War & Peace | Week 3 | Pastor Micah Sutton | Five Lakes Church

Well, we're in our third lesson of war and peace.

And today, last week we talked about demons and we talked about Satan and so on, but we also have allies in the fight that we're in.

And today we're going to talk about the allies in the fight, in the, in the series, war and peace.

We're talking about this thing called spiritual warfare, spiritual warfare.

And it's not something that you're not going to see that phrase specifically in scripture.

It's not going to say, and this is spiritual warfare, but we're all in it.

In fact, it's a very biblical concept.

Some of you are in issues right now.

You're dealing with things right now with loved ones and people that you care about and, and internal struggles that you have are going on in your family or your business or in your own spirit.

And you can identify that and say, yes, I'm dealing with some level of spiritual warfare.

We're always going through spiritual warfare that that started whenever Satan tried to rebel against God and before the beginning of the earth, and it will continue until Jesus says, it's done.

Satan is bound and cast into the lake of fire.

And I'm thankful that I'm going to get to see that day.

Amen.

But until between then, then, and then, uh, the, the fact is we're in spiritual warfare where we are interacting with spiritual forces outside of the physical plane.

And when we talk about this war, it's always about power.

It's always about power.

It's about Satan.

It's about the enemy wanting power over God.

And they have no ability to gain power over God.

So they're attacking the thing that God loves.

It's the equivalent of someone wanting power over you, but they can't touch you.

So they take someone you care about.

They take something that you care about and they try to hold it ransom.

That's exactly what's going on here in the spiritual realm.

So every expression of spiritual warfare is designed to create doubt in the heart of the believer concerning what God has said, because you and I operate by faith and faith is built and faith is lived within through the word of God.

If you go back to the previous lessons first lesson, in fact, we'll kind of explain that in more detail.

So in week number one, we said the spiritual warfare is intentionally engaging in the war that believers are in and week number two, we said, knowing who you fight informs how you fight, but we are not alone in the fight.

I'm grateful that the spiritual world does not only contain Satan and demons.

Can somebody say Amanda, that, yeah, I'm just glad that it's not all bad.

In fact, we are not alone at all.

The enemy that we fight is not flesh and blood.

It is a spiritual

Enemy.

It's a principality, it's a power.

It's a ruler of darkness of this age, spiritual hosts of wickedness.

It's spiritual forces.

There we are fighting today and our allies are also spiritual in nature.

And so the big idea today is this believers are strengthened by angels.

Loyal

To God.

Believers

Are strengthened by angels, loyal to God.

And in discussing this with a few people and talking about the fact that we're going to talk about angels, I had a few movies pop up or movies or shows.

I'm not sure which one of them was angels in the outfield

Where

Apparently angels show up in the outfield of baseball games and they help people, or they help a particular team.

I'm going to assume if I've seen it.

I don't recall.

Another one that came up was something about touched by an angel.

I'm too young to remember that.

I actually don't know if I, if I am, but it was really fun to say[inaudible] but the idea of angelic beings is often in pop culture, uh, kind of they're they're, they're, they're nice forces.

They are they're, they're helpful.

They apparently help people in baseball games.

They apparently help people in times of struggle, struggle, and trouble.

And some of that is true.

I'm not sure about the baseball game business,

But some of that is

True, but let's look at what the Bible actually says.

Angels are Hebrews chapter one, verse 13 and 14.

Give us kind of an insight to who angels are, how they interact with humanity.

He said, but to which of the angels has, has he ever said that he they're capitalized is God, has God ever said, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies, your footstool, to which of the angels has he ever said.

I want you to sit here and I'm going to fight your battle for you.

You sit down and let me do your fighting for you,

Which has he ever said that to which angel has he ever said that?

Now this is a rhetorical

Question.

He's not looking for an answer because the answer is he has never said that he has told many people

Sit back and let the Lord fight your battle.

He's said

The battle is not yours, but the Lords, but to an angel, he's never said those particular words, verse 14, are they not?

Speaking of angels, all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation,

Who will inherit salvation.

So the writer

Of Hebrews is saying that angels are men are it's sent forth, directed by God to minister.

They're two heirs

Of salvation.

That's a,

The best definition of what an angel is that I find in scripture.

And I have three thoughts for us today.

And there is more supplementary material on Micah sutton.com.

They'll drop today.

I did four more videos talking about four different kinds.

Well, three different kinds of angels and one more broad spectrum video there.

