As they journeyed up
the hills from Jericho to Bethany, Nathaniel walked most of the way by the side
of Jesus, and their discussion of children in relation to the kingdom of heaven
led indirectly to the consideration of the ministry of angels. Nathaniel
finally asked the Master (Jesus) this question:
“Seeing that the high priest is a
Sadducee, and since the Sadducees do not believe in angels, what shall we teach
the people regarding the heavenly ministers?”
Then, among other things, Jesus
said:
“The angelic hosts are a
separate order of created beings; they are entirely different from the material
order of mortal creatures, and they function as a distinct group of universe
intelligences.
"Angels are not of that group of creatures called ‘the Sons of
God’ in the Scriptures; neither are they the glorified spirits of mortal men
who have gone on to progress through the mansions on high. Angels are a direct
creation, and they do not reproduce themselves.
"The angelic hosts have only a
spiritual kinship with the human race. As man progresses in the journey to the
Father in Paradise (Universal Father God), he does traverse a state of being at one time analogous to
the state of the angels, but mortal man never becomes an angel.
“The angels never die, as
man does.
"The angels are immortal unless, by chance, they become involved in
sin as did some of them with the deceptions of Lucifer.
"The angels are the
spirit servants in heaven, and they are neither all-wise nor all-powerful. But
all of the loyal angels are truly pure and holy.
“And do you not remember
that I said to you once before that, if you had your spiritual eyes anointed,
you would then see the heavens opened and behold the angels of God ascending
and descending?
"It is by the ministry of the angels that one world may be kept
in touch with other worlds, for have I not repeatedly told you that I have
other sheep not of this fold?
"And these angels are not the spies of the spirit
world who watch upon you and then go forth to tell the Father the thoughts of
your heart and to report on the deeds of the flesh.
"The Father (God) has no need of
such service inasmuch as his own spirit lives within you.
"But these angelic
spirits do function to keep one part of the heavenly creation informed
concerning the doings of other and remote parts of the universe.
"And many of
the angels, while functioning in the government of the Father and the universes
of the Sons, are assigned to the service of the human races.
"When I taught you
that many of these seraphim (an order of angels) are ministering spirits, I spoke not in figurative
language nor in poetic strains.
"And all this is true, regardless of your
difficulty in comprehending such matters.
“Many of these angels are
engaged in the work of saving men, for have I not told you of the seraphic joy
when one soul elects to forsake sin and begin the search for God?
"I did even
tell you of the joy in the presence
of the angels of heaven over one sinner who repents, thereby indicating the
existence of other and higher orders of celestial beings who are likewise
concerned in the spiritual welfare and with the divine progress of mortal man.
“Also are these angels very
much concerned with the means whereby man’s spirit is released from the
tabernacles of the flesh and his soul escorted to the mansions in heaven.
"Angels are the sure and heavenly guides of the soul of man during that
uncharted and indefinite period of time which intervenes between the death of
the flesh and the new life in the spirit abodes.”
And
he would have spoken further with Nathaniel regarding the ministry of angels,
but he was interrupted by the approach of Martha, who had been informed that
the Master was drawing near to Bethany by friends who had observed him
ascending the hills to the east. And she now hastened to greet him. [Quoted from Paper-167 of the Urantia Book]
My dear human son/daughter of God!
If reading the above ignited your inner thirst for knowing more about the loving God of the Universe, you should consider reading the book from which the above passage is taken. You can do so by looking for it on the right panel of this page.
Share this with those of whom you consider ripe to receive knowledge beyond their daily chores of routine living!
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