesus of Nazareth, “the Holy One of God.”

What is more, demons confessed that Christ was the Son of God. “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” (Mark 5:7). These are the words of a demon responding to Christ’s command to leave the demented man. These demons, could, in effect, sign an evangelical statement of faith that affirmed that Christ was “The Holy One Of God,” or “The Son of the Most High God.”

Of course demons do not make such admissions willingly, or gladly. But when in the presence of Christ, or when attempting to deceive others they will confess to the truths of sound doctrine. Yes, they are capable of appearing and quoting “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord” if the words will deceive one of their victims.

2. Evil angels will duplicate the miracles of Christ. Paul warned that Satan would come with “all power and signs and false wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Not every miracle is from God; not every beneficial intervention comes from the good angels. Evil angels will do all the helpful miracles they can if it serves their long-term goals, namely diverting people from the purity of the Gospel of Christ.

A man who was healed from a serious disease in a so-called healing meeting, discovered that he inherited “demonic darkness”, that is, a persistent sense that he now had an evil presence near him. When he rebuked Satan, the emotional and spiritual cloud left him, but his disease returned. We should not be surprised that healings occur in all the religions of the world. Satan is willing to give something that appears good in exchange for blind allegiance.

3. Evil angels use “super apostles” who present themselves as experts in spirituality. They convincingly lead people to believe that all people have, within themselves, the power to find God; they can have direct contact with God by following the right techniques.

These apostles invite people to come to God “just as they are” not to be cleansed and forgiven, but to be accepted on the basis of their own merit as humans. They are to come to receive the help they deserve. God delights to make contact with His creatures, if only they will desire it. “Come one and all” and “come in your own way.” And so we come once again to the grand lie: anyone can make contact with God without a mediator, without a God-appointed sacrifice and without blood.

Any television program that promotes such a view of man and God is an assault on Christ and His work on the cross. Any insistence that good angels are party to such a portrayal is deception. The good angels know the difference between true spirituality and the false. They know what it takes for man to worship God. They also know what happens to those who think they can do it all in their own way.

So the question is: how do we interpret the dramatic rescues, the healings and the help given to people who are in desperate straits? What do we say about the accounts of ‘divine interventions’ of heavenly beings that make everything turn out just right, regardless of what people believe about Christ? Think through the following:

1. God’s good angels are given assignments limited to the people of God. They are not sent indiscriminately to all men and women. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Thus, we have the function of angels defined for us in Scripture. If angels are ever sent to those who refuse to accept Christ and therefore “will not inherit salvation,” we have no account of it in Scripture.

Yes, angels are sometimes sent to the unconverted, but only to judge them. We think immediately of the angels that visited with Abraham had the responsibility of executing judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. Angels did help Lot escape the city, but only because he was a believer in Jehovah and therefore a “righteous man” (2 Peter 2:7).

Repeatedly, in the book of Revelation, angels are directly involved in executing the judgment of those who have not come under the protection of Christ’s sacrifice. For example, in chapter 14 a succession of angels comes announcing judgment. One warns that if anyone worships the beast “he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” (Revelation 14:10). The angel that followed announced the impending judgment and the next angel executed it.

Read carefully, “Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying ‘Put in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe’” (v.18) Then notice what this angel does.

“So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God” (v.19). Later in the book, an angel invites the birds in midheaven to eat the flesh of kings, commanders, and mighty men (19:17,18) now that God has destroyed them in judgment.

Needless to say, the program “Touched By An Angel” does not feature angels coming to execute the wicked. These Hollywood angels are always doing good deeds, even for people who might not be particularly religious; even for people who do not believe in Christ as Savior and are not “heirs of salvation.” These popular representations of angels are not good angels, but angels of another sort.

3. Evil angels have all of the essential powers of good angels. Therefore evil angels perform many similar assignments as those of good angels for their evil master, Satan. Think of the awesome “victory” (albeit temporary) Satan wins when millions of people mistake his intervention into human lives as the intervention of God and His angels!