And so I hope that those have been beneficial to you, but thought number one, today is this angels are created spiritual beads, things who are God's messengers,

Ministers, warriors, and worshipers.

It's a little

Bit longer for a thought than normal hope.

You can have enough space to write all that down in the, in the, if not do it on your phone.

Okay?

But angels are created beings.

They are not eternal beings.

They are created beings.

God is the only eternal being.

And so these angels are created beings who appear at will and the natural world.

They, they appear in ways that that we can see in most of us, I would, I would gather, have never seen an angel that we know of, but they can appear.

We know this throughout scripture angels appear in the old Testament angels appear in the new Testament, a angels connect with humanity in the old and new Testament.

But we also know they are consistently communicating with God.

They are messengers.

They are ministers.

They are warriors.

They are worshipers.

They are created by God and they are created for God.

They have purpose.

They have jobs to do, but they are not God.

And this is where Satan got it mixed up a little bit.

He, he thought I can ascend.

And, and I have some upward mobility here.

I can ascend and become like God and sit on the throne of God.

And God said,

Nah, that's what he said.

Nah, just like that.

And so, and so it didn't happen.

Colossians one tells us that God through Christ created all things visible and invisible.

So the things that are invisible, God created the things that are visible, God created, and that would include angels.

Angels are also messengers of God.

When we see Gabriel, the angel Gabriel, we're probably the most well-known angel in scripture.

He's giving messages to people in Daniel chapter eight.

Gabriel begins to explain a vision

To Daniel begins

To explain to him what that looks like.

In fact, he, they, Daniel had prayed and prayed for an answer from God.

And, and, and unfortunately the enemy came against the message delivered.

And so Gabriel was held up, but eventually Michael came and helped him and Gabriel was able to come and deliver the message to Daniel.

But then in the new Testament, we find Gabriel in Luke chapter one, speaking to Mary and say, Hey, guess what?

You're going to birth a child.

And that child is going to be the savior of the world.

So here is an angel.

One angel identified both times, one time speaking to somebody and in ancient history.

Yeah.

And the other speaking to Mary instill ancient history to us, but modern moment to her and here is the same angel.

There's a 542 year difference approximately between the two times that Gabriel spoke.

And I want to speak to something very quickly here.

And that is oftentimes in a certain sects of Christianity, certain, uh, certain, uh, Christian traditions.

People seem to have more of an ongoing dialogue with God and angels then, uh, then others do.

Okay.

And, and I am, I do believe that God speaks to people.

And I do believe people have interactions with angels.

I just want to want to encourage us to be careful.

Be careful.

Even if you speak to an angel every single morning, okay, you get up and have coffee with an angel.

If that's what you do, God bless you.

Number one, number two, be careful how you present that because you, you think you may think that you're building someone's faith.

By explain, by saying that consistently in reality, you may be diminishing someone's faith by saying that consistently, think about who you're communicating with, but angels do bring messages.

They're messengers of God and angels are ministered to heirs of salvation.

We just read that in Hebrews.

And I'm gonna talk about that more in detail in a moment, angels, a warriors.

I just mentioned how Gabriel was trying to bring a message to Daniel and Satan came against them.

The demonic world came against him and Michael came and helped him.

But Jude and the scripture talks about that a little bit, but Jude nine says, but when the Archangel Michael contending with the devil was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, the Lord rebuke you.

I explained that more in one of the supplementary videos on microsoft.com that you can, that will be released today.

Revelation 12, seven says now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought

Back.

So

Angels are created beings.

There they are spiritual in nature.

They are messengers of God.

They're ministers to air ministers to heirs of salvation, but they're also warriors.

Some of these angels are warrior angels.

They're created and empowered Howard

For warfare for,

For battling on God's behalf and angels are worship

Worshipers,

Chapter six, verse number three says this, that they, and it's talking about the Saraf or the Sarah fem, depending on which translation of scripture or singular versus plural it's talking about.

But they, the Saraf were calling out to each other.

Holy holy, holy is the Lord of heaven's armies.

The whole earth is filled

With his glory, with his glory, modern

Teaching and teaching in churches today tells me over and over again, that the best thing to do is use one scripture in your message, or maybe two or three scriptures in your message, but not put too many scriptures in your message because people aren't interested in the scripture.

Well, I'm going to say this.

I believe this church is interested in what the scripture has to say about any of these topics.

And so we're not working to give less scripture.

I'm actually working to establish everything that is said and done in the scripture.

