Do you believe that you have a guardian angel, an angelic being that follows you wherever you go, watches over you as you sleep, makes sure no harm comes to you? Many Christians do believe this, in fact, quite a few of the lost think the same way, that God sends His guardians to watch over them, there is even a large percentage of people around the world that pray to them, set up statues and purchase small figurines of angels, placing them in prominent places around their house or even in their vehicles.
Of course, this goes completely against the Word of God where we are instructed to never bow down to or worship any graven image, especially not to angels, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,” (Col. 2:18) and it shows that these individuals do not understand that we have one mediator between God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ. (1st Tim. 2:5) We are to worship none but God. That doesn’t seem to really bother some of these people though, they just keep on doing it.
One of the questions I would like to pose to you in this letter is why if indeed you have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of you, directing your walk with the Lord, would you believe that you need a guardian angel. I am not saying that if I have been assigned an angelic being to watch over me that, if I could, I would politely mention to him that all is well and he can just go ahead and find someone else to watch over, but I am wondering about the necessity if indeed there is one sitting beside you at this moment.
We know that angels are “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation,” (Heb. 1:14) and that their main concern is the welfare of the children of God. My point here though is not about the angelic beings that reside in heaven, though the Holy Spirit may lead in that direction one day, but of our adversary, specifically those who follow his commands, the fallen angels, the demons. Do you believe that Satan has been whispering in your ear? Perhaps I should phrase that a little differently, for I am fairly sure that if Satan was anywhere near you, you would know it, do you believe then that a demon, one of the demonic horde that fell from heaven that day, spends quite a lot of time following you around as well as this guardian angel we spoke of. Do you think that he is able to use objects in the physical realm to hurl at you, as it were, to cause bodily harm to you, or is it only in the spiritual realm that he has any power over you, or is one even there beside you at all.
We know that both sides of those in the angelic domain have abilities and powers that are far beyond our comprehension, and that they can use these vast resources to attempt to either hinder or progress the plans of the Lord in the life of the believer. One of my of main objectives here is to ask why you would believe that it would be necessary for either of these two to follow you around at all, are you serving Christ that much? What need is there for a guardian angel to tag along with a Christian who really does no more than attend the Sunday morning service and perhaps an occasional mid-week Bible study. If this individual is not much more of a servant than that, if you will, what is the point of an angel following them around, to protect them from what, a falling piano or a bad case of the flu. And why would a demon even be necessary, this brother is not actively seeking the spiritual, he truly is saved, he has his foot in the door, so to speak, but he desires no more than that, there is no need for either of these of the angelic realm to do much more than check up on this individual every once in a while.
He is saved but has no real ambition or drive outside of the fellowship that he attends, and in the church building he seeks only warm greetings and awaits the next year’s Christmas program. How is this for a question my brothers and sisters in Christ, see how this one makes you react, has Satan noticed you? Have any demons reported directly to the enemy of our souls that you need to be watched, that your actions require Satan to begin accusing you before the throne of God. (Rev. 12:10) This poses very few problems for the ‘average’ believer, they are more than likely not going to be noticed by even the least of the demons, these are those that are satisfied with the milk of the Word, love the world still and all it has to offer, think it offensive and “pushy” to speak of their Lord to others, never wanting to offend. They are still able to separate their normal day-to-day life with their spiritual life, keeping them seperate at all times, and so there is really no cause for alarm with the statement. I would suppose that most of these would actually hope that he has not noticed them, possibly even taking great pains to make sure that he doesn’t.
Those who continuously have on the armor of God, (Eph. 6:11-24) do not think like this though, and that is exactly why they never remove it. If there is a guardian angel beside them, then all the better, yes please, we need all the help that we can get. The work is dangerous, demanding and never ending, and the adversary never sleeps or rests. Not only do these individuals have to battle the desires of their own flesh, but they know they need to keep the shield of faith up, and the sword of the spirit ready in every moment, or they will fall. These warriors of Christ know that they have been noticed by the evil one and his accomplices, and they could not care less, for though they respect him, they do not fear him. Their trust falters at times and their fear can be great, but they stand, nonetheless.
They do not test him, try him, try to bind him or any of those other ridiculous notions that some preach, they are not out there looking for a fight with him, but when he brings the battle to them, they do not back down, they stand. These obedient servants of Almighty God have on the armor that He has provided, and they have diligently studied its proper uses, they are intimate with it and have within them the Holy Spirit of God Himself. Written upon their armor are the truths of the Word of God, for the glory of the Lamb they boldly proclaim the words “Where He leads, I will follow,” their banner reads “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21)They are prepared to die if that is what their Lord asks of them, but until that day that they meet their Savior face to face, they refresh themselves at His fountains and find comfort only in the Rock of their salvation.
With these Satan can find few if any footholds, and he hates them with a perfect hatred. The others are easy, in fact some of them are probably quite boring for many of the demons, a simple whisper and their calls are heeded, a small temptation that requires very little effort on their part and these individuals are useless to the purposes of the Lord for years, sometimes for the entirety of their lives. Some require a little more attention of course, for they go through “Spiritual phases,” perhaps leading a youth group for a period of time, or attending a Biblically based seminar and feeling the prompting of the Holy Spirit for a short time, but then there are always available to the demons other pitfalls to place in front of these brothers and sisters in Christ and they will inevitably fall into them. I know, I have many times.
Not every believer wants to serve his Lord and master fully and with great vigor and intent, it seems in fact that this number is diminishing by leaps and bounds almost every day, but there is a remnant, our Lord always reserves a remnant for Himself. You do not have to be a warrior for Christ, you can stay hidden in the Rock for the entirety of your life and you will still be loved for all of eternity, but know this, your rewards may be few if any. The battle is raging, it is becoming more intense each day, even the weakest of our brothers can see this clearly. There is a call going out from our Lord for true disciples, for those who are willing to stand, for warriors and defenders of His Holy Name.
These will hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” (Matt. 25:21) and for those who are willing to join in the battle, these words spoken to them by their Lord will be payment enough, the sight of their Savior looking into their eyes and speaking these words to them will be worth any price that He asks of them.