Remember, Satan’s goal is not to create as much misery as he can on planet earth; he is willing to do some good things while keeping his eventual goals in sight. His primary objective is to spread false doctrine, to reinforce the idea that God can be approached directly without a mediator, an acceptable sacrifice and blood. He does not mind if people believe in God, in supernatural occurrences and miracles. Indeed, these serve his purpose very well.

If you are a Catholic, Satan will appear as Mary; if you are a Protestant, he will appear as Christ and if you are a Hindu, he will appear as Krishna. Now that Princess Diana has become a international icon and a religious symbol, reportedly there are sightings of her, too. Satan will take whatever form expected to keep people shielded from the Gospel of Christ. It is naive to say, as some do, that these stories must be the work of good angels because the miracles are good and beneficial. We must boldly say that “good” miracles can be done by “bad” angels.

The famous spiritist, Emanuel Swedenborg recognized the difficulty of distinguishing good angels and bad. After years of spiritism, he wrote, “When spirits begin to speak with a man, he ought to beware that he believes nothing whatever from them; for they say almost anything...they would tell so many lies, and indeed with solemn affirmation, that a man would be astonished...if a man listens and believes, they press on and deceive, and seduce in [many] ways.” Note 2

Please do not forget the great sin of our time: the belief that God can be approached without a mediator, without an acceptable sacrifice and without blood.

Only the full biblical message can combat the rampant spirituality of our times; a spirituality that is a substitute for the Gospel of Christ. The fear that Paul had for the saints in Corinth should be ours today, “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Millions are deceived by angels whose presence preaches “another gospel.” As Paul warns, “But even though we, or an angel in heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8).

Notes 1. Quoted in Citizen, Dec. 1997, p. 7. 2. Quoted in John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The Facts on Channeling, (Chattanooga: The John Ankerberg Evangelistic Association, 1988), p.8.

Remember, Satan’s goal is not to create as much misery as he can on planet earth; he is willing to do some good things while keeping his eventual goals in sight. His primary objective is to spread false doctrine, to reinforce the idea that God can be approached directly without a mediator, an acceptable sacrifice and blood. He does not mind if people believe in God, in supernatural occurrences and miracles. Indeed, these serve his purpose very well.

If you are a Catholic, Satan will appear as Mary; if you are a Protestant, he will appear as Christ and if you are a Hindu, he will appear as Krishna. Now that Princess Diana has become a international icon and a religious symbol, reportedly there are sightings of her, too. Satan will take whatever form expected to keep people shielded from the Gospel of Christ. It is naive to say, as some do, that these stories must be the work of good angels because the miracles are good and beneficial. We must boldly say that “good” miracles can be done by “bad” angels.

Thank you. It’s been a very good series.

Interestingly, I run across the mentality quite frequently that anything supernatural that is good MUST be from God and to be believe unquestioningly.

That is so dangerous.

For all the emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit with speaking in tongues being the primary focus, I wonder that more people don’t ask for the gift of discernment. I’d think it would be eminently more useful.

Above all else, I want to know what is from God and what is not so I don’t end up deceived or falling into error.

An excellent article but this caught my attention:

Yes, angels are sometimes sent to the unconverted, but only to judge them.

Judgment belong the the Lord Jesus. Angels could execute the judgment of God such as the example of the Angel of Death with the Egyptians or the angel sent forth to bring the plague during David's time. Usually angels are messagers sent to both believers and unbelievers (such as being sent to the shepherds or to Balaam). Clearly they were not sent for judgment but for pronoucement.

Also, there is a least one case in scripture where an angel gave instructions to the unsaved Cornelius to send for Peter who would show him the way of salvation. While the angel did not bring the gospel to Cornelius (a right reserved for us), he did tell him who he was to contact to receive salvation.

An excellent article but this caught my attention:

Yes, angels are sometimes sent to the unconverted, but only to judge them.

It's an interesting point. I think that he means in their capacity to carry out a decision all ready determined by God.

From the message: Repeatedly, in the book of Revelation, angels are directly involved in executing the judgment of those who have not come under the protection of Christ’s sacrifice.

HD: Also, there is a least one case in scripture where an angel gave instructions to the unsaved Cornelius to send for Peter who would show him the way of salvation. While the angel did not bring the gospel to Cornelius (a right reserved for us), he did tell him who he was to contact to receive salvation.