If it's from Micah, Sutton's imagination that all things are done well, then God bless you.

I've got plenty of an imagination, but it's by scripture that everything must be established.

And so that's why we're bringing out all of these scriptures angels are not to be worshiped Colossians chapter two, verse 18, let no one cheat you out of your reward.

Taking delight in false humidity, mobility, and worship of angels, intruding into those things, which has not seen, which he has not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.

So the enemy tempts us to worship angels, to worship the created, being more than the create tour of the beam.

Romans one, yeah.

Would illustrate that for us.

Very, very well, very clearly, but there's a, there's a temptation.

There's a temptation to worship angels.

There's a temptation to worship nature.

There's a temptation to worship humanity.

There's always a temptation to worship the created thing.

And when the created thing is a spiritual thing, it even makes more sense.

Doesn't it?

And so the enemy tries to get us to worship things that are not to be worshiped.

And scripture repeatedly says, worship God alone.

Him only shall you.

You sir, faith and salvation, this built salvation is accessed by adopting the word of God.

And so the enemy does everything he can to thought that.

And if getting you to worship an angel is a good idea.

Then he will take you down that path.

Thought number two angels are

Among us.

I married one.

Um, I'm going to say C sometimes and angel Mo mostly and angel.

I dunno.

Okay.

So angels are among us here.

Here's what the Bible says.

This is new Testament.

Now I want to be sure to say that this is a new Testament.

So it very much applies to the world that we're living in.

We're saved by grace, through faith, where we are operating in the power of the holy spirit.

But Hebrews 13 two says, don't forget to show hospitality to strangers for some who have done this, have entertained angels without realizing it that a stranger that you meet might be an angel.

And in disguise, if you will appearing, but not making themselves known as an angel.

Now, some debate this reference.

And if you do research on this, you're going to find out that some debate, this reference and say, well, this is actually talking about Abraham's visit by the Lord and two angels.

And, and they, they show up to his camp and he, he feeds them and he blesses them.

And he, and it's all about being hospitable to strangers.

And because you just never know who those strangers are going to be.

And I understand the argument.

I understand the debate there.

I understand what they're trying to say, and I'm not knocking it.

The only thing I'm going to say is that the whole premise of that argument is that we don't know Hebrews tells us.

We don't know that these are angels when they show up.

And Abraham knew that it was the Lord and the angels that were steadied shown up.

So Abraham wasn't entertaining angels unaware.

He ran out to them bowed low and called them Lord.

So, so we know that ain't, that Abraham knew that these, this was the Lord and this was heavenly angels.

And so is it teaching hospitality?

Absolutely.

It's teaching hospitality.

Is it absolutely talking about treating people that you don't know with love and respect because you don't know them and they could be someone that brings great value and meaning into your life.

But let me just say, even if they're not someone that is going to bring, bring great value and meaning to your life, treating them with respect is still the right thing to do because they're a child of God, their creation of the Lord.

And they're part of the family, if you will.

And if they're not believers, we're praying that they will become believers and treating them like dogs doesn't help that happen.

That's just really, that's just real.

So I do believe that it's also saying that a visit from an angel, isn't out of the question.

In fact, I would ask why does collagen's teach against worshiping angels if interacting with them as impossible?

Is that the idea of an angel that we are not to worship?

I don't think so.

I think he

Is telling us that it's possible to interact with angels.

And so therefore we must be on guard against worshiping them.

In fact, acts chapter 12, Peter is released from prison by an angel.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

He thought it was a vision.

He thought it was a dream.

He did not know that this was actually happening.

And this was an actual angel until they got out of the prison.

And the angel disappeared in that moment.

He went, oh, this is really happening.

Physical angel, a physical deliverance.

So do we enjoy interaction with angels or are they spiritual bystanders?

There's just kind of watching things happen.

Here's a key verse in this matter, in my opinion, he bruised one 14.

Are they not old?

Ministering spirits sent forth the minister for those who will inherit salvation.

Now that was our beginning scripture.

Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth for the purpose of ministering for those who will inherit

Salvation.

So the key question

Here is who are the heirs

Of salvation who will inherit salvation?

Well, we

Find the answer to that in first Peter chapter one first Peter chapter one says blessed, be the God, God, and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has been forgotten or who has birthed or who has, who has put forward.

Okay, us again, us believers to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from

The dead.

What, what are we born into to

An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled.

And that does not fade away reserved in heaven

For you who are

Kept there by say, the word kept backed by the power of God, through faith, for salvation, ready to be revealed in the light last time.

