Carried by Angels

By Mike Johnson

An interesting line occurs near the end of Hamlet, as Shakespeare has Horatio saying these words as Ham­let dies: "...Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!" (5.2.361-2). Shakespeare’s idea of angels being near when an individual dies does not conflict with what we learn from the Scriptures regarding the death of a faithful Christian.

"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by angels into Abra­ham's bosom: the rich man also died and was buried" (Luke 16:22). Most are familiar with the story of the rich man and Lazarus which is found in Luke 16. During his life, Lazarus, a beggar, was in a very pitiful situation. His body was full of sores, and he was carried to the gate of a rich man's home so that he might get some crumbs which fell from his table. Lazarus was so helpless that he could not even stop the dogs from licking his sores. In contrast, the rich man was clothed in "purple and fine linen" and "feasted lavishly" (NRSV) every day. Both men died and went to the Hadean realm (v. 23, Acts 2:27). The rich man went to "torment" or "tartarus" (v.23a, II Pet. 2:4, Jude 6), and Lazarus went to “Abraham’s bosom" (v. 23b) which is also called "paradise" (Luke 23:43).

How did Lazarus get to Abraham's bosom? Verse 22 says that he was carried there by angels. The facts of this story are to be believed, and thus, we can say that all righteous people who die will be carried to Abraham's bosom by angels. There is no reason to conclude otherwise. This is of sig­nificance as it demonstrates God's tender love and care for his children and it ought to comfort us.

Even Christians are sometimes anxious about death as the unknown can cause ap­prehension. We can be reassured, however, when we realize that the angels of God will be present when we die to carry us to Abra­ham's bosom. We, as faithful Christians, will close our eyes in death, and then, in a sense, open them in the reassuring pres­ence of angels who will carry us to Para­dise.

Many have had to deal with the hardship of their loved ones passing away. It may have been a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, or perhaps a close friend. Many may have actually been with a loved one when he or she passed away. For those who remain, there is comfort in knowing that when the faithful Christian dies, he is in the presence of angels.

Consider the following illustration. There is usually a point when parents will leave their child with a baby sitter for an evening so that they can go out by themselves. Conscientious parents will not just leave their child with anyone. If that person is someone whom they can trust, like their parents or a close friend, they know that their child is in good hands, and they can leave the child with full confidence. When loved ones who are faithful Christians leave this life, we know that they are in good hands. They will be transported by angels; their destination will be Paradise (and ultimately heaven); they go in good hands. As with the fact of the resurrection, we ought to "comfort one an­other with these words" (I Thess. 4:18), perhaps with thoughts of "flights of angels" conveying our loved ones to their rest.

You cannot expect to reap a harvest, if you have kept the seed in the barn. It is not the years in your life, but the life in your years that count. Make a pact with your tongue not to speak when your heart is dis­turbed. &

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

By Bob Myhan

Most professed Christians agree that the Holy Spirit dwells in faith­ful Christians. In fact, to deny this would seem to deny the explicit statement of Paul, to wit:

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life be­cause of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Rom. 8:8-11)

What professed Christians are not in agree­ment on is whether the Holy Spirit in­dwells Christians personally (directly) or by means of some agency (indirectly). To say that the Holy Spirit in­dwells believ­ers indirectly, not di­rectly, does not minimize the fact that the Holy Spirit does so. Often, how­ever, those who believe in a direct indwell­ing accuse those who be­lieve in an indirect in­dwelling of not believing in the in­dwelling of the Holy Spirit, at all. This is an unjusti­fied and un­justifiable accusation.

The Form of God

Whatever can be said about the nature of one member of the Godhead is equally true of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit because each equally possesses the Divine nature. “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). God is not flesh and blood (Matt. 16:17). A spirit does have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). God does, however, have a form (Phil. 2:5-6). Since the Father and Son are “in the form of God,” so is the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Holy Spirit is an entity having “the form of God.” If this is not the case, why is it not?

The Presence of God

God is present everywhere (Psalm 139:7-10) but He is not located everywhere.

‘Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, "a land flowing with milk and honey."' (Deut. 26:15; see also Matt. 6:9)

This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear wit­ness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. (1 John 5:6-7)

As God looks “down” from His habitation in heaven, His presence is everywhere ­though His form is not. Those who defend a direct, immediate [apart from means], per­sonal in­dwelling of the Holy Spirit, on the basis of His omnipresence, do not properly distin­guish His presence from His form. It is not His form that is eve­rywhere; it is His pres­ence. His indwelling, therefore, cannot be explained on the basis of His omnipres­ence or He would nec­essarily indwell alien sin­ners, as well as Christians. But, though He is pre­sent wher­ever alien sinners are, He does not dwell in them. Those whom He in­dwells do not have His literal form, or es­sence, in their bodies. This would re­quire a separate form of the Holy Spirit for each Christian’s body. There­fore, it must be that He indwells Chris­tians through some means. And what is that means if not God’s word?

Indirect Operation & Influence

When an action is affirmed of both a per­son and an instrument it may be said that the person performs the action by means of the in­strument. It would be absurd to say that the person does not perform the action simply because an instrument is used. Con­sider the following rhetorical questions.

Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood! (Isa. 10:15)

Therefore, to say that the word of God is the instrument by means of which the Holy Spirit works in the Christian, does not mini­mize the fact that it is the Holy Spirit who is thus working. That would be as absurd as saying that an axe chopped down a tree not the woodsman or that a scalpel performed an operation not the surgeon.

Author Og Mandino died in 1996 but con­tin­ues to influence thousands of people through­out the world by means of the six­teen inspi­rational and self-help books he wrote during the last twenty years of his life. If a mere human being can have such indirect influence how much more the Holy Spirit? &