Angels brought the message to the shepherds that the Savior was born as well. In both cases they relayed a message, but did not act in any other way.

No weaseling around it — unfallen angels sometimes DO get a broader role towards unbelievers than Lutzer allows for. As a “Fightin’ Fundie” I object to presuming more broadly than the bible, but I object to presuming more narrowly than the bible too. If God knows ahead of time at some point who is going to ultimately accept Christ (I am deliberately avoiding the Arminian-Calvinist debate about the details) then God can send angels to help those people while they are still unbelievers without introducing anything not already stated in his Word.

A story line which elaborated this wouldn’t fit into a neat 30 minute or 60 minute show, however.

1 John 4 (New International Version)

1 John 4

On Denying the Incarnation

1 "Dear friends, DO Not believe Every Spirit, but Test the Spirits To SEE Whether they are From GOD, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is HOW you can RECOGNIZE the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that Acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the Flesh(Human) IS from GOD, 3 but every spirit that does Not Acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood."

A False Angel can not declare Christ became Human(Divinity became Flesh).

Never!

I have read books about Protestant and Catholic exorcisms. One of the final confirmations for the possessed victim is to declare that Christ came in the Flesh. When this happens the exorcists know the fallen spirits(Angels) are truly gone.

I have encountered my friends wife who is a spiritualist spellcaster to make a long story short. She was trying to tell me she was a christian. I told her she is not. I also told her I would prove it to her. I challenge her to say the Apostles Creed which declares 1 John 4. She wanted to prove me wrong. She stuttered as an unseen force would not let her. Then I made it more specific. Did Jesus Christ come in the flesh. Simple. She could not profess it at all in any way with words that mean the same in the personal proun. " I declare Christ came in the Flesh" A true encounter.

Also " If you are a Catholic, Satan will appear as Mary"

Maybe a false apparition never the real apparitions.

Of the real ones Mary recites the Apostles Creed( Christ came in the Flesh)

If 1John 4 is not true you might as well throw out the Bible. Which I would not do or recommend!

Praise Jesus and as the angel spoke Hail Mary!

First, it assumes that people are basically good, rather than sinners who stand in desperate need of God’s saving grace.

IMHO, a very poor choice of words and easily confused meaning.

Sin is simply missing the mark of God's Plan. The argument first asserts an assumption of good, then corrects the quality of 'good' with the quality of 'sinner'.

These are 2 entirely different sets of criterion.

Good and evil are one set of qualities, which might be attributed to Satan's Cosmic or Worldly system of thinking and living,....while sin simply the the missing of the mark of God's Plan for every believer in our thinking and living.

The quote implies as association of sin with evil and good with Godliness, which might be a consequence in some situations, is not the root of the distinction between the two criterion.

We start instead with God first, not man. Then consider the effects of missing His Plan or sin, and then through faith in Him, are also led to conclude that evil or good may be parlayed into evil whenever it it outside His Plan, i.e. sin. The consequences of that sin, be it an act of human good, independent of God and His Will, or an act of evil independent of God's Will, and that act will ultimately lead to even more sinful circumstances, unless one uses what God provides for us to escape that slave market, namely faith in Christ.

IMHO, another poor choice of words to capture the proper meaning.

Man doesn't have to be an expert about sin in order to have fellowship with God.

God provides everything necessary for our relationship and fellowship with Him. All we have to do is face Him, and confess our sins, known and unknown to Him. Repentance is a turning back to God or the dual or the argument, turning away from that which is away from God. It is better to keep our focus on Him in all things, so it is much simpler to instead think of repentance as turning back to Him, instead of focusing on something or anything other than Him as the object of our emotion and rejection.

Instead we focus upon Him, or face Him, then communicate to Him our confession of having missed the mark with Him and His Plan.

He doesn't require us to perform an audit of all or thoughts, but if we so choose, ONLY while facing Him, then he is also sure and just to forgive us those sins. Once we are back in fellowship after returning to Him and confessing those sins and He justly and surely forgives, then He might by His grace further sanctify us as we walk by His Word in our thinking.

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