So what he's telling

Us is that inheritors or heirs of salvation, those

Accepting Christ as Lord and savior accessing the living hope of Jesus Christ

Saved by faith today.

And ultimately on the last day, these people are people who are, have accepted Christ as Lord and savior.

They are believers.

They are absolutely 100% saved right now, and they are ultimately saved, but we all get to heaven.

At that point, there is no more battle.

There is no more trial.

There's no more struggle.

There's no more difficulty.

And so that salvation in whole is revealed completely when we get to heaven.

That's what Peter writes is reserved in heaven for you.

But from now until then we are kept by the power of the holy ghost by the power of God.

So do so.

What does that word mean?

To keep the word to keep means to

Garrison, to guard like

With a military watch, to, to be surrounded by something dang, that is militarily strong and protective of you.

So those that are heirs of salvation are being guarded and kept by a military.

Watch Garrison, if you will, by the power of God.

Well, what is the expression of the power of God over and over in scripture, angels are an expression of the power of God.

A question that I've been asked over the years is do guardian angels exist.

That's a great question.

And do angels protect, are they spiritual bystanders?

Well, if the heirs of salvation are kept by God kept by the power of God, then it is my opinion.

That angels play a role in that.

In fact, angels were commanded to keep watch over Jesus.

And so in line,

Who was Jesus, he was the bringer of salvation.

He was also the air of salvation.

He was salvation entirely, and it lines up biblically that they are those who keep the heirs of salvation.

In fact, that the idea of guardian angels has been very prevalent in society and culture.

Those words are not used in scripture, but here's the scripture that may lend itself to that idea.

Matthew chapter 18 verse 10

Matthew 18:10

Says this, see that you

Do not despise one of these little ones.

He's talking about kids.

Don't despise them, let them come to me for, I tell you that in heaven, their angels always see the face of my father who is in heaven.

So he

Specifically identifies these angels as their angels.

And if you study that out in the original language, it still says, there don't say my angels who are connected with, but it does say they're angels.

And so he, somehow

He's connecting these angels

To these kids.

Now, these kids, I think are the physical little kids.

And

So apparently angels may be connected to spirit, to physical little kids.

But I believe that if they're connected to little kids and they're connected to God's big kids as well, Lisa, I like that.

I believe say in the angels are tasked with looking out for them and they tell the father of the need and the father deals with whatever needs to be dealt with.

And that brings us the thought number three, that you and I are never, ever alone.

We're never alone.

[inaudible] guard the heirs of salvation.

That's clear, but Psalms 34 7, it says this, the angel of the Lord encamps all around.

So in the time of rest, the Lord's angel surrounds those who fear him and delivers them.

You angels fight, they guard and they deliver messages.

And the way I think about this is

In the modern world.

I think about it as the secret service,

The secret service watches, the family of the president, the seat, good

Service guards, the children of the president.

They go with them everywhere.

They help them in times of need.

They make sure that they're safe.

They guard them from things.

They can't stop the kids from doing whatever the kids want to do.

Mm.

For instance, if they were a lettuce stray by their own lust and brought into sin, the secret service wouldn't stop them from doing that.

You see what I just

Did?

There went biblical all of a sudden, okay, just making sure got it.

So they won't stop that.

We know this because we've seen some of our president's children in the news before.

Haven't we doing stuff they shouldn't ought to be doing, but they will protect them.

If any outside force is trying to come against them.

Even in that moment, they protect, they are the kids secret service agent, but they don't work for the kids.

They work for the president.

I believe that angels work for God.

100%.

It's not an issue of us commanding angels to go do our bidding,

But they will guard us.

They will help us.

They will give

Messages to and from us.

Angels will interact with us and they will God's kids while serving

God, think about what Jesus said here.

Jesus

Says in Matthew 26.

Now remember when Jesus is on planet earth in a physical human form.

He is completely man, while still being completely God.

So he is man, God, he is the son of God made manifest or flesh.

And so he's, he's operating according to both human law,

Natural law.

That's why the scripture says that he got tired.

I got hungry.

He got angry.

He, he, he, uh, had

Temptations that he had to deal with and fight with.

And he remained holy and pure 100%, but he still had the temptation in his life and God has never tempted.

So he has all man and he has all God.

And so in the process of being humanity, Jesus says this in Matthew 26 53, do you think that I cannot now pray to my father, that he will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels.

That's about 80,000

Angels.

And so Jesus is approaching the cross.

He's talking to Peter.

Peter is

Trying to fight off the Roman soldiers with a sword.

And Jesus is like, put that away.

Don't you think that I could call, call my father right now?

And he would send me 80,000 angels to fight on my behalf, but I'm not, I'm not wanting them, him to fight on my behalf.

I've got to go through this process.

I've got to go to the cross.

What I want you to notice that Jesus, didn't say to Peter don't, you know, that I can call down 80,000 angels as fully man.

Jesus said, don't, you know, I can pray to my father.

And he will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels.

So the angels would be doing the will of the father, even as they defended the son angels today, Hey, we'll be doing the will of the father.

Even while defending the children

Of God.

Angels

Are there to keep us while doing it.

The rest of their job, which is always the father's business.

Remember the secret service they're protecting kids.

They'll be do what the kids want.

As long as what the kids want to do does not go against will of the father.

So can you interact with angels?

I believe that you can.

Do you interact with angels every single day?

Probably not.

Do you interact with angels when you don't know it?

I believe you do.

But one of the things that's true is wherever the presence of God is the angels of God will

Be.

And if you are in the presence of God, then you will

Be in the presence of the angels of God.

It's kind of a neat thought to me that everything in the spiritual realm doesn't have to be feared.

It's natural.

When we get into spiritual things, that fear would come in fact, if you read the accounts in scripture of angels, appearing to people repeated over and over, you hear that you see the same thing.

It says, fear, not

Gabriel appears to Mary and she's kind of freaked out and he says, fear not, don't be afraid.

She calms down.

And here's the message.

You see this

Over and over in scripture where people say fear, not fear, not Paul.

If you're

Not Peter, don't be afraid because if it's an angel of God, there's going to be a moment of,

Ooh, I recognize this is something unusual and something different,

But then there'll be a peace of God,

A peace of God that comes into your world in that moment,

In

The middle of the most stressful, most incredible times when your brain just seems muddled and

Confused in those moments, if it's

An angel of the Lord that is talking to you, it's an angel.

If it's an angel of the Lord, that's communicating communing with you, communicating

With you surrounding you.

And there will be a peace, a

Peace that passes all understanding.

And in two weeks, I'm going to talk about this.

A peace

That passes all understanding that guards,

Your heart and mind that peace stands guard over you surrounding you.

There's no peace like the peace that comes from the presence of all mighty God.

Angels will work with the will of man, as long as the father's will is done.

And I can take

You to the story of lot where lot

God's trying to deliver him out of Sodom before Saddam gets destroyed.

And, and he says to the angel take lot

To the mountain and

Lawton, his family come out of Sodom and they're leaving and they're traveling away from

Sodom.

And you

Know, the story that lot's wife looks back and she turns into a pillar of salt and lots like, Hey, where, where are we going?

And the angel said, we're going to the mountain.

And, and Lott said, no, I don't want to go to the mountain.

I want to go to Zahar.

Instead,

The angel was like, I

Went to Zahar instead, God didn't say, go to Zahra.

He said, go to the mountain.

But the angel was like, okay, the God wanted him out of Sodom.

He's out of Saddam.

I'll take him to czar.

If that's where he wants to go.

Now, that was not a good decision for lot.

But the angel was like, okay, that's where you want to go.

It's not completely against the father's will.

So we're going

To go there.

And they took him there.

Understand

Right now that angels, I believe that there are angels in this room

Right now.

I don't see them that I know of not talking to them that I know of.

Like, well, at least they're not talking to me.

Although I did hear an amen a few times.

And I thought maybe

Most often they're invisible, but I believe most often they're also present.

And to me in a difficult moment, a difficult time, it's a nice thing.

It's a peaceful thing to know that while I don't understand everything going

On, that the angels of the Lord are surrounding me roundabout.

And when the enemy comes, he will not be able to come in just an

Unhindered, but there will be someone outside of me that

Can see into a spiritual world because they themselves are spiritual.

And they can say, no,

You're not going to come in here.

It

Reminds me of an old song.

Maybe, you know it,

Maybe you don't, but it says surely the presence of the Lord is in this swing.

High can feel his mighty power and his grace.

Hey, I can feel the brush of angels.

I see RI on each shoot.

The presence of the low is in this.

We just stand with me.

Prayer partners, come forward.

If you need prayer for anything come forward.

We're just going to sing this again.

The presence of the Lord is in this place right now.